“What kind of story is it?”
Basus asked back with a puzzled expression upon hearing Adela’s words.
An urgent matter to report?
It doesn’t seem like bad news.
He was smiling.
If it were bad news, there was no way she would be smiling.
It must be good news.
Adela did not answer Basus’s question right away. Instead, she walked over to the large map of the continent in the center.
She then placed a flag on a specific area within the demon camp that had been eroded by demonic energy.
The place where Adela placed the flag was the area where the demonic energy had vanished—the same one they had seen through the Eye of God earlier.
“The demonic energy in this area has disappeared. It is not that it has weakened, but it has literally vanished. It is estimated to have been completely purified.”
“……!”
Basus’s face showed surprise at Adela’s words.
Completely purified?
And it was not even in the Coexistence Zone, but in what could be called the central area.
Basus was not the only one surprised.
The others present also looked at Adela with expressions asking what she meant.
Adela continued speaking.
“It is not certain, but it is presumed to be the work of Gaon.”
“Ah….…”
Basus let out a sound of understanding.
Once again, it was not just Basus.
A significant number of those present reacted as if they understood.
“At this rate, we should be able to drive out the demon realm faster than expected. And at our current speed…….”
Adela trailed off without finishing her sentence.
Even without hearing the rest, everyone understood what it meant.
Basus thought for a moment before opening his mouth.
“It seems we will need to advance the departure time.”
“Catulon.”
“We are ready now.”
“Are you still not prepared?”
Dormanimonu spoke to Catulon, who still had his eyes closed.
Catulon opened his eyes and replied in a voice full of irritation.
“The preparations were finished long ago. I was waiting for you all to stabilize your demonic energy.”
Of course, Dormanimonu did not pay the slightest attention to Catulon’s irritation.
“Hahaha!”
“That’s how it was!”
“Thanks for waiting!”
Dormanimonu answered with a hearty laugh, his face completely unconcerned.
Catulon shook his head and spoke.
“Temujan.”
At Catulon’s call, Temujan, who had been waiting outside, quickly entered.
Catulon asked Temujan.
“Have you located his current position?”
“I am sorry. It has not been identified yet.”
“What about those Abyss bastards? Weren’t they supposed to be specialized in this kind of information?”
“The problem is that we have lost contact with the Abyss. I sent Lagolas to check, so we should receive an answer soon.”
It was at that moment.
Whoosh!
The ring glowed.
“Lagolas has made contact. May I receive the communication?”
Catulon nodded silently.
Temujan took out the communication crystal and infused it with demonic energy.
As soon as the connection was established, Lagolas’s flustered voice came through.
-Temujan! The Abyss Sanctuary has been completely devastated!
-It seems like that guy’s work!
Temujan could not help but be shocked at Lagolas’s words.
The Abyss Sanctuary had been devastated?
Lagolas was not the only one surprised.
Even Catulon was slightly flustered.
It made sense. The location of the Abyss was not near the Coexistence Zone where fierce battles were taking place.
It was quite far from Tarun, but still deep within their territory.
Yet the Abyss, situated in such a place, had been attacked?
It was then.
“Hmm?”
“Whoa.”
“Huh.”
Dormanimonu let out exclamations simultaneously.
Hearing the sounds, Catulon looked at Dormanimonu.
At first, he thought the exclamations were due to Lagolas’s report.
However, Dormanimonu was not paying any attention to the communication crystal at all.
With a very intrigued expression, he was looking somewhere else.
There, Dormanimonu’s subordinate Elbat was present. It seemed he had received some report from Elbat. And it was likely that report that caused the exclamations.
Soon, Dormanimonu looked at Catulon and said.
“It seems that guy has appeared nearby.”
“Reports have come in that contact has been lost with the forces in the east.”
“Two rifts have already been closed, apparently?”
“……!”
Catulon could not help but be shocked at Dormanimonu’s words.
That guy was clearly referring to Gaon.
To cause trouble not just anywhere, but near Tarun?
“I will handle him as I said earlier.”
“Wait quietly.”
“I will bring back his corpse shortly.”
Dormanimonu spoke to Catulon and left the quarters.
With Dormanimonu gone, Catulon looked at Temujan.
“I am sorry.”
Temujan immediately prostrated himself under Catulon’s gaze.
He apologized for the delayed information.
“It’s fine. The east is his territory.”
Catulon did not mind.
The east was the domain of those who followed Dormanimonu.
It was natural that Dormanimonu learned of it first.
Swish.
Catulon turned his head to look in the direction Dormanimonu had disappeared.
Dormanimonu had left with a confident demeanor.
He was curious what kind of appearance and what kind of result he would bring back.
Upon arriving at the adjacent area to his destination, “Tarun,” Gaon looked toward where Tarun was located and thought.
It certainly is different.
The demonic energy of Tarun, the sanctuary of the demon race where two Demon Kings had descended, was on a completely different level from the adjacent areas.
The concentration of demonic energy was more than twice as high.
It looks like it will take more time than I thought.
It was demonic energy that would need to be purified eventually.
Judging by the concentration, it seemed it would take a considerable amount of time to purify.
Swish.
Gaon changed direction.
He continued the cleaning as he had been doing so far.
While continuing the cleaning, Gaon did not lose focus on Tarun.
It was because the Demon King could appear at any time.
And not long after.
“……!”
Gaon’s eyes flashed.
It was due to the energy detected by his senses.
An enormous amount of demonic energy had been detected.
And that enormous demonic energy belonged to a single being.
In other words, it was undoubtedly a Demon King.
Gaon stopped moving and focused on the direction from which the Demon King was approaching.
Soon, the Demon King arrived.
It had three heads and six arms.
Its entire body was muscular.
From the appearance, Gaon could identify the Demon King’s identity.
The Demon King of War….
It was clearly the Demon King of War, Dormanimonu.
Gaon looked at Dormanimonu and smiled brightly.
On the other hand, Dormanimonu’s three heads did not show even a hint of a smile, unlike Gaon.
All of them had stiff expressions.
“……”
“……”
“……”
And the three heads did not say a single word.
They simply stared at Gaon with their mouths firmly shut.
Gaon knew why Dormanimonu was reacting this way.
It was undoubtedly because of the rank of the soul.
Gaon cast magic toward the dazed Dormanimonu.
Magic Missile, Fireball, Ice Spear, Lightning Ball, and such basic spells.
Originally, these were spells that could not inflict even the slightest damage on Dormanimonu.
However, they were imbued with rank.
And not just one, but all of them.
Of course, Dormanimonu, who did not fully understand this fact, made a puzzled face.
It was an expression that seemed to ask why he was doing such a pointless thing.
Dormanimonu neither blocked nor dodged the magic.
The first to strike was the Magic Missile, exploding on Dormanimonu’s chest.
Boom!
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
Along with the explosion, Dormanimonu’s three heads widened their eyes.
Then the Fireball struck.
Boom! Fwoosh!
“Ugh.”
“Urk!”
“Kugh!”
Was it due to the stronger destructive power compared to the Magic Missile?
Or because of the accumulated pain starting from the Magic Missile?
Dormanimonu let out short screams.
He raised his demonic energy and thought.
I shouldn’t just take the hits!
At first, he thought they were meaningless.
That was why he ignored them.
But after experiencing the Magic Missile and Fireball, his thoughts changed.
He could not ignore them.
If he did, he would suffer tremendous losses.
All three heads thought the same thing simultaneously.
Swish! Whoosh!
Thick gray demonic energy soon covered his six hands.
Dormanimonu moved his six hands to block the remaining spells.
The Ice Spear and Lightning Ball that followed were caught by Dormanimonu’s hands.
Crackle! Crackle!
Of course, catching them did not change the situation.
The caught Ice Spear and Lightning Ball exploded right in his hands.
The aftermath of the explosion pierced through the thick wall of demonic energy and inflicted pain on Dormanimonu.
At that moment, the three heads thought the same thing.
I shouldn’t block them like this!
He had thought wrapping them in demonic energy to block would work, but it was not the case at all.
From now on, it would be better to block or dodge from a distance.
Having endured all the magic, Dormanimonu immediately looked at Gaon.
It was highly likely that Gaon had prepared another spell while he was blocking.
“……?”
“……?”
“……?”
However, Dormanimonu could not help but be flustered.
The reason was that Gaon was nowhere to be seen.
An ominous feeling swept over his entire body.
Dormanimonu maximized his senses.
It was to locate Gaon.
And he soon found Gaon’s position.
It was behind him.
And only three meters away, right behind.
This can’t be.
This is….
How….
It was extremely bewildering.
There were two main reasons why Dormanimonu was flustered.
The first was that Gaon had approached so stealthily right behind him.
The second was that Gaon, a mage, had closed the distance instead of increasing it.
Especially, the second reason flustered Dormanimonu more.
Why on earth had Gaon closed the distance?
There must be a reason for closing the distance.
Is he that confident?
Right, seeing that he has the same power as Myrdaon….
Dormanimonu had realized it the moment he first faced Gaon.
That he possessed the same power as the tyrant Myrdaon.
It will be difficult with just us.
What should we do?
Should we call Catulon?
Yes, to survive, we need Catulon.
The three heads quickly racked their brains and discussed.
How to overcome this current situation.
Which choice would be the best.
How do we call Catulon?
We have to endure and lure him to the sanctuary.
Can we make it to the sanctuary?
If we can’t, we’ll die anyway.
While discussing, Dormanimonu simultaneously realized something.
That Gaon, who was right behind him, was not doing anything.
Having closed the distance this much, he should be doing something, so why was he not doing anything?
Dormanimonu slowly turned around.
He was not worried about an attack.
After all, Gaon was right behind him yet had not attacked.
It did not seem like he would attack while he was turning.
And Dormanimonu’s prediction was accurate.
Gaon did not attack until Dormanimonu had completely turned around.
When he turned and saw Gaon, Dormanimonu could not help but flinch.
The reason was that Gaon was holding a “sword.”
“……”
Dormanimonu could not say anything.
He simply stared blankly at Gaon.
The current situation made no sense.
A mage like Gaon had closed the distance while holding a sword?
This meant he intended to engage in close combat.
And not with magic, but with a “sword.”
It was at that moment.
“I won’t be using magic.”
Gaon said.
It was extremely fluent demon language.
“So, give it your all.”