Chapter 133: The Sage Hears of Invasion from the Heralds

From the next day on, there was a tense atmosphere surrounding a few members of the Demon Lord’s Territory.

The reason was simple.

It was because I told them about the man who called himself a "demigod," whom I met back at the World Tree.

Regarding this matter, I had the option to keep quiet about it.

If the information spread around, it would have caused unnecessary tension.

However, I ought to tell those who could be trusted.

I decided not to deal with this problem alone.

I needed to change my self-sacrificing mentality.

Afterwards, I had spies scour for confidential information in every nation to thoroughly investigate the demigod.

The demigod was a transcendental user of space magic.

As far as that field was concerned, not even my abilities could compare to his.

For a person to be able to use space magic meant that they could appear anywhere.

On top of that, they could also unleash attacks that couldn’t be averted.

He would be a formidable enemy.

Therefore, I wanted to avoid initiating combat without preparing any countermeasures.

The demigod offered me a duel.

Perhaps that was neither lie nor deception.

He would eventually come and contact me.

Before that happened, I wanted to investigate and identify his weaknesses.

The demigod possessed power beyond human standard.

It definitely wasn’t something he achieved through pure effort.

I was sure he gained that power through some sort of special means.

Otherwise, his power level was inexplicable.

I wanted to know how it was possible.

To be more exact, I wanted to know what his source of power was.

It would be something like what the Valley of the Death was to me.

Once I found out how he became strong, I could deal with him.

In some cases, I would also be able to weaken or even nullify his ability.

However, I expected the other party would be wary of that as well.

Even if finding this information was possible, I doubted it was something that could be easily done.

Still, it was something worth investigating.

Demigod, huh…

I thought while sitting on the throne inside the audience room.

It was a grandiose title, but that man was without a doubt human.

Although his air of transcendence and capability made one think otherwise, there was no doubt he was human.

The authority of the Valley of the Death told me.

That man was not god kin, it was someone I could kill.

However, I wasn’t worried about that.

In cases of direct confrontation, I still had a good chance of victory.

It was not uncommon to have to fight a person who was more capable than I am in combat.

It was in my essence to bridge the gap and overcome the adversary.

All that was left was how to defeat him while minimizing the amount of casualties.

Of course, I couldn’t be careless or arrogant about it.

I was going to proceed carefully.

There was never a more dangerous moment than when you were convinced of your victory.

Even I had defeated several demonkin who were like that back then.

I had to make sure that wouldn’t happen to me.

The demigod seemed to have a strong sense of purpose.

He didn’t move out of self-interest.

It was the figure of a person who was carrying out a mission.

However, that was also the case for me.

I was someone who couldn’t afford to let myself be defeated by anyone.

If I were defeated, all my hardships until this point would be wasted.

All the lives I had killed would have been for nothing.

That should never happen.

The demigod was planning to dismantle the Demon Lord’s Army.

In other words, he was planning to eliminate the greater evil from the world.

That sounded good in theory, but it was no good in retrospect.

We already tried that once, and failed after we succeeded in ridding the previous Demon Lord.

The world needed an indestructible evil.

It didn’t matter who stood in my way, even if it was a demigod.

I would just destroy him as the Demon Lord.

At that time, the door to the audience room opened.

It was Grom who reverently entered.

He bowed in front of me.

“Excuse me, Demon Lord-sama. I’ve come to report.”

“What happened?”

“It seems that the Magic Kingdom’s Army have begun to invade from the south under the leadership of the Steel Knight.”

I was not surprised by Grom’s report.

By this time, the liberated territory of the Republic had begun to stabilize.

I had thought it was about time.

“If there are no specific commands I will just leave it to the archer. Do you have any orders to give?”

“Fumu…”

I pondered as I stroked my chin.

The opponent may be a herald, but Henry should be able to handle it.

Considering his past battle records, I thought that Henry and the Steel Knight wouldn't be a bad match.

He must be itching for a fight.

If Yuura were to accompany him, then victory would be guaranteed.

The defeat of the Demon Lord’s Army was unlikely.

As I thought of that, I suddenly got a flash of inspiration.

After organizing the plan properly, I gave instructions to Grom.

“Tell him to make use of the tank unit and cannon unit. I want to find out how effective they are in combat.”

“Hah! Certainly!”

Grom straightened his back and responded.

I was getting curious about how effective our latest weapon would be in combat.

We had an advantage in our fighting strength, so it would be a good time to try it.

In the long run, I wanted to take advantage of various tactics.

I needed to maintain the strong reputation of the Demon Lord's Army.

For that, I would actively make use of new weaponry.

The director also urged me to tell her how effective it was in combat.

Once I summarized the review, I was sure she would be happy.

As soon as the topic ended, I heard a knock on the window behind me.

There was Diella who peeked in from outside.

She then unlocked the window smoothly, trespassing as if it was a familiar thing to do.

Diella then spoke to us with a cryptic look.

“Wait, aren't you forgetting about something?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I answered her immediately.

I didn’t think I had forgotten anything in particular.

Was it better to not mention how she just blatantly trespassed?

Grom seemed to want to say something, but decided to keep his silence.

It seemed as though she wasn’t satisfied with my answer, as Diella pointed to herself and shouted.

“It’s about me! That fellow called a demigod appeared, right?! I’ve waited all this time, but why did you not call me?!”

“…You are not my subordinate after all. You might be my neighbor, but you are still an outsider.”

“Nuu, you’re right, but…”

As I pointed that out, Diella was mumbling something.

Although she often spoke taunting words, she gave the impression that she was often defeated in a battle of words.

Perhaps it was because she only spoke based on her intuition, without thinking about any counterargument for her opponent’s possible remarks.

Diella shut her mouth for a while, but her face suddenly lit up.

She then proposed what she thought was a good idea.

“Then how about hiring me?! It’s not like we’re strangers, so I’ll give you a special rate.”

“You charge money?”

“I’m not doing charity work. My pocket money is also running out…”

Diella wore a sullen expression again.

It seemed she was really in great need of money.

I had thought to tell her that it happened because she kept eating and drinking without consideration, but I doubted she would listen even if I preached to her about it.

I felt like sighing.

I suppressed that urge and answered her.

“I’ll pay the amount you request. Please lend me your strength.”

“…!”

Diella looked at me, astonished.

Her hazy eyes were staring at me.

She then put her hands on her waist and nodded cheerfully.

“Umu umu, you sure asked me earnestly! In that case, I have to do my best!”

Diella climbed the window and leaned outside.

She then glanced back and told us with a refreshed look.

“I’ll go along with the Demon Lord’s Army once I’m ready! You can just wait in anticipation for my great achievements!”

Then Diella disappeared outside the window.

Soon after, a terrible sound was heard from the ground.

Apparently, it was the impact from Diella landing.

She left the room like a windstorm.

As silence filled the indescribable atmosphere, Grom cleared his throat.

He then asked modestly to confirm.

“Is it really okay to do that?”

“It’s just a small expense. It would be cheaper to use Diella as much as we can just by doing that.”

“You’re right.”

I would have Diella work more than I pay her for.

It was a good thing that she'd turned into an ally.

Her impudent words and actions stand out now, but she was still the previous Demon Lord.

As I closed the window, I made a minor modification to the counterattack plan I made earlier.