[For the order ordained by the gods, for everything in this world—]
“If it’s everything, then first offer yourself up!”
Spouting the usual nonsense, the Winged was struck with a flash of the [Dawnbreaker] clad with the power of the Demon King. The massive body was effortlessly bisected, and the shattered remains turned into particles of light and disappeared.
“Phew. Well, that’s that.”
“Good work, Ed. How’s your hand?”
“It’s fine. Can’t say it’s without scratches, though.”
Waving my hand at Tia, who had called out to me, I showed her. My palm was somewhat scorched, but it can’t be helped as anything weaker than this won’t have any effect. Using excessive power comes with a price, after all.
“It’s a little unsettling that you get hurt every time you defeat an enemy.”
“I get what you’re saying, but it can’t be helped.”
From the day we started defeating he Winged, it’s been roughly two months. We’ve tried various things, but without the Demon King’s power, my full strength—such as the blow that cut through the moon in Miguel’s world—wasn’t enough to defeat the Winged.
At this point, we must consider that ordinary attacks won’t work. In other words, if the Demon King, a fragment of my power, doesn’t act, the world where the Winged appear will face certain destruction.
“The ‘problem of compatibility,’ huh… troublesome.”
“The number is also a problem. Where do they really come from?”
“Hmm…”
What makes it worse is that they can’t be defeated by anyone other than me—the Demon King is me, after all. Another issue is that, no matter how many are defeated, their numbers don’t decrease. We thought there might be a nest or base, but my [Akashic Compass] found no such thing.
In that case, the only possibilities are multiplication or resurrection…
“Do we really have to defeat them all at once?”
“Maybe. But that’s impossible, no matter how you think about it.”
Tia’s words made me sigh in frustration. If even one of those creatures survives, they multiply and revive the next day. We’ve considered this theory from the beginning, but there’s no way to test it.
If they were ordinary creatures, we could attack and lure them. But the Winged are only interested in destroying worlds, and they don’t even retaliate when attacked, so we can’t lure them to one place.
So, we have to defeat the them across the world at the same time. But only the Black Knight and I can defeat them. They keep a considerable distance from each other, so considering travel time, we can defeat maybe three at a time. But there are dozens of them… not enough.
“If only there were many of me…”
In me, there are ten fragments of the Demon King’s power. If all could act as independent Demon Kings, it would be enough…
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Just then, I hear such a voice above me. Turning around, I find the Black Knight, his full black armor and cloak billowing.
“One ruler of this world is enough. I won’t tolerate any more like me.”
“Hey, Black Knight. Long time no see.”
I casually greet the Black Knight, who has purposely removed his helmet. The feeling of the curly beard on my face still feels slightly off, but I’m used to it now.
“Hello, Black Knight-san. Lovely beard today?”
“Hahaha, naturally. It’s part of my character.”
Of course, Tia is used to it, and the Black Knight happily strokes his beard at her praise. Maybe he removed his helmet just to hear her compliment? Well, I won’t dwell on it.
“So, what’s the deal with these winged creatures? Find anything?”
“No, not at all. I think we’ve tried everything we could…”
“I see. So it really comes down to…”
“Defeating them all at once. That’s the hard part.”
We looked at each other and sigh. What we can do alone or as a pair, such as defeating two winged creatures at the same time, we’ve already done. This is all we can come up with now.
“Besides, if it’s a dividing demonic beast, defeating them all at once is a classic requirement, right? You’d be the first to try it if you could.”
“Well, yes. But I can’t try it. I have no idea how to lure something that only targets worlds, not people or objects.”
“Yeah…”
Faced with the problem we just considered, I’m at a loss for words. If Hero Jeed, the only individual targeted by the Winged, was still alive, perhaps we could have lured them… but relying on him even after his death would be pathetic.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Hm? What’s up, Tia?”
“You know, I’ve been thinking about this for a while… What exactly is the ‘world’ that these Winged attack?”
“…Hm?”
I unintentionally tilt my head at the unexpected question thrown by Tia.
“What do you mean…? The world is the world, right?”
“That’s true! But you know, the fact that the land becomes devastated after their attack means that they only target normal land, right?”
“That’s true. As far as I know, the Winged have never appeared in a place once devastated. Is there something wrong?”
“I’ve told Ed about this, but the places attacked by these creatures, the power of the spirits becomes incredibly weak there. And the reason why the Black Knight’s Demon Castle was attacked first was that it was the place with the highest concentration of mana in this world, right? So if we intentionally gather mana and the power of spirits in a place, couldn’t we lure the Winged there?”
“Is that all it is?”
However, the Black Knight seems uninterested in Tia’s suggestion.
“I’ve already tried that. Certainly, if you gather power, the Winged will appear there, but only one of them. It would be a different story if they were attracted to the number of places we created, but that’s not the case.”
“Eh, you’ve already tried it…”
“Of course. Do you think that I haven’t tried something you guys have thought of?”
“I thought if we gathered power in a place that’s already devastated and kept defeating the Winged that came there, maybe there would be a different reaction…”
“…What?”
The Black Knight moved his eyebrows slightly at Tia’s disheartened words, stroked his beard, and his expression turned serious as he questioned Tia.
“Hey girl, what do you mean by that?”
“I mean, just like I said. The Winged don’t show interest in places they’ve already devastated, right? So if we intentionally do that in… say the collapsed area? If we gather spiritual power and mana in a part of it, won’t a living world suddenly revive in the middle of a desolate land? I thought creating such an exception might change the their reaction. And then if Ed or the Black Knight kept defeating the Winged there and continued to protect the place, wouldn’t the enemy become furious and attack?”
“”……………….””
Both the Black Knight and I opened our mouths in astonishment at Tia’s words, but quickly recover and looked each other straight in the eye.
“…Hey, Black Knight, what do you think of that?”
“It’s an extremely novel idea. It’s worth trying. If I act as a guard, humans won’t be attacked during long-distance travel, and…”
“With my [Stranger’s Box] I can transport the necessary supplies for a long stay. You’re amazing, Tia! You’re the best!”
“Kyah!? Wait, Ed!?”
Tia raised a confused voice as I suddenly hugged her, but I didn’t care and continued to hug her tightly.
There’s no guarantee it will work. There’s a high possibility that the worst-case scenario will be a fruitless effort, consuming a large amount of time, materials, and manpower. But even so, an idea that might change the current situation is more valuable than gold, and it’s a signpost pointing the way forward.
“Okay, let’s put it into action right away. Hey Black Knight, talk to the dignitaries of each country and arrange for personnel. I’ll handle the materials.”
“Alright. Let’s start moving right away.”
“Uhm, what about me?”
“Girl… How about going to persuade the Elves who have not joined the human factions? If we’re gathering the power of the spirits, it would be better to have the Elves’ cooperation.”
“Got it! Leave it to me!”
“Well, I’ll visit the Elves while procuring supplies. Let’s go together, Tia.”
“Of course!”
With a clear view of what we have to do, energy overflows within us. Now, will this be the turning point to overturn the stagnant flow? First, we’ll just try and see.
[For the order ordained by the gods, for everything in this world—]
“If it’s everything, then first offer yourself up!”
Spouting the usual nonsense, the Winged was struck with a flash of the [Dawnbreaker] clad with the power of the Demon King. The massive body was effortlessly bisected, and the shattered remains turned into particles of light and disappeared.
“Phew. Well, that’s that.”
“Good work, Ed. How’s your hand?”
“It’s fine. Can’t say it’s without scratches, though.”
Waving my hand at Tia, who had called out to me, I showed her. My palm was somewhat scorched, but it can’t be helped as anything weaker than this won’t have any effect. Using excessive power comes with a price, after all.
“It’s a little unsettling that you get hurt every time you defeat an enemy.”
“I get what you’re saying, but it can’t be helped.”
From the day we started defeating he Winged, it’s been roughly two months. We’ve tried various things, but without the Demon King’s power, my full strength—such as the blow that cut through the moon in Miguel’s world—wasn’t enough to defeat the Winged.
At this point, we must consider that ordinary attacks won’t work. In other words, if the Demon King, a fragment of my power, doesn’t act, the world where the Winged appear will face certain destruction.
“The ‘problem of compatibility,’ huh… troublesome.”
“The number is also a problem. Where do they really come from?”
“Hmm…”
What makes it worse is that they can’t be defeated by anyone other than me—the Demon King is me, after all. Another issue is that, no matter how many are defeated, their numbers don’t decrease. We thought there might be a nest or base, but my [Akashic Compass] found no such thing.
In that case, the only possibilities are multiplication or resurrection…
“Do we really have to defeat them all at once?”
“Maybe. But that’s impossible, no matter how you think about it.”
Tia’s words made me sigh in frustration. If even one of those creatures survives, they multiply and revive the next day. We’ve considered this theory from the beginning, but there’s no way to test it.
If they were ordinary creatures, we could attack and lure them. But the Winged are only interested in destroying worlds, and they don’t even retaliate when attacked, so we can’t lure them to one place.
So, we have to defeat the them across the world at the same time. But only the Black Knight and I can defeat them. They keep a considerable distance from each other, so considering travel time, we can defeat maybe three at a time. But there are dozens of them… not enough.
“If only there were many of me…”
In me, there are ten fragments of the Demon King’s power. If all could act as independent Demon Kings, it would be enough…
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Just then, I hear such a voice above me. Turning around, I find the Black Knight, his full black armor and cloak billowing.
“One ruler of this world is enough. I won’t tolerate any more like me.”
“Hey, Black Knight. Long time no see.”
I casually greet the Black Knight, who has purposely removed his helmet. The feeling of the curly beard on my face still feels slightly off, but I’m used to it now.
“Hello, Black Knight-san. Lovely beard today?”
“Hahaha, naturally. It’s part of my character.”
Of course, Tia is used to it, and the Black Knight happily strokes his beard at her praise. Maybe he removed his helmet just to hear her compliment? Well, I won’t dwell on it.
“So, what’s the deal with these winged creatures? Find anything?”
“No, not at all. I think we’ve tried everything we could…”
“I see. So it really comes down to…”
“Defeating them all at once. That’s the hard part.”
We looked at each other and sigh. What we can do alone or as a pair, such as defeating two winged creatures at the same time, we’ve already done. This is all we can come up with now.
“Besides, if it’s a dividing demonic beast, defeating them all at once is a classic requirement, right? You’d be the first to try it if you could.”
“Well, yes. But I can’t try it. I have no idea how to lure something that only targets worlds, not people or objects.”
“Yeah…”
Faced with the problem we just considered, I’m at a loss for words. If Hero Jeed, the only individual targeted by the Winged, was still alive, perhaps we could have lured them… but relying on him even after his death would be pathetic.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Hm? What’s up, Tia?”
“You know, I’ve been thinking about this for a while… What exactly is the ‘world’ that these Winged attack?”
“…Hm?”
I unintentionally tilt my head at the unexpected question thrown by Tia.
“What do you mean…? The world is the world, right?”
“That’s true! But you know, the fact that the land becomes devastated after their attack means that they only target normal land, right?”
“That’s true. As far as I know, the Winged have never appeared in a place once devastated. Is there something wrong?”
“I’ve told Ed about this, but the places attacked by these creatures, the power of the spirits becomes incredibly weak there. And the reason why the Black Knight’s Demon Castle was attacked first was that it was the place with the highest concentration of mana in this world, right? So if we intentionally gather mana and the power of spirits in a place, couldn’t we lure the Winged there?”
“Is that all it is?”
However, the Black Knight seems uninterested in Tia’s suggestion.
“I’ve already tried that. Certainly, if you gather power, the Winged will appear there, but only one of them. It would be a different story if they were attracted to the number of places we created, but that’s not the case.”
“Eh, you’ve already tried it…”
“Of course. Do you think that I haven’t tried something you guys have thought of?”
“I thought if we gathered power in a place that’s already devastated and kept defeating the Winged that came there, maybe there would be a different reaction…”
“…What?”
The Black Knight moved his eyebrows slightly at Tia’s disheartened words, stroked his beard, and his expression turned serious as he questioned Tia.
“Hey girl, what do you mean by that?”
“I mean, just like I said. The Winged don’t show interest in places they’ve already devastated, right? So if we intentionally do that in… say the collapsed area? If we gather spiritual power and mana in a part of it, won’t a living world suddenly revive in the middle of a desolate land? I thought creating such an exception might change the their reaction. And then if Ed or the Black Knight kept defeating the Winged there and continued to protect the place, wouldn’t the enemy become furious and attack?”
“”……………….””
Both the Black Knight and I opened our mouths in astonishment at Tia’s words, but quickly recover and looked each other straight in the eye.
“…Hey, Black Knight, what do you think of that?”
“It’s an extremely novel idea. It’s worth trying. If I act as a guard, humans won’t be attacked during long-distance travel, and…”
“With my [Stranger’s Box] I can transport the necessary supplies for a long stay. You’re amazing, Tia! You’re the best!”
“Kyah!? Wait, Ed!?”
Tia raised a confused voice as I suddenly hugged her, but I didn’t care and continued to hug her tightly.
There’s no guarantee it will work. There’s a high possibility that the worst-case scenario will be a fruitless effort, consuming a large amount of time, materials, and manpower. But even so, an idea that might change the current situation is more valuable than gold, and it’s a signpost pointing the way forward.
“Okay, let’s put it into action right away. Hey Black Knight, talk to the dignitaries of each country and arrange for personnel. I’ll handle the materials.”
“Alright. Let’s start moving right away.”
“Uhm, what about me?”
“Girl… How about going to persuade the Elves who have not joined the human factions? If we’re gathering the power of the spirits, it would be better to have the Elves’ cooperation.”
“Got it! Leave it to me!”
“Well, I’ll visit the Elves while procuring supplies. Let’s go together, Tia.”
“Of course!”
With a clear view of what we have to do, energy overflows within us. Now, will this be the turning point to overturn the stagnant flow? First, we’ll just try and see.
