〈 Chapter 209 〉 Alliance

*

“Elsie?”

She was running towards me.

“Elsie!”

Of course, it was nice to see her after such a long time.

But the guy next to her was a problem.

“Stop right there!”

Immediately, Elsie halted in her tracks.

“Allen?”

“What’s up with that Demon King beside you?”

“Demon King?”

Elsie glanced at Ael beside her and replied.

“Oh, this guy… just stay here for a moment.”

She left the Demon King Ael standing there and rushed over to me.

“For now, it’s a temporary alliance.”

“Alliance? With a Demon King?”

I was thrown into confusion by Elsie’s unexpected words.

I couldn’t imagine Elsie, who was almost destroyed by a Demon King, forming an alliance with one.

Of course, I knew that there were some Demon Kings like Libero who were somewhat good.

But Elsie probably didn’t know that.

“…But I had no choice. I was told you were in danger.”

Even so, Elsie had allied with a Demon King for my sake.

“The Demon King came to tell me. Honestly, at first, I didn’t believe it, but strange rumors kept coming in over time…”

“Strange rumors?”

“They said you were wanted for betraying the High Priest, and that you were injured after a battle with Karkel. The Demon King told me these rumors days in advance.”

So, that certainly made it hard not to believe her.

“But what about the Kingdom?”

“Yes, I’ve been stabilizing things as much as possible. I heard most of the Demon Kings have been defeated by you, so it should be fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

But…

“Why did that guy follow you all the way here?”

Well, based on Ael’s lack of activity in the game, she was likely seen as a milder Demon King.

But whether her nature was truly mild couldn’t be confirmed until I met her.

Actually, maybe meeting her wouldn’t even clarify that.

“I needed to find you, after all. A Demon King named Violet kept informing me of your location through that other Demon King.”

“Violet?”

She was the Demon King who informed that Schurz was heading to Hailen through Levia’s words in the Central Sea System.

And she was also the one that Freira was friendly with.

“Violet, huh?”

I was suddenly curious.

What exactly did she know?

And what kind of Demon King would she be?

So, I called out to the distant Ael.

“Demon King Ael.”

At that, her previously bored expression brightened.

“Oh? You know my name?”

“Of course.”

“How?”

I didn’t plan to explain the reason.

“Well?”

It was better to keep an upper hand in the conversation.

“Ugh… you’re weirder than I’ve heard.”

I didn’t know from whom she heard that, but I called her over anyway.

“Come over here.”

Thinking she wouldn’t pose a threat to us.

Apparently, Ael understood that too.

“Ugh, I don’t want to. You guys seem too dangerous.”

Well, that couldn’t be helped.

“Alright, then just stay there and…”

I wanted to say that, but upon reflection, I couldn’t stay here for too long.

“Let’s move.”

“Where to?”

“…Inside the barrier.”

At that, Demon King Ael turned around.

“I’m leaving. I’ve already finished my task of guiding that girl to Allen Pleuk.”

No, I couldn’t let her go.

“I was asking Violet, not you.”

“What?”

“Hey, Violet. Can I take this girl inside the barrier for a little chat with you?”

“Hmph, as if I’d follow Violet’s orders!”

There was no guarantee that she would listen, but I trusted Violet.

I thought she might want to have a chat with me.

And that was correct.

“Violet, what now? A hidden collection?”

I could hear her swallowing.

She turned back to me and asked.

“…You won’t hurt her, right?”

I finally understood.

This girl was not gentle but simply lacked ability.

*

We finally entered Basilium’s barrier.

It was the first time in a long while I had seen the unique red sunset hue of his barrier.

But I had no time to indulge in nostalgia now.

“Oops.”

I cleared some debris from the rundown shack.

It was to create a little space to stay for a while.

‘Is this enough?’

I looked around.

It seemed we had secured quite a spacious area.

However, aside from that, I also saw some other comrades.

First, Miss Gwen appeared to be preparing a meal.

She had grown rapidly during this time and now definitely showed signs of being an adult.

Internally, she was already the most mature among us.

Elsie and Sara seemed to be moving debris while talking about what had happened until now.

It seemed like Sara was mostly reporting to Elsie.

I told them that the debris seemed cleared enough for now.

Lastly, Luel was sitting with Lucy, looking at Basilium’s barrier.

Though they seemed like they were just hanging out, the two were actually on alert.

Still, their conversation unfortunately drifted into my ears.

“You always wanted to come here before. How does it feel to be here in person?”

“…It’s awesome. Just as I imagined.”

“Good to hear.”

Lucy smiled.

It was her first smile since losing her arm, and it looked truly relieved.

She must have cherished her younger sibling that much.

To her, Luel said, “Thank you, sis.”

“Huh? No, I haven’t done anything for you…”

“No, just being by my side is enough.”

“But now I…”

Lucy swallowed her words.

Depend on the plan we were to set now, but it would be tough for her to follow us anymore.

And she became this way to save Luel, as he tried to save me.

‘Damn it.’

For the sake of her, I must stop the impending destruction.

I’ll prevent the destruction and create a world where they can travel even without weapons.

For that, I need to…

“Then…”

I walked over to the bound Demon King Ael and gathered everyone.

“Let’s organize our future strategy.”

*

As soon as Ael entered the barrier, everyone rushed to bind her.

Just in case she would have a change of heart.

Of course, Ael could have resisted, but she willingly accepted her bindings, knowing it would be meaningless.

“I knew this would happen.”

A grumbling Ael.

Honestly, the way she was tied up so obediently and wrapped in dozens of rounds of rope like a ball made her look a bit pitiful.

So I apologized.

“Sorry, but I’ll let you go once I’m done talking with Violet.”

“I don’t care, honestly. You could kill me here, and it wouldn’t matter. I’d be disappointed to miss Violet’s secret collection, though.”

Her demeanor strangely reminded me of Freira from before.

“Really wouldn’t mind dying?”

“Yeah? Well, to be honest, I’ve lived long enough. And thanks to you, it seems the world on the brink of destruction is no longer a concern. If I had known living this boring life would mean this, I’d rather have lived short before becoming a Demon King.”

In that moment, my gaze landed on Gwen.

A mistake that should not have happened.

But Gwen shook her head as if to say it was fine.

“It’s okay. Everyone has their own life. And I’m delighted with my present life.”

She smiled.

Yet my heart still ached at that smile.

That ache now felt like a sin.

“Hey? Is something wrong?”

Ael, confused by the suddenly strange atmosphere, mused.

I told her, “Just connect me with Violet.”

“The connection is already established. I just pass on Violet’s words to you, right?”

I nodded.

Then Ael’s tone changed.

“Hello. I am Violet.”

It seemed that was Violet’s voice tone.

To prove that, Luel, who was beside me, chimed in.

“That’s definitely Violet.”

With Luel’s testimony, I introduced myself.

“Hello. I’m Allen Pleuk.”

Honestly, since she was a Demon King, I debated whether to use honorifics, but thinking about her relationship with Freira, I decided to do it.

She reciprocated by using formal speech.

“Nice to meet you. Actually, while chatting with Freira and Luel, I’ve really wanted to meet you.”

Hearing Freira’s name made my heart sore.

“They spoke about me, huh?”

Suddenly, Luel’s face turned bright red beside me.

‘Luel?’

At her reaction, while I was bemused, Ael interjected.

“Yes, they did. By the way, Allen, I must ask something that I’ve really wanted to know.”

“What is it?”

“What happened to Freira?”

I realized I had indeed received the news from her.

She couldn’t even see Saint City Hailen.

‘I should say it, right?’

After a brief moment of deliberation, I responded.

“Freira is dead.”

Ael’s expression turned pale.

“Freira is dead?”

From her reaction, it seemed Freira had built friendly relations with other Demon Kings, excluding the somewhat antagonistic Later Demon Kings.

“…Yeah, she’s dead.”

Even I found it hard to believe.

But Miss Stella wouldn’t lie.

Moreover, if not, Schurz wouldn’t have rushed into Hailen like that.

“Why the hell did she die? Where? By whom?”

Ael seemed a bit agitated.

“Hey, Ael…”

I was about to try to calm her down.

“Violet? Sorry, I get it…”

Violet seemed to have already taken the first move with her words.

She shifted back to Violet’s voice tone.

“So, did she end up dying at Schurz’s hands?”

I shook my head at her question.

“No, she died at the hands of the High Priest.”

Schurz didn’t even touch Freira.

“High Priest? Why would he? Freira isn’t even a Demon King… Wait, Violet, are you saying Freira didn’t become a Demon King?”

It was quite surprising that Violet knew Freira wasn’t a Demon King.

But I couldn’t respond to her question.

“I don’t know for sure. I didn’t see it myself.”

I tightly gripped the ‘wing’ in my hand.

If someone using it surfaced, I might have some answers, but in the Hundred Braves, the pure blood from the Ice Valley could only belong to Schurz and the playable characters.

However…

The playable character had already died.

So now there were no pure bloods left from the Ice Valley.

Unless I overlooked something.

“If I didn’t miss anything…”

“Violet, what does that mean… Ah, Allen Pleuk is tied to Freira’s…”

In the meantime, Ael kept mumbling.

“Don’t say that? Hmm… is that the case?”

“Ael?”

“No, just had a conversation with Violet. But Violet said something strange…”

She glanced at me.

Then she said, “I’m not sure. Violet will handle it.”

Something seemed off, but from further questioning, it probably wouldn’t lead anywhere.

‘By the way, does Violet not know the true nature of the High Priest?’

Last time she assumed Schurz was headed to Hailen to kill Freira, not the High Priest.

From her reaction now, she seemed puzzled that the High Priest killed Freira.

‘Well, even Luel, who was conversing with her, didn’t know the High Priest was this formidable.’

She only suspected the High Priest was power-hungry, nothing beyond that.

Even the Water Sage didn’t know, so it was totally understandable.

But one thing bothered me.

‘Could the other early Demon Kings be in the dark too?’

When I interrogated Demon King Levia, she had mentioned something about the early Demon Kings being aware of the Divine Authority’s seal.

That was precisely why I reached out to Violet in the first place.

…So now I should get to the point.

“Violet, then let’s get to the main topic.”

At this moment, I lacked both power and information.

Thus, I needed to reach out as far as possible.

“I want to meet the early Demon Kings.”

Even if they were Demon Kings.

*