episode_0098

Dolls made by processing humans.

After realizing that fact, I couldn’t look at the dolls the way I used to.

Even dolls that have been in operation for a long time are said to have a sense of self, so how is that any different from humans?

Although it may have been a little different, the example was right next to him. Hyunho turned his head and looked at the automaton.

[Huh? Why, is it time to start charging?]

“…No.”

She was originally not human, but she has become an intelligent being, so shouldn’t the dolls that have found their selves be treated like people?

Thinking about it that way, I sometimes felt regretful about my actions.

The dolls that were captured and manipulated in this laboratory. One of the dolls seemed to be alive.

Why didn’t I notice it and why didn’t I save it?

Now that the entire lab has been destroyed, his whereabouts are unknown. I hope he managed to escape.

After closing my eyes for a moment to express my condolences, I opened my mouth.

“You see. The reason you can’t receive magical power is because you’re not one of the Four Heavenly Kings, right?”

[That’s right. If the Demon King changes, the Four Heavenly Kings will change as well. Of course, it could go the same way, but that wasn’t the case for me.]

As an automaton, she was in danger of dying one day because she could not receive magical power. It was a dangerous situation in its own way, as other life forms around her were extinct.

Anyway, the important thing is that she is no longer one of the Four Heavenly Kings. That raises a question.

‘Then who will take that place?’

The Four Heavenly Kings must always exist. That’s what I heard from Esther. The emperor who hid himself in the magic sword has now become the Demon King, so the Four Heavenly Kings must have been newly appointed.

Bartholin is now inside my body, the place the demon sword used to occupy is empty, and I am not an automaton…

“Then is Helia still one of the Four Heavenly Kings? She has been there since ancient times.”

[Well, not 100%… but not anymore. It might interfere with your plans.]

I guess so. I don’t know what Karl is thinking, but from his actions now, it seems like he wants to destroy everything without leaving anything behind.

Even if that weren’t the case, there’s no reason to leave Helia, who isn’t sure about her own side, as one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

So what happened to the underground city?

The city was maintained thanks to Helia, but she also used the surplus magic she had been receiving to spew out flames.

Will the city, which relies too much on Helia alone, be able to survive even if she steps down from her position as the Four Heavenly Kings?

There was no reason for Karl to maintain the underground city, unless it was still supplying magic power. Rather, it would be more likely that he would collect magic stones from the corpses that died when it was destroyed.

Considering that the power he was handling was the same as Karl’s, it was obvious that the city would feel like a storage of energy to him.

The number of demons living there is uncountable. And the number of dolls must be twice that number.

‘If I don’t go, we’ll all die.’

I came to Yokai Mountain to seek help. But can the dolls help me?

Have the dolls that were once human regained their selves? And even if they have, how many of them will there be?

If the order to capture the past self were to be maintained, it was obvious that it would rather turn against him.

Also, even if they were to become allies, how much help would they be if they were trapped in a body other than their own? They wouldn’t be able to use their full strength.

When I thought about it that far, I made up my mind.

“So I have to go.”

– Where? Where?

Naturally, Bartholin did not understand my decision.

– Of course! What on earth is the reason you said I should go…

Certainly, rescuing the dolls and demons in the underground city may not be of any help to me. No, it would only be a loss.

But, you know, it’s probably the same for everyone else. No one would go to help abandoned dolls in such an isolated place.

“So if it’s not me, then there’s no one else who can go. Right?”

I’m not going because I need help. I’m not going because I asked for help. I’m just going because it looks like I need help.

“It seems a bit like a fool…”

Hyunho also knew that the behavior was strange, so he mumbled the rest of the story.

– Oh really… Sigh. Well, that’s just how you were originally.

[I’m a bit hesitant to say this. Because I’m the one who received help.]

The two of them didn’t agree, but in the end, they accepted my decision. As always, it was a regrettable choice for Bartholin. He was suffering more because of me.

– Okay. So do you have a plan? There will definitely be enemies on all sides, so if you just go there, you won’t have a chance of winning.

She’s right. If I were to fight Helia again alone, I could definitely win this time. But fighting the entire underground city would be a stretch.

There’s no way I’d be able to fight him in a one-on-one fight. But I didn’t say it without thinking.

“If my guess is correct, the underground must be in chaos by now.”

Their king is dead, if only in name, and security cannot be as tight as before.

“Attacking from the front or disguising yourself probably won’t work.”

Helia’s ability to illuminate the city is based on her racial characteristics. And the reason it covers the entire city is because of the constantly distributed magic and crystals scattered throughout.

“I’ll destroy the crystal, plunge the city into darkness, and negotiate with Helia.”

The goal is the city lights. And Helia.

Now that the Demon King is gone, it doesn’t matter if she’s called the King of the Underground City, so the plan is to persuade her to take the city’s people above ground.

“I know her personality a little bit because we met before. I don’t think she can be persuaded by words.”

So, you beat them up and convince them.

One is the Four Heavenly Kings, the other is a warrior.

If you convince them that these two should go up at the same time, who among humans and demons would not listen?

[It’s not an impossible plan.]

The automaton that had been listening from the side opened its mouth.

[But you can’t see ahead, so how do you plan on getting to Helia? And the others too.]

There may not be a single ray of light coming in. Even if I can perceive the surroundings through my senses, the people I need to send up to the ground are not like that.

A situation where you have to turn off the lights to win, and turn them on to escape.

“That’s right. Everyone will be confused.”

Hyunho nodded to the automaton’s words. It was a task that required everyone to move. It was not something that could be accomplished by me alone.

I don’t have the time or ability to grab each and every one of them and move them.

Hyunho raised his head and looked at the sky. He saw an almost full moon.

***

At that time, the underground city was truly in chaos, just as Hyunho had said.

But it wasn’t simply because the Demon King was dead. There were also many demons in this underground city who were not loyal to the Demon King.

What now gripped the city was a more primal fear.

In the midst of all this chaos, Lin, a demon who had just become an adult, and her female doll, Leon, were holding hands and running down the city streets.

“Ugh… What the heck is going on.”

As the two ran, they saw a demon sitting on the street with an anxious expression.

The demon who had collapsed on the street was holding his stomach and groaning softly. When Leon saw this, he grabbed Lin’s arm and pulled her into his arms.

“Lin, come here.”

Lin was dragged obediently into Leon’s arms, and it soon became clear that her choice was the right one.

puck!

“Huh?!”

The pattern carved into the lower abdomen of the Demon who was sitting down began to glow, and the Demon’s entire body burst open and turned into blood.

This was the true nature of the fear that ruled the city. The deaths of unknown origin that were rising up everywhere in the city.

And, contagion.

Blood spurted everywhere, transforming everything it collided with. If it was from the same tribe, it was transformed into the same form.

The fact that Lin survived without getting hit even once during the process was entirely thanks to Leon’s skills.

“Oh my god, what was that just now?”

“I don’t know either. My body can’t move on its own…”

If there was an Imperial Knight here, he would have known about this technique. It was one of the Imperial martial arts that blocked projectiles by winding the space in front of him.

It was definitely not a skill that a doll of the Demon Tribe would possess, but Lin expressed her admiration with sparkling eyes.

“Awesome! Is this also the sudden emergence technique that Leon talks about?”

“Yeah, well… I guess so.”

Leon didn’t know what was happening to him either. He just thought it was fortunate that he was able to protect Rin.

Cheee…

Even if the blue blood touched an object, some parts would corrode and some would melt. If Leon had directly touched his face or body, something terrible would have happened.

The blood that had splattered everywhere formed into a single stream and began to head somewhere. I didn’t know where that was, but one thing was certain. It was heading upward.

“What on earth is happening on Earth?”

They thought that maybe they should escape lower, rather than to the ground.

What was certain was that he had to move somewhere. If a nearby demon were to burst and turn into blood, the surrounding area would be turned into a wasteland, so he had to move to a place where there were as few other demons as possible.

But they soon had no choice but to stop.

“Leon, I think we’re trapped.”

All I see around me is a torrent of blood gushing into the sky.

The crystal in the sky had darkened as it gently shared its light. The flame seemed as if it would go out at any moment. What happened to Helia?

And even that softness was being consumed by the bloody threads that were plentiful in the sky.

The city was too narrow to avoid all the blood flowing out into the sky, swaying back and forth.

Leon’s right hand, which had been used to stop the blood flow for Rin, was rotting and rotten where it had touched. Even with just a light touch, it looked like this.

I could tell instinctively that if I touched this vein, my whole body would explode like that demon from before.

“Lin, stay in my arms. You never know.”

“Leon…”

A moment when you are completely surrounded and only wait for death.

At that moment, the heavens opened up.

When it was realized that the artificial light of the underground city could never match that of nature, the angel who came down from the open sky opened his mouth.

“I’m glad I came.”