Inside the holy carriage, the group continued their journey following the sudden attack by Vespara and the Dullahan. Seated within the luxurious cabin were Rael, Saint Solenne, Vhal'Zar, and Vespara. The Dullahan was notably absent from the seating arrangement, having been safely inside Vhal'Zar's shadowy domain.
Watching a literal Saint of the Holy Church and a literal Succubus Queen sitting directly across from one another was a comedic spectacle that Rael found highly amusing.
Saint Solenne stared at Vespara, her eyes dripping with polite disdain. "Well, dear Queen Succubus... I originally intended to bind you in chains and drag you behind us. However, since doing so would look terribly unrefined and ruin the aesthetic of my holy carriage, I graciously decided to invite you inside instead."
Vespara sneered, her tail twitching as she prepared a venomous retort. "Oh, is that so, you old hag? Aren't you just-"
Ahem.
Sitting right beside her, Vhal'Zar cleared his throat with a low, vibrating rumble. The sheer pressure of the sound caused Vespara’s survival instincts to instantly kick in. She stiffened, her face turning pale as she immediately corrected her posture, offering an awkwardly forced smile. "Ah... I mean, I am incredibly grateful for your immense generosity, Solenne. Truly."
Rael chuckled softly at the comedy show playing out before him. "Well, Solenne, she is technically your prisoner now. Feel free to interrogate her as you desire."
Hearing Rael's permission, Saint Solenne dropped her childish, petty facade. Her expression shifted into one of absolute gravity as she locked her gaze onto the demoness. "You're right, Sir Rael. Now, Vespara... explain yourself. Why did you claim the Demon King has already been resurrected? According to our ancient prophecies and the celestial cycles, his rebirth shouldn't have occurred for another two decades."
Vespara let out a soft, arrogant chuckle, though she kept her eyes darting nervously toward Vhal'Zar. "Well, that is precisely where you foolish humans are mistaken. Do you truly believe our Lord is bound by a strict, century-long schedule? The reality is quite simple: my Lord can manifest whenever he pleases. He simply grew bored of the repetitive, predictable cycles of this world. I can only assume this premature resurrection was done purely out of his own spontaneous whim. Even I, his loyal servant, would never dare to question his supreme will."
Vhal'Zar looked at her with a smug expression, utterly unimpressed by her fierce loyalty to the demon monarch. "Hah! I wonder how your master could possibly compare to mine. Actually, he wouldn't even compare to my lowest familiar... Wait, since we have a new recruit, the Dullahan is probably the lowest now, I guess? Your Demon King might stand a single tier above him. Yeah, that sounds about right."
Vespara let out a deeply awkward laugh, her internal logic completely spinning around. 'Yeah, I really wonder now... I have never seen an entity this monstrously strong. But compared to the Demon King... maybe this butler's master is actually stronger than my Lord?' She stared at Rael from the corner of her eyes, a cold sweat running down her neck.
Sensing her intense gaze, Rael looked at her calmly before addressing the cabin. "We have no intention of intervening in your worldly conflicts. As long as you do not foolishly stand in our way, we will remain neutral."
Rael remembered the lore from the books stating that a Hero was summoned exactly once every century, meaning the Demon King would likely just end up dying at the hands of the destined Hero anyway.
Saint Solenne studied Rael intensely. She still possessed absolutely no way to measure his true power, but seeing a god-like entity like Vhal'Zar kneel and bow to him with absolute submission led her to a logical conclusion: Rael was a walking cataclysm.
"Sir Rael," Solenne began, her voice softening as she stepped out of her usual boundaries. "I deeply apologize if this question sounds rude... but why do you choose to remain neutral? If you were to uphold justice and destroy the Demon King, you would be hailed as the greatest Hero the world has ever seen. Why throw away such eternal glory? Do you have another purpose?"
'I just want a peaceful vacation while searching for my summons,' Rael thought to himself. 'But now you want me to go kill a Demon King? Nah, I pass. Besides, I don't even know how much power the Demon King actually possesses. In Echoes of Eternity, the Demon King was just a mid-game raid boss, but I don't know if the one in this world is the exact same one I know. As a precaution, it's better not to intervene.'
Back when Echoes of Eternity was still an active game, before the servers closed and the developers stopped updating it, Rael had developed a meticulous gaming mindset. He would do extensive research every single time he prepared to fight a boss. Hearing about a living Demon King now, he wasn't about to blindly accept Solenne's request when he had no data on what he was up against.
The situation with Vespara and the Dullahan had been completely different; he had already analyzed her status window and gathered all her information. Her levels were relatively low, making her an easy target to defeat. As for the Demon King, his parameters and level remained completely blank.
He glanced back at the floating status window he had analyzed earlier:
[Status Window]
Name: Vespara
Level: 540
Race: Demon (Succubus)
STR: 1,872
AGI: 2,738
INT: 10,992
CON: 3,321
WIS: 5,983
MAN: 102,208
'Despite her high level, her baseline stats are remarkably weak,' Rael analyzed internally. 'It's quite an anomaly, but her brief clash with Vhal'Zar proved that these numbers are accurate. She has no hidden trump cards or masked stats.'
Looking directly at the Saint, Rael spoke with a detached, calm voice. "We are merely travelers, Solenne. You ask me to step up and be a savior, but I decline. If I am not mistaken, that heavy responsibility was never meant for me. It belongs to the actual Hero you are preparing to summon, am I right?"
Solenne found herself entirely speechless. Rael's logic was flawless and impossible to argue against. Yet, the sheer desperation of knowing a premature Demon King was marching upon her world forced her to try one last desperate negotiation.
"But Sir Rael... please," Solenne begged, leaning forward as she forced her eyes to wide, trembling spheres, adopting the most persuasive, pitiable puppy-dog eyes she could muster. "Seeing Vhal'Zar's power... I know you must be just as strong, if not, stronger. Please, I beg of you, help our people."
Rael stared at her unblinking, his expressions remaining utterly stoic. He let out a long, slow sigh, completely unswayed by her theatrical pleading.
"First," Rael began, holding up a finger, his voice dropping into a firm, unyielding tone. "I want you, your surviving guards, and Vespara to entirely forget the scale of the power we displayed back there. Second, no, I will not intervene. I have absolutely zero desire to entangle myself in a troublesome political war. And third..."
Rael leaned back, his sharp eyes locking onto her. "Haven't I already granted you enough of your requests, Solenne? I willingly complied to accompany you back to your grand holy city, despite the fact that you literally sent an assassin to my doorstep. You are asking for far too much."
The sudden weight in Rael’s words made the air inside the carriage feel suffocatingly heavy. Solenne instantly shrunk back into her seat, her face turning slightly pale. Realizing she had pushed her luck too far with an ancient entity, she immediately abandoned her intentions, nodding submissively.
"I... I understand," Solenne whispered, before looking up with a small, hopeful glance. "But... at the very least, you won't side with the Demon King's army either, right, Sir Rael?"
Rael looked out the window, his voice completely relaxed. "Yeah. I have absolutely no intention of joining them either."
Hearing that final assurance, Vespara let out a massive, silent sigh of relief from her corner. The thought of an entity as terrifyingly strong as Rael and Vhal'Zar choosing absolute neutrality was the best possible news both sides could have ever hoped for.
In truth, Saint Solenne harbored a deeply conflicted, complex feeling. Part of her genuinely didn't want Rael to get involved in the upcoming subjugation alongside the destined Hero because she was terrified of what would happen if an entity of his caliber witnessed the vile, corrupted nature of the human empire. Yet, deep down, a hidden part of her almost wished he would see it wished for the absolute rot of the empire to finally be exposed to someone who could crush it. She could barely stomach the hypocrisy of her nation anymore.
Breaking the long silence, Saint Solenne looked down at the floorboards, her tone completely humbled. "Sir Rael... regarding my actions earlier, I am truly sorry for being so rude to you. I was incredibly arrogant back there."
Rael glanced at her and let out a quiet sigh. "It's okay. Nobody got hurt, so let it go."
Solenne managed a small smile. Despite her previous arrogant behavior such as demanding Vhal'Zar cut his ties to serve under the church right in front of him, and unwittingly allowing an assassin to target his location he didn't hold a grudge or seek retribution. "Thank you."
'His personality is infinitely better than Prince Damien's,' Solenne thought to herself, a sense of relief washing over her. 'This man doesn't dwell on petty slights or harbor hidden malice, despite everything that happened.'
Rael quietly stifled a yawn, entirely unaffected by the gravity of her apology. 'Hmm, I wonder what the next city is going to look like,' he mused to himself, turning his gaze back to the passing landscape. 'I just hope they have some good food.'