~ Chapter 136: In the city of Komurva ~

[Nanya’s point of view]

I turned off the engine and let the yacht float on its own until it came to a stop. Stepping out of the helm, I walked down on the foredeck until I reached the bow. My gaze fell on the horizon, where the Demon Continent spread as far as the eyes could see.

“I’m home...” I said in the demon language.

What I was looking at were the Shiver Plains, located East on the continent. Past these plains, I would find the Lostsky Forest and then farther inland, the Starhail Peak mountain. All of these places were filled with monsters that were so powerful and ferocious that would make a Supreme from the three continents shiver in his boots.

The only ones who would feel no threat from this place were probably Illsy and my sister-wives. Still, even we felt like acting cautious when it came to the Dungeon Continent. The map Illsy obtained from the Pirate Island said that this was a place rumored to have individuals with levels around 5000.

If we who had levels over 3000 were so powerful, I could not imagine someone with a level over 5000. What sort of power could he hold? How much of a threat was he towards all the other continents who could never dream of reaching such heights?

As I laid there on the deck, gazing out at the Demon Continent and listening to the waves breaking against the hull of the ship, I asked myself all sort of questions and tried for the future and safety of my own family to think of how I was going to obtain information on the major threats in this world just in case they happened to target our little island.

With a sigh escaping my lips, I absorbed the yacht into my Inner Mind and landed on the surface of the water. Using my incredible strength and speed, I then ran towards the shore. The water exploded when my feet touched the surface, but not even a single drop landed on my clothes thanks to my Magic Armor.

Everything around me moved in slow motion. My breath felt like it weighed as heavy as a mountain, yet my steps were as light as a feather. I still found it surprising how powerful I became, how different I was from the time when I was still working as a simple teacher in the Fellyore Academy.

As I stepped on the fine sand of the beach, I came to a halt. The force of the wind caused the sand around me to rise up in the air.

“Has it really been 105 years?” I wondered out loud as I looked up at the sky.

There was no difference from the one on Illsyorea. It felt so unreal to be here and so far from the Deus family.

I already miss Natrasku and Kormian... I miss Illsy too. I thought as I closed my eyes and remembered their smiling faces.

Never would I have imagined that I would leave this continent just to survive and return as a mother fiercer than any of the proud demons living here.

I should get ready. I thought as I opened my eyes.

From within my Inner Mind, I took out the dreaded sword my father made. It was a nameless black sword covered in runes which granted power to those far weaker than I was. Its blade was sharp and enchants exquisite, but they all paled in comparison to the weapon made by Illsy.

I placed both swords on the sand and took a step back to admire them. My husband’s sword was longer, the blade was clearly made from more complex materials and its edge was glowing red. Illsy told me it was a gas in plasma state. The handle was perfectly designed to fit my grasp. There were no runes on the outside, but there were countless Magic Energy channels inscribed within the materials. It could fire powerful Emperor Rank Spells supercharged with Magic Energy, it could project shields and deviate projectiles, it could cut through Magic Spells or even consume them as an energy source. This weapon made father’s sword look like a cheap sword you could buy anywhere.

In order to be recognized by those who mattered, however, I decided to carry both of them. I equipped father’s sword on my hip and Illsy’s on my back. Next was the armor.

While I had my own armor to wear, Illsy’s creation was something that made sure I was protected under any circumstances. Not only could it enhance my strength and speed, but it also had some features worthy of what Illsy called a powered armor. All of the Deus family members had one.

Even when it wasn’t activated, it could still withstand one of my punches. Activated, it could withstand an entire barrage of strikes of Over Supreme Rank and it also had automatic barriers capable of repelling projectiles. The gauntlets had poison sensors and density scanners, allowing me to effectively determine the weak spots in an opponent’s armor. If this wasn’t enough, this thing could also fly and allow me to fight underwater or in hazardous locations like poison swamps or volcanoes.

Illsy’s armor was far too advanced by any standard. It was smooth and had as main colors a metallic black with parts of matte dark gray and red glowing lines around the bigger plates. It was a good thing I could turn off those red lights, they were there to act only as a simple decoration or to be used as a small light source during the night. When activated in conjuncture with the dark mist covering a Dungeon’s Territory when emitting killing intent, it gave off a very intimidating feeling. On the other hand, it did have a stealth mode too, but it was not as good as Shanteya’s, which rendered her completely invisible to the naked eye. Mine just covered my sounds and camouflaged me according to the environment.

Overall, this thing was something every nation of the world would be willing to start a war over. If Illsy didn’t already prove his might against the Paramanium Empire, that would have most likely been the case as country after country would have sent their armies to conquer Illsyorea.

Initially, I was thinking about wearing this armor instead of the one I made with my Godlike skill. While the two of them could not even be compared in terms of durability and advantages, mine didn’t stick out as much as Illsy’s did. Besides, it wasn’t spiky enough. Thus, I chose my own armor instead of his, but if needed be, I could always summon his out of my Inner Mind and instantly equip it thanks to that crafty spell Illsy developed back on the Boss Island.

The last time I equipped this armor was before I left Illsyorea... Ever since that battle with Dankyun at the Fellyore Academy, I kept rebuilding it in secret, trying to improve it as best as I could. It wasn’t until after we left Boss Island that I was able to make significant improvements to it. Illsy’s ideas helped a lot too... I thought as I looked at my right clawed gauntlet.

From within my Inner Mind, I took out another item, a long-hooded cloak that was able to cover my entire body. It was enchanted to hide my strength from those with the ability to read my level or determine whether I was stronger or weaker than they were. This cloak would make it so that they appeared as ‘something uncertain’ to their senses.

With my armor and weapons set, I began to walk towards the South where the Port City of Mastor was, but this was not a certain thing. On the Demon Continent, city names would often change when a new Duke of Chaos was appointed as the local Landlord. This was usually done thorough a duel of strength.

The city itself was a few kilometers away, a distance I had no problems crossing on foot in mere seconds. If it were the younger me, the one who had yet to set foot on the Sorone Continent, this journey would have taken me an hour or so.

When the huge walls protecting the city from any outside threat appeared in the distance, I reduced my speed until I was at a regular running speed. It took me a couple of minutes to reach the gates. This was done so that I did not rise suspicions or worry among the guards.

The demons standing guard were for the most part humanoid. The one standing on the left had a pair of pincers instead of hands. He wore a smug and confident look on his face, while the other one was bored. He even yawned when I came into view. This demon looked more human than his friend, but the fact that he had the half body of a snake would have most likely put him into the same category as a monster on the three continents.

“Halt! State your name and reason for entering Komurva Port City!” declared the one with the pincers.

“Nanya. Just passing by. Will leave before nightfall.” I replied with short words in an emotionless tone of voice.

“Hm, never heard of you.” he said as he took out a small crystal ball.

It was an item that checked whether or not I was marked as a criminal by the Demonarkiar Empire, the nation that ruled the entire Demon Continent.

I placed my hand on top of it. The crystal ball glowed bright white.

“You’re clear. The tax is 10 gliggers.”

The gligger was the official coin on the Demon Continent. It was an enchanted silver coin made by the demons working at the castle in Akardia. It was exceedingly difficult to forge unlike the coins circulating on the three continents. Illsy, however, would have no problem with it.

I took out the coins from my Inner Mind while pretending to take them out from a hidden pocket within my cloak.

“Here.” I said as I dropped the coins in his hand.

“Hm, Nanya. Hey, isn’t that the name of the Impure Princess that went missing a century ago?” asked the half-asleep guard.

“Same name. Wrong person.” I lied.

“Is that so? That’s a rather uncommon name around these parts though. Are you from the North?” he asked.

“South... Mother. Bad sense of humor.” I replied in a stoic tone of voice.

“Aha... Alright, sorry for bothering you then, you can enter.” he said and then resumed to napping.

These were the type of question I was going to encounter as I went deeper on the Demon Continent, so I had to be prepared to answer appropriately. My attitude and way of talking was also one that highly differed from my own.

Being called an ‘Impure Princess’ was one of the insults I knew were going to be cast my way. The idea behind it was simple. Back then, I was weak, and half of my blood was not that of demon’s. Thus, my blood was impure.

I remember that the first one to call me by this name was my older brother Lucianus, a man-bear with venomous fangs. It was at the age of four when my mother decided that it was time for me to start meeting the rest of the family.

At the moment, I remembered having only 9 elder half-siblings, but there was a chance that had a couple more now. All of them were far more powerful than me at that time, but which right now could not even rise to the height of my boot. It was unfortunate, but out of my entire family, only my mother and father cared about me. The latter had a very weird way of showing it, but once I gave birth to Natrasku and Kormian, I began to think once more of his reasons. I couldn’t help but feel that all that training he forced down upon me, the cold attitude, everything wasn’t because he hated me, but rather because it was the only way to protect the weak me at that time.

As a Dungeon, if father wanted to, he could have easily killed me without everyone noticing. His behavior was also far different from the crazy ones on the three continents, but until I got to meet him face to face and confront him with my beliefs, all of this was mere supposition.

While walking at a calm pace on the streets of Komurva, I noticed that nothing changed since I left. There was no major development when it came to architecture, no new technologies, no improvement in the way of life of the demons. The buildings were tall and had all been enchanted with magic to prevent them from further degrading. Marking of battles and scuffles were present everywhere as they had gathered over the course of time. The streets were wide and could easily fit even 4 carriages moving side by side. The demons and demonesses were all wearing revealing clothes, but with several pieces of spiked armor on them. Their fashion sense followed the theme of tempting but deadly. Put side by side, however, someone from the three continents could easily mistake them as being of different species, especially when seeing how some of them had extra limbs or quite a difference in size and height, but that was just how they were. The species put survivability and adaptability over everything else.

As I walked around trying to find a tavern and get a better feel of the current demon society, I came upon a scene you would not normally see on the streets of Illsyorea. A demon was bound in black chains and kept on his knees by two heavy spears that pressed down on his shoulders. He was wearing only a pair of ragged linen pants and showed an expression of anguish and frustration. The demons holding the spears were guards of the city, while the one who was about to declare what the chained-up fellow was guilty of wore a different uniform, more suited for someone working behind the desk than someone who wielded a sword. After all, on the Demon Continent, wisdom was also considered a strength.

Walking up to the scene where numerous demons and demonesses gathered, I listened to what this man’s trial was all about.

“High Demio Maggard Passary broke the First Law of the Demons: Blood is sacred.” he stopped and after the voices around them settled down, he continued “In a fit of envy, he raised his claws against his own brother and killed him in cold blood. The Passary family expressed their agreement for their son to be judged and punished for the crime he had committed. Thereby, the High Demio Maggard Passary shall be publicly executed tomorrow at noon!” the official finished his declaration and closed the paper he was reading from.

The demons and demonesses gathered here were already whispering among themselves while casting eyes of disappointment and disgust at the criminal.

In the Demonarkiar Empire, there were five laws that stood above them all. The first one was ‘Blood is sacred.’; the second one was ‘The strong above all.’; the third one was ‘Duel to prove strength not death.’; the fourth one was ‘The blood of the mother above that of the father.’; and the last one was ‘The dignity of the soul must always be maintained.’.

These five laws were what constituted the principles of the demon society and on which all other laws were based upon. Breaking one of them was considered a disgrace no matter what sort of blood you had flowing through your veins. The High Demio in this case was the equivalent of a High Noble in the Paramanium Empire, something along the lines of an Earl or Marquess, while the Low Demio was akin to a Baron or Viscount.

The peasant or commoners were called Rumars, but the insulting name was ‘unworthy’, and although the Demonarkiar Empire had slaves, they were not called like that, they were Pleis, and didn’t wore a collar, just a branded magical tattoo that severely limited their actions.

The reason why my older siblings didn’t try to kill me was because of the first law, which declared that killing a family member was a highly disgraceful act no matter what sort of crime that family member had committed against you, unless said action was in self-defense.

I moved away from the place where the chained-up demon was being mocked and insulted by the crowd and continued to look for a tavern. It did not take long though, and I found another interesting scene. This time, there were two adventurers who were dueling each other.

I stopped and watched from the distance as the winged demon was preparing to face off the one with rocks growing out of his body. The demon species was by far one of the most adaptable ones in the world, second only to the Dungeons.

“I will be the leader of our party!” declared the one with a rock body.

“No! I shall prove you why I am and always will be the leader of the party!” the winged one declared.

“The braves are always rowdy after one too many drinks, aren’t they?” the guard who was watching not far away from me asked.

“Maybe.” I replied in a calm tone of voice as I watched the adventurers begin their duel.

Just from one look at them, I could tell that they were both past level 800. They moved fast enough to be considered Supremes on the three continents. Speaking of which, on the Demon Continent, the adventurers were called braves and their guild was the Brave Guild. Their ranking system was also different, instead of names like Beginner, Master, or Supreme, they had numbers. The lowest and weakest was Rank 1 and the strongest was the highest number.

When I left, my rank was 8, it was akin to Beginner Rank on the three continents.

The reason why the guards did not intervene was because these two braves were acting in accordance with the third law: Duel to prove strength not death. This meant that killing an adversary in an honorable duel was disgraceful.

I didn’t stay to watch the whole fight, the two looked like they wanted to drag on the battle, and I didn’t have the time to spare.

As I made my way through the city, walking down on the stone-paved roads, I witness many such incidents where the first four laws were being applied. One one account, I saw High Demio as he was being scolded by his mother in the middle of the street. He had spent a bit too much of the family fortune, and he was now in danger of being disowned, but while his mother spoke, his father remained silent. The reason for this was the fourth law, which stated that our society was a matriarchal one. The one with the most influence and ruling decision was the Queen not the King.

In another instance, I saw a Low Demio meeting with his Rumar friends, celebrating his ascension among the ranks of nobility. This was the application of the second law, which stated that the noble positions in the country were to be determined by an individual’s strength rather than their lineage. This did not mean that established noble families would disappear if they didn’t have the strength to hold a noble position in the state, they would just fall from grace temporarily. It was very rare that a family fell so low that no individual born among them had the power to rise above the rest.

I walk by two inns and one tavern already, but I continued to walk as I wanted to see everything that this city had to offer. I even moved towards the backstreets in an attempt to find a suitable source of information. To my surprise, the city life I knew from when I was young was no different from what I witnessed now.

The city was split into rich and poor streets, then there were the slums, which pulled in all the dirt and grime of society. The poor demons could at the very least afford to pay their taxes. The slums were completely ignored by the tax collectors as they knew they wouldn’t be able to gain even a single coin no matter how much they threatened the local citizens.

On the rich streets, the High Demios and the merchants who prospered from their bulky purses were often chatting merrily while looking down at those under them. Meanwhile, the poor streets were filled with less noble etiquette and more with the depression of a typical Rumar life, barely having enough food to put on the plate and no more than what was needed to keep them away from the slums.

Prostitution and other such underground activities were present in this city as well, but they didn’t differ by much from the usual red-light districts. As for the local thugs and bandits, they weren’t far behind when it came to such locations. Luckily for them, no one had the desire to attempt to steal from me.

Overall, nothing changed from the demon society I knew almost a century ago, at least nothing at the level of what an ordinary person would notice. When it came to the high society, there were probably a lot of things that had changed. The name of this city was one such example. The demon by the name of Komurva succeeded in defeating Mastor in an honorable duel.

Wanting to find out a little more about what happened both within the Demonarkiar Empire and outside of it, I stepped inside one of the first taverns I laid my eyes upon while walking through the city. It was located a little distance away from the port and had countless sailors visiting it. This meant that it was great for gathering the type of information I desired.

As soon as I walked through the door, several demons and demonesses turned their attention towards me. My cloak kept my strength hidden, so I didn’t spark their attention for too long. I ignored them and walked up to the bartender.

“A strong one.” I said and placed five gliggers on the table.

“Sure thing, missy. You new in town?” he asked as he prepared the glass.

He was a demon with two big horns on top of his head, sharp ears, and long prehensile tail he could use to grab things. If I were to guess, I would put him at around 200-300 years old, but he didn’t have one strand of gray hair.

When he brought my drink, he asked “Anything else?”

“Rumors. Heard any recently? Random gossip. Info on the outside.” I asked.

“That may cost you a bit depending on what you seek.” he showed me a gentle smile and narrowed his eyes at me.

“Will pay. No problem.” I replied.

“Very well, missy. Let’s see.” he said as he grabbed a tray of dirty glasses and began to clean them up. “I recently heard from a traveler that Prince Lucianus challenged Kolgo to a duel and lost. Some say it was a close call, but I don’t know what to say, Prince Lucianus has proven to be a capable fighter but not at the level of a Duke of Chaos yet.” he said.

“Is he that strong?”

“I suppose.” he shrugged.

“What else did you hear? Gossip?” I asked.

“They say that Princess Sunsun is adorably cute~” he said and then made a weird face.

“Princess Sunsun?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

That definitely sounds like mother’s naming sense though. I thought.

“Well, the three Impure children born into the Royal Family are Princess Nanya, who went missing a century ago and is presumed dead by most, Prince Eventel, who succeeded in becoming a Duke of Chaos, and the most recent addition to the Royal Family, Princess Sunsun, who is just twelve years old, but she promises to be quite powerful and also adorably cute.” he said with a smile.

“I can’t imagine.” I shook my head.

“Maybe. I never got to see them myself, but I heard all sort of good rumors about them. Prince Eventel is also quite noble and decent as long as you don’t mention Princess Nanya in front of him. I heard that the High Demio who did this almost lost his teeth because of it. Quite unsettling.” he shook his head.

So not only do I have two younger siblings, but one of them apparently hates my guts. I thought as I took a gulp from the drink.

It wasn’t that strong.

“What about the Queen?” I asked.

“Her? Well, she is back at Akardia. Every now and then she answers the call to a duel and completely pummels the individual into the ground. Her beauty doesn’t seem to fade away with the passing of time or the number of children she already gave birth to.”

“Is that so. What about the father of the Impure?” I raised the glass and took another gulp.

“He’s... well... strange. Not much about him is known, but he rarely makes a public appearance. The last time he did so was when Princess Sunsun was born.” he shook his head and then placed another clean glass on the bar.

“Interesting... What about the state of the continent itself?” I asked.

“Are you paying?” he asked with a shrewd smile.

I took out 100 gliggers and placed them on the bar, next to the clean glasses. He took the nearby glass and covered the coins with it.

“Payment received.” he nodded. “Now then, the Plains of Fire are rumored to hide the bones of ancient dragons.”

“That’s... not the type of rumor I was expecting.” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“We start with the worthless ones, of course. Now then, the number of caravans arriving from the Dungeon Continent have increased in both number and frequency. It’s highly possible that we’ll soon have a Free Trade agreement between our nation and theirs.” he said.

“The Dungeon Continent? Did the Queen do something?” I asked.

“No, it was apparently something that happened after Princess Nanya disappeared, but while that should have caused an international crisis, it appeared as though her father stepped in and convinced that this land wasn’t dangerous to the Dungeons.” he replied.

“Not dangerous?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, as in we have not labeled them as kill-on-sight enemies. They can grow dungeons and stuff like that, walk around in their humanoid forms, but they are recognized as foreign citizens and as such protected by our laws.” he said with a nod.

“So the caravan numbers have increased... Anything else?” I asked.

“Well, there’s a rumor that the Slime Ambassador has been going around visiting important cities and may eventually visit Komurva as well.”

“Are relationships with the Slime Continent good nowadays?” I asked.

“They are so-so, but progressively better, especially since Prince Mondrak took a liking to one of the Slime Braves.” he said.

“Prince Mondrak did that?” I asked raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“Yes. It’s quite surprising, isn’t it? In our minds the slimes are more similar to low ranked Rumar or Pleis, definitely not something akin to a High Demio.” he nodded.

“I see. That Prince Mondrak fancies a sheva.” I said.

The male slimes were called verda, while the female ones were called sheva.

“Other than this, just yesterday a sailor told me that the Nekatar Empire and the Dwarf Republic, you know, the two nations past the Sealed Continents?” he looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

I pretended not to know and shook my head.

“The Nekatar Empire is a place where these furry demonoids live. They have twitching ears and long tails. Some go a ‘nya’ from time to time or ‘meow’ or ‘hiss’. It’s a strange place, you know? Their warriors, however, are stronger than the slimes.” he said with a nod.

Yup, that sounds like Tamara’s kind... I thought.

“What are dwarfs?” I asked.

“Erm, hard to describe them, but they are stuffy demonoids with big furry faces and a love for brute force. They are quite strong, and somehow managed to broker a peace with the Hive Continent located to the south.” he said with a nod.

“This was what the sailor told you?” I asked.

“Yeah, he’s serving on a dwarf boat that sailed around the Sealed Continents.” he nodded.

The Sealed Continents he was talking about were Allasn, Thorya, and Sorone.

“What happened to the Hive Continent? Didn’t their Queen try to broker peace with ours some time ago?” I asked of what I knew of an old pact.

“Hm, no one told you that the Hive Continent pact was signed ten years ago?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

“Ten years... too early for me to know.” I shook my head. “Travel a lot. I listen to little and not too often. Today special. Today curious.” I showed him a wry smile.

“Is that so?” he nodded “Well, not my business. That will be another 100 gliggers. I have a few more if you want, but the price is the same. Are you sure about it?” he asked.

“Sure. This fun.” I nodded and paid him the extra 100 gliggers.

“Thank you for your patronage.” he bowed his head and then covered the sum of coins with another clean glass.

“Sure. The rest of the rumors please.” I nodded.

“Alright. Well, the Hive Continent and the Avian Paradise, which is South of our beloved continent, have finally opened trade routes with the Demon Continent.”

“Hive was ten years ago?”

“Indeed, but not all boats were permitted to pass the border between the two continents. When the Avian Paradise and Hive Continent brokered a peace treaty three years ago, they began talks about opening trade routes with us. I heard the meetings gave the Queen quite a few headaches.” he laughed.

“Hm. Interesting. What else?”

“This is a bit old, but I heard that the Zaryan Confederation was planning to start an incursion into the Forest of Monsters continent.”

“Heard of both. Zaryan Confederation is powerful, more powerful than us, weaker than the Dungeon Continent. As for the Forest of Monster, it’s a dangerous place, few demons who sailed there ever returned.” I nodded.

“Yeah, but there are a lot of treasures to be found there if you know where to look.” he showed me a smile.

“No, too dangerous for me.” I shook my head. Not really, but my time on Boss Island was enough. Maybe I’ll mention about its existence to Illsy when Kormian and Natrasku are old enough. I thought.

“You are wise then. Anyway, those are all the rumors I have. Everything else is common sense.” he shrugged.

“Some demons die, some survive.” I said.

“Exactly. Nothing big happens on this continent. Not since the last war against the Dungeon Continent six thousand years ago.” he showed a wry smile.

“Foolish war, almost got wiped out.” I shook my head.

“A dark moment in our history nonetheless.” he sighed.

“Thank you for keeping me entertained.” I told him and then focused on my drink.

“My pleasure!” he smiled and then grabbed the coins under the clean glasses.

After I finished my drink, I got up and left the tavern. I did not waste any time looking around the city anymore. I got everything I wanted, and I already set my next target of visit: Eventel.

There was no need for me to find a place to stay for the night, one of Illsy’s portable inns was far better and more comfortable than anything this city had to offer.

I wonder why my little brother hates me so much? I thought as I passed through the gates of Komurva and stepped into the wilderness of the Demon Continent.