Chapter 930: Turning the Emperor’s Eyes Against Him!

Crack!

The Cat-Masked woman, Coco, watched helplessly as all the remaining crystals shattered simultaneously, sending countless golden fragments scattering across the room like leaves from a tree in autumn.

"Ahhh!"

The cloaked man cried out as several fragments pierced his arms, forcing him to stumble backwards. Yet the woman wearing the mask remained standing, gripping the edge of her desk desperately while she stared at the strange golden eye.

This bastard...!’

Coco had already expected the Demon Emperor to retaliate after their failed operation.

However, she hadn’t expected him to declare war so openly, especially when both Empires were already preparing for a possible conflict.

"...Are you serious?"

"Hm? What part didn’t you understand?"

"You would start a war between two Empires because we attempted to capture one woman?"

There was a moment of silence.

Before Asmodeus began laughing on the other end.

"Hahahaha! One woman? You really don’t understand anything, do you?"

Coco clenched her teeth.

"Please consider the consequences of your actions, Demon Emperor. His Majesty commands an enormous Empire, and even if your personal strength is greater, that doesn’t mean your people will survive a war!"

"Oh? So you’re worried about my people now?"

"..."

"How thoughtful of you, Coco."

Her eyes widened behind the mask.

’He knows my name?!’

Before she could ask how, the pressure surrounding the room suddenly increased, causing the wooden desk to crack beneath her fingers.

"Listen carefully. I’m not declaring war because you failed to capture Velvet. I’m declaring war because your Emperor has repeatedly attacked my people, interfered with my territory, and finally decided to lay his filthy hands on my wife."

Asmodeus’s voice became colder.

"And I’m rather tired of letting the bastard do whatever he wants."

"..."

Coco wanted to argue.

There were countless reasons why starting a war against the Demon Empire would benefit neither side, especially with the instability spreading across the continent.

But she also understood something.

’He’s already made his decision.’

The golden eye slowly narrowed.

"Now then, I believe we’ve spoken enough."

"Wait!"

"Hm?"

Coco hesitated.

She’d never intended to reveal any important information, but allowing the Demon Emperor to leave without understanding his next move would be an even greater mistake.

"What do you intend to attack first?"

Asmodeus chuckled.

"Wouldn’t you like to know?"

"..."

"Well, perhaps I’ll give you a little hint."

The golden eye suddenly turned towards the remaining crystals scattered across her desk.

"Tell your Emperor to start looking after his precious toys."

BOOOOM!

The dark sphere exploded, releasing a violent wave of mana that swept through the chamber.

Coco immediately erected a barrier.

CRACK!

Her defence shattered almost instantly, sending her stumbling against the wall as the remaining golden crystals burst apart one after another.

Then the pressure vanished.

"...Haa!"

Coco leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

Her mask had developed several cracks, revealing part of her pale cheek and one trembling eye beneath it.

The cloaked man slowly rose from the floor.

"M-My lady...!"

"I’m fine."

She pushed herself upright.

However, when she looked towards the desk, her expression darkened.

Every crystal had been destroyed.

Even the one connected to their remaining agents.

’Damn it...!’

Coco immediately understood what Asmodeus had done.

He hadn’t simply used the connection to threaten her.

He’d deliberately destroyed their means of communication.

"Prepare a messenger."

"Where should we send him?"

"To His Majesty, of course!"

The man hurried towards the entrance.

"Wait."

He stopped.

Coco slowly removed her damaged mask, revealing a frustrated expression.

"Tell him the Demon Emperor discovered our teleportation network. We must assume every formation connected to the southern operation has been compromised."

"...Understood!"

"And send another message to the Eyes stationed across the mainland."

"What should it say?"

Coco stared at the scattered fragments.

"Abandon the existing facilities. Destroy whatever you cannot carry, and don’t use the golden formations until I give permission."

The man bowed and disappeared through the door.

Only then did Coco allow herself to collapse into her chair.

"Haa..."

’Asmodeus...’

She’d underestimated him.

Not his strength.

Everyone knew how terrifying the Demon Emperor had become.

No, she’d underestimated how quickly he could turn a failed kidnapping into an opportunity to attack their entire operation.

Her gaze shifted towards the shattered crystals.

’And how did he learn about the Emperor’s curse?’

That particular information was supposed to remain hidden from everyone outside the Emperor’s closest servants.

Even most of the Eyes knew little about it.

"...Fox." Coco closed her eyes, struggling to hide the faint tremble in her body as she folded her arms.

’You useless woman... How much did you tell him?’

***

Meanwhile, inside the underground chamber.

Asmodeus opened his eyes and slowly withdrew his fingers from the remaining golden fragment.

Pop!

The tiny light shattered.

Velvet stood beside him, watching the strange energy disappear.

"...Darling?"

"Mhm?"

"What did you do?"

"Hahaha! Nothing much. I just had a little conversation with the woman who ordered your kidnapping."

"W-What?! How did you do that?"

"Ah... well, I’m not quite sure, but when I started investigating that strange divine energy, it started resonating with mine... with that, I was able to see things from the past... small visions, and in that I learned that the cat-masked woman is called Coco, and she’s an actual cat-girl!"

Velvet snorted and folded her arms. "Pffft, does that even matter?!"

"Well... I don’t have..."

"ASMODUES! If you are going to say what I think it is, don’t bother...!"

"Ah..."

’Damn, she knows me too well, even when joking around.’

"Then why are you smiling?"

Asmodeus glanced towards the golden lights floating above his other hand.

"Because that woman just realised how much trouble she’s in."

He’d used the connection to destroy several crystals belonging to the Eyes, but that wasn’t the important part.

The brief contact had allowed him to examine how their communication network operated.

Although the Emperor’s borrowed divine power remained strange, the method used to distribute that power was surprisingly straightforward.

’They’re relying upon the same formations to communicate and move around...’

And now he possessed information about several of those formations.

"Velvet, let’s go."

"Back to Lumeria?"

"Mhm."

He wrapped his arm around her waist.

"There’s something I need Alice and Serena to look at."

Earlier, he’d planned to scout the various locations and teleport around the world with her, but after speaking to Coco. Asmodeus realised this wouldn’t gain them anything now, as he’d indirectly warned her.

’Well, I can still usurp these things... but for now. I need help.’

Velvet glanced towards the corpse of the fox.

"...What about her?"

Asmodeus followed her gaze.

For a moment, he considered taking the body back with them, but there wasn’t anything particularly valuable remaining inside it.

The woman’s magic had disappeared along with her heart, and the marks that once controlled her had been completely destroyed.

"Leave her."

"...Alright."

Velvet moved closer.

Her black scales gradually disappeared, revealing the pale skin beneath them as she finally released her transformation.

Asmodeus waited until she’d recovered before spreading his enormous wings.

"Hold on."

"Mhm."

BOOOOOM!

The ground shattered beneath his feet, and with Velvet safely in his arms, Asmodeus shot through the broken ceiling and disappeared into the sky.

***

Lumeria.

The Imperial Palace.

Serena stood beside a large table covered in reports while a valkyrie filled her in on the latest information from Baltimore. She was completely protected, with more than a dozen knights guarding the entrance and windows.

Although Asmodeus had successfully dealt with the earlier incident, the sudden disappearance of Velvet had forced Serena to increase security throughout the capital.

Even Nyxielle had been placed under additional protection.

"Your Majesty."

One of the Valkyries stepped forward.

"We’ve received another report from the southern territories. Several merchants connected to the suspicious weapons have abandoned their warehouses."

Serena frowned. "They’re leaving their goods?"

"It appears so."

"Hmph..."

She lowered her gaze towards the report.

’So Alice was right.’

Whoever organised these incidents had been using ordinary merchants and trading companies to conceal their movements. They didn’t care about the loss or profit, it was clear something had happened... because this was the tenth report of merchants leaving a city in the past hour.

’Asmodeus... did you do something?’

"Have the Valkyries secure the warehouses. Don’t allow anyone to destroy their contents."

"Understood!"

"And make sure the merchants are captured alive whenever possible. We need to know who supplied their goods."

The Valkyrie bowed and left.

Serena sighed.

She’d barely relaxed since receiving Alice’s warning. Although she trusted Asmodeus’s strength, the fact that their enemies had managed to reach Velvet inside Lumeria was something she couldn’t ignore.

If they could single out Velvet, despite their high guard...

’No, forget it. I won’t allow these weak thoughts!’

Suddenly, a familiar presence appeared above the palace.

Serena raised her head.

"...Asmodeus?"

WHOOSH!

Several enormous blood-wings swept across the courtyard as two figures descended towards the palace. Within moments, Asmodeus landed with Velvet resting comfortably in his arms.

"Husband!" Serena immediately hurried towards them, her eyes shifting between the two with a bright smile on her face. "Velvet, you’re safe!"

"I’m alright."

"Come here!"

Before the sullen witch could avoid it, Serena hugged the pair of them tightly, kissing both Asmodeus and Velvet on the cheek.

"Sorry for worrying everyone."

Serena ignored her apology and began examining her injuries.

"Your arm what the hell happened?"

"It’s already healing."

"That isn’t the point! Velvet, don’t hide it... Tell me everything, if not now, then later, okay?"

Velvet lowered her head.

"... Mhm, sorry."

Asmodeus watched the two women for a moment before gently placing Velvet on the ground.

"Serena, I need you to contact Alice."

"She’s already travelling back from Baltimore."

"I see, that’s good... then when she gets back, have her report to the main palace once she’s had a moment to rest and recover."

Despite his desire to hurry and fix things, Asmodeus could see the dark rings under his wife’s eyes, if Serena was like this...

Then Alice was much worse.

"So..." Serena crossed her arms, frowning at the pair. "What happened?!"

Asmodeus opened his palm, and several tiny golden lights appeared above his fingers.

"Those bastards made a mistake."

"...?"

"They left behind information about their teleportation network."

Serena pressed her lips tightly together as her pupils shrank. "How much information?"

"Enough for us to cause major damage." He smirked back at her, gently brushing the messy hair from her cheeks. "Some of their formations are located inside our territory. Others are spread across Grigor, the Elven Forest and even the mainland."

Velvet folded her arms and huffed, "Darling wants us to take control of them."

Serena looked towards him and then Velvet, who was pouting. "Ah..." She closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "All of them?"

"Eventually." Asmodeus closed his fingers, crushing the golden light. "But we’ll start with the ones nearest to Lumeria. I want the Valkyries to secure each location before the Eyes realise what we’ve discovered."

Serena remained silent before a smile slowly appeared on her face.

"So we’re finally retaliating?"

"Hahaha! Something like that."

Asmodeus glanced towards the southern horizon, his golden eyes narrowing as he remembered Coco’s expression when he’d destroyed her precious crystals.

’You’ve been watching us for quite some time, haven’t you? Well, little cat...’

A vicious smile spread across his lips as he pulled Serena and Velvet into his embrace.

’Now it’s my turn to watch you.’