The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing

#210 - A gathering of great forces

"Great, you're here. I won't let you escape this time."

It was another woman's voice from outside the door.

Unusually familiar.

Long silver hair, a white dress, soft features combining beauty and youth, and intelligent blue-purple eyes were fixed on Felt.

The person before them was none other than Emilia, the owner of the insignia Felt had stolen and one of the royal selection candidates.

Felt's expression was annoyed, her lips twisting in anger, "You're such a pain, woman. You should give up already."

"I'm afraid I can't. Be good, and I won't hurt you."

The girl's voice was extremely cold as she naturally moved the black-haired, black-eyed man in a tracksuit who was with her behind her, blocking the doorway while extending her palm toward the retreating Felt.

A slight cracking sound echoed in the air as numerous ice pillars materialized in the void, and the room temperature dropped with her icy voice.

"I have only one request. Return the insignia; it's very important."

There were six ice pillars floating in the air.

The tips were all rounded and blunt, not meant to harm anyone with sharp points, but if they hit, they would undoubtedly cause a more severe impact than being hit by a stone.

All three people in the room were targeted.

"...Huh, you?"

Emilia paused slightly when she saw Zun Zun sitting leisurely at the counter, but her eyes quickly filled with disappointment.

"Just as Puck said, you're in league with them after all?"

Huh???

That's quite an accusation.

Felt's eyes darted around, malice rising in her heart, and she deliberately shouted to him in a panic, "We're doomed, boss! The owner's come looking for it! What do we do?"

What the hell...!

Zun Zun quickly waved his hand, saying, "No, I'm being coerced! I'm a good guy!"

"Boss, you're too heartless!"

"Although you want to drag me down with you, Felt, you seem to have forgotten one thing... you don't seem to know who I am, do you? If you know my name, feel free to say it."

"Ugh!"

Felt choked.

She suddenly realized that she didn't know the person's name, even after talking for so long. On the contrary, her and Rom's information had been exposed, and even the color of her underwear was known to him.

Emilia looked puzzled.

"...You're not working together?"

"We're not related."

He said it too heartlessly and decisively.

However, she seemed to think that Zun Zun was lying to her, so she was still somewhat suspicious and didn't move the ice pillars aimed at Zun Zun.

"Since you're not working together, I won't attack you as long as you don't make any moves."

Zun Zun raised his hands in salute, indicating that he was not a threat.

Felt gritted her teeth.

"...Old Man Rom."

"Don't move. You not only brought trouble, but also troublesome people. And you're too heartless. Weren't you just proposing to Felt?"

"Eh?" x3

The gazes directed at Zun Zun were a bit piercing.

"I didn't, I didn't! Don't talk nonsense!"

Although he tried his best to deny it three times, Emilia's expression didn't believe him at all, as if she was saying that he would say such a thing to save his own life.

However, Emilia was more concerned about her insignia than the relationship between Zun Zun and Felt.

"Alright, return the insignia to me."

"Hey, Old Man Rom!?"

"Don't make a fuss!"

Old Man Rom held a giant, half-person-high wooden club in his hand, and with his large body, he looked quite intimidating. However, his expression and movements seemed to be a mix of bewilderment and confusion, his hand repeatedly opening and closing around the club.

"You're not already backing down, are you?"

"If it were just a mere mage, I wouldn't back down... however, the opponent before us is tricky."

Rom warned Felt, who was trying to provoke him, narrowed his gray eyes, and stared at Emilia. He looked down at the silver-haired girl, meeting her eyes filled with intense vigilance and awe, and asked with a slightly trembling mouth:

"Miss... you, are you an elf?"

"Half right. I'm only half-elf."

Emilia told of her tragic fate in a tone of painful confession, causing Natsuki Subaru to frown. Felt's reaction was even more intense as she twisted her body and retreated.

"Half-elf... and silver hair!? Could it be..."

"It's just a coincidence!... I'm the one who finds it troublesome."

Although Natsuki Subaru didn't understand, he could sense that Emilia was unwilling, but since the situation was tense, he could only suppress his inner confusion.

...No, it seems he doesn't need to.

He noticed Zun Zun, who was also drifting outside the battlefield, like an outsider, secretly running over while the three were clashing.

"Yo, I don't think I've seen you before."

"...Why are you using a tone as if you're good friends with everyone here except me?"

Zun Zun looked at Natsuki Subaru, who had run over to talk to him without any sense of distance.

It seems he didn't go down the arrogant route.

Although he didn't care, he was honestly a little disappointed.

"I do know them..."

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Natsuki Subaru laughed heartily, even patting Zun Zun's shoulder, acting like they were good buddies.

Enough is enough.

Just as Zun Zun was wondering what this guy was here for, he suddenly leaned in gossipingly and asked in a small voice, "So, did you really propose to Felt? That wild girl?"

"How could I?"

Zun Zun rolled his eyes.

How could this guy believe it so easily?

Anyone with eyes could see that it was deliberately said to cause confusion for Emilia.

Besides, is he that blind?

Natsuki Subaru also nodded seriously and said, "That's right, that girl has no height, no figure, her looks are so-so, and her personality is crazy. She snarls at people like a mad dog at the slightest disagreement. I can't see anything to praise about her."

"Hey, you over there! I can hear what you're saying!"

Felt turned her head and snarled at him.

"See, see?"

Natsuki Subaru pointed at her.

If Emilia wasn't still aiming ice pillars at her, the hot-tempered Felt would probably have run over and given him a beating.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself."

Probably noticing Zun Zun's strange gaze, Natsuki Subaru quickly made a very strange pose with his right index finger pointing to the sky, his left hand clenched into a fist and bent at his side, his lower body lunging to the right, and his buttocks slightly raised.

"I'm Natsuki Subaru, as you can see, an ordinary person who can be found anywhere. Nice to meet you!"

After saying that, he showed his white teeth.

This bizarre self-introduction would probably leave people speechless, and they might even think that this guy has a problem with his brain? But—

Zun Zun stood up and flicked his cloak.

"I am Zun Zun, a great mage by profession, proficient in advanced magic, and destined to become the strongest demon king!"

His eyes shone with bright red light, and he struck a similar strange pose.

Isn't this a professional match?

"A fake name?"

"My real name! Feel free to object!"

"I have no objections."

Natsuki Subaru raised his hands in salute, but also subtly complained, "What's with this name and strange self-introduction? It's just like the Crimson Demons?"

He didn't notice Zun Zun turning his head away from him.

The two of them, oblivious to everyone else, were introducing themselves in incredibly chuuni poses, while Emilia, Felt, and Old Man Rom remained slightly silent.

"It's a fake name..."

"A fake name is correct."

"Let's ignore them."

They decisively focused on the present.

Natsuki Subaru also looked at the three who were facing off against each other, but he still asked, "The one from earlier... Zun Zun, do you know what a half-elf is?"

No wonder he ran over.

He wanted to get information from him.

Since he was idle anyway.

Zun Zun said, "This is common knowledge. Subaru, you don't even know? Could it be that you came from another world?"

"T-That's... cough cough, I live in a remote countryside where news is blocked, so there's no way I'd know. That's how country bumpkins are."

Natsuki Subaru thought he had found a good excuse, and he would definitely fool them under normal circumstances, but little did he know that his question was something even a three-year-old child would know.

Zun Zun smiled wickedly at him, and when Natsuki Subaru felt uneasy, he explained to him.

"Silver-haired half-elves... this was originally not a strange existence, and no one had any malice towards half-elves. But one day—about 400 years ago, half of the world was devoured by someone."

"Devoured...?"

"Devoured in the literal sense. Half of the continent's landmass disappeared."

"Really!?"

Natsuki Subaru widened his eyes in disbelief, obviously not expecting someone to be so fierce.

"But what does this have to do with silver-haired half-elves... could it be!?"

"You're quite smart, aren't you?"

Zun Zun's smile became even more wicked, as if deliberately reminding him, and said, "That's right, that person's appearance was that of a silver-haired half-elf, and her name is..."

He leaned into his ear, and a very subtle voice, along with someone's name, entered his ears.

"—The Witch of Envy, Satella."

"!?"

Natsuki Subaru's body stiffened.

Zun Zun's red eyes stared intently at him, and he noticed the magic power on his body fluctuate slightly. Then, Natsuki Subaru's forehead was covered in sweat, like a drowning person, and he clutched his heart and began to gasp for breath.

"Haa... haa...! I thought I was going to die."

"Don't worry, you're alive and well."

The corners of Zun Zun's mouth turned up.

Natsuki Subaru looked at Emilia in the field and muttered, "I see, no wonder there was such a strong reaction when I used that name to call her the second time."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just sad that I was deceived by a beautiful girl."

He shrugged indifferently.

I must say, his spirit is quite strong.

However, while Natsuki Subaru's spirit was strong, Emilia in the field was pouting, looking like a pitiful creature abandoned by the world.

And at the moment she relaxed.

Like gliding, a black shadow quietly moved behind the silver-haired girl.

"—Puck, defend!"

With a tearing sound!

Before Natsuki Subaru could finish speaking, a bright flash of lightning beside him seemed to tear through space, crossing the distance and blocking that treacherous, bizarre, and insidious curved blade.