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

Chapter 249 The Strange Things About the Demon King's Court

"Finally caught you!"

In the already chaotic room, Flam firmly pinned down the culprit who had been running around and caused her to miss the entire banquet, using her staff.

"Don't even think about running away! I've already disrupted the spatial structure here with magic! You can't escape with your current strength!"

"Aaaaaah! You're dead, why are you still causing so much trouble?!"

"Besides, what exactly are you trying to achieve by bothering me? Does making me angry make you happy?"

"Humph!"

Furious, Flam brandished her staff, trying to dent her gauntlets.

However, the Demon King's Hand prototype's gauntlet, whose defensive capabilities far surpass those of a typical ninth-ring legendary warrior, was completely unaffected by such a light tap.

The Demon King chuckled, "So you've gotten so angry already, flat-chested elf? I didn't expect you to get so agitated just from teasing you a couple of times. It seems elves aren't as calm as the legends say."

"Alright, you can act like a talkative and carefree guy in front of Roland and the others, but don't even think about it in front of me."

What exactly do you want to know from me?

"Given your calm and collected behavior lately, I'll tell you anything I feel I should."

"Just ask."

Flam's temper flared up quickly and subsided just as fast.

It was as if that flushed look had never appeared on her face before.

Of course, she might just want to get rid of this annoying guy as soon as possible.

The Demon King was silent for a moment, then sighed: "If you had said so earlier, wouldn't I have asked sooner?"

"I don't need to bother you for so long."

"You're so boring. Roland is much more interesting."

Frum didn't reply, but silently watched the Demon King gradually rise from the ground.

Soon the Demon King asked, "My question is very simple, and you can actually guess some of it."

"After learning about the Cangya family, I've been puzzled by one thing."

"Why is the royal court hunting down those who collect rune stones... Ah, you don't know what rune stones are, do you?"

Frum scoffed; "I do know a little bit about it, I just haven't seen it before."

"But considering what we've been going through these past few days, Roland and Cellina should both have the kind of rune stones you mentioned, right?"

The Demon King's gauntlet swayed up and down: "That's right, it's good that you know something about it."

"You should know that Elector of the Holy Lagnacia Empire, right?"

"That guy who was once called the invincible god of war by humans."

Frum nodded, then gave the Demon King a strange look: "Didn't that guy still die at the hands of the Demon King's army in the end?"

"Are you trying to brag to me about your achievements?"

The Demon King sneered, "Your brain, which is as underdeveloped as your chest, can only think of these things."

"What I'm trying to say is that the reason he's called the Invincible God of War is because of the rune stone in his hand."

"And the same was true for that papal saint I also killed."

"In short, all you need to know is that the reason I concentrated my efforts on dealing with these two troublesome opponents who should have been dealt with slowly was because of the runes they possessed."

"As an elf, you should also know about those three legendary artifacts that existed before the Age of Gods, right?"

"One is kept by the immortal dragon, one is guarded by the three elven kings, and the one with the most stringent usage conditions is protected by the lords of the demon court."

"As for the artifact belonging to the demon race, to use it, you must collect all the rune stones."

“I once had a similar plan. Unfortunately, it failed. Runestones that have lost their original owners will fall into a dormant state and become unusable.”

"Therefore, I had no choice but to wage a full-scale war against humanity, using pure force and fear to achieve my original goal—to unify the continent."

After the Demon King finished speaking, he looked at Flam and said, "These are all things of the past. I originally thought that with my death, as the demon race gradually declined, and as humanity began to develop its own magical technology based on the technical data found in the Demon King's castle, these past events would be buried forever."

"But... I learned from Cellina that the royal court is still collecting runestones."

"I'm a little worried."

"Oh? You're worried too? Worried about what?" Furam was a little surprised and pulled out a chair to sit down.

The Demon King's words were mostly stories she had never personally experienced.

For example, that invincible military genius.

When he died, Flam was still in Avalon.

However, his reputation was quite high, and even the three wise kings who occasionally appeared had a high opinion of him.

He was also one of the few humans who would be recorded in detail by the elves.

His death in battle was worthy of his title as a military genius.

It took at least five royal rulers, including the Demon King himself, to successfully kill him.

For this, the Demon King's army also paid the price of three royal court lords being seriously injured, one nearly dying, and all 30,000 elite Demon King's troops perishing in battle.

The same applies to the story of that saint.

She was ambushed by the Demon King using spatial magic and died under the siege of multiple royal lords. However, Flam had only heard these stories.

Just like the existence of runes.

She had known about the existence of this magical stone, which contained some kind of power of rules, from books back in Avalon.

Although the book refers to it as the source of all magic and the foundation of the rules of the world.

But in Frum's thousand-year life, she never had the chance to witness it with her own eyes.

So much so that before meeting Roland, she had always doubted the existence of runestones.

It wasn't until Flam gradually realized the truth about the World Tree power within Roland that she realized the token of the chosen one in the elven legend was the World Tree Runestone itself.

However, she did not inquire about this or the abnormalities that Roland exhibited afterward, and continued to pretend that she did not know.

Even when Cherlinina experienced a similar situation later, she did not investigate further.

She knew very well that this level of power and assistance was the most important secret for every holder.

Even the closest relationships require careful consideration before revealing secrets.

Although she herself didn't know much about runes, she suppressed her curiosity and turned her attention to various ancient books.

Firstly, we can find out where the strangeness on Roland came from, and secondly, we can also take the opportunity to look up information about runes and the like.

Anyway, she didn't have any other hobbies; besides reading, she studied magic and history.

There's no conflict at all; it's just a hobby.

But what the Demon King revealed next, his true purpose, still stunned Flam.

The artifact... she really didn't know about that.

All she knew was that the reason the Three Wise Kings of the Elves had been explaining things in such a simple way was because they were guarding a certain artifact.

But she thought this was a little secret of the elves... She never expected that the dragons and demons on Dragon Island would have something similar.

Moreover... judging from the Demon King's words, those royal court lords were trying to use the divine artifact?
How can this be?

Most importantly, this guy actually said he was worried?
This is truly the funniest sentence I've heard in nearly a thousand years.

The Demon King didn't comment on Flam's reaction, but simply gave a reply that sent a chill down Flam's spine.

"The Golden Horn of Garihus, a legendary artifact used by Garihus, one of the three primordial gods, to create all things in the world."

"Mountains, rivers, land, sea, and sky... everything in the world was created from the sound of His trumpet."

"Nineteen of them bear the inscription of the truths of the world."

"The truth was sown by the sound of trumpets, and only then did we have the world we have today."

"This is the first Demon King and the Demon King's Royal Court he established. When the Great Source Will entrusted the artifact to him, a piece of writing in ancient demon script was found under the horn."

To put it simply, this artifact established the initial structure of the world.

"The heavens and the oceans, and even magic and the Great Source itself, have all become what we see and are used to today because of its influence."

"Guess what the consequences would be if this artifact were actually activated, even at the lowest possible level?"

Frum jumped up from her chair: "Didn't you say that the method of collecting runestones was useless?"

"Yes, but that was hundreds of years ago. Who knows if the current royal court has found a way?" The Demon King continued, "Of course, whether it can be activated or not is a minor matter."

"What I'm more concerned about is what the royal court is afraid of, or what it wants to obtain, that makes them set their sights on the divine artifact."

"What is it that absolutely requires the aid of this divine artifact?"

"From the story I've told you, you can also hear the special nature of the Golden Horn itself."

"Of the three divine artifacts created by the Three Pillar Gods when they created the world, two were guarded and protected by the True God, but the horn itself was handed over to the Demon Clan, who had only been born at that time."

"Moreover, there is only one condition for activating a divine artifact, and that is a sufficient number of runestones."

"As long as more than half of the ten rune stones are collected, the horn can operate at a minimum level."

"As long as you collect all the rune stones, even an ordinary human with no strength can use their power."

"Don't forget, although those kings of the royal court have different personalities, they have one thing in common—arrogance."

"The arrogance inherent in demons is fully manifested in them."

"Based on my understanding of them, unless they encounter a problem that they cannot solve with their own power, or they possess power that surpasses that of the gods, they will never be able to unite as one."

"And according to the intelligence I've gathered from Cellina and from what I've collected these past few days, the rulers of the Demon King's court are working together in concert."

“Even more united than when I was alive.”

"At least when I decided to start the war, not all the rulers of the royal courts agreed."

"But now they have united and begun to search for and collect runestones, and have even invented a technique to detect the power of runestones."

"Whatever the reason, it's not a good thing for the world."

"They definitely want to use that artifact for something, but whatever they do, it's clearly not a good thing for the world right now."

"On the bright side, perhaps they want to use the artifact to stop the disaster I told them about."

"On the worst, they might actually be fulfilling the delusions I once incited them to have."

"...unify the continent, defeat the gods, and seize everything in the world for the demon race."

(End of this chapter)