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Chapter 329. Forbidden Magic and Weaknesses

Demons are beings from another world.

Their bodies are made of magical power and, strictly speaking, cannot be considered ‘living beings’ in our world, hence they cannot be targeted by the teleportation spell.

However, Antendeixis can transform into a physical body using humanization magic.

And once physical, the teleportation spell can apply.

—So, what happens if one transitions back from physical to demon form while in a state of injury?

If the injuries reset, that means I could infinitely impose injuries on the humanized Antendeixis. Perhaps I could fill the void left by Liliana—

“You might not understand now, but the magical energy around here is stagnant,” Antendeixis said while lightly tapping his chest.

“I thought so, but it seems it was a no-go.” As Antendeixis returned to his demon form, he continued.

“Most likely, if you revert from humanization with missing limbs, you’d still be missing those limbs in demon form. As long as a demon has magical energy, missing parts will gradually heal over time, but…”

Antendeixis put his hand on his chest and groaned.

“…Clearly, it feels like the healing is slower than when the body is normally injured. Truly, the fearsome effect is humanization magic.”

Does it even dampen the Great Demon God’s healing capabilities? Scary…

“…Aren’t you in pain?”

“Eh, well, it’s just a bit uncomfortable. But since you’re only anxious due to your illness, I’ll keep these injuries until prey is found.”

“Thank you. That helps.”

With a smirk, Antendeixis smoothly returned inside me.

Even temporarily, finding out I could have him carry my injuries was a huge discovery.

…That means if I keep Antendeixis in a state of near-death, he could serve as a source for ranged attack magic when the time comes…? A breeding ground for injuries…

“No, no, that’s definitely a no!?”

I get it. If he’s in shambles, I can’t count on him taking the injuries.

For attacks, I could slice my own limbs off and push my injuries onto him.

Though, I mean, it might not be so bad as an option…

“What’s horrifying is that you’re hardly sensing the taboo! For me!?”

That might be true.

I believe Antendeixis will catch anything.

“Uh-oh…”

Antendeixis fell silent.

“I’m home!”

Suddenly, a translucent face popped out from the wall.

It was Barbara.

“Ahh, I’m exhausted. Magical power, magical power.”

Being drawn back to the rapier pressed against the wall, Barbara felt somewhat diminished since she had been operating away from her main body, so I showered her with plenty of dark magical power.

“Welcome back. How was it?”

In fact, all this while, Barbara had been scouting in her spiritual form.

What for? No need to say.

For the Night Elf spy—Officia’s movements.

“Pretty impressive. Unless you knew from the start she was a spy, you’d think she was just a Night Elf. She acted normally, shopped on her way home, and returned to her house while having casual chats with familiar faces.”

I see, she’s blending in perfectly.

However, while spreading charm and playing the good citizen, it seems she couldn’t detect the presence of any observer.

Even for demons, sensing a spirit at a safe distance is challenging. For Night Elves, who are more sensitive to magical energy than humans, detecting a ghost silently moving across building rooftops would be extremely difficult.

Especially not in a busy town full of residents. It’s natural to feel stares, and they wouldn’t even consider the possibility of undead monitoring them.

“However, that Officia girl met up with a pair of colleagues in front of her house—a youthful-looking boy with a baby face and a suspicious-looking guy with a fox-like face.”

The physical description clicked.

“Outluke and Paulo Hoentz, huh?”

They matched the appearance of the Night Elf spies I gathered from Ixel.

—In the evening, I had manipulated my appearance using humanization magic and sent a letter addressed to Paulo Hoentz. The content hinted at “Virosa injured, Zilbagias arrival, request for assistance” with the usual coded language, and noted Ixel as the sender.

Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, they’d probably realize it wasn’t penned by Ixel’s handwriting, but that’s okay.

This letter’s aim is to confuse Officia and limit their actions.

Having lived alongside Night Elves in the Demon Lord Castle for years, I’ve seen how they operate up close. Even among themselves, trickery is a daily affair, and they’re fond of schemes and conspiracies. Capitalizing on their long lifespan, they maximize knowledge accumulation, pattern learning for complex scenarios, and continue to make optimal moves with their innate ruthlessness and rational thinking, steadily driving wedges into the alliance.

From a spy’s perspective, they’re tough. A 6-year-old like me would find it challenging to manipulate them—they’re not an opponent to take lightly—but I did notice one glaring weakness.

That is, they have always remained the “initiators” of schemes.

The Night Elf spies, who have manipulated the alliance from the start, ironically lack experience dealing with counter-strategies from the alliance due to their advantageous positions.

Essentially, when a Night Elf spy exposes themselves, the Holy Church or the military quickly dispatches eradication teams. The most effective measure against spies who employ various schemes is to throw battle professionals at them.

In other words, the structure is “if their identity is revealed, heroes come busting in.” If it gets to that point, it’s no longer espionage but outright combat. And in straightforward fights, the hero squad holds the advantage. So, when Night Elves feel their identity might be compromised, they typically conceal evidence and hide swiftly.

Hence, a situation where “they think their identity may have been exposed, yet there’s no immediate hero Chargers coming in, only a single cryptic letter received,” is unheard of, rendering them incapable of immediate response. The Holy Church wouldn’t engage in such an indirect method.

…By the way, the only reason I’m resorting to such a roundabout approach is that direct summons like the one with Ixel were too unwieldy.

For instance, if I summoned just Paulo in Zilbagias’s name and killed him at an inn, how would the other spies act?

Once he receives the letter, he should relay it to Officia or his colleagues. If he vanishes afterward, they’d interpret the letter as a trap and swiftly go into hiding.

Yet calling all the Officia at once seems too blatant…

Thus, I decided to send a vague letter that hinted at the prince of demons Zilbagias’s visitation. This way, I can also reconnect later.

With names like the Prince of Demons and the Sword Saint involved, they wouldn’t dismiss it lightly and would struggle with how to respond. Once Paulo gets that letter, he’ll likely realize he can’t handle this alone and will seek his superior’s judgment.

Should this letter turn out to be a trap, it would pose a threat that the Sugasal base Ixel was at and the southern routes of the Tritus Principality might be controlled by the Holy Church, limiting the escape path for Officia and her buddies.

The most viable escape would be to break through the border with the Arena Kingdom to the north, but that would necessitate substantial preparation, making it unlikely they’d simply drop everything and flee today—

“I see, so those two joined up…”

For today, I just need Barbara to keep an eye on Officia and be glad if I can find out where to meet Paulo.

Who would have thought they’d gather at Officia’s home? The alliance’s been treating them far too lightly.

“So, they must have all the spies around Todomarl gathered. Were you able to figure out what’s going on inside the house?”

“I stayed back a bit to avoid getting caught off guard since I didn’t want my power detected.”

Barbara shrugged.

“I listened in on their conversations, but they seemed to be playing cards, drinking, and indulging in casual chit-chat. Honestly, I was doubting if it was really a gathering of Night Elves.”

…There’s also the possibility that the two who combined were completely different people resembling spies.

I don’t personally know what Outluke and Paulo look like either.

“However…”

At that point, Barbara frowned, puzzled.

“However?”

“There should only be three of them, but I sensed a presence of four in the house. It wasn’t a clearly perceivable thing, just a hunch I had.”

…I see.

“Were you able to catch voices belonging to all four?”

“Nope. That’s why it felt odd. Only those three voices were audible—but it was like there was another presence like a ghost.”

When the translucent ghost claimed that, it felt like a bad joke.

Yet—I trust Barbara’s senses. She’s a Sword Saint who’s weathered numerous trials. If Barbara noticed something so off, then indeed, something was “there.”

“…It seems safe to assume that the spies who joined Officia were the two spies, Outluke and Paulo Hoentz.”

I stood up and slid Adamas, which had been leaning against the wall, onto my belt.

“There’s probably another spy waiting at the house? It’s unnatural that they could carry on with the conversation whilst ignoring that fourth presence; they must have been communicating using lip-reading. Ordinary chit-chat serves as camouflage against the neighboring residents…”

Today’s letter was merely to gauge the situation, and I intended to send another letter tomorrow.

“What do we do now?”

Barbara asked with a cunning smile. She knows what my answer would be.

“Saved us some effort,”

I grinned as well.

“Let’s go hunt them all down.”

—Let’s go hunt down the Night Elves lurking in the capital city.

 

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