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An army of the same scale appeared once again -the representatives of the nations couldn’t hide their surprise at the report of the Gold Demon Lord, but Marito immediately moved to the next defensive plan.

We have the Blue Demon Lord who can create soldiers infinitely with her Annihilation, so I did assume that the Black Demon Lord would have a way to add to her forces since she has been given power equal or higher than that by Yugura. 

I could peek at such a possibility when she used her monsters like disposables in her first invasion.

The Black Demon Lord has currently stolen the body of Comrade.

She must have left some sort of means in the Serende Nether even if she can’t utilize her powers.

Marito dispatched soldiers with the grand wall as the core part as he dealt with this situation.

The movements of the monster army seem to be the same: ignoring the soldiers and trying to get through the wall. 

The terrain advantage from the wall as well as the monsters of the Green Demon Lord are giving us an absolute advantage.

But from the information about the monsters that appeared all at once and we were unaware of until now, there’s endless worries about whether more monsters will appear even if we were to wipe out the ones that are currently invading.

“The grand wall was something created with earth magic. It is the best in history in terms of scale alone, but it is not like the sturdiness itself is that outstanding. There’s no telling how long it will last if it is brought into an endurance battle.” 

“The monsters are moving in a way as if they wish for that endurance battle after all. Is it hard to compensate for that?” 

“I think it is possible to a certain degree. But that’s something that utilizes the mana of the earth, so the mana around the grand wall is already on the verge of drying out. We have to make up for the mana from the outside, so there would be a limit to the mana we will have.” 

Marito and the others are currently having a meeting regarding the durability of the grand wall and the defense from here on.

What I can do right now is to get used to the special abilities of this body. The special abilities of the Great Devils that I was granted by Dyuvuleori. 

But my body is currently way too human to employ those abilities. 

Even so, there’s still some special abilities that could be of use immediately. 

“Can’t stretch your arm?” (Blue)

“It seems so. It seems like the perception of my body having bones is getting in the way.” (Ekdoik)

What I feel like I can utilize as of present are: The Right Leg of Roaring, Left Leg of Running, Nose of Sniffing, Ears of Discerning, and the Tongue of Control. 

All of them are inferior to when Dyuvuleori and the other Great Devils used them, but there’s enough use for them.

I am training to utilize those special abilities together with Blue, and checking the state of my body. 

“It will be hard to utilize the special abilities of both arms, stomach, and back that require you to transform those points in your body, as well as the horn and tail that don’t exist in the first place. Can’t you grow them by brute force somehow?” (Blue)

“I don’t have those to begin with after all…” (Ekdoik)

“Right… I have cut my horn off once, so I have a grasp on the sensation to regenerate it though…” (Blue)

My movement speed on land has definitely increased with both of my legs having been strengthened. 

A big change is that my senses have been sharpened to several levels with the Nose of Sniffing and the Ears of Discerning. 

I can tell that I have become far stronger than before. 

But this is not enough. 

This is way too little of a change to fulfill the role of the now gone Dyuvuleori. 

“You have recovered enough to amuse yourself in mere child’s play, huh, Ekdoik.” 

“…Green Demon Lord.” (Ekdoik)

The one who showed up was the Green Demon Lord and Niruryates. 

Judging from the direction they showed up in, they must have finished their talk with Marito and the others.

He gives me the impression that he is always in a bad mood when compared to Marito, but right now he looks like he is in a somewhat good mood. 

“What, Green? This is veritable training too, so isn’t it horrible to treat it as child’s play?” (Blue)

“What’s wrong about calling child’s play as child’s play? Or are you telling me you can defeat the awakened demons if you push on with that method?” (Green)

“That’s…” (Blue)

The Green Demon Lord directed his gaze at me. 

He looked at me from head to toe as if he were appraising me. And then, he warped his mouth a bit after finishing this and laughed. 

“Not bad. I thought there was little hope before, but it looks like things have rolled in a favorable direction. Dyuvuleori, was it? Nice way of perishing.” (Green)

“! You…!” (Blue)

“I am praising him. Ekdoik, you have obtained the potential. The potential to defeat the awakened demons.” (Green)

“…What do you mean by that?” (Ekdoik)

The Green Demon Lord made plants appear and deployed them in front of us before responding to my question. 

A map made from plants, and pieces in the image of Ilias and the others were placed here and there.

“Black does not rely on strategy. It is all brute force. It is easy to predict what will be happening. She will most likely be smashing us with an almost infinite army with the intention to break through the grand wall from the front.” (Green)

“…You have a countermeasure?” (Ekdoik)

“The monsters may be endless, but the guides are finite. Black herself can’t bring the monsters here. The only ones who can do that are the demons and Colorless. We haven’t confirmed their presence yet, but the demons should be leading this second wave too.” (Green)

The Black Demon Lord moving out from the Serende Nether when she has lost her power is almost suicidal. 

So the leading of the monsters will stop as long as we stop her limbs that are the demons and the Colorless Demon Lord, huh…

“Colorless is pretty strong, right? Can you win?” (Blue)

“There’s no other path than winning. Worrying is pointless. Black will use the demons to create the highest degree of damage on our side the moment I clash against Colorless. I will have you hold back one of the demons from the front at that time.” (Green)

“But right now I am…” (Ekdoik)

“You are dealing with an awakened demon. It is natural for there to be a gap since you haven’t been a demon for long. In that case, you just have to reach the awakened state.” (Green)

“Me… Getting to the awakened state…?” (Ekdoik)

What I understood after facing Ofaro was that he is a being far above me. He is perfected as a demon, and can control his own power completely. 

I was taught to a vexing degree that I don’t stand on the same plane as him.

“And here I was wondering what you would say… We wouldn’t be having so much trouble if we could do that! In the first place, if you can manage to accomplish that, why has Niruryates not reached the awakened state?!” (Blue)

“This thing can’t fulfill the conditions. It won’t be able to reach the awakened state no matter how many hundreds or thousands of years it lives.” (Green)

“Ehehe…” (Niru)

“What are you laughing all shily for…? Then, are you saying Ekdoik can fulfill those conditions?” (Blue)

“That’s right.” (Green)

“You can state it with confidence, huh…” (Blue)

“However, you should have learned with your own body what it means to reach the awakened state. Do you have the resolve to end up like those monsters?” (Green)

Ofaro can alter the laws of the world and control irrational power. I need to reach the same dimension as him if I want to win against him. 

I picture myself becoming like that and imagine my surroundings. 

I am already a demon; I have stopped being human. But I had left my humanity. 

That’s why the people around saw me as human and treated me as one. 

If I obtain the power that goes beyond the laws of the world, their gazes and their treatment will be changing greatly. 

“—If there’s a chance, I will grab ahold of it.” (Ekdoik)

I won’t hesitate regardless.

“Even if a devil has entrusted things to you, this isn’t something you can face just because you are using others as your motivation.” (Green)

“It is true it is partly that. I was entrusted with this power by Dyuvuleori. Part of me wants to answer that will of his. However, I am participating in this battle for none other than my own will. I want to win this battle. I want to do whatever I can for the sake of that. Dyuvuleori’s will isn’t making me face this adversity, it is granting me the power to.” (Ekdoik)

“Even if you become the very monster you abhor?” (Green)

“If that grants the chance for others to live safely…” (Ekdoik)

I have been greatly influenced by Comrade. 

After I understood the meaning of the catchphrase of Comrade ‘I want to live safely’, I began wishing for it just like him.

But I saw the appearance of Comrade, and learned that he didn’t simply want to live safely. He wishes for it, yet prioritized others more than himself. 

I understood the meaning of this after having the same desire as him.

Of course, it is fine to just live peacefully without creating any waves. 

But you are not alone in this world. 

If you open your eyes, you will see many people living in it. 

They are important people who are involved in my life and bring color to it. 

I want them to live safely. 

I want to live happily by their side. 

I have interpreted the ‘I want to live safely’ of Comrade in this fashion. 

“Ekdoik…” (Blue)

“No need to worry. I have you. You will only see me as myself no matter what I turn into, right?” (Ekdoik)

I decided to live together with Blue. 

I have to win or I won’t be able to push through that desire of mine. Blue would have to live as a Demon Lord feared by humans and hated by them. 

I don’t care what I end up becoming as long as it is for the sake of her happiness. 

It is fine as long as I am me.

 ◇◇

The Black Demon Lord took a bit of a break and continued watching the frontlines again. 

‘I can only throw in words. In that case, let’s just watch the developments until the very end’ -I could feel that resolve. 

However, she didn’t say anything to me even during her break. 

I feel a bit sad. 

“Heya, you seem bored.” 

“It is a scenery that doesn’t change, so it is good for my mental health though.” 

Yugura Nariya showed up inside the internal world of the Black Demon Lord all too naturally as if infiltrating the gap in one’s consciousness. 

This guy is also a pretty leisurely guy. He is the type of guy that has to be leisurely though.

“Does that mean it is better to watch the sight of monsters dying pointlessly than seeing familiar faces falling?” (Yugura)

“…You could say that.” 

Right now what has been lost from the Black Demon Lord’s forces is some percent of the mana in the Serende Nether, and the former demon Idolak. 

On the other hand, the human side has had quite a lot of casualties, and the brave warriors to oppose the demons have also collapsed. 

It seems like Archbishop Ukka and Maya-san were rescued, but it is unknown whether they have managed to survive. 

And then, the last moments of Dyuvuleori…

I felt like some black and muddy emotions were about to well up from inside my heart just by thinking about it.

“Feeling itchy not being able to do anything?” (Yugura)

“This is the best move regardless. I just have to accept it.” 

If I were on that side, I might have been able to do something about it.

I could comprehend Zahava and the others, and would make one or two plans to make it easier for Ilias and the others to fight. 

But what’s more important here is to not let this man make a move. 

If Yugura Nariya moves, this battle will end in an instant. 

If me being powerless means that this man won’t move, there’s no better result. 

“Even if you understand the general picture, what hurts still hurts.” (Yugura)

“Yeah. And so, you came here to harass the guy that’s suffering?” 

“I am simply checking things out. My instincts whispered to me for some curious reason, you see.” (Yugura)

I was on the verge of frowning at those words, but I somehow managed to stay the same. 

It is fortunate that I have no physical burden because I am inside the mind of the Black Demon Lord. 

Yugura Nariya increased his own talents and became versed in a wide variety of fields. 

Within those, there’s the talent to detect danger like Haakudoku, and also the observant eye of Ritial. 

It is natural for him to have a talent or two that would allow him to notice factors that are outside his perception. 

His talents are unconsciously telling him to be wary of me. 

He has noticed that I am scheming something.

“She is a hard to please Demon Lord after all. It is harder to not sour her mood.” 

“Keep it moderate. If she wishes to get rid of you, I have to at least grant her that much. It will take a lot of work to prepare a new body, and the risks would increase.” (Yugura)

He is not using his powers to read my mind despite that. 

He is showing himself in this fashion to send me the message: ‘Don’t get in the way of the Black Demon Lord’. 

Well, there’s no mistake he is a leisurely man though.

“It hinges on whether she hates me so much she would rely on you, who she despises, huh.” 

“I am happy to be relied on though. But there’s still the vexation of compromise.” (Yugura)

I am currently different from the first time I met him.

I have obtained a variety of information, and have obtained the time to think. 

Right now it is a situation where my mind must not be read.

Yugura Nariya can read my mind at any moment. It is exactly because he can read it at any time that he isn’t doing so immediately. 

I need to trek the very narrow line of not worrying him, but…it seems like it is still fine from what I can see right now. 

“Heeh, so this is the inside of Black-sama’s mind? Rather than Black-sama being tasteless…it is more like you, Yugura, have fashioned this space to store that man?” 

“…Why are you here, Ofaro?” (Yugura)

I don’t know when he entered, but Ofaro was standing there with the very same appearance as that in the real world. 

This is the inside of the Black Demon Lord’s mind, so he is probably only sending his thoughts, but…Ofaro, who was completely dry when it came to battle magic, could pull off something like this? 

Well, he is a man that fights by altering the laws, so entering this place must utilize a similar technique. 

But the security is so soft it is to a worrying degree, oi.

“You can tell immediately by reading my mind, right? It is out of curiosity. He is the otherworlder that appeared after you. In other words, he will be defining the next era. Black-sama will be freeing that man after this war, right? I was thinking about seeing what I should do at that time.” (Ofaro)

Ofaro was talking without faltering even when dealing with Yugura Nariya. 

As for Yugura Nariya…this is a somewhat bad situation. 

To be more specific, he is making the face of someone who found an insect in his house. 

“You stepped into the mind of Black just to fulfill your own curiosity. Is that how I should take it?” (Yugura)

“Right. But wouldn’t it be better to not put a hand on me? I can die by your own whim, but that would be an obstruction for Black-sama. You may be able to prepare something to pay for that, but you don’t want to create a bigger rift, right?” (Ofaro)

The eyes Ofaro was directing at Yugura Nariya don’t have any emotion. 

Even so, Yugura Nariya not putting a hand on him corroborates his words. 

Yugura Nariya killing Ofaro here would be an action that benefits the human side. It would also be breaking his promise with me, and would be even more of a reason for the Black Demon Lord to hate him.

“Well, how about I propose one thing if you don’t like me staying here for long. Yugura, you can use the power of Ruling, right? Can you guide me and that man into a simulated world?” (Ofaro)

“And then, you want me to grant him power equal to yours to play around?” (Yugura)

“Aah, so you did read my mind. Right. I am interested in how much of a person that man would become if he were able to alter the laws of the world. Will he obtain power that surpasses the previous generations, or will he become an ordinary person that’s far below you?” (Ofaro)

“Are you saying I need to follow that request of yours?” (Yugura)

Aah, damn it. 

This guy called Ofaro is saying this while in the know. 

Yugura Nariya’s decision criteria is extremely vague, and it could be easily overturned if it involves the Black Demon Lord. 

He understands that I am doing this so that this cheat of a person doesn’t participate in the war, and is basically saying that I should tag along with this situation if I want to maintain this status quo.

Of course, I could just leave this be as it is, and Ofaro will be killed by Yugura Nariya, and his relationship with the Black Demon Lord will worsen. 

If it reaches that point, Yugura Nariya might go ‘this is a pain’ and end this battle right then and there. 

That would make my plan crumble. 

“Argh, don’t get all stormy in someone else’s mind! Yugura Nariya, I don’t mind it. I would rather hang out with that lunatic over there over souring the mood of the Black Demon Lord. You will be guaranteeing the safety of everything aside from my mental health, right?” 

“…Can’t be helped. Fine, Ofaro. I will at least provide you with the stage as a reward for obediently following the orders of Black.” (Yugura)

Seriously, what are they doing glaring at each other inside the mind of someone else…

Yugura Nariya snapped his fingers and the scenery changed.

I felt something similar to the time when I was sent into the simulated world of Gold with her Ruling, but the transfer is instant with this guy, huh. 

I am in an open field where you can see the horizon from all sides. 

This is such a simple world that he is basically saying ‘there’s no way I would pay heed to the details for Ofaro’.

“Speaking of which, my mind should have been separated from the Black Demon Lord, right? Is that side fine?” 

“No issues. Your soul itself is still inside her. What I moved here was not your soul, but your consciousness. I could pour the details directly into your mind if you want to know about it.” (Yugura)

“No, thanks. And so, I pretty much understand what’s going on from the conversation before, but…what are we doing here?” 

“I will be putting you on the same level as Ofaro temporarily. The means to alter the laws of the world -basically like granting you knowledge. You can play around as you please after that.” (Yugura)

Yugura Nariya granted special powers to the Demon Lords. 

The core of those powers is the ability to alter the laws of the world. 

Leaving aside the body, he will be granting me power on the level of a Demon Lord, huh. 

I would normally be excited about this, but I unfortunately don’t have the leeway to be happy about this situation. 

“What about the body? This body will still stay like that of a normal person, right?” 

“You can supplement it in whichever way once you obtain power. The body of a demon or whatever is pretty much like an extra. Also, you will automatically revive when you die in this space. You don’t need to worry about your life.” (Yugura)

“It is so beyond reason, it doesn’t click. I am not suitable for fighting in the first place though…” 

“Don’t worry about that. I am different from Yugura in that I originally was the type of person that didn’t suit battle either.” (Ofaro)

Ofaro’s expression is almost unchanging to an unfriendly degree, but I could tell from his complexion that he is somewhat enjoying this. 

This demon most likely doesn’t care at all about the objective of the Black Demon Lord. 

What lies deep inside of him is the sublimation of himself. 

He wants to pursue his own way of being, and desires to go even further beyond that. 

“Ofaro, about the time limit…” (Yugura)

“It will end when I get bored. I don’t mind you stopping it when that man there is on the verge of having his mind break.” (Ofaro)

He is completely seeing me as a toy. 

But I should take a bit of the burden if this lunatic is obediently settled as a piece on the board of the Black Demon Lord. 

Also, this is an irreplaceable opportunity to influence the pieces of the Black Demon Lord. 

Let’s plant something that will make it easier for Ilias and the others even if it is just a tiny bit. 

“Is there something else you would want to know?” (Yugura)

“Basically, I just have to do my best to a degree where Ofaro acknowledges it, right?” 

I do some random warmups to check the sensation of my body. 

It feels a bit weird that I don’t feel any hunger at all, but it doesn’t seem like that will hamper my movements -leaving aside all that altering laws stuff. 

“Good to see you get it fast. Otherworlder that has come from a farther future than Yugura…I am looking forward to what kind of a difference you will create…” (Ofaro)

“Right. This is a side-show…for me and for you. Show the bottom of the evil you aim for.” 

“…Hoh, those are some good eyes. Aah, I feel like I will be able to obtain more than I imagined…!” (Ofaro)

I have a lot of dark emotions towards this man to begin with. 

I shall also partake in this game as a breather. 

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