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Chapter 270

To be honest, it’s obvious just from observation that the Red Moon isn’t some kind of omnipotent force.

Whatever its origin may be, there’s no way they’d be playing a game of catch with attacks like this if they had real power to spare.

In other words, most of the bizarre phenomena occurring—including the Red Moon event—are likely the best they can manage right now.

Based on their behavior so far, it’s clear this phenomenon must have cost them quite a bit.

But for something that supposedly consumed so much, it was shut down surprisingly easily.

The monsters wreathed in annihilation fire were definitely threatening in both strength and number, but the holy protection spells cast by the paladins were sufficient to block the flames.

“Where’s Remiel?”

“Not a trace left.”

That conclusion couldn’t have been drawn from mere observation.

Luna is familiar with the unique powers of an archangel like Remiel.

No matter how far she’s fallen, she wouldn’t be untraceable unless something was seriously wrong.

The blood-red sky began to completely vanish, and the crimson cracks in the air started disappearing one by one.

The monsters were gone, but even such a brief attack left countless casualties in its wake.

“Lord Leon.”

“What’s going on?”

“I should be asking you that. How did you know to come here?”

Better to use the Saintess’s message as an excuse rather than bring up the existence of the librarian.

“The Saintess contacted me.”

“Her revelation saved us, then. Who would've thought her being outside the Holy Kingdom would turn out to be such a blessing.”

“What’s the damage?”

“To put it optimistically, we managed to stop it with only this much loss. Pessimistically, innocent lives were still lost.”

The damage was relatively minor, but not nonexistent.

“More importantly—Remiel?”

“She was definitely on top of the spire, and then… damn.”

“Looks like we were tricked with a diversion. Their goal wasn’t the Holy Kingdom from the start—it was Remiel.”

Following Diablo, Luna and I arrived at the top of the spire where we had last seen Remiel—only to find it completely empty.

“This looks like battle damage.”

The tip of the spire was cleanly and sharply sliced off.

“This is the mark of Remiel’s ‘Blade of Melody.’ The remnants are still here.”

Which meant she hadn’t left of her own volition.

“Why did they target her?”

“Well. How should I know? I can’t read those things’ minds.”

“We have to rescue her before it’s too late.”

“Do you have a way? There’s no trace left behind.”

Just as Diablo said, there was no way to trace where Remiel had gone.

“That is…”

“Luna Basilin, I know you care about Remiel more than you let on, but rushing won’t help.”

He spoke firmly and turned around.

“For now, we’ll use the Holy Kingdom’s intelligence network to search for any trace we can find. You must have your own sources, no?”

Diablo’s gaze fell on me.

True.

I did have one.

It’d be nice if Luna’s Laplace’s Compass actually worked properly for once.

But that damned compass—now that I think about it—had been in terrible shape lately.

It was completely absorbed in the ring, and it couldn’t detect anything else.

“I’ll have to meet with the Heretic Cult.”

“They probably have things that could help with the search. They’ve been collecting powerful relics and forces for a long time.”

A question occurred to me.

“What exactly are those guys trying to do?”

“Do you know what the Cult originally was?”

“No idea.”

“They were originally a group that sought out and isolated or studied beings and things that posed a threat to the world. Of course, they eventually corrupted themselves by wielding that power for their own ends. But at the beginning, they were created with noble intentions.”

That’s just absurd.

“As thanks for your help in this matter, I’ll officially send someone to House Cascadia later. Thank you, Leon.”

“It’s nothing.”

“If not for you, the casualties would’ve been much worse. And Luna Basilin Raphaelia.”

Diablo’s gaze pierced Luna.

“Remember—you’re not alone anymore.”

“…I know.”

She couldn’t afford to go rogue anymore.

Not with me and Melissa by her side.

“This attack was a warning. We should use this opportunity to strike back—hard enough that they won’t dare to interfere again.”

I agreed.

* * *

The Holy Kingdom assault made headlines across multiple nations.

After all, if monsters could appear suddenly there, what was stopping them from showing up anywhere else?

Wearing a black top hat, Nyala quietly waited for someone within a ruined space.

Fwoosh!!

Before long, flames began to rise before his eyes, distorting the air around him.

—You rat bastard! You dare deceive me!?

“Deceive? Please, use the correct words. Not yet, at least.”

Even surrounded by flames that looked like they could incinerate everything, Nyala’s pale expression didn’t change in the slightest.

In fact, his oddly torn smile seemed even more chilling.

“We’ve secured the target. If that man appears, he’ll come here. Since you’ve exhausted so much in this operation, if he shows up, I’ll let you manifest.”

—There won’t be any lies, correct?

“Of course not. Oh, and just as a heads-up—unlike me, your power limiters have been partially lifted, which means you’ll naturally suffer penalties in other ways. If you're not careful, you could suffer fatal injuries.”

—Hmph. It’s still a pathetic creature. Don’t you dare compare me to your ilk.

“Oh dear~”

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With a relaxed tone, he shrugged and cast a glance at Remiel, who hung limply with her eyes closed.

So she was supposedly impossible to corrupt—yet a little probing of her weakness, and her mental defenses collapsed so easily.

The archangels of the past were terrifying in their lack of ego.

But the current archangels?

Honestly, they didn’t feel very threatening at all.

—Are you just going to leave her like that? It’s disgraceful to see a once-feared archangel in that state.

“Well, maybe she’s dreaming of better things.”

—She’s still a viable candidate for the Gate. Don’t take your eyes off her.

“As long as you don’t end up being the one breached.”

As the searing flames let out a low growl, Nyala shrugged his shoulders and vanished on the spot.

Having already expended more power than expected in the Holy Kingdom, there was no room for even the slightest waste.

* * *

After Remiel went missing, Isna, Luna, and I decided to move in to make contact with the cultists.

Isna insisted on coming along, saying she had a stake in this matter too.

Naturally, I wasn’t crazy enough to take her into what could be a dangerous situation, but there was nothing I could do once she clung to me like a leech and followed anyway.

The meeting point was the demon-infested territory in the Duchy of Cascadia.

Melissa, having been briefed about this, grabbed the back of her neck and yelled that once this was over, I shouldn’t even think about stepping outside the mansion ever again—but I knew that was just her way of expressing concern, and oddly enough, I found it endearing.

"What a bunch of jokers. Meeting in a forbidden demon zone? What, is this your playground? Do you think the Cascadian guards are a joke?"

“W-wait!!”

Just as I was about to cut him down, he panicked and raised his hands to stop me.

“Weren’t you the one in need of help?!”

“Let’s get the words right, you bastard. It’s not that we need help. We’re cooperating temporarily out of mutual interest. Anyone listening would think you don’t care one way or the other.”

“And what if we don’t?”

Still trying to fight for control, huh?

I didn’t hesitate to wrap my sword in Aura Sword and stepped toward him.

“Then there’s no reason to let you live. Time to die.”

“W-w-wait a minute!!”

Maybe he realized I really was going to kill him, because he yelled in a panic.

“Calm down!! I apologize! I was out of line!”

“I thought you wanted to provoke me. Guess not.”

“You hot-tempered bastard... Fine. Let’s get to the point. We have a way to find them.”

At his signal, several cultists emerged from the darkness, pulling a small wagon.

“What we have is the so-called ‘Ugly Demon.’”

When he pulled away the cloth covering the cargo in the wagon, a demon statue about the size of a human was revealed.

Strangely, the demon's face was completely obscured by thick cloth, rags, and a mass of enchanted scrolls that looked like seals.

“Just so you know, never look at its face. If you see it, it’ll try to kill you.”

How the hell can anyone tell if it's ugly or not when its face is covered?

“Wait, are you saying it moves? Or does it curse people or something?”

“It moves. It’s an ancient cursed item from a long time ago.”

There definitely seemed to be something strange about the statue.

But it was hard to say exactly what.

“Wow. The Ugly Demon? I thought it was just a myth.”

Isna’s eyes widened as she gasped softly.

“You know about this?”

“Don’t you, Leon? It’s a famous legend from the Kingdom of Bata. Farmers once unearthed this thing buried underground, and after seeing its face, they all died gruesomely.”

“I don’t really care for that kind of story. Besides, didn’t you say it’s from way back?”

“Of course it’s just a myth. No one’s actually seen the real thing. But they say it’s used to scare disobedient kids.”

I glanced back at the statue.

It didn’t look dangerous enough to hurt me—especially with its face covered—but if it could help find Nyala, then I had no reason to waste strength needlessly resisting it.

I turned to Luna, wondering if she might know more.

“This thing—did it come from another dimension?”

“We don’t know the full story. But supposedly, one day it just appeared in this world. We also found it in the demon zone. The truly terrifying thing about it isn’t how dangerous it is—but that it always finds its target. No matter where they hide. Even the ocean floor wouldn’t save them.”

“And the danger?”

“Anyone Expert level or above can destroy it. But if that was all there was to it, it wouldn’t be so famous. One of the scariest things about it is that it doesn’t die.”

More precisely, even if it’s completely destroyed, it regenerates and starts moving again.

Now I was really curious.

With a monster like this in their possession, how had they stayed quiet this long?

Why not just show its face to assassination targets and be done with it?

“Right. So how do you plan to use that thing to find her? She’d have to look at its face first, right?”

“Of course, just this one tool won’t be enough since the target won’t look at it. But we have many such items and creatures capable of creating unique phenomena.”

He continued,

“We’ll handle the preparations for the search. Your job is—”

“To find the bastard and finish them off. Right?”

“This is a temporary alliance.”

“Hmmm…”

Suddenly, the image of a frog riding on a snake’s head and pretending they’re traveling together popped into my mind.

These guys are still hiding everything they can while demanding trust.

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