Chapter 290 - 286: Double Trouble
" Interesting. You must've brought your other partners here as well. Are they outside the city since I can't feel them? You dared to bring your Prince here? Aren't you afraid that we would take him and threaten you to stop the destruction even if you do anything? You're the only one here after all," Another Death Envoy said as he looked at Ryder while licking his lips.
"You can try. You'll see what happens next."
Before High Duke Oris could reply, Ryder did in his casual tone that gave the feeling of confidence.
"You!" The Death Envoys were stunned as they heard Ryder's tone. They thought that Ryder would at least look a little bit worried now that he was in enemy territory and outnumbered, but the way he talked back, they couldn't help but wonder what he was hiding.
"Call you Prince outside to meet me if you don't want to see your palace being destroyed. I'll count to ten. This time, you dared to attempt to kill me, and you expected us to sit behind? You expected us to wait for your explanation? I'm here to ask for an explanation myself. Bring him out," Ryder thundered as he brought the Moon Scythe out of his storage to look then more intimidating.
"You! Are you really looking for a war? We told you that we weren't responsible for it. It was something done by a rogue element of our Death Domain!" one of the Death Envoys told Ryder as he glared at him. He also released his suffocating aura, but before that aura could even get near Ryder, it was stopped by High Duke Oris' aura.
"Why should I care who did it! A Death General of your place was involved along with a Crown Candidate that holds the Inheritance Weapon of your Demon Emperor! This is as official as it can get. Bring your Prince out now! I only have ten seconds. Seven Seconds have already passed," Ryder replied as he kept tapping his foot on the ground with the passing of each second.
Just as he was about to tap his foot for the tenth time, he heard the sound of a clap.
He stopped as he looked ahead. He could see a young man in his late 20s walking towards him.
The man had a staff behind his back that far a red diamond in the shape of the skull on the top. The body of the staff seemed to be made of wood. The man wore a dark green robe. His grey hair was long enough to come down to his shoulders.
The man had a pale face that made him look really serious.
'The description matches perfectly. He should be the Bloodline Prince of Death Domain, Amadeus,' Ryder thought as he looked at the man who was walking out of the palace. The man matched the description of Bloodline Prince Asmadeus that was given to him by Devilia's Father.Â
"I heard the Demon Prince is an interesting person. You're interesting, indeed. And really brave. After Elisia attempted to kill you and got so snow to it, I thought that it would stay in heavy protection for some time. Contrary to my expectations, not only did you not hide but instead, you even came here with just one High Duke as your protection?" Prince Asmadeus asked Ryder as he stood in front of the Death Envoys, directly facing Ryder.
"Just one High Duke is enough to destroy this city. Want to see that?" Ryder inquired as he fired back.
"Are you sure of that? You might be underestimating my Death Domain a lot, Prince Hades. It's not as simple as you may think it is. As for trying, even though I'm not interested in testing that, we both know that it will simply result in your death. Why are you after death and destruction so much?" Asmadeus inquired as he looked into Ryder's eyes as if he was trying to gaze deep down in his soul.
"My Death? Well, you should forget about that. One of your Crown Candidates already tried. It's not that easy to kill me. Ask that stupid girl. She thought that she was always one step ahead of me, but she was two steps behind. It might be you people that underestimate me," Ryder replied as his fingers roamed on the blade of his moon scythe.
"I'm not her, am I?" Asmadeus responded.
"You're not her, but you're not me either. Anyway, I'm not here to show off my abilities. If it came to that, we would be here for days. I am here for something else. I am here for an explanation and to return something," Ryder said, looking at Asmadeus
"Return something?" Asmadeus inquired with a frown.
Ryder opened his inventory and pulled out something.
Two bodies landed in front of Asmadeus.
"Ah, so it's these two," Asmadeus muttered as he sighed. The two bodies lying in front of him were the two people that Ryder had killed—Master Lu and Master Mao.
Asmadeus waved his hand gently. A green ball of flame appeared out of thin air and landed on the bodies. In the blink of an eye, the bodies were turned to ashes.
"You should've burnt them yourself. These people dared to do something like this without asking for my permission. They deserved death," Asmadeus muttered as he looked back at Ryder.
"Elisia did the same thing. Why did you save her then? You should've left her with us if you were really that serious," Ryder asked with an amused smile on his face.
"Elisia, she's a bit special. Even though she's chaotic and she's looking to take my crown, I still can't let her die," Asmadeus responded as he sighed.
"Anyway, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm the Prince of Death Domain, Asmadeus. I'm sure I already know what happened. Elisia made this stupid plan without consulting anyone. By the time I found out, it was already too late. This wasn't the official stance of Death Domain towards Demon Realm. Even though I don't like the Demon Realm, I would never think of doing something so sneaky. I would always attack from the front whenever I jump into a war," He added as a strange glint appeared in his eyes.
" It doesn't matter who did what. What matters is that it happened, and it happened because of your people," Ryder replied in a grim tone. "You people tried to kill me, but that's not all. You even put the lives of my people in danger."
"What do you want?" Asmadeus asked, straight away. He knew that Ryder wasn't here for an explanation. He was here to ask for some benefits for himself in exchange for forgetting that this happened.
"I want Elisia. Give her to me, and I'll leave," Ryder said instantly.
"That won't happen. I can't give her to you," Asmadeus said, shaking his head.
"Oh? Is her life more important to you than the lives of your millions of people?" Ryder asked with a hint of threat in his tone.
"Are you threatening me?" Asmadeus asked back with an expressionless face.
"You can take it any way you want. I want the girl, and I'm..."
Ryder was talking about something when he felt something. A strange aura was coming in his direction.
"Ah? He's already here? He's pretty fast," Ryder muttered as he looked back.
"Vampire King Atlas?" Asmadeus muttered as he saw the Vampire King flying in his direction.
The Vampire King landed besides Ryder.
"Vampire King Atlas, gave you joined the Death Domain, against us?" one of the Death Envoys asked the Vampire King as he saw him standing beside Ryder.
"I haven't joined anyone. I am here to get my answers, though. Bring the girl called Elisia outside! I want to ask her what she did to my General!" The Vampire King thundered. His voice was so loud that it was heard far and wide.
"Your General? This stupid girl. Just how many people did she mess with," Asmadeus muttered as his frown deepened.
" What did she do to your general?" he asked the Vampire King.
"That's what I want to ask her. He is missing from the Undead Region, and she is behind it. If I don't get my answers today, then you should be prepared for the consequences. I want my General alive. And if she has killed him, I want her life!" Vampire King Atlas said to Asmadeus.
Asmadeus looked at the Death Envoys in confusion. Even he was having a hard time now. Just how much did Elisia screw him up? Not only did she mess up with the Death Domain, but she messed up with the Undeads as well? He could handle it if it were just demons, but if the Undeads joined the Demons, then they were going to be in trouble. He knew that he couldn't afford a war yet, at least not until he succeeded in what he wanted to do, but he couldn't give up Elisia as well.