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Chapter 5: “Doesn’t our king have white hair?”
“No, wait.” Ansel didn’t just let this pass, “this goal of taking over The Highest Heaven…”
Unfortunately, the Demon King’s explanation was interrupted.
“Your Majesty! A fight has broken out between the two chiefs of the stone demon clan and the fire demon clan!”
Ansel’s head started to hurt. It wasn’t a small thing when two chiefs fought; no one other than the Demon King could stop them. He stood up immediately and hurriedly walked towards the door, where Vassago was nervously staying.
“Your Majesty…” There was worry within Vassago’s fish eyes.
“I know, since all of our military force has been gathered in Subabienne City, these past few days a few skirmishes were bound to happen. I’ll go there right now.” As he was leaving, Ansel also hadn’t forgotten to address his so-called ‘ambitions’, he turned to face Andre a few seconds later.
“I… don’t have any intentions to take over The Highest Heaven.”
There should be no more problems if he explained it like this, right? As Ansel said this, he unconsciously grabbed the thin black gold chain hanging from his wrist and twirled it. Andre’s eyes focused on there, and at that moment, he seemed to receive some strange signals again.
He denied with his mouth, but he touched the black gold chain…
He understood once again.
Subabienne City was still very weak, so much so that it was not even qualified to share that grand vision with His Majesty. His Majesty was not denying that aspiration but rather gently letting them slow down their pace, putting the realization of this aspiration to after they were strong enough.
Such boundless benevolence!
Every day these past three hundred years, His Majesty had deepened his reverence towards him. Andre bowed deeply and sent Ansel away respectfully. When the footsteps of the Demon King completely disappeared, he slowly raised his head and touched the mirror.
Of everyone in the Demon Realm, the one who understood His Majesty the most was probably only him, the prime minister.
Andre couldn’t help glancing arrogantly at the phoenix happily nibbling on a piece of incense wood on the sycamore wooden frame. It was so close to His Majesty, yet so far away. A silly bird who only knew how to eat incense wood every day.
Finni, “…?”
He suddenly really wanted to fight with Andre.
* * *
The Demon King was a brick, moving it wherever it needed to be. When this brick did not move, there were also other building materials such as cement, sand, etc. that came to his door on their own initiative to combine and solve the problem together.
Ansel entertained himself by writing analogies for the bitter situation he was in. He couldn’t even go back to his room to rest tonight; he would have to board the carriage and make full use of the night time to travel. By dawn the next day, it was estimated that he would be able to reach the boundary of the Seventh Abyss.
After working non-stop these past few days, he was so tired that he didn’t even scold Saros.
“I’ll eat in the carriage.” Ansel tied the strap of his cloak while taking the Phoenix Finni to the door. The servants of the Demon King’s Palace were busying around under Vassago’s orders to prepare anything His Majesty might need during the trip.
“I will also handle the official documents during the itinerary and send them back through the Internet. During the time I’m gone, Andre, my prime minister…”
He turned his body, and his sunset colored eyes reflected Andre’s silhouette.
“All of Subabienne City’s internal affairs are handed over to you.”
The great demon with dark blue hair bowed deeply.
“I will do my utmost, Your Majesty.”
“Vassago.”
Ansel called out again, and the salted fish butler immediately moved sideways using the speed of someone doing a hundred meter sprint.
“Your Majesty!”
Ansel smiled. This was a rare moment of softness for His Majesty the Demon King.
“Protect our home.”
The Demon King’s Palace was Ansel’s and all his close advisors’ home.
The salted fish instantly began to accumulate tears.
“No problem! Your Majesty!”
Ansel rubbed Blurr’s head again, and the pink jelly-like being turned even pinker because of shyness, or perhaps it was happy because the military spending problem was resolved. Ansel felt a soft tentacle poking into his palm, and a gold coin was stuffed into it.
Blurr still tried to give his private treasury all to His Majesty the Demon King, who was going quite a ways away. This time, Ansel accepted it.
He would just pretend it was a lucky gold coin Blurr was giving him. Hopefully some of Blurr’s fortune could rub off on him this time and make him rich.
The magic mirror was carried with him, and the phoenix perched on his shoulders, after confirming again and again that there was nothing out of place. The Demon King’s white hair swayed as he pushed open the last door of his residence.
Going down the wide staircase and walking past the large ceremonial road where flags were fluttering, Ansel boarded the carriage in the square in front of the Demon King’s Palace. Its frame was pulled by the eight nightmares, making it stable and heavy, and the inside was also fully furnished. Regardless of if it was eating or resting, it was enough to meet most of His Majesty the Demon King’s needs.
The stone demons were lined up in the square. They knocked on their armor three times, and in the grand echoes, the stone demon chief led his subordinates to kneel to Ansel, two stubby horns standing on top of his head.
“Your Majesty.” The stone demon chief’s voice was as loud as if a boulder had been blasted open, “The stone demon clan will be the Demon King’s guard of honor this time.”
Ansel maintained his posture of preparing to board the carriage, his eyes briefly sweeping over them.
“Allowed.”
“Yes sir!”
After the stone demons, an array like a sea of fire surged forward. The chief of the fire demon clan stood at the forefront, his body large and imposing. He was actually able to hold a majestic humanoid shape. His facial hair and facial features were all drowned in the fire. Like the stone demons before him, he also knelt down to Ansel, and then spoke, his voice like bursting flames.
“The fire demon clan has sent 200,000 adult fire demons to assist your cause.”
“Allowed.”
“Yes sir!”
Strange-shaped demon leaders stepped forward one by one, and all of them knelt down on one knee and declared their loyalty, restating the tasks they had already received in order to obtain the Demon King’s final confirmation. Finally, after the smooth and flowing transparent demon retreated, the army in the square had taken shape.
In this joint expedition, Subabienne City had sent 400,000 soldiers!
Under the salutes of many great demons and ordinary demons, Ansel climbed into the carriage. Curtains hung from all four sides of the nightmare-drawn carriage and attempted to cut off the outside world, but Ansel still seemed to be able to hear the cheers outside. It was the civilian demons of Subabienne City who got the news of the army’s expedition and spontaneously organized a farewell and blessing entourage on the sides of the road.
They had no doubts about triumph.
The undefeated Demon King Ansel! The undefeated City of Irises, Subabienne!
Amidst the cheers, the Demon King’s carriage slowly lifted into the air, Ansel held official documents in his hand and stared out of the carriage’s window——
On the boundless sea of black irises, there stood a magnificent city. This was Subabienne, the Demon King’s city, the residence of the Demon King, and also the origins of the Demon King. Demons were a species that loved battle and admired the strong. The current Demon King of the Eastern Region, Ansel, ascended the throne of the Demon King in only three hundred years, so naturally, his deeds were sung by the demons everywhere. In some stories, Ansel rose up from a weak demon and went through all kinds of hardships to become a king; while others believed that Ansel was born with powerful strength and was destined to be the king of the Eastern Region.
But only Ansel knew, he was just…
…an Angel.
He closed his eyes. By the time he next opened them, one could no longer see any uncertainty.
“All soldiers, move out!”
* * *
The Demon King’s carriage was at the front, and his army marched behind him on the several day journey.
The nightmare carriage swept over the Demon Realm, and below it were bottomless fissures. The Demon Realm was divided by these criss-crossing fissures, which formed seven abysses. Legend had it that the Demon God and the Heavenly God fought here, and the aftermath of the battle shattered the land of the Demon Realm, and in the end, both of them lost. The Demon God’s crown split into three pieces, the Heavenly God’s halo became three golden birds. Thus there being the current three demon kings and three governors.
Ansel thought about these illusory legends with one hand on his cheeks, before he felt that it was meaningless. After handing Finni a piece of incense wood, he continued to review the official documents, but it was the damned [Western Region News] again!
Saros’ mouthpiece! His lackey! Bah!
It was clear this time that Saros had reminded the newspaper, the words were particularly! uncensored!
[Western Region News: His Majesty Saros states Subabienne City’s new trade policy is beyond redemption]
Ansel, “…”
He was so angry ahhh!!!
“Magic Mirror.” Ansel was no longer planning to tolerate it anymore, “Immediately contact [Eastern Region News]… nevermind, actually change that to [Eastern Region Entertainment]. Has there been anything going on in that bastard’s Lust City? Report it! I don’t care what, just report it!”
[Eastern Region News] was mainly used for political propaganda and was directly tied to him. Ansel wasn’t so angry that he had lost his mind. It was sufficient to get an entertainment newspaper to create some kind of rumor.
Needless to say, the magic mirror also shared His Majesty’s hatred and immediately began shifting through information, trying to find a black material to give the [Eastern Region Entertainment]. But the more he searched, the more solemn his expression became, before finally, the whole mirror started frowning.
Demon King Saros was born in a ‘Demon King’s family’, and he controlled the Demon King’s position in the Western Region in an almost hereditary way. This accumulation of wealth and prestige from generation to generation was very impressive. Saros, himself, had personally ruled for more than a thousand years, acting cautiously and impeccably. It was not an exaggeration to call him a ‘Model Demon King’.
The magic mirror did not give up and its efforts were not disappointed. It really found a bunch of vague tabloids and passed them all off to the [Eastern Region Entertainment] at the speed of light.
Ansel has already been snubbed twice and it had come to the point where he had to take revenge even if he had to resort to spreading rumors. It’s not easy to grasp Saros’ handle, Ansel still knew this, but since there were tabloids that reported the relevant content, Ansel could make a fuss about it.
And there was no need to ask. If asked, he could just say it was the newspaper’s own report. He didn’t know anything about it.
Even in the middle of the night, the editor-in-chief of [Eastern Region Entertainment] Elio immediately got up to write the report as soon as he received the notice. Elio was a young demon, to become the editor-in-chief at such a young age was enough to speak of his skill. At this time, several writers for the newspaper were called together, each holding a tabloid in their hands and preparing to hold a meeting to decide how to write the contents.
Editor-in-chief Elio wrote two sentences at random, then put the pen back on his curved horn. Even as he sat on a wooden chair he had to sway from side to side.
“Everyone knows what His Majesty means, right?”
“Yes!”
“Do we have any material?”
“It’s hard to find.” The deputy editor-in-chief looked solemn, “The Demon King Saros loves feathers very much.”
A young demon was digging his head into a pile of old newspapers. He was a newcomer to the newspaper this year and was eager to make some achievements. Naturally, he was putting all he had into this.
“Chief! Chief! Demon King Saros has an unusual taste in aesthetics!” Perhaps it was because he looked for so long, his tone was full of a strange excitement. “A small newspaper said he likes white fur… I mean white hair! There’s also some more gossip! This is all material!”
Elio snapped his fingers and gave the young demon an approving look.
“Then let’s write it. After writing it, we will make up a report. This is a good opportunity to show ourselves in front of His Majesty.”
Entertainment newspapers were notorious for daring to write about anything. The Demon Realm was currently in the era of paper media, databases like the magic mirror were rare, and with their reports secretly promoted by the government… It’s like fame falling from the sky!
“Let’s set the main topic as choosing a mate. Demon King Saros has been single for so many years now, and it’s good to lead the topic back to this question since it’ll ignite a large wave of discussion.” The more Elio spoke, the more excited he got, and he grabbed the pen from his horn and began to write, “and his requirement for his other half is white hair…”
“White hair…eh? White hair?”
Elio’s cheerfully moving pen nib suddenly stopped, he and the other writers all looked at each other. After a long while, Elio spoke slowly.
“Our king…”
“Doesn’t he have white hair?”
* * *
Writing reports and spreading rumors were only a small episode in all the affairs of the Demon King. As the dawn approached, Ansel slept lightly for a while but woke up soon after.
The speed of the demons was definitely not slow. They have left the Abyss of Floating Flowers and were on a wide crack.
Ansel seemed to hear some wing sounds. He sat without moving, but Finni, who had been concentrating on chewing the incense wood beside him, had already widened its crimson eyes. Its feathers fluffed up, its wings rustled, and its crest stood up, staring at the carriage window.
Ansel casually lifted the curtain of the carriage’s window. The sunrise was on the horizon in the distance. And just at the junction of day and night, another carriage was in sight.
Black swans formed a large ominous cloud, surrounding the carriage of the demon king. The carriage’s body was made of black iron and was also branded with the swan family crest. The overall tone of this entourage was so cold and chilling, and it was arrogant. The two carriages faced each other across the crack like ice and fire and akin to severe winter and midsummer.
His presence was as big as ever it seemed.
Ansel commented in his heart.
Saros Asmodeus.
* * *