episode_0189

After seeing with my own eyes the enormous army of monsters.

I decided to cross the first line of defense and move further north, which was full of those monsters.

“Are you sure it’s okay? The Demon King’s Soul is not visible here. But jumping into that sea of monsters on your own… … .”

“But waiting here doesn’t mean the Demon King’s soul will come to the place where it can be seen.”

The narration told me that my decision was not wrong.

Although there was no answer in that one word, it was enough to dispel my anxiety.

What I have been doing is not wrong.

Even if what I did may now hasten the destruction of the world, it doesn’t matter as long as it wasn’t wrong in the end.

The purpose of the narration is ultimately to eliminate the demon lord’s spirit and bring balance to the world.

“Then I will follow you.”

“No, Mr. Mileia, please stay here.”

“But… … .”

When I said that I would approach the sea of monsters on my own, Mileia immediately said that she would follow me.

But I immediately rejected Mileia’s offer.

The reason I went up north was because it was not for the purpose of fighting the monsters moving south.

Moreover, if there were no Milleia in the defense line, the speed at which the defense line would be breached would be ridiculously fast.

It was difficult because the longer the kingdom and the demon world lasted, the more time I had to find the demon king’s soul.

“Even if Mr. Milleia is there, you can’t prevent this defense line from being breached, right? If Mr. Mileia follows me against that level of monsters, the entire kingdom will be in danger. Please stop the monsters from moving south as much as possible from here.”

“… … I understand.”

Mileia answered without further ado.

And I asked Sylphy as well.

“Sylphy, from now on we have gone beyond the scope of simple reconnaissance. I never knew monsters could be this bad. So, you too, help Mr. Mileia here and protect the defense line.”

“No, I will follow my senior.”

But unlike Mileia, Sylphy shook her head and took a step closer to me.

“I heard it’s dangerous.”

“I knew it was dangerous from the beginning. By following in my senior’s footsteps, I was able to do my part as a proper adventurer. I hate it when my senior goes so far away that I can’t see him, because I feel like I’ll never be able to follow him again.”

“Ugh… … ?”

“Finding and dealing with the Demon Lord’s soul is the most dangerous and biggest task you’ve ever done, right? I want to follow my seniors who do such things until the end. I want to be of some help.”

Sylphy’s face was serious.

If you look at me like that, it’s hard to tell you to stay here.

Why do you think I’m such a great guy? … .

“You… … .”

“And it’s not just stubbornness, there’s a good reason why I should follow my senior. If you want to find the Demon King’s Soul, you will also need time to focus, right? I can deal with monsters from afar, so when my senior needs to concentrate, I can block their approach as much as possible.”

At those words, my eyes turned to the large bow that Sylphy had.

I don’t know how effective her long-distance shooting ability and excellent search ability will be against those ignorant monsters.

Because the number of monsters is ridiculous, it will be impossible to block their access if they attract the wrong attention.

But looking at Sylphy’s eyes filled with firm determination, I couldn’t refuse her to follow me.

I thought that if you were determined, breaking your will would not be a very good action.

“Okay, then Sylphy follow me.”

* * *

Sylphy and I continued our journey north past the kingdom’s first defense line.

The waves of monsters seen from the watchtower on the cliff were approaching south at this very moment.

If the Demon King’s Soul had a special appearance that could be detected with the naked eye, it would have been visible from the watchtower.

However, from what I observed through the magic tools at the watchtower, no monsters that looked special were found.

To be honest, I felt like it was reckless.

I don’t know what the Demon King’s soul looks like or where it is.

Even if you scout with the naked eye, you cannot find anything that is presumed to be the Demon King’s soul.

In this situation, it was definitely a reckless act to go to the place where the monsters were.

Unless I have a narration attached.

However, I wanted to create an environment where the narration could give me answers as much as possible.

The deeper I get involved in the case, the more I twist my body to find the answer, the more the narration helps me.

Anyway, even if I retreated here and observed the situation, the demon king spirit would not appear.

For now, I had no choice but to keep going, even if it was reckless, hoping that the narration would give me some advice at a critical moment.

“Senior… Wait a minute!”

Piing—!

Sylphy, who was walking with me, suddenly stopped, took out her bow, and fired an arrow through the leaves at the top of the forest.

“Is there something?”

When I asked Sylphy, a moment later something crashed in front of me with a rustling sound through the leaves in the sky.

It was a monster that resembled a large pterosaur.

The arrow shot by Sylphy pierced the center of the monster’s body.

“It seems like monsters are slowly starting to appear.”

“You just figured it out. I had no idea.”

“Sometimes it is better to develop your strengths rather than overcome your weaknesses, something I learned from watching my seniors.”

Although I have never said such a thing myself.

In any case, Sylphy’s abilities seemed to have developed further than when they were together before.

If it weren’t for the situation in the kingdom where the adventurer level was almost unremarkable, it was an excellent skill that would have made a name for itself on the continent.

“The fact that monsters are starting to appear in the sky means that the enormous sea of monsters is really getting closer… … .”

“Yes, do we keep moving forward like this?”

“Hmm.”

I was troubled for a moment.

This place is in an unnamed forest in the north of the continent.

Although it was a bit cold, the coniferous trees had grown so densely that it was difficult to see the sky, so it seemed like we could hardly be seen from the sky.

If the group of monsters is getting closer, it is probably dangerous to advance like this.

However, it was also impossible to hide somewhere and wait until the entire group of monsters passed by.

If it’s a large group of monsters, you can wait for them to pass, but the monsters I saw from the watchtower couldn’t be seen all the way to the back.

If we wait for all the monsters to pass, the world may already be over by then.

“Senior… … .”

Sylphy looked at me with slightly worried eyes.

Even though I came this far knowing that it was reckless to lead the narration, it was impossible to go any further from here.

Is it still… Is the narration still… … !

“If you go any further from here, you will be swept away by a wave of monsters like a swarm of locusts. I know… … .”

“… … .”

“Should I come all the way here and return without any income? … .”

At that time, I heard a welcome voice in my head.

『Yunoa was a really stupid and hard-working man.

He already had several clues that could guess the location of the Demon King’s Soul.

But the problem was that even though he had all the clues, he didn’t even know they were clues.』

I already have a clue to guess the location of the Demon King’s soul?

『Characteristics of the Demon King’s soul, the magical power derivative that held the pseudo-Demon King’s soul, and the monsters that flock under the influence of the Demon King’s soul.

The existence of the devil’s soul that cannot be seen anywhere… … Yunoa needed to rethink all of that.』

Characteristics of the Demon King’s Soul… … .

The Demon King’s soul grew stronger in Versella’s body, but was forcibly pulled out and disappeared somewhere.

In order to find the whereabouts of the demon lord soul, similar demon lord souls were discovered at Calozium, a research facility that had been closed down in the distant past.

And the entity closest to the actual Demon Lord’s soul was fascinated by the magic derivative in the center of the research facility… … .

Taking a hint from there, he improved the magic derivative together with Mariel and summoned the true demon king’s spirit.

And what came was not the Demon King’s Soul, but a great invasion of nearly infinite monsters influenced by the Demon King’s Soul.

If you think about it, it’s strange.

If the pseudo-demon soul possessed by the demonic specimen seen in Calogium was almost similar to the real demon king soul, there was no reason why the demon king soul would not come towards the magic derivative.

It was a magic derivative that had such a strong attraction to the pseudo-demon spirit.

If the real Demon King’s Soul showed the same reaction, it was strange that the existence of the Demon King’s Soul could not be found anywhere.

『The magic derivative was definitely effective.

The Demon King’s Soul was steadily approaching the place where the magic derivative was located, just as Yunoa wanted.』

But even in the demon world, and in the kingdom where I saw the situation with my own eyes… It is not visible anywhere.

So, does this mean that the Demon King’s Soul is taking on the form of an ordinary monster to the extent that you can’t even recognize it by looking at it?

『No, it wasn’t like that.

The Demon Lord’s soul did not act like possessing an ordinary monster, even to protect itself.』

If we reverse the narration, does this mean that the Demon King’s soul is now possessed by an unusual monster?

Then why is it not visible?

If it is a demon lord spirit possessed by such an unusual monster… … .

『Why can’t I see it? Even at this moment, the Demon King’s soul is steadily taking steps towards the magic derivative.』

At that moment, one possibility occurred to me.

We were so distracted by the large army of monsters covering the ground that we couldn’t think about what was below.

If both the sky and the earth are covered with monsters… … .

Isn’t there one more place left?

A place that cannot be seen.

『Yunoa finally guessed the place where the monster with the devil’s soul was most likely to be.

It was a really foolish and belated conclusion.』

I spoke quietly while listening to the narration, which was in the same tone as usual but somehow gave the illusion of grumbling.

“understanding.”

* * *