Aguile vs. Royce

## The oriole Royce

There was also a space bracelet on the wrist of Mikas’ corpse; there should be something good within. Just when Chen Rui was trying to pick up his spoil, his eyes suddenly brightened and a mask appeared in his hand. He quickly covered his face and said calmly, “Come out. Does all Great Demons like to hide?”

“Oh? You actually noticed me?” A few applause sounded from the back of a big tree. “I have to praise that the battle just now was really exciting. You even forcibly broke through Mikas’s Burning Snake Attack. For you to be able to kill Mikas, you can truly be considered as reputable in the Dark Moon now…”

After Chen Rui entered Mizar state, he kept having the faint feeling of being watched. The reason that he found this person was because the person entered the range of <Analytical Eyes> as he approached.

The effective range of <Analytical Eyes> in Mizar state was doubled. It could show the opponent’s race. Great Demon was shown just now and the Comprehensive Strength Assessment was D whereas the rest were still unknown.

The man slowly came out, and it really was a male Great Demon. It was actually Royce, one of the Three scythes under Joseph!

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. I never expect there’s an oriole hiding at the side!

Did Royce see my true appearance?

Royce’s next sentence almost gave him goosebumps, “I admire this very much. Should I call you little apprentice? Or Sir Secretary?”

Royce really found out Chen Rui’s greatest secret!

“I don’t understand what you just said.” Chen Rui’s heart was pumping hard. He thought of his newly-acquired skills. Suddenly, he had an idea.

“I don’t know what method you used to change your scent. Not only your strength increased tremendously, but your original human scent has also disappeared.”

The Great Demon looked like he was pondering, “Based on this, in the previous Sky Battle, Alan’s loss was not surprising as you also likely to have the beast taming ability…”

Chen Rui was secretly shocked. Royce’s intelligence was really extraordinary. A bellicose man like Arux was absolutely incomparable. Chen Rui immediately said, “I don’t need to explain. It’s okay if you want to see my face. However, you have to accept my challenge just like Arux did.”

Chen Rui used his newly acquired skill, <Camouflage>, then he took off his mask and lifted the cloak of his head. Royce looked at it carefully and frowned. He wasn’t familiar with this face, and it looked ordinary. It was just the eyes that were bright.

Royce said with a deep voice, “Are you… part of the royal family? The ultimate move that killed Mikas just now was some kind of extraordinary talent?”

Chen Rui wanted Royce to think in that direction badly, so he nodded. Suddenly, he heard Royce laughing, “You thought I’ll be deceived so easily? You wear a mask every time you appear, so you must be wanting to hide your true identity. For you to remove it so easily, I’m almost certain that this is not your true face. Not to mention that I just saw your true face during the battle just now! I am different from Arux; I have no interest in the so-called challenge.”

“Also, you actually drank black potions at the beginning. I am not an idiot like Mikas who doesn’t use the brain. Does that mean that Master Aldas truly advances to the grandmaster level? The secrets that you are hiding are really not little. Actually, it is very simple to solve these mysteries… Can’t I just capture you and slowly interrogate?”

As the laughter stopped, that man had already appeared before Chen Rui. That wasn’t teleportation, but his own speed. That speed was at least 3 times faster than Mikas after using demonic fire!

## Blue Lake

Chen Rui flees to Blue Lake while Royce hunts him down. Chen summons Paglio, saying that if Royce kills him, Paglio will die too (because of the life-sharing contract). Paglio then awakens. A loud voice sounded, “you actually used such a way to threaten a dragon. You’re like the first one in history.”

Royce’s facial expression changed drastically. With his ability, he actually didn’t realize when did the man come to his back. Then he thought of the blue lake dragon, the demonic fire on his body blazed and he activated his teleportation talent without hesitation. Royce’s first reaction was not to fight but to escape. If that dragon truly woke up, then not to mention the Higher Demon, even the higher level Demon King would be no match.

Royce teleported at full force and appeared more than 10 meters away. However, the voice still came behind his back, “Poor grim reaper, why don’t you teleport again for Master Paglio to see?”

Royce’s heart gradually sank; he slowly turned around. He saw a man with short, dark hair and brown skin grinning. Royce snorted and his demonic fire shone. Two red longswords appeared in his hands which instantly turned into an overlapping, huge red flower-shaped like the famous red demon-eating flower in the Demon Realm, covering Paglio. He went all out at his first strike.

However, this huge flower shattered instantly, and the poison dragon’s voice sounded.

“Using your ultimate move at the beginning, your judgment was pretty accurate. Unfortunately, you’re too weak!”

Subsequently, smashing sound was heard while Royce’s figure had already flown up and fallen hard on the ground right in front of Chen Rui. Royce was covering his mouth while he panted. He clenched his teeth to stand up; the fire on his body had become dimmer.

Royce reacted very quickly. He wanted to hold Chen Rui as a hostage, but Paglio’s figure appeared again in front of him, kicking him into the air, then he heavily smashed the Great Demon to the ground in mid-air. That seemingly casual attacks had already heavily damaged Royce. He could no longer stand.

Chen Rui finally understood how powerful Paglio was. Due to the seal, he was only at the power of a Great Demon King. If his seal was dispelled, he could…

In the Demon Realm, Paglio wasn’t the only one that possessed Demon Overlord strength. Raizen the Great of the Bloody Empire was the strongest Demon Overlord in the Demon Realm while Catherine the Great of Dark Shadow Empire was also of the same strength, not to mention the scary man who sealed Paglio. Now, Chen Rui’s enemies were just the Higher Demons. After this, he would definitely face Demon King, Great Demon King, Demon Emperor…

Chen Rui was full of fighting spirit. As long as he persisted and worked hard, becoming a legendary strongman wasn’t a dream. Currently, he had successfully reached Mizar state, and he had killed the Great Demon, Mikas, whereas just a few months ago, he had only just arrived to Mojie.

“Within 2 months, you actually advanced from Intermediate to Higher Demon! Why do you always have such good luck? You can even acquire something so rare like the grand master’s inheritance!”

Once Royce realizes how powerful Chen is and how even a powerful dragon like Paglio would sign a life contract with Chen, Royce says:

“I have my own glory and persistence.” Royce took a deep breath and supported his body to stand up. He looked directly at Chen Rui, “If you can promise me one thing, I am willing to be your servant. If not, I would rather die to maintain my glory.”

## Result

Royce says he will become Chen's servant if he helps Royce win back his fiancee Vasasha who dumped Royce and became Joseph's maid. Royce then explains the history of how he got cucked by his boss Joseph.

Paglio frowned and said, “The loyalty of a female Great Demon is definitely a headache. Unless the man completely makes her lose hope or erase all the memories associated with that man with special magic. Otherwise, she will not change her mind even if we kill Joseph. It’s just that no one but the mad woman can use the magic that erases memory freely. If it’s someone else, even with the strength of Demon Overlord, the possibility that Vasasha becomes an idiot is quite huge.”

“Which mad woman?” Royce suddenly looked hopeful.

“Don’t have to think about that woman for the time being; the odds are actually one out ten thousand.” Chen Rui certainly knew who Paglio was talking about. With the grievances between the fairy dragon, Laura and Paglio, it would be good enough for her to help to dispel the seal for the treasure’s sake. Why would she help in such a matter? Not to mention he didn’t know where Laura was.

The only way was to let Joseph took the initiative to give up on Vasasha. However, what kind of person was Joseph? Even if he regarded Vasasha merely as a toy, he knew that controlling her was equivalent to controlling Royce, so he would never be stupid enough to harm himself.

“My idea is that since Vasasha will not give up on Joseph, then we can only make Joseph give up on her. With Joseph’s personality, as long as there is greater interest in front of him, there is nothing that he won’t give up except himself. You have already known my human identity. Actually, I am also the most trusted advisor of Princess Royal; I already have a plan to deal with Joseph. Rescuing Vasasha can be part of the plan. However, the current plan is just a prototype; it’s not the right time to execute it yet. So, you need to continue enduring. If you think this plan is feasible, we can sign the contract; if not, then I can only let you die with dignity.”

Royce’s eyes were full of brilliance. He looked into Chen Rui’s eyes for a moment, and he finally fell on one knee with a translucent, weird, red scroll appeared in his hand. The text seemed to be written by blood. That was the master-servant contract. Chen Rui didn’t use the blood of his wounds, but bit his fingers in a serious manner to sign his name.

Paglio accounted for a large part of the reason why Royce surrendered. Someone that made a powerful dragon to be willing to sign a symbiotic contract was definitely not simple, even if his current power was only at Higher Demon.

If Chen Rui could truly fulfill Royce’s wish, it was very likely that he could win over all 3 scythes from Joseph. Moreover, Royce was responsible for the magic store. Chen Rui had long been eyeing on the materials within, so there were a lot of things that could be done.

“I have already learned master’s intelligence. Since you said that, you aren’t brushing me off.” The passion in Royce’s eyes was blazing. “I have already waited for more than 100 years. What else couldn’t I endure? Since we have signed the contract, I still have a secret to tell master.”

Royce tells Chen how the secret to a supposed hidden treasure was sealed inside Vasasha before Kahn died.

“Even if there isn’t any treasure, I will take back Vasasha! She is not only my fiancee, but also a woman I have secretly loved since childhood. In any case, I won’t allow any man to possess her!” Royce’s expression didn’t seem fake. Also, he had already signed the master-servant contract with Chen Rui; he would be a servant for the rest of his life. Therefore, lying wouldn’t make any sense. It seemed that Vasasha’s position in his heart was very important, “I can offer the treasure to master. However, there is one person whom I am willing to pay any cost to end his life with my hands. I beg for master’s help.”

Chen Rui and the poison dragon looked at each other and said, “I promise you!”

What surprised the two was that Royce wasn’t talking about Joseph, but another name: Ledo.

This enemy should have the same surname as Royce: Kunda!

This plot of the story was very common. A child born out of wedlock was jealous of the heir and hated the family. He didn’t hesitate to blow the whistle to destroy his father and the entire family. He even offered his “brother’s” fiancee to his new master.

Ledo had always been in the dark, but he was Joseph’s most trusted person. Joseph understood the grudges between Royce and Ledo, so he didn’t let them meet each other. However, Royce still managed to find some clues. He was extremely abhorred against the culprit responsible for the destruction of the whole family; he had sworn to kill Ledo personally.

Royce was overjoyed by Chen Rui’s promise and reported another important thing: Joseph had already left Red Spirit Estate two days ago. He would arrive at Dark Moon Estate latest by the next morning.

“Joseph is back?” Chen Rui frowned. “He has already gotten rid of Kanita?”

“No.” Royce took a bottle of Healing Potion from his space equipment and drank it. He explained, “Joseph came back this time for two pretexts. The first is to transport superior vine stones, which is the bet lost to the little princess during the Sky Battle; the second is to participate in the Dark Moon Estate’s quarterly meeting that is held once every three months. However, his true purpose isn’t on these matters, but it’s Master Aldas. When master came to the magic store last time, I reported to Joseph about Aldas attempting grand-master level potions, so Joseph is coming for that. I heard that he already has a clue of Aldas’ lost sister. He wanted to recruit or threaten Aldas to make Aldas his strongest pawn to fight against Kanita.”

“Grand master-level potions?” Chen Rui thought of the lies to get magic materials the other time, and he suddenly realized. He didn’t expect his lies would be treated seriously. Yet, being able to obtain clues on Aldas’ sister was important information. Chen Rui remained silent at once.

After a long time, Chen Rui finally said, “We would observe this matter for the time being. It is best to obtain the actual clues of Aldas’ sister. My injury isn’t minor, and I need to recuperate urgently. Yet, there is one more important thing now, which is Mikas. Mikas was sent by Alan to kill me. Although he was killed by me, a dead person didn’t mean there wasn’t any value. His body should be able to make good use for…”

“Does master want to use Mikas to provoke the contradiction between Joseph and the Karon Family?” Royce was also a smart man. Now that he had recovered his calm, he immediately guessed Chen Rui’s intentions.

Chen Rui nodded with admiration and he said his thoughts. Royce’s eyes were bright. He gave some ideas while listening; the lazy poison dragon also added into the conversation from time to time. A plan gradually formed from the discussion between 3 cunning men.

## Notes

1. ↑ 螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后 (classical Chinese saying)
2. ↑ In this saying 黄雀 is translated as 'oriole'. However the scientific term is spinus spinus (from Greek) or sisschen (German).
3. ↑ 黄雀 Huangque or Spinus spinus, siskin, sisschen, zeischen is a type of bird found across Eurasia, particularly China and Europe. The English word 'spinus' is derived from Greek.
4. ↑ Chapter 68 (Steambun)
5. ↑ Chapter 69 (Steambun)
6. ↑ Chapter 70 (Steambun)