Chapter 445: Gift From An Old Friend

"Fine. I will do as you asked, but if it turned out to be a lie, you would regret lying to me," The Goddess of Life and Death let out as she finally agreed to the terms of Janus. 

She really wanted to know what Ryder had done for her in his last moments and what his last words for her were. She chose to trust Janus' words that he wasn't lying to her.

"Good. I wish you all the success. Your success will be our success after all," Janus muttered before he snapped his fingers again. The grey surrounding returned to normal, becoming colorful once again. He retracted his Domain, making it dormant again.

Eliena turned back and disappeared from Janus' sight.

Janus gazed at the empty spot with a thoughtful look on his face before he shook his head.

****

Ryder had left the Dark forest with the intention of reaching the Place; however, mid-way, Rale informed him about another beast forest at some distance from their location.

Since there was still some time left before it was going to be time to leave, Ryder agreed to be taken to the forest.

Rale changed direction and took Ryder to another hunting ground.

Ryder and Rale spent the next few hours hunting in this new place. It passed without any trouble, unlike last time. This place seemed much better as well since it didn't seem like someone was keeping an eye on them anymore.

Ryder was so immersed in hunting; he didn't notice the changes that were taking place on his hand.

The black ink inside his skin seemed to be spreading slowly. It was also getting much lighter.

Ryder and Rale left the forest when it was close to night time. Rale took Ryder back to the Royal Palace. Both Ryder and the Diamond Tiger Beast were stronger now that they had come back after their experience grinding. 

Even though it was a short three hours, Ryder still managed to grow a lot since the second hunting ground was much better. They didn't have any tough time finding beasts. Instead, it seemed as if the beasts were coming to them to die rather.

Ryder stepped inside the great hall where he met the person he had sent to call all the High Dukes here.

"Did you inform them all about the meeting tomorrow?" Ryder inquired casually as he sat on the throne.

"Yes, Your Highness. I have informed all four of them personally," Dale answered.

"All four personally? You mean High Duke Oris is back?" Ryder asked in surprise.

He had heard that High Duke Oris was out. He thought that he would be informed indirectly but informing him personally meant that he was back.

"Yes, Your Highness. He had just come back a few minutes before I reached there. In fact, he was coming here to meet you with the new Marquis candidate. After I informed him about the meeting tomorrow, he decided to do all things tomorrow and not to disturb you," Dale answered.

"Marquis Candidate? What's it about?" Ryder inquired, seemingly confused. He shifted his focus from Dale, who was on one knee before him, to Rale, who stood beside him.

"He must be the new Marquis Candidate from Duke Devilia's duchy that needs your approval to become official Marquis. Ah, right. The marquis was dead there. So that's what it's about. I remember Miku mentioning something about this to me. 

"It's fine. I don't have much knowledge about this anyway. Since High Duke Oris selected the candidate, it must be right. I don't have to think much anyway," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "I'm not the emperor yet, after all."

'This reminds me... I need to finish the Kingship Trials to become the Emperor. I feel confident enough to finish them now. I also need to go to the Death Domain to finish Rale's Quest and get the next fragment. I should arrange for that as well. Since it's an official trial, I don't have to sneak inside there like I have been doing. It's better as well,' he suddenly thought.

As a Prince, he still had a few limitations and lacked certain authorities, like leaving the Demon Realm openly or the authority to wage war. After he finished the trial, he was going to become an absolute ruler. The entire Demon Realm was going to become his personal army in that case, and he was going to be the sole ruler of Divinity. He wouldn't need to be worried about anything in that case. 

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It was still a plan, though. Firstly, he needed to swiftly deal with the problem of missing guards and maids. If he couldn't handle it properly, let alone becoming the Emperor, he wouldn't even be allowed to remain as Prince. He knew where to place his priorities.

"Good. Since everything is set, you can go rest," he told Dale before he departed with Rale.

Rale thought that he was escorting Ryder to his room, but he soon realized that they seemed to be going in a different direction.

Seeing Rale following him with confusion, Ryder said, "Rale, you don't have to follow me. You can go rest as well. I just want to see Miyali and Miku one last time before I go back to sleep."

"Oh, That's where we are going. It's fine. I should still escort you until you're back in your room safely," Rale replied, understanding where they were going. 

The two of them soon found Miku and Miyali. They were in the kitchen where Miku seemed to be teaching something to Miyali. 

The two of them seemed to be talking more cordially.

Rale was about to step inside the kitchen to inform them of Ryder's arrival, but Ryder reached out his hand, stopping Rale.

He placed his hand on Rale's cheat, stopping him before he shook his head.

He silently turned back and started walking back. Rale also did the same, understanding that Ryder didn't wish to disturb them. It seemed as if Ryder was only here to see if the two were handling things fine after all that happened previously and not to talk to them. Now that he had seen them, he could go back.

Ryder was escorted back to his room, and after making sure that he was inside, Rale finally left.

"He is too stern in his duties," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly while sitting on the bed. 

He opened the logout screen and logged out of Divinity.

After taking off his glasses, he sat up. He walked to the bathroom and turned on the tap before filling water in his hand and splashing on his face a few times. After drying his face using a towel, he was about to step out of the bathroom, but as he moved the towel aside, he noticed his forearm that was covered in what seemed like a black tattoo.

"Heck, this thing followed me in real life? How is this possible? My Digital Avatar should have been the one affected. Why is it in my real hand as well?!" He exclaimed with an incredulous look on his face. 

The tattoo also looked less like a random splash of black ink like last time. Instead, it seemed like a proper tattoo of a creature.

It was still only a black shape with no other color, but this shape certainly seemed like a dragon that he had seen in fantasy books. The Dragon had phoenix-like wings, but as the ink was completely black, the wings also seemed black however light black color was around the wings, making it seem as if the wings were burning in black flames at the moment. 

His entire forearm was covered in the tattoo. 

Ryder again turned on the tap before he placed his forearm under the water. After wetting his arm, he started running soap on the black tattoo with as much strength as he could, trying to clean it. His arm was covered in foam, but he kept rubbing for longer. It was only after a long and hard rubbing that he placed his forearm under the water availability to rinse it. 

As the soap and the foam was cleaned up, a clean arm was revealed before Ryder's eyes; however, that tattoo was still there.

"Janus! What the heck is this! You must know what it is! Why is it in my arm! Tell me if you're messing with me at least," Ryder called out after seeing that it wasn't something that could be cleaned. It was certainly outside the realm of possibility unless someone came here and tattooed it in his arm when he was in Divinity.

It seemed to be more on the side of Janus' expertise since it was the supernatural stuff. 

Janus didn't reply to him even after his call.

"I know you can hear me. Stop ignoring me. What is it?" Ryder asked again.

[It's a gift from an old friend]

After the second call-out, Janus finally answered. 

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