Chapter 192 – Chapter 40: To the North (1/2)
Chapter 192 – Chapter 40: To the North
It was a dark and narrow room.
The War Knight in red armour was sitting before a platform.
There was no opponent on the other side of the game board. However, on the game board, black and white pieces were fighting each other.
The War Knight had been alive for many years. The number of people in the Demon World who had lived longer than him could be counted on one hand. However, the War Knight wasn’t as old as the Death Knight. Therefore, the relationship between the War Knight and War was somewhat different from the relationship between the Death Knight and Death.
War looked at the game board through the eyes of the War Knight. The War Knight was silent, and War didn’t hate such a knight.
There were many fights and many defeats. War lost some of his apostles. However, that was merely a tactical defeat. From a strategic point of view, the story had changed. War, the red flame-like woman, liked this about war.
The dark elves of Sky Forest had destroyed the magic fog with their own hands. The magic power the first fairy king left behind had disappeared, and there was no longer a magic fog in Sky Forest.
‘It was a little surprising.’
She hadn’t expected the Death Knight to be defeated. The future the red woman had anticipated was one in which the demonic god self-destructed after exhausting all the magic power in the fog.
The War Knight’s hands carried out a move on the board. The singularity, 2nd Prince Zephyr Ragnaros, was already in the north. Another singularity, the warrior, was heading toward the north, and he would soon reach.
‘The Conquest Knight will also head north.’
There was no such thing as unconditional victory in a war. There were always many variables which could overthrow the direction of the war. The Conquest Knight had achieved several tactical victories, so his presence was impossible to ignore. Maybe the convergence of two singularities and the Conquest Knight in the north would cause a strategic defeat.
The War Knight moved his hand again. The red woman looked at his fingertips and thought of the places which contained strategic value:
The Demon World’s absolute defense called Aegis Gate;
The Demon King’s Palace located at the heart of the Demon World;
And the Sanctuary.
The red woman let out a long breath, savouring the flames of war which were deep in her chest.
&
Sky Forest was a mess. As the fog disappeared and the surroundings became clearer, the terrible sight became more vivid.
Beatrice laid down a family of dark elves, who had been slaughtered by the ghouls, next to each other and chanted a short prayer.
She showed no discrimination as her golden magic healed other dark elves.
“Huu.”
Beatrice smiled warmly as she touched the cheek of a dark elf child.
“Locke, what will you do now?”
Beatrice asked, flicking back her golden hair. In order to look like an elf, she wore a white blouse and leather trousers, instead of a white robe. Additionally, she had given herself long ears by using magic.
Locke shrugged as he pulled an injured person out from a collapsed house.
“I will help here as long as I can. We aren’t too conspicuous yet.”
Locke was dressed in the normal red clothes of a sura. Just like Beatrice was disguised as an elf, he was disguised as a sura. The group had been rescuing the dark elves for hours already. As he said, they were in the remote areas to avoid being noticed.
“Then, we will become the allies of the Conquest Knight we saw yesterday?”
Carlov asked as he moved between Locke and Beatrice. The mercenary king had taken advantage of his magnificent body to disguise as a lycanthrope. The lycanthropes wore armour, so there was almost no difference from what he usually wore.
Carlov flopped down on the ground, while Beatrice sat down on some rocks nearby. Locke shrugged.
“Let’s see? I haven’t confirmed anything except for his strength. Moreover, the Guardian warned against the Conquest Knight.”
Locke had heard the story from Guardian Queian.
Queian didn’t fully believe in Conquest’s betrayal. Even if she had really betrayed the other riders, Queian believed that fighting together was dangerous.
Locke understood Queian’s thoughts. Although he had never encountered them personally, the Four Riders of the Apocalypse were those born for the end of the world. It wasn’t easy to change that innate nature.
Locke remembered Queian’s words and nodded. Then he turned back to Carlov, who was still staring in his direction.
“What is it?”
“No, I just had an absurd thought. The three of us are in alone in the Demon World. I am grateful that the Guardian believes in us, but… I think it is a little too much.”
Additionally, he was embarrassed about the thought of cooperating with the Conquest Knight since they were in an area where they had no one else to ally with. However, Locke just said with a charming smile,
“Carl, aren’t you one of the three people?” (Carl=nickname)
The Mercenary King and Saintess… The three strongest people were together, which gave them a power equivalent to that of an army.
“Um, I agree.”
Carlov was convinced, and this caused Beatrice to laugh. She poked Carlov’s sturdy arm with her finger and asked,
“Carl, are you praising yourself right now?”
“Locke is the one who said it.”
“I am a mighty warrior.”
It was Locke who replied, not Beatrice. Carlov was impressed with Locke’s response, while Beatrice simply giggled and nodded like he was correct.
“Hey, isn’t it amazing?”
“What?”
At Carlov’s blunt question, Beatrice pulled his arm and pointed.
“The Demon World. Isn’t it different from what we thought?”
“That is true. Honestly… I feel like I just travelled to a foreign country. The land is more fertile than I thought. Well, the barren places are seriously barren.”
They had expected sulfur fires and monsters roaming the streets, but the Demon World was surprisingly ordinary. Of course, it was a land where brutal power ruled, but it was much better than they expected. There were good people and bad people. In this sense, it was just like the Human World.
“I was honestly wondering what the Guardian was thinking when he sent you to the Demon World, but… doesn’t it seem like we can cooperate with the people here? And not just the Conquest Knight? I think it will work out pretty well.”
They had encountered many people while travelling through the Demon World. Even though the demon king had taken over, the people seemed just like humans.
“But there might not be a need to fight. Our biggest goal isn’t to fight but to make sure it doesn’t spill over to the Human World.”
Locke calmed down Beatrice’s excitement with his steady voice. Beatrice pouted slightly, while Carlov laughed.
The reason why these three people had come to the Demon World was simple:
Guardian Queian had predicted that a great fight would happen in the north. They had to prevent the flames of war from spreading by keeping the war inside the Demon World.