Devouring Dragon Heir

The next day, everything returned to a semblance of normal in the Riverdale Kingdom's fortress.

The tension that had gripped the soldiers for a week was slowly being replaced by a sense of profound relief.

News came from the scouts, who had been sent to track the enemy. The report stated that the demons were packing up their camp and leaving for now.

The assault had been stopped, at least for the time being. The news was met with a mix of cheers and quiet gratitude from the soldiers, who were still recovering from the brutal, prolonged battles.

But before they could take any further actions, a letter arrived from the Demon King's capital, a massive, swirling vortex of dark energy on the horizon.

The letter was carried by a demonic emissary, who, under a white flag of truce, delivered the message.

It was a simple, chilling message, telling them that they would be stopping the assault for now, but that the Riverdale Kingdom would still be theirs.

The soldiers who had been celebrating their victory tensed up again; the battle had not stopped, but it was just a temporary halt by the demons.

Klaus, who was still in the camp, felt a surge of annoyance.

He wanted to finish the war as soon as possible and go home. His grandfather, William, might be searching for him, and he had his own goals to achieve.

He wanted to get his hands on the SSS-rank gate and the Thomas's archive as soon as possible. The delay was an unnecessary complication.

Before he could take any further actions, he was told by the System that time moved faster in the realm, so he didn't need to worry, and he would go back to the same time he had just entered.

This was a crucial piece of information that calmed Klaus.

The time dilation meant he had an almost unlimited amount of time to grow, to train, to perfect his skills, and to increase his power without worrying about the time he was losing in his own world.

He could now grow unrestrained.

Klaus did not know how the system deduced that, but he did not bother asking.

He had learned that the System had its secrets that he did not tell Klaus about, and it was best to just go with the flow.

He was content that he had enough time here now, a luxury he had not had since his transmigration.

As Klaus was pondering over these things, he asked the system out of curiosity,

"System, why did I not absorb any skills from the EX-rank I killed?" He was referring to the demon general he had defeated a few hours ago.

He had killed him, but his status panel did not show any new skills. This was a mystery he wanted to solve.

[Host] Usually, skills are not that common among stronger races. Skills possess various limitations. Even humans of this world don't use skills that much.]

The system replied, its voice calm and steady.

"Oh, but skills work all right for me," Klaus said, confused. He had a plethora of skills, and they worked perfectly fine.

That is because you have quite a lot of them, and you also have divine-ranked skills.

Anything ranked divine or around that rank is an anomalous treasure desired by even the strongest races of the universe.

The reason for not using skills commonly is that they don't make their hosts grow, although your absorption skill has crossed even that principle.

Most races prefer cultivation methods over skills, as they offer a more permanent and natural way to grow in power.

"Oh, so what do people of this world use if not skills?" Klaus asked.

[Based on the data collected, the demons used cultivation techniques. I don't have any data about the humans of Star Land, though.

"Oh, so why did I not get a cultivation method when I absorbed the first general of demons?" Klaus asked, a new question forming in his mind.

Host, when you initiated absorption, the system had the choice to either absorb the comprehension of the erosion concept or the half-comprehended cultivation technique.

The system did not deem the cultivation technique more worthy than the erosion concept.

The 0.2% of the erosion concept's comprehension must have taken the first general years of cultivation.

"Oh, but if the cultivation techniques are too slow, then I won't be able to cultivate anytime soon this way," Klaus said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He wanted to grow stronger, faster.

[Ding! The host is advised to save up DP and try to draw a divine-rank or possibly God-ranked cultivation technique.]

"Oh, it sucks that they are so expensive," Klaus said. "By the way, how many DP for the last battle?"

[Ding! You have been awarded 2 DP for B-ranked monsters and 5 DP for A-ranked monsters.

For the general, you didn't get any since you were awarded the erosion concept. In total, you got 19,000 DP for 8,000 monsters.

where 1,000 were A-ranked and the rest were B-ranked. Adding the previous points, you now have 24,000 DP approx. It is advisable to keep killing for more points.

"Yea, yea, don't worry. I have quite a lot of good resources I can get my DP from: the Watcher camp on the moon, the Legacy Families, the demon cults on Earth, and here we have demons." His list of potential targets was long, and his resolve to grow stronger was unwavering.

Just then, a soldier walked into his camp, informing him that the commander, Caesar, will be returning to the capital in a few hours, and he has invited him to bless the capital land.

"Oh, tell him I will accompany him then." Klaus nodded towards the soldier, who then returned to inform Caesar about his acceptance.

-----

Meanwhile, in the capital city of the Riverdale Kingdom, far from the front lines, a secret meeting was underway.

In a dark room, lit only by a few sputtering oil lamps, a group of powerful nobles and ministers were seated around a large, heavy wooden table.

Their faces were grim, their expressions filled with anger and frustration. This was a get-together of power-hungry officials who had secretly wanted to use the demon invasion as a pedestal for their benefits.

Their plan was simple and insidious: they would allow the demon army to weaken the kingdom's defenses and kill the king.

Then, they would step in, after taking control of the kingdom, they would resist the demon king's forces.

They had countless strong people at the pseudo-transcendent rank among them who could resist the demon generals.

They had just not helped the kingdom earlier since they wanted to weaken the king's control over the kingdom.

A man with a prominent scar across his left eye slammed his fist on the table.

He was a high-ranking minister, his voice a low, angry growl. "Our plan has been crushed! The demon army was supposed to rush to the capital today, but they are gone! That 'Messenger' has ruined everything!"

A woman with a thin, cruel smile, the head of the royal treasury, spoke. "I agree. We have invested so much in this plan. We have sacrificed so many of our resources. All for nothing."

"But the demons did not take the kingdom, and the king is dead," another man, the general of the Royal Police guard who had secretly allied with the nobles, said, his voice a low whisper.

"We can still take over. The crown is now empty. We just have to kill that bitch before she ascends the throne."

The woman with the thin, cruel smile, the head of the royal treasury, nodded.

"Yes, the king's daughter, the princess. She is young, weak, and has no allies. We can easily assassinate her swiftly and put the blame on the demons."

"I agree that Caesar will not be able to do anything, but what about the messenger?" the man with the prominent scar asked.

"What if he returns and comes to the capital? What if he decides to interfere in our plans? His power is immense. The demons were terrified of him."

"We will deal with him when he returns," the woman with the thin, cruel smile said.

"We will pretend to be his allies, to be grateful for his help, and then I will use my daughter to get close to him."

"Strong men always like beautiful women, and once my daughter catches his attention, she will use the god killer poison in his drinks that can kill a pseudo transcendent easily."

"The Messenger is a wild card," the general of the Royal police said.

"We cannot predict his actions. He might just find out our scheme and decide to go against us."

"Why are you so worried? We have three pseudo transcendents in this room plus five more on our side" the woman with the thin, cruel smile said.

"We can just surround and kill everyone if our plans fall apart."