Chapter 00128: Shadow
# Shadow
Chapter 128
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 128: Shadow
On the other side, Li Chengxi, holding a barbecue skewer, finally let out a sigh of relief when he saw the great centipede, which looked disgusting even in its pixel style, die completely on the screen.
This time, it had been truly dangerous.
Li Chengxi had not anticipated at all that his direct interference could be blocked, and even his connection with Viola could be shielded.
The player assumed the role of the Demon God in the game, but the player was not the only god in the game world.
From this perspective, it wasn't all that strange that others could block his actions.
To use a less-than-perfect analogy, it was like when an opponent in a first-person shooter threw a flashbang at you, and you heard footsteps and the sound of gunfire.
At that moment, you either spun around firing randomly or took your hands off the keyboard and waited for the next round.
Li Chengxi had never encountered such a thing before, largely because Viola had never previously run into the followers of other gods, especially those with strong hostility.
After hearing Audel say that deities rarely interfered directly in the mortal world, Li Chengxi had been thinking that the Demon God he was playing was quite awesome; he himself had literally interfered with his own hands quite a few times.
Only today did he understand why.
It was because if you wanted to interfere, other gods would obstruct you.
When Li Chengxi tried to press his finger on the assassin, he was blocked by the power of the Master of a Hundred Feet.
But just because it had no effect didn't mean there was no cost.
It was equivalent to spending Faith Points for nothing.
Thankfully, he had obtained the second Ring of the Demon King, unlocking the 'Miracle' ability, which allowed him to directly pour divine power into Viola.
Otherwise, his number one follower would have likely died on the spot.
Speaking of which, Li Chengxi hadn't expected that the divine power in Viola's hands could be used not only for offense and defense but also for healing.
He had only seen through the character panel that Lord Walter was parasitized and that next to the name of Steward Lux behind the city lord were the two words 'Shapeshift', and then he had notified Viola of this.
He was also surprised when she punched him, and even more surprised that she could actually use such a physical-looking method to expel the parasite.
Li Chengxi had just been pondering whether he should go out to a pharmacy late at night to buy some deworming medicine.
But then again, why would this god, the Master of a Hundred Feet, target Viola?
To be honest, this was the first time Li Chengxi had seen this name.
If it had been the Plague Goddess, whom he had slapped around a few times, it would have been perfectly reasonable for her to come seeking revenge.
For example, "I can't find the Demon God for revenge, but can I not find the Demon God's follower?"
But Li Chengxi had never had any contact with the Master of a Hundred Feet.
Could it be that this son of a bitch was an ally of the Plague Goddess and came for revenge after seeing his ally get beaten?
Or perhaps this had nothing to do with the Plague Goddess.
Maybe the Master of a Hundred Feet was like Li Chengxi, currently protecting a certain Demon Kingdom, and felt that Viola's survival would affect the grand plan of invasion, so he came to deal with her.
This also seemed quite reasonable.
But Viola's trip to Sailing Harbor was a last-minute decision, with only a few days of preparation time.
If it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, could they really have prepared a method to isolate the Demon God's interference?
He remembered Audel telling him several times that the Demon God was the most powerful deity.
Would the Master of a Hundred Feet really want to provoke a powerful enemy for no reason?
From a cost-benefit perspective, it didn't quite add up.
Or perhaps the existence of the Demon God was a huge threat to other deities, so regardless of grudges or interests, they just had to prevent the Demon God from growing powerful?
That also seemed a bit problematic.
There were Druids in Springlight Woodland who believed in the Springwater Goddess, and he hadn't seen the Springwater Goddess issue any divine oracles saying the Demon God must die or anything of the sort.
It felt like he had been beaten up for no reason, and he still didn't know why.
Li Chengxi scratched his head and decided to put the matter aside for now.
He needed to carefully check if there were any other problems with the other people in the castle.
He couldn't handle another incident like this.
–‐‐——–‐‐——
Someone had tried to assassinate the princess.
Such a major event could not, of course, be dismissed so easily.
Everyone in the castle, including the guests in the banquet hall who were bewildered and had no idea what had happened, had to be screened to confirm there were no problems.
With such a huge incident, the banquet naturally could not continue.
The inspections went on until midnight before the guests were confirmed to be fine and allowed to leave.
"Come in."
Walter sat in his office, looking at documents and occasionally rubbing his bruised stomach.
Hearing a knock, he gestured for the person outside to enter.
The person who entered the office was no stranger; it was Walter's daughter, Wendy.
"Father, are you feeling better?"
"Sigh, much better. Her Highness's punch reminds me of when your grandfather used to train me as a child."
Wendy let out a quiet laugh and sat on the sofa opposite Walter.
When the incident occurred, Wendy and Reina were still in the banquet hall entertaining guests and had no idea what was happening.
Otherwise, with her butler Reina's combat power of level 37, she could have at least slowed down the great centipede's escape.
"The servants and soldiers in the castle have been mostly screened. No traces of shapeshifting creatures were found, but we did uncover two spies."
"It was the maids in charge of the tea, wasn't it?"
"So you knew?"
"I deliberately kept them around to feed them some false information for the outside."
"They are still being interrogated, but it seems they aren't connected to this incident."
"That's right. If they were connected, they would have acted long ago. Why wait until now?"
Walter shook his head.
"Although one shouldn't be concerned with any means on the battlefield, from what I know of the Tiger of the Kingdom, he doesn't like to use despicable methods like assassination. This probably has nothing to do with the Subia Demon Kingdom either."
"You have a high opinion of your enemy."
"It's your grandfather who has a high opinion of his old rival. I hear it so often my ears are about to grow calluses."
While the battlefield was cruel, it was also a place where heroes cherished heroes.
The more powerful the enemy, the higher the regard their opponent would hold them in, rather than simply belittling them.
"But I truly didn't expect that Steward Lux, who has worked in the castle for ten years, would be a shapeshifting creature."
"The mages inspected the barrier beneath the castle and found traces of it being tampered with. Its effectiveness was weakened, which is how the shapeshifting creature snuck in."
The Fangs of the Lord of Hundred Feet were a special type of shapeshifting creature.
They would eat their victims hollow and then crawl inside to operate the victim's body as a disguise.
Coupled with the fact that the barrier had been tampered with, they were able to infiltrate the castle.
Wendy guessed that the shapeshifting creature might have bribed Steward Lux, had him tamper with the barrier, and then ate him before disguising itself as him.
As for when he was replaced, that was unknown.
It could have been recently, or it could have been a long time ago.
It was even possible that from the very beginning, Steward Lux was a pawn destined to be discarded.
Wendy wasn't just guessing randomly.
She placed a document on Walter's desk.
"I just checked the archives and found that Steward Lux made a spelling mistake when filling in his birthplace. Such a simple mistake shouldn't have been made by a civil servant in charge of the castle's internal affairs."
Walter looked at the red-circled spelling error and pondered.
"This kind of spelling mistake doesn't seem like one our countrymen would make. It's more like someone from the Osweya Demon Kingdom."
This was a Demon Kingdom that was furthest from the Avarus Demon Kingdom and one of the few neutral nations in this war.
If Steward Lux was a spy sent by the Osweya Demon Kingdom, then what connection did that country have with the Master of a Hundred Feet?
"Father, who sent Steward Lux?"
"Of course it was your grand..."
Walter paused for a moment.
"No, that's not right. It must have been the Royal Family. Ten years ago, you and your grandfather were still living in the capital."
"Yes, Grandfather probably doesn't know about this. But for the Royal Family to meddle in the internal affairs of a regional lord is very abnormal."
"Wendy, what are you trying to say?"
"Grandfather once mentioned to me that there is an unknown power in this world lurking beneath the kingship, manipulating the change of rulers. He had no proof, just a feeling."
Wendy sat back on the sofa, holding her staff in her arms, lost in thought.
"What if it wasn't a delusion? What if a shadow-like entity truly exists?"
(End of Chapter)