Douluo Dalu: This herrscher is too weird.-Chapter 41: A Little Bit of Trolling.

Chapter 41: A Little Bit of Trolling.

[Inside the Stronghold's meeting room.]

"Kicking Saint, it's not like I'm doubting your decision or anything. But are you sure that it's a person living inside the forest, not a monster that evolved enough to have a humanoid body?"

Questioned one of the representatives in the meeting room. He had a bloated physique, as if he were allergic to the gym, thinning gray hair, and wore a monocle that fit well with his style of clothing.

(AN: Does anybody remember the kingdoms' names? And where they appear in the storyline?)

Other representatives looked at him like he was an idiot.

'This is the same as doubting the Kicking Saint, dumbo.' They all thought, but none of them gave voice to that fact. They focused on the white rabbit sitting in the head seat, awaiting his reply.

"Do I appear so unreliable that I couldn't even identify whether it was a person or a monster?"

Usagi's deep voice reverberated inside the room as he looked at the chubby, noble-looking man with a neutral gaze.

"Forgive me, Saint! I didn't mean it that way."

"Relax. I also couldn't imagine that someone was living inside that cursed forest before I met him."

"All you need to know is that he's currently living in his house in the middle of the forest."

"I asked if he could stop whatever he was doing inside the forest. He refused, but offered to construct a barrier around the forest for my peace of mind."

Silence descended on the room. There was a lot to unpack here. A sane person (that's questionable) chose to live in the [Great Devil's Den] forest out of their own volition.

If someone else told them that, they might question that person's sanity and report him to the guards—and he might never have seen the light of the sun again.

But the one telling them that was a [Holy]; a person chosen by the world to defend it. What reason did he have to lie to them, a bunch of snobbish nobles (oh, so you guys were self-aware)?

"Excuse me, Saint, you said that this mysterious person would cover the whole forest in a barrier that prevents even the anomalous monsters from breaking out,"

Said a brown-haired, medium-statured man wearing robes typical of a generic isekai magician. He adjusted his glasses, making them shine with an ominous light as he continued.

"But that should be impossible. Not even our best magicians from the Magic Tower could figure out something like that. And when we did the mana calculation, the amount was astronomical. No living being should be able to hold that much mana."

"So how is he doing it?"

The three other mages standing behind him nodded vigorously as he finished talking.

For the mages, it didn't matter if the forest was sealed or if the nobles lost their monopoly on certain goods. In fact, they couldn't care less.

Yes, sealing the forest might impact them a little, as monster parts were mainly used in creating artifacts and potions, but they could just buy them from other places.

After all, [Great Devil's Den] was not the only forest with monsters. But it was infamous for containing the worst and most ferocious monsters there were.

They actually welcomed the sealing of the forest a little.

The kingdoms had always pressured the Magic Tower to increase the production of health potions for knights and adventurers exploring the forest.

But now they could decrease their useless workload and focus more on researching spells and artifacts, rather than sitting for hours grinding herbs and stirring a pot like some sort of discount witches.

They focused more on how a single person could seal the forest. What type of magic was he using? How did he gather that much mana? Did he develop [Mana Gathering Arrays] like their Archmage did?

So many questions they wanted to ask the Kicking Saint, but couldn't—as that would be rude. They might dabble in the dark arts here and there, but they weren't animals. They had manners and such.

"I don't know. I am not a mage," Usagi answered simply.

Shatter x4

That was definitely not the sound of the mages' hearts shattering into pieces—you just imagined it.

"But what I do know is that the barrier around his house was more impressive than anything that sorry excuse of a Magic Saint produced in the last couple of decades of his pathetic life,"

Usagi said with a neutral tone, as if he had not just roasted his fellow Saint to oblivion.

That answer was enough to reignite the fire in the four mages in the room. After all, their Dao hearts were not that weak.

The Magic Saint was said to be the most talented mage after the Sage. He recreated and restored magic spells belonging to the Sage that were thought lost in the river of time.

He was someone worthy of every mage's respect and admiration, so for someone more talented than him to exist was shocking. Were they witnessing the reincarnation of the Sage into the modern era?

Everyone in the room felt the need to send back this information as soon as possible.

"Excuse me, Saint, you kept calling that person 'kid.' May I ask about his age, name, appearance, etc.? And does he belong to any of the kingdoms present in this meeting room?"

Asked an important character from the original story.

Knight Captain Owen, captain of the Knights of Arselian Kingdom and escort knight of Lexia Von Arselia, one of the main heroines of the story.

He was a tall man with a muscular physique hidden beneath his full-scale silver armor. He had a well-defined face, golden-brown hair styled to one side, and a short, trimmed black goatee.

Silence filled the room once again.

Everyone present except for Usagi glanced at Owen giving him bombastic side eyes, before turning their gaze back to the Kicking Saint.

Why hadn't they asked that from the beginning? If that person was from their kingdom, there might be a chance to talk and win him over. That was someone thought to be the reincarnation of the Sage.

They eagerly waited for the Saint's response.

'How much did you see, kid,' thought Usagi as his closed rabbit eyes scanned the eager crowd sitting around him.

He wasn't sharing information because he wanted to, but because Yuhao had requested him to share what he allowed.

Let the masses speculate—they will reason most things themselves and create a narrative that fits their imagination. They would deduce their own fan theories and run wild again.

But to do that, they needed a crumb of information, and their brains would do the rest.

A person shrouded in mystery is a person worthy of attention, and Yuhao wanted that attention. He was marketing his own company before it even started.

He was shrouded through and through. He was building an image for himself and his future organization with little effort.

All he needed were the correct connections—like Usagi, a [Holy].

One of the most reputable people in this world—just having him share some info and voilà; his name would circulate throughout the kingdoms as the mad magician who sealed the Devil's Den.

Basically, he was cultivating. Cultivating aura, that is.

Jinwoo was farming aura? Tsk, tsk. Yuhao uses aura for cultivation.

Truly a talent envied by the heavens—so much so that he had to flee his world to avoid heaven's wrath (Tang San).

"His name is Huo Yuhao, and as far as I know, it's not a name from any of the kingdoms."

"His age is unknown. My appraisal doesn't work on him, but he's young—very young—almost too young. I'd say around ten years old? I'm not sure."

"His most notable feature is his blond hair. In fact, Owen, he reminds me of your little princess back home. Well, minus the playfulness and quirkiness."

Usagi told them what he knew—or rather, what Yuhao allowed him to tell. And, as expected, silence kept filling the room a lot in this Chapter.

The representatives were too shocked to speak. Was the Kicking Saint pulling a fast one on them? Maybe. He was a rabbit, after all. He needed to crack a few jokes here and there, right? Please say "sike" right now.

They were still met with the same neutral look from Usagi, and their faces went pale drained of colour.

They looked at each other and realized they all had the same expression—absolute dread and shock.

'Someone so young has abilities that surpass the Magic Saint? How?'

'He's not from any kingdom? Was the multi-continent world theory actually correct, and we've contacted someone from another continent?'

'If he's that young, maybe we can coax him into joining us. The Magic Tower is the best environment for him, and we might get rewarded by the Archmage for recruiting the Sage's reincarnation.'

'I remember that the little princess of Arselian Kingdom was a half-high elf. Maybe he's related to the elven kingdom that hid itself after the death of their princess? Will the elves reappear?'

'There are two of them now? Why? The princess already had the whole knight order in chaos, and now there are two. I want to cry but have to save face. Ah, I miss my mother.'

Needless to say, their reactions were quite funny and Usagi was secretly delighted seeing them suffer. After all, when you see other suffer the same thing as you, you fell a lot a better about yourself.

And he, Usagi, was shocked too much by Yuhao that right now he was numb to a lot of things, so seeing the representative's moral struggle was amusing to the kicking saint.

Until it wasn't.

Suddenly, Usagi's sixth sense screamed at him to get the hell out of this room now otherwise death would be the only outcome.

He barely activated his unique trait as a dual Saint, earning strange looks from those in the room. But he didn't care—or more accurately, couldn't care. His mind focused solely on surviving.

He needed to jump out of the room—but it was already too late.

An intense feeling of dread filled the room. Not just the room—the entire Stronghold.

A lot of people passed out from the shock. This wasn't just fear—it was something more primal.

Something that could bring an end to their meaningless existence.

A predator.

Every single person in the Stronghold felt the back of their necks go ice cold, as if their natural predator was inches away from claiming their pathetic lives and ushering in the [Finality] of their existence.

Those who were still conscious nearly cursed their ability to resist, as they were tormented by the existential feeling of dread.

The still-conscious knights gripped their swords tightly, staggered into formation, and pointed toward the forest. If they were meant to die, they'd at least die facing whatever monster made them feel such terror.

The mages couldn't do anything at all. The trinkets on their robes, which acted as protective talismans, all shattered under the weight of the dread.

They couldn't cast any spells. Their brains didn't allow for anything but survival.

You could train all your life so that the sword becomes second nature or casting spells becomes as easy as basic speech—but when your primal instincts are challenged, all that goes out the window.

You only have room to think of one thing: flee. You have to flee and survive this catastrophe, no matter what.

The feeling lasted only a few seconds, but for them, it felt like days.

Then it disappeared into thin air, as if they hadn't just been facing the greatest catastrophe in human history.

The sudden disappearance caused them to panic even more. A visible blade is safer than a hidden one.

And they had just experienced the sharpest of blades on the backs of their necks—and now that blade had vanished, like it was never there.

Some of the brave knights who had remained conscious couldn't withstand the pressure and started collapsing like dominoes.The mages were already out cold. As for the adventurers—nobody cared about them.

"What in the name of the gods just happened?"

Owen nearly screamed in fear, but kept a brave façade in front of his knights. He couldn't afford to lose his aura now, could he?

He was the only one still conscious inside the meeting room—well, aside from the Kicking Saint, who now wore a displeased look.

Usagi remembered this feeling very well. It had happened shortly after meeting Yuhao.

In fact, every sentient living being had felt it—but their brains had chosen to erase the memory and the feeling, to protect their sanity.

The brain can push itself into unthinkable territory when survival is at stake. It can hide memories from you if it means protecting you.

Usagi, however, still remembered. He had been using the Dual Saint Trait, which caused his stats to jump through the roof and allowed him to retain his sanity.

"A bad joke. That's what happened."

Answered the Kicking Saint. And he was now one hundred percent certain that the feeling was related to the white-furred animal with Yuhao.

He didn't have concrete evidence, but his intuition led him to think that way.

"A joke? Who was insane enough to pull something like—oh, oh no. Oh no no no no. Please be a normal blond person. Please."

Owen was having PTSD from a certain princess he was escorting.

"Well, apparently yes."

Answered the Kicking Saint with a sarcastic tone—and that was what sealed the deal. Owen passed out.

What, he should be considerate of others? Then who would be considerate of him? Usagi was a rabbit, so he would follow rabbit logic—not human logic.

(Hello? Is anybody there? Usagi, are you okay?)

Suddenly, a soft voice belonging to Yuhao buzzed from Usagi's carrot-shaped pin, which was attached to his chest.

"Kid, what the hell did you do? The entire Stronghold is already out cold."

(That bad?)

"Yes, that bad."

Answered Usagi in a breathy tone, trying to calm down as he lay on the ground to catch his breath.

(Yeah, I think I might have overdone it a bit. I just wanted to send a message that I was strong enough to take care of the forest, so the nobles would shut up.)

"Oh, they shut up all right. In fact, they might keep their mouths shut for the next couple of hours."

Usagi wasn't pulling any punches. He was the Kicking Saint, damn it.

(Yeahhhhhhh... sorry about that,) Yuhao said in a sorry-not-sorry tone.

He was now sitting on the patio, holding Fou in his arms. Both of them had cartoonish injury on the sides of their heads that would give Tom and Jerry a run for their money.

It was, of course, courtesy of the Herrscher of Finality—she thought their minuscule bit of trolling had gone too far.

Now she was sulking inside the Stigma Space, eating an entire tiramisu cake to calm her nerves.

"Barrier?"

Usagi asked this time with a resigned tone. After all they were the ones who needed the kid—he didn't need any of them. So, all they could do was grit their teeth and deal with it.

But they didn't need to worry. This was Yuhao's first—and maybe final—prank. He didn't want to see his Tuna sad and depressed again.

He had worked really hard for her to open up to him during his training in the Stigma Space and share a bit of her long story.

So, seeing her sulking now hurt his conscience, even if only a teeny tiny bit.

(It's ready. But could you wake everyone up? I want them to watch the show. Sorry about that.)

Yuhao said with a beet-red face, extremely embarrassed by his actions.

'That was really immature of me. Let's lock in—damn it, I can already feel the time skip approaching,'

Yuhao thought to himself as he used his [Corrupt Light] element to heal his and Fou's injuries.

(Sigh... fine. This better be worth it, kid. Please prepare your special tea for the meeting after the barrier deployment. I think I at least earned that much.)

Usagi knew how to kick an opponent when they were already down.

"Of course. The finest of teas for the strongest of rabbits."

Commented Yuhao with a cheeky smile, earning a snort from the Kicking Saint before the line went silent.

"I'm tired."

"Fou."

"You too? But you sleep most of the time, Fou."

"Fouuuu. FOOOOU. Fou."

"Really? It took all that effort for a little prank? Alright then, you earned a brushing session. Go bring your favorite brush from inside."

Fou bolted into the house, singing a song with little "Fou"s being the only lyrics.

"Well, let's wait for the signal from Usagi."

Yuhao sighed as he gazed up at the warm sky, basking in its glow.

(Chapter 41 Finished.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Author's Note:

Hey guys, how are you doing? I hope you're all doing wonderfully!

Here's a new Chapter, fresh out of the oven. This Chapter is 3.1K words without the Author's Note. A bit of a big one, as I fleshed out more aspects of the world in the dialogue between the characters.

Barrier deployment next Chapter and then time skip.

Anyhow, don't forget to comment on memes, share your thoughts, and—most importantly—post waifu pics.

If you have a couple of minutes, please consider writing a review for this fanfic—it really helps in getting it featured on the 'Popular' page over at Webnovel.

That's all for now.

Bye!

(AN: Italic bold text represents new additions and updates to his status, so you don't have to read everything.)

『...』

『Huo Yuhao』

『Class: Nanomancer』

『Class Ranking: Tier 3』

『Race: Ascended Human, White Dragon, White Tiger』

『Soul Power: 29』

『Martial Souls: [Eyes of Heaven], [White Dragon of Nihility] 『1+』, [Monster Slime] 『2+』』

『Skill Points: 811,000. 』

『Unique Skills: 』

[Great Sage]

[Golden Rule]

[True Martial Art: 7]

[Super-Growth B]

[Increased Skill Point Generation: B]

[Honkai Circuits]

[Honkai Resistance]

[Honkai Energy Manipulation]

[Honkai Rotation]

『Other Skills: 』

[Appraisal]

[Endurance]

[Item Box]

[Language Comprehension]

[Fast Reading]

[Thread Manipulation]

[Illusion Manipulation]

[Pain Resistance]

[Check Status]

[Cooking: 5]

[Taunt C]

[Weakness Detection]

[Presence Detection]

[Environment Assimilation]

『Titles: 』

[Master of the Door]

[Master of the House]

[Otherworlder]

[First [Class Holder] to Appear in the World]

[The One Who Perplexed the World's Consciousness]

[The One Who Gained the Interest of the Entire World]

[Slaughterer]

『End of status. 』