Chapter 43 : Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Sand Hell (6)

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Zzt.

When the radio handed to me by Blaze crackled, I responded to indicate I was listening.

- Polarin, it’s been a while.

It was Blaze’s voice, one I hadn’t heard in some time.

Siriel and Kiyot seemed to be with him, as they also greeted me.

“It’s been a while, yes. But… has something happened at the Dome?”

Though it would’ve been nice to catch up, I cut straight to the point.

Blaze contacting me directly wasn’t a common occurrence, and a creeping unease suggested something might be amiss at the Dome.

- A large crack formed in the Dome, and a massive surge of demonic energy escaped.

“You don’t know what came out yet?”

- …It wasn’t a familiar presence.

“Please explain in a bit more detail.”

Blaze’s explanation followed.

Having lived in front of the Dome since birth, Blaze had encountered countless demonic beasts.

It wasn’t rare for a beast to suddenly emerge around the Dome, so he had naturally become well-versed in their appearances and auras.

But a few hours ago—

Crack!

A loud noise accompanied the appearance of a massive crack in the Dome.

The sudden fissure, without any warning, put even the experienced Crows on edge.

Aside from those on the front lines, many troops gathered in front of the crack, including Tayon, the commander-in-chief of the Crows.

Yet, despite standing guard for a long time, nothing significant happened.

The crack that had split the Dome began to slowly heal.

Cracks forming in the Dome weren’t entirely unheard of.

The Dome was essentially a massive clump of demonic energy, so it wasn’t always stable.

At times, it grew unsteady.

The gathered Crows gradually dispersed to resume their duties.

Tayon remained, warily watching the crack, but it seemed like it would pass as a slightly larger-than-usual incident.

However, as the sun fully set, an enormous mass of demonic energy suddenly burst out of the Dome.

Tayon, still standing guard, immediately unleashed a sword aura resembling blue moonlight, but the “thing,” cloaked in black energy, deflected Tayon’s barrage of sword strikes and vanished across the sky.

“Could it be a demon?”

- I hope not… but Lord Tayon believes it’s a demon.

“You said demons appearing is rare, didn’t you?”

- At least it’s my first time seeing one.

The difficulty in understanding what happens inside the Dome stemmed from the fact that demons capable of communication rarely left it.

- We’re spreading the information to all connected organizations. I’ll let you know if we learn anything new.

“Thank you for informing me.”

My thoughts grew heavy.

The message was delivered to the demons declaring me the “Heir of Adjak.”

The unidentified demon that escaped through the Dome’s crack.

What if, by some chance, the two were connected? Then Blaze added:

- The Crows have decided to send out a few investigation teams.

“Are you part of the investigation team, Blaze?”

- Yeah, Siriel, Kiyot, and I will be moving as a unit.

“I see. I’m currently tasked with tracking demons myself. Let’s share any information we find.”

- Sounds good. Stay safe.

The communication with Blaze ended.

I immediately pulled out the intelligence division’s radio.

“Lord Nofen? I have an urgent matter to report.”

* * *

- Hmm… this is serious.

Nofen, receiving my report, grew grave.

I wasn’t the only one whose head ached over recent events.

- By the way, you got this information much faster than I did?

“It’s because I have comrades from the Coming-of-Age Ceremony in the Crows. I’m sure detailed information will reach Tello soon.”

- Building your own information network is a key trait for an agent! Well done, Polarin.

Perhaps it was Nofen’s nature to find a silver lining even in the bleakest situations.

But I couldn’t afford to be purely optimistic.

Figuring out how to resolve this situation was far more pressing.

“I’ll inform you if I learn anything new. Also, has the demon interrogation concluded?”

- Oh, yes! Here’s what I found out…

Nofen relayed the information gleaned from the demon interrogation.

The lesser demon Eidon brought to headquarters was named Lukadi.

While Lukadi hadn’t lied during the initial interrogation, it turned out he had effectively been dishonest.

He claimed to have been monitoring me of his own volition, but that wasn’t true.

“What does that mean?”

- Lukadi, that demon, likely doesn’t even realize he was lying. Because he believed it was true.

“?”

Nofen continued his explanation.

Lukadi had been acting under orders from a higher-ranking demon to monitor and lure me into a trap.

The reason Eidon’s magic failed to detect the lie was simple: Lukadi wasn’t aware he was following someone’s orders.

- This is also tied to the message about you, Polarin, that was sent to the demons…

Lukadi confessed that, after the message declaring “Polarin has inherited Adjak’s legacy,” he received additional messages:

[Monitor Polarin.]

[Kill Polarin if you can.]

Lukadi firmly believed the voice giving these orders was the Demon King, which spurred him to act.

However, Nofen suspected that the entity sending the initial message and the one issuing the subsequent orders were different.

While the voice declaring me Adjak’s heir reached all demons, the second voice, according to Nofen, likely targeted only Lukadi and a few other lesser demons.

“So, there could be more lesser demons targeting me.”

- Exactly… And we still don’t know who’s issuing these orders.

The situation was grim.

Not that it was ever not grim…

- We’re moving headquarters too. While interrogating Lukadi, we learned the location of the textile factory was compromised.

“Is that because of me?”

- No way! And we relocate headquarters often anyway! It’s not happening immediately!

Tello wouldn’t move headquarters right away despite the exposure.

Instead of being defenseless, they’d pretend to be unaware while strategically leaking information to maintain control.

- I failed to analyze the demons’ nature properly, which led to you falling into a trap, Polarin. I’m sorry.

“No, it’s a situation we’ll navigate together.”

Haha.

Nofen’s laughter spilled through the radio.

Though the situation was dire, his laugh was contagious, and a faint smile crept onto my lips.

- But keep your hopes up! I’ve grown too. My Tune’s rank has gone up!

Nofen excitedly explained his progress.

While interrogating Lukadi, his [Demon’s Trace] had reached level 3.

He could now analyze even the demonic energy of individual demons, he said with a joyful shout.

As I’d noticed before, he never hesitated to talk about his Tune.

‘But he’s not just some careless person… He’s definitely unique.’

Still, despite Nofen’s explanation of his Tune’s growth, a lingering question remained.

Even with [Demon’s Trace] leveling up, it only analyzed mana traces and demons, not their thoughts.

That kind of ability would be more suited to Eidon’s magic.

So how had Nofen uncovered the orders given to Lukadi, which even Eidon hadn’t detected?

“How did you interrogate Lukadi, Lord Nofen? That guy… he was fiercely loyal to the demons.”

A brief silence followed my question.

For someone like Nofen, whose chatter rarely left the radio silent, this was unusual.

- Sigh… This is actually a secret. It’s restricted information even within Tello, so you must keep it confidential, Polarin.

“Yes, I understand. What is it?”

- There’s actually a demon cooperating with Tello.

“What?”

I couldn’t hide my shock, letting out a sharp breath.

Nofen continued in a quieter, more measured tone.

Not only was there a demon working with Tello, but some demons even cooperated with the Empire.

Many demons had fled Myeolji to escape the Adjak expedition.

But after the expedition ended, the Dome appeared, preventing those demons from returning.

Some continued to fight humans on the continent, others, like Lukadi, lived in hiding, and a few chose to coexist peacefully with humans.

- This demon isn’t dangerous. They’re very cooperative and have helped us a lot. Honestly, without them, we’d barely have any information on demons…

Listening to Nofen’s calm voice, my thoughts grew tangled.

But the question I posed back was simple.

“Are they strong?”

- Gasp.

Nofen seemed to sense the hostility in my brief words.

- I heard they were originally mid-tier demons, but as you know, 300 years have passed.

They’ve likely grown much stronger since then…

“They must have done a lot to gain that strength.”

Nofen didn’t respond immediately.

The ways demons grow stronger are limited: devouring other demons to absorb power granted by the Demon King or slowly increasing strength by consuming humans.

This wasn’t exactly hidden knowledge, so Nofen likely knew it too.

“Could I meet this demon?”

- …

“If they received the message, they’d know about me. I’m curious whether they reported this to Tello and what their intentions are in helping us.”

- I’ll ask about it. I’ll let you know once I get a response. For now, Polarin, you’ve completed a major mission, so take some rest. I’ll pass along the reply as soon as it comes.

“Understood.”

With the intelligence division’s motto—“Walk the path you find”—the communication ended.

If I were to meet the demon cooperating with Tello, what should I do?

Should I kill them to fulfill Adjak’s will?

Or should I work with them, given they’re a key asset in tracking demons and greatly aid Tello?

My mind grew cluttered.

No choice would satisfy everyone.

Yet, a choice had to be made.

“Sigh…”

A sigh escaped me.

I gazed at the sand grains swirling in the desert wind.

As my thoughts churned, a demonic beast approached, growling low.

It tried to mask its presence, but the distinct, acrid stench of demonic energy was unmistakable.

‘First, I’ll cut that down. When I hold my sword, I can’t afford to waver.’

Tayon’s old teaching surfaced, clearing my mind.

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