Chapter 83 - Chapter 13: The Right to Rule #2
The first in the world. The ruler of the Demon World and the strongest person in the Demon World.
In-gong stared at Elaine with confused eyes and a faint smile appeared on Elaine’s face.
"I guess you haven’t thought about it before.”
It was like that. It was the right answer.
It was Zephyr who had become the demon king in Knight Saga.
He wanted to confront Zephyr in order to prevent the Day of Massacre, but he had never thought of becoming the demon king. It was because Shutra’s position was too low.
Elaine sat down beside In-gong and stared at him with a mixed expression. Then she said with a laugh,
"Well, it is understandable when considering your position so far.”
9th Prince Shutra Ignus was known as the Scraps Prince.
He was a poor boy who had lost his mother, his biggest supporter, at a young age;
A poor prince who didn’t receive any outside support.
"Now, your position has changed, so you should think about it.”
Elaine spoke to In-gong in an alluring voice. Then In-gong realized a new fact,
’They don’t look alike.’
She had almost the same face as Caitlin, but she was different. Elaine was a completely different type of person.
"I don’t need to hear an answer right now. Once again, just think about it. I’ll hear your answer later.”
Elaine moved forward like a feline beast. She approached Caitlin, who was sleeping serenely, and touched her cheek.
“Sleep well, my baby.”
Elaine bowed and kissed Caitlin’s forehead. She lifted her head slowly and lingered her gaze on In-gong again.
She was cold and warm; there was some uncertainty buried her casualness.
Elaine turned toward the door before saying one last thing to In-gong,
"Take it easy. I’ll see you again soon.”
“Thank you.”
In-gong’s reply was somewhat misleading, but Elaine laughed heartily. She left as abruptly as she had appeared.
The man by the door closed it. A few seconds passed before Chris laughed.
Then he said,
"My advice?”
In-gong turned to Chris and realized that a person could be incredibly hateful. He snapped at Chris who was smiling mischievously.
“Why didn’t you tell me that the 4th Queen was coming?”
"Then that would be no fun.”
As expected, he received a hateful reply in return. Chris laughed like a villain and said again,
"Anyhow, you should really think about it. About becoming the demon king, that is.”
He spoke lightly, but the expression in his eyes was serious. No, from the start, this had been a subject that couldn’t be dealt with lightly.
Today had been the first time In-gong had encountered 4th Queen Elaine Moonlight. Regardless, it wasn’t normal to ask someone if they wanted to become a demon king.
There were three possible reasons behind this.
Elaine was really casual, she was genuine or someone had evaluated In-gong for her.
In-gong thought it was the third reason. If it was the third reason, there was only one person it could be.
Chris Moonlight, the 4th Queen’s eldest son and the one she trusted most in the world... The one who would be king of the lycanthropes and who was already walking on that path.
Elaine’s question was soon asked by Chris who wondered if In-gong intended to become the demon king.
Chris liked jokes, but he would never make light of this. He wasn’t the type of person who would ask In-gong this question casually.
Chris was hoping that In-gong would become the demon king.
In-gong took a step back in his mind and looked at this incident from far away.
In a common monarchy, it was treason for someone who wasn’t the Crown Prince to think of becoming the king. Just saying that they wanted to become king would ignite a dangerous blaze.
However, the Demon World was different.
Since the beginning, there had never been such a thing as a fixed Crown Prince. The strongest royal child would become the demon king. There was no discrimination between man and woman or against age.
Therefore, it was natural for the children of the demon king to be encouraged.
However, this was somewhat distant from reality.
To become a demon king, they had to be the strongest and many things were required in order to become the strongest. Out of the royal children, there were only three who sincerely sought out to become the demon king:
1st Prince Baikal Ragnaros;
2nd Prince Zephyr Ragnaros;
And 4th Princess Anastasia Nekrion.
In Knight Saga, Chris hadn’t been greedy about becoming the demon king. He was hostile and vigilant toward Zephyr, but he didn’t engage actively in any faction rivalry.
Yet he was now asking about the demon king position.
In-gong breathed in deeply as he thought about it. He narrowed down his thoughts and asked Chris instead of replying to him,
"Why me?"
In-gong could guess to some extent, but he wanted to hear it from Chris.
Instead of answering right away, Chris straightened his posture. He was buried deep in the chair, but his size was so big that the chair seemed like it would burst.
Chris got into a comfortable position and smiled.
"Perhaps I am being too premature... and it is somewhat awkward to talk about.”
Every person had a different way of talking. According to the situation and the person he was talking to, Chris’ tone would change.
He gave a long sigh. Instead of his normal mischievous expression, his face was calm like when he had been discussing the withdrawal from the Red Lightning tribe.
"I can’t become the demon king but Shutra can.”
Chris’ words didn’t end there. He raised his hand and concentrated aura on his fist. The blue aura seemed very cold.
"I am strong, a so-called genius.”
It was obvious that he was speaking seriously.
Chris was a genius. At the age of 17, he had a strength comparable to that of the senior generals of the Demon King’s Palace. His growth rate was indeed terrifying.
"However, it isn’t overwhelming. At best, it is only a similar level to Silvan. I can’t come close to 1st Prince Baikal in 10 years time. Not to mention the distance with 2nd Prince who can be described as a monster.”
The 5th Prince Silvan Doomblade, Felicia’s twin brother and prince of the dark elves, he was a genius comparable to Chris.
So was 1st Prince Baikal, who was good at both the sword and magic. Baikal was in the mid-twenties and it was said that he was comparable to the five captains.
Chris didn’t mention it but 4th Princess Anastasia was also a genius in her area. If Felicia was a capable magician, Anastasia was a monster when it came to magic. There was a good reason why she led one of the three factions instead of her brother, 3rd Prince Victor.
Then there was 2nd Prince Zephyr Ragnaros.
In Knight Saga, Zephyr had been powerful. Moreover, he had been the protagonist and had become strong at a tremendous speed.
However, the current Zephyr seemed stronger than the Zephyr of Knight Saga. Once he gathered all the stories he had heard indirectly, he was forced to come to such a conclusion.
"The forces of the lycanthropes don’t match with the draconians. The chances are slim that I will become the demon king when I am already falling behind in individual ability. It is better to stay still than to get involved in a struggle between factions.”
That wasn’t all; the lycanthropes had a political weakness. The existence of Caitlin Moonlight and the secret of her birth...
She was the reason why the lycanthropes didn’t get involved in the politics of the Demon King’s castle. Chris and Caitlin had proven they weren’t interested in the throne by living at the palace of the lycanthropes instead of the Demon King’s Palace.
Perhaps it was for Caitlin to some extent. Just like Shutra in the past, interest would be diminished once the person was out of sight.
"However, Shutra is different. You can catch up with 1st Prince and 2nd Prince.”
Chris’ blue eyes shone with eagerness. He sincerely believed that In-gong could surpass Baikal and Zephyr.
Only a few months after learning Aura, he had reached a level comparable to Caitlin. He had combined Divine Beast Authority and Sura Heart Law to create Divine Sura Authority and brought out the true efficacy of the Moonlight Extract.
Calling him a genius was lacking. He was a monster comparable to Zephyr, even the sword duke had expressed it.
"You can also get support from those other than the lycanthropes, unlike me.”
The sword duke was already supporting him. There wasn’t an official station, but the fact that the sword duke had taught him personally wasn’t small.
“The dark elves are currently neutral. It was likely that they would have leaned towards the 4th Princess as time passed by, but you appeared. You captured Felicia’s heart completely in just a few months.”
Silvan and Felicia were like Chris and Caitlin. The moment he got Felicia’s heart, he also got Silvan’s.
In-gong was somewhat uncomfortable with the statement that he had gained Felicia’s heart, but he couldn’t deny it. It was unimaginable that Felicia would side with any of the other royal children over In-gong.
“The sponsorship of the sword duke. If you keep stacking up merits, you can pardon the gandharva who are now confined. Although they are in a state of collapse, they were a species that had once been able to build up a queen. Their power can’t be ignored.”
In-gong felt like he had been slapped in the back of the head.
Confined? Pardon?
Was that why he hadn’t even seen one gandharva? What sin had been committed that the whole species had been confined?
This story seemed correct. It was the reason why there weren’t any gandharva caring for Shutra.
If so, what had they done? When looking at the discussion of amnesty through merits, what type of crime could it be that, despite the crime, Shutra and the 5th Queen still maintained their status?
He had plenty of doubts. He needed to find out about the gandharva.
Chris sighed and took a sip of water from the glass on the table as though his throat was burning.
"I don’t like 1st Prince, 2nd Prince and 4th Princess. But Shutra is different. I think the future where you become demon king is best for the lycanthrope species.”
It wasn’t simply because they were friends.
There was already a trusting and supportive relationship between In-gong and the lycanthropes after learning Divine Beast Authority.
In-gong also had none of his mother’s family to rely on, so allying with the lycanthropes was beneficial to him.
Chris suddenly grinned. His face reverted to his usual friendly expression as he spoke,
"Well, you don’t have to do anything right now. Just think about it. There is a big difference between thinking of it yourself and having someone suggest it to you.”
Chris winked slightly and got up from his seat. Like Elaine, he approached Caitlin. He touched Caitlin, who was sleeping serenely, on the cheek and kissed her forehead.
"Think about Mother’s words.”
Chris said as he looked up and In-gong was reminded of Elaine.
They had the same eyes. Moreover, why was he looking this way after kissing Caitlin? There were many guesses and assumptions.
"Just a little bit longer. If you are hungry or if Caitlin wakes up, pull the line on this wall.”
Chris instructed in a friendly tone before stepping out of the room. In-gong laughed for some unknown reason.
’Becoming the demon king.’
Chris’ words were all true.
At first, In-gong had also been similar to Chris. In-gong hadn’t thought that he would become the demon king.
However, things had changed. In some ways, it could have been decided from the beginning.
Zephyr was the strongest royal child. It was natural that someone stronger than Zephyr would become the demon king.
‘It is like a mother having a friend’s son who was the best, but she wants her son to become first in the nation.’
In-gong laughed at the analogy he came up with and nodded slowly.
His thoughts were simple. The advice was precious, but he had already come to a conclusion.
‘Become strong.’ Everything would be resolved if he became strong enough to be the demon king.
He would be able to stop the destruction of the lycanthropes and the Day of Massacre. It would also be possible to go against Famine, War and Death.
’Anyway, the goal of Knight Saga is to become the demon king.’
After summarizing his thoughts, In-gong gazed at the warmth of his right hand and Caitlin who was sleeping peacefully.
He couldn’t express it, but he wanted to keep this.
In-gong was gazing at Caitlin with warm eyes when he heard Green Wind’s voice in his ears.
"Master, you look sneaky.”
The actualized form of Green Wind was now sitting on In-gong’s thighs. In-gong narrowed his eyes at her.
"Do my eyes always look sneaky to you?”
Green Wind nodded with a bright face. He didn’t know how to respond.
’Maybe it is retaliation for calling her Greenie.’
Without knowing why, In-gong suddenly wanted to see Carack.
&
"Your eyes are burning with ambition.”
“Carack, you as well.”