The Crown Prince In Hiding

Chapter 27

Diablo

The colossal harbor and the official welcoming party from Diablo...

Those who had visited a decade ago could only stare in disbelief at the transformation that had taken place.

Structures modeled after human designs had been erected.

Ten years ago, there was no harbor. No watchtower. No decorative architecture to convey any sense of civilization.

But today... even The Raven, who had been here before, was struck speechless.

Nora and Rafinya themselves never imagined it would look like this. They had pictured Diablo as some mysterious island teeming with monsters, where they would have to find a place to drop anchor on their own, hack their way through jungle, set up camp by themselves, like Columbus arriving in the Americas for the first time.

Not at all. Tear that image apart and throw it away... because this was Columbus arriving in Rome.

Massive Roman-style pillars stood in formation. White marble paved the way into a "city."

Yes. That was not a mistake.

A "city," in a place like this.

Streets paved with polished stone. Clean, white buildings... as though lifted straight from Rome. Architecture carved with the symbols of Diablo stood tall, marking the seat of the capital.

The Empress observed from her quarters.

"Oh my."

The words left her before she even realized it.

Paul, too, found himself looking at Diablo anew with equal astonishment.

This visit... would likely compel many to see Diablo not as a monster island, but as a "nation" in its own right.

"They're serious about the rebrand."

The Empress lowered the spyglass and handed it back to Paul before rising to prepare herself. Nora and Rafinya had already joined the traveling party, and they too were taken aback by how far reality diverged from the image in their heads.

When the ship docked, the journalists who had accompanied the delegation went straight to work. Photographs were taken. Columns were written.

The massive creatures standing on shore arranged themselves into formation. Each of them was uniquely distinct in a way that defied description.

Nora and Rafinya could not tear their eyes away. These high-ranking Diablo soldiers each bore designs that nature had evolved into something entirely their own. Some were covered in spines. Some had forms resembling insects. Some were enormous, standing in the back rows.

The one-eyed masses of flesh that Nora had encountered before were here too... in great numbers.

Fury, Freya, and Roma were present. There was no sign of Valencia, Livramento, or Everton.

A red carpet had been laid out in a manner befitting the Empress.

This was humanity's first step in ten years. The first to set foot on Diablo soil was Empress Ophilis XIV... and following behind her was the future Ophilis XV.

That first step, that first touch...

What Nora could say right away was this:

Diablo was a continent with remarkably warm weather.

About the same as Luminus.

Rafinya felt no different from being at home... though she knew this was not yet peak heat. It could get hotter, much like Luminus, but not quite as much, since Diablo did not sit on the equator.

The air that filled her lungs... was refreshing beyond words.

It was air untainted by smoke or dust. Sea breezes swept through all day long.

No brittle, dead branches. No demon nests or repulsive cobwebs. No black smoke. No poison.

Only nature.

"So this is... Diablo."

Thunderous applause erupted from both sides. Authorized journalists sprinted ahead with their cameras, capturing this historic moment. The rapid click of shutters rang out the entire way.

And then Nora saw "him."

The Demon King, BYLETH.

He was a Diablo of the hard-shelled type. His shell was silver, the color of a blade. His fingertips were sharp and pointed in the manner of all Diablo. He was not encased in full armor like Fury, but he shared a similar frame in terms of the commanding presence of a warrior.

Shoulder plates from which a cape grew forth. Two horns pointing straight upward, and a headpiece concealing his eyes, though it may well have been part of his body.

Flanked by his firstborn son, his height compared to Fury's made him seem quite small.

He differed considerably from what Nora and Rafinya had imagined based on the illustrations in books.

He was not a massive creature. He stood roughly 190 centimeters, close to Freya's height, which for a Diablo was rather below average. And yet, that very fact made him stand out all the more amid the towering Diablo around him.

Reading the atmosphere, one could tell that most of those present had already met each other before. Nora and Rafinya were among the minority seeing them in the flesh for the first time, and they could not help but stare with curious eyes.

"It is a great honor that you have accepted our invitation."

Nora heard the Demon King's voice for the first time.

His voice was different from Fury's. It was more composed, gentler, though not as smooth and polished as Everton's businessman tone.

"With great pleasure. We were quite astonished upon arrival. In just a few years, this place has transformed as though it were an entirely new continent."

Empress Ophilis XIV replied with praise before the two shook hands before the press in a show of friendship.

Nora glanced at the Diablo guards protecting the Demon King. They looked identical, as though hatched from the same egg, and were likely guards who served the Demon King directly.

She was beginning to understand. Diablo who looked identical, like twins, likely came from the same egg, or were perhaps creatures hatched in large batches. They would be rank-and-file soldiers or workers handling miscellaneous tasks.

But if a Diablo looked distinct and possessed clear individuality, she could guess that they were either a skilled warrior, a prominent general, or a somebody without question.

At that moment, her eyes happened to meet Fury's.

Fury showed no reaction toward her, and she gave none in return. She merely found herself thinking how long it had been since she had seen Fury in his true form like this, and wondered why she still felt that flicker of unease.

"Your Highness."

Before she knew it, the Demon King of Diablo had extended his greeting to her.

Though nervous, Nora did her best to maintain composure.

"Y... Your Majesty."

She took his hand and shook it gently.

The touch of his hand was pointed bone... an exoskeleton, like Roma's.

Nora's fingers brushed against the grooves of bone across his hand. The parts that were fibrous, a muted red flesh, pressed against her palm. It felt like running her hand along a steel cable... dense... a body of extraordinarily high density.

"I have heard a great deal about you. It is my utmost pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The senior leaders of both nations went down the line, shaking hands and exchanging greetings. Then the Demon King gestured with an open hand, guiding Empress Ophilis along the path he had prepared for her.

At that moment, Paul, the Empress's attendant, whispered to The Raven.

"The Saint Pauli girl is remarkably composed for someone seeing demons in person for the first time, wouldn't you say?"

The Raven glanced over to observe Rafinya.

"Typical of Luminus people."

That was his answer to Paul, though privately he suspected that Rafinya had likely been exposed to something similar to what Nora had already experienced.

As was customary in international diplomacy, when the leaders of both nations were engaged in any activity with the press capturing images, the entourage of each party followed behind at a respectful distance.

That very circumstance allowed Nora to drift close to Fury and his people while the Demon King was leading her mother ahead.

Of those nearby, only Fury, Freya, and Roma were faces she recognized.

After a moment, Nora noticed a Diablo watching her. A purple Diablo, with a form that appeared female.

She did not hold a prominent position like Fury, but Nora made brief eye contact with her before turning her gaze back ahead as though nothing had happened.

The Demon King and his people escorted Empress Ophilis XIV on a tour of the Diablo city.

The various infrastructure that had been built. He led the Snowhaven delegation through the newly constructed city layout, organized in a block system similar to Mathema, and showed them the basic water collection and distribution system, the harbor, the airship docks, roads, bridges, and the vast, sprawling tracts of land that had been cleared and groomed immaculately.

Nora nodded slowly to herself.

It was no exaggeration to say that Diablo was now capable of developing its own infrastructure.

Although many elements were not as complete as those found in human cities, nothing felt particularly jarring, because she understood that given their usual way of life, most of these things were not strictly necessary for them.

But then... the next question arose.

If so, then who did they build all of this for? The city, the roads, the prepared land, the running water system?

The answer was...

Us.

Humans.

They were ready for humans to come and conduct trade. To invest. To open factories. To build industry. To bring in technology.

This was a direct message to the Empress, and to the newspapers that would be printed for the entire world to read within the coming week:

Diablo is ready.

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