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***
Garden of Swords.
"...So, the reason you sent me away in such a hurry was because of that," Luna said with a sigh.
After cutting Anne's body, Jin honestly explained the situation at the time and the current circumstances to Luna. Since the siblings, who they thought were suffering in hell, had become new enemies under the name "Ganesto," there was no need to hide anything from Luna.
"I'm sorry, elder sister. I was worried that they would hurt you."
"No, youngest. I showed a vulnerable side, so it's natural for you to think that way. Indeed, if it had been me instead of you, I might not have been able to defeat Anne so quickly. She pretended to be so pitiful that I would have felt even more tormented. I might even have ended up with a small injury."
"Or maybe Anne kept pretending until the end. Still, in the end, you would have defeated Anne, but I think the remaining siblings would have appeared before you in the same way."
If Anne, Myu, Ran, and Vigo had all acted as if they were remorseful in front of Luna one by one, it would have had a considerable psychological impact on her.
"That could have happened. Visepps gave us valuable information. It's better this way. From now on, I can face my deceased siblings without feeling sorry for them. They were rotten to the core, through and through. At this point, I don't even care that I didn't pay closer attention to them when they were young."
"In reality, it has nothing to do with you. If we were to delve into why they were like that even before becoming Ganestos, it might be because of the cruel traditions in Runcandel. But even without them, they would have eventually become Ganestos."
-And, give my regards to others. If you ever think about joining us, you're always welcome. We were all born on the same ship in the end.
As Anne mentioned, all the current-generation Runcandels were born of Rosa, and Rosa is presumed to be a direct descendant of Ganesto.
Jin suspected that among them, those who inherited Ganesto's blood particularly strongly or had weak wills and dark beliefs were the ones who awakened that blood. It was like a kind of curse.
At least as far as Jin knew, there was no such thing in his past life, but he couldn't be sure. At that time, Jin was banished from his clan, and he didn't know the situation of the major factions like Runcandel as well as he did now.
Although a lot of history had changed due to his return, for some reason, he had a strange conviction that this incident was not closely related to him.
"Damn, the fact that we were all born with the same blood is a bit unsettling, Young Patriarch."
"I wonder if someone among us might suddenly awaken Ganesto's blood."
Daytona and Haytona said with troubled expressions.
"It's not entirely impossible. But if that were possible, there would be no reason for Lokia to work behind the scenes. It would be much more efficient for her to awaken the flagbearers here. Either we can't awaken, or something is preventing our awakening."
"Something is preventing us from awakening Ganesto's blood..."
When Mary responded to Jin, Luet nodded.
[If something is preventing awakening, I think it could be Solderet's authority.]
"Solderet's authority...?"
[Curse immunity. Back in Runcandel, Lokia was perhaps the most exceptional mage in the world at that time. Unlike knights, the abilities of mages are not solely evaluated based on combat power. Lokia at the time displayed such incredible magic that she was called Creator.]
Luet remembered that Lokia was referred to as the 'Creator' shortly after Jin discussed his meeting with Anne.
[She was more proficient in a wider range of magic than even the leaders of Zipfel and Elona, especially when it came to curses. She had no equal in that regard.]
Luet speculated that Ganesto's blood is a type of curse.
[If Blood awakening being a curse, then the Young Patriarch is immune due to Solderet's authority. And it's possible that the other flagbearers became immune due to its influence.]
"Wait, Luet. Curse immunity is an ability that only applies to the kid."
[That's right. But Solderet may have recognized Lokia's betrayal a thousand years ago and prepared for it. Of course, it's just a hypothesis.]
"If that hypothesis is true, then even though we're immune, there is another person who is our concern. Dr. Qwaul. If Solderet has made preparations, would he be included...? Of course, Dr. Qwaul hasn't shown any unusual signs yet, so it's highly unlikely that Lokia can awaken him as she wishes."
[I think so too, Young Patriarch.]
For now, what was worrying was not the conditions for awakening Ganesto's blood. At least all the circumstances indicated that 'it is impossible for Lokia to awaken the flagbearers and Dr. Qwaul as she wishes.'
What was important was that a new enemy, Ganesto, had appeared after the Red Plutonian Tribe and the True Demon World.
Jin activated the communication device. Call was connected to the Tabernacle.
"Manager, are the Visepps still there?"
{Yes, I'll switch you right away.}
{Jin, what happened?}
For a while, Jin informed Visepps of the information he had obtained after meeting Anne. Tilias and Misol seemed quite bewildered as they listened.
{...Hmm, Ganesto? Ragal certainly thought of them as mere prisoners, conscious of Runcandel.}
"Is there a possibility that Ragal struck a deal with those four, and somehow with Lokia Ganesto?"
{Well... first of all, the name Lokia Ganesto isn't well known in the Demon world. She's an individual whose related information was almost wiped out due to history manipulation, even in your human world. Moreover, for that Lokia person to make a deal with Ragal, it would have to be when he was fighting Elona, during his time in the human world, and he didn't have the leisure for such a thing when he was facing Elona in battle.}
Then Tilias added that it would have been impossible for Lokia to come to hell and make a deal in person. Currently, only the Witch could freely travel between hell and Hell.
{More than anything, Ragal doesn't have the intelligence for that. Do you think Ragal alone was looking for the secret of Runcandel and assessed the value of those people and would have thought of making a deal with Lokia Ganesto? Even if he were Ragal before being brainwashed by Zito, it would have been impossible.}
"In that case, there must be a collaborator."
{There's definitely one. But... there doesn't seem to be anyone among the figures in the True Demon World. I don't think Zito directly intervened either. Let's carefully investigate for now.}
After ending the call, Jin looked at those gathered in the meeting room.
"If Ragal's collaborator isn't from the True Demon World, then it might be the former Second Flagbearer whom the Black Sword Association has been tracking since the Evil God War. However, the key is how he managed to access hell... If Lokia and the witch are in a cooperative relationship, they could have easily gained access."
Just as he said that, a call came suddenly from Tikan.
{Lord Jin, I've just received a report from Lady Yona.}
"What was the content?"
{It seems that Ainas Kaligo and Chief of Dreamwalkers, Pirops Bachma, attempted to infiltrate Kelliark's dream together. However, there was something strange about it.}
-Ah, Bubare. I really didn't want to do it, but you know I used my dream ability because of my dad. But it was all in vain. Right now, Kelliark Zipfel is too far away.
-Too far away?
-I mean he is not in the human world. I definitely confirmed that Kelliark's dream exists in the dream realm, but we can't see it at all, even though it should at least appear faintly if he were in the middle world. Anyway, I used an ability I didn't want to use, Dad is such a fool.
-Keke, don't hate Sir Pirops too much. Sir Pirops treats me well.
-I don't hate him, I'm just annoyed. I like swords, but he keeps telling me to practice my dream ability. And Bubare is my best friend, so it's only natural for Dad to treat you well.
The conversation Yona overheard after Ainas failed infiltrating into Kelliark's dream. Yona persistently followed the two of them and obtained useful information this time as well.
According to Ainas, there is only one place where Kelliark can currently be.
"Hell... Kelliark Zipfel is currently in hell."
{Ms. Ameris said the same thing as soon as she heard this news.}
"Was there anything else in the report?"
{No, there wasn't.}
"Understood. After this meeting, I will come to Tikan and provide you with the summarized information, so please wait."
{Yes, Lord.}
The call was terminated.
"Joshua may not be the only one, but Kelliark Zipfel might also be cooperating with Ragal Fun. And perhaps, Joshua and Kelliark have become allies now. It's a situation where they have nothing to lose by relying on each other."
"Hmph! Are these guys who have fallen into hell coming together to make a small play?"
"It's possible, Murakan. Anyway, if those guys have really joined forces, then it's a lost cause to manifest Tess through Sheenu's authority..."
Next, the third communication request came to the Garden of Swords.
This time, it was from Valeria.
{Jin, I've just confirmed all the records about Anne remaining in the Oken Desert.}
Valeria immediately went to the Oken Desert and began her investigation as soon as Jin finished the battle.
{There was no record of when Anne changed like that or what she experienced in Hell. However, some unexpected names appeared in these records.}
As Valeria explained the records, the eyes of those in the meeting room widened.
"Lokia's World...? Could it be that, like Kaytam, she created her own domain in a different dimension or in the subspace."
[...Kelliark Zipfel and Joshua seem to have joined hands, just as the young patriarch mentioned. And judging by the reaction of the Demon King, Siker, who was in the Oken Desert, he probably didn't know that Ragal was up to something with Kelliark and Joshua.]
"Zito might not know about Joshua, Kelliark, and Ragal."
Suddenly, a thought crossed Jin's mind.
Perhaps the biggest enemies in this war might not be Zito and the Demon Kings, but Kelliark and Ganesto.
"Regardless, it doesn't seem like Kelliark and Ganesto will play the role of loyal minions to Zito. They'll probably use True Demon World as much as they can. We need to closely observe what they're up to within True Demon World in the future."
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