Free Web NovelThe prophecy Priest Timorang had left behind before she lost consciousness.
“At night, the city will be covered in gray, and gray monsters will try to devour the demons!”
“The city will burn, and the demons’ screams will cover heaven and earth—!”
“A red-haired man will climb the bell tower, but that bell tower will be destroyed by the blue dragon!”
“The g-gray rain will not fall, and morning will come. The city will be covered in gray ash—”
Its contents were swiftly relayed to the leaders staying in the cities of Midi and Mika.
“.......”
Strategist Ed of the Demon King. The instant he saw the note he had received from his subordinate, his complexion turned white. For a moment, his head spun.
But his expression soon settled.
Click.
When he opened the door again and stepped inside, his face was the same as usual.
“Did something happen?”
At the third Emperor, Dragon King’s words, spoken with a sly grin, the strategist answered as if nothing were wrong.
“I was told the priest guarding the ancient site collapsed.”
That was the truth.
He could not tell a clumsy lie.
“Hmph.”
The third Emperor snorted and turned his head away from the strategist. He looked bored.
“.......”
Then, seeing the Demon King’s eyes quietly fixed on him, he clicked his tongue.
“Tsk.”
Soon, he rose from his seat.
“In consideration of our cooperative relationship, I will leave this place.”
The negotiations had already ended.
There was nothing to drag out at length.
“With the Order of the God of Chaos having betrayed us, shouldn’t the two of us at least stand together?”
Grin.
The corners of his mouth lifted as he added,
“So keep your word about cooperating in the matter of finding Cale Henituse and the Wanderer I mentioned.”
“I shall.”
The Demon King spoke leisurely while leaning back in his chair.
“So long as our cooperative relationship remains, we will not be the first to betray it.”
Words from the ruler of a world naturally carried weight.
Only then did the third Emperor smile in satisfaction and rise without lingering.
“Then I will take one look around the south, the only area I have yet to inspect, and leave the Demon World.”
He added,
“Of course, I will not attack any demons.”
The third Emperor led his subordinates toward the door.
Strategist Ed saw that and gave a look, and the Demon King’s First Army followed behind the third Emperor and his subordinates.
They would confirm that they departed properly.
Click.
When the door closed and only the Demon King and the strategist remained—
The Demon King opened his mouth.
“A Transcendent, is it—”
There was information Cale Henituse had passed to him.
The first Emperor seeks to become a Transcendent.
The Demon King had not heard anything of that sort from the Wanderers.
In other words—
“How can one cooperate in a relationship that began with deception from the very start?”
The Wanderers had already begun by betraying them.
The Order of the God of Chaos had betrayed them as well.
There was no cooperation left that could be trusted now.
“What happened?”
The Demon King opened his mouth, and Strategist Ed urgently conveyed the priest’s prophecy.
“There are two things.”
After hearing everything, the Demon King continued in a bored voice.
It was full of ennui and tedium.
“First. Mika and Midi. Somewhere in those two cities, an infected person is hiding, or there are people hiding infected persons.”
They would riot at night, and the city would be covered in fear and chaos.
“Second. The third Emperor has not left.”
The prophecy said the blue dragon would attack Cale.
That meant the third Emperor had gone back on the Demon King’s words.
“So what did Cale Henituse want?”
The strategist answered at once.
“He says he wants unconditional cooperation until the sun rises tomorrow morning.”
“Have the Demon King’s army and the Demon King’s castle officials staying in the cities of Midi and Mika follow Cale Henituse’s orders.”
“...Yes.”
“Strategist, you will assist him.”
“Understood.”
Creak.
The Demon King rose from his seat.
“Anything else?”
The strategist squeezed his eyes shut.
It was difficult to bring up what had been written in the note.
But he had to say it.
This time, no matter how he looked at it, Cale Henituse’s judgment was correct.
“He asked Your Majesty to monitor the third Emperor.”
Ha, ha—
Laughter flowed from the Demon King’s mouth.
He wanted him to secretly follow and monitor the third Emperor?
Well, it was true that the only one here capable of secretly monitoring the third Emperor was him.
The third Emperor. Cale wanted the Demon King’s side to control that powerful man, the one Cale himself could not handle.
“So he wants me to take responsibility for the third Emperor.”
And when the third Emperor ran wild, the only being who could restrain him would be the Demon King.
“Tell him I will do it.”
The Demon King accepted it as though it were nothing.
“The surveillance of the third Emperor should be done secretly, I assume?”
“Yes. He wants no sign of it shown.”
It would be troublesome if the third Emperor, Dragon King, noticed that something was off.
The third Emperor had to lose interest in this city without knowing anything.
The strategist bit his lip as he saw faint interest dwelling in the Demon King’s eyes, unlike his bored face.
But the Demon King’s gaze had already reached the third Emperor, who was leaving Mika’s lord’s castle and heading out of the city.
Soon, the Demon King’s figure vanished.
But in that instant—
Because the Demon King was following behind the third Emperor, he missed the third Emperor’s expression.
Grin.
A smile bloomed around the third Emperor’s mouth.
“How interesting.”
Siz, commander of the First Army royal guard, who was following close behind, reacted to his words, but neither the third Emperor nor his subordinates paid it any mind.
The third Emperor simply let out a low laugh as he left the city of Mika with his subordinates, unaware that the Demon King was following him.
However, he thought,
It seems something is happening here.
The third Emperor was quicker-witted and better at reading the situation around him than his outward appearance suggested.
He trusted his own judgment quite a bit. Because of that, he sometimes made mistakes and ended up in situations like letting Cale Henituse slip away, but still.
The Demon King came to the city personally.
This was not simply because of the Order of the God of Chaos’s gray sickness.
Having reached that conclusion, the third Emperor, Dragon King, stroked his long beard and smiled even more deeply.
His subordinates followed behind him.
As always, they were those who supported the third Emperor.
The subordinates who had been with him since the ancient site.
However, two people were missing.
People who had not been with him from the moment he came to the ancient site.
“Sis.”
“What?”
“Doesn’t that bastard the third Emperor seem to think we’re completely his slaves?”
“.......”
The Wanderer siblings, Cho and Ryeon.
The two Wanderers had gone near the eastern part of the Demon World according to the third Emperor’s order to search for Choi Jung Gun, then belatedly entered the vicinity of the city of Midi.
“No, I mean it. Isn’t that right? He goes sightseeing at the ancient site with all his subordinates, and now he tells us to sneak into the city of Midi and watch what’s going on?”
“...He must have a purpose.”
“Ugh.”
The younger brother, Cho, sighed and vented his irritation. However, Ryeon considered this situation fortunate.
It is not good to be by the third Emperor’s side.
It was better to move separately according to his orders instead.
Ryeon took her younger brother Cho and secretly infiltrated the city of Midi.
There were no guards skilled enough to notice them, so they were able to seep into the city of Midi far too easily.
The order left to them was simple.
<Examine Midi and Mika, and report if anything seems strange.>
A note sent secretly by carrier pigeon through one of the third Emperor’s subordinates before negotiations with the Demon King began was in Ryeon’s hand.
And the third Emperor, leaving the city of Mika.
Drop.
A few drops of water fell from his fingertips.
Secret drops of water that no one noticed.
Those droplets smelled salty.
Drops of water carrying the sea seeped into the ground of the city of Mika.
The droplets moved toward the place where the largest number of people were gathered.
The Mika city barracks, where the territorial forces and the Demon King’s army were gathering. The droplets moved there.
Ssssss—
At that time, even though the priest had yet to regain consciousness—
Ssss—
The leaves of the vines growing on the four wooden towers guarding the ancient site of the demon god trembled.
As if they had sensed something wrong seeping into the ground.
*****
And Cale, in a room located at the highest point of Midi’s lord’s castle, looked out the window and asked the person who had stepped inside.
“Did the Demon King follow him?”
“Yes.”
The strategist briefly furrowed his brow at the sight of Cale referring to the Demon King so casually, but he continued speaking calmly.
Today, he had to follow Cale’s orders.
“The third Emperor and his subordinates left the city of Mika and moved south. Judging by their speed, we believe they will be outside the area of influence by tonight.”
“...Strategist.”
Cale asked quietly,
“Were only those subordinates by the third Emperor’s side?”
“Yes, that is—”
The strategist, who had been answering Cale’s words comfortably, had a peculiar light pass through his eyes. That soon turned into alarm.
Cale asked again.
“The Wanderers Cho and Ryeon. You do know those two, correct?”
There was no way the Demon King’s castle strategist would not know of the strong members of the Five Colored Blood family.
The strategist began speaking quickly, though still in a calm tone.
“We determined that they went east, and we confirmed their location up until the day before yesterday.”
“And their current location?”
“...We do not know.”
Because of the gray sickness, things had been too chaotic for them to properly confirm the pair’s location.
As the strategist, it had been difficult to connect this incident to the Wanderer siblings as well.
But now that he had heard the prophecy—
“We cannot miss a single variable.”
Cale commanded the strategist.
“Find the siblings’ location. And prepare for the possibility that they have entered this city.”
“Yes.”
Cale had already taken into account the possibility that they had come here.
That was why—
“Choi Han. Eruhaben.”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
“Yes. We will handle it.”
He entrusted the search to Choi Han and Eruhaben, who had faced the Wanderer siblings before.
“Please search as thoroughly as possible before night falls.”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
“Very well.”
If it was them, they would notice the Wanderer siblings or any other intruder.
“Have the guards of both cities and the Demon King’s army search units follow these two people’s orders.”
“Yes.”
Cale looked down out the window.
At the still-bright sunlight pouring down from the blue sky.
At the city of Midi beneath it, and the faraway city of Mika with the ancient site between them.
He ordered the strategist,
“You must not investigate noisily.”
The Wanderers might be in this city.
“However, that does not mean you need to be too cautious.”
More than anything, handling this before night fell was the greater priority.
“Leave behind the minimum necessary to search for the third Emperor’s strings, the Wanderers. Use every other soldier and official to examine every corner of the cities. You may involve the citizens as well.”
“.......”
The strategist’s expression was not good.
Seeing that, Cale spoke in an indifferent tone.
“I heard the cities of Midi and Mika supported the previous Demon King in the past.”
“.......”
In truth, Cale had found it strange.
The Demon King was someone who would become a demon god.
Yet the priest had seen that Demon King and had not even greeted him.
That had been quite strange.
But now, he understood the situation.
There was a reason the priest would not allow the current Demon King to visit the ancient site and had not even greeted him.
The lords of the cities of Midi and Mika had supported the previous Demon King.
The current Demon King’s forces, who killed those two, had killed quite a number of demons in these two cities.
Of course, they were soldiers, not ordinary demons. Even so, the traces remained quite heavily in these two cities.
These two cities did not welcome the Demon King.
No, rather, they did not trust him.
Cale had been able to hear this through information from Aurora, the mediator, who had contacted him belatedly.
Now I understand why that prophecy came out.
He had thought the Demon King’s castle officials had quickly taken control of the situation, but that was not the case.
Since coming here, he had not seen the lord.
Two cities without even lords, with only officials dispatched from the Demon King’s castle present.
These two cities were clear examples of why Count Lupe’s territory had opposed the Demon King’s castle officials becoming its lords.
Of course, these two cities were currently being run with considerable care from the Demon King’s castle side, and much effort was being put into governance and welfare.
But their antipathy is strong.
Two cities full of resentment toward the current Demon King, resentment they could not reveal on the surface.
There were not many residents here who would sincerely follow officials from the Demon King’s castle.
This, too, was surely the result of what the current Demon King had done.
The current Demon King had created far too much bloodshed and too many enemies in order to sit in that seat. Even after sitting there, he had accumulated much karma.
However—
“Strategist.”
Cale had to do what he had to do.
Coldly speaking, the rest was not something he needed to concern himself with.
Focused on the task before him, Cale was firm.
“What must be done must be done properly.”
“Yes.”
The strategist’s answer, too, was firm. Apart from the various circumstances, what had to be done had to be accomplished.
“Search every place as quickly as possible.”
“Yes.”
They had to find the infected or suspected infected.
“There may be more than one or two of them.”
The city being covered in gray monsters at night?
That was impossible with only one or two people.
What was going to happen?
He did not know.
However, something was clearly going to happen.
“Ron. Clopeh.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“.......”
Ron, wearing a benevolent smile, and Clopeh Sekka, whose eyes were not merely shining but blazing.
Clopeh Sekka, that bastard, still had not even fully recovered. Why were his eyes so alive?
Cale turned his gaze away from the two people who were burdensome in all sorts of ways and said,
“You two handle the search.”
The Heavenly Demon had not arrived yet, and Choi Jung Soo, Sui Khan, and Beacrox were absent as well.
Cale assigned tasks to the companions who had come with him, and they moved quickly.
Everyone understood how urgent this situation was.
“.......”
“.......”
“.......”
And Cale confirmed the three pairs of eyes looking up at him intently.
On, Hong, and Raon.
The average ten-year-olds were staring at him.
Cale spoke firmly.
“You’re moving with me.”
Meooow!
Meow!
“Just trust us, human!”
The average ten-year-olds shouted with great gravity.
Cale looked at them with a dubious expression, then turned his gaze toward the tallest tower in the city of Midi.
The bell tower.
He was told there was an identical bell tower in the city of Mika.
The two were called the twin bell towers.
According to the prophecy, Cale would have to climb one of those twin bell towers.
Where would the bomb explode?
Mika?
Midi?
Cale had no way of knowing.
*****
Midi and Mika.
The ancient site stood at their center.
Because this was the only ancient site connected to the demon god, many demons came here as tourists.
For that reason, the inn business was highly developed in the cities of Midi and Mika.
“Hahh. Hahh.”
A long-term guest.
An old man who had decided to spend a week here in order to see the ancient site of the demon god and honor the demon god there.
He was lying unconscious on his bed, breathing raggedly.
Having come here alone as a tourist, he saw the battle that had broken out at the ancient site of the demon god and rushed back to his inn room in a panic.
The sight of the young demon’s body bursting apart.
To forget that, he had to shut himself inside his inn room and calm his mind.
“Hahh. Hahh.”
Because of that, he had not met the demon officials searching for those who had been at the scene of the incident.
Even the innkeeper did not know that this old man had gone there.
And this morning—
The old man saw the tips of his feet turning gray and lost consciousness.
The last thing to cover him was despair, endless despair.
“Hahh. Hahh.”
His body was gradually rotting gray.
The old man, who had lost his entire family and visited the ancient site of the demon god to comfort his heart, had no one looking for him.
“Hahh, hahh—”
The infection had begun in the body of a suspected infected person.
Its speed was unusually fast.
In the morning, it had been the tips of his feet, but now it had covered his body and passed his chest.
Before the sun set, his entire body might be covered in gray.
“Hahh. Hahh.”
A large five-story inn.
The corner room at the very end of one floor of that inn.
There, the old man lay asleep.
No one knew what form he would wake in when night came.
“Ah, ah—”
And one other person.
He looked at his sleeping wife and child, then left the room.
The living room of a house with its windows tightly shut, without a single ray of light entering.
“...Damn it!”
He grabbed his own hair with both hands.
His wife and child had said they were going to see the ancient site.
The two of them had collapsed in a horrifying state.
“Son of a bitch!”
And every night, they got up and shrieked.
He had tied their bodies tightly and stopped those seizures, but he had no idea how much longer they could hold out.
Should I go to the lord’s castle?
Should he go to the lord’s castle even now and tell them?
That his wife and child seemed to have been infected by the disease.
“No.”
He could not.
What sort of bastard was the Demon King right now?
Was he not the cruel bastard who had burned down their entire hometown just because it was the hometown where an important subordinate of the previous Demon King lived?
He had heard that infected and suspected infected were being secretly taken somewhere.
“...No!”
If they were dragged there—
“No!”
I don’t know what will happen to my wife and child!
We barely escaped our hometown alive and settled here!
Honey. You must not trust the bastards from the Demon King’s castle!
The man thought the exact same thing as the last words his wife had uttered as she collapsed.
He could not trust the bastards from the Demon King’s castle.
“Sob!”
The man sank down in the living room and shed tears.
The gray had reached his wife’s neck.
And his child—
His precious child had gray spreading past the neck and up to the chin.
What do I do?
Curled up in the darkness, the man thought and thought again about what he should do.
The cities of Midi and Mika.
It was still afternoon, with the sun shining brightly. But in places here and there, people were turning gray in the darkness.
“Sob, sob—”
The man was crying.
Knock, knock, knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
The man flinched in surprise, but as the knocking continued, he opened the door and saw a priest.
A man wearing a loose gray priest’s robe.
White hair and green eyes.
The man with an elegant smile hanging at his lips opened his mouth.
“Is there anyone here in need of purification?”
It was Clopeh Sekka, who had set out on the search.
And—
“This inn is quite large.”
Ron Molan, who ran an inn that loved hope and adventure.
He spoke as he entered the inn.
“Which guest room has had its door closed for several days?”
He too had set out on the search.
But they were far too short on time, and far too short on people.
“.......”
“.......”
“.......”
Avoiding others’ gazes, unable to trust the Demon King’s castle, the breathing of those stained gray was growing rougher and rougher.
