Chapter 290: Promise or Challenge?
"I doubt it can make modern weapons, but any help will be a good help. Even older weapons can come in handy. Also, even though it needs a water source to form weapons, it takes care of that on its own with the rain. The rain not only weakens the enemy but makes me have an edge in the form of weapons," Ryder thought as he imagined a situation when he formed tens of throwing knives and killed his unsuspecting enemies.
" Prince Asmadeus, I"ll talk to Elisia as well, but I need your answer too. Did you know anything about her going to the Undead Region for any purpose?"
Ryder was thinking about his skills, but his attention was attracted by the Vampire King, who began talking to Prince Asmadeus.
"The Vampire King seems very calm here, completely unlike the time he met me for the first time when he barged inside our place. It seems strange," Ryder thought as he glanced at the Vampire King with a frown on his face.
"No, I had no idea about any of her actions. As you may already know, we act separately. We"re kind of rivals in that sense, after all, so I don"t know what goes on through her head and what she does," Prince Asmadeus let out, shaking his head.
" Why are you protecting her so much then? If she is your rival and you didn"t scheme anything together, why did you take the risk of sending Death Envoys to Demon Realm to bring her back? Why do you still refuse to surrender her to the Demon Realm for punishment?" the Vampire King inquired in a grim tone.
"I can"t. It doesn"t matter what she did. If she were wrong, she would get punished here. I won"t give someone from my Death Domain to the Demon Realm. They are not the only ones that have the dignity they need to protect. Also, she"s also an inheritor of the Previous king. I just can"t do what you"re suggesting," Prince Asmadeus said, shaking his head.
" If she is really responsible for the death of my General, how far are you willing to go? Because I"m willing to go till the end of the universe to take her back to the Undead Region with me. I will let her die in the hands of the Daughter of General Viden personally for her sin," The Vampire King told Prince Asmadeus in full seriousness. His words were filled with a subtle threat too.
" How far am I willing to go for her? Sigh, that"s an interesting question that even I"m curious about. Whenever I have questions like this, I always think about what my father would have done in this situation, and I get my answers. If it were my father, he would never have let you take her even if you had arrived with a bigger force than him," Prince Asmadeus muttered as he sighed.
"With that thought in my mind, I guess the answer is clear. If she did something wrong, she would be punished here by us, but I won"t let you take her even if that means a fight to the death. I"ll follow my father"s princ.i.p.al even though I don"t wish to go down the path of war yet," he added.
"You don"t want to go down the path of war yet? Does that mean you plan to do in the future?" Ryder chimed in as he noticed something wrong in Prince Asmadeus"s words.
" Not at all. What I meant is that I don"t want to go to war now. I can"t say about the future or what circ.u.mstances might exist, but the circ.u.mstances now are not bad enough for a war. A little back and forth between two opposing sides is but a reason for a war either. That"s what I meant," Prince Asmadeus clarified without even a single frown forming on his face. It seemed like he was telling the truth, but Ryder had some information about Prince Asmadeus trying to increase his strength, which made him feel like he wasn"t being entirely honest.
After a brief moment, Elisia was escorted to the discussion hall by a Death Envoy. She seemed to be walking freely. There didn"t seem to be any restraint placed on her, but there was a barrier around her that had been made by the Death Envoy to protect her.
The Vampire King and Ryder looked at her as they frowned. It didn"t seem like she had even a shred of regret on her face for what she did. The Vampire King stood up.
"Vampire King, please don"t do anything that would make us take action. Stay seated. We allowed you to ask your questions to her, but as I said, we can"t let you hurt her. If you try getting close to her, we would be forced to stop you and take that girl back, so please follow your words," Prince Asmadeus raised his hand and gestured for the Vampire King to stop moving.
The Death Envoys also appeared before Elisia, surrounding her.
"Fine," the Vampire King let out as he sat down.
Ryder had stayed seated since he already knew that something like this was going to happen. With the intensity, Asmadeus was saying that he wouldn"t let them take Elisia, it was obvious that he wasn"t going to let anyone get close to her.
Elisia was escorted near Prince Asmadeus. She was made to stand near Prince Asmadeus while still maintaining a safe distance between them.
"Elisia, you have entered the Demon Realm and tried to harm the Prince of the Demon Realm. Do you have anything to say about that?" Prince Asmadeus asked Devilia.
" I regret it. I regret that I didn"t succeed," Elisia said as she sighed.
" He has come here to get some answers, and he will leave after that. Be truthful with him, alright?" Prince Asmadeus told Devilia.
"Hmph," Elisia rolled her eyes, but she didn"t reply.
" Elisia, you said you regret you failed in killing me; I would like to ask you, how does it feel to fail twice? You"re a kid, little girl. Don"t show that att.i.tude to me. You"re just a kid who"s being babysat by the adults. If it weren"t for the Death Envoys that barged I"m suddenly, this wouldn"t be the place we would be interrogating you. You would"ve been in our cell, regretting even more things than just failing," Ryder responded in an annoyed tone.
" Anyway, what happened has happened, so let me ask you what I came here to ask. It"s good that both you and Prince Asmadeus are here. It is better this way," he muttered as he nodded his head.
"So, my first question is why you wanted to kill me? We had no enmity. Even when we met for the first time, you tried to kill me but failed and ran away. Then now again, you tried to kill me. Why are you so after killing me? Our two realms are not at war. I didn"t do anything against the Death Domain either, so why? Is this just because you"re salty that the Death Domain was defeated in the last Great War? Do you blame me for that?" Ryder asked Elisia.
"Hah, you act to be so n.o.ble while carrying that Scythe of Death if that monster. An entire town..." Elisia muttered as she paused.
"An entire town?" Ryder inquired in confusion.
"Our entire town was wiped in the last great war from an attack of that weapon! I have the one that used this weapon to cause so much destruction. My entire family was wiped in that place. Only I managed to survive. You know who used this weapon? The Demon King! I want to kill him, but that b.a.s.t.a.r.d disappeared. You"re his Inheritor, so I want to kill you instead," Elisia told Ryder.
As Elsia called the Demon King a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Ryder felt a strange aura around him. It seemed as if both High Duke Oris and Rale were about to attack Elisia in anger. He couldn"t let them do it but he couldn"t ignore what Elisia had just said either since he had told everyone that Demon King Salem was his master.
Elisia had just finished her words when Ryder stood up.
"That"s enough. She insulted my master by calling him a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I don"t want to ask any questions anymore. I"m taking her with me. I was already conflicted over what I should do. Even though most of my important people and I survived her a.s.sault, many innocent demons lost their lives because of her. I already wanted to kill her, but she was brought here."
"I still considered letting her live in exchange for an apology, but this is too far. She dared to disrespect the Demon King. Give her to us," Ryder told Prince Asmadeus in a grim tone.
"She"s an ignorant girl that doesn"t know what to say and what not to say. Ignore her," Prince Asmadeus told Ryder in order to calm him down.
"It doesn"t matter. I"m taking her today and that"s my promise as the Prince of Demon Realm," Ryder told Prince Amadeus.