Episode 187: Dream in the game becomes reality

44. Center of events (3)

Why do devil worshipers arise?

Because you hate the goddess?

Because you hate this world?

no.

The term devil worshiper is often given a religious meaning, but more accurately, all people who have made a contract with demons are referred to as devil worshipers.

The reasons why people make contracts with demons vary.

'I want to become stronger. Please, if I had the power... … .'

'Why do I have to live like a gutter rat? why!?'

'I want to kill you. 'I would gladly give my life if I could kill him.'

'Sephia! Why did you take her!? 'What did she do wrong!!!'

You want power, you want wealth, you want revenge, you want someone to come back to life... … .

There are various reasons depending on each person's circumstances.

But they have one thing in common.

That is 'resentment' and 'desperation' towards the world.

These two emotions are combined to create a strong negative energy, and a demon attracted by that energy will talk to you.

'Do you want power?'

Just like this.

If you fall for the devil's trick, you will become a being called a devil contractor or devil worshiper.

In the religious world, this process is called 'corruption', because the moment a human makes a contract with a demon, black magic takes over their body, and they gain enough power to be able to be reborn.

In order to achieve his wish, the fallen human helps the demons to descend.

Those who want power follow the demons out of fear that they will take away their power.

Those who have wishes that cannot be immediately achieved with the power given by the demons first try to achieve what they want through the descent of the demons.

Naturally, the descent of demons means destruction and chaos on earth, so the Sepia Church turns on its eyes and sets out to hunt them down, and each country cooperates in this.

"There are three levels of demons: ordinary demons, high-ranking demons, and demon kings, but the ones who make contracts with humans are the high-ranking demons and the demon king. Even if you are a high-ranking demon contractor and not a demon king, in the end, that high-ranking demon has a king that it serves, so if you follow the demon, your ultimate goal will be the descent of the demon king."

Right now, I am sitting next to Arcia, listening to Teacher Marignan's explanation about 'the reason why devil worshipers appear'.

At the request of the church, I was in charge of investigating the Allied Powers of Elysia. I left the Principality and set up a research office in the Allied Powers, and that office is where we are now.

No, exactly, what do you mean by calling it an office?

Because the place we were sitting in, calling it an office, was the home of Supreme Elder Iris Marignan.

"Teacher, how strong are demons?"

In response to my question, Marignan seemed to have forgotten the sadness he had felt so far, and continued his explanation with a smug 'ahem' sound.

"By wizard standards, ordinary demons are usually at the 7th circle level, and high-ranking demons are at the 8th to 9th circle level. "They say the Demon King is more than that."

The Demon King's power is not even 9th Circle level, but more?

In other words, does this mean that he is a being above the standard, a god-level being?

If something like that comes down, I don't think even a dragon would be able to handle it.

Of course, Arcia and I looked surprised, and Marignan continued to explain, saying there was no need to worry.

"It is said that demons cannot use their full power once they descend on Rondel. They say this applies not only to demons, but also to elyos."

"That's a good thing."

"I think that during the mythical era when Elyos and Demons coexisted in Rondel, the goddess placed such restrictions on Rondel when the two races almost caused it to collapse."

Except for the moon, all the constellations in the night sky visible from Rondel are illusions created by the goddess.

Beyond that illusion, the real universe is hidden, and the shape of that universe is almost identical to that of the Earth.

There are eight representative planets in the solar system to which Rondel belongs, and if Rondel is Earth, then Elyos live on Venus and demons live on Mars.

This is Archduke Lucas' knowledge that is not known to the outside world.

The reason why Rondel cannot advance into space even though it has sufficient technological power and why demons and elyos cannot easily appear on Rondel is because physical movement between planets is impossible.

As Marignan said, I think this was an extreme measure taken by the goddess after the Elyos and Demons were at loggerheads during the mythological era.

So, if the Demon King wants to descend on Rondel, he has to do all kinds of shitty shows.

But even after making such a show of tears, he came down in an incomplete form.

From our perspective, we feel fortunate, but on the other hand, we wonder why the demons would do such a thing.

"teacher. "Why do demons want to descend on Rondel?"

"Unlike the Elyos, who are faithful servants of the Creator, the Demons, who deny the Creator, are said to have inherited a vulgar land. So, I heard that you are strongly hoping to expand into new areas."

Does this mean that goddesses also have emotions?

Treat those who listen well, and harass those who don't listen... … .

"If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to just rid the world of demons? Goddess Sepia could easily get rid of demons."

When I read fantasy novels or comics on Earth, there were always parts I didn't understand.

That is, the goddess summons a warrior, gives him a holy sword, and orders him to subdue the demon king.

Every time that happened, I thought like this.

'Can't God just kill the devil?'

'Rather than bothering to summon a hero and give him a holy sword to help him grow, wouldn't it be easier to step forward yourself?'

Called.

It still is.

If they are that annoying, wouldn't it be easier to just delete them?

"Whether it's Miu or Gou, a child is a child."

"So the goddess is a parent who believes that children grow up fighting? As long as the house doesn't burn down, I don't really pay attention to my children's fights... … ."

Marignan smiled at my words without realizing it.

I guess the analogy was too good.

"Do you think it's similar?"

Marignan said that and shrugged her shoulders, but rather than that, I thought that the goddess' personality was just as fickle as that of humans.

Well, only the goddess herself knows the answer.

"Anyway, I heard that when demons descend on Rondel, their abilities will drop by almost half. It is said that even the Demon Lord can be subjugated if three Elder-level dragons come together."

"Even if the Demon King descends, the dragon will take care of it, so isn't it okay?"

"But there are exceptions to everything. While there are mediocre demon lords, there are also exceptionally strong demon lords. Just like the Crimson Demon Lord did last time. "The Crimson Demon King defeated the dragon subjugation force and burned countless countries."

I agreed.

If that's the case, I understand.

We talked a lot after that.

About the demons and the future search.

"by the way."

"yes?"

"Do we really have to do this at my house?"

Marignan's house was very nice.

It wasn't a grand mansion like a human noble, but it was big enough that it wasn't hard for a dozen people to sleep in it, and perhaps because of the Elysian Alliance's motto of not using their own people as servants, there weren't any servants to bother to notice.

And because we used the services of a company that regularly maintains and cleans the facility, the building was very clean.

However, when he called me teacher, Marignan, who had been boasting and explaining things arrogantly, protested, looking at Berg, who was sleeping unkempt on his bed, with a disapproving expression.

"It's a long-awaited return, but it feels like I'm in the principality because of you!"

"There is a good base in an inconspicuous place like this, so why bother finding a new one?"

"Ugh!"

There is a mysterious phenomenon on the Prota Continent of the Allied Powers of Elysia, which is said to be the first continent of Rondel.

That means that there is land here and there with anti-gravity power.

As a result, there is a natural island in the sky, not an artificial one, in the Elysian Union.

Marignan was a landowner who owned such a sky island, and her fairly large sky island consisted of only a two-story house and a small vegetable garden.

In a world where cars fly, there didn't seem to be any major inconveniences in living on a sky island.

"From what I heard, Sky Island is known as a land that you can't buy even if you have money, so you're amazing."

"Well, Marignan is a family with a long history in the beast-human kingdom."

It seemed easy to secretly call in reinforcements from the Holy Land in an emergency here.

I looked up at the sky beyond the window and said.

There, floating a silver sphere with a diameter of 20 meters that had an atmosphere similar to that of a sky fortress, but was much smaller.

"That's the famous Spirit Tower."

"Yes, it is the unique defense system of the Elysian Alliance where spirits reside."

There are also a large number of sky fortresses in the Elysian Alliance.

However, like in human society, cities are not always floating in the sky to defend them, and that is because there is a defense system called the Spirit Tower that is cost-effective and does not impair the view.

It is said that the Spirit Tower was built in the center of the village by the elves since ancient times to protect themselves.

However, as time passed and development continued, the shape of the tower was abandoned, and now it has become a flying metal ball.

The unmanned Spirit Tower was built solely for defense purposes, and even though it was cost-effective, not everyone could own it because the price per unit was over 1 trillion won.

In other words, although she is treated like a doll among us, she is still the highest-ranking figure in the world's second-largest power.

"It's truly an ideal base."

"Tsk… … ."

When I told her how much I liked her home, she shook her head as if she had given up.

"So, busy people are going to sit here and wait for news from the intelligence community?"

I made an ambiguous expression in response to Marignan's question.

"It's been a while, so I'm going to try to be a little more proactive."

"Eh? how."

It's not good to give time to an enemy who doesn't know when they'll attack you.

Don't you feel safe if you get rid of annoying enemies as quickly as possible?

"I threw out the bait, so I plan to move if they bite."

I closed my mouth with those last words.

"Uh, uh. Marignan no way. "There."

"What are you saying, you crazy guy?"

Marignan, who was puffing out his cheeks as if he was dissatisfied with him, approached Berg with an annoyed expression and rolled him out of bed with his incomprehensible sleep talking.

* * *

"Hmm?"

Black Knight Celine Viola looked up at the sky while holding an artifact that looked like binoculars to her eyes, and the corners of her mouth twitched in admiration.

"That sounds plausible?"

There was nothing in the sky she looked up at.

No, to be precise, we should say that it is invisible to the eye.

That's because the artifact she held up to her eye had a stylish, streamlined nasal line.

"It is an airship that has a stealth function and even hides sound and energy. "Without navigation artifacts, we would never find it."

Celine was currently standing in the middle of the vast ocean.

Beside her, ten people were all kneeling on one knee and bowing their heads.

It looks like a servant serving the king.

However, perhaps because she was familiar with such a situation, Celine just grinned... … .

"let's go."

Soon she took the binoculars away from her eyes and gave an order.

As they stood on it, the land in the middle of the sea began to rise into the sky.

The saucer-shaped thing was some kind of hoverboard.

Large hoverboard.

Even though there was nothing around to hold on to, Celine and the group didn't waver an inch, as if they had glued their feet.

"First, we have to cancel hiding."

And she continued to flutter the hem of her robe with a smile on her face, and the middle swords dangling between the robe, which had gaps like a cloak, all shot up into the sky.

The maximum number of swords that a Grandmaster is known to be able to use is four.

However, for some reason, the number of daggers that flew out along with her command seemed to be over 10, at best.

-Quaaang! Quang! Quaaaang!

The sword containing the dark blade created large and small explosions in the sky, and soon a pure white airship appeared as if color was added to the empty air.

It was a huge airship, possibly 200 meters long.

"It was slow. Once aboard, you find the artifact. "I'll be out hunting."

"yes? "Lord, my lord!"

"Then let's go first."

Celine took out an extravagant butterfly mask that could be worn at a prom and wore it.

Then, she flew away before the hoverboard reached the airship, and a mid-sized sword flew up fiercely, carrying her like a skateboard.

"hi?"

She reached the airship in an instant and was faced with bewildered-looking paladins and priests.