## Chapter 1331 – The Mazoku

Incredibly, all of that could now be considered mine.

The aerial fortress floating above the capital was definitely mine. The remaining four airships were also mine. If I could just subdue the Mazoku inside and take the crew as prisoners, I could operate them myself.

Of course, things like bombing with the aerial fortress or the airships weren’t really useful to me. Frankly, I didn’t expect much from the combat aspect.

But it was an aerial fortress.

That floating citadel, about the size of a small city… No lie, it looked incredibly useful. First of all, the technology inside was amazing. Not only could that huge thing float, but it could even navigate through dimensions, and the interior was perfectly equipped with amenities.

Most of all, it was badass.

It was freaking badass.

The coolness was off the charts.

If I played my cards right, I could even make something like that my home. That flying fortress that I could move around as I pleased. Wasn’t that the perfect thing for Kim Kat to call home?

And the airships, well. There was no way airplanes could be useless.

I could use them in some way. The emergence of airplanes was nothing short of a distribution revolution. And if there were engineers inside, I could extract their technology.

Of course, this was all based on the best-case scenario. The probability of it not happening was higher, but as I always said.

There was no such thing as impossible for the Heavenly Demon Kim Kat.

I was just that kind of absurd man.

“I know. But how can we subdue them safely…”
“Honestly, if they start bombing, saying ‘let’s all die together,’ the capital will be finished. Don’t you think?”
“Karin is right. Unless we subdue them in an instant, that’s highly likely.”

Not knowing what I was thinking, they started discussing how to subdue the aerial fortress and the remaining Mazoku inside.

Since I had said I would do it, they were planning to carry it out.

“But, hey.”
“Hmm?”
“The Mazoku inside aren’t that strong, right? We can handle them, can’t we?”

At Karin’s words, I thought about their combat power for a moment. The Mazoku captains… they were quite strong, but they didn’t possess transcendental power.

“Yeah. That’s right. Those guys are no match for us. Only the Demon King was a transcendent.”

Even if they fought directly, they could all be crushed.

Anyway, as soon as I said that, Liztina clapped her hands.

“That’s great. Then I’ll go with you. We’ll need some people to subdue the Mazoku inside. I should step up at times like this.”
“Oh…! Yes! Sister!”

Honestly, this wasn’t something I could solve with my power alone.

“Let’s go together!!”
“Yes!”

If I went with them, the task of subduing the remaining Mazoku would be much easier. The inside was so winding like a maze. Now that it was already mine, I wasn’t going to destroy everything while searching.

“Ah! Kat! How about asking the Royal Knights for some help! If Kat orders them, they won’t be able to refuse! No one!!!”

As Hilde said energetically.

“Well… if Blackie tells them, wouldn’t they love it so much they’d cry, rather than hate it? Blackie is already seen as a god or a hero.”

Winia said, licking her lips.

“Oh…! Now that I think about it, that might be true! As expected, Winia has two thinking pouches attached here, so she comes up with such ideas…!”
“Boobs! Don’t touch my boobs!”

Good.

“Hilde’s idea is good too. Should we ask them to help?”
“Blackie! Stop Hilde quickly!”

Hilde was violently grabbing and squeezing Winia’s breasts.

“Hehehe, you should overcome that yourself. Winia.”
“Ah! Seriously!”
“Ah! Winia! I won’t do it! Just kidding! Just kidding!”

Anyway.

“Good. Then let’s go back to the capital and infiltrate that fortress above together. We can go inside and subdue the remaining Mazoku.”
“Yes!”

Everyone nodded at those words.

“But, everyone.”

But there was something more important to say than that.

“Listen to me for a moment.”
“Kat?”
“Blackie?”

I don’t think everyone has thought about it yet.
Let me explain.

“The aerial fortress… it’s floating in the sky right now, right?”
“Yes? Is there something wrong?”
“No. It’s not a problem. Just think about it for a moment. Now that the Demon King is dead… the Mazoku inside. If we subdue them properly.”

I swallowed once and continued.

“Now that aerial fortress. It’s going to be ours, right?”

The moment I said that.

ㅡ…
ㅡ…
ㅡ…

The air froze. Silence fell instantly. The women seemed to realize that fact only then, and they covered their mouths.

“Ah! That, that’s right!”

Risha shouted as if she had realized something.

No, Risha, you should have realized that sooner…

* * *

“To take over the Mazoku’s aerial fortress? Really. What an amazing idea. It’s so shocking that I’m dizzy. But it’s even more amazing that it seems like it will succeed.”

Kadie also expressed her surprise.

“Kat…! You’ve really got something amazing!!! To take possession of that!!!”

Cloudy was so moved that she burst into tears.

“No. We haven’t taken it yet. Hold back the tears for now. Let’s cry later. Later.”
“Kat. If Kat wants to get it, it’s already as good as Kat’s!”
“Ah. That’s right. Hehehe, yes. That’s right. It’s mine from now on.”

Anyway, not only Cloudy but everyone else was very excited and sharing their opinions.

“Oh my. Oh my oh my. Oh my goodness. Really? That floating fortress… we’re going to have it? Really? Then can we live there? Hey, what was the inside like?”

First of all, Liztina was greatly excited.

I briefly explained the internal structure to her. Honestly, it was a better building than the Karga Royal Palace. The internal facilities were also close to those of modern Earth, so it seemed convenient to do anything.

“Quickly!!! We have to take it over quickly!!! Subdue all the guys inside and make the crew prisoners!!!”

Liztina was jumping up and down.

“Yes! We have to do that!”

Hilde was also jumping up and down next to her.

These women have too much energy.

“Blackie? Does that mean those airships… are all ours too?”
“Oh! That’s right! That’s right! We can take those over too, can’t we!”

At Winia’s words, Karin also burst into excitement. She was greatly excited at the thought of getting her hands on the Mazoku’s superior weapons.

“Father.”

As they were sharing their opinions, Ari whispered to me.

“I can lift up the Royal Knights. I did something similar when I caught the Vampire Lord…”
“Ah. Growing plants big?”
“Yes. Wouldn’t it be possible to send the knights up with that…?”
“That’s definitely good. I’ll ask you when the time comes. Ari.”
“Yes.”

It was like Jack and the Beanstalk, sending the knights up.

“From now on.”

While the story was progressing in that way, Kadie gathered our attention in one place.

“We need to establish a suppression operation as quickly and accurately as possible.”

Kadie, who had received everyone’s attention, spoke as if she was trying to organize the situation.

“It’s a little embarrassing to say this in front of warriors who have come through the front lines… but this Saintess has experience leading the Holy Knights. May I put forward an operation plan?”

As expected of a Saintess.
Her professional habits were coming out.

“Of course! Of course!”
“Quickly! Quickly!”

Liztina and Karin cheered. Certainly, Kadie had the most experience in establishing military operations here. Because she was the Saintess of the Order, she had command of the Holy Knights. She had dispatched Holy Knights to various parts of the kingdom countless times.

“Thank you. Then let’s start by going over the most important things first.”

Kadie continued in a serious tone.

“In the worst-case scenario, when executing the suppression operation… the Mazoku may try to drop the aerial fortress on their own. Or they may try to erase the capital with bombing.”

Everyone nodded at those words.

“Yes. Certainly. There’s no other way for the Mazoku now. Kat has killed the Demon King.”
“Honestly, I would have done the same.”
“Winia is scary!”
“Ah, Hilde, are you going to keep doing that!”

Hilde kept teasing Winia, and the story continued.

“Not only that, but they can navigate through dimensions. There’s a chance they’ll retreat. Pala… no. Let’s call him Paladin. What’s the probability that the current Mazoku have noticed the Demon King’s death?”
“High.”

They had no choice but to know.

“There’s no way they wouldn’t have sensed the intense energy that the Demon King emitted. Especially the Mazoku inside the fortress would have sensed it.”
“Kat is right. We can assume they already know. I could feel it too.”

Cloudy nodded and took my words.

“…”

Risha also nodded. Risha was being careful because she was in front of Kadie. She would decide whether to reveal it after the Mazoku incident was properly resolved.

Anyway, the Demon King, who had been exploding with immense energy, went outside with me, and soon the Demon King’s energy completely disappeared along with even greater energy.

That meant many things.

Only the Demon King’s death or escape.

I don’t know what the Mazoku would think, but if they had a commander with any sense, they would have assumed the worst. They had already seen my power. They would know about the Demon King’s death now.

“Then I’ll assume that the Mazoku have a high probability of noticing the Demon King’s death. There are only a limited number of things that those who have lost their king will do. Perhaps revenge or retreat. That’s what a normal army would do.”

That was right.

“But bringing an aerial fleet means… there’s evidence that they have a base somewhere in that other world. They have a place to return to.”
“Yes.”

I had been thinking about that all along. But I didn’t have the time to think about it right now, so I had put it aside. The Mazoku must have some kind of base. A large space where they could create aerial fortresses and airships.

That wasn’t the Demon Realm. I knew for sure from my conversation with the Demon King.

It was literally an unknown other world.

The Demon King kept mentioning the other world. Well, I could find out by taking the Mazoku as prisoners and interrogating them.

“Because they have a place to return to. In this Saintess’s opinion… they will try to escape as quickly as possible.”
“Hmm.”
“I honestly don’t think they’ll have time to bomb. That’s literally the worst-case scenario. If this Saintess were a Mazoku, I would try to escape before Paladin arrived.”

That was a very persuasive statement.

Then what we needed to keep in mind from now on was time. We had to subdue them before they escaped.

“Oh… as expected, the Saintess is a Saintess.”

As Karin admired, Kadie smiled.

“Hmph, it’s what I’ve been doing for a long time. This much is easy.”
“Reliable. Very. I’m looking forward to the future.”
“The future?”

Karin smiled and said that.

“But Kadie, there’s also a chance that the Mazoku will call for revenge.”
“Of course there is. But if we consider that here now, we won’t be able to carry out any suppression operations.”
“That’s right, Hilde.”

If the Mazoku wanted revenge and bombed.
There was only one thing I could do.

“If the aerial fortress spews fire at the ground.”

There was no need for any compromise.

“I’m just going to turn it into dust.”

It would be a waste, but if they did that, there was no other way but to turn it into dust.

“Ah…”
“As expected… Paladin is really…”

As I declared firmly, Kadie looked at me and blushed.

“L, let’s continue the story.”

Anyway, Kadie quickly continued to establish the suppression operation.

She was very passionate.

Setting attack targets. Distinguishing between those who could be taken as prisoners and those who couldn’t. And even the treatment of prisoners and summary executions. It was literally an operation with clear criteria, to the point where you could say she was skilled at hunting heretics. There might be problems if you looked closely, but it was an operation that had to be executed right now. This much outline was enough. Let’s adjust the rest with our own judgment on the spot.

“It would be nice if we could get help from the Knights… but it seems physically difficult because it’s in the sky. It wouldn’t be good for the Paladins who can fly to carry the knights one by one, so in the end, the operation will only be with the people here…”

Ari, who had been watching Kadie speak, sent me a signal.

“Kadie.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t worry about that. Ari.”
“Yes.”

ㅡSnap.

The moment Ari snapped her fingers.

ㅡThwack!

A huge vine soared up.
That thick vine instantly grew to the size of an apartment building.

“…”

Kadie was speechless.

ㅡSqueak.

Then, like a robot, it turned its gaze towards us.

“Kadie. This is that. That. Ancient magic. I got it by chance, and our Ari learned it. It’s plant magic. We can use this to make a path to the fortress.”
“Yes. It’s plant magic. And my identity is a mysterious plant magician who has learned ancient magic.”

Ari spouted such lies with the same expressionless face.

“…Let’s gather all the usable forces.”

Kadie, who had been frozen for a moment, gave such an answer.