Chapter 171 : Extreme Land (3)
Extreme Land (3)
"You do know that the demon realm is a land ordinary humans can't easily set foot in, right?"
Rutia spoke to me as she packed the supplies she had already prepared.
For reference, the group heading to the demon realm was composed of four people: me, Rutia, Mersaya, and Sehenz.
"I heard it's quite a cold place."
"Quite? It's not just quite cold. If a human who can't use magic power goes there, they probably won't survive more than a few steps."
I had heard stories about the demon realm from Rutia and knew a decent amount, but I hadn't imagined it would be that severe.
"I wanted to go too, you know."
As we were talking, Kisea approached me.
She wore a rather sullen expression, but she didn't insist on coming with us. It seemed that, given the situation, she decided to respect my words as much as possible.
"Still, wouldn't it be better if you came with us, Pilla?"
"If I were to go, I'd end up fighting demonkin without rest."
Indeed, Pilla knew very well what would happen if he went to the demon realm.
Even if he tried to hide it, being a half-angel, an immense holy power flowed out from Pilla's body, naturally giving away his presence.
For demonkin, whose very being was the opposite of holy power, it would be impossible not to notice wherever he went.
On the other hand, Mersaya looked at me with truly reluctant eyes and tugged at my sleeve.
"Clay, do I really have to go...?"
"You could stay and fight the other dragons instead."
According to Sehenz, it might be possible to call for Soila Fran.
If we were willing to wait for her, it would delay us a bit, but it would still be better than just the three of us going.
"Ah, N-no! Let's go quickly!"
At the suggestion of fighting dragons, Mersaya hastily transformed into her dragon form.
It seemed she feared fighting her kin more than venturing to the frigid lands where demonkin lived.
'By the way, does Monet really have that much studying to do?'
We spoke briefly, but Monet just said it was a secret and showed an excited expression. She said she'd show me her achievements someday.
'I'm really curious about it, but since neither Monet nor Rutia bring it up first, it must not be information necessary for the current situation.'
Monet is much smarter than she looks.
So I decided to trust what she said.
* * *
Flying toward the demonkin's corridor in Linken, I could sense a different atmosphere than before.
Even when we had just flown out from Ilishad, the cities had been quiet, but now there were strange disturbances.
And it was the same with Linken, the place we were heading to.
Unlike before, I could see countless soldiers gathered, heading somewhere.
"Is that, by any chance...?"
Having used Polymorph to sneak into Linken, we watched the scene play out before our eyes.
At the place where soldiers were gathering, a priest in white attire stood out. Needless to say, it was the uniform of a priest serving Altair.
"The command to begin the crusade has been given! We have been ordered to punish the foolish invaders who attacked Ilishad!"
Madness was embedded in the priest's voice.
Not just in his voice. Both his eyes were unfocused, unlike those of normal people, and there was no sense of life in him.
"... Is that really a human?"
Sehenz quietly asked me, sensing the same abnormality.
"I think he's being controlled by Altair."
The fanatical orders spread using Violette's body weren't limited to Ilishad, it seemed.
It looked like priests, holy Knights, and Inquisitors throughout the whole Setram territory had each been given their own roles, not just those in Ilishad.
'No wonder there were so few forces in the capital... They had already been sent to other territories for war.'
Altair intended to sacrifice Ilishad from the start.
He planned to kill all the humans in the capital, open the gate to the Heavenly Realm, and then gather the humans sent to other territories and invade the world above together with the dragons.
Even though that plan went awry when Grancesia blocked the gate, it seemed the other humans were moving according to the original plan.
"Rutia was right. It really looks like war is about to break out."
"I told you. My precognitive dreams are accurate, you know?"
Even in the original story, Rutia's precognitive dreams, which perfectly predicted the future, boasted a truly remarkable accuracy.
Meaning, just as she had said, the dragons would soon invade the empire, and Setram would invade at that time as well.
And the many countries siding with Setram would have no choice but to follow.
"Don't worry. The princess will handle things well. The kings of Eintban and Lavantara are moving together, so the emperor of the empire won't just sit by and watch, either."
I nodded at Sehenz's words.
If it's Riya, she'll surely handle this issue well. For now, the priority was to head for the demon realm and recover the remaining two Seven Swords Under Heaven.
'At least, thanks to the soldiers being concentrated in one place, it'll be easier to move.'
Avoiding the soldiers' movements, we quickly escaped from Linken.
And so, we were able to reach the cliff by the coast.
The demonkin's corridor—we'd already been here once before.
I had thought we might return someday, but never imagined it would be so soon.
"Never thought I'd be back here again,"
Sehenz remarked as he was the first to step into the corridor, apparently sharing my sentiment.
Unlike before, there was no sign of other demonkin in the corridor, and only the occasional monster appeared.
"This time, our goal isn't to find the core of the corridor, so let's just keep going."
Last time, we had to spend a lot of time trying to find and destroy the core, but now it was different.
Since we'd already been through this corridor before, it was easy to find our way, and we were able to move quickly while only having to deal with monsters.
As a result, we managed to get through the demonkin's corridor in just half a day.
"Haah!"
I hurriedly drew up magic power to enshroud my body.
Even after hearing the explanation, I wasn't sure, but I never imagined it would be this cold.
"I'm wearing thick clothes, but the chill still seeps right in. If you can't use magic power, you'd freeze to death immediately,"
Sehenz muttered, curling his tongue as he wrapped himself in magic power.
Unlike us, though, Mersaya and Rutia seemed completely unaffected by the cold.
It made sense for Mersaya, being a dragon, but for Rutia to be unfazed by the cold was surprising.
Perhaps sensing my gaze, Rutia let out a light laugh and explained.
"Demonkin are inherently resistant to the cold. Otherwise, how could anyone live in a place like this?"
"Now that you mention it, the demonkin who appeared in Eintban, too..."
Sure enough, they hadn't seemed affected by the cold either.
"Anyway, this is Gerbellia."
"Gerbellia?"
"It's the land of the Shadow Clan demonkin. The place where the Demon King is is still quite far from here."
Hearing "Shadow Clan demonkin,"
I remembered the first demonkin I ever fought.
He was also from the Shadow Clan.
Thinking of it that way, I felt somewhat nostalgic.
"This is a hassle... Come to think of it, since this is Gerbellia, that's why they could so openly connect the demonkin's corridor, isn't it?"
A hassle?
At those words, I spread my senses around.
Not far away, I could feel a considerable number of demonkin passing by. Moreover, I sensed the presence of a huge barrier deployed all around us.
"A massive dome-shaped barrier has been erected here."
"R-really? But how did you know that?"
"Well, it's not that hard to sense something like this."
When I answered with a shrug, Sehenz turned to me with a startled expression.
"... I couldn't tell at all. You were strong before, but have you gotten stronger again?"
"Yes, somehow it turned out that way."
"Wait, how does that make sense? You got stronger somehow?"
Sehenz spoke as though it was absurd, but it couldn't be helped.
Just by listening to Grancesia and those around me, I had ended up this way before I realized it.
"In any case, it's clear they're on high alert here, so let's travel by land until we get out of the barrier."
"Yeah, we'd best. Gerbellia was always heavily guarded, but... it's worse now than ever."
Probably since demonkin are enemies of both gods and dragons, they're preparing for any contingency.
'... A deal.'
What was the Demon King planning to accomplish by requesting a deal with me in this situation?
With that question in mind, we took our first steps into the land of the demonkin.
* * *
"You've arrived."
The Demon King, Zard Dendaros.
His eyes, which had quietly been closed, now opened.
"Who is it that has arrived, my lord?"
Banaseus, the right hand of the Demon King and duke of the demon realm, inquired at Zard's words.
As far as he knew, there hadn't been any particular reports yet.
"The master of the sword has come to this land."
"Pardon? But..."
"They're moving secretly, so you probably wouldn't notice. It seems they even brought along a companion knowledgeable about the demon realm."
"Are you saying they have a demonkin ally?"
"Yes."
Zard recalled Clay's companions from the Calamity of Labytrinth.
A woman with dragon power, and a half-demonkin girl.
Undoubtedly, someone connected to that half-demonkin girl was now helping Clay.
"How interesting. To think there would be a demonkin who sides with humans."
"A traitor, you mean...!"
"Not a traitor, Banaseus. If that demonkin made that choice, there must have been a reason."
It's not that no demonkin ever leaves the demon realm.
Since the demon realm was a harsh, survival-of-the-fittest land, it wasn't uncommon for the weak to escape as if fleeing.
"If not for that, they never would have returned to this land."
However, no one had ever come back until now.
Even if they tried to return, they would usually be killed along the way by other demonkin who labeled them as traitors.
"But how did you know for certain that the master of the sword had entered this land?"
Banaseus acknowledged Zard's strength.
But not to the extent that he could observe the entire demon realm.
"The sword is telling me."
Zard raised his hand and picked up the sword that lay beside the throne.
Sealblade Sylphin, and the Chronosword Velus.
The two swords hummed incessantly, signaling that someone was drawing near.
"I'm sure they came by the demonkin's corridor established in Linken."
"The one you deliberately left open?"
Currently, the only remaining demonkin corridor was the one in Linken. All other corridors had been closed to guide Clay there.
"Even so, the demonkin of Gerbellia should be able to stop them. I'll instruct them to recover the swords properly."
"Banaseus, you greatly underestimate the master of the sword. It's not wise to belittle humans too much."
After saying that, Zard rested his chin on his hand and fell into thought for a moment.
"Still, it would be wise to confirm whether he is a suitable counterpart for this deal."
Though he remained composed, Zard was also staking his all on this situation.
If the master of the sword failed to meet his expectations...
'I shall become calamity once more.'
As the Demon King who brings ruin to the world, he would invade the ground above.