The next day, on the second floor of the Clock Tower.
After the daily hymns of the apprentice nuns, there was no one else in the chapel.
So, when Valo reached out her palm toward the Goddess statue directly in front of the chapel, triggering the authority, the statue moved, revealing a secret passage leading to the mezzanine secret room…
The pink puppy Emma beside her had already let out an admiring “Wow!”
“Oh… oh oh! Actually, when I was singing hymns here earlier, I always felt something was off. My intuition told me the chapel must be hiding a secret!”
“I can’t believe there really is a secret room here!”
“Well, Emma, your intuition is really something—as sharp as a dog’s.”
Valo, deliberately putting on the aura of a villainous Demon King, didn’t even glance at her.
She silently lit the candle lamp and didn’t forget to order Emma around.
“What a fuss. Did you close the door?”
“Of, of course! I’ve already locked it as you commanded, my lord!”
Emma, sticking out her butt and wagging her non-existent tail, hurriedly followed Valo down the secret passage.
In the end, she couldn’t hold back and started laughing happily.
“Hehe, my lord, you’re so amazing! Even the Sister Superior probably can’t come here alone, but you have the authority!”
“How did you get the permission to enter this secret room?”
“Oh oh, I get it! You must have stepped on the Saintess’s face, humiliated that woman, and ordered her to give you the authority!”
‘Haha, as if! Actually, Anqi was giving her a “facial wash” while saying things like “Let’s see if Mommy can put me to sleep tonight.” So she ended up doing mommy ASMR for Anqi all night and finally got it from her daughter.’
Valo slapped her hand over Emma’s mouth.
“Shut up! Is that a question you should be asking?”
‘Of course, she couldn’t say anything about what happened last night.’
Then, to confirm the situation with the Blood Tribe, and also to stop the stupid dog behind her from prying into last night’s Mygo unofficial history…
In the gradually orange light from the Goddess statue closing again, Valo slowly led Emma into the mezzanine secret room and then asked.
“Emma, how is your contact with the Blood Tribe’s upper echelons? What movements do they have now, and where can we meet them safely and quickly?”
“Yes, yes! My lord, I have indeed communicated with the True Ancestor’s upper kin.”
Emma, who had been curiously observing the solemn and silent environment inside the secret room, immediately turned into Little Sister Emma and stood at attention to reply.
“The True Ancestor remains in her territory, but some upper kin seem to have gone to your castle.”
As she spoke, Emma shrugged her shoulders.
“Maybe the True Ancestor had the same idea as us? Hehe, like trying to find traces that my lord is still alive… or something?”
‘Hmph, Emma is still too young, too simple. Between colleagues, it’s all about gratitude—the True Ancestor now wishes she were dead and gone.’
As for the so-called “upper Blood Tribe kin appearing in her Demon King’s castle,” that was most likely the True Ancestor sending them ahead to “scout and claim territory.”
Valo just chuckled lightly without answering.
Emma’s information was, to her, somewhat urgent but expected.
In the game’s story, the appearance of these upper Blood Tribe kin signified that the Blood Tribe True Ancestor had already taken action to replace the protagonist’s Demon King status.
She needed to hurry and negotiate peace with the Blood Tribe True Ancestor.
However, Valo had a premonition of the other’s actions.
That was precisely why she had brought the pink puppy behind her today—Emma would be her key to stabilizing the Blood Tribe True Ancestor and achieving one of the prerequisites for the [Lady Magnet Ending].
‘Don’t screw it up, stupid dog.’
Thinking this, Valo waved at Emma without turning her head.
“Emma, next I’m going to take you to the Demon King’s castle. Come, take my hand.”
“Huh? B-b-but… you said go to your castle. How exactly are we going to do that… and how can I casually touch your noble body, my lord?”
“Just take it, stupid dog!”
‘Don’t dawdle and ruin her great plan.’
Valo grabbed Emma’s arm, and just as the pink stupid dog shouted “Wah wah wah,” she instantly activated the Holy Relic [King’s Vessel] placed on the stone platform in front of her.
The teleportation ability of the King’s Vessel required the user to construct a clear and real target location.
‘How convenient? She, a villainous Demon King, wouldn’t recognize her own home?’
So, in an instant.
In Valo’s vision, traces like flowing yellow sand appeared, and beside her, Emma’s “dog barks” from unknown tension seemed to grow more distant.
‘Fortunately, she was quite confident in her memory.’
Wind whispered around them; the slightly stale air of the secret room turned fresh.
When the yellow sand in her vision dispersed and her sight cleared, the two were truly no longer in the chapel’s mezzanine secret room.
They were not even in the Havoc Empire anymore.
Not surprised at all, Valo immediately covered the pink puppy’s mouth beside her.
She glanced around: the clear sky above remained, and the shade of trees surrounded them.
She and Emma were on a high wall walkway of a castle, but this brick wall, old to the point of being somewhat dilapidated, was clearly not the style of the Imperial Capital’s defenses.
The outer high wall of the Demon King’s castle of the villainous Demon King Valo Lante II—after hearing Emma say that “the castle has been occupied by upper Blood Tribe kin,” Valo chose this slightly remote place from the castle as the teleportation endpoint.
After all, the next task would have to be completed by Emma alone.
Among the prerequisites for entering the [Lady Magnet Ending] regarding various faction’s reputations, if focusing on the Demon Clan side, then the Blood Tribe was the most urgent target to resolve.
The Blood Tribe True Ancestor was powerful with vast influence, but her personality and actions in the game were not good—the existence of the Blood Source Curse made lower-level kin unable to resist upper Blood Tribe members, naturally creating the Blood Tribe True Ancestor as a living two-dimensional tyrant.
Strong, domineering, willful, and reckless.
But as long as one got ahead of the True Ancestor replacing the protagonist’s identity and establishing a new He Lian Sheng, and stroked her fur before she became the new Demon King, the True Ancestor would be the easiest to handle.
“Just now I used the Holy Relic’s teleportation ability, and this is the high wall outside my castle.”
Seeing that the pink puppy she had muzzled had calmed down, Valo released her hand and instructed.
“I’ve already given you some background. I need you to contact the Blood Tribe’s upper echelons. Listen to my orders now: I want you to deliver some messages to the Blood Tribe True Ancestor on my behalf.”
“Huh? Wait… my lord?”
Seeming to realize that “the teleportation was real, and the two had indeed come to the Demon Clan territory in the blink of an eye,” Emma beside Valo became a little flustered.
‘No idea what she’s nervous about.’
At this moment, Valo couldn’t care too much. To make the briefing count every second, she directly reached out and pinched the stupid dog’s dog ear in front of her.
“Listen carefully, stupid dog. You will tell the upper Blood Tribe that I am not dead, and I have already gained a certain status within the Empire.”
“Now I am willing to reach a peaceful cooperation with the True Ancestor to stabilize the current Demon Clan, especially the Blood Tribe situation. Hmph… If she dares to be stubborn, you say: The Subjugation Team’s target will soon shift to the Blood Tribe, and by then, the True Ancestor won’t be able to stay out of it.”
“My current requirement for the True Ancestor is: Be honest and stay put, don’t make strange decisions or do unnecessary things. As for the peace cooperation proposal, I’ll give her some time to consider.”
[Lady Magnet Ending]’s requirement for the Blood Tribe was to gain the Blood Tribe True Ancestor’s reputation and affection—in other words, to be able to control the Blood Tribe.
And what Valo just called “peace negotiations” was exactly for this: in the game, if you knew the Blood Tribe True Ancestor’s background, it was actually quite easy to handle that little shorty.
As long as the plan went without accidents, she was confident she could stabilize the Blood Tribe True Ancestor and fulfill this prerequisite for the Blood Tribe part.
Having said that, Valo tugged on Emma’s ear.
“That’s it, Emma. Did you remember?”
“I… I think so…”
Emma’s nervous eyes darted around, then she mustered courage and looked up ingratiatingly to ask.
“But why are you telling me all this, my lord? It sounds like you want me to go alone from now on…”
“That’s right, you alone?”
“Huh!!? Ugh!”
Valo directly slammed a fist onto the top of the pink stupid dog’s head.
“What are you thinking, Emma? Without any buffer, my sudden appearance would only backfire on the peace negotiations. For example: before starting a war, you always have some preliminary negotiations to lubricate things. How can you just fly the ship straight in?”
The next moment, under the clear sky, there seemed to be movement in the distant castle from the high wall where they stood. Small black dots were flying out one after another.
Valo realized: those black dots were probably the “upper Blood Tribe kin occupying the Demon King’s castle” that Emma had mentioned—she had to drop the package and retreat.
“Emma, I have to go back first. This location will be your evacuation beacon. After I return to the chapel secret room, I will activate the teleportation every quarter of an hour—this is the fastest cooldown of the King’s Vessel.”
“If you’ve finished delivering my message, don’t give them a chance to question you. Get to the beacon and teleport back as soon as possible. Understood?”
‘I’m bailing out first. As for Emma? Wish her a smooth routine evacuation—if possible, Valo certainly didn’t want to leave Emma alone, but in the current situation, she, a rookie Demon King, really shouldn’t appear before the Blood Tribe kin.’
‘Too dangerous.’
“Eh? Huh? Ah! W-wait, my lord!?”
‘The pink puppy in front of her seemed a bit reluctant?’
‘What’s the fuss, Emma? Aren’t you a Blood Tribe member? You’re even the True Ancestor’s first-embrace kin. By seniority, you’re the top dog among the True Ancestor’s kin, right?’
‘What are you afraid of?’
Time was tight. Valo could only give Emma a look that said “I trust you.”
Then, doing a Han Li play, she slowly retreated behind the beacon.
In the blink of an eye, she disappeared.