Chapter 430: Sapphire and Liala
Inside the barrier, after hearing Leohart's story, Haruto said impatiently, "If the Privy Council has ways to alter your bloodline, I naturally have other methods to integrate Satan-Class bloodline."
"Hmm, that's true. Compared to the Satan-Class bloodline the Privy Council has been secretly accumulating, having a living source like Naruse Mio readily available nearby does make obtaining Satan-Class bloodline quite easy."
Leohart showed no anger, speaking calmly instead, "Regardless of who you are or how you obtained the Satan-Class bloodline, if you have a way to escape this place, please act."
After the initial shock, this young Satan had finally regained some of his usual composure.
Since Haruto dared to follow Naruse Mio inside, he must have a way to resolve the restriction that only one person could leave alive.
Otherwise, even if he killed Leohart to let Naruse Mio survive, one of them would still need to die.
Haruto actually had no solution - if he had to say, it would be directly destroying this colosseum.
He was confident he could do it, but now wasn't the right time.
Once the colosseum was destroyed, Haruto's true strength would be exposed, and certain individuals hiding in the shadows might immediately flee.
"My woman is holding the front line. I'm not even anxious, so why are you in such a hurry?"
Haruto had no intention of explaining to Leohart, saying lightly, "If you can't stay idle, spar with Mio. If you can defeat her, I might break the barrier ahead of schedule."
Since Naruse Mio lacked practical combat experience, this was a good opportunity for training.
It wasn't easy to find a Satan-Class powerhouse as a sparring partner.
After speaking, the black cat leaped down from the girl's ample chest, instantly blinking to a floating giant rock nearby.
Leohart looked at the red-haired, twin-tailed, large-breasted beauty standing ready before him, then glanced at Sheila and Lucia fighting on the front lines outside.
His eyebrow twitched as he finally realized Haruto's true identity.
"I thought the rumors about the Red Dragon Emperor's dual cultivation ability to absorb bloodline talents were just hearsay, but it turns out they're actually true..."
As Haruto grew stronger and his abilities became more extraordinary, he naturally attracted more attention.
Some clever individuals had quickly discovered his talent replication ability from various clues.
However, there was never any concrete evidence, so it remained merely speculation.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, the girls who dual cultivated with Haruto never lost their innate talents - instead, their abilities were enhanced.
This time, Haruto didn't refute Leohart's words, but he didn't confirm them either.
The outside world could observe the situation here, but to hear their conversation, one would have to enter the arena itself.
Moreover, at this point, identity was no longer the key issue. In fact, the exposure of his true identity might make those who were already restless completely abandon their reservations.
While Haruto was observing the battle outside, many others were also watching the changes within the arena.
Regarding the true identity of this mysterious black cat, all those hiding had their own speculations, and quite a few shared the same thoughts as Leohart.
Even Sapphire, who had returned to the Demon King's castle at some point and was secretly observing everything, began to suspect whether her philandering brother had other children.
Some also associated it with the Red Dragon Emperor, but they were ultimately in the minority. After all, no matter how one thought about it, cats and dragons had nothing in common.
This world had no such unique creature as a "dragon cat."
"Just focus on being a sparring partner. You talk too much."
Haruto swung his cat paw, casting a chain-like magic circle.
Leohart was startled and instinctively tried to dodge, but no matter how he moved, he couldn't evade it.
After the magic circle struck, the chain-like patterns transformed into tangible chains and then vanished into Leohart's body.
Leohart immediately felt a wave of weakness. Before he could even ask, Haruto spoke up, "Don't worry, it's just a temporary seal to make your fight with Mio more fair."
Hearing this, Leohart's expression, which had been a mix of shock and anger, eased slightly.
Upon careful sensing, he confirmed it was indeed a temporary seal. Even if he didn't actively break it, it would naturally dissipate in about half an hour.
Having been half-threatened and taught a lesson by Haruto, the young Demon King no longer dared to act recklessly and obediently took on the role of Mio Naruse's sparring partner.
After his strength was sealed, Leohart initially managed to gain the upper hand with his seasoned combat experience. However, as time passed, Mio Naruse's extraordinary talent gradually revealed itself.
Seemingly endless magical power, scorching flame attacks without casting time, and an all-encompassing gravity field with no blind spots...
The scene of Haruto's intervention was noted by those with ulterior motives, prompting some who were wavering to take a gamble.
"Whoever that person is, it seems they're on Mio Naruse's side, and they don't seem hostile toward Leohart either."
"Right. In that case, let's deal with the Privy Council first. With that person's help, we can ensure victory."
Aside from determining a winner, the arena had another condition for leaving.
There were always unexpected situations, and it wasn't always guaranteed that there would be a single victor.
What if the fight ended in a draw or both sides were severely injured? Would the next generation of the Demon King simply be left vacant?
To avoid such a scenario, if no winner was decided after a full day and night, the arena would automatically return to its alternate dimension.
In simple terms, the Demon King's arena could only be summoned for twenty-four hours.
If no winner was decided by the time limit, everyone inside would be expelled.
Whether they would recuperate and duel again or use other methods to select a new Demon King would be a matter for later.
These demons, who wanted to support Mio Naruse but were afraid she might be a lost cause, were remnants from Wilbert's era. In their view, Haruto was clearly planning to use this method.
Witnessing Haruto's overwhelming power against Wilbert, they finally cast aside their hesitation and firmly sided with Mio Naruse.
With the addition of these fresh forces, the advance of the Heroic Spirit army slowed noticeably, even showing signs of retreat.
Unfortunately, these remnants lacked formidable top-tier combatants, and the Child of Chaos continued its methodical advance.
The old undead of the Privy Council, who had been hiding somewhere eating, drinking, and watching the live broadcast, now wore grim expressions.
They were cowardly, not foolish.
What the remnants of Wilbert's faction had realized, they naturally understood as well.
With the Outer Gods struggling immensely in their assault, if Haruto and Leohart were to emerge, their cause would be truly lost.
Not only had they exhausted all their trump cards, but they had also alienated every other faction in the Demon King's Castle—and still failed to secure victory.
"Damn the so-called King of Heroic Spirits! He can't even handle a group of Satan-Class demons!"
One of the old undead angrily slammed his wine glass onto the table beside him, crimson liquid splashing from the rim. The turbulent swirl of wine in the glass laid bare their furious and fearful hearts.
"Outer Gods will always be Outer Gods. If they were native divine-tier experts, they'd have crushed them one by one with a single slap."
Invading Outer Gods naturally faced resistance from this world, diminishing their strength.
Yet, even if the Child of Chaos had not been sealed for years and lacked intelligence, it would still be beyond the combined efforts of Satan-Class demons to halt.
A calmer old undead spoke coldly, "Deploy the final measure. At worst, we'll just spend more time rebuilding the Demon King's Castle."
The room fell into sudden silence. They truly loathed resorting to the ultimate measure.
Their entire scheme had been devised to seize supreme authority in the Demon King's Castle, ensuring they could continue their domineering ways.
"Hmph, if you don't want to use it, then contact that faction. We'll just have to serve a new master."
The speaker was the same old undead who had proposed the idea earlier. If not for the requirement of unanimous consent from the entire Privy Council, he would have acted alone long ago.
Though all were cowardly and clung to life, their personalities weren't identical. This one was among the more explosive types—simply put, brainless.
Under normal circumstances, the others would have scorned him, but in this crisis, his recklessness ignited what little courage they had left.
"Then let's use it..."
"Agreed. The Underworld's population is vast. By allying with the Old Satan Faction, we can rebuild quickly."
Alliance was not the same as submission.
They had long engaged in dealings with the Old Satan Faction, but if they sought their aid now, the title of Demon King would inevitably fall into the Old Satan Faction's hands.
"Very well."
Once consensus was reached, the old undead of the Privy Council each retrieved a conspicuous red remote from their robes.
These were the detonators for devices they had secretly planted throughout the Demon King's Castle over the years.
The so-called devices were high-yield explosives combining technology and magic, powerful enough to ensure the complete annihilation of the Demon King's Castle.
Even Satan-Class experts would likely perish if they failed to evacuate in time.
This mechanism was originally devised as a last resort to prevent the Demon King's Castle from falling into enemy hands during war—a scorched-earth final measure.
However, as time passed and the Satan lineage continued to decline, this instead became a tool for them to secure their rule over the Demon King's Castle.
Wilbert had heard a little about the existence of this device, but the young Leohart was completely unaware of it.
Precisely because of this, Wilbert never dared to openly turn against them and ultimately died under mysterious circumstances, whereas Leohart dared to rebel and took action.
"Then let's all press it together."
Watching the projected image of the gradually collapsing Heroic Spirit army, the old immortals hardened their expressions and prepared to activate the device.
Just as they were about to press the red button, a flash of purple light swept through, and several ugly, aged heads rolled across the floor.
Splattered blood stained the floors and furniture in patches of varying shades, creating a scene of terror and disgust alongside the rolling heads.
"Sapphire, aren't you afraid these remotes might activate if they fall?"
Following the purple light, a golden-white glow trailed closely behind, catching all the remote devices in the old immortals' final moments of astonishment.
"You... who are you...?"
"Oh? Say what you will, but your survival skills are truly impressive. You're still not completely dead even like this."
A tall, curvaceous female demon warrior, bearing some resemblance to Mio Naruse and clad in revealing armor, cast a faint glance at the heads on the floor that were still trying to speak.