Two days later, the current location of the sacred stone was identified.
That said, I hadn't contributed much.
It was the result of efforts from the elf clan led by Logan and the covert operatives commanded by Luciana.
First to excel was Logan.
He conducted a detection search using spirit magic.
The sacred stone contained the sealed power of a great spirit.
Perfectly concealing that was difficult—no, nearly impossible.
If it were just magical power, perhaps, but since it also included power of spirit origin, ordinary magic or magical artifacts could never fully hide it.
Thus, we reached the conclusion that only Logan, who could wield spirit magic, would be able to detect it.
However, his power alone resulted in a very narrow detection range.
At best, he could only investigate an area the size of the royal capital.
This meant finding the sacred stone’s location would take far too much time.
It wouldn’t meet the three-day deadline set by the great spirit.
On the other hand, I myself couldn’t perceive power originating from spirits.
This was a matter of racial aptitude—not something that could be worked around with technique.
If I put my mind to it, I might learn a similar art, but within the three-day constraint, it was still too harsh.
Given these circumstances, I decided to focus solely on the role of transferring magical power to Logan.
Careful to avoid any miasma contamination, I sent only harmless mana into him.
This dramatically boosted the spell’s output, expanding Logan’s detection range by hundreds of times.
Furthermore, about a hundred elves with keen perception were mobilized, and the search continued with frequent breaks.
And last night, we finally succeeded in pinpointing the location of the secret stone.
The place was the Magiccraft Kingdom.
It was quite distant from Imperial territory.
Not close enough to transport it all at once with magical transfer either.
Judging from the positions, the human who took the secret stone must have crossed the Demon Lord’s Domain and the Holy Staff Nation.
The great spirit apparently failed to track their steps.
This is speculation, but I believe it’s because the split body’s sensing range is narrow and its accuracy low.
The concealment spell placed on the secret stone was surely another factor.
That type was a magic developed in modern times.
For the great spirit, it was close to an unknown technique, so they were completely outmaneuvered.
For a being of the great spirit’s caliber, there are almost never situations requiring precise sensing.
Coupled with being unaccustomed to searching, that made it especially difficult.
This time, those weaknesses were laid bare, so to speak.
It was a fortunate development for the nobles.
Anyway, once we knew the secret stone’s location, things moved quickly.
I left the rest to Luciana and her subordinate spies, having them deduce who was involved based on the date, time, and travel routes.
The report detailing their findings reached me this morning.
Those who took the secret stone were nobles belonging to the Empire.
They traveled with their families and guard units, erasing their tracks as they made their way to the Magiccraft Kingdom.
According to the spies, it seems they have defected.
This was not a sudden plan.
They had been arranging everything in utmost secrecy.
They had given up on the decaying Empire.
The offer to poach them may have already been in motion.
Those nobles who abandoned the Empire reportedly provided the secret stones to Arcana Machina.
That was likely the condition for their asylum.
I don't know what they're for, but secret stones hold a value nearly unique.
With the technical prowess of Arcana Machina, they likely have endless means to utilize them.
Once you know the truth, the structure isn't so complicated.
The nobles who accepted the asylum terms first smuggled the secret stones out of ruins within their territories.
They concealed the stones in the Imperial Capital and fled before the Great Spirit's annihilation of the capital was carried out.
Thus, they completed their asylum to Arcana Machina, along with the delivery of the secret stones.
That's roughly how it went, chronologically.
The full scope of the plan was simple.
It must have been pure chance that they escaped the Great Spirit's pursuit.
Personally, I would have preferred they were captured before they succeeded in their escape.
Thanks to them, I'm left to clean up the mess.
Regarding these defecting nobles, I intend to kidnap them and hand them over to the Great Spirit.
There's no need for sympathy.
If that appeases the Great Spirit's fury, it's a small price to pay.
Pushing for remorse wouldn't have solved anything.
Incidentally, the emperor was not among those who fled.
This meant the recent theft of the sacred stones was the underhanded work of a faction of nobles.
Those caught in the crossfire had every right to be furious, but the Imperial Capital had already ceased to exist.
There was no one left to condemn the exiles.
The destruction wrought by the great spirit was, for the Empire, utterly fatal.
Having lost its core in the Imperial Capital, and with the new emperor dead as well, this was damage on a scale incomparable to my own past offenses.
It wasn't merely damaged; it was annihilated, leaving not even the possibility of reconstruction.
It was safe to say the Empire would never recover from this.
Its vast territories and remaining intact cities would be absorbed by neighboring nations.
Or perhaps they would break away and become city-states.
The one certainty was that the former great power would never return.
"What are your thoughts after hearing the report?"
Luciana asks, slouching against her throne.
I return the report and shake my head.
"I can only call it foolish. Provoking the wrath of a great spirit is something even I would not contemplate now."
This was beyond the scope of mere criminal judgment.
It was an insult to a being beyond human measurement.
I understood they fled to save their own skins, but the price paid was far too steep.
If I still had my body in life, I would have sighed.
Had I not stepped into the negotiations, the Great Spirit would have run rampant as a further calamity.
By now, the entire Empire might have been wiped from the map.
Though a fragment, the Great Spirit was an existence beyond the norm.
Among humans, there was no one capable of stopping her.
(Why did it have to be the Great Spirit's spirit stone of all things...)
The thinking of the exiled nobles was utterly incomprehensible.
Did they not think that if the spirit stone were removed, the Great Spirit would act sooner or later?
Was their own status and power really that important to them?
Perhaps, for them, the death of a third party caught in the crossfire simply didn't factor into the equation.
But that was simply how humans were.
They would gleefully execute the hero and sage who had vanquished the Demon King.
My inability to sympathize with that mindset and way of being was nothing new.
Humans were, in essence, foolish.
In a way, they were beings beyond saving.
Even I, who became Demon King in pursuit of peace, was part of that.
"It's Empire territory, but why don't we just take it? I think it's fine to claim a little."
"Agreed. Once this matter is resolved, we will push the border out."
Returning the spirit stone was the top priority, but I also had to consider the fate of the Empire, which had lost its capital.
The Empire was also adjacent to the Demon King's domain.
We could sit back and watch as the other nations tear everything apart piece by piece, but if that's what's going to happen regardless, we might as well do the same.
We intend to continue developing the Demon Lord's Domain.
The Empire will serve as fuel for that growth.
However, our first move must be an invasion of the Arcane Craft Nation.
Regardless of the circumstances, the sin of having roused the Great Spirit's wrath is a grave one.
They have committed a transgression that absolutely cannot be overlooked.
The secret stone must be recovered as quickly as possible.
Through the intervention of the Great Spirit, the balance of the world was undergoing a dramatic transformation.