The Water Magician

"The Hero Exists Alone in One Era"

If one dies, a new infant will be born as the hero.

The principle by which heroes are born is somewhat known.

However, the demon king is honestly not understood at all.

The demon king can appear in the Western Nations as well as in the Central Nations.

Rumor has it that he may also appear in the Eastern Nations...

Additionally, according to the doctrines taught at the Central Sanctuary, one of the four demon princes that originated from the devil becomes the demon king... that is what is taught.

That demon prince was the one Ryo sliced apart on the fortieth floor of the Dungeon of Run.

But is that really the case?

In truth, it is not understood.

It's just one of the hypotheses.

After all, the only humans who have encountered a demon king are the heroes who subjugate them...

From the human perspective, the method of the demon king's emergence, the source, the reasons for their appearance, or even what the demon king biologically is, are not understood.

What is known is...

The demon king can control monsters.

A being that brings harm to humans.

And they are said to be strong...

There are no records of anyone besides heroes defeating them... in other words, anyone who challenged them besides heroes has always been defeated.

They cannot possibly be weak.

"But the demon king was defeated by Roman three years ago, right?"

Ryo mutters absently.

Yes, the demon king was defeated by Hero Roman.

This information has also been conveyed to the Central Nations.

Even Ryo, who is somewhat out of touch with worldly affairs, had heard about it, so it must be quite widespread information.

"Yes, it was announced by the Western Church."

Priest Zeek responds.

"If the demon prince has become the demon king since then, not much time has passed, so perhaps they aren’t that strong...?"

"Well, I wonder about that. To be honest, there are priests who say that it’s not certain whether a demon prince really becomes a demon king."

In response to Ryo's question, Priest Eto shakes his head slightly while answering.

"No, the demon prince isn’t weak at all..."

Nils's exasperated remark makes Amon, Harold, and Gowan's front-line group smile wryly.

Hugh, who had gone back to the Holy See to arrange several situations, returned to the lodging in the evening.

"Hugh-san!"

The one who spotted him and called out was DeLong, the leader of the b-rank party "Coffee Maker."

"I heard. You're being sent out to search for the demon king."

DeLong asks quietly in a corner of the lodging lobby.

"Yeah, that's right. I just went to the Holy See, and apparently, there’s a proof of identity called the 'Holy Seal Certificate' that they have to issue for them. I negotiated to get it, and it seems I can manage to have it. With this, we should be able to move freely within the Western Nations."

The "Holy Seal Certificate" is like an identity guarantee issued by the Holy See of the Western Church rather than the Fundebie Kingdom itself.

Therefore, having it issued to foreigners in a case like this is an exceptional circumstance.

Hugh was told this by Cardinal Oskar, who was in charge.

In fact, it was Cardinal Oskar who persuaded the hesitant Holy See, and he has been on Hugh's side from the very start.

Hugh was grateful for this fortunate turn of events.

If the person at the window had been someone inflexible or someone who would say, "A raid on the storage? That's just how it is," things would have become much more difficult.

"While it’s great that we got the 'Holy Seal Certificate,' still..."

"Yeah, still. It’s going to be an incredibly challenging search."

DeLong frowned as he spoke, and Hugh answered with a similar expression.

An individual who is not at all familiar with the geography of the Western Nations must search for an existence whose whereabouts are unknown and that is certainly lurking in the hidden world.

No one thinks it will be easy.

However...

"But we have no choice. The 'spirit curse of explosion' could activate at any moment."

Once a spirit curse is received, it will not explode for one year, but after that, there are no guarantees. If the curse activates, Harold's body will literally explode.