Ch.309Chapter 309 – Cusia (2)

“You’re selling the country as a sacrifice to the Demon King?”

Gabriella asked with a trembling voice.

I saw Cusia smiling wickedly, seemingly satisfied with her reaction.

“Curious, aren’t you?”

“…Tell me now, demon.”

At Gabriella’s words, Cusia nodded.

“The story goes back a few weeks. To the day when the royal family made a deal with the demons.”

“I’m not interested in what happened a few weeks ago, so I’d appreciate it if you could just get to the point.”

When I spoke with a slightly lowered voice, Cusia shuddered.

Then she looked toward where Sia and Vanilla were, as if seeking help, and soon Sia nodded and said:

“Honestly, I’m not interested either, so keep it brief.”

“…How cruel…”

Cusia grumbled before opening her mouth again.

“Still, there are some things that need explanation, so I’ll say a little. This happened even before the battle in Albheim. It was when the Emiris Order demanded a large quantity of magic stones from the Kingdom of Firenchena.”

Cusia paused briefly, then continued.

“The current King of Firenchena, who had made a contract with the Order due to past events, has maintained an alliance with the Order by sending large quantities of magic stones to them until now.”

“An alliance, huh.”

“Yes, an alliance. By periodically giving large amounts of magic stones to the Order, the king’s rule is recognized within the Order’s sphere of influence… something like that. However, as their demands gradually increased and the country’s economy began to suffer, the king became angry. Until now, he had endured because of past events. Those past events…”

“We all know the Order helped assassinate the former king and princesses so the current king could take power, so get to the point.”

“…Anyway, that’s when the king exploded.”

Cusia glanced at me slightly as she spoke.

“The king, who had been receiving unreasonable demands all this time, wanted to cut ties with the Order. However, the Kingdom of Firenchena lacked the strength to properly fight against the Order in many ways. At that point, a certain faction quietly approached the king.”

“What faction?”

“The Devil Worshippers.”

Cusia said quietly.

“The Devil Worshippers made a proposal to the king. They would use the power of demons to make the Emiris Order withdraw from the Kingdom of Firenchena. In exchange, they asked him to side with the Demon King when he descended.”

“This is the first I’m hearing of this?”

Vanilla said, narrowing her eyes.

And Cusia also nodded and said:

“Of course, this was news to me too. No, honestly, I was flabbergasted! It doesn’t make sense that I, of all people, didn’t know about this! I only understood the situation after coming here and hearing the whole story! Isn’t that strange? So I used all my abilities to investigate what was going on…”

“Just the point.”

“…As it turns out, most of the Devil Worshippers were connected to the Demon Lord, that vile traitor. He hid this fact from other demons, which is why high-ranking individuals like myself didn’t know. At the same time, he was secretly operating behind all demon-related incidents that occurred here.”

As she spoke, Cusia glanced at me again.

This succubus seems to really enjoy explaining and storytelling more than I expected.

Seeing this, Eve smiled at her and said:

“Would you please stop looking at Kay that way? What are your intentions? Are you trying to cast another charm?”

“No, I didn’t mean to…”

Cusia muttered as if wronged.

Her story continued.

“Anyway, the current King of Firenchena accepted the Devil Worshippers’ proposal. And after some time passed, the battle between demons and elves broke out in Albheim.”

This was obviously a battle I had participated in.

It was also a battle where the two demon commanders here fought against us.

Soon Cusia spoke again.

“…So taking advantage of the Demon King’s injury at Albheim, the Demon Lord staged a rebellion, impersonated the Demon King, and then met with the King of Firenchena. And soon, they formed an alliance with certain conditions.”

“What conditions?”

Beatrice asked calmly.

However, in the slightly chilling atmosphere, Cusia shrank back as she spoke.

“The deal was that the king would offer the souls of citizens of Firenchena and surrounding countries as sacrifices to the Demon Lord in exchange for providing the king with demonic power.”

What kind of insane talk is this?

I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even speak.

I wasn’t the only one; I could feel everyone silently focusing on Cusia’s words.

However, Cusia seemed to misinterpret this as interest in her story, and slightly wagged her tail as she continued:

“Here again, I worked hard, risking my life to gather information by asking around…”

“The point.”

“…The plan was simple. It involved using soul-draining formations, monsters, and humans.”

Cusia said with a slightly deflated voice.

“From what you’re saying, I assume you know about the soul-draining formations, so I’ll skip that. As for using monsters, the Demon Lord used some kind of crystal to attract monsters and cause casualties.”

This was the same trick they had used in Ferarius.

And.

“And using humans was simple. They laundered the identities of Devil Worshippers in the Kingdom of Firenchena and sent them to spread throughout various countries.”

“Various countries?”

At Eve’s question, Cusia nodded.

“The Firenchena royal palace had information obtained from overseas exchanges and spies they had sent out before. Disguised as individuals with royal credentials, these Devil Worshippers soon installed soul-draining formations and monster-attracting crystals at strategic points in countries designated by the royal family. They didn’t just stop there; they even coordinated the timing. The Demon Lord, who didn’t yet have much information about the surrounding countries, was able to proceed with his plans much more efficiently.”

So the recent occurrences of soul-draining formations in neighboring countries were because the Firenchena royal family provided information and coordinated the timing.

“By the way, before all these plans, the Demon Lord activated a soul-draining formation in Ferarius as a sort of experiment.”

“So that’s why a soul-draining formation suddenly appeared in that country.”

I finally learned the background of the soul-draining formation that had suddenly appeared in Ferarius.

Though it’s all over now.

And Cusia continued:

“The experiment ended with some success, and the plan proceeded. Currently, I’ve heard that various countries are suffering massive casualties due to sudden monster rampages. Since these occurred simultaneously, they can’t afford to help each other, resulting in increasing casualties. The Demon Lord is using this to strengthen himself and his subordinates…”

“That’s not good news.”

Gigas said with a slight frown.

And Vanilla quietly asked:

“And now they’re planning to offer the citizens of the Kingdom of Firenchena as sacrifices?”

“That’s right.”

Cusia said quietly.

“That’s what the soul-draining formation is for. And to protect it, they seem to be deploying troops on a truly massive scale. I’ve heard that even the Demon Lord’s elite forces are being summoned to the Kingdom of Firenchena.”

“Elite forces?”

“…It seems there were elite forces that he had hidden and not sent to Albheim at that time. I heard there are many of them.”

“How strong are these elite forces?”

Cusia pondered my question for a moment.

Then she carefully said:

“…I don’t know exactly, but they’re survivors who lived through situations where the weak were killed as a disgrace to their kind, and where they killed each other under the pretext of survival of the fittest. I think they’re at least strong enough to hold you back.”

And she quietly added that she herself wouldn’t be able to resist them at all.

‘This isn’t good news.’

The kingdom’s forces alone were problematic enough, but Cusia’s words suggested that extremely powerful demon soldiers had been reinforced as well.

While we might manage somehow, I doubted whether ordinary soldiers could face them.

“…But it seems the king thought that alone wasn’t enough.”

“Not enough?”

Cusia carefully looked at our expressions as she spoke.

“I heard that by royal decree, he plans to order all kingdom forces throughout the country to launch an all-out attack on the Emiris Order’s holy knights and resistance forces.”

“He intends to cause greater casualties, even forcibly.”

At Beatrice’s words, Cusia nodded.

“For reference, the orders have already been issued. Knights across the region are preparing for battle, I hear.”

“The orders have already been issued?”

“The throne in the royal palace can send commands to commanders across the region. It’s a system built during the Hero Era, or so I’m told?”

Cusia muttered that this was surprisingly difficult to find out.

And when she quickly looked at Gabriella, I saw her nodding with a pale face.

“By the way, the royal palace has been inciting people to believe that the red sky is the work of the Emiris Order. They claimed it was information obtained through reliable espionage activities or something? So the commanders across the region are under the misconception that they are attacking the Emiris Order at a specified time to stop this phenomenon.”

They had already prepared a plausible excuse, it seemed.

“While preparing to spill blood on such a large scale, they were simultaneously fortifying the palace with weapons and traps to protect the soul-draining formation.”

“What kind of weapons?”

“I don’t know exactly, but…”

Cusia said carefully.

“They’re weapons that the royal family has possessed for a long time… that’s all I know.”

“The royal family’s…?”

“I think I saw the words ‘guardian’ and ‘dog,’ but I couldn’t investigate further because the situation wasn’t favorable, so my information is lacking…”

Cusia added that it seemed to be a top-secret matter.

After briefly glancing at Gabriella’s pale expression, she continued:

“If left unchecked, there will be massive casualties, and the Demon Lord will likely become unstoppably powerful.”

Cusia’s explanation ended.

After thinking for a moment, Sia quietly said:

“…We need to stop the soul-draining formation and take control of the palace as soon as possible.”

If we don’t, the consequences will be unmanageable, Sia muttered quietly.

“…To think he would sacrifice his citizens and soldiers…”

“…Having sacrificed his princesses and brother to the Order, I suppose sacrificing citizens and soldiers is nothing to him.”

Domestica spoke, and Beatrice answered in a cold voice.

“…What could His Majesty of Firenchena be lacking, to do such things…?”

Chris murmured sadly.

But that wasn’t the issue to explore right now.

“…Now isn’t the time to explore such things. We need to figure out how to destroy the soul-draining formations first.”

“First, it would be good to identify the locations of the convergence points.”

Sarah said, looking around at us.

“Since we need to destroy them simultaneously as much as possible, we should first locate them…”

“Oh, I’ve already figured that out.”

Cusia looked around as if expecting praise.

When there was no reaction, she soon slumped and quietly said:

“…Actually, it wasn’t difficult. Sirius gave explicit orders to install all the soul-draining formations in the royal palace.”

“To make them easier to defend?”

At Sia’s words, Cusia nodded.

“I understand they plan to gather the kingdom’s forces and demon powers in one place, to prepare the maximum defense posture to intercept the White Dragon.”

“So I’m being treated like some strategic weapon.”

I remarked with a light sigh.

“But it’s not all bad news.”

“Why is that?”

“If they had split them into three parts and set up maximum countermeasures at each location, we would have had to split up too.”

With our numbers and sufficient combat power, we could aim to destroy the soul-draining formations even if divided into three groups.

But while it was possible, it would be a risky decision.

“…We’re already few in number, and if we divide, we could be defeated one by one.”

Monsters, demons, and possibly kingdom forces too.

It was natural that they would greatly outnumber us.

Moreover, there was no reason for the Emiris Order to stay idle.

“If the Dragon Slayer gets involved, we might not even be able to destroy the formations.”

He was someone against whom both Sia and I had to retreat despite fighting together.

If we divided our forces, we might not be able to properly deal with the Dragon Slayer.

Considering the demons’ traps and forces, the more we split up, the more the risk increases exponentially.

“In that situation, it’s better that we can gather in one place.”

Of course, the other side could also concentrate their forces in one place, so there were pros and cons.

‘But for that to proceed, first…’

I turned my gaze toward Princess Gabriella.

And I could hear the princess quietly bowing her head and speaking softly.

“…At this rate, this country…”

Gabriella said with a pale face.

“…Uncle, what could you possibly be lacking? After your family, now clinging to demons…”

“Princess.”

“Dome…”

Domestica looked at Princess Gabriella with concerned eyes, but the princess wasn’t focusing on her.

With a somewhat crumbling expression, she quietly said:

“Is this really okay?”

“Princess?”

“…If what that demon says is true, honestly, I don’t see a solution.”

The princess murmured, looking somewhere far away.

“Princess Gabriella…”

“Dome.”

Beatrice immediately called to her, but the princess ignored Beatrice’s call and continued:

“…At this rate, I won’t be able to repay anyone.”

The princess said sadly.

“…It’s a pathetic story. I wanted to become queen and repay my people.”

“Princess.”

“…Without any power, I accepted unreasonable demands because I didn’t want to lose more of my people.”

Gabriella spoke with somewhat vacant eyes.

“…I was too optimistic, thinking that if we could just enter the palace, there would be a way.”

“Princess.”

“I foolishly thought they wouldn’t expect the weak resistance to attack the palace, that there would be no reinforcements. How naive I was.”

Gabriella murmured with unfocused eyes.

I could feel that her heart had been greatly shaken by the information Cusia had brought.

No, that’s slightly wrong. Her heart, which had somehow remained unshaken despite all the mistreatment she had received until now, might have finally broken because of this.

Gabriella continued speaking:

“At this rate, I’ll lose precious people again. I won’t be able to repay their kindness.”

“Princess.”

“Dome, what should I do? Perhaps…”

The princess was about to say something.

And at that moment:

“That’s enough.”

Sia’s cold voice echoed.