Primordial Villain With A Slave Harem - Chapter 1053: Into the Spotlight

Chapter 1053: Into the Spotlight

Jasmine chuckled. She found the edge in Quinlan’s tone amusing. He clearly didn’t like being dismissed, even when it came to his alias.

But, of course, Quinlan wasn’t a raging bull who couldn’t act reserved when he needed to. Devil has been resting for months now, so being taken for a lie was more than reasonable. If he wanted to correct the misunderstanding, all he needed to do was don the mask. Based on what he was hearing here, the Consortium was slowly losing, so sooner or later Quinlan would be called in anyhow.

Or perhaps not. Who knew what Black Fang was thinking. She allowed him to leave, as she was informed of his upcoming trial by Vex. But perhaps even after his return, he’d be left alone. Black Fang didn’t seem particularly worried about the Consortium’s current state, having never personally appeared on the front lines.

The woman certainly didn’t become Quinlan’s sponsor just so she could send him to die in a war she herself didn’t care enough about to leave the comfort of her skincare poison bath behind and participate.

Calienne’s, the first princess’s, voice cut through the rising murmurs of the nobility, all of whom looked as if they were having the time of their lives. They came here expecting a posh dinner party, but what they got was far better than any theatre play could ever hope to be.

“Are those rumors truly so impossible to believe, Duke?”

Alastair’s eyes snapped toward her in surprise, but she wasn’t looking at him. Her gaze had shifted.

Right toward…

Quinlan.

His heart lurched instantly.

“I mean…” she went on, “we just saw Black cast wind and fire together, silently. I’m no elemental mage, but… what’s two more elements? Doesn’t sound as impossible to me as you make it out to be.”

Quinlan’s instincts flared like sirens. Bad. This was bad. <Fuck!>

Many heads turned toward him. The speculative glint in their eyes was unmistakable.

He stepped in quickly, before anyone could begin trying to connect the dots any further. His voice was even, perhaps too even. “I’ve heard of Devil as well, but what happened here today was not comparable to those rumors.”

His tone moved too fast, too sharp, and before he could adjust, two gentle pressures landed on his thighs, Ayame’s and Iris’s hands. No words were said by either woman, not even using telepathy. All they did was provide him their grounding touch that told him plainly: ‘Slow down. You’ll look desperate. There’s nothing more suspicious than a man desperately trying to appear not suspicious.’

“…” Quinlan inhaled deeply, letting his posture loosen. Under the table, he gripped both of their dainty hands in gratitude.

“My class,” he continued a lot more naturally, “only grants me two elements. It’s already taken me a long time to wield them properly. Adding two more elements isn’t as simple as you make it out to be, Princess Calienne. As for the silent casting… that was pure accident. I’ve never managed to do it before, and I doubt I can again. I was…” his voice lowered, “… angry. My women were assaulted, and that anger allowed me to tap into something fleeting. I don’t know how to reach it again.”

Quinlan gave a mild shrug. “But from what I’ve heard of Devil’s… legends… He casts all four elements silently at will. He doesn’t need rage or desperation. If the rumors are to be believed, he can do it anytime he wishes.”

King Alexios’s gaze pinned him for a long, unreadable moment. His eyes narrowed, studying every line of Quinlan’s expression, but whatever conclusion he reached, he kept to himself. Slowly, he turned back to Alastair with disappointment weighing visibly in his stare.

“Tell me, Duke Alastair,” Alexios spoke up again as his voice returned to that cold, unshakable regality, “did you truly abandon your investigation simply because you, a warrior, found the rumors outlandish? Did you ever think to consult Queen Morgana? Or any other elemental mage of renowned skill, before making such a judgment?”

Alastair’s shoulders sagged before his head snapped toward Quinlan’s direction. Hate seeped through his visage, hate that told Quinlan he was being blamed right now. After all, his mere existence made Devil’s own existence more believable, which in turn made the duke look even more incompetent than before.

The king shook his head. “I was right to question your fitness for your station. A man who discards potential threats, or rather potential assets of immense value, based solely on his own disbelief, rather than seeking the opinions of his betters, is unfit to steward a duchy of the realm.”

The blade finally withdrew from Alastair’s throat. He staggered upright… Or he would have, had the king not moved again.

Alexios’s features hardened, his stance shifting as his shoulders and arms swelled with muscle. He raised his sword high, letting the polished steel blaze with a radiant gold light that chased every shadow from the hall.

“By my authority as King of Vraven,” Alexios’s voice boomed, “I deem Alastair Thalion Greenvale unfit to rule.”

The duke stumbled back with his face paling to that of a ghost. “Y-You can’t- You have no right to-”

Alexios cut him off. “Tradition demands, I allow your heir to inherit. But the blood of an incompetent father breeds the same weakness in his children. A man who fails in duty raises heirs who will fail in kind. That is the truth of rulership. Incompetence,” he stepped forward, closing the distance Alastair was trying to put between them, “begets incompetence.”

His gaze swept the hall. “Just as the Fujimori clan was entrusted with Silverwind when their predecessor proved unworthy, the time has come once more.”

Alastair’s voice erupted into a scream, raw and desperate. “You have no right! No right! This is my duchy, you hear me?! King Alexios!!”

The man in question didn’t even spare him a glance. “The Duchy of Greenvale will go to whichever noble house proves itself most worthy. Bring me the heads of the Consortium’s leaders, and you will be rewarded in kind.”

“Each Consortium head… will be worth one thousand points.

Their lieutenants… two hundred and fifty.

Any other Veil Walker… ten.

Shadow Vanguards… one.”

Then, his smile curled upwards.

“And Devil… brought to me alive… will be worth two thousand.”