My administrative subordinates frequently entered and exited the audience chamber.
With each trip, they brought me fresh reports.
A torrent of information was also being relayed via mind speech.
I sorted through it all, making decisions and issuing orders to various locations.
Report documents were scattered across the room.
Some piles had collapsed, overwhelmed beyond processing.
With no time to spare for moving them elsewhere, they were mostly left as they were.
I was prioritizing the urgent tasks, but digesting everything by today would be impossible.
(As always, there's no warning...)
Sitting at my desk, I mentally grumbled.
Six months had passed since the mass death of the saviors.
The world, which had finally begun to settle, had suddenly changed.
It started in a remote area of a different continent.
Suddenly, someone or something had rampaged through the demon army forces.
This entity caused significant damage in a short time before vanishing without a trace.
I immediately launched an investigation.
However, no clues were found.
I couldn't grasp even a single characteristic of the opponent.
Three days later, a similar incident occurred.
Once again, the stationed demon army forces were subjected to destructive attacks, resulting in a considerable number of casualties.
Five days later, in less than half a day, consecutive massacres occurred.
Thereafter, attacks on the Demon Army continued one after another in various locations.
The true identity of the perpetrators remained unknown.
No matter how much the location and frequency of the attacks were examined, it was impossible to discern any pattern.
They were as elusive as phantoms.
The aforementioned massacres were occurring indiscriminately across the entire world.
Despite physically impossible distances, they continued to occur in succession.
This suggested either multiple individuals colluding to carry them out, or someone possessing exceptional teleportation abilities.
It was a valuable clue, but too vague to narrow down the identity.
What was certain was that the opponent was targeting only the Demon Army.
No matter how much the defensive strength was increased, it was breached, as if mocking the effort.
Those who survived were questioned about the situation at the time, but strangely, none of them could see the perpetrators.
All they knew was that the Demon Army had been slaughtered by a mysterious destructive phenomenon.
This problem also affected various nations.
When people learned that someone was defeating the Demon Army, they immediately began to stir up a commotion.
And they started to whisper rumors.
That the imposters were being eliminated, and the true savior had appeared.
As if to answer that expectation, the unknown entity increased the frequency of its activities.
The Demon Army was also desperately trying to devise countermeasures, but without any significant development, reports pleading for aid due to damage and rescue requests came in almost daily.
Because subordinates were immediately evacuated via spatial magic, the damage volume was not yet critical.
Still, this was undoubtedly a serious problem.
As I pored over the mountain of reports, Luciana entered the room carrying a stack of documents.
She addressed me with an exasperated look.
"Demon Lord Summer, there's another sighting report... My goodness, it's gotten quite overwhelming. Have you organized them?"
"I've been sorting through them several times since morning. This is the result after that."
"Well, considering the volume of reports, I suppose so. It looks exhausting."
Luciana placed her documents in a small gap on the desk.
She glanced toward the corner of the room.
There sat Diera in a cross-legged position.
With her eyes closed, she wore a serious expression, her focus sharpened.
Luciana approached her and spoke.
"By the way, Lady Diera, what are you doing? You can't possibly be doing clerical work, can you?"
"Hmph, I am meditating. Do not disturb me."
Diera opened her eyes and spoke with annoyance.
Then Luciana, covering her mouth with her hand, remarked with admiration.
"Well, that's a rare sight indeed... I wonder if it'll snow tomorrow."
Muttering such things, Luciana made her way over to me.
After a brief glance at Diera, who had resumed her meditation, she asked in a whisper.
"So, what is it really about?"
"She's likely frustrated by being unable to fight the mysterious adversaries. It seems she's here sizing up the opportunity to deploy."
Diera wants to kill the opponent who's hunting the Demon Lord's Army. She apparently hates that they won't show themselves. That's why every time information about their appearance comes in, she's been teleported to the site, but unfortunately, they haven't encountered them yet.
Diera stood up abruptly. Raking her hands through her hair, she called out to Luciana with vigor.
"Luciana! Spar with me! Let me work off my frustration!"
"No. Unlike you, I have work. Can't you bother someone else?"
Luciana replied smoothly, then waved and left the room. Left behind, Diera sat down in the chair next to me. She pouted and grumbled.
"That Luciana... she's forgotten she was once my subordinate."
"That's in the past. Now she's more of a colleague."
Looking at the timeline, in the current Demon Lord's Army, Luciana was actually the senior one. Hearing my response, Diera furrowed her brows openly. With a sullen expression, she puffed out her cheeks, then slowly stood up. She headed straight for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To the mess hall! I'm hungry!"
Diera shouted in frustration and stormed out of the audience chamber. She's probably still irritated because she didn't like my answer, but she seems quite vexed overall.
Personally, I want to solve this problem quickly.
To keep Diera's tantrums in check, I need to figure out the true identity of my opponent soon.