CH 120 Hell Banquet

As the battleships slowly landed from the sky, it was like a thick dark cloud was surprising over them. The black iron dragon wings were driven by friction, bringing up a hurricane that could blow people into the sky. The Devil held the umbrella firmly with one hand, and wrapped his other hand around the King. The hurricane disappeared automatically when it reached him.

The bat bone wings flying over the buttresses in the castle flapped again, and the humming sound was like some kind of long-lost horn, echoing ring by ring from the castle.

The dragon wings of the battleships were slightly drawn, and the ferocious giant ships, like tame dragons that suddenly became docile, flew down from the sky and passed by the almost vertical cliff. The King clearly saw the unique cold gleam of the metal armor on the hull and the wings. Soon, the battleships landed steadily at the front cabin of the dock in the sea of fire.

The pirates standing on the deck took off their hats and waved them cheerfully to the King.

These Walway pirates grinned happily. They didn't think there was anything wrong with the ghost ship becoming like this, and even looked a little proud.

The Devil didn't let go of his hand until the last ship landed. He closed the black umbrella and casually touched the rock wall with the umbrella in hand. A circle of invisible black mist rippled away, followed by the sound of gears twisting from behind the platform where he and the King stood, and the rock under his feet trembled slightly.

When the mechanism was activated, boulders protruded one after another on the originally smooth cliff, forming a ladder leading to the dock from top to bottom.

Hawkins chewed on a piece of grass dangling from his mouth and looked up at the silver-haired King walking down the stone steps, the air current fluttering at the King's hair. For a moment, Hawkins had the illusion that the person walking down the stone steps was the young William III, or the young Duke of Buckingham.

Always insane and incoherent, the neurotic captain was silent for a moment before spitting out the piece of grass he was chewing.

"Oh, my noble sire! Long time no see! It seems that you are doing well in hell." Captain Hawkins exclaimed like a rooster crowing, and he stepped forward to meet him first, "Charles, that nagging fellow can rest easy. The brave and fearless Walway Pirates offer you our highest regards!"

As he spoke, he took off his black hat and bowed to the King as he did when they first met.

The other pirates had just gathered together, and couldn't help showing a look of "Damn, why was this disgraceful guy our captain".

Griselda who just took a step forward: "......"

Miss Witch reconnected with Jenny with a deadpan face.

Captain Hawkins, who stood up straight, had no time to comment on the King's dock when the iron plate under his feet suddenly flipped down. Mr. Captain only had time to shout "hey!" before he fell down, and the iron plate closed again with a "clang". Griselda stepped over the restored deck and bowed to the King.

"Our Miss Jenny has grown up."

The King stepped up from the step that Jenny let down voluntarily, and he reached out to touch the iron railing.

At the iron railing that the King touched, dark green rose vines appeared again with a "swoosh", and a branch with a crimson rose bloom stretched out in front of the King, gently touching the King's fine-boned hands.

"Good day, Miss Jenny."

The King plucked off the blooming rose and lifted it up slightly.

The sails of the Jenny, which transformed from an ancient wooden ship into a giant iron-clad battleship, "squeaked" and looked very happy.

"Your Majesty, come this way please."

The witch bowed slightly to lead the way for the King.

Jenny, who had turned back into a Dragon Wing Battleship, was obviously also very excited. Wherever the King went, roses would bloom there. A pirate's hands were itchy, and he stretched out his hand to try to pick one off, but was whipped firmly by the vine, and could only hiss in pain.

The cabin of the Dragon Wing Battleship was divided into three floors. In the control room, the King saw the core of this alchemical living ship.

A cloud of blue flame was suspended in the transparent crystal tubular column, and danced happily when the King entered. It obviously had its own consciousness. Beside the crystal pillar, there was a thick stack of scrolls. When he saw these scrolls, the King looked at the Devil.

Griselda had already prepared all the work in the early stage, and she had already picked out the contract scrolls corresponding to the pirates who died in battle.

The ancient contract scrolls were spread out one by one, and the words on them shone a strange power under the firelight. At the end of the scrolls, the blood dripped from the pirates took the place of their names and served as the point of the contract. The witch lit a strange candle, and a faint white smoke drifted away in the cabin, at the same time the dripping blood on the scroll began to spread out.

"According to the principle of equivalent exchange....."

The witch read the lengthy contract words in a low voice, and she read out the contents of the contract concluded at the beginning one by one. The Walway pirates signed a contract with the ghost ship that included a contract of the soul. From the moment their blood dripped on the scroll, they were destined to belong to these ancient alchemical ships.

Even if they died, their souls still belonged to the alchemical living ship.

The witch took advantage of this point of the contract to forcibly summon their souls from the River of the Departed.

The flame flickered on and off, and there was an invisible wind in the air. Cold sweat dripped down the witch's forehead in big drops. As the contract took effect, she felt another resistance, which was the rules of hell preventing the undead from returning to the Dragon Wing Battleship——all the souls that entered the River of the Departed belonged to the ruler of hell.

"May the supreme and eternal sovereign bear witness to the covenant in his power and majesty."

All the scrolls floated up, and Griselda couldn't bear the pressure from the rules anymore, she knelt down with a plop, and begged with her head bowed in awe.

The King raised the bone scepter in his hand and tapped the crystal pillar.

His Majesty has granted permission.

The contract took effect.

The next moment, a bright light erupted from the secret room of the battleship, sweeping all the other battleships as well.

On the deck, the palms of the anxiously waiting pirates were covered with cold sweat. They didn't know what was going on in the cabin, the jokes and laughter that were used to cover up the tension just now were gone, and they stared at the stairs entering the cabin without daring to let out a breath.

Suddenly, a faint blue light burst out from the stairs, drowning everyone. There seemed to be another kind of heavy majesty contained within that light, and the pirates all knelt down involuntarily.

"Was it successful?"

After the light gradually faded, a pirate climbed up from the deck, and he spoke nervously.

What answered him was arrogant laughter:

"Hahahahaha! No pustules! I'm still so handsome!"

The pirates got up from the deck and saw the familiar faces of their companions. The guys who had jumped into the sea were ecstatic to see that they were clean and without pus-filled hands, and they were glad that their souls did not retain the disgusting look when they died.

"Why did our ship become so big all of a sudden!" A blind ghostly pirate floated around the mast twice, easily flew to a high place, and stared dumbfounded at the mighty Dragon Wing Battleship, "Mama mia, don't tell me the captain went and swindled someone, right?"

The pirates cheered, and a pirate wearing a turban wiped his face and shouted at the one-eyed ghost: "Quick! Pay me back my money! You bastard, you owe me the wine money, hurry up!"

"Hey, hey! What does the money you owed when you were a human have anything to do with the dead!"

"F**k! You f**king don't want to pay back the money!"

…...

Hawkins crawled out of the cabin, broke off a rose twig and chewed it in his mouth: "Stinky boys."

The King also came up, the Devil turned his black umbrella, and the always calm and steady witch showed a faint smile on her face. The laughing and cursing pirates saw the King, and they waved their hats at him, cheering in unison:

"Long live Legrand!"

"Long live the King!"

The cheers echoed above the magma sea of fire, and the fiery light was plated on the faces of the fearless pirates. The warriors who were like brothers were finally able to stand side by side again, with dragon wings flapping and sails hunting.

…………

Blackstone Royal Castle.

On the seventh day after the King's arrival, the gates of the castle were thrown open, and the dragon's head lay in docility on the ground. All the candlesticks were lit at the same time, and all the windows were opened at the same time. The bloodkin servants dressed in gorgeous court clothes filed out of the icy cold castle, wearing swords on their waists, and stood on both sides of the bone stairs leading to the main hall of the castle.

The banquet held by the King was today.

These days, there had been a lot of movement in the Blackstone Royal Castle, but the rest of hell was quiet, maintaining an anxious dead silence, and turbulent undercurrents in private.

After coming to hell for so long, people in the military heavy industry department finally have a little bit of feeling that they were truly in hell today.

They stared dumbfounded at the ferocious giant beasts passing overhead on black clouds, and at the arrival of all kinds of strange creatures with rumbling noises. During this day, they saw almost all monsters that only appeared in nightmares, monsters with horns and hoofs, monsters with countless arms and long snake-like creatures with countless compound eyes…..

The monsters gathered to attend the King's banquet.

And until today, people in the military heavy industry have finally realized that the skeletons who have been getting along well with them were not only friendly colleagues, but also terrifying soldiers. Today, the skeletons didn't work any more, but cold flames danced in their eye sockets, holding spears in their hands, they gathered into a chilling death army, waiting quietly on the barren beach.

When a serpentine lord passed by the military heavy industry base, he looked down at the people in the base who were frightened pale: "Humans….."

Its deep voice reached the people's ears like billowing muffled thunder.

On the barren rocky beach, without further ado, the skeleton captain waved his hand, and the skeleton soldiers raised their spears at the same time. The spear points were cold, and they were all pointed at the lord who had stopped.

The lord snorted coldly and swam towards the castle.

In the castle.

The King was alone, perched on the throne.

Many hell lords have already arrived, and they all turned into human-like appearances and sat in their seats. However, horns, wings, snake tails and other things that human beings could not have declared their identities. The forms of the lords were different, the only thing in common was that they all possessed a bone ring on them.

The ghostly court musicians played beautiful melodies dutifully, but the atmosphere in the hall was still very weird.

The lords who arrived first were all minor lords. When they entered the hall, they sat down directly on their seats in a disrespectful manner, without showing any respect to the King above them. This behavior itself was a silent statement and provocation.

The atmosphere in the hall was tense, the lords had deliberately released their aura. The candles flickered constantly, and the light and shadow swayed.

The King sat on the highest throne with the crown of thorns, and while the lords did not salute, he did not speak either. He held a golden wine goblet, lowered his eyes expressionlessly, and drank on his own.

The lords kept looking maliciously and greedily at the King's hand holding the wine glass. The gold wine goblet matched the bone ring and the rose ring on the King's finger. Some lords with lower IQs and stronger killing instincts practically had their blood-red eyes stuck to the King's fingers. They were suppressed by the power symbolized by the bone ring, but at the same time coveted and wanted to rush to snatch it.

The one who held those two powers was just a mortal.

But that mortal wore a rose ring and had silver hair and icy blue eyes that made them wary. The lunatic who called himself a "soul merchant" was obviously working for him again.

Wariness and greed were constantly clashing, and there was much heavy breathing in the hall.

Lords kept arriving.

Gorgeously dressed bloodkin attendants with gloves on, carrying silver plates with metal covers, filed in and stood on both sides of the banquet hall. These bloodkins seemed completely unaware of the greed and killing intent surging in the hall, and just stood like sculptures.

Just when a lord with scales on his upper body and compound eyes covering his body couldn't resist the greed for the ring of authority on the King's finger and was about to pounce, the King suddenly raised his eyes.

Drip, drip.

The sound of liquid dripping on the stone was very soft, but held an inexplicable chill. Along with the sound of the liquid dripping was the sound of light footsteps. These footsteps made the lord shiver solidly, as if ice water was suddenly poured down over his head, and he remained motionless.

The Devil in a black formal suit came in from the door of the main hall.

He was the most human-like hellish being in the audience. He wore  black formal attire, and the tail of the coat was elegant like a swallowtail. If it wasn't for the overly pale skin and the dark and gloomy aura that couldn't be concealed, then he would look like an ordinary handsome young man. But all the guys here knew he was not.

The Devil held a white long sword in his hand, the candlelight shone on his face, and there was a smile familiar to the lords on his lips.

The sound of liquid dripping came from his other hand——

A hideous and terrifying head was held in his hand, and thick black blood was continuously dripping from the detached part of the head.

The lords suddenly settled down.

They recognized that head, it was an ancient lord who crawled out of the Wall of Insects.

The Devil passed directly in front of all the lords.

Under the eyes of everyone, he knelt down on one knee in front of the throne, and the bloodkin servant next to him opened the metal cover on the tray. The Devil placed the ancient lord's head on the metal tray and offered it as a gift to the mortal King who sat on his throne.

"Your Majesty, it disobeyed your order and was unwilling to take part in the banquet."

The Devil spoke politely, as if he were a knight carrying out any one of his sovereign's orders.

"So, I let it come to you personally to make amends."