Chapter 292: A Great Surprise (Part 1)

The echo of the receptionist’s scream slowly faded away. The three high-ranking heroes and the experienced guild master stood frozen in place, processing the sheer magnitude of the words they had just heard.

To the surprise of everyone present, Sophia was the first to break the silence.

"What... what on earth are you saying, Irene? That makes no sense." Sophia rounded her desk with quick steps, approached the terrified receptionist, and snatched the crumpled sheet of paper from her hands with a rough jerk.

Her emerald eyes began to scan the written lines in desperation, searching for the error in the report.

"That is simply impossible," Delia intervened, crossing her arms as she stared at the parchment in the guild master’s hands. "Entire decades have passed since the death of the last demon king."

Alina also looked at them, completely in disbelief.

"And not only that," she continued, waving her hands in evident frustration. "The last demon kings in history died at the hands of their own successors in wars for the throne. How the hell is the holy church officially confirming that a ruler of that caliber died at the hands of that infamous pervert?" she questioned, clicking her tongue with clear disgust upon recalling Ryan’s attitude.

But, despite her harsh words and derogatory tone, her facial expression displayed a deep and genuine uncertainty. The fear that the news might be real was evident in her eyes.

"Sophia," William said, taking a step forward with an unusually grim tone of voice.

The guild master did not utter a single word in response. She stood completely motionless before the note, her breath catching and her eyes wide open, as if the paper were draining the life out of her.

And since the experienced leader said nothing else and seemed to have entered a deep state of shock, William reached out and firmly snatched the sheet from her hand.

William looked down at the paper, scanning the text rapidly.

"Wow, it seems what this note says is entirely real." William held up the sheet of paper for everyone in the office to see and pointed to the bottom of the document with his index finger.

"This is the official seal of the church, and not just that. The document is hand-signed by Luciela Rainy herself. There is absolutely no doubt that everything stated here is entirely true."

The weight of his words dropped over Sophia’s office like a block of lead. The guild master’s hands trembled visibly from the sheer shock of the message, mirroring the expressions of absolute astonishment shared by Delia and Alina upon hearing the name of one of the holy knights’ leaders backing up the information.

"One of these days, they’re going to give me a damn heart attack," Sophia declared, letting out a long, heavy sigh and finally looking up at the wooden ceiling.

"That trio of incompetent fools... whenever I hear new rumors about them, they’re involved in something far bigger and deadlier than the last time. How the hell is it possible they achieved such a feat?"

"And they didn’t just achieve that," William continued, reading the rest of the detailed report while his own expression of surprise grew with every line.

"It explicitly states here that he is the one leading an entire large faction of exiled elves, in addition to having entire clans of beastmen under his command. They claim the demon he rescued in the city of Varvylon faithfully remains by his side as his personal guard. And even... the report details that he made a military alliance with Ophelia, the demon queen known worldwide as the Witch of Chaos..."

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting, William? Stop joking around once and for all," Alina intervened, shaking her head rapidly, refusing to accept reality. "That man could never do all that; he’s just a simple support."

"She’s right, take this matter seriously for once, William," Delia said, frowning and clenching her fists at her sides. "A demon king dying is one thing that’s very hard to believe, but everything else makes absolutely no sense..."

William did not respond to his companions’ accusations. And Sophia, whose face remained extremely pale, took a couple of clumsy steps backward and sat heavily on the edge of her large desk, feeling her legs give out.

"And the madness doesn’t end there..." Sophia murmured, recalling what her own eyes had read before William took the note. "It says there that the earth dragon and the fire dragon controlled by Rigal died in combat, but the church’s intelligence confirmed that Lise, the wind dragon, is still alive. And according to the aerial scouts... it seems she now serves Ryan voluntarily..."

Sophia sat on the desk, assimilating the information, and then slowly looked toward the large window overlooking the city’s busy streets.

"Just how much have you really progressed in such a short time, Ryan?" the guild master murmured to herself, feeling a shiver run down her spine upon remembering the party that used to fail quests because they were always causing trouble.

Sophia directed her gaze toward the door, where the receptionist was still trembling. "Irene, you may leave now. Return to your post immediately; you need to keep an eye on the guild at the reception desk."

Irene nodded frantically and quickly withdrew, closing the door behind her.

"The mythical wind dragon serves him now... how the hell would that be possible?" Delia commented, pacing back and forth across the office, trying to find some logic in the report.

"Even when the church cornered and captured the lightning dragon years ago, that beast chose to commit suicide by destroying its own core because it refused to serve any human under any circumstances..."

"We humans simply aren’t magically or spiritually compatible with dragons. That was what the church categorically stated after studying dragons," Sophia said, leaving the doubt hanging in the air for the heroes to try to answer.

"Then why is such an arrogant and destructive creature serving Ryan as if it were his pet?"

"And does the report really say he made a formal alliance with the Witch of Chaos? Why would a demon queen, who hates humanity with all her soul, voluntarily ally herself with a mere human?" Alina questioned, feeling as though all the rules of the world she knew were rapidly crumbling before her.

Faced with the uncertainty that kept growing like a plague in the room, William intervened, lowering the official paper and looking at his teammates.

"Actually, I can confirm firsthand that this part of the information regarding the dragons is completely true," the lone hero declared in a calm voice.

The three women locked their eyes on him. "I hadn’t told you all the details earlier so as not to alarm you unnecessarily, but... I came face to face with Ryan on the exact same day we all met secretly in Eibach."

"You ran into him?" Delia asked in astonishment.

"That’s right," William continued. "I have no idea why he was around there at that precise moment. But I can assure you, without fear of being mistaken, that Ivis, the water dragon, was right beside him in dragon form, acting as his bodyguard."

William crossed his arms, remembering the oppressive presence of the dragon and the calmness of the human.

"Dragons are creatures of pure pride. They don’t even allow other high-ranking demons who aren’t their direct masters to ride them or give them orders. I personally confirmed that Ryan was already an SS-rank adventurer. Those dragons... surely they must have witnessed that same overwhelming power to decide to follow him."

"Fuck," Delia cursed aloud, running a hand through her hair in evident frustration. "To think that a damn healer... could actually overcome the wall of S-rank..."

"Well, whether we like it or not, the harsh reality is that he saved us from being massacred in that dungeon," Alina chimed in, looking down at her own hands, remembering the moment Ryan’s magic took hold of them.

Alina clenched her fists. "I hate to admit it because I despise that man, but he was indeed immensely strong back then. And the church has never managed to find him despite searching every corner of the continent for him. Many elite holy knights died on missions; it was rumored in the capital’s halls that he and his small party were responsible for those mysterious massacres, but reading this... there is no longer the slightest doubt about the truth."