Chapter 49 – It’s Not That We Don’t Believe You, We Just Want to Broaden Our Horizons

The conference room fell silent for a long while.

Alice the new “Demon King” naturally sat in the seat of honor. Meanwhile, out of the Four Heavenly Kings seated on both sides of the table, only Flaman did not look at her with a strange gaze.

However, this was an understandable situation. After all, Alice’s did not give off even a hint of mana right now. Rather than an almighty Demon King, she felt more like a helpless sheep standing in the middle of a pack of wolves instead. Although Flaman had already used his experience to attest to Alice’s identity and strength, Wintas, Ellu, and Aird found it truly hard to believe Flaman’s words.

“Are you sure she is the Demon King, Flaman?”

The first to speak was the Windy Kingdom’s King Wintas. Out of the Four Heavenly Kings, he was the most eager to find out the new Demon King’s identity. After all, Demon King City was situated within his territory. Yet, despite such a huge incident happening in Demon King City, he had not received any information on it. He had only found out about the appearance of the new Demon King after the LINKS user named Milu Times had shared it on the internet. Thus, he was put into a very awkward situation.

Then, Wintas continued, “Although I don’t wish to question the Demon King’s authenticity, she…doesn’t feel like a Demon King at all…”

“You should know me very well. I might tell a few lies when discussing national matters as a king, but I will never joke around when I am speaking as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, especially when it is a matter that involves the Demon King.”

Flaman did not get angry even when Wintas questioned him. Instead, he smiled and said, “Didn’t I bring you three to the bunker before coming to the conference room? The dense mana lingering there can’t possibly be fake, right? Unless, of course, you think that I have too much time on my hands and decided to detonate a taboo bomb in there. Not to mention, my country doesn’t have any dark-attributed taboo bombs, either.”

Flaman’s words caused the other Heavenly Kings to fall silent.

What Flaman said was true. Although they did doubt the authenticity of Flama’s words initially, the dark-attributed mana that lingered in the anti-magic bunker they visited just now was more than enough to prove that a dark-attributed taboo had been used in there. Meanwhile, although Flaman could cast a taboo by himself, he was the Heavenly King of Fire. The taboos he could cast were all fire-attributed.

They could also dismiss the possibility of Flaman detonating a taboo bomb in the bunker. Dark-attributed magicians were inherently rare, and few existed even in the demon realm. Meanwhile, Flaman would need to gather dozens of dark-attributed magicians at the master level to create a taboo bomb of the darkness attribute.

As Heavenly Kings, Wintas, Ellu, and Aird knew that accomplishing such a feat was impossible. One wouldn’t find that many dark magicians even if one searched the entire demon realm, let alone dark magicians at the master level. Thus, the only possible explanation was that the new Demon King had cast a taboo inside the bunker.

“Alright. I can somewhat accept your explanation,” Aird, the Heavenly King of Earth sitting to Alice’s left, flatly said. “However, I still wish to witness the Demon King’s Power with my own eyes to verify the accuracy of this information. Since Lord Demon King can display the Demon King’s Power to you, Flaman, I believe it wouldn’t be a problem if she showed it to us as well, right?”

“I agree. I, too, am curious to see the Demon King’s Power,” Ellu said with an evil smile. “The Demon King’s Power will be the core of our invasion of the human world, after all. It’d be best if we verify its authenticity. If Little Alice really is the new Demon King, I will naturally be more than happy to be her pawn and fight on the frontlines for her.”

After saying so, Ellu licked her lips seductively as she looked at Alice. And even though Alice had already heard about Ellu’s personality from Flaman, she still couldn’t help but shudder when subjected to Ellu’s gaze.

Apart from specializing in their respective fields of elemental magic, the Four Heavenly Kings were also adept at non-elemental magic. Take Grant, the previous generation’s Demon King whom Alice had slain before. The gravity magic he used was considered special magic that didn’t fall under the elemental magic category.

Meanwhile, aside from water magic, Ellu Shax was also adept at puppet magic. Moreover, it wasn’t the average puppet magic that allowed its user to manipulate puppets. Instead, Ellu could sealing weak individuals or souls into puppets and messing with them through this method. Then, only after grinding down their consciousness to nothing would she release the trapped individuals.

Simply put, Ellu Shax was an extremely sick person. Thus, it was only natural for Alice to break out in cold sweat when Ellu looked at her in such a way.

Fortunately, since there was a possibility that Alice might be the new Demon King, Ellu maintained a considerable degree of respect before her. This respect was also the only thing keeping Ellu’s desire to torture Alice in check.

“This is a good suggestion. If we can experience the Demon King’s Power, we will also have an easier time planning our invasion to the human realm,” Wintas said with a shady smile. However, his smile didn’t seem like it was directed toward Alice specifically, seeing as Flaman and the others appeared used to Wintas’s behavior.

Then, Wintas continued, “I was initially skeptical when you told us that the new Demon King’s appearance is very deceptive and that we should work together to conceal her identity, Flaman. After all, no matter how much a Demon King tries to disguise themself, there was no way they could hide their demonic nature. However, if Little Alice here really is the new Demon King…I think that’s possible.”

According to what Alice heard from Flaman, Wintas was the only Heavenly King proficient in both fighting and strategizing. Thus, it was normal for him to come up with such a plan in a short time.

Meanwhile, all Demon Kings bore some kind of hatred toward the human race. Combined with the Demon King’s Power’s influence, every Demon King that had ever existed hated the human race down to their very bones. Even if a Demon King tried to hide among humans, others could instantly tell something was wrong. Thus, none of the past Demon Kings had ever tried to hide among humans.

However, Alice was different. With her appearance, even if she were to walk among a crowd of humans, others would only think of her as a cute girl. Nobody would ever think that she was the Demon King. Thus, if Alice truly was the Demon King and they sent her to operate undercover in the human realm, they would be able to catch the human realm with its pants down.

“If she really is the Demon King, we will have many more options we can take,” Wintas said, his shady smile giving Alice goosebumps. “I’m growing a little eager… But, Flaman, is what you said about Little Alice not having full control over the Demon King’s Power true? If that’s the case, when can she use it again? I want to verify the Demon King’s identity so that I can start making the invasion plans as soon as possible.”

“You’re still the same as always, Wintas,” Ellu said, shaking her head. “But I agree. When I think of capturing the human realm’s prosperous territory, I, too, want to start the invasion as soon as possible… I’ve had enough of the shitty environment here. The resources we’re getting through smugglers are also insufficient for our economy to keep up with the humans…”

The demon realm’s polluted environment had rendered many resources unusable. Thus, the demon realm needed to import resources from the human realm. However, as the human realm produced just as many resources as it consumed, none of the human kingdoms were willing to export resources to the demon realm. They even imposed laws to prevent the export of resources. And although smugglers would bring resources with them, the amount they brought was negligible. Meanwhile, the lack of resources was also one of the main causes of conflict between the human and demon realms.

When the focus of the meeting gradually shifted into a grievance meeting between the demon race’s Four Heavenly Kings, Alice couldn’t help but smile bitterly.