Leo sat in his room and looked out the window in silence.
In Nishella's case, she was completely drunk and passed out.
Since she was staying at this hotel, I asked Arwa and Chelsea to take her there.
Swaaaaaaaaa-
The sound of water coming from the bathroom stopped, and after a while, a cleaned-up Warden came out.
"It's rare for you to sing a nursery rhyme."
Warden frowned at those words.
"Are you telling me to stay still while some drunkard vomits?"
"That's not what I'm saying."
Leo burst out laughing.
"If it were normal, I would have just shaken it off without mercy, but you looked really flustered."
As Leo said, Warden was usually quite dry to those around him.
So, I wouldn't have cared if someone made a fool of themselves or not.
But the reaction to Nishella was a little different.
He just gently patted her back with a complicated expression on his face.
Even Leo couldn't help but be surprised by Warden's appearance.
"Do you have some special connection with Miss Nicella?"
"That person saved me when I was young."
"hmm?"
"The invasion of Dolian by the Commander Corps six years ago."
Dorian was a small desert nation located far east of the Land of Water.
And six years ago.
Due to the invasion of the Command King's legion, Dolian was in danger of destruction in an instant.
It was Nicella who saved Dolian at that time.
She rose to the ranks of heroes by performing brilliant deeds in battle at that time.
It was an incident that Leo was aware of, as it was a relatively recent incident in Tartarus.
"Come to think of it, you're from Dorian, right?"
"...."
Warden's face hardened slightly.
At that time, Warden was a boy in his early teens.
Nevertheless, I had to stand on the battlefield.
Born into the lower classes, Wareden, who had shown extraordinary talent as a spirit master from the time, was forced to be conscripted as a boy soldier.
The battlefield he experienced as a child was a shock to Warden.
The fight between the living and the dead.
A vicious cycle where the dead kill the living, and the dead then become dead and attack the living again.
The battlefield where the Lord of the Dead Legion is located is terrifying beyond comparison to any other battlefield.
Leo muttered to himself as he watched Warden reminisce about those times.
'I thought you had something special about you... ... You've experienced battlefields.'
From the moment I first saw him, Warden seemed a little different from his other classmates.
It wasn't simply a matter of strength and talent.
'Chen Xia was like that too.'
The girls and boys who lived in times of peace already had the unique aura of those who had experienced the terrible battlefield.
'Seeing as how he developed that kind of a vibe after just one experience... ... he must have been forced into some pretty terrible circumstances.'
This is a fact that I didn't know because Warren rarely talked about himself.
But Warden's stiff expression soon began to relax little by little.
Although the battlefield was a living hell, it wasn't just terrible memories.
Leo asked, looking at such a warren.
"Was it great?"
"She was amazing. She was the hope on that battlefield."
Warden's lips drew a soft curve.
It was a sight that would have made anyone who knew him doubt their eyes.
Leo also looked at Warden with a curious expression.
"He was literally the hero in the story."
A beautiful summoner who was stronger and more noble than anyone else.
At that time, Nishella's appearance was strongly imprinted in young Wareden's memory.
Are you okay?
Just before death approaches.
The sight of Nicella saving herself with the flames of the Phoenix was as benevolent as a saint.
He was also a brave warrior who fought bravely against powerful enemies.
"You'll help me? Hehe. What a brave little boy."
The hand that reached out and helped me up and stroked my head was still vivid.
"But it's okay now. When you grow up to be a great man, will you help me then?"
Her strength, coupled with her experience of being powerlessly pushed into battle, became the driving force behind Warden's thirst for power.
Although it was a brief meeting, it set the course for Warden to follow.
I've been waiting for that reunion that will happen someday.
I've imagined standing on the same battlefield many times.
"...."
Warden's once gentle expression gradually hardened.
The image of Nicella, who had been drinking and venting her frustrations a little while ago, came to mind.
My reunion with her after six years was very different from what I had imagined.
Wareden clutched his head, feeling his childhood memories crack open.
'Normally, it seemed like even if you pricked me with a needle, I wouldn't bleed a single drop... Is it really that bad?'
Leo, who was looking at Warden with a puzzled look, thought about what he would have done if he were in that situation.
'There's nothing to be disappointed about, Lisinas or Luna.'
I've already seen everything that's ugly and unsightly.
It's like getting drunk again.
'If the media did that, I think they'd definitely be shocked.'
He thought back to the silver-haired dragon that had been his first object of admiration.
When I was little, I didn't know she was a dragon.
I just thought she was a beautiful person with a mysterious aura.
The person who taught me magic and summoning.
A woman who is the object of one's admiration and is close to one's first love.
Leo was shaking his head excitedly as he thought about the media.
"Leo Plov. Have you come to this city simply to meet the Great Spirit?"
"I was planning on meeting the Water Colosseum Champion, but I left that to Ar."
"Are those two the end?"
"that's right."
"Is there really no other reason?"
Leo looked puzzled at Warden's question.
"Is something wrong?"
"I came across the desert from Dalyan."
The desert that occupies most of the southern part of the continent is a dangerous area infested with monsters, and crossing it was a form of training.
"On my way to the land of water, I found a demon."
It was not uncommon for demons to appear in areas where monsters appeared.
Warden opened the subspace and took out his luggage.
Then he took a snow-white skull out of his large backpack and placed it on the table.
"...."
Leo's face became serious when he saw that.
"Were you really a demon?"
"okay."
"Were you perhaps a demon from the Commander's Legion?"
"It seems like you know something."
Leo carefully lifted the skull.
Among the demons, there are those who resemble humans and other races of the world in appearance.
But the skeleton itself was fundamentally different.
The demon's skeleton is twisted.
That's why Leo could tell at a glance what Warden had shown him as the bones of the Demon Tribe.
'Human bones.'
"Anything else unusual?"
"He asked me to kill him."
"...."
"In a desperate voice."
The sight of a face that was melted and hideous, pleading for death.
The demon laughed in relief and expressed his gratitude to Wareden, who had carefully given him the last chance, suspecting that it was a trap.
'thanks.'
Soon the hideous demon disappeared, leaving behind only bones.
"Why are the bones of the demon tribe human bones?"
Leo answered Wareden's question, carefully stroking his skull.
"Perhaps the demon you gave rest to was originally human."
Warden's eyes twitched.
"It was definitely a demon."
"That's what I told you. He must have been human originally. He must have been a demon from the Command Legion when you met him."
At Leo's words, Warden's face became serious.
"Are you saying that humans have become demons?"
Leo nodded silently.
His face was expressionless, but his eyes were filled with murderous intent.
"It's the power of a demon tribe."
"A demon with such power? I've never heard of it."
"The Grand Duke of Jang Song, Art Khan."
The second-in-command of the Commander's Legion, who has lived for countless years, and the strongest demon in Tartarus, excluding the Legion Commander.
Considering the years he had lived, he could be said to be the second most threatening demon after the Demon King in Tartarus, after the Demon Queen and the Giant King were defeated.
Although they may lack in raw power compared to the new legion commanders, they have the experience to make up for the difference in strength.
"If you're talking about the Grand Duke of Jangsong… are you referring to the high-ranking demons of the Command Corps whose existence was made known by you and Chen Xia?"
"that's right."
Art Khan has faded from people's memories over time.
'That doesn't mean it hasn't moved for thousands of years, though.'
Art Khan is the core force of the Command Corps.
There is no way the King of the Dead would have kept such enormous power hidden.
'He must have killed countless people over the years.'
Yet, it is probably unknown because Artkan has been secretly spreading death.
Leave no trace of death.
That was the creepy thing about Artkan.
'But what's truly scary is the power he possesses.'
He was also a body collector who collected corpses for the King of Death.
It is no exaggeration to say that the power of the Grim Reaper, who controls the dead, comes from the corpse.
However, no matter how powerful an undead is, it cannot be revived in its original form.
Naturally, undead cannot fully utilize the abilities they had when alive.
In the end, it is impossible to overcome the limitations of a corpse.
However, Artkan's power was capable of reviving a corpse in perfect form.
Even that ability.
The corpses that are revived in this way become the demons of the Command Legion and become slaves of the Command King.
In the age of calamity, so many heroes were humiliated.
A terrible power that mocks those who have given their all for the world and does not even allow them to rest.
The demon race that Lisinas and Luna hated the most.
'I guess he lost that power when Erebos was defeated.'
If Artkan had been able to use his powers, the world would have been turned upside down long ago.
'Have you regained your power…?'
Leo's eyes grew colder and colder.
at that time.
Warden, who had been silently watching Leo, opened his mouth.
"Leo Plov."
Looking into Leo's red eyes, Wareden asked a question that had long been a doubt.
"How do you know such facts?"