Chapter 436: The King's Decision
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The long hall was filled with a merry and exuberant atmosphere as everyone celebrated the return of the "Great Sage". The reappearance of Lanina, the right-hand woman of the demon king obviously gave a boost of confidence to the remnants of the demon army. Hao Ren looked at the goings-on in the hall with much curiosity; humans and beastmen with arms around each other, demons and dwarves squatting on the floor, arguing which was better—a hammer or an axe, elves and dark elves studying the patterns on the table—both were drunk.
These were Y'zaks' most loyal men, who held on to the last minute. They refused to surrender even when the demon king began to lose the war. Everyone had been more or less influenced by the rugged "culture" of the demons, so much so that even the elves were careless about their manners as they enjoyed themselves in the choatic banquet.
Perhaps their compatriots in the human world would have chided them for disregarding their traditions and customs, but here, nobody cared.
After the grand ovation, Y'zaks and Lanina began a discussion with their comrades. Zadamor was seated next to Y'zaks and he asked Y'zaks cautiously, "My King, would you like to announce your return?"
Y'zaks waved his hand and said, "No, it's not necessary. Only a few of you know that I've been missing for a year, no one else needs to know. The order in the city has been well maintained. Let's keep it that way."
Zadamor nodded in comprehension and proceeded to ask, "In that case, what's next?"
"There's something I need to clarify." Y'zaks laughed. He then patted Y'lisabet's small head. "Honey, let's be honest, were you the one who gave the crystal to the Allied Army?"
Y'lisabet had a piece of roasted meat in her hand and she was scoffing down a huge chunk of it in contest with Lily. She replied without looking up, "Ah, yes!".
"When I saw Papa III, I knew it was you." Y'zaks guffawed. "We didn't know what was going on, but now we figured... You wanted to break the enemy up from within, correct?"
Y'lisabet's face was stained with roasted meat oil, true to the demeanor of a demonic princess who paid no attention to etiquette. With the barbequed meat still in her hand, she explained, "It wasn't only to provoke infighting, but also to divert their attention, so that I had a chance to run tests on a few spatial nodes."
"Tests on spatial nodes?" Y'zaks seemed to have clearer picture now. "So, that's what you came out for?"
Y'lisabet nodded. "Well, after we found a way of accessing the mysterious dimension, we've been testing its law of teleportation. The law is pretty chaotic with every door connected to other places in an irregular manner. Only recently I've figured out three stable doors, one of the safest is here: to Broken Plain in The Second Plane. The other two; one to Osidian Plain and the other to the human world. The purpose we emerged from the otherworldly dimension is to collection the needed data."
"It's too risky to bring the entire city out from the otherworldly dimension," Y'zaks' brow knit together. "By this time, Banuklaak and Serathon must have already mobilise armies for the offensive. The Allied Army is also moving toward the Second Plane as they must have received news about the reemergence of Helcrown."
"let them come. We can always hide back in there," Y'lisabet shook his head, a gleam of cunningness flashed across her dark-red eyes. "Once we found a few more fixed exits, we could play hide and seek to drain their energy."
"Childish." Y'zaks snorted, but with a smile on his face. Apparently he was satisfied with his daughter's capability.
Looking at the demonic princess who wasn't much different from a human girl aside from her pair of horns, something suddenly crossed Hao Ren's mind. He reached his hand into the dimensional pocket and took Lil Pea out. "Here is another member I'd like to introduce to you; Lil Pea, her real name is Elizabeth."
The little mermaid was still having her afternoon nap but it was about time to wake up. Hao Ren poked her little tail a bit. Lil Pea jumped up like a koi—no pun intended—and was surprised to find herself in a strange place. Then she greeted everyone around. "Good afternoon dad-dee, good afternoon doggie, good afternoon beardie, good afternoon Battie, good afternoon table, good afternoon lunch ... Dad-dee, is it lunch time yet?"
"This little one is in her puberty right now, I guess." Vivian quickly handed Lil Pea half a piece of chopstick while asking, "Who's beardie, by the way?"
Sentias Hot Hammer rubbed his beard which looked almost like a curtain. "Maybe my face isn't as eye-catching as my beard."
Y'lisabet The Little Devils looked in amazement at the little mermaid who was jumping around and greeting the plates on the table. "What is that?" Y'lisabet asked.
Elisabeth Lil Pea aka fish raised their head and greeted the little girl. "Good afternoon to you too! Are you coming to rent a room at my house too?"
The little one had been familiarised with the business after following her landlord dad for some time.
That was how Elizabeth-Y'lisabet had had their historic meeting.
Meanwhile, Lily hadn't done with Y'lisabet yet, she challenged her for another around of bone gnawing. "Let's see who could finish the bone first."
Hao Ren looked on, thinking to himself that the husky might be dumb in other aspects but when it comes to partying, she was all that and a bag of chips.
Zadamor seemed to have something to say from the beginning and now he finally broke his silence. "My king. Are you coming back this time to launch a counterattack?"
Everyone at the table suddenly quieted down. Even Lily who was excitedly gnawing her bone had stopped as her tail fluttered gently in the air. Nangong Wuyue let out a long sigh. "Considering the situation right now, you seem to have a good chance, Y'zaks."
Y'zaks just smiled. Of course it was difficult for most people to tell whether Y'zaks was smiling or not, especially when he had a face like he had just got out from a brutal accident. But it didn't matter. He was silent for a moment, before he shook his head rather unexpected to many and said, "No."
Many were stunned. But Hao Ren nodded as if he had anticipated Y'zaks' response because as early as in Cadessar, he had known Y'zaks through-and-through as a person—a firm, almost paranoid forward-looker while at the same time having a weird, devilish 'knightly spirit', he neither regreted his choice (even if it turns out that this choice does not work) nor would he be annoyed over the failure which was a fait accompli—he wouldn't look back.
Zadamor thoughtfully lowered his head as if the answer wasn't very surprising. On the other side of the table, a higher demon with a scar on his face exclaimed. "My king! What did you just say?"
"My work is over," Y'zaks smiled. "It turns out that the task of uniting the world is not for a demon to do. The demon's way of doing things isn't suitable for the task. Maybe in the future there would be someone rising up to the job—the grand unification of all races is the way forward, and I believe sooner or later there will be a man who is better suited to the world than I was in."
The demon who had a scar on his face was one of the veteran generals under Y'zaks. Hao Ren had remembered his name was Lamadenor who apparently belonged to a typical hawkish faction. When Y'zaks announced his decision, the general reacted intensely, the scar on his face had almost been torn open. "My king! How could you give up so easily? Are you going to abandon us? We've been waiting in that dimension for a year just for the moment when we could launch an counterattack. And you give yourself up?"
"No, I'm not going to give you guys up," Y'zaks shook his head and exchanged a look with Hao Ren. After getting an affirmative nod from Hao Ren, he continued, "I will find a new place for you all to settle down. Everyone will move there. My affair with this world is over."
Y'zaks paused and looked into Lamadenor's eyes. He continued. "You must remember why I started the war in the first place—to travel to the stars. Now I have achieved that goal. As for this world... I've given it a push, and that's all that a demon could do."
Lamadenor still had something to say but Y'zaks waved and said, "Please sit down. This is my first meal with my daughter after a long absence. If you have anything more to say, we shall discuss it later."