Chapter 175

Chapter 175 – Chapter 35: Battle #2

After leaving Curtis, In-gong’s group was able to reach the Demon King’s Palace in 10 days . It was an incredibly long time compared to using the transportation formation, where they could move in the blink of an eye . However, according to Sepira, they arrived quite quickly . She stated she had been able to reduce the time by two days thanks to good weather .

There was a welcoming crowd at the flying ship airport, with a very good face at the front of the crowd .

“Shutra! Felicia unni!”

“Caitlin!”

As the stairs of the Black Flame Dragon were laid out, Caitlin spread her arms open, and Felicia hurried down the stairs . Then Caitlin dragged Felicia into a hug like she couldn’t wait anymore . The two of them had become really close since the Red Lightning tribe event . Caitlin buried her face in Felicia’s chest before approaching In-gong and opening her arms . Caitlin’s intention was clear, so In-gong hugged her . As In-gong was now taller than Caitlin, it was no longer awkward for him to hug her .

After a short hug, Caitlin looked up at In-gong’s face .

“I’ve heard the story . Weren’t you very active this time?”

Her golden eyes seemed to shine like lanterns . In-gong felt better and asked,

“Yes, Noona . Aren’t I amazing?”

At In-gong’s implicit request, Caitlin’s eyes widened but only for a moment . Then she smiled brightly and shouted,

“Amazing!”

The darkness in In-gong’s mind dissolved . It was like cleansing magic being used on the undead .

‘Hu, I have to admit it . The Amazing Princess is really amazing . ’

Green Wind admitted defeat in his ears, while Felicia covered her face with a fan and laughed .

“Noisy . ”

An elegant voice interrupted the bright and lively atmosphere . Caitlin looked up at Anastasia who was slowly descending the stairs .

“Anastasia unni . ”

Caitlin’s voice subsided somewhat because their last encounter at Baikal’s tea party hadn’t been particularly good . Chris spoke on behalf of Caitlin,

“Anastasia noonim, I heard that this time was pretty dangerous . ”

The sociable atmosphere instantly disappeared, replaced by tension . Then there was the loud sound of clapping, and Anastasia smiled slightly instead of snarling .

“It was dangerous . If it wasn’t for Shutra, I might not have returned to the Demon King’s Palace again . ”

Chris frowned at her words . He had to admit that he was confused . Meanwhile, Anastasia finished descending the stairs and looked at In-gong .

“Shutra, I’ll be going first . I’ll see you later . Felicia, Silvan . ”

Felicia nodded from beside Chris, while Silvan, who was still on the Black Flame Dragon, winked with his eye which wasn’t covered by the eyepatch . Other people would think he just closed his eyes, but Anastasia knew Silvan and understood him immediately . She smiled and turned toward Caitlin . Caitlin blinked as she received Anastasia’s attention, but Anastasia smiled again and spoke first .

“Caitlin as well . ”

It was just a few words, but it was sufficient . Caitlin laughed again before Anastasia stepped forward gracefully . Her followers and her aide, Chandra, lined up behind her . Chris watched Anastasia’s exit quietly, then he said to In-gong,

“Hasn’t Anastasia’s attitude become softer? Did Shutra do something else?”

“Only what was mentioned . ”

In-gong replied lightly, making Chris look toward Felicia for a further explanation . Felicia just said with a prudish expression,

“Well, it is a story for later . Let’s move on . ”

Chris laughed and raised his hand to In-gong’s shoulder .

&

“Um, you gathered here so naturally that I can’t say anything . ”

The children of the demon king were gathered in the reception room of In-gong’s mansion . It was a gathering of Shutra’s faction, consisting of the 5th Prince, 6th Princess, 7th Prince and 8th Princess . For example, it was common to scatter to their own mansions after returning to the Demon King’s Palace . However, this time, they had all gathered at In-gong’s house very naturally .

Chris said with a shrug,

“Shutra is our focal point . There is no better place to discuss things than your mansion . ”

Among the children of the demon king, it was Chris who In-gong hadn’t seen for a long time . Chris seemed to have many pent up stories . However, he couldn’t listen to Chris’ story straight away . It had been quite a while since In-gong had returned to the mansion, so there were a few things he need to do first .

“Master, the talking raccoon has become a pig raccoon . Fat . ”

Green Wind said with a frown as she solidified next to In-gong . Amita, who had gotten a slightly bloated, hit the ground with their tail . Although their tail was raised, the sound was softer than before .

“No? I just became slightly overweight from relaxing and sleeping a little bit!”

“Raccoon, don’t deny reality . You can’t even run as usual . ”

“Sob . ”

Carack’s brutal assessment caused Amita to grab their chest . In-gong glanced at Daphne, who was behind Amita, to ask what happened, but Daphne just shook her head with a sad expression .

“Anyway! I created many things in the meantime . I will show it later . ”

Amita said with a grunt . In-gong nodded as he visualized Amita’s diet plan in his head .

“I understand . I have a lot to show you, so please look forward to it . ”

“What? Did you get your hand on another item of an elder dragon?”

Amita asked with confusion . In-gong nodded again .

“There is also this . ”

The Giant King’s Sword and Lizardmen’s Horn . Both of them had been made by the indigenous species 10,000 years ago .

“Hah, truly… you have the luck of a god . How is it that every time you go somewhere, you manage to sweep up all the goods?”

“I don’t know about good luck, but I have a guardian . ”

In-gong stroked Green Wind’s head from where she was sitting next to him . Of course, Green Wind was good but…

Unfortunately, Nayatra wasn’t present in the mansion to share her story . She had left the Demon King’s Palace more than a month ago to gather information . The task In-gong had entrusted to her had been to investigate the sin of the gandharva . However, even if Nayatra was excellent in gathering information, it was unreasonable to expect her to figure it out in a month .

It was unavoidable, so In-gong turned toward Chris . This time, he intended to listen to Chris’ story . However, right then, just as Caitlin was having fun pressing her fingertips to Amita’s belly…

“Your Highness, the 4th Princess has come to visit you . ”

Flora entered the reception room and said in a quiet tone . It was an unexpected visit, so In-gong didn’t know about it .

“Anastasia noona?”

Chris and Felicia were surprised . Felicia, who had a good relationship with Anastasia, nodded, but Chris frowned .

After a moment, In-gong replied to Flora,

“Flora, bring her to this room . ”

“I understand . ”

Flora left for five minutes and showed up again with Anastasia and Chandra . Anastasia sat down on the couch and looked at Chris who had a cold expression, Caitlin who seemed lost, Felicia and Silvan who had a relative calm expression . Then Anastasia said in a relaxed tone,

“Everybody is gathered . ”

“Did something happen?”

At In-gong’s question, Anastasia turned her gaze toward Felicia .

“It is due to Felicia’s urging . Didn’t you say there should be a reward for saving me at the central fortress?”

She had said that clearly . Rather than giving a further explanation, Chandra handed Anastasia a small box with a small necklace inside it .

“Here . ”

Anastasia handed the necklace to In-gong . In-gong was already wearing the Tears of a Dark Elf, which meant he would be wearing two necklaces, but it still looked presentable because both were very thin .

“Succubus… Tears?”

In-gong muttered the name of the item which popped up, and Anastasia nodded .

“It is similar to the Tears of a Dark Elf, but it’s different . By default, it has a strong resistance against mental attacks, but it also contains attraction…”

‘It is like a strong attraction drug . The effect is remarkable . ’

The last part was sent through message magic . In-gong nodded automatically . The Succubus Tears was one of the so-called ‘tear series’, a great item which contained Anastasia’s attraction ability and defensive ability against mental attacks .

‘Wah, Anastasia is actually giving this to me . ’

In Knight Saga, he had no choice but to defeat Anastasia . In order to do that, he had to defeat the succubus’ territory and take down the 2nd Queen Titania Nekrion .

‘Is this an item that can create a bizarre play?’

It was literally a love potion . In-gong touched the purple jewel at the end of the necklace and smiled . However, unlike In-gong, Felicia frowned as though she disliked it .

“Unni, the effect will overlap with the Tears of a Dark Elf . Isn’t there anything more helpful?”

“Don’t you think it is helpful enough?”

It seemed that Felicia wasn’t interested in the attraction effect . Then at that moment…

“Hoh, everyone is gathered here . ”

A familiar voice was heard from the terrace . The first to react was surprisingly Anastasia .

“Sword Duke?!”

The sword duke, who had appeared out of nowhere, laughed instead of answering and opened the door to the terrace . He had appeared so suddenly that everyone was perplexed . In particular, Chris and Silvan were so surprised that they were almost frozen .

Anastasia was the first one to recover . She hurried to cover her armpits, but it was too late . The sword duke took one step and was already right in front of her nose .

“Kuk!”

The sword duke’s big hands went underneath Anastasia’s armpits . Anastasia struggled desperately and shouted,

“S-stop!”

However, he didn’t listen . The sword duke laughed and raised Anastasia up high .

“Higher! Higher!”

“S-stop it!”

Anastasia, who had always been graceful, shouted with a grouchy expression . She was spun round and round toward the ceiling as the hem of her dress spread out wide . After several rounds, the sword duke set Anastasia down, and she staggered . The sword duke clicked his tongue .

“You liked this when you were a child… You’ve changed, Princess . ”

“I didn’t like it when I was a child!”

There was no elegance this time . The sword duke clicked his tongue again before moving his gaze . Felicia noticed where he was looking and shouted urgently,

“W-wait a minute!”

Felicia wasn’t much different from Anastasia . She was grabbed by the waist and spun round and round in the air .

“Put me down! I’m telling you to put me down!”

Felicia struggled like how Anastasia had done, but the sword duke didn’t budge . After a while, Felicia landed on the ground was in a similar manner to Anastasia earlier . Felicia then sat down on the ground and muttered complaints about the sword duke .

The sword duke laughed at the two princesses and turned to Caitlin . Unlike the previous two, Caitlin actually welcomed the sword duke .

“More!”

The laughing Caitlin exclaimed as soon as she was put on the ground . It was a pleasurable response, but the sword duke’s expression only changed subtly .

“Well, I’m glad that you are happy, but… I feel like it is less exciting . ”

The sword duke finished patting Caitlin’s head and turned toward the princes this time . Silvan opened his arms in anticipation, while Chris watched the sword duke . Fortunately or unfortunately, the sword duke only greeted the two princes .

“It is nice to see you . I’m glad that both of you seem healthy . ”

“I greet the sword duke . ”

“M-me too . ”

Chris and Silvan responded hurriedly . After finishing the very brief greeting, especially in comparison to the greeting with the princesses, the sword duke finally looked at In-gong .

“Sword Duke, did something happen?”

There had to be a reason for his sudden appearance . The sword duke took a deep breath and looked at In-gong with his unique and penetrating gaze .

“I heard about Curtis . So, I was wondering how much you’ve grown . ”

After finishing his test, the sword duke crossed his arms and laughed at Anastasia .

“It wasn’t in the direction I expected, but… you have definitely become stronger . Additionally, your performance in the military was quite good . I am looking forward to the court gathering . ”

“The court gathering?”

They had heard that the court gathering would occur three days later, at the earliest . He felt a strange feeling after hearing that the sword duke was looking forward to the court gathering . However, the sword duke didn’t reply . He glanced at the panting Anastasia and Felicia on the floor and moved toward the terrace in the blink of an eye .

“It is great to see you with Princess Anastasia . Then I will see you at the court gathering . ”

The sword duke disappeared like the wind . In-gong opened the mini-map reflexively, but he couldn’t find the battlefield . Indeed, the sword duke was a true hero of the Demon World . The reception room was silent, like the sea calming down after a storm had passed .

“Annoying . ”

Anastasia, who still hadn’t regained her elegance, muttered, and Felicia nodded in agreement . It was a moment when the relationship between the sisters became stronger .

“Um . ”

Carack closed the terrace door and muttered in a low voice as he approached In-gong . Then Carack scratched his head and said,

“Prince, it is obvious that something is going to happen on the day of the court gathering . ”

“Yes . ”

In-gong leaned back on the couch and agreed . He couldn’t help laughing .

&

“My appearance isn’t a surprise . ”

“The appearance of the 4th Queen is within the expected range . ”