325 Dekan ultimately couldn't catch up to Clay's loneliness

The snow had almost stopped by the afternoon, but the town's buildings were already covered in white.

The sky was obscured by leaden-gray clouds, and the sunlight was weak and distant.

Stepping out of the hotel and onto the street, even Dekan, dressed in winter clothes, couldn't help but marvel at the chill; it was the biting cold of winter in the Norton Kingdom.

"I really want to go home..."

Dekan complained.

"Teacher, you can't leave me! I don't want to go back to the Demon Realm..."

Eve heard Dekan's mutterings and spoke anxiously behind him.

She had no desire to return to that Demon Realm.

"Don't worry, you can stay with me in the Holy Kingdom for now."

Dekan turned around and smiled helplessly.

Following behind him was Eve, who was supporting Talomati.

Tomorrow, Talomati will be going to see Lunn, Dekan stopped using the potion on Talomati.

She can walk now and will be able to move around normally by tomorrow, but her injuries haven't fully healed.

However, Dekan believed that she had no intention of harming him.

"Are we... are we really going to the Lunn manor?"

Eve hugged Talomati's arm tighter, not just because she was cold, but because she was genuinely scared.

For a demon, visiting Lunn's mansion is an act of utter suicidal recklessness.

It's like a human sneaking into the Demon King's castle to play cards with him.

However, Talomati remained calm, seemingly already accustomed to Delois's reckless behavior, and offered no objection or questioning of his actions.

"Don't worry, my relationship with Lunn is pretty good. You two can rest well later, enjoy some snacks and tea."

Dekan grinned as he spoke.

Eve was initially shocked, but quickly calmed down.

As expected of my teacher!

To think he had this connection with Lunn, the true value of this great traitor is beyond doubt!

Talomati, on the other hand, revealed a slight look of anticipation in his eyes.

Her focus was clearly different from Eve's.

For any demon, getting a free meal at Lunn's mansion is an extremely difficult feat, and Talomati felt that the food was enhanced by this rare opportunity.

"But Lunn isn't home. Is it really appropriate for us to go to the Lord's Mansion today?"

Eve asked again.

"It's alright, just follow me."

As he spoke, Dekan pulled a notice out of his pocket.

This notice was not only posted in many prominent places in the town, but was also published in the newspaper.

Clantes Lord's Mansion is seeking an intern translator fluent in the demonic language.

[Rank requirement: Rank 5 or above]

[Other requirements: Must be proficient in Magic Engineering and have experience analyzing demonic magical items]

[Salary: Not available during internship]

[Note: We hope applicants possess a beautiful soul]

[If you meet the requirements, you may contact the Lord's Mansion's Household Steward directly.]

Eve hadn't paid much attention to the job posting at first, but now that she thought about it carefully, apart from the note, every other item seemed to describe her as a teacher.

"I understand, teacher! This is a code; someone is looking for you."

"Yes, let's just go directly to the head steward."

Dekan recognized the job posting immediately; it was clearly a haphazardly placed advertisement.

Especially the phrase "beautiful mind," it's almost as if they just wrote down his ID number at the end.

I wonder who somehow managed to become the head of internal affairs in the Lunn family.

This makes things much more convenient.

"But teacher, why did he mention 'Beautiful Mind' again? Was he trying to provoke you?"

"Eve, if you can't speak properly, then speak less."

"Oh..."

Eve noticed something strange about her teacher. He would get angry at things that were compliments to the devil, but seemed to really like things that were insults to the devil...

Could it be that he was really hallucinating from pretending to be human?

But he didn't even look like a human being...

"Throat..."

Talomati nudged Eve gently with his elbow.

Eve snapped out of her daze and found Dekan staring at her with a deathly gaze.

Clearly, her teacher had noticed some of the things she had been thinking that might have seemed impolite to her.

"You wicked disciple..."

Dekan sighed and walked away.

Eve is great in every way, except that she's really rude to always treat him like a devil.

Moreover, she genuinely worshipped herself as a great demon.

Even threatening her to stop praising him in the demonic way would only be self-deception, making him seem even more pathetic as a human.

This made Dekan very sad.

"'Impossible, there's absolutely nothing wrong with my teaching methods,' that's what you said, right?"

The Master's voice echoed in Dekan's mind, and she deliberately imitated Dekan's incredibly confident tone from that day.

Dekan originally intended to retort to his Master.

But then I thought about how our generational relationship seemed to have changed, and I should be more accommodating to her.

So he responded:

"There are fancy desserts at the Lunn residence later."

Are you planning to let me eat it?

"No, Talomati and I will eat; you can only watch."

"Hehe, you've run out of dessert."

The three demons arrived at the Lord's Mansion.

Looking from afar, you can see that the Lord's Mansion of Lunn is quite old; it must be a building that has been passed down for generations by their border family.

The courtyard was brightly lit, and the area was heavily guarded, with soldiers stationed at the courtyard entrance, which was quite far away.

The guards became alert as soon as they spotted Dekan approaching; it meant they could not proceed any further.

However, Dekan took out a job posting from his pocket and explained his purpose to the guard:

"I'd like to apply for the job of Demonic Script translator and Magic Engineering."

Upon hearing this, the guard's gaze visibly softened slightly.

However, they soon noticed two simply dressed but extremely beautiful women behind Dekan.

"Was it you who applied? And who are they?"

"My sickly younger sister and my cousin... My sister's health is so poor, I can't just leave them unattended. Could you please convey my message to the head steward?"

Upon hearing Dekan mention the Chief Steward, the guards immediately recalled his instructions: whatever requests the applicants made for the position, they should treat this rare talent with courtesy and inform him as soon as possible.

"Please wait a moment, I'll go inform the head steward."

A guard nodded quickly, turned and ran into the Lord's Mansion.

A moment later, a brown-haired young man dressed in civil official's robes hurriedly came out of the Lord's Mansion.

The moment he saw Dekan, his eyes gleamed with barely concealed excitement.

Dekan's eyes were also filled with deep emotion.

After seven months, I finally saw my best friend again.

It was Croix managed to get the position of head of internal affairs at the Lunn household.

"Please come in, sir, and also, ladies."

Croix politely gestured to the three of them, including Dekan.

He immediately noticed Talomati and Eve behind Dekan.

Although Croix didn't know Eve, he recognized the sickly-looking gray-haired woman behind Dekan. She resembled Dekan so much that she must be Tata's Holy Kingdom.

Having a steward is extremely convenient, especially when the lord himself is away, as Croix can easily arrange an unannounced visit.

As they walked through the spacious courtyard and arrived at the Lord's Mansion, neither Dekan nor Croix called out the other's name, but simply chatted amiably as if they had met a close friend.

As luck would have it, Croix, the eldest son of the Border Earl, was assigned to the Border Earl's household as the head steward.

In addition, Croix has long been in charge of handling the internal affairs of the Happy Group.

He found all the affairs of the Lord's Mansion to be quite easy to handle.

At first, Eve was a little scared, but seeing that there seemed to be no danger at Lunn's mansion, she gradually calmed down, just like Talomati.

Afterwards, Croix led Talomati and Eve to a reception room and settled them in, instructing the servants to serve them refreshments.

Croix always stayed at the Happy Group, knew Tata's characteristics, so she instructed the servants to treat them as honored guests.

Next, he led Dekan to the office of the Chief Steward.

After confirming that no one was outside and closing the door, Croix could no longer contain her excitement and quickly walked up to Dekan, asking him:

"Dekan, how have you been these past six months?"

"It was alright, quite relaxing. I even learned a pretty good spell from Sion; I'll show it off to you guys when I get back."

Dekan's answer slightly surprised Croix.

My youth is over, and Dekan has actually started learning magic himself.

And what kind of Underworld effects could magic that even Dekan praised so highly have?

But before Croix could ask anything else, Dekan quickly grabbed Croix's shoulders, looked at him seriously, and asked:

"Tell me first, what's the situation like in the present world over the past six months?"

"Sigh, it's very serious. So Morion, Clay, and I have been trying to find a Shadow World like this and summon you in as well."

Croix sighed.

He then gestured for Dekan to sit on the sofa first, and waited for him to slowly recount the changes that had occurred in the past six months.

A month after Dekan and Sion disappeared, the Empire launched a full-scale war, and the present world is now in a state similar to the war between the Holy Kingdom of the Demon Realm.

But that's not the worst part.

After the war began, the behemoth that was the Kingdom Association disintegrated.

On one hand, the Empire's special forces had been plotting for a long time, secretly triggering many key conflicts between the northern and southern countries.

On the other hand, the North-South conflict within the Kingdom Association was already a ticking time bomb. With the loss of Sion, the most crucial core figure, the Empire, which had been planning and preparing for this for a long time, easily detonated it at the most opportune moment.

In just six months, most of the Northern Nations have fallen.

Once the Northern Nations have been conquered by the empire, the Central Nations will be next to suffer.

Dekan includes their homeland, the Norton Kingdom.

The empire's ambitions are obvious: the emperor wants to achieve what the Salon Empire failed to accomplish a thousand years ago—to completely unify the world.

Besides the threat from the empire, new evil forces are lurking in the shadows of the war.

The remnants of the Resurrection Church have now almost disappeared.

In order to get rid of the incompetent Pope Dekan, under the leadership of several bishops, they gradually abandoned the name of the Resurrection Church and merged with the Calamity Cult, giving birth to the New Calamity Cult.

No one knows what kind of trouble they might cause; they are even more terrifying than a law-abiding empire.

Fortunately, the New Calamity Cult is far less powerful than the previous Resurrection Church, and Croix was able to learn a great deal of core information about the New Calamity Cult immediately.

Dekan had planted a spy within the Calamity Cult as early as their inception, and now holds a very high position among the New Calamity Cult.

The overall situation in the world shows almost no signs of improvement, and the Empire is far more powerful than most existing intelligence suggests.

To halt the Empire's rapid advance, the Kingdom Association would need to return to its former complete state, possibly with the addition of the Resurrection Church to provide balance.

"This Shadow World lasts for a full six months, which is really bad. Even if we can help you escape, the Empire will probably be close to the Norton Kingdom by then."

After Croix finished explaining the current state of affairs, he sighed.

"It's alright, I'll take care of it."

Although Dekan clenched his fists, his tone of reply was extremely calm.

He had long wanted to reorganize the empire.

The [Heaven-Piercing World-Destroying Battlefield] is about to descend, and the empire is even stirring up internal strife.

There's also a cute little guy named Adair, waiting for him to go back and properly separate from Mie.

Although the current situation appears to be collapsing in the eyes of the Kingdom's people, the turning point is also very clear.

Once Dekan and Sion are brought back, it will be time for the Kingdom Association to reunite and launch a counterattack against the Empire!

As for the New Calamity Cult.

Do you think you can escape my grasp just because you escaped the torment of the Pope and turned to the Lord of Calamity?

Dekan couldn't help but sneer.

No Terror can escape the purge of this international counterterrorism expert.

Hearing Dekan's words and seeing his expression, Croix felt incredibly relieved.

Even if Dekan is only at the fifth rank.

But he is already the man who defeated even Agamemnon, the former Pope of the world's most powerful Resurrection Church!

He was also Croix's most trusted partner.

"Oh, right, these are for you."

Croix took out ten Tier 1 white cards and handed them to Dekan.

This is the [Portable Card-Making Kit] that Dekan is familiar with.

This time, since the Cat Teacher from the Shadow World didn't come in, Croix had the most card slots, carried the cards Dekan needed.

Dekan nodded and accepted the cards.

With this tool, he can create cards in the Shadow World, crafting key materials into cards, then bring them back to the Devil King Tomb in the Shadow World. He can then use this tool to break down the cards into materials to repair the [Spatial Teleportation Device].

"Before Mie left, he gave Morion a set of blueprints, which Morion should have memorized by now. The merchant currently negotiating with Lunn is Morion; he will give it to you when we meet him."

Croix added.

"Okay! Thank you!"

Dekan felt that his teammates were incredibly reliable.

The blueprints that Mie gave to Morion must be the key design blueprints for the [Spatial Teleportation Device].

After all, Shadow Bishop is a core member of the development team.

As a merchant, Morion must have collected a lot of rare materials that Dekan would need in the Holy Kingdom along the way.

When Dekan took Agamemnon away, he was prepared to win, but he had no idea what the consequences would be.

Killing Agamemnon was his limit at that time.

However, his true escape route was paved for him by his companions.

Dekan was certain that he had a way to return to the present world.

He put the card away and finally asked, somewhat nervously:

Where is Cornelia?

Dekan actually wanted to ask Croix the moment he saw her.

"After you defeated the Pope, she took Cat Teacher directly from the Philoven Kingdom back to her hometown, the Vihart Kingdom. Later, due to the turbulent situation and her concern for her mother being alone, she did not return to the Norton Kingdom for the time being."

"Don't worry about her. The Vihart Kingdom in the south is much safer than the Norton Kingdom. And even if you're gone, given the reputation you left in the Kingdom Association, no one will dare to touch her."

"And she shouldn't be too far from reaching the sixth rank."

"Croix said."

Dekan nodded.

My biggest worry can now be put at ease.

Cornelia was already very strong. Once she reached the sixth rank, with her monstrous strength and epic spell buffs, even an eighth-rank opponent would be crushed by her Heaven-Tyrant Divine Strength.

The SSS-level attribute growth potential, which only exists in legends, means that once you get through the rather awkward mid-game, you'll be invincible in the late game. You can easily dominate opponents one tier higher and even face opponents two tiers higher head-on.

If one day she can reach the ninth rank, perhaps even the Chaos God will die under her Murder Book.

If I can quickly end this Shadow World, I can return to the real world and find Cornelia again.

But after talking for so long, Croix doesn't seem to have mentioned anyone at all?

"Wait, isn't Clay in this Shadow World too?"

Dekan sat up straight and stared at Croix as he asked.

"Clay ..."

Croix pursed her lips, a bitter expression on her face.

Alright.

Dekan already knew things were going badly.

This guy has never been normal since he first appeared!

However, Dekan really couldn't imagine what kind of trouble Clay could come up with with such a simple and straightforward task as "meet in the territory within 60 days"!

"Clay is now the Holy Kingdom's number one wanted criminal..."

"?"

Dekan was stunned by what he heard, and then, in a state of mental collapse, he clutched his head.

He knew this would happen!

Join forces? Bring thousands of troops to join us?

Are you here to mess with us?!

As far as Dekan knew, the Holy Kingdom was larger than both the Kingdom Association and the Salon Empire, and even the former Lord of Calamity had failed to earn the title of the Kingdom Association's number one wanted target.

It's easy to imagine how valuable this is.

Dekan couldn't figure out for a moment how Clay had acquired such a prestigious title in just one month, and quickly asked:

"What did he do? Was his collusion with the demons discovered?"

"No, it's not that complicated."

Croix shook her head in anguish.

"He went to assassinate the Holy Emperor."

Dekan: "¿"

"¿"

"¿"