“Have you heard, another demon lord has fallen.”

“My gosh, doesn’t that make it three already?”

“Yes, isn’t it grand? Do you believe that it is all thanks to the Hohenberg house? Who would have known that they were hiding such strength…”

“It only took them this much while the royal family hasn’t been able to do anything…”

“Shhh… be quiet… do you want to get your head cut off?”

A group of noble ladies and noblemen were talking while surrounded by lavish decor. This was the place where the nobles gathered each year to promote their own houses. This large party was the perfect place to talk with powerful figures.

High nobles like Dukes along with members of the royal family were required to participate. Thus the lower seated ones were always eager to speak with them. Everyone wanted their sons and daughters to be married off to well-off houses. This year around the Hohenberg house was quite prominent.

The title of the Twin Saint Priestesses held power over the people. It gave them hope in this world filled with demonic beings. This wasn’t entirely good for the powerful ducal house that was behind them. With more fame came more troubles, other factions would see them as a foe that was trying to gain more power. This time they were stepping on the toes of the royal family.

No monarch liked being questioned about their motives. Leigong the Lightning Emperor was making the actual Human Emperor look bad. During his rule, the demonic menace only spread and it didn’t seem that he was doing anything. He was a powerful individual that ascended to the throne early after battling his brothers for supremacy.

Being powerful didn’t mean that he could freely move throughout the lands. He was required to stay in the capital as fear from a demon attack to their stronghold was a possibility. This didn’t keep the regular folk to spin rumors around of a powerful king not acting when his people needed him most.

“What are you chattering about?”

“Ahh… nothing your highness, long live the king!”

The group of nobles flinched at the appearance of someone from the royal family. It was one of the princes, they were all characterized by their colorful heads. This prince in particular had fallen out of favor after his arranged marriage to a powerful duke household had fallen through. His name was Ludwig and he was Zhang Dong’s favorite moss head.

“Calm down prince, you shouldn’t mind such gossip.”

Carrot top was there to cheer up his lord that he was sworn to. Ever since Beatrice and Isabella started giving them the cold shoulder nothing was going their way. They lost a lot of funding from the royal family, Ludwig was now required to find another potential wife or beg Isabella to reconsider. This was also one of the reasons that he was hereafter knowing well that the two girls would be here.

The ball was taking place in the grand castle of the Palodis Kingdom. It was the strongest Kingdom on the whole continent due to its military might. Due to the demon menace, the other countries were allied with each other but it was clear that if conflict would ever arise then this kingdom would be victorious.

Elves were the most magically gifted and dwarves could build the strongest weapons but they couldn’t compete with humans when it came to battle. This race multiplied fast and was very adaptive while the others found it hard to change their ways.

The second in power were the elves thanks to their aptitude for mysticism. The only problem was that their birth rates were small compared to the humans. They were outnumbered ten to one but somehow made up the difference in sheer magic might.

The third were the dwarves, they had more people than the elves and used the underground as their kingdom. They were divided into many dwarven city-states and had a hard time in working together with each other since their last king died to one of the demon lords.

These were the three main races with the others being too minor to matter in the big picture. Thus the human kingdom reigned supreme with their king taking the title of strongest man alive.

“Now arriving Ladyship Beatrice Hohenberg of Dawn Lake and her grace Isabella Hohenberg of Dragonridge….”

The people were slowly gathering and all eyes were on these two noble ladies. Some were more interested in the new upstart lady Beatrice. She was still an untapped resource that people weren’t sure how to treat. Isabella on the other hand had the Duke backing her, she couldn’t be approached as easily as someone that was a daughter of a baron.

“Also...uh…”

The man that looked like a high-class butler straightened out his tuxedo but continued to announce the peculiar arrival.

“His Excellency, Lightning Emperor Leigong…”

This was quite the peculiar sight, behind the two ladies that were all dolled up in costly dresses there was a man. He had an otherworldly feel to him and looked slightly different than these nobles. His hair was long and white as the whitest snow. His jawline was strong and made him look quite handsome. The ladies were quick to hide their gaping mouths behind their fans.

People knew who he was but were surprised that a spirit would make an appearance at the royal ball. He was wearing a strange white robe with quite the assembly of costly-looking accessories. There were various gems and gold-like metals embedded into this more ceremonial-looking robe which made some nobles gulp.

‘I guess we need to get through this one way or another, hope this king guy can lend me some help against the demons…’

Zhang Dong had decided to show up in his regular human form. With Beatrice progressing at a steady pace he could hang out in the material world normally. This was also made possible with some artifacts that he fashioned for both his summoners. With limited resources and time, they were only able to slightly increase the mana that he was receiving.

He was also able to remain at something around the early stage of core formation without the girls needing the soul resonance. If he actually fought anyone then Beatrice would be drained as always but with the bonus from her new items, she would last a lot longer.

“Is that really the famed spirit that defeated the Demon Lords?”

“It looks more human than I anticipated…”

The people started whispering from the side while Zhang Dong remained close to the two girls. Whenever someone tried making a pass on Beatrice he would be there to glare and send some oppressing aura their way. There weren’t many nobles that could block something like this out so he proved as the best chaperone for the two young ladies.

“Mr. Leigong… you are scaring the Aristocats…”

“Do you really want another Ludwig to pop up?”

“N-no….”

Beatrice shrunk down while looking around. She was a fish out of water and knew no one here. Isabella on the other hand was mingling with the crowd and smiling. This wasn’t the first time that she was at a party like this and she had her own circle of young ladies as well.

The ones that left her up to dry at the academy were already banned from it but she was quick to replace them with new ones. There was a wide range of noble ladies willing to go to various lengths to get into Isabella’s circle of friends.

“But you are right, I can’t protect you forever. Maybe you should join Isabella, I bet she will guide you through it.”

Zhang Dong urged Beatrice to go to Isabella’s circle, at least there she would be with someone that she knew. The moment she left he himself was ganged by nosy nobles. Mostly women for some reason that were enamored with his looks. Some of them even tried touching his hair or arms, though they found themselves quickly electrocuted.

“This Lightning Emperor is spoken for, disperse you, harlots!”

He could only cause a little scene which caused some of the nobles to laugh while the women that were trying to get his attention were quick to leave. The people here were quite more promiscuous than the ones back home.

‘What’s wrong with them, are they possessed by some sex demons?’

Cultivators were more reserved and lust was something akin to a demon that everyone tried to purge to progress”s with their cultivation. Here on the other hand the nobles were bored and willing to delve into more debauchery. As someone with children and a wife, he was unwilling to give in.

‘Old gramps or Qiang would have a field day here…’

He wanted to chuckle after remembering his own family and friends. Though his smile turned to a frown quite fast after being reminded that he was still stuck here with no certain way of getting home.

For now, he became a wallflower with arms crossed over one another. He kept his gaze around the large ballroom that paled in comparison to the one he used during his wedding. Soon everyone had arrived and it was time for the big shot to make his appearance.

“His Majesty, Alexander Angelo Palodis”

The people looked up as a man dressed in a royal uniform and a big golden crown hovered down. Zhang Dong could feel some pressure coming off from this person, he was clearly utilizing his aura to keep people in check. Everyone hit by this aura was forced down to kneel.

‘He really is stronger than a Demon Lord.”

Zhang Dong remained leaning up against the wall while this attack happened. Like most of the magic here it was aimed at the soul which was ineffective to someone like him that had already advanced his soul past the nascent soul level. The fact that he was the only person not kneeling wasn’t unnoticed by this king.

King Alexander looked like a man in his late forties. He was large in stature and his might was very real. His hair was dark blue just as the well-kept beard that made him look more regal.

He floated down onto his throne and moved his hand up. Soon the oppressive force subsided and everyone was able to stand up. Some of the nobles noticed the glances exchanged between the fabled spirit and the strongest man alive. It was a worrisome sight as people knew that the king had a short fuse.

Luckily the king just leaned on his hand while closing his fist. The man that was previously doing the announcements then clapped his hands.

“His Majesty is happy to be the host for the annual…”

The man performed a practiced speech for the king while he continued to stare in Zhang Dong’s direction. It was clear that the show of resistance was something uncommon.

‘Don’t think he likes me but without the girls supporting me I wouldn’t stand a chance.’

Zhang Dong decided to keep up his poker face but he didn’t use any oppressive aura or soul attacks to get back at the man. He was a guest and acting out would be bad for Beatrice and Isabella. He was also here to get some help with the demon situation.

“Get on with it.”

The King called out in a low tone to the man doing the speech.

“My apologies, your Majesty. This Royal Ball will be a special one, I am glad to announce that the Hero Summoning ritual will be possible this very day.”

“Huh?”

Zhang Dong gave out a perplexed sound while the people cheered out loud.

‘They can summon heroes here?’