Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 604

Ellen’s journey to uncover the truth was fraught with uncertainty, yet it seemed inevitable that in her relentless pursuit, she would stumble upon an unexpected revelation.

No one could stand in her way.

My actions had stirred up the Order of the Holy Knights, and someone investigating the case had caught a whiff of something significant, only to be silenced forever.

Delving into a mystery without any leads was bound to take time. Even if the real culprits remained elusive, Ellen would eventually unearth a truth entirely unrelated to her original quest.

How she would react to that truth was anyone’s guess.

I couldn’t impede her progress, so I did what I had to do.

And so...

“Why... are you here?”

I watched as the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights stared at me, his face pale with fear.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect to be sitting here a few days ago either,” I said.

My first contact had been with the pope of the Alse Order. He convened a meeting with the other popes, where I further secured their backing. I now sat across from Illeion Volten, the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights.

“We’re close enough to speak frankly, aren’t we? You know that this Gate Incident was never my desire, even if it was my subordinates who triggered it. These five esteemed popes have finally come to understand my motives. They’ve pledged their support in every possible way, albeit discreetly... hence our clandestine negotiations until the time is right.

“It would have been nice if they’d trusted me from the beginning, but only after the way things have unfolded have I earned their trust. But that’s the past, and this is the present.”

I paused, then continued, “We’ve decided to forge a strong, close, and cooperative relationship. No more divisions, infighting, or power struggles. All that is exhausting, isn’t it? Now, you just need to trust me, your prophet, and let go of your doubts. You’re the last one, leader of the Order of the Holy Knights.”

The way Illeion Volten’s expression changed was truly a sight to behold as he listened to how the order’s leaders had unknowingly aligned themselves with the Demon King.

He finally had the look of a man who had lost everything in an instant.

“You know, if you refuse me, there will be a fracture between the Church of the Five Great Gods and the Order of the Holy Knights. Factions loyal to the five popes and those loyal to the commander of the Order of the Holy Knights will clash, leading to infighting and chaos.”

I gave him a cold stare. “Are you willing to gamble with the fate of humanity and the Order? Or would you rather align with me and pretend none of this ever happened? After all, you like the status quo, don’t you?”

I never thought I’d resort to such a threat.

Illeion Volten had every right to refuse. But if he did, he wouldn’t be the only one to suffer. Infighting would erupt, potentially escalating into a civil war, which could spell the end of humanity.

If word got out that the Demon King had appeared in the Imperial Capital, chaos would spread beyond the Order’s temple and engulf the entire capital.

Aligning himself with me would mean betraying humanity. Yet, if he didn’t, humanity might vanish. He was being made to consider things he’d never imagined before stepping into this meeting room.

He was being made to weigh countless factors within a few short moments.

Illeion Volten wasn’t someone who embraced change, but that wasn’t the real issue. His resistance to change stemmed from a deep-seated fear of and aversion to chaos.

He craved stability. But if he realized that change was inevitable, that staying the same was no longer an option...

“There are no options,” he finally replied.

People like him often adapted more readily than anyone else. He shot a gaze full of resentment towards the five popes, who had surrendered everything without involving him in a proper discussion, then fixed his eyes on me.

“What do you want, Demon King?” Illeion Volten asked, his voice laced with suspicion.

“I told you, I want things to stay as they are,” I replied, my words catching not only Illeion but also the five popes off guard.

“What?”

“Just maintain the status quo.”

I was there to quell the discord between the Order of the Holy Knights and the Five Great Orders. My goal was to keep them in check, and then consume all of them.

The popes were inclined to side with me, and the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights was uneasy about that.

One side needed backing.

The Empire could not support the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights without risking the wrath of the five popes. But I could support the popes, allowing them to suppress any opposition from the commander.

“What? Did you think I’d suddenly want to destroy humanity and urge you to wreak havoc and kill everyone? No, that’s not my plan,” I said.

He looked at me silently.

“Just keep things as they are. There’s no need for shady dealings with the Empire or the stirring up of conflicts. I’m offering you a chance to play it safe. Think of me as your helper, ready to do anything you need, whenever you need it.”

In truth, “consuming” them was just a figure of speech.

The popes were considering defecting, but their real reason was simple: they knew I had no desire to oppose humanity or make unreasonable demands. Ultimately, they were just using me.

“So let’s set aside this talk and focus on what truly matters.”

I could rally the support of the Order of the Holy Knights and the Church of the Five Great Gods, and even bend them to my will if I chose, but that wasn’t feasible right now.

Those cunning old popes would label me a traitor the moment the Empire gained strength and they found me expendable. It was neither shocking nor saddening; that was just how power and diplomacy worked. When you’re weak, you’re overlooked; when you’re strong, you’re impossible to ignore.

At the moment, they were clueless about the Empire’s actions, which was why they were aligning with me.

They believed the Demon King and his forces could obliterate humanity at any moment, and they weren’t wrong.

Illeion Volten realized he couldn’t change the situation, and though he needed to deliberate, he was pressed for time. Therefore, he had decided to cooperate with me for the moment, regardless of his personal feelings.

But there was a more pressing issue.

“Did you kill Rowen?”

I needed to uncover the truth about Rowen’s death. Vertus suggested she might have been purged.

“No,” Illeion Volten shook his head. “I didn’t kill her.”

The Empire didn’t kill Rowen. Vertus had hinted at a possible purge, and the popes had also denied any involvement.

“That’s odd. The popes here also denied it, and if you’re not responsible, then who did kill Rowen?”

Even the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights was insisting that it wasn’t his doing.

“There was an attempt to kill her,” he said. “That’s true.”

Hearing this, the popes couldn’t help but react, their expressions shifting noticeably.

So, there had been an attempt at a purge.

“But while other inquisitors were killed, Rowen survived.”

“Really? Hmm... That suggests...”

Several possibilities came to mind, but if he was telling the truth, one stood out.

“Could she still be alive?”

A self-staged act.

“Yes. The body was a decoy, wearing a mask.”

Rowen was alive.

***

The fire at the scene nagged at me. It was too blatant, too obvious.

If it had been a purge, it should have been done quietly, and all traces wiped clean.

If Illeion Volten or the popes had intended to eliminate Rowen, there wouldn’t have been a fire. It drew too much attention. So, if it was a purge, the fire was a mistake. Yet a fire had broken out, and many had witnessed the temple engulfed in flames.

Looters swarmed the temple. Ludwig saw it, and word reached Ellen, spurring her on her hunt for the truth.

“Yes... it seems like the fire was meant to expose the torture of civilians happening in the dungeon beneath the temple.”

The fire had broken out, triggering other civilians to rush in and loot the place, but the horrors underground had gone unnoticed because no looter had been reckless enough to venture into the basement of a burning building, and because of Illeion Volten’s swift actions. However, Ellen had made her inexorable way into the temple and discovered the underground dungeon.

It seemed the incident was designed to attract attention from the start.

It wasn’t entirely impossible that the popes and the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights were all lying even to me, but the fact that an attempt was made to purposely draw attention was very strange.

And now, there was the revelation that Rowen’s body had been a decoy.

Inquisitor Rowen was alive.

The Pope of the Ouen Order glared at the leader of the Order of the Holy Knights, demanding answers.

“Commander, why did you keep that fact a secret?”

“Objectively speaking, you all, the popes, never once indicated that you would consider negotiating with the Demon King like this, did you?” Illeion Volten remarked.

The Pope of the Ouen Order, along with the other popes, flushed with anger at the implication that they had betrayed humanity.

“Commander... You know that we made this decision for the sake of humanity—”

“Shut up.”

It wasn’t Illeion Volten who said that—it was me.

These people disgusted me. Even though they were now under my command, I couldn’t stand their self-righteous talk about humanity.

“I don’t have time for your petty power struggles. I’m a busy person.”

I had no interest in playing mediator. I just wanted to wrap this up quickly and get back to the jerky Ellen had given me.

“Anyway, you tried to kill Rowen, right? And you failed, is that correct?” I asked the commander.

“Yes.”

At that, the Pope of the Ouen Order shot a glare at Illeion Volten.

“Commander, why did you try to kill Archbishop Rowen in the first place?”

Even though Rowen had survived, it remained true that Illeion Volten had attempted to kill her.

“I ordered her to halt all investigations, but she didn’t listen.”

The popes fell silent. They knew exactly what Illeion Volten meant.

Rowen had deliberately approached Ludwig to investigate matters within the Temple, which made Vertus aware of it.

If one meddled with the Empire, it could lead to chaos.

After returning to the capital, Illeion Volten had to have learned about the investigation’s progress from Rowen, who was leading it. She probably also told him that she suspected the Empire.

In response to that, Illeion Volten’s order would have been simple: stop digging.

“I believe you popes also think that investigating the Empire right now isn’t wise.”

The five popes looked uneasy but did not argue with Illeion Volten. They intended to side with me, but they weren’t eager to clash with the Empire.

The incident in the underground tomb beneath the main temple of the Order of the Holy Knights’ was still under scrutiny.

Rowen suspected the Empire of something and had approached Ludwig. Illeion Volten, realizing the potential fallout, tried to stop her, but Rowen defied him. That forced the commander to act, in order to eliminate the threat she posed.

“To have lived as a loyal hound, and then not only be blocked from investigating a corrupt incident, but also suffer an attempted purge of you and your subordinates...” I said.

Rowen had likely witnessed her subordinates being killed by other knights from the Order.

“It’s no wonder she went ballistic.”

I could see Illeion Volten gritting his teeth.

It was clear that almost all the other inquisitors were dead, while nearly all of the knights dispatched by Illeion Volten to purge them had been killed by Rowen.

Rowen surely felt betrayed by the Church of the Five Great Gods and the Order of the Holy Knights. Thus, she faked her death, set the temple ablaze, and escaped. What she planned to do with her newfound freedom was anyone’s guess.

Ultimately, Illeion Volten’s actions were at the heart of this mess.

But what if I had been in his shoes?

The Empire had not been involved in the theft of the remains of the saints of the Order of the Holy Knights, but they were still using the corpses as weapons. Investigating that incident would surely cause friction with the Empire.

Just launching an investigation into the Empire was already a risk, but Rowen would have insisted on investigating regardless.

In the end, Illeion Volten’s purge had only half-succeeded. He had killed all of Rowen’s subordinates, but failed to eliminate Rowen herself. Rowen herself had vanished, leaving only a decoy behind.

“No matter what happens next, the fact that this was my mistake will not change. I’m not perfect.”

The Commander of the Holy Knights had chosen what he’d thought was the best option, but ultimately failed to kill Rowen.

No one knew yet what kind of repercussions that would bring.

“I don’t know what Rowen plans to do in the future, but we... Coincidentally, at this point, we need you the most.”

It wasn’t Illeion Volten who spoke.

‘What’s this? They need me?’

“I don’t know what you think, Demon King, but... Rowen was a radical.” said the Pope of the Ouen Order unexpectedly.

“A radical?”

“Within the Order, especially. There are many such priests within the Ouen and Alse Orders.” 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“What kind of priests are you talking about exactly?”

“Those who believe the Demon King is the true prophet.”

I was completely befuddled. What were they talking about?

“There are quite a few who believe the Demon King is the true prophet.”

‘What is this nonsense?’

“It’s not just those two Orders,” the Pope of the Ritter Order chimed in.

“You do know that there were a significant number of holy knights and priests who saw you at the Temple that day,” said Illeion Volten. “They were all high-ranking holy knights and priests of the Order. Rowen was among them.”

I had never wanted the Gate Incident to happen.

By the time I had begun to explain how to deal with it, it was already too late.

There had been priests and holy knights who had witnessed my testimony, and they had not been just anyone, but high-ranking priests and holy knights with proven skills and mastery of Divine Power.

In a sense, they were the future of the Order of the Holy Knights, and they had seen me in that moment.

Which meant, at the very least, they knew I never truly wanted the Gate Incident to happen.

“Do you now understand why we had no choice but to side with you...? That this choice isn’t simply out of a desire to maintain our positions?”

Even if the lower-ranking priests and holy knights were in the dark, the highest-ranking members of the Order all knew the truth of the Gate incident, at least to some extent.

Therefore, they had no choice but to perceive me differently from the rest of humanity.

“Archbishop Rowen was among those who actively supported you.”

The upper ranks of the Church of the Five Great Gods were being filled with those who believed in me. Inevitably, a larger percentage of them were inevitably supporting me over the Empire.

The popes’ decision to side with me did not stem from their own personal judgment—it had been a choice forced upon them.

In other words, it was public opinion.