## Chapter 1043 – The One With Many Questions

And so, the next day.

The four of us sped towards the last remaining sector. Whatever the case, once we’d searched this place, there wouldn’t be a single spot within the encirclement we hadn’t checked.

Therefore, we should be able to figure out whether the gate we were looking for actually existed. Unless Hilde had sensed the gate’s energy that day, only for it to disappear suddenly. Anyway, it would be incredibly frustrating if neither the gate nor the Great Demon was there, but the odds were pretty high that they would be.

Thinking such thoughts, we diligently sped along and managed to enter the encirclement faster than expected.

“Katt. Look over there.”
“Oh.”

As Claudia pointed towards the distance, we saw knights.

“Ah, there’s something there.”
“Aren’t those knights?”
“Looks like it.”

It seemed they were indeed knights from the kingdom. They must be a search party sent inside the encirclement, and they noticed us too, turning their heads and approaching.

“Ah! It’s the Paladin!”

Recognizing me, they greeted me cheerfully.

“We’ve heard the story. About your friend being assaulted. We were very surprised to hear that. I’d like to offer our apologies once again.”
“You’re talking about that friend named Jeren. Don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you for your generosity. But who are the people behind you…”

The knight looked behind me.

“Karin Vestart.”

Karin answered in a low voice.

“They’re my companions.”
“Ah, I see.”

The knight and my companions exchanged brief bows, greeting each other.

“Anyway, seeing you here, does that mean you’ve come to launch some kind of attack operation?”
“That’s right.”

I spoke with the knight for a moment, hoping to glean some information. It turned out they were also out on reconnaissance, believing that the culprit behind this whole mess was definitely inside.

“But aren’t the Holy Knights coming inside the encirclement?”
“Ah… those fellows are currently hunting down remnants of demons outside. I don’t know if you’re aware, but small gates are being created intermittently. So we can’t ignore the outside of the encirclement either.”

The Holy Knights’ eyes must have glazed over at the sight of the petty demons outside the encirclement, preventing them from advancing this far.

“I know.”

I was already aware of the intermittently appearing gates. I continued to chat with the knight for a bit longer.

“It would be wonderful if the Paladin could help with the search. Are you heading that way?”
“Yes.”
“If you find anything, please let us know. Of course, we will also cooperate with the Paladin.”
“Thank you for your kind words. I will certainly cooperate. Then, farewell.”

And so, we parted ways with the search party of knights and went our own way. Since the search area was already quite narrow, whether it was them or us, we would all find out within today or tomorrow.

“But what are we going to do if we find it? Should we attack right away? Or just find the location and go back?”

Karin asked while we were running.

“Yeah. There might just be a gate, or just a Great Demon. Or maybe both. What should we do?”
“Hmm.”

What should we do?

“I think it would be good to just run into it, Sis.”
“Yeah. That might be good, Katt. We can always run away, right?”

In that case.

“Then let’s just poke at whatever’s there.”

Even if there was a Great Demon, the four of us could easily kill it. And if things didn’t go well, we could always retreat for a bit.

“But if it’s just a gate, it would be good to retreat and bring everyone back.”
“Then let’s do that.”

With that decided, we continued to run, scanning our surroundings.

Running and resting, resting and running again.

After eating the food we had brought while searching, we finally found it.

“Oh. This place.”

We discovered an area that was completely blackened compared to the others. We found it after running for a full four hours. It was a bit difficult to find because of the surrounding terrain.

“Good. This place feels like something’s here. There might be a gate.”
“Keep your voice down, Karin.”
“Okay.”

—Swish.

Immediately drawing our weapons, we slowed down and began to search carefully. Even I could tell that this was a place where demons would likely be.

How long had we been searching?

It was when we crossed over a small hill.

We were able to discover something beyond the hill.

“Oh. Shit.”
“Hey… isn’t that it?”
“…”

What was there was…

—…Sitting on a square chair made by squeezing and compressing the corpses of all sorts of demons, a giant Andromalius sat still, as if deep in thought.

—I’ve finally found it.

“Oh my god.”
“Katt?”
“No. I’m not calling Claudia.”

It was truly a bizarre and unpleasant, murderous object, as if Rodin’s Thinker and the Gates of Hell had been forcibly combined. Although the two were originally a set, it wasn’t just arranged and combined, but rather felt as if they had been melted and fused together.

It was such a strange sight that you could believe that Beksinski and Giger had mixed their colors into that ominous fusion and arranged it.

“…”

Too.

It was too huge.

It was even bigger than when I saw it last time. The demon’s unique black skin seemed to contain the darkness of a night sky without a single star, and the muscles covering its entire body were like the armor of an emperor.

The three pairs of horns on its head were even more bizarrely raised than before, making it seem like we were seeing a true Great Demon, and the six red eyes embedded like spiders in its wicked face, which had no nose, ears, or mouth, were burning fiercely.

“Hey, that thing looks seriously strong, doesn’t it?”
“What’s with that appearance…”

Karin frowned, as if disgusted by its overwhelming appearance, and Liztina also shook her head.

“Is that a complete Andromalius? The arm we cut off has grown back.”

At Claudia’s words, Karin replied.

“Ah… that arm. The arm’s fine.”

Shit.

“That crazy bastard…!”

It was in perfect condition…!

In the past, we had ganged up on that weakened bastard, who had incompletely incarnated, and ultimately achieved victory. He had escaped, leaving behind only a long and strong-looking arm. We had taken that as a trophy and had quite a bit of fun with it.

Anyway, we had thought that the Andromalius that had appeared back then had only about one arm’s worth of power compared to the original… and that it would take immense power and time to regenerate an arm. That’s what Hilde had told us.

But that arm had now grown back.

Could it be that he had fully recovered his power?

We had been expecting a Great Demon to appear. And we had also anticipated that if one did appear, it would be Andromalius. But he was in better condition than I had expected, and he looked strong.

—Squeak.

Suddenly.

Andromalius, with his chin resting on his hand, mechanically turned his head to look at us.

“…”

Eyes burning like the sulfur fires of hell.
We had noticed each other’s presence.

“Hey… what the hell are you doing there?”

Unable to hold back, I asked.

“Ah.”

Even though he had no mouth, his voice came from the distance.

“You are that human from back then. I don’t know about the other two, but I remember the elf next to you.”

Andromalius, sitting on the throne made of compressed demon corpses, said in a tone and voice quite different from before.

Did this crazy bastard remember me and Claudia? No, it would be even stranger if he didn’t remember.

“If you’re asking what I was doing, I, Andromalius, was thinking.”

He continued to speak in a perfectly normal manner, as if he had no intention of fighting at all, as if he was completely at ease.

“Thinking?”

As I questioned him, Liztina poked my side.

“Why are you talking to something like that!”
“Sis, Sis. Just a moment.”
“Yeah. We should listen while we can still communicate. Just stay still.”
“But…!”

Karin was right.

From the start, a surprise attack was out of the question. If we could have ambushed him, we would have stabbed him first, but since that had failed, there was no problem in having a little conversation. And there were many things I wanted to hear.

“It’ll be fine for a moment, Sis.”
“…”

Liztina nodded, and Claudia next to her also nodded.

“You were thinking?”
“…”

I asked calmly.

I sensed that if I didn’t maintain my composure, all sorts of curses would burst out, ruining the conversation. Right now, it was extremely difficult to suppress not only my murderous intent but also my violent language.

—A strengthened Andromalius.

And a strengthened me. If the two of us were to clash, who would win? I was very curious about that. I would cut off that bastard’s head and prove my strength.

The fight would break out the moment I couldn’t control this urge.

“What were you thinking about? Answer me, Andromalius.”
“Things I’m curious about.”

An immediate answer.

“I was thinking about things I’m curious about. I was thinking about things I’m curious about. As always, I live while thinking. Satisfying my thirst for knowledge and curiosity is all that I am. From the moment I first realized this fact, I have been able to satisfy all kinds of desires only by satisfying such things. Therefore, I, Andromalius, live by exploring the things I am curious about.”

A mad rant following the immediate answer.
This bastard is still crazy.

“So what are you curious about?”
“The gates around here are managed by this Andromalius.”

I had heard that story before.

Around here. I don’t know how far around here goes, or whether the gates have to be opened in the corresponding area according to Pandemonium’s standards in order to connect to this area.

“But, strangely enough, gates that should be opened through me are appearing on their own.”
“Are you saying… that you’re supposed to manage all the gates that connect to this area?”
“It’s already out of control, but that’s how it should be originally.”
“Who gave you the duty of managing the gates?”
“It was not given to me. This Andromalius is simply doing it because it is natural for me to do so.”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. He claimed to be the manager of the gates, but he wasn’t given the duty by anyone, he just thought it was natural for him to do so?

Whatever the case, this bastard is currently thinking that he needs to manage his gates.

“Naturally? Then why do you manage the gates? Is it to prevent demons from crossing dimensions recklessly?”
“That’s how it should be. I cannot allow anyone to use the gates I manage without permission.”
“So why?”
“No one should use what belongs to this Andromalius without permission.”

Is that the only reason?
I don’t know much about the ecology of demons.

But even if you went to get permission, it seemed like you would all die like the demon chair under him.

“And so, I was thinking about that. There is no phenomenon without a cause. I have been thinking about it since that day, since the time I was defeated in the battle with you.”

He still said that while taking a pose similar to Rodin’s Thinker. To summarize, he also doesn’t know why the gates appeared. So he had been thinking about the reason in that pose.

What a useless bastard.

“In that pose?”
“That’s right.”
“What about the demons under you?”
“Troublesome things that were interfering with this Andromalius’s thinking. And trash that couldn’t give me answers. I killed them all and made them into my chair.”

What a crazy, hyper, psycho bastard.

He killed all the demons for that reason and crushed and compressed them to make his chair.

“You literally killed those bastards and made a thinking chair.”
“A thinking chair…? Did you just say a thinking chair?”

—Suddenly!

In an instant, he stood up from his seat and spread his arms as if shouting for joy.

“Ooh!!! Oooooooo….!!!! Ooooooooooooooooo….!!!!!!!!!! Oooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

A roar of joy erupted.

“Th, th…! That, that bastard is crazy!”
“Katt? Now?”

We, who had already drawn our weapons, quickly checked each other’s conditions and prepared for battle. That’s the characteristic of crazy people…! They suddenly have a seizure at an unexpected time for an unexpected reason and unleash their violence!

“Alright…! If you want it!”

I also grabbed Vygarr and gathered my strength. There are many things I’m curious about, but if I have to fight, I’ll just kill him with all my might!!

But at that moment.

—Swoosh.

Andromalius, who had been screaming for a long time, sat back in his seat and took a thinking pose. As if his violence had been instantly suppressed.

“So that’s what it’s called, a thinking chair. I thank you, human. Thanks to you, one of the questions I had has been resolved.”
“What the hell.”

What a crazy, unpredictable psycho bastard.