Upon returning to the room, I first returned the babies in Ceo’s, Vival’s, and Laica‘s arms to their mom and the bed before announcing to everyone, “I have made a deal with Awaitsun. I’ve agreed to become the demon king.”
Ceo inhaled sharply. He didn’t release that breath for a long time, looking as if he was going to suffocate. Vival‘s jaw dropped, but he couldn’t utter a single word. Laica even half-fell half-sat onto the bed in shock. Luckily, I placed the babies far away enough. If I hadn’t, our future holy knight would have definitely been squashed into a meat patty. As for Tyler, he seemed just a little surprised and didn’t look that shocked. In fact, he seemed a little… hopeful?
Don’t change your expressions.
I lied to Awaitsun. This was the only way to get him to tell me how the ceremony would be conducted and for him to be willing to participate in it.
Okay, now start quarrelling with me, and don’t let him sense that something is fishy. We still need him for the ceremony to be carried out successfully.
“Sun!” Ceo was the first to display his acting skills. He bellowed, “You promised us that you would never become the demon king! You swore to the God of Light that you would never give up being the Sun Knight. How can you go back on your words now?!”
I shouted back agitatedly, “I don’t have a choice; Roland is already a death monarch. If he becomes the demon king as well, he would become the most terrifying being to exist, and no one would be able to keep him in check. Once he goes berserk, which is pretty common for an undead creature, this world would be doomed!”
Giving a look of disbelief, Vival bellowed, “So you’re going to give up being the Sun Knight just like this?”
“For this world…” I smiled wryly. “This is the only way out. We can’t just stand here and let a worldwide catastrophe occur, can we?”
Everyone fell silent and looked a little remorseful. I guess this was not an act but probably how they actually felt. No matter how much they insist on having me continue being the Sun Knight, if it were to lead to the end of world, it would inevitably make them feel remorseful.
“Please, I really don’t want to become the cause of the world’s end.”
Everyone fell silent for a while. Ceo sighed and said, “Fine, let’s conduct the ceremony right now.”
“No.” I shook my head, saying, “Roland needs to be present for the ceremony to be conducted. In case he plans to kill me, I’m going to set up a trap and catch him.”
Hearing that, Tyler shouted, “Captain would never want to kill his friends!”
That acting is pretty good… No, Tyler isn’t acting. Maybe this is how he really feels?
“He has already killed me once,” I reminded him.
No matter how supportive Tyler was of his captain, with the truth lying in front of him, there was nothing he could say.
“How is the ceremony conducted?” Vival asked curiously.
Awaitsun explained, “There is a specific location that the ceremony is held at, a magic circle left by the Shadow God that can never be replicated. Hence, the ceremony must be held there. Since this magic circle is of the utmost importance, ten shadowpriests, fifty high ranking dark knights, and another thirty archers are regularly assigned to guard the place. As it is a sensitive period right now, I have assigned another five shadowpriests and thirty high ranking dark knights.”
Everyone’s faces started twitching unconsciously after hearing that. Although I had already expected the place to be heavily guarded, it didn’t occur to me that Awaitsun would still have so many armed forces available that hadn’t been sent to clear the creatures of darkness. If I hadn’t made this deal with him, I probably wouldn’t be able to make it through the armed forces even if I had known how the ceremony worked.
Awaitsun continued explaining, “During the fragment transfer process, the two must stand at specific locations in the magic circle. The one who is giving up the power must not resist or have any sense of unwillingness. It has to be voluntary.”
Everyone nodded.
Hey! Hurry up and look surprised and ask how it is possible that Roland won’t resist!
You guys have such lousy acting skills!
Ceo asked hurriedly, “But how is it possible that Roland won’t resist? It’s not like he’s willing to give up his power.”
“Of course it’s possible!” I explained, “Roland puts great importance on his subordinates. We have Illu, and Tyler might be of some use too.”
“You’re going to threaten Captain with me?” Tyler looked stunned.
I nodded and said, “If necessary.”
“Sun…” Vival asked with difficulty, “Tyler is one of the vice-captains of the Holy Temple. Roland won’t believe that we would actually do anything to Tyler. We can’t threaten him like that, can we?”
“We wouldn’t, but Awaitsun would!” I explained the process in further detail. “The person who will use Illu and Tyler to threaten Roland in the end won’t be you guys. In fact, all you have to do is pretend to be held hostage and let the whole situation appear as if Awaitsun has taken control of everyone. He will then be in charge of threatening Roland with the two of them into letting me become the demon king.”
However, in actuality, I will secretly untie you guys so all of you will be able to capture Awaitsun and completely turn the situation around, letting Roland become the demon king. Got it?
“…You’re too god damn despicable!” Laica uttered his true thoughts aloud in a stupor.
“How ingenious.” Awaitsun smiled wryly.
“He’s been despicable and shameless from the start!” Alice added while patting the baby’s back.
“Your husband is going to work under me in the future. Didn’t you hear how he said I was ingenious just now? And yet you dare say that I’m despicable and shameless. Beware of me bullying your husband in the future,” I directed toward the princess.
Alice screamed, “Then beware of me telling my handsome son and beautiful daughter to create havoc in the Church of the God of Light when they work there as a holy knight and a cleric in the future!”
“…You’re too despicable!”
“Look who’s talking,” Alice retorted.
Turning around, I told Awaitsun, “Since the deal has already been made, go make the arrangements as I said. Be hasty, we can’t let the lands of darkness expand anymore.”
Awaitsun nodded and said, “Understood!”
“Since you’ve got nothing better to do right now, continue to help me babysit my children!” Alice said while placing the baby she had been holding in my hands.
“…”
Once Awaitsun and Alice had left, there were no outsiders in the room anymore except the baby in my hands.
“I should have asked Alice for this kid’s name…”
Ceo immediately answered, “I already asked. His name is Shuis, and I have already claimed him, so don’t fight with me!”
“…for the next generation of the Twelve Holy Knights?” I asked in disbelief, “Isn’t he a little too young for that? He’ll be at most seven years old by the time of the selections.”
Ceo shrugged, saying, “In theory, the selection is mainly for children ages eight to twelve. However, it should be okay if the child is slightly older or younger!”
I suddenly remembered the pair of siblings we had met on the way here, Elaro and Ludia. Elaro seemed a bit too old. He’ll probably be fourteen by the time of the selections?
Laica grunted, “Isn’t it a little too early to be talking about the selections right now? Let’s solve the problem of the demon king first before bringing it up!”
“Sun, you’re really…” Vival hesitated for a moment before asking softly, “Is there anyone eavesdropping?”
I shook my head. “No. Don’t worry! No eavesdropper can escape my sensing ability.”
“How did you come up with this plan?” Vival couldn’t resist asking, “You even tricked Silent Eagle, and he really thinks that you’re going to be the demon king!”
I shrugged and said, “It wasn’t that hard. He believes that most people wouldn’t decline such great powers, especially if the reason for obtaining this great power is world peace. Any normal person wouldn’t say no to it!”
“That’s true.” Vival joked, “But too bad our Sun Knight has never been a normal person.”
Then Tyler suddenly asked, “If you are not going to be the demon king, will Captain have to take on the role of being the demon king?”
After a moment of silence, I said, “Yes.”
Tyler opened his mouth, but he couldn’t utter a word. Finally, he asked with much difficulty, “Then must we really use me to threaten Captain?”
I immediately replied, “We have nothing else we can use to threaten him; you and Illu are our only choices. However, as I’m still unsure of the relationship between Roland and Illu, we must have you in case Illu alone is not enough to threaten Roland!”
Tyler glared at me as if he was trying hard to hold back something that he wanted to say… Although, I could already more or less deduce what he wanted to say. It was probably about how despicable and shameless I was or something along those lines.
“Tyler!” Ceo bellowed.
Tyler’s body tensed up. He then lowered his head and replied stiffly, “I am sorry, Knight-Captain Sun. I will do as you say.”
With that, he turned around and walked out of the room tensely without even reporting his destination.
Watching him leave, I just let him go without stopping him or asking him where he was going.
Vival patted my shoulder as he said, “Don’t worry about it. Either you or Roland has to become the demon king.”
I muttered, “I’m truly… very sorry.”
“What are you apologizing for!?” Laica shouted, “Tyler has always been Hell in the past. It’s just things going back to how they had been!”
Turning around, I looked at the three of them and couldn’t help but ask, “Do you guys feel that Roland is an outsider, so he’s less important than the others?”
All three fell silent. Ceo then replied reluctantly, “As the Hell Knight, Roland was doing pretty well. Actually, I was even starting to get used to him being Knight-Captain Hell… But what difference does it make? Stop thinking too much. Let’s get things done and return to the Church.”
I nodded. Vival suddenly said, “This has nothing to do with being an outsider or not. Because you’re the Sun Knight, even if the choice of becoming the demon king is between you and Judgment, we would still choose to keep you and let Judgment be the demon king.”
I was stunned, but then I saw the other two nod their heads as well.
“Laica Metal, let me tell you this. We can afford to lose anybody except the Sun Knight! If necessary, we would even sacrifice ourselves in order to keep the Sun Knight safe!” After Laica yelled that, he returned to his normal volume and said, “That was what my teacher yelled at me!”
The previous generation’s Metal Knight was indeed one with a very loud voice. The content of his words was pretty poisonous too. The combined effect of that and his shocking volume made him fit his title as the Metal Knight very well.
“All of our teachers taught us that way.” Ceo smiled and continued, “The only teacher who wouldn’t teach that is probably the Sun Knight.”
Grudgingly, I replied, “As if it’s possible for my teacher to teach something like that. He himself did so many dangerous things. Once, he even went to challenge a hundred and fifty fully armed bandits just by himself!”
“Seriously!” Laica sighed, “The Sun Knight of every generation seems to have a tendency of seeking death when they’ve got nothing better to do! No wonder all the other holy knights have to desperately tell their students to save the Sun Knight at all costs.”
Who would like to seek death when they’ve got nothing better to do… Ignoring Laica’s malicious remarks, I said, “I’m going to find Awaitsun and discuss the specifics of the plan. Ceo, you will go and bring Tyler back. Don’t let him think too much alone. It would be bad if he runs away.”
“Then what are Laica and I going to do?” Vival asked suspiciously.
“Stay here and babysit.”
“…”
I approached Awaitsun’s room. He and other high-ranking dark knights lived together in another cathedral building. Although he had a whole room to himself, his room was far from luxurious… But that was in comparison to the room for Captain Eagle. Actually, the room he currently lived in was similar to my room in the Holy Temple.
On the contrary, the room Alice and her babies lived in was a much more luxurious room, and they even had two maids. From this alone, we could say that Awaitsun was worth praising. In order to go through thick and thin with his fellow dark knights, he was even willing to live apart from his wife!
No wonder the other dark knights really respect him… But I’m still planning to ask him to move back to the main building because it’s too troublesome to walk all the way to another building to look for him!
As I approached the door, the guards at the door immediately saluted me and opened the door without a single word. They didn’t even knock. Aren’t they afraid of finding their Silent Eagle doing something unspeakable?
I walked in. Expectedly, Awaitsun was indeed not doing anything unspeakable. He was looking down and going through a pile of documents. Hearing movement, he immediately looked up and seemed a little surprised to see me.
I immediately explained, “Your guards are really weird. They let me in without even knocking on the door.”
Awaitsun laughed and said, “That is because it is you, sir. You are able to go anywhere you want in the Shadow Cathedral.”
After pondering for a while, I asked, “Are all of you being so polite because you’re afraid of angering the demon king and the possible grave outcome it may bring?”
“Yes,” Awaitsun replied honestly, “We know that the demon king is going to be born soon, so all the dark knights in this generation have been trained to address the demon king with respect.”
I joked, “You’re in trouble. Now that I know, it won’t work on me anymore.”
“Indeed, that is bad.” Smiling, Awaitsun replied, “But never slap a smiler, right?”
I shook my head, saying, “With your face, no matter what expression you make, it would be so handsome that I would want to terminate you. You should be rejoicing that I’m blind.
Awaitsun’s bright smile immediately turned into a pained one. It seemed that he had suffered because of his face before. Being too handsome is indeed a sin!
“Let’s get back to the main business! I’ve already finished the first step of our deal, so isn’t it time for you to show some sincerity?”
“Yes, surprisingly, they did not question a thing.” Awaitsun said in disbelief, “Why didn’t they suspect whether or not you’re really going to become the demon king?”
“Because I’m the Sun Knight and they are very used to following my orders. Also, they know that I wouldn’t easily give up on being the Sun Knight for the prospect of being the demon king.”
Awaitsun looked at me and asked, “Is it really okay to trick them?”
I replied indifferently, “There’s nothing okay or not okay about it, it’s just that this is what I have to do!”
“Why don’t you tell them directly that you want to be the demon king?” Awaitsun voice dropped. “Your attitude is worrying me. Maybe the person you’re trying to trick is not them but me! Although you’re saying you want to become the demon king, maybe, in the end, it will be Roland who becomes the demon king–”
I cut him off coldly, “I never wanted to become the demon king, but I will never give up being the Sun Knight either! Even if I have to become the demon king in order to be the Sun Knight!”
After giving it some thought, Awaitsun answered promptly, “I understand now. I will not suspect you again, sir.”
“Good, then tell me all the details of the ceremony.”
“Why?” Although Awaitsun said that he would not suspect me again, his eyes showed suspicion. Skeptically, he said, “I will be there too. I can just tell you what to do during the ceremony.”
Harshly, I replied, “Because I don’t like any form of uncertainty! What if you regret your choice when the time comes? What if you’re just lying to me and your real intention is to make Roland the demon king?”
Awaitsun’s expression changed immediately and he replied nervously, “I would not–”
I interrupted, “If you can suspect that I’m actually planning to let Roland become the demon king, then why can’t I suspect your intentions too? Not to mention, you’ve even gone back on your word before! When I lost my mind, didn’t you change to support Roland instead?”
Awaitsun opened his mouth, but there was nothing he could say to rebut me.
“In order to ensure that everything will be carried out smoothly, I must know every single detail!”
Frowning, Awaitsun questioned, “What if I don’t want to tell you?”
Nonchalantly, I replied, “Then I will capture you right now and the dark knights nearby as well. If they can stay so close to you, there must be a rather close bond between you guys. And then, using psychic magic, I will tell Ceo to kidnap your wife. As for your children, two of them are already in Laica’s and Vival’s hands.”
“You.. you…” After “you”ing for a long time, Awaitsun finally spoke through gritted teeth, “You really are the demon king!”
Without disagreeing, I replied, “Not yet, actually!”
Awaitsun looked so angry he seemed on the verge of vomiting blood.
While gathering dark element, I said, “I will give you ten seconds to decide whether you’re going to tell me or not. Ten, nine, eight, seven…”
“Alright!” He clenched his teeth. Then he revealed every single detail of how to conduct the ceremony. During this period, I carefully observed his heartbeat and expression to ensure that he wasn’t lying.
After disclosing everything, Awaitsun had such a gloomy face that I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him. “Since you’ve already told me everything, you might as well just sit back and wait for my plan to succeed!”
Hearing that, Awaitsun looked at me with an even more worried expression.
“You excel in coming up with plans, and you don’t care if those plans hold any righteousness. However, you’re able to uphold an honest and righteous image in front of so many. You even have many who are willing to sacrifice the world’s safety just to save you. When you become the demon king in the future, you’ll have great power. When that time comes, you’ll even have two churches under your influence… I have a feeling you might be the most fearsome demon king in all of history!”
Displeased, I asked, “What? You regret supporting me now?”
“A little.” Awaitsun sighed. “But in comparison, I’m more fearful of having the deceased become the demon king, so you don’t have to worry.”
I snorted. This person keeps changing the person he supports. Although he’s thinking of the future of the world, it’s still rather annoying!
Awaitsun continued quietly, “But being fearsome also means having great power and ability. Now I’m really curious, just what kind of impact would a demon king like you have on this world?”
Turning my head around to face him, I said, “Nothing. You know my plans. I want to be the Sun Knight. It just happens that I will also be the demon king. “
Without a choice, Awaitsun replied, “A demon king part-timing as the Sun Knight. You’re probably the only one who would do that!”
“It’s a Sun Knight part-timing as the demon king!” I corrected him.
“…Forget it! In any case, it has already been recorded in history that, no matter which generation, stubbornness is an unchanging characteristic of every demon king.” Smiling forcefully, Awaitsun continued, “But then again, you must be one of the most stubborn ones, sir. In that sense, you really are the most suitable to become the demon king!”
