The Demon King's First General
Chapter 49: Stygian Loop

Chapter 49: Stygian Loop

Inside a wooden room where almost everything had a touch of purple, a man was sitting beside a bed with a woman sleeping soundly. The light coming from the small window was illuminating her beautiful appearance. Her eyes were closed, and her face was peaceful and calm.

The man was staring at her without any trace of emotion. He stayed like that for several seconds, and then a creaking sound from the door was heard.

Footsteps came after, and another man stopped a few meters away from the bed.

"How’s the situation outside?" The man asked without looking away from the sleeping woman.

After that, the man who entered bowed before answering the question.

"It’s complete mayhem, Patriarch," he said.

Then the man sitting beside the bed averted his gaze from the sleeping person and looked at the man.

"Is the communication still not working?" He asked once more.

The man didn’t answer right away; he walked towards the window and took a peek outside.

"We are trapped inside the city as of the moment; I already ordered some of our men to investigate how to eradicate this barrier," he replied before pulling the window blinds down.

"How is she?" This time, he was the one who asked the question.

"She’s safe, uncle, though she’s still not waking up," the man said, leaning forward to caress the woman’s hair.

’You’ll be fine,’ he thought.

The man didn’t reply, and he just stepped away from the window before he walked towards the door.

"The king and the princess are being held captive; the knights were defeated while the representatives are hiding to protect themselves; the first prince went missing again while the second prince..." He sighed while holding the doorknob.

"These all happened without the empire’s crown prince," he added.

Then he looked back to see his nephew’s reaction. However, all he saw were cold-blooded eyes staring at him.

"I have no interest in them, but I would like to ask about a certain person," Kizeler said.

Upon hearing him, his uncle turned around and waited for him to speak.

"Is there a report regarding a silver-haired man with a red dice on his ear?" He asked.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, in one of the rooms of the castle, three men were drinking liquor while laughing with each other.

"Even the grand mage didn’t have a choice but to flee from the scene," a fat man blurted out.

"You bet! One of the twelve pillars? What a scam!" Replied a man with a large cigar in his mouth.

They all laughed and shook their heads after. Then the man dressed in a brown coat started to look around as if he were looking for something.

"What’s the problem?" The man with the cigar spoke out, asking upon seeing his colleague’s strange behavior.

"Tia, she’s still not back," the man replied.

"Forget it, she’s not that easy to die," the fat man said before he chugged his drink.

"Hmnn, you’re right about that," the man with the cigar affirmed.

However, despite his two brothers words, the man still felt uneasy, but he let go of his thoughts and drank the liquor from his cup.

Stygian Loop—the name of their organization. They were a group of criminals, bandits, and assassins whose goal was to have wealth even they couldn’t imagine. They didn’t have any particular dreams or anything in mind. All they wanted were treasures that could support them for the rest of their lives.

They were just a small group a few years ago, specializing in doing dirty jobs for the public. Kidnapping, assassination, and other works that required nasty stuff, but everything changed until they met that elf.

He taught them how to dream big; he widened their principles and made them new; and he educated them about their Legacies which helped them soar higher in power. Then, weeks and months passed, and their group started to grow in numbers.

And now they succeeded in capturing the king and his daughter, while their people were on the hunt to chase down the representatives who managed to escape.

This was their first large-scale mission: to overthrow the rulers of the Herish Kingdom and have access to the hundreds of weapons hiding in the treasury. And if they succeeded, they could even set their eyes on the empire.

With the help of their helper, nothing was impossible for them, or so they thought.

. . . . .

"You’re awake," the king uttered as he hugged his daughter sitting beside him.

The two of them were inside the kingdom’s prison. The dark elf didn’t kill them; he just put them to sleep, and the moment the king woke up, the bars of the cell were the first thing that he saw.

"Father, where are we? What happened?" Lexel asked while massaging the temple of her head with her small fingers.

"I don’t know, but we’re here deep down in the castle," The king replied.

Then Lexel moved closer to his father and hugged his arm.

"I’m scared; what will happen to us?" She asked, her tone having nervousness in it.

"Sssh, we’ll be okay," he answered to sooth his daughter’s mind.

However, her reply made his heart ache a little.

"There’s no one to save us here, Father; Lex is not in his right mind, I suppose, and Eldest Brother has a grudge against us," she said.

The king let out a sigh and faced Lexel before answering.

"Listen, I know someone out there will save us; maybe it’s one of the knights or someone from the mercenaries," he assured his daughter.

’Or maybe the other representatives will help, if they are still alive out there,’ he thought.

Then, after a few moments, they heard footsteps echoing in the hallway of the prison.

"What a touching scenario—truly a father’s love for his daughter," a man said with a cigar in his mouth.

"Who are you? What do you want from us?" The king yelled with anger.

After that, the man laughed and puffed smoke toward his side.

"You know, we just think that Herish Kingdom is the easiest target in the whole empire, being the king itself, the weakest," he said.

"Though your daughter looks quite well, she will be perfect in bed," he added while staring with his perverted eyes at the princess.

Lexel felt shivers all over her body, and she hid behind his father while burrowing her face into his back.

"You dare! Do what you want from me, but don’t lay your filthy hands on her!" The king shouted in response.

Upon hearing his statement, the man laughed again.

"After we succeed in opening the treasury, you won’t have any reason to stay alive; all we need is her and her Legacy," he said before putting the cigar in his mouth.

Then he grinned after seeing the king’s expression.

"Did you really think that this kind of intel would be kept secret? Fool!" He stated before walking away while laughing and leaving the king deep in his thoughts.

Afterwards, as soon as the footsteps vanished, the king faced her daughter and spoke.

"Lexel, we must escape this place," he conveyed.

Then he looked into the steel bars and asked.

"Can you turn those into swords?" He said.

Lexel was dumbfounded by her father’s question.

"Even if I can turn them into swords, I can’t wield one, Father, and you’re not that good at it either," she replied.

However, the king smiled and said, "We’re not the ones who’ll use it,"

Then he turned around to look at the dark cell in front of him.

"I know you’re right there, listening to us, Ex-Captain of the First Battalion," he conveyed.

And a silhouette of a man moved towards the steel bars from the opposite side. He was a middle-aged man with an x-mark scar on his right cheek. His hair and beard were so long that it looked like they had never experienced a proper trim in years.

"Are you prepared to handle the consequences?" He asked as soon as he stared at the man before him.

The king contemplated for a moment before he answered.

"Yes, as long as my daughter can safely escape from this place. It’s all that I can ask for," he replied, taking a short glance at Lexel.

"Then I will be on your service for a while once again, your Highness," the man answered, grinning.

. . . . .

"No! Don’t come ne-" a man yelled before his head dropped to the ground.

"This should be the last one," Zeno uttered as he crouched and looked at the man.

Then he pulled the black metal ring off the man’s finger and put it in his coat pocket.

’That’s a total of forty,’ he thought, and he took a glance in the castle’s direction.

"You’re going to ask something, I presume," he said, smiling.

As soon as Zeno finished stating his sentence, a fist covered with white gloves went straight to his face, but he stood there without any intention to evade.

However, the attack stopped a few inches away from him, and the fist didn’t reach his face. But his hair and the red dice were swept backwards due to the force of the punch.

"I commend the greeting, but why did you stop, though?" Zeno asked while grinning.

After that, Lux pulled out his fist and stared at the dull-looking eyes.

"I don’t know what your plan is, but you better stay away from her," Lux conveyed.

Zeno let out a short laugh upon hearing his words.

"And if I don’t, what are you going to do?" He chuckled, then hung the scythe on his shoulder.

"Try it then if you’re tired of livingi," Lux snorted.

After that, he turned around and started to walk away from the demon.

’What an empty provocation!’ Zeno thought and shook his head.

Then he contemplated whether he would let the vampire go as he pleased or stop him in his tracks.

"I’m not in the mood to fight a strong opponent, but his Legacy is quite tempting," he said, grinning.

"Anyways, I’m pretty sure I will have a lot of chances in the future," he murmured before heading to the kingdom’s castle.

However, after reaching several meters away from the castle, Zeno halted on his steps and scanned the surrounding area. He felt some presence hiding not far from the place, and they had been watching his every move since the moment he arrived.

After several seconds, he continued his steps after sensing that they had no intention to attack. A foul stench of blood struck his nose as soon as he entered the gate, but he ignored it while looking at the dead bodies lying on the pavement.

Most of them were clad in blue armor that bore the kingdom’s crest, while the others were civilians, and among them were several people wearing the same black metal ring.

"This matter is not simple like I’ve thought," Zeno articulated in a serious manner.

. . . . .