VOLUME 12: CHAPTER 24

In the end, the Emperor gave in to Lark's demands. He asked the Chief Royal Advisor to guide Lark's group to the royal treasury and give them the armor set and maginus.

With the Chief Royal Advisor at the lead, Lark's group went three floors underground and arrived at the royal treasury. Twelve elite knights stood guard near the entrance.

The Chief Royal Advisor pulled out a plaque. "I came here under His Majesty's orders. Open the entrance."

"Yes, Sir Gaillart!"

The knights standing guard unlocked the giant door, revealing the tunnel inside.

"Seems easy to intrude this place, doesn't it?" said the Chief Royal Advisor as he led the group inside the tunnel. "But—"

He placed an artifact inside a hole in the wall, and several clicking sounds were heard.

"—without these keys here capable of disabling the traps, we would have been bombarded by several powerful spells by now."

The defensive mechanism was quite similar to the Royal Sanctum of the Kingdom of Lukas.

There were seven keys in the Chief Royal Advisor's hand. As they walked through the tunnel, he would use different keys depending on the traps waiting for them ahead. Because of this, they managed to smoothly traverse the tunnel.

Lark noticed that most of the magic formations engraved on the walls were ninth or tenth-tier magic. And each of them was a spell meant to kill their targets. There were also contraptions that shoot out poison darts, steel arrows, and spikes hidden in the tunnel.

The tunnel was only wide enough to let four people pass through side-by-side. If those spells were activated here, most intruders wouldn't survive.

As they walked, Vulcan couldn't help but ask, "But human, why are you the one guiding us?"

True to its name, the royal treasury was supposed to be a place where only those of royal blood could enter. Emperor Sylvius, or at least one of his direct descendants, should be the one guiding their group right now.

The Chief Royal Advisor cleared his throat.

"Please understand, esteemed Lord Dragon," said the Chief Royal Advisor. "His Majesty would probably faint if he hands those treasures to you personally. Even now, he's probably gritting his teeth as he thinks of it."

Vulcan couldn't even laugh with how lame the reason behind it was.

"Human, based on what I've seen so far, you are more fit to be the Emperor. Don't you have greater aspirations? How about this? If you wish, I can kill—"

"—Please stop, esteemed Lord Dragon."

For the first time, the Chief Royal Advisor's voice turned sharp. He even looked fearlessly at Vulcan, as though ready to tussle with him if he said another word.

Firmly, he said, "I am the right hand of His Majesty, Emperor Sylvius Lockhart Mavis. I take pride in what I do, in what I believe, and in my role in this Empire. I will never entertain any rebellious ideas. Even if it's from you, esteemed Lord Dragon."

"Bah, how boring. You'll regret not taking my offer seriously later."

Silence fell after that.

For several minutes, they slowly traversed the tunnel leading to the royal treasury. After deactivating dozens of traps on the way, they finally arrived at their destination.

"We're here," said the Chief Royal Advisor.

Using all seven keys at the same time, the Chief Royal Advisor opened the massive steel door before them. Multiple clicking sounds were heard, and the giant door creaked open, revealing a large room amply illuminated by luminous stones.

It looked more like a museum than a treasury.

As soon as they entered the room, the Chief Royal Advisor explained, "As you can see, there are only a few dozen items in this place. Coins, jewels, ingots – those are stored in the Central Bank of the Empire. This place is used solely to store the national treasures of the Empire."

There were twenty-nine items inside the room to be exact, and each of them were enclosed in a glass.

A longsword, a glaive, a buckler, daggers, twin swords, a magic staff, grimoires, and several sets of armors. There were also statues and other artifacts whose functions were unknown.

"This isn't the place where the wealth of the Empire is stored," said the Chief Royal Advisor. "This is the place where items of immeasurable significance are kept over the generations."

"That longsword over there is the famed Maravirenka. One of the three swords made by the legendary blacksmith Ilgundan."

"That magic staff is the famous Magenta's Blackspire. The staff used by the founder of the Mage Tower of the Empire."

"And this one…"

The Chief Royal Advisor approached one of the armor sets. An ostentatiously grand-looking armor made entirely of gold. The intricate markings and jewels embedded on it made it look more decorative than functional.

"This is armor set left behind by Uurvesk, the Founding Emperor. Together with the glaive over there, it's a set capable of nullifying all forms of magic within three hundred meters. Outrageous, isn't it? As long as someone uses this, any and all mages become practically useless."

The glass containing the armor set was also a defensive artifact. Slowly, the Chief Royal Advisor deactivated it.

"Of course, everything I've told you remains a myth. Or a legend, must I say? No one has been able to use them before in the first place. Even Emperor Sylvius hadn't verified if the records passed down the royal family about the maginus were correct."

The Chief Royal Advisor presented the item to Lark.

"King Lark, as per our agreement, you are free to take this armor set and the maginus over there. It shall be loaned to you for three years."

The Chief Royal Advisor didn't forget to add the last statement.

"Please take it."

Lark stared at the gold armor. After a while, his eyes scanned the other items in the room.

"Uurvesk would never wear something like that."

"Yes?"

"I'm saying that armor was probably made by another person. I don't know who, but it's certain it isn't Uurvesk."

"Haha, Your Majesty knows how to joke around…"

Seeing the expression of Lark, the Chief Royal Advisor realized he was being serious.

"No, no," said the Chief Royal Advisor. "This is the armor set of the Founding Emperor. Please, just take it, Your Majesty."

"Hmm… it seems you're not deliberately tricking me," said Lark. "Then, is the royal family unaware? Or did Emperor Sylvius not tell you? That armor looks grand, but that's all. Aside from being expensive, it holds no redeeming qualities. Sir Galiart, that is nothing but a ceremonial armor."

"H-How could that be?!"

Lark pointed at an ordinary-looking armor enclosed in a glass. It looked out of place, as it was only made of steel. It looked so old that the engravings on it were hardly visible, and even its spaulders were riddled with scratches.

It looked so ordinary that even the previous Emperors thought of removing it from the royal treasury.

"That's probably the armor set of the Founding Emperor."

Lark approached the armor set, and the Chief Royal Advisor quickly followed behind him.

"No! You're gravely mistaken, King Lark! Does it make sense that the Founding Emperor used something like that?!"

"Then why was something as ordinary-looking as this put in the royal treasury? Think about it, Sir Galliart. The Founding Emperor was known for his strength. Based on what you've told me on our way here, the Founding Emperor was probably a battle maniac. He's so infatuated with fighting that he even created his own personal set of equipment. Someone like that probably wears their armor even when sleeping, eating, or drinking."

Lark pointed at the golden armor. "That armor set over there. Do you think a battle maniac like the Founding Emperor will wear them?"

The Chief Royal Advisor fell silent. He couldn't refute Lark's words, as everything were logical and made perfect sense.

Now that he'd thought of it, it was preposterous that the Founding Emperor would choose gold as the primary metal for his armor. Moreover, that armor over there did not have even a single scratch on it, meaning it was hardly used in battle.

"The glass case, please open it."

In the end, the Chief Royal Advisor listened to Lark's words.

"Yes, King Lark."

He deactivated the glass case protecting the worn-looking armor.

Lark took the armor, spaulders, vambrace, sabatons, and equipped them. The armor set looked so shabby that he resembled an ordinary knight after wearing them.

'Uhmm… it's too large for you, Your Majesty.'

The Chief Royal Advisor was about to utter those words, but held them back after seeing the armor shrink in size after being infused with mana. They continued shrinking until they perfectly fitted Lark's body.

Seeing this, the Chief Royal Advisor realized it was indeed no ordinary armor. He's never heard of any equipment capable of adjusting its size to the body of its user, after all.

But how did King Lark manage to activate it so easily?

"He never changed," Lark smiled warmly. "The pathway of mana is the same as his previous equipment."

For some reason, he looked sentimental as he examined the armor covering his body.

"I'll borrow the maginus, too, Sir Gaillart."

"O-Of course."

The Chief Royal Advisor deactivated the glass protecting the three-meter-long glaive. Again, he wondered if Lark could even use it.

"It's heavy." Lark grabbed the maginus and raised it up and down. "The blade, all the way to the shaft, is made of adamantite."

The glaive looked disproportionately large right now compared to Lark's body, but seeing that he was able to lift it effortlessly, there shouldn't be a problem for now.

Still, being able to effortlessly lift it and use it were different matters entirely.

"Can you use it?"

Instead of directly answering the Chief Royal Advisor's question, Lark activated the maginus. He willed the mana to flow in a familiar direction, activating the runes engraved on the shaft and the blade.

Seeing this, the Chief Royal Advisor was dumbfounded.

Lark activated it so easily that it felt like he was meant to be its owner.

"H-How…"

"Sir Gaillart, I know you have several questions right now," said Lark, "but we have no time."

The Chief Royal Advisor agreed.

Even now, people were probably dying at the hands of the flesh eaters in the capital.

"I understand." The Chief Royal Advisor firmly nodded, "Go. Please. Save the capital."

***

After equipping the armor set and the maginus, Lark immediately left the imperial palace, together with Vulcan.

Flying at top speed, it took them only a few minutes to arrive at their destination.

They stopped around half a kilometer away from the coliseum. According to the reports, everyone who entered that radius had their heads blown off or cut by an invisible force.

"What a sight," said Vulcan amusedly.

From above, they saw the tens of thousands of corpses below. Most of the corpses belonged to the imperial soldiers. True to the reports, the corpses were all headless.

Blood stained the streets, and the surrounding buildings were burning. Aside from the flesh eaters roaming around, there were no other living beings in sight.

This part of the capital had been practically abandoned by the Empire. The army had given up reclaiming it for now, as General Lazarus judged that forcing to push through it would lead to more damage to their side.

"Is that him? The Immortal Demon?" said Vulcan.

With their eyesight enhanced by mana to the utmost limit, they could clearly see the naked demon standing on top of the fleshy obelisk. Despite the massacre he had committed, he looked bored and apathetic.

"Kakaka! The bastard is also looking at us!"

The Demon Lord Barkuvara noticed their arrival. He stared at Lark and Vulcan from a distance.

Vulcan's fingers twitched.

During his lifetime, he'd hardly fought any noteworthy opponents. He was worshipped as a deity by the dwarves, and he was already the second strongest Fire Dragon, next only to his wife.

He felt excited just by the mere thought of fighting someone strong, especially if it was the ruler of the demons.

"King Lark, I have this urge to punch that bastard in the face right now. I want to peel the flesh off his face! I know I'm supposed to take care of the obelisk but—!"

Without warning, Vulcan undid his polymorph. Quickly, his body turned into a fifty-meter large Dragon.

"Wait! Stop, Vulcan!"

Vulcan roared, "—It's not every day I get to meet the ruler of the demon race, right?! And since the idiot is standing on top of the Corrupted Tower, it's a great opportunity to kill both of them at the same time!"

From his stomach, Vulcan gathered massive amounts of mana into his mouth. Flames brighter than the one engulfing the capital formed in Vulcan's mouth.

"Try to block this, Barkuvara!"

The breath attack of Vulcan, capable of razing a large portion of the capital, shot toward the direction of the Corrupted Tower. Its target was the Demon Lord Barkuvara.

The fire torrent spun and flew toward the Demon Lord, but to Vulcan's surprise, it suddenly vanished before it could even touch its target.

No, to be precise, it had been split by an invisible force several times.

And a second later, Vulcan felt a piercing pain in his chest.

"AARRGHHHH!"

Vulcan looked at his torso. He was horrified upon seeing the deep cut on his chest. The scales he was so proud had been easily penetrated by the Demon Lord's attack.

"What were you thinking!"

Lark moved in front of Vulcan. The Sword of Morpheus turned into a shield and blocked the blade of mana that followed the initial attack.

A loud, cutting sound was heard the moment the blade of mana struck the shield.

Vulcan realized that had Lark not moved to block that second attack, his head would have probably been rolling on the ground by now. The mere thought sent shivers down his spine.

"W-What is that?" said Vulcan. "I can't even see or block his attacks!"

Lark continued blocking the invisible blades of mana that kept flying in their direction. Each of these attacks was capable of penetrating even the defenses of a Dragon. Thankfully, they weren't strong enough to cut through the Sword of Morpheus.

"That demon," said Lark. "He's not only instantly condensing the mana in the surroundings and turning them into sharp blades. He's also manipulating them to create a temporary rift in space the moment they touch their target. It's a given your scales wouldn't be able to block them."

A rift in space?

Was that even possible?

Creating rifts, no matter how small, would need rituals and a lot of preparations. It was absurd that someone was capable of creating a rift in space on a whim.

For a moment, Vulcan felt the urge to run away.

He'd never felt so much fear in his life before. He couldn't believe that there was an existence capable of killing Dragons in a single blow.

He realized this was the reason why King Lark was so wary of the Demon Lord.

"Luckily—"

Lark blocked another attack.

"—That guy is a mere clone. The real one has already probably left the capital."

"T-That's not the real one?"

If the clone was already this powerful, Vulcan could only imagine the strength of the original.

Lark sent a mental transmission to Vulcan.

'Move away for now. Remember our plan. You're the mighty leader of the Ancient Fire Dragons of the Dwarven Mountain Range. You wouldn't die for that shallow wound, right?'

Calling it shallow would be far-fetched. The wound was so deep it had cut it even the bones of Vulcan's chest.

Still, those words were everything Vulcan needed to hear right now. The fear crippling his body slowly vanished as he remembered the plan they agreed beforehand.

'Of course. Who do you think I am! This is nothing, King Lark!'

'Then, let's proceed with the previous plan. I'll lure that guy away from the capital. Once he's gone, take care of the Corrupted Tower.'

'Leave it to me!'

On cue, Vulcan flew away, blood still dripping down the wound on his chest. At the same time, Lark flew closer to the Corrupted Tower.

This time, the clone of the Demon Lord Barkuvara didn't attack him. Even the Corrupted Tower didn't move its squirming tentacles when Lark got closer.

The two locked eyes with each other.

"Where is your main body?" said Lark.

The Demon Lord Barkuvara's clone said, "Strange. A human shouldn't be able to differentiate between me and the original. How did you know I'm merely a copy, human?"

Lark grinned, "It's because you're naked from head to toe?"

The clone frowned. He didn't find the joke funny at all.

"I'm kidding, of course," said Lark. "There's no need to glare at me like that."

Lark looked around him.

Now that he was very closed to it, he realized the Corrupted Tower was starting to reach maturity. Once it matured, it would only take several days before it gave birth to High Demons. Corrupting the soil of the imperial capital, a land abundant with life and mana, probably hastened its growth.

"Honestly, I wasn't sure when I first arrived here," said Lark. "It was only after you attacked the Dragon that I realized you're not the real body."

"After I attacked the Dragon?" said the clone.

Lark nodded. "The real Demon Lord Barkuvara would have killed that Dragon with a single strike."

The eyes of the clone glimmered with curiosity.

"You're not wrong, human," said the clone. "Name?"

"Lark Marcus, Regent King of the Kingdom of Lukas."

"A King? Interesting. I wish I could give you my name," said the clone. "But I am nothing but an insignificant copy of the Demon Lord."

"I know," said Lark. "But even if you're just a copy, isn't it boring? Staying here and guarding that ugly obelisk?"

The Corrupted Tower trembled. Its tentacles squirmed and slapped the ground several times.

"Once you fuse back with the Demon Lord Barkuvara, your ego – everything, even your memories and personality – will be gone," said Lark.

"What are you trying to say?"

"So, how about this? Let's move away from this city and fight to our hearts' content. It'd be a shame if you fused with the main body without even experiencing what a great battle is like."

"We can just fight in this city, human."

Lark laughed, "We can, of course. But I would never be able to display my full abilities if I'm forced to protect everyone in this city. You wouldn't want such a handicap during our battle, right?"

If another demon heard this, they would have simply laughed it off, saying why they should even entertain Lark's words.

But Lark knew that the Immortal Demon was different.

He was a demon filled with curiosity. And he loved fighting as much as Uurvesk. Although the one before him was a mere clone, he shouldn't be much different.

The Demon Lord's clone fell silent for almost a full minute.

Eventually, he said, "Very well. I will pretend to have been tricked by you. But know this, human king. If you disappoint me in our fight—"

Several invisible blades of mana shot out of the Demon Lord's body. They went past Lark and cut the ground around them several times, leaving numerous deep fissures on the ground.

"—I will personally destroy this city after our battle."

Lark laughed. He said confidently, "I'm sure you'll be satisfied."

After those words, Lark flew out of the city. The clone of the Demon Lord closely followed him.