Chapter 88
When the word was uttered, Karl's expression turned serious.
Calamities are the level of demons without a fundamental origin that reach a certain stage, after which further differentiation occurs. There are examples of calamities transforming into Demon Lords; that is, when their abilities are sufficient, they are chosen by the Demon God, endowed with great power, and become Demon Lords. Although compared to demons and demon spirits, the number of such Demon Lords is pitifully small, they do exist.
However, if the being endowed with such power is a mindless monster, then it is called the Chaos Calamity.
It was a monster driven only by the instincts of destruction and devouring, and it possessed immense power. From its appearance to its destruction, such a monster endured endless suffering every moment, struggling only out of instinct, unable to think.
If the Demon King were willing to submit to the Church, the Church would be willing to allow them to exist outside the public eye. Therefore, if the Chaos Calamity were to occur, the Church would very likely send saints from the Central Church to confront it.
Because a high-ranking priest would need to form a force of at least six hundred to deal with this level of enemies without suffering casualties, meaning they would need to eliminate them with saturated firepower the moment they are encountered.
If the Knights are included, it would require at least four high-ranking clergy and a thousand-strong knightly order to deal with them. The Church doesn't care about the losses of the Knights, but there's a possibility of losses for the four high-ranking clergy. The Church is very cautious about such matters, so it's better to send a higher-ranking force to overwhelm them with sheer force.
However, those guys wouldn't want to see demons either. Karl didn't think he and Lori would fare well if they met them. Those guys did absolutely no rules, because God's choice of them as saints meant His approval of everything they did. Therefore, whatever they did was considered divinely sanctioned, like a law that anyone could defy the actions of a saint. But it couldn't be denied, because they were beings who exercised power on behalf of God.
Nobody wants to talk to those guys because they might ignore any written procedures and just do things their own way.
"Was that thing the Chaos Calamity?" Karl found the situation troublesome, recalling the monster in the forbidden zone of life. It was indeed a cluster containing a large amount of magical power. To say that it was the Chaos Calamity was indeed a plausible explanation.
“Not yet, but it already possesses enough magical power to be considered a Chaos Calamity. It only lacks the approval of the Demon God to become one.” Apari paused, then continued, “The only high-level combatants we can muster are myself and Chuliel, but the Church forbids us from participating in such battles. We need your help to destroy that thing, and then we will return Lori to you. Until then, the entire palace will be your residence. We will provide supplies and everything you need, including an army. This is your duty, isn’t it?”
Yak did not participate when he heard the conversation; instead, he simply drank his tea.
She had been entrusted with this task some time ago; frankly, she wanted Karl's help. The combat strength of a high-ranking priest is extremely important in every sense.
However, he hadn't found a good opportunity to speak up, while this guy had a great chance to communicate directly with Karl before him.
During this time, they were still looking at him with mocking eyes, as if they were laughing at his incompetence.
......
Late at night, Lori woke up with a start. She sat up and looked at the huge room.
There was no one else here; I was all alone.
It was indeed a very nice room; there was fruit and bread on the table. All of it was good stuff I'd never tasted before. There also seemed to be milk and dried meat.
These are all high-end items, not to mention the room itself. Every corner of the decor and detail is luxurious.
She tried to comfort herself with these thoughts, but she couldn't fall asleep anymore.
Because I was now all alone, I was once again in an unfamiliar environment.
I'm just a fugitive rat, and I really don't know why the demon god chose me to become a demon.
Lori placed her hand on her chest, feeling her heart beating.
It beats steadily, without haste. It signifies that it is still alive, living a mundane life, with nothing particularly noteworthy to boast about.
"Can't sleep?" Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind her. Lori sat up in surprise and turned to look at the guy who pushed the door open.
That was Karl. He looked a little disheveled, covered in dust, and his gloves were badly worn.
If it weren't for the lights still being lit, Lori might not have been able to recognize that it was Carl from that tired voice.
“Karl?” Lori said in a slightly trembling voice, tears welling up in her eyes for some reason.
“Yes, it’s me,” Carl replied briefly, then sat down to the side.
Instead of sitting on the edge of the bed, Karl moved a chair over and sat down beside her. He then slowly removed his gloves and put them in his pocket, looked at Lori sitting there, paused, and said...
“Sleep peacefully, I’ll still be here with you,” Carl said softly. “I’ve been staying here recently too. My room is next door. I need to be here…”
Before he could finish speaking, he was startled by the impact, and the child suddenly pounced on him from the bed, knocking him to the ground.
“Karl, Karl, is that you?” Lori cried as she pressed herself against Karl, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Carl didn't say much, but he felt a few cool tears dripping onto his neck.
The child cried so happily; she laughed and cried at the same time, as if she had suddenly found peace of mind.
Let's wait until she wakes up before we talk about it.
Carl held the child in his arms, then slowly got out of bed and sat on the edge of the bed.
The child fell asleep halfway through her crying, so Carl carefully put her back on the bed. Just as he was about to leave, his wrist was grabbed.
The guy grabbed its wrist, preventing it from leaving.
After hesitating for a long time, Karl patted her head.
Then he sat there and slowly closed his eyes.
In the end, he agreed to help deal with the monster that was just a hair's breadth away from becoming a cataclysmic disaster. It was his duty, and he couldn't find a reason to refuse.
However, this matter is a real headache, even for someone like myself who is a high-ranking priest.
Just as they said, the child was well taken care of.
Carl was initially certain he wanted to take the child away, but when he actually walked in, he suddenly realized he might have been a little selfish.
This is clearly a better outcome for her; there are two demons here. Both of them are quite adept at dealing with the church. For the demons, this place is safer and more comfortable. She will find meaning in her existence here, and everything a child of this age should have.
What can I give this child?
It seems like she has nothing, yet she can protect her and give her a small home. But this place is better than anything she could offer in every way.
Why did I think of this? Perhaps it was because she rushed over and hugged me when she saw me.
Carl finally realized that he and the child shared a damned and inappropriate relationship—not a guardian-subordinate relationship, but something else entirely… He felt inexplicably at peace upon seeing the child. And she, too, displayed the same emotion upon seeing him.
I really don't know if this is real or fake. If it's fake, then the acting is too realistic.
“Karl?” Lori suddenly opened her eyes again, blinking to confirm who was sitting there.
"Aren't you asleep yet?"
“I want to know if this is a dream or real,” Lori said with a laugh, grabbing Carl’s arm. “You mean you live here too?”
"I'm going to deal with that monster outside the city. After that, would you like to come with me, or...?"
"I'll follow you."
"Aren't you going to listen to the next option?"
“No need, it’s worthless.” Lori sat up again, wrapped her arms around Carl’s neck from behind, and pressed her whole body against his back.
“It’s much safer for you here,” Carlton paused, then said, “following me isn’t a good choice.”
“I am a mistake. As someone whose very existence is a mistake, what choices are right?” She whispered in Karl’s ear, “We’ve been living together for years, and I’ve made new mistakes. I want to stay like this forever, to stay with you forever.”
"Is that so?" Karl smiled helplessly. He turned his head, wanting to say something more, but she silenced him with her tender lips.
This continued for about half a minute before Karl, surprised, pressed down on her shoulders and pushed her away, only to be hugged back from the front in the gap.
"Karl, turn me into a bad boy," Lori whispered, resting her face on Karl's neck. Her voice was as soft as fine sand.
......
“This tea is delicious. I’d like to know if it’s exported from here? I’d like to buy some to sell in the next city; it’s sure to sell very well,” Denos asked Aparie, who was sitting opposite him, waving the tea in his hand.
"Heh, if you like, you can take a few boxes with you when you leave. Ark is my friend. Consider it your reward for defeating that thing this time," she said with a smile, while turning her head to see Ark's solemn expression.
“In return, I need you to find Lady,” Yak said. “That space is well hidden; I have no clue about it.”
“Don’t worry, there’s no shortage of alchemy experts here. I’m an alchemy expert myself,” Apali said. “Leave this to me. As long as you can deal with that thing, everything else is negotiable.”
“That’s for the best.” Ark turned to look at Denos sitting next to him. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
After being able to stay at the palace, I had to go back to move my things. I was thinking of going to see Denos and the others while I was there, but I saw this guy as soon as I went out... After briefly finding out what had happened, I was called here.
There's no need to rush moving things; we can do it tomorrow. Let's get some rest before dawn.
As for Deedri, she said that since there was going to be a fight tomorrow, she should go to bed early.
Denos said it didn't matter. As a sorcerer, one must be prepared to fight late into the night. Being able to fight even after three days without sleep is a hallmark of a sorcerer.
Today's events were so interesting that Denos doesn't plan to sleep tonight. He'll stay up all night and get himself a little sleepy.
When he's a little sleepy, he's often able to perform at a higher level than usual. It's inexplicable, and hard to explain, but it's a real thing.
Moreover, being able to chat with a beautiful and capable girl is something that makes you not want to sleep well.
"Speaking of which, why are you sitting in this wheelchair?" Denos hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is this a landmine? If it's something you don't want to talk about, you don't have to answer."
“Oh? This?” Apari turned her head and looked at her wheelchair. “I’ve lost the ability to use my neck and lower body. This is a kind of punishment.”
"punish?"
“If a demon needs to use an ability more powerful than what the demon god has granted, and the demon god is unwilling to grant it, they can use themselves as an exchange. I hadn’t defeated Ark back then, so I used my own consciousness to exchange for an ability that I hadn’t been authorized to use,” Aparino said casually. “However, I was preparing at the cost of my own death, and I was stopped in the end. My remaining consciousness put me in a long-lasting slumber. Ark concentrated all my remaining consciousness into my head and locked my body in place.”
"Lock it?"
“It’s like time standing still. After all, as you can see, I can’t move at all right now. It would be very difficult to eat, drink, or go to the toilet.” Apali paused and said, “My body was trapped at that point in time, and I did it by using some of the abilities I still had at the time.”
She paused and said, "My ability is to generate any metal I want to appear in my domain. The authorization I obtained to kill Ark was a step further on this, which is to arbitrarily modify time and space within my domain."
"That's quite an impressive ability." Denos's expression twitched as he glanced at Ark beside him, then he sighed and took a small sip of tea.
“Even so, I still couldn’t handle this guy.” Apari glanced at Yak and said, “My first impression of you was really good. You’re a remarkable guy, always have been.”
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