Kunra’s barrier reinforcement continued for another three hours. In the meantime, Cadel was saved from his humiliating position by a promise not to make any noise, and he sat furthest away from him, eyes fixed on him.

“…….”

A long shadow fell over Cadel. His crouching form did not stir, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

Kunra looked down at him wordlessly, then crouched in front of him, his posture not quite right. Long red hair spilled over the top of Cadel’s slightly tilted head.

Kunra brushed it back lightly, and a glint of amusement flashed across his eyes. Suddenly, a large, outstretched hand came up to meet Cadel’s face, followed by a short scream and a hard, sharp sound like a blow against a hard shell.

“Aargh!”

“Wake up, halfling.”

“What the heck……?”

“What’s what? It’s just a finger flick.”

Cadel’s eyes fluttered open from the sudden shock, and he pressed a hand to his forehead as he regained his composure. As the sleep fled, the heat rushed to his forehead, and the pain came alive.

“Why do you keep hitting me? If you want to wake me up, you can just say it. Why are you being so inconsiderate?”

“How hard did I hit you? That’s harsh.”

Cadel rubbed his increasingly swollen forehead and glared at Kunra, but Kunra merely raised an eyebrow impudently.

“……Don’t say anything. Are you done with your work?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s talk. I have to listen quickly and go to have dinner.”

Despite his constant displays of frustration, in Kunra’s eyes, Cadel was little more than a resentful squirrel whose food had been taken from him. Much more fun to watch than to appease.

Sitting up more comfortably, Kunra pulled Cadel’s arm, which was still covering his forehead, down. Then he lightly touched the small bump.

“What are you…… Uaargh! Fire! It’s on fire!”

“You’re too loud.”

A tiny ember sparked from the bump Kunra had touched, but it quickly died down. Cadel, who had been in shock that his forehead was on fire, paused at the fading pain that accompanied the heat.

Cautiously, he traced his forehead again and found that the bump that had been so imposing a moment ago had completely disappeared.

Kunra had healing powers, and Cadel’s voice drifted forward in surprise.

“Halfling. Who do you think is the key figure in the Demon War?”

“What……?”

The key figure in the Demon War. Cadel narrowed his eyes at Kunra’s question.

‘There are tons of them. Just looking at Ashvka, I can’t sleep at night because I don’t know how I’m going to deal with him when he’s completely escaped.’

Although they had been killing High Demons for a while now, the challenges of the Demon War were on a different level. After a major patch, the quest was blocked and players who hadn’t seen the story complained about it. A short time later, they dropped a bunch of goods for knight advancement, but they didn’t lower the difficulty.

‘I remember that thanks to word of mouth, the influx increased further.’

And as long as you were not greedy enough to clear it quickly, it was possible to clear it even if you were a free or low-pay user.

The problem was the situation you were in. Whether you chose to take it easy or not, the tide and pace of the war would defy your will. Would his Knight Order be able to survive the maelstrom?

Rubbing his cheeks with a suddenly serious expression, Cadel shrugged, unsure.

“It’s hard to single out a single guy because there’s no easy one.”

“……You really don’t seem to know anything about ‘Story of Fate’.”

“Then would I have lied about something like that?”

The ‘Story of Fate’ was the ‘main story’ of the game, which Kunra had accepted. Cadel’s explanation made it clear to Kunra that he was only aware of the broad outlines of the story, not the details and sequences.

Kunra sighed in frustration and continued.

“A demon that must be killed at all costs to end the Demon War. She is not a combatant.”

“Not a combatant?”

“The master of the Demon Realm’s great magic circle. She is the key to the war.”

The master of the Demon Realm’s great magic circle. Did he really mean to say that it was created by one person? Cadel blinked at the unexpected turn of events. Kunra’s face grew serious, and he lowered his voice in warning.

“The Demon King was already irreparably wounded in the First Demon War. He narrowly escaped death, and his power was enough to break the seal on the Demon Realm, but he will die soon enough if left alone, so the current Demon King has no power or strength to start a war.”

“…….”

“The only person who could have set out to break the seal on behalf of the Demon King would be someone with both the ostensible power to lead the demons and the ability to set up a great magic circle in the human realm.”

A being capable of succeeding a demon king who had lost his power and taking control of the entire Demon Realm. Usually, such beings were…….

“Is there a successor?”

“As far as I can remember, all the children of the Demon King who fought in the war were killed.”

“Then…….”

“However, it is a different story if it’s a child who never participated in the war in the first place and had no combat skills.”

A strange tension burned his throat. Cadel ran his tongue across his dry lips, searching for a vague memory. Kunra’s muffled voice pierced his mind.

“Emilia Schwell. The youngest princess, a mere child at the time, with no recognized talent. Unable to fight, she posed no threat, and with victory so close, it seemed better to hasten the completion of the seal than to hunt her down and kill her…….”

“…….”

“The humans were foolish to trust her, for she was the type to fight with her mind, not her body. In the end, it would be the work of the young princess, and no one else, that would usher in the resurgence of the Demon Realm.”

Kunra’s judgment was clear. No matter how many demons they killed in the war, no matter how many times they succeeded in resealing them. If they failed to kill Emilia Schwell, the master of the great magic circle, the war would always break out again.

And Cadel was already aware of her presence.

‘Emilia……. The last princess of the Demon Realm.’

It was a familiar name. A name that was often heard in the world outside of the story.

“Oh, it’s a success, a success! I was really summoned. It’s awesome! Right? Are you a genius, Emilia?”

“Sis, Sister Emilia told me to, to clean everything. I’m going to…… I’m going to kill you all……”

“So, sorry… Emi, lia…….”

“Miss Emilia has told me that many of my kin who have recently escaped through the summoning circle have been badly injured or have not returned, so I must be careful!”

Every High Demon he met mentioned ‘Emilia’s’ name. He had expected her to hold an important position in the Demon Realm, but he hadn’t expected her to be the master of the great magic circle and the sole heir to the current Demon Realm.

‘I’ve never faced her on any stage, so maybe she’s not a combatant or something……. Maybe she’s a major character that only appears in cutscenes.’

The system was a strict one, to say the least. If he didn’t make sure to remove the seeds of war, he was afraid it wouldn’t be recognized as a clear.

‘Maybe, just like in a game, if I win the battle, I’ll be considered to have completed the quest, but…….’

If Emilia was left alone, the human realm would be threatened once again, even in the distant future. He could not let that happen. Even if he left this world, his subordinates would remain here. He didn’t want to leave the world they would inhabit at risk.

“……If she’s that great, she’ll try to stay out of sight at all costs. She’ll stay hidden and help the demons.”

“Right. So there are only two options: lure the princess outside or enter the Demon Realm yourself.”

“Is it possible to enter the Demon Realm from this side?”

“Once the Demon Realm seal is broken. Once the great magic circle is activated, the human seals will lose their effectiveness. It will be much more difficult and dangerous to descend from the human realm to the demonic realm, but well…… you should be able to handle it with the power I’ve given you.”

He didn’t offer to help Cadel in person until the end. It was inevitable. Kunra’s purpose was not to save the human world.

What he wanted was to protect the innocent in the conflict between humans and demons, and to prevent the world from collapsing. He would only interfere minimally to do so.

‘I can’t ask for more, and I’m not sure I can convince him. The best thing I can hope for is to lure Emilia back to the human realm……..’

For now, Cadel had no idea how to find and deal with Emilia, whether in the demonic or human realm. Perhaps the war would provide a clue to reach her.

After a moment of thought, Cadel turned to face Kunra and spoke.

“I won’t beg you to share more power. Instead, please tell me all the information you know about the Demon Realm.”