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Ruler Vol 5 Chapter 51

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Author: Anit666

Editor: Weasalopes

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【3rd person’s POV】

 

While the Council members and Lantz were inadvertently remembering about the events of the day they suffered a crushing defeat against the Demon King Solomon El Maxwell, and Jack and Lui were enjoying their pleasant tea time, the shadows sent by the Owl returned.

From the open window, 12 shadows resembling humans jumped in and were swallowed by the shadow cast by Owl’s figure.

Everyone’s gaze focused on him; the Demigods were tense and irritated, while Jack was full of leisure. Lui was the only one who couldn’t give a shit about this situation.

After listening to the reports of his shadows, the Owl shuddered, and a single word flashed in his mind; brutal.

That was the only way he could describe the actions of the Dark Hero.

But regardless of what he was feeling, the eyes on him were waiting for his answer. After some contemplation, he decided to reveal the unfiltered truth.

“The words of the demon are correct; the 12 villages have been slaughtered.” Before anyone could say anything, the Owl continued. “Every single human of those villages has been mercilessly killed- they were stripped naked and tortured, and then stakes were driven into their arses untill they came out of their mouths while they were still alive. Currently, their corpses are set up as an exhibition in the village squares.”

Jack couldn’t help but admire how the Owl recited the events with such a monotonous tone.

On the other hand, everyone else winced in disgust. As they imagined the pain and suffering those humans had gone through due to the demons, fury raged through their veins. Finally, Doherty couldn’t hold it in.

“You twisted motherfucker! Why did you do that to them?!” He slammed the table.

He wanted to do much more than just slamming, but there was an indescribable aura coming from Jack that was pricking on his primal instincts.

Still, the Cardinal of Compassion’s heart cried out in despair at the cruelty his comrades were subjected to. The humans of the villages were given a death so barbarous that even their souls would weep in the afterlife, and as someone who held compassion for every human, he couldn’t stand that.

“I’m surprised you have the audacity to ask that of me when you were the ones who started it.” Jack scoffed. “I will ask you the same thing; why did you slaughter the innocent demons of those 12 villages?”

“Innocent?!” Doherty barked as if he had heard the most preposterous thing in his life. “Demons who can do those things to us dare call themselves innocent?!”

“Once again- says the human who massacred my people.” Jack rolled his eyes.

“You-!” Before Doherty could act, a pressure flowed out from Lucia and stopped him.

“Doherty, stop speaking.”

“But Pope-”

“Stop.” Her voice was cold. “I’ll handle it.”

Doherty immediately shut up. Deprived of his outlet for his frustration, he ground his teeth and scratched on the table.

Deploying her superb acting skills, she turned to Jack with a cold glare.

“And you.” Her body released an overwhelming amount of mana. “Do you think we’ll just sit back and do nothing after what you have done?”

“I dare you to try it.” He smiled.

“Don’t be too cocky, kid. Don’t think the Council is the same as before.”

After losing Conor, the Cardinal of Love, the Council had overhauled itself. They had done many things, from training to acquiring new skills, so they were now incomparably stronger than before. They also had more than a few trump cards at their disposal.

The Council now had so much power and influence that even Solomon El Maxwell, the leader of the Ten Asuras, couldn’t take them lightly like he did at their previous meeting.

But a bug was still a bug in the eyes of ‘The Infinite One’, and it will always remain so. But the Council had no way of knowing that, neither did Jack intend to show so much power here.

Interfering with his true power would catch the attention of Meteron, and it wasn’t time for that yet.

“I see.” Jack nodded at Lucia’s words. “Indeed, you guys are geniuses who have pioneered your own realms. You are so far above normal humans and demons that it isn’t even funny. I’m sure you’ve already devised countermeasures against Solomon. If he fought with you again then even he wouldn’t escape unscathed.”

Huh. Lucia was momentarily surprised at Jack’s calm and collected review of the situation. As if Solomon wasn’t enough, another guy who could use his brains had appeared on the demons’ side.

“However, your advantage isn’t absolute.” He continued. “If we fight, both the sides would suffer terrible losses. It wouldn’t matter if Solomon and I died, because we still have a lot of talented fighters at our side. But it’s different for you humans; the Council is the last defence of humanity, and it will fall alongside you.”

“We still have the Heroes-”

“Don’t bother.” Jack dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “We both know that the current Heroes are utterly worthless. They are nothing more than brats who have a bit of power.”

“What about Lantz?” Lucia asked, clearly amused, while Lantz frowned.

“I counted him along with the Council.” Lantz’s frown deepened at this comment, and he finally decided to intervene.

“Then what about the former Dark Hero, Serasta?” He posed this question.

“What?” Jack flinched and acted shocked. “You haven’t killed her yet?”

“I really wanted to, but Samael didn’t let me.”

Lucia smiled as his name came up.

“…That sly bastard…” Jack cursed as his brows furrowed in annoyance. “I knew that I should have killed him…” He grumbled to himself in a low voice, but it was caught by Lantz.

“Hoh?” He was surprised. “I thought you respected Samael.”

“……That I do. Many demons respect Samael, in fact, including Solomon.”

“Then why?”

“Because he ultimately chose humans.” For the first time, Jack’s tone changed. “Well, whatever.”

Lantz frowned as Jack’s tone suddenly shifted back to nonchalance, as if declaring that Samael wasn’t any threat.

“I thought you would be more wary of him.”

“Hah. A guy as fickle as him isn’t a real threat.” He sneered. “In fact, if I was you, I’d watch my back.”

Lucia caught those words and immediately used her newly acquired skill, ‘Lie Detection’. Her skill told her that Jack’s words were true.

“Why?” She asked without expecting any answer.

“You guys don’t know?” Jack chuckled as if he was enjoying this situation, which he was. “I suppose he didn’t tell you. It was Samael who helped Solomon in becoming the Demon King.”

Lucia used her skill and determined that his words were true. The answer she got was something she couldn’t have imagined. Samael had a hand in Solomon’s ascension to the throne; the implications of this immediately raised his status in her eyes.

She reached a conclusion- Samael must be recruited to their cause. He was like a treasure trove to the Council which was lacking information on the Demon King.

“I see.” She belatedly muttered.

“Oh? You believe me?”

“Who knows?” She simply shrugged.

“Huh. Well, still keep an eye out for him.” 

“You sure are very proactive in making us doubt him.”

The others had also realised this by now. If the existence of Samael was indeed detrimental for them, then it would have been better for Jack to hide that so that Samael could damage them in the worst possible way.

Yet Jack was telling them to doubt him. It clearly didn’t add up.

“It would be troublesome for us if you were to completely trust him.” Jack shrugged.

“…Pretty bold of you to come out with that.” Lucia frowned. “Wouldn’t it make sense if we believed in him now?”

“You won’t.” Jack smirked. “It would have been different if it were some other human, but as the Council, you have no choice but to be cautious of him after learning of his relationship with Solomon. The fate of humanity rests on your shoulders after all.”

Lucia’s frown deepened. She felt a strange sense of incongruity- something was wrong.

While Jack’s words were true, it was also true that their distrust in Samael would be reduced because of Jack’s earlier sentence. If he wanted them to be wary of him, he shouldn’t have revealed his intentions yet he did.

Jack, as if having guessed her thoughts, which he had, opened his mouth again.

“You seem to be wondering why I’d tell you that. The answer is simple; it would be troublesome for us if you stopped believing in Samael completely.”

“…What?” Lantz eked out.

This declaration was implying that Samael was acting as a spy for the demons.

“Yup.” Jack nodded. “You losing your faith in him would mean him losing his faith in you. If that happens, his actions would become impossible to predict. That is something that must never be allowed, both for you and me.”

“What do you mean?” Aidan asked.

“Think of Samael as a paradoxical wild card that has his own goals. Leaving him alive is detrimental, but killing him would also bring losses. Samael is a bad opponent because there is no proper way to deal with him; there are just too many risks involved. There is a reason he’s the guy who filled our empty throne and turned your brats into real Heroes.”

“If that is indeed true,” Lucia asked. “Why would you tell us that?”

Jack rolled his eyes at this question.

“Because unlike humans, we don’t want to eradicate humanity. Doing that will bring a larger set of problems to us.”

The balance will be shifted and the Law of Causality would be triggered- the repercussions would be heavy. While Jack and Sam were excluded from this, the others weren’t. Phiria, Jack’s most important card for this stage would be rendered unusable, which would ultimately bring about their defeat.

Of course, he didn’t explain all of that to them. The Demigods probably hadn’t been introduced to how the system called ‘God’ worked, and he certainly didn’t want to be the one to do that.

“Such as?” Lucia asked. 

If eradicating humanity would invite bigger troubles for the demons, the same was also possible for humans. It would be troublesome if that interfered with her goals.

“You wouldn’t understand.” Jack shrugged once again, but this time with a shake of his head for an added effect.

Bastard. She cursed. He deliberately hid that information.

“I would have liked to form a temporary truce with you humans to eliminate Samael.” Jack continued with a sneer. “But I suppose you don’t want to lose another Cardinal.” He chuckled.

“Don’t worry.” Lucia replied with composure. “We have our God on our side. We will not lose another time.”

The others agreed with her and glared at Jack with eyes full of conviction.

“Ah, yes. You have Meteron on your side.” He nodded, and decided to start the first act. “By the way, I have been wondering this.” He slowly looked around the room at everyone. “All of you guys are sponsored by Meteron.”

Suddenly, Jack vanished, leaving only Lui on his chair. None of them felt his presence nor knew how he had done that.

Just then, Lucia felt a slight disturbance behind her, and she immediately understood where Jack had vanished to.

In an instant, he had moved to behind Lucia. Of course, this much wasn’t enough to shake her up, but what happened next surely did.

Jack leaned in towards her right ear, and playfully whispered in a voice only she could hear.

“However, who is your patron?”

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