Chapter 429: Sapphire's Illegitimate Child?!
The arrival of the Heroic Spirit army and the Outer God caused great chaos. The civilian demons, still recovering from the previous Heroic Spirit siege, were once again shrouded in the familiar shadow of a replicated disaster.
The prepared Demon King's army, under the Secretary-General's orders, began actively responding.
However, the Heroic Spirits that should have bolstered their combat strength were controlled by the Cardinal Council, and the Demon King's army, which had a slight advantage in power, instead found themselves at a disadvantage.
With the appearance of the unsealed Child of Chaos, even the Satan-Class powerhouses could no longer remain uninvolved.
Ramsus, Sheila, Mio, the Secretary-General, and many other powerful figures joined forces, barely managing to block the formidable yet destruction-filled Child of Chaos outside the Demon King's city.
The Cardinal Council held the method to seal the Child of Chaos. If their plan succeeded, the old immortals would willingly use it to seal it away once more.
If it failed, they didn't care how much destruction this Outer God would bring.
Even if everyone perished, it wouldn't matter to them.
But Ramsus and the other demons couldn't afford such indifference.
This single Outer God alone erased the Cardinal Council's fatal flaw of lacking top-tier combat power.
It wasn't that they had none—the old immortals, though their strength had waned, had lived so long that they all possessed Satan-Class power, albeit slightly lacking in combat effectiveness.
Being so protective of their lives, even at such a critical moment, they had no intention of stepping onto the battlefield themselves.
Thus, for all practical purposes, the Cardinal Council might as well have had no Satan-Class powerhouses.
The Child of Chaos was an Outer God, whose power would be weakened within the Three Realms. Having been sealed for so long, its strength was at most that of a lower deity.
Moreover, this Outer God lacked intelligence, acting almost entirely on instinct.
If the Child of Chaos had possessed wisdom, it wouldn't be destroying all life in sight but would instead be targeting the old immortals of the Cardinal Council.
Only by killing them could it completely escape the possibility of being sealed again.
Yet even so, several powerful Satan-Class figures working together could only barely hold back this Outer God.
As time passed, the Child of Chaos continued to inch closer to the Demon King's city.
Though it seems like a long story, all of this actually happened within just a few minutes.
The coliseum restricted free entry and exit but did not block the view.
Those outside could see inside, and naturally, those inside could also witness everything happening outside.
Due to some mechanism within the coliseum, the floating land occupied by Mio and Leohart was gradually drawing closer.
Mio, forced into the coliseum, hadn't even processed the situation when drastic changes occurred outside.
After a while, as the external battle reached a stalemate, she belatedly turned her gaze toward Leohart on the floating rock ahead.
Fierce flames continuously erupted from the volcano's crater, dark smoke obscured the coliseum's sky, and orange-red magma covered the ground, leaving only these floating rocks and ruins as footholds.
Leohart watched the external battle with anxiety, his heart burning with impatience as he saw the sky-obscuring Child of Chaos and the immense struggle of everyone holding it back.
No matter how urgent he felt, there was nothing he could do at the moment.
Mio had been quite cooperative, but they had underestimated the Cardinal Council's resolve and ultimately fell into the trap.
Even if he were shameless enough, he couldn't bring himself to ask her to commit suicide just so he could quickly escape the barrier.
Besides, she was kind but neither foolish nor overly saintly—such a request would only make him appear despicable and serve no purpose.
"Mio..."
Gazing at the red-haired high school beauty not far away, Leohart's expression darkened, especially when he saw the utterly ordinary black cat still lounging between her ample curves.
"What exactly is going on with that cat?"The young Satan ultimately couldn't hold back, his voice deep as he questioned."
Haruto glanced at the ongoing battle outside, noting that the situation remained stable and the target he was fishing for hadn't appeared yet. He was content to continue stalling with Leohart within the barrier.
"Meow~"
A lazy cat's purr escaped his lips, followed immediately by a young, magnetic male voice that made Leohart's eye twitch uncontrollably.
"Well... it's not the right time to answer who I am. Just know that I possess Satan's bloodline and am stronger than you."
Whether Leohart was hesitating due to caution toward him or some other reason, since he hadn't made a move against Mio Naruse, Haruto couldn't be bothered to deal with him either.
In his nekomata form, close combat wasn't ideal, but magic remained completely unaffected.
To emphasize his point, he extended a slender cat's paw and unleashed an instant magic lightning bolt that grazed Leohart's cheek, reducing a passing circular boulder over ten meters in diameter behind him into fine dust.
Leohart felt a chill, completely abandoning any remaining thoughts of using force.
The power of that strike was merely average by Satan-Class standards—even if Haruto hadn't deliberately missed, Leohart could have withstood it.
But this was just a casual attack without even releasing his transformed state, executed instantly without any telltale signs like magical fluctuations before the strike.
To achieve this, the other's true strength absolutely overwhelmed his own.
Leohart was well aware: Haruto's power at the peak of intermediate deity level against his Super Devil Class was like an adult beating a child.
With Leohart unwilling to fight, and Mio Naruse and Haruto having no reason to clash either, the colosseum specifically established for the Satan succession fell into an eerie silence.
The arena that should have been boiling with combat remained unnervingly calm, while the normally peaceful Satan's castle was engulfed in fierce warfare.
"Boom—"
Another volcanic eruption filled the colosseum with scorching heat and the smell of sulfur.
Seeing that Haruto had shown his capabilities but remained inactive and unidentified, Leohart was the first to break the silence.
"Who are you really? Among the younger generation, only myself and the Naruse sisters should possess the Satan bloodline..."
"Where your Satan bloodline comes from, I don't know. But what makes you so certain there are no other Satan descendants among the younger generation?"
Haruto was currently explaining his reasons for deliberately entering the colosseum to Mio and Lucia through their soul network, while also reminding them to stay safe—especially a certain loli-succubus housewife.
Having glimpsed the threshold of Succubus Godhood, Sheila had unexpectedly become the main force resisting the Children of Chaos as the battle progressed, with other Satan-Class beings mostly providing support from the sidelines.
Make no mistake: aside from Sapphire and Liala, whose presence in Satan's castle was uncertain, the destruction of this place had absolutely nothing to do with Haruto's group.
Haruto was no saint—he only cared about those familiar to him.
Whether family or friends, he would naturally help when possible.
Strangers...
Were none of his business.
It was precisely based on this mindset that he had allowed the Cardinal Council's plan to succeed, intending to create chaos in the situation.
Because he sensed a somewhat familiar aura from the Sacred Gear Belgas was using.
However, the aura was too faint, and he couldn't be entirely sure.
Coincidentally, the attacker happened to be the disgusting Belgas, so Haruto took the opportunity in that instant to destroy both the Sacred Gear and the monster who wasted such beautiful female resources.
As Mio Naruse and the "Black Cat" entered, the Conclave, as expected, could no longer restrain themselves and set their plan in motion.
However, due to the unexpected appearance of the strange Black Cat, some who had intended to act accordingly began to waver once again.
Weakness is the original sin. Although the war was brutal, as long as one possessed A-rank strength, there was actually no immediate danger.
Not only was there no danger, but it also provided an opportunity to play the hero rescuing the beauty, increasing favorability.
A typical example was a certain puppeteer who liked wearing masks.
While observing the outside world, Haruto happened to see Lars saving the maid who had grown up with him in the orphanage.
Not only did Lars save his childhood friend, but he also rescued many demon children who had been separated from their parents.
Similar incidents kept occurring in other places, with increasing frequency the closer one got to the noble residential areas.
Most demon nobles were quite powerful and not particularly cold-hearted; they were mostly of normal temperament.
Such acts, which could easily accumulate merit and reputation, were something any sensible person would do.
While observing the battle in the city, searching for his target, explaining things to Mio, and dealing with Leohart, Haruto found that thanks to his practice of telekinetic magic, multitasking came quite smoothly.
"All descendants of the previous Demon King's bloodline, except for Wilbert's line, have been confirmed dead in battle," Leohart said. "Only Wilbert and his sister, plus Ramsus who was preserved as the family's seed, make three people in total."
"Ramsus has never married, and there are no rumors of any romantic affairs. Only Wilbert left behind the two mixed-blood descendants, the Naruse sisters..."Who would have thought this dark-skinned, tall, and imposing Demon King would enjoy gossip so much?"
As he spoke, he seemed to consider a possibility, his eyes widening slightly.
"Could it be... you are Lady Sapphire's child?"
"Hah?!"
Just after instructing Lucia, calming Mio Naruse, and explaining they could leave at any time since this place couldn't hold them, Haruto heard Leohart's wild speculation.
His aloof cat-like expression instantly broke, revealing a bristling reaction.
"You say I'm Sapphire's illegitimate child? I say you are!"
"No, I'm not. I have parents," Leohart replied earnestly.
Of course I know you're not!
Suppressing the urge to slap Leohart, Haruto snorted coldly, "You said it yourself—only this bloodline, only Wilbert left descendants. Since you're not Sapphire's illegitimate child, where did your Demon King bloodline come from?"
"Uh..."
After struggling for a moment, Leohart finally revealed the truth.
"Actually, my Demon King bloodline was acquired for me by the Conclave. But I refused to be controlled by them..."
Haruto was taken aback. He hadn't expected that a few casual, provocative remarks would uncover such a truth.
No wonder the Conclave had supported Leohart's rise to power initially, and no wonder those old fools were so determined this time.
If they couldn't even control the Demon King they had personally installed, those old immortals had probably had enough of having a Demon King looming over them.
As for how Leohart and the Privy Council evolved into their current situation, it was nothing more than another story of a prodigious youth enduring humiliation to stage a comeback.