Ch.328328. Kidnapping (2)

“…Is it okay for you to be in a place like this?”

Even in a situation where my brain wasn’t working properly due to the sudden circumstances, that question flowed out of me without thinking.

The Luminary, after all, is the leader of a demon cult whose existence is known to the leadership of every country.

It’s obvious that everyone from the Emperor to the Pope to the Great Chief of the Tribal Union would be on high alert about him.

If his whereabouts were to become known, chaos would erupt from all directions.

“What? Are you worried about me?”

“…”

And naturally, as soon as he heard my question, the Luminary responded with an exasperated sigh and such an answer.

Our relationship has become somewhat awkward recently. Anyway, this guy and I are fundamentally enemies.

So it’s understandable that he would react with disbelief when such words suddenly flowed from my mouth.

“That makes me happy.”

“…”

But immediately after, I feel a gentle hand caressing my cheek along with those words.

Affection, love, and beneath that, even a certain possessiveness.

“…I see you have the luxury to do this to an enemy. What if I counterattack?”

“Oh? Your ability only activates when someone has hostility toward you, right?”

“…”

“I’m only expressing affection toward you right now. So you’re just at the level of a slightly athletic ordinary person, aren’t you?”

I can’t help but sigh at how thoroughly he knows about my ability.

Considering who this guy really is, I suppose it’s not that strange.

“…So. Where is this place?”

As the Luminary stepped back slightly, I looked around with my eyes that were gradually adjusting to the dark and asked the question.

The place where the Demonic Vessels were fighting just moments ago was in the center of the city—

“Hmm, it’s quite far from where we were before.”

The Luminary said as he glanced around, tapping his lips.

“Would it be easier to understand if I said it’s the headquarters of the Cultists of the Demon?”

“…”

From my perspective, it was an answer that made me sigh in exasperation.

I had sensed that this guy had pulled some trick to move us a “very long distance,” but the very idea of kidnapping someone and bringing them to such a place was ridiculous.

“…This is it?”

But more than that.

The state of our surroundings is somewhat strange.

The Cultists of the Demon, befitting their role as a major antagonistic group in the original game, are the largest covert organization with influence spread throughout the continent.

But this place looks almost like a crumbling old building. Originally, this should have been a place where all kinds of high-profile villains gathered.

“…”

No, rather.

It strongly appears that someone came here and “annihilated” whatever was inside.

Right in front of me, there’s a skeleton sitting at an elegant desk, seemingly abandoned for quite some time.

And the answer to these questions soon came in a simple form.

“Well, I drove them all away or killed them.”

“…”

“Originally, these guys existed to make sure nothing happened to you no matter what. Since you live such a dangerous life, you’d need to keep growing stronger, right?”

“…”

“But at some point, instead of being threatened with death by demons, you started controlling them. So I wiped them all out. They had no reason to exist anymore.”

“…”

“I’m not really interested in demon worship. In fact, my original job was to hunt and kill them.”

The Luminary, who delivered such an answer in a nonchalant tone, kicked over a skeleton sitting on a nearby chair with a smirk.

The skull portion of the skeleton rolled across the floor.

“This is the ‘original’ Luminary that I dealt with. I killed him as soon as I ‘came back.'”

“…”

The guy who dropped such words casually tossed the skeleton aside and sat in its place.

“Let’s see, I suppose it’s about time I properly introduced myself.”

Saying that, he began rummaging through the desk drawer.

He took out an old candle and matches, and with a light motion, lit it.

A shallow flame rose into the dimly lit room.

And.

Long orange hair. A trademark energetic smiling face.

The unmasked appearance of the Luminary revealed in the small light was…

Identical to Elia Krisanax.

Probably what Elia would look like after maturing for nearly 10 years.

“…Nice to meet you. I am the ‘regressed’ hero.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…What? Say something at least.”

“…No, honestly, I had my suspicions already.”

I already had a pretty good idea from the reaction shown when I accepted the Seal of Otherworld and chose the path of becoming a ‘demon.’

And after the existence of the Minister proved that there could be people who came from a future where I met a bad end, I completely figured it out.

“The Holy Sword itself is an object that can match demons and their powers. By sacrificing it, you could have chosen to go back in time somehow.”

I don’t know the exact method. The power to transcend timelines belongs to the Grey Demon’s domain.

But the ‘Holy Sword’ itself is on par with the demons’ status. You could have squeezed out some way to utilize it.

I continue speaking with a sigh.

“In the world ‘connected to you,’ you were determined enough to go back in time even if it meant sacrificing it.”

Just like the Minister, there would be people who had reason to meet me again even if it meant sacrificing their greatest value.

And if my thinking is correct.

The existence of other demons wouldn’t deviate much from that pattern either.

“…What kind of relationship did we have in the world you ‘originally came from’?”

“Three daughters. Three sons. We really popped them out one after another.”

“…”

That’s quite a lot of children.

“—Well, they all died in the end.”

“…”

“Killed by demons. Even then, like now, you were in a situation where you controlled the demons quite well.”

I momentarily lose my words at the ghostly quality that suddenly enters his voice, and I stare at him.

“You know what? You know what? You’re feeling pretty safe right now, aren’t you?”

“…”

“Having come this far, you won’t suffer any great harm from the demons. It’s fine to continue like this.”

“…”

“But there’s one thing left. You must know it too, right?”

One thing. There is indeed one thing left.

“The Void Zone.”

The regressed Elia—the Luminary—said, twisting the corner of his mouth.

“The true bodies of demons sleeping beneath it. When the fragments combine with them and the ‘true demons’ descend… You know well what happens, don’t you?”

“…”

“If you fail to control them even a little bit. Everyone dies. The material world gets completely overturned.”

“…”

“It’s not a matter of control. The power is too great for the world itself to withstand. The ‘future world’ I was in disappeared that way too.”

Right now, Elnore has shown it before.

The godlike power of ‘reality manipulation’ that she performs even without her true body.

If that’s what she can do without her ‘true body,’ I can’t even imagine what a complete being, with fragment and true body combined, could do.

“There’s someone in this world too who wants to use that to realize his ambitions. You know that gloomy guy in the Holy Empire, right?”

“I can stop the Pope.”

“Setting aside whether blocking that would be easy or not. As long as such things exist, don’t you think there will be others who try to use them?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Even if it’s not the Pope right now, humans obsessed with power can emerge at any time. As proven by the world I was in.”

“…Your goal is.”

I sigh as I respond.

“To kill them all. The demons.”

“Yes.”

The answer comes back sharply.

“I will annihilate all of them completely, both the demons and their vessels.”

“…”

Right.

This is precisely why this guy and I can only be ‘enemies.’

“…I can’t let you do that.”

“Yes. Well. I knew you’d say that.”

The Luminary stretched and answered after hearing my response.

“You’re someone who values the people around you more than your own safety. You’ll never agree.”

“…It would be nice if you could just give up, knowing that.”

“Absolutely not.”

The Luminary smiled wryly and answered.

“—Not after what I’ve been through.”

“…”

About that, I have nothing to say either.

This guy probably came back after seeing me and his children all killed by the power of demons in the future.

The emotions he must have felt then, well.

No words could serve as a ‘substitute’ for that experience.

“But, seriously, we still have some time before we settle things between us. To achieve my goal, I need to cooperate with that Pope guy to some extent, and there’s time left before all the preparations are complete.”

“…What?”

“I want to have some fun in the meantime.”

“…Fun?”

“We’re going to settle things soon anyway.”

The Luminary said with a grin.

“So, how about we do some reconnaissance before that?”

●

“So.”

Elnore opened her mouth with a chilling voice.

Her demeanor was so murderous that it wouldn’t have been strange if she beheaded the human in front of her right then and there.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t cut off your head right now.”

“…Well, I understand how you feel, but…”

The Talker, or more precisely, the man named Seon Hwa-ryun, responded with a bitter smile.

In a situation where Darwood had suddenly disappeared, it was only natural to react this way when someone who had already clashed with them once suddenly appeared.

Fortunately for Seon Hwa-ryun, he had a very clear excuse that would prevent the people here from turning him into a pincushion.

“I’m here as a messenger, not to fight.”

“…A messenger?”

“Since you all know which man you’re fighting over, my boss wants to at least give you a proper purpose.”

“What do you mean—”

“I’ll tell you where Darwood Campbell is. Come prepared by tomorrow. It won’t be easy to break through.”

“…”

At those words, everyone’s expressions hardened.

Of course, the following sentence would elicit an even stronger reaction.

“If you don’t come quickly, he says he’ll eat him.”

“…Eat him?”

“You know, in bed. That kind of meaning, I think.”

“…Huh?”

Everyone’s eyes flashed.

●