Noah gawked between his father and King Porter. When King Porter noticed Noah's gaze on him, his heart skipped a beat. King Bredia and Bai Ning frowned as Noah made his way to King Porter. Every fiber in Noah's body told him to find another way to cure his father. If he had enough time, he might come up with a way to lift the curse. But without the time and his mentor, who entered into a slumber, Noah couldn't come up with a way to save his father. Ever since he was a little kid, Ethan gave everything to Noah. His father was more of a best friend to him than a father. Noah couldn't even imagine a world without his father. Moreover, he knew his mother would break into pieces if he let Ethan die. If making a deal with the Dark Lord was the only way to save his father, Noah was willing to do it. His father's life was worth more than his principles.
"Your majesty," Noah's voice broke as he looked King Porter in the eyes.
"I know what you did to save Princess Chanel,"
King Porter trembled, hearing the words coming out of Noah's mouth.
"I…I don't know what you're talking about, Noah," King Porter stuttered.
"It's not the time to cover up, your majesty," Noah slowly shook his head.
"I wouldn't ask you if I had the time to go to the dark ocean and meet him myself. But we don't have much time. So please, summon him," Noah pleaded with King Porter. When King Porter asked for help with the curse on Princess Chanel, Noah felt how powerful the curse was and went to the treacherous ocean, one of the most dangerous places in the world, to help her without worrying about his life. Although Noah returned empty-handed, King Porter wholeheartedly felt grateful toward Noah. No one would have ventured into the treacherous ocean to help the princess.
Rowena didn't know what had happened with Princess Chanel. The only thing she knew was that King Porter might have something to help her father. However, Rowena didn't like to see her little brother begging for a measly king. She was on the verge of freezing King Porter to the neck and forcing him to reveal whatever Noah wanted him to.
"King Porter," King Bredia opened his mouth.
"If you have something to help Ethan, please give what Noah wants. You know Ethan would do it in a heartbeat," King Bredia said. He was oblivious to the fact that Noah wanted to summon the Dark Lord. Otherwise, King Bredia would have never spoken these words. He still had nightmares of the time Ghost ambushed the engagement gala and threatened to kill Katherine and the baby inside her.
"If you want me to beg-"
"No," When Noah tried to lower his head, King Porter grabbed his shoulder and shook his head. Once everyone said Princess Chanel couldn't be cured, King Porter felt weak and helpless despite his status as a king. Being a king didn't matter when he couldn't be a good father and save his daughter. At that time, King Porter would have given anything to have a tiny bit of hope to save Chanel, and Noah was the only man who gave him that hope. As long as he lived, Porter couldn't forget the sliver of hope Noah gave him.
To be honest, King Porter didn't think he could forgive himself if he stood there and did nothing to help Noah. As a righteous king and a grateful man, he had to give the card the Dark Lord gave him. He just hoped the Dark Lord would accept the summon from the Supreme Guardian.
"He gave me this if I want to contact him again," King Porter said after taking a long deep breath. Then, he took out the black card with a skull embossed in from his space ring.
"Is that-'' The moment King Bredia saw the skull, his body shivered. He took a few steps back and almost tripped down on his robes. Pure fear and shock overwhelmed Bredia's senses as he began to see images of piles of bodies on the engagement gala before his eyes. The Dark Lord, who was known as Ghost then single-handedly slaughtered almost every royal guard and beat him to a pulp on his own throne.
"I don't know how to summon him. Maybe you can figure it out," Ignoring King Bredia's tantrum, Porter handed over the card to Noah. Noah's hands shivered as he took the card from Porter's hand. Never in a million years, Noah thought, asking the Dark Lord for his help. But he didn't have a choice as the Dark Lord may be the only person who could lift the curse and save his father.
"Noah!" the entire hall trembled as Bai Ning's shout swept across the area. The old woman dashed at Noah in a blink of an eye and snatched the card from his hand.
"How dare you think of summoning that evil creature?!" Bai Ning's blood boiled, thinking Noah was trying to summon the Dark Lord in front of her and the Holy Maiden. Ethan's life meant nothing compared to striking a deal with the Dark Lord. The mere thought of Noah considering asking the Dark Lord's help made Bai Ning's anger explode like a raging volcano. She wanted to strike down Noah and King Porter for colluding with the Dark Lord where they were standing.
But first, Bai Ning wanted to destroy the card left behind by the Dark Lord.
"No!" Sabrina shouted as Bai Ning clenched her fist to crush the card to pieces. Just as Bai Ning was about to crush the black card, a wave of bone-chilling frost blasted Bai Ning onto the wall behind her. The old woman collided with the wall and coughed up blood. Before her body could hit the ground, a stream of ice shot out of Rowena's blades and froze the old woman up to her neck.
Noah quickly raised his hand as the card on the ground flew back into his hand.
"Holy Maiden," Bai Ning could neither raise her voice nor a finger against Rowena. In a blink of an eye, Rowena disappeared from Ethan's side and appeared before Bai Ning.
"You cannot let this happen," Bai Ning stuttered.
"If you breathe a word about any of this," Rowena's voice was cold and sharp as a dagger that pierced into Bai Ning's heart.
"I will freeze your body to the core and toss you into the deepest pits of hell," Fear took over Bai Ning's mind and prevented her from opening her mouth. The murderous intent she saw in Rowena's eyes was not a joke. Bai Ning's Immortal stage cultivation wouldn't save her from the Holy Maiden's wrath. At the end of the day, Diana was not the only one with an Ancient God's blood.
After Bai Ning heard Rowena's threat, she closed her mouth.
"Summon him," Diana said to Noah, who held the card in his hand.
"Noah stop," King Bredia rushed to Noah's side.
"Don't do this, Noah. You are the Supreme Guardian. What would the world think if they knew you asked for the Dark Lord's help? What would your teacher say? Will he approve of this?" King Bredia fired questions, one after another. The Dark Lord was the last person he wanted under the same roof as his daughter and grandson. What if the Dark Lord decided to kill them all? What if he wanted to take his grandson away? What if he hadn't forgotten what he did and decided to seek revenge? So many questions wreaked havoc inside Bredia's mind.
"I don't care about anything. If seeking his help will save father's life, that's what I would do," Noah said, slowly shaking his head.
When Bredia tried to stop Noah, Rowena just turned her cold gaze toward him as he felt a cold chill running down his spine. Bredia took a step back in utter fear and stood in the corner, watching Noah summon the Dark Lord helplessly. Holding the card in his hand, Noah took a deep breath. He looked around the black card to figure out the way to contact the Dark Lord until he felt a strange tingling in his hand. He felt like the card was asking for a sliver of arch energy, and that's what exactly Noah did.
He slowly injected the card with arch energy. For a moment, the card remained dormant, and then, it trembled. Black smoke slowly rose from the skull as the card floated above Noah's hand. Everyone turned their gazes at the card floating in mid-air. The black smoke permeating from the card slowly formed a mirror before them. As they were looking into the mirror, a man with wings sticking out of his back appeared. His eyes glowed like rubies. The man was dressed like a butler, with his hair neatly combed to the side and wearing black gloves. When he saw Noah, a strange smile formed on his handsome face instead of shock.
"Supreme Guardian Noah. What a pleasant surprise! It's my pleasure to meet you at last," the butler's voice sounded crisp and clear as he lowered his head. But his bow indicated amusement instead of respect. Even though Noah didn't see the man in person, he could feel the overwhelming power radiating from him. According to Noah's spies, the Dark Lord had a personal butler. They described him as the butler with demon wings. Judging by the look of the man before him, Noah realized he must be the butler they informed him about.
"I need to speak with Ghost," Noah bluntly said.
"I can see King Porter Forbes behind you,"
King Porter's mouth dried in fear as he saw the butler smiling at him. Rowena and Diana came to Noah's side and stood behind him.
"You must be the Holy Maiden and Lady Diana Winston. I am honored to meet you, my ladies," the butler bowed slightly as Rowena creased her brows.
"Call your master, demon," Rowena coldly said.
The demon smiled, slightly surprised to see Rowena identifies his race accurately. Besides, she didn't seem shocked to see a demon in person, unlike Bai Ning, who had sweat beads forming on her forehead.
"Forgive me for being blunt, my lady. But how do you expect the Dark Lord to answer your call when the clans you are in have sworn to kill him?" The demon butler asked Rowena.
"I saved his life once. It's time he settles that debt," said Rowena.