Duke Royal’s death became known across the entire battlefield the moment the Mirror Gate shattered.
His subordinates tried to reconstruct it in a hurry, but it was much weaker than when he was alive, and no one was fooled.
A Count-class demon tried to fill the void. Their only chance of winning was to gather the demons and magic beasts in one place and fight systematically.
However, the Stealth Scouts and Skyeye Giants meticulously identified the locations of those demons. Next came one of two things — Lutal flying in or a breath from a Super Titan striking down.
Count-class demons, who had no means of defense, died in droves.
As Apocalid sniped only those capable of leading the group, the demons fell into chaos.
They either stood still, not knowing what to do and taking shellfire, or wandered inside the dense dimension ships only to be caught by Walkers and dragged to a Soil Pit.
Dielka and the Dark Elves also vented their rage. They specifically sought out the Immortal Demons, making their immortality meaningless with Death Mana. Witnessing their performance, the Central Command Giant sent Stealth Scouts to guide them to places where Immortal Demons gathered.
Soon, the Immortal Demons, who were holding out using the dimension ships as walls, quickly became corpses. They were so good at catching demons that a dedicated Walker was even assigned to them.
“They’re fighting well,” Choi Kangjoong remarked.
The exchange ratio between Apocalid and the demons and magic beasts increased over time.
The Skyeye Giants played a large part in that.
They observed the overall battle situation, and since the Central Unit finely tuned the small Apocalids, efficiency had no choice but to rise.
As the number of dimension ships decreased, Kuongi began to move around.
With its massive body, it ate the ships or charged at them, splitting them in half.
Areas where several dimension ships were clustered together were scattered by physical attacks, followed by a shower of Mana Cannons.
“Why did you go directly instead of using your breath?”
“Ku-eong.”
“The angle wasn’t right?”
Indeed, in the direction Kuongi’s head was facing, Apocalids were surrounding and devouring the demons.
It would have taken a considerable amount of time to fire a breath while avoiding them, which would have led to losses for Apocalid.
“Good job.”
“Ku-eong.”
When Choi Kangjoong praised it, Kuongi sent the clustered dimension ships flying with another body slam. Just pushing them away was refreshing to watch.
When the number of dimension ships fell below 300, the demons began to flee.
They flocked to dimension ships that were intact outside the Mana Storm and activated their Mana Engines.
Chaos Magic was also used for movement instead of attack.
One Demon of Chaos cast a speed buff on a dimension ship, but due to bad luck, it slowed down instead, leading to its death at the hands of a Demon of Ruin.
“Don’t let even one escape.”
Light Titans and Fighter Giants pursued the fleeing dimension ships.
The Elves also joined the pursuit. Thanks to their narrow hulls, very few demon ships could shake off the fast Elf dimension ships.
“It’s over.”
All that remained was to swallow up the small-fry demons, magic beasts, and dimension ships. Choi Kangjoong returned to the Divine Arrow.
Iselin, who he thought would be on the deck, was not there.
The Elf knights informed him that she was personally interrogating Duke Royal. When he asked for guidance, an Elf knight stepped forward.
It took fifteen minutes of walking inside to reach the prison.
Inside the prison, interference magic that froze mana using the dimension ship’s Mana Engine was deployed. Even Choi Kangjoong felt quite a bit of pressure.
‘I won’t be able to use skills well here either.’
He was worried Duke Royal might escape, but it seemed impossible here.
He followed the hallway between thick iron doors. Arthil was standing in front of the door of the last room.
“Have you arrived?”
“Where is Iselin?”
“She is inside, speaking with Duke Royal.”
“I can go in, right?”
“If it’s you, Outer Mind, then of course.”
Arthil opened the door. Iselin was sitting in a chair, and Duke Royal, with only his head and upper body remaining, was roughly leaning against the wall.
Thud.
The door closed, leaving only one human, an Elf, and a demon.
“A great monster has graced us with his presence. Hehe.”
“Stop talking nonsense and just answer the questions,” Iselin said.
“Yes, yes. I have to answer faithfully if I want to live. But does our contract include this guy’s questions too?”
“Of course.”
At the mention of a contract, Choi Kangjoong asked, “Contract?”
“I promised to spare him if he answered my questions truthfully.”
“That doesn’t mean letting him go, does it?”
“He’s technically alive even in that state.”
“But I have no intention of letting him live.”
“Why?”
“Because I get stronger if I eat him.”
“Then I’ll have to terminate the contract.”
Duke Royal shouted, “Wait, wait! Is a High Elf allowed to do this? Can you just one-sidedly back out!”
“I said I would spare you if you answered only the truth. But was there only truth in your words?”
“No! I told you everything! The Gate Stones, the Gate Incident, and everything related to this battle — I told you all of it!” Duke Royal struggled with what little remained of his body.
“Is it okay not to keep the promise?”
“No one will know. You’re not going to go around telling other people, are you?”
“I’ll never tell.”
“Then that’s fine.”
Iselin left. Left alone with the demon, Duke Royal pleaded.
“Outer Mind! I have a good idea! If you keep me alive, Archduke Ventresca will try to rescue me! Another battle will break out! You like fighting, don’t you?”
“I do, but there’s plenty to eat elsewhere too.”
Choi Kangjoong grabbed him and moved to the Soil Pit using Stealth Blink.
“Aaaaaaaaaagh!”
He ended up screaming in the Soil Pit, just like Count Pavelus and Marquis Vespira. The only difference was that he didn’t cry out Duke Akirif’s name.
“That fulfills two conditions now.”
There were three left until the Special Entity production function was added.
“Since they’re S-Class, nothing is easy, no matter what I eat.”
Neither the Dragon Lord nor the Island Whale that Choi Kangjoong was targeting was likely to travel alone.
The Dragon Lord led many dragons, and the Island Whale had numerous creatures living on its back.
“I hope I can eat them soon.”
Once he could produce Special Entities, he would be able to do much more.
He could assassinate using Stealth Predators or make dimension ship battles easier with Claw Devourers or Swarm Lords.
Curious about what Duke Royal had said, Choi Kangjoong returned to the Divine Arrow.
Only Iselin was on the deck. She had sent the knights elsewhere so they could talk alone.
“Did you find out anything?”
“It wasn’t the Demons of Chaos who made the Gate Stones.”
“Then who?”
“Duke Royal speculated that Dragon Lord Ladespina made them.”
“Do you think so too?”
“Yes. No matter how much I investigate the Gate Stones, there’s no trace of demonic energy involved. It’s impossible for demons, who cannot escape the pollutant known as demonic energy.”
“Could that Dragon Lord be the one who caused the Gate Incident?”
“It’s possible. If they can manufacture Gate Stones, they would have that level of ability.”
“I thought it was the demons…”
In the Dimensional Sea, where all sorts of things existed, there were many things besides demons that could cause a Gate Incident.
“It could be a monster.”
“No. It was done intentionally.”
“I must have speculated incorrectly.”
Iselin shared all the information she had obtained from Duke Royal.
At the time Choi Kangjoong suffered the Gate Incident, there were several entities that connected Earth to the Gates.
That included Archduke Ventresca and Archduke Luderal, whom he suspected to be the Prince.
It was said that even Dragon Lord Ladespina had opened one.
“I only needed to find the one who caused the Gate Incident, but the scale keeps growing. What’s the Dragon Lord up to?”
“That lizard is devious and greedy, so it won’t be anything good.”
“Do you know the Dragon Lord?”
“I know Ladespina. There have been several conflicts with Marsala. 100 years ago, he suddenly flew in and told us to pay tribute every year, so the Elf Great Council drove him out.”
“So that happened. Then he might be the Prince.”
“But he wouldn’t handle the demonic energy of Consumption. Even for a dragon, they might get consumed if they’re not careful. With his personality, he would never try it.”
“Then is it a Crystal?”
Choi Kangjoong just said whatever came to mind, but Iselin considered it seriously. Crystals were a benevolent race that controlled the Dimension System and encouraged the activation of the Dimensional Sea. The Elves of Marsala had received their help several times. The fact that the Elves could organize and maintain a dense gate network was largely thanks to the transfer of knowledge from the Crystals.
However, very few met the requirements of being able to create Gate Stones and also handle the demonic energy of Consumption — and the Crystals were among them.
“I’ll have to suspect the Crystals as well.”
“Do you know any Crystals?”
“There’s one named Lagan. He has interacted with the Elves for a long time and taught us many things. I met him once, too.”
“I should ask him if I meet him.”
“I’ll request a meeting.”
“Thanks.”
Iselin also told him about those involved in this battle. The names of Archduke Ventresca and Duke Akirif came up. He wasn’t surprised since he already knew about Duke Akirif.
“Duke Akirif is the problem. Should I carry out an assassination — ”
“No. Thanks to Duke Akirif, my food supply has become more abundant.”
“If that’s what you think, Outer Mind, I’ll leave him be. I was going to make his duchy the first target of the task force I’m about to form, but I’ll have to change that.”
After finishing telling him everything she had learned from Duke Royal, Iselin called Arthil.
Arthil set the table and put out cookies and Elf tea. For Choi Kangjoong, she served cool, delicious juice.
“Please, help yourself.”
Choi Kangjoong could feel Iselin’s sparkling gaze. She was telling him to drink the juice quickly. Today, it was more intense than before, so even the dense Choi Kangjoong could tell.
‘Dielka was right. She really did overhear.’
Choi Kangjoong, who had been curious as to why the Elf tea she always gave him suddenly changed to juice, realized the reason. He didn’t feel burdened or hurt. There must have been a reason, and if he had asked if she was eavesdropping, she would have answered honestly.
‘She’s cute.’
Since her actions were cautious and she was almost always expressionless, he had thought she was just cold. But looking closely now, the tips of her ears were trembling slightly, and her pulse was a bit fast. Her facial temperature was also higher than usual.
Choi Kangjoong drank the juice one glass after another. Since his friend liked it, this was nothing.
An hour passed while he talked with Iselin. Dielka and the Dark Elves returned. There were some seriously injured, but instead of Iselin, who could treat them quickly and surely, the Elf medics looked after them. In times like these, she was a strict Princess again.
“Phew, that’s refreshing. Give me a glass too.”
Arthil poured Elf tea for Dielka, who felt refreshed after killing the demons.
“What’s with the Elf tea for someone who just came back from a fight? Is there nothing else? The Outer Mind is drinking juice. Huh?”
“I’m the one who asked for it. I tried it before and it was delicious.”
Choi Kangjoong spoke quickly so Dielka wouldn’t notice Iselin’s eavesdropping. Dielka was fooled, and the tips of Iselin’s ears turned red.
The battle ended soon after.
Nothing remained in the Dimensional Sea where the Apocalid and demons had fought fiercely.
It was a result that satisfied Choi Kangjoong, Iselin, and Dielka.
“Let’s go back.”
Iselin opened a gate with the Gate Stone, and the Divine Arrow moved.