Game of Divine Thrones

Chapter 169: Slave Liberation 2

On a stage with empty audience seats surrounding it, Clyantes, an unknown comedy writer and representative of the Erving Theater, was practising with the actors.

“To make the audience laugh, you have to act a lot dumber than them. But in reality, you need to be much smarter.”

He had a philosophy.

There was no need for morals in plays as long as the public enjoyed it.

Therefore, witty acting and instant hilarity were the only important things, and his script was structured that way.

“But Mr. Clyantes, how should you play Liberated Slave No.3?”

“The twist is that he isn’t as smart as he appears to be. In the end, he will fall for the trick and lose his life to Carnelian, the red dragon. So, make sure to act like a wiseman as much as possible to fool the spectators.”

Clyantes was well aware of the public sentiments.

They sought comfort in their present lives and situations by watching those who were less well-off than themselves.

Therefore, the fall of Liberated Slave No.3 was a good example.

The plan was to capture the public’s hearts by portraying slaves who could not escape their tragic fates no matter how hard they tried.

Clyantes made a satisfied smile, imagining gold coins filling up his sacks,

“Are you Clyantes?”

The dry voice of a man came from behind him.

A cold shiver went down his spine.

Clyantes gulped nervously for no reason.

“Who, who are you…?”

“You recently bought an item from slave trader Antonius, right? You got it for a high price.”

“How do you know that…?”

The details of slave traders' transactions were kept strictly confidential.

Among the traded items and slaves, there were many products that would bring them trouble if word were to spread to others.

As a drop of cold sweat rolled down Clyantes’ temple,

“I want to know why you bought it for such an extremely high price.”

Woohyuk put his hand on his shoulder, and Clyantes immediately hardened like an ice statue.

Woohyuk's demonic energy had eroded his consciousness.

‘He won’t answer honestly if I don’t do this.'

Clyantes was most likely aware of something about the Valkyrie's Dagger.

He was a playwright, so he must’ve picked up a lot of stories from around the world.

After summoning Carnelian and kicking out the actors, Woohyuk injected magic into the Memory Pendant.

The surrounding landscape crumbled and turned into a dark space surrounded by bookshelves.

'It’s a library.'

Woohyuk wasn't sure which library it was.

However, he inferred that it was a place with a long history because it appeared large and old.

Woohyuk carefully observed everything that came into Clyantes' vision and tried to find clues about the Valkyrie's Dagger.

'He probably didn't come here to read the works of ancient playwrights...’

Cynthia had already done an investigation about Clyantes’ background.

He was an unknown playwright who aimed for an opportunity at success and focused on plays with provocative contents.

His reputation among the public was not very good, but it seemed that he made quite a bit of money.

That was the reason why he was able to purchase the Valkyrie's Dagger from Antonius.

As he kept watching Clyantes’ actions,

'Hm? That woman...’

[Melena, the Witch of Lust].

She suddenly appeared on the other side of the passage in the library.

Woohyuk could not hide his surprise from this unexpected encounter.

'Something fishy is going on here.'

Woohyuk had a rough guess when he noticed that she hadn’t operated with the three demon kings of Ars Almadel.

Melena's purpose was probably to secure the Sangreal Chronicles.

However, Eteria Rodinus was currently under the protection of the vampires and was exploring other ruins, so it was difficult for her to obtain it on her own now.

The story would obviously change if she received reinforcements from the demon faction.

'But I’d more than welcome new demon kings with open arms. They’ll be added to my collection inside Lemegeton.'

The time for the top 10 Demon Kings to awaken hadn’t arrived yet.

They had gone to sleep later than the other Demon Kings during the War of Gods and Demons.

Therefore, the demon kings who were invading the Eeth Continent right now were opponents that Woohyuk could handle.

Since he had exposed Ivanov's plan for war, the Izuna Kingdom dispatched troops to the Talis Kingdom.

'I’m the one who has the initiative in this othello game right now.'

The battle between black and white had long since collapsed due to Woohyuk’s obtention of Lemegeton in the Twilight Tower.

He would change everything and end the absurdities and turmoils around the world by becoming the Demon King.

Even if he had to give up many things.

As he strengthened his resolve, Woohyuk listened to the conversation between Clyantes and Melena.

“Y-you?!”

“Shh, be quiet. We don’t want the others to join us.”

Melena put her index finger on his lips and smiled.

Her sensuality and seduction skills were unmatched. She was truly worthy of her title as the Witch of Lust.

As she took off her clothes, she revealed her shiny, copper-colored skin.

Hearts appeared in Clyantes’ pupils.

“Oooh, lady with a deadly beauty...”

“If you want my service, listen carefully to what I say from now on.”

Melena whispered something into Clyantes' ear.

Woohyuk's expression subtly distorted after hearing her words.

'She needs the Valkyrie's Dagger to unseal the site where the Edda Chronicles is hidden?'

The Edda Chronicles was in the Norton Kingdom in the north.

Woohyuk had first learned about this while fighting a war against Logan, the necromancer, in the past.

However, he never managed to hear more details.

At that time, the Witch of Greed Angrboda had obtained it.

But Woohyuk ended up burning her with divine magic without asking many questions.

Therefore, he was unable to determine if Melena’s words were the truth.

'Well, it is unlikely to be false.'

Woohyuk was confident that he was always several steps ahead of the demon faction since he had returned from the future with his memories intact.

So, there was no way that Melena had prepared a trap by predicting his movements and behavior.

The reason she explained the situation to Clyantes was probably because he was a playwright and was very enthusiastic about the myth.

Aside from him, she must have assigned several other people with similar occupations to find the Valkyrie's Dagger.

'The witches seem to be focusing on finding the Edda Chronicles for now.'

In terms of priority, the Sangreal Chronicles were several times more important than the Edda Chronicles since it mentioned the Holy Grail

But they seemed to be conscious of Woohyuk, and appeared to have given up on the Sangreal Chronicles.

Or maybe it was deliberately handed over to Eteria Rodinus and him.

Unlike the 72 Demon Kings, the purpose of the witches was to destroy the existing world through the Return of the Demon God, so this was not completely impossible.

'Aleister doesn't seem to want to fight me either.'

In the battle at the Nelson March, he had remained passive until the end.

It is difficult to understand his objective, but he was probably keeping Woohyuk, a Demon God candidate, alive for future plans as according to Lilith’s schemes.

In that respect, Aleister and the Witches of the Seven Deadly Sins were similar to Eteria Rodinus.

The group of wisemen also had future plans involving Woohyuk.

While rearranging the overall situation in his mind, Woohyuk continued to listen to the conversation between Clyantes and Melena.

The rest of the contents were about specific procedures, so there was no remarkable information.

As the conversation ended, the surrounding landscape returned to its original state.

“Lord Asura...?”

Carnelian stood in confusion and stared at him.

“Ah, I was looking into his memories for a bit.”

“…Please don’t peek into mine. I experienced many harsh things while I was with Ivanov.”

"Don’t worry."

Unlike before, Carnelian was using a feminine tone according to Woohyuk's recommendation.

He had judged that her soldier-like speech not did not match her age nor her appearance, but would also have a negative impact on her personality.

After a while, Woohyuk removed his hand from Clyantes’ body, and the playwright took a deep breath and regained consciousness.

“Huff huff...”

“Lead the way.”

“Whe- where to?!”

“To the Valkyrie's Dagger and the Witch of Lust.”

“...!”

Clyantes' face turned ghost-white.

He had only thought that Woohyuk was someone who had bad blood with Antonius.

However, Woohyuk was aware of Melena.

As the man hesitated, Woohyuk took out Jake's Pocket Watch.

“It can’t be helped if you don’t want to. Antonius died during the torture, but I’ll let you off the hook.”

In truth, it was Cynthia who had tortured and murdered Antonius, not Woohyuk.

As Woohyuk hypnotized him, Clyantes turned around with a blank expression.

He would guide them as according to the order.

“Will you kill the Witch of Lust?”

“If I get the chance, yes.”

“I think there will be a lot of men who follow her. Once someone gets fascinated by her, the power of lust can control their reason at will.”

When Carnelian was with Ivanov, she had seen the Witch of Lust in person.

Woohyuk laughed as she looked worried.

“Do you think I will fall for Melena's temptation?”

“Tha, that’s not what I...”

“I have met countless treasures and beauties over the past 40 years.”

There was Eleanora, the princess of the Holy Aperian Empire, the three goddesses of Urdarbrunn, and many more...

There would be no end if he were to list the names one by one.

However, nothing ended up happening between him and the women.

His passion for women had died along with Lucretia in the past.

'Seduction doesn’t work on me.’

Therefore, Melena was one of the seven witches he feared the least.

Melena probably knew this fact to some extent through her information network.

Ever since his regression, he had never had a relationship with any woman.

'If I get rid of Melena, there will only be four witches left of the 7 Sins.’

However, it was very unlikely that Melena would face him head-on.

Her current interests were the Valkyrie's Dagger and Edda Chronicles, not Woohyuk.

However, it seemed that she still had business in the Talis Kingdom, since she hadn’t escaped the country yet.

When he reached a stone building, Woohyuk summoned Astaroth, the 29th Demon King.

“Act natural and lure Melena out here.”

“...”

Astaroth rolled his eyes at Woohyuk.

The fact that he had been sealed must have spread to the entire demon faction already.

Melena was no fool and would not fall for this ruse.

However, even after seeing Astaroth's reaction, Woohyuk did not take back his orders.

“Do as I say.”

“…Okay."

A Demon King sealed in Lemegeton had no means of resisting the master.

Therefore, not long after Astaroth entered the stone building...

Boom! Crash! Shatter!

There was a fuss inside, along with the sound of a glass window breaking.

Carnelian asked Woohyuk in curiosity.

“What is happening?”

“Melena is pissed off because Astaroth is lying to her.”

“…What?"

“Melena is secretly in love with Astaroth.”

Astaroth had a very good appearance among the 72 demon kings.

Moreover, the elegant image he was showing overlapped with her affection, which newly captivated Melena.

Woohyuk was well aware of this due to his past experiences.

1. Says Antonius in the raws, but the author probably made a mistake.