IRM Chapter 37

“Are you, a person from another world?”

Ji Chi was caught completely off guard by this question, all the hair on his body standing on end. His usually somewhat indifferent and lazy black eyes were now wide open like saucers.

He looked at the Demon King in shock. “What did you say?!”

This was the first time he had lost his composure since coming to this other world.

To be honest, Ji Chi was also an ordinary person. He had emotions too. When he realized he had come to a familiar game with his bug-like constitution and system, he also carried a sense of superiority.

I know the vague timeline, I know all of your levels, I know every Boss’s attack patterns, the precious items in your eyes are worthless to me.

For a long time, Ji Chi faced this world with the mindset of “you are all mortals,” although he gradually integrated into it later, this didn’t mean he could remain indifferent when his identity was pointed out.

Crack crack crack—the pale bone claws gripping his body continued to tighten. The orange equipment amulet hanging on Ji Chi’s chest was cracking bit by bit. This was a reminder that his body was continuously taking damage. Ji Chi’s face turned stern as he tried to break free and counterattack.

Just as he was about to struggle, the cracking sound of the amulet stopped. If Ji Chi could calm down and calculate the damage, he would discover that the bone claw’s entire attack had controlled the damage perfectly at 9999, which happened to leave a sliver of health for a level 99 player.

The sudden attack happened in an instant. No one had reacted. Only when claw marks appeared on Ji Chi’s uniform did Saintess Coralie cry out in alarm. “Father! What are you doing?”

Her voice, anxious to the point of breaking, awakened the remaining people.

Joseph swung a wind blade that struck hard against the solid bone claw, but didn’t leave a single mark on it. Shocked and somewhat losing his composure, he shouted loudly, “Let him go! He’s a student of the Magic Academy! Does the Demon King’s Castle want to make an enemy of the Combat Academy!”

The Demon King had been coldly staring at Ji Chi. Only upon hearing these words did he slightly turn his face and ask, “Magic Academy? The one Harvey manages?”

Seeing that the Demon King was still willing to communicate, Joseph forced himself to calm down. “Yes, Mr. Harvey is the headmaster of the Magic Academy. This is his most valued student. If you harm Ji Chi here, Headmaster Harvey will definitely demand an explanation from you.”

“Hmm?” Upon hearing this, the Demon King finally let the bone claw gradually release Ji Chi. “Harvey has already acknowledged him? Then there’s no need for me to intervene.”

Ji Chi broke free from the bone claw’s control, hastily retreated several steps, and asked coldly, “Who exactly are you? What do you know?”

The Demon King looked at him emotionlessly and said, “You haven’t gained my acknowledgment yet. Come ask me again when you’re qualified.”

Hearing this, Ji Chi couldn’t help but frown. Acknowledgment and qualification—what were those, and what did they have to do with his transmigration identity? Ji Chi kept staring at the Demon King, his expression gradually turning cold then gradually calming down, slowly putting away his attacking stance.

Then let’s wait and see. He wasn’t afraid of his identity being exposed. His own powerful strength was enough to eliminate all fear.

Saintess Coralie fearfully tugged at the Demon King’s cloak, her gaze uneasily flitting between the several people.

The Demon King seemed to forget about the small incident just now, chuckled lightly to ease the tense atmosphere, patted Saintess Coralie’s long hair, and said to them, “All of you, come with me.”

Third floor of the castle, in the Demon King’s study, Daviel swept his gaze over the diverse group of people before him. Without particularly avoiding suspicion, he faced the map of Demon Sword Continent drawn on the wall and said, “The Demon King’s Castle and the Church have been entangled in battle for so long. Do you know what this is about?”

The people present were almost completely bewildered. They had only come to Dark Night Forest for a small academy assessment. How could they have imagined they would be drawn into a dispute between the continent’s two top powers?

Especially the bears—they hadn’t even figured out why this inexplicable person was wearing a red cloak.

The study fell silent. The only one with extremely high favorability toward the Church, Evan, tremblingly raised his hand, “Is it because the Demon King’s Castle stole… took something from the Church?”

Evan’s guess wasn’t without basis. The causes of war were always those few things: competition for resources or defense of dignity. And historically, the Church and Demon King’s Castle minded their own business. Only in recent years had friction begun, so there was a high possibility that the Demon King’s Castle had stolen some Church treasure or something.

After all, this sounded very fitting for a Demon King’s character.

Daviel snorted coldly. “You really dare to say that. No wonder the hypocritical Church likes to pick up naive children to raise… Hey, kid, let me ask you a question. What do you think of the God of Light?”

The Demon King’s tone was very strange. When he mentioned the God of Light, it seemed like he wasn’t talking about the Demon Sword Continent’s only revered deity, but more like he was mentioning some neighborhood troublemaker.

Evan detected something was off, but out of reverence for the god, he still answered without hesitation. “He is the only god, holy and merciful, our eternal faith.”

The Demon King listened to his praise with a half-smile, sighing. “Sometimes I still admire him quite a bit. A false god whose divine status was stolen, yet still able to make so many people believe in him—that’s quite impressive.”

Not to mention Evan, who looked like a little fanboy—every intelligent being on the Demon Sword Continent knew that the God of Light was the continent’s supreme existence. Even the brainless orcs wouldn’t dare comment carelessly about Him.

But now, the Demon King was actually saying He was a false god?

Even Ji Chi was shocked. There was indeed a God of Light setting in the game, though all players had only heard about Him a few times in background stories and plots. Originally thinking the development team would design Him as the final boss or something, but even after finishing the main storyline, there was no trace of Him, so they defaulted to thinking this thing was just background decoration.

However, putting it in the present context, besides shock, Ji Chi also had a vague premonition that he would probably end up entangled with this god eventually.

The Demon King maliciously enjoyed Evan’s shocked and stunned expression for a while, seemingly drawing some pleasure from it. He smiled, his gaze distant as it passed through the flower window to rest on the gorgeous rose bushes outside the castle. “Your guess wasn’t wrong. We are indeed fighting over something, except it’s the Church delusionally trying to seize the Demon God’s divine status from the Demon King’s Castle.”

He seemed not to care at all about dropping such explosive information on others’ faces. Looking up at the peaceful night sky above the Demon King’s Castle, he sighed. “Ever since the fall of the gods, that false god has wanted to make his own rules for a long time…”

Daviel didn’t know when the God of Light discovered he possessed the Demon God’s divine status. He only knew that the Church had begun systematically exploring the location of the Demon King’s Castle very early on.

And seventeen years ago, people from the Church had indeed accidentally stumbled upon this extremely secretive existence.

Funny to say, the place that the Church had sent so many elites and hired so many adventurers to search for without success was found by the Saint Trilley Empire’s Saintess who had gotten lost in Dark Night Forest by accident.

The young Saintess had lived under the Church’s teachings since childhood, developing a puppet-like appearance that only knew how to smile and pray. The Holy Knight order protecting her had been scattered by a pack of magical beasts that had escaped from the forest, leaving only the Saintess standing alone at the forest’s edge. She blinked blankly, thought for a moment, and decided to find her own way out first.

This was her first time making her own decision, and she was even a little happy about it~

The Saintess walked wherever her heart desired. When hungry, she ate some dry rations from her magic bag. When tired, she found a sturdy tree, set up magic arrays, and slept peacefully through the night.

Many days later, chasing the call of a nightingale, she caught sight of light in the distance. Thinking she had found the right path, she felt somewhat disappointed—having tasted freedom, that previous life of moving only on command had become unbearable.

But her food was running low too. The Saintess hung her head dejectedly and shuffled toward the light.

At this time, at the Demon King’s Castle.

Demon King Daviel was sprawled on his throne with disdain, listening to reports of how many more Church members the Dark Night Forest had devoured today.

He sneered mockingly, “Ha! Those wastes. If anyone from the Church could actually find this place on their own, I wouldn’t mind letting them be the Demon King instead—”

Just as he finished speaking, a round, fat, one-eyed demon flew in. “King! This is bad! People from the Church have found us!”

The Demon King’s smile froze, and the entire castle fell into embarrassment.

This embarrassment continued until a girl in holy robes was brought before the throne. The Saintess looked around in confusion at the oddly-shaped demons surrounding her, and at that fellow on the throne emanating black aura.

Though she didn’t quite understand what this strange village was about, she habitually showed a holy, pure smile and said gently, “I’m very sorry to disturb you. My name is Sheryl. I’m the Church Saintess of the Saint Trilley Empire. May I ask what town this is? Could you take me to a nearby church?”

This was the first time the Demon King had heard someone wanting to find a church in his territory. Looking at the purely good and obedient girl, his eyes narrowed, a flash of malice and interest in his red pupils. He chuckled and spoke. “Do you know what kind of place this is?”

Sheryl indeed didn’t know what kind of place this was, just as she didn’t know she had almost become a Demon King.

But none of this mattered, because not long after, her daughter became a true Demon King from the moment she could walk, her reputation resounding throughout the Demon King’s Castle by age five.

Sheryl lived very happily in the Demon King’s Castle. She was gentle and kind—this quality, rare in the Demon King’s Castle for a thousand years, won the favor of many demons. She was knowledgeable and helped the Demon King resolve conflicts within the castle, making the previously unaccepted dark elf and fallen angel also become assets to the demon clan.

The freed Saintess took only six years to become the highest ruler of the Demon King’s Castle. The second ruler was five-year-old Saintess Coralie. As for the actual Demon King… his authority had long been completely divided up.

The Demon King’s sweet troubles continued until Saintess Coralie turned seven.

That was the first time the Church assembled a large force to set foot in the Dark Night Forest. Somehow they had found traces of the Saintess’s disappearance in the forest and, under the banner of the Demon King murdering the Empire’s Saintess, launched a full-scale attack on Dark Night Forest.

Not only that, but the Demon King’s wife’s previous role as Saintess in the Empire had also been very successful. Her many admirers had prayed day and night for seven years, only to receive this news. Furious beyond measure, they decided to assist the Church in heading to the forest.

That was the most lively and most cruel period for the Dark Night Forest. Too many people wandered in the forest, and several entrances to the Demon King’s Castle were in danger of exposure.

Many demons Daviel had sent out died in battles with humans and could never return to the Demon King’s Castle.

Sheryl initially didn’t know this news. She only wondered why Daviel had been spending less and less time with her recently. But she didn’t dwell on it either, and as usual, went with a smile to visit Lilith’s mansion.

But on this day, what she found was Lilith covered in blood and mangled flesh. All her relaxed joy disappeared when she saw her friend on the brink of death.

Sheryl slowly put away her smile, step by step walking to Lilith’s side. Pure magical power surged through her body. As the Empire’s most gifted light magic user, she transformed light elements into rich life essence, pulling Lilith back from the brink of death.

Sheryl silently returned to the castle, as usual not seeing the Demon King’s busy figure.

From the quiet conversations of demons, she learned of the Church’s excuse and believed that all this disaster was caused by her. She stayed alone by the throne for a long time, slowly stroking the smooth red velvet cloth, her eyes gradually becoming determined.

Several days later, both the Demon King’s Castle and the Saint Trilley Empire were in chaos.

The mistress of the Demon King’s Castle disappeared overnight, and the Saintess of the Saint Trilley Empire, missing for seven years, returned to the Church.

Countless believers gathered before the royal capital’s great cathedral cheering, but the Church’s upper echelons weren’t very happy, because they all knew that the Saintess’s disappearance was just an excuse.

For this reason, they even cast suspicious glances at Sheryl, questioning her whereabouts during the seven missing years.

Having been cherished and indulged, Sheryl was no longer the manipulable Saintess she once was. She had learned to lie and had learned some forbidden arts.

She sacrificed her future power to make herself appear incredibly powerful at this moment. “I was lost in the Dark Night Forest for seven years. Fortunately, many people came looking for me this year, so I was able to return to the Church. However, these seven years of life-and-death trials also brought me valuable power. It seems like there was no loss after all. What do you think?”

The explanation was somewhat far-fetched but unexpectedly logical, making the Church people hesitate, because Dark Night Forest occupied nearly one-fifth of the continent’s territory. Getting lost in there for ten or twenty years was indeed possible…

And most importantly, the dazzling light magic emanating from Sheryl, no less than that of an archbishop, was enough to dispel all doubts.

The Saintess had returned. The excuse of the Demon King’s Castle murdering the Saintess could no longer be used. The Church had lost much manpower and resources. The believers came joyfully to worship the Saintess, and no one was helping the Church explore Dark Night Forest anymore.

This grand operation came to nothing under strange developments.

But on the other side, gloom shrouded the sky above the Demon King’s Castle. Daviel held his wife’s farewell letter with an ugly expression, unable to help smashing half the castle.

He very much wanted to rush directly to the Church and snatch his wife back, but he was bound by the rules of the Demon King’s Castle. Once he stepped out of this domain, the entire city and the divine status would be exposed. He wasn’t sure what the God of Light would do then, and he didn’t dare risk all the demons and the divine status.

However, a certain little Demon King didn’t have this worry. She missed her mother very much. Her big eyes rolled around, and she found some human girl’s clothing to put on. Using secret arts to suppress her demon bloodline, she bounced away from the Demon King’s Castle.

Several days later, at the Saint Trilley Great Cathedral.

Sheryl passed through the amazed conversations of monks and nuns and came before the statue of the God of Light, where the Archbishop was waiting for her.

The Archbishop smiled kindly as he brought out a dirty little girl from beside him and said to Sheryl, “This child is very talented. Both the God and the Pope think highly of her. Let her stay by your side to learn for now.”

The little demon with golden hair and blue eyes looked like a pure little angel on the surface and smiled sweetly at Sheryl.