Chapter 553 – Discord
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“You’re doing something dangerous.”
Baldwin thought of her daughter and sent her to me under her orders… But if Terragyo found out, it would be difficult to avoid reprimand.
There was nothing good about being friendly with demons.
Caria must have known that too.
“Is the leader really a demon?”
“Did you come after me just to ask that?”
“That’s not true, but…”
Karia answered sullenly.
“Maybe it’s a demon, but sometimes it’s not.”
“What does that mean?”
“Just think of them as demons with just a shell.”
“You were originally human, but you changed like that because you were cursed?”
“… You can think like that.”
“Is the leader really planning to subdue the real demon lord?”
“If the Demon King is sorted out along the lines of the punitive force, there will be no need for me to step forward.”
“I see… The leader doesn’t blame me?”
“Resentment? Why me?”
Karia said, looking at Hilda and Karen with a slightly sorry expression.
“Unlike the other guys, I didn’t follow the leader.”
“If it had been that situation, I would have made the same choice. Those guys are weird, not you.”
“Really?”
“You don’t trust people that much.”
“The leader is not human.”
“… Why don’t we just go back?”
“Hmm. It’s a joke.”
Karia’s face became brighter, as if a burden had been lifted from her heart.
“… Is that why you decided to be a guide?”
“That… What…”
“If you knew, why not go back now?”
“The leader hasn’t changed. We can’t go back any further than that. And the punitive force lost a lot of troops. They may be in trouble now. If we help them and play a part in defeating the demon lord, Terraism will also think about the leader again. I think I will give it to you.”
“Is that really going to happen?”
Hilda, perhaps thinking that Caria’s words were plausible, interjects with a smile on her face.
“Of course! Hilda. If you make a huge contribution to subjugating the Demon King, Terra will not be able to ignore you.”
“It would be great if that happens.”
Terragyo?
That probably won’t happen.
Bianca seemed to agree with me as she shook her head when she saw Caria and Hilda working hard on the happiness circuit.
Well… I’m saying this for myself… But I didn’t want to pour cold water on it.
Following Caria’s guidance, I headed to the upper level of the pillar tower and was able to hear what happened to the punitive force.
The Demon King has designed it quite well so that if the survivors are not protected, they will become human waste.
The subjugation team knew that it was the devil’s plan, but they were caught in it.
Ignoring the survivors was the answer for the great cause of subjugating the demon lord, but if that choice had been made, the morale of the subjugation team may have plummeted.
Nothing was more important than morale in maintaining troops.
It is the power of morale that makes you lose even a fight you would otherwise win.
I climbed the tower with ease following Caria’s guidance.
I didn’t encounter any monsters while climbing the floor.
There was a vast floor like a boss room… But Karia said there were no threatening monsters.
It is said that the ghoul attack began when the punitive force knights gathered survivors on the lower floor.
‘The intention was probably to prevent the troops protecting the survivors from being removed.’
The reason the pillar tower is empty may be because they did not want to waste power unnecessarily… Or they could not afford it.
‘Well… It’s hard to stop the Paladins with mediocre troops.’
There was no wandering even after entering a high-rise that even Caria had not seen.
The knights who escorted the survivors to the lower floors probably thought they might come back up, because the punitive force that went first kindly left a trace.
And we entered a clean space that was significantly different from other places.
Unlike other floors, the ceiling height seemed at least three times higher.
Wide and long hallway.
At the end, you can see a huge stone gate that is probably 10 meters long.
Anyone can see that it is the boss room.
Is this the top floor?
“Is there a devil in there?”
Hilda and Karia swallow dry saliva.
-Roaring…
A sound like thunder was heard from inside the stone gate.
Even though it is beyond the thick stone gate, the faint explosion and powerful waves of magical power can be felt tingly even here.
“I don’t know if it’s the Demon Lord… Or another monster, but it looks like the punitive force is inside.”
We walked down the hallway and approached the huge stone gate.
First, I decided to hide behind the stone gate and check out the situation inside.
That wouldn’t work, so I planned to open the stone door a little and push my expanded consciousness through the gap. Then, it seemed possible to look at the situation inside without difficulty.
The stone door was large, but unless it had a special locking device, it wouldn’t be difficult to open it with my abilities.
-That’s it…
The sound of stones being ground was heard, and the huge stone gate opened about a span.
A warm wind blew inside.
Through the crack in the door, I caught a glimpse of the Terran Holy Knights fighting with the demons.
It was impossible to look at the entire situation with only a span of time.
“Are we entering too?”
“No, wait a moment. Let’s look at the situation a little more.”
Like drifting fog, my expanded consciousness flows through the crack in the door. Only then was I able to see the battlefield at a glance.
It was a space so wide that you couldn’t clearly see the end.
It was much wider than I thought.
In that space, numerous thick pillars were erected, and the punitive force, the demon king, and the demons were engaged in a fierce battle.
The ones opposing Demon King Gregory were the leaders of the Holy Knights, including Hestia, and other races, including Priscilla.
And the remaining Holy Knights, the Sword Master of the Kingdom of Laun, and the wizards were fighting against the demons.
Even though Gregory was holding on to more than 10 strong pundits, the demons were still showing a pitiful appearance.
The demons are on a massive offensive.
Even with a force that seemed to be twice as many as the punitive force, they were struggling.
If Gregory hadn’t been there, I think he would have been wiped out in less than 10 minutes.
‘I think it’s still okay… Hmm?’
The sight of a structure that withstood the fierce battle caught my eye.
A pillar or wall that had received a strong impact appeared to be absorbing the shock with a subtle pattern shining.
Is it just that function?
I knew that the Demon Castle creates an environment favorable to the Demon King and the Demons.
I can’t help but have doubts.
We took the cognitive ability of expanded consciousness to a higher level.
The cognitive ability went beyond simply seeing, and it was possible to feel the flow of magical power violently stirring the space due to the violent clash of forces.
The magical power that violently fell and dispersed was absorbed into the walls and pillars… And was flowing back into the demon king and demons.
‘If things continue that way, the punitive force will eventually lose its strength.’
The demons may be able to be destroyed to some extent. However, it was predicted that the Demon King would not be defeated and would be defeated.
If the demon king could not be defeated, this subjugation was a failure.
‘I think I need some help as expected.’
However, right now, it was difficult to say that the punitive force was clearly inferior.
As a demon, if I tried to invade now, it would only make me more wary.
At that time, a demon caught my eye.
It was a guy named Willas.
I don’t really remember the man’s name.
I remembered it because the demons that disappeared in Ramona died while calling Willas’ name in resentment.
“Toto. Don’t go too far forward. The formation will be disrupted.”
“Who are you? Do this or that!”
“Don’t you know that I have been given command by Gregory? Aren’t you afraid of the death penalty?”
“You dirty bastard!”
Even though the demon cursed, he followed his instructions as if there was nothing he could do.
Not only that.
The faces of the demons receiving instructions from Willas are full of unhappy expressions.
The relationship between Willas and the demons doesn’t look very good.
Actually, I did something like that in Ramona…
They say there are no survivors, but that’s what happened in Panthera.
The bullshit thing he did spread throughout Zephyria’s community. I couldn’t have a good reputation.
‘Gregory is leaving the command to a scoundrel like that… I guess he doesn’t have much talent.’
Suddenly a good idea occurred to me.
This might work quite well?
He asked Bianca while still conscious of looking around the battlefield.
“Bianca, can you add your voice inside?”
“Do you mean so that voices can come out from within?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s not that far away, and I don’t think it would be difficult if you just send your voice.”
“Then use magic when I give the signal.”
I pulled out the great sword that was on my back.
The sword becomes a red-hot Auror blade.
A sword filled with aura blades floats in the air.
At first glance, the red sword looks like a blood sword, the basic magic of the demons.
No matter how poor the demons were, they were not at the level where they could be defeated by the blood sword like the ghouls.
This time it was quality over quantity.
Of course, the Auror Blade I created has a destructive power that cannot be compared to the Blood Sword.
It struck a powerful thought and contained a sharpness that even Gregory could not easily see.
The red Auror blade was sucked into the gap between the stone gate and headed to the battlefield between the demons and the punitive force.
