Chapter 84
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Francis carefully pushed the wheelchair and took Duke of Rock into the bedroom.
Although Duke Rock still looked haggard, he was obviously more energetic than yesterday.
As far as Hughes knew, Duke Rock was now 42 years old, which was the prime of human life. As a seasoned warrior, this age should have been his golden period for achieving great things.
Saving him was the right thing to do. Hughes was relieved.
Francis was about to speak when his pupils suddenly trembled and his eyes fell on the big orange cat in Zeus's arms.
Did this cat appear yesterday? No, when did she appear? Is she also a child of the Isius family?
Francis had a few doubts in his eyes, but he didn't ask because he felt it was not something he could ask.
There are three cats in this house. How much does Mr. Isius like cats? Moreover, the three cats don't seem to be ordinary people, and they seem to be smarter than humans.
Duke Rock was unaware of Francis's doubts, and he entered the room for only one thing.
He said to Isius solemnly: "Thank you, Mr. Isius, my curse has caused you trouble."
Xius shook his head and said, "You're welcome. You are a hero who defends a country. You don't need to be humble to me."
Francis, who was standing by, could not help but feel a little surprised, because he keenly caught the subtle details in the other person's words. Usually, people would use identity words such as "You are the Duke of a country" as a reason not to be polite, but Mr. Isius never mentioned it. This is enough to show that in Mr. Isius's eyes, contribution and dedication to human society far outweighs personal glory and status.
In other words, what is really important in his values are practical actions and contributions to society, rather than empty titles and status.
Although Francis had vaguely sensed that Mr. Isius was unusual when they first met, he still felt a little shocked from time to time after they had a really in-depth communication.
Francis was not a person who valued status. He always thought that high and low status was ridiculous, although he had to admit that the current social system of the Roman Kingdom still needed to be maintained by status differences.
Duke Rock understood what he meant, as if he understood Isius's character after just a few words, and said in a calm tone: "Mr. Isius, they said you collapsed from exhaustion yesterday, are you okay now?"
Xius said calmly: "It's okay, just a little tired. I will recover after a night's sleep."
Duke Rock nodded and smiled, "If you need anything, whether it's items or help, please let us know. As long as we can provide it, we will do our best to meet your needs."
Hughes thought for a moment and replied, "I don't want anything in particular."
Francis suddenly remembered at this time and said to Isius, "Mr. Isius, we have prepared the books related to alchemy. As long as Mr. Isius is free, we can arrange a meeting between you and the national great alchemist at any time."
This was the purpose of Hughes's coming here, but he almost forgot it after a good night's sleep.
Hughes turned to look at Francis, and was not polite. It was a good thing for the effort, and very reasonable.
By the way, in the morning he heard singing and music from afar in the imperial city, and became interested in the gathering of wandering poets, feeling that it was an event not to be missed.
He thought for a moment and replied, "Thank you. I hope to stay in your country for a few more days to listen to poetry gatherings and exchange ideas. But I may need to go back once a day and get the help of the space magician."
Francis curved his eyebrows slightly, revealing a very contagious smile, "Okay, absolutely, I'll arrange it later."
Watching their conversation, Duke Rock smiled faintly and asked, "Is there anything else you need?"
Xius shook his head: "Not for now."
Duke Rock smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if you can't think of it for now. If you have any ideas in the future, just tell me. Mr. Isius is a rare talent in the human race. I express my gratitude to you not only for saving my life, but more out of admiration and gratitude for your outstanding talent."
Xiu Si was flattered and a little embarrassed. He thought for a moment before saying, "I am just doing my best. Your Excellency the Duke is the human shield and a unique talent in the kingdom."
Once two polite people start being polite, it's hard to stop.
Fortunately, there was also Francis present.
Francis said, "It's okay, I'll send someone to arrange it, Mr. Isius, please rest assured."
Hughes: “Thank you very much.”
At this point, Duke Rock's face darkened, and he didn't know whether he should bring up a certain topic.
Mr. Isius must have been targeted by a god-level being. The other party is insidious and cunning, and has terrible murderous intentions and malicious intent towards Mr. Isius.
Should he tell Mr. Isius? In theory, Mr. Isius himself should know about it.
Duke Rock was hesitating when he suddenly felt a gaze. He looked up and found that it was the orange cat in Mr. Isius's arms looking at him.
The orange cat's eyes are gentle, yet they carry an unquestionable strength.
It was as if He was warning him not to trace it back because it was not something he could interfere with.
Duke Rock is a high-level human being, so how could he not feel it - the orange cat's status is far higher than his.
Duke Rock had to understand.
After a few minutes, the greeting was almost over.
Francis wanted to send someone to take care of Hughes and the tour guide on a daily basis, but Hughes declined.
The reason was that his orange kitten seemed to be very familiar with the Roman Kingdom and did not need to trouble anyone else.
After they left, Hughes asked his little orange cat.
"Bruce, do you live in the Roman Kingdom?"
The orange cat nodded, but since Pangpang had no neck, his nod was not very obvious.
Xius glanced at the sunlight outside, then turned and said, "Shall we go out for a walk later?"
Zeus had the habit of taking walks in modern times, but he changed it after arriving in the other world, because those years were too dangerous and you would die if you took a walk, so there was no space to relax.
Now we are in a peaceful age, so as the saying goes, we should combine work with rest, and proper relaxation is also necessary.
The orange cat meowed, raised its face, and its emerald eyes were crystal clear.
"Hmm? You said you've lived here for over a hundred years?"
There was a flash of shock in Zeus' eyes. He had to be shocked. More than a hundred years was enough for him to die, but he didn't know that his own child had stayed here for more than a hundred years.
As time goes by, there is an indescribable feeling of sourness.
Zeus lowered his eyes and stroked the orange cat's head.
The sunlight shone sparsely through the cracks in the window, covering the orange cat with a layer of golden glow.
The child is warm, like a soft little sun.
Noticing his gaze, He raised his head curiously, just as he did before, as if the thousands of years of time gap did not exist.
He has not grown up or changed, and is still the good child in his memory.
Xiu Si was silent for a while, then smiled and said, "Let's go and take Dad and my brothers shopping."
"Meow!"
Daju was overjoyed. He kicked his feet and jumped to the ground nimbly.
The red cat hasn't reacted yet.
The shorthair kitten tilted its head.
Are we going out, meow?
Hughes turned around and took out the cat basket, but then he remembered that his child had grown up, and although he looked small, he was no longer small.
As a parent, he couldn't be too protective. Besides, it was a nice sunny day outside, and it was a waste to let the kids lie in the cat basket after going out.
After one night, Xius's mood changed somewhat.
He asked the children, "Do you want to go for a walk by yourself or stay in the basket?
The two cats didn't care and answered with "meow meow meow", indicating that it was whatever their father liked.
Xiu Si really couldn't do anything about them, "I always feel like I'm the one being taken care of by you guys."
Hearing this, the little dwarf cat walked closer with soft steps, not knowing what he was thinking, and rubbed its furry face against his arm.
If cuteness could kill, Zeus would have no idea how many times he had been killed by his own children.
He thought that the dwarf kitten was small after all, and if it walked into a crowded place, it might be accidentally stepped on by people, so it was better for it to stay in the cat basket.
Whatever. He squatted down and touched the cat's paw, thinking that the streets of the Roman Kingdom were not very clean, and it would not be good to dirty the kitty's paw.
But my big orange cat is so big that the cat basket can’t hold it.
Hughes looked at the orange cat.
The orange cat nodded confidently, as if saying: Father meow, I can go shopping by myself meow.
Zeus smiled again, as if he had thought of something, and stretched out his hand to the orange cat.
The orange cat blinked, lowered his head, and soon seemed to have thought of something, so he stretched out his claws.
Hughes gently squeezed the cat's paw, as if to feel the size of the paw.
He lowered his head and thought: "Should I wear shoes?"
The orange cat's eyes lit up.
Half a minute later, Zeus really made a pair of furry shoes made of measuring claws, and they were orange-furred. After he put them on, it looked like he was not wearing shoes.
The orange cat looked at its paw in surprise, lifted it up and looked left and right, then meowed with satisfaction and rubbed Zeus' hand with its face.
The other two cats opened their eyes wide, unable to hide their envy.
How could Hughes forget them? He also made fur shoes for them.
As a modeler, he can't help making small things out of his professional habit, and he is somewhat detail-oriented.
He couldn't control his mind towards his own cute little cat, and when he came to his senses, he had already dressed up his child.
He was worried that they didn't like these, which would make them uncomfortable and affect their activities, but surprisingly, they all seemed to like them very much.
There was nothing he could do for the children, and he had been focusing on his own upgrades lately, seemingly neglecting the children.
I need to spend more time with him, Hughes reflected.
After about half an hour of preparation, he first found the housekeeper of the mansion, got the cutting-edge books related to alchemy, and obtained special letters of recommendation from several national alchemists.
Before leaving, Francis rushed to the door to see him off and told him the best tourist routes in the imperial city.
After a few pleasantries, around 10:30, Hughes successfully arrived at the bustling neighborhood.
The orange cat walked in front and the man walked behind. The man was holding a basket with two cats in it.
This scene is rare in any country, so it attracted the attention of passers-by as soon as it appeared.
"Oh my~ What a cute cat! This gentleman actually brought a cat out for shopping."
"I haven't seen him before. Is he a gentleman from out of town?"
"Little short-legged cat, look here. Auntie has some dried fish here."
The Roman Kingdom is indeed a country that loves cats. Not long after Zeus left the house, there were already a lot of cat food in the cat basket.
After more than ten minutes, he finally found a relatively quiet park.
The sun was high in the sky and the sunlight was bright. He felt refreshed. He found a soft grass, put down the cat basket, and slowly sat down.
Pedestrians passed by, chatting about different topics.
Maybe the sun is too bright.
Xius felt relaxed and recalled some things from the past.
He then looked into the distance and said, "You know, your eldest brother was also as young as you. At that time, Baal was only level 1, newly created, and could not even walk well. He fell down countless times a day."
The three demons were suddenly shocked.
The story of the eldest brother's childhood! They couldn't help but perk up and showed very curious eyes.
"My uncle and aunt were all there at the time, and I introduced Bal to them. They were all incredulous, wondering how I could have really given birth to a child."
That scene seemed to appear in Xius's eyes.
That day, the mottled shadows of the trees fell on the grass. He squatted down and placed his hands on the ground with his palms facing up. A flash of lightning appeared, and his palm-sized cub slowly walked out of his palms, staggering as if it would fall down in the next second, but it was very stubborn and refused any help.
Cute, but naturally strong.
Xiu Si recalled: "Your eldest brother has been independent and self-reliant since he was young. One time, Uncle Mingjie teased him, and he hit him so hard that he cried and never dared to tease him again."
The three demons were stunned.
Hughes added: "Your eldest brother has never liked to joke around since he was a kid."
Before he finished speaking, the three demons looked at each other, their backs felt cold, and they even felt phantom pain. Big Brother didn't like jokes, but they played such a big joke on him...
The short-legged cat flinched.
The violent red cat thinks that we have so many demons, almost a dozen of them, even the big brother would find it difficult, right?
Don’t be afraid, when the enemy comes, we will fight back. When the big brother comes, we will fight together!
But the orange cat thinks it's just the difference between one punch and two punches.
To be honest, it's not too late for Him to betray these guys now.
But He turned and looked at His Father.
Xius's eyes were still filled with reminiscence, his gaze was rarely seen gentle, and the corners of his lips were slightly raised with a faint smile.
The three demons looked at Xiusi like this and their thoughts were almost the same.
——To my father, my eldest brother is the most special one.
No matter at any time, the eldest brother is the most powerful demon among them.
My father trusts and relies on my eldest brother the most.
If my eldest brother came back, my father would probably only have eyes for him.
Meow.
The three demons bowed their heads, with mixed feelings. They knew their father loved them equally, but their eldest brother's presence was too strong.
Just then, some people passing by were discussing a topic loudly.
"Have you heard? It seems that the alliance is going to have a big reckoning."
"I heard it's something about the hero, right?"
"Yes, the Alliance has recently been clearing up old scores with certain families. I heard that when the heroes stood up to resist the foreign enemies, some families not only did not give due support, but also secretly obstructed and tried to obstruct the actions of the heroes. After the heroes successfully repelled the enemy, they even betrayed the heroes. This behavior is really outrageous, and the Alliance is investigating the crimes of these families one by one."
Hearing this, Xius's expression changed slightly.
They are still talking.
A young man who looked righteous said, "This is really a sensational event. I heard that many magic families are involved. These families have deep foundations and influence in the magic field. Even the Alliance dare not take action against them easily. The interests involved are complicated. If we are not careful, it may cause a big storm and lead to the collapse of the human alliance."
Someone nearby looked worried: "Ah, we have finally united together. If this incident breaks the alliance——"
The righteous young man was immediately angry. "What do you mean? Which is more important, justice or alliance? Without heroes, we would have been extinct long ago! So what if they are from a magic family? They deserve to die!"
They were almost arguing on the spot, and one of them was so indignant and furious that the scene was very tense and a fight could break out at any time.
The man on the other side even said, "It's just the wrong thing to say. I support liquidation and the recovery of the heroes who disappeared in the subspace. I'm just afraid of causing bloodshed."
The third person said, "I know you are afraid, but don't be afraid yet. Norman Till is behind this matter. Don't you know how powerful he is? With him around, things can always be solved."
The righteous young man said: "We should have dealt with them long ago. If I were a child of their family, I would commit suicide right now, bah!"
They walked over arguing, and because they were too excited, they didn't pay much attention to the surrounding eyes.
Xius looked at their backs, thoughtfully.
He almost forgot that he had previously played the role of the Lord of the Abyss and asked the Alliance to find the hero.
It seems that they have indeed started to take action, not only actively searching for the missing heroes, but also thoroughly settling accounts with the past.
It’s okay to reflect on it, but the problem is not what was added later, but why this happened.
Could it be that there are human reasons behind the disappearance of his five good friends?
Are these people simply repaying kindness with enmity, selling out the heroes for their own selfish gain, or are there deeper forces behind the scenes manipulating and manipulating things?
Hughes sensed something was wrong and couldn't help but think of Roger and Justin.
Roger and Justin are the parties involved. What is their attitude towards these things?
Hughes thought about his previous conversation with Justin.
At that time, Justin almost looked down on it and had no intention of looking back on the past.
Maybe it’s because I’m old and I don’t have the energy anymore.
but……
Zeus' eyes were dark. The misfortune that happened to his friend made him feel deeply uncomfortable and angry.
And what can he do for his friends?
Without strength, nothing can be done.
Hughes is very clear about the underlying logic of how this world works.
That Norman Till sounds very reliable, let's see what happens next.
Xius had a premonition that he would see Wang Changer, Ye Qingyi and others again soon.
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at the same time.
At the sorority party, things are going awry.
Let’s not talk about the group of people who are going crazy in the family group. The most important thing now is——
Aini said bluntly: "Why haven't Barbatos and the others come yet?"
It’s not like they haven’t been late before. At one point they were late for a month.
Their concept of time has become blurred due to the length of their lives, so being late by one or two days is understandable.
But as the initiator of the banquet, shouldn't Barbatos appear first?
It has been several days now, and not only has he not shown up, he has not even appeared in the family group, and there has been no response to private calls.
This situation can only be described as abnormal.
Therefore, they could only think of one possibility - something might have happened to Barbatos.
Waliver frowned, slowly stood up, and said to Aini and Buyer: "We have to find Barbatos."
Buyer, who was named, stood up on the spot and said subconsciously: "Okay, I'll go with Sixth Sister."
Aini agrees, but there is a problem.
"What if they come as soon as we leave?"
Valive thought, "You stay here, I will go with Buyer."
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Half an hour later.
Wallifer and Buyer appeared in the warp.
As is well known to the demons, their eighth-ranked compatriot Barbatos resides in the Eternal Forest in the Warp, but he is rarely there. He travels around all year round and is a true E-demon.
He maintains close ties with humans from all major civilizations and is keen on dealing with different races.
At the same time, He is also the demon who responds most actively to summons. If there are a thousand contractors of Eliorg on the continent, then the number of contractors of Barbatos can reach an astonishing ten thousand. He often appears next to the contractors on his own initiative, looking for various things to do, so it is very troublesome to find him.
They soon arrived at Barbatos' primitive palace built in the forest.
This place is almost identical to the oriental gardens in my father’s memory, with courtyards full of mountains and rivers, birds singing and flowers blooming, and even the bricks and tiles on the ground are carefully carved.
But as expected, Barbatos was not at home.
Buyer searched around and finally stopped under the shade of a tree, looking at the lake in the center of the garden.
Barbatos is a demon who loves life very much. Although he is not as good as his sixth sister Valive in various skills and often messes up things due to carelessness, this has never hindered his persistence and perseverance in what he loves.
There are all kinds of demons among his compatriots, but among all the demons, Barbatos is definitely the one with the best personality.
At least that's what Buyer thought.
"Where did Sister Barbatos go?"
Buyer couldn't help but feel a little worried.
Walliver came over and asked thoughtfully, "When was the last time you saw Barbatos?"
Buyer recalled, "Three years ago?"
Wallifer asked, "Did He show any unusual behavior?"
Buyer shook his head. "He is the same as always, always worrying about human affairs, helping children catch kites or something like that."
Barbatos occasionally reveals his childish side, like a demon that never grows up. Buyer has seen him running around in the form of a human girl. Amon often uses the image of a boy around ten years old, and Barbatos' image is even younger than Amon, only about six or seven years old.
Sometimes, Buyer couldn't understand what He was thinking.
Buyer was silent for a moment, then suddenly said seriously: "I think He is in some trouble."
Waliver nodded and added, "It shouldn't be his own trouble. He got into trouble because he helped someone solve their problem."
Boyer agrees.
Valive continued, "I guess the reason why Barbatos urgently convened the sisterhood meeting was to gather the strength of all of us sister demons to jointly deal with and solve his troubles."
Buyer frowned. "Is it so troublesome? Do we sisters have to work together to solve it?"
This level of trouble is at least the ultimate existence of the first echelon.
Barbatos was careless, but he wouldn't provoke the Ultimate Being for no reason, right?
Buyer was genuinely concerned: “If this is the case, it’s no small matter.”
Wallifer nodded: "I'll ask Vashak to find it."
Having said that, He directly called Vashak privately in the spiritual domain.
Vashak was drowsy at the time and almost didn't hear the call. Fortunately, he managed to open his eyes a little.
After hearing what Valive said, Vashak looked heavy-hearted and answered first: "I'll look for it."
Ten minutes later, Vashak frowned slightly and answered Valive.
"I can't find it. Either it has gone into the dream, or it is in a remote place in the subspace."
"Remote" is remote relative to the mainland. Distance is an obstacle to finding things, and the farther away, the greater the obstacle.
Vashak thought for a moment and said, "Let's ask Bachin. He knows a lot about the Warp and he is also close to Barbatos. He should know something."
"good."
Waliver turned and asked Patchin.
Bachin was taking a bath at this time. He felt sleepy again and again, and almost fell asleep several times, which scared Eliog on the remote end and made him scream.
After hearing about Barbatos, Bachin frowned and quickly collected information. After a few minutes, he said, "The last time he appeared was three months ago, at the Great Hall of the Dawn Church in the Chaos Empire."
Valipher frowned and asked in confusion, "Why did He go there?"
The Chaos Empire, also known as the Chaos Empire, used to be a single-faith country that worshipped the alien god number 001. It was powerful and advocated the use of force. The kings of all generations were top ten masters ranked in the human race. The royal family was the country's strongest force, and everyone from top to bottom was a militant.
It is only in the last hundred years or so that their country has gradually changed.
Walifur was quite familiar with human countries. He had spent some time in the Chaos Empire. In his impression, the Chaos Empire was a relatively stable country. Under the strong rule of the Chaos royal family, those who messed around would not have a good ending, and death was even the easiest option.
Buyer repeated the word "Church of Dawn" and his eyes gradually became solemn.
He knew that the Church of Dawn was related to the mastermind, who had attempted to kill Eliog but failed, and had attempted to kill the devil Beelzebub with a borrowed knife but failed, and then had set his sights on Barbatos?
How dare you!
Buell's anger bar was immediately filled to the brim.
Although he knew that Barbatos would be fine, as his powers were [Isolation] and [Connection] and he was the demon who could best escape in the first place, he was still angry.
What if it really was the work of that rat behind the scenes?
"Sixth sister, let's go to the Chaos Empire!"
Buyer broke the void with one punch, causing gusts of wind.
Wallifer was stunned for a moment, thinking that although Barbatos was in trouble, it should be fine at this stage. When did Buyer take it so seriously?
It's not the first time that Barbatos' character has gotten into trouble. Well...but it does need to be resolved as soon as possible.
Wallifer nodded and said, "Let's do a thorough search first."
"good!"
Buyer was as eager to try as a jumping cat.
While Valifer was concentrating on finding the demon, he did not forget to glance at Buyer.
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at this time.
Bachin walked out of the bath, drying his hair with a towel while searching for intelligence, and finally came to a large monitoring room.
"Let's sort out the situation."
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16:00 pm Roman Kingdom time.
Hughes sat on a park bench, flipping through a book on alchemy.
As time passed, the sunlight gradually became softer, casting mottled light and shadows through the sparse leaves.
His idea was indeed correct. Alchemists were the profession closest to the Creator, and a lot of knowledge and insights were related to him.
He saw a lot of similarities and kept comparing them in his mind, but in the end he saw differences.
Or the difference. Or even the gap.
Compared to the Creator class, the Alchemist class is significantly smaller.
What alchemy can do, creation can do.
What creation can do, alchemy cannot.
It is both the difference between a large scope and a small scope, and the difference between a high level and a low level.
Creation is not a useless profession. On the contrary, it is a level higher than alchemist.
Alchemy mostly relies on matter, but creation is out of nothing. The matter used is imaginary matter, and the structure conceived is an imaginary structure.
It comes from "emptiness", but if you dwell on it, you will find that it is not completely empty.
For example, he did imagine matter and created wood out of thin air, but that was because he knew the existence of "wood" before that.
If he didn't know what wood was and didn't have the concept of "wood", he wouldn't be able to create wood.
Therefore, creating wood out of thin air, such a "creation out of thin air", is not pure creation.
Not empty enough.
It seemed as if Hughes had entered the narrow gate of truth and was thinking about an ultimate question.
He said to himself: "What it means is... I want to go beyond 'imagination based on experience' and conceive something that has never been seen before."
He was suddenly shocked and had a new understanding in his heart.
A breeze blew, and a few leaves slowly fell, briefly revealing their intricate leaf patterns in his eyes.
He seemed to understand it again.
Leaves are so complex, are they naturally that way or are they designed by mind?
If we think about it further, is the world so complex by nature or is it designed by mind?
Is this world just a collection of countless creations, some perfect, some incomplete, creations of different levels shuffled together?
What do these assumptions mean?
Several thoughts flashed through his mind, but he finally stopped thinking at the last second before he got stuck in a dead end. He rubbed his forehead, gradually calmed down, and met the gaze of the orange cat who was concerned about him.
Seeing that his child seemed to be worried about him, Xius' heart warmed, and he almost couldn't help burying his face in the orange cat's furry belly again.
"Meow~"
The orange cat lay on Zeus' legs with both paws raised, as if to say, Father meow, don't force yourself meow.
Zeus gently grasped His paw and smiled, "It's okay. The hard work now is to save you from hard work in the future."
After a while, it was dark and Hughes got up and took the children home.
-
at the same time.
Beelzebub, who was investigating the Church of the Dawn, entered an unfamiliar territory.
The surroundings were dark and damp, the buildings were old and dilapidated, and the air was filled with thick dust.
Ordinary people would probably be unable to hold back their sneezing.
Beelzebub's expression was indifferent. He just glanced around and finally his eyes fell straight ahead.
A few rays of sunlight shone in, casting three bright and dazzling horizontal bars on the black coffin.
Eliog had been ambushed before when he was close to the enemy, and this time would probably be no exception.
But who is Beelzebub?
He had to face the challenge head on.
He used his magical power to control the entire scene and directly locked onto the black coffin with his mind.
The other party seemed to have not expected Him to be so powerful and wanted to take the black coffin back immediately.
Beelzebub's eyes turned cold, and he made a prompt decision, unleashing the power of [Destruction] on the black coffin.
The other party seemed not to have expected him to be so outrageous, completely disregarding the life and death of the person in the black coffin.
Beelzebub caught this moment of surprise.
Beelzebub smiled, and his magic instantly controlled the black coffin.
Then, the black coffin was driven by magic, rolled hundreds of times and rolled in front of Beelzebub, and was included in his domain.
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