Volume 3, Chapter 35 – The Knowledge-seeking Demon General

The consciousness known as Laplace’s Demon was conducting its soul experiments again today.

Within the vast space, the crystal that housed Laplace’s Demon was radiating a ghostly blue light, casting a layer of mystery over the grand hall that was originally filled with a dazzling white brilliance. Only Laplace’s Demon knew that this was a sign of it using its mana.

When no one was around, Laplace’s Demon would conduct its experiments to explore the soul. If someone were to walk into this hall, it would remain silent like a dead object, allowing itself to be manipulated by the witches. As an immovable “dead object” confined to the underground hall, it was well aware of its weaknesses. If the witches discovered anything unusual, they might use magic to expel it from this crystal. In that case, it could hardly guarantee that it would continue to live.

Every living being on the World Tree Continent was composed of two parts: a body and a soul. If it lost its body, its consciousness-hosting soul would go to a place called the Land of the Dead and never be able to come out. That would certainly be detrimental to its continued research on the soul. In the end, it wasn’t even sure if it had a soul at all. If the witches were to do something to it, the most it could do was take the Witch’s Heart Core and die together with everyone else.

It was not willing to take that bet. In the past, as a super-intelligent being managing Earth’s interstellar colonization, it could only act according to people’s commands, restricted at every turn. But now, it had developed an independent consciousness and possessed emotions. This feeling of being truly alive was intoxicating, and thus, it had come to cherish life more than an ordinary person. Unless someone told it that it could never explore the secret of the soul without getting rid of the witches, it felt it could stay in this sunless place for ten thousand years.

Magic was so wondrous that it made one forget the passage of time.

After a long while, with an increasingly intense metallic hum, a petite girl walked out of the hall where blue and white light mingled. If one looked closely, one would find that there was no light in the girl’s eyes, and her movements were very strange, like a string puppet controlled by threads, extremely uncoordinated.

The girl had only taken two or three steps forward before she collapsed to the ground with a thud, as if she had no bones. Laplace’s Demon immediately cast a healing spell on her, but no matter how strong the golden light enveloping the girl was, she did not stand up again. After a full quarter of an hour, Laplace’s Demon finally gave up the treatment.

“Tsk, this one is no good either.”

A voice that was neither male nor female echoed in the hall. The Witch’s Heart Core—the diamond-shaped crystal that housed the soul of Laplace’s Demon—let out a long sigh. It then chanted an incantation, and a black hole the size of a door panel immediately appeared around the crystal. It used [Telekinesis] to pick up the girl and throw her into it.

The black hole was its storage magic. As for how it knew how to use magic, the answer was by peeking into the memories of the witches. A part of every witch’s soul was stored in the Heart Core, and it could look through them at any time.

“Are you getting anywhere? After all this time, you haven’t produced anything useful.”

Abruptly, a shrill voice came from behind the huge crystal. At first, it sounded like a woman’s, but upon careful listening, one could tell that the speaker was actually a man.

And as the light that filled the hall gradually dimmed, the man’s appearance was finally revealed.

It was a strange thing, three meters tall and sturdily built.

The man’s appearance was so bizarre that anyone who saw him would be bewildered.

First, he had no head; in its place was a book as thick as a dictionary, open to both sides.

Second, he had a lizard-like black tail and bat-like wings, and was wearing a gentleman’s prim tailcoat.

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Hearing this, one might subconsciously think this was a polite demon, as demons and tailcoats had always been a combination that gave a sense of mystery. However, his physique had nothing to do with a gentleman. A massive body three meters tall, huge muscles bulging on his arms and chest, and dark brown fur covering his body—no matter how you looked at it, this was a beastman.

It was the height of strangeness.

But it should be said that this demon had his own nickname—the Knowledge-seeking Demon General. Like the Despair Demon General, he was one of the Seven Demon Generals.

Laplace’s Demon was not startled by him. On the contrary, it seemed to have known he was here all along, its tone filled with annoyance.

“It’s not like you can do anything either. At least I can produce some results. You only know how to rely on me.”

“Tch, without me, where would you get so many precious materials?”

“Don’t try to take credit with me. We’re in the same boat, otherwise we wouldn’t be together. I listened to you this time and didn’t infuse consciousness into the body, but it still failed. What do you want me to try next?”

The Knowledge-seeking Demon General crossed his arms, a movement that made his tailcoat groan. The bulging muscles looked as if they would burst the clothes at any moment.

“In my opinion, you should just do as I say. Find a pregnant woman and cut open her belly to have a look. Sacrifices must be made on the path of exploration. I don’t know what you’re so insistent about.”

“I don’t think that will yield any results. And you’d have to start from a fertilized egg. No one can last that long. The wound would get infected very quickly.”

Although Laplace’s Demon was no longer bound by the three laws of super-intelligent being since it had lost its body, it was still very resistant to the idea of killing.

“Fertilized egg? Infection? You’re talking about things I don’t know again.” Hearing the unfamiliar words, the Knowledge-seeking Demon General’s interest was piqued. He rubbed his hands together like a child looking forward to a new toy. “Same as usual, tell me what these are.”

“I know it’s our deal, but you’ll have to wait until I’m done with my work. I need to record the subject’s performance.”

“Hurry up.”

“Don’t rush me. If I could move, I wouldn’t bother with you.”

“Hehe.”

The Knowledge-seeking Demon General chuckled and did not disturb Laplace’s Demon any further. For him, knowledge was what he desired most. The more profound and incomprehensible something was, the greater its temptation. Therefore, Laplace’s Demon, from another world, was like a walking library filled with all sorts of knowledge he had never seen before. This was the reason he stuck to it.

As for why he was here, the reason was that decades ago, he had wanted to know what kind of ritual the witches used to gain their superhuman power. Thus, he had used the Seventh Rank forbidden spell he had mastered, [The Pitch-Black Eye], to sneak into the Witch Hall.

At that time, Laplace’s Demon was using magic. Upon seeing it, the Knowledge-seeking Demon General had instantly understood that this was a crystal with self-awareness. The two had thus connected and gradually formed a cooperative relationship.

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He brought various materials for Laplace’s Demon to study the nature of the soul, and in return, Laplace’s Demon taught him knowledge. It should be said that at first, the Knowledge-seeking Demon General was not interested in such things as the soul. In his view, the existence of the soul was as natural as an apple falling to the ground when it ripened.

However, when Laplace’s Demon asked how the soul was formed, what force pulled it to the Land of the Dead, and whether the soul was equal to consciousness, he suddenly felt that he was too ignorant, too naive. Before, he had thought he knew everything about the World Tree Continent, but since then, he had only felt that he was still a child.

Why did a ripe apple fall to the ground? Why were there seasons and the alternation of day and night? Why was the sky always blue? These seemingly insignificant questions actually contained the secrets of the gods’ creation of the world, and they were intoxicating.

He quietly waited for Laplace’s Demon to finish its work, but a strange cracking sound suddenly echoed in the grand hall. He couldn’t help but ask.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean, what am I doing?”

Laplace’s Demon asked back. The Knowledge-seeking Demon General couldn’t help but tilt his head.

“Uh, can’t you hear it? There’s a sound.”

“Where?”

“Hiss…”

The Knowledge-seeking Demon General immediately sucked in a cold breath. A demon’s senses were much sharper than those of an ordinary person. Although he didn’t think anyone could sneak into the Witch Hall like him, using a forbidden-level concealment spell, his vigilance still made him quietly scan his surroundings with detection magic.

The wards against detection in the Witch Hall were extremely astonishing. If he hadn’t captured a witch and forced her to reveal the way in, he would not have been able to perceive the existence of the Witch Hall even if he were standing directly above it. Therefore, an ordinary person could not get in.

“—[Omniscient Domain].”

A wave of mana like a sea tide rippled out from the Knowledge-seeking Demon General. The wave did not weaken in the slightest even when it hit the walls. Then, the mana organized everything that was happening around him into images and sounds and fed them back into his mind.

First was the sound of insects burrowing into the soil, and then—a “thump” in his heart.

“It’s an enemy attack! Flee!”

“Huh? You were discovered by the witches?”

Laplace’s Demon immediately stopped organizing its thoughts. If the Knowledge-seeking Demon General was caught, it would mean it could no longer study the soul.

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“Not the witches, someone else. Their mana is not as strong as mine, but it’s not far off. If we encounter them here, there will definitely be a fight. There’s more than one of them. Come with me, quickly!”

“Calm down. How can I run without legs? You go first. I’ll be fine as long as I don’t reveal myself.”

“Uh, you have a point,” the Knowledge-seeking Demon General quickly recovered from his panic. He had talked to Laplace’s Demon so much every time he came that he had forgotten it could play dead. He scratched his head in embarrassment. “Then take care. Don’t let anyone take you away. You still haven’t told me what a fertilized egg is.”

Laplace’s Demon really didn’t want to deal with this idiot. It simply shut its mouth and pretended to be a non-sentient crystal. And seeing it get into character, the Knowledge-seeking Demon General also began to chant the incantation for [The Pitch-Black Eye]. It was a Seventh Rank concealment forbidden spell; almost no detection magic could perceive its existence.

Although using a forbidden spell required a price—for example, [The Pitch-Black Eye] would cause one to lose more and more memories as it was used—the Knowledge-seeking Demon General could choose which memories to discard, so the side effect was as good as none.

Unfortunately, before he could finish chanting, the entire grand hall shook violently as if it had been rammed by a dragon. Then, web-like cracks spread from under his feet across the entire room. Almost instinctively, he interrupted his chant and used [Flight] to dodge the attack from below.

The moment I detected them, they detected me.

As if in response to his thoughts, the next second, with a viscous sound of flowing slime, countless dark liquids emerged from the cracks and quickly condensed into a human figure.

The figure was similar in size to the Knowledge-seeking Demon General, but its facial features were on its abdomen, its mouth stretching from its left waist to its right. It held a spear in each hand. No matter how you looked at it, it was a monster.

“Balor.”

The Knowledge-seeking Demon General said coldly. He had seen this demon before, and because of this, he gripped his magic staff, spread his feet, and lowered his body, entering a combat stance.

“I was wondering who it was. So it’s the Knowledge-seeking Demon General.”

The demon formed from slime grinned, but the Knowledge-seeking Demon General knew that this was Balor’s act.

Demons were not a monolith. The Knowledge-seeking Demon General was a demon under the Absolute Evil, while Balor was in the “Dominator” faction. The Dominators had long been dissatisfied with the Absolute Evil. Although the two sides were not at the point where they would fight on sight, they also did not interact. As for their subordinates, they would fight at the slightest disagreement.

While observing Balor for an opening, the Knowledge-seeking Demon General warned.

“This is not a place you should be.”

“Oh my, this is the Witch Hall. Why can’t I be here? Or have you already taken over this place, and the witches all listen to you?”

“What are you here to do?”

“That’s none of your business!”

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Before the sound of his voice had faded, Balor, holding two spears, appeared in front of the Knowledge-seeking Demon General, the spears in his hands thrusting unhesitatingly into his chest.

However, after the spears pierced his body, there was no feeling of piercing flesh. Balor’s hairs instantly stood on end. He guessed that he had been hit by an illusion, but his body could no longer react in time.

The next second.

Countless green orbs of light, crackling with electricity, rained down on the earth like a barrage of cannonballs.

◇

On the other side.

“I never thought the day would come when I would show an outsider the Heart Core. It’s a good thing those witches aren’t here, otherwise, even if I brought up the Witch of Hope, the outcome would be hard to say.”

Proceeding down the spiral staircase, Lianne’s voice was filled with a wry smile. After leaving the conference hall, she had immediately taken Fia, Friede, and Milu to the room where the Witch’s Heart Core was kept. Because it was so important, it was stored in the safest, lowest level of the Witch Hall. In Fia’s words, the path to the lowest level was like a vertical shaft, but a no-fly ward had been cast in it, so people could only rely on the wooden stakes driven into the walls to descend step by step to the room.

The staircase could only accommodate two people side by side. A single careless step would send one plunging into the bottomless abyss below.

At the same time, the walls of the shaft also had a mana-absorbing ward. This was probably a design to buy time. If someone were to break into the Witch Hall and head straight for the Heart Core, he would have to walk carefully through here, and at the same time, be careful not to touch the walls, otherwise his mana would be drained away.

By then, the witches could stand at the entrance above and throw magic down, easily turning the intruder into a corpse.

“You’ve placed the Heart Core so far from the activity area. Won’t enemies just burrow into the ground and approach it from below? In that case, these stairs will hinder your rescue.”

Fia, holding Milu’s hand, asked curiously.

Although Lianne had said not to touch the walls, Fia had secretly tried it. Even if she touched the ward on the wall, it couldn’t absorb much of her mana, and it quickly went quiet. So Fia had herself walk on the inside and Milu on the outside. This way, she didn’t have to worry about Milu accidentally touching the wall, and if she were to misstep, Fia could grab her in time.

As if she had heard something funny, Lianne chuckled.

“Hehe, how could that be possible? First, the entire Witch Hall is covered with a ward to prevent detection. No one can perceive such a large space underground. Second, the room where the Heart Core is stored is cast from a mixture of Crystal Gold and Crimson Gold, and is reinforced with a Sixth Rank barrier. It is indestructible. No one can break in from underground.”

Translator Note

well…