Black Iron Magician

Chapter 364 The Devourers

There are several continents in this world. One of them is the continent of Jiba, where Deris and the others are based, and the continent of Zen, which has the machine country Al Nova and the city of money, Damaya, and it is said to be the world’s largest continent of commerce.

So, which is the most dangerous place among these continents? If you ask that kind of question, everyone will mention the same continent.

―― The continent of Dai, the land where monsters live. This is the most dangerous and terrifying place.

Countless wars have been happening there, and the continent of Dai has seen the birth and demise of many nations at a tremendous speed. In this continent, the ones who create a country aren’t only humans, but also intelligent monsters who call themselves Demon Kings and barbarians who unconsciously gather to satisfy their desires. Even the wild ones have evolved in their own way to increase their survival rate, and it is not uncommon to see the birth of a monster that can become a threat to the country by itself. There is no other continent in the world where the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ applies so well.

This alone should be enough to convince you that Dai is the most inaccessible and dangerous continent in the world. However, in fact, there are other reasons why it is called that. 『Elderado』, the strongest empire of humankind, has been located in this war-torn land since ancient times, and yet it has never wavered in its position as a great power. 『Carmine』, the corpse country, is the territory of Vakala Zwinziga, the second rank of the Great Eight Demons who is known worldwide as the actual head of the Great Eight Demons. 『Zelandia』, the immortal country, is the territory of Maria Irygal, the third rank of the Great Eight Demons, the young and terrifying Great Demon King who has position and power next to Vakala. The number of wars and the vicious monsters are only secondary, and the biggest cause of people’s fear is the existence of these three countries.

Maria’s country is located in the middle of the continent of Dai. It would be normal for it to be involved in the war, but for some reason, the surrounding countries have never challenged Zelandia. Even though there’s a large territory of rich land there, they act as if it doesn’t exist, and no army ever tried to step inside there. They try not to get Maria’s attention, and strangely enough, all the countries seem to share the same attitude, acting like trembling lambs. No matter how many times the countries around Zelandia change, this one country in the middle of the fierce battle zone has been maintaining its unchanged national power.

Even though Zelandia is feared, it doesn’t invade other countries, so there’s no direct harm. Rather, it’s the human-ruled Elderado that poses a real threat to other countries. The policy of the Elderado Empire is ruthless and aggressive, and it’s no exaggeration to say that it’s a lump of ambition. Moreover, they are also famous for the high number of war deaths, as they only consider human lives as part of resources. They let people produce as many resources as they can, train them as much as they can, and select only the chosen ones. Those who have survived in such a harsh environment are strong and ruthless. There are many troops in Elderado, and all of them are rumored to be as strong or stronger than heroes.

And the last country, Carmine――

「――Sigh, they’re here again today, huh.」

Vakala, the great king of the corpse country, muttered so while munching a rice cracker, looking bored. He is currently in the sky above the great plains at the national border between Carmine and Elderado. By some divine trickery, the two countries are located next to each other in the northern part of the Dai continent. As mentioned above, Elderado is an invading nation, and Carmine is included as their target. Even now, Elderado’s large forces and Carmine’s corpses are clashing and fighting fiercely on this plain. The ruler of Elderado has been replaced many times, but the two countries have been at war for a long time.

「They are coming every day. Maybe I was lenient in reducing their forces? But if I overdo it, promising people might die. Ugh, it’s hard to balance it! I’ve been fighting for many years, but this is difficult!」

Because of the invisible barrier around him, no one could see the figure of Vakala who’s devouring the rice crackers.

「Yahhoo~, Gramps Vakala~」

「Hm, Maria? Yahohoo.」

However, there are exceptions who can ignore the barrier and find Vakala. One of them is Maria, who’s wearing a very fashionable dress as if she had been out somewhere today. The two of them exchanged a very light greeting as if they just met by chance while on a walk. Depending on the situation, they would look like a granddaughter and a grandfather. One of them is a skull, though.

「Wow, you’re doing it grandly~. Are you at war with Elderado today?」

「That’s right. They just keep coming back every day. Ah, do you want some rice crackers? It’s a new product that Alezel brought as a souvenir before.」

「I want~. There are different colors, but they are all delicious~」

「The plum flavor is nice.」

The Great Demon Kings are watching the battle on the ground while talking about the rice crackers. Contrary to their warm conversation, the bloody battle continues on the ground.

「I was on my way to do some secret shopping, but it seems that it’s as usual, huh? That country sure has a lot of human resources ~. I’m sure they put their hands on the taboo. Pfft!」

「Don’t say that. They are simply focusing on efficiency. When they won the war against another country, they got the results, which may include many of the enemy’s people and soldiers. It’s just the matter of how they treat them, that’s all.」

「Well, thanks to that, Gramps Vakala can get a good reason to kill time~. Still, the more their soldiers are killed, the more it increases Gramps Vakala’s military forces, I wonder if they haven’t noticed about it?」

「Even they are not that stupid, you know? The distinction between the disposable pawns and the ones that should be preserved is clear. It’s probably because of this that there are so many people with nicknames recently. 『War Princess Pentagram』, 『Shadow Corps』―― wait, I defeated the Shadow Corps before, didn’t I? There are so many of them, so it’s easy to forget. Well, I didn’t annihilate them, so I’m sure there are survivors.」

「It’s too early to grow senile, you know? According to the rumors, I heard that there’s also an elite unit of eight heroes called the 『Great Eight Generals』. They are imitating us, aren’t they~?」

Maria laughed happily. She laughed a lot, took a bite of the rice cracker, and sipped a cup of tea, which she took out from who knows where. Then, she raised a voice as if she remembered something.

「Ah, by the way, Lilyvia-chan seems to have lost to Deris’ disciples~. Well, Hund Lind also participated, so it was one against four~」

「Oh, is that true? Well, that’s impressive. There was no one who defeated the Great Eight Demons ever since the ones that were defeated by Deris and the others. Umu, it’s a great thing to see youngsters grow up, but their disciples are by far the best among the others. Not only do they grow fast, but they are also hard workers and good-natured! I’ve had high hopes for Elderado for many years, but things haven’t worked out so well. So, I started to imitate them and took a disciple. Look, it’s the purple armor over there. His name is Kira.」

「For me, it’s a little complicated~. I thought that with Lily’s ability, there was still a long way for her to be defeated. I’m happy as the Great Eight Demons, but I’m sad as her mother~….」

「Hey, are you listening to me?」

Maria was busy switching her emotions between joy and sadness. Meanwhile, the headless purple armor was cutting down one of the rumored Great Eight Generals. Thus, the Great Empire Elderado suffered defeat again today.