Chapter 181: The Demon Queen’s Entertainment

The intense flaming sound emitted by the enormous wolves gradually diminished, at the exact same time that the beasts of fire dissipated into the air, turning into simple warm ashes that fell upon the impeccable red carpet.

"Do not interfere or I will crush you too, Argeus!" Badilus roared, half-turning toward his comrade without lowering the immense staff.

Argeus, maintaining his stoic and refined posture near the stairs, let out a fake cough completely devoid of emotion.

"I have told you that is enough, Badilus." He repeated with an authoritative voice.

’Are these two planning to fight each other now?’ Ryan thought.

He turned his body just a little, adjusting his posture to maintain a panoramic view. He did not lower his guard, keeping both Abyssal demons within his field of vision while the shield of his Mana Fortress continued to glow faintly all around him.

’What exactly will you do now, Ophelia?’ Ryan thought, directing his gaze to the demon queen sitting on the throne.

However, Badilus, making a complete omission of his fellow demon’s sensible intervention, gritted his teeth. He muttered to himself, a spell that Ryan could not clearly catch, and then he once again aimed the purple gem of the epic staff directly toward Ryan’s face.

"Fine, have it your way." The demon growled. "You will die."

Clap!

The dry and sudden sound of a single handclap echoed loudly throughout the immense throne room, cutting through the tension in the air. Following that, a genuine and melodious burst of laughter flooded the place.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha."

The sound came directly from the upper platform. When everyone turned their heads, including Badilus with his infuriated expression, they saw Demon Queen Ophelia bursting into laughter, bringing a pale hand up to her lips to cover her evident amusement.

"My lady." Argeus pronounced instantly.

The stoic Abyssal demon dropped one knee to the ground, bowing his head in a sign of total submission. The four Infernal twins observing from the edges of the hall did not hesitate for a second and knelt down in unison.

"Argeus!" Ophelia called out to him in a complaining tone.

"At your command, Your Majesty." He responded without raising his gaze.

"You are a complete killjoy." The queen sighed, leaning back onto her throne once again. "I was just about to witness the very best part of the show."

"But, my lady, you had explicitly warned us not to harm your guest under any circumstances. And that idiot Badilus was one second away from doing the exact opposite and destroying the hall in the process." Argeus explained, maintaining his formality.

"Yes, yes, that is true." Ophelia made a carefree gesture with her hand. "But Ryan arrived exactly one hour late to our agreed meeting. If he ended up a little hurt or scorched by the fire, he had it well deserved. It is not good manners to make a lady wait, you know?"

Ophelia let out a flirtatious smile and directed a sharp and piercing look right at Ryan from the top of the stairs.

’Look who the hell is talking about arriving late. I was the one who waited for her at the dungeon entrance standing up for hours.’

"But Your Majesty, I beg you not to play around with these situations, please." Argeus insisted. "Conceding that he is right will only cause that impulsive idiot to continue attacking and disobeying your edicts."

"Enough, Argeus, don’t be so serious." Ophelia reprimanded him, shaking her head. "Either way, it wouldn’t have been necessary to intervene to save our guest’s life. Or am I mistaken, Ryan?"

"Huh? I don’t know what you are talking about." Ryan responded, deactivating his mana shield and raising his hands in a gesture of fake resignation.

Then, before anyone could say anything else to calm the atmosphere, Badilus intervened. The Abyssal remained standing, trembling slightly out of contained fury and pure disbelief.

"Your Majesty..." Badilus stammered. "Are you perhaps insinuating that this human was going to be able to resist my attack?"

"Ha, ha, ha." Ophelia let out another laugh, this time a bit darker and more condescending.

"Of course he was, my dear Badilus." The queen responded with total naturalness.

"You must apply yourself seriously, without holding back even a little bit, and of course be willing to die, if you actually want to harm Ryan."

In the face of that affirmation, the Abyssal demon’s face went completely blank. The dark staff trembled within his hands.

Ophelia slowly stood up from her chair. The heavy, luxurious fabric of her dress adjusted perfectly to her figure as she walked with grace and authority to the very edge of the platform.

"I hope that point has been made clear to you from now on." She dictated, looking down.

"And to all the rest of you." She added, and she began to walk down the stairs with a rhythmic pace.

As she did so, Ryan noticed how the Demon Queen absentmindedly spun a kind of thin bracelet she wore on her right wrist with her finger.

She crossed the red carpet, walking right past them, approaching the exact spot where Ryan was planted.

"Come, let us discuss our business in another, much quieter place." Ophelia suggested.

Upon planting herself right in front of him, she closed the personal distance. She looked at him very closely, raising her face just a little.

Her eyes shone with the same mischievous intensity of someone who has just pulled a heavy prank and is completely satisfied with the obtained result.

She stopped the bracelet she was spinning with the index finger of her right hand. Then, she slowly raised her left hand, revealing that she was holding a small teleportation stone between her fingers.

"Do you plan on losing that again?" Ryan asked, in a clear allusion to the obvious results Ophelia had obtained the last time she tried to teleport Ryan.

"Don’t be silly." She responded with a slight smile of tranquility.

Without giving him any time to react, Ophelia activated the portal by injecting a fraction of her immense mana into the stone.

The world around them distorted and the throne room disappeared completely. In less than an instant, they reappeared standing upon the cold rock of an immense mountain, under a brightly illuminated sky.

From that height, they could perfectly see the vast extension of the demonic city of Morrisen and the colossal architecture of Ophelia’s castle stretching out into the distance.

The freezing wind of the summit blew against Ryan’s trench coat.

’Did she nullify the effect of my relic by using that bracelet?’