—one kingdom captured.

Baldur, the leader of the demon invaders, sat comfortably on the throne. He was discussing the future with his men.

“Turns out conquering a kingdom isn’t a big deal.”

Baldur’s subordinates nodded in response.

His subordinates resembled horned oxen with wings.

They were demons who consumed the souls of the living. That sort of undead was the main bulk of Baldur’s army. They stood at the gap between the living and the dead.

Hence why, not even the kingdom’s best soldiers could defeat Baldur’s men.

“Precisely! With someone as mighty as Lord Baldur, conquering a kingdom is easy!”

“Fufu. That begs the question—if humans are so weak, why didn’t we, the demons, invade them sooner?”

“Exactly. No one can tell what those old bats are thinking. Didn’t they say that there is someone with a magnificent power?”

“I wonder if they’re talking about the saint.”

“Could be.”

Certainly, that saint was one troublesome human.

Her barrier wasn’t just perfect, but it could also protect the entire kingdom. Furthermore, as long as the someone wasn’t dead, she could heal all wounds in an instant.

That was the reason Baldur hesitated over invading that kingdom.

However.

“This is one foolish kingdom. They banished the saint. I wonder why they didn’t realize that act was the equivalent to suicide.”

“Totally.”

In exiling the saint, that kingdom had vastly helped the demons.

“The plan is going well.”

Baldur licked his lips with his tongue.

Even though he had conquered a kingdom, Baldur wasn’t satisfied.

In the first place, Baldur’s goal was to dominate the world. That kingdom might had been one of the most powerful in the world—however, conquering it didn’t mean the whole world had fallen into his hands.

Nonetheless, the fact that the demons had managed to capture that kingdom was already satisfying enough.

However, as it was, they wouldn’t have enough means to conquer the world.

Although his plan was steadily progressing, the end goal wouldn’t be met as things were.

For that reason, I let the foolish people of this kingdom live, but… I just want to kill them right now… ah, I can’t stand the mere sight of them…

He required someone with enormous magical power to achieve his goal.

As Baldur contemplated, his subordinate opened his mouth.

“By the way, Lord Baldur, regarding the spirits…”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot because I focused on seizing this kingdom. Either capture them, or eliminate them as they are.”

“Understood.”

For such reasons, Baldur had prepared a special device for the spirits.

Before invading the kingdom, Baldur had intended to control the spirits.

As such, he generated miasma in the forest where the spirits lived to gradually weaken them.

However, because the kingdom’s barrier had suddenly disappeared, he shifted his attention…

“Those spirits are also quite stubborn. To be honest, they’re more troublesome than the people of this kingdom. Since we already knew the location, we could’ve just invaded them… but that village’s barrier is quite the hindrance…”

The spirits’ barrier was comparable to that of a saint.

Therefore, it was extremely difficult to break through said barrier, even for Baldur.

Even if Baldur managed to, he’d lose a considerable amount of magic in the process. Afterwards, there was a possibility he might come face to face with the spirits. Fighting in that state would be risky.

“First, we’re going to cover the forest with miasma to force them out.”

“The miasma should’ve completely engulfed them by this point, despite that, even though Lord Baldur’s plan is perfect…”

“…For some reason, the miasma disappeared. That’s an impossible feat for the spirits, which means…”

“I looked into it. Apparently, the former saint of this kingdom is residing in the neighboring kingdom. Furthermore, she joined sides with the spirits.”

“As I thought…”

Baldur’s face distorted for a moment—

—that saint… what an abominable existence.

Why does that girl insist upon getting in my way?!

With the saint’s power, the miasma could be erased. That was his only concern.

After all, he heard that the saint was confined in the another kingdom.

Therefore, for her to eliminate the miasma of the spirits’ village… it should be virtually impossible…

…How could her banishment have develop into that?

Well, thanks to that, Baldur was able to carry out his plan, which was to conquer that kingdom. That also happened to be his main priority. It could be said that the result was alright.

“Now that we know where the saint is, our next step should be obvious. The saint who’ve lifted the miasma should be considered a benefactor by the spirits.”

“That’s right… then, what do you have in mind?”

“How foolish you are. I’m saying that as long as we remove the saint, the spirits wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Baldur lifted the corners of his mouth.

His expression was akin to that of a sly snake which preyed upon another’s blood.

“Isn’t it convenient? If we capture both the saint and the spirits, our plan will advance in one go.”

Baldur stood up.

“First of all—the saint. Capture her.”

“I understand.”

The saint and the spirits were connected.

At first glance, it sounded like bad news, but Baldur didn’t think so.

It’s, in fact, good news. The invincible spirits have created a gap.

From now on, he’d be even busier—thought Baldur.

Oh, right, what’s the superb buffoon doing?

Baldur suddenly lifted his hand.

An image was projected in the empty space before him.

“L, leave! Get out of here! If you think you can do as you please to me—”

“C, Claude… my face, my face!”

A man and woman were trapped in an underground prison.

They were none other than Prince Claude, and the poisonous insect of that kingdom—Leticia.

For someone who had been spoiled his entire life, a hard bed and only being given then bare minimum of meals must had been unbearable.

Hmm, a foolish man. He should be grateful that he’s still alive.

Originally, Baldur planned to kill him immediately. But, because Claude was a prince, he might still be of use.

Did Claude not understand Baldur could kill him at any given chance?

“If he makes any more noise, burn the prince’s throat so he can’t speak. He’s too noisy.”

“I understand.”

Baldur decided to leave Claude to his subordinates.

Well then… how to proceed?

In Baldur’s eyes, the human world, the spirits, and also the future in which he had dominated the world were reflected.

---

***T/N: I want Eliane to beat Baldur’s ass just for the sole sake that he’s one haughty bitch.

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