Chapter 1357: Chapter 915: Handling the Aftermath

“You’re finally back, Mr. Knight!”

Stepping out of the airlock, Duanmu Huai was greeted by an elated Ann who pounced and hugged him.

“What on earth happened? Why did a planet suddenly appear out there? If Mary hadn’t spotted it early and suggested we take a look, we wouldn’t have found out you guys had run off there. There shouldn’t have been a planet there to begin with… Hmm…”

As he spoke, Ann glanced at Duanmu Huai, then at Ogis and Zhenjiling, and proceeded to circle around Duanmu Huai.

“Just the three of you? Mr. Knight?”

“What’s the problem?”

“You didn’t bring someone back with you? How many did you bring?”

“Bring a ghost.”

Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes.

“What are you talking about?”

“YEAH—-!”

The result was Mary’s cheerful shout upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s answer.

“I won!”

“Eh? I can’t believe I really lost.”

“How could this be, I thought…”

“Wait, I bet with Mary too, I have a stake in this.”

“Hurry up, hurry up, ten-to-one payoff, ten-to-one!”

Watching the excited Mary and Lumiaire standing beside her, and the gloomy girls taking money out of their pockets across, Duanmu Huai was baffled.

“What the hell? What are you guys doing?”

“Ahahaha… It’s nothing much, really.”

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s inquiry, Ann laughed and stuck out her tongue.

“We were just betting on how many girls you, Mr. Knight, would bring back this time… I really didn’t expect you wouldn’t bring back any at all.”

“Yeah!”

Hearing this, everyone else started complaining.

“I bet on three.”

“I bet on ten.”

“I bet on fifty…”

“Who? Who bet on fifty? Stand up!”

At this, Duanmu Huai’s brow furrowed and he glared, and seeing the glare directed at themselves, the girls scattered in fright, giggling and running away.

“Really nothing better to do, huh…”

Watching the crowd disperse, Duanmu Huai helplessly rolled his eyes and then looked at Ann in front of him.

“What about you? Which side did you bet on?”

“Hehehe, I was the bookie!”

“So you’re the main culprit!”

Grabbing Ann’s ear, Duanmu Huai rubbed it hard until it turned red and Ann pleaded for mercy before he let her go.

“Forget it, I’ll deal with you later. First, we need to sort out the trouble with this planet, hmm… I must say, the power of this planet is quite interesting… I’ll explain it to you in detail later.”

Duanmu Huai still remembered his mission, so he made his way to the command center.

“First, lock onto this coordinate, let’s see how that group of adventurers is doing.”

What Duanmu Huai was first concerned about, naturally, was whether the Demon King had been eliminated. In fact, the reason why he wanted the adventurers of this world to vanquish the Demon King instead of doing it himself also came from Duanmu Huai’s considerations. On the one hand, aside from needing targets to practice his Destruction Magic, on the other hand, if the Demon King were truly a follower of the Cunning Deception, he wouldn’t have been so easily killed.

In case being defeated by adventurers was part of the Demon King’s plan, acting by himself would only spook the enemy. Hence, Duanmu Huai silently operated in the background, leaving the task to the local adventurers while he mowed down the fields with his Musou power.

Of course, if they were truly hopeless, then Duanmu Huai, having no other choice, would have to act himself… Oh, they actually did it.

Seeing the Hero, looking refreshed and raising the Holy Sword on the balcony of the Demon King Palace, amidst other adventurers who looked quite disheveled, Duanmu Huai nodded his head.

To be honest, he hadn’t expected them to really succeed in killing the Demon King, but the fact was that the Hero and his companions did manage to defeat the Demon King… It has to be said, this Hero was quite impressive. But that’s normal; otherwise, what would make him a Hero?

“Conduct a Bird Divination Tool scan here to make sure there are no problems, then retract it.”

“Roger that, Commander.”

Lumiaire nodded and began operating the control panel–Hmm, she and Mary are good kids. Out of everyone, only the two of them bet that I wouldn’t bring anyone back. That’s trust.

…Wait a second, does this mean that Greiya and Lorena, they all bet that I would bring girls back?

Damn, where is the trust between people!?

Forget it, I’ll deal with them later.

After scanning the entire Demon King Palace and confirming there were no abnormal subspace fluctuations, Duanmu Huai then shifted his direction to check on the situation in Paretia Kingdom.

“Wow– this is really terrible.”

Although he had anticipated it, the sight of the Royal City burning with flames, emitting thick smoke, and in complete chaos still surprised Duanmu Huai. He had guessed the situation in the Royal City would be complicated, but for it to be this severe was truly speechless–fortunately, as Duanmu Huai turned the camera toward the castle, he saw Prince Yar of Algard directing soldiers to repair the demolished walls and streets. For the moment, it seemed that order was being restored. Of course, a detailed analysis of the specific situation was still needed, but before that…

“Zhenjiling.”

“Yes, big brother.”

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s summon, Zhenjiling hurriedly ran to his side and handed over the bird divination tool.

“Collection complete.”

“Good.”

Duanmu Huai nodded, then inserted the bird divination tool into the control panel. After pressing a few buttons instrumentally, soon, the soul fluctuations and magic power reactions from inside the bird divination tool rapidly appeared on this planet.

“What is this, Mr. Knight?”

“This planet is inhabited by beings known as the Demon Clan, which although resembling humans, actually belong to a subspace species… Lumiaire, scanner the entire planet based on these fluctuations as the benchmark, then mark all places where the Demon Clan’s life fluctuations are found, dispatch the Night Guard to purify them!”

“Understood, Judge.”

“Next….”

Duanmu Huai rubbed his eyebrows and then looked at Zhenjiling.

“Zhenjiling, contact the Star Union.”

“Eh? Do we need to contact them?”

“Of course. This star territory falls under the jurisdiction of the Star Union. We’ll need to see what the Star Union thinks about the subsequent plans for this planet, right?”

Duanmu Huai also felt helplessness. Generally, planets within the Star Union’s borders are already fully developed. Not to mention, their cultural levels would definitely be comparable.

However, this planet was an exception. That barrier set up by the Demon King caused the entire planet to be completely isolated, and it had never been discovered. This led to the planet being in a rather awkward and dangerous position. On one hand, it’s undoubtedly within the Star Union’s territory. On the other, its evolutionary cultural level hasn’t reached a point where it can recognize extraterrestrial worlds.

You can’t just ignore the situation. Even if the Star Union doesn’t bother, those Cosmic Pirates are enough to be a nuisance.

“As for that, I’ll handle it. Find a time to talk with Yar of Algard… then the negotiations with the Star Union are up to you.”

“Okay, big brother.”

After inquiring with Ann, and learning that everything was as usual at the Tribunal, Duanmu Huai quickly changed course and headed for the Paretia Royal City.

The guard responsible for the gate naturally recognized Duanmu Huai. After seeing him, he immediately reported, and soon Duanmu Huai saw Prince Algard sitting on the throne in the Throne Room, with a worried Enisphia and Yuriya by his side.

“Yo, what happened, have you become the King now?”

“I have not become the King yet, please do not mock me, Sir Judge.”

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s teasing, Algard also gave a bitter smile. Then, he started to explain his and the others’ situation to Duanmu Huai with a bit of complaint.

At that time, Enisphia left the fortress and was the first to return to the Royal City. Precisely because she was the first to go back, she accidentally uncovered a conspiracy by high officials from the Magic Department. The Elf Magicians completely corrupted by the Magic Elves were planning to use His Majesty the King, Queen Consort, the Duke, and others as a sacrifice to transform the entire Royal City into an Elf realm; the ritual had already started at the time.

Fortunately, Enisphia arrived in time, saving the King and others. Afterward, she hid everyone in the slum areas. Over the next few days, relying on her experience of always running around the streets, Enisphia led the King and the rest to evade capture by the Magic Department’s pursuers.

Originally, the King and the Duke were also skilled Elf Magicians, but just like Lumiere, they were unable to use Elf Magic and could only barely hang on.

Fortunately, just as Enisphia was about to give in, Algard led his troops and timely fought their way back into the Royal City. Soon enough, a direct confrontation broke out. Although the Kingdom Army was numerically superior and powerful, the strength of the Magic Elves from the Magic Department was truly terrifying. Despite eventually pushing back the Magic Department to the Temple, the Kingdom Army also suffered heavy losses.

Subsequently, Lumiere volunteered to brave through the defense line and activated the Rose Rosary that Duanmu Huai left for Algard in the center of the Temple. The God of Destruction’s Divine Power instantly swept through the entire Royal City, eradicating the Magic Elves in one fell swoop.

Those officials of the Magic Department who had grotesquely fused with the Magic Elves naturally met their deaths, and the Great Spirit Lumiere also perished as a result of the contract termination. But regardless, the battle ended with the victory of the Kingdom Army.

Afterwards, Algard and his father had a conversation, and the King eventually agreed to abdicate the throne to Algard early and retire behind the scenes. After all, with the complete annihilation of the Magic Elves, Paretia Kingdom’s history was indeed about to start anew.

At the same time, Algard and Yuriya annulled their engagement and proceeded to engage with a local Priest instead. Their meeting was quite cliche: Algard was gravely injured during the battle with the Magic Department rebels and saved by that Priest, who then took care of him. Feelings grew over time, and given that the Priest also came from a commoner background, Algard eventually proposed to her… If Duanmu Huai had come back a few days earlier, he might have been able to enjoy the engagement banquet.

“Well, that really is wonderful news.”

It must be said, after listening to Algard’s story, Duanmu Huai truly found their side to be quite exciting… with never-ending drama.

However, unfortunately, he didn’t come here to watch the drama.

“I have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news for you, which one would you like to hear?”

“… Let’s go with the good news. I’ve had too much bad news lately; I could use a change of pace.”

“The good news is… the Demon King has been killed.”

“What? Really!?”

Upon hearing this, Algard stood up excitedly, and even Enisphia and Yuriya looked at Duanmu Huai in astonishment. After all, the Demon Clan was the greatest enemy of the Humans in this world, especially for the Northern Paretia Kingdom, facing an existential threat. Now that the Demon King was dead… it meant that Paretia would no longer have to worry about the Demon King Army from the North!

“Was it done by Great Judge yourself?”

“Oh, I didn’t do it myself; I was only responsible for drawing some of their vitality. The Demon King was destroyed by a group of Adventurers, and I think they will be back after a while. In the meantime, the Tribunal will send members to eradicate the Demon Clan, aiming to eliminate their threat as completely as possible.”

“That’s really good news! Then… what’s the bad news?”

“Well… about this bad news… it might be a bit difficult for you to understand…”