Ch.186 Yes, That Would Be Greatly Appreciated
Leah and Nephert arrived at the Imperial Palace.
Soon, they t the Emperor in the audience chamber.
“Oh! Leah—it’s been a while.”
“I greet Your Imperial Majesty.”
The Emperor nodded stiffly at Leah’s bow.
“Yes, I’ve heard from Lord Auros. All the Seal Stones are broken?”
“Yes…”
The Emperor scanned Mia’s grim face, then spoke heavily:
“We’re already sending troops to the Gates of Hell—but distance ans it’ll take ti.”
To stop the King of the Dead’s army, all forces had gathered in the capital.
Now, with the Gates open, they had to redeploy—all requiring imnse logistics and manpower.
Though slightly relieved by Auros and the Emperor’s swift response, Leah had to deliver terrifying new intel.
“Demons crossing the Gates are vastly stronger than before—strong enough to defeat the entire Hero Party, who once felled the Demon King.”
“What?!”
The Emperor couldn’t hide his shock.
He’d hoped the Hero Party could handle elite demons while troops blocked cannon fodder.
But…
“Every demon from Hell is incredibly powerful. Even if they resemble past demons, freed from dinsional constraints, their strength is unimaginable.”
Leah’s grim report troubled the Emperor.
He knew demons were strong—but her tone suggested inevitable defeat.
Leah and the Hero Party were young but war-hardened.
If even they despaired… humanity might lose.
The Emperor swallowed hard.
—Gulp.
This was worse than the Demon King’s last invasion.
But he refused to accept defeat—he trusted the Hero Party and his empire’s army.
Yet the Hero Party seed broken.
“Do you think we can win?”
Leah shook her head.
“The Demon King’s strength is unbelievable. If all demons are this strong, humans can’t stop them.”
Her certainty made the Emperor frown.
“Even with the Dragon Lord’s help?”
Even Dragon Lords couldn’t permanently kill demons—they’d just respawn in Hell.
“Yes. That’s why we ca—to warn you.”
The Emperor glared at Leah, a mix of disbelief and anger.
“I granted Baron Hans and you every convenience to save humanity from doom—and now you say we can’t win?!”
“I’m sorry…”
Leah apologized on her master’s behalf.
“What of the King of the Dead? Doesn’t legend say we’ll all just die?”
“No. Master subdued him. Given ti, he can be permanently destroyed.”
At least that was good news.
But…
‘Even if we stop the King of the Dead… how do we stop the demon onslaught? They’re that strong?’
Demons were terrifyingly powerful.
After years of fighting them, the Emperor found this situation horrifying.
He closed his eyes briefly—
as humanity’s representative, he couldn’t stay idle.
‘I must speak with the Dragon Lord.’
With dragon aid, their chances might improve.
Opening his eyes, he ordered Leah:
“Sigh… First, inform the Dragon Lord and request help. Tell him I summon him urgently to the palace.”
“Yes… I’ll deliver the ssage.”
“And return to the human world. Staying in Hell serves no purpose now.”
Leah nodded.
“I’ll tell my comrades.”
The Emperor dismissed them.
“Go—deliver this to the Dragon Lord swiftly.”
***
Selena sat silently, expressionless, for a long ti.
Was she troubled by thoughts of who attacked her village?
What was she thinking?
Watching her, I reflected on the situation.
Selena’s trait is Infinite Regression.
If the Church of Death knew this, they’d do anything to control her—it’s that overpowered.
But…
how could they know her unawakened ability?
In-ga, developers assign traits—but here, who grants them?
Likely a god.
Could the God of Death have given Selena Infinite Regression?
And orchestrated this tragedy to claim her?
I imagined the Church’s sche:
Kill Selena’s family, isolate her—
then have their orphanage ‘rescue’ her, brainwashing her for years.
It sounded plausible—but one huge problem remained:
zero evidence.
If I told Selena this… would she believe ?
Unlikely—she’d probably accuse
of slandering the Church, who ‘saved’ her as a child.
But this is her mindscape—I could only gather clues here.
“Selena… should we visit the orphanage next?”
I asked gently—maybe other evidence existed there.
She didn’t respond—lost in thought.
“Selena?”
She startled at my second call.
“Huh? Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
She shook her head.
“No… just… shocked.”
Then she asked:
“Why did you call ?”
“I wanted to ask where we go next.”
She frowned.
“Hmm… where should we go?”
“How about the orphanage where you grew up?”
“The orphanage?”
Worried she’d refuse, I added:
“This journey started because I wanted to understand your life—so visiting where you grew up makes sense.”
Earlier, crossing to the Old Continent, I’d hinted I wanted to ‘understand her better’ by visiting her past hos—
a romantic pretext to find persuasion points in her life story.
“The orphanage… the orphanage…”
She repeated the word slowly.
“Should we… visit the orphanage?”
Her eyes sparkled suddenly.
“It’s not far—just a day’s travel. Let’s prepare and go.”
Her eagerness surprised .
Sothing had changed—
maybe… she was starting to doubt the Church of Death too?
***
Leah and Nephert headed to Pisa’s domain—
to find Auros’ lair with Aria’s help.
But…
“What brings you here?”
They found Auros already staying in Pisa.
“Oh! Lord Auros?”
“Hehe—the Gates of Hell opened long ago… but since you’re alive, you must’ve subdued Roy.”
They nodded.
“Yes, but…”
Seeing Leah hesitate, Auros spoke calmly:
“You’re troubled by the Demon King?”
“Yes…”
Auros nodded.
“With the Gates open, stopping demons will be hard. Even dragonkind, for all our strength, can barely defeat dinsionally unrestricted demons.”
Leah and Nephert paled—
without dragon aid, humanity had no chance.
“Then… you can’t help us?”
Historically, dragons stayed hidden while heroes fought demons alone.
Leah panicked—what if they refused again?
“This ti is different! Even our Hero Party struggles against the Demon King!”
Auros smiled kindly and shook his head.
“You misunderstand. I never said I wouldn’t help humanity.”
Hope flared in them.
“Then…?”
“Of course I’ll help. We can’t let demons conquer the human world.”
“Phew… thank goodness.”
“Truly grateful.”
Relieved by his firm answer, they exhaled.
“By the way… Aria’s condition is seriously poor.”
“Huh?”
They suddenly rembered Aria—left alone after Icira’s death.
“How is Aria?”
Auros sighed.
“She won’t leave her mother’s bed.”
“Oh…”
Thinking of sweet Aria, their hearts ached.
Knowing Aria adored Leah, Auros made a request:
“Could you help her a little?”
They nodded imdiately.
“We’ll visit her first.”
“Yes, that would be greatly appreciated.”
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