Chapter 212: Honor Knight! Lin Wei? The Demon Lord? (6,000 words)

CRASH—!

A deafening explosion tore through the chamber, followed by a cascade of shattered glass.

Divine energy surged, golden light radiating outward in expanding circles—like stones cast into a sacred, tranquil lake.

Inside the crystal coffin, the slumbering figures remained motionless, bathed in the destructive brilliance of holy power.

Even Eileen—usually the embodiment of elegance and poise—had lost every trace of composure. Her eyes, clouded and wild, flashed with primal fury.

“How is this possible?!”

From the very first duel to the desperate struggle in the molten pit, she’d watched their trump cards dwindle, one after another. Each time they closed in on victory over Oshu, something would unravel their plan at the last moment.

Now, with death looming closer than ever, another chance at survival had inexplicably appeared.

“Who in the hell put so many subjugation squad members to sleep here?”

“Was it the former Demon Lord? Or is the Cult of the Evil God behind this?”

Not everyone here was some half-baked “Hero” like Oshu.

The first seven subjugation squads—before being drafted—were legendary Transcendents, all at least Level 70, nearly half of them Legacy-level. Each one a monster in their own right.

If they fully revived, completing the mission would be a fantasy—escaping with their lives would be a miracle.

But now… it was far too late to stop any of it.

“You think you can kill me? All of you—burn in the hells, you wretches!”

“Eileen... Prepare yourself for retribution!”

The sound of shattering glass sent a surge of hope through Oshu’s battered heart.

Betrayal. Humiliation. The stain upon his legend.

Oshu—the so-called “Hero”—let out a roar, and only now did the others realize the true weight of that title.

“Awaken, warriors of justice! Rise and smite all evil!”

“If Weiss could hear you now, he’d be fired up and nodding along.”

And then—a voice he despised, a voice that made him want to turn and kill without a second thought.

He swung his weapon with all his might, striking something immovable—a wall of living steel.

When Oshu regained his senses, the sight before him left him stunned.

A barrier of Holy Radiance shimmered before him, effortlessly blocking the Holy Sword’s blow.

The clash of metal against glass rang out—sharp and clear—yet the crystal coffin remained unscathed.

“What?!”

“Die—!”

The last of the holy power he’d used to repel the Headless Horseman had run dry.

With no more undead strength to summon, Morteir—the Headless Horseman, Demon General—chose the simplest attack: as the barrier shattered, his armored boot crashed into Oshu’s chest, sending him flying.

“AAARRRGH!”

With a sickening crack, agony ripped through Oshu’s body. He slammed into the stone wall, blood spraying from his lips—barely clinging to consciousness.

“Tch... What a bunch of trash.”

“Honor Knight Lin Wei?!”

Footsteps echoed—slow, unhurried—as a figure stepped from the shadows.

Eileen stared in disbelief. It was him—the silhouette everyone dreaded.

He advanced, utterly unhurried, not tense or wary in the slightest. It was as if he’d simply wandered in by accident—only the cold contempt in his gaze betrayed his disdain for their pitiful struggle.

“I was planning to wait until you finished off the ‘Hero’ before cleaning up the battlefield. Didn’t expect you’d let him hold out this long, or nearly wake all these heroes from their slumber.”

“This generation of Evil God cultists and demons... Have you really fallen so far?”

The scene—and his tone—were so surreal that only a madman would think nothing was wrong.

Eileen’s wariness spiked. It was many against one, yet an invisible pressure now bore down on them all.

“You’re attacking the Hero now? You really think you can walk away from all of us alive?”

She knew Lin Wei and Oshu were rivals, but Lin Wei wasn’t a fool—his record in the Holy See was impeccable, the model of Clergy.

So why this bizarre attitude? Why had he stopped them from smashing the crystal coffin?

Reviving the subjugation squads should have been a good thing for a Clergy member. He couldn’t have risked everything just to kill Oshu.

So where did his confidence come from—thinking he could face them all and win, even after the Hero’s death?

Doubt gnawed at her, growing by the second.

But in the next instant, a chill like winter gripped her blood.

“Walk away... alive?”

“Heh... heh heh heh... HAHAHAHAHA—!”

It was as if he’d just heard the most absurd joke in the world.

Lin Wei covered his face, laughing wildly—unstoppable, unrestrained. The very air seemed to twist and warp around him.

Thump!

A heart hammered in terror.

A wave of inexplicable panic crashed over them, freezing their veins.

Words failed—dizziness, trembling, an irresistible urge to kneel.

It was like gazing into the maw of a slumbering beast, knowing a single careless move would break its chains—a beast vast enough to devour the world, now baring its fangs.

“Morteir... After all these years, you haven’t improved at all!”

“You—!”

The Headless Horseman’s undead aura quivered, sensing the seismic shift.

Suffocation. Panic. Uncontrollable shivers.

“Damnable Holy See lapdogs...”

A hoarse voice rasped from the shadows.

The demon lich, unable to withstand the crushing dread, frantically gathered his mana.

Legacy-level—and yet, he had only ever inspired terror in humans. Now, a Clergy of the Holy See was making him feel this kind of horror?

But—he’d never get the chance to speak again.

BOOM!

He exploded without warning, reduced to fragments in an instant. No sign of attack—just a flash of cold, and he was gone.

Nearby, another demon lich and an Evil God priest were splattered with black blood and bits of viscera.

The lingering energy burned their skin.

But none could deny it—a lich, a peerless Transcendent, had been annihilated in a blink, without resistance.

“This... impossible!”

No resistance. No warning. No defense.

It was like a commoner facing the aura of a demon lich.

Now, in the presence of this so-called Honor Knight of the Holy See, they felt the same—a dread that only comes when death is certain.

“Morteir! Do something—now!”

“This is how you demons cooperate with the Church?!”

The last priest of the Cult of the Evil God howled in terror, his mind shattering.

It was worse than the madness from an overdose of “gospel.”

The man before them simply wasn’t in the same league. How could an unknown Honor Knight be this terrifying?

“Who... what are you?!”

Curiously, Eileen—by far the weakest—felt the least fear. The gap was so vast it numbed her.

She gritted her teeth, forcing words out, but meeting his eyes was like staring into the sun.

“You’re... asking my name?”

In the next heartbeat, a suffocating, world-shattering pressure erupted with no warning.

A visible, dark red aura seeped into existence—so dense it was nearly black, like congealed blood.

The urge to kneel overwhelmed them.

It was as if they faced a Demon God’s judgment; none dared meet those eyes.

“Priests, liches... half-demons with elf and goblin blood?”

“I’ve been merciful, you know. Over the years, I’ve forgiven much—even let peasants who didn’t know their place walk away alive.”

“But is that why you think you can keep offending me—the Demon Lord?”

His voice was a tidal wave, threatening to shatter their minds.

Blood boiled, mana ran wild—bones and souls seemed ready to splinter at a single word.

Demon Lord... He’s the Demon Lord?

Eileen tried to look up, to see his face one last time—but just a glimpse of those eyes, turning crimson, sent a vision surging through her mind.

A sky stained scarlet with blood. The earth split open, flames and blackened ruins as far as the eye could see.

Corpses, armor, and rubble forming mountains on the horizon.

Colossal, monstrous beings lay dead at the walls, ichor pooling around them.

Weapons pierced bodies as big as mountains, and even in death, their eyes were chilling.

“Kneel.”

Two words, soft as a whisper.

No one could resist. They all dropped to their knees.

The pressure made their hearts race, their blood freeze.

And at last, they understood who stood before them.

“The Demon Lord...? No, that’s impossible...”

Eileen’s mind nearly shattered under the weight of that presence.

Murky green blood trickled from her eyes and mouth; only the healing potion she’d drunk earlier kept her conscious.

“Morteir.”

“Weren’t you just trying to attack me—the Demon Lord?”

“Why stop now?”

The Four Heavenly Kings—invincible in the eyes of all demonfolk—knelt in full armor, utterly submissive.

“Rrraugh...”

He was supposed to be the greatest traitor in demon history.

But that overwhelming pressure left him unable even to meet Lin Wei’s gaze.

All he could do was kneel, as if awaiting judgment.

“Just a few years away, and demonkind has fallen this far?”

“You, Krulu, and that pitiful lich over there—this is today’s ‘demon elite’?”

No surprise—just the same contempt as before.

As the crimson aura engulfed the chamber, it was as if all were dragged into the Demon Lord’s domain—lost in his shadow.

“Forgive us, Your Majesty! We didn’t know it was you!”

“Please, Demon Lord, forgive our offense!”

The quickest-thinking demon lich kowtowed instantly.

Since the Demon Lord’s ascension, this was the first time he’d seen the face behind the mask.

Not demonfolk at all—more like a human, even a High Priest of the Holy See?

“Lady Sabela told us—the true Demon Lord never awoke, but was imprisoned by Goddess Alicia in the void. The one they ‘revived’ was just a puppet!”

“She said, at the crucial moment, he’d betray us all—signing the Peace Accord, lulling us into false security so the Coalition Army could strike. That’s the proof!”

They’d once doubted, once sworn fealty to the “true” Demon Lord.

But now, with Lin Wei standing here as a human Clergy, the answer was clear.

The former Demon Lord was nothing but the Goddess’s puppet!

They had to warn all demonfolk.

Absolutely—

“Amusing. Begging forgiveness while plotting betrayal in your head?”

“That’s your atonement?”

“What?!”

His words froze the lich in place.

He looked up—and when he saw the mockery in those blood-red eyes, he realized: it had all been a test, and now his thoughts were laid bare.

“You didn’t know you were betraying me, the Demon Lord, when you colluded with the Cult of the Evil God?”

Dead. I’m dead! He already knows what I’m thinking!

“Damn it!”

The lich’s mind snapped. Without hesitation, he spun to flee.

All his mana surged into a wall of ice, buying a split-second to escape.

The next moment—

Not even a Legacy-level could break that wall so quickly.

But the shadow behind him shattered both the wall and the lich, spraying ice and blood—gone from the world.

“No way...”

No words could describe this power.

Eileen knelt, heart pounding so hard she thought it would burst.

She’d seen nothing—no attack, no skill, not even a movement.

A Legacy-level lich, strong enough to face a Hero, had been crushed like a wild fruit plucked from the roadside.

So this was the power of the former Demon Lord?

“Your Majesty, we—our church—never took part in that betrayal against you!”

In desperation, the last Evil God priest prostrated himself, groveling without shame.

“In the Church of Dreamlust, we have always respected the king of demonfolk. Meeting you now is an honor.”

“As for demonfolk infighting, we don’t wish to interfere—we only seek to revive our own god and offer convenience to our partners. If you wish, we can even provide expendable pawns to help you root out traitors.”

Such abject humility would move even the hardest heart.

“Heh... interesting.”

Just the answer Lin Wei wanted to hear.

The priest drew a deep breath, but Lin Wei’s cosmic voice crashed over him again.

Even speaking with him made the soul tremble.

“You were the ones who conspired with Duke Ous to attack Commander Alfron, weren’t you?”

“Tell me—how did you lure Alfron away? What was your goal? Where is he now?”

Simple questions—yet the hope of survival hung by a thread.

But the priest, sweating cold, could barely force out a reply.

Only under Lin Wei’s burning gaze did he finally stammer an answer.

“I... I don’t know!”

“Our priests are strictly compartmentalized—we’re not allowed to know each other’s missions.”

Afraid he’d be crushed before he finished, the priest spilled everything he knew.

“I only know that the Judgement Knight who defected from the Holy See lured Commander Alfron out of the Imperial Capital, but I don’t know the details or where he is now.”

“It’s not that I’m hiding anything from you, Your Majesty. Ever since that Judgement Knight joined us, he’s insisted on ‘one person, one task’—each priest gets their own assignment.”

“We never contact each other, and some of us, like me, were just sent to fight at the target location. I swear I’m not hiding anything!”

Not a bad system, Lin Wei mused.

No falsehood—he could sense the truth.

Each step of the plan was isolated; some priests weren’t even involved, just thrown into battle.

“A traitor Judgement Knight, hmm?”

Even Veya spat that name in disgust.

That bastard—he’d been scheming since the day Secretary Rennie completed her Baptism, over a decade ago.

“In other words...”

“You’re... useless to me now?”

No!

The Evil God’s energy lurking in his body screamed a warning.

The priest, desperate, hacked off his own arm.

“Blood Sacrifice!!”

“Oh?”

A priest of the Church of Dreamlust, wielding the Blood Sacrifice Mother’s power?

Lin Wei waited half a second, and then saw a crimson mist pour from the wound.

The powers of the Dream-Mother and Blood Sacrifice Mother—combined.

A heavy drowsiness and a hint of killing intent flooded the chamber, covering most of the room in moments.

Lin Wei let it wash over him, curious.

“So that’s how it is... combining the Blood Sacrifice Mother’s power to kill in dreams.”

“Those who fall asleep like this aren’t merely drained—they’re hunted in their dreams, and death there feeds back into reality. Not a bad combination.”

But it had no effect. Not even a hint of resistance.

The priest stared in horror. That mist would have required energy shields to block, even for Transcendents.

But before the Demon Lord, it was nothing—just air, inhaled at his leisure.

“I’m actually curious—why did that Judgement Knight betray the Holy See?”

“Talent, cunning, ability—he could have been a rare asset. If he’d stayed, the demonfolk would have lost the Northern Fortress long ago.”

But as far as Lin Wei recalled, he’d never fought any high-ranking Clergy besides the Grand Commander of Sacred Light.

“As a reward for mildly amusing me...”

“I’ll let you live three minutes longer.”

A sudden burst of blood-red light swept away the mist.

A single crimson nail shot out, pinning the priest to the wall.

“Urgh!”

No pain.

The nail skewered him, suspending him on the stone.

No agony—just horror.

His life force drained away, visibly, second by second.

It wasn’t being stolen—just spent, wasted, with no way to stop it.

He realized, to his terror, that he was under a countdown to death—three minutes, no more, no less.

And then he’d vanish, just like those Transcendents killed in dreams.

No sound, no spectacle—just erased from the world.

“Now... it’s your turn.”

Lin Wei silenced the priest with a gesture, piercing his throat.

He gazed at the remaining figures, not a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

In the corner, the Hero was half-conscious, still brimming with vitality.

The Holy Sword still shimmered in his hand—Lin Wei could crush him in an instant, and yet... something felt off.

It was as if, if he struck now, that one-in-a-hundred risk would become reality, and chaos would follow.

“Ninety-nine percent chance I can freeze the Hero on the spot...”

“But that one percent... I know it’ll happen.”

“Troublesome intuition.”

He recalled his plan for dealing with the subjugation squads.

For now, he’d wait until the Hero fully awoke.

“I just remembered... ‘That Shadow’ loved keeping monsters as pets to guard his home.”

He looked at Eileen, kneeling and bowing, and nodded thoughtfully.

“His cages were always packed with tamed monsters, eager to please.”

“His prize, though, was a goblin he stole from a noble in the Empire a few years back.”

“They said it was a half-demon, a throwback to the first goblins—her mother was an elf, raped on the battlefield.”

A goblin?

Elf blood?!

Rein, beside him, went pale with disgust, bile rising in her throat.

Even the Hero in the corner seemed to stir at those words, slowly waking from his stupor.

“That goblin... that’s you, isn’t it?”

“And now you’ve taken on the form of an elf?”

Lin Wei’s eyes glinted with interest.

“Was that the result of the Evil God’s power?”

“Tell me—what value do you have that would make the Demon Lord spare your life?”