Chapter 263: Learned your lesson? This is how a true Demon King acts

Island Country, Tokyo Branch of the History Compilation Committee.

This place, which yesterday held a lively banquet, where everyone's face was overflowing with excited smiles.

Now, in the midst of the chaotic venue, everyone wore an expression as if they had lost their mothers, as bitter as arsenic.

The cause of the matter must be traced back to yesterday morning.

That was what happened after receiving intelligence that the Last King, King Arthur, was about to head to Tianchao to purge the Godslayers.

A country across the sea that had been dominant for two hundred years was showing signs of internal strife; as neighbors, how could they not be happy?

In this world possessing Godslayers, the development of history is completely different from that of a normal world.

Two hundred years ago, the Demon Qing collapsed due to the rise of Luo Hao, and since then, Luo Hao has lived in seclusion, ignoring worldly affairs; as for the New Dynasty... with a Supreme Emperor overhead, they dared not stir up trouble.

Development could not be called smooth sailing, but it could be called stable and conservative; however, for the small countries on the border, it was a history of blood and tears.

What should be done when the imperial frontiers are always being refreshed with barbarians?

Especially a certain Island Country, which had even more bitter tears.

If not for the secret support of the Duke, and the fact that Luo Hao generally does not interfere unless a Heretic appears.

Only then did they barely manage to survive in the cracks.

But this peace lasted until a few decades ago, when that Saint Cult Leader of the Demon Sect learned of the news of the Monkey God, which enraged the Saint Cult Leader.

Then came the tragedy of the Demon Sect invading the Island Country, with the Island Country nearly being wiped out; after the Cult Leader left, a certain great country to the west even took the opportunity to set off two big firecrackers just for entertainment.

Saying too much is just tears.

And now, having finally waited for the Last King to purge the Godslayers, with the old king about to meet his end, could the members of the History Compilation Committee be anything but overjoyed?

Their opportunity had arrived; the old king was gone, and they still had the Duke, that is, Susanoo hiding in the Netherworld.

Isn't the chance for a coup d'état here?

This led to last night's banquet.

But before the hangover could even clear, everyone was now scared awake by the new news.

What do you mean King Arthur subdued the Martial Arts King with charm and is preparing to come to the Island Country on an auspicious day to kill a Heretic as a celebration?

And he also hopes the Island Country will be sensible, voluntarily give up a Heretic, and not harbor them.

And what Heretic could the Island Country possibly have? Besides that one in the Western Heaven Palace, there is only the Duke still in the Netherworld.

Whichever of these two gets into trouble, it is a weight the Island Country cannot bear.

At the very least, it would involve the destruction of several cities and tens of millions of casualties.

Who the hell has the heart to sleep now?

"This is too much, to actually put forward such an excessive demand!"

"Isn't the Last King responsible for purging Godslayers? Why does he even care about Heretic matters!"

"Well said, please go and talk to that King."

"What are you arguing about? Better to think about how to break the seal first."

"What does the Duke say? Does he have a way?"

"The Duke says he will not show himself, and he also says the Last King is not King Arthur at all."

"Two Godslayers? Isn't that even worse?"

"Sigh, what should we do now?"

"As things stand, we can only report the truth; besides this, what other way is there? We can't break that seal either."

"Sigh, if only we had a Godslayer too."

Preferably a naive greenhorn who is easy to fool.

Finally, after a heated discussion, the progress on how to break the Western Heaven Palace seal remained at zero.

After all, the methods to break the Western Heaven Palace seal are laid out in the open: first, the manifestation of the Dragon Snake Godhead; second, a Treasure Sword that weakens the spell; third, a shrine maiden with the ability of Calamity Removal holding the Treasure Sword.

The latter two are fine, but there is no way for the first condition; the manifestation of the Dragon Snake Godhead requires a Heretic with Dragon Snake attributes.

And even if a Heretic with this attribute appeared, the History Compilation Committee would have no way to capture the other party.

So now they can only do what they did last time, only this time they have learned their lesson and have long since relocated the vast majority of their forces abroad.

After those two Kings finish their chaos, they will come back to clean up the mess, or simply abandon Japan altogether.

They still understand the principle of "keep the land and lose the people, and you lose both."

As for the commoners at the bottom? Do they count as people? Aren't they just a string of numbers?

The main high-level personnel of the History Compilation Committee are almost all members of the Four Great Families, with each family controlling different aspects of power.

And the one responsible for managing the Western Heaven Palace is the Jiufazuka Family.

This also provided great convenience for the Wuyue Sacred Sect to investigate and count the high-level personnel and high-ranking nobles of the Island Country.

Anyone related to the Four Great Families is a target; that is, taking the nine generations of the Four Great Families as a radius to draw a circle, everyone inside the circle is a target.

Su Nian, of course, did not notify them in advance of the consequences if his demands were not met.

After all, if he had notified them in advance, how would he count them? He is not surnamed You; what he values is precision strikes.

With two days of preparation time, the Four Great Families of the History Compilation Committee kept bickering with each other, showing no sign of being prepared at all.

It was not until one day later that Su Nian and Luo Hao, bringing Athena and Liliana, arrived at Narita Airport by plane.

Inside the airport's special passage, to prevent anyone from angering Su Nian and Luo Hao, the History Compilation Committee cleared the entire area, leaving no one behind.

Only Kamikusa Touma and the people he found were left to receive them in person.

What could Kamikusa Touma do? He didn't want to come either, to face two Godslayers directly, but who told him he was unlucky?

"Mr. Kamikusa Touma, I am a little nervous."

"No need to be nervous... though it's useless for me to say that; after all, this is an unprecedented simultaneous appearance of two Kings. Never mind you, I am nervous too."

Kamikusa Touma smiled bitterly, his teeth faintly chattering as he spoke.

Those who are truly sensible and have connections had long since prepared to go abroad, and some even left yesterday.

This time, the Island Country will, at the very least, have to undergo a war of national annihilation just like last time; hmm, the Island Country is the one being annihilated.

Kamikusa Touma could only hope that the high-ranking Princess Shrine Maiden by his side would be able to play a role.

Wanriya Yuri is one of the few high-ranking shrine maidens that the History Compilation Committee can control, and she is also one of the extremely rare high-ranking Princess Shrine Maidens who possesses the ability to see through the origins of Godslayers and Heretics via Spirit Vision.

She belongs to a very rare type of commodity; such a Princess Shrine Maiden is considered a rare talent, whether in the world of Magic or in the eyes of a Godslayer.

Anyone capable of seeing through the trump cards of Heretic Gods and Godslayers is a scarce talent anywhere.

Even with the crisis at this point, he still had to spend a lot of breath to get the committee to loosen their stance.

Kamikusa Touma could only hope that a Princess Shrine Maiden like Wanriya Yuri would be able to stall for some time.

To gather the conditions for them to unseal.

But is it really just to gather the conditions for unsealing, rather than just stalling for time?

Kamikusa Touma sighed and thought.

"Miss Wanriya, the two Kings have arrived."

In the tense time, at the airport exit in the distance, figures had already appeared: a golden figure holding a beautiful woman wearing Hanfu, followed by two silver-haired girls, one big and one small.

These were Su Nian and Luo Hao, as well as Athena and Liliana.

As for the Wuyue Sacred Sect and Lu Yinghua? Su Nian knew that Lu Yinghua did not like interacting with women, so he had long since let him sneak in ahead of time to scout for information.

Following Lu Yinghua were one hundred and eight Elders of the Wuyue Sacred Sect who possessed the strength of Great Knights.

"Miss Wanriya, what happens next depends on your performance; the lives of the tens of millions of residents in Dong Jing depend on you."

Kamikusa Touma whispered a reminder to Wanriya Yuri, and then walked toward Su Nian.

"Respected King, welcome to your arrival..."

"I'll just ask one question: is the thing we requested prepared?"

Su Nian interrupted his spellcasting directly and asked as he came up.

"It's like this, King, we..."

"Is the thing I requested prepared?"

Su Nian interrupted Kamikusa Touma's spellcasting again, maintaining a brilliant smile while asking.

This caused a drop of cold sweat to instantly appear on Kamikusa Touma's forehead.

The more brilliantly Su Nian smiled, the more nervous Kamikusa Touma became; he didn't even dare to speak anymore, because Su Nian had already asked twice, and he was worried that if he let Su Nian ask a third time, he would just take action directly.

"No, King."

Kamikusa Touma lowered his head, not daring to even breathe loudly, his forehead already covered in cold sweat.

"Is that so? After all, I'm not some devil."

Su Nian said with a sunny smile.

"Lu Yinghua."

"Disciple is here."

The youth, who had suddenly appeared beside Kamikusa Touma without anyone knowing when, knelt on the ground and performed a salute to Su Nian.

"Since they have tossed my request aside, it's time to let them learn a lesson."

"After all, I'm not some devil; for the first time, I'll go easy—just leave nine out of ten."

What does "leave nine out of ten" mean? Instantly, Kamikusa Touma thought of a very desperate situation.

Could it be leaving nine out of every ten?

Cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes.

"Right, I almost forgot; what is your status again?"

Su Nian smiled and patted Kamikusa Touma on the shoulder, asking curiously.

"My name is..."

Before he could finish speaking, Kamikusa Touma looked at the smile on Su Nian's face and the hand on his shoulder that seemed to be warning him, and hurriedly changed his words.

"I am an external reception staff member for the History Compilation Committee, mainly responsible for external reception work."

"Thank you for your answer."

Su Nian let go of his hand, leaving behind a bewildered Kamikusa Touma.

"Right, one more question: in the History Compilation Committee, can your status be considered the top one-tenth?"

"I suppose it counts?"

Kamikusa Touma scratched his head and said somewhat uncomprehendingly; the History Compilation Committee is considered a large organization, and he just happened to be at the level of interfacing with the people from the Four Great Families at the very top.

"Looks like it's just right."

Whether intentional or not, Su Nian gave Lu Yinghua a reminder.

Afterward, Su Nian led Luo Hao and the others away, leaving only the two confused people, Kamikusa Touma and Wanriya Yuri.

Lu Yinghua patted Kamikusa Touma on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"Congratulations, you've hit the jackpot."

"The two Kings actually only have one external staff member to receive them; does that mean you must be the person with the highest status among the Compilation Committee?"

Understood, everything was understood.

In this instant, Kamikusa Touma understood everything; what "leave nine out of ten"—isn't this just Eleven Decimation?

Kamikusa Touma was numb, completely numb; he didn't dare to say anything, and he didn't dare to ask anything.

He never imagined that such a wrong order would make the upper echelons pay such a price.

"Don't worry, there will definitely be no accidental killings; we have already investigated clearly in advance."

Seeing Kamikusa Touma standing there foolishly, Lu Yinghua thought the other party was worried about what to do if someone managed to run away.

How is this possible? Do they really think their Demon Sect is just here for a free meal?

Never mind within Japan; they have even controlled the families of high-ranking Japanese nobles living abroad, ensuring not a single one is missed, not a single one is wrong.

Do not underestimate the competence of the Demon Sect, and do not underestimate their ties to the nine generations of kin, hey!

What is as precise as a scalpel is the Demon Sect; killing the innocent indiscriminately is what you call an evil cult.

Isn't that even more terrifying? Kamikusa Touma subconsciously muttered in his heart.

However, amidst the fear, Kamikusa Touma was unexpectedly relieved—relieved that he had been sent out to host the King.

Otherwise, who knows if he would have been picked for execution.

——

Inside the Western Heaven Palace, the people of the Jiufazuka Family were gathered, discussing how to respond in a moment, how Kamikusa Touma, who went to welcome the Godslayer, was handling things, and whether they could delay for a while.

People from the Compilation Committee were also here, such as the head of the Tokyo Branch, Sayama Kaoru; she was Kamikusa Touma's direct superior.

She was leading the people from the Compilation Committee, watching from the side.

The major event of two Godslayers descending, and in Tokyo at that, meant she could not avoid it no matter what.

Even though not long ago, she had just woken up from the hangover of a finished banquet.

As for why she didn't go herself? That was naturally out of fear; she was a high-ranking shrine maiden, what if she were snatched away to perform a Summoning of a Heretic?

At this moment, like the people of the Jiufazuka Family, she was very anxious, whispering to her subordinates.

"Is there any news coming from Kamikusa Touma's side?"

"No, the last news we received was that King Arthur and the Martial Arts King had gotten off the plane and should be on their way here now."

"How much longer until they arrive?"

"According to the motorcade's situation, about twenty more minutes."

"So fast?"

"I'm afraid Kamikusa Touma didn't delay them for long at all. Forget it, that little time wouldn't be enough to break the seal anyway."

Sayama Kaoru rubbed her forehead in a headache, glancing at the people of the Jiufazuka Family to the side; those guys were still discussing the dream of whether King Arthur would be bewitched by a beautiful girl.

"Keep an eye on the situation outside at all times; as soon as the motorcade arrives, we must go to receive them immediately."

"Yes."

The Compilation Committee, all obeying orders.

After twenty minutes of anxious waiting, the motorcade arrived on time and stopped outside the gate of the Western Heaven Palace.

Sayama Kaoru led her subordinates and immediately went up to meet them; the people of the Jiufazuka Family did the same.

The motorcade stopped; the first car held Lu Yinghua and Kamikusa Touma, and Lu Yinghua was smiling broadly, arm-in-arm with Kamikusa Touma, walking toward her together.

This sight made Sayama Kaoru, who was waiting to the side, freeze.

"What's the situation? Lu Yinghua and that guy Touma are this close now?"

Sayama Kaoru had a bunch of question marks over her head, but she couldn't go up and ask.

"And what's with that apologetic look in that guy's eyes?"

For some reason, Sayama Kaoru saw a trace of pity in Kamikusa Touma's eyes.

"May I ask if you are from the Compilation Committee?"

Lu Yinghua asked with a smile; he felt that he was enjoying himself to the extreme right now.

Was he finally able to take action himself against someone he extremely detested—a beautiful woman?

Although it was said that breaking the seal required a shrine maiden with the ability of Calamity Removal, Sayama Kaoru didn't have the ability of Calamity Removal either.

The shrine maiden with the ability of Calamity Removal was Wanriya Yuri's younger sister, Wanriya Hikari.

And someone useless, who just happened to be within the range of the execution... taking action against a beautiful woman, this was truly too joyful.

"Yes."

Sayama Kaoru answered in confusion, while looking at Kamikusa Touma with a puzzled gaze, expecting the other party to give her an answer.

Only, for some reason, Kamikusa Touma lowered his head, not daring to look at her.

Chief, I'm sorry. Just consider it for my sake, please sacrifice yourself.

"What is your position in the Compilation Committee?"

"I am the head of the Tokyo Branch."

"What is the relationship between the person behind me and you?"

"He is my subordinate."

Sorry, Chief.

Kamikusa Touma closed his eyes; the scene was too cruel, he couldn't bear to watch.

Boom—

Lu Yinghua appeared directly in front of her and struck her chest with a palm.

Sayama Kaoru had never expected Lu Yinghua to take action directly; she was instantly sent flying, spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air, and then fell to the ground several meters away.

Of course, Lu Yinghua didn't use a lethal blow; after all, she was a rare talent, a shrine maiden, and it would be a waste to kill her. He had to keep her to Summon a few Heretics first.

Subsequently, Lu Yinghua turned his head to look at the people of the Jiufazuka Family on the side.

"I heard you haven't prepared to break the spell?"

The leader of the Jiufazuka Family was the young master of the Jiufazuka Family, Jiufazuka Kanihiko; as the manager of the Western Heaven Palace, he had to show his face.

He knelt directly on the ground in a dogeza posture toward the car where Su Nian was sitting, with the window rolled down.

"Oh King, please forgive us, we really..."

Then Su Nian silently rolled up the car window and pulled the curtains shut.

Crack!

The blade flashing with a cold light pierced directly through his chest.

And sharing the same fate as him were the surrounding lucky audience members who had been selected.

Of course, these had all been carefully chosen; they belonged to the type who held high positions and great power, yet possessed no real ability.

Do not underestimate the professionalism of the Demon Sect; they are experts.

"First warning; the next time, it won't be nine out of ten left alive."

Lu Yinghua crossed his arms over his chest and said indifferently.

"Do you have any objections?"

Lu Yinghua asked the remaining members of the Jiufazuka family and the Official Compilation Committee with a beaming smile.

It was just a pity that those people seemed to have been scared silly; one by one, they had lost their voices and could not make a sound.

"Not answering me? It seems you have objections to the King's resolution, then?"

"No, no."

The crowd hurriedly knelt on the ground, terrified that if they spoke too late, they would be killed by the Demon Sect.

"Since there are no objections, you may go about your business. Remember to undo the Spell before tomorrow; if you fail to do so,"

"Next time, it won't be nine out of ten left alive, but seven out of nine."

Using the gentlest tone to say the most cruel words, Lu Yinghua is also a fine seed for a Demon King.

"Do you understand?"

"Understood, understood."

Sitting in the car, Su Nian watched the crowd nodding like woodpeckers, then turned his head to look at Luo Hao.

"Did you learn? This is the true way of a Demon King."

"You were too soft-handed before, and you didn't make preparations or conduct investigations in advance."

Luo Hao nodded, wrapped her arms around Su Nian's arm, and leaned on Su Nian's shoulder as she spoke.

"My husband is right to lecture me; I will be more careful next time."

"Witch, you aren't just going to stand there blankly, are you?"

Athena's voice suddenly arrived, startling Liliana, who was still in a daze.

Hearing the voice, Liliana turned her head and looked at Athena, who had an expression of disappointment at her lack of progress on her face; she was stunned for a moment before quickly reacting and saying:

"My apologies, Heavenly Lord Athena, I will share the intelligence with Erica right away."

To come and strike a blow against the factions over in Europe, warning them not to pull any petty tricks.

Although the Marquis has trained them well, time makes one forget everything; sometimes, it is still necessary to make them learn their lesson again.

"You have some aptitude, at least."

Athena let out a soft hum and said, in a good mood.

Perhaps this one could be cultivated; Athena narrowed her eyes and looked Liliana up and down.

Unlike Erica, who had many hidden agendas, the much simpler Liliana was more to Athena's liking.

She felt that fighting alone by Su Nian's side still put her under some pressure—pressure in every sense of the word.

(End of chapter)