Chapter 511: Dark Demon and the Little Butterfly (4k)
Under the enormous Angel Ring, there was a mechanical construct made up of countless interlocking gears.
The overall outline of the “Divine Angel” resembled a giant cicada. Two gemstones like compound eyes were embedded within the gearwork that served as eye sockets, and behind it floated a silver gear larger than its body, slowly rotating.
This was far from what people normally imagined an angel to be.
Its appearance did not ignite any fervent devotion among believers.
But this did not hinder its power.
After the archbishop summoned this “Divine Angel,” he stood confidently, clearly full of confidence in it.
Almost simultaneously.
The enormous foot that stepped out of the summoning circle slammed forcefully onto the ground.
As the earth trembled, the golem summoned by the demon remnant finally revealed itself completely.
It looked like a standard demon, with a goat’s head and beast’s claws, its entire body wreathed in dark flames. Its massive size even surpassed the similarly tall Minotaur, standing at twenty meters tall!
The appearance of such a huge and terrifying demon brought unprecedented fear to the populace.
Moreover, their emotions were influenced by the barrier, making them more susceptible to change.
This was completely different from the golems typically seen in the dueling arena.
Even if the demonic creature in the duel arena was powerful, it would not want to harm the audience, but the sight of this great demon would remind people of the terrifying presence of the demon race.
The crowd pushed back by the priests’ halos let out extreme panic screams—yet even that fear was recorded as part of the ceremony.
…
Flames spewed from the tip of the “Divine Fire” staff, transforming into a burning giant hand that grabbed the “Armed Transformation” elder demon.
The pope looked coldly at this elder demon, who should also be considered strong among the demon remnants.
The disparity between them had always existed, let alone now.
The elder demon could enhance his strength through mana technology, and the pope, of course, wouldn’t remain stagnant.
That gap would only widen!
In the disbelief of the elder demon, his armor suddenly began to disintegrate!
And without his armor, he could no longer reach the pope’s level.
The lance of the golden knight came like a dragon, releasing dazzling lightning from its tip.
When the elder demon was struck to the ground by the golden knight, the pope no longer paid attention to him.
The grandest spectacle of the ceremony—the battle between the demon and the angel—was unfolding!
…
The enormous gear floating behind the “Divine Angel” rotated at an extremely slow pace, and the massive, terrifying demon was suddenly enveloped in white light.
Its huge body instantly stopped moving, even its frenzied roars unable to break free from the light’s restraint.
The archbishop laughed coldly, raising his hand.
“Judgment!”
The enormous gear behind the “Divine Angel” abruptly moved to the next notch.
Immediately, waves of ripples emanated from the Angel Ring above its head.
Red light rapidly condensed within its eyes.
Two red beams burst forth from those gem-like eyes, twisting and contorting in the air, forming a terrifying spiral beam.
The newly summoned great demon, before it could even display its might, was instantly pierced through the head by this spiral beam!
“The demon race has long been removed from the stage.”
“No one can stop the execution of the Demon King.”
The pope’s voice seemed to possess magical power, spreading throughout the barrier and gradually calming the people dominated by fear.
The gate to the underworld fully appeared in the sky.
A strange aura spread out accordingly.
The struggling “Demon King soul” was sucked towards the door emitting an ethereal aura amidst screams.
It seemed that once this black fog was drawn in, the Demon King would be utterly destroyed!
The demon remnants, foreseeing this scene, charged forward in anger, but they all met their end like moths to a flame.
The knights of the Holy Church firmly controlled the situation.
Angels slaughtered demons.
And the remnants of the demon race, seeing the irreversible death of the Demon King, could not help but retreat.
But having emerged from the black fog, they could no longer easily retreat.
No matter whether this ceremony achieved the desired effect for the Holy Church, they would inevitably face endless pursuit!
…
“It’s almost over,” Ms. Plant said regretfully, joining the viewing midway.
She seemed disappointed because the demon remnants were too weak.
Sage Cyrus agreed, “These demon remnants are still too impulsive.”
“Whose side are you on?”
Dark couldn’t help rolling his eyes.
Of course, his feelings were similar to Ms. Plant’s.
Perhaps this was the epitome of “not minding trouble.”
“A farce.”
Professor Shylph on the teahouse shook her head slightly.
Only little Lily’s gaze flickered, constantly searching for a butterfly in the crowd.
“I found it!”
Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she saw a tiny butterfly slowly flying out from behind the altar.
Then she immediately composed herself to prevent her expression from being discovered.
That small butterfly seamlessly blended into the environment, even the bishops on the altar failed to notice its presence.
Except for the little imp Lily, none of the mixed-blood half-imp noticed it either.
But in the drawing room of the Duke’s Mansion, Dark suddenly showed signs of astonishment and suspicion.
Irina did not notice the butterfly.
However, her field of vision was always locked on the altar.
When the small butterfly flew into her view, though she didn’t notice it, it was clearly displayed on the projection.
And behind the screen, the unique ability of the little imp to eliminate presence was obviously weakened.
Dark suddenly noticed the butterfly and exclaimed in surprise, “Why is there a butterfly there?”
Everyone in the drawing room instinctively focused their attention on it.
And Irina, through Eve’s perception, finally noticed the butterfly.
But at this moment, the butterfly with no presence had slowly flown to the corner of the Underworld Gate.
Little imps, sometimes timid like mice, other times bold as lions, usually depended on their curiosity about something.
Sufficiently novel things could give them unimaginable courage.
The appearance of the Underworld Gate undoubtedly emboldened Didi Maxwell.
She transformed into a butterfly and quietly approached, landing on the frame of the Underworld Gate.
“This is the legendary Underworld Gate?”
She touched the light emitted by the Underworld Gate with her antennae, and after a while, she frowned in her heart, “Wait, this Underworld Gate isn’t open?”
Clearly, the “Demon King’s soul” was being sucked in… Could it be that this was just a facade of the ritual?
Didi looked at the actually unopened Underworld Gate, her butterfly antennae trembling.
Inside the drawing room, Dark and others tightly watched the movements of the small butterfly, both curious why no one had noticed it and pondering what it intended to do.
Suddenly, Dark seemed to have an epiphany, glaring at the butterfly’s wings.
The unique patterns on the butterfly’s wings were gradually aligning with a scene in his memory.
“Could this butterfly be Professor Didi?”
When inspiration struck, he suddenly cried out in shock.
…
Almost simultaneously, driven by curiosity, the small butterfly suddenly raised its antennae and slowly stabbed into the “door” of the Underworld Gate.
Mana fluctuations spread out in an instant.
The Underworld Gate was punctured by a tiny hole, like a pinprick.
But even such a minute hole connected the Underworld to the real world!
A terrifying suction force suddenly erupted from this small hole.
This terrifying suction force had no effect on physical substances, but it would drag all spiritual substances into it.
Didi Maxwell’s heart tightened, and she unhesitatingly flapped her wings to escape.
Her speed was like lightning, but her presence was exposed due to the mana eruption.
The “Demon King’s soul” was truly sucked into the hole.
And the aura of the Underworld leaked out.
The pope and the chief archbishop, who had been observing the proceedings, turned their heads abruptly at the instant the Underworld Gate was punctured.
Their composed expressions finally changed.
“Gale!” The pope said sternly.
Archbishop Gail Norris immediately turned toward the altar, raising his staff to aim at the Underworld Gate.
But in that brief moment, the “Demon King’s soul” was thoroughly sucked into the Underworld.
Whatever their true purpose in reversing the炼成 of the “Demon King soul”—or whatever other purpose—they were too late.
And the aura of the Underworld, or some substance, had already leaked out from that hole.
The archbishop quickly patched up the small hole and then pointed his staff directly at the butterfly form of Didi Maxwell.
But at the moment the magic light illuminated, he had to lower his hand and turned back with a dignified expression, shouting angrily, “As you can see, the Demon King has been thoroughly burned, and its foul soul will forever wander in the Land of the Dead, never to rest!”
“As the pope said, the era of the demon race has ended—humanity forever thrives!”
…
“Humankind forever thrives!”
The populace, witnessing the death of the Demon King, echoed the call of the archbishop.
The demon remnants, with no hope left, began to flee in panic.
But the Holy Church had laid a vast net, capturing or killing each demon remnant!
For today’s events, the Holy Church had planned extensively.
This naturally included simulations of the possibility of the Demon King’s return.
On one hand, they wanted to make the reappearing Demon King appear as a “fake Demon King.”
On the other hand, they wanted to ensure he had no army, making it impossible to rise up in the short term.
Thus, the Holy Church could have more time to track and search for the Demon King’s trail—of course, under the pretext of eliminating the demon remnants!
The appearance of these demon remnants today not only gave them the pretext for a “demon hunt” but also made the kingdom’s citizens realize that demon remnants still existed.
Appropriate fear and threats would make people more devout in their faith in the church.
…
“It seems really over.”
Despite the minor detours caused by Didi Maxwell’s appearance.
The “Demon King execution ritual” still proceeded according to the Holy Church’s plan from start to finish.
The only loss was the reversed炼成 of the “Demon King soul.”
But for the Holy Church eager to cover up the “escape of the Demon King,” this cost was virtually zero.
The kingdom residents and humanoids who had traveled from all corners had seen the grand spectacle, and saying it was worth it was entirely appropriate.
The gains from this were countless.
The kingdom’s security forces used this time to accomplish many tasks, especially thoroughly cleaning up the increasingly active evil sects.
Although they were like weeds, difficult to eradicate, the fact that the “Demon King is dead” would cause a significant portion of the evil sects to lose their backbone.
The kingdom would likely enter a long period of stability after this.
This was beneficial for the kingdom’s development.
Alvaraite and Claire finally didn’t waste their efforts during this time.
And Dark Demon had a happy weekend because of this.
“It feels a bit unsatisfying.”
“I thought something more exciting would happen.”
“Like a major event forcing me out of the Duke’s Mansion.”
“But nothing happened at all ╮（╯＿╰）╭.”
Dark looked through the projection at the bishops moving the Demon King’s corpse onto a carriage and rubbed his chin.
“What’s the point of rubbing your chin when you don’t have a beard?”
Pandora touched his chin.
Dark blushed and quickly moved away.
Aurora glanced at him and tightened her fingers.
…
“Dark.”
Just as Dark was contemplating his next steps, Professor Kazel suddenly called out to him.
Dark hurriedly replied, “What is it, professor?”
Kazel took a breath and said, “I might not be able to teach you the ‘Transfiguration Spell’ for a while.”
Dark observed Professor Kazel’s expression through Irina’s perspective and smiled gently, “It’s okay, professor. I can ask Professor Claire for help, and it’s not urgent.”
Professor Kazel expressed regret, “I originally wanted to check if you relaxed too much during the summer…”
Dark’s eyelid twitched, and he quickly changed the subject, “How about Professors Shylph and Lily?”
Lily playfully stuck out her tongue, “Hehe.”
Professor Shylph sighed, “Though I’d love to visit, I can’t let them run around unchecked. I’ll have to wait for another opportunity.”
Dark felt regretful, “Indeed, then we can only wish everyone a smooth journey ahead.”
Professor Shylph smiled, “Thank you for the good wishes.” Though she didn’t say it outright.
They were clearly preparing to find Professor Didi Maxwell.
When Dark recognized the butterfly as Professor Didi, he had expected this result.
He wasn’t surprised.
But he felt a bit disappointed.
Everyone has their own stance, and what they see differs based on their perspectives.
Ultimately, the choice is made by themselves.
…
“Irina, observe for a bit longer. You should come back.”
“Okay.”
Irina turned her head to look outside the window.
As the scene shifted, Dark suddenly froze.
On Saint Louis Square, it seemed something unusual was happening.
