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Chapter 113: The Invasion of Evil (6)

Having thought it through, Barbosa cleared his mind.

While Ketal was quite unique, he wasn’t crazy.

Based on his experiences so far, Ketal was rather sensible.

Barbosa realized he must be mistaken.

With that in mind, Barbosa spoke up.

“Ashetiar. That demon declared it in the capital.”

She shouted loudly, as if to make sure the entire world would hear.

Half of the people in the capital heard that shout.

“She said the Demon King would descend. That he would return this corrupted world to its original form.”

“Oh.”

Ketal’s eyes lit up.

The Demon King.

What a stirring name.

The ultimate enemy that always appears in a fantasy world.

To think such a being exists here too, and is even set to descend.

He was excited.

He was very much looking forward to it.

And Barbosa watched him with a bit of a grimace.

‘…Is he really happy about this?’

“I’m curious. What kind of being is the Demon King?”

“Hm? Don’t you know?”

Barbosa was puzzled.

There was no one who didn’t know about the Demon King.

But he soon realized.

The barbarian in front of him wasn’t from this continent.

The Barbarian of the White Snowfield.

It made sense that he wouldn’t know about the Demon King.

Barbosa began his explanation.

“Long ago, there was a time when evil ruled the Middle World. This world was their plaything.”

“I know about that.”

Demons crossed over to the Middle World, tormenting and slaughtering humans as their playthings.

The gods, unable to bear watching this, descended and banished the demons.

After a long time passed, we reached the present.

The story of the Sun God’s Inquisitor, Aquaz.

While not fully believing the myth, it seemed true that demons once trampled the earth.

“Back then, unlike now, evil could descend to the earth without any conditions. Humans were merely their playthings.”

“There’s something I don’t quite understand. Maximus and Arkamis could stand up to demons.”

Both were recognized as true superhumans.

But they weren’t the strongest among humans.

There were those stronger than them among superhumans, and heroes were said to possess power far beyond their reach.

“So they couldn’t do anything and were overrun? Were humans back then weak?”

“That’s not it.”

Barbosa shook his head.

“Records show that humans back then weren’t weak. While there were no heroes, there were certainly superhuman warriors.”

But they couldn’t put up much of a resistance.

The reason was simple.

Demons were incredibly strong.

“Butler and Ashetiar are among the weaker demons with names. They’re not particularly powerful.”

There were demons with names, lands, and titles.

Their power was such that Butler and Ashetiar were considered trivial.

Ketal’s face lit up with interest.

“Stronger than them.”

“There are demons that cannot be stopped until heroes or saints personally intervene. Nowadays, such beings cannot easily descend due to restrictions… but that wasn’t the case in the past.”

Those demons could descend to the earth without any restrictions.

They trampled the earth and defiled everything.

Barbosa paused for a moment.

After briefly looking at Ketal, he spoke again.

“Back then, most Forbidden Lands did not exist. But there was one exception.”

“Hm?”

The White Snowfield.

The Forbidden Land in the center of the continent had existed since the mythical times when evil defiled the earth.

Ketal asked with a puzzled expression.

“Even demons couldn’t do anything about the White Snowfield?”

“I don’t know. There’s no record of that. It’s as if it was cut out.”

“Hmm.”

Barbosa continued.

“The gods, unable to bear the sight of the earth, descended. Before their great power, the demons were swiftly driven out.”

Demons were certainly strong.

But gods were stronger.

Divine power had an absolute advantage over demons, so the demons were quickly pushed back.

Finally, they began to be banished from the earth.

When the beings of the Middle World and the gods were certain of their victory.

“The demons, driven back and pursued, made a decision.”

The demons sacrificed themselves to summon their king.

The lord of hell.

The Demon King descended to earth.

And the world began to burn.

Numerous churches were destroyed, and humanity was driven to the brink of extinction.

Many species actually went extinct.

Nine-tenths of the world burned at the Demon King’s hands.

“Is he that powerful?”

“Describing him as simply strong doesn’t do him justice.”

He was more like a natural disaster or a calamity.

The descent of the Demon King united gods, humans, and all life on earth.

Famous heroes died like insects.

A saintess burned to death.

After countless sacrifices, a hero emerged.

“A hero?”

“I don’t know the details. That part isn’t properly recorded. But history says a hero appeared to face the Demon King.”

Humanity, led by the hero, fought endlessly against the Demon King.

And with the noble sacrifice of the hero, they were able to banish the Demon King from this world.

They reclaimed the earth from the demons.

Ketal looked intrigued.

“I see.”

“Since then, the Middle World has been ours. But the demons still covet the earth. Demons have descended again since then, and there were several near-complete descents of the Demon King. Each time, the world suffered great wounds.”

Ketal stroked his chin.

“So the Demon King is trying to descend again this time?”

“Several phenomena are the same as before. We can’t just dismiss it as bluster.”

“Phenomena?”

“The demons spoke of a prophecy.”

“Oh, come to think of it.”

Butler also said they would achieve their goal according to a prophecy.

I thought it was just an expression of confidence, but it seems they received a genuine prophecy.

“They are beings that stand in opposition to the gods. Prophecies exist for them too.”

“But they failed. The prophecy seems uncertain.”

“…No.”

The demon’s prophecies were incredibly accurate.

It was safe to say they never missed.

Under normal circumstances, the elves would have been captured, and the Denian Kingdom would have burned.

But that didn’t happen.

The reason was probably the barbarian standing in front of him.

Barbosa left out that part and continued explaining.

Ketal muttered with interest.

“That means there was some variable. I wonder what it was.”

“……”

It was you.

Barbosa resisted the urge to say that.

“In any case, we must prepare.”

They needed to contact the sanctuaries of each god and the kingdoms.

Humanity had to unite and prepare.

“The empire will also take action. The world will change significantly.”

After saying that, Barbosa looked at Ketal.

“…What do you plan to do?”

“Nothing will change for me.”

Ketal replied leisurely.

“I will just continue traveling the world.”

“What if demons block your path?”

“Then I’ll just push them aside.”

Ketal said calmly.

After the conversation ended, Ketal left.

Alone, Barbosa exhaled with a relieved expression.

“That’s a relief.”

The Barbarian of the White Snowfield.

Ketal was not hostile towards them.

That was evident from how he defeated the demon this time.

Being a being of the Forbidden Land, it was uncertain whether he would side with humans or demons, but that worry was now resolved.

‘…The prophecy was wrong.’

Barbosa thought.

The demon’s prophecy was wrong.

According to all records, the demon’s prophecies were always accurate.

If they acted according to the prophecy, it always came true unless the gods directly intervened.

But this time, they failed despite the gods not intervening.

Naturally, one thought came to mind.

‘Is the Forbidden Land’s existence beyond the prophecy?’

* * *

After leaving the royal castle, Ketal went to find Milena.

Milena looked much older in just a few days.

She spoke while handling documents.

“You’re here.”

“You look very tired.”

“Of course.”

When the demon descended, she quickly directed people to evacuate and moved all important documents.

She responded perfectly to the demon’s descent.

But that didn’t mean there were no damages.

Her business was banking.

It relied on people’s trust, so the world needed to be stable for it to function properly.

But in a situation where demons descended, there was no trust.

People began rushing to withdraw their money and valuables.

She was busy dealing with that.

While the family itself wasn’t on the verge of collapse, the damage was not insignificant.

“That must be hard.”

“Still… it’s fortunate this is all that happened.”

The family itself could have been destroyed.

Ending with just damage was a miracle.

Milena looked at Ketal.

“…Did you also take action, Ketal?”

Not much was known about Ketal’s involvement in the demon’s invasion.

Defeating Butler happened where there were no people, and the battle against Ashetiar, though in the center of the capital, occurred when everyone had fled.

There was a woman behind Maximus, but she was half out of her mind from the effects of the dark energy.

In the end, little was known about Ketal.

People believed that Maximus had defeated the named demon and were praising his name.

But Milena had her suspicions.

She guessed that Ketal played a significant role in defeating the demon.

Ketal nodded.

“Even if temporarily staying in a city, I couldn’t just stand by while it was being destroyed. Besides, those things are enemies of humanity.”

“Huh…”

Milena let out a gasp of admiration.

A being capable of defeating even a named demon.

Moreover, Ketal didn’t even know the mysteries.

Yet, he possessed such power.

What would happen if he comprehended the mysteries?

It was hard to grasp.

For someone as ordinary as her, it was an unimaginable realm.

Thinking along those lines, Milena seemed to remember something and asked,

“By the way, how is Arkamis?”

A demon had descended upon Arkamis too.

Although she managed to defeat it, the damage must have been considerable.

“She said she would rest for a few days to recover her strength. I think it’s about time I visited her.”

Ketal muttered.

* * *

Ketal went to visit Arkamis’ home.

It was his first visit in two days.

She had to rest as she had expended all her strength.

After knocking, the door opened after a brief moment.

“Ketal…”

Arkamis emerged.

Her golden eyes looked at Ketal.

She seemed determined as she pulled the door open.

“Come in.”

Ketal stepped inside.

The scent of boiling herbs filled the air.

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better. I still need to rest a bit more, though.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“……”

Arkamis looked at Ketal.

After a moment of complex expressions, she spoke.

“Ketal.”

“What is it?”

“…Who are you?”

Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she looked at Ketal.