This was always the result whenever a huge dispute, which could have turned into an international issue, came to an end. The atmosphere surrounding the three nations became rather subtle. In fact, rumors about what had happened were already circulating in the other kingdoms. However, all of that was none of Davey’s concern.

“Look, Prince Davey. No matter what, this is a bit…”

“Hmm… Well, it’s entirely up to you.”

Unless the circumstances were dire or unique, it was truly impossible to transfer a part of one nation’s territory to another. There had actually been cases where two nations would end up sharing diplomatic ties after having fought for tens and even hundreds of years for the ownership of a simple island.

This situation did not involve a small island but a part of the Hyeon Kingdom’s huge forest. This was the very forest that the kingdom used for their Bow Test. It was a very sacred place to them. No matter how dire their circumstances were, they would find it ridiculous to have to give it up.

In fact, Davey would have been disappointed if the Hyeon King had willingly accepted his demands.

“I understand your concerns. I know that it’s difficult to accept, regardless of me having resolved a dire situation for your kingdom. Anyway, I am not threatening you or demanding that part of the forest,” Davey said. Looking right into the King’s widened eyes, he continued, “I do not want to drag this matter out and have it become an international issue. So, I’m not asking you to hand a part of the forest over and give it to the Rowane Kingdom.”

“What…do you mean by that?”

“It’s better for you to see for yourself,” Davey said as he got up from his seat.

Vwooong!!!

With a wave of Davey’s hand, the space in front of everyone present distorted. He had cast a simple spatial movement magic.

“Heup!” Everyone looked at Davey in surprise.

Davey said calmly, “Would you like to see the situation for yourself?”

“…”

“Your Majesty! This is dangerous! Magic like this did not receive the approval and recognition…!”

“Stop! Enough. Eunuch, if Prince Davey wanted to harm me, then this nation would have already turned into ashes. Besides, I should go check it out myself.”

“Your… Your Majesty…”

“Do not mention anything further,” the King declared in his dragon robe and crown.

He stood up from his throne as if he had made up his mind. He soon followed Davey into the spatial crack.

With a single step, their surroundings entirely changed.

The royal palace and the sacred forest were not that far away from each other, and spatial movement magic was not difficult to cast. Besides, not a lot of people had followed Davey and the King. Only a few of them had decided to come along.

“Heup!”

“Th… This!”

From all directions, shocked and astonished voices could be heard. Everyone was staring at the changed surroundings in disbelief.

Spatial movement magic circles were commonplace in this continent. This was all thanks to the existence of mana gates, which had been installed all throughout the continent. Still, it was very surprising for everyone to see an individual open and close spatial cracks to go wherever they wanted to at will. This was something that broke common sense.

Not long after, the Hyeon King and the officials who were escorting him looked at the magnificent view that appeared in front of them with wide eyes.

“Gua… Guardian Deity!”

“My goodness!”

What greeted them was the forest’s Guardian Deity, who was curled up like a mountain and had eyes glinting with a red light. They could also see the chains of an unusual color binding the Guardian Deity, and the two beings stabilizing it with their mysterious and incredible aura. The two beings also looked ready to subdue the Guardian Deity the moment it decided to run amok.

“My god!”

“This… These beings…”

The Divine Beasts looked majestic and noble to everyone present. The Vermillion Bird stood there with flames covering its huge body. As for the Azure Dragon, it had its eyes closed and its long body all coiled up.

“That… That?!”

“Oh my god! Aren’t they the Dragon and the Phoenix?!”

It was true that the Vermillion Bird resembled a Phoenix and that the Azure Dragon looked similar enough to a traditional-looking Dragon.

It was natural for everyone else to react to the Divine Beasts in such a way, since they had never seen them personally. They only knew of the beasts from ancient books and fairy tales.

The King had witnessed everything from before, so he was more nervous than surprised. He was obviously terrified of the Divine Beasts that were standing in front of him.

—Kihyeeeeeeeeeeck!

Not long after, Fire Chicken flapped its huge wings. It showed off its great momentum and presence. Of course, Fire Chicken did not forget to glare sharply at Rumble the Azure Dragon as if it was scolding the new Divine Beast.

—Grrrrrrrrrrrr…

Perhaps it had been taught a great lesson earlier on, because Rumble was quick to raise itself up after seeing Fire Chicken’s glare. It no longer stayed on the ground rigidly.

—Roaaaaaaaaaar!!!

Then, Rumble also released its overwhelming momentum. In fact, it constantly stole glances at Davey; this was how effective its early education had been.

Davey could also see that Fire Chicken had done a good job of teaching Rumble how to behave. He thought that perhaps he should catch a delicious bear next time and cook a very special meal for it.

“Prince… Prince Davey… What in the world are you…?”

“The two of them are not the main focus. Look closely,” Davey said calmly. “He has already lost a lot of power. It will take at least a hundred years for him to regain his strength. If he can’t do that, then he would not be able to maintain his reason and sanity.”

Davey’s words silenced the king.

“Isn’t that right?”

The Monstrous Rock Giant nodded at Davey’s question.

—That’s…right… The…power left in this body…is not enough to maintain my sanity…

“Currently, the power of the two Divine Beasts are seeping through his body and maintaining his sense of reason. That means the Guardian Deity will go berserk once they leave,” Davey explained.

As the King remained silent, Davey then asked, “Let’s get this done with. Shall we withdraw?”

“…”

If Davey withdrew, the Monstrous Rock Giant would immediately lose his sense of reason and run wild. On the other hand, if the Divine Beasts periodically supplied the rock giant with their powers, the Hyeon Kingdom would be able to look for other opportunities and methods to maintain his sanity and regain his strength. However, they had to pay a price for that.

“If those two retreat, the power that protects the Guardian Deity would disappear. He will not be able to maintain his sanity since he is not from this world.”

Based on Davey’s experience, all of the beings that came from another world would cause catastrophes upon losing their sanity. Even if the Monstrous Rock Giant had partially recovered, he was still not a being who hailed from the Tionis Continent.

Now, the choice was the Hyeon Kingdom’s. Would they want to maintain the current situation and aim for the kingdom’s survival? Or would they choose to handle the changes that would happen on their own? The answer to those questions should not be given lightly.

“G… Guardian Deity… Are the words that he said…true?” The King asked with a quavering voice.

The rock giant turned quiet and bowed his head.

—I’m sorry…my King… I have been deprived of all of my power by a corrupt and ugly being…

“How can that…?”

—The power already has an owner…and it will not be able to return to me… That’s why you should…kill me, King… Kill me… I have no future anymore…

“I cannot do that. You are our Hyeon Kingdom’s indispensable Guardian Deity.”

—I am just repaying the grace that I’ve received in the past… Hyeon Kingdom’s first King had shown me mercy…and allowed me to build my strength… So…I am willing to trade my life to keep the promise that we made.

The Monstrous Rock Giant had promised to become the Guardian Deity of the people of Hyeon.

“You did nothing wrong… This is all my fault. If only I had found out about this sooner…” The King muttered with his fists tightly clenched.

Slowly approaching the rock giant, he placed a palm on its body and said, “During this time… You have done a lot for our Hyeon Kingdom. However, all of the previous Kings of our kingdom were wary of the danger and threat that you pose.”

The King continued with a sigh, “The people of Hyeon Kingdom should no longer be divided. This King will make sure to work hard to rally everyone under the same banner. Just take care of yourself. This time, our Hyeon Kingdom…will be the one to save you.”

Turning to look at Davey, he asked quietly, “Prince Davey, do you have any other demands?”

“A hostage.”

“…”

Davey’s choice of words was quite difficult to swallow, but the King still nodded quietly. A moment later, the King said, “I understand why you want the forest, but it is not like our Hyeon Kingdom has surrendered to the Rowane Kingdom…”

“Do you want me to make you surrender?” Davey asked in a playful manner. Greeted by the King’s silence, he continued, “Well. If you agree, I’ll be sure to send them back in a few years at the longest. I don’t necessarily need a hostage. In a situation like this, there should be a public display of compensation. Since we don’t have any problems on this side, we can just say that they will be a temporary hostage on the outside. If you can’t manage this, then… I’ll just retract this requirement.”

“…No. Considering the problems that will arise later, it’s better to continue on with this agreement.”

Politics was slightly…complicated. Even a prince who lived outside of the royal palace would not be guaranteed of their life. This would be a deal between Davey and the Hyeon King, but there was nothing better than having a hostage to prevent external interference. It would also shut the mouths of whoever wanted them to stop maintaining the Monstrous Rock Giant.

“If it won’t be a problem, then I would like to take Princess Maria, Her Highness Consort Hye’s child.”

“May…I ask the reason why you’ve chosen her?” The King asked carefully.

Davey answered rather insensitively, “Tanya needs a friend.”

***

Davey was able to locate the ancient ruins where most of the vampires hid. He was surprised by how close it actually was and had come with Rinne.

The ancient ruins were located in a canyon just on the outskirts of the forest. Aside from having consistently strong winds, the site itself was located underground and had an extremely wide area. It was the remains of a high-level and revolutionary civilization of about ten thousand years old.

Although the inside had been renovated to suit the vampires’ taste, most of the interior had still been kept in its original form. This was because they were made from a very unique and unusual stone that could not be easily destroyed.

Finally arriving at the place where the vampires had been staying for a long time, the pink-haired woman who followed Rinne and Davey murmured, “You trust me?”

“Trust you? Vampires cannot be trusted, so do you think I will trust you?”

Davey did not even feel the slightest bit of pity for the vampires. As long as they were hostile to him, he would never trust a single vampire.

“But you accepted my offer.”

Although he had heard the eccentric vampire Milpieu’s words, Davey continued to walk leisurely inside the ancient ruins.

Milpieu was only half vampire, but she still had a lot of power.

Most of the vampires had been annihilated. No, to be exact, all of the vampires were dead except for the woman walking behind Davey. If that was the case, could it be said that Davey had exterminated the entire vampire race?

Unfortunately, these ancient ruins were just one of the many ruins that the vampires were using as a hideout.

“If I installed a trap here, then…”

“You installed a trap? Just you?” Davey said as he turned to reveal a vicious smile on his face.

Rinne immediately kicked the back of Milpieu’s knees, forcing her to kneel down. She then pressed Milpieu’s head down on the ground.

“Ugh… Your physical strength is…getting stronger… So, this is the golem transplanted with the…Deus Ex Machina (The God of Machinery)… Interesting.”

Despite her life being at risk, Milpieu’s curiosity about Rinne did not waver.

“Rinne senses the desire for dissection. Rinne’s emotional circuits are cooling down. Rinne finds this sensation to be related to unpleasantness.”

“Show me…just a bit. Let me look… Let me just look at the heart. Just let me sketch one.”

“Rinne declares refusal,” Rinne answered coldly.

With her expression alone, she was asking Davey if she could deal with the vampire in front of her.

“Stop using those useless provocations. Don’t forget the position that you are in,” Davey said harshly.

Milpieu smacked her lips in regret, then nodded.

“It’s here.”

Milpieu had guided both Davey and Rinne to the bottom-most floor of the ancient ruins where a large mural had been painted.

For some reason, Davey found the place to be empty after seeing how it lacked the vampire’s unique decorations and items from the other floors. He looked around and muttered, “Hmmm… I don’t think there’s anything special here.”

The mural seemed ordinary without a shred of mana circulating around it. However, it was the only thing that stood out from the minimal vampire decorations here.

“It might be a simple mural, but we can clearly smell the stench of blood inside. There’s definitely a space behind it. However, my own kind did not open this place. Those who tried eventually went crazy… I think it’s from the strange energy that’s circulating around it. It’s very interesting. I want to check inside and study it.”

“You want to use me?”

“I always welcome the opportunity to research something interesting with open arms. Even if it’s at the risk of my own life.”

Davey already knew that the pink-haired woman in front of him was crazy. He had known it from the very beginning.

“Rinne believes she can interpret the ancient ruins,” Rinne said, asking Davey for permission.

“Go on, you can try it.” Davey nodded.

After touching the walls, Rinne’s eyes flashed. Countless letters appeared and circulated in her eyes a moment later. She said, “Starting interpretation. Rinne expresses her interest in this.”

Rinne’s abilities were related to interference, interpretations, and reconstruction. With her great abilities, she was doing well in the interpretation.

That meant that whatever was hidden in this wall would be…

Clang!!!

Everything happened in an instant.

“Urk… My goodness…”

Before Davey could even register the interpretation of the mural, his abdomen was pierced through by a white hand. Thankfully, he had pushed Rinne out of the way in time. He had unhesitantly reacted based on instinct alone.

Davey frowned at the direct attack. His body had been pierced through even though he was wearing a defensive weapon that could block Aura Blades. To break through his defense, the enemy needed to be on his level or higher.

The attack was a fatal one. Thankfully, Davey had undergone metamorphosis once, so such a fatal injury would not be able to kill him easily.

Although Davey was aware that everything within these ancient ruins were not normal, he could tell that the main problem lay elsewhere. Even Milpieu, who was standing behind them, was very shocked by the unexpected sequence of events.

Not long after, the entire mural collapsed. Slowly, ever so slowly, the man who had struck Davey with his arm emerged from the wall. With his appearance, a bloody red glow washed over Davey.

“Crazy.”

For the first time in forever, Davey felt shocked and flustered.

‘No. Brother, why did you come out from there?’