Home/ The Demon King Took Off His Little Horns/ Chapter 82
“Oh, by the way, Saros.”
Ansel recalled the details of their previous communication and complaint slightly before relaying the message.
“You don’t need to avoid suspicion like that. Here in the Human Realm, we’re like grasshoppers on the same boat. Unless there’s something that involves the internal politics of the Eastern Domain, there’s nothing you aren’t allowed to know.”
He spoke so openly and honestly, yet intimately, that His Majesty the Demon King couldn’t help but smile as he listened. Within his ink-blue vertical pupils, the deep, shadowy gloom seemed to float away in an instant, leaving only a faint glimmer of joy.
He gave a soft response.
“…Mm. In that case, the same goes for me.”
Ansel inadvertently met Saros’ gaze. He seemed to be stunned for a moment and paused for a few seconds before somewhat awkwardly looking away.
…Saros is such a good demon!
He immediately showed his work results to Saros who had been absent earlier. With his hand moving up and down, he pointed toward a spot where a row of hollow-skull monsters lay perfectly flat and neatly arranged.
“Look!” He boasted to the other Demon King. “Look at the ‘blind boxes’ I opened!”
Saros: “…”
He covered his face with one hand, trembling.
What kind of weird talent does Ansel have? Whenever Saros feels the atmosphere is just right—so beautiful that his little train of romance can finally let out a cheerful “choo-choo” and take off from the station, Ansel will always execute a sliding tackle, knocking the train right off its tracks, even ripping up the tracks and the ground beneath them in the process!
If things continued like this, he’d rather just take the train and ride off into the distance all by himself! At least then, he’d still have the train, right?!
However…
In the spiritual world of His Majesty the Demon King, he sat on a small train that was moving forward with a “wuwu” sound, and outside the window was an endless wilderness. Just as he was about to enjoy the comfortable train ride alone, he seemed to see a fleeting shadow in the field outside. A white cat with golden-red eyes began to chase after his train, its mouth moving and meowing as it ran.
【Hey, Saros! Look at the dead mouse I caught! Look at the ‘blind box I opened!】
【Hey, Saros! Hey, Saros!】
Help! This kind of horror would even terrify a demon!
Relying on the self-cultivation of a Demon King, Saros barely managed to maintain his composure. He forced himself to look at the so-called “blind boxes” that had just been opened and then quickly shifted his gaze back to the angel’s beautiful face.
“Since they’re all empty and contain exactly the same content—strictly speaking, they don’t qualify as ‘blind boxes’ at all.”
Ansel shook his head.
“They’re not the same, there’s still some left in one of them—Gavin didn’t eat it all completely. What a huge surprise! Fortunately, I stopped in time.”
Saros: “…”
For the first time in his life, he actually wanted to talk about work with Ansel! Please, can we just talk about work?!
As if hearing his thoughts, Ansel finally returned to the matter at hand.
“The result of the interrogation in Suburbian City was just sent to me.” Ansel said. As he spoke, he reverted the smartphone in his hand back to its original form—a magic mirror. With a gesture, the mirror expanded in size, and the whirring sound of an inkjet printer could be heard emanating from within.
He was about to use his advanced “magic mirror printer” to print out a hard copy of the document for Saros!
Unexpectedly, after patiently waiting for Ansel’s magic mirror to painstakingly spit out a few pages, Saros slowly spoke up.
“If it’s all the same to you, why don’t you just use a face-to-face transfer to send the file directly to me? That way, you won’t…” He paused for a moment and came up with a reason that Ansel would find most acceptable. “…That way, you won’t have to waste your printing paper.”
Ansel: “!!!”
The penny-pinching Demon King immediately transferred the file to Saros. Saros then pulled out his own magic mirror and expanded it; reflected on its surface was a blurry image—yet one could still clearly make out a face wearing an expression of utter existential despair.
Within just a few seconds, Saros’s magic mirror spat out all the documents. Then, with a final flicker, it went dark—effectively “dying” once again.
Saros offered an explanation:
“This is a new technology currently being developed in the Western Region. If you like it, I can send you the blueprints.”
Ansel: “…”
This is not a problem with the blueprints! His alchemist friend, with whom he had been exchanging letters for years, had a plethora of new blueprints and ideas just waiting to be brought to life. But city construction in the Eastern Region had only just gotten on track, and there’s also a massive military expenditure… Is he lacking new technology? No, he’s lacking money!
“Well, actually… no, there’s no need… I already have some…”
Ansel was utterly heartbroken.
“I have plenty.”
But Saros had already sent the blueprints over, so Ansel could only look at them with ever-deepening sorrow.
The report in Saros’ hands contained the complete interrogation records. Under the hands of the maid, Fuya, Gevin had quickly confessed everything. The most important thing among these was the growth pattern of monsters in the Human World.
According to Gevin’s confession, among the monsters in the human world, there exists a competitive and devouring relationship. By consuming more of their companions’ brains, they can become increasingly intelligent and agile. This might also be an instinct deeply embedded in the physiology of the monsters in the human world. Monsters with certain thinking abilities, such as the priest-level, have already consciously raised lower-level members of their own kind and then directed these lower-level creatures to search for other powerful members of their own kind for them.
As for the “General” class monsters, it’s the same as the one Ansel had encountered in the small town—they might build their own underground caves and secretly establish a demon summoning cult as a public front to hide their true purpose.
“Lustre City is also conducting tests on monsters from the Demon Realm,” Saros remarked. “Combined with the investigations I carried out in the Secret Council, the conclusion is that the monsters of the human realm are weaker than those of the demon realm, but they can become stronger and smarter by devouring each other.”
“The ‘Crown Prince’ is likely an anomaly. Monsters of sufficiently high level should all have the ability to devour.”
It was hard to say which realm’s situation is more vexing. Back when Ansel was still in the Supreme Heaven, he never saw the monsters engaging in such elaborate schemes.
…But it’s also true that the Supreme Heaven is the worst of the three. Although the human world is struggling to cope, at least there is still a Holy Court and a Demon Hunter Club!
The information obtained from Gevin was mostly to verify the investigations conducted by the two Demon Kings in the human world over the past few days. And the term “Silent Council” he later mentioned indicated that the monsters had begun to establish their influence in the human world.
Gevin originally also followed the strongest among the monsters to establish his own power base. However, due to the uneven distribution of benefits, Gevin felt that he didn’t have further opportunities for evolution. So he parted ways with his kind and joined the Demon Hunter Club. The body he had half-devoured originally belonged to a Demon Hunter who was dedicated to protecting humanity— it was none other than the real “Second Star” Gevin, a close and trusted friend of Sylvia’s father.
“The warrior’s name has been tarnished,” Ansel said coldly. “According to his confession, the Silent Council has now completely fallen. Many monsters have acquired the bodies of far more powerful alien races, and we have no idea how the situation will unfold.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Saros lowered his gaze slightly. “If the Human Realm possesses a true warrior to lead them, all will be well; if not, then the day the portal opens shall be the day we assume full control.”
“Assuming control is not a sustainable long-term strategy.”
“I understand…and…” The Demon King’s ink-blue vertical pupils locked directly onto Ansel. “You harbor hope for humanity; therefore, I shall honor that hope of yours and grant them ample time.”
Perhaps it was the mercy or compassion of the angels that made Ansel’s attitude towards humans so kind. To be precise, it seemed that Ansel had a very kind attitude towards all races, and precisely because of this, he was able to become the king of the Eastern Region, a domain where countless races coexisted.
Now this is truly the demeanor of an angel.
Saros thought to himself.
Always respectful and tolerant.
As their discussion concluded, Ansel tentatively designated the Silent Council as their next goal. Coincidentally, he had just received an invitation to the Demon Hunter Club’s annual meeting, and members of the Silent Council were bound to attend, offering an opportunity to observe whether any of them were, in fact, monsters in disguise. As for whether Saros would be able to gain entry to the venue on the day of the event, Ansel wasn’t worried.
However, he now had a more urgent task at hand: carefully put the pried-open skulls back into place, one by one.
Saros was originally accompanying him and working tirelessly to complete the task. Just before it was about to end, his expression suddenly changed.
Ansel was now extremely familiar with his every gesture, and he knew that something important must have happened. So, he generously waved his hand.
“Go ahead if you have something to do. I’ll handle the rest.”
But Saros did not leave. Instead, he insisted on accompanying Ansel until every last head was securely reattached and the corpses were arranged back in their places. Only then did he extend his hand toward Ansel.
“Your hand.”
“Give it here.”
Surprisingly, Saros actually carried a small handkerchief with him. He carefully wiped the hands Ansel had used to handle the “dead rats”, and after confirming that there was nothing left to do, he finally prepared to take his leave.
Ansel… was completely baffled.
“Wait… didn’t you just receive an urgent message?”
“It’s fine,” Saros replied vaguely. “There’s a suspected demonic aura invading the Secret Council, wreaking havoc inside. It’s not as important as reattaching heads.”
It’s certainly not as important as helping Ansel with his chores!
Ansel: “…”
Could Saros look into the sorrowful eyes of the people in the Secret Council’s and say one more time, “It’s certainly not as important as reattaching heads”?
Isn’t that the very organization Saros himself had brought under his control?!
Go save the Secret Council!
He quickly drove Saros away to go rescue the Secret Council. Finally, he slowly closed the door to the room, resealed it, and left the corpses of the monsters behind in the darkness.
Goodbye, my little blind boxes.
***
The Secret Council was truly having a miserable night.
With their Demon Lord away on business, it was supposed to be an exceptionally peaceful night. Yet, on this very night, the leader of the Secret Council, Westam, was knocked unconscious by an unknown spell, and then dragged by the collar into the main assembly hall.
The person who had ambushed Westam hummed a tune as he dragged him along. From time to time, a crunching sound rang out as he bit into the potato chips. Every “crunch” made Westam, who was semi-conscious, shiver.
And that wasn’t all. This bored schemer even used Westam’s order and managed to issue an emergency summon in the middle of the night. A group of Secret Council members, all in a state of fear and panic, gathered in the grand hall. The throne in the center of the hall, which was originally reserved for the Demon Lord, was now occupied by another person. This person was happily munching on potato chips while Westam was lying at his feet.
“So this is what it feels like to sit in this position?” The figure, shrouded in a black robe, chuckled silently. “It’s really boring. I really don’t know how “he” managed to persist for over three hundred years.”
And “he” not only persisted but kept things thriving, growing even more successful with every passing day.
…As expected of Ansel.
Suddenly, the figure who had been leisurely munching on potato chips froze completely. A chilling sensation that made his hair stand on end came from behind, and he even heard a voice—
“…The Sword of Abyss.”
Damn it! To think the other party would draw their sword and attack right off the bat! How is it that the students trained by that old geezer Astaroth are just like my students? Every single one of them is the type who prefers to settle things with their fists?
A violent clash of light and sound erupted, flashing from one end of the Secret Council’s headquarters to the other. Before long, the most powerful Demon King in the Demon Realm had gauged the depth of his opponent’s strength– roughly stronger than Levi by one and half, but much weaker than Ansel.
As this thought crossed his mind, Saros’ dark-blue vertical pupils turned cold and solemn.
***
… Escaped.
Saros looked around the scene. The opponent ran quite fast, as if they had a lot of experience in escaping from being beaten. Westam slowly rose from the ruins, and the first thing he did was not to tend to his own injuries, but to crawl over respectfully and kneel at Saros’ feet.
“The Secret Council… the Secret Council has never betrayed you, My Lord!”
Saros raised a hand, signaling that there was no need for further explanation; he was recalling the scene he had just witnessed.
The intruder’s black robe was ripped off by a flash of sword-light, sending various objects scattering across the ground like falling petals. Beneath the tattered remnants of the robe, Saros felt he saw a pair of demonic horns, with the right horn broken in the middle.
A demon with a broken horn…
As for the items scattered across the ground, they weren’t some hidden weapons, but…
Snacks.
Lots of snacks.
Imported snacks.
Delicious snacks.
Is this what they call the legendary “loot drop”? Saros mused for a moment, then issued an order to Westam.
“Tonight’s matter has been resolved. You can leave with your men. In the future, I will add an extra layer of protection to the Secret Council’s headquarters.”
Westam was immediately filled with gratitude, practically crying with relief. After repeatedly expressing his unwavering loyalty to his “Sole Faith”, he led his people away from the scene, limping.
Once everyone left, the cold and aloof “Sole Faith”, the Secret Council’s one and only Demon Lord, suddenly made a move.
He bent down to gather the snacks, while the “Black Swan” also emerged from his shadow to join him in picking up all the snacks scattered across the ground.
Ansel likes to eat snacks.
Saros thought to himself.
He could give these to Ansel.
The author has something to say:
Teacher: ???
Teacher: You beat me up, made me drop my snacks, and now you’re taking them to give to “my” student?
Teacher: Don’t you have any manners?!
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