I will be a demon in this life!

Chapter 248

The sun was rising in a clear sky.

At the Venrac Empire’s military camp, located near the border with the Kingdom of Presial, mages, warriors, swordsmen, and others were coming and going from different directions; some wore troubled expressions.

A tall man wearing silver armor and a white cloak entered the military tent where the senior officers were gathered.

"Superior Commander, many soldiers haven’t woken up—I mean, they’re fast asleep, and it seems impossible or very difficult to wake them," explained the soldier in silver armor, who was a deputy commander of the army.

The report was only a preliminary one, but Rasgar Relvin, who was the Minister of War and the assigned Superior Commander, muttered:

"It was that demon."

By "the demon," he was referring to the strange, powerful, and fleeting apparition that had alarmed everyone when they all felt the power of Sloth.

Rasgar Relvin, dressed in a white and gold uniform, was examining a cracked, grayish diamond set on a gold base engraved with magical symbols.

The diamond had been an ancient defensive artifact sent by the Temple of Endless Sky; it was intended to be used against Prince Absab, but the war hadn’t even begun, and they had already lost an ancient artifact.

Rasgar Relvin sat down as he meditated quickly to make the best decision for the army he was leading.

While Rasgar Relvin meditated, another man—dressed in a sumptuous white and gold religious robe and wearing a silver mask that completely covered his face—walked slowly around the table, examining the remains of the ancient artifact.

The silver mask consisted of two halves: one half of the face wore a smiling expression, and the other an angry one.

The man in the silver mask had his hands covered by white gloves, and in his right hand he held a long golden staff, at the top of which was a solar symbol with a spherical gem embedded in it, from within which an intense light shone.

That man was Mr Geminis.

There were other commanders in the tent as well, but they chose to remain silent when they saw Mr Geminis walking around the table. The reason for their silence was fear and respect, as they all felt that the presence of the high representative of the Temple of Endless Sky was unfathomable and almost akin to that of Emperor Richard Venrac.

The silence that had settled in—and felt somewhat uncomfortable—was broken by Rasgar Relvin, who looked at the deputy commander and the other commanders in the tent.

"Order the deputy commanders and leaders of the smaller squadrons to submit a report on the adverse situation. We must have a clear understanding of what is happening and the impact it has had on our army," Rasgar Relvin stated in a firm voice.

Although some of the commanders belonged to other factions within the Empire, given the adverse and unexpected situation, none of them objected to carrying out the order. Some of them were concerned that their military forces would be the hardest hit.

A commander from Rasgar’s faction named Ander Lerkiant, who was at the seventh spiritual core (lower level), asked:

"Senior Commander, is this a curse?"

The question had a profound impact, but it was a valid one, because curses sometimes spread to people near cursed territories or to those who were cursed.

Other commanders looked at Rasgar Relvin with growing concern.

"No, it’s not a curse; it was a demonic spell—a powerful and intricate one," replied Mr. Gemini.

Hearing the words spoken in a deep, inscrutable tone, the commanders nodded and hurried to carry out the orders promptly.

Mr. Geminis, whose power was profound and whose life had been long, knew more than he let on.

The powerful demonic spell contained not only concentrated demonic energy, but also dense mana; yet the presence of mana in the demonic spell contradicted all scholarly accounts that described demons as cursed beings possessing a corrosive energy that destroyed the world.

Subtly and without saying another word, Mr. Geminis reached out, took the remains of the ancient artifact, and tucked them into the left sleeve of his robe.

Rasgar Relvin said nothing, as if he didn’t suspect that anything had happened.

Mr. Gemini took the remains of the ancient artifact with him, because he didn’t want there to be even the slightest chance that anyone would realize the demonic spell contained mana. The current Temple of the Endless Sky, while not aligned with the radical faction of Inquisiderian, likewise preached that demons were the enemies of humanity, and they preferred that this not change abruptly.

"I must report this to the Holy Hierarch," thought Mr. Gemini, who left the tent but not before nodding respectfully in the direction where Rasgar Relvin stood.

...

At the Presial Kingdom’s camp, right at noon.

The sky remained clear.

Inside the main military tent stood King Sition Brooks, the army’s supreme commander.

Unlike the Empire, the Presial Kingdom could not afford to lose, because defeat would mean the ruin and demise of the kingdom; for that reason, King Sition decided to take part in the war.

Also present in the tent were the lords and commanders of the Presial Kingdom, all sharing their opinions.

Prince Absab simply watched those present with a calm expression as he listened to each of their proposals regarding the war.

By that point in the meeting, everyone had already witnessed the commotion and turmoil within the enemy army.

Something had happened; many suggested staying on guard, others proposed further strengthening the defenses, and a few of the more daring suggested sending out a reconnaissance party to take advantage of any sudden weakness the Imperial army might be facing.

"What if it’s a trap?" Absab asked Derent Miller directly.

Derent Miller was a stout man with a slightly protruding belly; he wore a sumptuous uniform made of comfortable fabric, which made it clear that he greatly valued comfort, but the important thing was that he was the one who suggested they should seize the opportunity and move forward.

If the proposal had come from any of the other new lords, Prince Absab would not have given it a second thought, but the mental murmurs that Mephistopheles had heard in the past with his cursed energy were also heard by Prince Absab.

And among those murmurs were some resentful lords eager to betray the Presial kingdom, and among them was Derent Miller.