Acting on Lord Ares's orders, it had taken Ramiel almost no time after beginning her search to locate the monster city.
A steady stream of creatures was pouring out of the settlement. It looked as though they were abandoning the fortress city altogether and evacuating to the south.
Just then, two smaller groups split off in entirely different directions. There was virtually no risk of losing track of the main horde; with Ramiel's speed, she could easily catch up whenever she wished. She chose instead to trail the party heading toward the dense forest.
Even though she should have had her high-tier concealment skill, [Cloak of Invisibility], constantly active, her location had been exposed in an instant. She could hardly believe that these monsters and humans—none of whom seemed particularly formidable—could see through her technique. Most likely, she had let it drop without realizing. She had made a similar blunder once before, so that had to be it.
The concealment granted by [Cloak of Invisibility] was severely weakened for several days against anyone who had already spotted the user. That was why she had offered to travel alongside them. It carried some risk, of course, but creatures of this caliber could easily be subdued if push came to shove. There was no need to be overly cautious.
As they traveled, she questioned them about their situation.
"The strongest being in the world, huh...?"
It was an absurd claim coming from the mouth of the human named Gil. According to him, he had experienced a prophetic vision of an invasion by the Demon King Army and was now scouring the land for the world's mightiest being to strike them down.
A precognitive power so precise it felt like reliving a past event was the domain of the divine. It was certainly not an ability a mere human could wield. He was either hopelessly delusional or spinning bold-faced lies.
In any case, an earthly faction like the Demon King Army amounted to little more than buzzing flies in the eyes of Heavenly Realm dwellers like Ramiel. There was no need to seek out the world's strongest entity just to deal with them. That task could easily be left to the legendary Hero whom Lord Ares favored, or to the Church. Frankly speaking, the standards of strength in the Mortal Realm were so pitifully low compared to her own kind that they were entirely beneath consideration anyway.
Even so, one detail nagged at her mind.
(A fish-headed Forneus? Isn't he supposed to be one of the Lieutenants General of the Evil Army...?)
Thinking that far, she caught herself.
(Ridiculous! That's impossible! There's no way!)
She flatly rejected the notion as preposterous and utterly detached from reality.
The Evil Army was an organization formed by the world's most powerful gods who governed the shadows, such as Evil Wickedness. Their might was said to rival that of the Heavenly Army, composed of the gods of light. If even a single officer—let alone a Lieutenant General of the Evil Army—had descended into the mortal world, it could never be concealed. By now, the Heavenly Realm would be thrown into sheer pandemonium. All travel to this world would be banned, and even Lord Ares, its administrator, would be barred from interfering. Naturally, Ramiel and the others would never have been allowed to come here in the first place.
(Yes, it's virtually impossible. This human must have just blurted out the name off the top of his head, but still...)
Ignorance truly was a terrifying thing. A figure on the level of Lieutenant General of the Evil Army Forneus was far beyond reach, exceptional even among the gods of darkness. Merely uttering his name risked incurring severe divine retribution from the local deities who worshipped him.
The real question was how this human had come to know the name of Lieutenant General of the Evil Army Forneus at all. Most likely, he had stumbled across it in some text left behind by a dark local deity.
Even Lord Ares, the administrator of Lemuria, did not keep tabs on every single local deity, so it was a perfectly plausible explanation.
"Let's take a break here."
At Gil's call, the monsters obediently complied and set about pitching camp. Feeling a twinge of bewilderment at the sight of monsters setting up camp just like the human race, Ramiel stepped in to lend a hand.