Chapter 313 (1): This Works Much Better than Magic

“Let the Queen go!”

Gripping Shadow Nightmare, Wayne mentally added,

Let Auston do it.

Now standing over five meters tall with a powerful physique, Douglas heard Wayne’s exclamation and turned around, his dazed eyes glinting with madness as he lunged at the Darkness Knight with bared teeth and claws.

Auston was delighted. He had been worried that the bandit would use the hostages as leverage, but instead, the bandit abandoned his hostages and chose to engage in close combat. What a kind demon!

He gave Wayne a pointed look. He would deal with Douglas, while Wayne rescued the Queen and her family.

It’s too dangerous!

Wayne put Auston behind him and charged at Douglas first. Threads of Death energy surged and transformed into a massive octopus, its tentacles wrapping around Douglas. Auston shook his head with a dark look, quickly rushing to the white bones that stretched toward heaven and earth.

Though extracted from Douglas’s body, the bones were an application of his spatial abilities. They appeared to stretch across the void, but were actually linked to Douglas’s body—the vessel for the Lord of Pride. Going further, they were connected to the

Book of Hell.

The ritual to activate the divine blood had begun. The bloodlines of the five royals were awakening, and their faces twisted with the tremendous pain they were under.

Frank’s arrangement was devious.

Take Queen Sophelia as an example: her heart was beating incredibly quickly, pumping her blood and circulating it at an extreme speed with no regard for whether the Queen’s body could withstand it.

The divine blood within Sophelia had partially awakened, but she was merely the blood maker and did not enjoy the power granted by the awakening. The cage transferred all her blood to the

Book of Hell

in Douglas’s body.

It drank the Queen’s blood and consumed her flesh, leaving not even a drop untouched. It was typical of Windsor, but even more so of Hell.

Sophelia’s face contorted, her face flushed as if blood would seep out. Sensing Darkness’s descent, she instinctively opened her eyes.

The Darkness Knight had come, too! Both the Darkness Knight and the Death Knight were on the Lando family’s side...

The blood vessels near her temples throbbed, the pain preventing her from thinking too much. Her bloodshot eyes welled with suffering. She wanted nothing more than for the Darkness Knight to give her a swift release.

The Windsors had been defeated by the Landos. Perhaps it was a good thing for Auston to become king. At least that would prove her judgment sound—Auston was the best choice, and he had only failed to become the Prince Consort because of resistance from the royal family.

Sophelia was in indescribable pain. Under Frank’s arrangement, every time her blood was extracted, her body generated more fresh blood, pushing her body to the limit. When she saw the Darkness Knight draw Twilight Despair, she closed her eyes and awaited liberation.

She never once imagined that the Darkness Knight had come to rescue her. Only little girls believed in fairy tales, and she was long past that age. In her view, both chosen knights had come to eliminate potential risks.

The official story would go like this:

The Prince Consort had transformed into a demon and killed his own family to sacrifice them to Hell. The two chosen knights arrived too late to save the royal family. Regrettably, they slew the Prince Consort, the culprit.

A nation could not be without a ruler for a day. Auston would naturally put on the crown, explaining that the royal family had turned on each other and, manipulating a demon to do their bidding, they ended up victimized by said demon. Auston declined the crown repeatedly, but reluctantly became the new king at the officials’ urging.

That would be the conventional development.

Whoosh!

After a flash of black light, Sophelia broke free from the pale ribs, falling at the Darkness Knight’s feet. Auston didn’t catch her, maintaining his persona of a cold, ruthless knight.

In truth, he was worried that the Queen might recognize him if he caught her, given their past.

After saving the Queen, he continued to sever the other ribs with his sword, freeing the imprisoned members of the royal family. The awakened divine blood within Edward and Juno had been taken by the

Book of Hell

as well, becoming part of its evolution. The divine blood within Carol and Alistair, on the other hand, had not found their corresponding Laws, so they fared the best among the five.

Auston didn’t care about their conditions. The red glow on his mask pulsed as he said in a muffled voice to Sophelia, “Your Majesty, the Church of Darkness’s Holy Maiden supports Auston, but I chose to support you. I have discussed the matter with the Death Knight. You will remain as the nation’s monarch.”

A puppet monarch?

The Darkness Knight’s lies couldn’t deceive Sophelia. As Queen, she had studied plenty of similar historical records. Given the power disparity between the Landos and the Windsors, she would have no real authority even if she continued reigning.

Princess Elizabeth would become pregnant by the end of the year, and her child would be born next year. Sophelia would abdicate to the newborn monarch then. The Lando family would take over all government departments, ruling over the country on behalf of the new monarch with the support of the Tulip Families.

Seeing the Queen’s clear mistrust, Auston had to press on, “The Death Knight wasn’t being truthful earlier in the banquet hall. We came for the demon, intending to eliminate potential threats around you, not to seize the crown from you.”

Sophelia still didn’t believe him.

Auston couldn’t be bothered with further explanation. He had said this much only for the sake of their shared past. If he wasted more time, his wife would be displeased.

An ex and his current wife—which was more important? There wasn’t a competition. If he hesitated for even a second, it would be disloyalty to his marriage.

Auston swung Twilight Despair once more. From the black light, a figure Sophelia knew all too well emerged: Charlee, the new Vice Minister.

Having been devoured and killed by Darkness, her skin was now pure black like that of a dark elf. Her thoughts no longer existed, and her body was the color of Darkness. Under Auston’s control, she was tasked with protecting the Queen and her family.

The messenger of Darkness had taught Auston how to use Twilight Despair in person. After returning from the Frozen Land, Auston had barely grasped this skill.

Leaving behind a bodyguard who could self-destruct at any moment, Auston joined Wayne’s battle with Douglas. By now, Douglas was no longer himself. It was more appropriate to call him a vessel for the Lord of Pride.

Hell’s power protected Douglas from the corrosion of Death. His skin was hard as steel, and Wayne failed to breach him from the outside, no matter how his blade collided with Douglas’s skin with loud clangs.

He would have to go inside out, then!

Roar—

Douglas raised his arms and roared furiously, the sonic waves reverberating and shaking the entire Grey Space.

The

Book of Greed

feasted like the happiest book in the world, its large eyeball darting around in ecstasy. Wayne allowed the shockwaves to bring him back, suppressing his restless desires. His incredible thoughts poured down and pulled at the pale flesh in his body at the moment of contact.

During the fight, Wayne had detected secondary corrupted flesh in the six-eyed lion demon. Though he didn’t know how that came about, he chose an easier way to defeat the enemy, using the existing weakness.

When it came to corruption, Wayne had no match aside from the Sea God on Dragonheart Island.

Douglas’s roar broke, becoming sharp and hoarse. It sounded nothing like a lion’s roar, but more like a bird’s shriek. The black bat wings behind him deformed and melted into white sludge. Similar changes were happening to other parts of his body. His arms and face both melted, and the collapse was accelerating.

Wayne nodded in approval. Evolution trumped all. This worked much better than magic. In only a few seconds, Douglas had decomposed into a mass of white sludge. The melted tissue tried to reshape a body, but couldn’t maintain a shape. It only managed to create tentacles.

Auston cautiously stopped, cursing the sinister scene he was witnessing.

Hidden in the

Book of Hell

, Frank’s thoughts discreetly activated the

Divine Comedy of the Seven Deadly Sins

to buff the body and regain control, but the attempt failed.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Frank didn’t understand. Since the Lord of Pride had already descended to the human world and entrusted him with the important task of evolving the

Book of Hell,

why would the demon lord allow the evolution to be interrupted?

When facing a difficult situation, the blindly loyal ones found excuses for their faith.

And so, Frank came up with a justification for the Lord of Pride: this, too, was part of evolution and the material that the

Book of Hell

needed. He thus opened the book to the new evolution. The book with black covers wrapped in chains hovered, stirring up a black storm. The gale pulverized the white foamy flesh and swallowed it all. Frank’s remaining thoughts were shredded in the dark vortex, becoming another material for the book’s evolution.

In the darkness, flesh merged with the

Divine Comedy of the Seven Deadly Sins

, forming a new shell.

The

Book of Greed

peeked out. Smelling a different aroma, it rejoiced in having another feast to sate its hunger.

A two-meter-tall white figure with no facial features rose, its four thick tentacles thrashing around randomly. The boss had transformed once more!

Wayne had seen the

Book of Hell

’s ultimate form before. Each time, there were new changes, with height and build varying the most.

The first time, at the Snow Estate, its ultimate form was five meters tall. The second time, at Lando Estate, it was around three meters tall. This time, it was two meters. It would look no different from an ordinary person if it put on clothes, a hat, and shoes.

The seven faces that symbolized the Seven Demon Lords made Wayne quite wary. If this were ordinary, then the human world would be no different from Hell.

The four tentacles behind the faceless figure were familiar. Wayne tried to reach them with his thoughts. The tentacles swayed slightly, as if in response, but that was all. They didn’t express obedience to his thoughts.

Interesting. Hell’s evolution path was something else, too.

What about the divine blood? Why don’t I see it? Is the evolution interrupted?

While Wayne tightened his grip around Shadow Nightmare, the faceless figure melted, and the white foam retracted entirely back to the

Book of Hell

. The black book wrapped by chains hovered serenely in the air, motionless.

The

Book of Greed

couldn’t wait, urging Wayne to quickly take the book. If he hesitated, another mysterious figure might appear to snatch it. Similar things had happened twice already, and they could not allow it to happen a third time.

The book’s desire was Wayne’s desire. He tried to calm down and observe it first, but ultimately succumbed to his desire. He whipped out Death energy at the

Book of Hell.

The Death energy triggered its defense mechanisms. Texts of the

Divine Comedy of the Seven Deadly Sins

surfaced the black cover, pulsing with black light. The book resisted the corruption of Death.

Auston raised one hand to consume the book with Darkness. It failed to blacken it or devour it.

Wayne hesitated over whether to take the book. Another player remained in the dark. It was hard to say whether the person had intentionally left the book behind. If he took it now, he might be playing right into the mastermind’s hands.

Leaving it... What if he was overthinking? Wouldn’t it hurt nature’s feelings if this was a gift from it?

After much struggle, his desire won over his caution. He opened his personal storage with a wave and sealed the

Book of Hell

inside, allowing the

Book of Greed

to feast on it. Regardless of whether there was a conspiracy, knowledge was innocent.

Nom, nom.