The three men before the Emperor wore different expressions. Ector Enti, the commander of the Guardian Knight Order, stiffened his face in a stern manner, but his eyes were urgent, urging the Emperor to get to the point.

Moritol Anak, commander of the Heaven Time Knight Order, on the other hand, remained calm and patient, as if waiting for the Emperor to speak at any moment.

Finally, Cadel Lytos, commander of the Scarlet Scales Knight Order. His expression was the most complex of the three: a mixture of ease and fatigue as if he’d already guessed the future and was ready for a conclusion, and occasional clouding of the eyes as he became lost in other thoughts.

The Emperor of the Empire, Derek Osma, looked the three men over, and only after a long moment did he speak.

“The sealing of the Demon Realm has been finalized.”

It was the result of a short, terse summit. Of course, the summit itself was long and drawn out, but it was unnecessary to spell out all the information to the war-weary commanders.

Ector was the first to react to Derek’s words.

“So the time has finally come to unearth the imperial family’s hidden treasure, the ‘Stone of Peace’? Keke, I’m looking forward to it. Your Majesty, you always claimed you didn’t know where the ‘Stone of Peace’ was, but I believed you. That you hold a treasure so important that you would hide it from even your most loyal servants!”

His voice boomed with excitement, echoing through the room, and his eyes flickered to Derek like a child with a new toy, but he was met with nothing but coldness in return.

“Your delusions never seem to grow old. There is no such thing as a ‘Stone of Peace’ hidden in the palace.”

“You must be kidding me, Your Majesty!”

“I’m not joking, I’m very tired indeed. The only thing I can tell you with certainty is that the ‘Stone of Peace’ spoken of in the legends of the Seven Knights exists, and I don’t even know exactly where it is.”

“The stone’s existence is as real to me as it is to you. Your Majesty and I are in the same boat, much to my dismay.”

Ector clicked his tongue in disappointment, and Derek looked quite amused, but Moritol interrupted this pathetic exchange.

“Didn’t the other kings know the location of the ‘Stone of Peace’ as well, Your Majesty?”

“Yes. All they have is a stone statue depicting the supposed location of the stone, and from that clue, they will be able to deduce the location. You will have to travel to those places and search for the stone yourself.”

Cadel, who had been listening to Derek in silence, asked.

“A statue that depicts the location?”

“After the end of the Demon War, the gods who protected the Seven Knights visited the stone statues that carved them and inscribed the words depicting the location of the Stone of Peace. The kings of the time either removed the sacred statues and set them aside, or took the inscriptions and wrote them down, a secret known only to a select few.”

“Why didn’t you look it up beforehand? After the Demon War, you must have had the seal in mind.”

Moritol’s gaze shifted at the stinging words. His icy gaze swept over Cadel’s brash demeanor, but Cadel was unperturbed. Derek didn’t seem fazed by Cadel’s point either.

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“How come?”

“There are many reasons, but I’ll give you the biggest one. Unfortunately, the only inscriptions left in the Empire pointed only to ‘Death’.”

Death. In the sudden silence, Derek pulled the parchment from his bosom and handed it to Cadel. Cadel read the words on the parchment, feeling a strange sense of urgency.

[A land of darkness and evil, a sun that never rises, a hope that lies dormant. Buried in their curse lies our hero. The heart that swallowed the curse beats without dying, And the soul of the blue sky shall be happy without rest].

“This…….”

“I assume it’s the Demon Realm. Though I have no idea where in the Demon Realm it is.”

Cadel passed the parchment to the others, pondering the meaning of the words, then ran a hand through his hair with a low sigh.

“This is why Sellev is…….”

“Sellev?”

“Ah, yes!”

Cadel’s muttering was followed by Derek and Ector. Ector reminded Derek of the strange magic circle he’d relayed a few days ago.

“They already knew the ‘Stone of Peace’ was in the Demon Realm, they knew we had to go there, and they gave us a way in beforehand. Damn, I knew it, but it was a trap we had to walk into!”

“It’s going to take time to find the remaining ‘Stone of Peace’ in the Human Realm anyway, so the demons will have plenty of time to recruit and organize their forces. If anything, if the humans take a long time to get to the Demon Realm, the demons’ nerves and willpower will be lowered. There’s no point in waiting too long, so we’ll just have to strike first.”

As Cadel read the inscription, Sellev’s behavior began to make sense. At the same time, the quest that marked the end of the story popped into his mind.

「Main quest ‘Demon War – Sequel’ accepted!」

「Complete the quest to advance the story. You will be rewarded.」

「There are prerequisites for this quest.」

「Sealing Stones Possessed: 0/7」

「Sealing Progress: 0%」

「Collect all Sealing Stones to perform the sealing successfully.」

「On failure, the world will be destroyed.」

* * *

Cadel returned to the village of ‘Onde’, where he was originally staying. Behind him on the traveling magic circle were the imperial magicians Derek had assigned to him.

“If you go to the location I told you, you’ll see the magic circle left by the High Demon. Please start analyzing it immediately. I will join you shortly.”

After dismissing the magicians, he gathered his subordinates who had been waiting in his room. Cadel informed them of the summit and the conclusions he had heard from the Emperor, of the existence of the ‘Stone of Peace’ and of the inscriptions left behind in the Empire.

“The Empire’s inscriptions will need to be analyzed further, but unless we can find a place in the Human Realm that matches them, an incursion into the Demon Realm will be inevitable.”

To seal it, they would have to descend into the Demon Realm themselves and engage in head-on conflict. It would be a dangerous battle, and everyone was aware of that.

And the one who felt the most pressure here was none other than Cadel. He knew this fight was the end of the story. The quest he’d been waiting for, and dreading, since he’d been transmigrated here.

It must be done perfectly. For the sake of his subordinates, even if all that awaited behind him was a sad farewell and despair. He was desperate not to lose a single one of them.

“Why are you acting like death is coming already, Leader?”

Lumen, who had been listening to the story, teased, noticing the strain Cadel was feeling. The others did the same.

“Aye, Knight Commander. We’re not going down right now, and if we do, we’re not going down to die, so it’s too soon to worry.”

“Darling, what’s to worry about when I’m here? Other humans may be incompetent, but I’m not!”

“I’ll protect you, no matter what happens, Commander.”

“Going to the Demon Realm isn’t so bad. There’ll be enemies everywhere, and we’ll just kill them all. Easy.”

As much as Cadel worried about the safety of his subordinates, they worried about him. They trusted and relied on him, but they didn’t want him to carry it all alone. They shared their anxieties, they shared their happiness. That was how they had come together under his leadership. Now, there was no way they were going to let him carry it all alone.

So Cadel quickly regained his composure amidst the commotion.

‘Right. I haven’t fought this far alone, and I’d never have gotten this far without them, so the same goes for the end. We can get through this together.’

Because of them, no matter how many times he fell, he was able to get back up and keep going. They were his hope, his only dream in this world, so he could do it.

“I’m not worried about losing! What I am worried about is that the Imperial Knight Order will be called upon to join the Alliance’s search for the stone the moment the Empire identifies its location in the Demon Realm, and I’m already tired of running around and being a backup.”

Cadel swallowed hard as if to shake off his fears. There was a lot of work to be done before they could go toe-to-toe with the Demon Realm, from helping with the search for the ‘Stone of Peace’ to analyzing the Demon Realm magic circle. There was plenty of time, so heavy resolutions could be put aside for now.

* * *

Studying the Demon Realm magic circle that Sellev had left behind took longer than Cadel expected, as the lack of mana meant that he could only guess at its activation by projecting outward formulas and similar principles. After a while, even court magicians from other nations were sent to study it.

The area around the magic circle was never empty, so there was no chance to sneak Garuel in and imbue it with his demonic energy. It would have been futile, as the magic circle would have been disturbed and suspicion would have been aroused.

While the analysis was going on, the group would scout the area with the other knights, or travel a little further afield to help with the monster hunt. With their commander being an accomplished magician, they were stuck, but no one complained.

For the next month or so, he stayed with the Demon Realm magic circle. Unfortunately, he hadn’t achieved much, but he did have something to analyze. He had succeeded in the first step, extracting the formula.

All that remained was to organize the extracted formula into mana and experiment with portal creation. The abilities of a high-ranking magician such as Cadel were not crucial to this endeavor, as his role was more than adequate in extracting the complex formulas of the Demon Realm magic circle.

A call came in for assistance in the search for the ‘Stone of Peace’, so Cadel grabbed his pants, shook off the flailing magicians, and got back on the road.

Skotavi, the capital of Dunkelhai.

“We have surprisingly strong ties to the Dunkelhai Kingdom.”

In the carriage traveling to the appointment. Lumen said dryly. Lydon, next to him, made a sickening sound and stuck out his tongue.

“The dull country is just like Yozen. Why are we applying to Dunkelhai? I like the White Kingdom better. You can see the sea, and the chocolate is delicious.”

“If the White Kingdom had asked for help, Sir Garuel would have been in trouble.”

“I don’t care if Garuel suffers or not.”

Once again, the seats had been chosen by lottery. Cadel glanced at the two men sitting across from him, then back at the parchment in his hand. It was the formula for the magic circle he had set aside before traveling to Dunkelhai.

“Don’t speak ill of another’s home, Lydon.”

“Darling, are you trying to chastise me for calling dull Yozen dull?”

“Yes.”

“That’s too much! I’ll rip Yozen into ten pieces as soon as I get off!”

“Who would say such a mean thing?”

Lydon yelled at Cadel for not taking his side, and he threw his big body around to show his frustration. Cadel calmed Lydon down until he began to get motion sickness from the swaying carriage, then turned his attention back to the magic circle.

After two hours of traveling, they arrived at their destination, where the Shadow Knight Order and the magicians for traveling magic were already waiting. Cadel suppressed the rumbling in his stomach and glanced over at the commander of the Shadow Knight Order.

‘Well, this place is certainly dull. Can’t argue with that.’

All black robes, dark hair. Most of them wore mask-like cloths that covered their faces. He couldn’t shake the grim feeling he got from the dozens of hollow-eyed knights.

Only one was unmasked, and Cadel recognized him as the commander of the Shadow Knight Order.

“I’m Cadel, commander of the Scarlet Scales Knight Order. Please take care of me.”

“I’m Dasto Salawell, commander of the Shadow Knight Order.”

There was an inhuman chill in their clasped hands. Whether it was the cold of the day or his own low body temperature, he couldn’t tell. He was a man with dark skin, piercing eyes, a strongly defined brow, and a stern expression. They say you shouldn’t judge a man by his appearance, but this man looked like he wasn’t going to give Cadel any space.

“By the way…….”

His gaze, seemingly sharp at times, swept over Cadel’s back. After a brief pause, he turned back to Cadel and spoke.

“That’s one less person than I was told.”

“……?”

Puzzled, Cadel quickly turned around and counted the group, wondering if someone had fallen off during the carriage ride. He smiled sheepishly.

Yozen was gone, and Garuel, who rode in the same carriage as him, made eye contact with Cadel and shrugged his shoulders, saying he didn’t know the answer either.

“Ah……. Don’t worry about that one, he’ll be joining us soon.”

Apparently he had decided not to show himself in front of the Shadow Knight Order, and if he was going to do so, he should at least give them a heads-up. Cadel glanced back at Dasto, who shrugged and gave him a hard stare.

Dasto stared back at him with an almost rude glare, as if he were trying to read Cadel’s mind, and then slowly spoke.

“I’ve heard you have quite the assassin, I’m sure he must have ridden with you, but there’s no sign of him, no trace of him.”

“Well, he’s a bit of a mystery.”

“There are few assassins whose movements I can’t detect.”

Cadel wondered if Dasto was considering the possibility that the Scarlet Scales Knight Order’s assassin was the Shadow Envoy, and while he wouldn’t use it as a distraction in the middle of a battle, it wouldn’t do him any good to have Yozen’s identity known.

As Cadel stood there, his senses tingling with a strange tension, Dasto turned slowly from his hold on the tension.

“Let’s get moving. As you’ve already been informed, our search is quite extensive. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, let me know.”