Who taught him to restore the country like this

Chapter 222 How can villains team up?

In the banquet hall.

Keltia sat alone in a corner far from the crowd, emanating an aura of repulsion that kept strangers at bay.

She was thoroughly annoyed by the people who kept trying to strike up a conversation with her, and all she could think about was that the banquet would end soon.

Her indifferent demeanor made Karina suffer.

As a representative of the Radiant Church, Keltia accompanied the hero to the Titan Kingdom; her attitude should not be so cold.

Basic social obligations should still be observed.

Kortia refused them all.

Karina noticed that, at some point, her senior, Kertia, who could handle any big situation with ease, had become withdrawn and stopped talking to people.

There was no other way but to take on these tasks that she rarely did and was not good at.

Not only must he represent the Kingdom of Orantia and entertain the nobles of the Titan Kingdom, but he must also represent the Holy See and entertain these people.

Just then, she finished entertaining several viscounts and was about to take a breather when a voice suddenly rang in her mind.

It was Lady Beretta's voice.

In order to carry out the plan to deal with Gratoni this morning, she used the unique empathy ability of the Saint's bloodline to establish a mental link with the hero, enabling them to communicate remotely through mental frequencies.

The attack has not yet been lifted after Gratoni was defeated.

The fact that Lady Beretta is using this method to send a message at this moment suggests that something important has come of it.

She listened attentively.

After hearing Ron's message, her expression turned strange.

She walked toward Kertia.

“Senior Kertia, Lady Beretta… is asking us for help.”

She paused for a moment.

Help?

Kertia's expression immediately turned serious.

Could it be that a demon spy has infiltrated the hero's ranks?
"where is he?"

Kertia immediately asked.

"He... is with Princess Alicia."

"Kelina said."

Then he leaned close to Kertia's ear and said something else.

Upon hearing this, Kertia frowned deeply.

"Are we going?"

Karina was a little undecided.

"go."

Keltia walked straight in the direction Ron had just left.

The princess of the Titan Kingdom is far too arrogant to try and retain the hero with such despicable means.

The fact that the hero had stayed in the Titan Kingdom for so long had already made her quite annoyed.

bang bang.

Upon arriving at the room where the hero was to deliver the message, Keltia did not hesitate for a moment and pounded on the door.

"Lord Beretta, the banquet is coming to an end."

Karina, who had caught up, quickly added a sentence to help.

Inside the room, Ron, who was about to be tackled, breathed a long sigh of relief upon hearing Karina's voice.

"Alicia, the banquet is about to end. Let's hurry back to the banquet hall."

He looked at Alicia, who was clearly annoyed that the knocking had spoiled her fun, and said...

"Ignore them."

Alicia, however, did not stop there. She turned her gaze back to Ron and prepared to continue with what she was doing next.

"O flame that burns away all the filth of the world, answer my prayer, and bring destruction to my enemies with your fiery judgment..."

"Eh?"

Hearing the magical incantation outside the door, Alicia turned around in a daze.

"...Flame gun!"

Bang!
A blast of scorching air burst through the locked door, and the flames instantly illuminated the dim room.

The flames, like long spears, shot straight towards the two people in the room.

"Alas!"

Alicia shuddered, quickly released her grip, and dodged backward.

The flamethrower passed straight between the two men, the intense heat of the flames burning their skin.

Bang!
The flamethrower blasted a large hole in the wall.

"I apologize, hero, I accidentally released magic."

At the door, Kertia bowed slightly and apologized to the two people who were staring blankly in the room.

Ron stared at the large hole in the wall, his eye twitching.

This woman is acting way too recklessly!
"You've already taken out your wand, how can this be considered an accident? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

Alicia retorted angrily.

"If it's okay, I'll go back first."

Keltia calmly put away her wand, bowed slightly, and then turned and left.

"you……"

"Your Highness Alicia, I think you need to calm down and get some rest tonight."

Ron straightened his clothes and walked towards the door.

"Lord Beretta..."

Seeing Ron's unwavering pace, Alicia stomped her foot in frustration.

She meant well, wanting to leave an heir for the hero...

"Um…"

Suddenly she paused, stunned.

wrong.

What am I doing?
She glanced down blankly at the few pieces of cloth left on her body, and gradually felt a sense of dread.

Why would I do such a thing?

She felt like she might have gone crazy just now.

She doesn't deny that after hearing what the hero said, she developed feelings for him and even had those kinds of thoughts.

But... what she pursues is freedom, and children will only become obstacles on her path to freedom.

"What was I thinking about?"

Alicia fell into deep thought.

However, they did not notice the wisp of black mist escaping behind them.

……

"Thanks for earlier."

As Ron walked out of the banquet hall, he thanked them.

"Lady Beretta, how could you..."

Karina shook her head, then asked in confusion.

"I don't know either. I just explained the truth about the engagement to her, and that's how she reacted."

Ron said.

This encounter was completely unexpected.

Logically speaking, someone like Alicia, who has an almost obsessive desire for freedom, shouldn't do something that would restrict her future freedom.

Is it...

"Kertia, Karina."

Ron shouted.

The two women looked at each other at the same time.

"Don't you think I have an irresistible charm?"

The two girls: “…”

The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Keltia shook her head regretfully. It seemed that the hero's mind had become irrational because of what had just happened.

"Yes... a little bit."

Karina offered her support, though she herself wasn't entirely sure.

Ok.

It seems that my personal charisma, even with the blessing of the hero's halo, has not developed to the point of being able to change other people's obsessions.

Ron stroked his chin, entering a state of deep thought.

Is it the butterfly effect?

However, the storyline of Titan Kingdom hasn't changed much.

In contrast, he had another theory.

Have you ever heard of an ability that can amplify desires infinitely?

He asked the two women again.

"I know."

Karina replied, "The commander of the Seventh Legion of the Demon Clan has such an ability."

She had learned about all the publicly known abilities of high-ranking demons.

"It can keenly sense anyone's emotions and desires, and through words or blood, it can infinitely amplify the emotions and desires within the human body, causing people to fall into monsters without a self."

She described it.

“Seventh Legion Commander…” Ron murmured.

He knew of this guy's existence.

But shouldn't the one sent to assassinate the hero for the first time be the commander of the Fifth Legion of the Demon Clan, Sabnir's superior?

Just how many legion commanders did the Demon Clan send this time?
Don't they know they're just lining up to get themselves killed?

If you all stick together like this, it'll be hard for me to develop.

"You suspect that the demons were behind what just happened?"

"Kertia asked with doubt."

"I don't know, but Alicia was clearly acting strangely just now."

Ron shook his head.

He wondered, if this was truly the work of the demons, what was their purpose in doing so?
Are we giving benefits to the brave?

Or do they want to drain the hero dry until he dies?

As the commander of the demon army, he shouldn't be that naive.

"Am I overthinking it...?"

……

Iron Ridge City.

"Hey, old buddy."

On the vast training ground, Horn walked over, supported by his disciple Gangji.

In the training field, the red dragon, who was curled up asleep, raised its eyelids to look at him, then closed its eyes again.

Horn sat down in front of the red dragon and waved to Gangji.

Gangji nodded and withdrew.

"Old buddy, you haven't come to see me all these years."

Horn spoke in a relaxed tone, as if he were catching up with an old friend.

However, Gratoni ignored him.

Horn didn't pay any attention and continued talking to himself.

"More than two hundred years have passed, and you look exactly the same. As for me, I'm about to join the third generation of heroes."

"Alas, things have changed."

"I still remember the first time I met you on Tianhai North Island. You were tied up by the hero for harassing Philian and were almost castrated..."

"Shut up!"

A dull thud sounded, and Gratoni raised his head, staring impatiently at Horn.

"Old friend, you've finally said something."

Horn laughed.

"You old codger, still chattering away like this even now, it's driving me crazy!"

Gratoni exhaled a heavy breath from his nostrils.

"It's not like we haven't seen each other for two hundred years. I wanted to catch up with you."

"Who wants to reminisce with you?"

Gratoni's eyes showed disgust.

"Speak your mind, or shut up. Don't disturb my sleep."

He disliked Horne to no end; when Horne was weaker than him, the guy always liked to smear him.

Two hundred years later, they meet again, still unchanged.

"hehe."

Horn chuckled twice, then his expression slowly turned serious.

"Have you told the new hero about the Mermaid's Heart?"

he asked.

Do you want me to tell him, or do you want me not to tell him?

Gratoni countered with a question.

"Either is fine. I'd also like to see the hero's reaction after learning the truth about the Mermaid's Heart. But let's leave the secret that the first hero worked so hard to hide forever."

Horn said calmly.

"Hmph, this time it's probably not as simple as you think."

"I know that the demon king that is about to be born is very troublesome. Without the heart of a mermaid, it cannot be killed."

"Since you know this, why don't you hurry up and tell the hero some things to be aware of when searching for the Mermaid's Heart?"

Gratoni Road.

While this won't prevent the tragedy from happening, it can reduce the scope of the tragedy.

"You've joined the hero's party, why don't you tell the hero?"

Horn stared at Gratoni and asked.

"I have no such obligation."

"No, you can't accept that tragedy has happened."

Horn bluntly exposed Gratoni's lies.

They both knew that the cost of doing so would be far too high.

Gratoni remained silent.

"Old friend, you know what? I've been having a lot of dreams lately, probably because I'm not long for this world."

After an unknown amount of time, Horn spoke again.

He gazed at the night sky.

"In my dream, I saw the hero find the mermaid's heart on the North Island of the Sky Sea, but he did not take the mermaid's heart."

"The hero decided to defeat the Demon King with his own abilities. He abandoned the Hero's Sword and went to the Demon King's castle alone, using love and faith to educate the demons and help them coexist with other races."

"The Demon King was eventually moved by the hero's belief, stopped destroying the world, and built a world of coexistence with the hero."

Horn's cloudy eyes seemed to shine brightly as if illuminated by stars.

"Horn, it seems you've gone mad."

Gratoni's voice was deep.

To purify the demon race?

Demons are a group of warlike and bloodthirsty beasts who have no concept of coexisting with other races.

The only thought is to kill other races as prey.

Let alone trying to reform them with love and faith, even using overwhelming force wouldn't work.

Because very few demons can suppress their true nature, they will bite and tear at you frantically if you are not careful.

"Maybe I'm going crazy..."

Horn chuckled softly.

"But I still want to ask you for one last favor."

His eyelids felt as if they were filled with lead, constantly drooping.

Sensing Horn's life force, which was like a candle flickering in the wind, Gratoni's heart softened.

"What do you want me to do?"

"If the Mermaid's Heart is found, I would like to ask you... to kill anyone who tries to take it... including..."

"The Fifth Generation Hero".

……

The next day.

The news of the passing of Master Horn, who had followed the third generation of heroes in their fight against the Demon King, spread rapidly throughout the Titan Kingdom, and the entire nation mourned and prayed.

As Master Horn's most valued disciple, Gangji had no time to grieve before he had to embark on a journey to defeat the Demon King with the hero.

At the entrance to Titan Palace.

The king personally saw them off.

“Alicia, these are some suggestions I have for managing Rockhammer Territory. I hope they will be of some help to you.”

Before leaving, Ron entrusted Alicia with the management of Rockhammer Territory.

One reason he refused Alicia's accompaniment was that he feared she would be a burden, and another was that he wanted her to stay in the Titan Kingdom to help him manage his territory.

Alicia doesn't need to do anything herself; she just needs to stay in her territory. Other nobles and royalty will provide some care and convenience out of respect for her as a princess.

"Ah."

Alicia accepted the book that Ron handed her.

"Lord Beretta, please come back alive. I will be waiting for you in Rockhammer Territory."

She watched Ron's departing figure and cried out with genuine emotion.

"Ah."

Then you can just keep waiting.

Ron turned his back to her and waved goodbye a few times.

“Mr. Grattoni, let’s go.”

Ron jumped onto the red dragon's broad back and sat between Keltia and Karina.

Gangji sat in front of the three, using his massive body to shield them from the wind.

"Hold on."

Gratoni let out a low roar, and its enormous dragon wings suddenly unfurled, stirring up a gust of wind. Its massive body soared into the sky, quickly turning into a black dot and disappearing into the horizon.

High in the sky, the wind was howling.

With Gratoni, this robust red dragon, as our mode of transportation, the journey became more efficient and comfortable than ever before.

No need to travel far and wide, or waste magical flight.

(End of this chapter)