Ch.883The Decision of the Celestial Demon Palace

“To provoke us with such low-quality bait in the current war situation. This is unlike them.”

Persiella pondered.

The reason why Small Forest, which should be desperately gathering their limited forces, had openly provoked her as if challenging her to a fight right now.

It was an utterly foolish act.

If Persiella, enraged by their provocation, were to attack Small Forest with the main forces of the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace, that day would mark the moment of Small Forest’s extinction.

The current Small Forest had no power to stop the advance of the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace.

At least, that’s what Persiella knew.

‘Which means… there must be something I don’t know.’

In other words, the very fact that Small Forest had issued such a provocation was evidence that they possessed some unknown means to stop the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace… or perhaps even defeat it.

‘What could it be?’

That piqued Persiella’s interest.

Small Forest must have also heard about the annihilation of the Hwasan Sect.

If they knew this fact and still believed they could stop her, whatever means they had prepared must be something extraordinary.

Perhaps a formation surpassing the joint attack of two hundred and forty she had experienced during the last Orthodox-Demonic War, or some transcendent master they had kept hidden in utmost secrecy.

Persiella speculated it might be something like that. Speculated and anticipated.

The Dragonborn nature she harbored in her heart, her innate violence, seemed to manifest as competitive spirit.

—-

Persiella summoned all three remaining Oma Dragonborn and told them about Small Forest’s provocation and her reasoning.

“As you already know, this is a trap,” declared Tasios, the purple-scaled Dragonborn known as Penetrating Wave Demon, in a solemn tone.

“Well, of course it’s a trap. Isn’t that obvious?”

Simeir, the Taiji Phantom Demon, a defector from the shaman faction, sneered with a smirk, sitting with her legs provocatively crossed without underwear.

“It’s not even worth mentioning, right?”

Her tone suggested that she was pointing out something everyone already knew.

Tasios glared at Simeir in annoyance, but quickly turned his head away when he saw her crossing her legs the other way.

“Hehe…”

Finding his reaction quite amusing, Simeir smiled softly and kept swishing her tail.

“A trap… did they still have such capability left…?”

Bernard Faelrun, the Authority Demon, muttered while leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, tilting his head.

“There he goes setting the mood again. Are all humans like that?”

“…Don’t ask me.”

Simeir and Tasios whispered while looking at Bernard.

A human who had been granted the title of “Demon” within the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace full of Dragonborn, a title allowed only to a select few winged Dragonborn.

An alien and dissident, different in appearance, race, speech, and attitude.

That was how other Dragonborn viewed Authority Demon Bernard.

“Enough. Listen. This lady has summoned you not to discuss the existence of a trap.”

The masked Dragonborn, leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace, Persiella, spoke.

“We cannot know what those bald monks of Small Forest have prepared. But whatever it is, they must be confident it can defeat us, hence their audacity to provoke this lady.”

Persiella lightly tapped the armrest of her throne with her fingertips and smiled. It was a sneer mixed equally with interest and contempt.

“Yes, that seems to be the case.”

“I suppose so.”

“That is likely correct.”

The two Dragonborn and one human nodded in unison, expressing their agreement.

“Indeed. Then how should we—this palace—proceed?”

Since it wasn’t a question demanding an answer, Tasios, Simeir, and Bernard remained silent.

Persiella continued.

“Should we halt our advance and wait until we discover what they’re hiding? Or should we ignore whatever provocations Small Forest makes and prioritize eliminating other sects first?”

Both strategies were perfectly rational.

Small Forest was likely hoping that the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace, blinded by provocation, would charge straight at them with their elite forces.

If they desired a short decisive battle, doing exactly the opposite would be the most effective response.

“Or should we, instead of seeking them out, set our own trap and lure them to come after this lady?”

A trap for a trap.

It was a strategy to see which side would lose patience first and jump into the other’s trap, a test of endurance.

“Hmm… In my judgment, temporarily halting our advance might be the best option.”

Bernard chose the first strategy.

“We station our main force here and recall all the Dragonborn currently launching wave attacks on minor sects across the land.”

He proposed more than simply waiting.

He suggested gathering the forces that had been dispersed throughout the Dragon Kingdom to annihilate minor orthodox sects, and then overwhelming Small Forest with superior power.

“It will take considerable time for them to gather here, and in the meantime, if we continuously scout Small Forest… we should be able to identify the nature of the trap they’re hiding.”

By the time they assembled, they would have more than enough time to uncover Small Forest’s trap.

Deploying the total forces of the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace against an already identified trap meant defeat would be impossible—that was his logic.

“Hmm…”

Persiella let out a soft laugh, as if finding it amusing.

“Yes, I knew you would say that.”

While briefly recalling what Bernard had left unsaid.

‘Indeed, what you desire is not perfect victory… but the battlefield itself, ferociously intense and unspeakably fierce, piled with corpses.’

Persiella had noticed.

What Bernard wanted was not the overwhelming victory of the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace, but a battlefield where mountains of Dragonborn corpses would be piled up.

It was a natural conclusion.

If she gave time for all the palace’s forces to gather, and if she actually showed such movement, would the orthodox faction just sit still?

They too would gather all their forces and prepare for an all-out decisive battle.

And if all the forces of the orthodox faction and all the forces of the demonic faction clashed in one place…

‘Win or lose, we would suffer truly severe losses.’

If defeated, they would be annihilated beyond recovery, and even if victorious, it would be a victory filled with nothing but wounds.

‘Indeed, you serve something other than this lady. How impudent.’

It wasn’t a strategy that someone who claimed to pledge loyalty to her would consider.

“Tasios, Simeir. What are your thoughts? Tell me.”

However, Persiella pretended not to notice Bernard’s disloyalty and changed the subject.

“Everything as the Heavenly Demon wishes. I will simply follow your command.”

Tasios bowed his head as he answered.

“Could you stop acting like you’re the only loyal one? Stopping your thinking and blindly obeying doesn’t prove your loyalty, you know?”

Simeir snickered as if finding him pathetic, then turned to look at Persiella and slightly bowed her head.

“I prefer setting traps, so I like the third option… but you don’t intend to choose any of the three, do you, Heavenly Demon?”

“You know well.”

Persiella agreed.

Although she had proposed three options and asked for her subordinates’ opinions, Persiella had never intended to choose such strategies.

She had merely wanted to hear her subordinates’ opinions as a formality.

“You’ve always been quick-witted. Is that the intuition of a shaman?”

“Who knows? I gave up shamanism long ago. All that fuss just because I borrowed a few ancestors.”

Simeir tilted her head and grinned as if annoyed.

It was the smile of a madwoman who had summoned all the souls of the shaman faction’s ancestors to use as mana sources.

Her outlandish claim was that using ancestral souls was no different from using ancestral relics.

Despite being expelled for that, she couldn’t come to her senses and repeated the same act wherever she went, which once made her a common enemy of the entire Dragon Kingdom, both orthodox and demonic factions.

That was Taiji Phantom Demon Simeir.

“Hehe… Yes, let’s say that.”

Persiella laughed softly and dismissed Simeir’s complaints.

“Anyway, as Simeir said, this lady will not choose any of the three strategies. Aren’t they all too mediocre? Avoiding battle while observing the enemy’s movements is not the path for one who calls herself the Heavenly Demon.”

That was the true intention behind Persiella summoning her three subordinates to the throne room.

The enemy, Small Forest, was preparing a trap. A trap they were confident could defeat the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace.

Once aware of a trap, it’s not difficult to respond appropriately and thwart their intentions.

But she didn’t want to do that.

“Prepare to advance. Our target is the source of those presumptuous orthodox fools, ‘Small Forest’!”

Heavenly Demon Persiella declared.

“Whatever lurks there, this palace will confront it head-on and crush it!”

She would walk right into the trap prepared by Small Forest’s practitioners, overwhelm it with power, and break through.

It was a decision where interest, pride, audacity, and impulse were all mixed together.