Chapter 202 - Chapter 42: Awareness #4
Anastasia’s welcoming party consisted of a mixture of nightmares and centaurs.
It was an outdoor banquet hall for the centaurs, while the nightmares provided the cold alcohol and spicy dishes. The centaurs sat down around a large fire with the sword duke, children of the demon king, and Ferocious Eyes.
Satyrs were dancing around the big fire. There were also various musical instruments playing. However, the traditional music of the centaurs were based on the drums, so the whole atmosphere was reminiscent of being in an army.
After the satyrs, it was the succubi who showed off their dancing skills. Unlike the satyrs’ dance which was energetic and raw, the succubi were gorgeous and sensual.
Everyone had already drunk some alcohol, so they couldn’t help swallowing at the sight, while Chris covered Caitlin’s eyes with a big palm. Caitlin pouted and complained, but no one took her side.
The party was a prelude to the introductions of three groups which had arrived through the transportation formation. In-gong already knew Anastasia’s and Vandal’s groups.
So, the sword duke introduced the last group, the sura warriors, to In-gong.
“Prince, you were introduced to Indara before.”
“It is great to see 9th Prince.”
Indara greeted him in a cool voice, and In-gong nodded. In-gong had already knew Indara from the mission at the Sanctuary, so only brief greetings were exchanged. With Indara as the leader, 20 sura warriors had left the Sanctuary. This was a considerable number when considering the fact that there were only dozens of sura warriors.
By the time the greetings were over, the succubi’s dance had finished. As the music stopped, Caitlin stared at Chris’ palm and asked in an uncomfortable voice,
“Has it finished?”
“It has finished. You can now look.”
Chris removed his palm and patted Caitlin’s head. It was a sweet touch, but Caitlin was still upset.
“I can see it. It is me.”
“Uh, you can’t watch it yet. It is too stimulating.”
Chris knocked on Caitlin’s head lightly. He was more like a father taking care of his daughter, instead of a brother.
However, Caitlin was still dissatisfied. Caitlin was already 15 years old, and her 16th birthday would soon be arriving. In the Demon King’s Palace, 18 was considered the age of adulthood. However, in the lycanthrope society, it was actually 16 years old. She was tired of being so controlled that she couldn’t even watch the succubi dance. While Caitlin was pouting, the sword duke chuckled and said,
“Princess, don’t be too upset. The sura will show you their sword dance.”
“The sura’s sword dance?”
“Yes, it is quite exciting.”
The sword duke shrugged and gestured to Indara, who delivered a brief request to the satyr musicians and stood in front of the large fire with nine sura warriors.
“I will start.”
As soon as Indara laughed, a strong aura storm pushed around the big fire. It was because 10 powerful suras had opened their aura at the same time.
Once everyone’s gazes were focused on them, Indara and the suras started moving their swords. Thanks to their aura, the swords shone in different ways as they danced among the flames, creating a spectacular sight.
Caitlin quickly fell for the sword dance. Anastasia, who was still questioning Felicia about what was going on, soon forgot about that matter for a while.
In-gong also watched the sword dance with excited eyes. It was due to the splendor and beauty as well as the hidden meanings in the sura sword dance.
[Sura Sword Dance Lv1 has been learnt.]
[Understanding of Sura Heart Law has increased.]
The clear voice of the woman melted naturally into the music.
Then some time passed by. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that everyone in the banquet hall was captured by the suras. The excited centaurs and satyrs woke up from their daze and applauded. During this exciting atmosphere, the sword duke laughed and glanced at In-gong.
“Prince. Can Prince give us a show?”
“Huh?”
“The gandharva are a species of heavenly dancers. Please fulfill this request for me.”
The sword duke’s voice was louder than usual. It seemed to be directed at those around him, rather than In-gong. And it worked. All eyes gazed at In-gong expectantly, with Caitlin’s shining the brightest. The sword duke observed Caitlin as he asked,
“Do you want to see?”
“Yes, yes! I want to see!”
She was shouting so excitedly that it couldn’t be helped.
‘I received a bunch of gandharva passives, so it should be okay somehow.’
He had also just learnt Sura Sword Dance. When In-gong got up from his seat, the atmosphere of the banquet suddenly became heated. In-gong thought about it as he walked slowly toward the big fire.
‘Let’s go for something brilliant.’
However, he felt embarrassed to dance alone.
“Green Wind.”
Green Wind showed up in solid form the moment In-gong called her. In-gong grabbed one of Green Wind’s hands naturally and moved like he was escorting his wife.
“Ohhh!”
The surrounding people quickly became noisier and more excited, and In-gong commanded Green Wind to scatter the heat of the big fire. Then because of what In-gong was going to do next, he took a deep breath.
“Spiritualism, Four Heavenly Kings.”
“Apostle Appointment, Green Wind.”
In-gong and Green Wind whispered at the same time, and at that moment, a brilliant light appeared and they transformed. The centaurs and satyrs couldn’t even speak to express their admiration. In his divine state, In-gong was beautiful. The fragrance of his Divine Scent spread about and made everyone fall into ecstasy. Green Wind was also formidable. The centaurs and satyrs still prayed to her, a beautiful goddess of the wind.
In-gong and Green Wind held hands and started dancing. It was an awkward dance, but that didn’t matter.
“Ahh...”
The satyrs held their hands together, like they were praying, and burst into tears, while some of the centaurs grabbed their chests, and Amita sniffed happily. However, that wasn’t the end. The succubi watching the dance moaned and fainted.
Yet, no one looked at them. They were too engrossed in In-gong and Green Wind’s dance.
&
‘A failure.’
In-gong thought as he saw the devastated banquet hall. He had consumed a huge amount of magic power when using Pheromones and Divine Scent.
‘There are even people who fainted.’
However, that was natural.
The succubus species were very sensitive to pheromones. For them, In-gong’s pheromones were effective enough to be a natural enemy.
The expression in everyone’s gazes toward In-gong changed after the welcoming party. Even Anastasia was looking at In-gong with envious eyes. Thanks to this, Felicia’s struggle with Anastasia was alleviated. There was one more person who was fascinated by In-gong.
“Your Highness, I will report about the information I collected.”
“Yes.”
After the banquet, Nayatra came up with him with a blank face, and In-gong nodded awkwardly. Nayatra’s reaction wasn’t burdensome, nor did In-gong feel burdened because of his beauty. The reason why he felt awkward was because of Nayatra’s mission.
‘I can’t say it.’
Nayatra had left the Demon King’s Palace to figure out the sin of the gandharva. Despite her months of hard work and information gathering, In-gong already knew what the sin was. Additionally, Nayatra played no role in In-gong figuring out that information.
‘Ugh...’
He was struggling because he felt sorry toward her. In-gong pinched his thigh and took deep breaths as Nayatra started her report.
This was a summary of Nayatra’s report:
“I'm sorry. I am still lacking.”
“No, that is good enough. You did really well.”
He meant it sincerely. In retrospect, it was natural that Nayatra couldn’t figure it out. This was a secret involving the birth of a prince of the Demon King’s Palace. No matter how talented Nayatra was, she wouldn’t be able to figure it out in just a few months.
Additionally, unlike the lycanthropes, the gandharva were all imprisoned. Just getting into contact with them was a significant achievement.
“Your Highness, the gandharva had no access to outside information. Therefore, they didn’t know anything about Your Highness’ performance.”
The gandharva hadn’t received any external information for the last 15 years since after Shutra’s birth, to be exact. However, that was natural. Nayatra paused and gulped. She licked his lips before lowering her voice.
“Your Highness, I used some unreasonable methods to collect information. Please understand.”
“Nayatra?”
“I contacted a gandharva and said that Your Highness was seeking cooperation with him.”
In-gong understood what Nayatra was worried about. The gandharva were confined, so it was a sin to approach them without authorization. If the story of In-gong contacting the gandharva leaked, then it would be a big problem for him.
“The gandharva didn’t reveal their sin, but they are very pleased about Your Highness.”
Nayatra pulled out a bead from a box she had prepared in advance. It wasn’t a bead which recorded images like the one the sword duke had given him. In-gong could feel the power of divinity the moment he touched the bead.
‘It contains divine power.’
The bead was a bit strange, but it was clearly something to strengthen In-gong’s divinity. This was probably one of the artifacts of Dhrtarastra that the gandharva kept.
It was a very helpful harvest. In-gong patted Nayatra on the shoulder.
“Thanks for the trouble. You have distinguished yourself.”
Nayatra was very pleased by In-gong’s compliment and spoke in an excited voice,
“Your Highness, I will try to contact the gandharva again. With a little more effort, I will be able to discover what their sin is.”
Enthusiasm was flowing in her eyes and voice. In-gong calmed Nayatra down.
“It’s okay, Nayatra. This degree of investigation is enough.”
“But Your Highness!”
Nayatra objected. In-gong stared straight into her eyes and declared,
“No, it is okay. More research is too risky. And I don't want Nayatra to be in danger. Nayatra is a very precious person to me.”
“Ahhh...”
Nayatra sighed. It wouldn’t be strange if she fainted. In-gong thought it was strange, but he decided to be glad that she wasn’t stubborn anymore. He laughed and gave Nayatra a bottle of Heavenly Wine he had prepared in advance.
“Here, Nayatra. It is too early to call it a prize, but this is a gift from me. It is made from a mixture of my magic power and other things.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Nayatra hugged the Heavenly Wine and thanked In-gong again. It seemed like she was still enchanted by his dance at the banquet hall.
‘Ah, I look like a bad guy.’
In-gong coughed a few times at the thought before leaving Nayatra. He wanted to stay with her longer, but there was still one more person In-gong needed to meet.
“Your popularity is great.”
“It is Sword Duke’s fault.”
The sword duke laughed at In-gong’s rebuke when he appeared like the wind in the barracks.
“Prince, I will be leaving Enger Plains tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“The north doesn’t have many transportation formations, so there are many places to where I need to run. I must hurry to join 2nd Prince as well as 1st Prince.”
The sword duke said with a smile before raising a hand to In-gong’s shoulder.
“Indara and 4th Princess will know the detailed schedule. I recommend that you leave the schedule to those two people.”
“I understand.”
The number of people who joined him on Enger Plains was over 100. There were the 20 suras led by Indara as well as Vandal’s independent unit which consisted of 100 troops. Anastasia led an elite unit too, so it was impossible to carry all of them on the Black Flame Dragon. Whether they liked it or not, they had to travel by land.
After finishing his talk, the sword duke tapped In-gong’s shoulder again.
“Prince, I wish you good luck.”
“Good luck to you as well."
Their next meeting would be beyond the Northern Limit Line, in front of Shutenberg’s castle. The sword duke left the barracks with a quiet smile, and In-gong watched him leave.
Then the next afternoon...
In-gong’s group headed toward the Northern Limit Line and beyond it.
&
“Having three batteries is really reliable.”
“Shutra, isn’t it too crude to call your sisters that?”