Chapter 176: The Mark of the Demon King

“They’ve gone to Tarun.”

“Tarun? All of them?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Gaon had no choice but to ask in return at Bagelina’s reply.

It wasn’t just one or two. All of them had gone to Tarun?

He was curious about the reason.

“I don’t know that either. It’s not that I can’t tell you, but I really don’t know.”

Bagelina answered with a face full of sincerity, then looked at the three people nearby who were enduring the Bone-Crushing Agony before continuing.

“Those guys probably don’t know either.”

Gaon glanced at the three at Bagelina’s words and looked back at her.

“Any guesses on the reason?”

Bagelina had said she didn’t know.

But while she truly didn’t know for sure, she likely had some expectations.

“It might be…….”

Bagelina trailed off with a vague expression before continuing.

“I suspect it has something to do with the Demonic Rift.”

“The Demonic Rift?”

“Yes. The demonic energy density has thickened, so I think they’re trying to expand the rift with that denser energy. The items they took were all related to space anyway.”

“Hmm.”

Gaon let out a low hum and fell into thought.

Should I go right now?

If they had gone to expand the Demonic Rift as Bagelina said?

The larger the passage, the stronger the beings that could cross over.

Even now, the rift allowed countless Marquises to cross.

If that rift grew larger, it meant demons stronger than Marquises would come.

Who would be stronger than Marquises?

Only Demon Kings and Dukes.

Dukes would be manageable.

But Demon Kings were different.

Demon Kings were essentially the ’embodiments’ of demonic energy.

In other words, if a Demon King came to the Middle World, the demonic energy would thicken even more, and purification would take much longer.

Permanent scars could remain in the area, making purification impossible.

That was why Gaon pondered whether he should clean up Tarun first.

…No. Considering the chaos…

Tarun was the demons’ sanctuary.

If the sanctuary was destroyed?

It would cause tremendous chaos on all fronts.

More people would die than in the original plan.

It would be better to take the longer time for purification.

And as Gaon stayed silent, Bagelina, who was reading the room, spoke.

“They said they would return by tomorrow at the latest.”

“Really?”

“Yes. They also said to prepare because there will be an emergency meeting.”

“An emergency meeting…….”

Gaon trailed off and fell into thought again.

Are they trying to come up with countermeasures after the expansion?

If it was about expanding the Demonic Rift as Bagelina said?

The emergency meeting was probably to plan measures after the expansion.

After finishing his thoughts, Gaon asked Bagelina.

“What is the Abyss’s ultimate goal?”

He was curious.

What was the final objective the Abyss was pursuing.

“Well…… that is…….”

Bagelina let out a hum and trailed off.

Then she gauged Gaon’s reaction.

“……?”

Gaon couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

It made sense, since Bagelina had decided to speak everything honestly and openly.

So why was she hesitating?

“It was to erase all traces of you, Lord Gaon.”

“Ah.”

Gaon let out a short exclamation.

He thought he understood why she had hesitated.

That’s all…?

It was absurd.

The Abyss was one of the representative forces of the demon world.

And yet their ultimate goal was to erase his traces?

Of course, it wasn’t completely incomprehensible.

Thinking about what Gaon had done to the Abyss, he could understand.

But even so, making that their final goal seemed off.

“What about the demons’ ultimate goal?”

Gaon moved on to the next question.

The reason the demons invaded was most likely to dominate the Middle World.

But there could be a greater purpose.

Something he hadn’t even considered.

Just like how the Abyss’s final goal was to erase Gaon’s traces.

“Conquest of the Middle World.”

Should he be relieved?

There wasn’t any other greater purpose.

As expected, dominating the Middle World was the final goal.

Well, I guess the Abyss was the strange one.

Gaon thought about the Abyss once more and continued with his questions.

In the Holy Empire’s Intelligence Agency.

Adela stared blankly at the holy relic, the Eye of God.

With her mouth firmly shut, without saying a word.

She wasn’t the only one.

The head of the Intelligence Agency, High Priest Rai, was also staring blankly at the Eye of God.

The reason the two were staring blankly was because a ‘mark’ had appeared that they had never seen before.

In the Eye of God, the ‘mark’ signified the omen of a Demon King’s appearance.

More precisely, it meant the demonic energy was abundant enough for a Demon King to descend.

And the place where the mark appeared was the demons’ sanctuary, Tarun.

In other words, the probability of a Demon King descending was very high.

“Saintess.”

Rai was the first to come to his senses.

“For now, we should immediately go to His Holiness the Pope…….”

“…Yes.”

Before Rai even finished speaking, Adela came to her senses and replied.

Then she headed straight to the Papal Office.

“Oh, Saintess.”

Upon arriving at the Papal Office, Adela was able to meet Harbin, the priest in charge of the Papal Office.

“Where is His Holiness?”

“He is currently in the Grand Conference Hall…….”

Before Harbin finished speaking, Adela started walking.

Harbin followed behind her with a surprised face and continued.

“He is currently in a meeting.”

“Yes, any meeting is fine.”

The mark had appeared.

It was a situation where a Demon King could descend.

No, it was a situation where a Demon King would definitely descend.

It didn’t matter what the meeting was about.

There was no more important matter than this.

Harbin made a troubled face.

But that was all.

Having seen Adela’s expression, Harbin couldn’t say anything.

Just what happened…?

So he was curious.

Considering Adela’s usual personality, this situation felt like a dream.

Just what had happened for her to move so forcefully?

Creak.

Soon, upon arriving at the Grand Conference Hall, Adela opened the door and entered.

And after checking the faces of those in the Grand Conference Hall, Adela slightly furrowed her brows.

On the head seat was Pope Basus.

With a very troubled expression.

And on both sides of Basus were several archbishops and the high priests following them.

The problem was that it wasn’t just the Pope, archbishops, and high priests.

Behind the high priests were the royalty of fallen kingdoms who had entrusted their safety to the Holy Empire.

Just from the composition of personnel, one could guess what kind of meeting it was.

It was exactly then.

“Hmm, hmm.”

Archbishop Karkos, who had recently returned from the Rios Empire, cleared his throat.

Karkos, having cleared his throat, had a considerably uncomfortable expression.

However, Adela paid it no mind.

The position of archbishop was by no means low.

But Adela held a status as noble within the empire as Pope Basus.

And Adela was very displeased with the archbishops present here.

Unlike the archbishops who were absent, these ones used their archbishop status to pursue personal gains.

Honestly, if not for the current chaos?

She would have stripped them of their archbishop titles immediately.

“Greetings to His Holiness the Pope.”

First, Adela greeted Basus.

“What brings the Saintess here?”

Basus asked.

And Adela immediately brought up the main issue.

“A mark has appeared on the Eye of God.”

“……!”

Basus made a surprised face.

He knew what the appearance of the mark meant.

The problem was that Basus was the only one showing a surprised reaction.

The archbishops present had puzzled expressions.

Adela swept her gaze over the archbishops with a pitiful look and opened her mouth.

“It means a Demon King may descend.”

“……”

“……!”

The archbishops all made surprised faces upon hearing Adela’s words.

And Basus asked again.

“Could it be Tarun?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…….”

Basus let out a low hum.

And the archbishops each chimed in one by one.

“The Demon King may descend, but he hasn’t descended yet, right?”

“Heh heh, and considering the current situation, we should be able to handle it before the descent.”

“That’s right. Aren’t we advancing relentlessly right now?”

“This is a good chance. Let’s mobilize all the Holy Orders to subjugate the demons.”

“I was thinking that Varta was expanding its territory too much. This is a good justification and opportunity!”

At the archbishops’ words, the high priests nodded in agreement.

And Adela looked at the archbishops with furrowed brows.

How did people like this end up here…?

No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t understand.

Just how did these people become archbishops.

If they were going to be greedy, at least their abilities should be good.

But the archbishops here had far too much greed compared to their abilities.

Well, that’s probably why they’re in this position.

If they had good abilities from the start?

They wouldn’t be here.

Adela lost interest in the archbishops.

Anyway, she didn’t need to step forward herself.

Looking at their behavior, they would likely be sorted out by Gaon.

Adela spoke to Basus.

“I think we should inform Gardion immediately.”

And as soon as Adela finished speaking, the archbishops said.

“Inform Gardion Tower of this matter?”

“Isn’t that the same as telling Gaon?”

“Oh dear, how could the Saintess waste such a good opportunity?”

“You should think about after we’ve driven out the demons.”

However, Adela ignored the archbishops’ words.

The opinions of the archbishops were of no importance.

Adela silently looked at Basus.

The archbishops showed discomfort at Adela’s reaction.

But that was all.

There was nothing else they could do besides showing it.

And Basus opened his mouth.

“Saintess, do you believe Gaon can resolve this matter?”

At Basus’s words, Adela recalled Gaon from a while ago.

And she answered with a face full of conviction.

“Yes.”

Gaon waved his hand.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

The four bodies, including Bagelina’s, burst into flames.

Soon they completely turned to ash and disappeared.

Whoooosh!

Then the wind blew, scattering the ashes.

Having finished the cleanup, Gaon fell into thought.

For now, it would be right to wait until they return, right?

He had killed four of the Ten Strong.

Literally four.

Six still remained.

Including Lord Murin, that made seven.

The seven who had left for Tarun would return by tomorrow at the latest.

It wasn’t just Bagelina who said that.

The other three had also heard the same from Murin.

In other words, the probability they would come tomorrow was very high.

If they didn’t come by tomorrow?

Then it meant something had happened in Tarun.

And there was a way to check.

The soul stones.

In Bagelina’s mansion were the soul stones of Murin and the Ten Strong.

Yes. I can clean up until they arrive.

He didn’t have to just sit and wait.

Gaon hadn’t finished cleaning the sanctuary yet.

And cleaning wasn’t the end.

He also needed to collect the spoils.

The Abyss Sanctuary, one of the representative forces of the demon world, contained many treasures.

Having made his decision, Gaon immediately cast magic.

Dark clouds appeared all over the sanctuary.

Crackle! Crack! Crackle!

The dark clouds began to spit out lightning.