episode_0232

Splash!

When I come to my senses, I hear the sound of waves crashing.

The pure white light that had been clouding my vision disappears, and what I see is a beach with the ocean in front and a forest behind.

“Is this Tayo Country?”

“Yes. I moved us using the spatial coordinates in my memory… It’s fortunate there was nothing nearby.”

“…What would have happened if there had been something?”

“Well, wouldn’t the moved body and the original object have collided and exploded horribly?”

…Are you sure about that?

I was dumbfounded by Tamiel’s absurd words, but I still looked around.

As I said before, this is probably a beach.

The ocean in front, the forest behind. Judging by the fact that there are no signs of people around, it seems like it’s just us.

“If we can move instantly like this, doesn’t that mean we arrived earlier than Great Sage Equal to Heaven?”

“Oh my, does that finally mean you’ll accept me as part of the group?”

“…No. Don’t bother talking to me.”

She still doesn’t seem to like Tamiel, but in any case, the fact that she can move instantly like this is quite amazing.

And Baekryeon is….

“…I feel it.”

“Sister Baekryeon? Is something wrong?”

“Um… I feel like White Tiger and mother are here. Miss Rebiya.”

“!”

Is it an intuition of a beast-person?

If Baekryeon feels that way, it’s probably certain.

I turned my gaze, which had been on Baekryeon, back to the forest.

“Something… feels different. It feels like magic power… or something similar is floating in the air. But it doesn’t feel like pure magic power.”

“Hero, what you’re feeling is probably demon power.”

“Demon power…”

“If it’s about this place, shouldn’t you, as someone from ‘Jo’, know more about it?”

Tamiel glanced at Baekryeon.

Everyone’s attention turned to Baekryeon, and Baekryeon, surprised by the attention, continued her explanation.

“I don’t know much about it either, but… Tayo Country is said to be the land of monsters, with countless monsters. Tayo Country is where the monsters fled to during the large-scale monster subjugation that took place in our country in the past.”

“Ah, I think I’ve heard something similar.”

Seollin also agreed, as if she had realized something from Baekryeon’s words.

“The monsters of Yeom Country, and the monsters of Jo. Even the native monsters of Tayo Country. Because all the monsters gathered on this island nation, I heard that this place has become a kind of inhuman hell.”

“Inhuman hell…”

Certainly, a strange magical power is felt in the air.

Tamiel explained that it is strongly permeated with something called demon power.

She said that if a living being absorbs magic power itself at too high a density, it becomes poison, and the same would be true of demon power. If so, this place is probably a place where it is difficult for even one person to live, so the word inhuman hell would be a good fit.

“Rebiya, are you okay?”

“Yes? Ah, I think I’m okay now.”

“Still, be careful just in case.”

“Yes!… I’ll be careful.”

As she said that, Rebiya created a small divine magic circle at the same time.

It seems to be a magic circle to dissolve the toxicity caused by demon power… Rebiya has really become stronger.

“Then, before we move, you said that the identity of this last fragment of the Demon King is a ‘demon woman’, right? Tamiel, tell me about her.”

“If you ask me to tell you, I have to tell you. Hmm~ Demon Woman, to talk about her, her personal abilities are on the lower side among the fragments of the Demon King. Of course, that doesn’t mean that ordinary people can handle her, but… yeah. She’s far from the level of someone like you, ‘Hero’.”

“Really?”

What.

Is the last fragment of the Demon King a complete pushover?

As I was thinking that, Tamiel chuckled and continued her explanation.

“I know exactly what you’re thinking. It’s true that her individual power is weaker than any of us, but the Wild Hunt… or what they call the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons here, is the true source of Demon Woman’s power.”

“What’s that?”

“Simply put, the power of her subordinates becomes the power of the Demon Woman.”

The power of her subordinates becomes her own power?…

I am the legion, or something like that?

“Then the reason why she kidnapped White Tiger and Vermilion Bird is…”

“Yes, you may be hot-tempered, but you have a good eye.”

“Who’s hot-tempered!…”

“Yes. The reason why Demon Woman kidnapped two of the Four Guardian Deities is probably to make them her subordinates and strengthen her own power. The more subordinates she has, and the stronger their quality, the stronger the power she gains. Since all the other fragments of the Demon King have fallen and she’s the only one left, I think she’s planning to strengthen her own power.”

Hmm…

I don’t know how much Demon Woman’s basic power is, and how much the amplification of power she gets by accepting the Four Guardian Deities is…

It sounds like there’s no point in dragging out the time?

“Okay. I’ve heard all the necessary explanations.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious? A frontal breakthrough. I’m going to subjugate the Demon Woman today.”

“Hic?!”

…Huh? Hic?

I glanced at Rebiya.

Rebiya tilted her head and looked at me.

I looked at Lucy next to her.

Lucy also shrugged her shoulders and looked at me.

Baekryeon, Seollin, and Tamiel had similar reactions.

What is it? Who made that sound?

“There’s a monster over there.”

Tamiel found a young child’s monster that even my senses couldn’t detect, hiding next to a large rock by chance.

“…I, I’m sorryyyyyyyyy!!”

And immediately, that one monster ran away, and Tamiel raised the corners of her mouth and lightly waved her finger.

Then, black chains burst out from dozens of magic circles and instantly caught the escaping monster.

* * *

“…”

A woman with flaming red hair walks down a wooden corridor with an unpleasant expression.

Around her, several heteromorphic beings were walking and following, as if guarding her, or ‘monitoring her so she wouldn’t escape’.

And at the end of the corridor, the woman and her party arrived at a room where a being who could only be seen as a shadow through a barrier was seated on a high throne.

“Welcome, Vermilion Bird.”

“Demon Woman…”

“Yes, I am Demon Woman. I apologize if our children were a little rough.”

“…Apologize?”

Flash!…

Clangclangclang!!

At that moment, red flames rippled from the woman’s body.

And the moment they sensed the flames, the beings around the woman instantly took out their respective weapons and aimed them at Vermilion Bird’s neck.

“Stop.”

“…”

However, at the words of Demon Woman, the being seated on the throne, they all put away their weapons, but Vermilion Bird’s flames did not disappear and began to burn fiercely.

“Hahaha, you’re full of energy.”

“Do you know what the hell you’ve done and you’re still laughing like that?”

“Hmm… Ah, are you talking about the subordinate who put a curse on one of the children of Yeom Country? I told you, didn’t I? If you had followed quietly, that child would have been fine.”

Vermilion Bird was about to burn everything around her with flames because of Demon Woman’s confident attitude, but,

“If you don’t put out those flames, I don’t know what will happen to the child’s curse. Vermilion Bird.”

“!!”

At Demon Woman’s one word, Vermilion Bird’s flames gradually subsided.

And what remained was humiliation and anger.

“Hahaha. Yes, yes. If you become my ‘subordinate’, I’ll guarantee that child’s life, so don’t worry.”

“I didn’t say I’d help you.”

“Yes, it’s okay. Either way, it’s you, not me, who’s running out of time. Vermilion Bird.”

“…”

Unable to even retort, Vermilion Bird had no choice but to suppress her overflowing anger.

And as if mocking such a figure of Vermilion Bird, Demon Woman chuckled and said.

“White Tiger is here too, so go meet her. She’s quite docile.”

“What?… White Tiger is here too?!”

“Yes. Is that all? Already ‘two’ of the Four Guardian Deities have decided to become my subordinates.”

“!!”

At Demon Woman’s words, Vermilion Bird’s eyes widened.

There are a total of four Four Guardian Deities.

Herself and White Tiger, Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise.

But none of those three have the personality to cooperate with the Demon Woman. Even so, ‘two’ have become subordinates?…

“Where are you lying!!…”

“Whether it’s a lie or not, you’ll find out when you become my subordinate. Children. Take Vermilion Bird to White Tiger.”

“I understand.”

* * *

“Huh? You’ve come?”

“…”

Vermilion Bird was sent to the place where White Tiger was, guided by them, but what she found there was a white cat lying on the floor eating snacks. Vermilion Bird’s anger, which she had suppressed for a while, exploded in an instant at White Tiger’s nonchalant appearance.

“White Tiger!!!”

“W, what’s wrong!?…”

“What’s with you being so nonchalant!! You’re just eating snacks!!”

“Huh?…”

At Vermilion Bird’s words, White Tiger tilted her head and looked at Vermilion Bird, as if asking what the problem was.

Then, as if she had realized something, she nodded and said.

“Well… I’ve been kidnapped for a long time before… so this is rather mild.”

“What… what the hell happened while I was sealed underground…”

A Four Guardian Deity is kidnapped.

She has no idea what happened while she was trapped in the Yeom Prison.

Of course, White Tiger also couldn’t nonchalantly talk about how her entire family, including her own child, was massacred, and she was captured to protect her only daughter, and was subjected to all kinds of sexual humiliation and brainwashing, so she just laughed and looked at Vermilion Bird.

“Haa… White Tiger, have you heard?”

“Are you talking about the story that two of the Four Guardian Deities have already become subordinates?”

“Yes, that. Don’t tell me one of them is you?”

“How could that be?”

It’s not White Tiger.

It’s not herself either.

Then what’s left is Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise…

“Azure Dragon is only interested in sleep, and Black Tortoise never interferes in human affairs, so such a person has become a subordinate of the Demon Woman?…”

“I don’t know the details either. I tried to find out, but the surveillance is so tight that I couldn’t easily gather information.”

“…Come to think of it, weren’t you acting with that hero guy? Why were you captured?”

“I had something I needed to do separately, and I was attacked just as I was about to carry it out and rejoin.”

Vermilion Bird was angry at White Tiger’s really nonchalant attitude.

“You!…”

“It’s okay.”

Just as Vermilion Bird was about to open her mouth to argue about that, White Tiger slowly got up and said.

“As long as the Demon Woman is here, Leon will definitely come here. So I just have to wait for him.”