Kuro no Maou

Lily walks alone in the heart of Carla Mara, on the crowded surface street.

Long, windy platinum hair and a water-colored apron dress wrap around her. And most notably, the pale, rainbow-colored feathers that sway on its back.

The rare figure of an equal-sized fairy, and above all the beauty of its beautiful girl, turns the people on the road, men and women alike.

You can't possibly fail to notice the sight of its arrival, but still, her charm and elegance were reinforced by the grandeur of her continuing to walk gracefully as if she were not familiar.

Even such a deep-window maid wrapped around an elegant atmosphere that could not be fattened, but its insides were intricately disturbed, not to say very serene.

"This is Carla Mara's original monolith… indeed, you're exposed to so much insecurity"

The first floor entrance of the iconic high-rise architecture (tower) 'Temennigle', which stands in the centre of Carlamara, is sedentarized by the original monolith stained with gray colour, like just an object.

Lily came this far last night, as she herself suggested, first to secure the original monolith of Carla Mara, which was her original purpose.

The biggest goal of this long journey. There was a lot of trouble on the road, but we finally got here.

But there can't be any sense of accomplishment in that mind, either.

Standing here is Lily alone. Chrono is not next door. It's just that, every event loses its meaning.

While feeling helpless and lonely with holes in her chest, Lily blocks those sentiments with rationalism and focuses on what she needs to be now.

"... no particular watch, no boundaries. For the people of this city, it really means that monoliths are just objects"

Lily first explored carefully what was going on around the entrance.

Knowing the value of monoliths, or even if not, if rigorous storage has become a tradition, as has been the case in previous countries, there is no way to expose the original indefensibly so far.

That said, the fact that nothing exists to protect these things is, after all, something like that.

This entrance is not just the entrance to Temennigle. One way or another, it is famous as an entrance to the Great Labyrinth.

Once, when the Great Labyrinth of Carla Mara had just been discovered, there was only one entrance.

A large, circular magic formation, centered on the original monolith that sits, emits the effect of a metastasis that serves as an entrance to the Great Labyrinth.

Many other entrances have been discovered nowadays, so they were less frequently used than they were at their peak, but this Temennigle entrance became more iconic as dedicated to high-ranking adventurers of Rank 4 or higher.

Although there are not so many users in the current entrance, there are high-level adventurers who are all dressed in quality equipment.

I give them a glance at the prominent Lily figure, but they don't have a particular look I cared about.

No one or he seems to be busy with his work (quest) and it is clear that Lily, of course, is not impressed with Monolith at all.

For those here, this gray stone slab is merely a everyday landscape.

At least it seemed that no one with the idea of a crucifixion had ever arrived here for the original.

"Then don't hesitate to have it"

Thus, Lily touched the surface of the original monolith with her little white palm without being stopped by anyone.

Already, Lily is proficient in manipulating monoliths. In the first place, I've never seen one better than myself.

The same goes for the patriarch of "The Arrow of Judgement" and other fortunate amateurs who just happen to have a successful launch.

But Lily, like that patriarch, has no chronic mind that she has acquired the only absolute power she has.

Even if you're not in the Pandora continent, you're in the Ark continent.

Enchanted golem put in at the Galahad War, originally, man-made heavy machine (power loader) 'Taurus'. Lily understands exactly how much technical skill is enough to put the array into action.

The Pandora side is lagging behind by the deadly compared to the technical capabilities of the ancient ruins held by the Crusaders. Perhaps the next time a major war breaks out, Taurus, with further improvements, will appear, and in the worst case scenario, mass production.

Ancient power far surpasses modern magic technology. Even though it is lagging behind, the Pandora continent will be ravaged without the art of becoming if it falls into the other hand as far as the original monolith, which generates a decisive influence on the land.

It has ancient knowledge that is better than anyone else, but therefore more aware of its dangers than anyone else.

That is why Lily decides without a minute's alarm on the work of blackening the original monolith, which is nothing more than a familiar operation.

There are no abnormalities. Having touched the original monolith in all places except Farren, Lily had realized that nothing had changed and things were going well.

This is the first time it's turned gray, but this also seems to be an issue that just needs to shed more magic than usual. As long as the original monolith in this stopped state meets the black magic (ether) required to reboot, it would later complete the operation as usual - it should have.

"What... is this connected somewhere, deep underground...?

With the twinkle, there was already a black-dyed original monolith in front of Lily, who opened her eyes patchy.

Sensory and visual, blackening has been successful.

But at the same time, I notice something decidedly different.

"What do you mean? This is definitely the original monolith... but the hub is underground"

The functionality of the original monolith has been roughly confirmed.

Originally, it should be possible to dominate all of the ancient ruins called Carla Mara, whose function is still alive only with this.

However, it is apparently only the surface of Carlamara, the outer periphery of the city, that this original has an effect.

The management from the centre to the Great Labyrinth, deep underground, had its functions completely isolated.

And the true centre, which oversees all the functions of the ancient ruins Carla Mara, is apparently located in the deepest part of the Great Labyrinth.

This original is only in a state where some of the control powers of the site have been delegated by the deepest central authority.

"If you want to rule this city, you have to go that far."

Then let this great labyrinth of Carlamara be attacked to the depths with the strength of a rank 5 adventurer - the idea is blocked shortly afterwards by another flash.

"No, to the extent of managing urban functions, the original should suffice"

Manipulating the original black-dyed monolith already placed under control, Lily explores information about the centre.

Naturally, since the information authority was above the centre, access was blocked, and the only information obtained was fragmentary, but there was only one thing that could be clearly seen.

"What, this huge ether consumption... what the hell are you using it for?

Several earth pulses running into the Atlas Desert, the giant dragon hole that serves as its rendezvous point, are the location of Carlamara. The ancient ruins are a facility for exploiting this natural magic in the first place... but in Carla Mara, which is in active operation, they use an off-grid ether full of giant dragon holes for something.

This kind of reaction is not in any of the originals I've ever seen.

Unlike the others, only this Carla Mara has some function that is activated with a huge amount of ether.

After all, what the hell is that?

"I don't have a good feeling about that."

- You're right. You're not supposed to touch it.

I can't hear you, the moment I heard that voice, Lily was pulling out 'Meteor Striker'.

It was one child who stood ahead of him, pointing a silently pulled out gun.

"Nice to meet you, I guess I should say. Lily the Fairy Princess, daughter of Illis"

"Dark-haired red-eyed child... yes, you are Mia Ellord, the ancient demon king"

The child stands as he heard from Chrono.

Glossy black hair with shiny bright red eyes. A neutral young appearance that can be taken by both boys and girls.

And most importantly, the crimson magic formations that were depicted on the original black monolith at some point and the situation that now exists on this occasion undoubtedly gave Lily certainty.

"Fine, don't be so sure"

To have pointed a gun in front of the god of Pandora's most famous legendary demon king, not to kneel. None of that, Mia controlled Lily's movements if she didn't mind.

"... why are you here"

"Thanks to you, I can finally come to Carla Mara."

I mean, dyeing the original monolith black allowed me to manifest myself in this place, but that's not such a discerning circumstance Lily asked.

"I'm not going to answer that."

"Don't worry, this is our situation. It doesn't really matter to you guys, it doesn't matter... er, it's me at times like this, you know when the time comes, you know?

"I wonder if that means until Chrono gets back under me."

"Uh, I'm soaking up to Iris in that place."

Mia smiles bitterly all the time.

Is it natural, or did you deliberately slip your mouth? From what I see in him, he's just a defenseless kid.

"Well, here I am. It helps if you forget about me."

Thus, in a black costume, she flips an unusually huge pitch-black cloak that doesn't fit her length, and Mia turns her back on Lily.

Immediately afterwards, in a gushing wind, Lily accidentally closed her eyes -

"... n"

When I opened my eyes, there was no such thing as a little demon king there.

"Hehe, it seems true that you didn't like spiritual magic"

Demon King Mia appeared.

Lily clearly remembered that.

"The Resist is critical and successful... thanks to Her Majesty the Queen"

Somehow, I perceive that Mia, the Demon King, and Iris, the Fairy Queen, are not good friends.

That's why Lily was doing everything in her power to activate mental protection against Mia, who exercised some kind of mental magic in an attempt to erase the memory of her encounter with herself.

Normally, Lily, who is still in the power of God's magic, couldn't possibly be confronted... but Lily felt that the same God, Iris, helped her.

"Anyway, I'm glad you didn't make any extra noise."

Once again, Lily looks back at the black-dyed original monolith.

Then also make sure the surrounding public streets were back to normal.

From the moment Mia appeared, this place had been transformed into a shrine. The others were non-existent, disconnected spaces.

With Mia leaving this place, everything is back to normal.

And Lily called out to the adventurers nearby to make her final confirmation.

"Hey, was that tablet that color?

"Huh? It's been black for a long time, but does it look any different?

The reaction of a healer-like woman with the look of what she's asking for the obvious was telling the whole story.

"Excuse me, it seems like it was my mistake"

To Lily's poor smile, which was so dazzling, the woman cared nothing about being asked weird questions, etc., and as she was, she moved on with her companions to the Great Labyrinth.

"Memory tampering or perception inhibition... Anyway, it's going to be easy and helpful for no one to realize that the original went black"

That evening, three people, Lily, Fiona and Saliel, poked each other in the face surrounding the map of Carlamara.

"In the meantime, I've sent out an easy search request to the Alliance."

"But I can't expect much"

First, Fiona and Saliel report on the results of the day.

Lily and I were acting differently. The two jobs are, of course, Chrono's search activities.

I am more than convinced by Lily's intuition that Chrono has already reached Carla Mara and is lurking without this city. Now it's time for a big storm, and I never get out of the city. Then all you have to do is look.

If you're going to make a people-searching request, the Adventurer Guild first. But Fiona and the others didn't expect much from that activity.

"The adventurers in this city are unlikely to rely on much."

"Carla Mara has a very large gang of forces. The majority of low-ranking adventurers are also members of the gang. Also, high-ranking adventurers are focused on the Great Labyrinth offense"

"I mean, no one takes it seriously, like a boring request to find someone."

Depending on the country and location, the quality of adventurers there also varies greatly in the Adventurer Guild. Speaking of which, the quality of Carla Mara adventurers whose gangs have strong powers is arguably the lowest.

If we are to treat them effectively, we must have a relationship with the gang itself and gain some standing.

"It would be more certain to ask an informer than to look directly for me. Because there's only a city with a lot of people, and there's plenty of them around."

"We have powerful information about the Master's message"

Apparently, we're off to a better start than we thought. But from Fiona's chilled expression, Lily urged Saliel to go ahead and talk to her, guessing that it didn't seem very good news.

"A slave merchant ship belonging to the gang Silverian Familia, Whitewish IV, was attacked and two slaves killed the captain and fled when he returned to the port behind Carlamara"

"Oh, I've already got a bad feeling about something."

"While providing this raider with information, it was twisted to meet an informant who was running raid information across the gang."

"I don't want to hear more about it, but I'll ask you"

Lily with an already laid-back look on her face, but Saliel continued to report pale.

"The Raiders are two Rank 3 Adventurer girls. He said the captain had carried out an assault to rescue the slaves of the child he had purchased."

However, the informant who purchased the information for the raid plan had been with Silverian Familia from the beginning. The informant is circulating detailed raid information to the target, the captain himself.

As a result, intelligence stores receive money from both raiders and targets.

It is a somewhat dangerous imitation of greed, but it would have been fortunate for him to have carried it well. But he realized for the first time during the day today that he was unlucky to have been involved in this matter in the first place.

"You threw up quite honestly."

"Because Sariel is a good torturer."

"No, I have only mastered basic skills. It's out of specialty."

It's easy for those who get hurt and talk to me, Bella Bella. There would also be no need for Lily to make a telepathic confirmation effort to forcefully extract her memory.

"So Chrono, who had been picked up by the ship as a slave, helped the poor girls escape with him."

"The captain took the child hostage and threatened both names of the adventurer girl," he said.

"To do it in front of Chrono, it's the worst out-of-the-way act."

I see him jumping out to help without thinking about it later, driven by proselytism.

"And then, what happened?

"The captain was a member of the gang's board, so he moved for immediate retaliation. That evening, we raided a lurking apartment"

All I took with me was a bunch of low-end constituents with all the numbers. Then, about a few Adventurer Ranks 3 to 4 caution sticks.

With that degree of force before the mad chrono, it can only result in more casualties in mischief.

"The master broke through the gang's siege net with more than a dozen people, including other children who were hidden in the apartment. While killing dozens of people, he escaped into the Great Labyrinth."

"Where do we go from there?

"Unknown. Still, 'Silverian Familia' is looking for the masters"

"There was a bounty on it. It was a million pounds."

"That's another job that doesn't fit well enough."

I'm not sure to what extent I'm losing my memory, but Chrono's flesh also has the top ability as a Rank 5 adventurer. At least, it is unlikely that the Rank 5 monster crusade will be rewarded with just a million clans. Three digits are not enough.

"Though I don't have to worry about Chrono doing something about the gang chase or bounty hunter... I'm pretty sure he's in trouble"

From the sweepstakes of just a million clans, the gang has yet to accurately measure Chrono's strength. If Chrono returns the chase from now on and the damage increases, he will gradually become aware of the dangers.

At that time, it would be nice if the gang pulled its hand if it didn't fit for it... but it would be troublesome if it focused on the face and started to jump and try to kill Chrono. Leaving it to the money and hiring a Rank 5 adventurer who can do both dirty work and undertake will not be impossible for gangs in this city.

"So do you want to go crush it?

"You have to stay until the big storm stops, so you don't have too much flashy rubbing to do."

Lily stabs the nail with a squeaky face at Fiona, who says a short-circuit solution in the face. If I keep quiet, I'm really going to burn the gang's headquarters.

"I'm not gonna make it sweeter than I'm gonna miss it."

"Dear Lily, there's something I can do."

"Carla Mara's gang has three main forces"

Lily refers to a map spread out on the table.

After securing the original monolith, Lily also collects information herself. Already in her head is force information about Carla Mara, including to some extent behind the scenes.

"First of all, this demonic 'Silverian Familia'. It puts the northwest of Carlamara under control. The biggest faction of the three gangs."

It is the oldest gang operating in Carla Mara and still boasts the largest force. Its constituents are predominantly human, especially the current chief, Annamarie Silverian, who is famous as a sub-hater.

"Next, 'Chaos Legion' dominates the South"

The force behind Silverian is this' Chaos Legion '.

The leader is Joseph Rodriguez of the Diabolos tribe, one of the rare demons.

Of course, the same demonic race is also a gang of minority subraces in Carlamara, such as goblins and oaks.

"Finally, the 'Polar Wolf Society' that rules the East"

Emerging forces that have risen within the last few decades. It flattened the eastern region, where small and medium-sized cluttered organizations were shredding their sneezes, instantly as they came, forming a corner known as the three largest gangs.

The leader is Andrei Libertus.

From the emergence of its characteristic black outfit, it can be seen that it came from the great power of western Pandora, the Duchy of Ragna. Rumor has it that he is a former nobleman who expelled the country?

"Dear gangster, we don't have to bother you. It's enough for Silverian to have the right fighter at his height."

"So you think you're going to burn either 'Chaos Legion' or 'Polar Wolf Club'? Does it work that well?

"The original monolith for that matter."

In response to Fiona's simple question, Lily responded with a smile on her young face.

"Though the existence of the mysterious centre cannot now take control from the Xanadu treasury that governs Carlamara... the Great Labyrinth and the outer perimeter of the city outside the centre are already my thing"