Kan had left, but the shock he left behind still lingered.
Drak, lying down, only lifted his head to look at Beal.
The suppressed anger on his face was clear.
“Why didn’t you stop him?”
Without speaking, Beal lowered her gaze, and Drak flinched and lowered his head again.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Drak, your power is useful, but your intelligence is really at the gorilla level. You really couldn’t even recognize where this is, or who the opponent is?”
Drak could not say a word.
Beal’s gaze moved to Aishi, who was awkwardly fiddling with her glasses.
“Aishi, what about you?”
“Y-Yes?”
“That Death Knight named Kan.”
Aishi hesitated for a moment before answering.
“My, my thoughts haven’t changed. If his swordsmanship was sealed, he’s just an ordinary skeleton. If only Drak His Highness could have used his powers, that guy would have been shattered just now.”
“If he was shattered, he would have revived.”
“Of course, being undead…”
Beal shook her head, as if the conversation was pointless, and started walking away.
“It’s natural that undead don’t die, but I’ve never heard of an undead… No, an immortal human.”
Aishi quickly followed and asked,
“What do you mean by an immortal human…?”
“I thought you were smart, but clearly not. Do you really think someone who can use a sword well would create a legend of invincibility?”
“…What? Invincibility? That skeleton?”
Beal said no more.
However, feeling the lingering killing intent where Kan had passed, she murmured.
A clear greed shimmered in her eyes.
“Ha, it reminds me of Robalac. It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted something like that…”
In the airship’s lounge, Lauro was trembling as if shocked.
She had only checked if the Evil Eye, whose memory she had erased, was functioning normally, but she had witnessed something enormous.
“D-Demon, and now Drak His Highness, the tyrant…?”
Kan had just made Drak kneel with a single sword, and even made the Demon Lord Beal retreat.
Who would have dared to expect the word “negotiation” to come from Beal’s mouth?
Lauro, with a complicated mind, recalled the words Kan had said in the past.
Even after his defeat, and even when Kan appeared riding a dragon, she recalled the words he had doubted.
“The founder of the Yurrendel Empire, and the invincible legend.”
If the history of humans that had continued for hundreds of years and the achievements of the first emperor, Carlos, were not distorted, then even with her vast knowledge, she could not explain the existence of Kan.
The ideal monster she had longed for, one who even surpassed the Demon King, was Kan.
“Lauro.”
At that moment, a shadow approached silently from behind.
Startled, Lauro quickly hid the Evil Eye.
“You look like something’s wrong. What’s going on?”
A middle-aged reaper, wearing a skull-patterned robe, asked.
It was Laiper, the head of the Reaper family, and Lauro’s father.
“…Nothing’s wrong.”
Laiper looked into Lauro’s eyes.
Her eyes, always focused on experiments and emotionless, had recently become blurry, like a lake after rain.
Clearly, something had changed in her psychology.
“The public’s attention may be burdensome, but I believe you will overcome it.”
Laiper spoke in a low voice.
“No matter what, you’re the greatest genius of the Demon Realm and the hope of our family.”
“…”
Lauro did not answer.
In the past, the Reaper family was an assassin family that handled all the dirty work at the request of the Demon Kings.
The Demon Kings, including Laiper, referred to the Reaper family as “corpse hands” and looked down on them.
It was Lauro who had immediately raised the Reaper family to one of the three great monster families.
‘Genius…’
Lauro inwardly laughed in despair.
There was a fact that even her father didn’t know. She wasn’t a genius.
“If I were truly a genius, I wouldn’t have been absorbed in experiments day and night… nor would I have been defeated by a Death Knight…”
Most of all, she would never have felt inferior to the overwhelming talent of the Demon King, who possessed powers beyond compare, nor would she have had the goal of surpassing them.
“By the way, have you considered the Soul Pact matter? I know you don’t intend to follow the Demon King, but this opportunity…”
“Master.”
Lauro interrupted with formal speech.
Laiper narrowed his eyes, and she pointed to the back, adding,
“It seems guests have arrived.”
Behind Laiper, the heads of other noble families, a vampire and a silver fox, were approaching.
Next to them were the heirs of their families, who had been brought to Sky Island in place of guards, standing side by side.
“Oh, it seems you were having an important discussion. I apologize for interrupting.”
“…It’s fine. Please come in.”
Laiper glanced at Lauro and exchanged simple greetings with the other heads.
The elegant fox girl standing next to the head of the Silver Fox Family, the head of the Eunho family, met Lauro’s gaze.
As their eyes met, the fox girl, Roshi, lowered her head first.
Before Lauro had gained prominence, Roshi had been called the top monster prospect, one who was undeniably the best.
Lauro lightly bowed in return, then deliberately ignored Roshi, who was staring at her.
Her mind was already confused by the mention of the Soul Pact from Laiper.
‘You want to make me the Demon King’s concubine? Ha.’
The family hoped that she would form the second Soul Pact with the Demon King of the third rank, Gyle, and gain a royal title.
But that was not the life Lauro desired.
“Monsters can also become kings. Like that dragon… or perhaps the Tyrant King.”
Lauro firmly believed that even monsters could surpass the overwhelming power of the Demon Kings, like the Demon Lord’s abilities, with effort.
If it were truly impossible, she wouldn’t have locked herself in her room and immersed herself in experiments day and night.
When the heads of the families started talking about the Demon King’s council, Lauro spoke.
“Excuse me, but I feel dizzy. I’ll go get some fresh air.”
Before Laiper could give his permission, she quickly left the suffocating space.
Looking at her, Roshi, the fox girl, glanced at her father as if to say she would be back and quietly followed her.
Lauro stood on the airship’s balcony, feeling the cool breeze.
The continent below appeared as small as a dot, with endless green fields stretching out.
Through the silver hair fluttering in the wind, her eyes followed the clouds.
“Ah, right.”
Lauro, intoxicated by the wind and scenery, briefly forgot her purpose, but then it came to mind.
She took out the Evil Eye.
Even after seeing it twice, it was a shocking scene.
Lauro swallowed dryly as she gazed into the scene within the memory.
“This… It would be better to erase this, right?”
A monster who severed Drak’s precious part and raised a sword against the Demon King.
If this spread, she couldn’t even imagine the kind of impact it would have on the entire Demon Realm.
Just as she was about to erase the memory…
“What are you doing there?”
“Ughh!?”
A voice like a nightmare echoed in Lauro’s ears.
She turned her head with a creaking sound, like a broken machine, and saw Kan standing there.
She wasn’t foolish enough to forget what Kan had said recently.
“Ka-Kan-nim, it’s an honor to meet you.”
“Kan-nim? We lived in the same house for a short time. Just call me General, we’ve seen things together.”
Lauro was flustered. Anyone who heard it would easily misunderstand.
She quickly changed the subject.
“So, what brings you here alone, General?”
“Well, something happened. I just remembered the cigarettes I used to smoke when I was human, so I came out for a moment.”
Between Kan’s finger bones was a cigarette, just as he had mentioned.
Looking closer, there was also a dark-colored cat with him.
“Y-You smoke that…?”
“Well, I eat food too. The smoke disappears, and only the scent seeps into my bones. It’s quite pleasant. No effect, though.”
The black cat scratched its head awkwardly.
The cigarettes Kan sold were of poor quality and didn’t have a calming effect like proper ones.
“What’s with you? You look like something’s wrong.”
Lauro swallowed her silence.
She couldn’t say it was because of him.
At the same time, she was curious.
The monster who rode a dragon, made Drak kneel, and negotiated with Beal—Kan.
She wondered about the inner thoughts of someone who might have already reached the ideal she had been seeking.
“…How did you get that strong?”
“What?”
“Hah!”
Lauro realized she had unconsciously spoken her thoughts out loud and was flustered.
Kan only stared at her with his hollow eye sockets.
Overwhelmed by his gaze, Lauro bit her lip and, as if making a decision, finally spoke.
“…General, how did you become so strong?”
The moment Lauro’s question dropped…
Boom.
!!
The deck rang, and the ship’s body vibrated.
It was the sound of a ship crashing into a massive reef.
Kan and Lauro barely managed to hold onto the railing without falling. They heard a scream-like cry.
“Dr-Dragon! A dragon has appeared!!”
True to the words, six or so dragons and numerous wyverns were charging toward the airship.
Soon, a huge dragon, as if the leader, landed with the force to destroy the airship.
With one movement, the deck shattered, and every structure shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
Kan recognized the dragon.
“…Igdros?”
With a single breath from the enraged Igdros, the air shimmered with flames.
Next to it, a baby dragon fluttered, covered in wounds.
There was only one reason the dragon would bring an injured baby with it.
The vengeance of its kind.
Igdros’s words, filled with magical power, echoed as if they would consume the entire airship.
Who is Drak? If he doesn’t come out, I’ll kill all of you.
At that moment, Kan recalled what Drak had said earlier about how even dragons couldn’t match his power.