Ch.393Chapter 393 – The End of Violence and Oppression

That night, when Kei and his party had a commotion with the lizardmen in Bestia.

A vampire appeared near the castle where the Demon Lord was staying.

With a black cloak befitting his alias as a noble of the night, elegant formal attire, and small bats floating around him, he looked exactly like the vampires from traditional lore.

However, the person inside the cloak had disheveled hair and was even yawning, instantly shattering that atmosphere.

“…I’m lacking sleep…”

The vampire’s identity was Rage, the former Legion Commander who had appeared with the Demon King in Albheim.

Originally, after surrendering to the Demon Lord, he should have been confined to his own territory.

He wasn’t supposed to be here.

But he had to move.

“Was it necessary for you to come personally?”

“Yeah. I had to come myself.”

Rage answered while rubbing his eyes in response to what seemed to be a subordinate vampire’s question.

At a glance, his expression appeared relaxed.

However, his eyes were sharp.

“If there hadn’t been intelligence about the Demon Lord acting strange, I wouldn’t have come.”

Seeing the quietly gleaming eyes amid his seemingly careless demeanor, the subordinate vampire bowed respectfully and said:

“…Couldn’t it simply be that he’s gone mad from his consecutive failures?”

“That’s what bothers me.”

Rage spoke while looking at the castle.

“The Demon Lord, despite appearances, is a demon who has survived since the Demon War. He’s lived for an extremely long time. …He’s probably a man who endured countless ages to become the Demon King. For someone like that to suddenly go mad because of recent failures?”

It sounded strange.

“If he were the type to go mad so easily, he would have gone berserk the moment our king Lisrilia ascended to the throne. But he endured with a knife in his belly all that time, and succeeded in stabbing us in the back at Albheim.”

Rage said with sharp eyes.

“I might go crazy from lack of sleep, but he wouldn’t.”

“…My lord, you simply sleep too much.”

“No. It’s not enough. Maybe I should change my bedding.”

Though his eyes were sharp, he still exchanged light jokes with his subordinate.

Soon, Rage wondered if he was unconsciously trying to shake off his own uneasiness by joking around.

“Sirius has ruined his plans while getting covered in mud. Now it’s my turn.”

“Yes.”

Grateful for his wife’s help—who had kept her distance because he came across as intimidating despite his appearance—Rage looked up at the sky.

“Let’s go. For our king, Bael. We’ll rescue the imprisoned Baphomet.”

“Yes.”

Soon, several more vampires appeared.

They transformed into crimson mist and entered the Demon Lord’s castle.

‘…There should normally be sentries and traps.’

But in their current form as blood mist, they could ignore most of them.

Though the transformation couldn’t be maintained for long, Rage had already calculated the shortest route thanks to intelligence gathered by his subordinates at the risk of their lives.

‘First, through the upper windows to avoid being seen by sentries…’

Just as he was about to take a detour.

Rage immediately noticed something strange.

‘…There are no sentries?’

Something unusual was discovered right at the start.

Rage was lazy but cautious by nature.

When unexpected variables appeared, he would normally suspect a trap and consider retreating.

But what bloomed in his heart was anxiety.

If he missed this chance, he would lose a comrade who had been with him for ages.

The intuition that had helped him several times throughout his long life began to move him.

-“What shall we do, my lord?”

-“We’ll proceed as planned.”

Rage said with a slightly urgent voice.

-“We might be just before it’s too late. Let’s move quickly.”

-“Yes.”

The vampires followed his instructions without complaint.

And the moment they entered.

His anxiety began to grow even more.

‘There’s no one here.’

There should have been demons who sided with the Demon Lord.

The mission was to avoid their eyes and the traps they had set.

But they weren’t there.

There were no traps either.

Rather than things going smoothly, Rage felt that something was terribly wrong.

‘Just a little further…’

And they would reach the place where Baphomet was being held.

Just as he thought that.

Suddenly, with an explosion, a wall collapsed.

As Rage quickly materialized while being wary of traps, whatever had broken through the wall came into his view.

“…Meri, how did you…”

“Duke, why are you here…?”

Baphomet, injured in various places, spoke while looking at Rage.

Along with the joy of finding his mission objective, Rage hurriedly asked:

“The wounds… I expected that, but what’s happening in this castle?”

“Something absurdly ridiculous.”

Baphomet said as he got to his feet.

Then, glaring at the place he had escaped from, he said:

“Let’s flee quickly, Duke. If we stay here, we’ll all become puppets.”

“From what?”

“From what was once the Demon Lord.”

Baphomet wiped the blood flowing from his mouth and said:

“I was lucky… while he was fluctuating, I broke the chains and escaped.”

Clutching his shoulder, Baphomet narrowed his eyes.

“More importantly, if you came to rescue me… does that mean Sia—no, Her Majesty has returned? Is she safe?”

“No news has reached us yet. But Sirius discovered that she’s safe. Gigas and Vanilla also made contact with her and moved together.”

“She’s safe.”

Baphomet closed his eyes with a relieved expression.

Then, opening his eyes wide, he said:

“…Then, you can communicate with them. I’ll buy time, so make sure you escape.”

“No. Bringing you back is the mission.”

“If we waste more time, the puppets will swarm us.”

Baphomet said with bulging eyes.

“Go now.”

“What exactly are we running from…?”

Just as Rage expressed his doubt.

Something walked out from inside.

“Phew, I can’t believe how much time it took to modify this body~.”

“Who are you?”

Rage asked with narrowed eyes.

The aura of the figure before him was indeed that of the Demon Lord.

But his appearance had changed too much.

At first glance, it looked like a human woman.

But there was no way the clearly male Demon Lord would have taken on the appearance of a human woman.

That meant the enemy had somehow taken over the Demon Lord’s body.

It also meant the Demon Lord couldn’t even resist.

‘So the one who rampaged about preaching violence and oppression was devoured by a greater power without even leaving behind last words or traces.’

While feeling a slight satisfaction at the irony, Rage also felt a chill from the opponent.

He seemed to understand why Baphomet had volunteered to buy time for their escape.

And so Rage steeled his resolve even more.

‘As if I’d leave you behind.’

He had come here to live with his comrade.

He didn’t come to flee while claiming to rescue a comrade.

If he did that, he wouldn’t be able to face his king who had personally sought him out despite his laziness.

‘I came prepared for the worst-case scenario anyway.’

He had brought several escape measures in case of emergency.

Although he hadn’t anticipated this exact situation, he still had means at his disposal.

Quickly signaling his subordinates to activate the escape tools they had brought, Rage prepared to buy a little time.

And the woman with messy gray hair smiled and said:

“Leaving? But I’m bored, having just started moving this body after so long. Can’t you stay?”

“Answer my question. Who are you?”

Rage asked while watching his subordinates use the tools.

“Hmm, honestly, since I’m just a remaining soul, my name probably doesn’t matter. Ah, but since I pretended to be absorbed by that foolish demon’s soul and then devoured him, maybe I should give my name?”

The woman moved her fingers as she spoke.

From the threads attached to her fingertips, demon soldiers turned into puppets began to swarm.

“Phobia. Call me Phobia, the Puppeteer. I’m a puppeteer who loves art, beautiful things, and friends.”

It was a statement that would terrify anyone who knew her end.

Phobia smiled brightly and said:

“Want to be friends?”

“I’ll have to decline.”

Phobia’s puppets rushed in.

Rage quickly swung his arm.

+

The next morning after spending the night guarding the carriage.

As I got up as usual, I saw Chris praying beside me.

Noticing that I had risen, Chris smiled and said:

“Did you sleep well, Sir Kei?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps because she slept with me in my bed last night.

Chris seemed to be in a very good mood.

Of course, nothing progressed beyond lying together in bed, as we were worried about others hearing sounds from the room, but Chris seemed greatly satisfied with just that.

As I got up and put on my armor, Chris brought me my helmet.

“Thank you.”

“I should help with this much. …It’s like a wife helping her husband get ready…”

I couldn’t hear the latter part clearly as Chris spoke softly.

I was about to ask her to repeat it, but Chris only said she understood how Eve and Sera felt, without elaborating further, just smiling happily.

As we went outside the carriage, Eve, who had been on the last watch, smiled and said:

“Did you sleep well, Kei?”

“Yes. Nothing happened, right?”

“Of course not,” Eve said with a smile.

Then, with a slightly mischievous face, she looked at Chris and said:

“Should I try next time?”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll just say that not only me, but Sera has also noticed and is preparing, Miss Christina.”

Chris blushed and hid slightly behind me.

Seeing her say that, it was clear she had noticed Chris sneaking into my bed yesterday.

Eve was just smiling with a look that said she couldn’t help it.

“Ah, everyone’s up?”

“Good morning to all.”

Sera and Sia, who seemed to have slept better than expected, came out looking somewhat cheerful.

Finally, as the sleepy Beatrice emerged from inside, breakfast prepared by Sera and Chris was distributed to everyone.

After giving Moo his favorite feed and gathering around the carriage, Eve spoke up:

“Let’s organize our plans going forward.”

“Even so, we need to keep heading north.”

Beatrice said quietly.

“The location the nun pointed out is right in the middle of the snowy region at the northernmost part of Bestia.”

“So we’re suddenly going to be trudging through snow.”

“Mikea Kingdom would be in full spring by now.”

Come to think of it, we left Mikea Kingdom during winter.

Now it’s spring there, but we’re heading to a place with snowfall again.

“It’s the first time I’ve used winter equipment for so long.”

“Let’s put a positive spin on it. When the helmet comes alive, that will be our spring.”

Beatrice grinned as she put the bread baked by Sera into her mouth.

And Eve smiled and said:

“Our spring, indeed.”

Eve said this while eating the soup Sera had made.

As the meal was coming to an end, Eve quietly spoke up:

“Well then, we should gather information in Bestia now.”

“Before that, I have some good news.”

Beatrice grinned as she took out something like a crystal ball.

“Actually, before going to bed, I sent a request to the Magic Tower for information about Bestia’s geography and such. When I woke up, I found a letter with a brief map and some concerned messages.”

“You’re well-prepared. Both you, Lady Beatrice, and the mages at the Magic Tower.”

Beatrice grinned at Chris’s words.

“Then let’s start with information about the snowy region.”

“Hmm, before that.”

Sia, seemingly curious, quietly asked:

“Does that snowy region not have a name?”

“No grand name. They just call it the White Snow Plains, I hear. Around here, if you say ‘snow plains,’ that’s generally what they mean.”

Beatrice answered that it got its simple name because it’s covered in permanent snow and ice.

“If it has another nickname, it would be ‘the coldest abandoned land on the continent.'”

“I understand ‘coldest,’ but ‘abandoned’?”

It was marked as Bestia’s territory on the map.

Beatrice quietly said:

“If it were simply cold, the beastmen who are resistant to cold would have diligently developed it. But they couldn’t.”

“Why is that?”

Sia asked, showing slight interest.

Beatrice grinned and said:

“First, very powerful monsters live there in groups. So they primarily attack anything edible that appears nearby.”

“By edible, you mean…”

“Literally edible. Many omnivores, I guess?”

It seemed they targeted people’s food supplies first to survive in the cold.

“And this is a simpler reason, but there are no crops that can be grown there. Even if they wanted to raise livestock, there’s not enough feed and it’s too cold to raise them properly. At least from the beastmen’s perspective, it’s a land that’s neither safe nor productive, so they’ve essentially abandoned it.”

And we had to venture into such a place.

I quietly asked Beatrice:

“If we go in, should we assume there’s no one else but us?”

“If we go deep enough. As I said earlier, it’s barren and dangerous, but conversely, some beastmen often hunt monsters at the entrance as a form of training.”

Beatrice said that the entrance might actually be more dangerous because of the beastmen.

“And, importantly, there are occasionally beastmen with strong exploratory spirits who venture deep inside and come back out.”

“…So there might be maps or something available.”

Beatrice nodded at Eve’s words.

“Our nun seems to be pretty good at finding her way, but we can’t rely solely on that. I think we need to get a detailed map of the snow plains’ geography, just in case.”

“…We’ll have to think about how to obtain one.”

Eve seemed to be lost in thought.

The money issue would have to be seen, but first, the question was whether such a thing existed.

“…And, according to the information sent from the Magic Tower, there’s some annoying news…”

Beatrice said quietly.

“About the lizardmen’s territory.”

“Don’t tell me.”

I had a feeling I was about to hear something I didn’t want to hear.

I strongly felt that I didn’t want to hear the rest of the story.

But Beatrice nodded apologetically and said:

“…It’s right in front of the snow plains, they say.”

“Damn it.”

I wanted to clutch my head.

It seemed like we were going to clash with those guys again.