256
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake
Chapter 256
Roland wiped the purple blood from his sword.
The demon realm truly seemed like a world from another dimension.
The whole world was red and stuffy. Moreover, it was extremely harsh for humans. After one day of entering the demon realm, some White Tower priests began complaining of abdominal pain and high fever.
-These are people showing mal-adaptation to the abundant magic in the demon realm.
-It would be better to leave them alone to adapt to the magic.
He had heard that the land, water, plants that grow from that water and soil, and even the air in the demon realm contained excessive magic, often causing people to develop magic excess syndrome.
This magic excess syndrome was something they learned about during the demon realm war, before that, people didn't know about it and often misjudged soldiers with magic excess syndrome as malingering.
The guide had even told him about a commander who executed soldiers as an example. Roland looked at the guide who had shared this information. There was a hole in the middle of the guide's neck. He had been unlucky enough to be killed by a bullet during a sudden bandit attack.
'It was so difficult to find this guide.'
He was a unique and brave individual who made his living as an herb gatherer in this demon realm infested with bandits and devils. As such, his abilities and crisis detection skills were exceptional... But things were starting to get irritating.
Roland looked at the captured or dead group of bandits. They were all former rebels who hadn't entered Sith's 'Home Town'. Surprisingly, their leader was a devil. The devil had two horns on its head, and in the ambush, two Holy Grail knights were killed instantly and one lost an arm. Thanks to the sacrifice of the Holy Grail knights, Roland succeeded in beheading the creature, though there was significant blood loss. Roland looked at the bound bandits.
Terrified by Roland's cold gaze, the bandits blurted out whatever they could.
"We, we were bewitched by the devil!"
"Holy Grail Knight, thank you so much for saving us!"
Roland couldn't tell whether the bandits were truly bewitched by the devil or not.
However, Roland knew how to deal with them.
"Do you repent?"
"We repent! We sincerely regret our sins."
Roland approached them with his sword, now clean of devil blood. Though they sensed something was wrong, they couldn't move a muscle, caught in Roland's 'Domination'.
"Do you truly repent?"
"We repent! This, this is true!"
"The Goddess is merciful. She will surely accept your repentance."
"Th-thank you! Thank you!"
Slash.
Roland beheaded the bandit in front of him in one stroke. The others beside him were shocked into silence.
"Why, why......"
"The world is filthy. I will help you meet the Goddess in a clean state, so you won't become dirty again in this filthy world."
"You, you madmaaaaaan!"
"Send them to the Goddess."
The Holy Grail knights beside him beheaded the bandits with single strokes. Roland looked at the priests. The priests were collecting the bodies of the fallen Holy Grail knights. Roland checked the Holy Grail.
"Is there any problem with the Holy Grail?"
"A bullet damaged one shield, but it's fine."
"Use another artifact to increase the protection level of the Holy Grail."
"Understood."
The White Tower priests added another shield to the Holy Grail contained in the crystal case. Then, something strange caught Roland's eye.
"Didn't the light of the Holy Grail just move?"
"What?"
Roland closely observed the red light emanating from the Holy Grail. Looking again, the light of the Holy Grail was indeed moving. The Holy Grail being still while its light moved meant that the Saint had moved, and the fact that the movement of the light was visible meant that the Saint was nearby. Roland ordered the priests who were collecting the bodies.
"Bury the bodies with their armor immediately and move out."
"Yes!"
The Holy Grail knights helped the priests bury the bodies and then followed the moving light of the Holy Grail. After about an hour of pushing through rough trees and grass, perhaps? A coastal cliff appeared before Roland. Roland and the knights stopped at the sheer coastal cliff. Roland checked the light of the Holy Grail. The light was pointing toward the sea. Fifteen ships were lined up on the sea where the light reached, heading from the demon realm toward the continent.
The White Tower priests bit their lips.
"...If we had arrived just a little earlier, we could have met the Saint."
It was too late now to go down the cliff and tell the ships to stop.
Roland watched the departing ships with emotionless eyes and said.
"No. We've learned one thing for certain, haven't we?"
Roland slowly turned his steps toward the distant harbor.
"At least we know that the Saint is on one of those ships."
***
The ship pushed through the waves. When Caesar first cut off the Demon King's head and gained his freedom, he vowed not to even urinate toward the demon realm. At that time, he had no lingering attachment to the demon realm; rather, it was a place full of terrible memories, and he only wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
But now it's different.
'Just knowing that Agatha is there somehow makes it not look so bad.'
Caesar sat at the stern rather than the bow, gazing at the demon realm. Lingering attachment and worry remained heavy. Could Agatha truly survive well without Caesar? While not doubting Agatha's abilities, it would be unreasonable to say he wasn't worried. While Caesar was lost in these scattered thoughts, he sensed someone's presence.
It was Gloria.
"What is it, Gloria?"
"I'm sorry for interrupting while you were thinking alone."
"No, it's fine. What's the matter?"
"It seems Kos keeps looking for you, Master."
Caesar looked at the ruby necklace hanging on Gloria's wrist.
"By the way, when did you start using that nickname?"
"The name was too long, so I decided to shorten it. I was thinking of calling them Prima, but since others have been calling them Kos until now, I decided to go with Kos."
"Well, that's not bad. Anyway, if you have something to say, show yourself, Kos."
Blood poured like a waterfall from the ruby necklace, and Kos emerged. It's still a transformation method that's hard to get used to, no matter how many times you see it. It would be better if they just appeared with a flash!
Kos' body still had many wounds remaining and was dented in various places. Although Gloria was giving her magic stones every day, it seemed it would take quite a while to fully heal. When Kos gestured to Gloria asking for something to write with, Gloria took out a notebook and pen from inside her clothes.
[What are you planning to do from now on, Caesar?]
"You mean the upcoming schedule?"
[That's right. If there's time, I was thinking of looking for a sword suitable for Gloria.]
Come to think of it, didn't this Kos say they knew about treasures hidden in various places? Caesar also knows of several swords that would be suitable for Gloria. However, he couldn't send Gloria alone to any of them, and since these were treasures that required Caesar to move personally to find them, he couldn't easily take action.
"Do you think Flawless alone is insufficient?"
[It's not that Flawless is bad, but it's too light for Gloria to use. And it also doesn't have any special abilities.]
Moreover, since Caesar now possesses Flawless’ mental attack nullification ability, Gloria is essentially just carrying around a somewhat sturdy long sword. He had been wondering how to address this issue...
'Can I send Gloria alone at this time?'
Gloria is a saint.
The moment Gloria encounters the Holy Grail Knights, she will realize that she is a saint and become lost in thought about how to decide her future. If Caesar were there at that moment, he would explain everything about the truth of saints and insist that she must never become one, but it's still too early.
If he suddenly brings up the topic of saints in front of Gloria now, she would find it strange and ask how he knew she was the next saint. Caesar has no way to explain that.
"For now, if there's anything to be done, as soon as we arrive, I'll deliver the information about the magic stone mine to Arch Duke and blackmail him for public support."
[...Blackmail the Arch Duke? The master of the wizards?]
"Well, he's more desperate than I am. Additionally, I'll make him acknowledge that the demon realm is the Demon King's autonomous territory... Anyway, I'll be tied up in Homigraph for quite a while."
[How long will you be tied up?]
The time needed to bind various stakeholders together is at least one month. During that time, the Emperor will keep calling for Caesar, but he'll ignore it for now. Without completing a proper support base, proceeding with the recognition of the Demon King's autonomy and securing new magic stone mine development rights could lead to unpredictable consequences in this complex political situation.
Meanwhile, he'll have Miles organize Mitchell's assets, and use that organized money to continue pushing mercenaries and various support supplies into the demon realm.
After that, besides going to the imperial capital Vex to explain the conditions between the Emperor and the Demon King and negotiate well, there isn't much else that can be done right now.
When proceeding with all these processes, free movement will be impossible for 1-2 months.
"You'll be tied to Homigraph for at least 1-2 months."
[Don't you think we're wasting too much time? In the meantime, I'll look for equipment that could be useful for Gloria. I'll also train her bit by bit.]
Caesar observed Gloria's expression.
She appears visibly anxious, showing signs of unease.
"It's not a bad idea. But Gloria's will is more important than mine."
Gloria thought calmly before speaking.
"Can't you teach me, Master? Or we could purchase magical equipment from the magic tower."
"What Kos is talking about isn't ordinary artifacts."
Kos scribbled in her notebook.
[That's right. What I'm looking for is a relic containing dragon language. It's the greatsword that Red Crescent Wendy used in the past.]
Caesar also knows about the greatsword that Red Crescent Wendy used. It's one of the ultimate equipment that Classic-type knights can obtain in Valent Saga. Its name is 'Blood Moon'.
In Valent Saga, there are several Classic-type knight tech trees, and among them is the 'Blood Explosion Knight'.
To explain it in gaming terms, it's a magic swordsman build that adds magical damage by exploding blood, which can even deal with devils immune to physical attacks. However, if there's a drawback, it's that magical attacks are more crucial than physical attacks, and you need to stack equipment with bleeding probability......
'This is reality.'
In this world, talking about magic damage and such things is unrealistic.
More important is the ability embedded in the 'Blood Moon'.
"As far as I know, Blood Moon's effect is quite interesting. Is it the ability to explode blood?"
[You even know the weapon's name? Well, Wendy was quite famous.]
Seo-han also has experience raising a 'Blood Explosion Knight' in the game. The effects were quite spectacular, and if you matched the items well, it was a build that could literally sweep away devils refreshingly, making it feel cathartic. The biggest advantage of the Blood Explosion Knight was that you could cause blood explosion just by holding a greatsword and somehow causing bleeding. That's why it matched really well with 'Thorned Armor' which reflects a certain amount of opponent's attacks and causes bleeding with a certain probability.
"But do you know where Blood Moon is?"
[Of course I do. I hid it so that not just anyone could use it.]
"Where is it?"
[In the land of the Barbarians.]
This is the problem. The land of the Barbarians, the wilderness, is in the southwestern part of the continent. And the southwestern continent is where the Royder Order's influence is extremely strong. If they encounter Holy Grail Knights there, all believers of the Royder Order will swarm to torment Gloria.
"First, there's something you need to know."
[What is it?]
"How should I explain my relationship with the Royder Order? Should I say we're in a relationship where we're desperately wanting to kill each other?"
Kos's body froze like a broken machine.
Even without using psychometry, I could tell how dumbfounded she was.
[What are you talking about? The Royder Order wants to kill you?]
"That's right. I interfered with the Royder Order's potion business. I'm selling malaria medicine that I made, and I'm also developing treatments for various diseases that could be treated with potions."
[You're joking right now, aren't you? How are you still alive after doing such things?]
Kos began frantically scribbling.
[Didn't the Royder Order believers try to tear you apart? They should have hung you and set you on fire for desecrating the holiness of holy water! Calling you a devil's follower!]
"I actually came close to being oiled up. In fact, a champion sent by the Royder Order almost killed me."
[Who did they send?]
"Count Hironeel."
[You fought the Wolf's King and won?]
"We both nearly died."
Kos' joints made a creaking sound.
It would be similar to a person letting out a forced laugh.