“Warriors gathered here, the time has come! We shall now proceed to Kobaldia and strike down the Imperial King, who has fallen into the enemy of the world, the Demon Race! For this, your strength is needed!”
Emperor Reinhardt’s speech is taking place in a plaza at the foot of Amagi Castle.
Today is finally the day to go to Kobaldia and exterminate all Demon Race, including the Imperial King.
This battle, which will see the participation of many Hunters as well as the elite chosen from the Ritter’s Guild, will bring true unification to the Philia Continent once it concludes.
However, the current Retisencia is a dangerous area rampant with Monsters, particularly An and Catastrophe Species. It’s also said that some Monsters are evolving into Demise Species due to the Divine Emperor’s magic, so simply defeating the Imperial King will not bring true peace.
Therefore, Retisencia will likely be sealed off for some time.
“We march now! Everyone, board your assigned Beast Carriages!”
“Yes!”
Oh, it seems Emperor Reinhardt’s speech is over.
In that case, I’ll head to Kobaldia.
Ah, I forgot to mention, this is the breakdown of the Knights participating this time.
Order’s Guild
Ancient Order: 6 members
High Order: 57 members
Normal Order: 32 members
Father’s Guild
High Father: 24 members
Normal Father: 9 members
Dragoner’s Guild
Hydragoner: 13 members
Normal Dragoner: 6 members
Beastar’s Guild
High Beastar: 35 members
Normal Beastar: 21 members
Facer’s Guild
High Facer: 8 members
Normal Facer: 10 members
Soldier’s Guild
High Soldier: 41 members
Normal Soldier: 14 members
A total of 276 members, comprised of 173 High Knights and 6 Ancient Knights.
Holy Grave
Ancient Class: 3 members
High Class: 9 members
Gracious Lynx
Ancient Class: 2 members
High Class: 10 members
Normal Class: 4 members
Falcon’s Beak
Ancient Class: 4 members
High Class: 6 members
Sacred Bird
Ancient Class: 1 member
High Class: 10 members
Lily Wish
Ancient Class: 2 members
High Class: 13 members
Wing Crest
Element Class: 2 members
Ancient Class: 5 members
Additionally, 71 Raiders, including 49 High Class, 16 Ancient Class, and 2 Element Class Hunters, will join, bringing the total to 347.
The number of Hunters is smaller than in the war against Solemne. However, many Raiders are unreachable because they are inside Labyrinths. The main reason is that there is a limit of five participating Raider groups, excluding Wing Crest, as intense combat isn’t expected.
The increase in Ancient Hunters also means there’s no shortage of combat power.
The participants from Wing Crest are just me, Mako, Meena, Lydia, Ludia, Athena, and Eos.
Prim and Flam are pregnant, and Mana and Rika haven’t even been six months postpartum.
Hilde, being the Phantom King, could not participate this time. As for Yuri, Aria, Raus, Rebecca, and Carol, it was deemed unnecessary to have them miss school for this. Reina and Seras haven’t evolved yet, making it difficult for them to accompany us.
Ed and the others are Crafters, so there was no need to involve them either.
Camellia, a High Human, could have participated, but she, along with Ed and the others, Yuri, and Apricot, needed protection, so I assigned them to the Butlers.
Still, the number of Ancient Classes has truly increased.
There are seven more in the Order’s Guild, and a similar number of Hunters, so will that make around 50 in total?
And with many still capable of evolving, if the Philia Continent hadn’t been unified, wouldn’t the balance of power have completely collapsed, leading to disaster?
In fact, the destruction of Solemne was partly due to this.
“Today marks the end of Retisencia. But the real trouble starts after this, doesn’t it?”
“It does. While there’s no need for governance, our vigilance against Monsters will need to be far greater than in other regions, requiring frequent investigations.”
Athena and Ludia are discussing the future of Retisencia while moving outside the Float carriage. Indeed, it’s going to be challenging in ways other than governance.
“Do we know how many evolved Demise Species there are?”
“Since there might be Monsters evolving even now, it’s impossible to find out.”
Lydia answers Athena’s question. I think so too.
The Demise Species, believed to have newly evolved due to the Divine Emperor’s magic, are currently identified as Kobold Emperor and Cetus. Both were slain by my father and mother.
However, Aria received a oracle that there are others, and considering the Divine Emperor’s landing point was Kobaldia, it’s not unthinkable for multiple Monsters to have evolved into Demise Species even after the destruction of Retisencia.
Furthermore, Kobold Emperor inhabited Valentia and Cetus lived near Torencia, so it’s possible for Monsters in other locations to have evolved.
While some individuals can be defeated by a few Ancient Classes, there is a significant difference in strength even among the same Demise Species. This means requests for their subjugation might increasingly come to me and Mako.
“Regarding Demise Species, are their ranks determined by the original Monster’s rank?”
“That’s what they say, but it’s just one criterion. The longer they’ve evolved, the more their magic will have settled, so it’s not absolute.”
The rank of Demise Species is invariably O-A rank, but not all of them possess the same strength.
In fact, the Orc Emperor and Orc Empress that Prim and I defeated could be subdued individually. However, the Antlion Empress, a Demise Species of Antlion, which is the same rank as Orcs, would likely have been impossible for me to defeat alone.
Moreover, the Slume Lord, perhaps due to taking decades to heal its wounds and being pregnant, felt less formidable than Hanuman, who is of a lower Monster Rank.
This applies not only to Demise Species but also to An, Catastrophe Species, and even Normal Species.
Due to individual differences, some can even surpass a rank higher than themselves. Therefore, Monster Rank is a guideline, but not an absolute measure.
Blindly trusting Monster Rank often leads to severe repercussions, as I’ve heard many times.
“Ah, so that’s how it is.”
“That’s why the Orc Emperor and Empress I and Prim defeated are said to have evolved very recently.”
At that time, both Prim and I had also just evolved to Ancient Class. Thinking back, it’s amazing we defeated them individually.
“Regarding Demise Species, investigations will continue in the future. They may be evolving not only in Retisencia but also in other regions.”
“Indeed. Simply investigating is a life-threatening task, and we can’t even predict where they might inhabit, so Hunters will need to be more cautious than ever.”
“That’s the only way, but sacrifices are unavoidable. Regions that were previously unguarded may suddenly become dangerous.”
Emperor Reinhardt, who is accompanying us in our Beast Carriage, also finds the issue of evolving Demise Species troublesome, and I understand his feelings.
We genuinely don’t know which Monsters will evolve, and if they were near populated areas, it would be truly dire.
There’s also no guarantee that an Ancient Class will be conveniently nearby in such situations. In the worst-case scenario, villages or towns could be annihilated.
This is truly a troublesome situation.
I can’t help but think that that damned Divine Emperor truly intends to destroy the Helios Orb.
“Speaking of which, I heard Maoh-dono had doubts about the peculiarities of the Gradia Continent.”
Emperor Reinhardt then brought up a doubt that Mother had raised one day.
I recall her mentioning something like that.
“She did, but wasn’t that regarding Monsters rather than the Gradia Continent itself?”
Mother’s doubt was about the Red Dragons inhabiting the Gradia Continent.
Red Dragons are A-rank Monsters, but they did not display a sub-rank indicating their evolution status.
The same applied to the Burning Dragon and Blood Ruby Dragon, which also inhabit the Gradia Continent.
“That alone is enough to say that the Gradia Continent is peculiar. While I cannot state it definitively without observing other Monsters, there is undoubtedly some secret.”
Indeed, Emperor Reinhardt is right. However, if asked what that might be, I have no idea.
Since there’s definitely something going on, and to discover it we’d have to go to the Gradia Continent, any resolution to this mystery will have to wait for later.
“It’s not easy to go there, and significant preparation is required even if we do. However, I agree that there is some secret, or rather, a mystery.”
It’s possible that the Abyssyans are unaware of this secret or mystery.
It is known that the Gradia Continent has no races other than Humans, and apparently, there is no healing magic.
In fact, Demon Race cannot use Inn Magic at all, not even Supplication Magic.
Even ordinary people believe in a religion called the Abyssyian Orthodox Church, which is the complete opposite of the Philia Continent’s religions. Therefore, they likely cannot use it at all.
…Hmm?
Come to think of it, where did the god Abyssyia come from?
In the Helios Orb, gods are real, and oracles are occasionally received.
Moreover, the thirteen gods, including the Father God, have clear roles. Therefore, regardless of the religion participated in by the Priests’ Guild, the doctrines taught are generally similar.
Yet, the Abyssyian Orthodox Church espouses teachings that are diametrically opposed, to the extent that they claim Abyssyia is the true Father God.
If we consider this normally, it implies an invader.
“Yamato, what’s wrong?”
“Ah, no. It’s just something that caught my attention.”
Ludia called out to me as I suddenly found myself lost in thought.
I was indeed contemplating something, and I believe it’s significant enough.
“Hmm… Now that you mention it, I don’t know where it came from either.”
“Right? With gods being real, worshipping a fictional god should be punishable by divine retribution. Yet, the Abyssyian Orthodox Church worships this fictional god. Of course, there’s also the possibility that it emerged from somewhere…”
“If that were the case, the gods would have shown some reaction. However, neither Amister nor the Priests’ Guild have any record of such an event.”
As Emperor Reinhardt and Mako say, from the gods’ perspective, it would also be a god that appeared out of nowhere.
Considering the attacks of the previous two times, it’s clear that no divine punishment has befallen Abyssyia.
Perhaps the god Abyssyia is also real, and it’s because that god is issuing oracles or descending upon the Gradia Continent that magic and even the ecology of Monsters differ so greatly between the Philia and Gradia Continents?
“I’d like to say that’s not the case, but considering the current situation, I can’t deny it.”
“Rather, it is highly likely. That would also explain why the Monster Ranks are so inconsistent.”
As I say it myself, I’m not fully convinced.
It merely provides a possible explanation.
However, this is probably what Mother wanted to convey.
Direct verification is impossible, but we can think about it endlessly, and I feel this might lead to the mystery of Abyssyia. Thus, I will continue to ponder it thoroughly from now on.
