Chapter 536 – Operation
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After getting out of the virtual reality capsule, I sat down on the small sofa in the capsule room and lightly relaxed.
-Thud…
“What about the children?”
I asked Suni how Chaos and Veronica, whom I had not seen for quite some time, were doing.
[Same as usual.]
Selby’s blockade was a long-term blockade that would have been unimaginable if it were Earth.
I didn’t count the dates exactly, but it seems like it’s been over a month.
It seems like the military is very toxic…
There was nothing to worry about.
The possibility of our identities being discovered as we quietly stayed inside the hotel was close to zero.
And even though I couldn’t go out of the city, I was free to go out within the city and there was no inconvenience in life.
Would you say it is a bit more comfortable for me?
Now is the time to focus on Pantera.
I was spending most of my time in a virtual reality capsule, to the point where I rented out a capsule room in a hotel.
But what if you were in a virtual reality capsule at Zephia’s house for a long time like now?
Education supervisor Gabia may have invaded the house.
Anyway, now I was the instructor in charge of the Mystery Research Club, and Gabia was secretly watching me.
If Gabia finds out about my life now that she is living in a virtual reality capsule, she might come to visit me even if it means breaking through Selby’s blockade.
It was a fortunate thing for me, who couldn’t stay with Zephyria for long because Pantera’s situation wasn’t very good.
‘Rudel’, a clue obtained from a secret laboratory in the Dark Forest, was being investigated by Chaos and Veronica in connection with Celestia in Zephia.
In the first round, Chaos and Veronica select the candidate sites that they researched through ‘Link’ and send them to Celestia in Zephia.
Celestia created an incarnation of herself and sent it to that candidate location.
Fortunately, there seemed to be no major risk factors on Zephyria’s side.
I took out my smartphone and accessed the link.
There was always something to do when I came out of the virtual reality capsule.
Let’s take a look around the Panthera community.
Although it was just a simple gaming community, it was an information warehouse containing vivid information about the demons currently in Panthera.
There was no raw information collection like this.
Who would think that someone would access Zephyria’s link and act as a spy?
As expected, I was able to obtain interesting information this time.
Recently, there have been many complaints about whether Gregory is controlling the demons.
It is said that he controls very harshly.
Anyone who doesn’t listen will be summarily executed or something.
For demons playing Panthera, there is nothing more scary than the death of the avatar they carefully raised.
It seems that Gregory didn’t like the fact that Ramona’s troops were greatly destroyed.
To the humans of Zephyria, Panthera is a virtual reality game anyway, and if they are tempted, they can leave… But the bean paste falling from the demon lord is too sweet, so they couldn’t do that.
“What is the Demon King?”
Captured unfamiliar words.
It seemed like Gregory was using warlocks and humans from the occupied territory to create something called the Demon Castle in Crea.
Let’s search for Panthera Demon Castle.
But… There were no people who knew the details.
If you listen to what the people say, they say it’s a buff facility… But they don’t seem to know its exact purpose.
Fortunately, there was no sound of the devil trying to attack Payson.
After confirming the peaceful Zephyria, I decided to access the Panthera avatar again.
It is not a situation where you can go back and forth between Zephyria and Panthera as leisurely as before.
Even though I took a breather once I arrived in Payson, my anxiety about being the devil did not completely disappear.
“Sunni, please ask me this time too.”
[Please leave it to me!]
Listening to Suni’s bright voice, I connected to Pantera.
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The central city of Payson territory.
Payson.
Of course, the lord’s residence was also located in this city.
“Is it a trend for lords to build cities named after their fiefdoms? It has no personality.”
“That’s because it is the starting place where the territory was developed. The lord’s city is also the pride of the territory.”
“…”
Saren next to me reminds me of my ignorance.
As I was feeling embarrassed, I could feel Priscilla’s gaze subtly examining me from across the table.
Every time she sees me, she tilts her head and tries to recall her memories.
Her body and face must be similar…
‘Is my face that featureless?’
It’s a sad reality, but the face is a little duller than the main body, probably due to corrections made during the avatar creation process.
Well… Actually, rather than saying that, I thought it was bigger because I was such a dick right now compared to the main body.
Lord Payson was a middle-aged man with an ordinary face. And he sat in a corner without any sense of presence, looking at the people around him.
They say that even a mutt eats half of his food before going home… He looks very uncomfortable.
The reason why Lord Payson was so crushed was because the people gathered in this conference room were so great compared to him.
Even the three great sword masters of their country, including Count Hubert, are dispirited…
The sword masters were mixed together with three groveling Holy Knight commanders of Terraism and a fearsome race of a different race that could single-handedly destroy their territory.
I couldn’t help but feel discouraged.
Saren was no different from Lord Payson.
Since she was Ramona’s surrogate lord, she attended the meeting, but could not say a word.
Saren and I sat quietly, feeling like sacks of barley, watching the meeting led by Burwell, the 7th Knight Commander of the Terra Church Vatican.
Burwell was a handsome middle-aged paladin.
“… The Demon King was continuing his conquest activities centered on Crea. Eight territories have already been occupied.”
Burwell’s heavy voice resonates in the conference room.
A map of the Kingdom of Laun was spread out on the large table in the center of the conference room.
The map shows the cities occupied by the Demon King, centered around Crea, located in the northeastern region of the Kingdom of Laun.
Meanwhile, two more places were occupied.
Ramona was also included in it.
Ramona had evacuated beforehand, but she was under the impression that it was occupied.
The Demon King was concentrating his attacks on the east and west, focusing on Crea.
The north of Crea was a remote area with few people living.
I know that there are formidable powers in the south, including Priscilla.
For a person with a normal way of thinking, it was a natural choice to eat the easy part first, without having to hit the difficult part.
I don’t know if it was because Gregory was whipping the demons, but I felt like they were moving a little faster than before.
“It is said that the territory occupied by the Demon King’s army is empty.”
Is the focus not on occupation but plunder?
“There was a report from a scout who witnessed the territory residents of the occupied territory being dragged towards Crea. It is clear that the Demon King is plotting something in Crea.”
… Is that really true?
There was also talk in the community that the Demon King was building a Demon Castle or something in Crea.
“I looked at past records. And I found out that something similar happened in the long past. It seems like the Demon King is trying to build a Demon Castle in Crea.”
“The Devil’s Castle?”
“Yes, there is a record that the Demon King’s Castle grants great power to the Demon King and demons and turns the surrounding area into a demon world. In particular, it is said to provide almost infinite power to the Demon King.”
It’s a demon world… If you make it a real demon world, there won’t be any problems…
I knew what kind of place they called the Demon World.
The land where demons live is harsh, but it doesn’t cause much of a hindrance to the battle.
Needless to say, the basement where demons live.
Even if it wasn’t a real Demon World painting, saying it like that seemed like there was some unusual change.
“The Slover Labyrinth has not yet been properly dealt with. The Church of Terra hopes to eliminate this demon lord named Gregory as quickly as possible. Of course, even if it is not for that reason, we must defeat the demon lord before the demon castle is completed.”
Burwell takes out three paladin statues on the map on the table.
Then place one each on Enrington and Miller’s territory.
“Soon, three Holy Knights divisions will arrive in the east and west.”
-Thump.
Burwell placed one of the remaining paladin statues on the Payson estate.
“The main focus is Payson.”
The statue of a paladin placed on top of Payson seemed to represent the troops gathered here.
“I judged that the power of the Demon King’s army was not that big yet.
Three paladin statues surround Crea from different directions.
“The operation is simple. Surround and destroy.”
Burwell solemnly looked around at the people in the conference room and said.
“There is no need for many troops for the Demon King and the Demons. We will create a demon lord subjugation force comprised of elites of at least a knight who will pierce the heart of the Demon King.”
For some reason, the atmosphere in the hall changed when Burwell said that he would form a team to suppress the devil.
It wasn’t a bad atmosphere.
Should I say it is rather an excited atmosphere?
“Ah, Lord Payson, please supply the Demon King’s subjugation team. Terraism will provide sufficient compensation in the future.”
Lord Payson, who made his presence known for the first time, swallowed dry saliva and nodded when he saw Burwell.
