One from the front. At the same time, one that circulated the air and hit the back. Lastly, one of them dug into the ground and then suddenly jumped above the feet. Evan kept still until they reached his body and held them with Annihilation just before the strike. Although it seemed like he caught them lightly, Evan was able to measure the resilience felt the moment he held it when he used Annihilation. It was pretty satisfactory.
âOkay, itâs improved.â
ââŚâ
The three things Evan caughtâŚwere the boomerangs from the demon armament of the Seventh Demon. He gave it back to their new owner, Cattleya. It was the last class before making her unique armor. He tried to determine whether he could put Cattleya in practice with this, and he was delighted with the results that exceeded his expectations. However, Cattleya, who took the boomerang back from Evan, looked stunned.
âIt didnât work on you at all?â
âItâs because Iâm the opponent, and your control or power is indeed growing at a tremendous rate. Quickly to a level that is impossible for any other Demon.â
Even after hearing Evanâs high praise, Cattleya remained glum. She still evaluated her training with the determination to give Evan a solid blow somehow as he looked down from a high place. But Evan was also sincere. Of course, Cattleya was quickly gaining strength by learning Claw combat skills from Evan. But isnât dealing with the boomerang, the Seventh Demonâs armament, a problem that has nothing to do with being skilled in Claw combat?
It was only a matter of Dark Magic affinity, dominance, and proficiency. An area of pure individual talent and effort had nothing to do with the game settings of the Yo-Ma Great War series. She was getting stronger than Evanâs expectations here, so he couldnât help but be surprised.
âAre the Ten Demons always at this level? No, the Demon King was one of the Ten Demons, too.â
âMaybe not. I realized that when I started trainingâŚâ
Evan murmured, half-awakened by Cattleyaâs natural talent. Cattleya was a little smug; whether she knew he had truly admired her, she confessed her innermost thoughts without being asked.
âSo farâŚI thought I had no talent because I couldnât handle magic.â
âItâs a one-dimensional idea.â
âHmph! I was just about to say thank you!â
âYou donât need to. Youâve become strong enough to be considered powerful, so you just have to beat up the demons.â
Evan had no intention of building this girlâs likability. Unfortunately, however, his excessive charm wrapped up this blunt attitude well, making him look attractive. Regardless of attitude, it was clear that Evan reminded Cattleya to realize her talent and use it well.
âI will give you a punch!â
âThatâs right. To fulfill your wish, cut your claw combat training in half from now on and practice controlling this boomerang in all your spare time.â
âHmph, okayâŚIâll do it.â
He checked Cattleyaâs growth and made a training schedule just for her. So, it could be natural for Cattleya to think that Evan thought of her as someone special. From the moment she was born, she was sought after by other demons. The Third Demon and the other powerful demons treated her as a seed to leave more vigorous offspring.
She hadnât expected to be more than a pretty doll, even by the Succubae who protected her. But only Evan found her potential, yelling at her to fight. It left an indelible impression on Cattleya.
âAll right, so the rest of the time, LianâŚâ
âYou do everything you can to the point where you feel like youâve done too much.â
âHuh?â
When Evan checked her schedule, she tilted her head and looked back. She seemed to be mumbling as she shrugged, revealing her true feelings.
âYouâre trying to lead everyone without a momentâs rest. At first, I thought it was a characteristic of humans, but I donât think itâs that because I saw the other humans on Middle Earth. If there were someone like you among the Demon Tribe, the Demons would have been integrated.â
âThatâs what you were talking about? Well, you have to be diligent in everything to deal with the Devil. This will be over soon.â
âThe DevilâŚâ
Cattleya trembled as she saw Evan genuinely thinking of fighting with the Devil. She was born as a Demon and felt the Devilâs presence more strongly than anyone else, so she knew how absurd Evan was.
âI admit youâre powerful. But, you know, the Devil is too much. Heâs an absolute being. Even if we deal with him in Middle Earth, not in the Demon RealmâŚâ
âDonât worry. According to my data, thereâs no way Iâm going to die if I confront the Devil right now.â
âThen you donât know a thing about the Devil. If he can find the right body, it will not be possible with the power of a mortalâŚâ
âFind a body?â
Evanâs eyes narrowed as soon as such words popped out of Cattleyaâs mouth. But what about Cattleya, who just said that? She also tilted her head.
âWhat did I just say?â
âHey, I donât like things like that.â
âI donât care what you like or dislike! Itâs just that I think I just said something I donât know aboutâŚâ
Evanâs eyes narrowed. It was a joint development in games and novels. The supporting actor, who usually lost his memory and lived like an ordinary boy and girl, suddenly changed at some point and spat out a line that seemed very lively. Later it turned out that the supporting actor was a significant figure on the enemyâs side.
The problem was that Cattleya didnât seem to be lying at the moment. Above all, if Cattleya hid something from Evan, there was no reason to say anything suspicious at this timing.
âThink about it. You just said, âIf only the Devil could find the right body.ââ
âA body? A bodyâŚâ
It was Cattleya who listened to Evanâs words and fell into contemplation as if it were her first time hearing it. As Evan waited silently for her to continue, she, who had organized her thoughts, nodded her head once and opened her mouth.
âYesâŚthe Devil is the master of the Demon Realm. Itâs impossible to get into Middle Earth with his own body.â
âNo matter what?â
âNo matter what. As a resident of the Demon Tribes and as a member of the Ten Demons, I can assure you.â
Well, according to her, at this point, a lot of the settings of Yo-Ma Great War Zero were going to be inaccurate. Since there was no need to talk to the Devil in the central episode of Yo-Ma Great War, he had no time to ask whether the summoned Devil was the main body or another bodyâŚ! At least their allies believed that the body of the Devil, including the Ancient Great Wizard, had been brought down!
âHow do you get the Devil to cross over?â
âYes, the way is to disguise the Devil and put him into another body to deceive the world.â
She didnât seem to recognize it, but Cattleyaâs eyes clouded again. Perhaps she didnât recognize her own words, as she did when she suddenly uttered them.
âThis is by no means a common knowledge even for a Demon TribeâŚâ
At least he didnât hear that from Maybell. Of course, Maybell wasnât a Demon of this era and was already sealed at birth, so she didnât know much about itâŚnothing could be guaranteed at the moment. Evan didnât disturb Cattleya and waited silently for her to continue.
âAt this point, the person who imparts the body must be strong enough to take the spirit out of itâŚâ
ââŚâ
âThatâs why if the Devil is brought to the human world, he will look not so different from the other Demons from the outside.â
âThatâs what I mean. But Iâm sure the Devil isâŚâ
Evan tried to recall Yo-Ma Great War Zeroâs final match. Yeah, the Devil looked like a black gas monster that didnât show a precise shape. It wasnât seen as a creature, let alone a demon, but he thought that would be the case for the final boss. He thought it was part of the production and moved on. But donât say it wasnât his main body? Was it the result of a failed ritualâŚ?
âNo way.â
A smile came out of nowhere. Even the Ancient Great wizard couldnât deal with him properly, so he only sealed the Devil. The one who defeated every God except the Creator, strengthened every Demon Tribe by his existence alone, and rotted the World TreeâŚshe was saying it wasnât the actual body of the Devil? If that were to be the case, the calculations needed to be thought of again before entering the situation.
âFollow me for a second. I need to discuss this with other people. Especially with the emphasis on whatâs called the body.â
âAhh!â
Evan pulled the defendantâs hand hard. Brought back to her senses by the shock, Cattleya freaked out and smacked his hand. It was so cute that Meow-one and Meow-two came up and growled after sensing the ownerâs distress.âŚno, it wasnât the time to do this!
âI donât know anything more than this!â
âI guess so. I wouldnât have needed more than that.â
âYou donât need it?â
At the words that came out of Evanâs mouth, Cattleya frowned and asked again. Realizing that she had made a slip, he replied by clicking his tongue.
âNo, Iâm sorry. Itâs nothing. Anyway, now we all need to get together and discuss it. Maybe the reason why the Devil joined hands with the monsters of the Spirit Realm is to climb into Middle Earth with the bodies of the monsters of the Spirit Realm .â
âWhat a terrible thing to say!?â
Cattleya shuddered and shouted. But maybe the Devil joined hands with the Spirit Realm for that purpose. In addition, he felt as if she knew the connection between Devil and the Spirit Realm, which had finally broken down in the main episode.
âThe body that he originally planned to descend in had run away, so he needed to find another body urgently.â
Evan looked at Cattleya and fell into a complicated state of mind. Yes, he was convinced that Cattleya was originally the primordial body of the premeditated witch. She understood something like this, and she had a strong spirit and is talented at handling Dark Magic. This might all be explained because the Devil was planning to use her body to descend.
âIt was probably the will of the Devil that gave the seat of Ten Demons to a weak Cattleya who was born with great power and couldnât handle it properly. It was to protect her until the day she was used as a primordial.â
Perhaps it was not only the Succubae that Samma Dagero was looking for but also Cattleya, who they were protecting. Evan had secured Cattleya and tried to leave the Demon Realm, so the Devil took extreme measures to hold them, and when it failed, he was forced to compromise with the Spirit Realm to prepare the descend through themâŚ
If you interpreted it like that, didnât everything fit together?
âI donât know what happened to her in the original episode of Yo-Ma Great War Zero, and I donât know why Devil ended up looking so strange.ââ
If the ritual had been successful, the Devil would have borrowed Cattleyaâs body and descended to the ground. However, in Yo-Ma Great War Zero, the Devil didnât descend with its main body, which allowed the Ancient Great Wizard Master to seal it with impunityâŚ
It bothered him a lot, but he didnât know what happened in the game, and he didnât need to know now. What was important was what Evan should do now that the threat of the spell had been reset. He originally planned to strengthen his native armament by utilizing the energy of the site of descent, but at this rate, wouldnât it be better to attract as many Gods as possible and use them as sandbags to deal with the Devil?
* * *
[Youâre talking nonsense, you.]
After hearing the whole story, Fayna responded.
[When judging from the godsâ position as an apostle and purely dealing with the Devil, you must choose your armament.]
âWhy?â
[Because you are already more potent than the gods.]
Evan had an ambiguous look on his face at the words, while the group nodded as if they all sympathized. Even the World Tree was pruning branches with exquisite timing.
[The Devil is an absolute powerhouse. And now the Devil is more likely to appear more substantial than you postulated. Then who has to deal with the spell? Is it a substantial majority, or is it the same absolute power?]
âThe absolute powerhouse.â
[Then we donât need to discuss this further. Now, if youâre ready, letâs build our weapons.]
Evan wanted to argue with Fayna in many ways, but he quit. This was because it seemed that there was no one to take his side given the atmosphere.
âHold on, I heard that the Devil needs another body to descend, but donât the other Gods need to do that?â
[The conditions are harsh, but they donât need another body to descend. The difference between Devil and the other Gods is also evident here.]
âYouâve changed a little, Fayna.â
[Itâs all thanks to someone.]
Evan and Fayna had been glaring at each other when Mirole stepped in and asked.
âZero, so weâre going with the plan?â
âNo, Iâm going to revise it. Originally, I was going to summon the gods and fight the Devil right away.â
Now wasnât the time to move passively, believing only in the inner fanatic of Yo-Ma Great WarâŚ
[Manual?]
Fayna murmured back, but he still ignored it.
âAs soon as my armor is complete, letâs go north first, with a few elites. Fayna, when you call the gods down, Iâll personally lure the Devil.â
[How do you mean?]
âOf course, we have to move to the gate. What makes you think youâve been picking up pieces of merit for so far?â
[At least I didnât think it was for the gods to be delivered to the Devil!]
A total of four fragments existed, and the other one Evan hadnât yet collected was in the north, in the base camp of the Spirit Realm with the Demon Tribes. And collecting all four pieces made it possible to create a very special gate. That would make it possible to make the battlefield where ever Evan wanted it.
âZero, can you show me that fragment?â
At that time, Aria, who had only been listening to the story without giving an opinion, opened her mouth. When Evan willingly accepted and handed it to Aria, she looked carefully at it, then nodded to herself.
âIf you collect all the fragments, would you leave it to me?â
âIt would be great if you could take care of it yourself.â
And that was how the new operation was decided. The group began to act straight after the discussion. Their destination was, of course, the site of the descent.