Chapter 126: Do You Know Who I Am?

"My Lord! Is that you!?"

The Minotaur looked up at Hildegard with a reverent look on his face, and he immediately went down to one knee when Hildegard looked down at him. Hildegard turned her head to one side curiously and gently floated to the ground while listening to the Minotaur.

"I have waited for a very long time for your return, my lord! I did everything possible to bring you back to the mortal realm. All so I could witness your glorious ascension."

Hildegard hummed as she regarded the Minotaur for a few seconds, and then she spoke in a deep voice.

"Are you the one who summoned me from the underworld?"

The Minotaur immediately nodded!

"Yes, my lord! It was I! This world had rotted in your absence, and our people, the demihumans, have been reduced to a shadow of their former selves! I believe you can bring us back to our former glory! Please grant us your leadership."

Hildegard’s lips widened into a small smile.

"You have quite a way with words, commoner. Do you know who it is that you speak to?"

The minotaur nodded.

"Yes, my lord Vero. I am certain it is you."

Hildegard’s smile only widened, and then she asked.

"Were you the one responsible for carrying out the ritual? Only you?"

The minotaur nodded again and said that he was, and Hildegard finally clapped her hands once in approval.

"That’s good! Very good! You have done well for my resurrection and for that, I will honor you with my praise. But unfortunately, I cannot allow you to continue living. You are a liability that cannot be overlooked."

The Minotaur had already been smiling happily when he heard that he would be honored with praise, but the moment he heard the rest of what Hildegard said, he felt a cold chill run down his spine, and he jerked back in shock as Hildegard raised her hand toward him!

"W-Wait! My lord! I’ve worked for you! I’ve –"

"Just burn."

[HellFire]!

PHWOOM!

A massive pillar of fire erupted from under the Minotaur’s feet, and the Minotaur was immediately consumed by the crimson flames that surged up into the air! The Minotaur screamed for mercy from within the fire, but there was no sympathy from the summoned mage, and it wasn’t long before the Minotaur’s screams died down completely!

A few meters away, hiding behind a large building, were Mirio and the shadow user girl! The shadow user’s eyes were wide in shock as she tried to comprehend what had just happened, but Mirio was holding her down with his hand over her mouth to make sure that she couldn’t move! The two students had been expecting many things to happen after they brought back this mage, but they never thought that it would end with the leader of their cult getting burnt on the street like that! What the fuck was this!? Didn’t the leader promise to serve Hildegard? Why did she kill him!?

Hildegard looked down at the charred body of the minotaur for a few seconds before she turned away. The reason Hildegard killed the Minotaur, even after he brought her back from the underworld, was exactly because he was the one who brought her back from the underworld. Hildegard knew about this ritual, and she knew that the person who creates the life-sharing rune had a significant amount of control over the possessed body! This meant that if the Minotaur had lived, then he would’ve been able to tell her what to do, and that was not something she would ever accept!

Hildegard looked around calmly, and she gained a smile as she let out a long breath! How long had it been? Ten years? No, it had been even longer than that! All that time that she spent in the underworld wasting away in absolute torment had finally come to an end!

The person inside Hildegard’s body right now was someone who had played a very integral part in the Demihuman war ten years ago. Back then, they had been one of the right-hand men of the dragon king who started the war, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they were responsible for committing more than sixty percent of all the gruesome crimes that were done against the humans!

As someone who had always hated humans from the start, the war wasn’t just an opportunity to give the demihumans more power; instead, it was a chance for him to commit all the evil and despicable acts that he had always wanted to do against the humans! If there was one thing that truly gave him joy, it was to see the suffering of those pathetic, snivelling creatures that called themselves humans! His name was General Vero, and he was Hildegard’s father.

Vero had been the greatest General to ever fight in the Dragon King’s army, and he never even cared about the child that he had with another lamia a long time ago. As far as Vero was concerned, the only thing that mattered to him during the war was completing as many campaigns as possible! But all of that had changed on a random day!

Vero had been sent out by the dragon king to a city called Linata to go and capture it for the demihumans, but on the way there, Vero had run into the greatest enemy the demihumans had ever faced – the hero, Verati! Vero had fought against Verati using all of his power, but Verati had just been too powerful! It was impossible to defeat a man like that! In the end, Vero ended up losing to Verati, and that was how his life was taken from him!

But Vero swore that things would not end the same way this time! Vero had underestimated Verati before, and that allowed Verati to overpower Vero easily! But now, Vero was going to go all out right from the start! Vero would use everything in his arsenal to make sure that Verati didn’t see the light of tomorrow!

’But first, I must claim this city for myself.’

Vero gained a nasty grin on his face as he activated a flight skill and slowly began to float up into the air. There was a look of intense desire on Vero’s face as he listened to the loud screams coming from all the humans around, and Vero couldn’t wait to begin the massacre!

DOON!

Vero’s power surged through the region, and there was a mass panic that suddenly came over all the humans there as they realized that something extremely dangerous was about to happen! Crimson Fires surged to life all around Vero, and Vero slowly put her hand out to the side to unleash the Hellfire -

"I should’ve known it would be you."

"!"

A chilling sensation suddenly tore through Vero’s body as a voice came from behind her, and Hildegard turned around sharply to see Verati floating in the sky above her! Vero’s eyes widened in shock! How long had Verati been floating there!? What in the world was going on here!? Did those foolish cultists really summon him back without first checking if Verati was in the area or not!? Vero narrowed her eyes at Verati, and she listened as Verati spoke.

"I can tell you’re in a hurry to begin your reign of terror, but I feel like I have to ask you this first. Would you be willing to leave that body and return to the underworld of your own free will?"