Chapter 405: I Like to Be Passive (Happy May Day, Please Vote!)

"Yes, you heard correctly!"

"I'm taking you all to the headquarters of the Church of the Sun God—Radiant Shengcheng Solanthis!"

"I'm not insane, nor am I trying to torment you."

"My goal is to give you a baptism."

"A baptism of the soul!"

In the hell of molten lava, Herbert waved his arms, passionately delivering his speech.

"Yes, I'm not persecuting you!"

"I'm here to save you!"

When Herbert finished his impassioned speech, the entire hall fell silent—not a single demon or devil spoke; all stared fixedly at him.

They said nothing, yet somehow said everything.

In the mutual gaze of six eyes, the atmosphere grew unbearably awkward.

"Cough. Cough."

Herbert cleared his throat twice, feigning casualness as he asked, "Uh, well… don't you have anything to say?"

"Uh…"

Flora tilted her head in utter confusion, gazing at Herbert, then raised a finger to point at herself.

Me? Me?

Facing Flora's bewilderment, Herbert gave a gentle nod, his mocking smile fading as he said seriously, "Yes, I'm not joking."

"Come with me—to the Shengcheng, to purify your soul."

Purify my soul?

Even though Flora was utterly baffled, she couldn't help laughing at those words.

"Pfft, hahahaha! What are you talking about? Hahaha!"

Sending a demon to the Radiant Shengcheng for purification… how could you even say that?

Why not ask an angel to escape from Hell?

As Flora burst into uncontrollable laughter, Herbert watched her with a gentle smile.

"Hah, uh!"

Flora's laughter froze. After a moment, she realized something, uncertainly asking, "Master… are you serious?"

At this moment, the smile that had vanished from her face had silently transferred to Herbert's.

"Of course I'm serious. I'm not joking with you," the Holy Knight chuckled and nodded.

"Believe me, I'm not making some cruel joke—I genuinely want to help you this way."

Herbert raised his hand and gently stroked the hair atop Flora's head, whispering, "Perhaps this can free you from the torment of chaos, once and for all."

!!?

Flora snapped her head up, locking her gaze tightly on Herbert's eyes.

Free from chaos?

"You found it?" she asked uncertainly.

"Mm. Probably feasible," Herbert nodded slightly.

"…"

Seeing the seriousness in Herbert's eyes, Flora closed them, exhaled a long breath, and fell into thought.

Moments later, she opened her eyes and gave Herbert a solemn nod.

"I understand."

She bowed slightly, respectfully saying, "Your servant Flora obeys your command."

Flora did not know whether Herbert's words were true, but she chose to believe her young master.

As Herbert had previously said, her instincts had only been temporarily suppressed—they would eventually resurge and drag her back into chaos.

Herbert promised to help her find a true, permanent solution, and asked her to wait patiently.

And Flora had long prepared herself for a long wait.

Ten years, twenty years, fifty years, a hundred years—even several centuries!

As long as it wasn't a millennium, she could accept it.

But what Flora hadn't expected was that this opportunity would come so soon.

How much time had passed?

It felt like barely a blink—and he'd already found the real solution… this efficiency was too high!

If it were anyone else, Flora might not have trusted them fully, suspecting they were merely using this as a trick to deceive her, to make her work as a pawn or beast of burden.

But facing Herbert, she chose unconditional trust.

Since you've made this promise, I choose to believe you.

This isn't blind favoritism—it's a conclusion drawn over "centuries."

Even if that dream was false, Herbert himself was real.

During that long journey, she had seen through his true nature.

He sometimes had a terrible personality, enjoyed childish jokes, wasn't a perfect man, and occasionally showed petty greed.

But in keeping his promises, Herbert had never once disappointed anyone.

In keeping promises, Herbert possessed an almost fanatical devotion.

Perhaps this is just the occupational disease of a Holy Knight?

Uphold oaths.

For a Holy Knight, betraying their oath is no less painful than being killed.

Faced with Flora's obedient compliance, Herbert was deeply satisfied; he nodded lightly and gently patted her small head.

"Good."

The feeling of being trusted is wonderful.

Since Flora could so easily choose to believe in him and willingly follow him into this absurd endeavor, it proved she trusted him beyond ordinary bounds.

That's good.

Herbert was pleased by this.

He laughed again and roughly ruffled Flora's hair, leaving her pink short locks a mess before letting go.

"Alright, if neither of you has any objections, then prepare yourselves—I'll go speak with the others…"

Unfortunately, before Herbert could finish, an untimely disruptor spoke up.

"Wait a minute, you two!"

"Tch."

Herbert curled his lip and turned his head toward the side.

Beside him, the Devil Young Lady's expression had frozen solid—a tragic look of "my greatest fear has become reality."

Why that expression?

It makes it seem like I'm persecuting her!

"What's wrong? Do you have a problem?"

Compared to his gentle demeanor with Flora, Herbert's expression toward Crete was far less amiable.

Steamed Bun, are you dissatisfied?

"You, uh, I…"

Crete, meanwhile, seemed like her brain had crashed, struggling to form words and unable to reply for a long time.

Herbert, seeing this, curled his lip and teased: "Looks like you're so eager to go to Solanthis you're speechless with excitement. No need to be polite—I'm off."

With that, he immediately pushed open the portal, preparing to leave.

While Crete hasn't fully reacted yet—run while you can!

"... Wait! I said wait!"

Just as Herbert took a step, Crete snapped out of her daze and lunged forward, grabbing his thigh: "Come back! Don't you dare leave!"

Crete clung to his leg pitifully, gritting her teeth and glaring fiercely at Herbert: "Herbert! Explain yourself first!"

"Hm?"

Herbert, whose upper body was already halfway through the portal, stepped back and looked down at her in confusion: "What's your problem?"

This was pure nonsense—making up questions out of thin air.

Herbert knew perfectly well what the Devil Young Lady wanted to ask; he was just deliberately annoying her.

This jerkiness—I'm definitely committing it today!

Sure enough, Crete immediately cracked, shouting: "What do you mean I'm going too?"

Herbert frowned, blinking: "It means exactly what it sounds like—you're coming with me… didn't you get it?"

He blinked again, face stern, and sighed with pity: "Come on, you can't even understand that? Oh dear, how pitiful."

"How about this? I'll set up a class for you two—you and Valentina can catch up together, okay?"

Crete:???

Are you insulting me?

Are you calling me an idiot!!?

The Devil Young Lady had never imagined she'd be insulted on the level of intelligence.

One day, she'd be compared to that dragon!

What level is she?

What level am I?

Is there even any comparison possible between the two in intelligence!!?

Crete knew full well Herbert was teasing her, but she gritted her teeth and swallowed the humiliation.

Endure!

"No, I'm not asking about that!"

"Then what are you asking?"

She didn't let Herbert derail the topic, pressing on: "I mean, what does this have to do with me?"

"And do you even know what you're doing? You're sending me to His divine realm—do you want us to die?!"

Flora was willing to go mad with Herbert; she wouldn't be.

To the Sun God's earthly divine realm?

No way, what's wrong with both of your brains?

Are you insane?

Especially Flora—she simply couldn't comprehend.

If he's gone mad, fine—but are you joining him in his madness?

Strictly speaking, if they truly reached Solanthis, Crete would suffer less than Flora.

Devils only suffer from the overwhelming righteousness there; demons also suffer from its extreme order.

"Herbert, do you want to kill her?"

After being questioned by Flora, Herbert shrugged and smiled lightly: "You don't need to worry about that—I'm taking Flora to help her break free from her instincts."

Saying so, his expression suddenly turned subtle, and he teased, "Also, worrying about Flora like this — looks like you really care about her, huh?"

Flora raised an eyebrow slightly at this moment, her gaze rather peculiar as she looked at Kreti, no telling what she was thinking.

!!!

"Enough nonsense!"

Kreti gritted her teeth, forcibly ignoring the gazes that made her whole body uncomfortable, and stared at Herbert: "What about me, then?"

"Flora's troubled by her instincts, and I never asked you to help me resist mine! Why drag me along?"

"Give me a reason to bring me. Go on, give me one."

Facing the Young Lady Devil's interrogation, Herbert raised a hand, stroked his chin, and murmured softly: "Want a reason?"

He thought about it seriously for a moment, then suddenly laughed, snapped his fingers, and nodded with a smile: "I'd be very happy."

This unexpected answer left the other two present utterly shocked.

"Eh?"

"Huh???"

Kreti's expression twisted slightly, her eyes wide, as she said in disbelief: "You mean…"

Watching Herbert's delighted smile, the Young Lady Devil felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

At this moment, she actually felt a strange, inexplicable sense of having come home.

This is…

And Herbert, just as she expected, nodded and said cheerfully: "That's right, exactly what you're thinking! Seeing you suffer so miserably — I'd be very happy."

!!!

The Young Lady Devil's expression froze completely; only after a while did it come back to life, and she roared: "Her! Bert!"

That expression, that look, that wretched personality… that's right, you're the devil here!!?

Damn it!

Realizing that the Herbert before her could almost be equated with a Devil Grand Duke in temperament, Kreti completely gave up on the idea of wrangling with him any further.

Useless.

Because Kreti understood that for devils, the more their enemies suffer, the happier they themselves become.

The more miserable she appeared, the more delighted Herbert would be.

In the end, she merely puckered her lips, glared viciously at Herbert, and said huffily: "I will absolutely never submit! Hmph!"

She had already prepared herself — the moment Herbert let his guard down, she would shrink straight back to the deepest part of the Bronze Fortress.

Even if she couldn't hold out long, at least she had to show her will to resist!

Maybe Herbert would find it troublesome and just leave her behind.

Herbert stared at Kreti for a while, then suddenly softened his tone and asked with a smile: "So, you're absolutely not going to Solanth voluntarily — nothing to discuss, right?"

A chance?

Kreti sensed the shift in Herbert's tone, and her heart stirred, but on the surface she still maintained her die-before-surrender attitude.

Can't change sides this fast — even if it's an act, she had to keep it up a while longer.

"Hmph!"

"Then… what a pity!"

She had been so utterly resolute, so Herbert regretfully shook his head and sighed: "In that case, you'll just have to be dragged along with us."

Kreti:???

Wait, I absolutely have to go?

Just as the Young Lady Devil was racking her brains, the Succubus Young Lady pressed her lips together and laughed, an expression that looked like she was trying not to crack.

"Pfft! Haha, cough, cough…"

When Kreti's gaze landed on her, Flora coughed lightly twice and raised a hand to point.

"Um, Kreti, I suggest before you answer, you turn around and look first."

Turn around and look?

Kreti frowned in confusion, suspecting the other was about to pull some childish trick — the moment she turned, they'd seize her.

But seeing Flora's expression that was about to give way, something suddenly dawned on her.

Could it be…

Hesitating in her heart, Kreti finally mustered her courage and slowly looked behind her.

"…Hiss!"

Behind her, a teleportation gate had silently opened at some unknown moment.

And within the gate was a massive crimson slit-pupil eye, no telling how long it had been watching her.

…Gulp.

The Young Lady Devil silently swallowed, and heard Herbert's soft chuckle from behind her.

"So, willing to come with me now?"

Kreti fell silent.

She glanced sideways at Herbert, then at the dragon's eye before her.

After a moment, she slowly nodded and said with difficulty: "…Willing."

"I'm not forcing you, right? If you really don't want to go, I won't push you," Herbert said considerately.

You devil!

The Young Lady Devil grumbled inwardly, struggling to control her expression — she could feel that the dragon was looking for a chance to pick a fight.

"It's fine, please don't worry, I like being passive… yes, this is all completely voluntary!"

Krayti took a deep breath, bit down hard, and said fiercely, "You know, I've always felt… longi— longing for Solantis!"

Yes, I want to go so badly!

I want to go so goddamn badly!

"Haha, very good…"

And just as Herbert was smiling, preparing to keep teasing the Young Lady Devil with "a wise man knows when to bend with the times," he heard an unhappy voice from behind the door.

Valentina stared at him and huffed, "Where are you two sneaking off to?"

"Uh, that…"

"I don't care! I'm coming too!"

(End of chapter)