From their vantage point atop The Divide, the humans could see the Devil Army that had made camp outside the humans ranged weapons. The humans were well entrenched and had units stationed between the forts alongside the wall. If a fight broke out, it was advantageous and disadvantageous to both.  

Because of the human’s height advantage, only the winged devils posed a significant threat as they would have to secure a place atop The Divide to set up equipment for the army to follow. However, the winged devils were small in number, and often significant people unlikely to be willing to sacrifice themselves for a suicide mission.  

The humans didn’t have enough equipment to lower their troops down. Even if they did, they’d be sitting ducks on those platforms for mages and archers to pick off at will. This was the reason why neither side had managed to beat the other. Ironically, The Divide had effectively started the conflict between the devils and humans, yet it prevented them from overwhelming each other.

Thanks to Marty’s work removing spies, both sides were quite unhappy with the current circumstances. With their communication broken, they couldn’t mutually plan to benefit through this war, which made both sides unable to back down and unwilling to fight. The situation was just what Marty wanted.

Thanks to his work in blackmailing the other high-level Devils, they agreed to a small-scale conflict to resolve this fight. Naturally, there would be benefits to the winner. If the Devils won, they would get to occupy one of the forts, cut the current human army by 10%, and limit its size to that amount. Additionally, a small tribute would be paid. So long as these three conditions were met, the Devils will not attack for ten years. If the humans won, the Devils would give up some of the lands under the wall. The other stipulations if the Devils won would be applied against them if they lost.  

The proposition reached the King of Regnum, but he was hesitant in taking this deal. He felt something was off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. However, with a couple of changes, he relented the proposition. Naturally, these changes were not his own, but Marty’s. Given Marty’s position as the Archmage, he now had a similar social authority to the King. As such, he admitted himself to be a third party. The reason why the King agreed was because of Marty. The first stipulation Marty added was that the Mage Association would also be a part of this competition. The result of the competition would be one victor, two losers. If the mage Association won, then neither side would lose land, and both parties must establish trade agreement and a nonaggression policy allowing humans and devils to begin to intermingle with one another. The King was taken aback by the terms, but Marty’s loss condition was too attractive to pass up. If the Mage Association lost, then the leader would have the same authority as an Archmage for 50 years. This meant that they would have some control over the mages and access to their research and resources. 

When the Devils got this modified proposition, they were somewhat surprised, but also happy. Naturally, they realized the importance of magic, especially in combat. Besides their unique explosion magic, they lacked many magic spells. The human mages had a wider variety of spells as the Mage Association encouraged spell creation. If they had access to the Mage Association, they could greatly expand their magical knowledge. This was something that they couldn’t resist.

In the end, they decided to hold a small conflict on top of the wall as the winged devils could fly away if there were any betrayal. Regarding population, it wasn’t equal. The Devils had a maximum of 50 people they could use per fight while the humans and the Mage Association used a maximum of 75. The reason for this was due to the population difference between the two armies. On average, the Devils were stronger than humans, but their reproduction rate was lower. Where humans lacked quality, they had in quantity. While the numbers didn’t perfectly match up the population difference of the army, it was what both sides agreed on.

A small stage was created for the leaders of the factions to watch the fight. Representing the mage faction was Marty himself. Many people were surprised when they realized that not many mages appeared as Marty never gathered them. The King of Regnum along with the crown prince, a general, two bodyguards, and the three heroes represented the Kingdom of Regnum.  

The crown prince, Eustathius, was somewhat nervous about the turn of events. He had never heard of a conflict resolved this way and was worried that something unexpected might happen. To calm his nerves, he tried to talk to Marty. However, he found Marty to be a little more uncommunicative than usual. Marty was strangely robed, which covered most of his body with a black staff in his hand. The black staff was naturally Cali who was in disguise.  

Cali was vital because she needed to preserve the life of Lucibelle and Angelique. Marty believed there to be a chance for the two of them to be attacked by either the King of Regnum or Marcus’s father. Given that the two of them had an understanding, the chances were even higher that the two of them would team-up. 

This wouldn’t happen if it appeared that they would win, but Marty planned to win overwhelmingly. With no hope of winning, and no desire to lose, he believed neither would keep their word. On the human side, the new Archmage would sue for peace while the Devil Empress would also agree. To make the agreement void, either Marty or Lucibelle would have to be killed, most likely the latter given her strength and position. Marcus’s father wanted her dead so Marcus could ascend as Emperor, and the King of Regnum wanted her dead to ensure the war, and subsequent exploitation, would continue. With aligned objectives, they would most likely team-up. With Cali, that wouldn’t be a problem as she could hold them off long enough to Dimension Door the two women to safety.

After waiting a short time, a large group of winged devils flew over the wall and landed in predesignated position, though one of them had been carried. Marcus was also part of this fight, but his wing had yet to heal.

Three figures flew over to the stand: Lucibelle, Angelique, and Marcus’s father.

“I assume your Excellency is the King of Regnum? Lucibelle asked after she landed.

“Indeed, we are. You are the Empress of the devils? The King asked back.

“Indeed, we are. This is our sister, Angelique, and our former chief general.” Lucibelle said as she motioned to them.

“This is our most trusted general, two of our most trusted bodyguards, the three summoned heroes, and our son, Eustathius.” The King replied, returning the courtesy she gave him, even though he didn’t prefer it. However, his complexion changed when he looked at his son. Eustathius stared at Angelique as if in a trance, unable to pull his eyes away from her. It wasn’t something like lust; it was as if he was struck dumb by her.

Given Angelique’s personality, Marty expected her to get angry with him for his blatant staring. However, Marty was momentarily struck dumb by Angelique’s response. Instead of getting angry, her cheeks reddened slightly, and she was looking down while twirling her hair. “What are you looking at?” She asked, obviously bashful.

Eustathius looked as if a bolt of lightning had struck him. “My apologies Lady Angelique, I meant nothing by it.” He said, embarrassed.

Angelique didn’t say anything but nodded.

Marty tried hard not to laugh. Given both of their reactions, could be the rumored love at first sight? He considered both Angelique and Eustathius to be his friends, so he was happy that the first impressions went well. Perhaps their spring had come. If they could become a couple, it also could be an excellent first step towards improving the relations between the devils and humans.

Lucibelle turned to look at Marty whose face she couldn’t see as it was covered. “I suppose you’re Excellency is the Archmage of the Mage Association ?” she asked politely. However, she was slightly surprised by what happened next as a voice suddenly spoke in her head.

[Don’t act surprised. Act as though this is our first meeting.] The voice sounded familiar to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Indeed, Empress,” Marty replied as he removed his hood. “My name is Marty, and it is my honor to meet you.”

Thanks to Marty’s warning, Lucibelle’s reaction was still composed, but her pupils visually shrank she saw Marty. [He’s alive! He’s alive! Thank goodness. I was so worried.] She was so happy with Marty wellbeing that she forgot that his voice seemed familiar to her. If Marty hadn’t revealed himself, she might have realized that his voice was the same as someone she knew quite well.  

Angelique, on the other hand, didn’t have an immense reaction to Marty’s face as she had never seen it before, but she recognized his voice. The Archmage was Sir Black! Angelique was delighted as she also desired peace between the devils and humans. The only thing she thought was how he wasn’t the older man from her imagination before her vision unconsciously went back to the crown prince who sheepishly looked away as he had stolen another glance at her.

“Since there are three of us, who will fight first?” the King of Regnum asked. “If you do not mind, I suggest that my Mage Association fights the devils.”

Lucibelle was slightly taken aback by the suggestion, but she accepted it. Going off of her initial discussion with Sir Black, she decided to trust Marty. Additionally, they could replenish their troops if there were casualties when they fought the other side. The King of Regnum naturally had no reason to decline.

“Very well, then I shall go now,” Marty said as he left his staff by his seat and began to walk out to the field.

“On your own?” Lucibelle asked, unable to hide that trace of concern for him from him. She had numerous questions, but she swallowed them back.

“Are you so eager to become a subordinate of my kingdom?” The King asked.

Marty stopped in his tracks when he heard this before giving a sly smile to the King. “Who said anything about becoming a subordinate? The deal is you get my privileges which means that anything you do with the Mage Association is done in my name. An Archmage can’t order another Archmage.”

The King’s face turned slightly black as he realized that he would be unable to get back at Marty for hiding his ability.

“Careful,” Eustathius said, slightly worried as he wasn’t sure how Marty planned to deal with the situation.

“I will. It’ll just be nice to go all out for once.” He said with a strange grin before he walked out to the field.

“Angelique, he’s the person I originally summoned.” The Lucibelle whispered to ensure that she wouldn’t be heard.

“No wonder he was willing to help us,” Angelique whispered back.

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t realize it? He is Sir Black.”

“What!” Lucibelle couldn’t help but exclaim before she gave the others an embarrassed look of apology for her sudden exclamation. “Are you sure?” She asked back in a whisper, unable to hide her enthusiasm.

“I’m fairly certain as his voice is identical. The magic he used to negate my spell is something only an Archmage should be able to do.”

Lucibelle couldn’t help but smile as she looked at Marty’s back while he walked away. The two things that had weighed on her the most was not her Empire or this war, but rather around two people; Marty and Sir Black. She was naturally worried for Marty as she felt a strong sense of responsibility for him. Now that he had appeared in front of her, she was pleased. As for Sir Black, it was more complicated. She was a hopeless romantic who loved to read romance novels, and one of her favorite characters was named Sir Black. When a ‘Sir Black’ appeared before her and offered to help her, she couldn’t help but let her imagination run wild. She always dreamed about being one of those heroines in those novels. However, she was also a person of keeping her word. Because she had already promised herself to Marty, so she was unwilling to be anything more than friends with Sir Black. However, this was harder over time.  

Over the last couple of months they spent together, Lucibelle realized that she had feelings for him. He treated her as an equal and went out of his way to spend time with her. They talked about many things, and the time they spent together was the time she looked forward to most in her day. However, she could only bury them deep within her heart. But now, it was different.  

As she watched him walk away, Marty and Sir Black finally merged in her mind. For a few seconds, she was no longer the Empress, but a maiden in love watching her beloved walk away to the battlefield with a hint of bitterness in her eyes. [That jerk. He didn’t tell me anything and made me worried about him. He owes me an explanation!]

Erica, Gifford, and Yutsuki watched Marty as he walked towards the field with varying amounts of worry. Yutsuki was the least worried about him even though she didn’t know exactly how strong he was. However, if he ever needed her help, she would be there no matter what.

“Don’t tell me that you plan to take us on alone?” Marcus asked Marty with the mocking expression as Marty approached them.

“I’m enough,” Marty replied as he stopped about 100 feet away.

Several of the devil’s faces became dark. “Are you looking down on us?” One of them asked.

“Does it matter?” Marty said with a shrug.

“Since you seem so sure of yourself, I’ll let you have a little duel,” Marcus said with a smile as he motioned for one of the mages to come forward. It was evident from Marty’s clothes that he was a mage, so Marcus desired to embarrass him by beating him with one of his best. The devil mage very quickly created a magic circle and fired explosion magic.

Leisurely, Marty raised his hand and successfully counterspelled the magic. All of the devils, excluding Lucibelle and Angelique, were surprised at the apparent failure of the spell. However, a couple of the devil’s complexion changed when they saw the magic circle in Marty’s hand reform into very familiar explosion magic.

“Spread out!” someone shouted. In their surprise, a few of the Devils didn’t move as quickly as they could have. Marty’s explosion magic impacted a devil square in the chest. He knew just how much mana to use to wound them, so the devil didn’t die, but he was knocked out while a couple of devils near him were also injured.

“Archers, fire!” Marcus shouted. The devil’s group of 50 consisted of 10 mages, 15 archers, and 25 warriors. Fifteen arrows accurately shot at Marty. However, with a collision sound, they all were destroyed before they could reach him. Only a few noticed that coins suddenly appeared in Marty’s hand. 

Over the previous month, Marty experimented with his new ability. In doing so, he found something that he never confirmed with Yutsuki. It didn’t matter what weapon it was; so long as it was a ranged attack, his ability worked. Arrows, guns, and even coins could be used. Upon this discovery, Marty made sure to have a couple of guns in his space ring and had many adamantine coins engraved with summoning magic created. Given the strength of adamantine, his ESPER Ability, Ki, and the capacity to summon them back after use, these coins were potentially more lethal and inconspicuous than bullets.

After he intercepted the arrows, he quickly summoned back the coins before he charged at the fighters that approached him. The devil archers and mages all took off in the air to get a better vantage point against Marty. However, they did not attack to avoid friendly fire. They also didn’t think they would be needed as a mage getting in a melee with 25 devils was considered suicide.

Marcus, who remained at the back of the group, sneered as he looked at this person who seemed to be a fool. However, his complexion quickly changed along with everyone else’s. The first person who would reach Marty had attacked but missed as Marty dodged and countered with a punch straight to the fighter’s chest. With a bang, the devil was sent flying backward.

“Peak Rank 10 Ki!” someone shouted. The other devil fighters turned serious as they began to fight Marty at full strength. As elites, none were lower than Rank 10.

Marty couldn’t help but let out a laugh. He had yet to encounter a situation where he felt it necessary to go all out. His blood was boiling, and he felt enjoyment from fighting.

“Come!” he said with a shout as he welcomed the encroaching group. Utilizing his Ki only in his maneuverability, he very quickly knocked out two of the Devils. He did not fight with just used brute force, but techniques that showed astonishing flexibility and battle poise. Because he never stayed in the same place for very long, they found it challenging to surround him.

The crown prince looked at the fight with a sour expression. He always believed in respecting others, which was the reason why he never looked down on Marty, but the gap was too big. He realized that Marty had hidden his competence by remaining silent. When he heard Marty laugh and fight so aggressively, his eyebrow couldn’t help but twitch. [You called us all abnormal battle freaks, then wouldn’t that make you more abnormal?]

Not only was Eustathius shocked, but everyone else was as well. It was quite clear that Marty wasn’t just a peerless mage, but also a peerless fighter. The groups of devils that came were among the best, and they didn’t seem to have an advantage when fighting a single person. Naturally, this is because of Marty’s mastery of Ki. However, this didn’t mean that he was fearless against numbers. After managing to take out another five, Marty had to retreat to prevent being surrounded and quickly shot backward, far faster than the devils who wore armor.

“Mages, fire!” Marcus shouted. The mages had already prepared their attacks and immediately fired them. While Marty wasn’t worried too much about the explosion magic, he couldn’t handle 10. So, he quickly made his mind up as to what he would do. However, he was slow by a split second, and one of the explosion spells managed to strike his left shoulder. There was a gasp of surprise when this happened, but the explosion magic impeded everyone’s view and left Marty status uncertain.

Lucibelle couldn’t help but tighten her grip on her chair as she tried to keep her composure. Yutsuki also slightly trembled, but she didn’t think he would be trounced so easily.

Marcus sneered, but something in the sky caught his eye. From nowhere, from elsewhere, and a figure clad in smoke fell from the sky. The clothes on his body were damaged, revealing his left shoulder and some of his arm, but there was no real damage to be seen as a layer of red scales blocked it.

Marcus’s complexion changed. “Mages, fire above.”

By the time he had given the order, he wasn’t the only one to have seen Marty. Ten more explosion spells headed straight for him. Marcus relaxed when he saw this as a human did not have wings and shouldn’t be able to dodge. He wasn’t sure how Marty got up there, and he wasn’t sure how Marty expected to survive the fall, but he would die regardless.  

Marty, however, had no intention to dodge. At this point, he was fighting with more instinct than intellect. His eyes immediately changed into that of a Red Dragon, and his Ki changed from blue to red and expanded.

*Bang Bang Bang* 

The explosion magic almost hit Marty at the same time and obstructed everyone’s vision again.

Many of the Devils begin to relax as he shouldn’t have been able to dodge it this time, but then their complexions crazily changed. Out of the smoke came a red, monstrous head followed by its body with Marty in the center. Everyone watched on in shock and horror. Marty, who was entirely Draconified by this point, let loose the terrifying roar that struck them all like lightning as he and his Ki Dragon suddenly dove towards the flying devils. With the swipe of its claws and a swing of its tail, two stragglers shot to the ground. The head of the Ki Dragon swiveled towards a decent sized group as Marty took in a deep breath before he exhaled fire that traveled through the Ki Dragon up to its mouth. The Ki Dragon opened its mouth as a mixture of fire, and Red Ki shot towards the devils. Because it wasn’t pure fire, it struck them with a bang which sent them flying, incapacitated. In a couple of seconds, nearly a dozen devils had been defeated.

Everyone’s expression changed to a look of fear, not at the fight itself, but at what had appeared. It was a red beast that spouted fire.  

“Dracul!” the King of Regnum couldn’t help but shout out as he trembled. Not only he but nearly all the humans and most of the Devils who saw this suddenly shivered in fear. The Dracul’s prophecy was known by all, particularly revered by the humans, which caused the impact to be much stronger on their side.

The remaining devils in the air quickly retreated behind their fighting force and couldn’t help but hope that Marty would ignore them. A gust of hot wind struck the Devils as the Ki Dragon flapped its wings to slow its descent as it landed in front of them. With a roar, he sent another wave of Ki to strike the group. Even without Marty’s fire, the Ki was noticeably hot. While the Ki Dragon began to engage the fighters, Marty separated himself from it. He could tell that the Ki Dragon could act a little on its own. Though it didn’t have a consciousness, it seemed to be able to do things according to Marty’s thought, so he came out of Ki Dragon to fight the stragglers. However, he didn’t cut off his relationship with it.  

As a Ki Manifestation, it would naturally lose Ki over time becoming weaker before it dissipated, so he had to supply Ki continually. Thin red lines could be seen coming from Marty’s body to the Ki Dragon, which he used to resupply it. However, this came at a small price. The total amount of Ki he could bring out at one time was fixed at Peak Rank 10. By exiting the Ki Dragon, it became weaker, and the amount of Ki Marty had at his disposal was also less, which lowered his battle efficiency. However, he wasn’t too worried as he didn’t intend to make a frontal confrontation. Even if he did, he still had one more trump card that he had only recently learned how to use.  

Slightly away from the Devils, he positioned himself, took his compound bow and three arrows from his space ring. Then, he aimed and fired all three at once. Suddenly, three fighters who were busy fighting the Ki Dragon felt a sharp pain in their leg. When they look down, they noticed a small hole that had gone entirely through severing even the bone. Luckily for them, the position Marty had shot wasn’t life-threatening, so long as they got treatment soon. However, they lost nearly all their battle efficiency as one of the legs was useless. They tried to hobble away but were blown back from a swipe of the Ki dragon’s tail.

Marty was going to prepare another shot, but a person suddenly dashed towards him. Marcus had seen his attack and recognized the arrow that he used was the same that Sir Black had used. Even if they weren’t the same person, the arrows were unique, so they should be involved. Marcus was humiliated by Sir Black, so he naturally would take a chance for revenge. Moreover, it seemed as though they wouldn’t be able to defeat the Ki Dragon until Marty died.

Seeing Marcus dash over, Marty sneered and put away his bow and arrows. “Heavy sword? I have one too!” Marty said as he extended his hand. His glove ripped as a sword jutted out from his hand. It quickly reached its full size, shown itself to be even larger than Marcus’s sword. The grip seemed to be made of red-scaled leather while the pommel and hilt were white with traces of gold. The center of the sword was white surrounded by black with red edges. This was Gram, the sword Marty had used to slay the Red Dragon that fused to him. It had changed in its appearance and seemed even more powerful.

Marcus was shocked and intimidated at the appearance of the heavy sword, but he gritted his teeth and attacked anyway.

The ground vibrated when the two swords collided with a bang, and Marcus shot backward. Even with Marty’s limited Ki, his excellent usage and overall superior strength still did not make Marcus a match for him.

“I don’t believe it!” Marcus said as he rushed to Marty again only to obtain the same result. This time, Marty reached him before he could get up and knocked him out using Gentle Touch. Roughly 30 seconds later, the Devils ended up defeated. Luckily, none of them died. Many had serious wounds and would not be able to fight for quite some time. Content with the result, Marty turned around to walk back to the stand along with the dissipating Ki Dragon, Lucibelle, Angelique, Yutsuki, and the other close friends of Marty took a sigh of relief. However, not everyone was relieved.  

The King of Regnum and the old devil general gave each other a glance. This was an enemy that they had to fight together; otherwise, they had no chance of beating him. With a flick of his eyes, the old general made his next intent clear to the King of Regnum. In the next moment, the two of them suddenly both jumped out and attacked Lucibelle.

Lucibelle, who had begun to relax when she saw Marty was okay, was caught off guard. She could only helplessly look as two swords attacked her as the thought she would die flashed in her mind. She had so much she wanted to tell him, so much she wanted to ask, but it seemed as though she wouldn’t get the chance. So, she gave up resistance and looked at him so he would be the last thing she saw. However, it didn’t go how anyone expected.

The staff Marty had left suddenly appeared in front of Lucibelle and turned into dust. Lucibelle instantly recognized it and felt warm that Marty seemed to have left behind a safeguard for her. However, she was shocked when the dust suddenly formed into a little girl. The King and the old general were slightly taken aback, but they didn’t stop their attacks. Cali’s hair suddenly became sharp blades that shot out, and immediately cut through the swords and even damaged their arms. The King and the old general shot back away from the danger. However, the King realized too late that another attack had come his way, but not from the little girl.  

When the old general saw their attack had failed and would most likely not succeed in killing Lucibelle as Marty was fast approaching, he immediately attacked the King. His reason was simple, weaken the enemy and elevate himself as a hero. The saying ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ only truly works when the two sides aren’t enemies. So long as he killed the King and got away, he could spin it so that he had only attacked the human King. Lucibelle wouldn’t be able to do anything to him as he would have the protection of the other council members and assassinate Lucibelle at a later time.  

After doing this, he would immediately take control of the devils and unite with the humans to defeat the Dracul. This would leave the humans wounded, making them easier targets.

The old general was extremely quick-witted, but he miscalculated. In the first place that he miscalculated was that Marty was too strong. If he wanted to disappear, he could. The other place he miscalculated was with Eustathius. Marty and Eustathius were friends and Eustthius who was an opened minded individual. The fact that Marty was the Dracul didn’t change the state of their friendship.

The old general successfully managed to strike the King with his broken sword through the heart, and the King died from misbehaving. Eustathius saw this but didn’t feel much. The two of them were very different people and estranged. He was slightly sad that his father had died, but it didn’t bother him as much as he felt it should have.  

The old general, worried that if he left any later, he wouldn’t be able to get away, turned around to escape, but he suddenly froze in place as a giant red claw made of Ki suddenly grabbed him.  

Marty, having seen that Lucibelle had been attacked, immediately Dimension Doored behind her two attackers. He had done so just fast enough to save the King, but he decided not to. Lucibelle was someone he considered to be very important and, even though he wouldn’t kill the King, Marty had no obligation to save him, and he even wanted this result. The battle also had given him a couple of pleasant surprises.

Marty intuitively knew that he could now use the Ki Dragon Manifestation whenever he wanted, including just using parts. The very first part he was able to use were the wings, but now he could create the various body parts alone. Right now, he had summoned one of the dragon’s legs which he had used to capture the old general. With one of the claws pressed against his throat, the general did not dare move.  

The two most significant hindrances to peace between the two nations were the King of Regnum and the old general. Now that the King was dead and the old general captured for murder and treason, the two biggest headaches were now out of the way.

However, the situation changed once again. The general, upon seeing that his King was killed, desired revenge. The object of the human general’s revenge was Lucibelle as he blamed the Devils in general. Marty saw this and was going to intercept, but he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him stop. With a bang, the sword and the general’s hand suddenly shattered clean through the center. The general suddenly froze in his tracks as he timidly looked behind him and saw Yutsuki who had just fired the arrow. The general was no fool, and he saw the destructive power of that arrow. When the arrow had gone through the sword, he barely felt the impact. If that arrow fired at his chest, he probably would end up with the hole straight through.

Yutsuki drew another arrow and looked at him again. “If you move, the next one will hit you.” She said, trying to sound cold. To the general, her voice was terrifying, but to Marty, he almost chuckled as he found her attempt to be cute.

“Nice job, Yutsuki,” Marty said with a smile.

Yutsuki couldn’t help but beam into a smile when she heard Marty’s praise. The original conflict was too quick for her to react, and she didn’t have a big reason to intervene. However, that changed when Cali got involved. Yutsuki was not a stranger to Cali, and she knew if Cali was protecting Lucibelle, that meant that Marty wanted to protect her. Yutsuki became extremely happy when she realized that she had become useful to him.

Marty could’ve handled it himself, but he didn’t want to ruin her happy moment.

Lucibelle slowly approached Marty and the old general. The older man finally started to panic. However, Lucibelle completely ignored him gave Marty a bitter look. “You could’ve told me who you were and that you were all right.”

“It was an extra precaution. You know I’m alright now.”

Lucibelle rolled her eyes. “It seemed that I worried for you in vain, Sir Black.”

The old general nearly passed out when he heard her say that. He suddenly realized that this whole situation was a trap. The old general and King’s greed for power made them lose everything.

Marty could only helplessly shrug at Lucibelle’s words. He turned and looked at Eustathius. “So, do I need to fight the humans now, King Eustathius?”

Eustathius gave Marty a bitter smile. “No, you won. What should I do?” He asked as he gave a glance to his deceased father.

“Announce the results,” Marty replied. “The Mage Association won. The King worked with the general devil to assassinate the Empress. The old general, who turned on and killed him, will be executed for treason. Oh, and you should probably say that I’m the Dracul and I beat everyone single-handedly. It doesn’t hurt to have a deterrent force.”

Eustathius gave a nod. “I’ll have to set up my father’s funeral as well as my crowning. What should we do about the agreements that you stipulated on your victory?”

Marty couldn’t help but give him a sly smile. “Angelique happens to be quite good at these things. Why don’t the two of you spend some time together and figure something out.”

Angelique and Eustathius both looked at each other before they looked away in embarrassment.

Lucibelle and Marty gave each other a look and couldn’t help but burst out laughing, seeing their reactions. Lucibelle wasn’t a fool upon seeing her sister’s response, and she wholeheartedly supported it. She could tell that Marty and Eustathius seem to be quite close, and she believed Marty wouldn’t endorse the two of them if he were a bad person. Moreover, it was a potential for improving the relationship between the two nations.

Shortly after that, some backup for the Devils appeared. The old general was executed on the spot, Marcus was captured, and the wounded fighters were treated. Some of the injuries were rather serious, but none of them ended up being life-threatening. For this, Lucibelle thanked Marty and snuck a quick kiss on his cheek. Marty was momentarily stunned by her action, as well as the two mounds he felt press up against him, but he could only reply with a forced smile. He wasn’t stupid; he naturally knew that Lucibelle liked him a lot. However, he felt as though he had to draw the line somewhere as he was starting to feel outnumbered. As he was thinking of an action to take regarding Lucibelle, he suddenly got goosebumps as he felt someone’s vision lock onto him. He turned around and saw Yutsuki, who was looking at him with a pout. Her reaction was clearly out of jealousy. Marty was slightly worried, especially knowing his current living situation, but thankfully Yutsuki wasn’t the kind to become angry out of jealousy.  

Yutsuki quickly came up to Marty. “Onii-sama, I want to tell you a secret.” She said shyly.

“What is it?” He asked as he brought his face closer to listen. Before he could react, two arms suddenly wrapped around his neck, preventing him from escape as Yutsuki kissed his other cheek. She then glanced at Lucibelle before she ran away, her face as red as an apple. Marty could only bitterly smile as she ran away. Thankfully, she seemed to become competitive out of jealousy. He’d hate it if Yutsuki began to avoid him or disliked others.  

Eustathius got his attention when he gave him a thumbs up. Marty rolled his eyes and glanced over Lucibelle which nearly caused him to spit blood as she also gave him a thumbs up, not seeming jealous in the slightest.