Following my heavy-handed destruction of the Former Demon Territory, I persisted in my campaign of demolition.
Guided by reports from my spies, I traveled across the Republic, confiscating stockpiles of the Magical Beast Drug wherever I found them. I went as far as using space teleportation to spirit away entire manufacturing facilities, abducting the workers and those in charge along with them.
While these measures might have seemed extreme, they served as a calculated diversion. By rampaging so ostentatiously, I forced the mastermind to focus on me. This, in turn, provided my spies with more room to maneuver.
I had Luciana use her Charm magic to interrogate the abductees, hoping to glean more information. Despite her efforts, we could not obtain anything vital regarding the mastermind.
Luciana informed me that several subjects showed clear traces of Memory Alteration. It was an irreversible magical process. Specific segments of their memories—the ones we needed—had been meticulously excised and overwritten with false information.
Memory alteration of that caliber is an incredibly advanced technique. To alter someone's memory so perfectly while keeping them functional—rather than reducing them to a vegetable—was a feat far beyond any ordinary mage. Even searching across the entire continent, one would be hard-pressed to find a practitioner capable of such a thing.
I doubted even I could manipulate memories with that level of precision. Once magic reaches that level of sophistication, it becomes a matter of innate aptitude. High-level memory manipulation is almost a singular talent. It lacks a formal system, and its practitioners are exceedingly rare. Even if one understood the magic formula or the incantation, it wasn't a skill that could be wielded easily.
In all my years, I have only encountered a handful of casters who could manipulate memories, and even then, they could only manage to wipe memories temporarily or leave the subject in a vegetative state. A technique this perfect was unparalleled.
Between the battle with the magical beasts and recent developments, the number of "exceptions" I was encountering was becoming truly remarkable. Regardless, the mastermind was proving to be exceptionally cunning. They also possessed immense power. I had recognized their capability the moment they successfully manufactured the Magical Beast Drug, but I hadn't expected them to be this formidable.
(Are they truly that man’s successor?)
I harbored the doubt once more, though in truth, I was all but certain. There was no longer any room for skepticism. Memory alteration had been that man’s forte. Pairing that with his silver tongue and penchant for backroom deals made him a peerless instigator.
If this were his successor, it was only natural they could replicate his methods. In fact, with the evidence mounting, it was becoming impossible to believe this was the work of some unrelated party.
The problem remained that the mastermind’s location was still unknown. While we were uncovering storage sites for the Magical Beast Drug one after another, we hadn't found a single clue regarding their whereabouts.
I continued to sweep the area with wide-range sensing magic, but I found nothing resembling a lead. Extending my perception to nations outside the Republic yielded the same lack of results. Despite the total absence of information, their shadow operations were proceeding steadily.
They were likely using a unique concealment technique to mask their presence. They were clearly on guard against me, employing multiple layers of deception from the very beginning to ensure I couldn't track them.
From their perspective, a direct confrontation was something to be avoided at all costs. They understood perfectly well that they were no match for me in a fight. They wouldn't show themselves until they were certain they could finish me off.
That was precisely why I wanted to catch them off guard and root them out.
Fortunately, we were growing accustomed to these sudden threats. Whenever magical beasts appeared in the cities of the Demon King’s Domain, we were able to eliminate them swiftly. Casualties were being kept to a minimum.
Curiously, I heard no reports of magical beasts appearing in other countries. The damage was concentrated solely within my domain. The incident in the Slave Autonomous District had been the first and last of its kind outside my borders.
The mastermind was targeting the Demon King’s Domain specifically. I could feel a clear, focused hostility—to the point where I wondered if I had personally earned their grudge. For now, only the frontier cities were being targeted, but if left unchecked, it was only a matter of time before magical beasts appeared in the Royal Capital.
Because of this, other nations remained optimistic, even complacent. They sat back and hoped the Demon King would be toppled for them. I found their attitude dangerously naive, yet I understood their logic. If a threat could be removed without their own people shedding blood, they would naturally welcome it.
For the time being, I decided to continue identifying and destroying the drug stockpiles while simultaneously trying to locate the mastermind. Maintaining this status quo was becoming tiresome. I needed to bring this to a swift resolution.
Then, one day, Luciana entered the Audience Chamber. Her face was set in a deep scowl—she looked more displeased than I had ever seen her. She slumped into a chair and exhaled a long, heavy sigh.
"My Demon King, I have some rather unwelcome news."
"I gathered as much. What is it?"
"The Republic has collapsed. It seems the citizens have all turned into magical beasts and demons."
I froze for a moment upon hearing the report. It took a few seconds to process the information. With the onset of a dull headache, I looked at Luciana.
"...Tell me everything."
"Yes. I’ll start from the beginning."
Luciana began to lay out the facts in a flat tone.
Apparently, earlier this morning, the people in the capital and several other cities had suddenly transformed into magical beasts and demons. The same phenomenon was now spreading to the remaining cities one by one. There had been no warning, no signs of abnormality; it was an entirely sudden occurrence.
A disturbance on this scale was unprecedented. Given the sheer number of people involved, it was impossible for the drug to have been administered individually. It had likely been mixed into the food and water supplies of every city. If the concentration of the Magical Beast Drug was carefully calibrated, it could easily be ingested without anyone noticing.
However, one detail bothered me.
"Did the drug actually create demons?" I asked.
"Their numbers are few, but yes, some certainly transformed. Perhaps it was a matter of constitutional compatibility."
The formulation of the drug had varied slightly from region to region. That might have been the deciding factor. Since the drug was designed to rewrite a human’s racial essence, the fact that it could produce demons wasn't entirely shocking.
(...Could the magical beasts have been the failures?)
If the drug was capable of creating demons, then perhaps that had been the true goal all along. It was a logical progression. Demons possessed immense power and, unlike magical beasts, retained their reason. They gained various magic aptitudes upon transformation and were generally superior to other races. If a simple drug could achieve that, there was no tool more convenient.
In any case, it was certain that the Republic had fallen into the hands of demons. Lately, there had been growing calls among the citizenry to submit to the Demon King, but those voices had now been violently silenced.
I had assumed his focus was entirely on attacking the Demon King’s Domain, yet he had chosen to transform his own people instead. It was pure insanity.
"Furthermore, the Republic has officially issued a Declaration of War against the Demon King’s Domain. As for the name of their representative..."
Luciana trailed off. The reason for her foul mood clearly lay in what came next. After a moment of hesitation, she spoke the name with visible bitterness.
"Balk Wen Danian. It’s him. There’s no mistake."
"...I see."
The revelation clicked into place. I had hoped it wasn't him, but my darkest suspicion had been confirmed.
Balk Wen Danian.
The name Luciana had spoken belonged to a man who had once served as one of the Four Heavenly Kings in the previous Demon King’s Army.
He was a curse user of unparalleled power.