Skip Magician 134

Test

Chapter 134. The Eastern Sea

"The demon with foresight... If what Astaroth said is true, does that mean the Seven Great Celestials are indeed gathering in this era?"

"No doubt about it. Back then, I couldn't understand what he meant by 'a person with an abnormal soul,' but now, it's clear he was talking about you. And with the Seven Great Celestials converging around you like this, Astaroth's foresight wasn't wrong."

So that means Raguel, Raphael, and Uriel must also be nearby.

"I believe we should gather all the Seven Great Celestials. I’m not sure how much we can counter Cladius, but if all seven are together, we might stand a chance. And if we’re going to fight, the eastern island would be the best place."

"The eastern island... Isn't that the place where humans and demons can no longer cross?"

"No longer cross? Why?"

Hmm… When I talked to Lucifer, she mentioned it too—apparently, sea beasts didn’t exist in the Eastern Sea thousands of years ago. But now, it’s teeming with monsters over tens of meters long. Even if you brought a fleet, you'd either become their prey or sink to the seabed.

"The Eastern Sea is now home to countless sea monsters. That’s why it’s become impassable… We’ve got no way around it either."

"Sea monsters... Could it be Forneus?"

"Forneus?"

Wait, you know about it?

"It’s one of the demon progenitors and the founder of the Aegir tribe. If that’s the case, it might still be protecting the Eastern Sea."

"Protecting the Eastern Sea? Why?"

"Forneus was one of the demons who insisted on allying with the celestials when Cladius appeared. It likely released its sea monster kin into the Eastern Sea to prevent the evil power of Cladius from crossing the waters."

So the monsters released by Forneus have survived to this day and are attacking anyone who tries to cross the Eastern Sea?

"If Forneus is still controlling them, they wouldn’t attack humans or demons. That might mean Forneus has either died or lost control for some reason."

"If it’s dead, wouldn’t that mean no one can control them anymore?"

"If any Aegir tribe members survived, they might have inherited Forneus’s power as a grimoire. If that fails... we’ll have to rely on him."

"Him?"

So even if the Aegir tribe didn’t survive, there’s still another option?

"There’s a celestial who was especially close to Forneus. With his abilities, he might be able to subdue the sea monsters summoned by Forneus."

"What’s the name of this celestial?"

"...Azazel."

Huh? Isn’t that the leader of the celestials who opposed Michael and the others? There’s no way he’s alive—wouldn’t they have killed him?

"Azazel... is alive."

"Alive? How? They didn’t kill him?"

"They tried. But he wasn’t someone who could be killed so easily. I don’t know if, like us, he merged his soul with a human, but one thing is certain—he’s alive. We couldn’t finish him off."

Are you serious? It wasn’t out of sentiment—they just couldn’t overpower him? If that’s the case, he might be living as a grimoire alongside humans somewhere. But while the Seven Great Celestials reincarnated into this era following Astaroth’s prophecy, there’s no guarantee Azazel did the same.

"By the way, weren’t the celestials at war with the demons? Why does it seem like some of you got along better than I expected? I thought it was all-out slaughter."

"It was slaughter. But not everyone was like that. You know wars are ultimately a political tool, right? Just as we Seven Great Celestials were like nobility among the celestials, the demon progenitors held a similar status. There were secret negotiations."

Huh... So it wasn’t just mindless hatred. But for humans, the scale of the war was so massive it almost drove us to extinction. Creating a world-ending dragon over something like that feels excessive, though.

"Of course, there were celestials like Uriel who outright rejected any peace with the demons. And Bael, the progenitor of the Zebul tribe and Demon King, was staunchly against it too."

"Intelligent beings will never completely unite, no matter what they do, huh?"

"Exactly."

"We’re no different. Honestly, only Theo and I seem serious about handling this, while the rest are just going with the flow."

"That might be true."

It’s true. People like Elixira and Ivy don’t seem particularly invested in stopping the End Dragon. It’s not that they’re against it—they just don’t fully grasp it yet. Elixira’s somewhat on board after coming to the Simbah Empire ruins, but… I need to talk things through with Ash and Nina. If we don’t align our thoughts, we might not be able to defeat the End Dragon.

"If we find Uriel and he opposes us because of the demons, can I leave the persuasion to you?"

"Ah… If it’s Uriel, you’d probably be better off just punching him than trying to convince him."

"Got it. I think I know what kind of guy he is now."

So, a musclehead who values strength above all, huh? Honestly, punching him would be easier, but then people would give me looks like, “What the hell are you doing?” Maybe I really am just a musclehead myself.

"Make sure to get through to Ramiel and Sariel. Sariel will understand if you talk it out. As for Ramiel… it depends on whether your wavelengths align."

"Hey."

"You’re close to Commander Liester, so you’ll figure something out."

What’s this about “wavelengths”? And what exactly does Jeremiah think of me?