Chapter 333: The Demon King’s "Wives"

Ryan jumped back, driven by instinct. He immediately distanced himself from that strange luminous spirit that had just appeared in front of him.

The sudden manifestation of energy took him completely by surprise.

Up until this precise moment, the Stygians had made a huge effort not to intervene directly. They had maintained their calm and distance to let Ryan handle his political affairs with the humans on his own.

But the group’s patience had a very clear limit. And whatever the reason for the sudden appearance of that spirit, they would not tolerate a single threat more. The constant disrespect, the defiant attitudes, and the hidden surprises from the outsiders had completely exhausted their patience.

Therefore, without even waiting for Ryan to give a direct order, the girls acted in unison. In the blink of an eye, they were already subduing the surprised guests.

The small spirit that had begun to take a humanoid form had no time to react. She was now pinned against the floor of the hall.

Helen was pressing her against the carpet using all her brute strength. The swordswoman placed a knee on her glowing back to completely immobilize her against the stone.

"What do you intend to do in this place, William?" Mirian demanded with a tone laden with hostility.

She already had her bow drawn to the maximum from behind the blond hero’s back. Her sharp arrow was pointing directly at William’s face, threatening to pierce his head at the slightest movement he made.

Meanwhile, Chloe and Irina moved quickly. Both positioned themselves right in front of their king, trying to cover Ryan with their own bodies.

"My lord, be very careful," Chloe warned without taking her eyes off the luminous being trapped by Helen.

"Spirits are usually much more dangerous than they seem," Irina added, backing her companion’s concern.

Chloe and Irina were probably the ones who knew the most about the nature of magical spirits in the entire room, so their defensive attitudes were genuine.

On the other side of the long carpet, Alina tried to react to the group’s rapid attack. She tried to raise her hands to conjure some defensive spell.

But the heroine was pinned to the floor by Lise with overwhelming ease. The dragoness’s immense physical strength immobilized the human’s arms in a single second.

"Let me go right now, you stupid bitch," Alina grumbled, struggling uselessly under Lise’s heavy grip.

"You’d better not try to move," Lise warned with a cold, emotionless voice.

"Or I’ll break your neck right here without thinking twice," the dragoness assured, tightening her grip on the heroine just a little to prove her point.

"Stay still there, little one," Karol ordered from her position near Beatrice, pointing her staff at the outsiders.

Beatrice kept the frightened Iris tightly bound, pulling her threads taut around her. The fine bindings surrounded the adventurer’s body, preventing her from escaping.

"I remember you now," Karol muttered, recalling the face of the girl they had met in the dwarven city of Ezker.

"I can’t believe you would try something against us, even when you know perfectly well how strong we are," the mage reproached, while Beatrice tightened the magical bindings around Iris.

Ryan evaluated the entire chaotic scene from his position behind Chloe and Irina.

All the girls in his group were waiting for any order from him. From the Stygians’ clear perspective, Ryan’s safety was the first and most important thing in this castle.

And a strange entity that, up until this exact moment, not even they could sense approaching, was an unacceptable security breach. They immediately considered it a direct threat that had to be neutralized.

"This is a misunderstanding," William assured, slowly raising his hands to show he wasn’t trying to start a conflict.

The blond hero broke out in a cold sweat having the tip of Mirian’s arrow so close. He didn’t dare take a single step back.

"I can explain all of this right now, Ryan," William promised, trying to calm the anger of the dangerous women surrounding him.

"Wow, this didn’t go as I expected," the female voice suddenly commented from the stone floor.

"It seems that appearing suddenly caused a lot of confusion," the spirit added, sounding strangely calm despite having Helen’s knee dug into her back.

"I’m so sorry, William," the luminous entity apologized to her human companion.

Ryan frowned upon hearing such a casual conversation between the two of them in the middle of this tense situation.

"So you knew that spirit was hiding," Ryan questioned, taking a step forward.

"Why didn’t she show herself from the beginning of the meeting?" Ryan asked in a demanding tone, looking for quick and logical answers.

"I’m truly sorry, I didn’t intend to deceive you," William replied, keeping his hands up in front of Mirian’s bow.

"I was going to tell you about the spirit’s existence after you heard everything I had to say. But she assured me that while she slept, she was impossible for anyone to detect. You weren’t supposed to notice her presence until she woke up on her own," the blond hero explained with evident nervousness in his voice.

"Wow, I’m very sorry. This really wasn’t supposed to happen this way. I think the demon king has a magical perception far superior to what we all imagined," the humanoid figure admitted, trying to move a little on the carpet.

But that compliment only annoyed Helen much more. The swordswoman pressed her against the carpet with more force, crushing her glowing form. The spirit groaned in pain on the floor. She made a great effort and, as best she could, looked up toward the throne to see Ryan.

"But really, I swear to you that we are not here to harm you," the spirit pleaded, trying to convince the distrustful girls.

"I don’t believe a thing you say," Helen replied with a tone laden with aggressiveness.

The swordswoman gritted her teeth and pressed her even harder against the floor, ready to destroy the magical entity if she received the order from her king.

"Please, don’t press like that. This is not my real body. And the object I’m using to maintain this physical form could break because of you," the spirit requested, letting out a muffled groan from lack of air.

"And what we came all the way here to tell you is very important for the fate of this world," the entity concluded, trying to lend gravity to the matter to save herself.

Hearing that clear warning about the fate of the world, Helen stopped her destructive pressure. The swordswoman looked at Ryan in silence, waiting for a clear answer on what to do next.

Beatrice and Lise also exchanged looks with their king, awaiting his verdict.

Ryan didn’t respond immediately. He analyzed the spirit’s words and William’s submissive attitude.

"If it was something so important, then you shouldn’t have tried to hide in my hall," Ryan stated with utter coldness, showing no compassion for the spirit’s pain.

"Ryan, please. You know very well that I wouldn’t try anything strange against you. Tell your wives to calm down, I beg you," William requested, looking in desperation at the dangerous women subduing them.

That particular word resonated with great force in the tense throne room. That simple comment suddenly made every one of the girls present in the room blush.

Mirian quickly looked away and lowered her bow in enormous surprise at being called that in front of everyone.

Helen widened her eyes, loosening her firm grip on the spirit’s back. Chloe covered her mouth with her hands, and Irina’s ears drooped in embarrassment.

Unconsciously, at the surprise of the sudden title, all the Stygians lightened the pressure they exerted on the outsiders.

Lise slowly released Alina’s arms, and Karol fake-coughed while looking up at the dark stone ceiling to hide her red face.

Seeing how the life-or-death situation had calmed down due to a simple misunderstanding by the human hero, Ryan sighed deeply.

’Did he really have to say that to save himself?’ Ryan thought, feeling a slight headache seeing his group’s reaction.

"Alright, let them go," Ryan ordered, giving explicit permission for the humans to stand up.

All the girls stepped back immediately. They returned to their original positions, leaving the guests free to breathe in the center of the room.

"But consider yourselves warned," Ryan said, looking at William and the spirit very sternly.

"Any more surprises like this in my castle and you will be responsible for the damages, because I don’t plan on stopping them next time," Ryan assured with a dangerous and authoritative tone.