Ch.206206. Red Night (6)

“The aura… it’s different from before, isn’t it?”

When Elia made this observation, Darwood, standing beside her, quietly nodded.

He appeared injured in various places from clearing away spirit bodies on their way here, but he didn’t seem to care much about his condition.

As if, compared to what was about to unfold, injuries of this level weren’t even worth worrying about.

“This is where things really begin.”

The reason why the demon’s main body summoning—the second phase—remained a nightmare for most Sera users was because the event was originally designed to firmly imprint the “power” of demons in players’ minds.

The pillar of fire before them was no longer just dispersing demonic energy; it was “transforming” the entire surrounding environment.

The blazing flames did more than just tinge the surroundings red.

The smell of sulfur. The scent of burned vegetation.

Along with these, a dark energy spreading from the burned materials began to envelop the surroundings.

It was completely changing the land and the air into something “entirely different.”

Into an environment that felt like it belonged to a completely different world.

“…What is this?”

“Terraforming.”

Darwood sighed as he answered.

“Its very existence transforms the surroundings to be identical to Pandemonium.”

What an absurd ability.

In terms of destructive power, it could kill the world just by breathing. Only life forms that originally existed in Pandemonium could survive in such an environment.

And demons are beings that commonly possess this kind of thing as their “basic passive” ability.

“…”

Fortunately, for now, the effect wouldn’t spread across the entire continent. After all, the demon’s main body hadn’t directly descended.

However.

It was entirely possible to summon a “powerful entity” that normally couldn’t exist in the material world.

-!

-!!!

A dimensional gate formed nearby.

But unlike the ones that had opened before, this one was of a different caliber.

One containing an “aura” overwhelming enough to dominate humans just by looking at it.

-!!

-!!!

What walked out from inside was a beast resembling human form.

With demonic power wrapped around its entire body like “armor” and equipped with a “weapon,” its appearance was…

“…A knight?”

Darwood smirked at Elia’s muttered words.

He seemed to be agreeing.

“Kings always have at least one bodyguard with them, don’t they?”

Darwood muttered.

Demon. The king of Pandemonium.

Then it’s natural that there would be at least one creature drawn to that strength.

“Something like that.”

Hell Guard. The guard of hell.

A powerful being that ranks among the top even within Pandemonium.

It gives a similar impression to the automatons used by angels of the Otherworld, but its combat and destructive power are on a completely different level.

“…”

As soon as she saw it, Elia instinctively realized.

‘…We can’t win…!’

The gap felt hopelessly vast.

She had encountered all sorts of crazy things with Darwood, but this one was among the…!

“Elia.”

“Yes?”

Just as Elia’s mind was about to drift away, Darwood’s low, settled voice tapped at her ear.

“I’ll say it again, but you have to do it at the end.”

“…”

“No matter what happens to me, never look back. You must go all the way to the end. Understand?”

“…”

For him to say such things.

It means this person will undoubtedly face something terrible.

“…How strong is that thing?”

“…”

Darwood remained silent.

As if he couldn’t bear to tell her.

“Neither of us can beat it. Not now.”

He let out a deep sigh.

“At least one of us needs to move forward.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to face that thing alone again?”

“Yes.”

Elia gritted her teeth and barely managed to speak.

“…Teacher.”

This time.

She could say with certainty.

“You’ll die.”

“…”

“…You’ll really die.”

She could feel it with certainty.

This time, even this person was charging in without any particular plan.

He was doing it simply because “he had to.”

Because there was no other choice.

“…But.”

Darwood answered with a bitter smile.

“I still have to do it, don’t I?”

“…”

“Hurry forward. I’ll handle this.”

Elia looked at him with trembling eyes.

●

Cecilia XI glared fiercely at Marquis Bogart.

For someone who usually wore only a gentle smile, this was an unusual sight, but she already knew all too well that such pretenses were unnecessary with this man.

“…First of all.”

Her subsequent words proved just that.

“Are you aware that it’s an enormous act of blasphemy for someone of mere marquis rank to barge into the Emperor’s quarters?”

“So, Your Majesty!”

Of course, the other party wasn’t even properly pretending to listen.

In front of the Emperor whose expression was visibly souring, Marquis Bogart smiled brightly as he continued.

“What do you think?”

On the desk between them sat a crystal orb projecting images.

Probably footage from near the location where the third trial was taking place.

“…”

Cecilia XI looked at the scene captured there.

The sky, the ground.

Everything nearby was burning.

It seemed like if there had been an ocean nearby, it would have been burned as well.

‘Red night.’

The Red Demon’s rampage.

The national catastrophe this man had once pointed out would eventually happen.

“About that pillar of fire, Your Majesty.”

The Marquis’s words fell upon the Emperor as she was lost in thought.

“Isn’t it getting stronger?”

“…”

“At this rate, even the Lightbearer’s barrier will break, won’t it?”

“…”

“A three-piece Demonic Vessel going berserk, the barrier shattering, and then contact with the demon’s main body in the void zone… Wow, the world’s going to end.”

Though his light tone and casual manner were somewhat infuriating.

This was undoubtedly an unprecedented crisis. It could truly be called a world-ending crisis.

If the main body and an awakened vessel were to meet, it would be a true “demon descent” in every sense.

Among all seven demons, if just one succeeded in such a thing, it wouldn’t be strange if the entire continent perished.

“…Personnel have already been dispatched from within the Empire.”

The Emperor spoke in a stiff voice.

“Elite personnel who will ensure such a thing never happens—”

“No.”

Bogart cut off her words.

“They’re all useless. Your Majesty knows this well.”

“…”

“Why do you think the Holy Empire chose such a location for the trial site in the first place, Your Majesty?”

“…”

“It’s a declaration of intent to quietly bury this situation in a place where none of their own personnel would be caught up in it. After all, whatever effort they expend is meaningless when facing a demon.”

Marquis Bogart continued with his ever-present smile.

“This is a demon rampage situation. Everything within ‘human’ specifications is completely meaningless.”

“…”

“That’s the case even for a country with the highest authority regarding demon subjugation. It would be a miracle if Imperial personnel could do anything at all.”

It was the truth.

Of course, just because it was the truth didn’t mean it wasn’t infuriating.

As the Emperor glared at him silently, Bogart smiled and said:

“The only ones who might have been capable were the Guardians, who were like a collection of humans who had reached their final evolution…”

His eyes gleamed maliciously.

“But you destroyed them all, didn’t you? By your own hand.”

The Emperor bit her lip until it bled.

“…”

“You issued orders directly through Grand Duke Tristan. You sent them all to their deaths. To suppress a demon incident.”

After a long silence, the Emperor finally opened her mouth again.

“…That seems unrelated to our current situation.”

“Ah, that’s right! I apologize.”

The Emperor glared fiercely at the shamelessly agreeing Bogart, then continued in a growling voice.

“What’s your reason for showing me this?”

“I thought it would be good for Your Majesty to see exactly what kind of power you’ve been eyeing.”

“What?”

“Your interest in the man called Darwood Campbell is because you’re curious about how much power he can exert regarding ‘demons,’ isn’t it?”

“…”

“To extract the ‘dead blood’ flowing through your body, inherited from your parents—”

[You know.]

Bogart quickly shut his mouth.

At any rate, he was remarkably skilled at knowing where the line was.

Like now.

When scales began to appear on the Emperor’s body, her eyes slit like those of a reptile, and magical energy began to swirl around her body.

It meant pushing further would not be a good choice.

[It would be wise to watch your tongue. If you wish to maintain a long lifeline, that is. Even my patience has its limits.]

Under the pressure contained in that voice, Bogart’s body was flattened. There was no magical force at work. It was simply his body automatically reacting to the difference in “caliber” between them.

The air vibrated. Nearby glass cracked, the floor split, and all objects with weak durability shattered.

The absurd thing was that this was happening just from the other party’s “presence.”

Dragon blood.

An exceptional presence mixed with the dignity of a “ruler.”

The supreme being among creatures in the material world. The source of all magical power.

“…I apologize. Please consider it a slip of the tongue.”

At this obedient response, the Emperor glared at him but withdrew her energy.

At least this answer wasn’t mixed with playfulness.

“So, anyway.”

The Emperor looked at Marquis Bogart, who was smiling again as soon as the energy disappeared, with an exasperated gaze.

She truly wondered what this human’s nerves were made of.

“In such a situation, we have no choice but to leave stopping the demon’s descent to this man.”

With those words, the screen swiftly turned.

A woman with orange hair, and beside her, a man running in tatters.

“…”

The Emperor’s eyes widened.

These were faces she couldn’t fail to recognize.

“Hero candidate, Elia Krisanax. And demons’ eternal heartthrob, Darwood Campbell. Quite a good combination, isn’t it?”

Ignoring the flippant voice, the Emperor scrutinized the footage carefully.

If nothing else, one thing captured her attention directly.

“…His body.”

She muttered in a low voice.

Darwood Campbell’s body was clearly not in a normal state.

It was difficult to simply describe it as “injured.” It was as if something was “eating away” at his entire body.

“…”

And what stood before him.

An overwhelming opponent whose pressure transmitted even through the footage.

“Hell Guard… Wow, so such things appear when a demon is trying to descend.”

“…You know this creature?”

“Not in detail. Just the name.”

Bogart continued with a smirk.

“Anyone who’s seen it has died, so there aren’t many records left. There must have been heroes throughout history who died fighting it, but those records would have been lost.”

“…”

She didn’t understand why he spoke of lost records as if he had seen them himself.

As the Emperor sighed in disbelief, Bogart casually continued his sentence.

“It certainly looks like a crisis situation. There aren’t many humans who can maintain their sanity within the demonic energy forming the ‘red night,’ so they can’t expect immediate help either.”

“…”

The Emperor bit her lip again.

“…He’ll die at this rate. He can’t fight such a powerful enemy in that physical condition.”

“Is that so?”

“Didn’t you say there’s no one to help him? The chance of survival is almost non-existent…!”

“He’s not a man who dies easily.”

Marquis Bogart responded indifferently.

As if the Emperor’s concern was completely useless.

“Both Prime Minister Sullivan and that unpleasant masked woman were strangely worried about that man dying. But what we should really be worried about is something else.”

“…What do you mean?”

“While that man holds most of the possibilities for this world’s destruction, there are many potential ‘forms’ it could take.”

“…”

This man sometimes spouts things only he understands, as if he’s so clever.

A truly irritating trait.

The Emperor glared at him with such emotions.

“And, in my view.”

Regardless, Marquis Bogart continued nonchalantly.

“At least within this ‘incident,’ that man won’t die.”

Indeed.

The scene shown in the crystal orb.

Was completely different from what the Emperor was worried about.

●