371 Who Dekan Chose to Believe

Atalia was pushing a wheelchair in the ranch, slowly leading Morpheus to greet the morning sun.

For Morpheus, even something as simple as basking in the sun is a source of steady happiness every day.

Atalia's faint smile seemed to carry a hint of regret, but more so a sense of relief and appreciation.

Her appearance gave no indication whatsoever that she might be a demon.

You would only think of her as a gentle woman who was born and raised on this ranch.

Far away.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

Talomati wondered if it was just his imagination— Dekan hesitated.

He seemed to be contemplating whether or not to disturb Morpheus was enjoying his retirement.

However, that momentary hesitation and conversation caused Atalia in the distance to abruptly stop her leisurely pace.

"!"

As if sensing a formidable enemy, her pleasant feeling vanished instantly, replaced by the tyrannical aura she possessed as a great demon.

She stood guard in front of Morpheus's wheelchair, her eyes fixed on the direction of the human twins in the distance.

Even though she realized the moment she saw the other person that they were a higher-ranking demon than her, her fighting spirit did not waver in the slightest.

As a member of the Great Demon Clan, it was impossible for her not to recognize those two demons.

Although she still couldn't detect any shielding magic on Talomati and Dekan, she wasn't deaf!

"Atalia, they are my old friends, it's alright."

Morpheus squinted wearily, a faint sound escaping his lips.

Atalia reacted for a second, then calmed down, and her imposing aura subsided.

The idea that a demon king could befriend a human might sound utterly absurd, but strangely, she could understand it.

She nodded and whispered in Morpheus's ear, "Even if the Demon King wants to harm you, I will fight him."

And so, after Atalia dispelled her hostility, the human twins in the distance quickly approached them.

"Lord Demon King, Lord Talomati."

Atalia instantly transformed into a demon noblewoman, respectfully performing the Demon Realm salute to the two great demons.

She was respectful, but not obsequious like other demons; she seemed to have a stance different from any other demon.

Dekan looked at the woman who bore a striking resemblance to the Bishop of Nightmare.

He knew that Atalia of Nightmare, like the Bishop of Nightmare, possessed a natural talent for acting.

She was mostly expressionless when she was with Morion, but she could easily portray whether she was lively, enthusiastic, or aloof.

But at this moment, Atalia seemed completely unwilling to act, unable to even conceal the repulsion in her eyes towards the Demon King's visit.

Dekan didn't know exactly what she was thinking, but he could roughly understand.

She was probably worried that the Demon King would take her, a traitor to the demon race, back with him.

The current Demon King, who always prioritizes stability, certainly doesn't want any powerful demons to remain openly within the Holy Kingdom's territory at this time. Otherwise, even if the Demon Realm isn't directly involved, they could still be dragged into this mess by those with ulterior motives.

Or perhaps she had already keenly sensed that the world was about to change.

The Holy Kingdom's twenty-four years of peace may soon be shattered; Lunn's fall is like a coded message etched into the mortal world.

Of course, she might just not want the Demon King to take away her husband's remaining life at this time.

Like Lunn, the Demon King is also caught in this unseen vortex, and no one knows whether he wants to escape it or head towards its center.

Dekan's gaze bypassed Atalia and landed on Morpheus's aged yet familiar face, a slight smile appearing at the corners of his lips:

"Atalia, don't worry, I'll just come to see Morpheus and then leave. If anything changes in the Holy Kingdom in the future, you can always take Morpheus back to the Demon Realm with you."

Although I know the Demon Realm is not as beautiful as the Holy Kingdom.

In the end, Dekan didn't say that last sentence. It wouldn't be appropriate for him to say such a thing, either as the Demon King or in front of his sister.

Atalia stared in surprise at the demon king, who was quite different from the legends of the Demon Realm yet somewhat similar to the absurd story described by Morpheus. Her gaze gradually softened, just as it had when she had pushed Morpheus for a walk earlier.

It turns out that this demon king wasn't so complicated and difficult to understand; he was just a demon like himself.

"Mr. Delois, I'll go to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for you."

At the dining table just inside the cabin, Talomati sat quietly, eating his breakfast without a care in the world.

Taking a bite of the salty taro that has absorbed the fat from the bacon, the wonderful flavor simply spreads in your mouth.

To avoid burning her tongue, she blew on it while finishing her main dish.

He then naturally reached for the sausage sprinkled with cheese.

While chewing his food, Talomati would occasionally glance into the kitchen, where he could see pots clattering, frying pans whistling, and ingredients flashing.

Not long after, Atalia served the last dish of vegetable potato cakes and placed them on the table closer to Talomati.

She then wiped her hands with her apron and sat down opposite her.

"I can only make some simple dishes from the Holy Kingdom; I'm not very good at cooking from the Demon Realm."

Atalia said with a hint of helplessness.

Atalia, who had never even tried cooking in the Demon Realm, seemed to have never imagined that one day she would use her human culinary skills, which she had somehow learned, to entertain her fellow humans.

Talomati continued chewing silently as usual, until he had swallowed all the food in his mouth, before finally answering:

"No, I really like the food from the Holy Kingdom, and I think your cooking is delicious."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"..."

Talomati and Atalia didn't seem to be very talkative demons, so they quickly settled into a quiet routine of eating their own food.

"If other demons see us like this, they'll laugh at us."

Atalia didn't eat as quickly as Talomati. After slowly cutting off a small piece of taro, she muttered to herself.

"If only the Demon King were like us."

Talomati answered matter-of-factly.

My brother once said that heresy is always relative.

Talomati didn't dislike talking to Atalia, and besides, having received such thoughtful hospitality, he felt he should express his gratitude afterwards.

Atalia paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Too."

They ignored the two people who weren't at the table.

Because they knew the two men would talk for a while longer.

Behind them was the study, separated by a glass door.

Dekan sat beside Morpheus in his wheelchair, listening to what he was saying.

"The only thing I can confirm for you is that Ray truly wanted to kill Lunn, and Lunn almost died. If it weren't for the Crown of Thorns you gave Lunn, Ray might have killed him when Lunn was completely unprepared from the start."

Morpheus seemed to perk up considerably upon seeing Dekan, though his complexion was sallow, a color that exuded signs of age, and his cloudy eyes had lost all their former sparkle. He still made a concerted effort to converse with Dekan.

"Milia told me this. She probably guessed you would come to me to ask about it... If she and Ludwig hadn't rushed to the palace and stopped Ray, Ray would have fought Lunn to the very end, even if it meant his own death."

Morpheus continued.

Although the Holy Kingdom has done its best to suppress news of Lunn's assassination, the rumors are impossible to keep quiet among some powerful figures.

However, only a handful of people truly knew the details of that turmoil at the time.

Milia was one of them, being at the scene.

Currently, as Lunn is recovering from his injuries, the only people who can contact him are Milia, the Saintess of Darkness, formerly of the Holy Rite Church and now of the Sun God Church, and Ludwig, the Saintess of Light.

It seems that because of Ray's betrayal, Lunn no longer trusts anyone for the time being. Only the two saintesses who are also blessed by the Goddess can he trust at this critical juncture.

No other ninth-tier powerhouse, royal noble, or other member of the elite class has the right to meet with Lunn.

So, without Milia and Ludwig mentioning it, people didn't know how well Lunn had recovered from his injuries, or whether he would die.

Whether they are caring, loyal, or have ulterior motives, everyone is extremely concerned about this issue.

"How is Lunn's injury?"

Unable to hide his concern, Dekan asked.

Morpheus gave a wry smile and sighed softly.

"Milia didn't tell me; she thought the answer to this question was too complex. After all, there might be some lurking figures behind the scenes who also wanted to know the answer, but I no longer have the ability to keep this information confidential."

A few years ago, no one, no matter how powerful or influential, would have dared to lay a hand on Morpheus within the Holy Kingdom.

Now, Morpheus's fortune is almost gone, he is nearly half-dead, and his biggest backer Lunn, is also in an unknown state.

Perhaps if Milia rashly tells Morpheus this information, it will directly lead to the loss of the overall situation.

"However, Milia told me not to worry. There shouldn't be any problems. Besides, the details of Lunn's situation will be fully revealed soon."

Morpheus added.

Until three days ago, the Holy Kingdom announced that Holy Emperor Lunn would personally attend the trial of the great traitor Ray a week later.

This was also Lunn's first public appearance since his assassination.

His exact condition could be ascertained by anyone present in the courtroom, whether friend or foe.

Dekan nodded upon hearing this.

Anyway, his final destination is the Holy Capital, so he can go there and judge for himself when the time comes.

"What exactly is Lei trying to do...?"

Dekan finally clutched his forehead in pain.

He had initially suspected that Lunn and Ray might be putting on an act to lure out some enemy.

However, according to Morpheus's intelligence, Ray was willing to risk his life and leave no room for compromise in order to kill Lunn.

Even if they manage to lure the enemy out, they will both be captured, allowing the enemy to reap the benefits.

No matter how much Milia asked Ray, he refused to tell her anything.

Dekan couldn't understand it at all for a while.

There's too much missing information, and the situation spirals out of Dekan's control whenever Ray appears.

Ultimately, Morpheus noticed the way he glanced at Morpheus unintentionally.

It was a pleading look, a look of dependence on teammates.

Dekan's success to date has largely been due to his reliable teammates, especially when he faced difficulties that even he found hard to handle.

However, Morpheus simply smiled with a complicated expression.

"Delois, if it were ten years earlier, or if I were still healthy, I could have gone to the Holy Capital with you to cause another ruckus. But now I have no value to you anymore, I can't help you."

For a moment, Dekan looked at Morpheus and felt that he seemed to have aged a lot.

Or perhaps I've only just realized how old he is.

After all, in the real world, the two Shadow World are only half a year apart.

Is this dulled perception of time what the demons see in the world?

It seemed like only a year had passed for Delois, but for the Holy Kingdom, it had been twenty-four years.

Dekan lowered his head.

"Yes, you're useless now, so just live out your life like an ordinary person."

He spoke in a tone as indifferent as Delois's.

This matter is no longer your concern; forget about it.

It's not that you failed to do your best in the crisis; it's just that even heroes grow old, and nothing can defy the laws of nature.

Dekan murmured to himself.

Morpheus stared, seemingly surprised by Dekan's words.

There was a moment of silence between them.

Then, Morpheus surprisingly smiled.

He closed his eyes, leaned back comfortably in his chair, and began to speak:

"To be honest, the thing I least expected in my life is being able to have such a peaceful conversation with you. I was planning to screw you over the first time I met you..."

"Of course, it's possible that during our feigned collaboration, we both felt a bit interested in each other, so we each compromised, and in the end, it didn't escalate into a life-or-death situation; it was a peaceful parting..."

Morpheus murmured to himself as if reminiscing about the past.

Dekan listened silently as Morpheus recounted his story with Delois.

"When I saw you again in the Demon Realm Prison, you had changed. And when we met again in the northern border territory of Clan Territory, you seemed to have become a real human. Perhaps it was just a simple reunion after a long separation, but those were the two most moving moments for me to date... So you don't need to pretend to be a demon king anymore, just be a human, that's the real you."

Morpheus smiled and then looked at Dekan again after he finished speaking.

"I don't."

Dekan blurted it out instinctively.

He seems to have unknowingly developed some kind of habit that he can't break.

However, Morpheus had no intention of continuing the argument with Dekan.

He simply stated firmly:

"You used to pretend to be human, now you pretend to be a demon."

"My acting skills haven't declined at all."

"But now your acting skills just don't capture the essence of the Demon King at all."

After he finished speaking, there was another moment of silence.

Morpheus knew that Delois simply didn't want to squeeze every last drop of value out of him, his insignificant, flickering life, by risking taking him to the Holy Capital.

And so, Dekan seemed to have silently admitted something.

After a long silence, he finally spoke again and asked:

"Morpheus, who should I believe?"

Even if he knew, Morpheus couldn't possibly know the answer.

But he felt that only Morpheus could answer his question.

"I know you're confused. You want to believe Lunn, and you want to believe Ray, but both the past and the present point to one of them having a problem."

If a situation arises in the not-too-distant future that requires Dekan to make a split-second decision, or he will miss all opportunities, then the decision he needs to make will likely be whether to trust Lunn or Ray.

"I felt you were too tense when I saw you this time. Actually, it's nothing serious. You can relax a little more like you were at the beginning, and your perspective will broaden."

"..."

Dekan listened to Morpheus's words in silence.

He knew that his situation in the Shadow World this time was different from the previous times.

It's because even he wasn't confident this time.

There are no longer any fully-equipped allies, the enemy is hiding too deep, and even intelligence is shrouded in mystery.

More importantly, he absolutely cannot fail.

The natural disasters triggered by the ninth-tier Shadow World are enough to devastate several kingdoms.

If it had happened to fall into the Norton Kingdom, Dekan didn't want to imagine, and couldn't even begin to imagine, what the outcome would have been.

But he knew Morpheus was right.

Seeing Dekan deep in thought, Morpheus smiled again and continued:

"Actually, the answer to the question of whom to trust is quite simple, isn't it? You already told us—"

Even if you are betrayed, you must still believe in your friends, just as they believed in you in the first place.

After Morpheus finished answering, he waited beside Dekan until he had figured it out.

And it didn't take Dekan long before he stood up, as if he had made a decision.

This means goodbye.

He was racing against time on this journey, needing to get to the Holy Capital as quickly as possible.

"I understand, thank you Morpheus."

Without turning his head, Dekan pushed open the study door, and Talomati immediately put down his meal, ready to leave with him.

Will we ever see each other again?

Morpheus's voice came from behind.

"Certainly."

Dekan answered with certainty.

"My biggest regret in life is not being able to take advantage of you when I was stronger and you were weaker. Although if I had, I don't know how you would have retaliated, it might have been worse than death..."

Morpheus laughed as he complained.

At the time, he never imagined that a demon disguised as a priest would later become the most vicious demon king.

"Don't worry, even if you really do that, I won't blame you."

At most, I'll just joke around with you.

With those words, Dekan's figure disappeared behind the door of the wooden house.

After Dekan left.

On the seat Dekan left behind, there was an extra box of medicine.

That was because Dekan slightly "cheated" by using his modern medical knowledge on the way to the Holy Kingdom.

It could allow Morpheus to live a few more years.

Although doing so makes no sense in the Shadow World.

But ever since that dream of the Holy Kingdom, Dekan has focused more on studying medicine and pharmacy, aside from making Magic Card.

He didn't want to repeat any of Delois's regrets.

Two days after Dekan left his Morpheus residence.

Late at night.

The moonlight was occasionally obscured by drifting haze, making the shadows under the pasture lights appear exceptionally dark.

I don't know when.

A figure, barely visible, appeared on the outskirts of the ranch.

"Um..."

"To kill or not to kill?"

She seemed to be hesitating about something.

He closed his eyes in distress, pinching his brow as he pondered.

It has now been confirmed that the Holy Emperor has no time to spare to pay attention to Morpheus.

If Morpheus were made an apostle, perhaps he could obtain a lot of information that she cares about.

For example, more precise information about Lunn's current situation, or the true identity of a certain honorary duke.

After all, it was Lunn and the three dukes he personally appointed after the founding of the nation that made her taste defeat for the first time.

One of them is Ray, and the other is Morpheus.

The only one who remains a mystery is the honorary duke, the Duke of Great Love, who seems to have been fabricated by Lunn. To this day, she still hasn't been able to uncover his true identity.

Although the Duke of Great Love has never appeared in public.

But she always felt that Lunn should have a strategist behind the scenes, or a black glove.

Many strategic moments that seem to be due to "luck" for Lunn may actually conceal decisive "inevitability" behind their "coincidence".

There aren't many people who could possibly do this, but there are.

Of course, there are also such cunning schemers in the Demon Realm.

For example, the current Demon King Delois could definitely do it.

But she rejected this option outright.

Lunn's partner could never be Delois.

The most steadfast of believers, Lunn, would gamble everything more important than life itself on a mad and wicked demon; even God would find it a joke.

If that's true— Lunn got to where he is today because of a deal he made with the devil.

The people of that Holy Kingdom would likely see their faith crumble immediately.

"... Let's change the terms then. After all, the Duke of Great Love might appear in the courtroom, and this time I must see for myself who he is."

The shadowy figure seemed to hesitate again about how to extract value from Morpheus.

Just like Morpheus is already a bone in the bowl.

She wasn't too worried that the negotiations with Morpheus would fail.

After all, Morpheus seemed very eager to live, and he had a nice wife.

The stronger a person's desires, the more useful they are.

However, there are also some strange humans who, despite having terrifyingly strong desires, will not hesitate to give up their lives for some strange things.

Is this kind of thing called "morality"?

"I don't understand, I just don't understand."

The shadowy figure muttered indifferently.

We walked towards the pasture.

If Morpheus refuses, he can use his wife as leverage, or make her an apostle.

Even if we fail, we can just clean up their remains.

"But then again..."

A marriage between a demon and a human, the difference in their lifespans leading to a strong will to survive.

I want the other person to live, and I want to live a little longer to be with them.

It would be very interesting to see which one is threatened and coerced, or the other killed.

Her lips trembled slightly, curving into a smile.

It's like going to enjoy dessert after dinner.

She approached the pasture silently.

No one noticed.

Every step seemed to be a countdown to the deaths of Morpheus and Atalia.

Until her ghostly figure reached the ranch gate!

Suddenly, he stopped walking again.

"!!"

A sense of threat filled the top of her head, and her brows furrowed.

She seemed to have a premonition that if she rashly took another step into the ranch, she would trigger some kind of barrier spell that did not belong to humans.

Perhaps a demon of higher rank than Atalia will sense it.

Previously, fearing that Lunn would catch her by the tail, she had never come close to this place before.

Unexpectedly, there was another powerful spell inside.

She slowly raised her hand to test it out, but then found the technique somewhat difficult to understand. After considering the consequences, she reluctantly withdrew her hand.

"Tsk. Let's play it safe."

She weighed the pros and cons in her mind for a while and then made a decision.

Having endured so much, there's no need to risk exposing yourself for this small advantage just as you're about to succeed.

As long as we continue to follow the plan, the overall situation is set in stone.

I wonder which powerful demon is protecting Atalia.

She didn't find the ninth-tier demon race scary, but it would be bad if she accidentally brought that guy from the Demon Realm at this crucial moment.

The dark figure vanished without hesitation, as if it had never been there.

******

Author's Note:

You didn't expect that, did you? Xi Zhi is back in the game! Xi Zhi is recovering! I'm going to start updating extra chapters to pay off my debt!

Actually, some rather dangerous thoughts crossed my mind when I was writing the latter half of this chapter. For example, if Dekan and Talomati hadn't left this barrier, then this chapter in Volume Six would have a completely different ending. I could describe the bloodstains on the wall, Morpheus's choice and farewell to Atalia, and the broken medicine bottle left by Dekan on the ground, and then... I guess I'd be close to issuing an apology chapter and then revising the text...

Abandon all dangerous ideas and ensure a smooth landing in your later years! Otherwise, why should the next hero of the Cat Clan be a Honkai-themed fanfic?