347 Dekan's Reunion with His Disciple

A small town in the northern part of the empire.

The town is now heavily guarded by cavalry and scouts and has been temporarily taken over by the Ninth Army.

Since it was still more than a day's journey to the capital, and all the Calamity Cult had launched the attack had been brought under control, the area was safe for the time being, allowing the elite troops of the Ninth Army a brief respite.

In the best house in the whole town, the fireplace burned with firewood, its smoke occasionally rising and falling.

Although the interior decoration is not as luxurious as that of an aristocratic mansion, the brown wood and blankets seem to bring warmth to this winter day.

The house was guarded by the army commander Andrea, while there were only four people inside.

Empress Ikatinos lay in bed covered with the thick blankets that were considered necessities for the empire's winter, while Mie sat beside her.

Ikatinos's expression would occasionally turn into one of extreme pain and panic, as if she were having a nightmare, and no one could wake her up. Even though Mie looked haggard, he still held Ikatinos's cold hand at all times.

On the sofa against the wall sat Dekan and Clay, baking some dessert on a small stove in front of them.

"No!"

Accompanied by faint yet terrifying murmurs in her sleep, Queen Ikatinos seemed to have finally finished her most Terror nightmare. Her breathing gradually became steady, and not long after, she slowly opened her eyes.

However, Ikatinos's first reaction upon regaining consciousness was to discover that, in addition to Mie, she could also sense two unfamiliar Magic Power in the room!

Ikatinos immediately sat up on high alert, staring at the two people in the room, as if she were ready to fight at any moment.

"Ikatinos, don't be nervous, we're safe now. They saved us."

Mie quickly took Ikatinos's hand tightly and said in an extremely gentle tone.

The warmth from her hand gradually relaxed Ikatinos's extremely tense nerves, as if she hadn't completely emerged from a nightmare.

At this moment, Ikatinos, now truly in dire straits, realized from the bottom of her heart that the only person in the world she could entrust her life to was Mie.

Conversely, she also felt incredibly guilty about her previous attitude towards Mie.

Finally, after a moment of silence, Ikatinos glanced at Dekan and Clay, who were scrambling for food, and looked at Mie with a somewhat complicated expression, saying:

"Are they the Wolong Fengchu you mentioned?"

"?"

Upon hearing Ikatinos's question, Dekan and Clay stopped arguing and couldn't help but stare at Mie.

This is clearly a phrase from a story told by Dekan.

Although it was originally a positive term, Dekan often used it sarcastically to Taunt others.

"Ahem, I'm just praising you."

Mie felt a little guilty and didn't dare to look at the two people.

It feels like being caught red-handed secretly talking badly...

"Your way of praising people, you venomous bishop, is indeed quite sharp-tongued. Why did you call yourself the Shadow Bishop in the first place?"

Clay shook his head and sighed.

He never dreamed that after parting ways at the Resurrection Church, when Mie saw Clay again, besides thanking him, his second words were to ask him to pay back the money!

"Heh, Succubus Bishop and the Gambling Bishop have the right to call me the Viper Bishop?"

Mie found it somewhat amusing when she heard Clay address her, and she Taunt.

The two of them had been sitting by the stove for ages, going on and on, and she was tempted to just throw that broken stove away.

Dekan immediately watched Mie's movements warily, as if he had triggered some kind of warning.

Last time, it was Lunn who lacked sportsmanship and kicked over his stove and roasted oranges.

"..."

Ikatinos looked at the three of them, who were familiar with each other yet bickering like close friends, and lowered her head with a somewhat gloomy expression, releasing Mie's hand.

Perhaps the Kingdom of the Norton Kingdom is the most suitable place for Mie; she must have made many friends there.

Ikatinos immediately recognized the dark-haired man as "Unicorn," the kingdom's top intelligence agent.

This person's eccentricity was so extreme that even the Empress herself had to take notice of him for a while.

Unexpectedly, he did indeed come to the Empire and even hid in a place of unknown significance.

Ikatinos could hardly imagine what would happen if Clay were her enemy and intercepted them at the most critical moment of Mie escape; the outcome would undoubtedly be total annihilation.

As for the red-haired half-dragon girl, although Icardinos had never heard of her, the fact that she got along so well with Miekre and happened to be such a frail sixth-tier girl made her stand out.

Even though her gender, race, and hair color were different, Ikatinos probably already had some idea about her identity.

Or perhaps the only supreme being capable of appearing out of thin air in this world is "Deathbird," another top intelligence agent of the Kingdom Association.

If they could obtain the help of these two legendary figures from the kingdoms, it might indeed be possible to change the current situation of the empire, which is now under the control of the Chaos God.

However, correspondingly.

He wanted these two kingdomsmen to risk their lives to help him eliminate the Chaos God and reclaim the empire.

Even if they agree, they will inevitably make extremely unreasonable demands.

Even unequal treaties.

However, Ikatinos now wants the empire and the kingdoms to remain under the control of the Chaos God, so she has no choice but to agree to whatever conditions they propose.

"What price do you want?"

Ikatinos bit her lower lip tightly, her expression extremely conflicted.

Even if she didn't want to lose her right to maintain her stance, she couldn't remain defiant because she owed them a debt of gratitude.

Given the high risks and investments involved, the only reason they were persuaded to help the empire, their mortal enemy in the war, was probably because of Mie.

If Ikatinos had used even the slightest trick during the counterattack on the capital, or had done something to betray them after they had served their purpose, these two might not only have gained nothing for the kingdoms, but would have also lost their lives in vain.

They believed in Mie, not in her, the empress.

Upon hearing this, Dekan stood up from the sofa.

Clearly, he could represent Clay's opinion in negotiations with the Queen.

Dekan walked to the bedside and stood beside Mie, looking down at Ikatinos.

It was as if they didn't treat her as the empress at all.

In his eyes, the person sitting on the bed was merely a weak patient.

This gesture stirred a surge of anger within Ikatinos.

The other party's condescending attitude was clearly a way of indicating to her who was in charge before the negotiations even began.

I'm afraid the other party will propose an extremely outrageous condition.

However, just as Ikatinos was preparing to hear Dekan's Lion demands...

She only heard Dekan say casually:

"Just answer one question for me."

"?"

Ikatinos looked puzzled, then a flash of anger crossed her eyes, and she said coldly:

"I'm not joking with you, and don't think you can take this opportunity to make fun of me."

This was her first encounter with the people of the most Underworld kingdom.

But she did sense the unpredictable and chaotic nature of this person.

It was impossible to guess how he was planning to break through the other person's psychological defenses.

Dekan seemed slightly disappointed by Ikatinos's look, then his expression became much more serious, and he said earnestly:

"My deals are always formal. The price for helping you defeat the Chaos God Menelaus is simply that you answer one question truthfully to me, nothing more."

Ikatinos stared wide-eyed, wondering what Dekan was really up to.

But she looked at Mie, Mie affirmative gaze indicated that she trusted Dekan.

Ikatinos then nodded helplessly.

The intelligence possessed by the Empress of the Empire indeed possesses a value that cannot be measured in monetary terms.

But compared to getting the two kingdoms to set aside their grudges and risk their lives to help her at the most crucial moment, the price was far too light.

"Go ahead and ask."

Ikatinos said in a soft voice.

She felt she was beginning to understand Dekan's intentions.

Sometimes, the most painful price to pay in a transaction can be the one that seems too insignificant.

Because this favor will be too difficult to explain in the days to come.

Dekan asked, with a slightly puzzled tone:

"Please tell me, what did you see in the dream of reincarnation?"

He had just learned about the legend of the Reincarnation Gem from Mie.

Having experienced it firsthand and even personally verified it within the Shadow World, Dekan is absolutely convinced of its accuracy.

"You? Did Mie tell you?"

Ikatinos immediately became alert.

This seemed to be the most crucial and unspeakable secret in her heart!

But soon, Ikatinos recalled that Dekan was someone who had repeatedly entered the Holy Kingdom's Demon Realm.

Therefore, it's quite reasonable for him to be interested in this intelligence.

So that's how it is.

Ikatinos remained silent for a long while before finally speaking:

"It was a hazy dream. Apart from the overwhelming regret that seemed to be etched into my heart at the end, and my silent chanting of the Chaos God, what was clearest was the very beginning of the dream..."

At this point, Ikatinos seemed to recall something painful; her brow furrowed, and she closed her eyes.

"... I knew it was the beginning of a nightmare... but for some reason... it also felt like the beginning of a beautiful, dreamlike life."

"The truly terrifying nightmare is one where beauty and despair alternate repeatedly, and when I wake up, I can no longer distinguish between them."

"But why is it that I started in despair, yet managed to have a wonderful time?"

As if out of instinctive self-protection, Ikatinos never wanted to recall the beginning of that memory that caused her fear and pain.

But now, in order to answer Dekan's question, she had to reopen her wounds and try to recall the clearest part of her dream.

She was in a room.

She remembered the room's heavy door as an entrance to hell.

The daytime sunlight was obscured by the surging, pitch-black sea fog as that Gate of Hell was fully opened.

Only mournful chants and dirges echoed, as if they could devour all hope.

Everything—the body, the air, the light—felt heavy, as if being pressed down by something invisible, suffocating the senses.

Ikatinos didn't understand why she was there, or what had happened to her.

But she could never forget it.

In the black tide, a blurry figure stood like a king atop a black reef, only the demonic pupils, which seemed to flicker with golden flames, were exceptionally clear.

The figure stood in front of her, extended its left hand, pointed diagonally forward, and pressed against her head, asking her a few questions.

Every question and every answer determined whether her fate would be tragic or she would escape death.

She knelt on the ground, trembling and weeping, completing the demonic ritual in terror.

When Ikatinos recalled the dream again, her back was soaked with cold sweat, and she felt a sense of weightlessness in her lower body.

Fortunately, now that she's at the ninth level, she has complete control over her body.

Seeing that Ikatinos had almost finished recalling, Dekan continued to ask:

Can you describe what happened at the time?

"At that time, I was kneeling on the ground..."

Ikatinos was about to answer when she stopped after saying only a few words.

Her pale, delicate cheeks suddenly regained some color, and her eyes looked very strange.

If she were to reveal a certain detail from her dream to someone's face, she, as the Empress, would likely be utterly destroyed in some respects.

Is deliberately concealing something considered deception?

The other party clearly proposed a price that was based on sincerity and was extremely lenient.

But could all of this be part of their scheme?

She had heard that Dekan was a guy who took pleasure in torturing his enemies' minds.

Perhaps he had already gathered some information in the Shadow World of the Demon Realm, and his true purpose from the beginning was to force himself to admit that the Empress had once been so frightened in her dream that she lost control of her bladder.

This would strip her of her dignity as the Empress.

"I... I..."

Ikatinos's eyes grew increasingly red, and her lips began to tremble, as if she were desperately mustering an unprecedented amount of courage to admit that her life was over.

"Alright, that's enough. Our deal is done. Now I'll help you achieve your wish."

Dekan noticed Ikatinos's embarrassed expression, and although she hadn't mentioned the content of her dream at all, Dekan was certain of which scene she had dreamt of.

"?"

This made Mie look at Dekan with great surprise.

She had just assumed that Dekan would laugh mockingly and say, "This is my punishment for you."

Why does this guy still look so serious?

Isn't that acting too convincingly?!

In Mie's memory, wasn't Dekan guy who loved to seize every opportunity to make girls cry?

Why are they so merciful when it comes to Ikatinos?!

"You..."

Ikatinos stared at Dekan in utter shock; she truly couldn't understand what this guy was thinking.

Despite being in a position of absolute advantage, he proposed an inexplicable price, asked inexplicable questions, and then inexplicably let her go just when she thought everything was over.

All of this was so inexplicable, it felt like I was seeing it all before.

The clearer Ikatinos's mind became from the chaos, the more she felt that Dekan knew what had happened in her dream!

This guy has likely experienced the Shadow World of the Demon Realm Holy Kingdom once again, and this time, he encountered her again in the Shadow World!

"What exactly do you know...?!"

Ikatinos's eyes were filled with confusion, yet she was also extremely vigilant!

Whom does he correspond to in the Holy Kingdom?

What's my relationship with that guy?!

Ikatinos felt her dream memories and reality constantly overlapping and colliding.

"It seems you'll be more familiar with it this way."

As he spoke, Dekan took out [Blood Mimicry] and calmly transformed his race into a male dragon demon.

In the blink of an eye, his originally blue pupils had turned gold when he opened them again.

"You, you...!!!"

Ikatinos clutched her head in anguish, staring wide-eyed at Dekan, a hoarse tremor escaping her throat.

It was as if the most Terror nightmare in my memory had been reversed with reality.

For a moment, she couldn't tell whether she was truly awake or still trapped in a deeper nightmare!

Even if there's no Black Fog Sea here! Even if there are no Mourning Elegy!

The red-haired dragon demon in front of her was also disguised using a fifth-tier epic spell right in front of her.

But Ikatinos's unfocused pupils could not be taken off Dekan's eyes!

That gold—it was the demonic eye of that figure that Ikatinos could never forget!

Ikatinos felt her vision blurring, her mind buzzing!

The long-forgotten memories she feared in her dreams also began to resurface.

It was a hospital that left me utterly exhausted.

That was the dean's office on the top floor.

But that most terrifying, most evil, and most dangerous demon!

He... didn't seem to want to kill or torture himself!

Because Ikatinos finally remembered that the ritual they performed was not forcing her into an unequal contract, but a solemn ceremony for the Great Demon Clan to choose an heir!

He was protecting himself, saving his heart from collapse!

"De... Delois... I... I am the successor of Delois ..."

Ikatinos trembled as she lowered her hands from her head and stared blankly at Dekan.

Until this moment, she finally noticed something.

Dekan's eyes seemed to remain gentle throughout.

There was no pretense in his words; it was as if he had never considered her an enemy, but rather family.

She was overthinking things, and first and foremost, she overlooked the truth behind appearances.

This inexplicable and genuine kindness should have troubled and alarmed Ikatinos, who had already closed her heart to love.

But for some reason, she now only felt a stinging sensation in her tear ducts, like an emotion welling up from the bottom of her heart, or like an instinct from her soul.

"Have you finally remembered who I am?"

Dekan asked with a smile.

"Teacher..."

Ikatinos's lips trembled slightly, and it took her two full utterances to finally utter those two words.

Guilt, heartache, gratitude—so many emotions are mixed together, and no amount of words can express it all in this short address.

Dekan simply smiled and extended his left hand.

As if a memory were replaying in Ikatinos's mind, she couldn't resist closing her eyes tightly, waiting for the other person's hand to press on her head, to interrogate her soul, and to judge her right and wrong over the years.

This is the fear and test she must endure.

However.

Dekan merely placed his hand lightly on her head before taking it back.

The Terror demonic sword did not appear either.

Ikatinos opened her eyes and looked at the soft yet somewhat dazzling light behind Dekan, momentarily wondering why everything had changed.

"Ikatinos, you must know, this is no longer the Demon Realm, and we are no longer demons. People, things, fate—everything has changed."

"Although I don't know what you're thinking, I'll listen to you patiently."

"And I'm willing to believe you, don't worry."

Dekan spoke gently.

After listening to Dekan's words in a daze, Ikatinos tried to appear more mature, but the bitterness in her heart was indescribable. Her eyes became even redder, and tears fell like beads from a broken string.

"Waaah, I'm so sorry... I lost to the Chaos God..."

Ikatinos finally burst into tears, her previous aloofness as the Empress completely gone. She was like a child who had been lost in the streets all afternoon, finally waiting for her parents to come looking for her.

Dekan frowned as he looked at Ikatinos's familiar appearance.

"You lost, so you lost. Do you still remember the Dekan Duel Principles I taught you?"

Dekan's tone became much sterner.

"What?"

Tears welled in Ikatinos's eyes as she sobbed and wiped them away, staring at Dekan with a mixture of fear and seriousness.

"If you can't win, call for reinforcements. If the younger ones can't handle the older ones, and if one can't beat them all, call a whole group. There's nothing shameful about using a powerful summoning spell."

Seeing Ikatinos crying, Dekan thought to himself, "As expected of Eve, she's so pathetic."

He couldn't maintain his serious mentor demeanor and couldn't help but laugh again.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I couldn't recall that memory!"

Ikatinos quickly bowed her head and apologized to Dekan.

"Hehe, just consider it something I'm teaching you. And later I'll show you my records from the last time in the Shadow World. It contains a lot of stories about you, so you can see how interesting you were back then."

While Dekan was saying this, it sounded like he was both mocking and comforting Ikatinos.

"By the way, did you really teach Eve this line?"

The Master muttered to himself, Dekan.

She couldn't recall Dekan ever teaching Eve this.

Even the Master didn't expect Delois to have such a gentle and tolerant personality.

This was definitely something Dekan made up on the spot.

Just as the Master was about to question Dekan...

"Where is... Talomati?"

As if grasping at some fragment of memory she couldn't let go of, Ikatinos reached out and grabbed Dekan's sleeve in a flustered manner, asking the question.

She remembered Delois, and she also remembered the name Talomati.

This is an important, irreplaceable demon to her.

Logically, Talomati's reincarnation in the present world should be quite powerful, but Ikatinos couldn't find a single powerful individual with similar characteristics to Talomati in her memories.

An overwhelming sense of unease welled up inside her, almost bringing her to tears once again.

"Ah... that's a long story..."

Dekan lowered his eyebrows slightly, remaining silent for a moment with a half-smile.

"However, I can let you meet her later, during dinner."

"Master, Eve still remembers you."

Dekan said to his Master in his heart.

"..."

For a moment, the Master seemed to lose all willpower and response.

Her feelings became even more complex than Dekan's.

"So... there's still someone in this world who remembers me?"

"I'll give you my body later, and you can talk to Eve."

"... Um."

Mie watched in surprise as Ikatinos and Dekan conversed, then glanced at Clay.

Clay shrugged helplessly.

He roughly understood; Ikatinos was Eve, Delois's apprentice in the Shadow World.

Clay's memory is of the time Ray spent with Lunn and the others in the Holy Kingdom.

Even the ill-tempered Delois and Morpheus never played a trick on Eve.

On the contrary, in that team, Eve was the most like Lunn, the most normal person.

However, Clay truly hadn't expected that the gentle and mild-mannered little devil would actually be the most powerful empress in the world.

"You..."

Mie felt that everyone present understood except her.

Moreover, it seems that Dekan and Clay deliberately didn't tell her.

I wanted her to experience what it's like to be a fool.

What kind of alliance and exclusion is this between the Kingdom's people and the Empire's people? That's going too far.

Mie looked at Dekan and then at Clay with a hint of anger, and asked:

"Regardless of what's going on between you two, and what you're going to tell me later, can you please stop turning this pre-battle meeting into a victory celebration?"

Her injuries have not healed to this day.

No matter how nonchalantly she tried to comfort Ikatinos, Menelaus struck her with a single blow, leaving her Severe Injury.

This overwhelming Terror power, even before the Chaos Unleashing, still instills a deep fear in Mie.

"Mie, you probably don't know a very crucial piece of information."

Dekan smiled and shook his head.

"What?"

"Menelaus's decision to hold Princess Olivia's coronation ceremony seven days later is undoubtedly digging a hole for himself."

Dekan curled his lips into a slight, disdainful smile, as if mocking a foolish god.

In that instant, he seemed to transform into the arrogant Delois.

The rise and fall of the empire can only be determined by him!

Whether it's the most powerful empress who usurped the throne or the legitimate princess who was usurped, he's the one who calls the shots.

"Commander Mie, let me formally introduce you. The person standing before you now is no longer the Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom Association, nor the Painful Pope of the Resurrection Church, nor the Lord of Calamity of the Church of Calamity..."

Dekan paused at this point, a smile of absolute certainty spreading across his face!

"From now on, please call me—Elector of the Salon Empire."

******

Author's Note:

The Xi Zhi have burned out again... The reason I'm updating so late tonight is to finish writing this part of the story. The final battle of the empire begins tomorrow, and I've been writing non-stop until now. Finally, I can go to sleep, and my sleep schedule has become Underworld again...