Man on the ark, forced to become king

A pale hand held the letter between its fingertips. A figure shrouded in a black cloak emerged from the shadows of the corner, slightly raising its head to reveal a face wearing a golden mask. Two straight white horns protruded from the top of her hood, quite conspicuous.

"The Golden Tree? Never heard of that name before. Aren't you curious? His Highness, Regent Theresis?"

The voice of the figure deliberately dragged out at the end, giving it a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"You should be the ones curious, not me."

Therese looked down at the shifting earth beneath her feet, her gaze unwavering.

"You volunteered to take on the solution to Theresa, thinking you could fight the Demon King. Well, how far you can go is your own business. Don't ask me."

This is probably what it means to be arrogant and disdainful of others. Therese's gaze swept over him as if he were looking at an insignificant stray dog ​​on the roadside, without lingering for even a moment.

"Of course, the Demon King is not invincible, and this is even more true for the Pardoner."

The pardoner of White Horn glanced at the intelligence in his hand, his tone calm, as if stating an established fact.

"Golden Tree, that's an interesting name. It reminds me of something from Laterano, or maybe Letania. Those guys who lock themselves in cages always like to form some mysterious magical groups, using childish methods to make themselves seem mysterious enough, but actually..."

Tear ~

The paper shattered into tiny fragments with a slight shake, leaving a white stain on the carpet.

“True powerhouses disdain to show off in this way. Our Demon King has probably found some hotheads.”

"But it's alright, it will all be over soon, in our way."

"Wait, you can't leave."

Therese glanced at him expressionlessly and said indifferently, "Clean my carpet. Didn't your leader teach you about manners, Pardoner?"

"Oh, oh! I'm sorry, Your Highness the Regent."

The pardoner, who was trying to blend into the shadows and leave, froze, bowed slightly, and his pale hand swept through the air. The scattered scraps of paper on the ground were pulled up by an invisible force and compressed into a sphere the size of a bean, which he held in his hand.

"Why do rats in the gutter always forget themselves when judging others?"

The absolutioner vanished into the shadows and disappeared from the room. After a long silence, Theresis shook her head slightly, a cold smile playing on her lips, but no joy in her eyes.

He could roughly guess how his 'partners' intended to achieve their goal, but he didn't think they could succeed.

To confront the Demon King head-on with force is the most foolish thing to do; it's utterly idiotic.

Theresa is not a newly crowned queen, nor is she a fledgling bird.

She has stood on the throne for a century, and her former enemies dare not even utter her name. Her deeds are still told among the Sarkaz people.

The name "Demon King" is a title left over from ancient times, and it is also a description of the present.

The Sarkaz war heroes were far more terrifying than many people imagined.

Unfortunately... the once fearsome queen on the battlefield has now become weak, and she even wants to seek solutions outside of war, trying to deal with the conflict with so-called 'language and beliefs'.

How ridiculous!

Therese had a vague idea of ​​where Theresa's turning point began and who influenced her.

But knowing this didn't mean he could do anything about it.

After all, to Theresa now, he was no longer her brother, no longer a trustworthy advisor, but a despicable rebel and a greedy schemer.

Moreover, how could the conviction of a king be so easily swayed by mere words? It's simply impossible.

Theresis didn't know what the white-haired woman with the filament had shown their demon king that caused the once-powerful demon king to begin to loathe war, but he didn't think he could do the same thing.

However, to him, Theresa is at most a large bomb that could potentially explode; dangerous, but not that dangerous.

Because this bomb deliberately created its own prison, concealing all its sharpness.

He was waiting, waiting for those self-righteous pardoners to suffer a crushing defeat, so that he could rightfully intervene in more matters.

It would be unwise to fight the Demon King with force on the battlefield, but he didn't need to do so.

A monarch who is swayed by the will of his subjects is not a significant threat.

“Come and see, my dear sister, let me see how far your so-called beliefs can go. This man-eating land has never been picky about food.”

The Regent's gaze through the porthole was dark and deep; he stared at the ground beneath his feet, his eyes seemingly reflecting another remarkably similar figure.

Perhaps he should focus more on the other jackals lurking around him; Kazdel's situation is no longer of great importance.

—————————————————————

“Our Demon King has recently come into contact with some very important people.”

As night falls, a dark shadow emerges from the darkness, its white horn reflecting the moonlight and emitting a soft glow.

The two pardoners stood facing each other in the wilderness, looking like the same person inside and outside a mirror, almost identical in clothing and figure, making them indistinguishable.

"Is there any news from our colleagues?"

"No, those people are notoriously stubborn. Do you think you can get any information out of them?"

"That's true... So what do you plan to do?"

"Ah, it's very simple."

The pardoner stood in the moonlight, his shadow stretching long and narrow in the moonlight, his pale hands slightly bent, as if holding something.

"It doesn't matter who she found. What matters is that the royal courts have abandoned her and she has been forsaken by her own people. Even the Demon King can only be like a fish out of water, waiting for her end. And that day is not far off. Perhaps you should prepare for what method we can use to continue the transmission of the Demon King's power. We cannot lose this power."

"Yes, for the Sarkaz people now, it doesn't matter who the Demon King is; what matters is that the Demon King still exists."

Snapped!

The pardoner's hand suddenly stretched out and precisely grasped an object falling from the sky. A faint white light floated on his hand, and a blood-red glow flowed upwards from the base of the white horn, tinged with a pale crimson, distinguishing the two people.

"Theresis is hiding a lot of things; he is not trustworthy."

The absoler, maintaining a certain magical state, opened his palm, revealing something lying in his hand—a metal relief pendant whose specific details were indistinguishable.

It appeared to be in an activated state, with sparse rays of light falling from it, interacting with the spell held in the palm of the hand.

"He is certainly not trustworthy, but neither are we."

The other pardoner remained noncommittal, simply shaking his head slightly, and asked, "What does the intelligence report say? The information we got from Theresis is all fragmented and completely useless."

"Don't rush, I need time."

The light of the spell flowed through his palm in accordance with ancient laws, and the absolutist maintained the raised hand posture, like a statue, motionless.

His silence lasted for a long time, about a few minutes, during which the light emanating from the corner seemed to intensify.

"It seems that our Demon King has really found a very good helper this time. Our intelligence focus is now on that suddenly appearing golden tree."

"This so-called Golden Tree seems to have caused quite a few personnel changes in the Tower of Babel. Philin, who had always been by the Demon King's side, left the Tower of Babel as a result. The Demon King himself also showed signs of leaving the Tower of Babel recently, and it is speculated that he wanted to go to the Golden Tree."

"Ah, that's really a great help. I was worried that something unexpected might happen if we took action on their turf. Now our friends, whom we've never met, have solved the problem for us—I'm starting to like them a little."

The pardoner in White Horn seemed somewhat surprised, his tone unusually fluctuating, as if to say: 'Is there really such a good thing?'

Although they had made ample preparations for their plan, and it wouldn't be a big deal to take action directly on Babel's territory, they still wanted to place the battlefield elsewhere, away from Babel, if possible.

A demon king is a demon king after all. A demon king alone may not be so terrifying, but a demon king surrounded by people is enough to become a terrifying nightmare that no one wants to face. If she wants, everyone can become a puppet to be manipulated.

Therefore, separating her from the main force of the Tower of Babel is the best course of action.

They originally didn't have this opportunity. The informants planted inside the Tower of Babel were limited by their status and could not do much beyond providing intelligence, let alone influence something as important as Theresa's itinerary.

Now someone suddenly tells them that the Demon King is going to leave his army? Even that troublesome woman, Felin, has already left. It's like a godsend!

If the atmosphere weren't so awkward, the pardoner would have even wanted to laugh out loud three times and say: "Never before has there been such a wonderful start."

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!

"So, what exactly is the Golden Tree?"

This unseen help left a mark on Golden Tree in the mind of the Pardoner, who was now genuinely curious about the origins of this organization.

Is it some secret cult in Laterano? Or an organization of mad sorcerers in Letania? Or perhaps an underground church that worships an evil god?

"There isn't much detailed information. The only known information is that the Golden Tree has become an ally personally agreed to by Theresa and will provide some kind of support to Babel. What exactly that support is still unknown. Also, the organization's military strength should be quite formidable. That's all."

"Powerful in military force? Do you know what those four words mean?"

"Of course I know."

The magical light dissipated from his palm, and the silver pendant reflected brilliant lines under the moonlight, shimmering brightly.

The absoler, having ceased his spell, put away the pendant and looked at his colleague, the empty eyes of the golden mask as deep as an abyss.

"The Imperial Guard of Yan Kingdom, the Inner Guard of Ursus, the Queen's Voice of Letania, the Papal Knights of Lateran, and the Conquering Knights of Kazimierz—they can all be described as 'powerful in combat'."

"Do you really think a small, unknown organization that suddenly appears can rival the elite forces of various countries? I'd rather believe that the old man in charge of intelligence is getting old and his mind isn't quite right anymore."

The pardoner of White Horn scoffed at the intelligence, treating it as a joke.

This land is indeed full of secrets, with countless secret groups and churches. A single golden tree is nothing compared to that.

However, if this group possesses capabilities comparable to the most elite clandestine organizations in various countries, then there is a serious problem.

The number of military forces at that level is quite limited; they're not like radishes planted in the ground—how could they appear out of thin air?

To be described as 'powerful' means that the Golden Tree possesses strength comparable to their group of absolutists, which is simply unbelievable.

If they really had that kind of strength, how could such an organization have remained unknown all this time?

Everything that exists in the world leaves a trace, but the appearance of this golden tree is as if it just popped out of the ground. Where did their people come from?