Chapter 110 – Chapter 18: Auction #2
Richard, one of the five captains of the Demon King’s Palace, turned his gaze to a distant place.
He was in one of his dwellings at the Demon King’s Palace, and the room was designed to allow adequate light to enter.
As he gazed into the sunlight pouring through the window, he touched the things on his desk gently.
His hand stopped on a seal made of wrought iron that only the members of the five families leading the draconians could use. Richard’s hands were rough from holding a sword his entire life, and even among draconians, his hands were particularly big and hard.
He wasn’t alone. A few steps away from him was a young man called Henry, who was particularly prominent among the children of the five families.
Richard was a man with blonde hair that was reminiscent of a lion’s mane, and a pair of long white horns stretched from his head. He had just been listening to Henry’s report.
He had known the answer since a few days ago, so this was just a procedural check.
“Do you know what you have to do?”
Richard asked Henry who was standing with a stiff expression. Henry hesitated for a moment then nodded.
Instead of blaming Henry, Richard just laughed.
The instructions that Richard had given Henry a few days ago were simple.
‘Attack 9th Prince on his way to Evian.’
The people behind the attack wouldn’t be soldiers from the Demon King’s Palace or draconian warriors. It would be someone who had been kicked out from the Evian military and was already a wild dog.
The aim wasn’t to kill 9th Prince; Richard just wanted to learn more about him.
9th Prince’s appearance was too sudden. Therefore, Richard didn’t know much about him.
What type of person he was, how strong he was now and his fighting style…
Richard wanted to know all these things. He had no thoughts about taking away 9th Prince’s life.
The demon king—the sura king, Mitra didn’t want that, and Richard didn’t intend to go against the demon king’s will.
However, he couldn’t help letting some words escape from his mouth.
“The demon king said that the strongest person should become the demon king. His thoughts haven’t changed. But to not want a direct fight between the successors… This is a bit contradictory, isn’t it?”
His tone was moderate, but Henry could hear the growl of a lion in it.
The strongest person would become the demon king.
Yet it wasn’t acceptable for the siblings to harm each other while contesting for the position of demon king.
It was a contradiction. How could there be no fighting when they were trying to determine the strongest?
There were the factions. Competition between factions existed, but it was all about spying and gaining information.
The 4th Princess—she had the blood of the serpent-like 2nd Queen Titania, so she used both females and males. No, she didn’t fear any violence at all. She had drunk the tea given by the 1st Prince without any hesitation. The tea party was in a place widely known to everyone, not a secret location that no one else knew about.
Yet the 1st Prince had laughed and poured tea, and the 4th Princess had drunk it without any hesitation nor fear of poison.
This was despite the fact that it was tea from the 1st Prince.
They had lived for 20 years without suspicion of each other.
However, could a real power truly be born in this type of environment? What did missions matter when they would return to a greenhouse that was the Demon King’s Palace?
Richard laughed once again.
“That face looks like you want to say something. So, tell me.”
With Richard’s permission, Henry stood next to him. Although he wasn’t a small child, the problem was that his loyalty to the demon king was too strong.
Unlike Richard’s bright blonde, Henry had dark hair and blue eyes.
“When he was kicked out, he was at the level of the lower generals, but he is different now. His strength will be at the level of an intermediate general.”
“Yes, I know how strong he is. That way, I can also measure 9th Prince’s strength.”
“Uncle… no, Captain. If 9th Prince dies…”
“6th Princess and 8th Princess is with him. So, dying won’t be a problem. And even if one of them loses their lives… it is a matter that doesn’t involve me. Moreover, we are being hit by the enemies on the periphery. 1st Prince and 2nd Prince have already experienced an encounter with the enemy. We have nothing to do with this.”
Richard interrupted Henry’s words and said it was inconsequential. He knocked against Henry’s shoulder.
“Henry, what are you afraid of? Such a thing will never happen. If I really intended to do that, then I would have used a much stronger person.”
This logic reassured Henry,but it was only for a second. In the end, the fact that someone strong was ambushing the 9th Prince didn’t change.
Richard spoke in a calm tone,
“Maybe he will receive an injury that will make him give up his mission or doubts will start to form.”
It was only a matter of planting a few suspicious buds. However, that wasn’t bad enough. He was going to change the current atmosphere, little by little.
“Tomorrow, we will return to the northern front. Be prepared to leave.”
At Richard’s words, Henry departed the room with a stiff expression. Richard stared at his back and laughed.
“9th Prince.”
Only a few months ago, he had been known as the Prince of Scraps, and now, he had created a new faction.
Richard didn’t know how many skills the sword duke had taught him.
‘I can’t possibly guess.’
Would he notice that the ambush was instigated by someone?
Even if he did, it would be impossible to find the person behind it.
The mad dog was a draconian, but he was already a notorious enemy in the vicinity of Evian.
This would lead to some doubts and a sense of crisis. Richard’s purpose was to plant seeds of doubt, and that was enough.
It would also be good if 9th Prince didn’t notice at all. There would be no problem in achieving his desire to know 9th Prince’s abilities.
‘I never thought it would begin with the 9th Prince.’
Richard stopped touching the seal, and his gaze moved in the southwest direction where 9th Prince was.
&
“Things are never easy.”
Carack said with a bitter smile as he prepared to fight. The group of people running wildly towards them were enemies. They had to either run away or prepare to fight, but the former action was unreasonable.
In-gong’s eyes narrowed.
“I think you are right. I think it is because of me.”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
Instead of answering Carack, In-gong just laughed. He had seen a familiar face at the front of the rushing group.
“Richard is doing this.”
In-gong muttered in a small voice. He was sure of it.
It was an event that he had experienced many times in Knight Saga.
In Knight Saga, Zephyr had gradually worsened the relationship between the demon king’s children. He had made them suspicious until they thought they would be killed if they didn’t strike first, ruining the relationship between siblings.
This was one of the processes. The ambush at Evian—rather than aim directly for the royal children’s lives, it was an operation designed to disturb them and cause suspicions.
The one behind this wasn’t Zephyr but Richard.
The royal child attacked was always different, but the person doing the ambush was the same.
“Mad Dog Jiks.”
The soldier who had joined them as a guide agreed with In-gong.
“T-that’s right. Mad Dog Jiks!”
Fear, confusion and doubts were all seen on his expression.
Mad Dog Jiks was notorious around Evian. However, his activities were far from here, so it was the first time the soldier had seen him. He was just able to tell due to Mad Dog Jiks’ unique characteristics.
“Shutra?”
Enemies had appeared in front, but it had been an unexpected ambush. So, she wondered how he knew.
“I was prepared.”
“What?”
Felicia replied with a dumbfounded expression, but it was only for a moment. The fight was about to occur soon. Rather than continuing to ask questions, Felicia was convinced by Shutra’s words.
In-gong heard Green Wind’s voice once again.
‘Master, it isn’t just at the front. If I count all the enemies…’
“Around 40? Most of them are cavalry?”
‘That’s right. How did you know?’
“Everything was dragged out.”
Mad Dog Jiks was a real mad dog.
Although he had never been ambushed while playing as Zephyr, Richard had been his sponsor, so he had been able to learn more about the mad dog’s abilities.
Among the intermediate generals, Mad Dog Jiks was average.
Before the Starlight Core, Caitlin wouldn’t have been able to win against him. In fact, victory wasn’t guaranteed even with the Starlight Core.
‘But what if it isn’t Caitlin?’
“Shutra.”
“Huh?”
In-gong turned around. Caitlin, who was prepared to fight while sitting on the black horse, was staring at In-gong.
“What are you thinking of right now?”
Did her wild intuition sense something?
Instead of answering, In-gong smiled towards the front, and Caitlin’s eyes narrowed.
After fighting so many monsters in Spider Forest, the party remained relatively calm despite the 40 enemies. Only the guide soldier became speculative.
“Prince, what do you want to do?”
Carack asked him. In-gong equipped Earth Quaker and White Eagle. After Amita’s adjustments, Earth Quaker gave a low roar as it glowed red and yellow through the black scales.
It was an ambush event, but he had no intention of losing. He would smash through Richard’s intentions.
In-gong nodded thoughtfully. Instead of answering, an angry white aura was activated.
&
Mad Dog Jiks had left the army for almost 10 years now.
However, he never forgot that the blood of a draconian flowed through his body.
One of the elder draconians, Richard, had ordered him to attack the 9th Prince and learn his skills. It didn’t matter if there were injuries, but he was ordered to not take their lives.
However, Jiks wasn’t displeased. He couldn’t take their lives, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do other things.
Besides 9th Prince, there was the 6th Princess and 8th Princess who were renowned for their beauty. Touching them would incite the retaliation of the dark elves and lycanthropes, but he didn’t think that far. Why else did he have the nickname of mad dog?
‘If I do this, I will need to flee from the Demon World.’
Mad Dog Jiks’ logic was simple. The task assigned to him was to fight 9th Prince and report on his skills. Apart from that, he could do anything.
Instead of a horse, Jiks rode on a big wolf as he made some hand gestures. He had trained each member himself and was certain they would be elites if they were in the Demon King’s Army.
There were 40 of them, so it was clear that the 8th Princess would struggle.
‘I wish to taste her with my own hands.’
He had already forgotten about the fight with the 9th Prince. Jiks was just considering a confrontation with the 8th Princess.
It was at that moment that…
The 9th Prince ran out alone. He wasn’t riding a horse or even a draco.
Jiks laughed and whispered, ‘I’m not the only crazy one.’
However, it was only for a second. Jiks’ instincts screamed at him, and he used his aura reflexively, using the dragon authority that all draconians had inherited.
This wasn’t the time to relax. He pulled out his sword hurriedly. The reason for this was simple.
‘So fast!’
The dozens of meters between himself and 9th Prince felt meaningless. 9th Prince didn’t stop and ran straight toward Jiks. In just a few seconds, he brutally trounced all the people in his path.
Two shields emitting a green light opened the way. His men couldn’t even do anything as they fell to the ground with a moan. It happened so quickly that they couldn’t perceive the fact that 9th Prince was among them.
The next moment, 9th Prince was standing right in front of Jiks.
Kwang!
With a roar, the white aura exploded in the air. Jiks swung his sword reflexively to block the blow and felt a strong pain in his right arm. It was hard to hold the sword. Moreover, he couldn’t keep his current position any longer.
Lightning struck in front of him. The moment it struck the wolf’s head, blood poured from it. Jiks hurriedly threw himself backwards off the wolf, but the pair of black shield and white shield kept tracking Jiks. Jiks swung his sword to block the path of the shields. He succeeded in stopping the orbits of the shield but lost his sword in the process.
Jiks had bought some time. He needed the time to refine his aura management technique. It was only a few seconds, but he needed this time to calm his breathing and draw power.
However, 9th Prince didn’t allow it. He was overly quick and reached Jiks again.
Jiks grabbed a spare sword hurriedly and swung it roughly with his left hand through instinct. Of course, he was quick and strong due to his aura, but his opponent was also an aura user. So far, he hadn’t managed to deal a fatal blow to 9th Prince.
Yet there was a sensation at his fingertips. His blow had struck the 9th Prince’s chest.
‘How?’
He was amazed that he had gotten a blow in. However, Jiks wasn’t a novice, and that was why he knew that he hadn’t succeeded because he was lucky. It was because the opponent allowed it.
‘Why?’
Moreover, why was 9th Prince smiling so happily in the midst of this painful situation. Surely, he wasn’t enjoying this?
The reason didn’t matter. Jiks used the time to try and pull out an extra sword. However, an invisible force crushed Jiks’ arm. There wasn’t a gap that allowed him to fight.
“Thank you.”
Jiks couldn’t tell if those words were actually said or just seen through the eyes.
9th Prince laughed as he made a fist, then something white and green exploded in front of him.
The moment that Jiks was struck in the chest, the shock was greater than the pain.
9th Prince’s fist…
It was filled with the dragon power that was the aura characteristic of the draconians.
