Episode 28
Cold air, terrible stench. The cry of the mouse getting closer and closer.
I opened my eyes to the touch of insects and mice burrowing into my arms.
What came along with the pain that felt like it was about to break my head was a strong sense of incongruity.
“… Where is it, here?"
Darkness with no way to see ahead.
For a moment, I was afraid that I might have been blinded. It was only after using magic to create a dim light that I realized that this was a sewer.
"Cool...!"
Even though I only used a little magical power, I felt unbearable pain.
Startled by the sudden light and movement, the insects and rats fled.
"Answer, Demon King. Hey!"
The Demon King did not answer.
As I closed my eyes and contemplated the soul, I could feel that my connection with him had faded.
'What the hell happened?'
The last memory before he lost consciousness was definitely that he had surrendered himself to the Demon King after being defeated by the Paladin.
But why am I in this place?
Maybe decades have passed. After completing all the trials of the warrior and killing the goddess, Middle-earth may have been burned down by the Demon King.
Boom...!
He gritted his teeth and stood up.
My muscles screamed, but I couldn't stay still. After getting out of here, I had to see what was going on.
However, my movement did not last long.
Something that fell from his chest rolled on the floor and made a loud noise.
He sighed, gathered his magic, and picked up the object that had fallen to the floor.
"This is...."
It was the ice of eternity, containing a very faint soul.
* * *
It's early in the morning when the sun hasn't risen yet.
"It's been a long time since I've been to the royal road."
"So? You're not going to talk nonsense about forgetting your way, are you?"
"No way."
On a noisy street that was out of time with the time, two men and a woman entered.
"I'm tired. I want to rest quickly."
"I think the same way, but it seems like we're one step late."
The man looked around and said with a serious face. The tired woman asked with a frown at the words.
"So?"
"Track down your magic. Can you do it?"
“… Here? Now?"
The woman's face became even more wrinkled, but the man didn't care and just smiled and urged her.
"I believe you can do it."
"Ha, that's what I said..."
"Please. It seems that the situation is quite serious."
In response to the continued requests, the woman finally snorted and replied.
"Hmph. I understand."
As the woman chanted the spell, a strange wave spread around her.
A woman tilting her head and heading somewhere. The man followed quietly.
Soon after, they were confronted with a huge cavity.
It was so miserable that it was hard to recognize what was there in the first place, and it was hard to believe that it was in the middle of the city.
"What was originally here?"
The woman asked with a stern expression.
"Well. I don't remember. As I said before, it's been a long time since I've been to the royal capital."
It was a playful tone, but the man's face was extremely serious. He also felt that the cavity in front of him was extraordinary.
However, their conversation quickly stopped.
"Wait, stop. This place is currently under control. Go back."
A soldier who was watching around approached and stopped him. The man looked embarrassed and took out a small medal from his arms and held it out to the soldier.
"What? What is this... Suck!"
The soldier, who had a gloomy expression, immediately opened his eyes wide and lowered his head.
"Excuse me."
"It's okay. Can I stay here a little longer? I have something to check for a moment."
"Yes, as much as you want."
"Oh, wait."
The man grabbed the soldier who was about to retreat and stopped him.
"Can you tell me what happened here? You've been in a distant place in mine, and you've just returned."
"I will report. First...."
"You don't have to be so formal. Just keep the point short and feel comfortable."
The man patted the soldier on the shoulder, who was sweating profusely, but the soldier continued with more nervousness than before.
"There was an operation to wipe out the warlocks who had infiltrated the kingdom under the leadership of the Church. Twelve priests, including the archbishop of the Valaich Cathedral. And one group, including the Holy Knights and the leader of the main office of the denomination, was put in."
A sigh flowed from the man's mouth after hearing the soldier's words.
The Holy Knights are monsters that can be considered a warlock's nightmare. Even the general manager is a strong man who cannot guarantee victory even the man himself.
If the priesthood, including the archbishop, had been added to it, it was obvious what would have happened to the warlock's life by now.
'It's a pity. He seemed to be a pretty good guy.'
It was a pity for the man who had been following the warlock for the past few days.
"And it was annihilated."
“… What?"
The man asked back as if he was ridiculous.
I didn't even care how shocking the soldier's words were, and I didn't even care about the woman who was starting to enter the bottom of the pit before she knew it.
"The troops deployed in the kingdom consisted of three hundred soldiers, and most of them were put into personnel control at the request of the denomination. It was clearly a disregard for the home country, but thanks to this, only a few dozen soldiers were killed..."
"No, just a moment. Again. What happened to the members of the denomination?"
"It is annihilation. Archbishop Sileu and twelve priests, Dunkale, commander of the Holy Templars, and twenty paladins. There were thirty-three soldiers. We failed to subdue the warlock and were annihilated."
The soldier replied in a calm voice, as if he was starting to calm down little by little, but the body of the man who was listening gradually trembled on the contrary.
"Believe it now... No, I don't."
The man put one hand on his head and organized his thoughts.
He and his party pursued a warlock who had murdered the lord and knight in the Velib estate.
As a result of the investigation, I didn't think they were in a bad mood, so I tried to grow them and naturally attract them to the group they belonged to. But.
'If you have one Holy Knight, you have the power to defeat the lieutenant demon without difficulty. What if the archbishop is added to that?'
The neck of the upper devil is also worth aiming for.
Of course, due to the nature of demons, where the gap widens as they move up to higher ranks, there was no guarantee that the calculation would be absolute.
Even so, it was not enough for a single warlock to deal with.
"I was chasing the devil..."
"Yes?"
"It's not a big deal. Thank you. It was helpful enough. You can go and take a look."
The soldier bowed his head in greeting and left.
The man shook his head in search of the woman's figure and immediately jumped down into the pit.
"What are you doing?"
The woman did not answer the man's question, but looked around with her mouth open.
"Hey, look. Melissa!"
"Oh, yes, did you call me?"
“… Do you know how many times you sang it? Why is it not like you? Evil.... No, have you found the location of the warlock?"
As the man went to work, the focus gradually returned to the eyes of the woman called Melissa. But the woman replied in a voice that seemed to be still immersed in a dream.
"No. I couldn't find it. I can't find it, this is."
"Then why not?"
"I don't have any residual magical power. All I can feel is a weak level of sexual power. Just looking at the traces, I think the people of the church have self-destructed."
“… I can't be."
It couldn't be.
What the man saw as he looked around again was a completely burned cavity that he couldn't even guess what kind of magic he had used.
It was a terribly destroyed space that was unrecognizable in its original form.
"It's an extremely sophisticated magic manipulation ability. How the hell did you do it? What kind of magic did you unfold? If I could figure it out even a little, I would improve my skills by a few levels at once..."
The man grabbed Melissa's shoulder with a serious face.
"Now is not the time to think like that."
"That's why the body and the things I use... Do you know how important this is?"
"It's a war."
“… What?"
"The members of the cult were annihilated in the middle of the royal capital. If it's just that a few priests are dead, we can move on..."
Not only the archbishop, but also the entire Holy Knights died.
Even if you try to cover it, you can't cover it. Even in the denomination, we can never stand still.
Even if they want to protect the authority of the goddess they boast, they will have to avenge the dead.
"The Kingdom suffered only a few soldiers in the operation, and the warlock disappeared without a trace. From the denomination's point of view, they have no choice but to think that he and the kingdom are on the same side."
Then, the place where the sword of the denomination will be directed is the kingdom.
This was the reason why the man foresaw war.
It would be a great burden for the denomination to start another war immediately after the end of the Great War, but it would not be strange if the news of the invasion was heard tomorrow.
"The royal family must be in a very commotion by now."
"The kingdom of Balaich should not be destroyed yet? … Nope. If we create public opinion in neighboring countries based on that, will we be able to shorten Dan's plan? If you force it, the existence of the Dawn List may already be announced to the world..."
"Stop. Stop thinking about uselessness. Aren't your heads for politics?"
The man muttered and pulled away the woman's hand as she bit her nails, and laughed, her hair disheveled.
"Then what are you going to do? It's too late to inform the main team of the situation and prepare for it."
"For now, let's go to the royal family."
Looking at the rising sun, the man laughed.
"I should be a son for the first time in a while."
* * *
Seongguk, the main office of the denomination.
In the hall, which was large enough for thousands of people to easily enter, there were only two people.
The old man sitting on the red-decorated chair asked with a gloomy expression.
"So, the Demon King appeared?"
"Yes, the dignity you feel, the magic you use, and the words and actions that seem to already know the goddess. It was definitely the Demon King, Alderion."
A shocking story about the resurrection of Alderion, the demon king who has been defeated by a hero for just a few months.
Even though he had heard the most terrible story for the church, the old man could only clench his jaw and think.
"The saint said that the goddess prophesied that the enemy was the new demon king."
A low, slow voice.
The old man seemed to be throating, raised the glass next to him, shook his neck, and continued speaking.
"But the demon king who has already died has returned. How should I accept this?"
“… However, it is true."
"Yes. That's right. The information you brought from abandoning the archbishop should not be false."
The old man looked down at the woman who was lying on her stomach.
"Then it looks like that is broken now."
At the unstoppable remarks, the woman gasped.
"What are you so surprised about? It's just a joke."
“….”
"Go and tell me. Prepare for war."
"Are you okay? At a critical time."
The woman who was lying on her stomach gently raised her head and expressed concern.
"It's a temple. This is for greater glory."
A voice that speaks of war but does not even feel any inspiration.
The woman bowed her head and left her seat.
A question continued to linger in the departing woman's mind.
'Who did Your Majesty make a joke about?'
It seemed like he was referring to a saint, but for some reason, it was even more irreverent...
The woman shook her head and hurried her steps.
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