527
Chapter 527
Yekatrina's powerful aura surged as her bone sword sliced through the air, aiming to crush Zeke's head.
THUMP!
Zeke raised one hand and firmly caught Yekatrina's bone sword that was wrapped in aura.
CRACK!
As he applied pressure, fine cracks appeared on the bone sword's surface.
'Im-impossible.'
Yekatrina's bone sword was a special weapon made from an abyss beast's spine bone, refined in Gehenna's flames.
It was inconceivable that a human could break a bone sword harder than any metal with just grip strength.
The shocked Yekatrina tried to pull back her sword and retreat.
But she couldn't free the sword from Zeke's grasp.
'NNGH!'
Though she prided herself on her strength, for some reason she couldn't pull the sword from Zeke's grip.
Cold sweat dripped from Yekatrina's forehead as she gripped the sword.
At that moment, Elizabeth regained her senses and approached.
"Rina, stop this at once!"
With those words, Elizabeth knelt respectfully before Zeke.
Seeing this, Yekatrina screamed in shock.
"Are you insane?! Beth! Have you lost your mind?!"
Ignoring Yekatrina's words, Elizabeth bowed her head to Zeke and spoke.
"First Princess Elizabeth. I greet the honored guest of Pandemonium."
Yekatrina was startled by Elizabeth's words 'honored guest of Pandemonium.'
"W-what do you mean?! Are you saying this human is a guest recognized by Father?!"
Elizabeth remained silent, maintaining her respectful posture while awaiting Zeke's response.
Seeing this, Yekatrina broke into a cold sweat and released her grip on the bone sword.
When she withdrew her attack, Zeke released the bone sword as well.
Yekatrina dismissed the bone sword and stepped back.
She stood awkwardly, still wearing an expression of disbelief, unlike Elizabeth who had immediately shown proper respect.
Zeke ignored her and addressed Elizabeth who was still showing respect.
"What does it mean to be an honored guest of Pandemonium?"
At his question, Elizabeth raised her head and explained.
"It refers to the noble guest recognized by the 'Master of Unbreakable Contracts,' who is the Demon Lord and ruler of Pandemonium. Followers like us cannot disrespect the honored guest and must show all courtesy as we would to our master."
Zeke wore a dumbfounded expression at Elizabeth's words.
'Mephistopheles. What game are you playing?'
He had made Zeke an honored guest of Pandemonium even before accepting the contract, preventing the princesses from attacking him.
Zeke asked Elizabeth again.
"You mean that because I am Mephistopheles' guest, followers like you can no longer oppose me?"
When Zeke spoke Mephistopheles' true name, Elizabeth and Yekatrina's faces turned pale.
As followers, they had major restrictions on directly speaking constellation names, so they were shocked by Zeke casually speaking the constellation's true name.
Behind them, Yekatrina's hands trembled, while Elizabeth visibly struggled to maintain composure.
Zeke inwardly clicked his tongue and spoke to Elizabeth again.
"I'm asking if you must withdraw and stop this invasion if I command it as Pandemonium's guest."
Elizabeth nodded at his words, finally regaining her composure.
"We cannot enter the honored guest's territory without permission. I have ordered all troops to retreat."
Zeke turned to look at Yekatrina.
She bit her lip hard before nodding and speaking.
"...I have ordered...all troops to retreat."
As a proud member of the Tuma clan, Yekatrina seemed uncomfortable showing respect to a human, but appeared unable to resist.
Realizing the two princesses could not oppose him, Zeke dealt with the urgent matter first.
"First, we should dismiss the invasion fortress. And..."
He picked up Anastasia, who was lying on the ground, by the scruff of her neck and spoke to the two princesses.
"Let's go somewhere quiet and have a talk."
* * *
The demon attack on Mycenae stopped.
Those who defended the castle to the end cheered in victory while mourning their fallen comrades.
When Zeke's defense mode was lifted, the summoned beings and guardians disappeared.
Mycenae's citizens returned to their daily lives while repairing the broken walls and city infrastructure.
Hades ground his teeth, saying he would engrave anti-demon defensive grand magic circles across the entire wall to prevent demon invasions, pushing Feinan and Gelion.
While Mycenae returned to normal, Zeke took the three demon realm princesses to the Hoshgar mansion in Baranon.
Though now used as Richmond and Vane's laboratory, it had been known as a cursed ghost mansion for a thousand years, with people avoiding even its vicinity.
This made it perfect for a quiet conversation.
Upon entering, Elizabeth showed curiosity at traces of the great archmage throughout, while Yekatrina was interested in the bone and ice summons left by the liches.
Still in cat form, Anastasia kept dozing, seemingly burdened by the Demon Lord's possession.
Zeke brought them here primarily to distance them from Mycenae, and secondly to learn about the sealed constellation 'Arrogant Savior'.
First Princess Elizabeth immediately understood his intention and spoke first.
"Honored guest. The Arrogant Savior's sealed vessel is in the material realm."
Though Zeke already knew this from the End Chapter scenario, he listened silently.
She continued.
"In the past, the Arrogant Savior's power was so great it terrified all fallen constellations."
"The Demon Lord said the Arrogant Savior first designed the current Pandemonium."
Elizabeth nodded at Zeke's words.
"That's correct. The Arrogant Savior was first to conceive building new civilization and cities in the demon realm. However... the city of 'Babel' he tried to create failed."
"Babel. Was that the original name of Pandemonium?"
"Babel was a massive city encompassing not just Pandemonium but the entire current demon realm."
Zeke showed surprise at this.
"You mean including Abyss, Abaddon, and Gehenna?"
"Yes. The Arrogant Savior used his power to create a city as vast as the material realm across the entire demon realm. His partial success fixed the current four regions and formed the demon realm as we know it."
Unlike the material realm, the demon realm exists in dimensional gaps, making spatial stability inherently unstable.
Building stable regions there demonstrated the Arrogant Savior's power was incomparable to ordinary constellations.
After thinking briefly, Zeke asked Elizabeth.
"Why did this Babel the Arrogant Savior created fail?"
Elizabeth shook her head.
"Neither I nor my sisters know. It was too long ago, and that history is not permitted to us."
Zeke frowned slightly. He had received the karma data 'Fragment of Forgotten Time' from the Demon Lord.
The problem was that even that data was incomplete.
Through the Akashic Code he could only verify the Demon Lord's words weren't false, but couldn't know exactly what happened when Babel fell and the Arrogant Savior was sealed.
'So I need to find and absorb the sealed vessel to fill in the missing information.'
Zeke spoke to Elizabeth.
"Then you don't know where in the material realm the Arrogant Savior's sealed vessel is hidden?"
Elizabeth quietly nodded.
Though the Demon Lord's adopted daughter, she seemed unauthorized to know the fallen constellations' secrets.
Then the silent Yekatrina spoke to Zeke.
"...I have heard related stories."
Still awkward speaking respectfully to a human, Yekatrina's voice was much quieter than before.
Zeke turned to Yekatrina.
"What stories did you hear?"
Yekatrina pressed her lips together before continuing.
"That the Arrogant Savior descended to the material realm to recover a sealed demon king's soul, but never returned to the demon realm."
Zeke furrowed his brow at Yekatrina's words.
'The Arrogant Savior descended to the material realm to recover a sealed demon king's soul?'
Zeke recalled Mephistopheles saying he had sealed the Arrogant Savior himself.
The Arrogant Savior had possessed power so vast none in the demon realm could oppose him.
So it was likely he used the demon king's soul to lure him to the material realm for sealing.
'If they used the sealed demon king's soul as bait to draw out the Arrogant Savior, this could be connected to the Abyss.'
Through Yekatrina's words, Zeke nodded as he found a clue to locate the Arrogant Savior's sealed vessel.
"I'll need to look into this further."
He addressed Elizabeth and Yekatrina.
"I understand enough now. Return to the demon realm. I cannot forgive further disruption of the material realm."
Elizabeth shook her head in surprise.
"That's impossible. Father ordered us to stay and assist you in the material realm."
Yekatrina, now fully grasping the situation, bit her lip and nodded.
"Father's words are absolute, we must obey."
Mephistopheles wanted Zeke to absorb the Arrogant Savior's sealed vessel and become the demon realm's sixth lord.
'If his words are true, he needs a force to check the other demon realm lords.'
Having the demon princesses in the material realm shouldn't be problematic if they assist rather than attack.
"Fine. Stay here for now. But be warned show any suspicious behavior and I'll force-summon you back to the demon realm."
Elizabeth nodded respectfully while Yekatrina bit her lip in frustration.
At Zeke's gesture, Richmond and Vane entered to guide the three princesses to their rooms.
Alone, Zeke briefly contemplated before taking out the green sword from his inventory.
He summoned Arataso.
WOONG!
Arataso appeared in his human-horse form wearing green armor.
"You know why I called you."
[...Yes.]
According to Mephistopheles, Arataso was one who scattered from the Arrogant Savior's faction to another.
"When I asked about a mid-level demon having knight status, castle and subordinates, you said it was complicated. Was it because you moved from the Arrogant Savior's faction to the Demon Lord's?"
Arataso slowly nodded.
[Correct. Now that you know, the restriction is lifted and I can speak.]
He straightened his chest, his eyes gleaming with green energy.
[I was a member of the mighty knightly order 'Morningstar' led by the fallen constellation Arrogant Savior, and his most loyal servant.]