Chapter 920: A Sudden Midnight Attack
"Something like that."
Malverna ended the conversation with another sip of her tea.
Elina sat there with a blank expression. The story Malverna had just told her was almost too incredible to believe.
She never would have expected Malverna to have once been the Demon Empress, long before Demon Emperor Zerathos.
Even more shocking was the fact that Zerathos had been her disciple and had betrayed her in order to seize her power.
"No wonder the demon race declared war on humanity and the other races... It turns out it was all because of the power-hungry Demon Emperor Zerathos," Elina muttered with a long sigh.
Come to think of it, it all made sense. According to the historical records Elina had come across in the library, before the era of Demon Emperor Zerathos, the demon race was never described as aggressive or prone to mindless attacks.
At the time, Elina hadn’t believed them. After all, those records stood in stark contrast to what was commonly written about the demon race.
But after hearing Malverna’s story, she felt those historical records were most likely true.
She sipped her tea as the occasional rumble of thunder echoed outside.
"After you were resurrected, Demon Emperor Zerathos died, and the demon race has been without a leader ever since. Don’t you want to reclaim your right to lead the demon race?" Elina asked.
Malverna smiled mockingly.
"I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to. But..."
She turned toward the window, a look of nostalgia and sadness clearly visible in her eyes.
"The demon race has been isolated for over a thousand years. They are a race without a home or a leader, so they’ve naturally developed an individualistic nature. Even if I forced them to submit, it would be pointless. I wouldn’t be able to earn their full trust."
What Zerathos did not only harm humanity and the other races in this world, but the demon race as well.
They had friends and family, and all of them had to die in the final battle against the two human heroes.
It could be said that the demon race now harbored hatred toward their former leader. Because of that, Malverna didn’t want to act selfishly and try to rebuild the demon race.
It was better to just let everything that had happened remain in the past.
Elina was impressed by her words. She could sense that Malverna was being sincere.
Malverna clearly had the power to do it, but she simply didn’t want to.
"I understand. Then, how did you come to meet the Singularity of Chaos?"
Malverna paused for a moment before answering in a slightly annoyed tone.
"Your brother—"
Before she could finish, Elina suddenly interrupted in surprise.
"My brother?"
Malverna: "..."
She quickly pressed her lips together, steadied her racing breath, and cleared her throat.
"Ahem! I mean, the Singularity of Chaos is the one who saved me."
Elina furrowed her brow. She wasn’t sure whether Malverna had simply misspoken or not.
The next moment, she pushed the thought out of her mind. The possibility that Malverna had simply misspoken was far more likely.
How could her brother, who was as lazy as a salted fish, possibly be the Singularity of Chaos?
That made absolutely no sense.
"Saved you? How?"
"Back then, I was only a remnant of my spirit after Igris destroyed my body. Then the Singularity of Chaos saved me and helped me rebuild my body. And after that..."
Elina listened to every word with immense interest. After hearing the whole story, her admiration for the Singularity of Chaos grew even stronger.
"Your encounter was truly unique," Elina chuckled.
Malverna rolled her eyes. If only Elina knew that the Singularity of Chaos was her brother... If only she knew that Malverna had actually been forced and threatened by Nolan... Malverna was certain Elina wouldn’t have said that.
But Malverna had no intention of telling her everything in detail because of the promise she had made to Nolan.
Elina sat up straight, her spirits lifted.
She was about to speak when Malverna, who was sitting across from her, suddenly stood up and swung her right hand toward the window.
Boom!
A massive explosion rang out from outside. At the same time, the entire estate shook violently.
Elina froze before hurriedly standing up.
"What’s going on!?" she asked anxiously.
The explosion had been so massive and so close that it felt as though it had happened right outside the window.
Malverna’s relaxed expression turned cold as she stared intently at the darkness beyond the rain-soaked window.
"An enemy is attacking. The target is most likely you and everyone in this mansion."
She clenched her right fist.
Outside, a giant fireball ten meters in diameter was suddenly swallowed by an invisible barrier before disappearing completely.
"Go to Rafine’s place and tell all the servants that we’re under attack."
Malverna stretched her stiff body.
"Let me handle this."
Whoosh!
Her figure vanished from sight.
...
"Tch... Failed, huh?" The man wearing the red demon mask muttered, shaking his head.
But the expression beneath his mask remained calm, as if he had expected this.
He turned toward the man in the black cloak who had earlier eaten the flesh of the Golden-Scaled Snake King inside the cave.
"Let’s put the plan into action. You’ll storm the mansion while I hold off the Singularity of Chaos’s minions. Understand?"
"I-I... Understand!" the man replied nervously, his voice trembling.
The man in the red demon mask tugged at his collar before leaping down and disappearing from sight.
...
The devastating attack from the giant fireball inevitably woke everyone who had been sleeping in the lord’s mansion.
The servants hurriedly evacuated to the basement, while the guards immediately formed a horizontal line in front of the mansion.
Boom!
The rain grew heavier, and terrifying blue lightning flashed across the sky every few minutes.
The atmosphere was tense, as if something terrible was about to happen.
"Hey, look!" a soldier shouted, pointing ahead.
Everyone turned and stared in the direction he was pointing.
A man was slowly walking toward them. He was short and wore a black cloak that covered most of his body.
Only his head was clearly visible. His face was ugly, almost hideous. The right side of his face was purplish-black, with slightly sagging skin.
His right eye was pitch-black, with a terrifying red pupil that glowed under the flashes of lightning.
"R-Raise your weapons!" Luvistar shouted.
Everyone raised their weapons and assumed fighting stances.
The man in the black cloak seemed completely indifferent to their reaction. A grin slowly spread across his terrifying face as he muttered, "So much food... Hehehe... I can’t wait to taste it all..."