"You say he offered me this?"
Heiter was the first to regain consciousness after Sanguinius and Aura left.
Sanguinius had paid more attention to his recovery than to Himmel and Eisen, who are fighters and were just suffering from the shock of the explosion.
'The Bible? Why does he want me to look for a code inside it?'
Sanguinius had given two objects to Heiter: a book containing a small part of his knowledge about "Holy Power," and a simple Bible.
Why this decision?
Sanguinius suspected his father had hidden something inside the Bible, just as the goddess hid powerful secrets in her holy writings.
Of course, he had no proof of this.
As for the knowledge related to "Holy Power," it was just a small investment in the priest.
He didn't want little Fern to lose her potential grandfather because of a butterfly effect.
'The knowledge in this book offers a completely different view of using the goddess's magic.'
Unconsciously, Heiter had forgotten the phantom pain in his chest thanks to the two books in his possession.
While Heiter was in his own little world with the books given by Sanguinius, Frieren had finished opening the chains that bound Himmel and Eisen.
"He really didn't go easy on us."
Eisen couldn't help but stretch his small body before expressing his complaints while looking at the state of his equipment.
"True, but we tried to kill him first, hehe."
Himmel scratched his head with an embarrassed smile.
"Himmel, Eisen, and Heiter..."
While Himmel was talking with the grumpy dwarf, Frieren caught their attention.
"Is there a problem?"
Heiter quickly noticed the strange atmosphere emanating from his friend.
Frieren hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"That man... he mentioned wanting to create a demon kingdom."
"Huh?!"
"What!!"
Himmel and Eisen immediately reacted with various expressions, but Heiter said nothing, simply observing Frieren to encourage her to provide more information.
"He didn't talk much about his plans, but he said he wanted to create a peaceful demon kingdom... in about 80 years."
A heavy silence settled in the clearing.
Finally, Himmel was the first to open his mouth.
"I understand better now... Aura must be part of his plans... sigh."
Himmel sketched a small self-deprecating smile that didn't last long before he expressed the depth of his thoughts.
"Given how things are going, he'll probably stay hidden until the right moment... There's nothing we can do about it, except maybe you and Eisen."
A life expectancy of 100 years... a problem specific to humans, unknown to elves or dwarves or even demons.
'I understand better why he wanted our help using this bet... He's clever.'
Himmel wasn't really comfortable with the idea of cooperating in the creation of a demonic kingdom, but he had already given his word.
"Himmel... you really plan to cooperate with him?"
Himmel smiled at his longtime friend, who also seemed to have "guessed" the mysterious man's intention.
"Honestly... I don't know. We'll see when the time comes."
Himmel had decided to leave this problem to his "future self," but his companions could already read his decision in the gleam of his eyes.
The man's idea didn't totally displease him... At least, he was curious to see if a future of peace between demons and humans was really possible.
"For now, we have a Demon Lord to eliminate..."
'As for his successor in 80 years... I hope he'll really be peaceful, otherwise the next generation will also know war.'
Unfortunately for the group of friends, no one noticed the worried expression on Frieren's face.
...
"What?!"
Aura's reaction surprised Sanguinius a little.
'She knows Serie?'
As far as Sanguinius knew, demons despise human magic or that of other races, out of pure pride in their own magical art.
For them, their magic is the only true one!
Other forms of magic are considered inferior.
Thus, that Aura knew Serie was a bit surprising, but not absurd given her extremely long lifespan.
"You know her?"
Aura, who usually displayed a fake smile stuck on her face, this time had a neutral and serious expression as she nodded.
"Indeed, I know Serie... I've even caught sight of her from afar," she said with a distant look, as if remembering an unpleasant moment.
"I cannot forget such an absurd amount of magical energy..."
Sanguinius simply nodded without pushing the discussion further.
'Seems like she left an indelible shadow in Aura's mind.'
Finally, their journey became silent again until they reached the vicinity of the nearest village known to Aura.
Sanguinius concealed his black wings before beginning to move away from her and her army of undead.
She already knew she had to be discreet and wait for news of the Demon Lord's death.
They had decided to stay in contact via the group chat.
"Good morning, ma'am."
Sanguinius was not in a hurry while walking, and he reached the village at dawn.
"Oh, a new face."
The woman in her forties didn't directly respond to his greetings, simply observing Sanguinius.
At first, Sanguinius thought the woman was just curious about a stranger, but her observation lasted a bit too long.
The atmosphere then became slightly awkward.
"Mom!!"
Fortunately, the atmosphere was broken by a teenage girl with brown hair and a face beyond average.
"Oh sorry, I... I got lost in my thoughts," the woman apologized hastily after realizing her blunder.
"No... no, it's fine."
Sanguinius hurried to stop the woman in her attempt to bow.
The moment he touched her shoulders to hold her back, she turned red before losing consciousness in his arms.
"...sorry, the sun affected her."
Sanguinius simply nodded, but anyone would never have swallowed such a stupid lie.
'We're literally in the morning, dammit!!!'
"It's okay, I'll help you take her home."
While walking, he discovered the identity of the woman currently on his back, as well as that of the girl accompanying him.
They were mother and daughter, living on the outskirts of a nameless pioneer village.
"Thank you for helping bring my mother back."
The girl, named Chloe, expressed her gratitude to him.
"No problem, I couldn't leave a lady in distress, haha."
'Damn, she's also been charmed by me...'
Like the devils in the DxD universe, known for their appearance, fallen angels were also known for their dangerous beauty.
An example mentioned by Azazel is Akeno, Baraquiel's daughter.
This brings us back to the current situation: the girl named Chloe, who was having a hard time taking her eyes off Sanguinius.
"Uh... Chloe??"
"...Y-yes... lord... n-no, I mean sir..."
Sanguinius waited for the young girl to regain a bit of control over her emotions before asking her for directions to the magic city Äußerst.
'Thankfully I'm already in the northern part of the continent.'
Sanguinius had the confidence necessary to reach the city of Äußerst in a few days of flight.
It's not that he's lazy, but this continent is really immense.
'No wonder Himmel and his companions literally took 10 years in their adventure...'
He really couldn't complain