The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Even if he hadn't anticipated it, Austin had given him a heads-up to prepare in advance.

　"I'll go first."

　Sabrina spoke calmly before leading her entourage into the secret chamber. She hadn't shown much interest in the day's events from beginning to end. Because this was hardly a pleasant task; she'd been sent purely to clean up the mess left by the Holy Church.

　Doing well doesn't help her at all. Doing poorly, she'll definitely be the scapegoat again.

　If she weren't representing the Holy Church herself, she would have gladly handed the matter over to Dak—at least Professors Kazel and Harvey, who were with Dak, were truly reliable.

　But since she was already there, she had to go first.

　The Holy Cult members who came with her were all experts who had sealed the Demon King's soul.

　Their sole purpose in coming here was to make that "demon king" disappear completely—by whatever means necessary.

　In dealing with the "Demon King," King Austin clearly trusted these experienced experts more.

　Dac is just a candidate.

　To lure him into a trap, Dark deliberately leaked a little information related to "Demon King Aleister." But it seems that this didn't attract Austin's attention enough.

　The evidence chain for that information may be insufficient, and it does seem rather untrue.

　A normal person would probably never imagine that the Holy Church would completely fabricate the "Demon King's Execution Ritual." The so-called true "Demon King" had already escaped. The "Demon King" sent to the underworld during the execution ritual was actually an artificial creation reconstructed by the Holy Church from the "Demon King's" body.

　In the Holy Church's view, there are two "Demon Kings".

　One is the "true demon king" who escaped before the execution ceremony, and the other is the "false demon king" who was recreated from the body of the "demon king" and then sent to the underworld.

　In the king's view, there has only ever been one "Demon King": the "artificial Demon King" who was sent to the underworld by the Holy Church in an execution ceremony and then returned from the underworld.

　As for the existence of "Demon King Aleister," also known as "Demon King Number Two," that can only be described as Dark Dimon's one-sided claim.

　There are doubts, but no certainty.

　In reality, none of the three parties were truly open and honest with each other, and therefore each had its own understanding and calculations.

　The Holy Church had already harbored suspicions about "Demon King Aleister" when he appeared in the Free City. Now, after Dark deliberately leaked the information, they were certain that "Demon King Aleister" was the "True Demon King" in their eyes.

　The reason why the "True Demon King" has disappeared until now is because it fell into the hands of St. Marian Academy.

　This coincides with the fact that "Blood Princess" Ophelia Brad is in St. Marian Academy.

　Considering Ophelia's past, it is highly likely that St. Marian Academy obtained a special method to deal with the Demon King in exchange for her protection.

　Now that the "fake demon king" has reappeared and Dark Dimon has intervened again, St. Marian Academy has a perfectly good reason to get involved once more.

　That's why Sabrina, representing the Holy Church, seemed particularly easy to talk to during this morning's tripartite agreement negotiations.

　They believed that the "True Demon King" was in the hands of Dark and his companions.

　For the Holy Church, that was like the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, something they couldn't help but fear.

　—And not because of the good relationship between Archbishop Sabrina and Dark Dimon.

　Therefore, the Holy Church not only welcomed Dark Dimon's participation in the tripartite agreement on behalf of St. Marian Academy, thus confirming the "death of the Demon King," but also wanted to actively facilitate it.

　Given the pleasant cooperation between the two sides recently, and the possibility of further cooperation in the future, this could even be interpreted as a "sign of goodwill".

　In short, this is definitely not a bad thing.

　There's no reason to refuse.

　After entering the secret chamber, Sabrina and the religious experts set up a barrier to isolate the chamber from the outside world.

　This was within the bounds of King Austin's permission, and the Holy Church would not directly reveal its secret methods to outsiders.

　This also set an example for Dac.

　Once the experts from the Holy Church have finished their inspection, he will naturally be able to set up a barrier to separate the secret room from the outside world, thus enabling him to carry out his own purpose.

　The Church's experts stayed in the secret room for a full hour.

　For the entire hour, Dak chatted with the king about all sorts of random things. At this point, the king finally showed some signs of old age, constantly bringing up how he had changed Dak's diapers when he was a child, and laughing as he recounted how Dak had almost peed on his face once, saying that Dak had been mischievous since childhood and had indeed grown up to be extraordinary... Dak's face was practically burning with embarrassment.

　Only Professor Cazell and Professor Harvey were with him, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to handle it.

　After chatting away for quite a while, the old king probably felt he had successfully brought the two closer. Just like any old man in the world, he started asking about his marriage.

　To dissuade Austin from his idea, Dark made it clear that he already had someone he liked.

　But the old king waved his hand and said that Pandora was a dragon-human hybrid and not a suitable wife. He would eventually marry and have children, and would have to find a pure-blooded noblewoman. Then he went on and on, much like an old man who had finally found someone to confide in.

　"Speaking of which, at your age, I was already engaged to the Empress..."

　Just as the old king was about to begin his melancholy spree again, the members of the Holy Church finally removed the barrier and emerged from the secret chamber.

　Dak breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stood up, saying, "Regarding Charles's matter, the two professors and I will do our best. Your Majesty, please rest assured."

　After exchanging glances with the two professors, he walked towards the secret room.

　Three maids accompanied them.

　Sabrina and the religious expert emerged from the secret room, their expressions far from relaxed.

　But this was entirely within Dark's expectations.

　The Holy Church's experts are sealing experts, not soul surgery experts. After seeing Charles last time, he determined that his soul had partially merged with the Demon King's soul.

　However, it was different from what happened to Witt back then, because the soul of this "Demon King No. 3" had been in hibernation until the Demon God Awakening Ritual, during which it showed signs of awakening, so it only fused with a small part of the soul.

　Although this small part will gradually worsen over time, it is being dealt with relatively promptly now.

　The experts of the Holy Church do not possess the ability to completely sever Charles's soul from the soul of "Demon King No. 3" while simultaneously restoring Charles's soul completely.

　Therefore, in the end, this matter could only be handled by Dark... or more precisely, by Professor Harvey.

　No one can question a Necromancer's ability to manipulate souls. Especially one who just won third place in the World Cup.

　After their eyes met, Dak and the others walked past the Holy Church members and went straight into the secret chamber.

　Then, Professor Cazell directly deployed a barrier to isolate the interior from the outside.

　Charles was lying in bed, half-asleep. Professor Cazell summoned his "alchemy beast" and began examining his physical condition.

　Dark was checking the secret room for any hidden surveillance devices. After confirming there were no cameras, he gave the two professors a wink and then began summoning the "Black-eared Beast".

　After a moment, Professor Cazell stopped his examination. His first determination was that the Church had not left any backdoor in Charles's body.

　But it seems the religious experts weren't being presumptuous.

　“Since there’s no problem, let’s wake Charles up,” Dark said. Professor Cazell smiled slightly and woke Charles up.

　Dark used "Elysium V" on "BlackEarmon" to make it evolve into "Cherubimon (Evil)".

　Charles had just woken up, and before he could even open his eyes, he was plunged into complete darkness. His consciousness gradually became muddled, and his intelligence began to regress.

　When his vision returned, he only possessed the intelligence of a toddler. Professor Harvey summoned a jellyfish-like magical spirit, which extended its tentacles to connect Dark and Charles's minds, allowing them to accelerate their thinking through the mental connection and obtain all the information they desired in a short time.

　From the moment Charles began his search for the hidden trial at St. Mary's Academy until this day, every detail has been thoroughly investigated.

　Dark snapped his fingers, summoning the "Magical Secretary," and shared his thoughts with it through a mental bond, recording all the information within it.

　As the "Magic Book" continued to turn its pages, countless pieces of information appeared on them. A full quarter of an hour later, the "Magic Book" finally stopped turning the pages. Dark opened his eyes, his expression returning to calm.

　Professor Harvey casually waved his hand, causing Charles to fall back into a half-asleep state—he would have no memory of the "inquiry."

　"How is it?" Professor Cazell asked.

　Dark retrieved the degenerated "Black-eared Beast" into his magic card, holding the "Magic Book" and saying, "It's basically consistent with the investigation results. Charles encountered 'Demon Lord No. 3' the first time he entered the Hidden Trial and was made into a vessel. Afterwards, with the suicide of 'Demon Lord No. 3,' its soul was reincarnated into Charles's body, but it has been in a state of hibernation ever since."

　Professor Cazell asked, "Since the Demon King's soul has been in a state of hibernation, how did Charles discover it?"

　"It's a dark wizard," Dark said. Professor Cazell was somewhat surprised. "A dark wizard?" Dark nodded slightly and said, "Charles is, after all, the king's only son, and he has many capable subordinates. This dark wizard is one of them. The reason Charles was able to discover the 'Demon King' in hibernation and slowly absorb the 'Demon King's' knowledge and power is all because of the dark wizard's guidance and instruction."

　Professor Cazell asked, "And where is he?"

　Dark said, "He was killed in the line of duty while investigating an incident involving an evil god."

　"So it's not that easy to obtain conclusive evidence after all?" Professor Cazell sighed upon hearing this.

　Dark said, "It's not a big problem. As long as we continue to trace the origins of the dark wizard, we'll eventually find the truth. Besides, we don't want to expose anything; we just want to find out the source of the matter."

　After saying that, he handed Charles back to the two professors.

　He has achieved his first objective here; the next step is the second: to retrieve the soul of "Demon King Number Three." However, this will depend on Charles's specific circumstances.

　Through the conversation just now, Dak realized that Charles's situation might not be as easy to resolve as he had imagined.

　As expected, after Professor Harvey conducted a thorough examination of his soul, he unfortunately came to a conclusion.

　Although only a small portion of Charles's soul was absorbed and fused with the soul of "Demon King No. 3," a large portion was corrupted and assimilated by the power of the "Demon King."

　Under these circumstances, his personality no longer belonged to him, and he truly became a "victim".

　This situation is completely different from what Witt had experienced before.

　However, Professor Harvey saw this as just another, more interesting challenge. He always found great enjoyment in solving such problems.

　"In short, we must first precisely separate his soul from the soul of 'Demon King No. 3,' then extract and purify the 'Demon King' portion of his soul and body, and finally reshape his personality."

　"The entire process is extremely complex, requiring a very high level of expertise in the surgical environment and equipment. If we don't use Ergani's 'brain in a vat,' we'll need to use a 'dream machine.'"

　"My suggestion is to take it back to the college for processing."

　Professor Harvey finished speaking in one breath, his eyes shining as he looked at Charles. Darke quietly wiped away his sweat and said, "Then take him back to the academy to deal with him."

　Bringing Charles back to the academy for processing would be the best solution, of course. But persuading King Austin would be a difficult task.

　At this point, the Holy Church needs to provide full support.

　Dak decided to use his strengths to make a small connection with Archbishop Sabrina.

　The result was quite good; he and the archbishop worked together to launch a series of combined attacks and successfully gained the old king's approval.

　But in reality, during their conversation, Dak realized that King Austin was not as anxious as he appeared.

　There are two possibilities.

　First, he didn't actually care about Charles's life or death. Second, he actually had the ability to help Charles recover. Or perhaps, both are true.

　But whether it's the former or the latter, Austin could not show it openly.

　Therefore, when the Holy Church showed its incompetence, he had no choice but to agree to Dark's demands.

　However, he did not agree immediately and had Dak and the others take Charles away. Instead, he said he would wait for Charles to wake up, persuade him to agree to the matter, and give a final answer the next morning.

　Knowing this was the bottom line, Dak agreed.

　The three parties then discussed and amended the agreement, adding a benefit exchange to the original agreement.

　Having successfully secured some benefits for his family and the academy, Darke signed the tripartite agreement.

　Besides saving Charles, what he needed to do was to film a movie called "The Hero Kills the Demon King".

　This is not a difficult task.

　He doesn't even need "actors"; by using the "dream machine" to slightly alter the events that occur in the "Dark Crystal Cave," he can create a storyline that feels just like reality.

　By distributing the video via projection and manipulating public opinion, the story of "the hero slaying the demon king" can become a reality.

　He himself, on the other hand, can remain completely hidden behind the scenes.

　The only difficult part is getting Witte to agree to cooperate. Witte is unlikely to agree.

　But "Blood Princess" Olivia Brad will definitely agree. (Then Witt has no choice but to agree. In critical moments, there's no room for naivety.)

　After reaching an agreement, Darke boarded a carriage and left the royal residence. He then bid farewell to the two professors and headed to the secret base of "Scorpion Palace" to release Thompson and put an end to the matter.

　Afterwards, he stayed at the secret base until nightfall, drawing up a detailed design of the underground pipelines for the "City of Magic," which he then handed over to Laura to oversee the completion of the "City of Magic's" foundation construction as soon as possible.

　Then at eight o'clock in the evening, he finally received further news from the Snow Mountain Goddess Temple.

　The news is reassuring; Arvit has led the team out of the Temple of the Goddess of the Snow Mountain.

　Although some people sustained injuries, they are all within the range of treatment.

　However, after leaving the wounded behind, Arvit and Claire re-entered the Temple of the Goddess of the Snow Mountain.

　Although Dak wanted to go, he decided against it, considering that his trip would probably not bring about any substantial change.

　Furthermore, his every move now not only attracts attention from people, but also from "gods".

　Not to mention Hermes, the "god of voyeurism," even Aphrodite, the "goddess of romance," has not yet taken her eyes off him.

　In addition, he was also vaguely worried that Apollo, the "god of light," might see through something.

　The best place for him now is none other than St. Marian College.