CH 260

○ Lesser Demon King Kyuka’s Camp – Nehyor

Kyuka’s soldiers were running to and fro.

And upon seeing how much chaos had descended over the camp, Nehyor decided that no good would come from staying any longer.

It might just be a matter of days now until Kyuka becomes a Demon King.

He had been thinking such things.

Even though it would be difficult, there were still other Lesser Demon Kings.

He just needed to convince them and stay close by until they became a Demon King. Such had been his thoughts.

“…Damn it. It’s like some terrible joke.”

Nehyor squeezed the Orb of Control. It was the one he had extracted from Kyuka’s body.

This was not enough for him to evolve.

But even though he knew this, he had brought it with him as if he could not let it go.

“Now I’ll have to find someone else… That being said, Golan crushed the west, and so I have nowhere to turn.”

Should he go to the west and start plotting from the beginning?

He had already provoked them as much as he could, and instigated. How could he go and meet any of them now?

“In that case, what if I just turned Golan into a Demon King?”

He had grown so much in such a short while.

Considering his potential, perhaps he was Nehyor’s best bet now.

However, Nehyor soon abandoned this idea due to one single reason.

And that was that he was unable to predict what Golan would do.

Even when he was still an Ogre, Golan had been too much for Nehyor to control.

And so even if there was a good chance that Golan could rise to Demon King, there were too many uncertainties that would come with it.

It was too dangerous to incorporate Golan into his plan.

“I have no choice then. I’ll have to return to my country for now.”

The only thing left was to antagonize an ordinary Demon King.

While Nehyor may have looked young, he was actually quite old.

Indeed, he was much older than Farneze.

That was one of the reasons that he could not wait for Melvis to wake up. However, his lifespan would be extended greatly if he evolved.

It was this promise that had made him act so recklessly up until now.

The number of people in the Demon World who were cautious towards him was increasing. And he did not have much time left before his movement would become very restricted.

He had one, maybe two chances left.

After that, his abilities would start to decline rapidly

“I’ll discuss it with Legras and find out if we can go up against Demon King Legard.”

While Nehyor flew towards the south, something was happening in Demon King Dalm’s country…

○ Demon King Dalm’s Country – Melvis

The conversation between Lesser Demon King Melvis and Great Demon King Dalm was coming to an end.

While they had not met for a very long time, Dalm felt that Melvis had not changed much at all.

(He won’t listen no matter what I say.)

“It seems like things are getting very busy in the Demon World. Many Lesser Demon Kings and Demon Kings are risking their lives in order to rise up. I hope that you will stay calm.”

This didn’t apply to countries that came out to attack Melvis, but he was asking Melvis to abstain from sticking his head out in the matters of other countries.

When things became very active in the Demon World, the rankings would be disturbed.

New and young Lesser Demon Kings and Demon Kings were born, while the old and strong faded away now that their role was ended.

But Dalm saw it as a necessary ritual for the Demon World to be reborn.

Dalm was one of two who were considered to be the strongest. But he was no exception.

And so he would accept it, when the time came for him to withdraw.

However, Melvis was different.

It was possible for him to scorch the entire Demon World, and he could target specific races and destroy them if he wanted.

If Melvis decided to reshape the Demon World entirely, what kind of world would it be?

Dalm doubted the word ‘reborn’ would be fitting for whatever the result was.

And so he asked for restraint.

It was his duty as the old guard to say it.

Even though this duty could make him the target of Melvis’s wrath, he had to say it.

“Hmm. …Well, I shall consider it.”

Dalm sighed with relief upon hearing those words.

The old Melvis might have just said, ‘what does that have to do with me?’

It wasn’t hard for him to imagine Melvis saying, ‘and?’ after explaining how this was for the future of the Demon World.

It had only been a few hundred years, but perhaps Melvis had mellowed just a little during his sleep…

“But I might have to destroy the Celestial World. Regardless, I will not end the Demon World before then.”

“I…I’m glad that you understand…me.”

“I should be leaving soon.”

He had heard what he came to hear.

And so Melvis stood up as if he had no business here anymore.

As for Dalm, he was mulling over Melvis’s words and trying to determine if it was a joke or not.

And then, with a ‘Ah, yes, yes,’ Melvis turned around.

“I want you to ask the Fallen for more details about what is happening in the Celestial World now.”

“…!”

And with that, Melvis flew out of the window.

Melvis’s goal was to meet Yamato.

That was something that hadn’t changed at all.

As the Tablet of Control showed, there was no doubt that Yamato was a Lesser High King.

He was alive somewhere.

Some said that he was in a place between space and time. But no one knew. No one had seen him.

The only thing that was certain was that he wasn’t in the Demon World or Under World.

And he was surely not in the Celestial World.

Dalm did not know why Melvis had claimed that he might destroy the Celestial World.

Perhaps it was because he wasn’t sure.

If destroying the Celestial World would allow him to meet Yamato, Melvis would not hesitate to do it.

(…Really now. Will you not come back to us?)

Dalm could only beg in his heart to the Lesser High King who was not there.

After leaving Great Demon King Dalm’s castle, Melvis saw that someone else was flying below him.

Far below him, in fact.

That being said, it wasn’t because this person was flying low, but that Melvis was flying abnormally high.

“…Hmm. From the north, eh?”

The person who was flying was Nehyor, who was returning to his country from Lesser Demon King Kyuka’s camp.

For no more reason than finding him to be an eyesore, Melvis gathered purple fire into his finger in order to vaporize Nehyor in a flash… But then he remembered Dalm’s earlier request.

“Hmph.”

He muttered to himself, and he decreased the size of the flame before unleashing it.

—Dodon!

“Ggggaa…wh-what…!?”

After being hit in the back by something huge and condensed, Nehyor crashed to the ground.

He was half dead and writhed in pain.

But by then, Melvis was already far away.