Chapter 129: Betrayal
Gareth asked. He was especially concerned about one particularly important guest whose attendance had already been confirmed earlier, and he wanted to know if anything had changed.
Leonis glanced at him and replied, "Yes... there are a few changes."
Leonis continued, "As all of you already know, originally only Lady Aurora — the younger sister of the Elf Emperor was scheduled to attend the tournament in his place.
She has always disliked gatherings of this nature, yet she had still agreed to come on insistence of her brother.
The moment the name "Lady Aurora" was spoken, a vivid image of a breathtaking elven woman instantly formed in everyone’s mind.
Although almost no one had ever seen her face — not even her own brother, and only a handful of female elves from her kingdom had been allowed that privilege — her figure alone was said to be breathtaking.
She was a cold and untouchable beauty who would not hesitate to kill any man who looked at her with impure thoughts.
On top of that, her strength was said to stand on the same level as the Emperors of the continents... meaning she had already surpassed the ordinary Emperor Realm.
Even Alaric, a man who normally devoted himself only to his goddess, seemed momentarily lost in thought.
Seeing that everyone had fallen into a daze, Leonis clapped his hands firmly to regain their attention. "Everyone, stop daydreaming and pay attention!"
The others quickly snapped out of their thoughts. Leonis let out a quiet sigh before continuing.
faint trace of embarrassment appeared on the faces of all four men. Even Leonis himself was not immune to Lady Aurora’s legendary beauty,
but he possessed enough self-control to remain focused on such an important matter. Ignoring their slightly awkward expressions, he continued speaking.
"From the Elf Continent, Lady Aurora will still be attending, accompanied by a few of her attendants.
From the Beast-Folk Continent, the Beast-Folk Emperor himself will be coming, along with several candidates they have already selected for the secret realm."
As the four men learned that the Beastfolk Emperor himself would be attending, they were left stunned. It was incredibly rare for an emperor to personally attend such an event,
and it hadn’t happened in the previous tournament—or even for many tournaments before that. However, what they heard next shocked them even more.
"As for the Dragon Continent... this is rather surprising. They rarely involve themselves with the rest of the world, yet this time the youngest brother of the Dragon Emperor will be attending.
Regarding the Phoenix Continent, the Phoenix Empress will not be coming due to her own affairs. In her place, her daughter will attend."
Leonis’s expression grew more serious as he looked at everyone present.
"As you can all see, this event has become far more important than usual. It has been a very long time since every continent agreed to send representatives at the same time. Because of that,
we cannot afford any shortcomings in our hospitality... and more importantly, we cannot show even the slightest vulnerability during this period.
I ask all of you to ensure that security is raised to the highest possible level. We must not allow any evil organizations — or even low-ranking demons — to disturb such a critical event."
"Don’t worry, Your Majesty," Albert said respectfully. "Our Order’s Supreme Leaders have already commanded us to remain on high alert.
Together with the Holy Knights and the royal guards, we will not allow anything to disrupt such an important event."
Leonis gave a small nod of approval.
"Your Majesty, if I may ask..." Alaric spoke carefully, "why are guests from every continent attending this time? This has not happened in many previous tournaments."
"Yes," Lucien added in a demanding tone. "Tell us everything. Did the Human Emperor inform you of all these changes?"
It was clear he disliked how the Human Emperor seemed to favor Leonis — especially after the recent failure in Aureth while keeping the other kings in the dark.
"Indeed," Gareth agreed. "Since this concerns the pride of the entire human race, and even though the tournament is being held in your kingdom, we still need to know every detail so that we can give it our utmost effort."
Leonis let out a quiet sigh.
"Yes. The Human Emperor himself informed me of all the changes regarding the guests. Now that all of you know everything... we have a little over three weeks left before the tournament begins. I trust you all understand what needs to be done."
Although both Gareth and Lucien disliked Leonis taking such a commanding tone, they could only grit their teeth and accept it. After all, these were the direct orders of the Human Emperor.
Leonis’s expression grew even more serious as he added one final warning.
"And one more thing. Make sure to thoroughly warn every man in your kingdoms — including yourselves — not to even think anything improper about Lady Aurora. I will be doing the same in my own kingdom."
He paused, letting the weight of his next words settle.
"We do not want to witness her wrath... and even more so, we do not want to face the wrath of the Human Emperor, the Dragon Emperor, and the Beast Emperor. All three of them are madly in love with her."
The four men instinctively gulped. None of them wanted to imagine the consequences of such a disaster. They simply nodded in silence.
"With that, this meeting is concluded. I will see you all again soon."
As soon as Leonis finished speaking, the mana projections flickered and disappeared, bringing the secret meeting to an end.
Leonis leaned back into his comfortable chair and muttered under his breath,
"Sigh... I hope those fuckers don’t make any mistakes."
....
Far away from the capital of Aureth, in the western region of the human continent near one of the Abyss Gates, lay a vast and dense forest filled with powerful demonic beasts. This place was known as the Abyssal Entrance.
Within the forest, Demon Generals Azren and Voren stood waiting for someone.
Suddenly, a man appeared before them. It was Number 100.
"What news have you brought, 100?" Azren asked, his voice already carrying clear annoyance.
"My lord... our forces have searched the entire kingdom. There are no traces of the heart or that boy’s body," Number 100 reported carefully, already sensing Azren’s killing intent beginning to rise.
"And what about the other members under your command... as well as those we planted within the forces of the other Demon Lords?"
Number 100 visibly trembled. This was the true reason he had come, and he wasn’t sure whether he would leave this place alive after delivering the report. Still, he knew that hiding anything would only guarantee his death.
"We were not certain at first... but after the battle, we reached a conclusion. Many of the Blood Moon Cult members who were supposedly under your command had actually been planted by the other Demon Lords."
Crack—!
The sound of bones shattering echoed through the air as Azren’s killing intent flared violently. Azren clenched his fists so tightly that the bones in his knuckles shattered from the sheer force of his rage.
However, they regenerated almost instantly thanks to his demonic regeneration. The sight only made 100 tremble even more. At that moment, he was certain that he was going to die.
"After the battle, those traitors entered the Abyss through a portal created by two Demon Lords. That bastard Number 110 and others had long been their informant. Fortunately... he never learned of the Lords’ true location, or he would have revealed it."
The surrounding space trembled under the weight of Azren’s intense killing intent. Even the nearby demonic beasts fled in terror.
Number 100 forced himself to finish the report.
"As of now... only a few Blood Moon Cult members remain who are still truly loyal to the Lords."
Azren slowly turned his cold gaze toward the trembling man.
"And why," he asked in a chillingly calm voice, "should I believe a single word you say? You just admitted that almost all of you insects were traitors from the very beginning.
"For all I know... you could be one as well."
Number 100 looked up desperately and began to speak.
"No, my lor—"
BOOM!
Before he could finish even a single word, Azren’s hand shot forward and crushed his head like a rotten fruit. The impact was so violent that the surrounding trees shook from the shockwave.
Azren didn’t even give him the chance to plead or explain — he simply killed him as if swatting an insect.
Behind him, Voren let out a heavy sigh. He fully understood his brother’s rage. Nearly everyone they had trusted had betrayed them.
From this point onward, they could only rely on themselves if they wanted to recover their Lord’s heart once more.
Azren’s killing intent continued to rise without restraint. His voice exploded through the forest like a thunderclap as he roared with pure, unrestrained fury:
"I’LL MAKE YOU PAY!"
"I’LL MAKE EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU BASTARDS PAY!!!"
**
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