We returned to the inn.
Neril glanced at the noisy scene outside and said,
“The townspeople have surrounded this place. They have practically built a wall of humans.”
“That’s… intimidating.”
“You sure don’t look intimidated.”
“It’s not like they can physically harm us.”
“But they can do serious damage to your reputation.”
Her voice was filled with concern.
I shrugged and said,
“It’s fine. I just got an idea.”
“Huh?”
“About where Hyran might be hiding. It’s kind of a stretch, maybe even delusional, but hear out.”
I was about to continue explaining…
But at that mont, Adwin spoke up.
“Oh? Hello?”
We all exchanged puzzled looks.
Lisel answered on our behalf.
“Uh… hi? Good afternoon?”
“But what brings you here? We didn’t call you.”
“I have been here the whole ti, though?”
“Did you want to say sothing?”
“Uh, not really.”
Neril sighed and pressed her forehead.
“You idiot. Adwin’s talking to a spirit right now.”
“…! Oh, I knew that. Just trying to lighten the mood a bit.”
“Yeah. You actually succeeded in changing the atmosphere a little. Thanks.”
“How can a thank you feel so insulting…”
I asked Adwin,
“Whose spirit are you talking to?”
“Lady Lepia’s.”
“Huh? Why did you call her?”
“I didn’t. Lady Lepia appeared on her own.”
Once again, my sense of logic was shattered.
“How is that even possible? First Lord Grade, now Lady Lepia?”
“Yeah, maybe the Redby River’s depths have gotten really shallow?”
“Don’t joke about that. It’s not funny when a necromancer says it.”
“Anyway, I will let her speak through my body. Just a sec.”
A spell glowed on Adwin’s arm.
Soon, his voice changed.
It was Lepia, my senior hero and soone who had helped us many tis.
“Hello, everyone.”
“Hello, it’s been a while.”
“Hehe. It hasn’t been that long, has it? We t during the battle with the giant insect.”
“More importantly, how on earth are you crossing between the underworld and the continent like this? Is this so new trend in the afterlife?”
Lepia smiled awkwardly.
“Don’t worry. The Redby River hasn’t changed in depth. There won’t be any chaos from spirits flooding into the continent.”
“But still…”
“I learned a few tricks from Lord Grade.”
Offense gave her a bewildered look.
“Did you two even exchange nas?”
“Yes. I introduced him to my party mbers and my original companions.”
“Wait a second. I’m a little confused, do things like that usually happen in the underworld?”
Lepia shook her head.
Then, in her usual warm and gentle tone, she explained,
“In the underworld, you can only interact with souls you had a connection with in life. Making new friends there is impossible.”
“Hmm.”
“Good or bad ties don’t matter, souls with any kind of connection tend to stick together. That’s why people who committed many sins in life tend to have a rough ti here. So all of you, live kindly.”
If Kaeld ever ends up in the underworld, he’s in for a world of pain.
Xenia asked,
“But that makes it even stranger. I doubt you ever t Lord Grade in your life.”
“My guess is that we ford a new connection through the dium nad Mide. Since both Lord Grade and I have helped you several tis.”
“Hmm… So if Adwin summons the 3rd or 4th generation heroes later, we could have four heroes gathered in one place?”
“I have already t the 3rd generation hero. Mr. Beyond introduced us.”
Ah right, that person helped us a lot during the Black Sun incident.
That leaves the 4th generation hero and their companions.
Padania Brook.
Excluding , she’s the most recent hero and quite popular. I could picture her portrait clearly.
No, that’s not important right now.
“So why did you co? You even learned tricks from Lord Grade.”
“I felt sothing foul and ca to warn you.”
“Sothing foul?”
“This land holds the Gem of the Demon King of Greed.”
Everyone’s jaws dropped.
But I felt a thrill instead.
The intuition that had struck earlier now had a solid basis.
So that’s why we couldn’t locate Hyran even with shared vision.
I said,
“I knew it.”
“You knew?”
“Yes. I had my suspicions. But thanks to you, Lady Lepia, I’m now certain.”
Clack.
I turned to the party mbers.
“I think I know where Hyran is hiding.”
“What? Where?”
“In the shadows.”
Everyone fell silent.
Offense frowned and said,
“You probably don’t need to explain this, but Hyran can’t use shadow sorcery. No one else can. It’s a sorcery unique to .”
“Didn’t Lady Lepia just say it? She sensed the energy of the Gem of Greed here.”
“…No way.”
“Exactly.”
I nodded.
“The Gem of Greed stole your sorcery.”
“T…That’s impossible.”
“Then try it now. Use your shadow sorcery.”
Offense took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
A few seconds later…
He looked like he had aged ten years as he muttered,
“Hmph. Shadow sorcery is but a small part of my vast talents.”
“Cheer up.”
“I’m fine. Really.”
“Offense! You’re not useless!”
“I said I’m fine.”
“Don’t worry. You’re still sowhat useful.”
Oddly enough, the more we tried to comfort him, the more his shoulders sagged.
The finishing blow ca from Serein.
“Would you like to start learning how to manage finances instead?”
The Demon King of Greed’s authority truly lives up to its na, the power to steal.
Of course, as a Demon King, it doesn’t steal money or jewels.
What it steals is abilities.
The Demon King of Greed could steal various skills, techniques, magic, spells, and incantations.
Lepia said,
“It was a really hard ti for too. I had a few techniques stolen by that Demon King.”
“Didn’t Lord Iori say you can just make new ones if that happens?”
“Ah, I rember that. It got so famous, it went down in history….in a bad way.”
“Even now, that line gets a lot of hate from mages.”
“Ugh. If only he could fix his personality, he would be a great person.” ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ noᴠelfire
“Well, Iori was a genius who created countless spells. Not quite on Neril’s level, of course.”
Neril blushed from the sudden complint.
Lepia said,
“Anyway, even though the Authority of Greed steals abilities, it’s not like it happens just by looking.”
“Yes. They have to get hold of the target’s blood.”
“Right. You said your shadow sorcery was stolen, Mr. Offense. Did Hyran ever take your blood?”
Almost knocked out by Serein’s earlier remark, Offense replied weakly.
“I don’t really rember… Hmm? Wait a minute. Don’t tell …”
“That’s probably it.”
Last night, during the confrontation with Hyran and Idria, Offense’s ear had been cut clean off.
Naturally, blood would have splattered.
Hyran used that blood on the Gem of Greed, and as a result, stole Offense’s greatest strength, his shadow sorcery.
“Well, at least there’s a silver lining. The Authority of Greed can only steal one ability at a ti.”
“Are you seriously trying to comfort ?”
“Don’t worry. You will get it back.”
“…”
“The history books say that once the Demon King of Greed was killed, all stolen abilities returned. If we kill Hyran and get the Gem of Greed from him, your sorcery will co back.”
Offense’s expression brightened a little.
Lepia spoke nostalgically,
“Strictly speaking, he self-destructed rather than being killed. Iori was really cool back then.”
“Right, let’s save your stories for the underworld reunion, okay?”
“Ahem. Sorry. Anyway, my comrades and I scoured the place thinking maybe a shard of the Gem survived. But we didn’t find a trace and figured it had been destroyed in the explosion. Did I overlook sothing?”
“No. The original Gem was destroyed. I suspect Idria had prepared a fake one in advance.”
At that, Neril tilted her head and asked,
“But Idria is the 5th Demon King, and Greed was the 2nd. How could she have made a replica beforehand? Can you make a fake without ever seeing the real thing?”
Ah, right.
Well, guess it’s ti to bring this up.
‘Idria won’t mind if I reveal her age, right? I will leave your na out.’
[Go ahead, I don’t care.]
‘But wouldn’t now be a good ti to introduce yourself properly?’
[No thanks. Like I said, I don’t like being the center of attention.]
Hard to believe, considering how chatty Trail usually is, but I decided to respect his wish.
I replied lightly,
“Idria is the oldest Demon King.”
“…?”
“Much older than even the First Demon King of Destruction.”
“…”
“It doesn’t change much. Just think of her as soone who’s lived a long ti.”
Everyone’s jaws dropped, mouths opening and closing like fish.
While they were still in shock, I shifted my focus.
‘Let’s use the Eye of Omniscience.’
[To find out Idria and Hyran’s secret?]
I paused for a mont before shaking my head.
‘No… There’s sothing else I want to see even more.’
[What is it?]
‘The secret between and Hyran.’
[What?]
My expression hardened slightly.
‘Offense wasn’t the only one bleeding yesterday.’
…!…!…!
‘I was a wreck too, I coughed up a ton of blood. If I were Idria, I’d have imdiately told him to use my blood to steal one of my abilities.’
[Y-Yeah, you have got a point.]
‘Co to think of it, maybe she deliberately lured within ten steps just to make bleed.’
Idria was definitely smart enough to do that.
I continued.
‘But I haven’t felt like I lost anything. I want to find out what really happened.’
Without another word, Trail activated the Eye of Omniscience.
I was nervous, but thankfully, access was allowed.
[Why so nervous?]
‘The secret about and my father was S-grade, rember?’
[Secret ranks depend on how hidden the truth is, not who it involves.]
‘Hmm.’
[aning your birth was just that secretive, you sneaky thing.]
Ignoring him, I focused on the screen.
The location was that sa mountain peak.
Judging by the timing, it was shortly after Offense and I had retreated.
Hyran muttered to himself,
“Shadow sorcery… that damn technique has evolved again, Offense.”
Apparently, the connection with Idria had already ended.
Eyes burning with hatred, he continued,
“Perfect. I will take that little pride of yours away. With this gift from Lady Idria.”
Hyran pulled sothing from his robes.
It was a small bottle.
Swish.
Inside was a murky ochre… no, to be blunt, poop colored liquid.
[What the hell is that?]
‘Judging by the vibe, that must be the Gem of Greed.’
[You’re guessing based on vibes?]
‘The Demon King of Greed self-destructed, so no one knows what it actually looked like. The history books only have guesses.’
Still, I didn’t expect it to be liquid.
[So the First Demon King was a mountain, the Second is liquid, and wasn’t the Third completely shapeless?]
‘Yeah, they are all weird.’
[Then why call them “Gem” at all?]
‘Because Lord Grade tricked everyone by smashing a gemstone and calling it the Gem of Destruction. After that, everyone just stuck with the term “Gem” for the Demon King’s cores.’
Now that I think about it, the only one that actually looked like a gem was the 4th Demon King’s core.
Anyway, that’s not the point.
I narrowed my eyes and watched closely.
In Hyran’s hand was a tool commonly used by assassins to draw blood.
He collected Offense’s spilled blood with it.
Then, he uncorked the bottle and mixed the blood with the Demon King’s liquid.
Swirl.
The color sohow looked even more like sewage.
‘He’s not going to drink that, is he? Please tell no.’
Gulp.
[He drank it.]
‘I swear I’m never using that thing, even if I get my hands on it. It literally looks like he’s drinking toilet water!’
[Calm down. I agree with you.]
At that mont, Hyran spoke on the screen.
“Ugh… Definitely not doing that again.”
Then don’t do it at all!
I examined the bottle closely.
Even though he had drunk most of it, the liquid inside had refilled to its original level.
‘So as long as you leave one drop, it regenerates? That’s… efficient, I guess.’
Then it happened.
Riiiip.
Space tore open.
I’m getting way too used to these grotesque scenes, it’s starting to worry .
Through the rift, a hand reached out, Idria’s hand.
She pointed sowhere, and although her voice ca from beyond the rift, it looked eerily like the finger was talking.
“Sorry, but I will need you to do it one more ti.”
“L-Lady Idria?”
“Try using Mide’s blood as well.”
Just as I expected.
Hyran looked reluctant.
Idria coaxed him gently.
It was surprisingly soft and kind, unexpected from a Demon King.
“When stealing an ability with the Gem of Greed, it takes the last technique the person used within 24 hours.”
“Yes, that matches my understanding.”
“That ans I can likely take the one ability I most want from Mide. I’m guessing… the ability to stop ti.”
For a mont, I felt like my heart stopped.
Trail clicked his tongue.
[She figured it out.]
‘Well, I have used it three tis right in front of her.’
[You okay?]
‘I’m fine. Even if I could go back, I’d make the sa choice.’
Despite how much he hated it, Hyran reluctantly mixed my blood into the grotesque fluid.
Willing to drink sewage for Idria’s sake. Typical of the Fourth Finger of Lie.
[Don’t call it that. It sounds weird.]
‘Hey, I’m just stating facts.’
Swirl.
Hyran gave the bottle a light shake, then closed his eyes and drank again.
Idria asked in a voice full of curiosity,
“Well? How is it?”
“Hmm… I don’t feel any different.”
“Does it take ti to activate?”
“No. I can already use shadow sorcery. But this supposed ‘ti-controlling’ power, I can’t sense even a trace of it… I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize.”
Idria paused, then muttered,
“I see. That power belongs to Bion, not Mide.”
A spot-on deduction.
I was impressed.
Idria went on,
“The Gem of Greed can only steal powers through blood. But Bion is a soul now, there’s no blood to take.”
“…”
“But that makes things even stranger. Does that an Mide can move freely in frozen ti by himself? Even I can’t do that.”
Tap tap.
Her hand, extending through the rift, tapped the air.
“Just what… am I up against, exactly?”
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