The Demon King's First General
Chapter 159: Invasion

Chapter 159: Invasion

Zeno stayed looking at the demon for a few seconds before diverting his gaze towards Strannard’s lifeless body. Then, after he walked towards it, the sword wrapped in chains disappeared as the dice transformed to its neutral form, while his hair and eyes returned back to their normal color.

Half a meter away from the demon corpse, he halted his steps and stared at the now empty vessel.

"I acknowledged you improving your strength but leaving your soul unattended when you wanted to exact revenge on a soul devourer was simply foolishness. There’s no point in pushing your body beyond its limit when your opponent can just take away your soul," he stated without a single trace of empathy from his voice.

The next second, he poked the red dice hanging on his left ear, and it began spinning in a counterclockwise direction before emanating a white light. Afterward, a dark blue orb flew out of it and attached to his forefinger.

"But don’t worry, I’ll make good use of this," he added, the edges of his lips curling upward.

Then he flicked the orb towards Strannard’s chest, and the eyes that lost their radiance a little while ago blinked and gazed back at him with curiosity.

. . . . .

At the same time, in the empire’s capital, Kreigster returned with a fumed expression. His carefree attitude was nowhere to be seen; instead, it was replaced by a cold-blooded demeanor.

"Where is Ren?" He asked as soon as the knights came forward to greet him.

"At the courtyard, Crown Prince, he’s with the emperor," one of the knights answered as soon as he made eye contact with the crown prince.

Without further ado, Kreigster strode towards the courtyard. On his way there, he met the Grandmaster of the Magic Tower. He walked with pride and dignity worthy of his title. Kreigster tried to assess his strength, but he couldn’t sense a single bit of energy from him.

’What a monster; if I don’t know him, I would probably mistake him for an ordinary old man,’ he thought, shaking his head.

"That woman seemed more powerful than I expected. Capable of destroying the barrier in just two attacks," Deus stated, opening up a conversation.

"If I’m not mistaken, she’s related to Anelia, but that’s not the main concern here; the barrier is broken and they can invade us anytime soon," Kreigster replied with sheer frustration.

The picture of Shieldscape City after it was ruined was deeply embedded in his mind.

’I won’t let that happen again,’ he thought.

However, the sudden chuckle from the grandmaster caught him off guard. He looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"There’s no point in worrying about that; even if the barrier is still there, they’ll definitely find a way to infiltrate. Don’t be too worked up for some kind of protection; your strength is this city’s strongest defense," Deus stated while staring straight into Kreigster’s eyes.

Then he tapped the crown prince’s shoulder.

"Keep that in mind," he added before resuming his steps.

Kreigster looked back at him; he wanted to refute, but he rejected the idea and just shook his head. Afterward, he continued on his way towards the courtyard.

It took him several minutes to reach the place, and his eyes caught three figures talking in the nearby distance. He was about to approach them when a palace servant stirred up a fuss.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" She yelled, running.

This caught the attention of all the people present, and they looked at the servant with curiosity.

"What’s the matter?" Ren asked.

"The princess! The princess is missing again!" The servant replied, her voice filled with worry.

Upon hearing this, Kreigster’s heart pounded on his chest.

"Damn it! Uoiea!" He cursed before turning himself into a blazing fire that skyrocketed upward.

Above the sky, he searched for his sister’s signature energy, but several seconds had already passed and he found nothing.

Meanwhile, Augustus and Ren did the same thing, searching for Uoiea’s presence, but not a single ounce of her energy was found.

Then after, a sudden burst of explosion reverberated next to the palace; it created a powerful shockwave, enough to destroy the palace’s wall. Kreigster was the first to move out to check the cause of the explosion, but the moment he arrived at the scene, he couldn’t help but be frightened in horror.

A huge crater appeared, and two beings were standing in the middle of it.

"A dragon and a beastman?" He uttered, his voice echoing like a choked whisper.

"Ahhhhh, that son of a bitch dared to send me like this; once I see him again, I’ll tear his flesh apart. Are you with me, Blackwell?" The beastman said while moving his head sideways, producing several crackling sounds.

"Shut it, meathead, or I’ll eat you alive first," the dragon scorned, then he noticed Kreigster standing outside of the crater.

"It looks like the appetizer has arrived; shall we start?" The black dragon added, and his large tail filled with spikes slammed on the ground, causing the area to shake.

Meanwhile, Kreigster looked at them with a dumbfounded expression.

’Why is a dragon attacking us? Did Salamander know about this?’ He contemplated, but his thoughts were interrupted when the dragon let out a devastating roar aiming at him.

He managed to evade at the very last second, turning himself into fire; however, the countless establishments behind him were vaporized into thin air. Then after, knights started to gather at the place; even Augustus and Ren arrived. They were gritting their teeth in anger, especially Augustus.

’All of this was too sudden,’ he thought while staring at the two monsters inside the crater.

"Your Majesty, I think we need to call for reinforcement. I’ll go first and stall for time," Ren stated before unsheathing his sword.

Having said that, he sprinted towards the invaders like a raging hurricane. Within his every step, his movement continued to increase so that the naked eye failed to follow his track.

And the moment he appeared, he was already standing behind the two invaders. Afterward, a sudden gust of wind blew past them, leaving several cuts on their skin and scales.

"Heh? You should cut our neck from that attack instead; catching us off guard is not something you’ll make every time," the beastman stated with laughter.

Afterward, they turned around to look at their opponent. Ren did the same thing, and as they made eye contact with each other, the beastman along with Ren vanished from the place, leaving the black dragon being surrounded by hundreds of the empire’s knights.

"So, who wants to be the first to satisfy my hunger?" The black dragon exclaimed, asking before flapping his wings and flying upward. Then dark clouds started to gather, with him as the center, and several meteorites lit up the sky.

"I’ll show you why dragons are on the top of the food chain," he added.

. . . . .

Sinclair woke up from her deep slumber, and the pain from her back was the reason for this.

Upon opening her eyes, she noticed that she was still inside the forest; the sky was still dark, signifying that she was still inside the vicinity of Duskstalker Kingdom.

She was ready to stand up, but one of her feet was suspended in the air. She checked what was happening, and upon her realization, she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Why am I being dragged?" She asked before kicking the woman in front of her with her free foot.

However, she let go of Sinclair’s leg and evaded the moment she noticed her action.

"Is that how you show your gratitude? Maybe I should just let you lie in there," Ruq growled.

"You could just wake me up in the first place, not drag me like a corpse," Sinclair rebutted as soon as she stood up.

Then she looked straight into the revenant’s eyes before moving her gaze in a downward motion. Afterward, her lips curled upward.

"So you managed to survive," she said, teasing the woman.

"Yes!" Ruq replied in instance, then she let out a rough chuckle and continued speaking.

"Unlike that certain someone who fell asleep without proving anything," she stated.

Sinclair dropped her jaw upon hearing the revenant’s mockery. She wanted to argue, but she was right, so she just kept her silence and let her eyes roam to search for the silver-haired demon.

However, he was not in the vicinity; even his presence was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?" She asked, curious about what happened.

"He left in a hurry," Ruq answered, accompanied by a deep sigh.

Then she looked straight into Sinclair’s eyes and spoke once again.

"He even left a task for us," she said.

"What is it?" Sinclair replied, asking.

Ruq didn’t answer right away; she stared at the woman for a few seconds before opening her lips.

"We need to go to the Lair of Mirages, the dragon’s den," she said. There was uncertainty in her voice.

. . . . .