Chapter 131

Chapter 131 – Chapter 23: Cross

The requirements for becoming demon king could be divided into three parts .

The first was having high merits . Merits were the basis of everything . The higher the merit level, the stronger the support from the Demon King’s Palace would be, and there would be more obtainable things . It was also the basis of the competition between the children of the demon king . So, no matter how much better they were in other aspects, they could still lag behind in this competition .

The second was strength . The strength of the demon king was just as important as merits in the Demon World . It was the royal children’s strength that was looked at when the Merits Department assigned missions . If their strength didn’t reach a certain level, they could only be assigned a few missions . Moreover, it was natural, but they couldn’ t become the demon king unless they were strong in the first place . The strongest royal child would become the demon king .

The third part was networking . It was important to become friendly with key figures of the Demon King’s Palace, such as the captains, as well as having alliances with outside forces or securing competent subordinates . These connections were just as necessary as merits and strength . There were many advantages to improving the reputation of a royal child .

There were many cases where the other party would inform them of information beforehand . Of course, depending on the type of fame, there could be more enemies than allies .

The reason why social connections were important was based on the ideal of the strong in the Demon World . Even if the demon king was strong, the people wouldn’t trust the strength of the heir if it was below a certain level .

The power of their forces, high merits, reputation and a solid network of people inside and outside the Demon King’s Palace…

These were the things necessary in order to become the demon king .

&

“Prince . Prince, get up . It is already morning . The sun has risen a long time ago . ”

A rough hand shook his shoulder .

As expected, In-gong opened his eyes to see Carack’s face . Carack helped the sleepy In-gong raise his body and handed him a cup of green liquid .

“Come on, drink this . It is a drink for your hangover . ”

In-gong didn’t have the energy to resist, so he drank it, but the taste was truly terrible . Still, the drink had an effect as his mind cleared .

Carack laughed and handed him a cup of water . The clear, cold water was great .

“Carack, you seem fine . ”

After clearing his mind, In-gong spoke while pressing a hand against his temple . Carack laughed again and hit his chest .

“Huhu, this is an alcoholic’s body . I continued drinking even after Prince slept, but I am still fine . ”

The green colour of the orc skin made it difficult for In-gong to tell if there truly was no hangover . Therefore, In-gong decided to just nod .

“Yes, well done, well done . ”

‘What’s an alcoholic’s body? Does he bathe in alcohol?’

After picturing the futile delusion, In-gong closed his eyes again . Then Carack shook In-gong’s shoulder once more .

“Prince, I truly waited until the latest possible moment before I woke you . There isn’t much time left until the meeting . ”

They had achieved a great victory in the battle against the barbarians, but that wasn’t the end of it . Just like the case where they had defeated the Red Lightning tribe, there was still work to do . They had to restore the bases they had abandoned as well as secure the fourth base that might still contain barbarians .

The person responsible for this battle was In-gong, so all the clean-up was also In-gong’s responsibility . He couldn’t take a backseat and watch .

“Come on, get up . There really isn’t a lot of time . You need to eat a big meal in the morning . ”

“I don’t think… Nayatra?”

In-gong raised his head before anyone entered . It was because Nayatra had appeared on the mini-map, which he had opened through habit .

As In-gong spoke, Nayatra entered the tent with both hands holding a large tray of food .

“Your Highness, breakfast is served . ”

Nayatra said gracefully while keeping her eyes down . As In-gong stared at her with a blank face, she put the tray down in front of him .

“Breakfast is the start of the day . You have to eat . It is ridiculous if you don’t . ”

There was a feeling of affection which couldn’t be hidden in the calm voice . It was nice but embarrassing . Was she doing this to gain favour with In-gong?

In-gong stared at Nayatra before turning his gaze toward the tray .

There was the smell of hot soup and freshly made bread . Some of the dishes were really hot like they had just been made .

“Hoh, is everything homemade?”

Carack moved closer to the tray with a face of admiration . Nayatra stretched out her hand to restrain Carack with sharp eyes .

“This is His Highness’ food . Step aside . As I said before, this food is for His Highness . ”

Carack flinched at the cold voice, and there was a tinge of embarrassment on his face .

In-gong felt his appreciation for Nayatra rise as he watched the scene . She was a woman who was cold to Carack . It was indeed fresh .

“Thank you, I will eat it well . ”

In-gong smiled and started eating breakfast, while Nayatra’s chill melted as she smiled back . As the two people smiled at each other, Carack had a wounded expression while he watched In-gong .

Some time passed .

After a quick breakfast, In-gong got dressed with the help of Carack and Nayatra . Then he headed to the tent where the meeting would take place . Nayatra wanted to come along, but In-gong’s aide was Carack .

‘Nayatra was always with me in Knight Saga . ’

She was both a counselor and escort knight .

“Prince, what is with that look?”

“No, nothing . I was just thinking about a possible personnel adjustment . ”

Carack’s eyes asked what he meant, but In-gong just laughed . He didn’t intend to change his aide, but it was quite fun teasing Carack .

In-gong tapped Carack’s shoulder and started moving quicker .

Felicia and Caitlin were already waiting inside the tent with Delia and Seira . Felicia was particularly noteworthy .

“Shutra… Noona wants to die… Divide Noona’s legacy in half with Silvan…”

Felicia lay on top of a big table and spoke in a dying voice . She had drunk so much yesterday that she was now suffering from a huge hangover .

In-gong sat next to Felicia and used a magic spell .

“Recovery . ”

It was a powerful status recovery magic . It was slightly strange using it for a hangover, but the effect was clear .

“I can live a little bit now . ”

Felicia groaned and raised her upper body . Her complexion was still bad, but she certainly looked better than before .

“Why didn’t you use it on yourself?”

“I can’t use magic because my head hurts too much . ”

Felicia replied with a frown and drank the cold water on the table . In-gong turned his head toward Caitlin .

“What about Noona? Is your body okay now?”

“Yes, I am fine . ”

Caitlin had gone to sleep right after the battle .

She smiled gently and then asked a question while tilting her head slightly,

“By the way Shutra, what happened yesterday? Your aura suddenly got stronger . It seemed like one more aura heart had grown . ”

Caitlin was connected to In-gong through the Moonlight Core and Sunlight Core . Since he had operated the penta-core in the battle with the barbarian king, Caitlin had no choice but to notice the new aura heart .

In-gong looked around at those inside the tent before answering .

Seira was standing behind Caitlin with curiosity, while Delia and Felicia weren’t as curious because they were somewhat ignorant about aura . There was also Carack standing behind In-gong . As Felicia always said, the air was one body with their master . Therefore, he could tell these six people his secret .

In-gong took a deep breath and said in a calm voice,

“This story is only for the people here . Please keep it a secret . ”

The curiosity on their faces became stronger . In-gong laughed inadvertently and started his explanation .

“Shutra is great!”

Caitlin’s eyes widened and shone . It felt like it had been a while since he last heard it .

It wasn’t just Caitlin who felt admiration . Felicia stood up and shouted,

“That’s right, great . No, amazing!”

“That’s right, Master is great and amazing . ”

Green Wind appeared behind In-gong and hugged him . The people in the tent weren’t surprised anymore since it was a scene they had seen often .

The fact that In-gong had obtained Watcher Ainkel’s dragon heart on Enger Plains was known to everyone . However, it didn’t stop there, and he had now formed a dragon heart in his body .

In-gong explained that it was possible due to something special about Ainkel’s dragon heart, but they were still filled with admiration .

Caitlin spoke with a bright expression,

“So, that is why your aura suddenly became stronger . It is also why I felt something similar to Baikal orabeoni from Shutra’s aura . Shutra is really amazing . ”

Caitlin expressed her innocent admiration . However, instead of replying like normal, Felicia burst out . She looked at In-gong and Caitlin with outraged eyes .

“Oh, my god . Aura becoming stronger is nothing to laugh at . It is truly great . Do you know what it means to have a dragon heart?”

“Uh, is Prince going to become a big dragon? Will scales form on his body? Or maybe he will grow a tail?”

At Carack’s question, Caitlin’s eyes widened and her gaze shifted down to In-gong’s hips . In-gong looked down as well .

Felicia firmly shook her head .

“It’s not like that . What are you talking about? Why would he develop scales or a tail? Although horns or wings would be cool!”

Her words trailed off at the end .

Felicia covered her face with both hands and lamented,

“Oh my god . Why am I the only magician here? Why?”

“Princess, calm down and explain slowly . ”

Delia came forward . It worked as Felicia continued speaking in a somewhat calm voice,

“A dragon heart is the dragon’s power itself . It could be called a dragon’s organ . The dragon heart contains the distinctive power of a dragon . ”

“Then Shutra can shoot out dragon breath?”

Caitlin asked when she heard ‘power of a dragon’ . Carack’s eyes widened .

“Prince, can you shoot fire from your mouth?”

As all eyes moved towards In-gong’s mouth, In-gong raised his hand to his mouth without even knowing it . The word ‘fire’ popped into his head .

Felicia shook her head at all their reactions . The wildly moving heart seemed to represent Felicia’s spirit .

“No, no . Nothing like that! More important and greater! Shutra, do you know?”

Felicia asked, turning to In-gong . Putting aside the others, her eyes were asking why he didn’t know .

In-gong searched through his memories . The information from Knight Saga and the books about the elder dragons came to mind .

What could he do with a dragon heart? Something that only dragons could do .

The answer flashed through his head, and In-gong spoke unconsciously,

“Dragon magic . ”

They were powerful words, referring to the unique magic that only dragons could use .

“Yes, that’s correct! Shutra has a dragon heart, so he may be able to use dragon magic!”

Felicia cried out with a refreshed face .

However, the rest of the party still had confused expressions . Caitlin and Delia knew about magic, but they didn’t have a rich knowledge of it .

Additionally, Carack, who was the most ignorant about magic in the tent, raised his hand .

“Princess, who will teach the dragon magic? Don’t you have to learn it from a dragon?”

“Uh, maybe?”

There was little known about dragon magic . Felicia had no knowledge about it other than it was a powerful magic that only a dragon could use .

Carack’s eyes narrowed at Felicia’s less than confident reply .

“Princess, do you know a dragon?”

“No . ”

“Me too . ”

Caitlin replied as well, and Felicia calmed down her excitement .

The possibility of learning dragon magic was opened, but there was no way to learn it right away .

“Let’s just calm down . It is enough to know that there is the possibility . We can ask the sword duke or Amita . ”

Those two people might know more about dragons .

‘And…’

In-gong could think of someone who knew about dragon magic, but it wasn’t a place he could visit right now .

As soon as the turmoil settled down, Vandal entered the tent, and they discussed future plans .

&

Although it wasn’t an exaggeration to say Evian was in winter all year around, that was also divided into cold and warm seasons . Right now, the really cold weather was approaching .

As soon as the meeting ended, the group gathered the troops hastily . They had to re-occupy the fifth, sixth and seventh bases and expel the remaining barbarians from the fourth base .

Since there was no reason to visit the fifth, sixth and seventh bases again, In-gong took out all the supplies from his inventory and handed them to the troops of each base . Thanks to that, the movement speed slowed down, but it wasn’t a big problem .

Then night came again .

Thanks to the fireplace, In-gong was able to check the mini-map in the early hours as well as open his inventory . He took out the Lucid Dream Pillow .

‘Now, I will start . ’

In-gong took a deep breath and laid his head on the Lucid Dream Pillow, falling asleep instantly .

After a while, a loud voice was heard in In-gong’s ears as he opened his eyes in the dream .