Makai Hongi

Chapter 178

○ ?????? Golan Golan

“Where am I?”

It was a world that was entirely white.

There was some kind of white fog all the way up to my knees.

Even when I walked, I couldn’t see anything ahead of me.

I didn’t even know if there was an end to any of this.

“Don’t tell me that this is the afterlife.”

Had I lost the fight?

I tried to think back on it, but had no memories of my final moments.

Yes, I was quite sure that I was fighting a powerful enemy.

But that was it. It was as if there was a lock on the rest of it.

As I continued to walk, a figure appeared in the distance.

“Hey! Wait. Tell me where I am!”

I said as I ran towards it. It turned out to be an Ogre youth, just like me.

And he was familiar as well. But I couldn’t recall any names.

I should know it. Who was this person?

But the feeling was not mutual, and the Ogre stared at me suspiciously.

“What? Who are you?”

“Me? Golan. An Ogre.”

It was probably someone from my village. I couldn’t remember his name, but the face was familiar.

“Don’t be stupid. I’m Golan. In the first place, you’re not even an Ogre. Just look at that sickly body of yours.”

“What? Do you want me to bash your head in?”

It had been a while since an Ogre last picked a fight with me.

Didn’t he know this?

“How interesting. No one has challenged me for so long. You’re an odd one, you are.”

He was talking like me now… No, wait. Something was strange.

“You… I thought you looked familiar! Do you look like me?”

“What? What do you mean… No, you do look like me. What the hell…”

We looked at each other closely.

I thought he looked like me, but there were slight differences. Apparently, he felt the same way.

“I’m Golan.”

“I’m also Golan.”

“…”

“…”

“So, you’re me?”

“I’m me. …So, you’re me?”

I finally understood it.

That was why we looked alike.

And apparently, my body was no longer that of an Ogre.

I looked down as it hit me. This was the body I had as a human.

“Hey, you. Let’s talk.”

“Aye. I’ve always wanted to talk to you.”

“…In other words, I’m the soul that was fished out from the pot, and you are the Ogre whose soul I was stuck to. …And then we reincarnated as an Ogre. Do you understand?”

After we talked, we tried to organize all of the information we had.

“Why is it you, and not me who is usually on the surface?”

It was a good question.

It was an Ogre body, so it was strange that the human soul should be the one with control.

However, I was sure that there was a reason for it.

“I believe it’s because the ‘size of the soul’ was too big for the body. That had nearly caused our death during childhood. After all, it was two souls when the body hadn’t been fully formed yet. Back then, our body had been screaming. While we were saved by slowly increasing the capacity of the soul, we would have died otherwise.”

“I see. So the body would not have been able to stand it if I was out there first.”

“Exactly. It must have been some kind of defensive instinct in the body. I think that if you had come out while we were a child, our body would have exploded. It won’t happen anymore, but even still, the body was not enough for two souls.”

“I see. I understand what you are saying. …So, what is happening to us now?”

“That’s what I want to know… But we’re probably just souls? Considering where we are, perhaps this is inside of the body?”

“I see. It feels strange, but I’m glad that I was able to talk to you.”

“Me too. We’re two people using the same body. We’re not strangers, but not family either… What is our relationship, I wonder?”

“It’s too complicated for me to understand.”

“That’s true. Regardless, I just thought of the perfect name.”

“What?”

“Soul brothers. What do you think?”

“Soul brothers, huh? It’s not bad. Alright, from today, you and I are soul brothers.”

“Let’s shake on it, soul brother.”

It was a firm handshake.

○ Miralda

Thanks to the efforts of my subordinates, we succeeded in defeating Demon King Janius’s army.

Minish was currently pursuing those that escaped. It would be open season for those hunters until the enemy reached the border.

That damn Dragon Eater. Clearly they could not spare any soldiers outside of the invasion force.

Regardless, Minish had been given orders to do her worst. It didn’t matter how much the enemy would hate us later.

The problem was the west.

It was as chaotic as ever.

We had received word that Lesser Demon King Yunus was going around and wreaking havoc.

However, it had apparently started because the surrounding countries had been antagonizing Yunus.

Still, this sounded strange to me.

–Which countries had started it?

Lesser Demon King Chiril and Lesser Demon King Listoris had already been defeated, and so both were very busy with rebuilding.

It was the same with the other countries.

So who had done it? And what reason could they have for attacking Yunus’s country?

“…Well, there’s no point in talking about that right now.”

The battle was still being waged, and this country would feel the effects.

Soldiers that had already been dispatched found it difficult to distinguish friend from foe in the current situation. All the countries were suspicious and hostile against one another now.

If we tried to bring an end to the warring, we would only find ourselves the next target.

It really was the end. At this point it was better to intervene with their own army so that they could control the direction that things would be headed in.

“Lesser Demon King Yunus’s army is retreating.”

That was unexpected news.

“Retreating? What’s the situation?”

“We do not know. It was so sudden.”

“What’s happening in the country?”

“It must be something big for them to call back their troops.”

“Indeed…”

Halm was listening next to her and agreed.

“Well, nevermind. If Yunus’s army is not around, then we should prioritize the stability of the surrounding area. Go and tell that to Oake.”

Surely Oake would be able to deal with it.

It had been the most vicious of battles, but the situation would be quite different with Yunus’s retreat.

“Where will you be headed?”

“Ralf is the closest. I will go there.”

“Understood.”

We would change directions and head to a different battlefield.

Ahead of us…

“I bring news, General. Lesser Demon King Monin has started to retreat.”

First Yunus, and now Monin’s army!?

“What the hell is happening?”