Chapter 225

Murof had even received a reply from the Demon King—only to be harshly scolded for his rashness and strictly ordered not to step a single foot across the border.

In such a situation, Murof was truly panicking.

Wait here? Wait until when?

There was nothing here but ice and snow every single day—damn it, not even a shadow of a person could be seen. Even birds would freeze to death halfway through flying here. He was stationed in this godforsaken place… when would it ever end?!

Not only had he failed to make any achievements, but this was essentially exile to the frontier?!

Murof felt like he had seen the end of his road.

Looking back, all he could see were the shadowed, disappointed, and disdainful gazes of his family elders.

Turning forward, there was nothing but the boundless expanse of snow at the borderlands.

Even if he had seen the end—so what?

The path one sees is the one their ruler points them to.

Since the Demon King hadn’t pointed him toward returning to the capital Campeno, it was equivalent to demanding that he die out here in the endless snow.

In the depths of despair, when his heart had turned to ashes and all hope had perished—

Murof encountered a miracle.

With reverence in his heart, Murof removed his white gloves, full of longing, and once again saw the faint golden crescent mark branded on the back of his hand.

Power…

Yes, so long as one possessed enough power, anything about the future could be changed.

The Demon King could determine a person’s entire life with a single word—wasn’t that simply because he held a power that Murof could not defy?

Then what if he possessed an even greater power—wouldn’t that mean he could take his place and ascend the throne?

As he fantasized about a future that felt nearly within reach, Murof trembled with excitement…

“Ah… my lord… the power you’ve shown has left me in awe. Why didn’t I meet you sooner… guide me, please…”

That power… had already exceeded what Murof could comprehend.

If someone had told him before—was it possible to 【create】 a being that didn’t exist in this world, and make everyone except you and me accept that being as real, changing the cause and effect of the world—would that be possible?

At that time, Murof would have definitely called it utterly absurd.

【Creation】—that was an ability belonging to vague and unattainable gods.

If it were a type of mental magic, it could indeed affect others’ perceptions, but to make everyone universally accept something that originally didn’t exist—that went beyond the domain of mental magic.

——That would be the equivalent of taking up a brush to add to this world’s original canvas. A feat only a god of creation could achieve.

But—

That being had truly done it.

Salnor Yarin.

A name that had never existed before, yet now appeared openly and rightfully in the capital Campeno.

Chief Strategist of the Demon King’s First Army Corps—an office that had never been established—had actually deceived the Demon King’s eyes.

No…

That definitely wasn’t deception.

It was real, utterly and completely real—that lord had created the existence of Salnor Yarin, allowing him to take the role of Murof’s elder brother and enter this world’s cycle without anyone noticing.

At this moment, two consciousnesses coexisted in Murof’s mind. As long as he closed his eyes, he could see the streets and alleys of the royal capital.

And upon opening them, he saw the wooden cabin in this place of hiding.

The two consciousnesses coexisted without conflict, as if two separate lives were simultaneously anchored in Murof’s mind.

Sometimes, he couldn’t even tell whether he was Murof, or the never-before-existing Salnor.

This… this was the power of that lord—the power to alter the causal laws of the world. How could one not be awed by it?

And that power was merely the tip of the iceberg, a fragment of what that lord had bestowed upon him.

It was that lord’s intellect that Murof revered even more.

Now, everything—

Was proceeding according to plan.

Murof rose, gently pushed aside a corner of the wooden window, and squinted into the distance.

Just a hundred li from here lay the border of the Northern Territory.

Moments ago, his spirit double had already led the Third Army Corps there, creating the illusion that they were defecting to join the higher races.

And just as planned, Princess Sheffy and Princess Belith had arrived with other army corps to intercept and oppose them.

The corners of Murof’s lips curved upward as he once again glanced at the glowing golden pattern on the back of his hand.

Using the ultra-sealing magic 【Firmament】 gifted by that lord to trap the First Princess Ailellek had been the starting point of the entire operation.

Inside that sealing spell, a series of false clues had been planted—evidence that pinned the blame squarely on the higher races. No matter what intelligence division tried to evaluate the situation, they would inevitably conclude that the higher races were behind it all.

From the outside perspective, “The Third Army Corps defected en masse to the northern border”—this seemed like a planned rendezvous with the higher races, a coordinated attack from inside and out. It only further confirmed that the higher races were manipulating the situation behind the scenes.

Add to that the identity of Salnor Yarin stirring the flames back in the royal capital of Campeno, and public opinion had already been driven toward blaming the higher races.

But in truth… the higher races had absolutely nothing to do with any of this.

That lord had predicted it—Princess Sheffy would definitely send someone to rescue Ailellek.

【Firmament】 wasn’t an unbreakable sealing barrier. It was deliberately left with a weakness that could be destroyed from the outside—precisely so that the rescue team she dispatched could successfully free that hot-tempered First Princess.

Sealed by a surprise attack from the higher races and trapped in a barrier for an entire day—knowing Ailellek’s vengeful nature… what she would do the moment she got free should go without saying.

The information inside 【Firmament】 would convince her without a doubt that this was the doing of the higher races.

Thus, she would undoubtedly charge straight into the territory of the higher races north of the Northern Region in a fit of vengeance—at the very least, she’d make a massive scene to vent her rage.

And that was enough.

“Haha… Hahahahaha! My god… just how far are you going to shock me with this flawless strategy?!”

Even Murof himself could hardly imagine what would unfold next.

The current situation, viewed in its entirety, had become unimaginably grand.

If one were to view it now from the perspective of the higher races…

—Ailellek, commander of the Third Army Corps, led the charge in a sudden assault on their territory.

—The entire Third Army Corps deployed at the border in a threatening formation.

—The Second Army Corps arrived to reinforce them—one hundred thousand troops marching with overwhelming force, pressing directly on the border.

—Princess Sheffy and Princess Belith personally took to the front lines, commanding the armies as royal figures.

This was clearly the Demon Clan preparing to go all-out in war against the higher races!

It was happening. War was now inevitable.

The higher races had never trusted the words of the Demon Clan—they only believed their actions.

Now the armies had arrived right under their noses, and Ailellek had even raided their territory. How could they not fight back?

As long as war broke out, that lord’s goal would be achieved.

Yes.

That lord… what he desired was the continuation of war.

Murof had accomplished that. The reward he would receive in return—would be the highest authority in the Demon Clan!

Human lives? Heh heh heh… what of them? Along this path, how many mountains of corpses and seas of flame had he already trampled beneath his feet? There had long since been no road back.

Murof didn’t stop his trembling fists—he pressed them against the table, letting the resonance support his body as he sank back into his chair.

He closed his eyes, envisioning the brutal slaughter unfolding on the battlefield at this very moment.

Every single scream of agony was like a cry heralding his brilliant future.

“Praise be to supreme power… may your great undertaking shine among the stars.”

“You done talking or not? Got any more gold coins? Why is there just this little bit?”

“Of course, my future wealth shall be… hmm?!”

Who’s there?!

This was the location where Murof’s true body was hidden—the very core of the entire plan’s operations. No one should possibly know about this place! How could there be a voice here?!

That familiar, childish voice rang out—

Murof’s eyes flew open in shock as he leapt to his feet!

And then…

He saw a certain silver-haired dumpling squatting on the floor, happily gathering the shattered gold cup fragments and coins that had been knocked over when Murof struck the table earlier, stuffing them into her pockets.

“Princess Sheffy?!”

—

55. Fooled?!

This kind of thing—was completely impossible!

Her voice thundered through Murof’s heart like a bolt of lightning.

In his panic, his eyes almost burst open with fury, and he knocked over the wooden chair behind him as he scrambled upright.

There was no time to ask or probe for intel—Murof immediately cast every enhancement spell he could onto himself.

【Physical Enhancement】【Swiftness】【Thunderclap】【Wind Speed】【Mental Focus】【Total Enhancement】【Emerald Defense】

Several multicolored magical halos enveloped Murof as he entered full combat alert, locking his gaze onto the coin-picking “Princess of Calamity,” his mind filled with disbelief and incomprehension.

His strategies only existed on the battlefield—never had he imagined something like this would happen right in front of him!

“Why…? Speak! Why are you here?!”

“Uh… what kind of question is that? These legs are attached to me—don’t I get to go wherever I want? Besides, building a cabin like this here already violates the basic laws of the Demon Domain, you know? It ought to be torn down.”

“Torn down…? Tch—stop picking those up! I’m warning you! Sheffy Harl! Did you come with your army?! How did you find this place?!”

Clearly, Murof was panicking for real now.

His tone grew increasingly disordered, and as he spread his hand, rumbling thunder gathered in his palm, scorching the wooden table into layers of black char—his assault charging straight at Sheffy’s head.

This was where Murof’s true body had been hidden. It was the most critical and well-concealed link in the entire plan. How could he possibly allow the enemy’s commander to just show up here like it was nothing?!

This was utterly preposterous!

But Sheffy, on the other hand, didn’t seem the least bit flustered. After gathering all the coins off the floor, she even double-checked that none had been left behind, then stood up and patted the dust from her skirt before finally noticing the crackling lightning flickering beside her head.

She scratched at her silver hair behind her ear, and her puzzled expression truly made her look like an innocent passerby.

“You’re asking me why I’m here? That’s not the real question… What I want to know is—why did you think no one would find you? Did you think you were hiding all that well?”

“Obviously! There are ten layers of concealment barriers outside! And I’m ten li away from the battlefield! How could you possibly have found this place?! Are you even human?! You’re a goddamn monster! Get out!!”

“……”

Get out…?

A cornered dog jumps the wall. A panicked man spits curses. It was an unchanging truth since ancient times.

Well… sure. This whole scene reminded Sheffy of something—back when she was little and saw a family in the royal capital catch a huge fish. She’d teleported in to admire it, only for the family to mistake her for a little thief and scream “Get out!” at her too.

This scene felt familiar—like déjà vu. A repeat performance.

The lighting inside the wooden cabin was poor. Even though it was close to noon, the room remained shrouded in gloom.

Sheffy lightly stomped her foot, and the lightning gathered in Murof’s hand extinguished in response.

Eh…?

Before he even had the chance to process why the magic had been canceled—

Murof looked ahead, into the dim cabin, and saw those eyes—purple, flickering like a death god’s gaze.

Each word that followed froze the wild flames of joy in Murof’s heart into a glacier.

“A spirit double still needs to draw power from the true body as its magical medium. Once you send out a double, you can’t expect no one to trace it back to where your real body is. Oh, maybe that’s a bit harsh—I’m guessing the one who taught you that trick didn’t bother to explain the details, huh? Then again, that being is just using you to get things done, not your relative or anything. Why would they care if you lived or died?”

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