Chapter 227: East, Hwaseong (15)
After sending off Volk and Keraph, I rejoined the cadets.
I had told Keraph who to assassinate, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Instead, I was concerned about the news he brought me.
Once, as we waited for Volk in the Death Forest, he explained why he had come to the East.
“The demons are on the move,” he said, “and they’re looking for a sacrifice.”
“Speaking of sacrifices, what do you mean by that?”
“Sacrifices…The vessels of the great demons. Somehow, their resurrections have been accelerated.”
The sacrifices were the vessels, or bodies, of the Great Demons, the Demon King’s alter egos.
Unusually, one of the requirements for the sacrifice is that it must not be a demon.
Strong people who can withstand the magick erosion to a certain extent and people of high status are targeted.
The reason for this is that they must be able to withstand the erosion, so that they don’t become deformed like demons and fiends from normal magick erosion, making them suitable for sacrifice.
The only downside is that the descent of the Great Demon, the Demon Lord’s alter ego, was so long ago that not many demons were able to witness it firsthand, so neither Keraph nor I know exactly what will happen next.
What is important now is that they are considering the vessel’s strength or status.
The reason why they are considering the power of the vessel is that they want to further strengthen the power of the demons that have taken over the body, and the reason why they are considering the identity is that they want to cause great confusion to the humans at the same time as the descent.
For example, if Ishay princess, Kimei, had become the vessel of a Great Demon as planned, it is highly likely that Ishay would have been swayed by her and joined the side of the demons.
The demons could not have asked for a better situation than to have humans fighting amongst themselves in the face of the Demon King resurrection.
Demon King alter egos and sacrifices.
This was a tricky one.
It wasn’t just the power of the Great Demons to consider.
Worse, my name was on Keraph’s list of possible sacrifices.
According to Keraph, who had spoken with his staff, I would hold great symbolism for the humans.
The Miracle of Heneryes, the Returnee from Paradise could be as influential in the coming wars as a saint, the General Staff reasoned.
However, unlike the saint, I don’t not possess immense divine power, so I would not be able to counteract the erosion of magick and I think that’s why I was on the list.
I chuckled when I heard that.
Keraph expressed bewilderment, saying it was a very serious matter, but I couldn’t help but smile as I had a brilliant idea.
“If the conditions of the sacrifice are met, and the ritual is proceeding smoothly, what happens to the Great Demon if the sacrifice suddenly fails to meet the conditions?”
“For example, the magick that was completely eroding the body of the sacrifice would disappear?”
Keraph looked at me suspiciously, at my question.
“It’s a ritual that was forced upon them under less than ideal circumstances, so it’s likely that the Great Demon that entered the sacrifice’s body would not be able to take over.
“And it can’t be sent back, can it?”
“Probably not, but why do you ask…?”
“I’m just… I’m curious.”
It occurred to me that if I played my cards right, I could easily take care of the four Great Demons.
Instead, I would have to entice them to sacrifice me, and I had someone right in front of me who could help me do that.
So I asked Keraph to stir up the demons.
The chief of staff agreed, telling him that the man who had returned from Paradise would do great harm to the demons if left alone.
Keraph wondered why he should risk his life to do so, but an order is an order.
He was my informant, but he was also a spy for the demons, so his inducements were likely to be successful.
After that, it would only be a matter of time before I would naturally lose the battle to the demons who had come to erode me with magick.
Keraph gave me a puzzled look, but Sierra was quick to recognize my meaning, knowing the function of the ‘hunk of metal’ on my left arm.
“It sounds like a risky way to do things,” Sierra said, “but you always go for it, like you’re missing a screw in your head.”
As long as the result is good, it doesn’t matter what the process is.
The process was risky, but I couldn’t think of a better way.
Heneryes said I’ve been doing it since my last life, so what did it matter?
I guess it’s true that people don’t change much after death and rebirth.
“So why are we following you?”
An irritated voice interrupted my reminiscences and thoughts.
Turning my head, I saw Yuri grumbling among the procession as they made their way through the rain.
“This is our chance to catch the express, to announce the greatness of Caligus to the East….”
Amon added, as if agreeing with Yuri.
I was currently following the shrine maiden who had managed to locate Miho in the New Capital.
“We can’t help it. We’re not even Easterners, let alone from Hwaseong, so I’m sure they’ll want to handle this on their own if they can.”
Kaen said.
We’re strangers, after all, and we shouldn’t have been forced into the divine beast retrieval operation in the first place.
If the academy cadets were brought into the operation, it was because they were responsible for obtaining the divine detector, and because they had previously driven Miho away.
That didn’t mean they didn’t recognize us as a force to be reckoned with.
Miho is more than capable of taking on three jounins but there’s only one jounin-level ninja in the group that’s currently on their way to capture her.
The shrine maiden Hino and us seem to be filling in for the other two.
I’m guessing that there will be three jounins dealing with the other three divine beasts, excluding Miho.
That would make the numbers just right.
By the way, ever since I visited Hanzo’s tomb, I’ve been bothered by the fact that whenever I see Kaen, she sometimes overlaps with a drawing I’ve seen before.
Now that she’s carrying Dao Hua’s sword, she’s practically identical to her, except for the way her hair looks.
In retrospect, the resemblance to Dao Hua is quite striking.
From my past life memories, it seems that my past life, the Conquering King, didn’t make a very good first impression on Dao Hua.
It was the same for me now.
My first impression of Kaen was never good, let alone our first meeting.
‘Even if we’re related in a past life, I wonder if we should be so similar…’
Another thing we have in common is our love of swords.
Dao Hua was a sword demon in her previous life and Kaen, who became Sword Saint disciple in her current life.
Her body doesn’t seem to have any deterioration, which explains her natural talent with the sword and her physical appearance, which is why the Sword Saint picked her up and raised her.
‘The wife from my previous life…’
Crank looked up at the sky, which was now dripping with rain.
“Still, it’s raining, so Miho should be easy to catch.”
“That’s why I don’t think we should go out, and that ‘Hamuro’ seems to be quite strong.”
Amon pointed to Hamuro in the distance and Sierra was staring at him, too.
[They look alike…]
Hamuro was the sword-wielding apprentice of the two Lords she had spoken of earlier.
“He looks so much like Edward, it’s creepy.”
“It’s similar in that I’m not sure if his eyes are open or not.”
“…I was thinking about that myself.”
Edward suddenly appeared from between the cadets who were talking while looking at Hamuro and interrupted the conversation.
“Instructor Edward…?!”
Hamuro, who had turned around just in time, locked eyes with Edward and flashed a snake-like smile he had seen many times before.
“…”
Edward waved in return.
There must be something between them.
After all, although he is one of the younger Lords, Hamuro is quite strong.
It’s raining, so it should be an easy task to catch Miho, but she’s turned into a tiny fox, so it’s not easy to keep up with her.
It wasn’t for nothing that I didn’t chase her down last time.
‘If there’s one thing that’s bothering me, it’s that cave I can sense on the other side…’
There was a huge cave in this forest.
As I recall, Miho was very reluctant to fight in the rain and tended to avoid it. She would instinctively flee to a place where she could get out of the rain as much as possible.
With her considerable explosive power, if Miho were to enter a cave, we would not be able to approach quickly.
Not to mention, if the cave collapses, there will be casualties. We will no longer be able to chase after Miho and will be in vain.
“It’s Miho! She’s here!”
“Form a line and surround her!”
“Don’t be afraid, go after her, the shrine maiden is with us!”
At that moment, a shout came from the front line that they had spotted Miho.
The cadets in the rear began to slowly follow the ninja who were leading the way.
Hamuro and Hino, commanding from the front, seemed unaware that there was a cave in the neighborhood.
No wonder.
I was the only one with a sense of direction, and my cartography wasn’t advanced enough to map a cave in an unnamed forest.
So, after chasing her all day, I could see that we were going to have a confrontation over Miho entering the cave.
I turned to Amon, who had taken up a position in the rear and was snorting uncomfortably.
“Amon, you don’t seem to like the situation.”
“Of course not. As a Caligus, I must always be at the forefront.”
“Then perhaps I can give the great Caligus a chance to shine.”
If he was going to be a wall against the cave, he was a good fit.
I’ve already won Hino’s favor, so I didn’t need to go out on a limb, but I didn’t want him to suffer in this unpleasant weather either.
‘I’d also like to see how the skill works with my own eyes…’
Amon interrupted me with a chuckle.
“I’d love to hear more about that.”
Fortunately, the Amon in front of me now seemed more than happy to fulfill the Conquering King’s orders.