Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 499

Olivia Lanche and her priests were momentarily stunned by the appearance of the massive spiritual entity, but they were quickly thrown into battle against it.

The fight against the mysterious conglomeration of spirits was unlike anything they had ever encountered, and it was hard to even call it a battle. The overwhelming mass of hatred seemed to rip apart into dozens of soul fragments in mid-air before descending upon the holy knights and priests.

—Ahhhhhhh!

—Oh... O-Ouen...!

Screams filled the air as the spirits overwhelmed the knights and priests, causing them to foam at the mouth and clutch their heads in agony.

Bang! Bang, bang!

Those unable to withstand the mental and physical strain began to swell grotesquely before bursting apart.

Those who didn’t explode behaved abnormally, swinging their swords indiscriminately at their comrades as if possessed.

—Arghhh!

Swish!

“Possession...”

It was rare but not unheard of for malevolent spirits to possess humans and cause chaos. However, for them to possess highly trained holy knights and priests was a testament to their overwhelming power.

Some could not withstand the possession and their bodies collapsed under the strain.

The fragments of spirits that burst out from the dead bodies of the members of the Order began to rampage through the field, searching for new hosts. They had to be dealt with before they could possess anyone else. Olivia charged toward the rampaging spirits, her voice ringing out with divine incantations.

“Judgment upon those who stray from the path of purity,” she said. Tiamata responded to Olivia’s holy chant, emitting a brilliant golden light.

There was no time to ponder the righteousness of her actions; her priests and knights were on the brink of annihilation. She had to do everything she could to stop it.

“Peace to those who find no rest.” Olivia lunged at the spirits seeking new hosts, thrusting Tiamata forward with force.

Wooong...

“Power to annihilate all that defies reason...”

Flash!

—Ahhhhh!

A blinding flash erupted, and the spirits’ screams filled the air.

“Be in my hand!”

Olivia Lanche was the only priest who did not appeal to any god.

Rumble! freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Olivia let loose a thunderous wave of golden divine power, and the spirits caught in its wake were torn into thousands of pieces and vanished.

The other priests were watching her as well.

“They are not invincible!” Olivia shouted to her comrades. “Stand firm and fight! They are merely spirits wandering the world because they cannot die!”

Her fierce cry steeled the resolve of her holy warriors. They were the ones with the power to oppose such unholy beings. Despite all the time they had spent fighting monsters and beasts, their true duty was to oppose and exorcise such unholy entities.

They could not afford to be afraid. No matter how powerful the spirits or their hatred, they could be vanquished.

***

The Demon King had returned. Though he had said he might be gone for quite some time, he had returned after less than a month. However, those close to the Demon King, Reinhart, noticed something strange about him upon his return.

“Reinhart...?” Harriet’s voice was filled with surprise.

“It’s been a while. How have you been?” I replied, ruffling her hair with a fondness I couldn’t hide.

“P-pretty good... You said you were going to take a while, but you came back pretty quickly... A-and why are you touching my hair...?”

Despite her protests, my actions were filled with a warmth that suggested I had been away for a long time.

It was not just my gaze. My entire demeanor seemed different, exuding a calmness and tranquility that hadn’t been there before.

“Where’s Charlotte?” I asked.

“She’s in the office,” Harriet replied, hesitating slightly.

“Nothing happened, right?”

“Well...”

“Why? Did something serious happen?”

“Um... I think it’s better if you hear it from Charlotte...” she said, her voice trailing off.

Though the seasons hadn’t changed, time had indeed passed.

While the Demon King had been away, things had happened, as they always did.

***

I knew there was no such thing in the world as perfect justice. I understood that choosing one thing meant losing another.

I was in a position where I had to make so many decisions, and I knew that choices made for the greater good could still result in sacrifices.

However, every time the truths I knew in my head were laid bare before me, I realized how overwhelming this position was for me.

“Riana...?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes,” Charlotte confirmed.

Riana had been culling the refugees. The number of survivors who had died by her hand was beyond counting.

I nodded numbly as Charlotte reported the situation to me. I had been worried about some great calamity occurring in my absence, but the calamity had already been unfolding while I had been seated on my throne, completely unaware.

“So, until you make a new decision, the search for survivors has been halted. The relocation of the base has also been put on hold,” Charlotte explained.

Ultimately, I was the one responsible. As regent, Charlotte had suspended all decisions and halted all progress until my return. Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but admire Charlotte’s capabilities. She had noticed something I had completely missed just by reviewing reports. It was clear that someone like Charlotte was more suited to this position than I was.

“By the way, where have you been? You said it might take a while, so I thought it would be much longer before you returned...”

Charlotte tilted her head in curiosity.

“And you seem... different somehow,” she added.

“Do I?” I asked.

“Yes, I don’t know how to describe it...” Charlotte seemed to sense the same unfamiliarity Harriet had felt when meeting me.

I struggled to find the words to explain what had happened. I had spent a considerable amount of time in a world where time flowed differently from reality.

If I told them that no time had passed here while I was away, would they believe me?

“Where did you go and what were you doing there?” Charlotte asked.

“Well...” I hesitated.

I couldn’t speak directly about the family of Sunday and Monday. Luna hadn’t explicitly told me to keep it a secret, but there was no benefit in carelessly spreading that information. However, there was no reason to hide what I had done in Rijaiera. It wasn’t as if anything extraordinary had happened.

“I was chopping wood and plowing fields,” I finally said. I realized how ridiculous I sounded once I heard myself.

“Uh... what?” Charlotte seemed to think I was joking and tried to laugh, but couldn’t quite manage it.

***

I needed to think about Riana’s situation. It wasn’t just a matter of whether to punish her or not; Charlotte had mentioned another issue: the deep pit on the outskirts of Port Mokna where Riana had herded people to their deaths.

“Spirits?” I asked.

“Yes, the immense amount of spiritual energy concentrated there could lead to problems later on. That was what the head of the family of Wednesday said,” Charlotte explained.

She had already reported the matter to the Senate. I had seen ghosts at the ancient seat of the Vampire Council, but those apparently did not have a significant impact on the real world. However, Lucinil believed that too many spirits in one place could indeed affect the real world.

“Olivia Lanche, the leader of the Holy Order, was dispatched this morning. She’s the right person for exorcisms or purification rituals,” Charlotte said.

“That makes sense,” I replied.

“Honestly, we could just abandon Port Mokna and be rid of the problem, but it seems they want to eliminate the root of the problem.”

While the concentration of spirits could become an issue down the line, Olivia had already been dispatched to handle the situation. With her Divine Power from Ouen and her connection to Tiamata, Olivia could likely exorcise or purify the massive number of spirits there.

“Also, the empire has begun organizing a large-scale expeditionary force to suppress the remaining gates,” Charlotte continued.

Using small teams of special forces to destroy the remaining gates had become impossible, so the empire was organizing a massive army to destroy the last remaining gates.

The full might of humanity was being gathered for a final, all-out effort to destroy the remaining warp gates. If that army were to disappear, humanity would face its end.

“We’ll need to prepare our own measures as well,” I said.

While we couldn’t openly offer assistance, we needed to find ways to support them from the shadows. The Gate Incident was everyone’s problem.

“Anyway, you’ve done well in my absence,” I said, offering Charlotte a rare compliment.

Charlotte’s face flushed slightly at my unexpected praise. “Uh, well... it was just what needed to be done...”

Though I had learned things I would rather not have known, these were things I needed to know. Charlotte could see and understand things I couldn’t, and I was grateful to have brought her to Edina.

***

Upon returning from Rijaiera, I realized that not only was the world in turmoil, but Edina was also in a precarious state.

The most urgent matter was deciding what to do about Riana. While I could hand down a decision through the Senate, I chose to confront Riana directly. She had deceived me, but she had acted with the belief that her decisions were for my benefit. Whatever the case, we needed to talk.

I wondered if any of the Vampire Lords, Eleris or Lucinil, were around, but they were absent. The only one present in the royal castle was Antirianus, who had returned from an information-gathering mission.

“You have returned, Great Being.”

Antirianus greeted me in his usual sly demeanor, though he maintained the utmost respect.

“Things wrapped up sooner than expected,” I replied.

“That’s fortunate,” he said.

Though it hadn’t exactly happened quickly, it was a complicated matter that I couldn’t explain in detail.

Just that morning, I had been in Rijaiera, yet it felt like those moments were a distant past. I knew I would never return to Rijaiera, nor was it right to wish to.

Even if everything was resolved perfectly according to my wishes, I still had countless responsibilities to bear. Therefore, I decided to think of it as a long, vivid dream. Being thrust into such a life was a luxury I could never have imagined.

“Did you need me for something? Is there somewhere you need to go?” Antirianus asked.

“I need to visit Port Mokna,” I replied.

“Ah, that place? I’ve heard strange things have been happening there recently,” Antirianus said with a knowing smile.

Though Olivia had been dispatched to handle the situation, I wasn’t sure what the exact circumstances were, so I could not correctly gauge the level of threat.

“I’ll make preparations immediately,” Antirianus said, as he began to cast a mass teleportation spell.