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“Shh, shh. Just bear with it for a moment.”

Chiyou shuddered at the sudden cold she felt on her face.

‘It’s in situations like this that you can really tell he’s not human.’

While the cold hands of the man with Bluebeard were fiddling with Chiyou’s face, Toon had already finished all his tasks.

[Everything is completed.]

“Uh, uh, then wait a moment. Here, like this… There. Is it right?”

“Ah…!”

Suddenly, Chiyou found herself making eye contact with the man with Bluebeard. She knew of his overwhelming attack power but was surprised to find he also possessed such healing skills.

Chiyou, impressed anew by Bluebeard, formally greeted him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Count. My name is Chiyou.”

“I am called Le. Have you heard the name before?”

“Of course. There’s no one who doesn’t know of your presence, Count Le, Bluebeard.”

“Heh, I’m a bit embarrassed, actually.”

The Bluebeard made a modest joke as he shook hands with Chiyou.

Only after that did Chiyou notice the powerful entity that had captivated Toon’s gaze, as well as the space they were in.

“What is that…?”

The glowing red crystal was pulsating like it was bleeding. The thing inside it could hardly be called a living creature.

It resembled a completely wrecked slime, streched and pulled into an unidentifiable mess.

Looking at the grotesque creature inside the crystal, Chiyou realized where she was and what that thing was.

“If you’ve fed enough to open your eyes, shouldn’t you at least pretend to awaken?”

The Bluebeard walked up to the red crystal and tapped the wall with his staff.

Clang, clang, clang!

After the brisk sound, a part of the slime inside the crystal moved.

‘It’ was opening its eyes.

As the trembling body of the slime split open, revealing a flickering eyeball, Bluebeard opened his arms, welcoming his friend and another part of himself.

“Welcome back.”

The words of Bluebeard alone were not enough to fill in all of Chiyou’s guesses. However, there was another figure present besides Chiyou.

Toon bowed his head towards the crystal.

[Count’s second vassal, Toon, greets Lord Gibrid.]

One of the pieces of the Demon King, Gibrid, had opened his eyes.

‘This is Gibrid… Another piece of the three Demon Kings looks like this.’

Chiyou saw the mangled Gibrid.

Even she was momentarily taken aback by its gruesome appearance. In that short moment, Gibrid’s eyeball rolled towards her.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Lord Gibrid. My name is Chiyou.”

As their eyes met, Chiyou hastily bowed, showing her respect.

Despite having clearly seen Toon’s greeting, she had almost forgotten to do the same. She blamed herself, but neither Gibrid nor Bluebeard said anything.

“Can you stand?”

The Bluebeard asked, but Gibrid did not respond.

Chiyou cautiously lifted her head to look at Gibrid. Without a mouth to be found anywhere, Gibrid’s eyeballs moved left and right.”Tsk, to think after consuming the souls of thirty-eight thousand four hundred and seventy-seven, we only managed to awaken one eye. If I had known it would come to this, I should have started with Pyrot-Cocri.”

“!”

Bubbles boiled up within the crimson crystal.

Gibrid, observing the ‘angry expression’, watched as Bluebeard chuckled.

“Chuckles, such temperament! But then again, it’s our dear Toon’s folly that you can’t open but one eye.”

[My apologies. I will immediately gather the Wave Monsters-]

“Enough! Shut up for now! You still don’t know how to use that big head of yours. To think you’re still fixated on the waves!”

When Lega bellowed, Toon bowed his head as if ashamed. It was around this time that Chiyou decided to speak up.

“There may be no jars, but the efficacy of the Wave itself hasn’t decreased.”

“Ho…”

Bluebeard looked at her with an intrigued expression.

“Do you know why I’ve forbidden the Waves?”

Chiyou, always quick to seize an opportunity to make a case for herself, knew this.

Even without jars, the Wave could proceed.

Moreover, she found out that Toon could hold nearly 30,000 souls within himself.

So, she thought.

If the purpose of needing souls was to awaken Gibrid?

Then, by continuously progressing the Wave, accumulating souls within Toon and consistently supplying them to Gibrid should not pose a major issue.

Thus, she compared the past with the present.

And she realized one thing.

“Perhaps…

The reason Bluebeard talks this way must be due to a changed element.

Of course, there was only one such element. “I suspect it’s because Lord Gibrid has awakened. When the Earl opened his eyes, despite informing the Papal State, it took them quite some time to confirm that fact.”

“Indeed. Why is that?”

“They had believed that the Count, Lord Gibrid, and Pyrot-Cocri wouldn’t remain on the continent. However, that’s not the case now. They know that Lord Gibrid and Pyrot-Cocri are here, in the New Continent Erika. Therefore…”

“The pesky proxy will soon find out too. There’s also the matter of the fly.”

Bluebeard continued from there. Chiyou knew her guess was on point.

‘The pesky proxy must be the Pope. And the fly—Alexander’s dragon.’

Her knack for situation analysis and insights, having led the Shinobigumi in information warfare, was indeed exceptional.

“Hmmm… So, what should we do?”

Bluebeard wore a satisfied look.

A question that wasn’t really a question, merely a test to hear her thoughts despite knowing the answer.

“To the best of my knowledge, the first step is to wait until Lord Gibrid fully recovers his strength. However, since Lord Gibrid’s recovery requires additional souls, the method my subordinates and I have been using to collect souls until now will take a considerable amount of time for his recovery. Therefore-“

“Therefore.”

“-We may need to personally intervene, perhaps the Count or Toon. To consume all the souls necessary for awakening Lord Gibrid in one fell swoop.”

“Correct. There’s no need to waste time with half-hearted Waves anymore. Toon!”

[Yes, my lord.]

“How much time do we need to gather four times the number of souls than this Wave?”

[If we gather from all the sources of demons, it would take about two months.]

Bluebeard nodded. It was a command that even Chiyou found startling.

This third Wave was already significantly larger than the first and second, yet now they were planning for four times that amount!

“Are you listening, Gibrid?”

“It seems we need two months for you to rise. In that time, we must find where Pyrot-Cocri is hiding.”

As Chiyou nodded to Bluebeard’s words, she wondered if different fragments of the Demon King had intentionally hidden such things from each other. ‘Well, it’s possible they didn’t have the luxury to worry about that while retreating from the Second Human-Demon War. Anyway, it’s clear now that Bluebeard came here with the sole purpose of finding Gibrid’s hiding place. Or, considering our earlier conversation, would he have awakened Pyrot-Cockery first if he had found it?’

By the time Chiyou finished her thoughts, Bluebeard, who had been conversing with Gibrid and Toon, turned to look at her. It was a moment Chiyou had dreamed of ever since she left the old continent to decide on the location of the fortress.

“And Chiyou,” he said, “how about you give working together a try?”

At Bluebeard’s suggestion, Chiyou bit her lower lip firmly. The moment she had sensed would become reality since she was brought here had finally arrived.

Chiyou’s hunch proved right.

A crucial message had arrived from the Vatican to Leeha, who was still struggling to come to terms with the situation even now.

“Must be really urgent, huh?”

“Yes, indeed. I was wondering why they suddenly contacted us…”

The assembly of players at the Vatican astonished Leeha, as it practically brought together a significant portion of the expedition members from the previous voyage to the new continent. ‘After all, most of them did participate in the third wave, so maybe this is expected. Biyemi and Petyr must have left earlier, so they won’t be here.’

Under normal circumstances, these players wouldn’t have met due to mismatched login times, but this occasion was different.

Aside from those already allied with Chiyou’s side, nearly all present were familiar faces to Leeha. Leeha tried to greet the players assembled in the Pope’s audience chamber, but Fernand, standing next to the Pope, shook his head.

“Leeha-nim, I apologize for not being able to greet you after such a long time, but we have more pressing matters at hand-“

“Ah, yes. Of course. Sorry for being late.”

As Leeha joined the ranks with an awkward smile, the atmosphere slightly lightened. Leeha thought his actions might have caused ridicule among the players, but that wasn’t the case. They felt a bit relieved seeing Leeha amidst the tense and fearful mood sparked by the grim story the Pope was about to unfold.

“Are you too at ease, Luger?”

“Me? Why would I rely on nonsense from that guy?”

Kidd and Luger whispered quietly amongst themselves in the ranks.

Leeha waved a small greeting at them, but all he got in return was them turning their noses up at him.

“Though I’ve briefly mentioned it, now that everyone is assembled, I will speak again. 40 minutes ago, I received a report from a bishop in Juma City on the new continent.”

The previously briefed players’ faces darkened again. Especially when the Pope caught Leeha’s last gaze.

“Are you ready to hear this?” seemed to be the question in his eyes. Just as Leeha started to feel anxious, the Pope continued, “One of the Demon King’s Fragments… a strong presence of Gibrid was detected.”

“Dem- Demon King’s Fragment? Bluebeard, and, those guys?”

“The world… to think, Demon King’s Fragment!”

“If we couldn’t even handle Toon, how are we supposed to deal with this?”

“It’s not even about Toon; surviving this wave was tough enough. People died-“

The players who were yet to receive the full news bristled at the revelation.

The power of Gibrid was immeasurable but, after all, if it’s a fragment of the Demon King, one fact was certain. ‘At least equal to Bluebeard!’

The faces of the informed players couldn’t possibly brighten. The situation was hopeless if both Gibrid and Bluebeard joined forces, as handling even Toon was proving too much.

“I felt it too. Fortunately, the intense aura was only felt the first time. The creature does not entirely conceal its presence.”

The Golden Knight, leaning against a pillar, took up the Pope’s words.

To imply that even Bailephus, transformed into a human form, sensed Gibrid’s mana. However, their opinions on Gibrid’s ‘state’ slightly differed from the Pope’s.

“That’s correct, Dragon-nim. Our bishop also mentioned still sensing Gibrid’s presence. Yet, it’s not confirmed if it has awakened.”