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Volume 2 Chapter 4 Part 7

「While he was on his way home from the battle of Selvis with the rest of us, captain Elmer strayed far away from the rest of his unit, took a wrong turn, and wandered into Artuk’s territory, when he then ended up in the vicinity of the Forest of Eternal Darkness, where he then apparently encountered a woman who called herself Yana, The Black Witch.

「Black Witch Yana… 」

Deadri, a contracted Mage of Vilar that has been dispatched to serve at Baron Eugen’s castle, unintentionally raised her voice.

「Do you know who that Black Witch Yana person is? 」

Theo asked her.

「I heard rumors circulating around some of the villagers that a witch by that name lives in hiding in the depths of the Forest of Eternal Darkness. She is said to have terrifying magical powers… 」

「Exactly. Without the witch’s help, we would not have been able to do anything. 」

Franz nodded in agreement and continued. Then he proceeded with his tale, telling them how Elmer spent one night in the abode of the witch Yana, after which the two of them became a couple. Yana then pledged her allegiance to Elmer, promising to help and advise him just like a contracted Mage would help and advised their Lord.

True to her words, Yana took Elmer to the Vampire King Dimitri the very next day, and she asked him to let the knight captain of the heavy knights of Waldrind pass through the Forest of Eternal Darkness safely. For some inexplicable reason, Dimitri accepted the witch’s request. He welcomed Elmer, guided him to the catacombs, and showed him a certain existence.

「It seems that it was the Demon Lord who was sealed a long time ago… 」

Frantz spoke indifferently all the time, but as soon as the Demon Lord’s name came up, the inside of the entire castle became noisy. It would seem that the Legend of Demon Lord Adele, a hero who defeated the Demon Lord during the time of Extreme Chaos only to later become its Layer after she was captivated by his power was a legend that is well known to everyone, including the inhabitants of Artuk.

「… Is that legend not an incredibly old one though? 」

Eugen muttered with a confused expression as he traced the beard that has grown to frame the outline of his face with his hand.

「It might be an old legend, but it is still a terrifying one. Even if back then it was not as powerful as it is now, the Magic City of Elam was attacked by the Demon Lord Adele, and it almost ended up perishing without a trace. 」

Deadri said as she made a stern expression.

「But it was recorded that the Demon Lord who attacked Elam actually died there, did he not? 」

「According to legend, he was not dead, he was just sealed. 」

「I heard that before he was supposed to be killed, he opened the gate and set out on a journey to conquer the demon world. 」

People started talking to each other about the rumors concerning the Demon Lord that attacked Elam.

Theo waited until everyone quieted down before urging Frantz to continue on with his story. Frantz nodded and spoke again.

「The Vampire King has a pact with the rulers of Artuk now, but it is said that he was actually a member of the army which was led by the Demon Lord, and he took the Demon Lord that was defeated in the battle with the forces of Elam and became sealed back to his castle where he placed the Demon Lord in its deepest basement so that he could protect him.

The Demon King hates The Magic City of Elam more than anything else and wants the seal to be lifted. Therefore it is said that he is going to fulfill the wishes of those who are going to break the seal, or at least that is what he supposedly told the Vampire King. However, to break the Demon Lord’s seal, you need the power of a strong Crest. The Vampire King, so is said to be one of the strongest Artists in the world had already tried to break the seal using the power of his own Arts, but he failed, and that is how he reached that conclusion. However, Elmer is a Lord and his title is that of a Baron, so if he cultivates his Crest to make it grow just a little bit more stronger, then he should theoretically be able to awaken the Demon Lord. And that is how Elmer came up with that plan of his. 」

Frantz stopped there and looked around at the people who were now gathered to hear what he had to say.
A large crowd had gathered in the Great Hall, but even so, everyone of among the present individuals was now holding their breath in anticipation of what would happen next. They have now come to understand the importance of stopping the Demon Lord from awakening, but they still waited for Frantz to finish talking.

「… Elmer’s plan is to wake up the sealed Demon Lord, and to ask the awakened Demon Lord to destroy Artuk. However, even though he is a superhuman Artist who once commanded a vast army of demons, Elmer believed that the Demon Lord alone would not be enough to destroy Artuk in its entirety, but his second coming here would definitely be enough for the entire country to be thrown into chaos, and that would be more than enough for him, since the heavy knights of Waldrind would use the rampage of the newly-awakened Demon Lord in order to invade Artuk. 」

Franz then explained that the only reason why he and his men hunted Werewolves was so that they could grow Elmer’s Crest as much as possible.

「If the legend is true, I wouldn’t be surprised if Artuk were to perish if the Demon Lord appeared here again. And in the worst-case scenario, the entire country would have definitely been thrown into chaos by his appearance. 」

Deadri advised Eugen, and he nodded bitterly when she finished speaking.

「Is it possible to prevent the resurrection of the Demon Lord? 」

Eugen asked Frantz.

「Elmer added the Werewolf Queen’s Chaos Core to his Crest and gained enough power to free the Demon Lord, so he probably returned to the Vampire King’s castle in order to finish the awakening ceremony. 」
Franz said calmly.

「Then why don’t you go and attack the castle with the forces that we have gathered here? What if we all came together and did that? 」

「Even if we were to do that now, I don’t think we would have any chances of winning. 」

Eugen asks for her opinion on the matter, and Deadri answered immediately.

「You should first report to Lord Vilar and ask him about his judgement in regards to this situation. 」

Saying so, she brought the magic wand in her hand closer to her face and activated it. Because she was still one of the contracted mages of Vilar Constance, she should be easily able to contact Margaret, Vilar’s current Head Mage. And just like that, the full report about the recent developments from Deadri has been immediately conveyed through Margaret to the Earl of Artuk in his castle.

* * *

「Demon Lord Adele, a Demon Lord from the time of Extreme Chaos is about to be woken from her sleep? Surely that cannot be the same Demon Lord that has attacked Elam all those years ago? 」

When Villar heard the report from Margaret, he was so stunned that he did not know wthat to say.

At the moment of receiving the report, Vilar was just playing against Prince Milza Kuches of Dartania in a game of cards. Margaret asked him to leave so that she could talk to the Lord in private, but Villars said that it was not a problem for him.

「Who is this Demon Lord Adele? 」

Milza put his hand down on the table and asked Vilar. When Villar explains it to him briefly, Milza snorted.

「Layers of Demon Lords. There were actually people like that in the past? 」

「What would you like to do about this matter? 」

Margaret urged Villar.

「Apparently, it seems difficult to prevent the awakening of the Demon Lord, so it would be wise to not make any unnecessary moves that would provoke the enemy to act rashly. We should first asking Dimitri what his intentions are, so Theo can go as a messanger. It’s a life-or-death task, but if Siluca is in captivity, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to do it. Have him tell Dimitri that If he lets her go, I will pay him a suitable ransom. 」