We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The Southern Threat
“Hey, if you keep running so leisurely, I’ll leave you behind.”
“With human physical abilities, this is my limit!”
The cities set ablaze by the rebel army were engulfed in flames. Buildings, rubble, roads, and corpses were all wrapped in fire, dyeing the world a passionate red. Srain and I ran through this world dominated by flames. Srain ran ahead of me, clearing a path by repelling the flames with his magic. I ran behind Srain, indicating the direction we should head.
“That way, that way.”
Ares-chan whispered in my ear. It’s thanks to Ares-chan that I can follow the traces left by the Wind Spirit. However, Srain cannot feel Ares-chan’s voice or presence, so he wouldn’t know which way to go without my instructions. Yet, he threatened to leave me behind!
Well, I could run at a speed that would surprise even a demon by using Spatial Jump, you know? But I don’t think now is the time to use Spatial Jump. Of course, it’s because I’m still in training, and using the technique would have all my Dragon Energy sucked out by the Spirit Current Sword. Even before that, I think it’s better not to expose my abilities too much. This is a world ruled by demons, so you never know what situation you might fall into. If I were to find myself in a desperate situation, I wouldn’t be able to do anything if the opponent knew all my moves.
“Srain, turn right at the next intersection!”
“You got it!”
Srain doesn’t offer any unnecessary retorts. About how I’m tracking the target person in the burning city, or the technique I used earlier to close the distance in an instant, stopping Srain’s movements. To get back to the story, I haven’t even used Spatial Jump yet. That is to say, the method of closing the distance with Srain was by means other than Spatial Jump!
“A secret, a secret!”
This is also one of the tricks up my sleeve that I’m keeping hidden. I can’t teach it so easily. Anyway.
“Eluru, Spirit Tree Spirit! This way! Be careful of ambushes!”
Turning right at the intersection on the main street, Srain kicked away the flames and ran towards the center of the city. Then, the Wind Spirit who had been tracking the suspicious person returned.
“Srain, there’s an ambush ahead!”
“No need to tell me.”
With a swish, Srain drew his black-bladed magic sword. As the black magic sword was imbued with Srain’s magic, its blade split into numerous fine pieces, like a segmented sword. Srain swung his right hand. With that motion alone, as if each of the split blades had a will of its own, ferocious blades danced freely in the air.
“Gyaaaah!” Screams erupted here and there. From behind objects and ahead of the burning flames, Srain’s ferocious blades took the lives of those who were ambushing.
“If there was an ambush, they must have noticed us chasing them!?” I was surprised by the number of screams. But Srain seemed to have a different idea.
“No, that’s not it. That place was probably some kind of destination in the first place. The ones lurking around were likely lookouts to prevent extraneous people from approaching.”
As I followed Srain’s line of sight to where he pointed, I also noticed.
“Only that magnificent building isn’t burning?” On the south side of the city, only the Lord’s mansion was protected by a barrier and not engulfed in flames. Similarly, in the center of the city, there was one building that was not burning. In this city where everything else was burning, it was clearly suspicious that it wasn’t affected by the flames! I wonder what that magnificent building is?
“The guy is inside that building. But be careful, there are a few people inside too.”
“Srain, there might be a suspicious person inside that building. Let’s go in carefully, keeping an eye out for ambushes!”
I conveyed the Wind Spirit’s warning, framing it as my own thought. Srain grinned at my suggestion.
“What are you talking about? If we know that place is suspicious, there’s no need to go inside the building, is there?”
“Huh!?”
Before I sensed a bad feeling! Srain swung his right hand again. Countless blades, dancing in the night sky and reflecting the ground flames in red, rained down on the building all at once.
“Aaaah!” My scream was drowned out by the deafening roar of the building exploding like kindling and the screams echoing from within.
“No, no, no! That’s not allowed!? We need to get information from that suspicious person to understand the full scope of this rebellion!” I pulled hard on Srain’s hem, trying to stop his further rampage. Ever since we first met, I’ve felt it, but Srain is a madman who wields his blades so ferociously! He mercilessly kills anyone who gets in his way, whether they’re allies or not, and blows away suspicious individuals along with their hideouts! Perhaps I shouldn’t have teamed up with Srain? Just as I began to be consumed by a sense of certainty, Srain finally stopped his actions. However, he didn’t relax his tense presence in the slightest.
“You’re an interesting guy, I can’t tell if you’re bold or cautious. You’re cautious about the movements of suspicious people, yet you interact with me, a demon who’s on guard, without any fear. Perhaps you’re more interesting than Slaner?”
“Pl-please leave me alone…”
“That’s right. First, let’s take care of this troublesome business.”
With that, Srain swung his right hand one more time. The ferocious blades danced again. And then, everything unnecessary in our field of vision was eliminated. The sword’s pressure extinguished the flames, and the rubble turned to dust. Where the unburnt building had stood, the corpses of those hiding within were gone.
“Ho?” A figure looking around at the surrounding devastation with interest in the night darkness. Although he held no weapon, his presence as a warrior was clearly not ordinary. Observing his outline faintly visible in the weak starlight and the distant glow of the flames, I said to Srain.
“He’s probably the person we were chasing. He infiltrated the rebel army and was issuing suspicious commands from behind the scenes.”
The silver-eyed knight who had fought me showed no special reaction to the person who appeared from the crowd and issued commands to the rebels. This means they knew each other. And the silver-eyed knight appeared to eliminate us, who were disturbing the rebellion of the enslaved people. In other words, the person standing in the darkness ahead is also one of the masterminds behind the rebellion of the enslaved people. Srain narrowed his eyes and stared at the suspicious person. Then, he said something unexpected.
“A slave rebellion orchestrated by demons. And in the shadows, a Divine Race?”
“Huh!?” What did Srain just say? Divine Race? But this is a demon’s country…
“…Ah, I see. That’s why it was divine pronouncements?” The rebels who attacked me were clearly insane. If the cause of their madness was “Divine Arts” used by the Divine Race. The Divine Race manifests arts by putting divine power into words. Divine Arts are said to interfere with all things in nature and even manipulate the principles of the world. I have witnessed the pinnacle of Divine Arts, which almost destroyed the world with mere screams. Although it doesn’t compare to those Divine Arts, if Divine Arts, which use words themselves as techniques, can manipulate beings with weak mental strength like humans?
“I was curious about what would be caught in a human rebellion. I didn’t expect to catch a Divine Race? You’re pretty good, Eluru.”
“Is it… my catch?” I’m not good at fishing, but I’m good at catching suspicious people. No, that’s not it! Srain is a demon. Even if he can’t see the other person’s appearance, he can intuitively discern their race if he can grasp their form. So, there’s no mistake. The true identity of the suspicious person standing in the darkness is, surprisingly, a Divine Race! The suspicious person also must have seen through Srain’s race as a Divine Race. Thus, there’s no escaping it. The suspicious person took a step forward, as if resigned.
“I am the one surprised here. To think that in such a remote rebellion, you…!”
“Srain!!” As if to return the surprise, the Divine Race man began to utter something. At that moment, Srain’s right hand moved. I hurriedly tried to stop Srain. But it was too late. The Divine Race man’s head flew through the air. The segmented blade’s edge sliced off the Divine Race man’s head from his body!
“Wh-what have you done!? We needed to get information from that person!” As expected, this person is crazy! To my speechless state, Srain retorted in a calm tone.
“I don’t know how much you know about the Divine Race. But they are troublesome beings who imbue words with their arts. If you let them speak freely, you never know when you might be affected by Divine Arts.”
“Th-that may be so…” I was also on guard, ready to react instantly if I saw any suspicious behavior! That’s precisely why I wanted to extract even a little information from the Divine Race man. And yet…
“What? You wanted to get information from him? You’re traveling performers, aren’t you? Why would you care about the circumstances of this country’s rebellion?”
“It’s true I’m not a citizen of this country, but! To say I have no interest in seeing fellow humans rebel would be a lie. That’s why I wanted to know the schemes of those who are secretly plotting, trampling on the feelings of humans. Besides, I’m not a performer!” Srain’s hearty laughter, unfitting for the surrounding devastation, echoed around.
“You’re an idiot. Or perhaps, if you’re ignorant of this country’s affairs, it can’t be helped. As for information, the mere existence of that Divine Race should be more than enough, shouldn’t it?”
“So, you mean… the mastermind behind the slave rebellion that broke out in the southern part of this country was a Divine Race’s behind-the-scenes work!?”
“In the Divine Race Empire, there are troublesome beings called the Imperial Honored Mansion. They’re like a religion to you, worshiping the Divine Emperor as the only absolute existence.” The Imperial Honored Mansion. I know about it. Surely, more than Srain? But I couldn’t say anything unnecessary. I silently waited for Srain to continue.
“It’s just a rumor, but I hear the Divine Race Empire, further south of this country, is plotting some large-scale plan. And this country has always had a very bad relationship with the Divine Race Empire.”
“Does that mean the Divine Race is planning to invade the demon’s country?” Srain shook his head, saying no.
“I only know about it as a rumor, but your concern is likely mistaken. The Divine Race is formulating some grand plan. So much so that rumors have reached the ears of the demons in this country. But it’s not a plan to invade this country. The Empire isn’t so foolish as to let news of their war plans leak to enemy nations. So, think about it. If your bosses are secretly advancing a plan, what happens when a demon nation you have a bad relationship with gets wind of it?”
“The Empire’s secret plan would be delayed? …So, the Divine Race infiltrated the demon’s country and caused trouble to prevent their Empire’s plan from being disrupted?”
“It’s a possibility. But if it’s the Imperial Honored Mansion, which worships the Emperor like that, they might go rogue and do something like that.”
“What troublesome people!” I never imagined the Imperial Honored Mansion would be secretly operating in this country too!? I inwardly slumped my shoulders at the extremely troublesome initiative of the Imperial Honored Mansion.
“Hahaha! This is getting more interesting than I thought. Alright, in that case, let’s head further south and go all the way to the ringleader of the rebel army!”
“Ehhhhh—!” Pulled along by Srain’s mysterious enthusiasm, we thus set our journey’s destination to the south.
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