Chapter 226 – 18. Simon Kingdom – Looking for a Party of Warriors (10)
The Demon King spat.
“Well.”
“Why is that?”
At her sudden action her, the seat of the Four Heavenly Kings, the elder lich Imur asked. The demon king stood still for a moment, then suddenly stroked his stomach with his right hand. Compared to the past, the abdomen his was slightly forward, which at first glance could easily be mistaken for belly fat, but a life was growing inside it.
“… Somehow, it seems that this child has a younger brother and older sister.”
“…”
Imur looked at her in bewilderment.
It’s the first time I’ve seen it in person, but I’ve heard about it from Adectur, her close friend her and also the Four Heavenly Kings. A few months ago, she said something strange out of the blue. It wasn’t just once or twice. Exactly three times, so this was the fourth.
But it was n’t that she did n’t believe her words either.
Although she has lost a lot of power now and was defeated by a hero before that and was driven to the brink of her death her, she was a demon king. Apart from the power she possesses and the magi, her authority and power of existence were close to her, her half-god her.
In a word, what she said was a kind of intuition close to prophecy.
“That, that… That’s something to celebrate.”
At Mur’s words, the demon king turned his head and glared at him.
The skeletal body shuddered and wondered if he had said something wrong, but as a solo lich with no limits to his senses his, he would never know.
“Yes… Congratulations… Something to celebrate… “
She chanted quietly with complex emotions such as her sadness, longing, and jealousy, but she sighed deeply and looked at Lee Muru again.
“So. How’s the day going?”
“…Ah! That’s going well.”
After getting out of the uncomfortable atmosphere, the elder lich Imur guided the demon king into the laboratory.
“His research materials and books have been a great help. I’m sorry to say, but he’s definitely a great human being. According to the prince, it’s all because of the ugly human desires… But it wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for his decent talent. Still……”
“…”
The demon king did not respond to Imur’s chatter and remained silent.
It was n’t that I could n’t understand his words, and I did n’t know all of them, but he said too much. And a lot of useless information. He said it was a habit born of forgetfulness, but it only annoyed the conversation partner.
“So where is it?”
“It’s all here. There it is.”
Where this Murga pointed with his finger, where only his bones remained.
A girl was standing there with all sorts of metal cables attached to it. Not only that, but all sorts of magic circles and modifiers were engraved around it. It looked as if it were not a human being, but a test object.
“Is that…?”
“Yes, it is a homunculus.”
And in reality, that girl was a homunculus, not a human.
It was created based on various research results, papers, and books left in the dungeon of the great mage Robert.
As Vilma followed Valdes’ orders and headed to the Holy Kingdom, the dungeon needed someone to take charge. If there was nothing, it could have been left alone, but inside it was a homunculus containing Robert’s soul and mind his.
They didn’t need to be given much food, but they had to have someone to keep an eye on them so they wouldn’t die or escape. However, Valdes’ subordinates, who were active on the continent, were busy with their respective missions. For this reason, he newly requested personnel from the Devil Castle, and Imuru took over.
Although there is a fatal disease for magicians called forgetfulness, it is still the Four Heavenly Kings. He couldn’t go out to the continent carelessly. Because of this, he had his trusted subordinates bring his data and continue monitoring.
“Hmm.”
When the demon king approached the homunculus, he examined its nakedness.
Of course, it wasn’t something like sexual desire, but it was a look as if inspecting the ordered item.
After looking around for a while, the demon king nodded his head in satisfaction.
“Yes, I like it very much.”
“Heh heh, that’s good.”
She stared at the homunculus face.
White and bright skin, different from the blue of pure demons. A smooth forehead and head with nothing but hair. Appearance of a late teens, etc. Except for a few parts, the homunculus resembled the demon king.
“Nice. With this… Well, I can go see my son.”
“Probably, the appointment ceremony is two days later, so you can leave after about 15 days.”
“It’s 15 days… Huhu, it feels so long.”
A homunculus resembling the Demon Lord. It was an object made from the blood and flesh of the demon king.
The heart was beating, but the soul was not dwelling, and even the mind was not present. There was no need to consider that part in the first place. The reason for the existence of this homunculus was for the demon king to move around the continent smoothly.
It was for that purpose that he brought it from Robert’s dungeon.
There was no way that Imur, the best magician of the demons and an elder lich who had lived for hundreds of years, could not make a simple homunculus. More important than that was the part that artificially connects the mind. A temporary connection, not a permanent move.
Because of this, there was no reason for it to take as long as Robert’s, and the risk was less. Instead, the maintenance time would be relatively short and the fatigue would be greater, but the demon king was confident enough to handle that much.
“You can clearly see the face that will surprise your son.”
A playful big smile was drawn.
This is something the demon king himself planned. He didn’t even tell Valdez.
Of course, I had no intention of interfering with his plans. He didn’t have to stay that long, and he knew pretty much everything about the plan anyway, so he just had to take care of it.
Although Valdes had visited only a few months ago, the Demon King still wanted to see him.
‘If this child was a daughter, I think she would have become like this when she grew up later.’
The Demon King thought while stroking his stomach.
She was already convinced that the child in her own belly was her son her. This was also an intuition as a demon king close to a half-body. It does n’t matter too much if she’s wrong, but she trusts her intuition her and prepares things for her child accordingly.
“Imur.”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you really looking forward to it?”
“I…”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry, Maou-nim. Do you know why I am here?”
“…”
The Demon King consoled himself for not forgetting himself, and looked forward to meeting Valdes in a few weeks.
Warrior Party Appointment Ceremony.
However, it was usually called more by the name of the launch ceremony. And, of course, the protagonists of the ceremony were not those who won the contest and joined the warrior party, but the warriors.
The male hero, Kang Jin-hyeok, and the female hero, Kang Yu-ri.
It was because the two were making their first full-fledged appearance in front of the public.
“Wow, there are two real warriors.”
“Is one a swordsman and one a wizard?”
“Don’t you think they look a little alike?”
“Idiot. You two are twins.”
Buzz buzz.
The appearance of the two, who had not even appeared in the contest, caused a commotion in the hall. Starting from some of the royal family gathered at the table, high-ranking priests outside, famous nobles, renowned wizards, and skilled mercenaries, everyone kept an eye on the two.
Receiving numerous gazes at the same time, the twin warriors showed different appearances.
‘Yes, this is it! This!’
Jinhyeok felt his whole body lifted.
The hero of the continent that everyone pays attention to. Savior of mankind. That was himself
Until now, because of the Goddess Church, he could hide as much as possible and only reveal his identity as his as a hero in a limited space, but now it was different. He revealed his identity in front of everyone and made his name his known.
Haha! Nice to meet you, everyone!”
In the end, I practiced until the day before and forgot what I was asked to do, smiling and waving at people.
“Haa, that damned warrior.”
The Dwarf Paladin Luciano, who was watching from afar, sighed.
Having seen Jinhyeok quite a few times, I guessed that he had that kind of personality. Some of them were told by his adopted daughter his, Fiora. So even though he asked for trust, he ended up having a small accident.
“I can’t help it. But don’t people like it?”
“I think it would be good to use it.”
Most of the people who were genuinely delighted with Jinhyeok’s gestures were commoners. On the other hand, nobles and others began to understand his personality with his twinkling eyes.
He couldn’t stand the moment when he marched to the center of the plaza where many people, including the pope, saints, and many cardinals, were waiting. Anyone with a little bit of brain could figure out Jinhyeok right away.
“Still, isn’t there a warrior named Kang Yu-ri?”
“Tsk. If it wasn’t for Yuri, I would have followed him.”
Luciano continued to grumble beside the saintess.
To that extent, Jinhyeok’s image was the worst. Although he was using Fiora politically, he was genuine in caring for his adopted daughter of hers. He didn’t spare all of the close to a hundred adopted daughters, but he did cherish Fiora enough to be within her five fingers her.
“Whoops. With Kang Yu-ri as the hero and Fiora-yang, it should be fine.”
“Please, I hope so.”
The eyes of the two turned to Yuri.
Unlike her younger brother her Jinhyeok, she was walking towards them with her back straight and dignified, as she had practiced. Looking only at the front, that was the look of a warrior they wanted.
Of course, her intentions were a little different.
‘I’m embarrassed!!’
In a sense, unlike Jinhyeok, who skillfully received attention, Yuri felt embarrassed in this awkward situation.
Her first taste of this giddy situation made her dizzy. She said that if she hadn’t practiced so many times the day before, Yuri might have already fainted or run away. The reason she was only looking straight ahead was because she didn’t have the confidence to look at people.
Claudy and Luciano were proud of Yuri, but she was rather envious of Jinhyeok, who was natural among all these people.
After a small accident that didn’t even happen that way, the twin warriors stood in front of the Pope.
“Today, the two warriors who have received an oracle from the goddess are here…”
This event, the appointment ceremony for the warriors party and the launching ceremony for the warriors party, was one of the few big events on the continent. It serves as a period that concludes the entire event following the selection contest. It was a special opportunity to show the prestige of the Goddess Church and the Vatican to the continent as well as being large enough to be held in the main square of the city.
The long and lengthy training that is usual in places like this was unavoidable.
It was the same everywhere that the contents were useless. Because of this, Valdez was thinking about something else, not paying the slightest attention to what the pope said.
The four men who came out before the warriors and were appointed as the warrior’s companions were standing next to him. One of these was a sure ally, and the other was an uncertain factor. And the other one was going to be an important key point in attacking the warriors, and the remaining one was the biggest variable.
‘But that’s not important right now.’
It was okay to put off worrying about them until later. We would have to travel together for a few months anyway.
Valdez slightly turned his head and looked at Saint Cloudy and the dwarf paladin Luciano standing behind the pope.
Two people bound by evil.
Among them, Cloudy’s attack was proceeding smoothly. She had a secret meeting with her only yesterday. The reason was to break the curse she believed was inscribed on her, but she wasn’t too happy about it.
The problem was also Luciano.
‘Luciano…. He’s such a nuisance.’
When I thought of him, my forehead furrowed.
In fact, among the former warrior party members, this Dwarf was the most difficult to revenge.
Because he is a man, he could not be seduced, and he had no family by blood.
His likes His were blood, fight and honor.
‘This is the key point.’
There was no way for Valdez to fight with blood. Rather, when he wages war, Luciano will cry out in the crusade with great joy. Even at the time when he was his colleague, it was not once or twice that he tried to jump out into the middle of the battlefield without guarding the rearguard.
That’s why honor was important.
Throughout hundreds of years of history, the seat of the Pope was only allowed to humans. That was what Luciano dreamed so much of. And already he was in charge of the Cardinals, just below the Pope.
As the pope is decided by voting among the cardinals, the situation is the same as one step forward. But that step was terribly difficult.
The pope had no retirement age. Unless he died or was impeached, once pope he was pope forever. However, this species has a long lifespan. Although Luciano is the oldest in the Holy See, considering the lifespan of a dwarf, he could still live over 70 years.
So few cardinals could push him to the papacy.
Because of his many achievements his, Luciano was aiming for a position that he could not resist without being elected as a pope. It was for that reason that he volunteered for the warrior party 19 years ago, and he actually became a cardinal based on that. This was also something that could be counted on one hand for a heterogeneous race.
There are two basic forces of such Luciano.
Heterogeneous people who have a considerable weight within the Goddess Church. And some armed groups that admire him.
‘Among them, the Divine Hammer.’
All the staff there, headed by Luciano, were his adopted daughters.
‘Starting with Fiora, corrupt the Divine Hammer. I’ll create a group of dark paladins for demons, not for the Goddess and Luciano, and for me.’
A mean smile appeared on Valdez’s face.
