Chapter 166 – 166 – Malice and Conspiracy
“Monopoly of enemy forces? Extermination of porters? Are you saying that the king is prepared to go to war with the entire continent?”
“If war cannot be avoided in the process of achieving the goal, you will be willing to endure it. What can you do? That is what the owner of the Thorn Crown has decided.”
The banquet hall of the Amethyst Palace was completely noisy. The well-known heroes and heroines recognize each other and clink glasses in a friendly manner. And they talk affectionately about each other’s dreams and ambitions.
Occasionally, adventurers who did not know anything expressed their embarrassment when environmentalist elves served meat dishes. Only after hearing the explanation that meat purchased outside the ecology of Elan Forest did not violate the traditional laws of the elves, they could comfortably pick up their forks and knives without worrying about being offended by the natives.
For the first time in a long time, there is a lively atmosphere in the castle, but the king of the elves is not here. This is because the special monster extermination party has captured the king and is holding him hostage.
The elves of the Senate looking down at the banquet hall from the terrace had deep expressions on their faces.
And a very small number of them were even more uncomfortable with the truth behind it.
“···’His Majesty kidnapped and detained the leader of their squadron party’ is the claim of those treasonous kidnappers. How much of it is true?”
“It’s all true as it is. His Majesty was trying to torture Thena Everlight to obtain the key to the World Temple. Opening the World Temple is also part of the King’s plan.”
The elders who temporarily represented the king issued a silence order regarding the king’s disappearance. On the surface, this is because it will confuse the warrior party members who are the guests gathered here.
And practically.
“I never wanted to say this, but the king is crazy. Great Elan has already committed deep sins against its people throughout its long history. We cannot allow the fire of those sins to spread to the entire continent.”
The senior senator tilted his wine glass, his hands shaking. It seemed to the young councilor that the elders did not want to go along with the king’s plan.
It was fortunate. The young lawmaker sighed in relief and asked again.
“What do you mean that Elan will monopolize aptitude?”
“I swear on the honor of my family. If King Danar succeeds in his plan, our aptitude will no longer be the blessings of the gods that were determined at birth. The king intends to cut off the power of the gods and wield it for himself. He does it.”
“Then···.”
“Those who rebel against the king will have their precious aptitudes taken away and given base aptitudes. Those who are loyal to the king will be given aptitudes that will make them revered as warriors or wizards. The king will set the standard.”
“···If only those who support His Majesty receive the Hero aptitude, and if they rebel, their aptitude can be taken away at any time.”
“No one can rebel against Danar Numen Evennarsson, master of the Hero army!”
“My God, absolute power. But how is that possible?”
“I don’t know how to do it. I just know what to use for that power. The Demon God ‘An’ was once the father and mother of all gods. The demon energy that creates monsters is actually the trapped and twisted power of creation. It is the same as that of the gods. It’s in reach.”
The old elf lifted his mouth from the glass and his lips trembled.
“Danar drew the demon lord into Elan and learned dark magic. And with that magic, he tried to extract the demon’s power and use it! Using that power as a quill, he rewrote the pages of each individual’s destiny that only the gods could write. “I want to use it!”
“So what happens to those warriors who came as reinforcements for the World Temple incident?”
“Well, when it starts, you might be the first to get caught up in it. Of course, no one in our world can escape this. We can’t leave it like that. So Quendarin, my disciple. Please ask me a favor of you. This is…”
“I know what will happen to them. You will spare the worthy ones among them, and you will shake off the chaff and dust from the world.”
“···What?”
“It’s a good thing you’re really a traitor. Your heart was so hardened that you already put poison in the cup, but I wasn’t convinced until the end.”
The old elf, who was thirsty and kept sipping wine, felt his vision shaking.
The insight that Quendarin, a political disciple whom he had raised with affection for hundreds of years, may have poisoned his master’s cup came after the poisonous snake extract had already seeped deep into his intestines.
Pretending to help the stumbling master, the disciple whispered into his ear.
“First of all, I will take away all the aptitudes of the chosen superhumans from those arrogant warriors who polluted the forest path with greed and greed like flies that gather in excrement. Then, I will release demons in their faces and see how they have become accustomed to the mercy of the gods. He will teach you what it was like. Only those who have realized humility will live to see the next day, and then they will become worshipers of the ‘Red Star King’ and judge traitors like you before you. You traitorous old man.”
“King Danar is just a citizen before the gods… What qualifications does he have to decide the fate of the world?”
“I’ll tell you one more thing you don’t know, porters. That filthy race that carries stones on their shoulders and dirt in their hands, living with the same primal desires and lust as cockroaches, the King will wipe out all of them without taking away their aptitude. “There is no place for porters in the world we will build in the future.”
“···No···.”
“In other words, that dirty grandson-in-law who you kept trying to get married to me will embrace her natural aptitude as a porter and will be buried and become fertilizer for the forest. That is the end of those who defy the king!”
“Foolish bastard, do you know that Danar is the one who inherited the aptitude for being a porter from his father?”
“That’s it, you traitor. This is what you’ll get for spreading such nonsense.”
The Great Elder fell in vain like that. If you endure just a little more disgusting acting, your position as Grand Elder of the Traitors will soon be taken over by your dear disciple, Quen’darin.
The young elf who was loyal to the Red Star King pretended to cry and cried out for the healer’s help.
—————
[Assuming Danar thinks so. What about the Demon King?]
[Hmph, do you think they’ll leave it like that? He’s too arrogant about being a puppet. Since the World Temple is in Daelan, he seems to think that the power of the Demon God is his, but he is a funny guy.]
The devil laughed, moving his spider-like arms. The other demons laughed together, keeping a close eye on him to see if he was committing card fraud.
[The power of the World Temple belongs to the Demon King and us. Whatever that Danar dream is. Of course, the Demon King will use Danar usefully in purifying the world. The Demon King does not want to leave the dirty blood of Evenna and traitors in this world, and among the monarchs of the four kingdoms, the only one who would agree to such a thing is Danar.]
[Woah, I don’t know, but there must be over a hundred million porters in this world, so it’s terrible.]
[Sounds terrible. Even though you were baptized by the Demon King and became a devil, are you still imitating humans?]
[Well, anyway, porters who are suitable porters get hit a little first. Anyway, their entire world will one day become like the Demon World.]
[Kihit, in the meantime, they will split and feud with each other, saying, ‘It doesn’t really matter if a suitable porter dies.’ After the total population decreases by percentage and the national power declines, society will suffer from a serious disease and become vulnerable to invasion.]
[Danar, that guy laid the groundwork really artistically. Thanks to this, the hatred of porters is almost like a theory and is floating around.]
[What. Are you saying that the slander against the porter spread through the royalties came from Danar?]
[It’s long, so to speak. Grab the card. I have to choose the one who will be eaten.]
[Oh, that’s strange. I heard a rumor that he was also a porter?]
[Originally, the most vicious and vicious slander and insults come from self-loathing.]
The demons laughed loudly at the evil that was in the world. And soon I was immersed in card games.
About ten minutes later, today’s loser, who had not been able to put down a card until the last minute, became thoughtful and glanced at his colleagues.
But the demons had no intention of remaining his comrades any longer. They gathered around the winner, flashing their spear knives and molars.
[So what. Regardless of whether Danar gains the power of his aptitude or not, the moment he steals the aptitude of the whole world, the Demon King’s great invasion will begin.]
[I can easily defeat people who don’t even have aptitude for power.]
[It will be like the hunting game we enjoyed in our human days. It will be a one-sided massacre.]
While the rest of the devils were giggling and finishing their chat, the spirit of the devil, whose hand holding the card was shaking, slowly retreated into the past.
Before gaining the power of the devil and killing people at random for joy. Before I met the devil, was baptized, and became a devil.
The day when his name written on the party alliance’s evaluation form was demoted from Class A to Class B due to his failure in his mission.
To the day when I exploded with anger, got drunk, killed someone, and hid in the dark forest like a monster running away from the city.
Former Hero Fernando Turic thought. ‘What on earth have I done? ‘What kind of trouble have you walked yourself into?’
There wasn’t long time to worry. The demons, who decided to eat Turik and share his demonic energy, laughed viciously and rushed at him, tearing his body to pieces.
The dinner party began only then.
————–
“···And yet Mithra supports your plot? A god of justice and fairness who wants to keep the world under order?”
“Ah, ‘Mitra wants to keep the world under order.’ Everyone thinks so.”
Gunther’s low laughter shook the small room.
“Don’t laugh. Have you ever seen a warrior who longs for peace? The value of order is highest in the crucible of blood, harshness, and chaos.”
“···You really shouldn’t be funny.”
“He has no intention of letting you establish order. He plans to shatter all petty worldly power and society just like in the days of the demon gods long ago.”
Thena swallowed her cries and twisted her body. The Demon King’s fragments had the will to resist engraved in their eyes.
His heart was becoming increasingly hardened. As expected, the best material to use as the Demon God’s seal was Thena Everlight.
“At that time, everyone wanted order. But after the ordeal, you experienced an ugly chaos. You were polluted with excess, profligacy, sloth, and lewdness, and you licked Ishtar’s toes. “You chose it with the sword of , so it is you, not anyone else, who brought hell to you.”
“I will stop it.”
“So when the age of darkness before the age of aptitude opens again, you will once again sincerely praise the sun that you regarded as your daily life.”
“That doesn’t happen.”
“The father who has gone crazy will be locked up for the rest of his life. The ugly and lowly sister will wither and die. Thus, only the order of the sun, burning with majesty, will shine in the world…”
At that moment, Thena succeeded in freeing her from the scaffold. She endured the pain of moving her arm, which had taken out her joint.
However, even though I held back the screams with superhuman will, I could not control the clanging sound of the locking mechanism.
Gunter opened her closed eyes wide. And she had a big smile on her face.
Thena held her breath and prepared for her clash.
“···But do you dare try to stop Mithra?”
“Even if I give it my all!”
“Excellent.”
—————
Danar’s plan, the devil’s scheme, and even Mithra’s cruel intentions.
As the ridiculously scary story ended, the people who had stopped breathing in contemplation glanced at each other.
Yagarum, who had been rolling his eyes as if he thought he had said everything he could not say, returned his smile, satisfied with our bewildered reaction.
That smile soon disappeared under a barrage of questions.
“···If Danar steals people’s aptitudes and tries to monopolize them, how can we stop him?”
[I don’t know that. Only the Demon King knows what kind of magic ritual was prepared, right?]
“How can we prevent massacres by discriminating against specific aptitudes or a large-scale invasion from the demon world?”
[I don’t even know that.]
“Mithra’s plan is hell on our world. How on earth can we keep a god who wants our deaths in check?”
[You should think about that. What are you asking me to do?]
We looked at each other blankly. Yagarum tilted his head and looked at us.
“You kid doesn’t know anything.”
I scrunched up my face and shrugged.
“Kill it?”
[···Wait a minute, teacher! The promise is different-!]
