0126 Lancelot

A middle-aged demon beast in a blue robe, maintaining a human form, knelt on one knee beside Lance and loudly proclaimed his identity in his direction.

Lance heard him, yet showed little reaction. Nothing seemed to have fallen outside his expectations. He slowly extended his hand. The wound on his arm had long since healed through his formidable constitution, leaving not even a scar behind. His fingers closed tightly around the black scepter. Upon its crown, a black dragon symbolizing the supreme power of the demon race snarled with its jaws spread wide, as though it meant to devour everything before it.

“Second Prince of the Demon Race—Lancelot Egan! For the sake of our people’s century-long endeavor to restore the nation, he endured humiliation and bore heavy burdens, disguising himself among humanity for decades to deliver intelligence to our army and seek opportunities for battle. Now that the war has ended, not only have we mastered the secret art of entering a berserk state at will, but Acacia has also returned to the dominion of our people. This is all thanks to our Second Prince—the glory of our demon race!”

The middle-aged demon beast in human form gazed at Lance with fanatic fervor. His deep, resonant voice, charged with barely restrained excitement, trembled with emotion and moved the heart.

The demon beasts kneeling on one knee around him, stimulated both by his impassioned declaration and by the victory in war, had already begun worshiping Lance as though he were a god. In unison, they prostrated themselves upon the ground.

“We respectfully welcome the Second Prince home!”

Their thunderous oath resounded across the heavens, the shock waves of their unified voices carrying more than a hundred meters away. The demons’ powerful cries made Momo feel the rubble beside her continuously sifting down. A haze of dust enveloped her completely, while the room’s constant trembling announced the important fact that although the building appeared intact from the outside, it was already dangerously uninhabitable.

Even so, Momo had no intention of moving. Her entire being had fallen into a state of spiritual emptiness as she stared blankly out the window. She could feel no pain, hear no sound, and see no image. The only thing still functioning was her brain, working tirelessly.

“It’s simple. I only want the magic core in your hand.”

“I told you, don’t let me see you again.”

“Enter Acacia as soon as possible, help Liangyin find what she’s looking for, chat with Huanluo, find a suitable place to settle down, get married, have children, and die. Perfect.”

“I don’t think so. I can smell an aura on you that doesn’t belong to this world.”

“So why exactly are we out shopping? Spending money on something so exhausting and thankless is the worst. Sob, sob.”

“Don’t all girls like shopping?”

“If this is a welcome banquet, what else are we supposed to do besides eat?”

“You don’t even know the standard ballroom dances?”

“Xiakui suspects there’s a spy among these people, and Lance is the most suspicious.”

“Come with me!”

Everything connected to Momo’s meeting with Lance played through her mind like a grotesque series of satirical cartoons projected in rapid succession. The past he had always been unwilling to discuss, his immense power, his effortless mastery of aristocratic etiquette, and finally that ambiguous statement—“If that is what you wish, then I will go with you.”

How many secrets had been hidden within those details she had deliberately ignored all this time? She no longer had the strength to investigate. The smiling face of the boy in her memories twisted into something monstrous, becoming a sharp blade that drove viciously into her spine.

Yet Momo did not even have the strength to cry out. Her eyes, hidden beneath her heavy bangs, revealed no emotion. Only two faint trails of water slipped down her cheeks, gathered into droplets at her chin, and slowly fell into the air.

So it turned out I had guessed neither the beginning nor the ending, Momo thought.

At first, I thought this was a tale of survival in another world. After staying there for a while, I discovered it was actually a family-ethics farce. Then the plot suddenly turned into a passionate youthful adventure story. Just as I had prepared myself for adventure, it made another sharp turn and became a fresh, romantic love story. When I was finally ready to resign myself to living that way, fate still played one last trick on me.

This was obviously an undercover-agent thriller all along, damn it!

Yet no matter what Momo was thinking on this side of the window, or how long she thought it, time continued to flow in the world outside. After their excitement had subsided, the demon beasts finally had time to turn their attention toward the Acacian army that had surrendered.

At the front of the soldiers stood the aged General Girod, together with Andy, who had not managed to withdraw from the battlefield. Like Lance, General Girod wore an icy expression that revealed nothing, but his faintly trembling shoulders accurately displayed the grief and fury raging within him.

Andy, on the other hand, made no effort to conceal the mockery on his face as he looked at Lance. His eyes were cold, the corner of his mouth lifted in a disdainful smile, and even his posture was slouched carelessly to one side. He looked nothing like a general who had lost a war and been forced to surrender. Instead, he resembled a creditor’s chief who had come to collect a debt from Lance.

The soldiers standing behind Andy and General Girod stared at Lance in utter disbelief. Some of them had fought alongside him on the battlefield. Some had heard of Lance’s glorious exploits when he stormed the imperial palace. Some had even silently regarded him as their own goal and ideal. They had never seen a mage as capable in close combat as Lance.

When rumors had spread through the army that Lance might be a spy, the soldiers had divided into two factions and argued furiously. Yet even at the height of the dispute, they had only suspected that Lance was a spy sent by Kerenia. None of them had ever imagined that this formidable mage, who had fought and killed alongside them, was actually a descendant of the demon-beast royal family.

And yet the most impossible supposition had become reality.

“If Momo saw you like this, what would she think?” Andy was the one who broke the silent standoff of mutual glares. Seated in his wheelchair, he fixed Lance with a sideways glance that practically begged to be punched. “Or does she actually know that you’re descended from demon beasts and has been helping you keep it secret all along?”

Lance stared coldly at Andy but had no intention of answering. The middle-aged demon beast in the blue robe standing beside him slowly straightened and narrowed his eyes at Andy with dangerous intent.

“Is this how you humans behave when surrendering?”

“Oh, my apologies. That last question was directed at Lance, but he doesn’t seem to be here.” Andy finally put away his irritating expression and replaced it with an official, solemn demeanor. “In that case, I offer my deepest apologies to His Highness Lancelot Egan. You look so much like a friend of mine named Lance that I couldn’t help asking those two little questions. I sincerely hope Your Highness will be magnanimous and not take offense at my conduct.”

Having said this, Andy made a very solemn effort to bow in Lancelot Egan’s direction, as though his words just now had truly been spoken without malicious intent.