IRM Chapter 39

The Dark Night Forest had been more peaceful than usual these past few days, so peaceful that even the students who came here to train felt something was amiss.

What prowled in the black mist of the forest were no longer ferocious magical beasts, but pristine white holy robes untouched by dust. The magical power of light elements seemed to drive away the darkness, washing over and covering the forest.

The magical beasts on the forest’s outskirts were becoming fewer and fewer. The students’ mission progress was severely affected. After several consecutive days without seeing even a single beast’s hair, everyone returned to camp with heads full of confusion.

At this moment, at the Magic Academy’s mission reception area, Madam Emma frowned at the communication magic array in her hands, constantly casting worried glances toward the depths of the forest.

“Still no news from them?” a nearby senior teacher also asked worriedly.

Madam Emma shook her head. “No, we can’t even contact Professor Joseph and Teacher Reize. Sigh, I hope they’re all safe…”

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw a group of church members teleport to a location not far from the camp. The leader looked familiar—it was the Archbishop of Saint Trilley Empire.

Emma was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran forward, but before she could approach the Archbishop, she was blocked by the Holy Knights beside him.

Those qualified to protect the Archbishop were at minimum Great Swordsmen. They were imposing and well-equipped, asking the somewhat flustered Emma condescendingly. “Who are you? If you have no business, please stay away from here.”

Emma couldn’t get past these tall warriors. Watching the Archbishop’s figure walking forward without looking back, she couldn’t help but call out loudly, “Sir Archbishop, I am a teacher of Saintess Coralie. We haven’t been able to contact her for many days. Do you have any news of her?”

The Archbishop stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around. Under his pale eyebrows and hair, his blue pupils appeared even more profound. “Are you asking about Saintess Coralie?”

Seeing that he was willing to answer, Emma calmed down slightly. “Yes, initially the Church negotiated with the Magic Academy in the name of protecting the Saintess, replacing the highest-level mission content. But now, all the teachers and students participating in this mission have disappeared, including the Saintess you wanted to protect.”

Emma looked directly into the Archbishop’s eyes, her gaze as sharp as his. “I’m not trying to question or hold the Church accountable right now. I just want to know what this mission actually is, and where they are currently located. You should know all of this, shouldn’t you?”

Her tone was somewhat harsh due to anxiety. The Holy Knights beside her frowned and stepped forward, drawing their sharp swords. “How dare you speak to the Archbishop like that?”

The Archbishop raised his hand to stop the Holy Knight’s action. He stroked his snow-white beard and smiled with unclear meaning. “We came here this time indeed to find her.”

Emma’s face lit up with joy upon hearing this.

The Archbishop continued. “We want to ask her what she, as the Demon King’s daughter, has been trying to accomplish all these years by infiltrating the Church.”

It wasn’t until the Church members had walked far away and entered the forest that Emma snapped out of her daze. Their conversation hadn’t been kept quiet, and now whispers and gossip began to spread around them.

“Huh? Saintess Coralie is the Demon King’s daughter? How is that possible!”

“But that’s what the Archbishop said! Didn’t you sense the magical power around him? Only an Archmage could have that kind of presence!”

“So Saintess Coralie is a demon? God, I actually worshipped such a filthy person…”

The young mages who had run over were initially shocked, but hearing others’ malicious gossip, their faces turned red with anger. “Bah! Are you blind? Haven’t you felt her pure light magical power? Oh, you’re also a light mage? Then you, who don’t even have half of Saintess Coralie’s talent, what kind of filthy thing are you!”

“Enough, don’t argue with them. Go back to your tents,” Madam Emma suddenly commanded them.

She gazed heavily in the direction the Archbishop had left, her eyes growing more and more worried.

At Silver Moon Spring on the outskirts of Dark Night Forest, the once tranquil and clear spring water had now become murky and foul. The Silver Moon Fish couldn’t endure such a terrible environment—one by one, they floated on the spring water with their white bellies up.

Clinking footsteps rang out. The Holy Knights’ heavy, solid iron boots stepped on the muddy ground beside the spring, splashing mud that fell into the water and also stained the warriors’ gleaming armor.

The Commander of the Holy Knight Order, one of the few Holy Swordsmen on the entire Demon Sword Continent, was kneeling on one knee before a figure entirely shrouded in gentle light. “Your Holiness, the Archbishops of Saint Trilley Empire and Nors Empire are waiting outside, ready to await your commands at any time. The Angel Kingdom has also sent two Archangels to assist us.”

The Pope lifted the corners of his mouth with satisfaction. “Serving God is the shared destiny of the Church and the Angel Kingdom. We shall dedicate everything to the glory of the true God.”

The Commander bowed his head deeply. “May our God be with us.”

The Pope nodded, then suddenly asked, “By the way, what about that Demon King’s woman?”

“She is under the custody of Saint Trilley Empire’s Church and has arrived at Dark Night Forest.”

“Mm, keep her under close watch. She is to be executed at the gates of Demon King’s Castle,” the Pope said indifferently.

Demon King’s Castle had no sunrise or sunset. The Demon King stood by the window, watching the sky gradually lighten like diluted ink.

He had been standing here all night. He knew that after waiting for one more dawn, it would be time for the Church to set foot here.

The Demon King had experienced this stage many times. He didn’t need to think to know what would happen next.

The Church would send Archmages, Holy Swordsmen, Archangels, and other powerful beings rarely seen on the entire continent. No matter how powerful the Demon King was, he couldn’t withstand their assault. He would ultimately abandon his divine status for the sake of Demon King’s Castle.

And if he was very, very lucky, he would encounter a decent otherworlder—someone familiar enough with the Church, with some cleverness, who would help him escape this fixed path, preserve the divine status left by the Demon God, and no longer be controlled by the false god.

But this situation had only happened once, and in the end, that otherworlder had still betrayed him.

Like all the others, he couldn’t resist the various temptations offered by the God of Light, thinking he could quickly grow into a powerful being, not knowing he had already fallen into becoming a slave to fate, forever cowering under the false god’s control.

In the end, it was still the Demon King who expended enormous effort to eliminate him.

After experiencing so many failures, the Demon King had gone from expectation to indifference, and now had become faintly weary. He really could no longer tolerate those greedy, smug, disdainful otherworlders, and even felt an uncontrollable urge to crush them at first sight.

The Demon King took a deep breath, slammed his fist on the table, and summoned the demon guard waiting at the door.

The demon guard entered with lowered eyes and bowed, pressing his chest and asking: “My King, what are your orders?”

The Demon King pressed his throbbing temples and pointed downstairs. “What exactly is that guy doing?!”

Starting several days ago, for as long as the Demon King had stood by the window, he had watched that figure below running circles around the castle.

If Ji Chi had been running quietly by himself, the Demon King wouldn’t have been so irritated, but he wasn’t—he had a string of young mages following behind him. Though they were so slender and delicate, their gasping sounds were louder than demons’ snoring.

“Run, run! You’ve only done two laps! Come on! Follow my rhythm! One-two-one, one-two-one—” Ji Chi clapped his hands on the side, encouraging the young master who was about to collapse on the ground.

“No, no, I can’t do it anymore. If this continues, I’m going to… ugh—” Brandon staggered and rushed to the rose bushes, and the sound of retching went straight into the Demon King’s ears.

The Demon King’s staff was about to be crushed in his hands. He was simply fed up with these people and very much wanted to ask them to leave Demon King’s Castle.

But Saintess Coralie and Ji Chi wanted to stay, and Evan and Brandon wouldn’t leave either. Since they wouldn’t leave, Joseph and Reize had to stay. Everyone had to stay, and the bears refused to leave too.

So, a perfectly good Demon King’s Castle had inexplicably gained many strange species. Honestly, the Demon King’s entire demonic state wasn’t very good right now.

Theodor, the fallen angel who had been silently guarding near the Demon King, saw this and knelt down to ask, “My King, do you need me to make them leave?”

After completing the castle repairs, Theodor had been following the Demon King. He didn’t understand why the awakened Demon King had forgiven him. Even though his intentions at the time were all for Demon King’s Castle, putting the Demon King to sleep without permission was an unforgivable betrayal.

Theodor looked up anxiously at the calm-faced King. He wasn’t afraid of punishment; he was only worried that the Demon King would forbid him from protecting Demon King’s Castle.

The Demon King glanced at him sideways. “No need. They won’t be staying much longer anyway. Go have someone prepare. The Church will be coming tomorrow.”

Theodor almost didn’t react, stunned. “What? How can it be so fast!”

The Demon King chuckled. “What are you surprised about? Didn’t you prepare for this day long ago? Oh right, let me remind you again—I don’t need your protection. Just be careful of what’s behind you.”

The Demon King sighed and said softly, “Don’t die again…”

Theodor strode out of the castle. He still didn’t understand what the Demon King’s final instruction meant, but none of that mattered. He only knew that regardless of the outcome, he would use his life to protect this place that gave him freedom.

Below the castle, Brandon had finally completed today’s training.

“Does running like this really make you faster?” The young master’s lungs were about to explode as he gasped and asked Ji Chi.

Ji Chi tilted his head and thought. “Mm, we need to add one more thing.”

He somehow produced a knee guard that looked incredibly heavy, bent down and fastened it firmly to Brandon’s leg, patting the young master who nearly fell to his knees. “Don’t ever take it off. Look how fast Evan runs now—it’s because he wears this every day.”

Brandon [Movement Speed -50%] looked at Evan skeptically. “Really? But there’s nothing on his legs?”

Ji Chi lied without changing expression. “He wears his on his arms. The effect is the same.”

Ji Chi watched the young master shuffle away with a head full of question marks, taking half a day to move just a dozen meters, and sighed helplessly.

Over the past few days, he had used this half-deceptive method to equip several fragile teammates with armor. Although each person only had one piece of equipment, it was enough for them to survive for a long time.

It’s worth mentioning that to select a few normal pieces from a pile of golden, special-effect-laden orange equipment, he had nearly gone blind. In the end, only this knee guard remained—though unremarkable and with particularly thick armor, it severely reduced movement speed.

After much consideration, Ji Chi decided to give it to the young master. After all, the young master’s original speed was infinitely close to zero, and cutting it in half would still be zero—no difference.

Ji Chi, the mathematical genius, smiled with satisfaction.

Standing in the manor in front of the castle, he watched the demon guards suddenly bustling about, and the distant laughter and chatter gradually fading, then looked back at a certain window on the castle.

That figure was looking down, gazing in his direction, thinking about something unknown.

Ji Chi lowered his eyes and opened his panel. On the current panel, his health had long broken through ten thousand, increasing bit by bit with daily exercise, and those various attribute values were also slowly increasing with specific training.

He felt his slightly heated skin after exercise and his healthily beating heart, then turned around and walked toward the outside of Demon King’s Castle.

Whatever gods or otherworlders—since he was living well here, no one could restrict him.

Demon King’s Castle was a very special domain. Almost no outsiders knew what the boundary between it and the Dark Night Forest looked like.

But this time, the Church members were honored to witness this scene.

It was a flexible, slightly glowing barrier covering the space between two fallen, intersecting tree trunks. Around it was still pitch-black forest, with only faint auras and gentle light emanating from that membrane-like barrier.

“This Demon King’s Castle is hidden so secretively and deeply. If not for the power God granted us this time being sufficient, we might not have been able to find it,” the Pope sighed.

He slightly raised the holy staff in his hand, pointing at the barrier. “But all filth is worthless before God’s power!”

What seemed like a light strike fell upon the barrier. Like sunlight scorching weak foam, it scattered with a pop in just a few seconds.

The surrounding darkness receded like a tide, and the mysterious and unfathomable Demon King’s Castle unfolded like a scroll.

The Pope turned his head and smiled as he faced Sheryl, who was bound to the judgment rack.

He gazed at her eyes filled with despair and smiled. “Very nostalgic, isn’t it? But unfortunately, once holy light illuminates the earth again, Demon King’s Castle can never hide back in the darkness.”

Sheryl, whose magical power was gradually waning, found even struggling difficult. She glared at them angrily. “This is all my fault! You can execute me however you want, why must you hurt them!”

The Pope was surprised. “Oh my child, how could you be at fault? If you weren’t here, I’d have to worry about whether the Demon King would obediently hand over the item.”

Sheryl felt as if cold water had been poured over her. “What… what?”

“It’s a pity we couldn’t catch that lovely little girl together, but it doesn’t matter. Given her merit in guiding us here, God will still forgive her.” The Pope looked up, squinting toward the distance. “Oh, no more chatting with you. Look, their reaction is quite fast. Have they been waiting for us all along?”

At this moment, in Demon King’s Castle.

“What’s happening? What’s happening? Why are there suddenly so many Church people?” Brandon struggled to move his feet and came to Saintess Coralie’s side.

Evan looked somewhat conflicted at those Church figures, some of whom were even familiar. “Is everything the Demon King said true? No… I still want to ask them.”

Saintess Coralie hurriedly stopped him. “Are you crazy? Don’t you see those people have their magic arrays ready? Are you going to get yourself killed?”

She anxiously looked around. The usually dull-witted demons had all spread their bone wings, bared their fangs, and assumed battle-ready postures, facing the powerful enemy together.

Seeing chaos everywhere, Saintess Coralie pulled the two fragile teammates back. “Don’t worry about anything, hurry and hide in the castle—it’s safest there… Also, where’s Ji Chi? Where did Ji Chi run off to?!”

The group looked at each other with eyes full of panic.

Meanwhile, Ji Chi, who had everyone worried sick, was already in the forest, leaning against a large tree and observing the light magic array not far away.

He straightened up and quietly complained. “Why does Demon Sword spend so much budget on this kind of inexplicable visual effects? Aren’t they afraid of scaring children in the middle of the night?”

Equipment Set: [Soul Reaper of Shadows]

Quality: [Legendary]

Set Effect: [Increases stealth, defense, attack power, movement speed, etc.; when discovered by enemies, grants intimidation effect, freezing enemy actions for 10 seconds, triggers once every 5 minutes.]

Description: [You are the death god who reaps souls in the dark night. Wherever you go, there is no sound, leaving only shadow-like terror]

Despite his complaints, Ji Chi obediently put on the pale bone mask. On the mask, patterns drawn in blood writhed menacingly, capable of instantly gripping human hearts with fear.

His wide black robe fluttered in the air with ethereal aura and swirling black mist, like a death god who had set his target, drifting through the shadows toward his spoils of war.