Six days later.

On the west side of Demon King City, in the grand McCarthy Manor on Lis Island, Ranch woke to a brand new day as the sky was still a deep blue.

At the top of the mansion, in his bedroom, a lavishly decorated and meticulously furnished room, the sound of the waves outside the window mingled with the tender voice of Cat Boss by the bedside.

"Today is the twenty-eighth day you've been in this Shadow World."

"The news from the Blith Kingdom's front line and the Polant Empire is not optimistic."

"And you, as a tiny Ranch, the only thing you can do is use your charm to complete your mission in the Demon World."

Cat Boss began his daily broadcast again.

"Alright, Cat Boss, I get it."

Ranch gently patted Cat Boss's head, walked across the carpet, and through the spacious bedroom to the closet near the entrance.

Carefully selecting his attire.

In the end, he chose a dark grey Protos-style suit with silver patterns embroidered on the tie, perfectly tailored to look both formal and dignified.

"A tribute to the legendary Sealer, Ascesan; this dark grey coat is truly excellent."

Ranch's slightly smiling face was reflected in the mirror, his eyes gleaming with determination and eagerness for today's goals.

"Meow, he probably doesn't want you to pay tribute to him."

Cat Boss jumped to Ranch's feet, looked him up and down, and couldn't help but feel that Ranch's Gloom Demon appearance combined with Ascesan's style of dress really made him look like a cardinal.

Unfortunately, Ranch was still too far from being a true cardinal-level figure.

"He doesn't mind."

Ranch commented.

"..."

Cat Boss didn't want to continue Ranch's train of thought.

He only concerned himself with their scoreboard again, poking it from time to time.

[Popular Support: 276 → 565/1000 (Public support and cohesion)]

[Parliament: 227 → 176/1000 (Support from the upper echelons within the Polant Empire)]

[Military Strength: 124 → 182/1000 (Referenced against the Honing Empire)]

[Finance: 236 → 323/1000 (Current productivity of the Polant Empire)]

[Diplomacy: 115 → 232/1000 (Diplomatic relations with the Demon World and surrounding unconquered nations)]

[Overall Odds of Winning: 0.0013%]

Cat Boss now stared at it several times a day, afraid of it dropping.

Thanks to Ranch's unremitting efforts, the odds of winning had finally appeared as a number.

But it was still incomparably far from 1%, and this distance even made him feel despair.

Since Ranch left the Polant Empire, [Popular Support] has been rising, and its rate of increase is getting faster and faster.

And the [Parliament] item is still slowly declining.

Perhaps because of the extremely successful diplomacy with the Orc city-states, each city-state added about 20 to [Diplomacy].

At the same time, it seems that because of the diplomatic formation of a united alliance, the alliance's [Military Strength] and [Finance] have been improved.

Since Ranch himself has not yet revealed that he belongs to the Polant Empire and the anti-Vampire faction in the Demon World, the connections he has made in the Demon World have not yet been settled in the [Diplomacy] item.

Twenty-eight days have passed out of the total forty-five days in the Shadow World, and this progress makes Cat Boss feel uneasy.

Success or failure can be said to depend on today!

"Ranch meow, you must rescue Hibernia!"

The little black cat urged.

Today's royal ceremony will be about Hibernia's freedom.

In addition to the great demon clans of the current Demon World competing for the royal family's marriage partner, Marquis Ulysses, the tenth progenitor of the Vampires, will also intervene, wanting to marry the Demon Clan's only remaining royalty.

The ceremony does not require on-the-spot painting. On-the-spot painting takes time and the performance is difficult to predict. Fallen wanted the great demon clans to choose their favorite scene to paint, and submit it before the ceremony determines the sound. The paintings are submitted to the Sealed Golden Cabinet on the first floor of the Royal Palace Regency Hall, and will be unsealed and judged fairly by her, Fallen, at today's ceremony, allowing the princess to publicly select her favorite painting.

Now it can be said that the sound has been determined, and only the unveiling of the results at a ceremony is awaited, and the ceremony will come to an end.

When the princess looks at the paintings, she doesn't know who painted them.

This is a blind selection.

At that time, Fallen will naturally judge who the magic power on the painting belongs to, and determine the time the painting was completed based on the nature of the magic power.

"Don't worry, I've put my all into this painting."

Ranch picked up the little black cat on the ground and said to it with certainty.

"Meow meow."

Cat Boss knew that Ranch had locked himself in his room for most of the week, except for the necessary meetings with the Demon World's dignitaries.

But he didn't see exactly what Ranch had painted.

After finishing the painting, he sealed it up, and with the help and guidance of a close minister, directly sent it to the Sealed Golden Cabinet located in the Regency Hall on the first floor of the Royal Palace.

According to him, he wanted Hibernia to see it first.

Although Cat Boss had seen Ranch's paintings, he hadn't had time to carefully appraise them the last time in the North Continent before Ranch had taken them away. He didn't dare to appraise them at all in the South Continent and ran away. This time, he wanted to take a good look at what level of artwork Ranch had created.

If it's an artwork, he has full confidence in Ranch, this strange kid. As long as the great demon clans and the tenth progenitor don't create a sacred-level artwork, he believes that Ranch will definitely win!

The man and the cat went downstairs, and breakfast in the huge McCarthy Palace dining room was already prepared.

Ranch sat down at the table by the floor-to-ceiling glass window, thinking about the upcoming schedule, his eyes occasionally looking out the window, gazing at the deep purple sky of the solar eclipse and the dim sea.

Today, due to the visit of the Vampire progenitors, Demon King City Nicalis has also opened the barrier sky.

Of course, the main venue for the royal ceremony is in the Nicalis Royal Palace. For Vampires, even during the day, there is no difference in a sturdy interior, let alone the Demon World Royal Palace with protective barriers.

Before long, Ranch finished his breakfast. He put down his cutlery, wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin, adjusted his tie, and stood up to take the coat the butler handed him.

Outside the window, it was not yet dawn, and the sun's path had been blocked by the blood moon. The light on the eastern horizon became hazy, and the entire Demon King City seemed to be shrouded in twilight.

Just as Ranch reached the door of the palace hall, ready to push the door open and leave, he heard a rustling sound of footsteps behind him. Ranch turned his head.

He saw Sigrid, still wearing her sleeping cap, running over with sleepy eyes, wanting to see him off.

"Rocky, have a safe trip."

She rubbed her eyes and waved her small hand.

Sigrid had already used a mysterious magical item, a card-like object given to her by Ranch, to transform into a demon.

She now looked like a pure-blooded wolf demon.

"Thank you for helping me watch the house."

Ranch said to her.

Sigrid was silent for a moment.

"I feel like today is very dangerous... Two terrible Vampires have come to the Demon World's capital... You have to be careful."

Sigrid's sleepiness gradually dissipated, and her eyes clearly became a little uncomfortable and worried. Although she didn't want to wrinkle Ranch's neatly ironed coat, she still gently tugged at the corner of his clothes.

Cunning Vampires often don't just make a simple trip.

They have infinitely abundant capital to gamble, to fill their eternally insatiable pride and desire.

She remembered that last time, on an ordinary, peaceful day, she had sent her father off like this in the morning. She thought her father would be back early, bring her gifts, play with her, and tell her stories.

And that was the last time she saw her father.

"I know, thank you."

Ranch squatted down and looked at her as he said.

"Come back early."

She nodded.

Ranch smiled at her, waved goodbye, and walked out of the mansion.