Chapter 256

Chapter 256. Expedition (3)

“Take in as many as possible! We have to save every single person we can!”

Cyprus, an island at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean.

Leraje, No. 14 of Pandemonium’s Seventy-Two Demons and the commander of the fortress built there, was shouting as he encouraged his subordinates.

At the moment, demons who had escaped from the nearby mainland by ship were flooding into the fortress.

“Those roots shouldn’t be able to cross the sea! There’s no safer refuge for our people than this place!”

The enormous tree roots that had suddenly appeared in Dis City had spread wildly across the surrounding regions, destroying cities and devouring demons.

Because of that, demons were fleeing from Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and other nearby areas.

Those who managed to escape by sea were being taken into the fortress on Cyprus.

“Your Excellency! A ship is approaching from the west!”

“From the west? Did it come from the direction of Antalya? Bring them in immediately!”

“That’s... it looks like humans are aboard!”

“What?! How could humans possibly cross the sea and reach this place?!”

Turkey and the surrounding regions were completely controlled by Pandemonium.

If humans were approaching by ship, they had to have come from the direction of Greece.

That region was protected by powerful Greek Constellations, which was why Pandemonium had never managed to fully conquer it.

“There’s no way those humans could sail all the way here!”

Traveling here by ship from Greece was extremely difficult.

The sea was swarming with all kinds of marine monsters, and Pandemonium had bases scattered throughout the area.

The most troublesome threat of all were the Sirens, who had formed a major force in these waters.

The Sirens were a race combining human and bird features, and their songs could lure sailors into losing their minds.

Even demons had trouble dealing with them.

There was no way mere humans could pass through waters ruled by the Sirens and reach Cyprus.

“But there really is a ship approaching...!”

“Then I’ll go check it myself!”

In the end, Leraje took several subordinates and headed toward the western side of the island.

From the watchtower, he could clearly see a ship approaching.

“It really is... a human ship?!”

After confirming it through a telescope, Leraje clenched his fist.

“They’re invading while we’re suffering through a disaster...!”

Leraje belonged to Pandemonium’s pro-war faction.

He had always despised humans.

That hatred had only grown worse after Moloch and several other comrades were slaughtered in India.

“They knew we were suffering and chose this moment to attack?!”

Leraje’s eyes widened as he raised his bow.

He was one of the finest archers in Pandemonium.

If he fired at full power, he could destroy an entire ship.

“I’ll punish you myself!”

An arrow filled with magic power shot forward.

With a thunderous boom, it flew precisely toward the man standing at the front of the ship with his arms crossed like a captain.

But Leraje immediately froze in shock.

“What?!”

A man had suddenly appeared and raised a large shield.

He completely blocked the arrow.

The projectile was deflected harmlessly into the sea.

“He blocked my arrow perfectly...!”

As Leraje stared in disbelief, he saw a pale-skinned man aboard the ship raise a bow.

And a moment later...

BOOOOOOM!

An arrow flew from the ship and struck the watchtower.

A massive explosion erupted.

“Gaaah!”

“Lord Leraje!”

“Save us!!”

The watchtower collapsed, and numerous demons screamed.

“H-How can an arrow have that much power...?”

Still shaken, Leraje tried to counterattack again.

That was when the sky above him suddenly darkened.

"...!"

A four-legged beast with wings was flying overhead.

Before Leraje could identify it, a boy jumped down from its back.

“What the...?!”

He was a small Asian-looking boy.

Yet he landed casually, reached out, and grabbed Leraje by the arm.

“Launching a surprise attack without even talking first?”

"...!"

Leraje felt the world turn upside down.

The boy had grabbed his arm...

and thrown his entire body.

H-How can a child have that kind of strength?!

Leraje crashed into the nearby fortress wall.

Still unable to understand what had just happened, he barely managed to stand.

Another man, who also seemed to have jumped down from the sky, was now standing in front of him.

“You’re Leraje, one of Pandemonium’s Seventy-Two Demons, right?”

“W-Who are you?”

“Nameless King.”

"...!"

The moment Leraje heard that name, his eyes widened.

“Don’t tell me... the Constellation who defeated Marbas and Astaroth in France?”

“That’s me.”

"...!"

A Constellation had appeared.

This was an extreme emergency.

As a commander, Leraje should have acted calmly.

Instead...

“Enemy of my comrades...!”

The Constellation in front of him had the frail appearance of an ordinary human.

Leraje’s muscles swelled as he imagined tearing that body apart.

But before he could act...

“Just shut up and listen.”

“Ghk?!”

The boy’s kick slammed directly into Leraje’s chest.

He felt his ribs shatter.

Leraje dropped to his knees.

“Y-Your Excellency!”

“Save Lord Leraje!”

Nearby demons rushed forward.

But a dark-skinned man suddenly appeared, swinging an axe and splitting open the demons’ heads.

“Where do you think you’re going?! Stay back until we finish talking!”

Covered in blood, the man roared.

The surrounding demons recoiled in fear.

Watching them, the Nameless King spoke.

“Leraje, stop your men.”

“D-Don’t make me laugh! Pandemonium’s army will never submit to mere humans!”

“We didn’t come here to make you submit.”

“We’re not here to fight, so don’t misunderstand.”

“W-What?”

“I said we’re not here to fight.”

“So stop your men and...”

The Nameless King suddenly frowned.

By then, every demon around them had already been subdued.

There was no one left to stop.

“Anyway, Leraje.”

“We came to deal with the disaster covering Pandemonium.”

“What? Those tree roots?”

“Yeah.”

“We’re heading to Dis City.”

“W-Why would you help solve a disaster happening inside Pandemonium?!”

“We’re your enemies!”

“It could spread beyond Pandemonium’s borders.”

“If that happens, humans will suffer massive damage too.”

The Nameless King reached out and helped Leraje to his feet.

Leraje was visibly confused by the unexpected kindness.

Then the Nameless King said something even more shocking.

“And because I want to save you demons too.”

"...!"

Leraje doubted his own ears.

A Constellation wanted to save demons?

“T-That’s impossible!”

“Don’t lie!”

“Why would you save demons who invaded humanity?!”

“Because I know there are demons capable of communicating with humans.”

“Demons who can join hands with humans.”

"...!"

At that moment, Leraje realized music was playing around them.

And along with it...

the cries of the refugees surrounding the fortress had begun to quiet down.

Even Leraje himself felt his heart becoming calmer.

“Leraje, Pandemonium has suffered enormous losses because of this disaster.”

“What do you think happens if an all-out war with humanity begins afterward?”

“T-That’s...”

“You demons would suffer tremendous losses.”

“But humans would also pay a heavy price.”

"..."

“But if both sides recognize that cooperation is possible...”

“the future can be different.”

Leraje pressed his lips together and stared at the Nameless King.

Looking into those unwavering eyes...

he felt something he couldn’t quite describe.

“Can I trust you?”

“Of course.”

“Hmm... fine.”

Perhaps he had been intimidated by their overwhelming power.

Perhaps the mysterious music had influenced him.

Either way...

Leraje agreed to cooperate and help them land.

“Good work, Nameless.”

As I walked along the walls of the Cyprus fortress with Leraje’s permission, Number 49 appeared beside me.

“How’s the reaction?”

“About half are positive.”

“The other half are either negative or undecided.”

“Peace with Pandemonium is probably still difficult for them to accept.”

The reason I had openly declared in front of Leraje that I wanted to help Pandemonium was because I wanted Number 49 to broadcast it on Constellation Tube.

I intended to give the Constellations a new subject to think about.

As I had told Leraje, once this disaster ended, Pandemonium would be drastically weakened.

Humanity would then launch a full-scale counterattack.

And an all-out war would create countless casualties.

The old Merlin might have welcomed that situation as a great opportunity to strengthen Contractors.

I didn’t.

Humans would suffer just as badly as the demons.

If a peaceful solution existed, that was the better path.

Pandemonium was already heavily weakened, which meant humanity would have the advantage in negotiations.

The extremists inside Pandemonium would still have to be eliminated through war.

But the moderates could potentially be persuaded.

I wanted to find terms both humans and demons could accept.

And I already had several possibilities in mind.

“Half being positive is actually better than I expected.”

“That’s probably because people liked the adventure we had on the way here.”

“Well, that too.”

We had encountered all kinds of things during the journey.

Various monsters.

Demon attacks.

“Especially the fight with the Sirens.”

“That got the best reaction.”

“Those things evolved to the point where blocking your ears didn’t stop their songs anymore.”

“We actually had to make a plan.”

Just like in the myths, Orpheus first used his music to suppress their singing.

Then Nezha, who was an artificial being and resistant to mental attacks, charged in and defeated them all.

“Nameless King.”

At that moment, Atalanta climbed onto the fortress wall and called to me.

“Jason’s finished resting.”

“We should be able to depart again.”

“Really? I think he could rest a little longer.”

“There’s no need to be considerate toward that guy.”

Atalanta had once nearly been excluded from the Argo because of Jason’s discrimination against women.

The two still had a terrible relationship.

“Number 49, there shouldn’t be any more major obstacles between here and Israel.”

“Prepare with the other Apostles.”

“Yes, understood!”

Number 49 wasn’t the only Apostle following us.

Numerous Apostles were acting as camera operators under her command.

In a sense, Number 49 was functioning like the director overseeing the entire filming crew.

Once we land in Israel, the real fighting will begin.

I could sense something ominous coming from the mainland.

The roots weren’t merely covering the ground anymore.

Something else seemed to be changing.

“Joo Minha, doesn’t this feel strange?”

“Yes.”

“The closer we get to Pandemonium’s heartland, the more everything is changing.”

Listening to Joo Minha’s reply, Kang Yujin looked down at the ground.

They were riding Sinbad’s Constellation Armament, the Roc, a gigantic bird more than a kilometer long, toward Dis City.

From the air, they could see Pandemonium’s current condition with their own eyes.

“At first, I thought giant tree roots were just covering the ground.”

“But the farther we go, the stranger it gets.”

At some point, the writhing roots had stopped moving.

And now...

they were beginning to take on a metallic texture.

“It seems like they’ve stopped absorbing energy from the surroundings.”

“Maybe they’re no longer roots.”

“Maybe they’ve become the trunk.”

“Then...”

“There may be fruit forming somewhere near the center.”

"..."

What exactly was happening in Dis City?

“That’s enough chatting.”

Heracles, who had been sitting while staring straight ahead, spoke.

“It seems the enemy has finally appeared.”

"...!"

Bat-like monsters were flying toward them through the sky.

Each one was around two meters long.

There were quite a lot of them.

Seeing them, Sinbad sucked in a breath.

“H-Heracles, what do we do?”

“Don’t worry, Sinbad.”

Heracles stood and raised the bow he had brought with him.

“We’ll break straight through.”

"...!"

Heracles’s arrow tore through the flock of bat monsters like a thick laser beam.

More than a dozen monsters fell from the sky.

Heracles calmly nocked another arrow.

“You lot stop standing around and fight too.”

“Understood!”

At his Constellation’s order, Alexandros hurriedly raised his own bow.

Kang Yujin and Joo Minha also prepared their attacks.

“We’re charging straight through!”

He really was straightforward.

Kang Yujin liked that part of Heracles.