Night.
The rain fell like spilled ink.
Inside the sturdy castle, lights blazed brightly.
On the outer walls, fully armored soldiers stood guard every few meters.
Something seemed to be under celebration within the castle.
The faint scents of roasted meat and apples drifted far, lingering even through the rain.
Jon led dozens of strong young men, carefully selected from among the refugees, all dressed in “Longevity Army” armor.
Disguised as a small Longevity Army squad, they quickly crept near the castle.
“Is this the place?”
Jon gazed at the city wall, then looked back at the short man behind him.
“Mm… That’s right, Brave One, this is the place.”
The short man was the third son of the village chief’s family, named Roye.
Not only timid, but also a bit introverted.
But he had the sharpest memory and always remembered the roads near the village, so the chief sent him along to serve as Jon’s map.
“Alright. You all stay here and be careful. I’ll go and break open the gate.”
With that, Jon prepared to move.
Roye suddenly tugged gently at Jon, his eyes shining with expectation.
“Brave One, you said you’d bring the lord here and let us judge him. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
Jon nodded seriously.
“But… That’s a noble…”
Roye was both excited and nervous with fear.
“Commoners judging a noble—it’s too crazy. In over a thousand years, I’ve never heard of it.”
“If nobles can judge commoners, then of course commoners can judge nobles. People must be held responsible for the wrongs they commit. That’s what’s normal.”
“My god, then my whole life has been worth it.”
“Not just the lord. If the princess is involved in this, I’ll—”
“Hey—!”
Roye quickly tried to cover Jon’s mouth.
“Brave One! Keep your voice down! That’s the princess! The princess! How could we dare blaspheme?!”
“What about the princess?”
“She’s a Dragon’s Heir! The noblest bloodline in the world!”
“Bloodline…”
Jon suddenly had a strange thought.
“Roye, tell me, do you think a real dragon can bleed? If real dragons don’t bleed, then where does the so-called ‘noble bloodline’ come from? But if they do, then how are they any different from us?”
“Ahem, Brave One.”
“What?”
“Your topic seems a little too blasphemous. I don’t dare respond.”
“Forget it then. You guys wait here. I’ll go find a big enough log to smash the gate.”
“…Wish you luck.”
—
At that time, two patrol squads were exchanging yawns atop the castle walls, preparing for a shift change.
“Damn it.”
One squad’s officer couldn’t help but grumble.
“Patrolling day and night, can’t even join the banquet, and it’s always raining! What a hellhole! Might as well let it all collapse!”
“What kind of banquet’s going on in there anyway?”
A new recruit asked curiously.
“No idea. I think it’s because Young Master Edward’s friend started his first day as a tax official at the municipal office and accidentally killed someone. Young Master Edward invited several succubi to comfort him.”
“Succubi, huh~~ Eh-heh-heh, succubi are true civilization. Long live Demon King Liya!”
“Stop fooling around. If the church hears you, they’ll take you for a demon spy.”
“I’m not scared. I’ve got no money and I’m not some pretty girl from a poor family. Why arrest me? Waste of time.”
“Be careful. Trouble comes from loose lips.”
“…Captain, look over there. Isn’t that a giant redwood tree floating this way?”
“Have you had too much to drink? A redwood floating over? What, are tree spirits haunting us now? You’re really… What the—! There really is a giant redwood floating over!”
“It’s moving fast… No! Wait! Captain! That’s—Enemy, enemy attack—!”
“Enemy attack—!!!”
A shrill whistle had just begun to sound when a deafening crash drowned it out.
A fifty-meter-tall redwood shot forward like a javelin, smashing the city gate in an instant.
Not only that, the immense impact collapsed more than half the outer wall.
The patrol squad watched as a bear-like iron can leaped through the ruined wall, moving as swiftly as a mage’s blink. In a few blinks, it rescued all the soldiers nearly buried alive and tossed them outside.
The squad leader recognized the armor and his guts froze.
“Longevity Army! Longevity Army! The iron bear is attacking!”
“Aren’t we supposed to be allies?!”
“Allies my ass! Go notify Young Master Edward! And the lord!”
The squad leader began issuing orders, but something felt off.
It was too quiet around him—why had everyone fallen silent?
His body stiffened.
His neck turned mechanically.
And he met the invader’s gentle gaze.
“Hi…”
The squad leader greeted awkwardly.
The next second, pain exploded in his neck.
The world spun, and he found himself in a dream meeting the goddess of love.
—
Jon cleaned up the soldiers on the outer wall and waved to his distant “teammates,” signaling them to come tie people up.
He didn’t expect that along with his teammates, a huge group of Pupu arrived as well.
“Friend! Support!”
Liya deliberately bounced up and down in front of Jon, innocent and lively.
Jon jumped in surprise, immediately wanting Liya to return.
He pleaded anxiously,“Don’t mess around! Why did you follow? What can a bunch of Pupu do? Step on someone’s toe? It’s dangerous here! My god, why didn’t the teacher keep an eye on you…”
“Friend, abandoned.”
Liya’s performance was top-notch, her expression trembling on the verge of tears, pitiful and fragile.
“That’s not what I meant…”
“No friend, no friend, wuwuwuwu~~~”
Liya flopped on the ground and began wailing.
Within moments, Jon surrendered.
“Fine, fine.”
Jon forced a bitter smile.
“Do as you like, but stay close to the group. If you’re in danger, just shout—I’ll hear you and come right away.”
He gently tapped Liya’s forehead with his chainmail-covered finger in comfort.
Then he hurried off, continuing to knock out any soldiers inside the castle who showed signs of resistance.
—
As soon as Jon left, Liya instantly revealed her true colors.
Riding atop a Pupu, she darted away from the armed refugees, charging in another direction.
Hehe…
She, the great Demon King, was certainly no kind-hearted Cinderella.
Persuading the Brave One to attack this wild fortress was largely for her own benefit as well.
Military supplies weren’t just grain—there were Magic Stones, magic crystals, and other casting materials too.
Since Lord Rossi had embezzled even the rations, there was no way he’d spare these either.
Although such things were easier to fence than food, in her own experience trafficking military goods, about 5% always ended up as unsellable stock.
Liya had set her sights on that batch of dusty magic crystals.
If the Brave One took the lead and knocked out all the guards for easier grain transport, even the Pupu could roam freely inside.
All she had to do was get ahead of the Brave One, find the stashed magic crystals, and spirit them away unseen.
She’d become the biggest winner of the entire battle!
This was the Demon King’s evil plan to pit tigers against wolves!
“Gua~! Today is the day of my dragon’s rise, ahohohoho~~~”
The scattered Pupus soon “gugi, gugi” bounced back, passing information to Liya.
Compiling the vague intel the Pupus brought back, Liya barely constructed a rough abstract map of the castle in her mind.
[If I were the lord, where would I hide things? Hmm…]
She brainstormed a moment and identified seven locations, then dispatched Pupus to scout each one.
Since Pupus were semi-fluid, with excellent shapeshifting abilities and small size, they were perfect for slipping through gaps and made for a top-notch treasure-hunting team.
Some time passed.
At one location, the dispatched Pupu still hadn’t returned.
Liya instantly concluded someone was hiding there.
And most likely, it was a secret room for storing valuables.
She guessed a high-ranking noble, seeing the chaos outside, had immediately fled inside.
“Looks like I’ll have to fight a tough battle after all…”
Liya sighed softly.
She didn’t trust the combat ability of the Pupu, but the good news was:
After constantly leeching the Brave One’s power, her stock of Brave One’s strength was abundant.
If she ignored cost, she could even fuse a five-star Super Saiyan Pu!
The bad news was—a five-star Pu was still a zero-rank Pu.
Whether it could defeat the unknown number of human bosses inside the secret room…
Was anyone’s guess.