My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 158 Advice from the Demon King

At Fram's urging, Roland nodded and picked up the booklet from the coffee table.

But just as he was about to open the booklet, the gauntlet, which had been quiet for a long time and looked no different from the pendant on Roland's waist, suddenly spoke.

This time it actually spoke, rather than engaging in a conscious dialogue with Roland.

"If I were you, I wouldn't open this booklet, you human boy."

"Don't take the World Tree's protection too seriously... There are some things that can bypass its protection and still affect you."

The sudden remark stunned everyone present.

Compared to the others, Iluvia, who was hearing the remnant soul of the Demon King speak for the first time, couldn't help but shudder. She began to look around, trying to find the one who was speaking.

But before she could find it, Flam's objection rang out first.

"Shut up! Dead guys shouldn't talk! Do you know how important this is!?"

The Demon King's remnant soul was equally formidable, almost immediately retorting coldly, "You're the one who should shut up, you dwarf, flat-chested elf! Haven't you noticed that you've already been affected?"

"Ha, to be held back by someone like you, and then get hacked to death by that crazy woman, is a disgrace to my demonic life!"

With the angry shouts of the Demon King's remnant soul, the gauntlets floated up from Roland's waist.

To be honest, the scene was somewhat eerie.

A talking, floating gauntlet was twitching its fingers and then pointed at Flam, saying, "Still not getting it?"

"Except for this kid, all of you are trapped in cognitive interference!"

"Recklessness, excessive curiosity, and an overabundance of emotion for an elf... Do I, a dead man, have to remind you before you realize it?"

After leaving Flam speechless, the Demon King's remnant soul coldly snorted, "Fool."

After saying that, he turned the gauntlet towards Roland: "Kid, use the power of the World Tree... you know what I mean."

"Don't use that clumsy technique, use the true power it bestows upon you."

Upon hearing this, Roland's eyes revealed a slightly bewildered look.

What is true power?
"Never mind..." The gauntlet flew to Roland with a hint of helplessness: "If you're willing to believe me."

"Put it on."

Looking at the gauntlets that had shrunk to the size of his own palm, Roland fell silent.

When Roland fell silent, the others present became uneasy.

Especially Celinina.

As a demon, she was especially agitated at this moment: "Don't believe him! Have you forgotten who he is?!"

"The legend that the Demon King's Hand Armor can devour the wearer's soul is not just a legend!"

Frum nodded in agreement: "She's right. Don't believe that old man too much. He can't start a war that lasts for a thousand years with force alone!"

"His previous behavior might have been a feigned weakness! He wanted to lower your guard so he could possess and control your soul."

Frum's analysis makes a lot of sense. Never underestimate a demon king who once dominated the world, and never underestimate a demon king's ambition and schemes.

This is indeed something a demon king, a remnant soul, would do.

He feigned weakness to lull Roland into a false sense of security.

Only in this way can it achieve its purpose.

Roland thought this analysis made a lot of sense.

But he still chose to believe the remnant soul of the demon king before him.

This was to avoid all risks in Riskan, which seemed to be fraught with danger.

This was also to gain the Demon King's trust so that Roland could extract some information from him.

Of course, the most important reason is the certification from Brother Tongzi.

After starting the mission and leaving Blackthorn Territory, the quest called Silent March made no progress.

Roland originally thought that he would have to kill the group of Chaos Brotherhood assassins who were chasing him, including the Sword Guard Commander of the Nine Rings Legend, or destroy even one prototype of the Demon Lord's Hand before he could move forward with the mission.

But unexpectedly... one of the four tasks in the first phase has actually been completed.

[Congratulations, host, on completing the first stage of the mission, objective 1: Prevent the escaped Demon King's Hand prototype from retrieving the remaining twelve prototypes from the spatial turbulence.]

Although the process was somewhat unbelievable, you did indeed complete this seemingly impossible attempt.

You purified a corner of the Demon King's remnant soul, which was filled with anger and resentment, and engaged in conversation with it.

After you recounted the collaboration between the prototype and the Chaos Brotherhood, the remnant soul used its power to prevent the other remnant souls from communicating with each other.

Aside from the seven prototypes that have already been released from the spatial turbulence by the other prototypes, the remaining six prototypes will forever drift in the chaotic spatial turbulence.

Now, go and destroy those seven prototypes.

The Demon King's pride forbids him from succumbing to anger and folly, and he cannot tolerate any form of cooperation with the scum of the Chaos Brotherhood.

He will do everything in his power to help you before he destroys his own corrupt soul. At least for now, you can trust him.

[Rewards for Task Objective One are now being distributed.]

[Congratulations, host, you have gained: 10 skill points and 20000 experience points]

Yes, the system's task completion notification was the main reason Roland was willing to believe the Demon King once.

Moreover, Roland also figured out why the Demon King's remnant soul had remained silent most of the time.

So they were secretly up to something...

But seven prototypes have already been rescued... No wonder we haven't heard much about the Demon King's Hand prototype causing trouble these past few days; it turns out it was secretly gathering its companions.

Roland found it hard to imagine that if it weren't for the remnant soul in the gauntlet betraying and causing trouble, the next time he saw those prototypes, the other side might have already assembled thirteen of them and then launched a massive combined attack to wipe out the Empire.

After all... this was a major event that the system had rated as a series of missions. Although the battle in Blackthorn Territory was very intense, if Roland hadn't released a large-scale spell interference through Mash I, which disintegrated the familiar army and caused the prototype to crash, this battle wouldn't have ended so easily.

Not to mention the involvement of the Chaos Brotherhood...

A silent march.

Although the system did not reveal the potential consequences of this major event in advance, unlike the capital and Riskan.

However, judging from the fate of Blackthorn, its impact is unlikely to be less significant than the fall of the capital or the spread of the plague in Rishkan. The former would inevitably lead to the division and weakening of the empire, while the latter would turn the empire's southern coast into a wasteland.

The impact of the silent march was certainly no less than that of these two incidents.

"Just this once, Demon King."

Roland looked at the gauntlet and spoke calmly. Then, before Cherinina could block his hand, Roland put the gauntlet on his left hand and before Floram could cast a spell to stop her.

The moment Roland put on the gauntlets, he felt that the space and time around him had completely frozen.

"Hehehe, that's why you humans are so interesting..."

As the Demon King's voice echoed in his mind, Roland could feel a surge of power emerging from within his body.

It was extremely faint, as if it would disappear at any moment.

However, it caused the two primordial runes within its body to react.

The Demon King's voice continued to echo in Roland's ears: "I really didn't expect you to agree to me so readily."

“You didn’t even use the same technique as last time to guard against me.”

"Aren't you afraid that I'll possess you just like that flat-chested elf said?"

Roland ignored the Demon King and simply asked, "So, how do I unleash this power?"

"Tsk... boring kid. You trust me that much?"

"Let's get down to business, Mr. Demon King. Our time is very precious and cannot be wasted."

"Tch..." The Demon King's tone was slightly irritated: "Since you trust me so much, then relax your control over the little source inside you."

"Don't worry, as you can feel, my power is very weak right now and can't cause you any harm."

Upon hearing this, Roland relaxed.

Since you've chosen to believe, then trust to the end.

Clearly, the Demon King's remnant soul fell into a brief silence after Roland's decisive choice.

But he still quickly fulfilled his duties.

A blinding green light and thorns imbued with the power of thunder burst forth from Roland's body in an instant.

By the time Roland came to his senses, the gauntlet had already floated off his hand, and Roland's house... no, even the courtyard in front of the door and part of the street, were now lush and green.

Like a miracle of the earth and the goddess of abundance, spring seemed to have arrived early in Riskan, turning the Roland house into a garden filled with the fragrance of plants.

Flam, who looked like she'd just taken a catnip whiff, was supported by Iluvia, whose head was covered in grass.

Kalia was spitting out the flowers and plants that had filled her mouth.

Cellinina... well, Cellinina was saved once by that unreliable golden light.

At least she wasn't like the others, covered in the scent of fresh grass.

And in Roland's house, all the objects related to old Lancelot.

From the diary that led everyone to Riskan, to the objects Roland had just placed on the coffee table, and even the house itself, everything was now entwined with thorns crackling with lightning under the faint green glow.

"Alright kid, now you can watch."

"So-called cognitive interference or cognitive pollution... are essentially a kind of curse."

"Heh, it's nothing more than a little trick of an evil god."

"Kid, since you trust me so much, I'll give you some advice: your investigation is going in the wrong direction."

"Let's forget about that shipwreck..."

"Think about everything that just happened to you. Do you think... that shipwreck really happened?"

"Evil gods are not good gods, and their power is far from enough to change the whole world, otherwise they wouldn't have died at my hands."

"Alright, I'm a little tired... See you later, interesting human boy..."

After the remnant soul of the Demon King finished speaking with a hint of disdain, it fell silent again.

Clearly, even the exertion he just experienced is still too much for him to bear.

Meanwhile, the group, having recovered from the shock of the events, were all staring intently at Nash, except for the bewildered Flam.

Cellina walked up to Roland, barely suppressing her anger, and said, "What were you thinking just now?! That's the Demon King! Why... why..."

"For your safety. That's all." Roland smiled faintly, then turned towards Cellina. "And look, I'm perfectly fine, aren't I?"

Cellina looked at Roland, who was smiling, and felt a surge of anger rising within her: "You! You bastard!"

"Hey, aren't you two going to do anything about him?!"

Cellina seemed to realize that it wasn't a good time for her to say anything, or perhaps she simply didn't know what to say.

After all, neither Kalia nor that princess reacted much.

Iluvia looked at Celinina and asked, "So... that gauntlet that just floated up was the Demon King's Hand that's been causing Father so much worry lately? And there's a remnant of the Demon King's soul inside?"

"That's not the point, is it?" Nash couldn't stand it anymore and started complaining.

Kalia nodded: "Exactly, that's not the point!"

Nash nodded in satisfaction upon seeing Kalia's reaction.

That's more like it! That's the kind of thinking a legitimate wife should have!

Unlike this princess, who doesn't care about Roland's safety at all, she's obviously just lusting after his body!
"Why did the food in my mouth suddenly turn into flowers and plants?! It's not that I can't eat them... but if someone suddenly stuffed a whole mouthful of them into my mouth, I'd choke!"

Nash: “…”

After a moment of silence, Nash Cat suddenly showed a relieved smile.

It's so foolish of it to pin its hopes on Kalia...

It seems that the only two normal people in this room are the demon Cherinina and the elf named Flam.

Even Roland, Nash is starting to consider expelling him from the ranks of normal people!

What normal person would cooperate so happily with the Demon King?!
(End of this chapter)