Chapter 180

○ Near the border – Miralda

“Why…are they retreating? And so suddenly? I just can’t understand it.”

Miralda listened to the reports that kept coming in, and tried to think of a reason for the retreat. But she could not think of a single logical explanation.

“Perhaps by coincidence, something happened in each country that made it necessary… No, that cannot be it.”
The more she knew about the situation, the more abnormal it all appeared.

This large scale war.
It had started when several countries had invaded Lesser Demon King Yunus’s borders.

Four countries had invaded at almost the same time.
However, each invasion was on a small scale.

And so Lesser Demon King Yunus had determined that he could fight back, and sent out his soldiers.
But as soon as a battle was to begin, the enemy retreated… Or so it seemed. And then each country suddenly became very active.

Reinforcements would be sent, they would fight each other, or they would boldly invade Yunus’s territory.

Lesser Demon King Yunus had to move his great army in order to put a stop to it, and he had already won a few victories.
But at that point, all five countries were in a chaotic war, and it was no longer just Yunus against the others.

Chaos brought forth more chaos. Yunus’s army could not retreat, but were forced to fight battle after battle, and were getting closer and closer to Tralzard’s territory.

Things were getting dangerous near the borders, and it was impossible to determine which country was fighting which country.

In fact, it seemed like most countries were now ready to attack anyone that was not from their own army.
They would chase you if you ran, and borders were easily crossed.

At this point, Miralda knew that this war would not be settled peacefully.

And so she decided to rank the countries by priority and try to control at least some of the chaotic battlefields.
Miralda gave two orders to the army on the frontlines.

The first was to destroy any army that came into their territories.
There was no doubt that they would want to fight if left alone. And so their time within the country should be kept as brief as possible.

The other order was about what they should do if a Demon King was about to be born.
In other words, if any of the countries seemed like they were getting too powerful, they were to crush them.

And if it was too much for them, they were to call for Miralda at once.

If a Demon King were to be born now, it would greatly affect the stability of the west side.
And so it didn’t matter how much their neighbors might hate them for it. It must be stopped at all costs.

As for the person who was currently the closest to becoming a Demon King—Lesser Demon King Yunus, they were to keep an eye on his army at all times.

His successes just seemed to continue, and she was getting worried that an intervention would be necessary very soon.
And that was when he suddenly withdrew his troops.
It was no wonder that she became suspicious.

“Still, this means that it ends with all of the destruction on his own lands alone.”
He had gone out because they attacked him. But now he was leaving without settling things.

She doubted that it was his original plan, but he had still been the first to withdraw his soldiers.

“And it’s not just him. The others are withdrawing like a wave… I’ll continue to have them watched, but it seems like I can return to the main camp now.”

For now, the region around the border was stable again.
Of course, things might light up again, but it would be difficult, now that they’ve already retreated.

But more importantly, Miralda was worried about Demon King Janius’s army.
Out of the soldiers she left on the battlefield, only a small portion of them could fight.

And so she felt that it was necessary to reunite with them as soon as possible.

“Demon King Janius is still a bigger threat than these Lesser Demon Kings. I should return.”
Miralda decided.

○ Golan

Susanoo-no-Mikoto was what appeared in my mind.
Apparently, it was what this new race was called. An Origin.

As it was a special evolution, there was no ‘Ogre’ at the end.
If I were to have children, grand children, great grandchildren, then we would be established as our own race.

“I had heard that it was easier for low-ranking races like Ogres to evolve. But wasn’t it supposed to be more difficult to undergo a special evolution?”

The high-rankers were usually fewer in number. That’s why they had higher chances of evolving.
Besides, the highest ranking monsters were practically Origins to begin with.

“Sir Golan. I’ve brought you some food.”
“Ah, thank you, Rig.”

“It’s nothing, sir. I’ve asked them to bring more as well, so you’ll have plenty to eat.”
“Thanks.”

“You have used a lot of mana in order to create this body. You must recover it quickly, or you will dry up. And so I’ve prepared in case you need to eat all day!”
“Uh, right….”

I was a little stunned by his enthusiasm.
I didn’t remember him being quite this reliable before.

I talked to Rig as I ate. Apparently, not only was my body creaking loudly as I grew in my sleep, but my mana had been decreasing visibly.

And so Rig immediately understood that I was using my mana to recreate my body.

Residents of the Demon World wouldn’t understand if I told them about it, but there was something called the law of the conservation of energy.
Perhaps this was the reason that you couldn’t evolve until you stored a certain amount of mana.

“If that’s true, it would explain why I didn’t evolve sooner, even though it should have been possible.”

I had already finished my fourth bowl by the time that I muttered this.

“That must be one of the reasons. Your mana will not increase unless you make it so that your body can withstand the increase. However, you need to store an incredible amount of mana in order to change your body.”
“Quite the contradiction there.”

It was like saying that a cup needed two cups worth of water in order to evolve into a bucket.
In that case, there was no way for the cup to ever evolve.

“Ahh, I see. So that’s why it was immediately after the fight.”

You acquired mana after defeating an enemy.
You absorbed it, temporarily increasing the amount of water.

Of course, since the water could not be contained in the vessel, it started to leak out slowly.
However, perhaps evolution would be possible if you used the increased water to make the vessel larger.

It seemed more like some kind of mysterious phenomenon than evolution. But I suppose it was close enough to the truth.

“Rig… Sorry, but I need you to bring me more food. Twice as much as this. I’m still starving.”
“Y-yes, sir!”

It felt like it was disappearing as soon as I ate it.
Apparently, I would have to continue eating for a long while.

“Hey, Golan. So you really did wake up?”
“And I heard that you’ve been eating your weight in food! You’re like a bug!”

It was the second day of constant eating. Saifo and Bekka came to visit me.
I lightly hit Bekka for being rude, and she went flying out of the tent.

“Ouch. Golan’s ridiculous strength has only gotten worse!”
“You’re the one who is ridiculous. Both in personality and strength.”

“Yes, his mana level has increased. It must be three times as much as before?”
“Really? I can’t even tell myself.”

“It is that much! And judging by the size of your arms, you must be five times stronger.”
“Can you really tell?”
Well, Bekka was not trustworthy when it came to such things, so I remained skeptical.

“By the way, Golan. They said that there are too many wounded here, so they can’t move the camp.”
“Well, there’s just been a war, and many would be in critical condition. And?”

While residents of the Demon World were tough, the enemy’s attacks were also incredibly powerful.
People still died and were badly injured.

“Minish’s army chased after the enemy that escaped, but there are still remnants of the scattered enemy in the area.”

“And what about Minish?”
“They chased the others all the way to the border and are staying there.”

People were always watching the border. Perhaps they meant to intimidate the enemy with their stares.
Plant fear in their hearts so they would not think to invade again.

“And so we received a message saying that we should be wary and expect sporadic attacks from the enemy.”

“I see. Well, if they scattered, then they shouldn’t be too much of a threat. Still, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Well, I told you now.”
“See you later, Golan. It’s meal time! Be thankful for us and eat a lot!”

“As if you even made it!”
Saifo shook his head sadly and Bekka cackled as they left the tent.

I was a little concerned about these remnants of the enemy army, but right now, I had to eat in order to survive.
And so I picked up my bowl and asked for more.

Next Chapter

Makai Hongi