Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 608

Rowen was not dead.

She had faked her death to buy herself some time but all of her unit had been slain by the holy knights sent by Illeion Volten. There was a slim chance a few might have survived, but their numbers were insignificant.

If Rowen was scheming, what could her plan be, and what was she capable of doing?

She had vanished, but she hadn’t left the capital; she was definitely hiding somewhere within its walls.

But where could she be?

I had forged a secret pact with the Church of the Five Great Gods. Although the commander of the Order of the Holy Knights was hesitant, he had no choice but to go along with the popes.

“An encrypted document, huh...”

“Yes. We’re currently working on decoding it.”

The only silver lining was that not all the records in Rowen’s temple had vanished. Those surviving records might hold clues about the current situation and reveal what Rowen had been up to all this time.

Illeion Volten had retrieved them from the temple’s basement and had his people working on decoding them. Thankfully, the Order of the Holy Knights would know how to decipher the encryption that the inquisitors used.

It was just a matter of time. Yes, that cursed time.

“There’s no guarantee that nothing will happen before we’re done.”

Even if the documents could be decoded, it wouldn’t matter if all they contained was a mountain of text.

Until the Order of the Holy Knights could extract something meaningful from the massive volume of documents and predict Rowen’s next move, we had to remain inactive.

Was there enough time for that? Maybe, maybe not.

Of course, there was also a chance that Rowen wasn’t scheming at all, and had just gone into hiding.

“How she will act is not completely unpredictable,” said the pope of the Ouen Order.

“What do you mean?”

“Things might have been different in the past, but in this time we are in, heretics cannot just be killed off without consequences, especially not by the Church.”

“It seems like there’s still a lot of killing happening,” I said.

The pope remained silent, perceiving my words as a rebuke.

“No, I didn’t mean to criticize,” I said. “That’s just the way I speak. So, what is it? Tell me quickly.”

Watching the old men get worked up over unnecessary words made my stomach churn.

The pope wasn’t wrong. Now that heresy had become mainstream, capturing, torturing, and killing a few of them wouldn’t solve anything. A massacre seemed inevitable.

“It would be nice if we could eradicate all the heretics,” the pope said, “but fundamentally, they can’t be eliminated. They keep emerging.”

“Indeed,” I replied.

“It would be impossible to wipe out or convert the heretics that keep on appearing.”

“But the inquisitors had to be doing something if they were operating in the capital.”

“If we can’t stop the heretics, we at least want to understand the scale of the problem. Whether there was a central figure, who that person might be, and how far-reaching was their influence—things like that.”

Illeion Volten seemed to be hearing all this for the first time. It was clear he hadn’t yet been fully briefed on the internal affairs within the capital.

I began to grasp what the pope of the Ouen Order meant. Vertus had mentioned it before: crime would inevitably begin to organize itself. The demand lurking in the shadows had to be met, and the supply to satisfy that demand would naturally grow organized.

If eradicating the demand was impossible and dismantling organized crime only led to another group taking its place, then ultimately, controlling organized crime would become the most effective strategy.

Back then, Vertus had offered me the position as Guildmaster of the Thieves’ Guild.

Was this situation similar?

Heresy arose from a lack of trust in the Church of the Five Great Gods. As long as this distrust persisted, simply capturing and killing heretics would not solve the core of the problem. New heretics would continue to appear.

Therefore, the popes decided against trying to wipe out heresy entirely. Instead, they focused on understanding its scale and reach. Even if they couldn’t eliminate all the heretics, knowing where they were would be beneficial. There were just too many heretics, and so they opted for a different approach.

Vertus believed the best way to manage crime was by running the criminal organization himself.

Did the popes have a different perspective?

“Rowen was exerting control over the heretical forces, especially their key leaders.”

Winning over every heretic wasn’t necessary.

If they could influence the leaders of each heretical group, it was almost like having control over everything.

Illeion Volten turned to the pope of the Ouen Order.

“Are you suggesting that the Church of the Five Great Gods are essentially backing the heretics and the Hero Cult?”

“You could interpret it that way.”

In these turbulent times, inquisitors no longer operated as they once did.

The Church of the Five Great Gods wasn’t condemning heretics; they were manipulating them.

The popes had made the decision, and Rowen had been tasked with carrying it out.

The Great Gods Order was supporting the heretics, and Rowen acted as the field manager for this dangerous mission.

She had been involved in risky work and the inquisitors had ultimately been purged for her defiance of the commander of the Order of the Holy Knights.

In truth, Rowen likely harbored a deep disdain for both the Hero’s Cult and the Demon God Cult.

Yet, given the inevitable rise of these heretical movements, she had long been working to understand how these forces operated in the capital and bring their leaders under control.

In this era, the true leader of the heretics was not just any random person who could create a faith that was open to everyone and deceive them.

“Are you basically suggesting that Rowen is the master of all heretics? That means she’s technically not a cult leader, but isn’t she something quite similar, then?”

If she was exerting control over all heretics, what else could she be but a cult leader?

Illeion Volten had realized that Rowen had been on the verge of uncovering a truth that could lead to a direct confrontation with the Empire and decided that she had to be eliminated, but he had no idea of the danger Rowen herself posed.

The popes themselves had acted cautiously, careful not to give Illeion Volten too much information, wanting to keep him under control.

Petty power struggles and mutual fear...

The situation was spiraling toward disaster.

The world had become so twisted that inquisitors, once tasked with eliminating and converting heretics, had essentially become the very masters of heresy.

Now, what would Rowen, abandoned by the Church of the Five Great Gods she had once pledged her loyalty to, attempt to do?

Rowen would be in the refugee camp. She would try to use the heretics for her own ends.

***

That night, Louis, Cristina, and Anna, three second-year students from Class B, finally returned to the dormitory after being away for quite some time.

They were not returning to take a well-deserved break. They had something important to do for Ludwig—something they had not been able to do before. Now that Ludwig knew the truth, they could help him.

His lost arm could be restored.

“It’s not as simple as it sounds,” Cristina said, her voice tinged with concern.

While the others claimed that restoring the arm was a straightforward procedure, Cristina had a more cautious perspective.

She had been in a separate conversation with the emperor and only learned later on what Anna and Louis had told Ludwig. That was why she rushed back to the dormitory with them.

“I heard it’s painful, and I heard about the risk of rejection too. But it’s okay. I can handle it,” Ludwig said, his voice full of resolve.

If he had a chance to regain his lost arm and fight again, it was worth it.

It was sad that whatever they were doing couldn’t be stopped, but Ludwig hoped that if it was inevitable, then he could at least still make a difference.

Anna and Louis had already explained the issues of pain and possible rejection in detail. However, if he were to undergo the chimera procedure, Cristina would be the one to perform it.

“Ludwig, it’s not just about whether you can endure it or not,” she said.

“What do you mean...?” he asked, puzzled.

“Well, of course, depending on the situation, it might be easier than you think. If it’s just about enduring the pain, the side effects, and the rejection, then perhaps it would be manageable.”

‘Wouldn’t that be enough, though?’

Sensing his thoughts, Cristina turned to him and spoke.

“We’re not talking about attaching a rabbit, deer, or cow’s leg to you. What you saw was a rabbit. Not a person, but a rabbit. We had to cut off one rabbit’s leg and attach it to another after removing its own leg.”

“Yeah...”

“Giving you a right arm through the chimera procedure means taking someone else’s arm and attaching it to you. Ludwig, are you okay with that?”

Ludwig’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t straightforward after all.

Body parts aren’t just made from scratch. The chimera procedure involved making foreign things that did not usually work together compatible. Ludwig’s new arm would have to come from someone else.

Cristina explained to Ludwig that if it meant taking an arm from another person and attaching it to him, the process would be simple.

“Of course, that’s not what you’d want. But there are many bodies in that lab that couldn’t be brought back. As you saw, it’s not a perfect system. So, inevitably, you’ll receive the arm from one of those bodies that didn’t revive. Essentially, a corpse’s arm.”

“That’s what it is...”

The new arm he was about to receive would, of course, have to belong to someone else. But it didn’t need to be taken from a living person, and the lab was filled with the arms of those who hadn’t survived restoration.

That was what they would have to use for his procedure.

“It’s not about whether it’s ethical or not. The body is already infused with dark magic, forbidden spells, and enhancement rituals. It won’t just be an ordinary arm.”

Although it resembled a human arm, it had been transformed into something entirely different.

“Ludwig, you witnessed it today. If it were that simple, there’d be no need for you to go through the chimera procedure. You saw it, didn’t you?”

“Yeah... I saw it...”

“Didn’t you find it odd how intact the restored bodies were?”

“Huh...?”

“Most of them were casualties—people who fell in battle. Think about it. In most cases, those who die in combat will have limbs that are severed or crushed.”

Only then did Ludwig realize he hadn’t considered how pristine the bodies being restored in the vats looked. None of them had severed limbs; everything was seamlessly repaired.

“Of course, if the damage is too severe, the bodies can’t be restored. But most damage can be repaired, to some extent. If such a technique could be applied to living people, we would have said we could regenerate your arm instead of having to attach a new one.”

If they could regenerate tissue on a corpse, why couldn’t they do the same for a living person? That should have been the very first question.

“A living person probably wouldn’t even be able to survive the regeneration process. That’s why this magic is so difficult to use on living people,” Cristina said, her voice heavy with sorrow.

Admitting this felt like acknowledging that it couldn’t help bring Ashir back.

If regeneration were possible, they would choose it over transplantation. But the regeneration process couldn’t be applied to the living, and what was regenerated couldn’t be attached to them either.

“Ludwig, if someone were willing to give you their arm, you could get your missing arm back. But using the arm from a restored corpse is madness. And, of course, attaching an arm before the restoration process is done is impossible.”

Ludwig remained silent, absorbing her words.

Cristina continued, “Ludwig, if you want it, I might be able to attach an arm that’s not from a corpse. Do you want that?”

“No... No, I don’t want that.”

Ludwig couldn’t fathom the idea of severing a healthy person’s arm and grafting it onto himself. It was madness.

“Ludwig, I’m not saying it’s completely out of the question. But the truth is, I have no idea what the outcome of such a procedure would be, and frankly, I don’t want to attempt it.”

Cristina glanced at Anna and Louis as she finished speaking. They had been honest with him. If Ludwig went through with the chimera procedure, he might be able to regain his lost arm.

But the idea was based on the assumption that it involved a living person’s arm.

They had only brought up the chimera procedure because they feared Ludwig might do something drastic, even take his own life. They were fully aware of the risks.

However, knowing Ludwig, he would never agree to amputate someone else’s arm just to attach it to himself. If he truly wanted to consider the procedure, then the only option would be to use one of the arms from the corpses in the lab. But no one knew if a person could survive having an arm steeped in chemicals and dark magic transplanted onto them. It would be transplanting something meant for the dead into the living.

Ludwig looked like someone who had been given hope, only to have it snatched away.

Seeing that expression, Cristina bit her lip. “Ludwig, if you’re truly set on that... I can help you. But if you die... I will never bring you back.”

Cristina’s voice was steady, leaving no room for doubt.

Ludwig might still want to fight, even if the procedure failed and he died, even if it meant doing so as a resurrected corpse.

But Cristina wanted Ludwig to understand that his situation was not like Ashir’s. If he died during the procedure, he couldn’t expect to return as some reanimated shell.

“Alright... I get it.”

Ludwig’s shoulders slumped, and Louis and Anna stood beside him, their faces shadowed with worry, unable to meet his eyes.