"How could we be affected by dark mana?" Aldean asked while clutching his ribs, which still felt sore despite being healed by the elves.
The captain crossed her arms, glanced at one of her subordinates who was holding their bag, and had it brought over. From there, the captain pulled out the provisions given by the villagers. "Most likely, the villagers who gave you food were disguised demons. So not all of the villagers were truly fake. Inside, there was dark mana that could easily contaminate the heart since it was already within the body."
She then returned the provisions to the bag and burned them with magic until nothing remained but ashes.
"Why did you burn it? There were important items inside!" Aldean shouted.
"I apologize, but everything inside was already contaminated. Do you think we would use our forbidden magic just for mere belongings? You should be grateful that we expelled the dark mana without demanding payment. You know how valuable forbidden magic is and how difficult it is to use again, don't you?" the captain replied firmly.
The one who had been standing silently beside them grinned at the scene.
At the same time, he wondered.
How had he not been affected by dark mana, even though he had eaten the same bread?
And no wonder it had tasted a bit strange.
Ah, that's right.
He wasn't bound to this world.
Sometimes he still forgot that he wasn't human—until he looked down and realized that his body was no longer the same as before.
Truly like a program error.
He wasn't sure whether to call it sad or extraordinary—because he felt both.
"We need to wipe out that village," Aldean said, causing one of his eyebrows to rise. He hadn't expected to hear such words from the hero himself, who had fought so desperately to protect them. "What? I'm saying this because we now know the villagers weren't real, and some of them were disguised demons."
His grin widened. "I'm just observing where this conversation is going. Why are you so sensitive? Still can't accept that you lost to a single person even after using forbidden magic? Don't blame me—blame yourselves for being a weakling."
Their eyes twitched upon hearing that.
Meanwhile, the elves fell silent, wanting to say, You're the one who's too strong, but they held back to avoid getting struck like the council members, who also chose to look away and pretend they hadn't heard the comment.
The captain cleared her throat several times, taking control of the awkward situation that had begun to settle in. "No, we'll be heading to your kingdom's capital soon. As for the village, my men will take care of it. Low-ranking demons are no problem at all."
"Why do we need to go there?" Aldean asked again.
"Oh, for the love of—of course, to find out what's happening with your instrument," he replied in frustration. "You're a hero, but your brain is like a child's. There's been no word from the capital, while the elves have already found traces of the Demon King's mana. Can't you connect the two, oh great hero?" He emphasized the last two words sarcastically.
"There's still no word from the capital?" Aldean asked in shock. "How long have we been unconscious?"
"About fifteen minutes," the captain answered.
Aldean and the other heroes fell silent.
They knew that if the instrument had truly detected the Demon King's arrival, the capital should have sent a message to every race by now. There was no way they would stay silent for more than five minutes. Something must have already happened there. Either something—or the elves were hiding something.
"I'm not saying I don't want to thank you, but we need proof that you truly found the Demon King's mana," Aldean requested.
The captain looked toward the council members, who had also turned to him after hearing the hero's request. They nodded, walked forward, and pulled out something similar to the instrument from the human kingdom—but smaller—from the thick robes of the leading council member.
The device consisted of a golden orb in the center, surrounded by two spinning golden disks that rotated in opposite directions. Its surface was covered in light blue magical symbols that flickered in and out of existence.
It caught his attention for a moment.
It was the first time he had seen a fantasy artifact up close with his own eyes.
"This is one of the elves' greatest secrets. But given the situation, we have to share it," the council member said. "This instrument is similar to the one in the human kingdom's capital, but much weaker and nowhere near as advanced. However, it still functions according to a simple embedded command—to detect the Demon King's mana."
The council member stepped closer, pressing a button on top of the orb. The internal mechanism activated, slowly opening the outer shell of the orb to reveal something inside—an energy sphere, pulsing irregularly as if it were about to explode, glowing a brilliant red.
"As you can see, its color has changed from white to red and is unstable. As we all know, the Demon King's mana is immense. Even if he tries to conceal it, there will always be traces leaking out, no matter how small. While this instrument cannot seal the Demon King, it can detect his presence in this world."
They all stared at the instrument, which emitted an overwhelming aura that made the air feel heavy and suffocating. And this was just a fraction of the Demon King's mana. It was difficult to imagine how powerful the real being was.
He took the instrument from the council member, who had been about to say something but quickly held back. He lifted it closer to his face, examining it carefully, then turned back to the others, who looked tense as if expecting him to do something. "How many days does it take to reach the kingdom's capital?"
Aldean hesitated before answering. "Two weeks."
"How long until the Demon King is expected to act?" he asked again.
The council members exchanged glances, thinking hard before eventually shaking their heads. "We don't know. No one knows when he'll make his move. He could already be executing his plan to destroy the world as we speak. We can only detect his presence, not predict the future."
A harsh sigh escaped his lips, making them flinch in alarm, bracing themselves for another painful strike or kick. But his next words caught them off guard.
"Show me the direction of the human kingdom's capital and tell me who you trust to discuss this matter."
Aldean and the heroes froze, slightly shocked by his response.
"Tsk, you're wasting time. Hurry up and describe someone you trust, or I'll make you regret regaining consciousness," he threatened.
They could feel their hearts pounding rapidly, their souls nearly leaving their bodies. Though they didn't want to admit it, their bodies had been traumatized by the earlier massacre, and subconsciously, they didn't want to experience it again.
"Cerno. A man in the royal library. He wears round glasses, has a neat appearance, a tall posture, and a slightly arrogant demeanor with sharp words because he considers himself the smartest person in the kingdom," the muscular man answered quickly, unaware of how every pair of eyes turned toward him. Not because he had answered so swiftly without a single pause—but because his tone sounded as if he were serving a king.
"The direction of the kingdom?"
"Over there."
The moment the muscular man pointed in a direction, he had already vanished from sight. The last thing they saw was a series of glitches flickering before their eyes, accompanied by a strange noise that made their hearts feel as if they had just run a marathon.
And without realizing it, they had all been holding their breath.
In just one second, he had already arrived inside the royal library, which was empty due to the late hour. The room was dark, illuminated only by moonlight streaming through the large glass windows on the right.
Just as he was about to step forward, a voice echoed through the room.
"Oh, I didn't expect to have a visitor at this hour."
"Sorry for disturbing your rest. But we have an emergency," he replied, continuing forward…