"Hahaha, Sure. Let me see who dares to be naughty in my Demon Realm," High Duke Eston smirked as he walked towards the rubble.
He was somewhat excited as they really got a big win today. Not only did they catch the intruder from the Death Domain, but they also got the Black Skeleton King, who was being handled by High Duke Oris if everything went according to the plan there as well. All that while they just sat in the Palace. They didn't even have to go out. It was as if luck was all on their side today.
Even though High Duke Eston was curious as to how Ryder got all this information to make such an accurate plan, he didn't think too much about it. He left those questions for later. For now, all he wanted to do was shatter the bones of the ones that dared to infiltrate this place.
Master Mao moved the door to the side as he came out of the rubble, but his face turned pale as well as he saw High Duke Eston walking towards him. He instantly turned back as he started rubbing, but he knew that it wasn't easy for him to escape from a High Duke.
"My dear Zombies, delay him for me!" Master Mao let out as he continued running while he cast a spell.
Five Zombies appeared out of thin air between High Duke Eston and Master Mao, to create an obstruction for High Duke Eston.
Master Mao knew that the Zombies couldn't stop a High Duke, but he wanted to get whatever small bit of time he could get to escape and get to the Spatial Formation they had created inside the Palace. Unlike the girl that was caught by Rale, Master Mao couldn't use the talisman to leave this place. He had to go to the formation that they had created before.
He didn't even think about saving the girl. He knew that it was impossible. All he knew was that it would be bad to save his life.
"Oh? You bought these Zombies to stop me?" High Duke Eston grinned as he saw the five Zombies standing in his path.
The Vampire King just watched High Duke Eston and observed him. High Duke Mila, on the other hand, stood near him, looking at his expressions to get an idea of what he was thinking. She was trying to see if he had any thoughts of interfering or not, but it didn't seem like he had any intentions of that. The Vampire King didn't act suspiciously at all.
High Duke Eston didn't waste much time with the zombies. He simply waved his hand as a gust of wind appeared and flew towards the Zombies. As the gust of wind hit the Zombies, it didn't toss them away like Ryder had expected as he watched this attack of High Duke Eston.
Instead, that gust of wind hit the Zombies and destroyed them instantly.
"Don't leave. The party has just begun!" High Duke Eston muttered as he looked at the back of Master Mao, who was running away. He instantly disappeared from his position and appeared before Master Mao, grabbing his neck.
High Duke Eston caught the neck of Master Mao and raised him in the air before he smashed him on the ground.
The ground cracked from the powerful impact as Master Mao's painful groan echoed in the hallway right at his impact.
High Duke Eston glanced towards Ryder.
"Should I finish him or take him as a hostage for the future?" High Duke Eston asked Ryder.
Ryder didn't reply instantly; instead, he looked towards the Vampire King.
" What do you say? What should we do about him?" he asked the Vampire King. "Should we kill him?"
'If he says yes, then he's definitely involved in this scheme since killing Master Mao would only mean one less witness for us to get information out of,' Ryder thought as he waited for Vampire King's response.
"That depends on you. It's your Kingdom. Don't involve me in this. Still, since I'm here, I'll give you an advice. As the Ruler, getting information out of the enemies is better. You should keep him alive for interrogation. If Death Domain people were able to enter your Palace, then there's a high chance that someone from this place has betrayed you. It's better to find out about that person. The more prisoners you have, the higher your chance is to find the truth. That's just my advice, though. You can decide how you want to deal with this," the Vampire King told Ryder.
"Interesting," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head.
"What do you say, Devilia?" Ryder asked Devilia as he glanced back at her.
" I agree with the Vampire King. There's a good chance that someone has betrayed us. We already have the girl to get the information about this scheme, but the more people we have, the better," Devilia said as she nodded her head as well.
Ryder frowned as he glanced at Devilia.
"Right," he said.
"High Duke Eston, keep him alive," Ryder told High Duke Eston as he smiled.
"Just cut off both his hands for now," he continued before he turned back to focus on the Second Crown Candidate of Death Domain that was still in Rale's grip.
A scream of Master Mao echoed in the hallway as his arms were ripped apart by the High Duke. Ryder didn't look back as he focused on the girl.
"So, little girl. Tell me why you wanted to kill me!" Ryder asked the girl.
"Don't call me a little girl! I'll kill you!" the girl threatened Ryder as she glared at him.
"Well, you're an idiot that dared to enter an enemy's while the enemy was at their strongest. Why would I call you if not a naive little girl? Oh, on that note, I don't even know your name. What's your name?" Ryder asked the girl after sarcastically mocking her.
The girl snorted as she refused to reply.
"Well, I have many ways to get my answers from you, but I'm taking the simpler route for now. Let's see the advantages of having more than one prisoner," Ryder muttered as he smiled.
He glanced back at Master Mao, who was roaring in pain.
"You, little Mao. Tell me her name if you don't want your legs to be torn off as well. You're just an extra, after all. It wouldn't matter even if you die, so don't expect us to go easy if you fail to cooperate," Ryder said to Master Mao.
" Elisia! Her name is Elisia!" Master Mao roared loudly as he saw High Duke Eston stretched his hand out towards his legs.
Ryder glanced back at the girl as he smiled.
"See? Simple," he let out as he chuckled.
He walked closer to Elisia and placed his hands on her soft cheeks.
Elisia had a killer look on her face as she glared at Ryder.
" Elisia is a beautiful name. It suits your beautiful face as well. Now, it would be a real tragedy if that beautiful face wasn't on that beautiful body anymore for some reason. Answer my question, Elisia. Don't test my patience," he said while giving a subtle threat as he looked in her eyes.
"Hah, you're an idiot if you think you'll get any answers from me. The same tricks won't work on me!" Elisia let out as she rolled her eyes.
Ryder had expected a reply like that, but just as he was about to reply, he heard footsteps.
With a curious look on his face, be turned to the order side to see who was coming.
As he saw the person, a smile appeared on his face.
"High Duke Oris, did you deal with the Black Skeleton King?" Ryder inquired.
The person that has just arrived was none other than High Duke Oris, who had stayed behind to take care of the Black Skeleton King and the other enemies.
"Yeah, it's done. The Black Skeleton King is gone forever. Not even the ash of his bones remain. The other enemies also ended up in the same position," High Duke Oris said as he smiled.
"Oh, right. The left portion of the Palace is completely destroyed. You should start thinking about the repair," he continued as he glanced at Devilia.
" I'll get that done. It's nothing," Devilia said, nodding her head.
"Looks like everything went according to the plan here as well. That's good," High Duke Oris said as he nodded his head.
High Duke Oris seemed happy until his smile disappeared instantly as he glanced towards Ryder.
"Not in my watch!" High Duke Oris let out as he disappeared. He didn't use his movement. Instead, he used Teleportation to save whatever little bit of time he could.
While Ryder was confused, he felt a sense of danger. He looked at Elisia's face and saw a smirk on her face.
"Master is here," Elisia let out as she smiled.
