The Runic Alchemist
Chapter 722 - 722: The Land Of Demons 3

A Transcendent was fixed in appearance when he or she became a third ranker—there was no way she had become one when she was that young. There was no such case in history, and she herself had called Sam, Lucian, and him the youngest to ever become Transcendents. Could it be an illusion?

Damian closed the waygate afterward.

"A.. waygate?" Damian heard the lady demon murmur.

"Yes," Damian said. "And I don't think I will have to introduce these people. Go gather all the leaders and tell them resistance is futile."

Damian created a fancy table and even fancier chairs under the tree to the side, as the demoness stood frozen for a second, sensing the mana signatures of the people gathered there in an instant. Then she turned around and headed towards her castle, all her guards hurrying after her.

With his job done, Damian took a seat under the tree. The day here was bright, and the ocean breeze was refreshing.

"What happened?" the Emperor asked, taking a seat as his guard remained standing behind him. The Elf Queen was too distracted by the new city in the distance and by seeing the giant replicas of her own spell used in such a way. She and her guard remained standing with Sam, while Mindseer took a seat.

"Told her they had no choice—she's going to convince all her people now. I don't think that should pose any difficulties—unless they're both blind and stupid at once."

"So this is the forgotten land, huh?" Damian heard the Elf Queen murmur. Keep us going by reading on NovelFire.

"I will go take a look," Sam said, launching into the air before Damian could even respond. Some guard he was.

"I will go too.." the Elf Queen said, to the horror of her cousin, who eyed her.

She too ascended, taking her cousin with her—holding her by the waist. Two beautiful elves, showing such alluring 'bonding' of sisterhood, caught Damian's eyes immediately—a blessing in the land of demons. The Emperor was more interested in the black city sprawled before them than the scene of bonding.

Damian had serious suspicioun that the guy was gay. Otherwise who the hell even keeps a manly mustached guard that follows him everywhere? He had a female Transcendent—one quite a beauty at that.

"Quite a big land. I thought it would be smaller," Mindseer said. "Dividing it in six shouldn't be a problem. What's with the weird smell though?"

"It's those ugly workhouses—same as this little dragon. Their method of making the new war technology is not so good for the environment," Damian replied.

"It was the only way to defeat them," the Emperor defended himself.

"It's a violation of forbidden laws, you know?" Mindseer said. "Torturing animals and magical beasts is not something to be proud of."

"Those were mostly monsters from the dungeon," the Emperor replied. "The cost of making and maintaining them far exceeds what we have now. We won't use them again."

"Why didn't you mention the thing about demons to anyone before scheming and proclaiming yourself a conqueror?" Damian asked, since they had time to pass anyway.

The Emperor sighed before answering, his gaze still scanning the black city. "The only hope was the Highswords. We had already begged all the kingdoms for help, and we suspected the alliance was already infiltrated by the demons' cultist friends. If it was revealed to the demons that we had uncovered some of their cultist allies and gotten information, their attack would have come earlier—when we were not prepared at all."

Then the Emperor turned toward Damian and said, "You actually made me delay my plans because of your heroic rescue. Poor Moondancer still curses every time she hears your name."

"Why?" Mindseer asked curiously. "What did you do to her?"

"He stole her access to mana," the Emperor gossiped.

"What? You can do that? Wait! Is that what you and the Commander were talking about? You had sealed his mana?" Mindseer exploded. The Emperor's lazy eyes also shot open upon hearing that the Land-breaker too had been stripped of his precious mana.

"He is a fourth ranker. My spell does not work on people who have stronger quality mana than myself. He could have broken out of it easily if he wanted to."

"Oh yeah, that was a mystery. How did you save the Land-breaker if the Demon Lord took control of his body?" the Emperor asked.

"Who told you that?" Mindseer asked.

"We have spies everywhere—the crazy tale of the four people who had returned and made a name for themselves on the battlefield against demons is known to most of the people in the alliance army," the Emperor boasted.

"It was simple, actually," Damian said. "I killed the Demon Lord. That freed everyone cursed by him."

"Is that why you are so certain that these demons are not minions of the Demon Lord?" the Emperor asked.

"No fourth ranker, not even the damned Demon Lord himself, can control so many people for so many years. These people have evolved into a new species through the Demon Lord's curse. I can sense all seven elements in them—the strongest three being Dark, Chaos, and Light. If they were truly demonic in nature, like some of the dungeon monsters and the Demon Lord himself, the Light element would hurt them—not give them power," Damian revealed his thoughts.

Soon Sam and the Elf Queen returned from their aerial tour. Damian had sensed the lady demon gathering the most powerful of this city and spending some time with them. Then she flew up toward the other cities.

Finally, after some hours, she returned and landed near them. She barely had any mana left in her. It was clear she didn't want to fight at all.

"I have ordered all seven duchies to yield before you. I am only in control of this one, and I agree to surrender with all my people. Some duchies under my rival duke's men wouldn't listen to me, but I can convince them with some time. We do not want to fight. However, before that, I wish to know what the fate of my people will be."