Life’s turning point, one might call it?
Yustasio Wiblet Leonor had experienced one too.
It happened twenty years ago.
The young crown prince, already first-rate as a warrior, mage, and spirit summoner, suddenly sensed a strange presence through his exceptional senses.
The direction pointed toward the imperial palace’s secret underground vault.
Yustasio frowned.
Only the emperor and crown prince of the Wiblet Empire were permitted to enter that place. Even members of the imperial family who were not heirs to the throne did not know it existed. Yustasio himself knew only that it was an important location; he had no idea what lay inside.
The mere fact that someone was concealing their presence and attempting to approach was no trivial matter.
It was the dead of night.
The surroundings were silent.
He was probably the only one who had noticed the presence.
It was fortunate he could not tell anyone else about the basement’s existence.
He quietly rose from his bed.
What he saw upon reaching the underground vault was a mass of slime-like substance radiating immense mana. The ink-black thing strangely resembled a human silhouette.
He drew his self-defense weapon.
“…What are you?”
It was, of course, a question to himself.
He had not expected an answer.
—Huh? Who are you?
Yet unexpectedly, a clear and pure voice rang out.
Yustasio was startled.
A mouth-like opening had formed on the black mass that had looked like a monster.
He swallowed dryly.
“…I am the legitimate successor to the great Wiblet Empire, Yustasio Wiblet Leonor. What kind of monster are you?”
—Ah… So you’re one of this area’s imperial family.
Gurgle, gurgle… The slime rippled. Soon the monster transformed into the shape of a young human girl.
“I am Mork, a polymorphic mage who has been researching ancient mysteries for a long time. I came here because I was interested in the underground cavern of this imperial palace.”
The girl who called herself a polymorphic being told Yustasio an astonishing story.
A demon was sleeping in the palace basement. A demon with power great enough to shake the entire Prima Continent’s landscape: Terpartizan.
She had been researching archaeology for a long time and tracking the demon’s whereabouts, which had led her to the depths of the palace.
The sharp-witted Yustasio immediately realized the girl’s story was no bluff.
If the empire had long maintained close ties with demons, it explained the Wiblet Empire’s refusal to allow the church entry.
He looked at the girl.
The presence he felt from this bizarre being was overwhelmingly powerful. Yustasio, called a prodigy among prodigies since childhood and now acknowledged as one of the continent’s renowned powerhouses, saw little chance of victory against her.
He asked warily.
“…Even if that story is true, it’s strange. If there’s a demon in the basement, what were you planning to do by sneaking in?”
“Don’t glare at me like that~ It’s nothing serious. I was just interested in the research, that’s all. And there’s no need to look so menacing, right? It seems you can’t reach the depths without the imperial family’s genetic information anyway.”
“………”
Yustasio looked toward the massive metal door she indicated. The enormous door was firmly closed as always. The anti-demon metals covering its surface suggested it would not break from ordinary magic attacks.
Seeing her spill all this information so freely, it was clear she wanted him to cooperate in researching the basement.
Honestly, he was interested in the existence of a demon. The demon contractors he had read about in documents all wielded tremendous power.
In the end they were inevitably subjugated by the church… but in Yustasio’s opinion, that was simply because past demon contractors had acted foolishly.
‘If I were to obtain the demon’s power…’
He could seize the entire continent. He would surely achieve results on a completely different level from his father, who focused on internal affairs.
He asked the girl.
“If you truly came here for pure research purposes, can you guarantee you will cause no harm to me or the empire?”
“Despite appearances, I am capable of drafting magic contracts. Shall I do so if you want?”
Yustasio nodded.
The girl smiled.
Twenty years had passed since then.
During that time, Yustasio had not let his guard down against the polymorphic being who called herself “Mork” for even a moment.
If she did anything suspicious, he planned to end her life immediately, but Mork had not betrayed him. Instead, she had actively cooperated with his plans.
As a mage with profound insight, she offered advice each time, and in the end she had willingly handed over the demon Terpartizan sealed deep in the basement. By then, most of Yustasio’s wariness toward Mork had dissipated.
As she had said initially, she had only requested a portion of Terpartizan’s energy or blood samples from him as the contractor for her research.
In essence, Mork and Yustasio could now be considered master and disciple.
In a certain mansion in the Wiblet Empire.
The two met again after nearly two years.
Mork, who had been acting as Yustasio’s body double for quite a long time, asked,
“I heard that the girl named Visanya and that aide Simon were taken by Blispiel. It looks like you went through quite a rough time?”
Yustasio recalled the assassins who had invaded the guild house before.
The young man who wielded lightning qi.
The little kid with the strange scriptures.
Just thinking of their faces made his head throb. Especially the latter kid, who casually shattered Energy Armor, could fight on equal terms with him, who prided himself on being above Triple Star level even without the demon’s power.
“I’ve squeezed enough blood from that wench over the past few years. We’ve secured plenty of Obsidrol Serum Pills, so there won’t be any setbacks to the plan.”
“Indeed. That’s how it should be.”
Mork was in the form of a young girl, just as she had been when they first met.
It unconsciously induced complacency in others, and among the countless forms she could take, this was the one she preferred most. Of course, it was not just for practical reasons; personal preference played a part as well.
Yustasio looked at her and asked,
“What is the current movement of the Blispiel Clan?”
“That kid Aiden who attacked you seems to have been installed as clan master.”
“Don’t take me for a fool. I already know that much. What’s important isn’t the surface information, but what they’re preparing underneath.”
“Boring.”
She grumbled and explained.
“It seems the Blispiel Clan is in frequent contact with the Holy Nation. Next time, instead of sending just one or two scary assassins, they might come at us on a national scale. It’s about time you faced the same trials as other demon contractors.”
“So,”
“You’ve thought of countermeasures, right?”
“I’ve already relocated the guild house.”
The Praszkeak Guild had three large hideouts in the empire’s capital alone.
One of them had been identified before the previous attack, but there was almost no way for outsiders to learn the details of the remaining two locations.
Mork nodded and asked,
“And about the needle that stabbed you in the letter last time—I mentioned it seemed like the Inquisitor’s Needle (S), right? What if the Holy Nation publicly reveals its components?”
“I will immediately ascend the throne and cut off all external ties. With the preparations I’ve made so far, I can handle the entire central region.”
Most Praszkeak Guild members addicted to the drug had become pseudo-demons. They were excellent forces and loyal slaves who followed his orders faithfully.
Due to the Holy Nation’s swift response, it had not spread widely yet, but among the nobles in various places addicted to the drug, a few had transformed close to pseudo-demons, so they could be of help depending on the situation.
Yustasio let out a sigh.
In his heart he wanted to prepare more meticulously for a few more years before swallowing the entire continent, but plans never went exactly as intended.
He had to focus on the enemy before him.
“Let us publicly announce that Crown Prince Yustasio is a demon contractor and demand cooperation from the Wiblet Empire!”
The bishop of the Church of Struggle shouted loudly. The bishop from the Life Church frowned slightly and asked,
“The Wiblet Empire has long rejected the church. What if they refuse to comply?”
“It’s obvious. We will have no choice but to use force.”
“Do you not know that the imperial capital is swarming with pseudo-demons right now? Countless holy knights and priests will surely be sacrificed.”
“Ha, so are we just supposed to sit and watch?”
“That’s not what I’m saying! I mean we should discuss other measures!”
“Silence.”
When Dorothy, the saint of the Circulation Church, stepped forward, the bustling conference hall fell silent at once.
Aiden raised his hand from the center.
“You may speak, Master Stroke.”
“The core point is one thing. If we only take down the main body—the demon contractor—the pseudo-demons who are merely his subordinates will immediately lose their power and return to being ordinary humans.”
“If we can deal with only the crown prince as you say, all problems will be solved… but assassination is impossible. You know that best, Master Stroke?”
Aiden nodded at Dorothy’s words.
Recently, due to the crown prince’s influence, security and inspections around the imperial capital had become several times stricter.
Infiltration itself was difficult, and even if a small team succeeded in penetrating, it would be hard to identify what traps lay inside.
“But I believe assassination is the answer.”
“Why do you think so, Aiden?”
“Because they are also reading our thoughts. They will surely assume there is a high possibility we will publicly disclose information about the demon contractor. And they will have prepared countermeasures for such a situation.”
“Countermeasures?”
“They will swallow the entire empire the moment they hear the announcement. They have the power and justification for it.”
……….
The other side had two Triple Star-level powerhouses. Moreover, one of them was the crown prince with succession rights, so they could seize power from the emperor in an instant.
Yet the Praszkeak side was observing the situation because of a slight risk.
The residents of this world harbored a vague fear toward the existence of demons. In any other nation, Yustasio would undoubtedly be rejected no matter his imperial status. But with the Wiblet Empire having distanced itself from the church, it was hard to predict how the situation would unfold.
In the worst case, a nation that officially tolerated demon worshippers might be born.
“…But as I said earlier, assassination is difficult. We don’t have suitable means of infiltration.”
“Instead of infiltrating, let’s just take the elites and ram straight into their headquarters.”
“Pardon?”
The envoys from each church wore dazed expressions upon hearing those words.
It was the expected reaction. This plan was something that must never be leaked externally, so it had been kept secret from the people of the Holy Nation.
Instead of explaining, Aiden stood up from his seat.
“I have a good transport. Please follow me.”
One week after the meeting.
A small airship was crossing the skies above the Wiblet Empire at terrifying speed. On board were Aiden and the Blispiel Clan members, along with the Holy Nation’s elite forces.
Gazing at the distant ground below, he asked,
“Restinel, status?”
「No abnormalities, Master.」
“Good. Reconfirm the coordinates of the building we’re charging into.”
「Understood. Coordinate confirmation and trajectory calculation commencing. 0043200……」
The core of the plan was Restinel, remodeled into the form of an aerial ship.
Even Irumokwi or Yustasio probably hadn’t anticipated this.
Fundamentally, the Machine God Tribe had very few individuals, and cases where countermeasures for aerial battles using them were prepared were extremely rare.
Aiden looked at the thirty-two passengers and asked,
“Are you all ready?”
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