The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 140: Yet Another Three-Way Struggle

Chapter 140: Yet Another Three-Way Struggle

Each time we stopped to rest on our way to Brunnera, I would go with Giorno to hunt monsters at any of the hotspots he would find.

One occasion involved drowning an army of Ogres. Another involved filling a Lizardmen’s nest with water. And then another involved burning down a forest of Mandragora Trents from up on a cliff.

I had started to feel sorry for the monsters lately, but the reality was that they were, without a doubt, a threat to humanity. No room for mercy on the battlefields… right. That was what Bruce had taught me.

Which reminds me, is he doing well these days? Well, knowing him, I’m sure he’s holding up just fine.

I’d wanted to raise my level as often as I could, but none of the towns we had stopped by on the way had the Limit Breakthrough Craft Circle. I suppose that meant it was a commodity, in its own way – Not to be kept in small towns or villages, and reserved for key locations.

I know for sure that there would be one in Brunnera, but it’ll be quite difficult to work at level 101 on the whole way there.

Each time I was out sniping monsters, Pochi was left alone with Lylia, but they didn’t seem to have engaged in much conversation.

Perhaps the latter was jealous of Pochi’s stomach capacity; it was clear that during mealtime, she would rush her meal down, as if she was always in some sort of competition.

We were now at our last resting stop; just one more stretch and we’re at Brunnera. Both Pochi and I, feeling a sense of déjà vu, looked up at the mountains to our sides.

“It’s the Giants’ Passage…”

“Which means, this Brunnera place…”

In the future, it was Beilanea.

They sounded familiar, but also not quite; probably due to the change of accents affecting it over the millennia.

This could mean that the Beilad Dragon, which would later be called Ballad Dragon instead, didn’t exist yet in this time period.

“Oh, finally in familiar territory, are we? Figured you would know; this is the only way through to Brunnera, after all.”

“We could have gone along the Thirsty Desert’s perimeter, too, Giorno. Did you forget that?”

“No, can’t exactly be done anymore. The desert town of Alan seems to have been destroyed recently, you see. Now that we can’t make a stop there, we’ll have to head straight for Brunnera in one long haul, so it’s practically impossible if we don’t have a larger party with us.”

“Alan, gone? That’s news to me…”

“Remember the trade caravan from earlier? I just heard from them then.”

“How did it happen, though…?”

“Had an Apostle of Despair in town, apparently. It started by getting rid of the people in power, and then called in monsters while the town was most vulnerable, leaving no time for any reaction… or so I’ve heard.”

In my time, no town existed in the vicinity of the Thirsty Desert.

Seeing that the last of them were wiped out in this era, that was another mystery solved, I suppose.

But then, the Apostles of Despair… I never knew that they were so intelligent.

I now know that they can assume a human-like form, but with their capabilities, are they really a variation of SS-ranked monsters?

Could they in fact be different from what the Divine Messenger has explained to me? I know that Gramps isn’t the kind of… individual to lie, but still…

“But how did the resident Mind’s Eye wielder fail to notice anything? It’s the least likely thing that could have happened.”

Lylia said, her tone harshened. Perhaps she was vexed by the failure of a fellow Mind’s Eye wielder. That, or perhaps a sense of shame.

“We can’t know that for sure. Considering the town’s size, there was probably only one wielder there, so they might have been off-duty from overwork… or it plainly didn’t work on the Apostle… What do you think, Poer?”

“Uh, well… could there even be such a thing? An Apostle immune to the Mind’s Eye, I mean?”

“None that we currently know of. But our enemies aren’t fools – We can be sure of that much. Another thing worth considering is that Mind’s Eye wielders can’t see through each other… So that might’ve been the case, too.”

Giorno saying all that so casually made him come off as quite insensitive… is he really the Hero?

“So, Giorno, did you mean to suggest that one among the Elves may be in league with the Devil King’s army?”

Lylia narrowed her eyes and reached for the handle of her sword. Ah, right… I’d heard that Elves were quite a prideful bunch, come to think of it.

T?s was even beyond that, being on his brand of egoistic. At any rate, I really felt the air practically being split apart just now…

“That’s not what I meant to say.”

“What did you mean, then?”

“It’s a possibility worth considering that they’ve lost control of their body. Currently, there-“

“Ah.”

The three others turned to me instantaneously.

Having suddenly remembered one key detail, I failed not to voice my realization.

“Is there something wrong, Poer?”

“Well – I just thought that it might be doable with magic or magecraft, you see…”

“Among the Devil King’s army, only the Devilkin could do that. Sure, it’s definitely a possibility, but-“

Huh? What did Lylia just…

“-I don’t think they would stoop down to playing such petty tricks.”

“W-wait a second. You mean the Devilkin is part of the Devil King’s army?!”

And of course, Pochi was the one who asked it before I could.

“Of course they are; the Devilkin is the leader of the monsters. Isn’t that supposed to be common knowledge?”

“T-then, wouldn’t that mean the Devil King is one of the Devil Kin?!”

“…She sure is a clueless one, Poer. Seems you’ll need to get her understanding sorted out.”

“Ah, sorry about that…”

Not that I could, because I didn’t know anything either. Only Pochi herself knew that about me, though.

Giorno heaved a sigh, and then started to explain the whole thing.

Perhaps it was just me, but I believe I saw Lylia’s expression cloud over for just a moment.

“First of all, it was said that the monsters are acting as an advance party of sorts for the Devilkin’s efforts to destroy the world. The definition of ‘destroy’ here is more similar to a turf war to them, but it doesn’t change the fact that they would be completely eliminating humanity in the process. At the start of their invasion, they may have claimed that they would use us as livestock, but that hardly fits our definition of being ‘alive’. That’s why we’re all rising up and taking the fight to them.”

“I do know that much, but I’m confused by the part where the Devil King isn’t the king of the monsters, with the Devilkin having the command to themselves instead…”

“Well… that stemmed from an incident from about a century ago. It was when the Elves obtained magecraft after one among them performed the Devil Summoning Ceremony. That practically meant they were borrowing a Devil’s power, you see. Since then, the Elves have been discriminatingly referred to by many as the ‘Dark Elves’ as a result.”

Oh, they were already called that by this point in time. I see, I see.

And that was why Lylia took it so personally…

Giorno himself didn’t use the derogatory term, though, nor did anyone back at the Front-Front Lines of Sodom.

That was perhaps due to all the recognition Lylia had obtained through her abilities and contributions.

“Now, do you know why the Devil Summoning Ceremony was successful?”

“Because they paid an appropriate price… at least I think that’s how it works!”

Pochi, while leaning forward, answered.

“Right, that is the most important part. In this case, what the Elves paid was ‘the Devilkin’s intervention in the human world,’ among other things.”

“…”

“…Um, what does that mean, exactly?”

Pochi asked, then let out a suppressed, fear-laden chuckle.

“The Devilkin isn’t supposed to exist at all in this world, yet they now have the ability to be so. That is what it means.”

“What?! But that’s not something for just some of the Elves to decide!”

“The deal has no care for that whatsoever. The Elves, as a price for magecraft, have brought into this world in the form of the invading Devilkin.”

And so…. they were collectively called the Dark Elves, huh.

Considering the situation now, why would the Devilkin of our time want to defeat the soon-to-resurrect Devil King of our time? Aren’t they supposed to be of the same kind?

Well, I suppose since humans do wage wars among themselves, it would be reasonable for the Devilkin to do so as well. Yes, some sort of conflict among them – that should be the case.

“…Then…what differentiates the Devilkin King from the rest of the Devilkin? I know the latter is ‘normal,’ while the former resurrects himself in a cycle… are there any other factors?”

“Well, since I’ve never fought him, I don’t know how powerful the Devil King is, but strength should be it. Also, it’s worth keeping in mind that the Apostles comprises of both monster variants and the Devilkin… though I reckon we’re capable of dealing with them – Lylia and I.”

He’d said something quite outrageous, this man. But I suppose it was good to know that these two might be able to defeat the Devilkin when they worked together.

Right, I’ll take this opportunity to ask them more…

“By the way, since you two are extraordinarily strong, I’ve been wondering… Do you happen to know of others as powerful?”

Giorno thought it over for a moment before turning to Lylia, who had just found herself a boulder to sit on.

“What, you’re asking me? Hmm… I can think of the leading man of House Adams… and the first daughter of House Fulbright… yes, they were quite impressive…”

“Ah, right, they were.”

Oh, I think I might have heard both those household names before?

The latter was… Warren’s family, and the former was… huh? Whose family was it again?

While I racked up my brain for an answer, Pochi whispered into my ear, hiding the front of her mouth with her paw,

“The Adams household… That’s the family name of the bully trio’s leader, isn’t it?”

Aha, it was our beloved Student Council Vice President, Hornel!