Chapter 266 : Chapter 266

Chapter 266. My Era Is Coming Soon

The demons shuddered as they sensed a sudden surge of ominous energy.

“What was that just now?”

“You felt it too?”

Leviathan flicked his split tongue and spoke.

“Does it not feel like right before that bastard Hayden sealed us back then? It leaves a foul taste.”

“Stop spouting bad luck. The Great Sage is dead!”

Asmodeus snapped irritably at Leviathan’s words.

His face twisted violently.

“Damn that Great Sage… He acted as if he would release me from the key if I did as told… All of my power weakened because of that fraudulent bastard. That is why my temptations do not work!”

As Asmodeus vented his fury, Leviathan could not hold back and snickered.

Every demon present knew that not a single temptation had worked on the 8th Prince.

Though they were grouped together as Archdemons, loyalty was far from their nature.

Now that they were sealed, they cooperated only temporarily for their own benefit. Given the chance, none of them would hesitate to attack the others.

Belphegor had his eyes closed, as if he had expected this all along, but for Leviathan, who had once suffered at Asmodeus’s hands, the situation was nothing short of an opportunity for revenge.

Leviathan did not miss the chance and sneered at Asmodeus.

“No matter how you dress it up, you failed. If Hayden were backing you like before, maybe it would be different… Heh heh. Then again, does an Archdemon’s pride even remain? Crawling at the feet of a mere human mage.”

“Are you any different? You crawled before the Great Sage just the same.”

Asmodeus shot back.

“You were lucky it was the Middle Realm. If it had been the Demon World, you would not have been sealed. You would have died on the spot.”

“Me? By you? Kya-ha-ha-ha!”

Leviathan clutched his stomach and laughed as if he had heard something impossible. Then he struck at Asmodeus’s most sensitive wound.

“Archdemon of Lust, my ass! You cannot even seduce a single prince! Asmodeus, look at yourself. You are not even a match for a seventeen-year-old brat. That is your level!”

“And what do you think you will accomplish? Even Belphegor failed. How do you plan to seduce that one?”

“Heh heh. You think I cannot handle a mere brat like that? If he falls into my hands, that prince will end up as my foot wiper.”

Asmodeus glared at Leviathan, then turned his anger toward Belphegor.

“Belphegor! If you had seduced him properly, this would not have happened!”

“…I do not know why you keep dragging me into this.”

Belphegor, who had kept his eyes closed, slowly opened his mouth.

“I told you from the beginning, Asmodeus. You are the one who does not know his place.”

Belphegor had clearly warned him, implying that the 8th Prince was not someone to be taken lightly.

It was Asmodeus who had refused to heed that warning.

“And Leviathan. Do not get carried away either. He is not someone you can corrupt with a mere fragment of a soul.”

“Kya-hah! I cannot hear the words of a loser.”

Leviathan grinned crookedly at Belphegor’s words.

The other two did not know it, but Leviathan had something he relied on.

That was his loyal servant, Kier Iern.

As Belphegor said, Leviathan possessed only the power of a single soul fragment here, but the other keys roaming outside were not idle.

Even now, the purple key that sealed him continued to tempt people.

‘If the 4th Princess uses my power properly… that trivial 8th Prince will be nothing.’

All he had to do was wait for the 4th Princess’s complete corruption.

Leviathan felt himself growing excited at the thought of breathing the air of the Middle Realm again after so long.

Human screams, blood, fear.

They were the things he had longed for more than anything.

‘My era is coming soon.’

Leviathan flicked his snake-like split tongue.

***

The 3rd Imperial Consort’s Palace.

It was the palace where Celiana Dastion Cretian, the Empire’s 3rd Imperial Consort, resided.

It was usually a quiet place, but today a bright atmosphere filled the air.

The reason was that her only daughter, the 7th Princess Inette, was scheduled to visit.

Until recently, Inette had been unable to properly control her Ability, Essence of Flame, and had often set the palace ablaze or injured people.

However, after enrolling in the Imperial Magic Academy, such incidents had ceased.

The fatal weakness of a prominent candidate for the throne had disappeared.

No one was happier about that fact than Celiana.

“Madelene, have you prepared everything? What about the raspberry jam we made last time?”

With an excited expression at the news of her daughter’s visit, Celiana was preparing tea time in the garden.

The garden was filled with beautiful flowers and trees.

It was a scene vastly different from before Inette went to the academy.

Thanks to Inette’s Ability, Celiana had not been able to enjoy a proper tea time in the garden for a long while.

Now that Inette was coming to the Imperial Capital, she wanted to spend time together in the newly arranged garden, which was why she had hurried the preparations even more.

“Your Highness, the Princess has arrived.”

“Oh my, Inette is already here?”

Celiana broke into a radiant smile at the attendant’s words.

“Inette!”

Unlike Celiana, however, Inette’s expression was not good.

“What is wrong, my daughter? Do you not like the new garden?”

“No.”

Inette shook her head as she dropped into a chair.

“Then was the gift His Majesty gave you not to your liking?”

“No.”

What she had received this time was a staff created by an Archmage who had contracted with a Great Fire Spirit.

It was one of the magical tools passed down through the Imperial Family, capable of amplifying the power of fire-aspected magic and even storing a single spell.

There was no way she could find such an extraordinary magic staff disappointing.

‘Has she become serious about magic?’

Celiana narrowed her eyes.

In the past, Inette would have asked for something pretty or expensive.

Her changed demeanor, too…

There was no doubt that something had shifted in her heart.

When Celiana remained silent, Inette, who had been staring into her teacup, spoke abruptly.

“Mother… do you also want me to become the Emperor?”

It was an unusually serious question for Inette.

It was obvious she had agonized over it for a long time.

Yet the moment Celiana heard it, she burst out laughing.

“Pfft!”

Inette’s face flushed red.

“M-Mother! I am serious!”

“I know you are serious, Inette. Ahahaha!”

“Do not laugh! You are making fun of me!”

After laughing for a while, Celiana finally calmed herself.

The fact that Inette was asking such a question was something she would never have imagined before.

“I am sorry, I am sorry. I will not laugh anymore. But you know, Mother has never told you to become the Emperor.”

“What did you say?!”

Inette jumped to her feet.

“You were the one who said it first. You said you would become a splendid Emperor like His Majesty.”

“Well, that was…!”

She certainly had said something like that when Inette was younger.

But that had been when she did not know any better.

When Inette fell silent, unable to respond, Celiana smiled gently.

“Mother is fine with whatever Inette becomes. Do what you want to do, my daughter.”

Celiana’s gaze softened.

As she looked at her beloved daughter, she thought of a certain boy.

If it had been half a year ago, she would not have been able to have such a heartfelt conversation with Inette.

All of this change was thanks to that one boy.

Radel Silvert Cretian.

After going to the desert for major practical training with him, it was obvious that Inette’s way of thinking had changed.

‘He truly is a child to be grateful for.’

Celiana lifted her teacup with a smile.

It seemed she would have to offer Radel a small token of thanks before long.

***

“We must gather the Keys of Seal.”

Radel spoke with a resolute expression.

After rereading the journal Hayden had left behind, he seemed to have reached a firm conclusion, his eyes brimming with sharp intelligence.

‘What is with this boy?’

The Spirit of the Library stared at Radel with an uneasy feeling it could not shake.

No matter how it looked at him, it felt as though he was hiding something.

“Just possessing them is enough to corrupt a person’s soul. We cannot leave them outside like this.”

“That may be true, but… do not tell me you plan to gather them yourself?”

“I do plan to gather them.”

At Radel’s matter-of-fact reply, the Spirit of the Library was taken aback.

The Radel it had observed so far was someone who pursued practical benefits.

He was not the type to go out of his way to collect the Keys of Seal without reason.

“The Black Order is using the power of the keys to manipulate people. I have seen it several times myself. Considering that they even corrupted the head of the Supreme Deity Order, it is hard to gauge how far their influence has spread.”

He added that since there might be infiltrators within the Supreme Deity Order, it was necessary to proceed separately from them.

He even said that he himself, who was not swayed by demons, was the right person for the task.

Even so, the Spirit of the Library could not help feeling suspicious.

Everything he said was righteous and sounded good, yet why did greed seem to flicker in his eyes…?

“You brat, do you think that will be easy? Without Divine Power, how do you plan to deal with heretics?”

Judging by how he resisted demonic temptation, his mental fortitude was extraordinary, but even so, confronting the curses and dark magic used by demon worshipers was extremely dangerous.

‘Even trained Inquisitors of the Supreme Deity Order collapse when facing heretics.’

As the Spirit of the Library clicked its tongue inwardly—

“Ah, did I not mention it? Curses and mental magic do not work on me.”

At Radel’s casual remark, the Spirit of the Library froze for a moment before exploding in anger.

“Y-You slippery little brat, exactly like your ancestor! You only mention that now?!”

“I assumed you had roughly guessed, since you formed a contract with me. You are a great Great Spirit, after all.”

“A normal contractor might think so! With your pitiful amount of Magic Power, it is a struggle just to summon me, so how would I know anything? Increase your Magic Power so that I can use my strength properly!”

As expected of that swindler’s descendant, Radel even shared his personality.

Hayden’s greatest trait had been his inscrutability.

A man whose thoughts could never be read.

A man who kept the most important information to himself.

And a man who left the academy library behind and disappeared forever.

‘How infuriating…!’

The Spirit of the Library wanted to take back the moment it had worried that Radel might fall to demons.

How amusing it must have been for that green young contractor to watch it panic!

“At least you will have the advantage when dealing with heretics! You are worse than an Archdemon!”

“Haha. Worse than a demon? You are exaggerating.”

“Do you think this is a joke?!”

The pages of the Spirit of the Library trembled violently.

That a great Great Spirit like itself had to endure such humiliation!

If only it had been supplied with proper Magic Power, it would have already grasped all the information Radel had withheld.

There was only one answer.

It had no choice but to raise Radel’s Magic Power and grow stronger itself as well.

‘I must make that boy stronger than he is now!’

The Spirit of the Library made a firm resolution.