Chapter 177 – Chapter 35: Battle #4 (1/2)

Chapter 177 – Chapter 35: Battle #4

In-gong gulped. If it was as he thought… that meant the illness of the demon king had worsened, and he had collapsed.

‘So fast.’

In Knight Saga, the worsening of the demon king’s illness and the cancellation of the court gathering had occurred in Year 516. It was currently Year 513, so it should’ve occurred three years in the future. However, he couldn’t deny it. Things had already changed quite a bit from Knight Saga. Just looking at Zephyr, he was much stronger now compared to how he had been in Knight Saga.

‘The court gatherings haven’t been abolished yet.’

It had been cancelled just once. There was currently no need to assign a substitution like the demon king had done in Year 517.

“Shutra? Have you guessed something?”

Felicia asked suddenly. It was because In-gong was thinking with a very serious expression on his face.

All gazes shifted toward In-gong, who shook his head hurriedly.

“No, no. I don’t know.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. The cancellation of the court gathering might not be because of the demon king’s illness. Maybe it was something else which In-gong didn’t know.

‘I’d rather be wrong.’

The demon king had to stay alive. The longer his reign was, the more time In-gong had to prepare.

“Did something happen to Abamama?”

Felicia said in an uneasy voice. Just like how 3rd Queen Sylvia truly loved the demon king, Felicia loved her father as well. They really were a loving family.

“It can’t be.”

Chris denied the possibility immediately. It wasn’t simply because he didn’t want to hear such ominous words. It was because he couldn’t imagine a situation where anything was wrong with the demon king. For the children of the demon king, the demon king was an absolute being.

In-gong looked at other possibilities. Maybe it was a problem with the queens, not the demon king, which caused the court gathering to be cancelled. However, the possibility of that was low. From the beginning, the queens weren’t essential for the court gatherings.

‘Is it truly the demon king’s sickness?’

The moment that he thought so…

A heavy wind blew past. Everyone, including In-gong, turned reflexively. There was a strong presence they couldn’t resist. The sword duke was on the terrace, but it wasn’t like when he had showed up two days ago. The sword duke’s face was blank.

Silvan opened his mouth, but he couldn’t speak. Chris was the same. The strong aura of the sword duke dominated the surrounding area completely.

“Prince, you have to go somewhere with me right now. This isn’t an offer but a command of the demon king.”

The sword duke ordered. The children of the demon king gulped at the sword duke’s brief speech. Where was he going? And why did the sword duke look so serious? Was it related to why the court gathering had been cancelled?

“I understand.”

In-gong replied calmly. At that moment, Felicia tried to take a step toward In-gong, in order to go with him as always. However, the sword duke didn’t allow it. He instantly stopped everyone’s movements, including Felicia. Felicia couldn’t breathe. It felt like she was frozen by something. They were caught in the absolute power of the sword duke.

“It is only 9th Prince.”

The declaration was like an absolute rule. Felicia gasped for breath, while Caitlin and Chris couldn’t say anything. Silvan clenched his teeth and staggered toward Felicia. The sword duke was no longer looking at the children of the demon king. He only looked at In-gong as he spoke,

“Prince, excuse me for a moment.”

The sword duke moved in front of In-gong instantly and raised a hand to his shoulder. In-gong accepted the sword duke’s hand instead of resisting. He looked back at the restrained Carack before taking a deep breath.

Once again, a heavy wind blew past. No, it was better to say that wind was broken.

The sword duke’s technique transcended imagination. As he held onto In-gong’s shoulder, he crossed a vast distance in one step. The sword duke only stopped when they arrived at a transportation formation.

In-gong reflexively used the mini-map to check his location. They seemed to be near the Black Castle. The sword duke didn’t explain as he triggered the transportation formation. Instead of asking, In-gong followed the sword duke onto the transportation formation.

The place where they arrived was inside a cave. It was an artificially enlarged natural cave, with a sura boy and girl standing in front of the transportation formation.

The sura boy and girl, dressed in the same clothes as the sword duke, were surprised to see In-gong next to the sword duke. However, that only lasted for a moment. They started speaking to the sword duke with desperate expressions. At first, In-gong couldn’t understand, but he soon realized. It was the sura’s native language.

‘Is the Holy Land in danger?’

Was this the sura’s sanctuary? The sword duke interrupted the boy’s story. He looked at In-gong and said,

“Prince, you will now be entering the Holy Land. It can also be called the Sanctuary.”

“Is this the sanctuary of the sura?”

The sword duke had mentioned earlier that his residence was the Sanctuary. In that case, did the sura have a problem? Perhaps the cancellation of the court gathering had something to do with the sura.

“There is no time. I will explain while moving.”

The sword duke turned around and started to run. It was fast because they were moving a long distance, but it wasn’t like when he moved at the Demon King’s Palace. In-gong hurriedly caught up with the sword duke using Protection of the Wind. The sword duke watched In-gong closely before smiling and explaining,

‘It is true that the place where I stay is the sanctuary of the sura. But it isn’t just a sanctuary for the sura. It can be called the sanctuary of the whole Demon World.’

The sword duke’s voice was directly conveyed into In-gong’s head. It was a technique using aura, not message magic.

[Trill Lv1 has been learnt.]

He was happy to learn an unexpected skill, but now wasn’t the time to look at it.

‘My mission is to protect the Sanctuary. It is a lifelong task inherited from my master.’

The Sanctuary had been protected for generations. The sword duke continued to speak,

‘Very few people know the location of the Sanctuary. Only a few of the queens and captains know the location. Even they don’t know the true role of the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary isn’t simply the home of the sura.’

The reason for the Sanctuary’s location being known to some was to prepare for possible attacks. However, according to the sword duke’s words, it wasn’t just for that. From the beginning, the Sanctuary had been a shield to cover something else.

The sword duke briefly stopped talking there. He then changed the topic instead of explaining the true role of the Sanctuary.

‘The Sanctuary is now under attack. Prince will fight with me.’

There was always a reason for the demon king’s actions. He didn’t order the 9th Prince to go somewhere for no reason. The sword duke ran along a snowy field with In-gong. Snowy mountains rose like a wall in the distance. In-gong opened the mini-map, but he couldn’t figure out his exact location. Even if the scale was increased as much as possible, only the snowy field could be seen.

“Prince, do you remember what I said before? The Demon King’s Palace has always faced challenges.”

The sword duke said abruptly. At that moment, In-gong felt the wind disappear. The snowy field he had been running on suddenly changed to grassland. In-gong realized that he had just passed through a ward. In-gong’s gaze moved to a place far away. At the far end, a huge silver tower in the shape of a dome could be seen. Additionally, a fight was about to start on both sides.

“This is one of those challenges. A pretty big challenge.”

The sword duke growled. In-gong gulped as he concentrated aura on both eyes and looked at the battlefield. He saw a familiar sight.