'This Demonmir… he is more than what he lets on.'
Alephee commented in Eren's head as he observed the stalemate observed by all rankers present. He didn't disturb Alephee's thought process and allowed her to continue.
'He might be looking for a way to remove the kingdom's restrictions placed on him. Maybe he has already done that. But that's not the only reason behind his betrayal.
This guy… he harnesses anger and wrath directed at him. There's a part of him that is the Demon Prince of Wrath after all.
What would happen when Edinburgh's authorities start hating him? What would happen when the entire Edinburgh populace got angry at him for his betrayal of the kingdom that raised him?
Sages from both sides are busy figuring out whose side Demonmir is on. But they cannot comprehend the existence of the Demon Prince behind Ottoman's deeds. They are yet to realize that he doesn't care about any side.
Ottoman will grow unprecedentedly after the news of his betrayal becomes viral.'
Eren looked at Demonmir with wary eyes as Alephee made him understand the bigger reason behind his betrayal. The butcher would not admit this to Sage Lehan and the rest. However, he had to say that he would have done the same thing as Demonmir if he was in the same situation.
Eren also understood why Levine compared him to Demonmir so often. Just like him, Demonmir would go to any lengths for power.
'Damn it. This wild mushroom needs to be handled sooner than I planned. Otherwise, he will cause me more problems in the future.'
Eren thought to himself and tightened the grip on Rigor Mortis and Anduril in both hands. He took a step back and decided to distance himself from himself and Demonmir. He also told his teammates to keep a safe distance from him just in case. The White Raven crew members didn't understand why Eren asked them to stay away. But they followed his orders nonetheless.
After all, the butcher couldn't count on Hansen or others to protect him when Demonmir turned hostile to the kingdom that raised him. Thankfully, Nina, Levine, and Jiana Jihang were present at the scene. They were away from the arena. So the butcher decided to slowly approach them without eye-catching moves.
If what Levine said about the man was true, Demonmir would try to find a way to eliminate him. That's because Eren would have done the same if he was in Demonmir's shoes.
Ottoman had already targeted him sneakily at the start of the graduation event. The wound he gave to the butcher at the back of his head still caused discomfort for the latter. In short, there was no bottom line for Demonmir who could already stoop to such levels before coming out as a traitor.
***
Hansen was very angry.
He was angry at himself for not seeing the traitor in Demonmir sooner. Someone like a Demon Prince should have been too difficult to control even when his vessel's rank was so low. Despite this, Ottoman was very cooperative with Edinburgh. All this time they thought Demonmir had controlled the demon soul fragment within him perfectly well.
A Sage like him should have seen this coming, Hansen thought. But regret was a bitter pill to swallow for anyone, including a Sage.
Only now did Hansen and others from Edinburgh understand why Layos succeeded in its infiltration. Acting as a vessel for a Demon Prince, Ottoman had various rights and privileges inside the kingdom despite certain restrictions.
These restrictions were placed on him to ensure his loyalty. But apparently, this was too much to ask for Samael's demon soul fragment. They had not found out how he got rid of such restrictions. But at this point, that was irrelevant.
It was Demonmir who enabled the infiltrators to enter the graduation event. It was him that made so many Edinburgh rankers defect to Layos. He gave courage to the sleeper cells hiding within the kingdom as well as reassuring them that he would not side with the kingdom of Edinburgh in the upcoming war.
Demonmir had a certain pull over the rankers. His charismatic presence alone was enough to persuade most rankers to do what he wanted them to do. Armed with knowledge from the demon realm, Ottoman was the biggest spoiler of the graduation event the kingdom of Edinburgh never saw coming.
Hansen decided to deal with the traitor immediately. He knew a Demon Prince was not something he could handle. However, Ottoman was just his vessel. And the difference in ranking status between Hansen and Demonmir was overwhelming. That's what Hansen was counting on to face Demonmir.
"Demonmir… I'll fucking kill you. You will regret biting the hand that fed you, you fucking snake."
Hansen gritted his teeth and said in frustration. He was about to approach Demonmir. Just then, Gregory let his presence run amok in the surroundings. He let Hansen know that the latter needed to get through to him if he wanted to harm Demonmir.
"Hahaha. Greg, I would advise you not to trust this backstabbing man. Demonmir will fuck you too if he gets a chance. But I guess you wouldn't believe me even if I told you.
So come. Let us fight and settle our differences violently. It's been a long time since I last fought with you anyway. Let me see how you have improved."
Saying that Hansen disappeared from his position. The infiltrator also found out that Gregory had vanished into thin air to meet Hansen's charge.
Zoom. Clang. Boom.
The entire Edinnica arena was affected when the two Sages clashed using their drawn-out swords. The S-Rank mana summoned to the surroundings made it difficult for everyone to cast and maintain their spells. It overwhelmed a few rankers and made them unable to breathe.
The ground shook and the Skyview started being affected by spatial distortions caused by the two Sages simply testing each other. And this was when both Sages were conscious of not harming their younger generations.
