The monsters inside the headquarters fell silent with their eyes glued to the blue screen in front of them. No one would have expected that the result would turn out like this.
Lordo managed to complete his task, he succeeded without sacrificing a single sylph. The suicide mission which was considered to have very little chance of success was accomplished with great success.
Not only that Lordo also managed to find important information that monsters had never imagined before. The presence of a new mana species and the possibility of an outbreak of the second mana species war.
All the monsters, even Moku, never imagined that Lordo would not choose to sneak in secretly but would come straight to the entrance of the enemy camp. The humans and mages didn't kill him outright but instead captured him and brought Lordo to the front of Gaht for interrogation.
Luckily, the interrogation was not carried out with torture but very gently. The creepy Gaht acts like a grandfather asking his grandson about his summer vacation stories.
The monsters began to analyze the reason for this good fortune. They couldn't just take gold that fell from the sky without any sign. After thinking about it and discussing it with the other monsters, an argument ensued.
Various reasons whether they made sense or not were issued by the monsters one by one. Until Moku said something that made the debate stopped. Moku's words sounded very likely to be the reason for Lordo's insane luck.
The reason why Lordo was able to communicate smoothly without any torment from Gaht was that humans had underestimated monster species more than they think.
Or rather mages have never considered monster species to be a threat to them. It didn't even cross the minds of the mages that it was the orcs who had defeated Deak and his students.
So their logic allowed Lordo to sneak into their camp and meet Gaht face-to-face. Gaht only saw Lordo as a cute creature who wouldn't be able to scratch his skin at all.
How disdainful mages looked at monster species made the monsters grind their teeth. For mages, maybe venomous snakes are more dangerous than an orc with a giant body.
But Moku is not angry about this he is happy instead. There is no enemy that is easier to defeat than a proud and arrogant enemy. They would feel no danger even when sharp blades had pierced their necks.
But feeling proud and arrogant for mana species might be a natural thing. In a world ruled by mana, the power to use mana is the most important thing. A monster species that had absolutely no mana in their bodies could never imagine being a threat to the mana species' hegemony.
"This is our chance. Forget your frustrations, the enemy has never noticed us so this is a very good thing! We can stay in the shadows of their arrogance and hide until our swords are able to pierce their hearts."
Moku's voice reverberated away and change the annoyed faces of the monsters. They realize that this is not the time to be upset about being belittled. Lordo is still in the enemy camp, even though he is currently still in a safe condition but when the truth is revealed Lordo will have a very bad fate.
Mige opened his voice, as the Head of the Military Strategy Division, it is his job to draw up a plan. "From Lordo's findings, we can conclude three things;
One, there's a new mana species discovered.
Two, the humans assumed that the mana explosion that occurred in Bog forest was caused by this new mana species.
Three, this new mana species is called Demon, they have traits; red-skinned, horned, and have two legs and four hands."
"Demons' characteristics are completely different from those of other mana species. I've never seen any elves have red skin, even the Volcano Elf has tan skin instead of red. Although there is a possibility that this is one of the newest races of warbeasts but with six limbs (two legs and four hands) closes this possibility" Nezena added to Mige's analysis.
"So the question is where did humans find this new species?" Nerphyl nodded and put a new problem to answer.
"I think there are two possibilities regarding the timing of the discovery of this new mana species. The first is that humans have long discovered the demon species but these creatures only recently surfaced. The second is that humans have only just discovered the demon species." Boku gave the answer from his analysis.
"If a demon species has been discovered for a long time then the human arrival to the Bog forest is to prepare for an attack from this new species. But if a demon species has just been discovered then their arrival to the Bog forest is to investigate this new mana species." Goku completes Boku's analysis.
"The first and second possibilities indicate that the demon species is currently in the Bog forest" Nevare's forehead creased.
Although no one disputed this analysis of her, none of the monsters agreed with it either. The monster species had lived within the Bog forest for hundreds of years, if there was a mana species living beside them then there will be recorded history of it.
All the monsters glanced at the goblins and alraune who had come to this meeting. These two monster races were the most famous for keeping records of their ancestors so if there really was a mana species within the Bog forest then both monster races definitely had records of it.
"I've read all the records left by the ancestors of the alraune and I memorized them by heart. However, there are no records that say mana species that have been characterized as demons living in the Bog forest" Luna replied.
"I've also asked the goblins to read the records in Hoddurt's library but just like Luna, we've never encountered any mana species living in Bog forest," Tam answered after hearing the reports from the goblins she assigned.
Hearing the answer from the representatives of the two monster races the monsters became speechless. Their analysis regarding the origins of the demons was deadlocked. But before any of the monsters started a new topic of discussion, Moku's voice was heard again drawing the attention of the monsters to him.
"Demons don't come from the Bog forest but they are invited to enter the Bog forest"
"ssss..."
"Invited? Moku what do you mean by that? who invited them and what were they invited to enter Bog's forest for?" Nevare who was sitting next to Moku immediately asked.
"We were the ones who invited them. Or rather, it was the evolved orcs who invited them. They came to the Bog forest because they felt the mana explosion caused by the orcs evolving into asuras. The reason for their coming to the Bog forest... I can't be sure but my gut tells me that something it's not out of curiosity."
Moku's answer made the monsters flinch, they never realized how big the impact of the orc's evolution to asura was. Moku had previously explained that monster species were cursed by this world or rather cursed by mana. Nerphyl had proven this theory by releasing her seal and becoming a Druid.
But it was only now that they truly understood that the monster species in order to thrive and become strong had to fight against this world and the order that was built upon it. Just like humans who enter the Bog forest because they feel a mana explosion, demons are also invited in by the same thing.
The grim on their face become more visible, but silence will not solve their problem.
"If that's the case then all the mana species also heading towards the Bog forest due to feeling the mana explosion caused by the orc's evolution into asuras. But other than humans, we didn't find any other mana species. What's the reason for their absence?" Ez, who had been silent, started to speak.
"It's not that they don't want to come but they can't come." Moku returned the answer.
"You mean?"
"When you saw Lordo's chat with the two mages, did you read their facial expressions when explaining the characteristics of demons? and how did their expressions change when Lordo confirmed that the characteristics of the creatures he 'meet' were the same as demons?"
"When they described the characteristics of the demons, there was hope and anxiety on their faces. And when Lordo said 'yes' their faces turned into relief and fear" Ez answered Moku's question.
"What do you think is the reason for that expression?"
"They hoped that the characteristics they described were the same as those of the demon species but they were also worried, they were relieved when they found a demon but they were also afraid of it. So... maybe humans are afraid of demons!" Ez concluded, his eyes widening in disbelief at what he had just said.
"That's right, demons are stronger than humans, or it could be that the demon species is stronger than the other mana species. The reason why the other mana species don't come to the Bog forest isn't that they don't want to come but that they can't come because their own home is being attacked by demons!"
"What?! How can that be possible!"
"Possible or not, it doesn't matter! However, the new mana species, the demons, are the key to the monster species surviving this crisis! We must find them before Lordo and the other humans arrive at the location where the Arachnid Queen was killed. We need to turn the lies into the truth!"
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