Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

"Do you think I'm that kind of person?" Leslaufer retorted. At that moment, the portal had already opened in front of his horse, and he could easily leave by simply riding forward. But Dople was in no hurry—the arriving Muse had neither drawn her sword nor pulled out the magic rope that was standard for sinners.

“Museco, I am an Aphrodite who has wandered into this place by mistake. Now I must go back—this is not my home.”

“But you are my soldier! And you are bound by a contract!” Muse raised her voice. “Do you know what kind of responsibility we sinners bear? If anyone intends to break the oath, then no matter where you run, I will bring you back!”

“Mortal lifespan is short, Muse, but my service time is three thousand years, why rush it?” Leslaufer shook his head. “I don’t want to fight you, it’s pointless.”

Raslaufer could kill her, but then he would inevitably be plagued by demons he didn't recognize.

Museco's face was still hidden by her helmet, and Raslaufer couldn't see what she was thinking. But in the end, after a silent struggle, her gaze fell on the two nightmares: "Raslaufer, you... passed the trial, didn't you? You'll always come back. The pact of Purgatory won't let anyone go easily."

Raslaufer nodded. He didn't deny it, but likewise, he always had to leave eventually, whether he left behind a living devil or a dead one.

Chapter 714 Returning Home

“I can’t stop you,” all the entanglement finally turned into a sigh from Museco. Along the way, she also understood why Grand Duke Zariel insisted on assigning her to pursue Raslaufer—pursuing meant letting go. “If you insist on leaving, then go. Your name will always be on the roster—wait a moment.”

The devil raised his hands and, to Dobler's astonishment, removed his helmet.

This armor is also considered a magical item. When it leaves the devil's horned head, it quickly shrinks into a thin mask. With Museco's permission, even if Leslauver covers his face with it, it can still generate a suitable helmet.

It was a pale gray face, covered with various scars, like autumn leaves after frost, but only a pair of eyes remained bright and burning, staring intently at Raslaufer.

“Your previous armor is no longer usable, so take this one,” Muse seemed a little disappointed when she saw that Leslaufer had almost no reaction to her true appearance, but only for a moment. “Consider it a testament. If I find you again, no reason will be able to stop you from returning.”

“That’s not something you can decide,” Raslaufer shook his head, but still accepted the mask. “But thank you. Public matters are public matters and private matters are private matters. You’re a very good comrade-in-arms. If it’s not that kind of battle anymore, I’m still very willing to fight alongside you.”

Even for Leslaufer, Hill 1026 was a bit too hopeless.

If it weren't for Zariel's divine intervention, he truly believed he would have died there.

“Nobody likes that,” Muse rolled her eyes. “Alright, let’s get going. The location you chose is fairly secluded. I’ll say I couldn’t find you, so the mission won’t be completed or a failure. It’ll also buy me some time off.”

Raslaufer nodded, covering his face with the mask. A grotesque, numb mask immediately expanded, wrapping around the back of his head and eventually forming a complete helmet. He turned to pick up the reins, and the Nightmare beneath him immediately understood, striding towards the portal leading to its master's homeland.

“Actually…” Museco’s voice rang out behind Reslaufer, but unfortunately, Dopler was already halfway into the portal, “This isn’t what I originally looked like, it’s just… tsk.”

Red Nightmare glanced back at the Sin Demon before following Raslaufer into the rift, leaving Muse muttering a curse under her breath before turning and spreading her wings to fly far back to her base.

She had originally planned to return the sword to Dubler, but now... never mind.

"O noble horned god, I beg for your mercy, and offer this sacrifice once more, hoping for a response—"

In a cave deep in the mountains of Eastern Inasas, six cultists dressed in black robes stood scattered in six corners, continuously worshipping the center of a magic circle. At the feet of one of the cultists lay a boy of about five or six years old, his whole body bound with ropes. His eyes seemed to have been cut off and could not close, so he could only watch everything happening around him with his eyes open, a mixture of blood and tears flowing down his face.

It was obvious that this was a ritual of human sacrifice to summon the devil. The cultists chose the perfect time and place; their only mistake was that the family of the sacrifice sought out someone who could solve all the problems.

"Uh-"

A scream came from the distant cave entrance. The other cultists who were watching the ceremony quickly turned around and saw that the "fellow believer" who had been keeping watch at the cave entrance was already lying on the ground, while the red-haired girl who had done this had just put away her oak cane.

"Alright, everyone stay still!" Bella raised her hand, and a long, thorny whip instantly extended, wrapping around the ankle of a cultist who was about to draw his dagger, dragging him to her feet. "Hand over the child, or you'll be in big trouble!"

"How did you get past the guards?!" a cultist exclaimed in astonishment. "State your name, and your soul will be food offered to the horned god!"

Bella didn't answer, she just kept waving her cane, clearing a path through the swarming cultists. These were just small fry; the real danger was the few people still guarding the area around the ceremony, and the six who were performing the ceremony.

"A bunch of good-for-nothings! Sixth Brother and Eighth Brother, go and take her down, and be quick!" Seeing that his group of bewitched ordinary men couldn't stop the druid at all, the cult leader snorted coldly and beckoned his real subordinates to step forward. The two cult members who were called upon immediately agreed and attacked Bella from the left and right.

To the cultists, Bella was able to deal with ordinary cultists with ease, but she would surely be hampered and defeated by the attack of two real sorcerers. However, to their surprise, the druid did not even glance at the two of them. In the blink of an eye, a figure emerged from stealth in front of the two sorcerers and went straight for their vitals!

"It wasn't just one person!"

The sorcerer on the left was startled and quickly conjured a thick layer of frost armor around his body. However, the coral-like rapier in front of him seemed to ignore his existence and swiftly pierced his throat. The swordsman jumped aside the moment the ice armor shattered, suffering only minor injuries.

On the other side, the sorcerer, following his companion's example, tried to protect himself with ice armor, paying particular attention to his throat. But what he was facing was not a rapier, but a huge shadow!

"Boom!" The giant sword was lifted up by that petite body and slammed heavily onto the sorcerer's skull. With a loud bang, the shards of the shattered ice armor slammed weakly against a breastplate, and there was nothing left on the sorcerer's neck.

"How could this be—" The cult leader's pupils constricted upon seeing this. The configuration of these uninvited guests reminded him of the rumors he had heard recently. But the ritual was almost successful, how could he give up now? Besides, even if he surrendered now, there would be no way to survive. On the contrary, if he could summon the devil, there would still be a glimmer of hope!

Upon realizing this, the cult leader's astonishment immediately turned into a sinister "heh heh" laugh: "What a pity, you've come far too late! Now is the time to initiate the ritual—descend! Respect (indiscernible tone), please unleash the fires of purgatory, destroy my enemies, and take away their souls!"

"Not good! Stop him!" Bella's expression changed slightly, and she immediately transformed into a giant owl and flew towards the magic circle. However, the barrier around the magic circle kept her out, unable to advance an inch.

In the center of the magic circle, a cloud of smoke with a strong sulfurous smell suddenly exploded, transforming into a spindle-shaped rift portal. Behind that portal, a hellish warhorse with fiery red fur trotted out, looking around at the scenery with a mixture of malice and curiosity.

A Nightmare? The cult leader's heart sank upon seeing this. While Nightmares were invincible to most mortals, his enemies at this moment were probably not among them. However, he soon realized that this Nightmare seemed to be merely scouting ahead. Behind it, a burly and imposing rider emerged from the sulfurous smoke.

He was riding a gray horse.

Chapter 715 "Nightmare Rider"

Is that... some kind of knight among demons?

Wearing a mask, and with the Broken Halberd long since destroyed, Leslaufer bore no resemblance to the original Dople in either his aura or appearance. Instead, the billowing sulfurous smoke and the two Nightmare mounts made him appear like a devil, even a demon. Upon seeing him, Bella and the others immediately adopted a wary stance.

Leslaufer wasn't in a hurry to meet them. A quick glance was enough to tell that this wasn't the place for heart-to-heart talks, and besides...

His gaze fell on Angelita. After not seeing her for so long, the girl didn't seem to have changed much, but when did she switch to using a two-handed greatsword?

This is... kind of interesting.

“Horned Master!” The cultists knelt around Leslaufer. “We are driven to desperation by a cruel enemy. We beg for your response—destroy these blasphemous ants!”

The cult leader glanced maliciously at the girls standing nearby, who looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy; the meaning behind his glance was self-evident.

But Leslaufer felt it would be better to clarify things further.

"You—who is the leader among you?" He patted the neck of the nightmare beneath him, and gray-white flames rose up, instantly enveloping him and displaying a terrifying majesty.

The middle-aged man, whose hair had fallen out but was still quite lush around his head, hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "Master, it is I."

"What do you want me to do?"

Wasn't what I just said clear enough?

The cult leader paused for a moment, but still replied, "These women are hindering our ritual to summon you and are even trying to steal the offerings we wanted to give you. I hope you can destroy our enemies—uh?!"

A giant hand, outlined in flames, instantly materialized, grabbed the leader by the neck, and lifted him into the air.

Beneath the mask, Leslaufer revealed a pleased smile, but his tone grew increasingly cruel: "You... are you teaching me how to do things?"

The cult leader's eyes widened in terror. He tried to explain, but Raslaufer didn't give him a chance. With a sudden clench of his fist, the giant fiery hand in mid-air closed in, and a sound of bones crushing and breaking filled the air, as if a rain of blood had fallen over the cave!

“A child? Why would you think I would need a child as a sacrifice?” Dobul’s deep voice was like a noose, slowly tightening around the necks of each cult member. “Don’t you think there are adults everywhere here?”

"enough!"

Just as Raslaufer was about to eliminate these cultists one by one, he didn't expect that the person who jumped out to stop him would be Angelita. The girl, dragging her greatsword, charged in front of him first: "Devil, go back to your hell! These people may have committed capital crimes, but they should still be judged by the laws of the material world!"

"You intend to teach me how to do things too?" Leslaufer let out a mocking sneer, spurring his horse's flanks as a greyish-white flaming longsword instantly "grew" from his hand. "Then let me see what makes you think you can provoke me!"

The Grey Nightmare suddenly stirred up a deathly gust of wind on the flat ground, carrying Raslaufer forward. The Red Nightmare behind it originally intended to go forward together, but for some reason, it ended up rushing to the other side. After crushing the skulls of two cultists with its hoof, it bent down, revealing a mouthful of teeth, and grabbed the rope of the boy who was being sacrificed, throwing him onto its back.

On the other side, Raslaufer's longsword clashed with Angelita's greatsword.

“You’re not good with this weapon,” Leslaufer said quietly. In just a few exchanges, Angelita revealed a huge, almost fatal, opening. “If this is all you’re capable of, then you might as well die!”

The gray-white flames, accompanied by sword light, twisted in the air in an overly flashy feint, giving Angelita ample time to react, realize her weakness, and hastily change her moves to compensate. However, Leslaufer, riding on horseback, had an absolute advantage in height, and the wider striking area made Angelita struggle to defend herself. After a total of twenty or thirty rounds, even though Leslaufer was deliberately holding back, her swordplay still became scattered.

For a girl who had spent the previous decade or so in a pampered life and received little training, Dople's greatsword was far too physically demanding. If the fight couldn't be ended quickly, Angreta would exhaust herself. Moreover, in combat, Annie was better at using various methods to open up opportunities than simply competing with her opponent in strength, reaction, and skill—that would be completely tying her own hands.

Leslaufer could probably guess the reason, but he disagreed.

"It's all over!" Dubler shouted intentionally, turning his horse around after a misstep, ready to strike with his longsword. Just as he expected, at the moment when Angelita was about to give up, a pink sword light, carrying the dampness of the sea, shot out from the side, as if it had calculated the timing perfectly, forcing Raslaufer to abandon his advance on Angelita.

On the other side, the giant owl instantly transformed into a Deinonychus and pounced on his other side, its sharp claws intent on tearing him apart without any mercy.

Facing three opponents alone, Raslaufer's eyes suddenly sharpened. The longsword in his hand, which had been sluggish, transformed into a more agile warhammer. After sending Bella flying with a backhand strike, he flipped his wrist again, and the protruding weight on the hammer handle accurately struck the blade of the Sea Song Blade. As Dople used this momentum to lie flat on his horse's back, he dodged the double attack from Angrita and Marie. At the same time, his hand, which had been gripping the reins tightly, suddenly loosened and grabbed Angrita's belt, lifting the girl up!

"Let her go!" Mary was shocked and her attacks became even more urgent. However, the other party had used Angelita as a shield in such a despicable way that she was caught off guard and unable to keep up. Even with her intelligence, she was struggling to keep up.

"This is the territory of Lady Skadi Fitzgival, the lord of Ironforge! Kingmaker Raslaufer is its protector! If you dare to commit violence, even the devil will not escape death!"

Unlike Mary's intimidation, Bella, who was knocked away by Raslaufer, remained silent after landing. As she returned to human form, she raised her hand and summoned a boulder from the cave wall, which hurtled towards Raslaufer!

In Reslaufer's hands, Angelita, who had seemed to have been captured, began her counterattack. A red light flashed on her balanced breastplate, and countless magical missiles were instantly unleashed, raining down on Reslaufer and his mount without reservation! Even he was caught off guard by this close-range attack and was knocked off his horse by the continuous impacts!

Chapter 716 The Kingmaker, After Leaving

"it's over!"

Just as Raslaufer leaped into the air, a dark pistol barrel was already pointed at his chest, which was only shrouded in flames. Angelita stared coldly at the mask that obscured the face behind it, a mask so distorted that even the voice sounded muffled, and spoke in a chilling voice:

"I know you can't be killed in the material world, but that's not inevitable. Last chance: release the child, then go back to your hell! Otherwise, when the Kingmaker finds you, it will be your death!"

"Even Tiamat's avatar will fall to his sword!"

Leslaufer nodded, casually raising his hand and using a finger to deflect Angelita's gun. "Is that so? That's interesting. In that case, I'd almost like to see him right away—what about you?"

Angelita's expression shifted slightly, but she snorted coldly, "I'm afraid you'll live to see them, but not to return!"

“That’s not true, I assure you, Anne, we’ve known each other for a long time: we see each other often.”

It was only two syllables, but it was enough to make the girl's expression freeze on the spot, and all other words became harmless breezes in her ears: "You... what did you call me?"

A distorted laugh emanated from beneath the tightly concealed helmet. The "devil" raised his hand and pressed it against the mask, ultimately transforming the armor into a mask held in his hand. Behind it, however, was Raslaufer's long-lost true face.

“Of course it’s Annie, what else could it be?” Before Dobler could finish speaking, the girl’s weight, armor and all, was already hanging on him. She was then casually caught by Raslaufer, and the flames bestowed by the Nightmare were extinguished without a trace. “From the west to the east of Inasas is far too far, isn’t it?”

Raslaufer received no response, but he was not in a hurry. As he turned around, Doble gestured to the two nightmares, and the warhorses from hell immediately charged towards the panicked cultists, trampling them with iron hooves and scorching them with flames, bringing them "war" and "death".

“Reslaufer, I—”

Doble calmly watched the dying people screaming in despair until the last cultist fell to the ground. Only then did Angelita release Raslaufer, her face flushed, and look at him: "Did you... run into some trouble over there?"

“Not at all,” Raslaufer shrugged, gesturing for the two Nightmares to come closer after they had burned off their blood. “Look, I even snatched two warhorses over there. Can that be considered one of the problems?”

“You’d be better off hoping trouble doesn’t happen to him than expecting him to run into trouble,” Bella said, sounding a little annoyed. “Why are you so unfair? You don’t hold back when dealing with Anne and Mary, but you go all out against me?”

"Of course it's because you're a tough goat—what else could it be?" Raslaufer mocked the druid. "Who told you to insist on close combat with me? If I don't fight you, who else can I fight?"

Upon hearing this, Bella immediately let out a "whoosh" and pounced on him. Unfortunately, just like before, no matter how hard she tried, Leslaufer could easily deal with her aggressive behavior and even had time to continue chatting with Angrita.

“We’ve been waiting for a long time since you were dragged away by that avatar, but we haven’t seen any sign of your return,” Angelita told Leslaufer about what happened after that day. “We originally planned to stay there indefinitely, but Zhengling appeared and said that the spatial structure of the Nine Hells and the material world is not one-to-one, so as long as you can come back, it doesn’t matter where we wait—now it seems that she didn’t lie to us.”

"The Kingdom of Latour in Western Inasas is completely finished. Although the rest of the country was not damaged much except for the capital, most of the nobles and officials died before and after that battle. The whole country desperately needs a leader. Under those circumstances, weighing the pros and cons, Edward Maplespring is the best candidate - because even if Latour is ignored, the Kingdom of Pope is dead and he is the only legitimate heir left."

Two messes are worse than one, even if that "one" is actually two enclaves that are not adjacent to each other. From another perspective, it can also be understood as Edward, who inherited the Kingdom of Pope, annexing the Kingdom of La Tour.

"What about those dragonborn?"

“Of course they’ve all been incorporated into the Kingdom of Latour,” Anne shrugged. “Now they’re all legal residents, not the ‘outcasts’ living in the wilderness like before. Edward is practically a ‘dragon lover’! If it weren’t for Jinmian and the others stopping him, he would have put the rights of the dragonborn above those of humans! But then again, the original kingdom officials would never have agreed to this. Even now that they have the same status as human residents, some of them are still dissatisfied.”

"After that battle, Felix and Skadi formed an alliance with Edward and the others. Because of the great efforts of Jinmian and the others, Felix's acceptance of the Dragonborn was less of an obstacle than that of West Inathas. As for most of us here, we have never even seen what the Dragonborn looks like, so we don't really care about supporting or opposing them... But none of that really matters."

At this point, Anne suddenly jumped to the side, gave Raslaw a sly smile, and then magically produced a gold coin.

"Guess whose picture is printed on this?"

Leslaufer wanted to see clearly, but Angelita deliberately covered the side of the image, leaving Leslaufer to guess: "Could it be... you?"

“How is that possible!” The girl threw the gold coin over. Leslaufer noticed that this was no longer the kind of large-denomination Leseau that Felix had minted, which was only for collection, but a real currency. “Don’t forget, I am—anyway, it’s you! Edward did this. Saving this guy back then was a really lucrative deal. To repay you, he has gone so far as to hang six ministers and two governors in the past few months to make the Leseau the main currency of the Kingdom of Pope-La Tour!”

"By last month, nearly half of the kingdoms and regions of Inasas had recognized Leso's status and established conversion rates. And, and do you know what else he did? This was a joint plan between several kingdoms and Dieter, and even King Henning was involved."

Angelita cleared her throat. Although she did have a “small part” of the credit, the girl had no intention of mentioning it: “They set up a foundation, well, or you could call it a wishing well or a mercenary band. Anyone with a legitimate territorial claim who is willing to honor you as their protector after becoming a lord and use the Lesotho as their primary currency—at least the first version of the new currency must be in Lesotho—can get financial and even military support from here.”

"In short, my dear Uncle Leslaufer, the hypothesis that you were 'eaten' by Felix has become a reality: now, in addition to being known as the 'Demon Slayer,' the 'Most Powerful Dople,' and the 'Dragon Slayer,' your most widely known title is now 'The Kingmaker'!"

Chapter 717 The Unicorn's Worries

Angelita only touched on the parts related to Raslaufer. In fact, apart from these, all the kingdoms that nominally had Raslaufer as their protector would form loose or close alliances with each other. The actual benefits brought about by this were what the nobles cared about more, while the name of Raslaufer was secondary.

After all, in their eyes, Raslaufer was already a "dead man." This life or death was irrelevant to Raslaufer's actual existence, because even if he were alive, it was highly unlikely that the once-powerful Doppler would crawl back from hell and return to the material world.

I think... right?

When Raslaufer accompanied his companions to take the boy home and then returned to Zebrech, the small village hadn't changed much because of him; at most, the house had just been repainted.

Perhaps for the residents here, as long as Raslaufer and Skadi are alive, all other "changes" are unnecessary.

Here, Raslaufer saw Blackclaw, who seemed to have grown even stronger, and reunited with another friend, Daisy—the bard was still touring the surrounding towns as usual, so much so that she didn't even go with Angrita and the others when they went out to take on commissions.

"Anyway, with their fighting ability, they'd be more than capable of beating up a few cultists," Daisy said, shrugging her shoulders as she looked at Raslaufer. "On the other hand, I heard from Zhengling that you were kidnapped by that petty guy Bael to participate in the Blood War, and I was so scared that I didn't dare tell Annie and the others! I thought you'd come back missing an arm or a leg, but it seems that even that can't defeat you, tough guy!"

“I’ve probably replaced all the parts of my body that needed replacing a long time ago,” Raslaw laughed, patting her on the shoulder with his right hand. “I really have to thank you this time. If it weren’t for you and Zhengling, I really don’t know how I would have made it back.”

"Come on, do you think I don't know you?" Daisy couldn't help but feel smug at Leslaufer's praise, and immediately put her hands on her hips. "There aren't many people who dare to ride a Nightmare away from the Nightmare Rider Trial, let alone steal two at once—I heard you even killed a Sin Demon? That was Gracia's direct descendant! You're absolutely one of a kind!"