Chapter 213: Unforeseen Commotion

I couldn’t fathom why this was happening, but dying without a fight wasn’t an option.

Weapons were forbidden in the meeting room, so even his dagger was out of reach. Plus, his opponent was a tribal leader—a significant detail. Still, Deon wasn’t one to simply stand by when someone was trying to take his life. He clenched his fist, ready to fight.

Fortunately, the worst didn’t come to pass.

“Wait!”

“Let go of me!”

“Calm down!”

“Why are you stopping me?!”

The Fairy King and the merfolk leader, who had entered just after, hastily intervened, stopping her. Her wickedly sharp nails slashed through the air, missing their target.

“Hiding it until now was bad enough! Don’t interfere! We have to eliminate him before it’s too late! You both know—”

Seemingly enraged by them blocking her, the vampire leader lashed out, clawing at the Fairy King’s face.

Though they called it a claw, if the Fairy King hadn’t reacted quickly and pulled his head back, his face would have been sliced open. He likely would have died.

Deon sensed a subtle flinch from someone nearby. It was barely perceptible, but being close and possessing the senses of a Hero, Deon noticed.

Jaykar, the Commander of the 1st Corps, was watching the Fairy King with an expressionless face.

More precisely, the wound on his face.

……

The Fairy King raised a hand and touched the scratch on his face. Seeing the blood on his fingers, his eyes turned cold.

“…How vulgar.”

“What did you say?!”

“Vulgar, I said. If your tastes and constitution are base, shouldn’t your actions at least be refined? I’ve told you repeatedly to stop, yet a tribal leader like yourself is acting like a rabid dog, unable to distinguish right from wrong. If that’s not vulgar, what is?”

“…You wanna die?”

“Those are my words exactly.”

The leaders’ meaningless scuffle continued. The merfolk leader’s cries to stop went unheeded.

‘What a dog and pony show in someone else’s meeting room.’ Deon relaxed his clenched fist, a hint of amusement replacing the tension as he watched the spectacle. Just then, the Dwarf Chief, who Deon hadn’t even noticed enter, appeared right beside him, swinging his fist in the air and shouting,

“Ah! So close! You should have swung a bit more to the right! Yes! Like that! Oh, typical fairy agility!”

……

“Ah, say, wouldn’t happen to have any snacks around here, would you?”

“…Not that I’m aware of.”

“Too bad. … Whoa! That one landed properly! You alright?!”

…This is a mess.

Even if he didn’t know the details, Deon figured he was probably the cause of all this commotion.

Well… the fault lay with them for barging in here to kill him out of the blue. He hadn’t done anything wrong.

Feeling inexplicably drained despite not doing anything, Deon leaned back in his chair.

Fortunately, the commotion didn’t last much longer.

Just as the vampire leader spat out blood, bared her fangs menacingly, and was about to charge again,

“…I think I’ve been patient enough. How much longer are you going to act without knowing your place?”

An oppressive aura crushed the air.

The legion commanders, who had been standing and on guard, hastily bowed their heads to their lord, while the instigators of the commotion buckled under the pressure and dropped to their knees.

The Demon King, his expression completely gone, gazed down at them.

“Tribal leaders, causing such a ruckus in the heart of another race’s territory, all to kill a single human.”

……

Some of them wore expressions of injustice. Deon, observing each leader’s face, inwardly shrugged.

Well, those who came to mediate might have a point to feel wronged.

‘But the Fairy King was fighting too. Why does he look wronged?’

They were indeed causing a commotion, so they shouldn’t have any complaints. Among them, only the merfolk leader deserved some leniency.

A voice as cold as frost followed.

“What utter disrespect.”

The Demon King straightened up from his slouched posture in the chair.

He’d intended to watch and see how far they’d go, but no longer. Leaning forward, he spoke in a near whisper.

“This isn’t why I granted you access to the central garden.”

How had they even reached this place?

No need to ponder. The Demon King had permitted it.

There were times when it was unavoidable for all tribal leaders to gather. ‘All tribal leaders’—that was only five, as only races with enough intelligence for political discourse or conflict were recognized as such.

It was natural not to consider raw power. ‘Individuals’ weren’t counted as races, and the size of a ‘group’s’ power was determined more by their intelligence than brute strength. Therefore, the most intelligent were also the strongest races in the Abyss—

What would happen if war broke out among them?

The barely stabilized order would crumble.

The Abyss had been in chaos for far too long. Not wanting to lose the hard-won peace, the intelligent tribal leaders had agreed to resolve disputes through negotiation, resulting in the ‘access rights’ granted only to leaders.

The right to enter the central areas where the leaders resided, even within each race’s territory.

This was advantageous for easy gatherings, but it also meant they held each other’s lifelines, able to monitor one another.

Granted only to ‘leaders,’ with fixed arrival points, and designed to send an immediate signal to the territory’s owner upon arrival, it was still the heart of their domain. It was akin to offering up one’s heart.

Initially, the Demon King had agreed out of interest and curiosity in this new system, but as time passed and tribal leaders changed several times, he’d begun to consider ending it. He was confident he could defeat the other three races even if they all turned against him. And as generations changed, seeing young pups sitting in the leader’s seat was quite ludicrous.

Yet, he hadn’t, and that was a form of mercy.

Because, in his boredom, a new amusement had arisen. They should be thanking Deon Hart.

…And yet.

What were they doing trying to kill the very object they should be grateful for?

“You’re going to have to explain this situation to me in a way I can understand.”

The more he spoke, the colder the atmosphere in the hall became.

As the atmosphere indicated, the Demon King was in a significantly foul mood. No, to be blunt, he was a little… enraged.

How much had they underestimated him to barge into his meeting room and try to kill a key asset right before his eyes? Especially one he cherished so dearly.

‘…Should I just kill them?’

Murderous intent filled his gaze. Just as the Demon King was about to snap his fingers, the vampire leader, sensing the danger, flinched and hastily spoke.

The Demon King’s icy rage seemed to have sobered her up, as her voice was now a bit calmer.

“I… I heard some rather concerning information.”

……

“I was hoping you might cooperate, even briefly, to prevent the demon race’s annihilation.”

As she glanced at Deon Hart, her purpose was clear without needing to ask.

‘Annihilation.’ The legion commanders startled and looked up at the weightier word than expected. The Demon King didn’t rush to speak, simply staring at her.

Sensing she still had the floor, the vampire leader continued.

“I apologize for coming here without following proper procedure. I was emotionally agitated after hearing completely unexpected news.”

“…What news could possibly cause such a reaction?”

“That the Demon King’s army is actively moving to conquer the Human Realm, not just to destroy the Empire, that a human is at the center of it all, and that this human is the Hero… something like that.”

“You’re just finding out now? Your information network is remarkably slow.”

“Well, I wasn’t particularly interested in the Human Realm to begin with… and there were circumstances.”

Her crimson gaze flicked towards the Fairy King and the merfolk leader.

For a moment, fury flickered in her eyes. For some reason, it seemed those two had been keeping her in the dark. The Demon King nonchalantly tilted his head.

“If you have no interest in the Human Realm, why not just stay put? Why come all the way here to cause this commotion?”

And what’s this talk of annihilation?

Even if she was agitated, she should know that ‘annihilation’ isn’t a word to be thrown around lightly.

Under the Demon King’s skeptical gaze, the vampire leader replied.

“Because all of this is happening because of ‘one human’.”

Her crimson eyes turned to Deon Hart. Meeting her gaze, Deon felt a strange sensation, completely unrelated to the conversation.

‘So that’s why those ridiculous ‘Deon Hart is a vampire’ rumors circulated back in the Empire.’ He had to admit, their eye colors were quite similar.

The Demon King, who had been silent, waved his hand dismissively.

“…This meeting is adjourned.”

A clear dismissal.

The legion commanders, who had been tense due to the hostile atmosphere moments before, hesitated to leave their places. Their hesitation was broken when Jaykar, the Commander of the 1st Corps, moved first.

Casting quick glances at the Demon King, the Fairy King, and Deon in turn, he gave a curt bow, then strode over and opened the door. As if jolted awake, the other legion commanders scrambled to follow him out.

With Dan, casting a worried glance back, being the last to leave, only the Demon King, the tribal leaders, and Deon remained in the meeting room.

The Demon King turned his gaze back to the vampire leader.

“Because of one human, you say?”

“Yes. I don’t know the specifics, but I can deduce. I heard that human was brought to the Demon King’s castle half-dead not long ago. For news to reach me, it must have caused quite a stir, which in turn made it clear how much you cherish this human.”

……

“And not long after, war broke out against the Empire. The reason is obvious, isn’t it? The human you cherish must have had a significant influence. But honestly, I thought you’d just make a token gesture and stop. That’s always been the pattern in my memory. So I stopped paying attention…”

Finishing her sentence, she glared at Deon Hart.

She’d expected the Demon King’s actions to stop at merely alerting the Human Realm, as he had always done. To make humans remember and fear the Demon King, and to push them to send the Hero to subjugate him as soon as one was born.

Even with the added element of humoring his ‘toy,’ she hadn’t expected the outcome to be much different.

Not once since a very long time ago, when she was too young to properly remember, had he ever gone further. The vampire leader had relaxed her guard too easily.

But it wasn’t.

“It’s not like the Demon King directly wanted this war, nor was it the demon race’s general sentiment. It’s all happening because of one human. If that’s not wrong, what is?”

“Demons have always craved the sun, though.”

“If that desire suddenly intensified because of one human, that’s a problem. Besides, isn’t that human the ‘Hero’?”

“Yes.”

“I just can’t understand it.”

Keeping his nemesis under his command. Isn’t that like embracing a ticking time bomb?

And the merfolk leader and Fairy King protecting him also makes no sense. Is there really something special about this human?

Turning her body, the vampire leader approached Deon. Surprised by the sudden movement, Deon’s eyes widened slightly as she grabbed his chin and lifted it, scrutinizing him.

Eyes were meant to hold much. In his red eyes, similar yet distinctly different from her own kind’s, she found a flame.

“Beautiful eyes. Like a fiercely burning flame.”

A flame that seemed small because he was hunched over, yet burned stronger than anything else.

“You are indeed a dangerous element.”

……

A person who would bring about undesirable outcomes, no matter what.

She still couldn’t understand why the other leaders were protecting this human. No matter how she looked at it, he seemed like someone who should be killed.

She knew that the two leaders who saw the flow of the world and the future must have a reason for protecting him so fiercely, but as someone who analyzed the present, she couldn’t simply ignore it without knowing that reason.

The Human Realm being the Demon King’s pastime, his toy to alleviate boredom, was what kept the Abyss peaceful. What would happen if the Demon King’s army devoured the Human Realm?

‘Their power will grow even stronger, making them harder to deal with.’

But that was a reason she couldn’t voice, so she dismissed it.

Even if the Fairy King and the merfolk leader protected this human, if the Demon King decided to kill him, it would be over. The vampire leader, choosing words to persuade the Demon King, slowly opened her mouth.

“Can you guarantee this human won’t have ulterior motives? He’s the Hero, of all people. The Demon King’s nemesis.”

This was indeed part of her reason for wanting to kill the human named Deon Hart.

If he harbored other intentions, the Demon King might die. Consequently, the demon race’s power would weaken. Then humans would invade this place, and as a result, her race would also be far from a peaceful life.

Humans wouldn’t simply ignore unfamiliar races they encountered.