Chapter 287: Taking Asmadeus Hostage
"Vampire King Atlas. I’m sure you have a misunderstanding. The Undead Region and the Death Domain had no problem with each other in the last. Elisia would probably not do anything against you people. We all know that you have been neutral in the wars of the past. Why would we do anything to push you closer to them?" Asmadeus asked the Vampire King, failing to understand his reasoning.
He knew that Elisia was our to screw him over, but even she wouldn’t be so stupid as to kill a Vampire General, knowing what consequences it might have. He knew why she wanted to kill Ryder. It was to bring trouble to him, but for that, she wouldn’t mess with the Undead Region.
She had the levy to mess with the Demon Realm since the Death Domain and the Demon Realm both had almost similar strength, and both didn’t have their kings. They could protect themselves from Demon Realm’s assault.
They could at least give a good fight and maybe even win, but bringing another Enemy in the picture, especially at a time like this, simply meant closing all doors of salvation. It was dangerous for Death Domain, which might result in their complete annihilation since they would need to save the Undead Kings and the High Dukes at once.
" It’s obvious. You did that to scheme against us. To make the Vampire King hate us so that it can pull him to your side. It’s all out in the open. Your Death Warrior already told us the truth about Elisia going to the Undead Region, and it’s also a common knowledge that she was kidnapping Demons and killing them. I believe she not only wanted to frame us in the eyes of Vampire King but orders as well. I wonder if the Lich King was her neck target for the same scheme," Ryder chimed in, pouring out to the fire that was already raging.
"I don’t comprehend what you’re talking about, but from your words, it seems like Demon Realm is involved, and you’re putting the responsibility on us, saying that you are innocent and it was our scheme," Asmadeus muttered as he looked in Ryder’s eyes.
"It doesn’t matter anymore. Bring out the girl. I want the answers from her and not you! Today, either I get my answers and my General back, or I kill her," the Vampire King told Asmadeus.
"Same here. I want you to give her to us otherwise..."
Ryder was about to threaten Asmadeus as well when he got a sudden notification from Janus. He stopped talking.
[Ding... A Bracelet of Immortality Fragment had been detected nearby]
’Hmm? a fragment of my bracelet? How do you know? You said that it couldn’t feel the fragments or find them?’ Ryder asked Janus with a frown.
[After the third upgrade, I can feel the Fragments when they are in the close proximity] Janus responded.
’Interesting. Tell me where the fragment is,’ Ryder asked Janus.
[It’s on Prince Asmadeus’s body]
’His body?’ Ryder thought as he started observing Prince Asmadeus carefully.
He didn’t see anything of significance on Prince Asmadeus, but he did see a chain around his neck.
The front end of the chain was hidden inside the clothes of Prince Asmadeus near his chest.
’Could it be that it’s a necklace and there’s a Fragment of my Bracelet being used as a green?’ Ryder wondered as he frowned.
"That chain looks pretty good, Prince Asmadeus," Ryder suddenly complimented.
Before Asmadeus could ask why Ryder was praising his chain and find it suspicious, Ryder continued.
"I remember having the same chain. It was stolen. I was wondering what happened to it. Did one of your spies steal it?" Ryder asked Asmadeus.
He didn’t want her to be suspicious of why Ryder was asking about the chain, so he made up a story about him having a similar chain.
He thought that Asmadeus would simply show him the chain to prove that it wasn’t the same one as Ryder.
Ryder thought that after confirming that the chain did have a fragment for the bracelet of immortality, he could keep insisting that it’s his chain.
Then, he could ask for the chain back and get the Prince to give him the chain.
Asmadeus looked at Ryder with a frown on his face.
"Are you accusing me of theft?" Asmadeus inquired as he frowned. "I, Asmadeus Salazar, will steal a chain?"
" Bring the rest of the chain out of your clothes. Let me see if it’s actually the same. I’m ninety percent sure that it’s mine, but for my peace of mind, I want to be completely certain. Show me the entirety of this chain!" Ryder thundered as he looked at Asmadeus.
"I hate thieves, especially Royal Thieves. If it’s actually my stolen chain, then that would just increase the list of your crimes against me," he added.
Asmadeus touched his chain as his frown deepened.
"Sure, I can show you, but first tell me what the rest of the chain looks like. If you’re right, and it’s the same when I pull the chain out, I’ll unconditionally return the chain back to you. So tell me, Prince Hades, what does your chain look like," Asmadeus asked Ryder as he looked at him with an amused look on his face.
"If you can’t answer correctly, then it would mean that you accused me wrongly. In that case, you would leave this place and forget whatever Elisia did. You won’t ask for her. Things will go back to how they were before," he added.
Ryder was stunned as he didn’t expect this. Now he was standing between a rock and a hard place. If he didn’t answer correctly, then he wouldn’t be able to claim that it’s his stolen chain and ask for his return. As for answering correctly, it was almost impossible as well since a bracelet of immortality fragment could be in any shape and color.
’Janus, do you know which Elemental bracelet fragment it is? Just tell me the color of the crystal of that fragment.’
Ryder didn’t know anything about this fragment, so he tried to ask Janus instead. As long as he had the correct answer, he could get the chain and the Fragment easily.
[Not possible. Janus only knows where the fragment is, not the accurate position or the kind of fragment it is]
Janus answered Ryder, crushing all his hopes.
’Heck, how am I going to answer now. I accused him of theft. Not only will I not get anything if I’m wrong, I would be accused of blaming him wrongly. He can use that as a way to settle the scores of what happened before.
’Ah, right. Why didn’t I think of this? It’s obvious. It’s so easy. I was worrying for no reason,’ Ryder thought as he smiled.
"Prince Hades, Do you accept the bet or not?" Asmadeus asked again.
"I accept," Ryder said as he nodded his head.
"Good. Then give me the description of the rest of it. Let’s see how close you are," Asmadeus let out as he looked in Ryder’s eyes.
"If it’s my bracelet, then there should be a white crystal attached to it," Ryder declared as he smiled.
Asmadeus heard Ryder’s answers and started laughing out loud.
"You accused me of theft in front of everyone. Let me show everyone how wrong you were. You should be ready to leave," Prince Asmadeus said in a grim tone as he looked at Ryder.
He pulled out the other end of the chain outside his clothes and showed Ryder the rest of it.
Ryder was right. The chain did have a Crystal attached to it, but he was wrong as well. Even though there was a crystal attached to the chain, it was not white at all. Instead, it was blue.
"No matter how I look at it, it’s not white. I’m right, aren’t I?" Asmadeus inquired as he smiled.
"The three of you can leave now as per the bet," Asmadeus said as he looked at Ryder, High Duke Oris, and Rale.
After telling them, Asmadeus shifted his gaze over to the Vampire King.
"As for Vampire King, you can come to our Palace. We can clear your concerns too. I’ll let you meet Elisia as well. You can ask her the questions you have and get the clarification. I’m sure she did nothing you’re thinking," he told the Vampire King.
"Hmm? Are you asking us to leave? Why should we leave?" Ryder asked Asmadeus as he grinned.
"Because you lost the bet you agreed to. Is Prince Hades going to break a bet?" Asmadeus responded with a frown.
"I told you that I’m going to leave this place in rubles if I don’t get Elisia. That’s my word too. I can only break one of my words to fulfill my other words," Ryder replied with a smile.
"High Duke Oris, how about you play around a little bit? Take Asmadeus hostage. Let’s end it fast," Ryder whispered in High Duke Oris’ ears.
