Chapter 176: Coincidence (1)
Chapter 176: Coincidence (1)
Everyone was on edge following the tragedy in London, caused by a large-scale invasion of Demonic Humans.
As time passed, however, various nations began to reassure their citizens by hunting down the remaining Demonic Humans within their borders.
While not every country was so fortunate, an increasing number of nations found themselves with enough breathing room to begin offering support to those still in need.
This movement was largely influenced by Korea, which had been assisting other nations, centered around the efforts of the Moon Shadow Party.
The knight, Knight, along with Grace and Laysia—all of whom hailed from the Other World—willingly provided aid to the people of Earth without demanding anything in return.
They requested only the standard monetary compensation befitting a basic request. Though they were in a position to demand far more, they chose not to.
While this didn't change everyone's perspective, it had a positive impact on many.
Thanks to this, more regions were able to root out Demonic Humans and stabilize their societies.
Just as a sense of recovery began to settle in and people started to breathe a sigh of relief—
BOOM!!
A massive explosion, loud enough for everyone to hear, rocked the heart of Shanghai, China. Along with the blast, a shockwave and a light so intense it was impossible to keep one's eyes open erupted from the center of the city.
At first, people thought a war had broken out—that a massive bomb had detonated or the city had been hit by a missile strike.
The initial shockwave shattered every window in the vicinity and sent debris flying in all directions, creating a deafening cacophony.
Terrified, many people screamed and dove for cover.
But it wasn't an attack.
After a few moments, people realized there was no heat, no immediate casualties from the blast itself, and no signs of an ongoing assault.
"W-what was that?"
"What just happened?"
Confusion was the natural reaction.
Furthermore, many were injured by the shards of glass from the shattered windows.
"Aaaagh!"
"Someone, help!"
The city was soon filled with the sounds of screams and desperate pleas for help.
Amidst this chaos, a woman lay collapsed in an alleyway between buildings.
She was facedown, her long purple hair disheveled and draped over her body.
She wore black leather armor that clung tightly to her form, accentuating her figure. The material had a smooth, polished texture, giving it a design similar to a full-body racing suit.
The event that had just occurred in Shanghai was the aftermath of the destruction of a massive dungeon that had housed Asmodeus's demons, including Sitri.
Under Sitri's orders—and despite the risks—Asmodeus's demons had attempted to pass through an unstable rift.
That unstable rift had begun to shrink, attempting to restore itself. As a result, during the process of transmitting the dungeon to Earth, it became wedged in a gap within the dimensional barrier.
Ultimately, the dungeon was compressed as it was forced through, sustaining enough damage to destroy its structural integrity.
The resulting aftermath was the massive explosion that had just rocked Shanghai.
Dungeons were structures maintained by high-energy levels, and the vessels the demons used for transmission were built to be incredibly durable to protect them.
Since these had been destroyed, the residual energy had leaked out and discharged onto Earth.
Was Sitri lucky or unlucky?
In the midst of that catastrophe, she was the sole survivor.
"Ugh..."
Sitri groaned, her brow furrowing in pain.
She regained consciousness, feeling a dull ache throbbing through her entire body.
Feeling the cold touch of the ground, she slowly opened her eyes.
I'm... still alive?
Before losing consciousness, she had been certain she was going to die.
"Dying a dog's death" would have been a fitting description for such an absurd end.
To die helplessly, wedged in a gap of the dimensional barrier rather than on a battlefield, would have been the ultimate disgrace for her.
At the time, however, she hadn't been thinking of her pride; she had felt only guilt toward the subordinates who followed her.
The same was true now.
Sitri struggled to push herself up.
Every inch of her body was screaming in protest.
She was the strongest among Asmodeus's demons, and it was only by gathering the Dark Mana of the subordinates around her to reinforce her Dark Shield that she had miraculously survived.
It wouldn't have been strange if her body had been torn apart or crumbled into dust.
Having fully regained her senses, Sitri propped herself up with her hands and looked around.
Towering buildings of gray concrete met her gaze.
It was a sight she had never seen before, which told her she was indeed on Earth.
She immediately checked to see if anyone else was nearby.
But the alley was empty.
Only I... survived...
A bitter taste filled Sitri's mouth.
She had been the one to insist on coming to Earth through the unstable dimensional rift, and she had led all the subordinates who followed her to their deaths.
She didn't feel resentment toward the subordinates who had cursed and insulted her in their final moments.
Given the violent and oppressive nature of demons, it was more common for them to hurl insults or blame others when faced with such a situation.
Sitri herself was usually no different.
But this time, she couldn't bring herself to hate the subordinates who died pouring out their resentment.
This time, the fault was undeniably hers.
And she felt a pang of guilt for the subordinates who had trusted her until the very end.
"Sigh..."
A heavy sigh escaped her lips.
This was the first time Sitri had ever felt sorry toward anyone.
In fact, this was also the first time she had experienced such a monumental failure.
For Sitri, who had always known success, this was nothing short of a plummet into the abyss.
She had barely managed to crawl onto Earth, and she was all alone.
First, Sitri checked her physical condition.
There's not a drop of Dark Mana left...
Sitri had pushed her Dark Mana to its absolute limit to maintain the Dark Shield.
While it had saved her life, it was only natural that her body was in shambles.
The once-mighty demon was now so weakened that even a lowly demon could easily kill her.
She couldn't cast a single Dark Magic spell, leaving her effectively defenseless.
She bit her lower lip slightly, expressing her discomfort.
But that didn't change her reality.
Sitri slowly stood up.
First, I need to figure out where I am... and then I need to make contact with the Demonic Humans.
Sitri knew better than anyone that she couldn't do anything alone.
She was a demon of Asmodeus, a faction that preferred operating in groups and excelled at it.
She was a demon who had reached the pinnacle of that hierarchy.
Through that process, she had learned that no matter how exceptional an individual was, there were clear limits to what one could achieve alone.
Furthermore, in her current battered state, she had to recover somehow.
To do that, she needed to find a safe place to hide.
Her purple hair flowed down to her waist.
Ah...
She realized belatedly that the tie holding her hair up had come undone.
I have nothing to tie it with...
She looked around for something to use, but found nothing.
Sitri began to move, walking slowly toward the direction of the commotion.
She had to leave this area without revealing her identity, so she moved with caution.
Sitri had never carried artifacts for concealing her identity, thinking she would never have a use for them.
Of course, she currently lacked even a speck of Dark Mana to access her subspace, but even if she could, she didn't have any such items. She had no choice but to reveal herself to others in some capacity.
No matter how much she tried to stay hidden, it was impossible to avoid everyone's gaze.
Moreover, while she had collected information about Earth for a long time, there were clear limits to her knowledge.
The demons' interests were focused on the Awakeners and the coordinates for creating portals; their geographical knowledge was limited to the basic layout of the planet.
They had assumed that once they crossed over to Earth, there would be no one capable of stopping them, and they would be able to conquer the world with ease.
Sitri, like the other demons, had figured she could learn the details after the conquest.
Many people were moving about in a panic, transporting the injured.
Sitri had landed in a shopping district in Shanghai, where many shops had large, reinforced glass windows. Consequently, the number of people injured by flying glass was particularly high.
This chaos was actually a stroke of luck for Sitri.
Since everyone was too distracted to pay much attention to their surroundings, she judged that her unusual attire wouldn't draw too much suspicion.