Chapter 141: Dawn: The Demon Prince's Provocation [VIP]
"May I have your name?"
Xiao Yun asked in the calmest voice possible.
"I am……"
The boy smiled playfully. "My father refused to give me a name. Uncle Jarris said he couldn't think of a suitable name for me at the moment, so I secretly ran to Uncle Lucien. The gentle and kind Uncle Lucien will definitely give me a cute name~"
“…”
"Uncle Lucien doesn't like me?"
The boy tilted his head and made what he thought was a cute expression.
"To make everyone like me, I deliberately adjusted my appearance to be incredibly similar to Uncle Yaris's, except for his eyes—Yaris's eyes are so unique that I can't even replicate them exactly. But that doesn't matter. I'm already beautiful enough the way I am now. But it's strange. Why, even though I'm so cute and beautiful, everyone still gets scared when they see me. Only Uncle Yaris doesn't hate me, because he can't see me."
"What did you say? What's wrong with Yaris?"
"He's almost completely blind."
The Demon Prince sneered and said, "Everything has a price. The more he does for you, the higher the price he must pay."
“…”
"I almost forgot to tell you. According to His plan, I shouldn't be born until mid-April. However, He is a foolish and ignorant beast, and I am the product of thousands of years of human conspiracy and calculation. My growth rate and intelligence far exceed His expectations. I sensed His temporary departure through my father's body and decided to give birth immediately. Being born a dozen days early would result in slight imperfections in my body. However, if I were born within His predicted time, I would be placed in eternal shackles by Him the moment I was born."
At this point, the boy shook his black hair in annoyance. "It must be because I was born a dozen days early that I can't perfectly replicate Yaris' eyes! But I will soon be able to use another method to obtain his eyes."
"……what you up to?"
"I want to eat Uncle Lucien, and then use Uncle Lucien's body to get close to Uncle Jarris and possess everything he has."
A cruel glint flashed in the Demon Prince's eyes. "Uncle Yaris has the most delicious primordial darkness within him, but his body is also mixed with primordial light. Now I can't even touch him, let alone eat him! It's because of his protection that my father is still alive today. I originally planned to eat my father as soon as I was born and rule this country in his skin!"
"You are a devil!"
"demon?"
The Demon Prince gave a subtle smile.
"What is evil? What is a demon? What is a god? Every race's collective definition of justice and evil is a subjective judgment based on their own interests and survival instincts! What aligns with the interests of the species and allows it to survive better is justice, while what harms the interests of the species and endangers its survival is evil!"
"So-called gods are just that. They are merely extradimensional beings possessing superior technology and magical powers, using their own subjective ideas to secretly control and regulate the entire planet and even the entire universe! They use their own moral standards to measure the good and evil, beauty and ugliness of all things they rule over, dictating who can exist and continue to develop, and who must be eliminated as a mistake! Those who meet their preferences can survive, while those who do not will be exterminated!"
"—You want to sway me with your twisted logic?"
Xiao Yun looked at the Demon Prince coldly: "From your perspective, your point of view may be correct, but I am a human being, and I can only consider things from a human perspective!"
"Uncle Lucien—"
The Demon Prince's eyes began to change. The thin silver-red line between the black pupils and the black irises slowly rotated like a vortex, emitting a strange light that pierced the soul.
"You keep emphasizing that you're human and that you naturally stand on the human side. But what if you're not human at all? A human body cannot possess the power of a star, and a human body cannot contain a 'golden blade' made of Rhinegold!"
"You are still young, and your inhuman abnormalities are not yet very obvious. But as time passes, the people around you grow old and die one after another, but you remain youthful due to the stellar energy in your body! You don't even know how long you can live!"
"When that day comes, what will people do? What will they think? Perhaps they will regard you as a god. After all, humans have a tradition of worshipping things they cannot understand but are beneficial to them as gods—and feel happy that they and their descendants can live for generations under the rule of a youthful, wise, just, and immortal god. But on the other hand, humans are creatures that are easily jealous—"
"Especially when they discover that no matter how hard they try, they can't escape the fate of aging and death, while you possess eternal youth and limitless power, and rule over them forever as emperor—then their feelings towards you will surely change! While they will worship you obediently, they will also hate you from the bottom of their hearts, suspecting you of being a demon who steals their energy to maintain their immortality and power!"
"...No matter what you say, I won't let you go, you monster!"
"I never deny that I am a monster, but—Uncle Lucien, you—"
"Shut up!"
Xiao Yun whispered, his voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, and the "Golden Blade" had already slipped into his hand, ready to launch an attack at any time.
“
magic
"I don't know why you possess the energy of a star, nor do I understand why Yaris's body is mixed with primordial light, yet is enveloped by primordial darkness. But there is one thing I am very sure of—neither you nor Yaris are naturally born life forms on the planet Ella."
"You were transported to this primitive and backward planet by a powerful force called God! They have deprived you of your right to enjoy advanced civilization and instilled in you the desire to dedicate everything to this primitive and backward planet... As for Yaris—his appearance is as beautiful as a masterpiece of God, but his heart is shrouded in primordial darkness. His true identity may very well be your nemesis!"
"Shut up!"
Xiao Yun could no longer bear it: "I know who I am! Everything I do now is out of my own will! My own choice! The same goes for Yaris!"
"Really? Are you sure your memory hasn't been manipulated?"
The Demon Prince gave an evil smile.
"You've long known that you don't belong in this world, and you also know that Yaris is scheming and full of lies! But you refuse to admit it. Only in this way can you find your place in this primitive and backward alien world and establish a trivial yet fulfilling connection with Yaris, the only person who might come from the same place as you!"
"——No matter what you say to me, I will not agree with you! I will destroy you!"
"Why?"
The Demon Prince was confused.
"Because I like this world! I like this world that you see as so primitive, ignorant and backward! I also like Yaris. I like his intelligence and strength in being able to find a way to overcome any difficulties he encounters! As for you—"
The "Golden Blade" was swung out suddenly.
The brilliant light cut through the pitch-black night, taking away half of the Demon Prince's face and a large piece of his brain.
"Uncle Lucien! Uncle Lucien!"
The monster let out a terrifying scream that hit my mind directly.
The moment it was torn apart by the "Golden Blade", it felt the fear and pain of the humans who were being devoured by it as food.
"You actually destroyed my face! Such a beautiful face! This beautiful face that I worked so hard to create! Very well! Because of your cruel behavior, I must return to the palace immediately and eat a bunch of pregnant women and children! Use their bodies to repair my beautiful face!"
"Monster! You won't stand a chance of continuing to harm ordinary people! I will destroy you now!"
Xiao Yun said coldly.
"Eliminate me? Can you do it? You know almost nothing about me, how can you kill me?"
The Demon Prince forced a ferocious and cruel smile out of the half of his beautiful face that remained.
"One day you'll realize I'm right. You should return to your world and enjoy the comfortable life of a higher civilization, instead of staying in this primitive and backward world to take care of a bunch of mentally retarded, noisy, ungrateful, and inferior creatures!"
"It's noisy!"
Xiao Yun swung his sword at the Demon Prince again.
The Demon Prince's body retreated quickly like a veil, with a creepy expression on his face.
"Uncle Lucien, today is our first meeting. I will come to see you often, again and again... Even if you don't want me to, I will come to see you~"
"You come once, and I'll kill you once!"
"That's wonderful."
The Demon Prince sneered, "My body is half otherworldly and half mortal. Even the 'Golden Blade' can only seriously injure me. And every time I'm seriously injured, I devour dozens of pregnant women and children. All these people died because of you! You are responsible for their deaths. Uncle Lucien—ah!"
The Demon Prince was hit by the "Golden Blade" again, and his two legs fell off with a lot of blood. Severely injured, he quickly blended into the darkness and escaped without a trace.
“…”
The moment the Demon Prince disappeared, the oppressive and suffocating air suddenly disappeared, the stars twinkled in the dark sky again, and the whistling of the wind was no longer the only sound around.
Xiao Yun turned around and found Adrian, Malus and others standing behind him with nervous expressions.
"His Majesty!"
"What's the matter?"
Xiao Yun pretended to be confused.
“Just now…just now…”
"Just now I was staring at the moon in the sky in a daze in front of the tent."
Xiao Yun said as if nothing had happened, glancing around, but he didn't find the legs and half of the face that were chopped off by the "Golden Blade", and there wasn't even a drop of blood on the ground.
(From this, it can be seen that the battle with the Demon Prince took place in a parallel space similar to the mirror dimension.)
"Your Majesty, did nothing really happen just now?"
Adrien didn't believe it.
Xiao Yun: "If I were in danger, how could I not call you to help?"
"All right……"
Adrien hung his head in frustration.
Haras stepped forward and cautiously suggested, "Your Majesty, the holy city of Denos is not far from here. Why not go there tomorrow—"
"I really should go to Denos soon."
Xiao Yun said to himself.
…
…
The night in the Palace of Light was almost completely shrouded in despair. Between the palaces, there were only dark shadows of varying shades, except for the mutant monsters walking motionlessly.
After making sure that the guards with animal heads would not pass by here again for the time being, Ulysses, wearing a black hooded cloak, walked out of the shadow of the bushes like a ghost, and gently stroked the crystal amulet hidden in his heart through the cloak with his left hand.
Yaris's advice echoed in his mind.
(My purpose in assisting Edmund was not to allow Edmund to stand trial alive, but to plant a fatal weakness in the Demon Prince.)
Ulysses, my health is deteriorating, and my servants are forbidden to leave the White Tower. Only you have a certain degree of freedom of movement and possess the abilities of a high-level mage. I beg you... to find a way to deliver the weakness I planted in the Demon Prince to my brother, so that he can eliminate this monster...
(Your Highness Yaris...you...)
Ulysses took a deep breath and tried to suppress the passion boiling in his heart.
(To this day, I still cannot fully understand your thoughts, nor do I understand why you maintain an almost cruel rationality no matter what you encounter... But I am willing to serve you because I firmly believe that you will not harm this country...)
(To do this, I must quickly find a way to get the Demon Prince's weakness out of the palace. This is a task I must complete, and it may also be the last task of my life.)
(Lord Yaris...)
Ulysses thought distressedly, wandering like a bat in the palace that had long since become a dark demonic realm, looking for a way to leave.
(Way out… Where is the way out…)
Sudden--
An invisible force came and pinned Ulysses to the marble floor.
(ah……)
Fearing that the noise would attract the guards, Ulysses gritted his teeth and swallowed the sharp pain of his broken ribs.
However--
"Do you want to escape too?"
The monster's voice rang in my ears.
Ulysses looked up and saw the Demon Prince with only half of his face left.
“…”
"It's normal to want to leave in this situation, but I won't allow it! I won't allow anyone to leave! You're all my animals!"
"Your Highness, I... I..."
Ulysses tried hard to appear cowardly.
"Stop pretending! I know you're not afraid of pain or death! You suddenly wanted to escape, most likely because of Uncle Yaris's orders."
The Demon Prince opened his beautiful but twisted lips. "I don't understand. My face is clearly modeled after Uncle Yaris's. Why does even my father, who is madly obsessed with Uncle Yaris, scream with fear when he sees my face? Ulysses, can you tell me the reason?"
"I have no idea."
"Really?"
“…”
"It doesn't matter if you're wrong. As long as you can give me a reason that convinces me, I'll let you go."
"…While we humans are foolish, greedy, lustful, and insensitive, if a creature disguised as a human suddenly appeared nearby—no matter how perfect the disguise—we would be filled with intense fear, realizing that it wasn't a natural entity."
"I've heard of this theory and understand this fear, but why can you accept Jaris and Lucien, both of whom are alien to you? Especially Jaris—any human with even a modicum of self-awareness would realize that his beauty isn't something human genes could produce, right?"
"This... When I first met His Highness Yaris, I felt that he had a very special aura..."
"What kind of temperament?"
"I can't describe it."
Ulysses frowned in thought.
"Then tell me exactly what you felt when you first saw him!"
"...When I first met His Highness, I was astonished. I was certain that this beautiful, enchanting, dreamy being, radiating a holy light from head to toe, as beautiful as an elf or a precious flower, was not my kind. Yet, I could not hate him. I loved him as if cursed. My blood burned for him, and my humanity and reason threatened to be extinguished for him at any moment... He deserved the best things in the world... And I, for the rest of my life, could only hide in a corner like a bat. I didn't even dare to look at his face, for fear of being blinded by his radiance. I also didn't dare to speak to him, because whether he answered or not, I would be filled with anxiety and wish I were dead..."
“…Is this a human?”
The monster looked down at Ulysses—Ulysses could clearly see the smooth fracture and the half of the brain still trembling and working inside its skull.
"Perhaps I should execute you immediately, but if I eat you now, Father will be even more terrified... Although he is a useless thing, He doesn't seem to intend to take his life... All right—Guards! Guards!"
"Your Highness!"
Guards with animal heads rushed over and saluted the monster with only half of its face left.
"Take this guy away immediately! Lock him up in the dungeon!"
"But he is Prime Minister Ulysses—"
"I am the master here!"
"Yes, sir."
The guards stepped forward, grabbed Ulysses, who was unable to move due to the pressure of the Demon Prince's aura, and dragged him into the depths of darkness...
…
"Hey! Hey! Are you still alive?!"
Ulysses opened his painful eyes at the slightly frivolous call and found himself in a dark and damp cell, with iron shackles on his hands and feet and moldy grass on the ground.
"Wow... He's still able to wake up after such serious injuries... What a strange guy..."
The voice continued to chatter.
Ulysses was only concerned with checking his physical condition and the belongings on his body.
When he was sure that he was not dead and the most crucial crystal amulet was not lost, Ulysses let out a long breath.
"Hey! I've already said so much to you! Why don't you ask who I am?!"
"Romila, your scent is so special, how could I not smell it?"
Ulysses struggled to sit up.
"Tell me, how did you get in? And..."
"He's not in the capital right now, so the barrier he's built around him isn't as strong as it used to be. I took the opportunity to sneak in. I was planning to chat with Her Royal Highness the Princess, but I ran into you being dragged into the dungeon..."
"All right."
Ulysses stood up and asked, "Is there any way to take me away?"
"This question—"
Boom boom boom!
Heavy footsteps were heard.
The succubus quickly hid in the shadows.
Ulysses looked up and saw in the dim light a fat, black figure emitting miasma.
"Are you... the jailer who was ordered to execute me?"
"By order of His Highness, I have come to interrogate the traitor Ulysses."
The shadow spoke in a serious tone, took off his hood, and revealed a face that made Ulysses scream in shock.
"Lias!"
"I'm Lias."
The zombie looked at Ulysses with cloudy eyes: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince orders me to interrogate you until you confess all your crimes or die."
"But--"
"Your Highness the Crown Prince believes that I was once your most important relative, and my interrogation will cause you the greatest possible pain."
"this--"
Ulysses stared with wide eyes in disbelief as the zombie, who was Lias in his lifetime, raised the whip in his hand.
"ah!"
The barbed whip tore at Ulysses' skin.
However, what made Ulysses even more miserable than the pain of the whipping was the despair of having his closest friends and relatives forcibly resurrected by the monster in a blasphemous way.
…
…
Tick! Tick!
The cold liquid slowly flowed over Ulysses' head, and he, who had already lost consciousness, opened his eyes painfully.
"Cough! Cough cough!"
My body felt as cold as if it was immersed in an ice cave, but the wound was burning with pain.
Ulysses closed his eyes again and used the ascetic methods taught by the Demonic Path Tower to understand the condition of his body and concentrate his remaining energy.
His back, legs, and abdomen were severely beaten, with multiple fractures, minor ruptures of internal organs, and dislocated arm joints... Fortunately, there was no major bleeding and his brain remained clear.
Most importantly, the crystal amulet entrusted to him by His Highness Yaris is still there - "Yaris" tried to take the amulet from him, however, as soon as the zombie's hand touched the amulet, the false life was pierced by the sacred power contained in the amulet.
Ulysses didn't dare to look up at the front, because the corpse of "Lias" was there, severely decayed, with pus mixed with blood flowing all over the cell.
(How long was I unconscious... a day and a night, or...)
Ulysses tried to take a breath, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lung that was punctured by his ribs.
"ah……"
(At least, at least I’m still awake now… but I don’t know… I don’t know…)
"——Stop being dazed! Get ready, I'll take you away!"
Romila's voice suddenly rang out, bringing Ulysses' thoughts back to reality.
He raised his head weakly and saw the succubus squatting beside Lias's severely decayed corpse. After rummaging around, she pulled out a bunch of keys covered in rotten flesh and pus.
“…”
Ulysses stared at the disgusting key in silence.
Romila shrugged nonchalantly. "I know this bunch of keys is a bit disgusting, but bear with it."
"I just feel bad... Lias is a good and kind person, but in the end..."
“It’s not your fault.”
Romila walked over to Ulysses and covered him with the cloak she had taken off the zombie. "Can you stand up?"
"Thank you. I... I'll give it a try..."
"What a strange fellow."
Romila grumbled, flirting with Ulysses: "Hey, am I pretty? Who's prettier, you or the princess?"
“…”
"Okay, I admit that I'm a lot worse than Yaris in terms of temperament, but I'm more sexually attractive than him. Almost no man can resist me. Do you want to give it a try?"
"……ah!"
Ulysses gritted his teeth and banged his hands against the wall to put his dislocated arm back into place.
Seeing how resilient he was, Romila was also moved. She opened her mouth and spit out a bottle: "The potion prepared by the old man can quickly restore your strength."
"Thanks."
Ulysses drank the potion with difficulty and put on the cloak that smelled of corpse with difficulty.
"Let's go."
"Won't you take a break?"
Romila looked at Ulysses in confusion: "Your body is in tatters."
"It doesn't matter, at least we're still alive... We must hurry. If we delay for a moment, many more people may die outside..."
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