Chapter 225
Chapter 225
Chapter 225
New Phase (2)
A gentle light swirled around the planet's surface.
At first glance, it looked like viewing a massive jewel.
But Rudian knew it was thanks to the defensive barrier he had ordered.
'Good thing the negotiations weren't too late.'
The barrier was operating normally without a single gap.
The allied forces camped nearby also showed only tense vigilance without any significant expenditure of power.
"It certainly seems to have calmed down."
"Of course, I keep my promises."
Ktuna nodded.
The alien forces could be seen retreating in the distance with the naked eye.
Their numbers still filled the entire field of vision so densely that they couldn't be counted by eye.
'Disgusting, really.'
If even a portion of those things had descended to the surface, Chapter 3 of the original work would have been recreated exactly.
It was natural since this was a scale that would invade not just a single planet like this, but an entire star system...
"I'll settle the children in nearby planetary systems. Without my command, they will absolutely never enter inside the barrier that Berus had set up."
"...It hasn't been decided yet that we'll fight Berus."
Rudian replied curtly.
Even though he was thinking of turning heaven upside down, fighting Berus was still a problem that needed to be considered until the very last moment.
'First, I need to check what happened in the north.'
Even though the major battle was over, the situation still couldn't be taken lightly.
Rudian immediately ordered the barrier to be lifted and reunited with his companions.
"It seems to have ended well."
"Yes, senior. Although no battle occurred, we resolved it well through negotiation. There won't be any more fighting from now on."
"Hmm... I see."
Elvin nodded heavily.
At his appearance, as if bearing some kind of anguish, Rudian unconsciously swallowed despite having done nothing wrong.
"...Senior?"
"Yes, now there won't be any more fighting for us, but..."
FLINCH!
"Well... do your best."
What... why are you looking at me with such pitying eyes?
While Rudian was making a bewildered expression, Elvin patted Rudian's shoulder and withdrew.
And where Elvin had disappeared, Maria, Rebecca, and Evangeline slowly approached Rudian.
...GULP!
'I haven't done anything wrong... why this pressure...?'
But somehow, that pressure didn't seem to be directed entirely at him.
Rudian noticed the women's gazes passing slightly by him toward the back and slowly turned his head.
At the end of that gaze was... Ktuna, calmly smoking a long pipe.
'...Ah.'
Only then did Rudian understand their gazes and trembled greatly.
Without knowing what Rudian was feeling, Ktuna, who had been smoking a cigarette obtained from who knows where, spat out a comment.
"Your relationship doesn't seem very good."
"Be quiet for a bit..."
Everyone, this creature's true form is an octopus with thousands of eyeballs.
I'm innocent. Really!
***
A while later, the planet's barrier was lifted.
Although there was a telegram from Giovanni, who had been overseeing the barrier, grumbling about wasting enormous amounts of magic power for nothing, that was just light complaining.
"...Terrible."
Having returned to the surface, Rudian immediately headed north.
The northern mountain range where the seal of the former Seven Seats Leviathan had existed.
The northern mountain range, which was also the territory of the Ergon and Roar tribal alliance, welcomed Rudian as complete ruins, with its cold and harsh white scenery having disappeared somewhere.
"Even the climate has completely changed. It's confusing whether this is the north or south."
Gray, who had been investigating the surrounding magic density, frowned deeply.
"Moreover, demonic energy of unusual density is spread widely. If this continues, the north will turn into hell."
To be honest, it's rather fortunate that it ended here.
The power of Baal that he had seen when fighting Mars before was almost approaching Diablo's main body, which meant it had nearly broken through the limitations of causality.
'It's also strange that only the northern mountain range disappeared when five such beings rampaged...'
Considering the scale of power, it wouldn't be strange if the entire central continent had been swept away, not just the northern mountain range.
'The only possibility would be... the absolute barrier of the white world?'
The authority of the white world that Abel had consistently drawn upon from the beginning to the end of the original work.
A device that the original author inserted to somehow prevent the likelihood of planetary destruction due to the power inflation heading toward Andromeda.
If this authority, which is the highest compatibility of the legendary artifact Hourglass of Time, existed, it would be fully understandable that the damage was limited to this extent.
Gray shook his head and said.
"I can't find any other traces besides this. In the first place, if it became ruins like this, there's no way anything would be left..."
"...True."
Traces or whatever, when the entire mountain range was scraped away and turned into flatland or only giant craters remained, there was no way any signs of life or anything else would remain.
Probably, as time passed, the demonic energy buried underground would give birth to new life and gradually transform this land into a malevolent zone.
"Finding traces of those guys is good, but we need to take measures quickly. It wouldn't be strange if an abnormal climate occurred across the entire continent immediately."
"Right, I'll leave it to you."
Leaving the northern problems to Gray, Rudian continued searching the north.
But even after releasing Elli's avatars to comb through the north like hunting lice, no particular traces or clues emerged.
-Master, there's been a rebellion in the demon realm territory of Baal. Due to Baal's absence, his subordinates seem to be engaging in political strife, targeting the empty position.
Several legion commanders he had sent to the demon realm to assess Baal's situation sent word.
'...Continue monitoring for now.'
-Yes, however, I believe it wouldn't be a bad option for you to personally visit and pacify the demon realm at this opportunity.
Legion commanders Magamodra and Derastara actively supported this opinion.
'Since it's not certain yet, we can't move hastily. There's also the possibility that Baal is faking his death, so for now, just observe.'
-We'll keep that in mind.
The legion commanders seemed to want Rudian to pacify the demon realm under Leviathan's name, but Rudian had not even a speck of such intention.
In the first place, there was no benefit to occupying such barren land, and other legion commanders like Scheherazade were living very satisfied with life in the middle realm.
'...Should I rather create a country? A country where demons as well as all other races can gather and live in harmony.'
Currently, most of the other races were living gathered in the rough terrain of the southern great forest.
Other than that, there were only those who had set out on journeys, accepting disadvantages.
'Well, I'd need a method to neutralize or suppress demonic energy, but that could be easily made by grinding Adi...'
-Master, just because you grind me up doesn't guarantee results.
'Hmm, that's true... but when given sufficient time and budget, most things produce results.'
-What an evil employer.
While taking a break from searching and chatting with Adi, contact came from Elvin, who had been dispatched to Rohans.
-Rudian, can you hear me?
'Yes, senior Elvin.'
-I found Demon King Agares.
'...!'
-He was hiding deep in the royal palace. As you said, not only had he lost both arms, but he had weakened to the point where I could subdue him with my power.
'Understood. I'll come right away.'
-Hmm... I'll tell you in advance, but the situation in the Kingdom of Rohans is a mess. Don't be surprised when you see it.'
'...Is it that serious?'
-The queen, whose brainwashing has been lifted, is stirring up the country, saying she's going to beat up the demons. Of course, it's just minor struggling that will be suppressed soon, but... because of that, the capital is currently in complete chaos, having lost control.
This was quite a difficult situation to choose sides in.
The queen would likely reach out to external forces to overcome this situation, and if this were refused, that country would be branded as those who sold their own kind to demons.
'Ugh... it's also awkward to just pass this entirely to Lady Sonya.'
Rudian decided he would think about what to do after meeting Agares first, and slowly got up.
***
Sneaking into where Agares was located wasn't that difficult anymore.
"Keh, kehehe... This is, quite a sorry state."
"You don't look to be in good condition."
"You can tell by looking at my arms... and above all, my demon core is half-destroyed. I've become a body that can hardly be called a Demon King anymore."
Arms could be slowly regenerated, or if not, attached through chimera engineering... but a destroyed demon core was a problem of a different dimension.
Rudian sighed while looking at the wretchedly ruined Agares.
"So that's why you were holed up alone in a place like this without even subordinates?"
"Power is truth and hierarchy. That's how I built my legion. Naturally, if I became like this, I had to accept that it would become a mess too."
"...I don't care about your circumstances. What's important is that you failed to properly fulfill your contract with us."
Certainly, Rudian had entrusted the defense of the surface to Baal and the Demon Kings.
But the problem was that they were completely destroyed by the presumed to be Abel before they could even perform that defense.
"I'm really curious... just who was the opponent that could make you five get so one-sidedly destroyed? Even if the opponent was Seven Great Gods level, I can't understand it."
"...It wasn't one."
"...What?"
Hearing the words that came from Agares' mouth, Rudian's brain stopped for a moment.
"What appeared first was definitely one guy. But the moment we entered the strange barrier that guy deployed, suddenly four human men and women appeared and started taking us on one by one."
"Uh... huh?"
Then, Agares glared at Rudian with fire in his eyes.
"The three among them who faced the other Demon Kings... resembled those bastards hanging around you. Of course, the scale of power those guys possessed was on a different dimension from those around you."
"......"
Without knowing how much mental shock Rudian had received, Agares calmly continued speaking.
"The one who cut off my arms and destroyed my demon core called himself Crux. He was a guy who boasted overwhelming strength that was hard to believe for a human. I'd like to fight him once with my complete main body."
"Crux? Wait, that Crux?"
Elvin was greatly shocked upon hearing that name.
Naturally, the current Crux absolutely couldn't handle Agares.
The current level of Crux that Rudian had confirmed was inferior to the current Elvin.
But if it was not Crux of 'this era' but Crux from the 'original Chapter 3' timepoint...
'What the hell is happening?'
Rudian gritted his teeth.
***
Even after Rudian left, Gray continued working hard on purifying the surrounding demonic energy together with Elli's avatars.
"...It's about time for him to appear."
Given Gray's personality, this kind of volunteer work didn't really suit him.
But the reason Gray remained in this barren northern land was different.
"What's this, I came to clean up but there's already a guest here?"
"......"
"Haha, don't tell me you were waiting for me?"
At the cheerful and gentle voice of a young man heard from behind, Gray slowly turned his gaze.
And there was... 'another Gray' with an appearance very similar to Gray himself, looking this way.