Volume 7 Chapter 429: Operation Explore the Cursed Land’s Outskirts and Rescue Success
Translator: The Light
Edits by Grandia
The Aldridge Empire’s coastal city of Oldrango, at the forbidden area, the Cape of Lost Souls.
The hundred system-type Saviors of the Savior Camp came here to besiege one of the Ancient Twelve Demon Kings, Dark Night Demon King Aggy. As they were about to succeed, they were suppressed by the New Twelve Demon Kings, Origin Demon King Felia (Bella), Sky Demon King Dolores, and Blood Demon King Eleanor, who came later. After a round of struggle, the Saviors were defeated in the end and began to withdraw from the Cape of Lost Souls.
Even if the system-type Saviors die in battle, they still won’t exit that quickly. Their ident.i.ties were more similar to the players in certain games where they can be infinitely revived even when they die. It was fine as long as they were connected to the system. So, Bella felt no guilt for killing them. Not like they’re really dead anyway.
If you really wanted those system-type Saviors to quit for good, you have to cut off their connection with the Saviors’ cheat system. The abilities Bella and the others were using now only reached the level of Demon King so it was still pretty hard to disconnect their systems.
When they saw the Saviors retreat, Bella and the others didn’t chase after them and stayed in place for the time being to prepare for their next move. Dark Night Demon King Aggy’s subordinates gathered around them and kneeled respectfully to Bella and the others. Even though there was a great difference in their strength, these demonic beings could sense the Demon King ident.i.ties of Bella and the girls. Since they were Demon Kings, that meant they were from the same camp, and there was nothing to worry about in that case.
Aggy was still wearing the deep purple mage battle robes that Bella saw the first time she met her. She could see several deep cuts on the ground which looked to have been left by a sword. Compared to Aggy, the Demon Kings on Bella’s side were dressed in the traditional Demon King armor while Bella wore a deep silver Fallen Armor with deep gray Fallen Wings on her back.
Sky Demon King Dolores wore deep purple Sky Demon Armor with black demonic bat wings on her back while Blood Demon King Eleanor wore deep red Blood Demon Armor with a pair of crimson Blood Demon Wings behind her back. Compared to them, Dark Night Demon King Aggy simply looked like thet difference between an ordinary player and a whale. Even though they were all Demon Kings, the difference in equipment was too great.
“Aggy, isn’t your equipment a bit pitiful? Don’t embarra.s.s us Demon Kings. Should I send you back?”
“Who’s embarra.s.sing Demon Kings! I...I’m on a secret mission. I really don’t know how you girls crossed over the human border wearing such showy clothes.”
“You don’t understand, Aggy. It’s no use for a Demon King to stay low-key. We should make the world shake with fear and run when they b.u.mp into us.”
“You...How long have you been a Demon King for? Why does it feel like I’m the younger generation here...You haven’t been a Demon King for more than ten thousand years, have you?!”
As Bella tended to Dark Night Demon King Aggy’s wounds, she exchanged information with her. Eleanor and Dolores were standing not far behind Bella, keeping an eye on Aggy at all times. Even if everyone’s a Demon King here, some things are still different. Aggy looked at how wary the other two Demon Kings are towards her and knew that it was useless for her to hide anything now, so she quickly explained her purpose of coming to the Cape of Lost Souls.
Turns out that in addition to being an ominous place, the Cape of Lost Souls is also the dimensional entrance of the Cursed Land. The Ancient Twelve Demon Kings do not know how the Cursed Land came to be, but based on the information they understood, as long as they find a way to open the gates to the Cursed Land, then they will be able to release the fierce Demonic Beings inside. Then, they will be able to go further and release the Evil Beings so that they can wreak havoc.
Dark Night Demon King Aggy also had a replica Cursed Land key in her possession, and she had intended to open the gates to the Cursed Land this time round. Bella wasn’t sure where she got the copy of the Cursed Land key either, but either way, she had a similar one in her possession.
The curse that Aggy was under was a little harder to break. The power of the curse was too ancient and was even older than this Demon King who has existed for over ten thousand years. Bella did not use any dispelling magic and just transferred the curse from Aggy onto herself through their demonic power. The curse may look brutal, but it had no harmful effects towards Demon G.o.ds as Demon G.o.ds had the gift of curse immunity. Bella didn’t even have to do anything once the curse was transferred into her and disappeared by itself. It had been consumed by her Demon G.o.d body.
Dark Night Demon G.o.d Aggy had no idea that Bella was immune so she was looking at her with a complicated gaze. Demon Kings rarely ever experienced receiving any favors from others, so Bella’s actions made Aggy a lot less wary of her. Even though the interests of her Demon King peer were a bit strange, she still had a bit of team spirit.
“Could you tell me your name?”
“Aggy, just...call me Bella. Right, now that your curse has been removed, we’ll be taking our leave.”
“Uh, Bella. You’re going now? Aren’t you going to help me open the Cursed Gate? If we do that, we can end the world.”
“Aggy...The Cursed Gate...Forget it, I won’t help with that.”
Bella refused Dark Night Demon King Aggy’s request. The Cursed Land was created by the Savior Camp themselves. There was no reason they would look to the Demon Kings to clean up their own mess. It was clearly the Warriors’ responsibility after all. But it was better for her not to tell Dark Night Demon King Aggy the truth. If a Demon King was to discover that the Warriors they had always been b.u.t.ting heads with turned out to be worse than them, and they would become the heroes and saving the world by defeating them, then the three views of the Demon Kings might be renewed and their faith might even collapse.
Dark Night Demon King Aggy took the initiative to pull Bella’s hand for the first time. She wouldn’t let her leave. She had already found the entrance to the Cursed Land, but the problem is that it was impossible to rely on her powers alone. Also, her companion was stuck in the Cursed Land. If she wanted to save her, then she would need the help of Bella and the other two Demon Kings.
“Uh, Aggy...Did you finally realize your interest in girls? Do you want to go...”
“That’s not it, Bella! Can’t you be serious for a minute? And the two of you aren’t reminding her to pay attention to her words and actions as a Demon King either. Unless, you got used to it?”
“Yeah, we did.”
“Dark Night Demon King Aggy, Bella has always had this hobby.”
Faced with the questioning of Dark Night Demon King Aggy, Blood Demon King Eleanor and Sky Demon King Dolores turned away embarra.s.sedly as acknowledgment of Aggy’s speculations. Bella is a special Demon King after all. If you try to talk to her about destroying the world, then she won’t be interested at all. However, if it was about pretty girls...This guy will definitely be as excited as if she had taken stimulants. Their reactions made Dark Night Demon King Aggy speechless for a moment. So there really are special Demon Kings among the law-abiding Demon Kings that don’t do their jobs.
“Well, Aggy. If you’re going to ask me out, I already have a date for the night. The room’s already been prepared so you can consider it if you don’t mind joining another person. We’ll be at Haydn Resort’s room 8028...”
“That’s enough of you, Bella! Just help me out this once. My companion, Ocean Demon King Victoria is stuck in there.”
“Hm, Ocean Demon King Victoria, huh? Got it. So, what can you offer? Let’s say...Maybe one night...”
“Bella, you...Fine. as long as I can save Victoria, going with you for a night is nothing. Not like I’m scared of you or anything.”
After confirming that there was nothing else that could move Bella, Dark Night Demon King Aggy could only agree to Bella’s request for an “outing”, which is to book a hotel room and do something fun. Dark Night Demon King Aggy had met succubi and also understood the things girls could do with each other. However, in Aggy’s opinion, Bella wouldn’t be much worse than those succubi. She’s probably just trying out new things so it didn’t seem like a big deal to agree.
Both Blood Demon King Eleanor and Sky Demon King Dolores were fine with Bella’s decision. It was rare for them to be out here so they might as well take a look at what the Cursed Gate was like. With Aggy in the lead, Bella soon arrived at the entrance to the Cursed Land. It was right behind a statue of the Death G.o.d right at the center of the Cape of the Lost Souls.
The statue of the G.o.d of Death was originally built to suppress the souls who died from s.h.i.+pwreck and were buried here. As time pa.s.sed, the statue has since worn out and lost its purpose, now the interdimensional door of the Cursed Land was right on the statue’s back. Bella observed the Death G.o.d statue for a while. It was of the previous generation so she didn’t recognize it. It didn’t look like the second-generation Death G.o.ddess Rowling at Bella’s side, so she estimated the history of the Cape of the Lost Souls to go back at least ten thousand years.
As soon as she stepped into the interdimensional door, Bella could feel a divine force pressing down on her and making her footsteps feel heavy. On the other hand, the three Demon Kings with Bella were pushed down into a kneel on the ground. Despite being outside the Cursed Land, this place was unexpectedly filled with holy energy. Turns out that after the Cursed Land was sealed, the Savior Camp had set up a graveyard of martyr spirits on the outer periphery of the Cursed Lands so that the heroes of each dimension can continue guarding this place after their deaths.
In the eyes of the other Demon Kings, this place is a forbidden land filled with evil suppressing and exorcism constructs. Under the oppressive aura of the place, the powers of Demon Kings are largely restricted and they are unable to even transform. However, in Bella’s eyes, this was just a graveyard. What the other Demon Kings saw as a town was merely a graveyard for the hero’s corpses for her.
Bella really didn’t have anything to complain about how the Savior Camp built this hero graveyard. They had directly arranged people to several different dimensions to dig up the graves of heroes and then resurrect them after forcefully burying them here. After that, they used some secret technique to fool the spirits of the heroes to make them believe that they were still living in their original world, so they were foolishly stationed here to guard the Cursed Land for the Saviors.
To think they would even dare to dig up the graves of their allies, Bella really had to give it to them. G.o.d knows how many years this hero graveyard has existed for, but the spirits of the heroes also began to mutate as time went on. Even though they still had light attributes, their spirits were no longer pure. They were now no different than the undead. Bella looked at the various hero characters wandering around the streets and noticed something very incongruous. She could not feel a hint of goodness emanating from the bodies of these heroes. It seems like this place was influenced by the negative energy of the Cursed Land too.
Bella and the girls carefully walked into the town. This place had fallen from a hero’s sanctuary into a light attribute undead paradise. This is where Ocean Demon King Victoria was separated with Dark Night Demon King Aggy. When Bella and the others arrived, the radiant undead in the city were gathering at the center of the town as if they were having some sort of ritualistic gathering.
The few remaining undead did not notice the presence of Bella and the other Demon Kings. THey were wearing invisibility suits as cover and were quietly exploring each corner of the town. Your usual Demon King would not use precious objects such as stealth suits and the like. Only a Demon King like Bella who never considers her image would use such diversion tactics.
“Aggy, the light energy is so strong here. Are you trying to get us killed? Telling just a few of us Demon Kings to come into enemy territory...”
“Sorry, Bella. I realized something was off when I came in with Victoria, but she was surrounded by a group of heroes when we were trying to turn back. And then we got separated after that.”
“Heroes? I really don’t see any heroes here, more like undead. They just have a layer of light energy on them is all.”
Bella went behind a soldier and reached out to gently press on its chest on the heart position. The chest of the hero-level soldier suddenly collapsed and it fell to the ground in an instant, disappearing. Its corpse had quickly melted into corpse goo and disappeared. Bella was now exploring the town’s most prominent sealing site with Dark Night Demon King Aggy. This is the place where Demonic Beings are sealed, and Aggy was able to sense the fluctuations of Victoria’s energy in there.
This sealed tower must have been built many years ago. The writing on the stone walls are all in ancient languages that even Bella couldn’t understand. Blood Demon King Eleanor and Sky Demon King Dolores were following Bella and Aggy from afar. The field around this area was constantly sapping away at a Demon King’s demonic energy. In order to avoid consuming too much power and exposing themselves when they attack, they allowed Bella to keep in charge of that. As a Demon G.o.d, this level of power consumption did not faze her in the slightest.
Though it was said to be a sealing site, it looked like a center for nurturing demonic beings instead. There weren’t many guards here so Bella offed them one by one and they quickly arrived at the top of the tower. On the way, she did not even see a single sealed Demonic Being, only empty sealing chambers, the Demonic Beings inside of which were long gone.
“Huh? That’s Victoria...Finally...”
“Wait, Aggy. There are other Demonic Beings there...No, they’re monsters.”
At the top of the sealed tower, Bella and Dark Night Demon King Aggy finally found the lost Ocean Demon King Victoria. Victoria was laying on top of a stone slab and she seems to have pa.s.sed out. By her side was a human with distorted features and a horrible looking face. That guy was wearing a magic robe but they couldn’t tell what profession it belonged to, and a dangerous aura was emitted from its body.
When Bella saw it, she instinctively sensed trouble. This guy is a Grudge. It’s one of those horrible beings lingering in this other world dimension after their deaths, unwilling to leave. Even though they couldn’t see the Grudge’s features, it easily saw through Bella’s disguise and turned around to strike.
But in the end, the Grudge did not attack. At the very last moment, it seemed to sense something from Bella’s body and stopped. Seeing that it had no intention to fight, Bella took off her invisibility suit and went up to it for a “chat”. It would be best if they didn’t have to fight to get Victoria back.
“Bella, that guy is too dangerous...”
“It’ll be fine, Aggy. I’m different from you girls.”
After appeasing Aggy, she went up to face the Grudge. Various skeletons were scattered all over the tower, probably the Demonic Beings that were sealed here and left behind after being eaten by this thing. If Bella came any later, then Ocean Demon King Victoria might possibly have been devoured. Unlike the previous two, this Grudge still retained a sense of intelligence. Even though it couldn’t speak, it could communicate with Bella with its mind.
“Hey there buddy, I’m here for someone. Can you pa.s.s that blue-haired Demon King to me?”
“You’re very late, comrade...If you came any later, then my memory may have been completely lost. Though I have much to say to you...There is no time.”
“Comrade?! Are you mistaking me for...”
“Take the Demon King with you. I had planned to devour her, and also, the gate is about to collapse. Many things are going to escape. If you do not wish for something big to happen, destroy the Demon G.o.d’s statue that you entered through. That way, the Evil Beings within the Cursed Land will not be able to move to your dimension for a while.”
This is the first time Bella had ever talked to a Grudge. Based on the simple words the Grudge told her, Bella understood some unexpected events. This town of martyr spirits have been under the control of this Grudge during the past ten thousand years. When this Grudge was still a Savior, he had truly wanted to save the world and had no evil desires. This is the reason why it was able to retain its sanity despite being a Grudge for so long.
In order to monitor the Cursed Land, it stayed in the area outside of it as a Grudge. If it weren’t for him supporting this place in the shadows, the line of defense of the martyr spirits would long have been broken by the horrible existences inside of the Cursed Land.
Another piece of information that bothered Bella a lot is how the Grudge seemingly recognized Bella’s soul and knew her to be a transmigrator. Usually, this situation would only appear among Saviors who are summoned together by a Creator. Thinking back to how it called her comrade, Bella wondered if she would have had the chance to become a Savior when she transmigrated over.
“So, what’s up with the comrade thing?”
“There is not enough time. However, you must stay alive. There is no way to achieve a lofty ideal such as saving the world. Remember, do not believe in the other Saviors...Do not believe a single one of them...”
After that, the Grudge disappeared. When its sanity was about to disappear, it teleported itself elsewhere so that it would not harm anyone, leaving behind the bewildered Demon Kings. So, this was a miraculous success of a rescue operation, probably?