Cucking The Demon King
Chapter 137: The true goal of the Crimson order

Chapter 137: The true goal of the Crimson order

While Jaegel was still crouched behind the tree, knees shaking and mind spinning, he found himself frozen in thought.

The image of Liam, calmly striding through an inferno with the unconscious woman in his arms, seared itself into the front of his mind. Jaegel gulped, eyes wide, tongue slithering nervously past his lips before retreating.

’I have to stay useful,’ he told himself. ’If I want to survive... no, if I want to live under him, I have to stay useful.’

But just as he was sinking further into that desperate train of thought—

"Jaegel."

The name struck him like a whip.

His heart nearly stopped.

He stumbled up to his feet, his back straightening unnaturally as if strings had pulled him upright. "Y-yes! Yes, my lord! Right here, your humble servant is right here!"

He moved quickly from behind the tree, walking briskly—but not too briskly—trying to project the perfect amount of obedience without seeming desperate.

But the truth was, he was watching everything.

Every step, every breath Liam took.

Jaegel had never been more terrified of someone in his life. One wrong word, one misplaced twitch, and Liam could probably turn him into a smear of soot on the forest floor.

Liam, however, paid no attention to the heretic’s strange, almost insect-like behavior.

He didn’t even glance in his direction.

His attention remained solely on Emma, who still lay on the ground, unconscious but alive. Gently, he shifted to kneel beside her, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

A translucent screen shimmered into his vision—his ability allowing him to assess the stats of someone he had bonded with even loosely.

And what he saw made his frown deepen.

[Name: Emma Silvagold]

[Race: Human]

[Health: 90 / 1000]

[Blessing: Divine Summoner]

[Elemental Nature: Light]

[Grade: Legendary]

[Mastery: Practitioner-level]

[Mana Pool: 300 / 5000]

[Magic Power: 2000]

[Strength: 90]

[Agility: 100]

[Stamina: 90]

[Constitution: 120]

[Charm: 150]

[Intelligence: 500]

[Additional Information]

[Current Status: Unconscious]

[Current Emotion: Confusion, Fear, Worry]

[Weaknesses: Head, Neck, Back...]

Liam’s eyes lingered on her health and mana bars.

Her health points were dangerously low, and her mana pool had also reduced greatly.

She only had ninety points remaining out of her health, and her usually bountiful mana had been reduced to a meagre three hundred.

If she was any normal mage, she would have surely died by now, as her health and mana would have gone down to zero.

But fortunately, she was strong, and was able to still stay alive even after going up against a horde of heretics.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what had happened. She had likely fought against those heretics before he’d even arrived. Alone, with no one to help her.

Even though she wasn’t dead, she’d clearly been pushed to her absolute limit.

Liam clenched his jaw, his hands curling slightly into fists.

’You tried to fight them by yourself... even though you were this injured?’ He thought.

There was a tightness in his chest—regret, maybe. Or guilt.

He wasn’t sure anymore.

"I need mana and health potions," he said coldly, not even bothering to look behind him. "High-grade. Now."

Jaegel didn’t hesitate. "Y-yes, of course, right away, my lord!"

He reached into the folds of his cloak and pulled out two crystal vials—one a glowing gold, the other a deep dark blue.

They shimmered with unnatural brilliance, swirling like they held miniature galaxies inside.

He handed them over with both hands, not daring to meet Liam’s eyes.

He didn’t ask how Liam knew he was carrying them.

He didn’t want to know.

All it did was make the fear inside him grow, as he couldn’t help but think that Liam could even read his mind.

Liam took the potions without a word. He looked down at Emma again, expression unreadable.

"I’m sorry," he muttered, just under his breath. "For leaving you. For being selfish."

With care that seemed at odds with his usual cold demeanor, he uncorked the gold vial and tipped it gently against her lips.

A soft gurgle followed as the potion slid down her throat, glowing softly as it moved.

The effect was nearly immediate.

The bruises on her cheeks lightened, her shallow breathing deepened, and the pallor in her skin faded.

Her limbs stopped twitching, and her expression softened slightly—even in unconsciousness, it was clear some of her pain was gone.

Then he poured the blue potion into her mouth, letting it trickle slowly, not wasting a single drop.

Her body trembled slightly as the mana rushed back into her core.

The air shimmered faintly around her, as if her body had finally begun to stabilize.

Liam checked her stats again.

[Health: 600 / 1000]

[Mana Pool: 3700 / 5000]

A small sigh escaped his lips.

That was better.

High-grade potions—genuine top-tier items made from rare herbs and purified mana essence. The kind of stuff you couldn’t find even in royal vaults unless you knew where to look.

He gently brushed a strand of hair from Emma’s face.

"You’ll be okay now."

He didn’t know if she could hear him. But he still said it.

Because a part of him needed her to.

Behind him, Jaegel remained crouched, eyes wide.

He watched every movement—every breath Liam took with Emma—and felt like he was watching something he wasn’t supposed to.

Something... too human.

Too soft.

And yet, it was terrifying in its own right.

Because it reminded him that this young man who could burn down half a forest without flinching also had a side that cared.

Which made him even more unpredictable, and dangerous.

"W-will she recover fully, my lord?" Jaegel asked, his voice a raspy whisper.

Liam didn’t answer right away.

He remained crouched by Emma, gently pulling her into a more comfortable position before standing back up.

"She’ll live," He said. "That’s enough for now."

He turned to Jaegel then—really turned to him—and the heretic felt his legs almost buckle beneath him.

"You’re going to explain everything," Liam said. "Who those heretics were. Why they had Emma. And what they wanted with her."

Jaegel gulped.

"I-I swear, I’ll tell you everything! I—I don’t know much, but I’ll tell you all I know, my lord!"

He nodded frantically, his long tongue flopping about as he tried to compose himself.

"From their dressing, they belong to a group called the white order. A rogue group that split from the original Heretic Order—the crimson order a few years ago."

"Fanatics—more than even us. They believe Emma is... is some kind of divine link. Something about her blessing, her bloodline, I don’t know all the details, but—"

"Bloodline?" Liam’s eyes narrowed.

Jaegel winced. "Y-yes, my lord. I don’t much of anything, except from their general beliefs! They believe her existence alone threatened the old prophecies. That if she awakened fully, their whole structure would collapse!"

Liam processed the information slowly.

So this wasn’t just about strength.

It was about lineage.

About something... divine.

Something old.

He could understand why they’d see her as a threat.

Her blessing—Divine summoner—surely wasn’t something to be underestimated, as the power to summon beings directly from the divine realm was terrifying.

Coupled with the fact that she was the daughter of the knight king, it wasn’t a surprise she was a threat to most heretic groups.

However, he didn’t like it, not one bit.

Because it meant she’d always be hunted.

And he wasn’t sure if he could protect her forever.

He glanced around the charred remains of the forest, the corpses burned to ash, the trees still smoking.

Then he looked down at Emma again.

Maybe he didn’t have to protect her forever.

Maybe she’d grow strong enough to stand on her own.

But until then—

"I’m going to kill every last one of them," he said quietly.

Jaegel’s eyes widened.

And he believed him.

Every word.

Because Liam wasn’t bluffing.

He had already burned a squad of elite heretics into nothing.

And that was when he was holding back.

Jaegel dropped to one knee.

"My lord... my loyalty... everything I have... is yours."

Liam didn’t respond.

His gaze suddenly snapped back to him, and Jaegel felt another chill run down his spine.

He immediately straightened up, not even daring to look Liam in the eye.

"You said they’re from a different heretic group, whose goal is to kill Emma. So which heretic group do you belong to, and what is it... the true goal of the original heretic order?"

Jaegel gulped, his back instantly drenched in cold sweat.

He slowly opened his mouth, but quickly closed them back, as if terrified that something might happen.

Buckets of sweat rolled down his face, but as if his mouth was too heavy to speak, he didn’t say anything.

"Answer me now." Liam’s voice suddenly stabbed through his ears, sending chills down his spine.

Without thinking too much, he quickly answered the question, afraid of whatever might happen if he didn’t.

"The true goal of the Crimson order... is to bring the god of darkness into this world.. it is to open this world for the true demon king to claim."