Brain bloom

Because, right at the horizon, in the direction of those fishing villages, an extremely thick aura of evil was emanating. This indicated that the ominous mist was moving swiftly and had apparently already devoured the entire village.

She had never seen such a powerful Evil Mist before; this was a huge problem.

"……Um?"

She was feeling secretly frustrated when, inexplicably, she found something flying towards her from the opposite direction.

It looked like a cloud of smoke? And it was dark and indistinct...

A small cloud of ominous mist? Shouldn't it be devouring the fishermen in the fishing village?

Before she could figure this out, something even stranger happened next. The evil that had been lurking in the fishing village arrived at her vicinity with a speed that astonished her.

At this speed, in a few more seconds, we'll make direct contact!

"...No, really?"

Even without using their brains, but instead using their buttocks to figure things out, they would know that these are reinforcements from the Evil Fog.

Clearly, Little Mist discovered her and was overjoyed. He quickly summoned Big Mist, intending to turn her into a powerful puppet together.

"May the one who carried the coffin have mercy... I'm in big trouble..."

She wiped the sweat from her hands and silently drew her sword. Years of combat experience allowed her to make the best decision.

Let's use our strongest attack first; maybe it can kill her outright. Maybe not? But that gives her time to escape and find the true god to solve the problem.

Since recognizing her connection with the true God, she has always served as a protector beside the coffin bearers to express her piety. This is often the case in mythology; the true God possesses immense power, yet also has weak protectors who accompany Him, shielding Him from mundane tasks.

But now—not in a situation where one can afford to be complacent—one must seek the protection of the true God.

She was preparing her attack while praying—

But before he could swing his sword, the small cloud of evil mist suddenly froze in place.

"W-what?"

"It's been a long time since I've unleashed my power. It's a pity that my opponent is so weak. I was hastily awakened by the weak underground. Is this all the power you have? Evil Mist."

A sound came from the other side of the sea, and it felt... kind of familiar.

She was quite knowledgeable and immediately recognized it as a power that went beyond spatial magic—the manipulation of time. Some being that had flown in seemed to have stripped the mist of its time.

The ominous mist is an unpredictable thing, yet its methods are so precise they are appalling.

Helplessly, the ominous fog could only solidify in place, devoid of consciousness and life, and unable to move forward on the same path as the world.

In fact, it is dead.

Then, the owl that had leisurely flown in used its sharp talons to crush the mist into pieces as easily as cracking an egg. The mist fell like glass, but the fragments did not scatter; they simply dissipated into ordinary air.

"It's just a small gadget, it's an honor for you to have me do it."

The ancient demon king washed his claws in the sea again, but then suddenly paused, muttering, "Salt is harmful to me," and hurriedly pulled out his eagle claws.

But it was still quite proud, twisting its head. This was its favorite way to celebrate when it won a fight. However, because it damaged its image, it rarely showed it to others.

The posture was bizarre; due to the structure of the bird's cervical bone, its head was turned 180 degrees, and in the opposite direction.

But it was precisely because of this that it suddenly realized—there was an audience member here.

"..."

"The ancient... the ancient Demon King?"

"Oh, what a coincidence, you're playing here too."

It pretended to be nonchalant, straightened its strangely twisted head back to its original position, and then struck a pose that was imposing enough.

"Guardian of the Blade of Chaos, I didn't expect to meet you again so soon. Are you here to fish?"

"No... I came to hunt down the Evil Mist." She breathed a sigh of relief; the powerful evil aura had come from this demon.

"Unfortunately, you're a little late."

"Yes."

After calming down, B speculated that the ancient demon king must have come here because someone had summoned it. During times of calamity, desperate people summon demons, but to summon this demon leader was truly a strange occurrence.

The Ancient Demon King and Bilibili met on the sea, and although it wasn't their first time meeting, this chance encounter was still quite awkward.

I'm a little unsure what to say.

They both realized this, so they spoke at the same time to break the awkward silence—

"Well... I'm going back to sleep now, goodbye."

"If you don't mind, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."

Volume 1, Chapter 234: It's alright!

The ancient Demon King, intrigued, abandoned any talk of returning to the Demon Realm. This meant yet another deal had presented itself to him.

It's not one to talk big; it absolutely won't open its mouth unless it offers a sufficient price.

However, the trading partner this time is quite interesting—a big shot from the Holy Coffin Kingdom.

"You...are you ready for that?" After saying that, it flapped its wings and moved a little closer. "Your country and we devils have been at odds for a hundred years, so you should know what our rules are."

"Wait... I'm actually making a deal with an evil devil?"

"You're only just realizing it?"

B's expression darkened considerably, because the Holy Coffin Kingdom was a religious and sacred state, and therefore inherently quite antagonistic. Especially the secular forces—the regime led by the secular king—deeply abhorred the devil.

Opposing the devil is precisely the attitude of the Holy Coffin Kingdom.

Therefore, when the Peda Empire's ties with the devil were exposed, people immediately suggested "seeking help from the Holy Coffin Kingdom." They hoped that the Kingdom could use this as an excuse to strike a heavy blow against that greedy empire.

In other words, this chance encounter at sea was no ordinary one.

Although B harbors no hostility towards the Ancient Demon King, Wish, or any of the demons she has encountered in her life, she is still one of the face of the nation. Fortunately, this is on the open sea, and apart from the small fish, shrimp, and shellfish, no one will discover these things.

She tried her best to convince herself—

"This is an emergency... You're also dealing with the Evil Mist, so let's put aside our differences for now. I still have a question for you, and what's the price?"

"Well, that depends on what your question is."

"Alright, first of all... how much damage did this attack by the Calamity Mist cause? How is Silver Ring City?" B asked, concerned for the stability of the nation and the human world.

"Your questions are all related to... the Evil Mist?" the Ancient Demon King asked.

"Correct."

"Regarding the Evil Mist, I will answer all your questions to the best of my knowledge. You can ask as many questions as you want, but the price is that we will not use force against the Peda Empire for a year."

B was quite confused, unable to understand why it had proposed such a price. But she could afford it; she was the face of the nation's military and had sufficient say in this matter.

Moreover, the appearance of those who bring coffins indicates that this is not the time for war between nations.

She conveyed her attitude truthfully and then asked why such a price had been proposed.

To this, the ancient Demon King replied as follows:

"There's a five-hundred-year pact between the Peda Empire and the devil, which is ending this year. I'm just doing a small favor as a last resort, like after-sales service. Besides... I don't want that country to suffer from war again, otherwise they won't have time to be grateful."

"...For your daughter?"

The ancient demon king remained silent, his gentle expression vanishing, and began to answer the questions—

"In my opinion, although this evil mist is weak, it was actually awakened at a very high level and is extremely evil. But I nipped it in the bud before it could grow into a troublesome thing."

"wake……"

"As for the disaster you're concerned about, Silver Ring City is fine, only a few fishermen in the fishing village died. Someone summoned a demon, and the demon summoned me, and then this is what you saw."

"That's good... the problem isn't serious, I can still make it..."

"But according to the knowledge of the Evil Mist, what I destroyed was only a tiny vanguard." The Ancient Demon King warned B in a calm voice, "There are many more Evil Mist lurking at its source, and there are those who awaken the Evil Mist."

"You mean...in Silvermoon City?"

"Is that so? Silvermoon City."

It seemed like it knew about it, but wasn't quite sure; its tone was rather intriguing.

B then asked more cautiously, because she knew very well that the questions were a bit too profound. The more obscure the knowledge, the higher the price, and she didn't want to accidentally lose her soul.

"What awakened the Evil Mist? The Ancient Demon King, could you explain it more clearly? I mean... the Evil Mist is considered a troublesome force capable of destroying the human world, so I must be vigilant and want to learn more about it."

"What a responsible human being you are, but unfortunately, you overestimate yourself. Whether the world is destroyed or not is not something that the Evil Mist can decide, nor can you. The Evil Mist can neither destroy the world nor prevent its collapse."

"What's the meaning?"

"The ominous mist that is troubling you now is merely a counterfeit. The truly terrifying thing has not yet awakened, and it is called 'Primordial Evil'."

B's eyebrows twitched at the word, because it had been mentioned in the manuscripts left by the first pope. He described it as "a weapon wielded by the enemy," but did not specify who the enemy was. And because it was described only briefly, it was something often overlooked in papal texts.

"But this is not a good sign."

"what?"

"The race that summoned the Evil Mist is the one that lives underground, searching for the ancient abode of the true god. And the primordial evil, as well as the counterfeit Evil Mist, are both in their hands. So, if you have friends in Silvermoon City, advise them to move."

Its eyes were cold as it continued speaking about things that B found hard to digest.

"Now that the outflow point has loosened, trouble is about to begin. I really hope we can encounter a time spirit so we can know the exact time. I just hope no one is foolish enough to provoke the underground inhabitants prematurely."

……

The container holding the relics seems to be called Eden Crystal? I don't know much about it, but it's very pure and transparent, and it's soothing to look at.

Breathe on it and it won't leave any trace. Even if you touch it with your hand, it won't leave any flawed fingerprints.

It was certainly qualified to hold the bones of the first pope.

However, Mori opened the box.

A gentle, sacred aura emanated from within, which Sen Shi found fairly comfortable, but Dandelion kept her distance. It was like someone quietly farting in a closed car; she waved her hand to disperse the stench and quickly got out.

"Mori Toki... are you really going to wear this? Won't it hurt?"

"It's alright."

What she took out were the pair of hand bones that had flown in at the same time. Although they felt a bit creepy to wear, the thought of this guy turning her into a god of stupidity and leaving his mark on the world made Mori feel no guilt at all, but rather quite at ease.