Having spent the entire day without practicing magic or training her Mana, Nanoda, after strolling the new streets with Yuna for a while, returned to the Demon Special Zone.
The refugees who had come from the Kinton territory, a small portion of the army, as well as the Demon Race soldiers that Aura had once taken away, were now all stationed here.
It only took refurbishing and tidying up the houses that had long lain abandoned, and they could be put to use.
"This place has grown lively again."
Lugner popped up from who-knows-where and struck up a conversation with Nanoda.
Perhaps from spending so long in Gaderia, in contact with Humans, he—who had always worn a cold expression—would now even put on a faint smile, feigning goodwill to please others.
"Good work. If only the Demon Race could have a few more beings with managerial ability like you."
Nanoda sighed with feeling. When Lugner first arrived he had indeed been utterly cold and ruthless, yet he truly did possess the wisdom to see through others and the potential within them.
Otherwise she would not have entrusted the Demon Association to him to help manage.
"This is all the fruit of my own little efforts, accumulated bit by bit."
"I heard recently that you've been learning magic from Jane? Can you really master that magic?"
"That's right."
Jane's Eternal Life Magic bore similarities to Lugner's Blood Manipulation Magic; both seemed to operate magic formulas within the body.
Aside from instinctively using Mana for bodily reinforcement, Nanoda did not know such magic.
Nanoda had also asked Jane how to control the body's regeneration, to which Jane answered that you only had to think of it that way.
"How on earth did you learn it?"
"I only watched Lady Jane demonstrate it again and again. It seems to be mixed with Human magic as well; I don't know its principles either, but it can serve as a reference for improving my own magic."
"I see." After chatting a couple of lines first, Nanoda turned to the real matter.
"Aura didn't go out today?"
"That's right."
Glancing at the Demon Race and people bustling away at rebuilding the houses, Nanoda gave Lugner a pat. "I'll leave the watching over things to you—do well."
"As you command, my King."
Watching Nanoda's departing figure, Lugner couldn't help but find it incredible.
The more ancient a demon, the more powerful—everything was the accumulation of years: the study of magic, the volume of Mana cultivated, the techniques of control, and so on. That was the inborn arrogance of the Demon Race.
Lugner had once had it too.
Precisely because of this, he despised geniuses—those who casually broke convention with their sheer volume of Mana in so short a span, with their ultra-fast magic learning ability and casting speed.
Wielding immense power with clumsy technique.
But Lugner had now seen far too many monsters—geniuses who, at the same time, possessed the heavy accumulation of years.
The being before him, fit to be called the new Demon King; that nearly "undying" Jane; the Aura he had once wished to follow.
"Truly, it is incredible."
"Alright, it's about time to settle the old accounts."
On the way back, considering the need to save face, she might really push Aura into a corner. Even so, Nanoda did not make things especially hard for her.
The moment she pushed open the door, she saw Aura sitting there obediently, not moving at all.
"See, I absolutely won't leave here. I haven't gone out the whole day."
The expressionless Aura looked toward Nanoda; on the surface she was perfectly composed, but inwardly she was still a little afraid.
At some point unknown—perhaps from hovering on the edge of death too many times—Aura too could feel it: the kind of fear Humans felt when near death.
"So?"
"I have a proposal." Aura tried to change the subject.
"Let's hear it."
Nanoda was rather curious what excuse Aura could offer.
"Take me along to retake the Kinton territory. Aura will become your most loyal... most loyal... subordinate!"
Enough to make the proud Aura willingly lower her face and beg.
"The demons there are dangerous. If left unchecked, war between Humans and the Demon Race will break out again! Do you want to destroy this hard-won peace once more?!"
"So serious—are you sure you're not just using me to strike at the one who handed you your defeat?"
Nanoda knew that Aura always feigned weakness and lowered her posture when facing her.
Yet as a Great Demon of the Seven Sages of Destruction, her assessment of an enemy was generally not falsified. That truly was an enemy that made her feel danger—though it was surely laced with the motive of using Nanoda to retake her territory.
"You can't tell from the surface, but that is probably a demon far more ancient than I am; and there's a member of the Seven Sages of Destruction on her side. If she expands her power, the Demon King's Army may appear once again! And that will be a terrifying war that sweeps across every place!"
"The Seven Sages of Destruction?! Besides you and Macht, weren't all the others already dead in that war, or else subjugated by the Hero?"
Nanoda was quite surprised—how could there be a Seven Sage of Destruction left over? There wasn't one in the manga, was there?
Aura had no reason to lie, because she had long known that lying came at a price.
"Could you have mistaken her?"
"No, it's the very one I know. If not for his appearance, at least I would not have lost on the field."
"So then, which Seven Sage of Destruction is it that I don't know?"
"Undying Böse. That fellow has come back to life."
"So it's a familiar name after all."
Nanoda suddenly recalled the intelligence she had heard from Denken back in the Magic City: Kinton was now a territory of the undead.
Seeing Nanoda lost in thought, Aura added more fuel to the fire: "If the Demon Race wages war once again, then what becomes of the position of Gaderia, a place where demons dwell? And what will that Hero do?"
"What of it? We need only take the Kinton territory—not only will there be a chance to subdue that demon, it will also spare the entire continent from strife, and Gaderia will gain new outland territory besides!"
"As I thought, I still think I'll refuse."
Nanoda pondered for only a moment before making her decision.
"Why?!"
Aura didn't understand—she had spelled it all out to this extent.
"The Continental Magic Association has probably already set its sights on that place. It wouldn't do for us to attack rashly; as expected, we'd best first understand the current situation, and then formulate countermeasures."
Kinton was not far away, yet Gaderia still faced harassment from the Northern Empire; the war in the Central Lands had ended too, and the attitude of those various nations toward Gaderia remained unknown.
The current situation was all what Aaron had told her that morning. If she really were to deal with a demon stronger than a Seven Sage of Destruction, plus a Seven Sage of Destruction, plus a whole city full of enemies...
To guarantee victory, she might have to bring along every one of Gaderia's Great Demons in a single sweep—and that carried enormous risk.
"I've already fought them all. That demon's abilities, the revived Böse—I have ways to handle them all. I just need you to lend me your power!"
Nanoda shook her head. In any case, if something really went wrong, the Continental Magic Association would take the brunt first; if she made a move herself, she could easily be discovered by that old geezer Serie.
"I'll think this matter over further, but it's a separate issue from settling the old accounts!"
"What do I have to do for you to let me off?"
Aura's expression collapsed completely.
____
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