The headquarters of the Demon King’s army is located in the Demon Realm.
It was originally a land where the demon race lived, under the rule of the Demon King.
Now that the Demon King is dead and the number of demons has drastically decreased, naturally, the territory of the Demon Realm has also shrunk, but there are still considerable areas left undeveloped.
Today’s meeting took place there.
“So, what’s the specific plan?”
“Refrain from direct combat. We are already a small group, and we can’t afford more losses.”
“Huh? Then what are we going to do?”
“I’m thinking of unleashing some monsters. A significant number.”
As the demon spoke slowly, the expression of the nearby demon changed.
She understood the hidden meaning behind those words. She smiled wickedly and asked.
“Oh, so that’s what you’re doing?”
“Right.”
The demon held several gold shards in her hand. Some were familiar to some, while others were seen for the first time.
For those who might not know, the actual leader of the Demon King’s army, Lark, spoke up.
“The source of power of the former Demon King, Echidna. Now it’s scattered in countless shards, and when monsters consume them, they undergo a process of evolution into new forms. Humans refer to that as the Seed of the Demon King.”
“So by eating that, they receive some of the Demon King’s power?”
“If you plan on eating it yourself, it’s best to give that up. You’d become a monster that can’t control itself. It’s meaningful for mindless monsters to evolve, but reducing the number of heads could lead to a decrease in power.”
“So? You mean you’re going to unleash those monsters on the Empire? A few monsters won’t make a difference, will they?”
Lark slowly nodded.
It wasn’t that he underestimated humanity’s power, but the influence of the former Demon King was greater than expected.
He smiled.
“As long as Sertia doesn’t take action, they could easily be annihilated.”
Most of the Empire’s power is concentrated in the Academy or the Knights Order. Taking down either one would be catastrophic for them.
Lark concluded that targeting the Academy would be more efficient than the Knights Order for the first strike.
By eliminating the primary forces, they could also uproot future seeds. And as much as it is the Empire’s best educational institution, in the end, it’s filled with students.
The professors there would have to fight while protecting relatively weaker students.
The professors who can’t unleash their full potential will crumble.
That day, all humans in the Academy would be slaughtered, whether professors or students.
The sooner, the better. They couldn’t let Sertia, who might catch on, act first.
The night in the Demon Realm was deep.
*
About two weeks had passed since Iria had a duel with Sera.
After her lecture, Iria rushed to meet Ariel and Sera. It was a mystery when the three of them became so close.
With the three of them together, rumors spread quickly in the Academy. It was said that the strongest elite students had gathered in one place.
Ariel was already famous, no need to mention it, and both Sera and Iria’s evaluations had significantly increased from the recent duel.
Upperclassmen felt the wall during the duel, kneeling in defeat.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that, in the Academy’s history, lower-year students were sweeping through the place.
Did having overwhelming power as a first-year student warrant such evaluations in the school?
Even those who had been jealous of Iria seemed to have been swayed, accepting the situation.
Jealousy could only occur among those of similar levels. When you’re looking up at someone who’s way out of your league, it just doesn’t feel like jealousy anymore.
Around that time, Rena was genuinely relieved, observing the change in people’s reactions.
Just a while ago, Iria was treated like the bottom of the barrel. She wasn’t someone who could be underestimated for having low mana.
Still, thought Rena, wasn’t there a part of her that contributed to Iria’s victory over Sera in the last duel?
They had trained together for a week after all.
Seeing her friend rise made Rena feel good, too.
To be honest, she felt like bragging about having Iria as her friend.
Lately, however, they hadn’t met much, as Iria seemed busy.
Just then, Rena spotted Iria passing by.
“Ah! Iria!”
Rena greeted her warmly.
However, perhaps due to the distance, Iria didn’t seem to hear Rena’s greeting.
“Ah…”
Today, Iria was accompanied by someone else.
The strongest student in the Academy, Ariel, and the top student in the Combat Magic Department, Sera.
Rena paused while attempting to call out to Iria. For some reason, she felt Iria looked better next to those two than with her.
That day, Rena couldn’t bring herself to speak to Iria.
She didn’t know why.
It just felt like she wasn’t enough to stand beside Iria at that moment.
Recently, Rena had been feeling a strange distance from Iria.
In fact, it was a feeling she had been experiencing for a while, but it had intensified.
Since when had it started?
If she had to pinpoint it, it would be after the duel with Sera.
To be honest, Rena didn’t think Iria would win that day’s duel.
Sera was at the peak of the Combat Magic Department and a genius in battle. No matter how strong Iria was, Rena never thought she could measure up to Sera.
Yet Iria won.
As always, she built her undefeated legend in the dueling arena. It was then that Rena’s gaze toward Iria changed.
She began to see Iria as a being living in a completely different world from hers.
Iria was a genius, and their worlds were different. Though they were classmates in the same class, she now felt Iria was so very far away.
Lately, she had only been hanging out with second-year seniors, so they rarely crossed paths.
That might have contributed to it.
“Iria.”
“……?”
“What are we to each other?”
Rena threw out a question with a meaning unknown to Iria.
Even Rena herself couldn’t fully understand what she was asking. So Iria couldn’t answer for a while.
With a tilted head and a blank expression, she showed she didn’t understand.
As always, Iria met Rena’s eyes, trying to grasp the intent of the question.
But even after reading Rena’s memories, she couldn’t make sense of it. It was something Rena herself didn’t even know, bordering on a slip of the tongue.
Iria decided to attach no great importance to Rena’s question. She took it literally and replied.
“I don’t know.”
What kind of relationship? It was too difficult a question for Iria, who had lost most of her emotions.
Even after thinking about it all day, she wouldn’t find an answer. Iria wasn’t oblivious to this and chose not to overthink it.
She wouldn’t call Rena a friend. Iria couldn’t assure herself that she could control her hunger and not harm Rena when starved to the extreme.
A friend wasn’t someone you just ate when hungry.
Because she couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t harm her with her own hands, Iria hesitated to use the term friend.
If anything, perhaps they were merely classmates.
“Are we friends?”
“……”
Rena asked.
Iria met her gaze once more, again trying to grasp the intent of the question.
Then Iria’s response followed.
“I don’t know.”
It wasn’t a satisfactory response.
But it was a phrase that only Iria could say. Even as she turned her gaze away nonchalantly, she couldn’t lie.
Not good at human relations, Iria unknowingly drives a nail into another’s heart.
Rena bit her lip.
Ultimately, the two couldn’t understand each other’s feelings. There was a massive wall named race between them.
Rena couldn’t understand Iria because she was human, and Iria couldn’t understand Rena’s feelings because she was a monster.
For a while, silence ensued.
Their gazes tangled in the middle, yet they didn’t meet. Rena avoided Iria’s eyes first.
It wasn’t that she was angry with Iria. She had always been someone lacking something.
She likely meant no malice in her words. Iria simply struggled with communicating with others. Rena understood that.
But.
“……I’m sorry, I’ll go.”
Still, feeling a strange distance from her was unavoidable.
Perhaps the only one who thought they were close was herself.
That was the moment when she felt Iria, whom she had always thought would be by her side, had drifted far away.
