There were two things he wanted to ask.
How they entered the Empire, and what their purpose was.
"First question. How is a demon here?"
Under Oscar’s fiercely chilling gaze, the female demon’s eyes wavered for a moment.
"S-stupid human. Just because you ask, there's no way I'd just tell you straight..."
Slash!
An arm severed from the shoulder joint rolled across the snowy field.
Staring blankly at her empty shoulder, she let out a belated scream.
"A-aagh! My arm! It hurts! It hurts, it hurts!"
Oscar stared coldly at her as she rolled on the ground groaning, and said,
"Answer me. How is a demon here?"
"Kee, keekik! Who knows?"
Slash!
This time, a leg.
"Aaaagh!"
That scream gradually turned into laughter.
"Kuhu, kuhuhuk, huhut, huhuhuhu."
"...Has she lost her mind?"
Demons in the past weren't like this; were the mental states of demons these days a bit lax?
The moment he frowned, she suddenly raised her head.
Heavily bloodshot eyes fixed upon him.
"Yeah! Cut it! Cut it all! I still won't tell!"
The eyes meeting his were speckled with anger, pain, and fear.
Even so, she didn't have the slightest intention of opening her mouth until the very end.
'These bastards value their own lives above all else, yet she's keeping her mouth shut even at the cost of her life?'
That only happens when opening one's mouth is more terrifying than dying.
Oscar's eyes deepened.
'At least the Four Great Counts. Or if not them...'
The Great Emperor might be involved.
It was when Oscar gave a dry nod.
"D-don't think I'll die alone!"
Smiling eerily, the demon poured out curses.
"You will die soon. You will die painfully. Not just you. Humans, the Empire, all will die."
"Is that so?"
He chuckled without realizing it.
He absolutely wasn't mocking her or anything; it was just that hearing such a curse after a long time felt quite welcoming.
"Eek..."
However, this didn't seem to be the reaction the demon had expected.
Trembling so much that the flesh on her gaunt cheeks shook, she screamed.
"You too! And the demon you're hiding! You will die horribly!"
Oscar's expression turned slightly serious.
Because those words couldn't be easily brushed off.
"A demon I'm hiding? What are you talking about?"
For now, feign ignorance.
But the demon instead shouted triumphantly.
"Hmph! Stupid human! It's no use trying to deceive us! We came already knowing every~thing!"
"Knowing what, then."
"Hahat! Huhahat!"
She burst into laughter, seemingly enjoying the situation.
Soaking the snowy field with red blood, the demon laughed for a long time before smiling softly.
"This is fun. Human, you can't hide it. Because we can find it."
"...I guess."
He probably didn't need to ask why they came here.
The conversation just now gave him certainty.
'These guys came looking for the Captain.'
It even felt oddly unsettling.
To simply say she was pouring out curses, her belief that he would die was quite firm.
'In other words, she seems certain that someone will come to save her... or at least kill me even if they don't.'
He felt he needed to get out of this place quickly.
"For someone who doesn't even answer the questions asked, you talk too much."
Thrust! He drove his spear straight into her heart.
"Kehuk!"
With demons, one shouldn't feel relieved just by stabbing the heart or severing the neck.
Because there were individuals with exceptional regenerative abilities among them.
Vwooom!
The mana gathered at the tip of the spear exploded just like that, splattering blood and flesh in all directions.
Of course, Oscar, who had cast a barrier in advance, didn't get a single drop of blood on him.
The moment he was about to leave the spot, he saw a compass dropped on the ground.
It was the thing the female demon had been constantly checking earlier.
'Did she say the mechanism was different?'
Oscar bent down and picked it up.
Sure enough, the moment he grabbed it, he got a feeling.
'...It doesn't operate on mana.'
An item that operated using demonic energy as its fuel.
Perhaps there was still demonic energy imbued in it, the compass needle was pointing towards him.
To think it could figure out the Captain's location even when he was hidden in a subspace.
Crunch!
Oscar crushed the compass without a hint of hesitation.
'There's a chance this compass itself could be used as a location tracker.'
As expected, Oscar raised his head.
The light seeping through the branches of the fog-covered forest grew faint.
Soon, night will fall.
A spacious, dark hall occupied only by an empty dining table and chairs.
A man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking at the fireplace.
Crackle, crackle.
Watching the burning embers, he muttered,
"How unexpected. To think you'd come looking for me first."
The response that came back was a creeeak!—the sound of the door opening and then closing.
Then, disciplined footsteps echoed through the empty space.
The man spoke while still not turning his back.
"You pretended not to hear when I called you so much. Seeing as you've come now that the kids have left their seats..."
Glancing back slightly over his shoulder, the man grinned.
"Are you finally challenging me? Descartes."
The visitor, Descartes, silently stared at the Great Emperor.
Losing interest at that dry gaze, the Great Emperor let out a sigh and looked back at the fireplace.
"Phew, talking with you is always no fun. Every time it's just me blabbering alone..."
"Speak."
"...Or else you snap my words right off like this."
Shaking his head, the Great Emperor said,
"Telling me to speak right out of the blue, what is it you want to hear?"
"Lapiros, Maxwell, Darwin."
Descartes, having called the names of the Four Great Counts excluding himself, spoke bluntly.
"Where did you send them?"
"I sent them on a little personal errand."
"I clearly told you not to."
The fireplace was blazing fiercely, but it failed to warm up the cold air of the spacious, desolate hall.
If anything, right now, that air had grown even colder.
The Great Emperor spoke, still without turning his body.
"Descartes. Do you know why I've kept you alive this long, even when the kids kept telling me to kill you?"
"It's because I coveted you. I want to have you. Because you're too precious an existence to just kill off."
Dark red demonic energy boiled up like a heat haze from the Great Emperor's body.
"If I could only obtain that strength and loyalty, I would feel like I had gained an army of thousands."
"Give it up."
At the cold reply, the Great Emperor cooled his emotions and shrugged.
"I guess I should slowly start doing that. Since you don't even listen to your superior's words."
"I have never acknowledged you as my superior."
"Heh, right. It's always been that way."
Chuckling, the Great Emperor stared at the fireplace.
Inside it, the books related to humans that he had been reading so diligently until now were blazing fiercely.
"Sooner or later, my brother will die, and I will become complete. When that time comes... no one will be able to stop me."
Slowly turning his head, the Great Emperor grinned.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
"Or, do you want to try and stop me? If you want to, this would be your last chance."
Descartes didn't react at all.
Because he had neither the reason nor the desire to respond to such a cheap provocation.
"War is premature. Internal consolidation comes first."
"Internal consolidation is already finished. Because you opposition members who refuse to acknowledge me are nothing but a tiny minority."
"...Soon, the true sovereign of this land will return."
"Yeah, yeah, tell him to come a bit faster if he's going to come anyway. So this junior can pay his respects."
Looking at the insincere Great Emperor, Descartes silently turned around and went back the way he came.
Once the door closed, the Great Emperor closed his eyes.
"Will we be enemies the next time we meet..."
Descartes, the sword he wanted to possess the most.
But it seemed he would never be able to wield it to the bitter end in this lifetime.
A moment later, the Great Emperor opened his eyes and spoke.
"Listen."
"Please give your orders."
A mass of darkness dropped from the ceiling, and a demon knelt on one knee.
The Great Emperor commanded.
"Tell everyone participating in the operation. The moment you discover a member of the opposition in the south."
Crackle, crackle.
Looking at humanity's history book turning into pitch-black ashes, the Great Emperor said,
"You have permission to kill them on sight."
In the end, night fell.
Oscar ran through the dark forest where not even starlight reached.
'Something is wrong.'
The Shadow Forest was inherently a place where one could easily get lost.
However, if one ran straight in one direction like he was doing now, they should be able to exit the forest regardless of whether it was east, west, south, or north.
Yet, even though it had been almost an hour since he started running, there wasn't even a sign of the forest ending.
"Huu, huk."
Halting his steps, Oscar looked up.
A dark forest completely devoid of starlight.
It was about time to admit it.
'...I'm trapped.'
Obviously, he hadn't genuinely lost his way.
Rather, it felt like someone was intentionally blocking his escape.
'It's not an array either. In that case...'
There was only one way to create a phenomenon this natural.
'World Liberation.'
Oscar's eyes narrowed.
He began looking all around, turning his head sharply, swish, swish.
'Since when?'
The Shadow Forest is always covered in fog, and the flow of mana is unstable.
Because of that, abnormal mana flows occur frequently.
'There is someone who unleashed their world while hiding within those flows.'
However, one more question arose here.
First. Demons cannot use World Liberation.
If such a thing were possible, the war would have ended in humanity's defeat a long time ago.
'That means the owner of this world is a human. In that case...'
Here lies the second question.
Why did the owner of this world target 'him'?
'With a world of this scale, it wouldn't have been able to contain everyone who entered the forest.'
Judging by the feeling that he had been walking the exact same path for a while now.
The opponent was merely waiting for his strength to drain.
That was why it was even more confusing.
Because it was unclear why, for what reason, they had targeted him.
"Hmm, looks like he's finally caught on?"
"Well, it would be normal to exit the forest after running this much."
"Still, we got all the useful information."
"It's not like this guy is the important one anyway."
Voices echoed from all directions.
As Oscar looked around warily, a man soon emerged from behind a tree.
He had a very docile appearance, an impression that wouldn't have raised any suspicion if seen on the streets.
From all sides, men who looked exactly like him walked out from behind the trees.
'Illusions? Or clones with physical bodies?'
Staring at them, Oscar asked,
"Who the hell are you?"
"I feel like that's the question I should be asking."
Scratching his head as if troubled, the man said,
"Hey, listen. You know where our Captain is, right?"
Our Captain?
Oscar grasped the situation from that single word.
'This guy, he's from the Violet Brigade.'
However, he didn't know that he was Oscar Crucian, nor that he was transporting the Captain through a subspace.
If he had known that, there would be no reason to come out so half-heartedly or test the waters like this.
His mind actually much more at ease, Oscar asked,
"Are you also with the Violet Brigade."
"That's right! Looks like we can communicate a bit?"
Smiling genially, the men nodded all at once.
"Right now, the Captain is being chased after being framed, you see? We were running away with him, but got separated for a moment and lost his location. If you just tell us where he is, we'll reward you handsomely. How about it?"
"It's certainly not a difficult request, but..."
"Right?"
"Before that, there's one thing I want to ask."
"I really don't like it when conversations drag on... Fine, what is it?"
"How did you know the Captain made contact with me?"
"Hehe. You were curious about that?"
The man took out a small bottle from his pocket.
Shaking it, he said,
"It's the Ten Thousand-Li Tracking Incense obtained from the Yan Kingdom. As long as you plant the scent, you can track the target no matter where they are on the continent."
"...I see, so you planted that on the Captain."
"Exactly. Now your curiosity is satisfied, right? Just hurry up and tell us where the Captain is."
"There's one more thing I'm curious about."
At those words, the genially smiling face of the man turned expressionless.
"No. You only had one chance to ask a question. Just tell me the Captain's location."
"Are you the only one who can track the Captain through that incense?"
"...Why are you curious about that?"
"Answer me and I will immediately tell you the Captain's location. Because I want to help him too."
The man's face contorted.
It was evident he was debating whether or not he should just cripple him first and think about it later.
"...This is really the last one."
Tap, tap.
He lightly stepped on the ground.
"Of course it's not just me. There are several people helping him just like I am. Are we done now? I'll make sure you're generously compensated, so just tell me the location."
"Tsk, things have really gotten tangled up."
To have to be chased by the Violet Brigade right after the demons.
Clicking his tongue lightly, Oscar said,
"The Captain's location is..."
Naturally, he had no intention of answering honestly.
Because he planned to quickly subdue the opponent and leave the forest.
But at that moment.
Crack! Craaack!
The space distorted, and the Captain, who was supposed to be in the subspace, popped out on his own.
"Heuk, keohuk."
Gasping for rough breaths, blue veins bulged all over his entire body.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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