The Demon King.
Strictly speaking, he is not one of the Divine Kings who existed since the Mythical Era and was the master of the Winter Blizzard.
He has the same outer shell but is fundamentally a different existence.
He is merely a thin veil covering the source of the power known as Winter Blizzard.
The Demon King appeared naturally one day when the current regime was ruling the Empire, leading uncontrolled demons and swiftly occupying the North.
The area covered was roughly one-third of the territory ruled by Duke Lemea.
It’s fortunate that the Karun Mountain Range divides the land; otherwise, many believe the North would have fallen.
“I had a feeling it was ominous.”
According to the report from the Kyne Special Forces, the number of demons in the Closed Sector is approximately 100,000.
For some reason, those who possess the power of immortality, like the leader of Evergreen, are said to be incapable of reproduction.
This is fortunate news amidst misfortune. Even though they are immortal demons, it seems they lose that power when crossing the Karun Mountain Range.
Given that their numbers are fixed, it means we can efficiently hunt the demons without directly entering the Closed Sector.
However, the current situation is the exact opposite.
The task force has entered the tiger’s den teeming with demons.
Here, they cannot kill demons, and the Karun Mountain Range that could act as a bulwark is absent.
Thus, our task force initially planned to avoid combat as much as possible and split into smaller units to remain inconspicuous.
With the combined efforts of Epherna, Belladriel, and the shamans’ mages defeating the darkness, they managed to cross the Karun Mountain Range and enter the Closed Sector.
Each split unit has the same mission:
– Find Evergreen and extract information.
The method of extracting information is free. Torture is allowed.
Even though they gathered the elite of the Empire and the shamans, the reason for including the underworld in the task force instead of just the knights is also this.
In terms of military strength, the knights might be superior. No, they will definitely be superior.
However, the underworld consists of an army of assassins who excel in all fields outside of combat.
In terms of survival skills and mission execution, they far surpass the knights.
“Ah, this is Team 1. Can you hear me?”
– Yes, I hear you, Commander. This is Team 5. Please give your orders.
– Please give your orders.
– Please give your orders.
– Please give your orders.
“Human presence detected in the northeast. I will track them, so nearby teams, please assist.”
– Team 3, Triaina. I will provide support.
Crackle-
I cut off the communication and turned around.
“Well then, shall we continue the pursuit?”
The man with a blue gem embedded in his forehead nodded.
As an Ocean Shaman and tracker, his special ability is mana detection.
It’s a skill that any mage can use, but being a special ability, its range and quality are vastly different from the ordinary.
The man’s ability goes beyond merely sensing the mana around him; he can pierce through the traces of mana left in the past.
It’s said he follows faint remnants of mana left in nature, but I’m not entirely sure what that means.
It’s often said that the abilities shamans possess are pure literary elements that cannot be expressed theoretically, and understanding it requires knowledge of shamanic tradition.
‘Anyway, he’s quite useful.’
The elite shamans sent by Achaz.
I’ve previously assessed what abilities they possess and what tasks they can undertake.
Being shamans, many of them have abilities that defy common sense, yet their skills are undoubtedly reliable.
After a while, Team 1, now joined by Team 3 led by Lea, continued the pursuit along the detected path.
They encountered demons five times during the tracking process. Although they tried hard to avoid combat, it wasn’t easy to dodge demons that were visible with just a glance. Unfortunately, a situation arose where they had no choice but to engage in battle.
Just like now.
“Take your combat positions.”
At my command, the members of Team 1 assumed a defensive stance, sharpening their weapons.
This makes it the sixth time. The number of battles against demons has exceeded five, but they still couldn’t fully trace the tracks of the person they discovered two days ago.
Since they were tracking on foot and couldn’t ride horses, fatigue began to accumulate.
However.
‘Resources are plentiful. We can definitely carry on with the mission for another week.’
All personnel here are survival specialists.
They have brought enough food, so as long as problems don’t arise, they have plenty of leeway.
It would have been nice if things had flowed smoothly…
“Damn…”
The location they tracked after battling demons multiple times was an abandoned village, and they couldn’t find any clues about Evergreen.
Moreover.
“…Is there still someone left in the Closed Sector?”
In the abandoned village, there were ordinary citizens living, not Evergreen, and the location was none other than the Demon King’s domain.
It had become an ironically safe place that even the strongest demons feared to approach, a sanctuary now that the Demon King was dead.
“Are you adults from the Empire?”
A child with bright eyes asked, unusual for their age.
They looked to be in their mid-teens, but considering they likely hadn’t been well-fed or cared for, they might actually be in their late teens or early twenties.
“Commander.”
“…Yes.”
Most of those remaining in the abandoned village were children under the age of ten.
I initially thought they might be Evergreen’s creation since there were no adults left, but after speaking with them, I concluded otherwise.
The children had almost no concept of an “adult”, let alone Evergreen.
Thankfully, the eldest among them, a teenager, had received some education, allowing me to gather information.
“These children were born and raised here.”
This was the only conclusion I could reach.
Even after the Demon King conquered the North and turned it into a demon-infested land, the subjects of the Empire managed to find a way to survive.
They made homes in the Demon King’s domain, formed a village, and bore children to carry on the next generation.
Most of the children didn’t even know about their parents.
The men had been killed by demons while searching for food, and the women had died after giving birth and becoming weak.
It might be fortunate, but all the children born here had sturdy bodies.
They had been exposed to the high mana purity of the surrounding environment and the vital energy emanating from the Demon King since birth.
Thanks to this, they had managed to survive until now, but from what I could see, even that was reaching its limit.
If I examined each child closely, I saw that they lacked muscle or fat.
Even if they had sturdier bodies compared to ordinary people, they would eventually starve to death without proper nutrition.
“Search for any remaining food here, and if it’s insufficient, share some of ours.”
“…That will deplete our food supplies.”
“Just share enough for two days. They’re all skinny kids, so they won’t eat much.”
It wouldn’t be a problem to share food immediately. The real issue was what to do with these children…
‘There is a way.’
It’s a very simple method, but one that requires taking risks—a high-risk, high-return approach.
Currently, five teams from the task force have infiltrated the Closed Sector.
The number of children remaining in the abandoned village is about thirty.
I can assign three of the teams to guard the children and let the remaining two teams continue with their mission.
One might ask if it would be better to forgo this opportunity and aim for the next, but
‘That won’t do.’
The core of this operation is to be swift.
Evergreen is an organization that does not reveal its strength.
However, since they possess a significant number of force shamans, they are by no means to be underestimated.
Wasn’t the trigger for this operation to ambush them with elite troops that may not be gathered again?
And the ‘darkness’ that has engulfed the Karun Mountain Range has not been entirely resolved.
Despite the combined efforts of the shamans’ mages, Epherna, and Belladriel, they have not devised a way to completely dispel the ‘darkness’.
The offerings that catalyze the darkness are said to be on par with the royal divine items.
In any case, because of that, the mages outside are currently in a state of ‘suppressing’ the darkness.
The task force is making a tremendous sacrifice to clear a path for their return and maintain it.
Is that all?
Evergreen must have realized that the Empire’s task force entered the Closed Sector.
They will be preparing thoroughly to ensure they do not lose the Winter Blizzard.
We must take advantage of that gap.
If we retreat now, it would give Evergreen the time they need.
‘Is it possible with just two teams?’
Seizing the Winter Blizzard.
With five in one team and two teams, that makes ten.
Since we initially infiltrated with a small elite force, our numbers are limited.
Let’s think.
The original plan was for five teams to invade Evergreen’s stronghold from five directions, communicating as they went to seize the Winter Blizzard.
If three teams were to decrease in number…
‘The chances would be too slim.’
Then, it would be best to disregard the children here.
If I leave these visibly emaciated children, who seem unlikely to survive much longer, to starve, and simply issue orders according to the original plan, the success rate would be over 90%.
“…”
What should I do?
