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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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-An order from the Pontiff. From this moment until the current situation is resolved, all Hero passes will be restricted to the Central Sea Archipelago, except in special circumstances.-
What was this? I was completely lost. This event wasn’t in Seo Yoo-rang’s knowledge.
‘Why?’
The Pontiff’s orders were absolute for church Heroes. It was the price of their support. But such orders were rare.
“Hey! What’s the meaning of this?”
Heroes throughout the headquarters swarmed the clerk in charge of passes. Pale-faced, he stammered,
“I don’t know the reason! These are the Pontiff’s orders!”
Amid the chaos, I thought hard.
‘The Pontiff knew I was going to the Lodreim Kingdom.’
I had told her myself. It might be egotistical to think this was because of me, but the timing was suspicious.
‘Did she take my words to Gwen literally?’
I had told Gwen to go to the Central Sea Archipelago ahead of me. But I’d assumed the Pontiff would see through that. I hadn’t even thought the Demon Kings would believe it.
‘No, she wouldn’t have.’
The Pontiff had led the church for centuries. She was competent. She wouldn’t have missed my intentions. This had to be her plan.
‘I’ll play along.’
Whatever her plan, it wasn’t good for the Demon Kings. And I couldn’t disobey a direct order. I made up my mind.
“Central Sea Archipelago, right?”
“Huh?”
I snatched the signed pass.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
I offered empty condolences to the overwhelmed clerk and checked on Yuseora and Elsie. Yuseora was pale; Elsie looked annoyed.
“Let’s go.”
“Seo Yoo-rang? But…”
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her through the crowd. Elsie and Yuseora followed. We escaped the headquarters before the crowd became a mob.
“We need to hurry.”
As I quickened my pace…
“Wait.”
Yuseora asked,
“Suddenly, the Central Sea Archipelago?”
“Hm?”
Her question made me realize something. I showed her the pass. It clearly read, “Lodreim Kingdom.”
“It would be a problem if people realized our pass is different.”
“Ah.”
Passes were issued per party, so others might try to join us if they knew ours was different.
That’s why I’d asked the clerk about the Central Sea Archipelago, even though I knew he’d signed it for the Lodreim Kingdom. Yuseora had fallen for it.
“Elsie, you didn’t fall for it, did you?”
“Well, I would have made the same assumption.”
Yuseora pouted. I said,
“Anyway, let’s hurry. The gates for the Lodreim Kingdom and the Central Sea Archipelago are different. We’ll attract less attention if we leave quickly.”
Using the authority of the wind would be too suspicious. We just needed to walk faster.
‘I don’t know the Pontiff’s plan, but…’
I’d play along, but my priorities were clear. The Central Sea Archipelago was important. Even if we defended the Lodreim Kingdom, if the archipelago fell, it would still be dangerous.
If the Lodreim Kingdom fell to the 72nd Demon King, defending the archipelago might be our only chance to save Heilen. But…
‘I can’t abandon either.’
The Pontiff’s order meant the three of us were essentially alone in defending the Lodreim Kingdom. It seemed impossible. But I saw a glimmer of hope. It wasn’t much, but you couldn’t know without trying.
Even if it meant a messy retreat, attempting was better than giving up. The Demon Kings in the archipelago would likely act after the 72nd Demon King’s awakening, so dealing with them after saving the Lodreim Kingdom wouldn’t be too late.
‘Perhaps the Pontiff is using this to buy time for preparations.’
We had until the Lodreim Kingdom’s potential fall to deal with the archipelago.
‘But I don’t want it to come to that.’
The Pontiff’s intentions were unclear. What was clear was that I was going to the Lodreim Kingdom. Elsie’s home. The place Libero wanted to protect. A place where many people lived.
I had to protect it.
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“I greet the Pontiff.”
In the Pontiff’s chamber, a figure in white knelt. An Apostle. Nameless, numberless. Just a tool with a task.
“This is the list of Heroes who left Heilen before the decree, as you requested.”
The Apostle presented the compiled list. The air shimmered, and the list floated to the Pontiff. She opened it.
“I see…”
“You are dismissed.”
The Apostle rose and left. Alone, the Pontiff said, looking at the list,
“He went to the Lodreim Kingdom. More ambitious than I anticipated.”
The air shimmered, and the list dissolved.
“It doesn’t matter.”
She stared into the void.
“It will all be over soon.”
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Outside the Lodreim Kingdom’s barrier, in a hidden Demon King base, a Demon King entered Levia’s chamber. The 54th Demon King, Laus.
“Older Sister.”
Levia turned.
“What is it?”
“I’ve completed my errand.”
He looked disgruntled. After inspecting the Basil-Sak gate, he was still on errand duty in the Lodreim Kingdom. But this was only possible because, as a low-ranking Demon King, his presence was difficult to detect.
“You’re late. Report.”
His task had been to contact a spy and confirm the information from the Demon King Council.
“I confirmed the travel restrictions to the Central Sea Archipelago.”
“So it was true.”
“A drastic order, but it didn’t mention Allen Blake. Most Heroes were confused, but rumors of Allen Blake going to the archipelago are spreading, and Heroes are starting to go there.”
This could disrupt their operation in the archipelago.
‘Perhaps we should redirect most of our forces.’
The Lodreim Kingdom operation was out of their hands. Its success hinged on the 72nd Demon King’s awakening. And that was beyond their control.
‘We’ll leave a minimal force here, just in case.’
She asked Laus,
“And the other task? Information about those who entered the Lodreim Kingdom recently?”
“No change. Only five Hero parties entered in the past month.”
“Five…”
As planned. She had advised the Knight Commander, who’d seized power with her help, to implement an isolationist policy, using the Sak cold war as a pretext. This diverted public attention from the royal palace to Sak.
The increased Chaos Beast activity could also be blamed on Sak. The same applied to Heroes. While they couldn’t ban Heroes outright due to the church’s influence, the anti-foreigner sentiment had deterred most.
“However… the Hero party that just arrived includes the promising candidate mentioned in the Demon King Council.”
“Promising candidate? The one from the Steel Clan?”
“No, Hero Yuseora. The one who triggered the Challenger Rule and demonstrated a high-ranking strike.”
Levia replied dismissively,
“Wasn’t the price for that strike her Sacred Relic?”
“That penalty has been somewhat mitigated, as she received twenty-four Sacred Replicants from Heinz.”
“Sacred Replicants. Just imitation holy swords. A rookie wouldn’t use them recklessly.”
She didn’t see Yuseora as a threat. Laus continued,
“…There’s also a swordsman and an archer. The archer lost to the Rosemond in the graduation competition, but inherited Hero Lyudmila’s bow.”
“Lyudmila’s bow… Two swordsmen and an archer? No mage?”
“No.”
“Rookies.”
A terrible party composition. Without a support mage, they’d be vulnerable, and their potion supply would be limited. And only three members?
“They’ll disappear in the Chaos Realm soon enough.”
Three was the minimum party size. If one fell, it was over. They weren’t worth worrying about.
“Select the Demon Kings for the palace. The rest will go to the Central Sea Archipelago immediately.”
“Understood.”
Laus agreed. But his face was dark. He hadn’t told her everything. On his way back after receiving the decree, hoping to impress Levia, he’d sent a powerful Chaos Beast to attack three Heroes passing through the gate.
The result was a massacre. The black-haired swordswoman bisected the beast with a single stroke, and the other swordswoman finished it off, hacking it to pieces. It was over in seconds. And the black-haired male archer had just stared at him calmly.
‘No need to tarnish my reputation by reporting a failure.’
But their performance vastly differed from Levia’s assessment. He wasn’t sure if it would affect the operation, but he doubted it.
Even if all three were high-ranking level, stopping the Lodreim Kingdom operation would be nearly impossible.
‘It won’t matter.’
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