Chapter 426

"Luke Ren, have you finally decided to tell me what Akasha is?"

"Hehe... hehehe... That's right, Antilianus. You know nothing... You know nothing..."

Arkritch, who had lost the ability to continue the battle, let out a low laugh and spoke while lying on the ground.

"I'll give you Akasha, Antilianus."

"..."

"Help me."

Antilianus's smile deepened at Arkritch's words.

-Savioleene Tana.

-You're not thinking of something else, are you?

Savioleene Tana listened to the conversation going on between them.

She didn't need to intervene yet. Just listening to this conversation would provide her with information.

She signaled her allies to wait and watched the scene.

There was too much she didn't know.

But Akasha.

It was firmly planted in Tana's mind.

And there was unrest among the vampires.

The one called Antilianus seemed unable to gain the trust of his allies. The old man's smile grew deeper, and the vampires slowly approached Arkritch.

"Luke Ren, how many times do I have to tell you?"

Antilianus sat down in front of Arkritch and whispered in his ear.

"I asked you what Akasha was. I didn't ask for it. No one answered, so I got angry."

"..."

"Curiosity can drive people crazy."

Arkritch remained silent for a long time.

"Akasha... can make you a god."

"A god?"

"Yes, a god. If you use Akasha, you can become a god. Antilianus, you and I can become gods."

At Arkritch's words, Antilianus stood up.

"Hehe, hehehe... a god. Hehehehe..."

The old man began to laugh as if he had gone mad. Everyone was silently watching the strange conversation.

"Hehehehe..."

"Heheh..."

"Heh..."

"..."

Thud.

As if something had happened.

The old man's expression, which had stopped laughing, froze coldly.

"It was such a boring thing."

If that's what Akasha is, the old man's face was full of disappointment, as if he had no interest at all.

But soon a small smile appeared on the disappointed old man's face.

"But even boring things can be interesting depending on how they are used."

-Antilianus!

-Hey! What are you trying to do!

"Luke Ren, I'll take Akasha."

Since the space-blocking barrier was wide open, teleportation magic was impossible. It was also impossible to easily shake off the trackers in this place.

However, there were many ways to shake them off.

"Do you think you can escape, vampire?"

Antilianus smiled at Savioleene Tana's words. "Didn't you think of such a way?"

As the old man spread his hand, a suddenly huge parchment began to shine.

"It seems to have a meaning that was created for a long time."

As the scroll shone, a thick fog began to cover the world.

It is not a magic that can be simply exerted, but if you make a magic scroll in advance, you can use it immediately.

"This magic is...!"

Quantum maze.

Antilianus had made this large-scale boundary magic into a magic scroll.

As if predicting that such a situation would come someday.

There may be those who can break through the Quantum Maze, but it is certainly possible to turn off time.

And that was enough time to escape.

* * *

Harriet was in a state of dehydration, and so was the Grand Duke. So they fell into a serious magic depletion state.

Eleris used Syphon Mana to replenish their magic, just as she had done for them before. They were sleeping as if they had fainted.

After the magic disappeared, I could see the fog that had disappeared re-covering the ground.

The scale of the magic that was suddenly cast was small. So it was a fog that covered a wide area, but we were out of its range of influence.

The fight was taking place at a very distant place, so even if we strengthened our power, we couldn't see what was happening properly.

But as if Eleris was watching what was happening on the scene, she opened her eyes.

"Antilianus has betrayed us."

"...Betrayal?"

"Yes, it seems that he has joined hands with Kantus Magna."

I didn't think Antilianus would always be a loyal ally.

I had to use everything I could use, even if I knew he was an unreliable ally, and Antilianus was cooperating in earnest.

I expected him to do unexpected things at important moments.

But that's now.

From afar, I and Eleris could see a swarm of black bats carrying something in the middle of the fog.

Antilianus, who had turned into a swarm of bats, flew somewhere with Arkritch. It was too far away to intercept, so I and Eleris could only watch the scene.

Antilianus joined hands with Kantus Magna.

"Wherever they go, it's certain where they'll end up."

"...I see."

Kantus Magna's magician came here to find the source of the magic books.

But this place is a manipulated source, and the real source of the magic books is elsewhere.

And as long as Antilianus joined hands with Arkritch, it was clear where the two would end up.

They will try to complete Akasha by finding the real source of the magic book.

"Let's go to the underground of the Demon King's Castle. We have to take the magic book or burn it before they get there."

"That's right." The Demon King's Castle underground is a place of great value to the traitors, as they came here thinking it was the source of the magic book. If they seize it, not only will Akasha be completed, but an irreversible disaster may occur. If I cannot stop Antilianus and Arkritch, I will be the cause of all the problems that arise from Akasha's completion. I can no longer move forward while hiding the situation and context. I see Harriet collapsed. "Line... Hart..." Harriet, who faintly opens her eyes, looks at me while lying down. Is she regaining consciousness after a brief fainting spell? No, it still felt like she was only halfway conscious. Harriet had an expression that seemed like she was dreaming right now. I hesitantly sat down in front of Harriet and carefully hugged her. Antilianus' betrayal. How will this situation unfold? Should I have not relied on him? I don't know. I don't know anything. Being evaluated for my intentions is a miserable thing. It's just an excuse for me when I fail to do it properly. But still. At least. I wanted to do well. I wanted to save everyone. I hoped that at least one person would recognize that. "Yeah..." Harriet, who seemed to be half asleep, carefully strokes my head. "Trust me..." Something hot seemed to rise in my chest at those words. After that word, Harriet fell asleep or closed her eyes. It was worrisome to leave her like this, but there was no more time to delay. And the wizards of the Kingdom of Saengtuan will soon arrive, so the Grand Duke and Harriet were safe. Eleris seemed to have recovered somewhat now. "Let's go, Eleris." "Yes, sir." We don't know when those trapped in Quantum Maze will escape. We don't know if it would be better to get help from Lucynil or Black Order to escape, but we had no choice but to move straight ahead as Antilianus and Arkritch may head straight to the Demon King's Castle underground. -Pahat! "Ha... ha..." "Are you okay?" "Yes, sir... just tired for a moment..." Supporting Eleris, who was already exhausted from allowing Luna Artorius to land a single blow and sharing magic with Harriet, I walked. The only fortunate thing was that all the Demon King's Castle garrison had withdrawn. So, we arrived at the deserted Demon King's Castle and didn't have to unnecessarily clash with the Imperial Army. As we entered the cold and quiet castle, I supported Eleris and continued to walk. The ancient Archdemon. What could that possibly mean? And why did Ellen's mother know about it? "I'm sorry for hiding it, Your Highness...." Even though I didn't say anything, Eleris spoke first. "I don't know the details, but... I think I know now. Why, despite hating fighting, did you decide to help Darkland, the only one among the Council's families?" "...". The members of the Vampire Council would have known that Eleris was originally an Archdemon. Eleris didn't seem to question why she was helping Darkland. Eleris walked leaning on me and said in a weak voice, "I was an ancient demon who once occupied a gap in Darkland's history, now forgotten." The ancient Archdemon. Eleris was an existence that had existed for an immeasurable amount of time. Therefore, she must have been one of Bali's ancient ancestors. "It's not a valuable or interesting story. It's just that..." Eleris said in a sad voice. "I wished for the destruction of humanity." "Luna Artorius... She said that fighting arises from fear." "I was afraid of humans. I was afraid that they would one day concentrate their power on Darkland, even though they hated fighting. So I wanted to exterminate humans, thinking that while the human countries were fighting each other, as a demon king, I could gather the power of Darkland into one. Before the divided humans formed an empire with that power, I thought it was my duty as a demon king to exterminate them." "So... I turned Darkland into hell." It was a self-blaming statement. What did Eleris do when she was a demon king? "To create strong monsters, I crossbred different species, and used numerous laws and black magic to create powerful Homunculus and Chimera. I mobilized demons to make war weapons." "Numerous demons were subjected to harsh training because of my judgment, and I turned a blind eye to the fact that many lower demons were dying in labor and starvation under the pretext of stockpiling war materials." "I was the worst demon king who sacrificed the most demons, saying that I would create a world for demons and hope for the destruction of humanity." "The rule of the Archdemon, the existence of the demon king, is therefore terrible because it unites demons." "Throughout all of that, I didn't even see the demons expressing the slightest dissatisfaction." "They all loved me, followed me, and didn't even question my will." "In Darkland, the existence of the demon king is absolute. If a human king did such a thing, there would be a rebellion, but no demon, not even one, had the will to resist the absurdity and destruction that came from me." "They followed me because they loved me, and they died while loving me, cursing and blaming themselves for not being born strong, unable to become strong according to my will." "I didn't think it was strange. I thought sacrificing numerous demons was necessary for the perpetual peace of the demons. Eleris prepared for war, and no demon resisted the Archdemon's orders under the blind loyalty to her. The Archdemon is a god-like existence for demons, receiving love from all and allowing no doubt. So, there was a rebellion. I was suppressed by my son who couldn't bear my tyranny and had my horns broken. It was a rebellion of a son who couldn't bear his mother's tyranny, the only demon who could resist the Archdemon was one of the same bloodline."