Chapter 200
Chapter 200
Chapter 200
Continental Nation Conference (1)
It was truly all or nothing.
But gambling, by its very nature, requires one to plan it oneself and lead it oneself to reduce the risks.
If you get swept up by others or jump into the game caught by unverified information, you're bound to face ruin.
"I refuse the proposal."
"......"
"......"
"Even if such a thing were to happen, I'll be the one setting up the game, not you. Don't try to drag me into a game you've set up."
"...Is that so?"
"Go back and prepare to be destroyed. I've made very thorough preparations to destroy you."
"......"
However, for some reason, no emotions like anger or regret could be felt from Krakar and Ktuna.
Krakar spoke.
"For now, we'll put it on hold."
"...What?"
"Our proposal is still valid. Though we agreed to Garganta's desire and planned this war, even after this war ends, we will make the same proposal to you as now."
"...No."
What are these things really scheming?
"Even if the Seven-Colored World doesn't exist, you possess the possibility of killing Berus. You are the only being that this world's causality cannot bind, the one blessed with the blessing of uncertainty."
"......"
"Moreover, don't you also have the Creator God's arrangement prepared for when everything goes wrong? Our proposal is by no means absurd."
The Creator God's arrangement?
"As a gesture of goodwill toward you, let me share one piece of information."
While Rudian was pondering the meaning of those words, Krakar uttered something outrageous.
"The alien forces mobilized for this invasion number approximately 40 million. The average karma possessed by the forces is 480,000 karma, so if you gather strength accordingly, you should be able to respond easily."
"Ah, no...! Wait...?"
Rudian was flustered.
What commander in the world would tell the details of their subordinate forces to the enemy leader?
Even Murakuchi Renado wouldn't do that!
"Then we wish you good luck in battle."
"We look forward to the day when we can have a conversation again."
The guys were talking as if this war wasn't their concern at all.
'...What the hell?'
Krakar and Ktuna transformed back into tentacled giants and flew up into the sky.
-Please, do not take our proposal lightly.
With those final words, the two completely disappeared from Helheim.
-Master.
And without any time to reflect on their actions.
-About five Archangel-class divine presences have been detected approximately 1,400km ahead.
'Five? Are there any I know among them?'
-Raphael, Uriel, and Gabriel, who have met with Master before, are not confirmed to be present.
Anyway, in the current situation, even if he encountered those guys, he'd have nothing good to say.
'Good. Let's really get out of here.'
Since he had accomplished all his purposes here, encountering angels from now on would just be unnecessary trouble.
***
Rudian, who had retrieved the nine Legion Commanders and their subordinate legions, returned once again to Gliese, the middle realm planet.
'Adi, how much time has passed since we departed?'
When traveling between different dimensions, time axis distortion frequently occurred when there was no special backup.
-I fixed the time axis as much as possible, but there was an error of about 7 hours. Based on the dimensional boundary line, 3 days, 14 hours, and 21 minutes have passed.
'Not bad.'
Then there were still a few days left until the conference would proceed.
Before leaving, he had roughly explained the various circumstances to Gray, so he probably explained it well to Sonya.
"T-this place is the middle realm?"
Some of the Legion Commanders who were conscious lost themselves gazing at the continent's characteristic blue sea.
"Very... beautiful."
"It's very different from the past."
It was a bit bizarre that it was Liches who were moved by the grand natural landscape and immersed in sentiment...
Anyway, when these guys talk about the past, it would be from the time of the Heaven-Demon Great War 10,000 years ago.
"What was it like in the old days?"
At Rudian's question, Derastara answered with a bitter smile.
"...Actually, we were also latecomers, so we don't know well what the original middle realm was like. However, the middle realm at that time was no different from the demon realm. It was probably due to the aftermath of the war."
Probably these guys set foot in the middle realm after the mid-phase of the Heaven-Demon War.
When the Progenitor Empire was caught between whales and became a mess.
"But seeing it like this, I understand why Lord Baal so desperately insisted on invading the middle realm. If we could live in such a place, any sacrifice would have been acceptable."
"...Baal and I are allies now, but we're bound to part ways someday."
"We know. The only one we pledge our loyalty to is you, Lord Rudian, the new Seat of Envy."
"Good, don't forget that mindset."
Rudian hid most of the demons at the southernmost tip of the Great Forest with the understanding of the different races.
However, he decided to bring several Legion Commanders along, which was also a kind of show of force and warning toward Baal.
"Is there any difficulty in using your power?"
"None at all. It's truly amazing."
Ignoring the constraints of causality using Dilmun.
He had hoped against hope, but he never thought it would really work.
Rudian looked at Derastara's stats.
-Overall Combat Power: 230,882
In the case of Crosel, a mid-to-lower rank Demon King he had met in the Great Forest before, he remembered his combat power being only around 50,000.
Caught by the constraints of causality, unable to do anything against a single Seven Arks and struggling pathetically, he could only overwhelm his opponent after being exposed to Rigos' authority.
But a Legion Commander class, not even a Demon King, could wield power several times stronger than a power-constrained Demon King, so Dilmun's cheat-like nature was sufficiently proven by this alone.
"Good, I'm just saying this just in case, but absolutely don't cause any trouble."
"Of course."
Leaving behind guys like Keppel and Deramode, who could cause incidents just by their existence due to their large size.
Rudian returned to Nevan with guys whose height was similar to humans.
As soon as Rudian entered Nevan's imperial capital, Sonya, who had ghostly picked up the scent, burst out.
"Hey you bastard! You leave me with work and where the hell have you been wandering around..."
Sonya saw the Legion Commanders behind Rudian, their forms hidden by robes and masks, and her arms and words drooped.
"...around."
SHIVER!
Sonya, who was also among the strong in this world, sensed the power and danger of the Legion Commanders freed from all constraints and trembled.
"Y-you...! What the hell did you pick up?"
Strength that surpassed even Dragon Lords in terms of individual power.
Moreover, they were emanating demonic energy that had adverse effects on ordinary life forms...
It was natural for Sonya to show such a reaction.
"Hide your presence a bit."
"Yes, we apologize, my lord."
The five Legion Commanders Rudian brought bowed their heads and definitely concealed their presence.
"Huk, heok...!"
Only then did Sonya, freed from the Legion Commanders' pressure, collapse limply and catch her breath.
"I-I'm sorry, Lady Sonya. Though these guys look fierce, they're well-behaved children..."
"......"
Sonya, who had intended to scold Rudian harshly to release the stress she had accumulated so far, ultimately couldn't voice any complaints and had no choice but to let Rudian inside.
"First, I should meet His Majesty. He must be quite troubled by what I've caused..."
"His Majesty is currently having a pleasant conversation with Archangel Gabriel."
"...Gabriel has already arrived?"
"He seems to have achieved some enlightenment. Rather... he seemed to be enjoying it."
"...Indeed, he has the adaptability befitting a monarch."
Rudian scratched his cheek with a reluctant expression.
"Go ahead. I need to... rest a bit."
"Yes, please take care of yourself."
Rudian and the Legion Commanders passed by Sonya and headed inside.
"She's quite a decent human. To be able to maintain her sanity even after directly encountering our true forms."
Originally, the partners that high-level magicians of 7th class and above among the black magicians existing on the continent contracted with belonged to the Legion Commander class.
Naturally, they couldn't help but be pressured by the difference in status, and those with sensitive mental systems like magicians were even more severely stimulated.
"Well, if you think that way, at least help her with her magical achievements."
"...Hmm."
"If you become friendly with her, you'll be able to receive considerable help when settling in the middle realm in the future. She's quite a person of power."
"Is that so? I'll consider it."
While having various casual conversations, a huge circular conference hall appeared before Rudian.
Though it was urgently reconstructed for this conference, it was able to achieve a quite decent appearance thanks to the tremendous amount of wealth poured into it.
It was truly a place that revealed Sonya's hardships as they were.
'...It wasn't just Gabriel.'
Rudian looked at the red-haired handsome man sitting in that corner.
GRIN!
The handsome man smiled brightly and waved his hand at Rudian.
Beside that handsome man sat four men and women of distinctive appearance, all of whom looked at Rudian with not-so-kind eyes.
'...Baal, you were already here?'
Probably the ones beside Baal were Agares, Vassago, Gamigin... and Iblis, who had risen to 5th place in the hierarchy this time, replacing Marbas.
'Looking at them all gathered like this, it's really a mess.'
On one side were Demon Kings, on another side were Archangels, on another side were dragons and different races. On the last side were secret societies.
The kings of the 17 nations, who were the official hosts of this conference, were just huddled in one corner, trembling at their presence.
'At least Gabriel is maintaining a mental barrier with divine protection, so they're barely holding on.'
No matter how much of a monarch they were, excluding their position, they were no different from ordinary people without any military power...
"...You've come, Count Belstad."
In that regard, Emperor Rausa was definitely beyond the framework of ordinary people.
Rudian politely greeted Emperor Rausa.
"I come to see Your Imperial Majesty..."
"Ah, you don't need to observe military courtesy in this place."
"......"
"While talking with Lord Gabriel, I realized that you're not in a position to be bound by country or ethnicity. Rather, I'm grateful to you for considering our Morian Empire."
Emperor Rausa seemed to have realized the truth of the hidden world through this incident.
Since he could sense some degree of resignation in those words, Rudian bowed his head with a slightly bitter expression.
Then, from far away, Baal's voice was heard.
"Though there are still a few days left until the scheduled time, it seems all the necessary personnel have already gathered."
"...So, what do you want to do, Baal?"
Gabriel, who was sitting across from Emperor Rausa, glared at Baal.
Even under his gaze, Baal didn't lose his smile and shrugged his shoulders.
"Naturally, since this conference doesn't need to follow formalities, wouldn't it be fine to just start like this?"
"Uriel hasn't come yet."
"Isn't it enough if you're here, Gabriel? Even if she joins in the middle, no one will say anything. This is, after all, a 'healthy' discussion, not an extension of war."
Baal's words were certainly reasonable.
In a situation with a time limit, there was no reason to waste time when all the personnel with some decision-making power had gathered.
But before Rudian could agree to those words... Baal delivered a powerful provocation aimed at Rudian.
"Don't you think so? Senior?"
"This son of a..."
At just one word, Rudian's mind became confused, and curses born of lost composure flowed from his mouth.