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Volume 2 Chapter 4 Part 8

「As you wish. 」

Margaret nodded expressionlessly.

「Then, let us put all the lords of Artuk on high alert. Not only in the vicinity of the Forest of Eternal Darkness, but also our neighboring allies as well. And let us sent reinforcements to Eugen and his castle. Order the Lord of the entire neighborhood to be mobilized and form an army at once. 」

「Understood. 」

Margaret bowed quietly.

「Is it okay if I accompany the reinforcements?「

Milza made an offer to Vilar.

「I am afraid that I cannot recommend it. If something happens to you while you are on together with my forces, your father would surely scold both me and you quite severely. 」

Having said that, Vilar knows that the Prince of Dartania was not asking him for permission.

「Father knows my personality well, so there is no need for you to worry about anything. This Demon Lord Adele… if it really is the genuine Demon Lord, then I definitely want to see her with my own eyes. And if luck would be on my side and I managed to defeat her, I wonder exactly how much my own rank would grow…? 」

「Now then, I wonder about that myself. It is said that slaying a single dragon grants you enough of an increase in rank to rule a single country, so slaying a Demon Lord should grant you even more than that. That being said, a Demon Lord is not the kind of opponent that should be taken lightly. According to the legends, Adele was able to defeat the Demon Lord from the world of Diabolos, and she became its Layer because she was captivated with its power, and let us not forget 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral」, where a Demon Lord easily killed the leaders of the two Archduke families. 」

「Thank you for your warning, but if it turns out that we would have to fight such an enemy one day, than that is all the more reason for me to see it with my own eyes.

「Or maybe it is going to turn out that it is an ally who can fight together with us? 」

Vilar smiled meaningfully.

「Staying on the continent seems to have been the right choice… 」

Milza said while glaring at him with the eyes that were as sharp as the ones of a hawk.

* * *

「Are you really going to go through with that? 」

Eugen looked back at Theo when they received Vilar’s instructions through Deadri’s magic wand, but for the time being he could not bring himself to ask anything else.

「Of course I will. 」

Theo senses Eugen’s feelings of worry and reassured him.

「It is going to be an incredibly dangerous mission, isn’t it? The Vampire King has already made his intentions clear, so he may not even be willing to accept another messenger into his castle. 」
In such cases, the messenger is often killed.

It would have been another thing if Villar included an order to exercise self-restraint in his instructions, but even if he did that Theo would probably just ignore them, because he never hesitated whenever it was the time to act.

「I am the man who gave up his Viscountship because I did not want to lose Siluca, so of course I will go save her if she is in danger. Besides, if I shied from confronting that level of danger, it would disappoint everyone those who know me from the rumors that are being spread about me, right? 」

Theo joked back and borrowed Eugen’s flag with the Constance coat of arms etched onto it, and while Eugen was not looking, he secretly whispered to Irvin, asking him to go save Silica if he does not come back with her tomorrow.

Leaving the mansion as it was, he sat astride his horse and held the coat of arms firmly in one hand, and he rode off to the Vampire King’s castle while being sent off by the worried glances of the people.

「I am the messenger of Villar Constance, Earl of Artuk! 」

While shouting, Theo ran his horse through The Forest of Eternal Darkness. He did not care about the eerie appearance of the forest or the red sky above his head.

It was around noon when he arrived at the Vampire King’s castle.

He stood in front of the castle’s door, announced the purpose of his visit, and soon enough the sturdy iron door creaked open for him.

The door was opened by two men with strong physiques who bowed respectfully to Theo, and told him to pass. He was surprised to be let through so easily, but nevertheless, Theo entered the castle without hesitation.

A few people had already gathered in the hall as soon as he entered. Among them was Siluca, who had a grumpy grimace on her face for some reason.
「Welcome, Theo Cornaro. With your arrival, I believe that all of the necessary actors are now on the stage. 」

A slender man with a bluish-black face, who looked like the Vampire King Dimitri welcomed Theo with his arms wide open. He wore a black cape and carries a cane in one of his hands.

「Lord Theo! 」

Siluca trotted over to Theo.

「Siluca! I’m glad to see that you are safe. 」

After confirming that Siluca was neither injured nor tired, Theo smiled in relief.

「I am sorry for making you worry about me. 」

Siluca put her face down and said so apologetically.

「And while it is true that I am safe for now, I have no idea what is going to happen from now on. It is entirely possible that what we are about to witness here is going to be the beginning of the end of the world. 」

「Then I guess we have no choice but to think of it as a valuable experience. 」

Theo said casually. That is just how it is with life. Sometimes you do everything in your power to avoid danger, but sometimes an attitude like that just does not work.

「Sorry to have kept you waiting so long, Lord Elmer. 」

Dimitri turned to the man standing beside him and apologized.

「So that guy is Elmer… 」

Theo observes the man as he muttered to himself. Come to think of it, he remembered seeing him on the battlefield during the battle of Selvis.

「You said that another visitor would come to us, but I did not know it was going to be Theo Cornero! 」

Elmer said in despair, and turned a hateful glance at Theo. Theo could not think of anything that he could have said to him at this point, so he simply bowed politely.

「Now then Lord Elmer, please begin the ritual to awaken Demon Lord Adele. 」

Dimitri said sternly.

「You do not need to tell me what to do! 」

Elmer waved his arm as if he was trying to brush something away. Dimitri then took the lead and descended into the underground section of the castle. Elmer followed closely behind him along with a woman with rich black hair. She must be Yana, The Black Witch, or at least that is what Theo assumed as he chose to step away from these three and remain side by side with Siluca.

Numerous human bones are stored in the depressions in the walls of the underpass they were currently going through.

「These are said to be the remains of the people who lived and died during the time of Extreme Chaos… 」

Siluca silently shared what she had learned from Dimitri with Theo.

「The Vampire King said he was the gravekeeper. 」

And then Siluca told him the story she heard from the Vampire King while trying to streamline it as much as possible.

「If what he says is indeed true, then I do not think that it is consistent with what I have heard from Frantz, the vice-captain of Elmer’s unit. 」

When Theo whispered back to her in a low voice, he also told Siluca the information that he managed to obtain from Frantz. Siluca listened to everything calmly and quietly, and it was only when Theo informed her that Clara the Werewolf Queen died did her expression changed to that of intense anger and deep sadness respectively.

「Lord Elmer and the witch named Yana… I have not met and talked to neither of them yet, however, I cannot believe that the two of them have exactly the same goals. 」

Siluca said after she finally managed to regain her composure.

「Right now, it feels like there are simply too many overlapping possibilities, just like with the nature of Chaos. We have to wait until they all converge into one to see what the truth really is. 」