Chapter 183

Demon King Janius’s army had invaded and was then defeated.

After that, the soldiers that had remained grouped up and attacked us. Normally, such a thing was unthinkable.
They had already lost once. There was no way that they could win if they came together and attacked again.

Their morale would be low, and since they weren’t from the same corps, they would not be able to act together.
In other words, their defeat was all but certain. No one would think to do such a thing.

So, why had they attacked…?

“The person leading them was very ambitious, and had a special ability that allowed them to force the others to obey. That and the fact that we were away.”

Apparently, it had happened through a series of coincidences.

…Well, this was the explanation that I was given by the leader of this army and the direct subordinate of Demon King Tralzard, General Miralda.

After defeating the enemy, I returned to my tent and immediately got to work eating.
I was so hungry that I felt like I would starve to death.

I wasn’t sure what happened exactly after that, but I heard that Dyle managed to take care of the rest.
They said that he chased the enemy so that they would run straight towards Minish’s army. It was quite a feat.

It was during the next day, while the post-battle cleanup was underway, that Miralda’s army arrived.
Things would have been quite different had they arrived two days earlier, but there was nothing that could be done about that now.

“Were things alright near the border?”
After defeating Demon King Janius’s army, Miralda had headed there with her men.

And I hadn’t expected them to be back so soon.
In fact, I was assuming that the soldiers here would go and join her at the border once they had recovered.

“It was fine. After all, the enemy has withdrawn.”
“Withdrawn? So the fighting has ended?”

“Mmm. It’s as if someone doesn’t want a Demon King to be born right now. But only recently, it seemed like it would happen at any moment.”

“Haa… So the situation has changed.”
“But it’s just so abrupt. Nearly all of the countries withdrew their armies at once. This kind of movement makes you think that someone is controlling things from behind the scenes. I must send someone in order to investigate this.”

She might have sounded paranoid to some, but I understood what she meant.
While she didn’t know how, she was certain that someone was behind all of it.

And that person did not want a Demon King to be born. That’s how it was.

This had all started because Nehyor and his Wild Hunt had killed a Lesser Demon King.
That’s what caused all of the chaos in the west.

And so Miralda must also suspect that this unnatural development was because of Neyhor as well.
In other words, it wasn’t about what each country was doing. What was important was what Nehyor was planning.

“Still, it’s good that things have settled in the west.”
I wouldn’t be required to fight.

This body needed more testing. I was too afraid to use it as is.
And so if it was possible, I wanted to avoid fighting for a while.

“You. You would avoid battle after undergoing such a special evolution?”

“If the rights of me and my men are violated in any way, I’ll have no mercy. However, I don’t care to get involved in battles I have nothing to do with in strange lands.”

Wasn’t that normal?

“That’s one way you are very similar to your master.”
“Do you mean General Farneze?”
Really? I didn’t think so at all.

“No, the one above her.”
“Uhhh… Are you talking about Lesser Demon King Melvis?”

I asked, and Miralda nodded with a ‘Mm.’
But then she immediately narrowed her eyebrows. What did that mean?

Melvis had been sleeping for hundreds of years.
And so not many people were alive who knew him when he was awake.

“You…from what I can see, your mana level is seven times higher than what it used to be.”
“Haa…so it’s gone up again.”

Last time it was only five times. Now it was seven…it kept going up.

That being said, it wasn’t stable at all. It would go up a lot and then down a little. This repeated as it slowly climbed higher.
I still felt hungry all of the time. Would my mana level keep increasing until that feeling ended?

Wait a minute. Did General Miralda just change the subject?

“I’ve seen hundreds of evolutions of the lower ranking races before. Their mana might increase by three or four times if they’re lucky. Seven times is unheard of.”
“In my case, I think it’ll keep going.”

“I suppose it’s because of what you evolved into. …By the way, what did you evolve into? Well, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Knowing a person’s race meant knowing the limits of their strength and their weaknesses. And of course, their special abilities.
And so some would not want to share it with an outsider.

“I don’t mind. It’s something I’ve never heard of before, and there is no information on it.”
“Hmm. So you are a new type of Ogre. How interesting. And what is it called?”

“Susanoo-no-Mikoto.”
“Hmm…Susanoo-no-Mikoto. I’ve never heard of that either.”

“I didn’t think you would.”
The only Susanoo-no-Mikoto that I knew of was from Japanese mythology.

And since it was the name of a god, I didn’t know if it was right for a resident of the Demon World to go by it.

However, in ancient Japan, they worshipped gods who were destructive and violent, so maybe it didn’t matter?

“Still, Susanoo-no-Mikoto… Mikoto… No, but could it be?”
“…Huh?”

“By the way, you said that you’re still hungry, yes? How much do you eat in a day?”

“About ten times as much as before. But if I had to eat twenty times as much, I feel as if I could do it.”

“I see. And it’s all being converted into mana. How frightening.”
“…Uh, General. Did you just try to change the subject again?”

“Did I?”
“You did. You seemed a little strange when we were talking about King Melvis.”

“Not at all.”
“But you were. …Is there something that you can’t say? It sounded like it was about my race, and I’d really like to know.”

As I had grown, I was now looking down at her from quite a height.
Of course, I was still much weaker than her. But visually, it might look as if I was threatening her now.

“Well…who knows? It’s true that I changed the subject…but there is a reason that I hesitate to talk.”
“There is? But is it about my race?”

“That too… Well, it’s really about my master, Demon King Tralzard.”
“…What?”

“I will tell you this, as Tralzard and Melvis’s lands are connected, they are acquainted with one another.”

“I’m sure they are. They have both lived long, I believe.”

“As for your race, I’ve heard something from King Tralzard… Well, not directly. But it was something about a similar race. And that memory just returned to me…as have others… And since it connects to my master, I’m not sure what to do.”

“…I see. So that’s why. In that case, I suppose I shouldn’t keep asking you about it.”

“…I’ve just had an idea. What if you were to meet with my master?”
“What!?”

“If you did, then there would be things that I could tell you. About my master’s race and about Lesser Demon King Melvis. And…”

—Lesser High King Yamato.

Said Miralda.

Next Chapter

Makai Hongi