Chapter 478 (1): Who Is the Lord of Deceit

“Auston, where did you get the information? It’s too... unreliable, isn’t it?” Wayne snarked. “I watched the fight from the sidelines and could only describe it as a landslide defeat. Auriel was beaten to a pulp. If the demon hadn’t failed to prepare fully, the angel would’ve met his demise.”

“How could you gain the information of a demon that powerful? Since when is your intelligence network that good?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not looking down on you. It’s just... Okay, let’s be polite about this. You can’t do it. You can’t.”

“Also, you said that the demon was in Londan? That’s even more absurd. What wrong has Londan done to deserve the attention of so many demons?!”

Wayne blabbered on and kept the fact that he was the Lord of Deceit a secret. He could tell Auston. He trusted Auston and had shared many of his secrets with the man, but the timing wasn’t right. Auston hadn’t wrapped his head around the fact that Wayne was now a demigod, so telling him about Deceit, an addition to the Seven Deadly Sins, wouldn’t yield satisfactory results.

Wayne had to take one steady step at a time. Once Auston accepted the tragedy of Wayne being a demigod, recovering his peace of mind, that would be the time for the next bombshell: Wayne had not only become a demigod, but also a top demon lord in Hell.

That wasn’t all. Wayne had another bombshell to drop at an opportune time.

Do you know the Goddess of Darkness, Auston? Yes, I mean the goddess who made you the Darkness Knight. I slept with Her.

The deliberate escalation would maximize the profit. If Wayne revealed all his cards at the same time, Auston would only be shocked once, and he would only feel like killing himself once. That wouldn’t do!

When the bigshot drove the young detective out of Londan, his fate was already set in stone. He was doomed to a life of misfortune!

“Ha, but you must believe it,” Auston scoffed. “The demon is not only in Londan, but among the Tulip Families. How about it? Isn’t that specific enough?”

“That can’t be...” Wayne murmured in surprise. Not many knew that he was the Lord of Deceit. Hesione, Hestia, Olga, and Ines... They wouldn’t have leaked the information behind his back.

The Lord of Pride also knew, but clearly, he wasn’t going to spread the news. He could, but there was a seal stopping him...

Wayne frowned. The seal could stop the other Deadly Sins, but given how powerful Pride was, could it really stop Pride?

It should, Wayne concluded after some consideration. Pride was the head of the Seven Deadly Sins and had once led an army into Heaven, making him the unequivocal top villain of Hell. Wayne shouldn’t judge him differently just because he was one of Wayne’s investors. A demon would always be a demon!

If Pride could enter the mortal realm, this world would’ve long fallen to chaos and become a second hell.

It was pure speculation on Wayne’s part that Pride would like to escape from Hell because the other six great demon lords were all trash who needed to be carried. Wayne knew that while the thought was entertaining, it would be foolish to see it as the truth.

“So who could it be?”

Wayne stared at Auston, asking him to share his source.

Brat, I got you, didn’t I? Auston smirked, fiddling with his silver coin slowly. “I thought you were a bold madman who would do anything when insanity strikes, but it turns out you’ve retained your rationality after becoming a demigod. Rather than joining the battle between the angels and demons, you chose to wait and see as I did.”

Don’t try that on me. You were just scared!

Wayne rolled his eyes. “Stop wasting my time. You’re a pot calling the kettle black. What is there to be proud of? I should feel more pride since I was closer to the battlefield.”

“Ha.” Auston nodded. It pleased him that he had managed to frame a demigod as his equal, even more so since it was Trash Jr. that they were talking about. Wayne had become a demigod. So what? He still stayed back and cowered when faced with the true powerhouses.

“Tell me your source.”

“The Buckingham Palace,” Auston said. “The Queen told me in person.”

“Huh?!”

(∙̆。̯∙̆)?

What was going on? Wayne was increasingly confused.

“The Queen was just the messenger,” Auston explained. “She explained the matter while under control and gathered the Tulip Families, promising to expose the demon’s identity tomorrow night...”

While Sophelia had no way of learning the truth, she had a way of falling under someone else’s control. Since it wasn’t her first time, she was used to it.

It was a chilling scene. During the meeting, Sophelia had suddenly made the statement, scaring everyone into calling out the demonic possession. Soon, Śār Auriel arrived and woke Sophelia with a point of his finger.

She could tell them nothing.

Sophelia didn’t know who the Lord of Deceit was. She was just the messenger in charge of arranging the meeting. The mysterious person with the information would show up tomorrow night.

Wayne frowned deeply, unable to figure out who that person could be.

“Why haven’t these mysterious villains done anything after hypnotizing the Queen? How dare they? Do they find the Queen of Windsor unattractive? Isn’t she beautiful in their eyes?”

Auston didn’t even want to humor Wayne. He said instead, “I won’t attend the meeting tomorrow night. It’s too dangerous. As the head of the family, Master Wayne should attend on behalf of the Lando Family as is tradition.”

“You call me Trash Jr. when there’s no danger and Master Wayne when there is. How flexible of you.” Wayne shook his head. “Things are too strange. You should go with—”

“No, you’re in charge of risking your life.”

“...”

Wayne rolled his eyes. He would love to drag Auston with him so that he could flaunt his power right in front of the man, but the more he said, the more mistakes he could make. He didn’t want Auston to find out about him yet.

“Secondly, our agents in Prussia sent an important piece of information. The Chancellery of the New Reich in Berlo exploded, with no signs of life found. All the leadership of Prussia, including Führer Hidler, died in that explosion.”

Auston stared at Wayne solemnly. “Do you know about that?”

“I didn’t do it.”

Wayne waved his hands. The witnesses could testify that Hidler had detonated himself, and Wayne just happened to be there. He was no more than an eyewitness to his last moment in life.

Auston stared at Wayne for a while with the silver coin in his clutch. “Whether you did it or not, good work!”

“Unfortunately, the war won’t stop. Windsor, Franc, and the Rus Federation will launch counterattacks one after another. Prussia is without a leader right now, so this is the best time.”

Wayne sighed. Hidler was right. War would not stop. More wars always followed.

Even after Prussia surrendered officially, the Chosen Land wouldn’t return to peace. The Rus Federation, which had been deploying troops, Franc, which had been taking hits, and Windsor, which had been plotting behind the scenes, all had reasons to continue the war.

Prussia’s surrender would just decrease the number of people vying for the cake by one.

ε=(´ο`*)))

“I’d like to release the ocean of white foam fully until it floods the entire Chosen Land, turning everyone into mine,” Wayne murmured. “Then there will be no war...”

He could do that now!

Auston hadn’t caught the murmur. He said gravely, “Two minutes before the chancellery exploded, Prussia started a war with the Rus Federation on the eastern front...”

“Prussia has fallen into chaos. The smaller nations conquered by Prussia reached out to us...”

“Franc had been prepared to surrender, but suddenly felt encouraged to keep going!”

“The international landscape is complicated...”

Auston gave Wayne an overall review. Then he said, “Windsor doesn’t have a big appetite. We mainly wish to control Franc, and it’d be ideal if we can deploy our troops to Prussia. But the Rus Federation...”

“They have never hidden their desire for more land and resources!”

Wayne’s scalp tingled. Prussia had lost, but the Rus Federation was rising. With no nation of bald eagles in the Chosen Land, the Rus Federation would conquer the world.

Of course, there was a silver lining. The Rus Federation was incredibly impoverished right now. If a war started, they might not be able to take down the other countries.

Wayne sighed again. Damn war. It seems like it will never stop. Even a peaceful time is only a prologue for the next war.

I’m tired. I want to just release my white foam!

“Huh?!”

He suddenly realized something, his eyes widening. “Say that again? Franc isn’t going to surrender?”

“What else? What would they gain from surrendering now?”

“...”

Wayne clutched his chest. It pained him that he wouldn’t get to make jokes about Franc. He had been waiting for that for three years, which was enough time for a trainee to debut. Now he was told that the joke wasn’t valid...

He felt even worse that he was the reason he lost the amusement.

His heartbreak was short-lived, though. While it was annoying that he couldn’t mock Franc, the joy of having peace was greater. Franc would not fall under Prussia’s rule, and the Francan people would lead a much better life.

He remembered Lilith doing paperwork in Hell. She would be happy once she learned about the development.

He realized then that Hidler’s self-detonation before Franc could surrender was a good thing. Prussia, as a country, relied heavily on imported energy, and without Franc becoming part of her supply line, Prussia was severely weakened in this war. She wouldn’t be able to stir up trouble for much longer.

Franc’s naval fleet alone made a great difference. Since Hidler had died prematurely, Franc didn’t need to surrender, and Windsor didn’t need to destroy the fleet, which stopped the century-old friendship between Franc and Windsor from deepening in a bad way.

It was a good thing!

“Any other bad news, Auston?”

“Not at this moment...” Auston glanced at Wayne. “Be careful tomorrow. The demon is powerful, so don’t play a hero. Retreat if you have to. It’s not humiliating to kneel and bark.”

“Sorry, my knees don’t bend.” Wayne shook his head, trying to set Auston up. “You wouldn’t care since I would be the one kneeling, but if you were in my place, I don’t think you would get on your knees.”

“I would, for my family.”

“...”

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

“Why don’t you come to the meeting with—hey, don’t go!”