< Unknown Threat (1) >
Representatives of two factions of similar size gathered together.
A very symbolic meeting that could completely shake up the current state of affairs in the Demon World.
But the atmosphere they gave off was so different that it felt awkward to be in the same place.
“Nice to meet you! This is my first time seeing you in person. My name is Hela. Nice to meet you.”
A beautiful woman who seemed to brighten up her surroundings just by her presence greeted me with a friendly smile.
The pair of long horns extending from her head and the strangely shaped eyes are felt as a unique charm in the strange atmosphere surrounding her.
She entered the room, waving her hand lightly.
“Please sit down.”
On the other hand, the attitude of the person who was already sitting was extremely bland.
No, it was more than bland; just by being there, he exuded a dullness that seemed to make the world colorless.
The hem of the pitch-black robe wrapped around his entire body hung long on the floor, and on his head was a pair of downward-curving horns shaped like the skull of a mountain goat.
On the outside, it has an extremely sinister appearance that makes you want to tell the Immortal King to go away.
An inexplicable competitive spirit welled up inside Hela.
‘The visuals are really good. And if you look closely, that’s not a mask, is it? That’s just how his hair was originally made!’
There are humanoid demons and beast-like demons, so it wouldn’t be strange if there were undead demons.
To begin with, the undead itself has such a negative aspect that they get along well with demons.
‘But no matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like a normal undead.’
He couldn’t have been wrong, as he was not only an expert on the undead, but he was also the best in the world.
The Black Duke Pieta was in a peculiar state where only some parts of his body, including his head, were undead, while the rest of his body was relatively intact and functioning normally.
‘It’s amazing. The undead’s body and living tissue coexist within one entity.’
That would be possible because they were demons and not normal creatures.
Hela looked at him from side to side, her eyes shining with intellectual curiosity.
She had been in the Demon World for quite some time, but this was her first time encountering such a peculiar being.
“···I think it would be rude to look at me like that when we first meet.”
Of course, such a gaze could not help but feel unpleasant to the person involved.
The Dark Duke, unable to bear her rude attitude, blurted out a word.
“Oh my, sorry! I was so curious that I couldn’t control myself.”
“I understand. Demi-Corpses are rare even in the Demon World.”
“Thank you for understanding. But your hair is really nice! Honestly, it’s really my style.”
“···Thank you for that.”
“I’m not just saying this out of politeness. In fact, if it were up to me, I would do it right away…”
Stop.
Hela, who had been enthusiastically praising wherever her heart took her, trailed off.
Didn’t you almost want to pull that head out right away and hang it on your wall as a decoration?
Even though she didn’t care about what others thought, she knew very well that her words were inappropriate in the current situation.
‘No, no. I’m not here to fight right now.’
It wasn’t time to fight the opponent yet.
She mumbled something like that, smiled again, and changed the subject as if nothing had happened.
“···Oh, right! Look at my mind. This is Davidson. Isn’t he cute?”
“Kakakat!”
As if in agreement, three heads opened their mouths wide, revealing their vicious teeth.
A bright red flame still flickering deep in the throat.
Whether it worked or not, Pieta paid attention to Davidson, not caring about Hela’s vague afterwords.
“That’s hellfire. Could it be a variant of Cerberus? No, it seems closer to a chimera…”
For him, who mainly focuses on the magic series, the existence of the unknown was a good subject that could satisfy both his interest and his thirst for knowledge.
Moreover, isn’t that creature a formidable monster even at first glance?
If it weren’t for this situation, he would have done anything to use that creature as a test subject.
‘Of course, that’s what I’m really interested in.’
Pieta, who had been observing Davidson with interest, turned her gaze to Hela, who was affectionately patting her pet monster’s back next to him.
As expected, no matter how many times I checked, the result was the same.
‘That’s right. This is clearly the spirit of the Demon King. And on top of that, his appearance is so similar to the 14th generation…’
As if it were a law, the unique aura of the Demon King who was destined to reign over the members of the Demon World pressured his body and soul.
For him, who was of the duke level, it was only a little awkward, but if his unique ‘devilish nature’ was added to that, it would literally be the worst mental attack for a demon below the level of a marquis.
Not only will the fight I gave my all to fail, but just by being in the same space as them, I will be influenced and fall for them without even realizing it.
No, it is more dangerous to remain in a state of obsession without showing it even though you have already been possessed.
In fact, it was nothing more than a fraudulent ability that blocked the intervention of subordinates just by its very existence.
‘And that’s while making his followers even stronger. It’s so unfair. I barely managed to deal with the 14th generation back then, so why did that successor appear again?’
His head was spinning with all sorts of thoughts that came to his mind without him knowing, but he pushed them all down to one place for the time being.
Because those things weren’t important right now.
“Then let’s get to the main point. You want Helheim to succeed the alliance agreement between Demoniac and Abnormal?”
First, solving the problem at hand took priority.
The gap between Dark Nest and the other two factions has long since widened to the point where a head-on confrontation is impossible.
If there had been no close cooperation between the two, they would have been eaten up by the overwhelming number one long ago.
Therefore, reestablishing relations with the forces whose captains had changed was a task that had to be handled with the highest priority in the current situation.
“I guess so. Otherwise, it’ll be too hard to deal with them. I’ve come this far, so I don’t want to just collapse so quickly.”
And that is also true for Helheim, which is growing in power terribly.
However, it was not possible to devour Demoniac in a flash like I did to Abnormal.
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With the advantage of surprise completely gone, there was no way the Dark Knight would give in and take it easy, and Dark Nest, which had been waiting for an opportunity, could not just ignore the gap created by the confusion.
‘I had hoped for it, but as expected, the angle is not good. I brought Davidson with me so that I could attack him if I had the chance.’
As there was a previous precedent for the Duke of Gorang, the Duke of Black Pieta planned this meeting thoroughly.
So that you can be sure of your own safety no matter what the variables are.
In this situation, carelessly touching him was no different from shaking hands with Dark Nest, which only brought good things to them.
‘Well, there’s nothing we can do. We have no choice but to find a balance and wait for an opportunity.’
Since the original goal of swallowing Abnormal had been achieved, the current situation wasn’t that bad.
Anyway, this precarious situation wasn’t likely to last long.
“···As you may already know, the soldiers on the battlefield are feeling quite tired due to the white monsters that are continuously being replenished from the Dark Nest side. If we leave them alone like this, there is a very high chance that they will collapse from exhaustion before they can even fight back.”
What was needed to avoid such a difficult situation was close cooperation between the two factions ranked second and third.
Unlike the two dukes who had been at odds with each other for a long time, Hela was also a rock that rolled down and destroyed all existing relationships.
With such interests intertwined, the talk about cooperation between the two factions went very smoothly.
The agreement was concluded quickly, as it did not contain any particularly complicated content to begin with, and the framework was mostly to refrain from conflicts among themselves until the Dark Nest collapsed.
“···Let’s just ignore the fact that they took away those who were under Demoniac’s command. Since then and now, our positions and situations have changed. But that’s as far as it goes. If you reach out to me any further···”
“Ahem! I told you not to worry. I’ve lived only by faith and trust.”
There were some things that stung a little in the process, but in this world, nothing is a problem until it gets caught.
Hela shook hands with Pieta, thinking that she should once again give a firm warning to the already persuaded guys to behave well.
‘but···.’
‘If ever the opportunity arises.’
Of course, it’s just a superficial appearance.
They had no intention of maintaining this relationship for long.
‘In the long run, it’s a bigger threat than Dark Nest. We need to start preparing now to nip it in the bud before it becomes unmanageable.’
‘I can tell what he’s thinking. He’s just a skeleton, so I can’t see his expression.’
Pieta and Hela dream of different dreams.
“Kakakakat—!”
With a time bomb that could explode at any moment.
The temporary cohabitation with the enemy has begun.
***
Tarak, a large city located in the northern part of the Tulk Kingdom.
Paaaaat—
As the city grew, the number of visitors also increased, and a sacred light began to emanate from the underground gate of the Temple of Tarak.
Three figures appeared one by one from beyond.
After greeting the believers of the temple, they went outside and encountered a large city that had developed beyond recognition.
“It doesn’t seem like much time has passed since I last came here, but you’ve improved so much.”
The small-bodied girl magician, Isiah Pristine, looked around the city and let out a soft exclamation of admiration.
It was her first time here since she defeated the giant white giant that had attacked the city.
At that time, the entire city was in chaos and there were many damaged areas due to the aftermath of a large-scale battle, but looking at the splendid cityscape now, it was impossible to recall what it looked like back then.
“Indeed, it is magnificent. I thought it was a fairly large city back then, but it has developed so much in just over a year. I wish the saintess had come too.”
High elf Lydia Grandwood spoke with regret, following in the footsteps of Isiah.
As the three women of the warrior party, they had overcome all kinds of adversity together and had become very close on a personal level, so Lydia had been feeling somewhat upset that the saintess had recently become preoccupied with other work.
“Your Majesty, you have a lot to do. Well, isn’t our coming here an extension of that work?”
And following them.
A man wearing a flowing robe with a soft voice slowly stepped forward.
Brilliant silver hair peeking out from under the hood and golden eyes that sparkle beautifully as if they contain the sun.
It was none other than the saint of the largest religion in Outerica, the Church of the Holy Spirit—Heinrich St. Landgard.
“We still don’t know exactly what the unknown threat that the Saint has detected is. So, everyone, please remain alert and continue your investigation while maintaining maximum alertness.”
“That is a very valid point.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, let’s also leave out the title of saint for now. Just in case, it would be better to hide your identity if possible. Not many people will immediately associate Heinrich with a saint, so please call him by his name from now on.”
The appearance of Saint Henry and the warrior party, who had already built up a great reputation, could have become a huge issue in the city in itself.
In order to conduct a smooth investigation, it would be better to hide their identities and move forward.
“If you intend to hide your identity, you should cover your face more properly. Heinrich, covering your face with a hood won’t help.”
“That’s right. Even if the hair is like that, the eyes are too intense···.”
“Ahahaha… This isn’t something I can hide on my own.”
Heinrich smiled awkwardly at his colleagues’ criticism.
The darkness of his hood was of little help to him, who glowed on his own like a human lighthouse even in the dark.
Of course, the hair and eyes that were imbued with the miracle of God could not be covered with dye or contact lenses.
“···Hmm, I guess it would be best to just get some regular full-body armor and wear it.”
“You have to use all of them, including the helmet.”
Heinrich let out a soft sigh at Lydia’s innocent remark.
It would be different if it was the ‘Guardian of Glory’, the most luxurious armor among the luxury armors given by the Shinsin Sect, but it was not comfortable to live wearing ordinary full-body armor.
However, in this Tarak, which was also a strategic point connecting to the northern mountain range, there were quite a few people walking around in full body armor, so it certainly seemed like there was no better way to hide one’s identity.
‘It’s much better than covering your face with something suspicious like cloth.’
Heinrich, who had been nodding his head in agreement, smacked his lips.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me, “Do I really have to go this far?”
Although he told his group not to let their guard down, he himself wasn’t nervous at all.
That would be the case.
Because he had already guessed well what the ‘unknown threat’ the saint had detected was.
‘I guess he sensed the moment Hela appeared in Outerica. He hid it thoroughly, but it was still amazing.’
And that meant that now that Hela had left for the underworld, there was nothing left here.
As Hubert Trading Company began to invest throughout the city, they deployed hybrid vampires they hired everywhere, which also resulted in an extremely high level of security.
‘Well… I guess I should consider it a short vacation.’
I’ve been busy recently participating in local battles with the Immortal Army, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to spend a few days like this.
While we’re at it, it might be a good idea to check out how much Tarak has developed instead of just Hubert, who’s always in the office.
“By the way, I haven’t heard from Mr. Harley these days.”
“Since you are the so-called King of Mercenaries, wouldn’t you have received a secret request from somewhere?”
So the warrior party slowly entered the city.
One of the Outerica strongholds that Hubert Trading Company holds tight to, and where an unknown threat lurks as detected by the Saintess.
