The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing.

Chapter 596 Misdirection
Although they have joined the battle and are on the chessboard, they still need external force to move the pieces.

However, this is conditional and has a goal. After all, when humans stand in front of a strong person, they may not even be worthy of being taken seriously and could be killed casually by the other party.

Therefore, the first target chosen was the orc race.

Compared to other races with huge differences, the orc race is not much different from the human race... of course, if you don't consider the difference between 1000 and 100.

Soon, the intelligence was sent out, and the orcs began to stir. Once everything was over, they would take over and begin the next round of indoctrination.

"...How is it? Schwie, is there any reaction?"

"No... problem..."

Upon hearing Rick's question, Shubi pretended to use the spirit array to check for life force, but the answer was no one. Still uneasy, he looked at Zun Zun on the other side, only to receive the same response: no magical reaction.

nobody.

Having confirmed this, the ghosts infiltrated the goblin colony's facilities together.

However, no one expected those orcs to go to such extremes—the steel structures that were originally goblin facilities were now covered in huge claw marks, making them unrecognizable. There were even claw marks on the ground as deep as a human's height, a sight that would make anyone shudder.

The initial arrangement was to command the orc race.

It's not difficult at all.

I simply used the strategic map I found on the goblin warship to infiltrate the crashed goblin warship that had destroyed the settlement, and exchanged a tiny bit of information via communication.

Next, all that is needed is to convey the facts to the orcs, telling them that their dwelling is the designated location for the detonation experiment.

"But...I don't understand...Since Venerable and Shubi are here...why make the beastmen do it...Since it's confirmed that there's a [Marrow Explosion], why not...come and retrieve it themselves...?"

Hugh looked puzzled.

The power of the Marrow Explosion comes from detonating inactive divine marrow, making it stronger than the Void Zero Blessing, but its pure power is not as great as Altshu's (God of the Winged Race) Divine Strike.

The power of the marrow explosion hidden here is enough to destroy the entire continent, completely annihilate the surrounding elves, and even kill gods if there are no obstacles.

If one could wield such a powerful weapon, one might gain the right to negotiate with other races.

"But, no."

"why?"

Hugh looked at Zun Zun with a puzzled expression, while he himself picked up a stone from the ground and gestured for her to look over.

"Shubi, look closely at this stone."

Then toss it high into the air and catch it with your other hand.

"……Um?"

She was even more confused.

Zun Zun said, "Look. Just now, Hugh, your gaze was following the stone the whole time, and you didn't see me, right?"

"——!?"

Hugh seemed to understand something.

“Misdirection… In other words, it’s just visual manipulation.”

"Gaze guidance?"

“We are ghosts, and the last thing we can do is attract attention. Possessing this weapon is ultimately troublesome, and the purpose of telling the orcs this information, besides diverting the trouble, is to lure the goblins' attention. They will definitely not sit idly by. And next, we need to use the goblins' reaction to attract other people's attention... Is that right, Rick?”

"--is that so?"

Rick looked bewildered when he heard Zun Zun's question.

"I'm telling you! This was your plan, wasn't it? What if the person involved didn't even know about it?!"

"No, that's not it. I knew it would turn out like this, but I've never heard of anything like gaze manipulation... This must be knowledge from another world. That's amazing!"

Uh……

Rick is just a human.

Although he was very intelligent and could devise various plans, he did not know the name of this method—for example, when a certain medicine king cooked, he simply followed his father's method without even knowing what French pan-frying was.

But it is precisely because of this that he is able to create endless possibilities!
“Zun Zun is mostly right. Shubi, what we need to do is constantly divert the attention of other races and hide our shadows to achieve our goal. So, once we are discovered, we are doomed.”

Giving information about the goblins to the orcs was risky enough, but with their strongest weapon stolen, they probably didn't have the time or inclination to care who gave the information to the orcs.

And take advantage of this time—

"Your Excellency, I'm leaving the Forest Elf race to you."

"...You really believe me. To be honest, I'm quite afraid of that crazy forest spirit lady."

Zun Zun also began to take action.

The capital of the elves.

A mansion in the suburbs.

Although countless forest elf soldiers patrolled the streets, Zun Zun arrived at Nina Kleb's... no, it should be Sinke Barbalian's house, just like he was returning home.

He made no attempt to conceal his appearance, and even leisurely brewed himself a cup of tea, quietly waiting for the owner of the mansion to return.

It didn't take long.

"Who is it!?"

The forest elf outside the door instantly became alert, completing the eight-fold spell in a very short time. Upon entering and seeing it was Zun Zun, her first words were—

"He's finally here, Mr. Spy!"

He said this through gritted teeth.

A dangerous smile played on her lips, yet she spoke in a gentle tone:
"So you've finally decided to show yourself, Mr. Spy... No, more than that, what exactly are you using to spy on me? I've changed rooms several times already, but there are still signs of me being spied on, even using shielding magic can't stop it!... How did you manage to do that? I'm really concerned. Also, could you please stop doing this, Mr. Spy!"

The fact that she didn't lose her temper on the spot shows how well-mannered she is.

That's true. After all, she's a Flower Crown Lord of the Forest Spirits, the first person to have magic planted by the gods, an eight-fold sorcerer—how could she not realize she was being spied on?
But no matter what she did—changing rooms, setting up magical barriers—she couldn't prevent being spied on. Eventually, she gave up.

But that doesn't mean she gave up on revenge.

The moment Zun Zun withdrew the power applied to the telescope, Sinker Barbarian sensed the source of the magic and quickly began plotting the conflict in secret.

"Didn't you destroy my home too?"

"Oh dear, it wasn't me, it was the goblin and dragon spirits who did it. Besides, I never expected you to live in a place like that."

It was clearly a conflict between goblins and dragons, but as a forest elf, she knew very well that it was a conflict between goblins and dragons. She even knew where Zun Zun lived. Her vengeful words seemed to be telling him – I did it!

That's why I said you're not good enough.

Did you say something?

"……Nothing at all."

If she continued to provoke her, the forest spirit in front of her would go berserk, so Zun Zun simply raised her hands to show that she had done a good job.

Sink Barbara swayed as he walked over to the table and sat down.

"May I ask who you are, Mr. Ghost?"

She asked this with great interest.

Zun Zun never expected that he would be called by such a coincidental code name as 'Ghost'.

Seemingly sensing his curiosity, Ms. Mori Sei-tane smiled and said:

"You claim to be a Crimson Demon, but I haven't found any information about you in the records of the Winged Race, Goblin Race, Fantasy Race, Demon Race, and so on. You might be a newly created race by a god to participate in this great war. However, considering your abilities, and the fact that the incompetent chief god also said that you are very likely a recently activated divine race... So, which one are you?"

The incompetent chief god is probably referring to Kainas, the forest spirit goddess, who remains as rude to her own chief god as ever.

"They're from another world."

"……what?"

She clearly hadn't expected Zun Zun to give such an answer. No, perhaps she didn't even know the concept of someone from another world?

That's why I said your perspective is limited.

"what?"

"You don't think this planet is all there is, do you...? Well, it is for you. You need to broaden your horizons and stop being so narrow-minded."

"...Hehe, thank you for your advice."

Although Sink Barbalen said this with a smile, her tone was very unfriendly—the thing geniuses hate most is being told they are too stupid.

"So, sir from another world, what is your purpose?"

"Of course, I intend to end this great war. By the way, consider this compensation for my spying on you all this time. Let me give you some information for free—the goblin race has created a weapon powerful enough to destroy an entire continent, and its power is even greater than the Zeroth Blessing of the Void."

"W-What did you say...!?"

Sink Barbarian's expression finally changed.

She confirmed three pieces of information through this sentence.

1. The Void Zero Protection has been leaked. Whether the goblin race knows it or not, at least the people in front of us know it.

2. The reason why the goblins are so fearless is that they have created weapons with even greater power.

3. The other party knows more information about the goblin species!
This idiot told me all this so easily. Watch me get all this information out of him without any rhetoric!
"This idiot, he told me all this so easily. Watch me get all this information out of him without any rhetoric! —That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"

"Um???"

"Sure. My purpose in coming here is to provide and acquire intelligence. In that case, let's start a game."

Zun Zun wore a sinister smile that seemed to see through everything, while Miss Mori knew she couldn't escape at this moment and could only be manipulated by him.

—After the game—

"Detonating the inactive divine essence of the gods... those goblins are truly insane."

"In that case, your Void Zero Blessing is just as good."

These two guys are completely evenly matched.

"So……"

"You deliberately gave me the information, didn't you?"

Just as Zun Zun was about to get up and leave, Sinke Barbalian suddenly said this, and he did not deny it.

"That's right. As for whether you believe it or not, or whether you'll take advantage of it, that's none of my business."

He said this with a smile.

Once the threads are lowered, even if the puppet knows it is being manipulated, it has no choice but to act according to the other party's wishes—Sink Barbalen knew this very well.

Seeing that Zun Zun was about to leave, the forest spirit genius, feeling that he couldn't lose like this, spoke up again.

“You seem to know everything, but there are things I’m hiding from you, like my name isn’t Nina Kleb, but rather—”

"Sink Barbalian".

After being interrupted, her charming smile instantly turned terrifying.

"It's good to put a puppet on the stage, but unfortunately, the other party's abilities are not comparable to yours. The huge discrepancy between the beginning and end of the graduation thesis is also a minor but significant oversight. Next time, you should carefully consider the choice of candidate. Miss Sink Barbarian."

After saying that, Zun Zun disappeared from the room.

Sink Barbalen, whose underwear had been seen through, wore a horrified expression, and after a long while, a low, suppressed laugh could be heard from inside the room.

"Hehehe... You actually fooled me to this extent, I'll definitely make you regret it...!"

(End of this chapter)