Chapter 443: What? Walking Five Million? The Six Devils?

Chapter 443: What? Walking Five Million? The Six Devils?

Without time to think further, the purple worms swarmed forward, leaving the Black Unicorn's mages with no choice but to engage in battle.

Rod calmly observed their performance, some casting fireballs with their magic wands, while others launched magic missiles that seemed to be of the dark attribute.

There were also ability-based mages, who had a higher accuracy rate than those using wands, and their attacks were slightly more powerful.

Additionally, there were close-range fighters like mage knights, who positioned themselves on the outer circle, coordinating with their companions to counter the attacks.

Overall, they seemed slightly stronger than ordinary soldiers, demonstrating some level of cooperative combat skills.

In Rod's eyes, these guys were probably considered quite capable within the dark guild, as several hundred Void Worms had been eliminated before they even got close.

Rod focused his attention on two wind magic users and five or six sword-wielders, wanting to see if the murderer was among them.

He also wondered if there were any high-level combatants present—he hadn't sensed any exceptionally powerful magic yet.

The magical bombardment had subsided, and as ordinary mages couldn't sustain prolonged magical combat, it was time for close-quarters fighting.

The worms were no match for the mage knights, but none of them possessed the sword skills capable of dealing the devastating damage Rod had imagined.

Under the circumstances, Rod decided to capture the wind magic users and their guild master for interrogation.

The most conspicuous individual, who seemed to be issuing commands, was likely a high-ranking member, if not the guild master.

As the worms were nearly eradicated, and only a dozen or so of the enemy mages had fallen, gasping for breath as they slowly approached Rod, he offered a kind smile.

"Summon, Canyon Vanguard!"

A massive purple creature suddenly appeared, roaring skyward. Its enormous size and fearsome appearance exerted immense psychological pressure on the Black Unicorn members.

"W-What is that monster?"

"That thing is specifically here to deal with us!"

"Boss, what should we do now?"

The boss had no idea either. He hadn't heard of any famous mages capable of such powerful magic, especially in summoning. Those who could wield such strong summoning magic should be well-known.

In his memory, there were only two people capable of summoning magic. One was the giant tree their guild relied on—one of the Six Devil Generals.

The other was known as the Beast Tamer, a member of a legitimate guild. But that person seemed to summon creatures like crabs, birds, and wolves...

Wait a minute!

Crabs?!

They hesitated, but Rod didn't waver for a moment: "Knock them away, but try not to kill them."

The Canyon Vanguard felt the summoner's request was excessive, but it had no choice but to comply.

It rumbled forward, without the purple glow trailing behind, indicating it wasn't using any skills, just a regular charge.

Despite the massive creature's sluggish appearance, its actual speed was impressive.

A chorus of wails and screams filled the air as over twenty people were sent flying by the Canyon Vanguard's charge.

The remaining dozen or so individuals quickly launched various attacks at the Canyon Vanguard, some failing to breach its defenses, while others managed to inflict minor damage.

In response, they received a sweeping blow from its massive tail.

Rod stood still for ten seconds, observing only groaning and struggling individuals, with no one leaping up to initiate the second phase.

Satisfied, he summoned the Shadow Wolf and River Crab, instructing them to retrieve the fallen enemies.

Across the battlefield, Mira noticed the Shadow Wolf's disappearance while the other wild creatures remained, indicating that Rod had resolved the situation without encountering formidable foes.

She bid farewell to the village chief's wife and ordered the wild creatures to stand guard while she ventured outside the village to assess the situation.

By the time Mira arrived, Rod was interrogating several unfortunate souls.

Two wind magic users, one of whom was the leader.

All three had received a special treatment, leaving their faces slightly disfigured.

The leader, named Cruen, spoke with a slurred voice: "It's because the Six Devil Generals suddenly increased the 'fee' amount for some reason. As their affiliated guild, we had to obey their orders and find a way to gather the funds."

The Balam Alliance, a dark guild, consisted of three major forces: the Gates of Hell, Devil's Heart, and the Six Devil Generals. Each of the three major guilds had smaller guilds under their command.

These minor guilds enjoyed the protection of the major guilds in exchange for following their orders and paying regular fees, which were essentially protection money.

These individuals had attempted to intimidate Rod with the reputation of the Six Devil Generals, only to receive a few slaps from the Shadow Wolf's claws on their faces.

Rod casually asked, "So, your plan to gather funds was to rob this village?"

"Well... we were actually planning to rob a commercial guild or a bank, but the risk was too high. Robbing a wealthy village seemed like a more convenient option."

A few days ago, we heard that there was going to be a festival here, and we wanted to take advantage of the chaos to make a fortune..."

Realizing that this statement might get him into trouble, Cruen quickly added, "We just wanted to rob them, we didn't plan on hurting anyone."

Rod didn't believe his nonsense for a second. "Then what about the murder case from a few days ago?"

The three of them were stunned. "Murder case? What murder case?"

Rod furrowed his brows, studying their expressions... Their reactions didn't seem like they were lying.

Mira expressed her understanding of Rod's act of vigilante justice and asked if he needed any help.

In her judgment, these three didn't seem to be lying either.

She asked, "What about the ones with swords?"

Rod shook his head. "They're too weak. They don't seem like the kind of people who could leave those kinds of marks."

Mira sent a deep bubble towards the ones screaming the loudest, and they immediately became still.

This scared the three who were being interrogated, thinking that they had died.

Rod persisted and asked one last question, "A few days ago, there was a murder nearby. Did you hear anything about it?"

"Yes! Yes!" One of them, a wind magic user, fearing he might be disposed of, shouted anxiously, "If someone committed the crime, it could only be that guy! We heard about the Harvest Festival here from him!"

"You mean him?"

"That person?"

The other two were startled.

Rod had no patience for their riddles and pressed, "Who?"

Cruen answered with a hint of fear, "The Grim Reaper, Aragal."

Mira was surprised. "The Iron Forest's ace?"

Rod was also taken aback. "Five million... No, Aragal! Do you still have contact with him?"

Cruen had heard that Aragal had a bounty of 5 million J on his head, and the person in front of him was actually trying to claim that bounty! That guy was terrifying... Oh, this guy was scary too.

He had no choice but to tell the truth, "Because the Iron Forest is one of the guilds under the Six Demon Generals, apart from the Naked Mummy, they're probably the strongest one.

But the Iron Forest was suddenly wiped out by Fairy Tail, and then... Ah! You're from Fairy Tail!"

The blow he had just received was so sudden and heavy that Cruen only now realized who his opponent was.

Mira glanced at Rod. The Iron Forest was wiped out by Erza and her team, and the Naked Mummy was taken down by Rod and Gray with the help of the Council of Judges...

They had inadvertently destroyed two of their strongest branches, oh, and today they had taken out one that wasn't as strong.

The guild seemed to have a connection with the Six Demon Generals.

Rod felt the same way, sensing that this feud was deepening, and it was uncertain when they would face off directly.

However, he still knew very little about the Six Demon Generals, only that they were powerful enough for just six of them to be among the top three forces in the underworld, and they couldn't be underestimated.

Perhaps he could extract some information about the Six Demon Generals from these men.

"Continue with Aragal."

"Yes!" Knowing that these two were from Fairy Tail, Cruen became even more afraid to resist.

Fairy Tail was a legitimate guild, but it was said to be filled with rule-breaking individuals.

They would casually destroy a town or raze a few villages, sometimes acting even more like a dark guild than actual dark guilds.

There was a persistent rumor in the underworld that these guys might become the fourth major force at any time.

So Cruen obediently spilled everything he knew, like a little chick, fearing various forms of torture.

"So, you came here to rob them simply because you needed money, and you happened to learn about the festival from Aragal?"

"Yes."

"Then why did he come here? Where is he now?"

"Aragal probably just took on a regular assassination mission. We don't know his whereabouts, but he asked us about the location of the Waise Tree Sea."

"Waise Tree Sea?" Mira felt like she had heard of it before.

"In the southern mountains near Neko-Mebo-Hoshi, there's a vast forest," Rod said with a frown.

"So, Aragal's next destination is likely there, either to hide or for his next mission."

Mira voiced Rod's greatest concern, "Wendy and Shaluna..."

The most famous place nearby was Neko-Mebo-Hoshi. Was Aragal after them? Rod was a bit worried, but thinking of the old man, Robinルー, protecting Wendy and the others, he felt they should be safe.

He decided that after this mission, he would go and check on them. If he didn't run into them, they would be prepared, and if he did... he might earn some extra cash.

"Do you have any other information about Aragal?" Rod asked, "It's best to think it through before speaking. Otherwise, if I find out something you've hidden from me elsewhere, you'll be feeding the wolves."

"No, I swear! I've told you everything I know about Aragal!"

"Good." Rod took out his notebook, "Now, tell me about the Six Demon Generals. What are their names, genders, ages, distinctive features, and their magic specialties..."

Krun now suspected that Rod was from the Council of Judges, specifically from the interrogation unit, as this barrage of questions nearly overwhelmed him.

But he had no choice but to answer honestly.

Rod meticulously recorded everything, but unfortunately, this person didn't know enough. While they could describe general features, they didn't even know the names of those individuals.

Krun only knew that all six of them used code names: Overlord, Laser, Cobra, Heat Vision, Angel, and Midnight.

The descriptions of their magic were vague, and some didn't even know the approximate effects.

The only one who stood out was Angel, a white-haired woman who used summoning magic and could 'see into people's hearts.' These last two traits seemed familiar to Rod and Mira.

They had encountered a cloaked woman who used Celestial Magic and could use the Gemini Star Spirit to read others' thoughts...

But... would a member of the Six Demon Generals from a dark guild go out of their way to rescue abducted children?

Both of them subconsciously ruled out this possibility.

However, as a reference, Rod jotted down a note to revisit when sorting through the information later.

Krun knew that each of the Six Demon Generals was formidable, but he had no idea just how powerful they were.

He only knew that any one of them could easily take down their guild, which was why they obediently paid protection fees to the dark guild.

Rod squeezed every bit of information from Krun's mind, then had Mira hypnotize him to question others.

After cross-referencing the information, they deemed it mostly trustworthy. They tied them up, cast a sleep spell, and left them in the care of the wild monsters, intending to hand them over to the kingdom's army or local security team after the festival.

Having identified the suspect in the recent murder case and captured a group of troublemakers, Rod felt a sense of relief.

"Now, there's just one more question. Why is the village chief so hesitant to speak?"

Mira speculated, "Could it be that there's some valuable treasure in the village that he's worried about being stolen, but he doesn't want to tell us?"

"Maybe... But we've already issued a named task; it's not like we're withholding trust. If there is something precious, and something happens without his explanation, it won't be our responsibility."

"Hopefully, nothing happens at all." Mira linked arms with Rod and headed towards the village, "Let's go and see how the festival is going."

When the two returned to the village center, it seemed the solemn sacrificial ceremony had concluded, and the celebration was underway.

The villagers had prepared simple performances, taking turns to entertain the crowd.

Many of the acts were informal, without much rehearsal, and some even made mistakes. But both the performers and the audience laughed it off, creating a lighthearted atmosphere.

The vibe was reminiscent of a New Year's party at school, where even less impressive acts or clumsy performances by familiar people became entertaining.

The atmosphere grew livelier, and at the end, someone started cheering, prompting the villagers to applaud and invite Rod and Mira to perform magic.

Not wanting to dampen the mood, Rod went on stage and performed a grand transformation, turning into a wolf. He also created some visually appealing word magic, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

The children's cheers were the loudest, as this would provide new material for their usual mage games.

Mira took the stage to showcase her transformation magic, initially turning into cute little animals.

But when it came to transforming humans, she went all out, creating a series of heads on different bodies: Rod's head on Elfman's body, Gajeel's head on someone else's body, and so on.

Watching the young people in the audience, who had expected a famous model's performance, turn to stone, Mira couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.

She had wanted to do this during the Miss Fairy Tail contest but held back to win the prize money for her family. Now, even though the location had changed, she finally got her wish.

---

Title: "Restricted-Level Death God"

Summary: Shin considers himself a serious person, but he has an unusual affection system.

Can he become stronger by increasing others' affection for him?

"So, it's not me who's a playboy; it's you who can't resist the temptation!" Shin argued in response to a girl's questioning.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end