Man on the ark, forced to become king

Chapter Three: Prelude to War

"(Sarkaz profanity)! Is she insane?!"

On the main road of the palace, recalling his encounter in the side hall, the Blood Demon Lord cursed and swore, casting aside all his usual noble elegance.

Elegant? Elegant my ass!

The people at the very top of Kazdel's power were all there, but he was the only one who got picked up and beaten up, rubbed on the ground like a dead dog. Didn't he have any dignity?

Even with the best manners, it's impossible to remain elegant after being treated like this. Not to mention, the Blood Demon is synonymous with madness and tyranny; his so-called noble demeanor is just for show. He doesn't actually have such a good temper.

"His Majesty is in a bad mood. I advise you to be careful with your words and actions."

The Lich King glided slowly across the continent like a ghost, glanced back at the side hall that was no longer visible, looked at the dark clouds overhead, and casually offered a reminder.

However, saying this only made the Blood Demon Lord more agitated.

"If you old bastard hadn't schemed against me, why would I have been beaten for no reason?"

"What does this have to do with me? The Demon King rules the royal court, what's wrong with that? I just did what I was supposed to do."

The Lich King says he won't take the blame, and asks what he means by "he messed things up".

The Demon King rules Kazdel. As a subject, is it wrong for him to be loyal to His Majesty the Demon King?

"Ha, why didn't you say so before? Why didn't you do this during the civil war?"

"What are you saying? I didn't help you fight against His Majesty the Demon King during the civil war either."

The Lich King shrugged, looking completely innocent, but what he said was so flawless that it left the Blood Lord speechless. Moreover, this explanation also applied to the Carrion Eaters.

Indeed, although the civil war was extremely fierce and Kazdel had two kings, in reality, the royal court was divided into three factions.

The Banshee Clan remained steadfast in their support of Theresa, even sending her the heir to the royal court.

The shapeshifters, scavengers, and liches remained relatively neutral and never truly joined the war on a large scale. The personal actions of some of the younger members of their tribes are not considered valid.

Only the Pardoners and the Blood Demons openly supported Regent Theresis, and they exerted considerable effort, causing the Tower of Babel to suffer repeated defeats.

At that time, no one thought that Theresa could actually make a comeback.

But now, the Demon King is still Theresa, and she still has the authority to rule Kazdel. In that case, wouldn't the Blood Demons and the Exorcists become traitors? Not punishing them afterwards is already a merciful act.

From this perspective, even the Blood Demon Lord began to feel that the beating he received today was not unjustified.

As for why the one who got beaten up wasn't the Pardoner from the same faction... well, it was him who popped up and caused trouble today.

"Alright, now that things have come to this, what's the point of arguing about this?"

The absolutioner impatiently waved his hand, breaking the tense atmosphere between the Lich King and the Blood Lord, his brow furrowed slightly: "Instead of arguing here, you should go back and prepare your army."

Among all the rulers of the royal court, he is currently the weakest in strength, and his family is also in the worst situation.

Thinking of his younger sister, who had been causing trouble for the family lately, he felt a throbbing pain in his head.

Shining somehow found a Sarkaz with rather unique abilities, and coincidentally, the little girl's situation was related to both the Blood Demon and the Exorcist clan.

As a result, Shining came directly to their door demanding the so-called truth and threatened to make everyone involved in the matter pay the price.

If it were before, it wouldn't have mattered; he was confident he could keep his younger sister in check.

Unexpectedly, after a period of absence, for some reason, Shining's strength suddenly improved by leaps and bounds. No one in the entire family could deal with him except him, which caused chaos in the family.

He hasn't been home for many days because his younger sister is blocking his door demanding an explanation!

However, now His Majesty the Demon King has given a death order to gather the army, so he has no choice but to go back, which is a real headache.

"Are you really going to do as she says?"

Upon hearing this, the Blood Demon Lord looked at the Absolution Master in astonishment, his face full of surprise.

"Starting a full-scale war with Colombia, with the newly rebuilt Kazdel? And fighting on enemy territory? Do you really want to go crazy with her?"

Even someone as mad as him thought Theresa's approach was extremely unreliable. Being belligerent and fearless is one thing, but knowingly charging headlong into something you can't do is quite another.

This is not an internal conflict like a civil war, where the outcome is the same regardless of who wins or loses. If Kazdel loses this war of annihilation, the country that has just begun to show signs of improvement will be plunged into the abyss, with unimaginable consequences.

"Her Majesty the Demon King must have had her reasons for doing that. We, her subjects, should follow in her footsteps."

The King of Carrion spoke softly. The others could not see his veiled face, but they could feel his cold gaze sweeping over them.

"Or do you intend to disobey the Demon King's orders?"

"A hundred years is nothing. Have you completely forgotten the methods our Emperor once used?"

"Think about it, what did she do a hundred years ago?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the Pardoner, the Lich King, and the Blood Lord all remained silent.

Forgotten? How could one forget something that's only a hundred years old?

A hundred years ago, or even two hundred years ago, His Majesty personally led a large army to fight in the south and north, and his methods were far from being 'gentle'.

To put it bluntly, without the later changes, given Theresa's personality and power at that time, a civil war would never have broken out. Even her brother Theresa would have had to obediently be his general and dare not have any ideas.

Today, Theresa feels to them as if they have traveled back a hundred years.

Therefore, even though her attitude was extremely hostile, and she would even resort to violence at the slightest disagreement, no one dared to question her decisions to her face.

Because... that's just how demon kings are.

This is the king they want to follow. Even if there is an abyss ahead, the Sarkaz who follow the Demon King will not retreat a single step!

"Don't blame me for not warning you, Blood Demon."

By looking directly at the Blood Demon Lord, the King of Carrion brought an end to the subtle tension between the group.

“We will follow His Majesty the Demon King to the very end. If you try to use any tricks to displease His Majesty, no one will plead for you.”

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"Are you serious?"

In the closed side hall, Therese spoke with a complex tone, suddenly feeling a sense of contradiction that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

He wanted to use a war to divert attention from Kazdel's internal conflicts, but he didn't expect Theresa to suddenly appear and take even more radical actions than him—he only wanted to wage a war of attrition on the surface, while Theresa really wanted to start a full-scale war until one side was completely defeated and disappeared from this land.

Yes, although it was phrased as a question, Therese, who knew her sister well, was absolutely certain that she wasn't joking at all.

"Phew~ wait a minute, wait a minute."

Theresa ignored him, jumped down from the black throne made of crystal, and peered around at the doorway, making sure it was completely sealed off without a single gap. Then she patted her chest, her shoulders slumped, and her upright body instantly relaxed.

The dark armor gradually faded away, revealing the black and white group beneath. The imposing aura vanished without a trace. His Majesty the Demon King casually pulled over a sturdy chair, sat up backwards, rested his chin on the back of the chair, and stuck out his tongue.

"Finally got rid of these troublesome guys. I really don't know what they were thinking."

"you……"

Therese's lips twitched as she looked at her sister, who had suddenly transformed from a tiger into a cat, and was speechless for a moment.

So, all that pretense was just an act? You revealed your true colors as soon as the person left?

So the whole war thing... was just a hoax?

"There's nothing I can do. I know what they're thinking. That's how they see the Demon King, isn't it?"

Theresa rolled her eyes, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Having spent so much time at the Golden Tree and grown accustomed to its daily routine, it's truly strange to sit in the Demon King's seat now.

"So what exactly are you thinking?"

Aside from marveling at her sister's superb acting skills, Therese was utterly speechless, rubbing her forehead as she asked.

He genuinely didn't understand the situation.

"You mean war with Colombia? You're not kidding."

Getting down to business, Theresa raised her chin and said seriously, "War is inevitable. This is not just my opinion. The collapse of Columbia is imminent. It is not me who will make it disappear."

"If it's not you? Then it must be..."

A sudden realization flashed in Theresis's eyes, and she subconsciously turned her head to look in a direction obscured by shadow.

If it wasn't Theresa who wanted to go to war with Colombia, then only the one from the Golden Tree had the strength and courage to do so.

"What's the reason?"

"reason?"

Theresa paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "What reason do you need? I don't like them, so they have to die. That's not my saying, it's Lin Lu's exact words. He said he never needs a reason to do things."

"That's really... domineering."

There's no reason, and no reason is needed. They just don't like Colombia, so they want to make Colombia disappear from this world. That's incredibly domineering.

However, it is true that person's style of doing things is such that if you have a big enough fist, you can do whatever you want.

With the strength of the Golden Tree, they could easily wipe out all the cities under Colombian control simply by naming them one by one. They have the confidence to do so.

On the other hand, Kazdel doesn't have that kind of strength; he's far inferior.

"If that's the case, then let's fight!"

Therese's face hardened, and he slammed his hand on the table.