Roselle's Legacy

"Lion" Leon glanced at the magic mirror, and a look of sudden realization appeared on his furry face—he clearly recognized its origin. But he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he asked, "Which demons are planning to cause you trouble? If we're talking about Lienn City… is it the Belia family?"

"It is the Belia family, one of the three major demon families…" Ebner nodded. He wasn't surprised that Leon had this intel—after all, tales of demons in Siviras County had circulated since the days of Roselle's reign. It was perfectly normal for the lion to know. So, after pausing to choose his words, he continued:

"I can sense five 'Apostles of Desire' who harbor clear hostility toward me. They are: the 'Apostle of Seduction' Tchesia, the 'Apostle of Slaughter' Sheila, the 'Apostle of Death' Samael, the 'Apostle of Light' Baru, and the 'Apostle of Mirrors' Herta.

"As for the demons I can detect following them, there are thirteen in total. Then there are even more 'serial killers' lurking in the background… In short, I'm facing at least thirty confirmed mid-Sequence enemies.

"The good news is that due to their cold-blooded nature, those Apostles of Desire don't trust each other in the slightest—not even those from the same family. That makes it impossible for them to coordinate effectively… If they did try to work together, they'd have to spend sixty or seventy percent of their energy guarding against each other… so they might as well act alone.

"Moreover, the 'Apostle of Slaughter,' the 'Apostle of Death,' and the 'Apostle of Light' are all over 130 years old. They've only managed to maintain their condition by remaining dormant through special rituals, but they're all on the verge of losing control. Their behavior is more 'insane' than cunning—they've practically lost the scheming nature typical of demons.

"Though the 'Apostle of Seduction' and the 'Apostle of Mirrors' are a bit younger, they're still nearing a hundred, and their situation is only relatively better. They're also facing serious risks of losing control… The Abyss pathway, after all, is the most prone to degeneration and madness.

"And among their subordinates, there are quite a few demons hoping to see us and the apostles destroy each other so they can swoop in and seize our traits. When the fighting breaks out, there'll definitely be plenty of slackers holding back."

"Lion" Leon was a bit stunned as he listened. He asked in surprise, "You picked all that up through your 'malice perception'?" That's way too detailed…

"Of course not… Since you already guessed that I was the one who killed Jason Belia in Backlund, then you should have figured out that I would definitely perform necromancy on him… Most of this intelligence was extracted from Jason's soul." Ebner chuckled before adding, "Also, the 'devil' shepherded by this magic mirror is from the Nors family. His soul was bound by certain safeguards, so he couldn't reveal anything about the Nors—but the Belia family wasn't restricted in the same way."

"I see…" Leon shook his head slightly, then looked at Ebner with a suspicious gaze and said cautiously, "Even so, dealing with dozens of mid-Sequence Beyonders isn't exactly easy… If they're equipped with the right combination of powerful mystical items, they could even force an ordinary demigod into retreat… And you, no matter how strong you are, are still not a demigod!"

The implication behind his words was clear: Don't expect me to jump in. If you're not confident, you'd better retreat early or go find backup.

I haven't even left Loen yet. Given how much Lilith values me, I'm surely still under Her watch. Since She hasn't descended as the 'Goddess of Beauty' yet, that must mean She believes I can handle this crisis on my own…

That was what Ebner thought inwardly, but on the surface, he spoke with confidence: "Now that I've seen through their plan, resolving the situation becomes much easier… For us on the Reader pathway, combat should always be based on an informational advantage—identify the enemy's weaknesses, leverage all available forces, and achieve the greatest results at the smallest cost… Isn't that right?"

"It's your battle, not mine… At most, I'll help you keep an eye on those three girls over there." "Lion" Leon glanced at the other side of the carriage, where the ladies were entirely ignoring their conversation, then asked, "You only mentioned the good news just now… what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is—according to Jason's intel—among the apostles of the Belia family stationed in Lienn, there's also a 'Nightmare Apostle.' She's the strongest among them and has ties to the current family head, who is also their only demigod. It's said she even holds a Grade-1 Sealed Artifact… but she didn't display any hostility toward me, so I didn't sense her presence…

"Of course, it's more likely she used some special method to block my danger sense."

Although this was "bad news," Ebner wasn't particularly concerned. As long as he had enough time to set up rituals, especially after learning many secret techniques from the latter part of The Banquet of Blood, he believed that even if a demigod really did show up, he'd still be able to stall them for a while.

However, "Lion" Leon's expression turned a little strange after hearing that. Then, as if something occurred to him, he let out a sly chuckle and said, "There hasn't been a 'Nightmare Apostle' for a long time… If I'm not mistaken, the so-called 'Nightmare Apostle' of the Belia family is just their only 'Whisperer' in disguise… No—actually, it's likely that the 'Whisperer' had already ascended and is the real 'Nightmare Apostle'—just pretending not to be!

"Heh, if it is her, then after seeing me and that girl Fanny, she wouldn't dare make a move against us personally."

Ebner frowned, pondering for a moment before asking, "Why pretend? Was there something wrong with the materials she used to ascend? Or is it something about her personally?"

The lion grinned and answered, "Both… Yalubeth was one of the gifts Adabao offered to Roselle back then…

"She gained her promotion largely by pleasing Roselle.

"Also, before becoming a demigod, she swore an oath to the Emperor never to harm any of his descendants. That vow still holds power."

Yalubeth was gifted to Old Huang [Roselle] by Adabao? What kind of wild plot twist is this? Don't tell me even her name was given by Old Huang? Ebner couldn't help but mentally complain, then suddenly recalled a certain page of Roselle's diary he had handed over to the "Fool." Putting that together with the name, he tentatively asked, "Don't tell me… this Yalubeth is a succubus?"

You know? As I thought—you must be connected to the Catastrophe Seal in some way! Leon silently muttered in his heart with certainty, then replied, "She does have succubus blood, and she can take on a full succubus form through 'Demonic Transformation'…"

So that's the form Old Huang liked, huh?

Still, the head of the Belia family must have been colluding with Adabao long ago—what a double agent…

No wonder, decades ago, the Andrelad family, backed by Adabao, was able to fight the powerful Nors family to a standstill… There was a traitor on the inside!

(End of Chapter)