Volume 2 - CH 420

Kinda late, sorry.

10-6. Next goal

His mouth, wide open in surprise, couldn’t close.

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine meeting Dacia here.

Although it was his first time meeting Mana, the Demon Lord, he could tell just by her appearance that she was stronger than Dacia.

Ignoring the astonishment of the two, Irza stood up and moved away from the table.

She bowed slightly and knelt down.

“Thank you for coming all the way here. Mana-sama, Dacia-sama.”

“…It’s fine. In fact, you’ve done well. You too, reincarnator. You noticed well… very well.”

“Huh? Are you sure it’s safe for you to say that out loud?”

“It’s due to the difference in power. Well, it’s only a slight difference.”

Dacia said this while touching her chin.

Her statement just now was a complete affirmation, which puzzled Houen a little.

However, upon hearing the conversation, Houen became convinced.

In that case, it would make sense for Lurimkos and Atrak to be able to speak more.

Even if he asked an ordinary devil, he wouldn’t be able to obtain that much information.

But even though they were the High ranked devils, the Majin, they couldn’t speak the true answer.

Such a strong curse.

Not even the purification magic of Ouren could remove the curse.

“I see… I’m sorry that I was late to notice it.”

“Don’t apologize. You haven’t done anything wrong. Normally, it’s only natural to try to stop us.”

“Mana, was it? But if we had known the reason for your actions, we might have changed as well. I’ve regained my memories and understood it. We were really just getting in the way.”

“It’s alright, we can still… somehow manage.”

Mana said that and took out a large map from her magic bag.

She spread it out on the table, and Irza used levitation to tidy up the tea snacks that were in the way.

The map contained detailed terrain information of the surrounding area.

The accuracy was high, and Phoenix Flame had never seen anything like this in the Saretana Kingdom, so it was probably a map made by the demons themselves.

There was a slightly intriguing mark on the map.

Upon closer inspection, the names of countries were written there.

Salletana Kingdom, Ashro Territory, Bamil Territory, Nasnalo Kingdom, Oni’s Village, Dinman Highlands,Vulpan Kingdom, Garott Kingdom.

There were familiar names.

And except for the Garott Kingdom and Vulpan, the other countries and territories were marked with crosses.

However, the operation in the Vulpan Kingdom ended in failure.

From there, only one answer could be derived.

“…Next is… Garott Kingdom, right?”

Dacia and Mana nodded quietly.

These marks are probably the names of the cities that devils have been active in and destroyed.

Although the Salletana Kingdom was not completely destroyed, the fact that it still had a cross mark indicated that a certain condition had been met.

We don’t know what that condition is, but it confirms that there must be a way other than killing humans.

However, when the next destination was revealed to be the Garott Kingdom, both of them wore difficult expressions.

Especially Reizen.

The king they were indebted to was there.

If they had remained ignorant, they could have completely stopped the actions of the devils. But now, they can’t say that anymore.

“H-Houen! Do you know any other ways…?”

“…I don’t fully understand yet, but I have a vague idea… But I’m really not sure?”

“J-Just tell us!”

“…I have some speculations, and one of them is to drive away the people.”

“P-people…?”

There may be a way that doesn’t require killing people and destroying buildings.

If that’s the case, Houen had a hunch.

Knowing that people were involved based on the fact that incidents were happening where many people lived, considering that there was no need to destroy buildings, the answer that emerged in Houen’s mind was that something had to be done to the people.

In the first place, the devils only used the words “kill humans” and “destroy cities.”

Although it was an indirect way of conveying it, this made it easier to speculate.

Either of these could hold the key to the revival of the voice.

“We just need to move people out of that country or territory. But… I don’t know if that alone is enough.”

“Why not ask them about it?”

“This is the core of the resurrection of the evil god. If they just nod to their question, there’s a possibility that they’ll lose their heads. That’s why, even though she’s the Demon Lord, she won’t tell us.”

Looking at the three devils, they were indeed silent.

Without blinking or changing their expressions, they just stared at them.

He could only interpret from their actions and expressions that this was the one thing they couldn’t do.

They have no choice but to think about this themselves.

Even Houen had doubts about the answer he came up with.

He couldn’t believe that the resurrection of the voice, an evil god, could be prevented by something so simple.

It was too simple.

But there was no other answer that could be found.

Of course, there are other things they could come up with.

They are all just speculations, but if they want to prevent the resurrection of such a huge entity, some ideas come to mind.

“…If souls are needed, they could be replaced with other animals. The Salletana Kingdom has a cross mark, right? It’s possible that we managed somehow by using the souls of those monsters.”

“Ah, I see…”

“Another possibility is the release of magical power… By intentionally starting battles and making them use magic, their magical power is consumed. Perhaps the devils have been provoking wars persistently for this purpose.”

“I understand that too. The Bamil Territory was not destroyed, and the people were also fine, so I can understand that idea.”

“In the Vulpan Kingdom, no one died, and there was hardly any fighting or use of magic. That’s why it doesn’t have a cross mark… These two explanations can account for that.”

“T-That’s true… Both times, everyone fought and consumed magic, and we defeated a lot of monsters…”

All the possibilities that Houen is considering can be explained by aligning with the devils’ actions.

The Salletana Kingdom and the Bamil Territory have not been destroyed.

Furthermore, both places were attacked by an enormous number of monsters.

In order to counter them, a considerable amount of magical power should have been consumed.

It might be possible to understand the situation in other territories and countries by investigating, but there is no time for that now.

If they don’t take action quickly, it might be too late.

Anyway, considering the current situation, the method to prevent the resurrection of the voice seems to be either returning many souls to the heavens or consuming a massive amount of magical power.

However, even after thinking that far, they still have no idea about the “reason for doing so.”

“May I say something?”

Mana, who had been quiet, spoke up.

Both of them stopped thinking for a moment and looked at her.

“…This time, I want to leave it to you.”

“…Because devils can only take one course of action?”

“Yes. We can only destroy and kill. That’s why we need the reincarnator.”

Mana deeply lowered her head.

Dacia also followed suit and bowed her head.

“Please.”

“I’m also begging you…”

It was a bizarre scene.

The ones they had been in conflict with until now were bowing their heads to them, which was quite strange.

But… it was clear that this was their determination.

“Leave it to us.”

When Houen replied, it didn’t take much time.