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–––Fuzzura’s viewpoint

I did not mind being sent to Zelvis and seed an insurrection, but my main target Lapis simply wandered off to Leble. I could stay in Zelvis, get more people to help us, and make sure the rebellion works out, but even someone in a lower position than me could handle that. Aprila’s orders were mainly to look out for anyone dangerous enough, basically to tail Lapis.

Her group seemed to work in large areas, so it would be hard to follow them on the ground, but any decently powerful demon knew how to use Flight Magic. That applied to me as well, so I had no issue following them from a distance, and somehow ended up joining up with a weirdo. While I was traveling through Leble, I ran into a group who had a different air to both humans and demons.

If they were average humans, I would just kill them without bothering talking to them, but I felt like each of them was at least as powerful as me. Riling them up carelessly would be suicide. I thought of just hiding away, but a demon that traveled with them stopped me. He said he served Piagio, and that they had actually formed an alliance with Aprila.

“Lady Aprila and Piagio are allies? I was never told.”
“I guess you simply weren’t important enough to know then.”
“!”

I really wanted to kill him. But he was also a rather powerful demon. Fighting him on even ground was a bad idea. I would eventually come up with a plan to get rid of him, but for now it was best to just listen.

“Either way, he’s allied with Aprila, so just shut up and help out.”

It was weird hearing him not even name his master in that sentence, but I decided to go along with it.

Though the help he wanted was unrelated to fighting. He basically wanted me to help carry those strange beings.

“That hero Brave really gets on my nerves…or Lapis now, I guess? Either way, we came all the way here to kill her, but what do you know, she just ignores us and flies straight to the capital. I really need to catch up soon.”

I guessed they had come from far away, only to be left behind halfway there. I hated Lapis, but just this once I wanted to praise her for that. I used Flight Magic together with that demon and we hurried to the capital. During the trip, I asked him just who the others were, and he revealed a shocking truth. They were a human and a demon grafted together, transforming them into a different type of being. I wondered for just how long such technology existed. It also made me wonder, if I was mashed together with a human, would I get more powerful too? I was curious, but I was also afraid I would stop being me, so I decided not to dwell on it too much.

Finally we reached the capital of Leble, and all of a sudden the palace crumbled down. We had no idea what had happened, so both me and the other demon stood still. Was there anyone who could predict such a large and sturdy palace falling? Though it was clear that it was no natural disaster. Someone or something had attacked it. The only ones who I could imagine had the power to do that were very powerful demons, someone on the level of Demon Kings. Other than that…

“…Did Brave attack?”

That was the most likely answer. The only humans capable of something like that were Lapis, or the famous sorcerer Sorciere. We had been tailing Lapis to get here, so it was probably her.

“Well, what now-”
“Lord Piagio! Did anything happen?!”

The demon I was with was silent for a bit, but quickly regained his senses and sped towards the palace rubble. Piagio? That was another Demon King, why would he be here and not in the Haunted Lands? I began shaking that demon’s shoulder trying to get answers.

“Hey, what’s going on?! Why would Piagio be in a place like this? Isn’t he supposed to be in his territory in the Haunted Lands?!”
“Shut up! We don’t have time to talk! Just help me dig!”

He pushed me aside, desperately digging through the rubble, but I kept insisting, trying to figure out what was going on.

“I don’t even know who I’m supposed to dig for here! And even if he was here, would he die from something like this?!”
“Piagio was Compounded with a human! He obtained immense power thanks to that, but in exchange his body became weak like a human’s! He could die under so much rubble!”
“A Demon King…Compounded?”

It was hard to believe that. Though if a demon this powerful followed him, I guess it was true. But in that case, Piagio essentially exchanged his defenses for more power. That sounded ridiculous…the only type of magic that humans excelled at more than demons was healing through holy magic. Obtaining miraculous healing sounded like a good offer, but it made no sense to become more frail for that. I guess Piagio was even dumber than I expected. He probably gained far less power than he lost, or at least that was what I thought…until I was proven wrong.