Chapter 118 The Mad King's Castle

It seemed that no matter where that fake Mad King in the sky came from, Lanina's position in the demonic army had not been shaken. At her command, the surrounding demons immediately began preparing the teleportation portal—the demonic city flying in the sky could only be reached by teleportation, other than flying up on wings.

An obsidian colossus rumbled to a stop in front of the group and knelt down. The alloy cover on the colossus's chest clattered open, revealing a dark red energy core inside. Two dwarfish dark dwarves, as short and stout as wine barrels, climbed onto the colossus and activated some kind of mechanism, and the air in front of the energy core gradually distorted. It turned out that the teleportation portals they used did not need to be built temporarily, but were components within these combat golems.

Indeed, knowledge is power—the demonic army was definitely the most technologically advanced force in this world…

Izhaks watched all this from the side, his expression blank, unsure of what he was thinking. At this moment, the big guy appeared more unfathomable than anyone else.

After a moment, the teleportation portal was finally activated. The obsidian colossus projected a distorted gate six or seven meters tall from its chest, large enough for even Lily's current stature to walk through with her head held high. The demon commander pointed to the teleportation portal. "Please enter."

Hao Ren glanced at Lanina, who nodded to indicate that there was no problem, and the group followed behind the demon commander into the distorted gate.

The other demons and dark dwarves also lined up to pass through the gate, while the obsidian colossi remained in place: these huge fellows could activate another teleportation mechanism within their bodies to send themselves back to the Demonic King's City, but they had to stay on the surface for any contingencies.

With heavy, rumbling footsteps, the colossi returned to the foot of the rocky mountain, and then squatted down in place, instantly disguising themselves as ordinary boulders—when the Demonic King's City was floating in the sky, they would serve as sentries below.

Hao Ren and his group were teleported to a solemn, circular hall under a disorienting sensation of weightlessness.

The hall had a radius of a hundred meters and was cast entirely in a solemn, dark metal. The outer walls of the hall, like the walls of the Demonic King's City, were neatly lined with vertical ridges, each with a faint light that seemed to prove that the entire hall was operating under the drive of magic. The floor was paved with smooth, gray stone bricks, and in the center of the floor was a huge demonic rune array that flickered with an erratic green light, echoing the faint light ridges on the walls of the hall.

As soon as Hao Ren opened his eyes, he was shocked by the solemn and grand hall in front of him. He turned his head and glanced at Izhaks. "Quite impressive."

Izhaks chuckled, not saying anything. He was still unclear about the situation and planned to observe before revealing his identity.

The demon commander dismissed the others, and personally led Hao Ren and his group to the place where the "Mad King" was located. "Please follow me, the King should be very happy to see you—especially Great Sage, your arrival is a surprise, the King will be very happy."

Hao Ren and his group followed the demon commander out of the hall and into a wide, magnificent corridor. At this time, Lily was still in husky form because she hadn't found a chance to transform, and she looked around curiously as she walked, occasionally looking up at the roof of the corridor, seemingly wanting to confirm that her head would not hit the ceiling. Hao Ren and Vivian walked in front of Lily, one on the left and one on the right, and they had to speed up to prevent being stepped on by this husky who didn't watch her feet.

The demon commander turned his head to look at the trio with awe, recalling the scene of being pounced on by the evil dog, and he said admiringly, "You dog-man-woman team are very powerful…"

Hao Ren was curiously studying the strange reliefs on both sides of the corridor when he heard this and was stunned. He stared at the demon commander. "What did you say?!"

The demon commander didn't know what was going on and pointed at Lily as a matter of course, then pointed at Hao Ren and Vivian: "Dog, man, woman…"

Even Vivian, with her gentle temper, was dumbfounded at this moment. She turned her head to look at Lanina. "…Is this how your people speak?"

Lanina was still feeling baffled. "Is there something wrong with that? Aren't you three just a perfect dog-man-woman combination?"

Lily could understand but couldn't speak, and could only shake her head vigorously like she was having a stroke: "Woof woof… woof woof awoo…"

Although it was unclear what she was trying to express, it definitely wasn't good. Look, her eyes were showing a fierce glint: it was not easy to see a fierce glint on the face of a husky.

Izhaks woke up from his contemplation at this time and quickly patted Hao Ren on the shoulder. "Ahem, don't mind it, in our hometown, this is just an ordinary statement." After saying that, he nodded thoughtfully. "I never really thought about it before, the three of you together are quite suitable for forming a word."

Hao Ren's face was green: "What kind of unlucky cultural difference is this!"

The demon commander was at a loss, wondering if he had said something wrong to offend the guests. Lanina, seeing this, comforted her old subordinate despite not understanding what was going on. "Don't worry, maybe it's related to dialects."

After walking for an unknown length of time in the long and deep corridor, the group finally arrived in front of a heavy and solemn gate. The gate was made of brass, with twelve demonic figures engraved on it, and above the gate was a warning written in demonic script: Check the house before leaving, turn off the lights and lock the door.

Hao Ren was stunned. "…Why is this written so seriously on the door?"

"Why can't it be written?" Izhaks found Hao Ren's question strange. "Don't you write this in your offices? We do the same here."

Hao Ren opened his mouth, extremely frustrated. "Shouldn't there be some kind of cautionary proverb written in such a solemn and high-end place! Even if you don't write a cautionary proverb, you could write 'Those who pass this gate leave their souls behind' or 'Our journey is the stars and the sea'! At least it would fit the atmosphere of this Demonic King's City…"

Izhaks thought for a moment, and asked while stroking his chin, "Then why don't you hang 'Cihang saves the world and saves all living beings' at the door of your bedroom? You're still a Pope."

Hao Ren was speechless, and really wanted to have a good discussion with Izhaks about this issue using the argument that "big figures should have the appearance of big figures", but after thinking for a long time, it seemed that there were also big figures who were not so particular about it, and in the end he could only subtly remind him: "This is after all the Demonic King's City—have you seen any great man's former residence that doesn't hang a couple of famous quotes?"

Izhaks chuckled. "That's because they all charge admission—my house is still inhabited."

Hao Ren was speechless. Facts proved that it was indeed difficult for a normal person to discuss matters of worldview with a demon.

He was speaking in Earth language when discussing with Izhaks, and the demon commander didn't understand what they were talking about after listening for a long time, and only coughed twice. "Ahem, the King is waiting for you inside, please come in."

Hao Ren impolitely stepped forward and pushed open the door, revealing an extremely wide throne hall inside. The rectangular hall was brightly lit, and the four walls were cast in solemn pure copper and black iron. Countless sculptures of demons and various races were displayed on both sides of the hall, and at the end of the hall was a golden-red throne. The "Mad King" was sitting on the throne, looking as if he had been waiting for everyone for a long time.

Although everyone had been prepared, they couldn't help but be surprised when they really saw the demon on the throne: it wasn't obvious from a distance before, but now that they were close, they realized…the one on the throne really looked like Izhaks!

However, Hao Ren and the others remained calm, and even Izhaks himself stood aside silently, pretending not to know anything. Only Lanina stepped forward, not even bowing, and just stared at the demon on the throne. "I'm back."

The "Izhaks" on the throne slowly stood up, his expression seemed a little excited, but it seemed a little stiff. His voice was indeed very happy. "Oh, Lanina…that's great, seeing you safe and sound. Have you been in the human world these days?"

Lanina repeated the same story as before, and the "Izhaks" on the throne nodded as he listened, and then after briefly talking with Lanina for a few sentences, he suddenly said: "In that case, you've traveled a long way, so go…rest first. I will prepare a banquet, Lanina, and then I have many things to ask you, you should rest well first."

After a hasty meeting, Hao Ren and the others were politely sent out.