Vol 3. Chapter 53: The ‘Real’ News
“This is the conclusion I reached after painstakingly investigating Wind Facing City and the Sadik Empire! It's absolutely reliable, Your Majesty! You have to believe me! Before Blood Butterfly makes her move, you must eliminate her immediately!”
Moxiao said anxiously.
After hearing Moxiao's report, Xue Tianao slowly sat back down in his office chair.
Deep down,
he still harbored doubts about Moxiao's words.
After all, judging from his interaction with Miss Yu the previous night, she had been refined and courteous, every movement filled with an indescribable gentleness.
She was completely different from the savage, bloodthirsty Abyss Demons in his impression.
Although, according to Moxiao, Blood Butterfly's original identity had been the young lady of the Black Rose Family, and her elegant manners came from her upbringing,
Xue Tianao believed that even if some humanity remained, it should have been difficult for an Abyss Demon's instincts to suppress their true nature—
namely, their instinctive hatred toward the aura of humans and other living beings.
Yet Miss Yu had shown none of those tendencies last night.
That left Xue Tianao thoroughly puzzled.
However, after seeing the overwhelming amount of evidence Moxiao had gathered, he had no choice but to accept the unbelievable truth.
The young lady of the Black Rose Family...
was the new Demon King-class Abyss Demon—Blood Butterfly.
Even after realizing this,
Xue Tianao did not feel uneasy about a new Demon King-class being appearing inside the Imperial Capital.
Now that he had broken two of his shackles,
he was already capable of defeating the powerful Flame Prison.
If he could defeat an established Demon King-class Abyss Demon,
why should he fear one that had only recently been born?
Even if she truly was powerful, once he released the third shackle, he could still deal with her.
The real problem was...
Xue Tianao had no desire to make an enemy of that young lady.
Compared to the one-time System Points earned from killing a Demon King-class existence,
the benefits of obtaining a girl whose value was classified as "Beyond Specification" would far exceed those points.
In short,
his goal was to conquer that young lady.
Unlike those grotesque, horrifying Demon King-class Abyss Demons,
this Demon King was a genuine beautiful girl.
Xue Tianao was brimming with motivation.
Perhaps...
this was just like those classic stories from novels and anime,
where the protagonist conquered the villainous final boss and turned her into an ally.
Heh...
'I'm really looking forward to it.'
Leaning back in his chair, Xue Tianao slowly revealed a smile filled with anticipation.
—
Time returned to the present.
After making up his mind, Xue Tianao came to Noya's magical bookstore, this treasure trove of a place, to purchase a number of rare materials.
Originally, he had intended to conquer the Demon King girl through "normal" means.
Unfortunately,
he soon realized that was unrealistic.
His Eyes of Destiny could perceive the emotions of others and subtly increase the affection of anyone who made eye contact with him.
However,
that power was completely ineffective against Abyss Demons.
In fact, it even produced the opposite effect.
His meeting with Miss Yu the previous night had already proven that.
Because of that,
Miss Yu probably had little favorable impression of him left.
Every time he thought about it, Xue Tianao couldn't help letting out a long sigh, his heart filled with regret.
If only he had been more cautious...
If he had investigated her identity first...
he wouldn't have carelessly used the Eyes of Destiny and ruined her impression of him.
Unfortunately,
there was no medicine for regret in this world.
Since things had already reached this point,
he could only accept reality.
Even so,
the young lady of the Black Rose Family, blessed with peerless beauty and a "Beyond Specification" value, remained irresistibly tempting to Xue Tianao.
There was no way he would simply give up.
No matter what, he intended to try everything possible to win over that black-haired girl.
After all,
weren't many female villains initially hostile toward the protagonist, only to be conquered by him in the end?
And if that truly proved impossible...
he could always kill her later and exchange her for System Points.
Unfortunately,
because Miss Yu's favorability toward him had already fallen so low, coupled with the fact that Abyss Demons naturally despised the divine power within him,
using conventional methods to conquer her no longer seemed realistic.
If that was the case...
then he would simply have to use unconventional methods instead.
Namely,
using the synthesis manual purchased with System Points...
to create that thing.
Looking at the rare materials Noya was placing before him one after another,
the smile on Xue Tianao's face grew increasingly radiant.
Yet beneath that bright smile lurked something chilling.
Noticing the overwhelming desire in Xue Tianao's eyes, the fox lady behind the counter couldn't help slightly furrowing her brows.
However,
the strange look on Noya's face quickly disappeared.
She once again revealed her trademark business smile.
“All done~. Your Majesty Xue Tianao, everything you requested is here. Please have a look. Are you satisfied?”
“Mm! Very satisfied!”
Carefully examining each of the rare materials before him,
Xue Tianao's face was filled with satisfaction.
“Then our deal is complete~.”
“Indeed.”
“Thank you for your patronage, Your Majesty Xue Tianao~.”
Smiling faintly, Noya casually waved her hand.
Accompanied by ripples of platinum-colored magical power,
the mountain of Origin Stone Coins instantly vanished amidst golden light,
compressed and stored within Noya's ring.
Afterward,
the fox lady also revealed a rather pleased smile.
However,
upon seeing that smile,
a trace of gloom quietly surfaced on Xue Tianao's face.
A dangerous glint flickered through his azure-blue eyes.
'This woman...'
She has indeed helped me quite a lot.
But...
every bit of that help was bought with money.
This profiteer seems to be the type who helps whoever pays her.
Refusing to permanently join any one faction...
is probably so she can continue profiting from every side indefinitely.
If one day,
my enemies also came to her with enough money,
this fox would probably help them deal with me as well...
If I still can't make her one of my own in the future...
then it seems I'll have to start considering...
how to eliminate her.
At that thought,
a chilling killing intent flashed deep within Xue Tianao's azure eyes.
—
At the very moment Xue Tianao and Miss Noya were conducting their transaction,
several young men waited outside the magical bookstore.
They were Xue Tianao's trusted subordinates in disguise,
along with Moxiao, who had painstakingly fled back from the Sadik Empire to deliver his warning.
After waiting for quite some time,
the sturdy brown-haired Toma impatiently crossed his arms.
“Why hasn't His Majesty come out yet? Nothing happened, did it?”
The moment he finished speaking,
Gafei, who had been taking notes while waiting beside him, looked at his colleague speechlessly.
“Come on. His Majesty Xue Tianao is incredibly powerful now. If something really happened, there wouldn't be no resistance at all. Besides, we've come to this shop plenty of times before. Every visit takes a long time. Just be patient.”
After being lectured by Gafei,
Toma said nothing more and quietly leaned against the wall.
Meanwhile,
Gafei shifted his gaze toward the black-haired man who had been pacing back and forth for quite a while.
Watching him continue to wander around,
Gafei frowned.
“Hey, you're Moxiao, right? What's with all the pacing? Stop wandering around already. You're making me dizzy.”
“S-Sorry... I... I really need to use the bathroom...”
“Huh? The bathroom?”
Hearing that,
Gafei rolled his eyes impatiently.
“If you need the bathroom, then go! Why are you pacing around here? There's a restroom right around the corner!”
“Y-Yes... Understood... I'll... I'll go right away!”
After replying nervously,
Moxiao hurriedly ran toward the restroom at the street corner under the strange gazes of Gafei and the others.
In the blink of an eye,
he disappeared from everyone's sight.
Watching him leave,
Gafei let out a long sigh.
“Honestly... why does His Majesty Xue Tianao think so highly of such a timid coward...”
...
Meanwhile,
after rushing into the restroom,
Moxiao, drenched in cold sweat, hurriedly took out a blue magic stone from his spatial ring.
It was a communication magic stone.
After taking several deep breaths,
he nervously activated it.
As blue light rippled outward,
the magnetic voice of a man slowly echoed into Moxiao's ears.
“I knew you were a smart man, Mr. Moxiao.”
The voice was gentle and pleasant,
yet the instant it reached Moxiao's ears,
it filled him with suffocating pressure,
as though his entire body had been tightly grasped by the claws of an Abyss Demon,
leaving him unable to breathe.
Forcing himself to suppress the fear and trembling inside,
Moxiao gathered his courage and spoke.
“Your Grace... I've already done everything you asked... Please... spare my family...”