Chapter 354

The thing in the underground labyrinth of the Demon Castle was a bunker. "Your Majesty... I don't think we came into the labyrinth." "I think so too. We came straight to the place beyond the labyrinth, although I'm not sure if we should call it an exit." Tanawa and Charlotte seemed to have realized that this was their real destination. It was inevitable, as this place could not be considered a labyrinth no matter how you looked at it. "I guess the reason we arrived here is... because the labyrinth was meant to lead only the Demon King to the proper location." "Your Majesty..." Tanawa looked at Charlotte with a sad expression, knowing what those words meant. "I think I'm practically in the same state as the Demon King right now." I don't know if I'm responding to myself or to Charlotte. However, there is a path that only shows itself to the Archdemon in the labyrinth, and we arrived at our destination without getting lost in the maze. Charlotte put her hand on the wall of the bunker and looked around. "Come to think of it, we're not even sure if this space is the equivalent of the sixth floor of the Demon Castle." If the labyrinth was actually the sixth floor, it would be possible to arrive simply by breaking through from the fifth floor. "Although the entrance to the secret passage looked like a simple passage, there is a possibility that it functions as a dimensional portal, so we could have come to a completely different space, not the Demon Castle." As Tanawa said, there was a possibility that this place was actually far away from the Demon Castle. Although teleportation was not possible in the Demon Castle, there was a possibility that a limited number of warp gates were installed. We don't know the actual method. However, the important thing is that we have arrived at the secret space of the Demon Castle. "Should we call it a shelter... that's the feeling I get." "That seems to be the case." This huge space contained a large amount of food stored in a permanent preservation food storage. There were also training equipment, including magic and weapons, as well as reagents and cultivation sites for alchemy. I looked around the bunker with a different feeling than Tanawa and Charlotte. It was a space where one could live alone for a very long time. At the same time, training equipment was also prepared. Most of the books in the library were clearly magic books. Bali would have tried to come here and would have arrived. Bali would have been alive in the original work. Right here in this bunker. It gave me a very ominous feeling. Would the vengeful Demon King Bali Junior, who burned with revenge while watching the destruction of Darkland, have trained here to take revenge on humans? If so... was the culprit behind the Gate Incident Bali, not Kantus Magna or Akasha? If the culprit behind the Gate Incident was Bali, then what was the meaning of everything I was doing? Is doing nothing the right thing for the world? But I don't know anything. There is no evidence that Bali caused the Gate Incident, even though we know he was alive at the time. If we do nothing, the Gate Incident will happen if Kantus Magna and Akasha were the problem. But what if they were not related? What if I accidentally caused the Gate Incident by meddling with something? In the original work, Bali was a useless guy. My physical data at the time says so. Could someone like him, who only had a revengeful heart, become a powerful magician capable of causing the Gate Incident after only two years of study? My growth rate is so fast that it's incomparable to others, so how could Bali have grown faster than me? It was enough to make my head explode. I have never been so afraid of not knowing the future. "If only the Demon King could enter this place, the current Demon King could have entered here too." Unlike me, Tanawa was also thinking about her own problems. "But why didn't he come here... I don't know." The bunker was prepared. I couldn't have come here because I didn't know about this place. "He probably thought it was more important for the former Demon King to survive than himself." This also makes sense. It was better to try to resurrect an already strong Demon King than to try to survive and become stronger himself, so he saved Charlotte. That's why the bunker remains in the Demon Castle, without welcoming the person who was supposed to come. Charlotte looks around the bunker and examines each room. "There doesn't seem to be any great treasure. It's probably because it's a shelter..." There may not be anything that looks like a special treasure, but there could be a very powerful weapon or artifact stored here for Bali. But then again, if it was a very powerful artifact, it should have been used to win the war. Storing a powerful artifact here to wait for the future is an action that assumes defeat. It's possible that there are no powerful artifacts stored here. Since the Demon King did not hide here, this bunker must have been for Bali. It's a place where Bali Junior can escape and grow after the Demon King's defeat, so it's not a place that will help in the fight right now. Let's put aside the question of how powerful Bali really was for now. I am currently a psychic and a warrior. If Bali was the culprit behind the Gate Incident, he would have studied magic here. Then, the place to check is the library. If there is a magic book related to the portal to this world, I can burn it. Then everything I need to do will be easily finished. I broke out in a cold sweat. If this is the starting point of all the problems, I can finish everything by burning a few books. I don't have to touch anything dangerous anymore. While Charlotte and Tanawa were exploring the area separately, I headed towards the library among the many rooms in the bunker. The books in the library were written in a common language so that I could read them without arousing suspicion from Tanawa and Charlotte. The library was quite large, with books ranging from introductory to very thick ones on the shelves. I wasn't interested in studying magic, but I was looking for books related to this world. If there were any magic books related to the portal to this world or the magic used by the former Demon King on Charlotte, it would be helpful. As I passed through the introductory books, I came across other magic books, including one on soul manipulation called "Sephonshul." It was a very thick book that dealt with methods of dealing with souls. If what was embedded in Charlotte's body was the soul of the former Demon King, then it was undoubtedly related to this Sephonshul magic. The book explained that those who mastered Sephonshul could do things that were normally impossible, such as dividing souls, manipulating the souls of others, mixing souls, turning the dead into ghosts, and transplanting souls. However, a complete understanding of the books listed below was also necessary to perform such tasks. It was clear that the former Demon King Bali was a master of Sephonshul magic. Although I haven't confirmed if there is magic related to this world, I found other books that I needed. I started picking out other books derived from the introduction to Sephonshul in the footnotes of the preface. There were more than six books related to Sephonshul, and they were about three times thicker than an ordinary encyclopedia. "What is all this?" Tanawa and Charlotte were staring at the books as I started to pile them up on the table in the common room. "It seems like this is the magic used on you," I said. There were powerful magic and visions of the demon world on the shelves to grow Bali. There may not be any treasure here, but the real treasure would be the magic books in the library. There were other thoughts that came to mind. If Sephonshul was a magic system that humans didn't know about, and the things in that library were visions and elixirs used by demons and witches, we might be able to lure Kantus Magna with them. It would require some consideration whether that was the right thing to do or not. Tanawa and Charlotte were not magicians, but they started reading the introduction part of the book that I had seen. They were clearly feeling the same emotions as I was. "A magic system that deals with souls..." Charlotte's fingertips were trembling, and Sabiolin Tanawa seemed to be doubting her own eyes. Soon, Charlotte read the part about what one could do if they mastered Sephonshul, and she covered her mouth. "I found it...this...this is it..." It was certainly a considerable amount. However, if anyone, whether it be a royal magician or anyone else, mastered Sephonshul, Charlotte's condition could improve. If that happened, even if my true identity was revealed later, Charlotte would not think that I had helped resurrect the Demon King. There was no treasure in the bunker, but there were books that were more valuable than treasure. Darkland's or the Demon King's magic. There were certainly ordinary magic books, but there were also magic books that corresponded to elixirs, and there were even magic books with only the name of the magic written on them without any indication of what kind of magic it was. Of course, it might be because I was ignorant of magic. "This is...not only my problem, but a very big discovery." Charlotte judged that the real value of the bunker was in the library, and that was true. Tanawa, Charlotte, and I were going through the magic books on the shelves in the library. "It would be good to bring a royal magician later. Of course...there would be the inconvenience of having to come back personally, Your Highness." Charlotte needs to come to the bunker in person to access it. It would be best to bring a magic expert to properly assess the value of the magic books in the library. They should only take the books related to Sephonshul and be cautious not to release dangerous magic into the world. The protagonist sees the books as a valuable lure for Kantus Magna. Charlotte is hesitant to take the risk of releasing dangerous magic. The protagonist plans to use the books as a bait for Kantus Magna. There were no magic books related to the Demon King's magic, which lowers the possibility of Baliye being the cause of the Gate incident. Charlotte wonders if she will be able to return to the bunker if she returns to her original state. The protagonist suggests retrieving the books before removing the Demon King's soul from his body. Charlotte's expression is happy after finding a clue.