"Hahahahaha!!"
Even after returning to the castle, Suzume was still clutching her stomach and laughing nonstop. Shizuka beside her was also struggling to hold it in, while Magiko was doing a bit better—mainly because she was more reserved and didn't dare provoke Duanmu Huai.
After all, anyone with eyes could tell that Duanmu Huai's expression right now wasn't exactly pleasant.
"Still not done laughing?"
"Come on, this is way too funny! That demon actually mistook you for a Demon King… hahaha…"
As she said this, Suzume couldn't even help clenching her fist and pounding it against the wall, while Shizuka turned her head away, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Seeing their reactions, Duanmu Huai could only helplessly roll his eyes.
This obviously wasn't something Duanmu Huai had told them himself—Suzume had seen it with her own eyes. Now that she was serving Duanmu Huai as a ninja, she basically stayed hidden nearby, constantly monitoring the surroundings to ensure his safety and to warn him if anything unexpected happened.
This was actually quite normal. Suzume was a genius ninja, but not a genius warrior. Letting her handle assassination, infiltration, and intelligence gathering was fine, but throwing her into head-on battles like Samurai Warriors would be pushing it. So when Duanmu Huai went looking for the demon, Suzume stayed hidden nearby—and ended up witnessing the entire process from start to finish.
Duanmu Huai wouldn't talk about it much, but Suzume had no such reservations. After she went back and told Shizuka and Magiko about it…
Honestly, being mistaken for a Demon King by a demon was pretty funny to begin with. And considering that Shizuka and Magiko had fought alongside Duanmu Huai during the demon invasion of Seth, the comparison just made it even more ridiculous.
From a certain angle, Duanmu Huai really was fiercer than most demons. As for Demon Kings… they hadn't seen one, but someone more terrifying than a demon being called a Demon King didn't seem that strange either.
There wasn't much Duanmu Huai could do about it, so he just let them laugh. He wasn't the type who demanded his subordinates keep straight faces all the time, and he actually quite appreciated Suzume's personality. To be honest, the only people around him who dared to be so casual were Bambi and Suzume. Everyone else was at least a bit more restrained—partly out of habit, and partly because Duanmu Huai looked both fierce and stern. When he smiled, he looked like a chainsaw-wielding serial killer, so people generally didn't dare joke around with him.
Bambi felt more like a little sister to Duanmu Huai, while Suzume was more like a bad-influence friend. It could be a bit annoying, but a bit of ribbing didn't really hurt.
Especially for Duanmu Huai, this kind of teasing was actually rather rare.
After killing Demon King Nobunaga, Duanmu Huai's task was considered complete. The demonic army scattered in all directions and vanished without a trace. Now, only the Asakura clan, the Uesugi clan, and the Hōjō clan remained in O.J—from warring states to a three-way standoff.
Of course, rebuilding O.J would be extremely difficult, but that wasn't Duanmu Huai's concern.
"Darling, you're back!!!"
Just as Duanmu Huai and the others returned to the castle, they heard a sharp cry, followed by Lia sprinting over and throwing herself straight into Duanmu Huai's arms.
"Are you okay?"
"What could possibly happen to me?"
"That's good, then."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's reply, Lia nodded happily, then turned her head toward her attendant.
"I already know the situation in O.J. Send representatives there immediately and tell them that Lias is willing to assist with reconstruction—but on the condition that O.J must become a vassal state of Lias."
When issuing the order, Lia showed none of her lovestruck demeanor in front of Duanmu Huai. Instead, she looked like a proper queen—forceful and domineering. After all, the Asakura, Uesugi, and Hōjō clans were all prestigious daimyō families in O.J, but in Lia's eyes, they were nothing special.
That was only natural. The president of the United States wouldn't care about the feelings of African tribal chiefs.
"Yes."
The attendant nodded, accepted the order, and left. Only then did Lia return to her lovestruck mode, smiling as she once again dove into Duanmu Huai's arms.
"Darling, what exactly is going on between you and the AL Church? They've started putting out bounties on you!"
"They're putting a bounty on me?"
Hearing Lia say this, Duanmu Huai froze.
What the hell? I didn't even go looking for trouble with them, and they dare come looking for trouble with me?
Oh? Is that so? Not only are they not running away, they're actually walking straight toward me?
Looking to get beaten, huh?
Thankfully, Lia didn't play riddles. She pulled Duanmu Huai into her room, had him sit down, and explained the situation.
In short, a few days ago, while Duanmu Huai was still in O.J, the AL Church suddenly issued a call, declaring that the Inquisition was heretical and must be purged. They announced that Duanmu Huai—the Inquisition's adjudicator—was to be arrested, and demanded cooperation from all nations.
Naturally, Lia was extremely unhappy about this. King Gandhi of Seth wasn't pleased either. No matter what, Duanmu Huai was a hero who had saved both nations. Now the AL Church was asking them to help arrest him—this was outrageous. Although the AL Church indeed had enormous influence among the populace, neither Lia nor King Gandhi were weak-willed rulers. One sentence summed it up: I'm not helping you. What are you going to do about it?
In other matters, the AL Church could still stir up popular sentiment, but the problem was that the citizens of Seth and Lias—and even the people of the Free Cities Alliance—had all been saved by Duanmu Huai. As a result, they weren't particularly enthusiastic about the AL Church's call.
On the contrary, the Herman Kingdom was extremely invested, practically rubbing their hands together, eager to take the lead and send troops to wipe out Duanmu Huai and the Inquisition.
"So what do you think, darling? Why don't Seth and I just join forces and wipe out Herman!"
When Herman was mentioned, Lia gritted her teeth. The grudge between Lias and Herman was less than a year old and still fresh in her mind. Being able to take revenge while the opportunity presented itself would be perfect.
Among the three major nations on the continent, both Seth and Lias had longstanding grudges against Herman. After the fall of the Holy Demon Cult, Herman established the first great unified human empire. But later, rampant corruption and oppression caused internal unrest. Eventually, Lias's ancestors raised the banner of rebellion, took to the mountains, and forcibly broke away from Herman to establish Lias.
Meanwhile, Seth's mages were also dissatisfied with Herman's high-pressure policies, which ultimately led them to migrate and establish a nation belonging to mages.
Because of this, Herman hated Lias and Seth, and the latter two likewise couldn't stand Herman. Old grudges and new hatreds piled up endlessly, and neither side would mind fighting another war.
Especially for Queen Lia of Lias—if she could personally wage war against Herman and march all the way to their capital, it would finally avenge the humiliation inflicted by Prince Barton's surprise attack on Lias back then.
Lia was very vindictive.
"I see. But why did the AL Church suddenly decide to mess with me?"
"I'm not too sure about that either. I heard it has something to do with the election of the Pope."
"Election of the Pope??"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai couldn't help but freeze.
Go elect your damn Pope properly—what does my Inquisition have to do with it?
And you dare come looking for trouble with me? Are you tired of living?
Meanwhile, inside the royal palace of Langue, the capital of Herman, two people were meeting in secret.
"Many thanks for your strong support this time, Chancellor Stisser."
The portly middle-aged man with golden hair, dressed in white holy robes, smiled as he looked at the bespectacled man before him, who appeared refined and elegant. The latter was none other than the Chancellor of the Herman Kingdom—and its current de facto ruler—Chancellor Stisser.
"No need for courtesy, Bishop Oz."
Facing the bishop's thanks, Chancellor Stisser gave a slight nod.
"We too share an irreconcilable blood feud with the Inquisition. Their adjudicator killed the imperial prince of the Herman Kingdom. Such brutal behavior demands a response."
"Hehehe…"
Hearing Stisser's reply, Bishop Oz smiled faintly, though his eyes were clouded with gloom.
In truth, this campaign to expel and arrest Duanmu Huai had been initiated by Bishop Oz himself.
Duanmu Huai couldn't understand why the AL Church was targeting him, but in fact, the AL Church had been watching him for a long time.
On the surface, the AL Church was a religion that worshiped the goddess Alice and claimed to protect humanity. But in reality, they also bore another extremely important mission—eliminating or sealing any existence that disrupted the balance.
And from the AL Church's perspective, Duanmu Huai—who had consecutively killed the former Demon King Jill and several demons—along with the Inquisition behind him, had clearly already affected the balance of power on the continent. Similar proposals had existed for a long time, but the previous Pope had rejected them.
Now, with the old Pope dead and a new one to be elected, Duanmu Huai was once again chosen by the AL Church.
The reason was actually very simple.
One of the conditions in the papal election was assessing each candidate's likelihood of becoming Pope. Factors influencing this probability included performing good deeds, serving humanity, serving the AL Church—and naturally, sealing entities that disrupted the balance.
Bishop Oz was one of the candidates qualified to compete for the position of the next Pope. As such, he set his sights on Duanmu Huai. Within the AL Church, Duanmu Huai had long been deemed the most dangerous balance-disrupting existence on the continent. If he could be captured or sealed, Bishop Oz's score would skyrocket, and his ascension as the next Pope would be all but guaranteed.
However, Bishop Oz was also well aware that Duanmu Huai and the Inquisition wielded significant influence within Lias and Seth, so he turned to Herman.
As for Chancellor Stisser's claim of having a feud with Duanmu Huai, Bishop Oz paid it no mind at all. He was well aware of Herman's internal political struggles. If Duanmu Huai hadn't killed Prince Barton in Lias, the Princess faction likely wouldn't have been able to seize victory. From this perspective, Chancellor Stisser should have been throwing Duanmu Huai a banquet in gratitude—how could there be any deep-seated hatred?
Nevertheless, Bishop Oz proposed an exchange: if Herman was willing to help, the AL Church would assist Herman in stabilizing domestic order. After all, following Prince Barton's death, Princess Sheila ascended the throne as Herman's new empress—but in reality, she was merely a puppet, with true power firmly in Chancellor Stisser's hands.
Naturally, this situation sparked significant opposition and protests within Herman, even leading to rebellions.
If the AL Church stepped in, it would greatly help Herman stabilize public sentiment.
And Chancellor Stisser was also keen to do Bishop Oz a favor, so that when the latter eventually ascended to the papacy, Herman could maintain closer ties with the AL Church.
Thus, the two sides quickly reached an agreement.
"I hear that Seth and Lias are planning to form a coalition to oppose Herman. From that perspective, aren't you worried?"
"Of course not."
Hearing Bishop Oz's words, Chancellor Stisser sneered.
"Lias is a weak little country, and Seth has only just recovered from the demon invasion. They're not worth mentioning at all. If they dare stand in front of Herman's great army, we'll wipe them out together!"
As he spoke, Stisser raised his wine glass.
"Then that day will mark the moment Herman reunifies the world once again!"
(End of Chapter)