BXBX NOVEL Vol. 8 - Chapter 445 - The Demon King's goal
"His goal… More importantly, it seems they have started retreating, but do you mind helping cleaning up, Merus? Try to stop them from getting away."
'Sure, I'll do that!'
Merus gave an energetic reply and used the Special Skill [Nest Transfer]. The Demon King's Army in the north had started retreating when the Demon King appeared. As they retreated, no longer desiring to fight, Merus would hunt them down. If even one A Rank monster stumbled into a city, there could be major casualties. The numerous Insect A and B summons also went on the hunt to finish them off.
Merus headed off, feeling enthusiastic. He would not have to return to the S Rank Dungeon's last floor if he was hunting.
"Did the Demon King just want to eat the Evil God then?"
The Demon King left after eating the Evil God. He looked like he had accomplished a lifelong goal when he did that. Peromus had managed to steal the Sacred Beast Stone from them, and that seemed to have made things a bit worse for the Demon King after eating.
"Yeah, he also said something about being a Transcendental."
(I remember that too, I feel like that can't be anything good.)
"Transcontinental?"
Kurena felt like she had heard that word before from the Arbiter God.
"Hm? Kurena, you know what a Transcendental is?"
"Yeah, Phar told me that Allen is a Transcontinental in the stable!"
(Hm? The stable? I don't think Kurena has been back to Heavy User Island for a while. Ahh, I guess she experienced that when she entered Extra Mode too.)
Allen slowly understood everything from Kurena's response.
"D-does that mean the Demon King is also..?"
Cecile was starting to understand too.
"Yeah, he's in Hell Mode. The Demon King ate the Evil God to enter Hell Mode."
(Hm? Is eating the Evil God a condition to become a Transcendental in this world? Or maybe it's better to think of it as an ability of the Demon King.)
Maybe it was a Skill of the Demon King, which allowed him to become powerful by eating. He had also alluded to eating other Demon Generals. Maybe that was how he had entered Extra Mode. The Demon King could become stronger by eating more powerful entities.
Thinking that much, Allen looked at the Arbiter God. He wanted to know what kind of relationship she had with the Evil God. She had also referred to Kyubel as Kyuplas, so they probably knew each other. It seemed like she and Kyubel had once served the Evil God.
'Ahh…I guess the future can't be changed after all.'
The Arbiter God muttered as she turned a pained look at the place where the Evil God had been, and began walking through the water. She was going somewhere, looking depressed.
"H-hey, we still have important things to discuss! Where is she going?!"
As the Arbiter God left, Cecile raised her voice, feeling like they still had things to talk about. The Arbiter God likely had more knowledge about the Evil God, and what the Demon King wanted.
"I think it's best to let her be for now. She'll eventually return to the stable. Either way, what did you see in the Arbiter God's temple, Kurena?"
(She must have been there just like Dogora. And I guess that's where she heard about Transcendentals?)
Dogora had told Allen about his experience entering Extra Mode.
"Ummm…I saw Haku's hill and…wait no, that's not it."
Kurena tried to remember what happened when she entered the Arbiter God's temple.
"Ohh, you also got to a temple, Kurena?"
Dogora had also experienced the same thing when he entered Extra Mode.
"Urghh…right, the Dragon God! Wait no, his descendants."
(Transcendentals and the Dragon God. I guess they did speak about a lot in there.)
Kurena crossed her arms and glared upwards as she tried to remember, but Allen knew thinking was not her forte. The Arbiter God had not spoken much about the Demon King's Army before. Allen felt like whatever Kurena had heard was important for his next plan.
"We can talk about that later. You too, Peromus."
"Okay, a lot happened after all."
Allen also wanted to know what had happened with Peromus since his disappearance. He would talk with both of them in more detail later.
Done with that, Allen walked to the center of the crystal flower's style. It was hard to call that fight a victory against the Demon King's Army. While everyone spoke about their future plans, there was one person knelt at the center.
"Is it all over?"
Shea asked Allen.
"Yes, Merus will get rid of any remaining monsters. We can rest now."
Allen felt like they had done everything they could, considering what they knew and what they still had to learn.
"I see. Then Kiel, could you revive my brother?"
Shea picked up Bek's body, which had been drained of blood and looked like a crystal sculpture.
"Yeah, of course."
Kiel activated his Extra Skill.
"No…this can't be…"
Even Shea could tell that it had failed. Kiel's Extra Skill [God's Drop] could revive someone, depending on his Intelligence. His Intelligence should allow him to revive anyone, but Bek's body was too damaged.
As Shea muttered that and Kiel's Extra Skill was activated, Bek's body began to crumble and fade into light particles.
(So we couldn't save him.)
Kyubel had used him to revive the Evil God, so maybe that was not a simple corpse.
Bek's body vanished, leaving behind the orichalcum armor, with a hole where he was stabbed. The rest of the Beast King's Emblem came loose and fell onto the ground. Shea hugged the armor, understanding Bek was lost forever.
"I'm sorry. Maybe if I tried a bit harder…"
"No, it's alright. I know you did everything you could while fighting, Allen."
The fight had involved multiple armies, Demon Great Generals, and the people of Patlanta. Allen had balanced everything perfectly.
Maybe if Merus and the rest of the party had arrived faster, Bek could have been saved.
Considering Bek's death had been such a key part of Kyubel's plan, saving him might have changed things a lot. but Allen had prioritized the lives of others.
"Lord Bek was a magnificent man until the end. He never stopped fighting for you, Shea."
Peromus felt like he had to say that, seeing how Shea looked. He had to tell her what he saw during his time with Bek.
"I…I see. Tell me more."
(This was our first battle, but we suffered considerable losses.)
This was the first time Allen's Army and the Hero's Army fought the Demon King's Army, which was a fight against an army of 10'000 enemies, which included Demon Generals.
It was a harsh fight for merely 6200 men. They had plenty of equipment and the support of summons, but there had still been hundreds of casualties.
Once they were back on the surface, Allen would need to take responsibility as Commandant, and give them a proper warrior's burial. He was slowly starting to understand the struggles of the hero Helmios.
"It's been more than a century since the Demon King was born."
Thinking of all the casualties, Allen mentioned the Demon King again.
There had been countless casualties in Rosenheim and the Evil Cult's attack as well. Now Shea's brother Bek and hundreds of soldiers from the armies had perished. It was hard to say exactly when everything would end, and the casualties stop.
"They must be really determined to do all of this for just one goal."
Cecile was also thinking of the same thing.
"So you think so too, Cecile?"
Allen had finally realized what he felt was off about the Demon King. Cecile was also reaching the same conclusion.
(I see, the Demon King is only 100 years old. No Demon King lived for thousand of years.)
While Allen was still pretty much a child, the Demon King was relatively young too. The Demon King had been working for some type of goal his entire life.
The Demon Kings Allen knew from games were always in their complete state, ready to conquer the world. Only then would the hero be born and start fighting back.
The hero had to fight and level up, but the last boss was always waiting in his palace.
But the Demon King here was still young and growing, his goals only halfway complete. Today he had just reached another milestone, overcoming his limits and entering Hell Mode.
(So that's the reason why the Confederation and beastmen countries were never attacked. And I guess Prostia too, until today.)
Looking at Shea, Allen understood why Rosenheim and Baukis had been attacked, but the Garresia Continent and the continent with the Confederation had not been at war yet. Allen had seen the map and knew which locations the Demon King's Army attacked, but the question remained why they only attacked three places.
They were leaving the others untouched because it was beneficial to them. The Confederation was left alone so the Evil Cult could grow. They needed to gather as many souls as possible to fill the Divine Artifact. The beastmen were not attacked because they needed to get the sacrifice from there.
They stole the Divine Artifact, caused internal conflict in two countries, and resurrected the Evil God. Doing that claimed many victims on both sides of the war, but it allowed the Demon King to reach Hell Mode. Someone was definitely guiding him on.
(Did Kyubel offer his advice to get the Demon King to Hell Mode? And now they'll actually start conquering the world?)
There were still many questions about the Demon King. There were also many things left unanswered about the God of Law and Arbiter God.
"The war isn't over, everyone. There's still things we need to do here."
"Can I help with that too?"
Helmios spoke with a friendly voice.
"That would be nice. You can help as a representative of Giamut."
"You don't have to ask twice."
Helmios was also doing that for political reasons.
"Hm? What are we doing?"
Dogora had gotten lost with the conversation.
"Just watch."
Allen walked towards Ignomas.
"What is happening here?"
"The Demon King's Army attacked. They released the monster sealed inside the crystal flower."
"Oh? And what does that mean?"
Everyone watched as Allen spoke to Ignomas. Ignomas wanted things to be explained in a bit more detail.
"I'm sorry, but you can hear that later in prison."
Allen produced a set of sturdy mythril chains.
"Oh? And what does that mean?"
"Your rebellion is over, you're going to prison. The Prostia Family will regain their rightful title as rulers of Prostia."
Allen told him what the chains were for.
"Huh, interesting. But you clearly don't know the power of the strongest spearman of Prostia!!"
Hearing Allen, Prostia's strongest spearman launched an attack.