"Yuru attacked Marfane?"
『That's right.』
The gargoyle who had just returned from a scouting mission reported to Clay.
『I confirmed that the southern region of Marfane was completely devastated. The people were talking. It was Yuru who did it.』
"Did you find out why she did such a thing?"
『It looks like she abducted the Crown Prince of Krata, who was attending the banquet. I don't know the full details though.』
"The Crown Prince?"
Clay's brows furrowed. It wasn’t something he could immediately accept.
‘Why the Crown Prince?’
The Blue Tower was situated within Ezer’s territory, and Ezer was far from free of the Holy Alliance’s influence.
No—saying it wasn’t free was putting it mildly. It was practically a vassal state. Wasn’t that the very reason Clay had been executed?
‘This will drag Ezer into a guilt-by-association situation.’
Even though the Blue Tower wasn’t under Ezer’s direct control, Krata wouldn’t let the matter slide.
Because this benefitted them.
The towers were independent and didn’t believe in the divine. To Krata, they were nothing but thorns in their side. Especially the Blue Tower, the most uncooperative of them all. Now that they had a justification, Krata would certainly pressure Ezer as well.
"A flashy self-destruction, huh? I had some interest in her as a mage, but that’s probably the end of her now."
Lin, who had been listening nearby, commented.
"Still, thanks to that, we bought ourselves some time. While they're busy flailing about, we can focus on our own plans."
She seemed almost amused by how things were unfolding.
"It’s not that simple."
Clay, who had been watching quietly, finally spoke.
"Yuru wouldn't have charged in like that without a reason."
"Huh? You think there's a purpose behind it?"
"Yeah."
Yuru might have been emotional at times, but she was still one of the few Tower Masters in existence.
She had mastery over magic and enough wisdom to be called a Grand Mage. Though, she probably wasn’t in her right mind anymore.
"She’s proud—very proud."
She must have resented the way the Holy Alliance forced the Tower Masters to attend Clay’s execution. Likely, she saw that moment as the beginning of Krata tightening its grip on the towers. If she couldn’t tolerate that any longer, maybe she made the first move.
Plenty of others in the towers shared her views. Those who resented the Holy Alliance.
Yuru’s actions would stir them into movement as well. They’d scramble to figure out why she had abducted the Crown Prince.
『Is it possible she did this because of you? Out of revenge, perhaps?』
The gargoyle added.
"Not a chance."
If she had strong enough feelings toward him for revenge, she would’ve done something before or during the execution.
Clay chuckled bitterly.
"And even if she did—what does it matter to me?"
There was a right time for everything.
And for someone like him, who was already as good as dead, whatever happened after his execution no longer concerned him.
It was a meaningless incident, as far as he was concerned.
"The Hero is already dead."
He made that clear.
"Doing something now doesn’t change what should’ve been done back then."
"Well, that’s true,” Lin shrugged, "Humans sure like being dramatic after the fact. So stupid."
"Lin."
"Ah! I wasn’t talking about you! You came back from the dead, so you're totally different!"
"Never mind that. When can you start the process that'll make me the Demon King?"
Hearing that, Lin cleared her throat, composed herself, and replied,
"Ah, right. Just give me a little more time. I’m currently brewing a potion that'll stabilize your body before we widen the channel for magia."
"To stabilize my body?"
"You can’t use your full strength right now. Even though Beatrice helped settle your physical state somewhat, opening a magia channel isn’t something that can be done lightly."
"I see."
"Yeah. You don’t have the strength to endure the pain yet. If someone with your potential dies just from one of my experiments, that’d be a huge waste."
"Experiments, huh?"
"I mean—don’t get the wrong idea. It’s just a term we researchers use."
『Ahem.』
The gargoyle who had been watching them interjected.
『If my part is done, may I take my leave? I’d like to return to stone form soon.』
"Seriously? You’ve got no tact."
Lin raised her eyebrows and shouted.
"Can’t you see the future Demon King and I are having an important talk?"
『…My apologies. I’m simply exhausted from gathering the information.』
"You did well. You can go."
With a wave from Clay, the gargoyle smiled faintly and shuffled off.
"You’ve got a lot to learn if you’re going to be the Demon King."
"A lot to learn?"
"Dignity. Charisma."
Clay glanced at her with a sigh, "You’re… quite the strange one."
"Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?"
"Don’t think too much about it."
"That totally means something!"
As Lin started bouncing in place, Clay chuckled and brushed his upper body.
‘A channel, huh.’
He still had doubts. Was it really possible to override the seal and replace divine power with magia?
"Still, I’ll try trusting you. Just this once."
He decided to put his faith in Beatrice’s eccentric little demon.
"Because I do believe in your skills."
"I mean, I’m not weird or anything. I’m just a top-tier talent in the Demon King’s army—"
Their conversation continued pointlessly for a while longer.
It held little substance—only that Lyn’s easy-going attitude toward a former Hero brought Clay some measure of comfort.
Not that he’d ever tell her that.
♧
“A curious development to coincide with your visit.”
A deep canyon, far from the Demon King’s Castle, Barungenia.
Inside a shadowy cave stood a grotesque being stitched together like a patchwork of corpses.
These jumbled pieces formed the monster known as Goltche the Butcher.
“Nothing boring ever happens these days. One of the Demon King’s Four Generals even brought the former Hero to me for body modification!”
He laughed in a raspy cackle.
“You’re still laughing about that? I told you yesterday,” Beatrice, biting into an apple atop a table, looked unimpressed.
Goltche bared his jagged teeth, “Of course I’m laughing. That’s one hell of a request. And it’ll keep being funny.”
He swiped the air with the bone saw in his hand.
“But if you wanted my help, you should’ve brought the Hero here. I need to cut and poke to give you real answers.”
“That’s exactly why I didn’t bring him, as I said yesterday,” Beatrice calmly swallowed her bite, “I’ve already analyzed his body thoroughly. Just give me the results before I run out of snacks. I’ll pass them along to Lyn.”
“Heh, it’d be better if I could see him myself…”
“No.”
“Why not? Wouldn’t that help me give better results?”
A broken record.
Beatrice walked up to him.
『Don’t get greedy. Be satisfied.』
Thud!
With a single word imbued with power, Goltche stumbled and dropped to one knee.
“I’m not here to toss you a fresh corpse—I came to see if there’s a solution. You want to watch that carefully stitched-up body of yours get torn again?”
Her golden eyes flared as she scolded him.
After a beat of silence, Goltche awkwardly responded.
“Of course not.”
“Then get to work.”
Pop!
The apple in her hand burst as she clenched it.
“I already gave you a whole day out of mercy.”
Faced with overwhelming pressure, even a monster like Goltche backed down.
“Fine. But I must tell you—the news my birds brought back is rather intriguing.”
“Oh? Let’s hear it.”
“It seems the High Mage of the Blue Tower, Yuru, attacked Marfane.”
“…?”
Beatrice’s eyes widened.
“Yuru attacked Marfane?”
“Yep. Turned the whole place into ashes, charging straight through.”
“Hmph.”
Surprise flickered across Beatrice’s face for a moment before she calmed again.
“Well, that is interesting. I’ll talk to Clay about it later. You just get back to your work.”
“Is that all the reaction I get?”
“I’ve got something more important to focus on right now.”
She fixed him with a chilling stare.
“And so do you.”
Goltche swallowed hard.
He had resisted being ordered around by someone who wasn’t the Demon King. She clearly knew that—and didn’t care.
“Understood.”
He bowed his head.
“I’ll start by drafting a diagram of the body. I’ll need your cooperation.”
Beatrice approached and nodded.
“Then let’s do this.”
She smiled.
“For the glory of our great future Demon King.”
♧
Yaphenon.
A ravine not far from the Marfane border.
Shrouded by a towering shadow, Neville von Lagnarich, Crown Prince of Krata, sat bound.
"Do you even realize what you’ve done?"
He glared at his captor.
"You abducted the Crown Prince of Holy Krata."
"I know."
Yuru, standing before him, spoke without remorse.
"Your father will come looking for you."
"No,” Neville clenched his teeth, "Would the Emperor even bother with someone like me? More likely…"
"He’ll just start a war?" When she said it for him, Neville fell silent.
"Let him,” She scoffed, "They were already planning to use the Blue Tower as a pretext to attack Ezer. He’s probably pissed about the non divine faction.”
"And you knew that…"
"None of that has anything to do with me,” Her eyes gleamed with madness, "I only need you."
Neville couldn’t understand.
‘What is she after…?’
He recalled what she had said in Logram.
‘For the Hero?’
But the Hero was dead.
A legend who once faced the Demon King—now just a forgotten soul executed by the very people he protected.
Had she gone mad with grief?
"I… I can’t do anything."
Neville’s voice trembled.
"All I can do is mourn him in my heart."
"No, Neville,” Yuru shook her head, "You can do something else. Something to do with all the blessings carved into your body."
As he blinked in confusion, Yuru made her declaration.
"I’m going to bring the Hero’s soul into your body."
A plan more twisted than any devil’s.
(End of Chapter)