Chapter 167

“Are you familiar with Equos, the God of Balance and Justice, and Morta, the God of Death?”

“I know them well.”

“Angels have descended upon the temples of those very gods.”

“Huh? Angels?”

What kind of completely out-of-left-field development was this supposed to be?

“Explain it to me in a bit more detail.”

To sum up the story, it went like this.

Up until just a few days ago, the false god faction(?)—meaning the churches of Equos and Morta—had been claiming that the Demon King was dead, while the True God faction—including the Lumina Church and the remaining denominations—asserted through their own oracles that the Demon King was very much alive and well. Because of this, the Western Continent had been thrown into massive chaos and division over this unprecedented clash between the gods.

Normally, since the Raids had ceased and close to thirty thousand people suspected of being doppelgangers had suddenly vanished, the oracle of Equos and Morta should have gained massive traction. However, the True God faction had been suppressing that narrative through sheer numbers, resulting in a public opinion split half-and-half between ‘let us go verify this immediately’ versus ‘this is blasphemy, get lost’…

“But out of nowhere, three days ago, angels descended upon the temples of Equos and Morta. Every single major temple without exception. They illuminated the night sky with a blinding radiance so that everyone on the continent could witness it. And the number of angels that came down is easily over thirty.”

Dumbfounded, I sat in silence for a moment before managing to force my mouth open.

“Don’t tell me those angels are still there?”

“Indeed they are. Right there for everyone to see. During the day, they sit upon the temple roofs chatting with the pilgrims who come to visit, and at night, they scatter the light of their sun-like halos while chanting the oracle of Equos and Morta. They sing that the Demon King is dead and that the monsters guarding the Demon Territory have vanished. They claim now is the time to take action for the sake of the future.”

Shia, who had been dozing off on my lap, narrowed her eyes with sudden interest, as if she had finally heard something intriguing.

“Things must be a total mess over there.”

“Exactly. Thanks to that, public opinion—which was previously split half-and-half—overturned in an instant. With real angels descending to sing about the absence of the Demon King, not only the regular followers of other denominations but even their priests are being swayed by those words. There are even rumors spreading that only the oracle of Equos and Morta is the truth, while the other oracles are merely false fabrications born from Outer Gods and devils mocking the Popes, Saints, and Holy Saintesses.”

“Then the airships from today must be…”

“The result of a coalition formed by a few desperate kingdoms. After all, if the Demon King and the monsters are truly gone, they can secure fertile lands along with countless artifacts and treasures from the ancient Kingdom of Bordeaux simply by planting their flags on the ground.”

I glanced back at Disis and questioned her.

“Did you guys really live well enough to warrant that kind of talk?”

“Well… at least after I became king, we lived exceptionally well. Due to the nature of being an island nation, we didn’t have any notable enemies, so we could pour all of our national strength strictly into domestic development.”

“On top of that, the land was fertile, the climate was mild, and resources were abundant… it might have been called a kingdom, but in terms of sheer wealth, we were probably more prosperous than two or three empires combined.”

“Of course, it’s not like there weren’t idiots eyeing our kingdom… but I was able to handle that part on my own. I subtly assassinated enemy kings using doppelgangers, and I would personally step out to capsize any ships trying to cross over… well, that’s how it was.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

“Yes. Most of all, the imperial palace where I resided was highly famous back then as the Golden Palace.”

“The Golden Palace?”

“Yes. About half of the palace walls were plated with actual gold.”

“…That’s insane.”

“Well, we had so much money and nowhere to spend it… so we tried this and that… those records must still remain among those people.”

Disis hummed with a smug laugh, wearing an arrogant look that practically screamed, ‘Look how amazing I am.’

Watching her act that way, Shia let out a mocking sneer.

“And now, all of that belongs to me.”

Disis’s smirk instantly froze solid.

“…And why exactly would that belong to you?”

“Doesn’t all of that belong to Sword God now? And I am Sword God’s companion.”

“……!”

“In the end, what belongs to Sword God is mine, and what belongs to me is Sword God’s. Therefore, that Golden Palace you’re bragging about also belongs to me. Is that not a thoroughly flawless line of logic?”

“…I really should have met him first on that day.”

“The most pathetic losers in the world are the ones who deny reality while crying about ‘if only I had done this’ or ‘if only that had happened.’”

“…Should I kill her?”

“Give it a shot.”

I let out a low click of my tongue as I watched the two of them, who had been constantly snapping at each other ever since they first met.

Of course, I hadn’t expected them to get along even a single bit… but this was turning out to be far more tedious than I had anticipated.

“Good grief. Bringing the two of you along was my mistake. Forget it, Leo. Keep going.”

“…The even greater problem is that the prominent empires and kingdoms of the continent are shifting all of their military forces toward the borders.”

Shia nodded her head.

“…They are making movements under the assumption that the Oath of Hope is about to break.”

For context, the ‘Oath of Hope’ was a continent-wide treaty encompassing the entirety of the Western Continent, stating that no nation should invade another without a clear, definitive justification as long as the Demon King existed.

A similar agreement called ‘The Crimson Concord’ existed on the Northern Continent.

“Indeed. The moment the absence of the Demon King is confirmed, the oath will lose its binding power. Therefore, whether their goal is invasion or defense, they have no choice but to naturally mobilize their armies to the borders. Miss Kelly and Miss Ailet are thoroughly convinced that at this rate, the entire continent will inevitably be consumed by the flames of war.”

“We managed to hold them off without much difficulty today, but this will absolutely not be the end of it. There are plenty of nations eager to unleash old, deep-seated grudges that had been suppressed by the oath… and they want to confirm the absence of the Demon King by any means necessary.”

And Leo’s words quickly became reality. Starting from the very next day, warships and airships began to pour in almost every other day.

Of course, that didn’t mean it turned into a massive crisis for us. Most of them were easily taken care of by the three baldies alone. No matter how ridiculous they looked right now, they were still dragons by title. And ones who had climbed to the Equilibrium Heaven rank, at that.

Huh? Warships? Those didn’t even require the baldies to lift a finger.

Back when Disis fought against me, the marine monsters couldn’t execute her self-destruction(?) command because they lacked feet. Which meant…

‘Unlike the monsters inside the Demon Territory, they are still swarming alive and well in the waters surrounding it.’

How on earth was anyone supposed to break through that using mere wooden ships?

And just like that, the tenth day arrived.

Prying away Shia, who was clinging tightly to my chest while sleeping soundly, I set her aside and turned to look at Hest, who was holding out a basin of washing water for me.

“Yawn… How many do we have today?”

Hest adjusted her blonde hair and her maid outfit once, before replying politely.

“According to Red’s report, there are about four hundred ships, for starters.”

“Seriously, what on earth are those people sailing ships in here thinking? Every single one of them gets sunk the moment they arrive…”

“They are likely small, minor nations that can’t afford to operate airships. Wouldn’t they need to push in with ships like that just to be able to claim even a small piece of the pie for themselves later?”

I shook my head from side to side at her words.

“Disis told me that ordering the monsters to save human lives is a hundred times harder than destroying the ships. She said the creatures just can’t seem to grasp the concept of ‘saving’ someone.”

Hest let out a soft chuckle, her blonde hair swaying with the movement.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Oh, it’s nothing… it’s just that hearing you refer to the South Demon King as if she were a girl from next door still feels a bit surreal. It reminds me once again that I am serving a truly incredible individual.”

“Well, it’s a fact that I’m incredible.”

“It’s also a fact that you’re incredibly cocky.”

“My, you’ve gotten quite comfortable with me, haven’t you?”

“Wouldn’t that be a given since I’ve been serving by your side for over ten days now?”

Just as I was about to fire back another retort, Shia—who had been groping around the bed looking for me before letting out a small groan and rolling onto the floor—clutched at my leg and mumbled groggily.

“I’m incredible too… mmm…”

“Yes, yes. You are incredible too, Miss Shia.”

“That’s right… mm… because I am the Noorth Demoon Kiing… Akathastasiaaa…”

Finding the sight adorable, Hest let out another laugh as she handed me a towel and asked, “I’ve always been curious… who exactly is Miss Shia?”

“Huh?”

“I know the true identities of everyone else… but Miss Shia is the only one whose background remains a total mystery. Seeing how she speaks down to even that terrifying South Demon King without showing a shred of intimidation, it’s obvious she must come from a highly noble lineage.”

“She just told you with her own mouth. She’s the North Demon King, Akathastasia.”

“Oh, please. That’s just a joke Miss Shia repeats out of habit.”

I couldn’t help but burst into a hearty laugh.

Getting treated like I was joking even when telling the absolute truth was a situation both Shia and I were already well accustomed to. Well, technically, it was a prank we pulled precisely because we wanted this exact reaction.

“Well, let’s keep that a secret for now. More importantly, what about the airships?”

“I heard there are about a hundred and fifty of them. A short while ago, Red, Blue, and Black set out to handle them.”

“Phew. Keeping them alive was definitely the right call. If I hadn’t, I would have had to deal with all of those myself.”

“I completely agree.”

“By the way… I heard airships are incredibly expensive… yet they keep pouring them in like this. Haven’t we blown up close to a thousand of them over the past few days?”

“That’s because the entire Western Continent is mobilizing. Unlike in the past, we live in an era where airships are mass-produced in factories. Taking the entire continent into account, wouldn’t at least two hundred ships be rolling off the lines every day?”

“Hmm…”

Shia, who had finally woken up by then, chimed in as well.

“If you want to reduce the scale of their forces, you need to start killing the people too. Since the humans manage to return safely every time, they just replenish the airships and keep coming right back inside.”

“Well, I mean… if they turn into a real threat, I’ll consider it, but that hasn’t been the case so far, right?”

“Well, you are the leader and the king, so do as you please. Those beneath you will simply follow.”

“King, my foot. Setting that aside, how is the island looking? How many monsters have filled it up?”

“According to Miss Disis, the sheer number has reached about thirty percent of what it used to be. However…”

“I know. They’re just filling up the numbers with low-grade trash. It doesn’t matter since it’s mostly for show anyway. We can handle the actual fighting ourselves. Any other specific matters?”

“A few mages attempted to teleport inside, but they were caught by the baldies’… cough, I mean, the dragons’ barrier.”

“What did you do with them?”

“As you ordered previously, we stripped them stark naked and threw them into the sea.”

“Good job. Whether they live or die after that is entirely up to their own fate.”

But it was at that exact moment.

BOOOOOOMMM!!

The Demon King’s Castle shuddered violently along with a thunderous roar.

Immediately following it was a horrific, agonizing shriek.

“Kyaaaaaaaah!”

“…Huh? Wait, isn’t that one of the baldies screaming? Is it Red?”

“…It’s a bit far so I can’t be entirely certain, but it sounded that way to me as well.”

“Dammit… what is it?”

With a thoroughly frantic mind, I rushed outside through the window Hest had opened for me.

And right after… what caught my upward-gazing eyes was a colossal male angel tossing aside a dragon with both of its wings severed like a piece of trash.

I was deeply taken aback as I stared at the two pairs of wings spread wide across the creature’s back.

“…My god. An Archangel? An angel actually came all the way here to wreak havoc? Have those bastards completely lost their minds?”

This was a situation entirely outside of my expectations.

An angel merely showing its face versus an angel actively intervening in combat were, quite literally, acts on completely different dimensions.

Slowly turning my head, I glared right back at the angel who was staring precisely in my direction and clenched my teeth.

“…Lumina, you absolute bitch. I will make sure you pay this debt back in full.”

Clang…!

Drawing Astraphe, I soared up into the empty air.