Damien entered the castle without hiccups. Honestly speaking, all the credit belonged to this maid.
Although Damien had to time his entrance into the barrier to perfectly match the maid’s movements when she brushed it, that wasn’t actually a hard task for him.
To his eyes, the unhurried movements of a mortal could be watched by the microsecond. It was like he was watching the scene in super slow motion, so he didn’t have a difficult time at all.
After he entered the barrier, he mimicked the technique Zara used to stay within his shadow. However, because he wasn’t proficient, it wasn’t nearly as smooth.
For one, he couldn’t expand the shadow into a massive subspace as Zara could, so he was forced to squeeze into the already existing space within the shadow, causing it to move awkwardly.
At this point, Damien felt it wouldn’t be long before he was discovered by the hawkish gazes of the guards. But the maid had suddenly prostrated herself, covering his movements as all attention became focused on her.
With the way the situation had been unfolding, her movements felt natural, but Damien knew there couldn’t be such a convenient coincidence.
He almost wanted to use his All-Seeing Eyes to pry into the secrets of this seemingly harmless maid, but the situation didn’t allow him to do so. Plus, the fact that she was able to sense his movements meant she was strong. He didn’t want to risk offending someone who could slap him to death with a single palm if they got pissed off.
After entering the castle, Damien stayed within the maid’s shadow without moving needlessly. Although he didn’t know where she was headed, considering what he had deduced so far, he felt it was best to stick with her.
And as he thought, the maid slowly reached a single room that stood alone on the top floor of the mansion. Once she reached the door, she hesitantly knocked.
“Lord, I’ve brought a gift for you.”
A faint blush colored her face as she spoke. When Damien looked around, he noticed a few other maids in the hallway glancing at her in disdain.
“Enter.”
A deep voice came from within the study. The maid opened the door at his instruction and quickly entered, closing the door behind her.
When she entered, the first thing she saw was an imposing man sitting quietly at his desk, gazing at the soft moonlight that entered the study through the single window.
Her breath stopped short as she tried to immortalize the scene within her memory. Damien almost felt like he had to leave before she pounced on the Demon King.
He had no interest in voyeurism.
But after a few moments, the maid finally managed to raise her voice and speak.
“Lord! I picked some Moon’s Glimmer Lillies for you! I know they are your favorite!”
“Mm, you may leave them here. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Anything for you, my Lord.”
The maid gently placed the lilies down on a nearby table before excusing herself from the room. After serving him for so many years, she knew that her Lord was currently too preoccupied to focus on other things.
Once she left, Demon King Lucius slowly raised his gaze towards a certain spot in the room.
“This place is isolated from prying eyes. Why are you still trying to act mysterious around me, O son-in-law of mine?”
“Ahaha, as expected of my dear father-in-law. Perceptive as always!” Damien laughed lightly as he came out from the shadows.
Demon King Lucius rolled his eyes before suddenly snickering. “Brat, your appearance right now is truly…special.”
“Ugh, don’t talk about it. It’s all for a just cause, so the embarrassment can be endured!” Damien proclaimed righteously as he massaged his forehead.
“Alright. Now that you’re here, what’s your plan? Escaping won’t be nearly as easy as infiltrating.” The Demon King immediately went into serious matters after his bit of teasing.
“I’m also aware of that, but I can manage. Don’t worry about that. Oh right, before we leave, is there anyone you want to bring with you? For example, a certain maid that seems to be head over heels for you.”
“Boy, don’t go too far. I raised that little girl from birth. She’s nothing more than a daughter to me.”
“I’m sure she’d be distraught if she ever heard that.”
“Leave my personal matters alone. Why are you asking about others? It’d be hard enough to get a single person out of here, let alone a group.”
“I have my methods. As for my reason, you should clearly understand it.”
Demon King Lucius sighed. Once he disappeared from his castle, hell would break loose. The servants and guards who resided here would inevitably be slaughtered in the aftermath.
Of course he understood, but he didn’t actually think there was any proper solution. He was already bearing so much pain in his heart, so he simply accepted that bearing more pain was a necessity.
“If you truly considered that little maid like a daughter, then you shouldn’t be so hasty in leaving her as a sacrifice. If I say I have a method, I naturally have one. I understand you can’t trust me, but this is for my sake as much as it is for yours.”
“How so?”
“I mean, if I can make her father happy and bring the people she cares about to safety, won’t my little maid be even more obedient in the future? It’s the perfect plan!”
“Tch!”
The Demon King couldn’t help but scoff. The worst part was, he was right! Lucius knew damn well that if Damien could actually accomplish what he said, Elitra’s gratefulness and worship towards him would skyrocket.
“Whatever. Even I’ll be forced to owe you a favor if you can truly do such a thing. Very well, I shall gather everyone in one place.”
It didn’t take long at all for a group of close to 50 people to gather near Demon King Lucius’s study. These people all had curious expressions on their faces as they looked at him.
But he could clearly see the reverence they had towards Lucius. It was so great that it would be impossible to fake.
“Sigh. It seems I can do nothing now but resign myself to fate. Boy, I leave us all in your care.”
For the first time, Damien put on a solemn expression.
“Leave it to me.”
Without even explaining to the gathered individuals what was happening, Damien spread his mana to cover the crowd. Since Lucius wasn’t resisting, these servants didn’t resist either.
As the mana around them began to fill with the essence of space, the area around them started distorting. Soon, they began disappearing from the hall in groups of 10.
In a few seconds, only Demon King Lucius and the maid from before were left.
“Stop resisting my mana, you freaks. When you are both teleported to that place, things will truly start to get fun. I’ll project a live feed so you can watch what’s happening here from safety. Also, your strength will be sealed in that place until I arrive there with you, so bear with it. Maybe try resisting it as well? I want to see whether my World Principles or your 4th class strength is stronger.”
With one final grin, Damien teleported Demon King Lucius and that maid to the Sanctuary.
Taking a deep breath, he gazed around to assess the current situation.
The remaining hundreds of guards and servants in the palace were already charging at him with fiendish looks in their eyes.
Alarms were blaring everywhere.
Powerful auras began to converge on his location.
‘Things will start for real now.’
Damien’s thoughts raced as he flashed away from his position as if he never existed there in the first place.
