Chapter 188: To the Land of Demons

A dimly lit conference room.

Within the darkness, where no one could even discern each other's identities, the only thing anyone knew for certain was that everyone present was a follower of the Demon Race.

"The rumors about the Dopplers have spread across the entire continent."

The one who opened the discussion spoke in an irritated voice.

Dopplers.

Unlike ordinary doppelgängers that merely imitated humans, these were infiltration agents that literally became the person they replaced.

The Dopplers had been deployed for the past ten years, and until their identities were exposed, not a single person had noticed them.

Anyone who carelessly accused someone of being an impostor only ended up losing their own head after that person proved intimate physical traits that only the real individual could possess.

"As the one in overall command, don't you have anything to say?"

Someone directed everyone's attention toward the man at the head of the table, openly questioning his responsibility.

The man occupying the seat of supreme authority had unnaturally pale skin.

"What exactly is there for me to say?"

"Things have gone against our expectations over and over again. Shouldn't there at least be some sort of response?"

The pale man chuckled.

"Gone against expectations? That's rather disappointing to hear. I already knew all of this."

"You knew?"

An uneasy silence filled the room.

For a moment, everyone wondered if they had misunderstood him, but the man continued.

"Yes. I knew Regent Ferda would uncover the Dopplers and use that knowledge to devise his strategy."

"...Then are you saying you simply stood by and watched?"

A follower challenged him in an accusatory tone.

Tilting his head, the pale man asked calmly,

"Weren't you all supposed to have pledged your loyalty to Godwin? Considering that, you're awfully upset over something so trivial."

"I don't care what becomes of this continent. I follow Godwin. But I didn't cooperate in all this just to watch every achievement we've built turn into nothing."

"Is that so?"

The pale man raised his hand.

Instantly, the speaker's arm twisted grotesquely.

Bang!

Crack!

"AAAAAHHH!"

A weak shockwave distorted his arm, shattering the bones inside.

The agony of severed nerves echoed throughout the chamber.

He was a mage who manipulated distorted space—

Curved Demon.

In an instant, Curved Demon appeared before the man, holding a dagger.

No...

It wasn't a dagger.

Anyone who had ever stepped into a kitchen would have recognized it as nothing more than a butcher's knife.

Stab!

Curved Demon drove the kitchen knife into the man's remaining arm.

"AAAAAAAH!"

He slowly twisted the blade.

Because it hadn't been properly sharpened, its jagged edge tore through flesh as it scraped along the grain of the skin.

"AAAAAAARGH!!!"

Only agonized screams filled the room.

The merciless torture continued for five full minutes before Curved Demon finally spoke again.

"Anything you'd like to say?"

"P-Please... spare me..."

"Why do you want to live? You'll die eventually anyway. Wouldn't dying sooner be better?"

"Please..."

Broken by the pain, the man begged.

Looking utterly bored, Curved Demon pulled out the knife and tossed him aside.

Then he turned toward everyone else in the conference hall.

"Do you think the rest of you are any different?"

His bloodstained kitchen knife pointed toward them.

"You proudly proclaim that you follow my father's Void—that death itself doesn't frighten you. But once you're standing before death, every single one of you will tuck your tails between your legs. Do you know why I'm so certain?"

"..."

"Because you're all losers who fled here in terror, unable to face your current lives."

"..."

"You pigs stuffed yourselves until slaughter day came, and now you're whining because nobody told you the date. It's so ridiculous it's laughable."

The room fell deathly silent.

Curved Demon wiped the blood from his face with a finger before speaking again from his seat.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I knew Regent Ferda intended to take the blame in the Empire to expose the followers of the Demon Race. And yes, it's true that I deliberately didn't warn Joseph Faust's replacement, whom we'd planted beforehand."

He casually wiped his bloody kitchen knife on the clothes of the man sitting beside him.

"Yes, the existence of the Dopplers has been exposed. But look at the Empire now. People have begun suspecting nobles and priests alike. Chaos has taken hold. In order to suppress that chaos, they're shifting the blame toward foreign powers. It won't just be followers of the Demon Race who die. Loyal and capable officials will be dragged into the aftermath as well."

"...That makes sense."

"I understand now."

It was an extreme plan, but not an incomprehensible one.

Now that the Empire's once-unshakable foundation had begun to crumble, the opportunity before them was undeniable.

"Before everything returns to nothingness, enjoy yourselves while you still can. Once you become no different from the Demon Race, you'll realize just how insignificant the joys you once treasured truly were."

Curved Demon waved dismissively, and the secret council dispersed.

Soon, only he remained within the dark chamber.

"Do you really trust them?"

A man who had been silently standing in the darkness finally stepped forward.

Curved Demon smirked.

"Trust them? What would be the point? Didn't you just see them?"

"True. They're impossible to trust."

"But I do trust one thing."

"Their fear is utterly insignificant."

Humans feared the unknown.

They yielded before terror.

Now that they had joined hands with the Demon Race, there was no turning back.

The only way to survive was to serve the Demon Race with even greater loyalty.

"So the plan is still intact?"

"Of course."

"Even with Regent Ferda running around as an unpredictable variable?"

Ferda Valdrova.

Now that the secret of the Dopplers had been exposed, everyone would remain vigilant against them.

Deploying them recklessly would no longer be easy.

"I heard he tore Elder Cypress's arm off."

"An elder who suspects even a falling leaf isn't exactly a careless elf. He accomplished something remarkable."

"Remarkable? No."

"It's dangerous."

Curved Demon completely agreed.

Yet it still wasn't a problem.

"There's no need to respond."

"Why?"

"Because he'll become our king."

"...The Demon King?"

The massive black figure sounded unconvinced.

Watching his reaction, Curved Demon asked,

"Have you ever seen the Demon King?"

"No."

At the far end of what had once been known as the Eastern Region stood the Demon King's Castle.

Aside from the original members of the Demon Race created in the beginning, very few had ever laid eyes on the Demon King himself.

After all, the truly important figure had always been their Father—Godwin.

The Demon King mattered only to humans.

"After the woman he loved died, he chose to become the Demon King."

"How trivial."

"To us, yes. Incredibly trivial."

"But that emotion transformed him into a being even the Seven Calamities could never surpass."

A faint smile spread across Curved Demon's face.

"I believe in that power."

"The despair born from love."

"So it won't happen immediately."

"No."

"Not immediately."

Curved Demon lowered his eyes to the map spread across the table.

"Our opportunity will come eventually. Until then, we simply continue doing what we must."

"So what's next?"

"They say demons always extend a hand to desperate humans."

He tapped a location on the map of the Cerdes Continent with his kitchen knife.

It was a nation currently locked in a tense standoff with the Arken Empire.

Heinkel Kingdom

"Before the demons make their move, let's claim them first."

***

Valdrova Castle.

"These are the copied journals you requested."

After spending several days deciphering and transcribing them, Rizera handed the copies to Ferda.

"Is this the only copy?"

"I delivered an identical one to Lady Eri... no, Lady Erika."

Eri and Erika.

He still wasn't accustomed to distinguishing between the names of the Blue Eye Magic Tower Master and the Far East Branch Master of the Adventurers' Guild.

"Thank you for your hard work. I'll examine them carefully."

"Y-Yes..."

The first thing Ferda checked was the list of names.

Project: Erosion Participant List

Quite a lot.

It wasn't limited to high-ranking nobles.

Even ordinary commoners without titles were listed, along with their exact locations.

Ferda searched for only one name.

As expected, it wasn't there.

So Valdemar Golt isn't one of the Demon Race.

There were a few Imperial nobles listed, but none influential enough to strike a decisive blow against Valdemar.

There was no justification for cornering or attacking him.

His interest quickly faded.

As he continued reading, he thought,

What should I do with these people...?

Eliminating them all immediately would certainly be satisfying.

But doing so would simply leave an escape route for the followers of the Demon Race.

The ideal outcome...was allowing the rat to carry food back to its nest.

Only then could every rat inside the burrow be burned alive.

While Ferda was contemplating his options, his gaze drifted back to Rizera.

His awkward fidgeting made it obvious he still had something to say.

"Um..."

"Yes?"

"What should I do now?"

Rizera asked with complete sincerity.

"What do you mean by that...?"

"I have so many questions. Why can I read the language that belonged to the elf Linne? Did Father know about it? And if he did... why didn't he tell me?"

"..."

"So I've been thinking about it."

"The more I think..."

"...The only possible answer I come up with is one I'd rather not believe."

Guilt filled his face.

"The most likely reason I can read those unique characters... is because I'm someone who inherited that bloodline."

The bloodline of Linne.

A Dark Elf.

Meaning...she could be Linne's daughter. Or perhaps...her son.

"I see."

"Yes..."

"But why do you look so burdened with guilt?"

"Because... if the woman who would be my mother was responsible for killing so many lives and conducting all those terrible experiments..."

"...Then I wonder if I even deserve to hold my head high."

"And..."

He couldn't continue.

But Ferda understood.

Linne had betrayed her own people and abandoned the World Tree.

Although it had been under the High Chieftain's orders, Rizera had also left his own people behind.

He feared he might be walking the very same path.

"Blood may connect you, but beyond that, you're strangers. Nothing guarantees you'll follow the same road as Linne."

"Thank you for saying that."

"But even so... I can't just pretend I know nothing."

Rizera took a deep breath.

For a moment, Ferda wondered whether his earnest personality was becoming a burden.

Yet the weight pressing upon his face transformed into determination.

"So... after thinking it over..."

"...I'd like to join the expedition led by Lady Erika."

"The expedition?"

He nodded.

"Yes."

"Even if Dark Elves are considered heretics, our roots are still the same."

Color returned to his face.

"And... I've admired adventurers for a long time."

"There's an elf in the expedition too, isn't there?"

"Beinhoff."

"A Forest Elf famous for his unmatched marksmanship."

"Yes."

"I'm not very skilled with a bow..."

"...But I can use magic."

"So I want to experience all the things I could never do while living beneath the World Tree."

Watching him, he looked less like a determined young man...and more like an adventurous young girl.

It made Ferda instinctively worry.

"What kind of magic do you use?"

"I can't cast flashy offensive magic like Lady Eri..."

"...I'm not sure how to explain it..."

"Show me."

"I'll judge for myself."

"Ah! O-Okay!"

Quietly drawing runes, Rizera began casting spell after spell.

Watching them, Ferda quickly reached a conclusion.

"You specialize in healing and defensive magic."

"I spent a long time helping the sick."

"That's why I learned them."

"...They're pretty mediocre, aren't they?"

Mediocre?

He's exactly the kind of person people would fight over to recruit.

Priests who traveled under the pretense of pilgrimages were common.

Most could barely manage healing magic equivalent to a Second or Third Circle mage.

By the Fourth Circle, they usually settled down somewhere permanently.

As for the Fifth Circle...

Such talent was almost impossible to acquire without making enormous donations to the Church.

By human standards, Rizera possessed abilities comparable to a seasoned Fourth Circle priest.

And he's naturally compatible with spirits.

Elves possessed far greater affinity and communication with spirits than any other race.

But to befriend spirits powerful enough to be called the Nightmare of the World Tree...required extraordinary talent even among elves.

He's not merely close to them.

He's controlling them.

He himself hadn't realized it.

But anyone knowledgeable about magic would recognize it for what it was.

Rizera was commanding spirits.

Which means his mental fortitude is incredibly flexible.

Flexibility meant he wouldn't break.

Exactly the quality an expedition needed most.

Ability was important.

But even more essential was maintaining composure under any circumstance.

No one's composure lasted forever.

Eventually, everyone needed something to lean on.

Rizera was the kind of person who could become that steadfast pillar for everyone else.

"I believe you'd be a valuable addition."

"However, the final decision belongs to Tower Master Erika, so I can't interfere."

"I see..."

"Do you think Lady Erika might dislike me?"

The long-standing conflict between the High Elves and the Iorga family still weighed on her mind.

To Ferda...it was a completely unnecessary concern.

"You could call them children of water lizards right to their faces, and they'd probably let it slide."

"Huh?!"

"How could I ever say something that awful...?"

Rizera's face turned deathly pale as he panicked.

Leaving him flustered behind, Ferda sank into thought.

The Land of Demons...

Beyond the border of the Far East.

Originally, Ferda had intended to remain behind the scenes and provide support.

That arrangement had been more comfortable for both Erika and himself.

But beyond that border lies something that may erase my greatest fear.

The High Chieftain had said that the mana of the Demon King flowed within Ferda.

The Demon King had loved someone.

Only after losing that love had his existence become complete.

Ferda was no different.

He already knew how terrifying it was for a tiny snowball of emotion to roll downhill until it became an enormous boulder.

She loves this continent.

He could not allow the woman who loved this continent to suffer such pain again.

So even if that sorrow eventually came...he needed a way to ensure she would never be hurt by it.

That was why Ferda decided to join the expedition himself.

***

Valdrova was getting ready to leave the castle.

She was far more nervous than usual.

Yesterday, while working at the construction site, hornless Erika had approached her and said,

-Tomorrow I'll be holding a mission briefing for the members of the Land of Demons Expedition. Please clear your schedule and attend.

The Land of Demons Expedition.

The excitement of meeting new people as an Armored Knight...and the anxiety that came with it...both tightened around her heart.

She knew exactly why she felt this way.

But she didn't want to think about it.

Forcing those emotions aside, she put on the brightest smile she could.

"Luri, I'm heading out."

"Have a safe trip."

Her words sounded cold.

Her expression, however, said otherwise.

That dissatisfied look practically screamed,

Why are you neglecting the dignity of a king to play these human games?

In the past, Valdrova would have been intimidated by that look.

But not anymore.

I'll bring back something delicious for her.

She had finally learned how to handle Luri.

Whenever Valdrova brought food home, Luri would grumble,

'Do you really think you can bribe me with something like this?'

Yet she'd always eat it happily while wagging her tail furiously.

To Valdrova...

Luri was no different from an adorable Chihuahua. 1

Nothing will happen.

Don't be afraid of new experiences for no reason.

Repeating those words to herself, Valdrova stepped out through the front gate.