The Author's Viewpoint-Chapter 73 - The Named Demons

Demon activity increasing around the Dissidia Kingdom?

Just hearing Logan say it made Tave’s chest tighten. A creeping discomfort swept through him. Because... hell! This was serious.

Yes, that serious. This wasn’t just a political concern or a territorial issue. It was massive. Far bigger than what most people likely understood. The implications were terrifying.

Let’s take a step back and talk about demons for a moment.

Demons, in essence, weren’t that different from humans, elves, dwarves, dragons, giants, or beastkin. They were intelligent, sentient beings. The difference? The vast, overwhelming majority. Maybe 99% of them, resided in a separate world. A realm known as Hell. freewёbnoνel.com

Hell, put simply, was a distorted mirror of Yunatea. A parallel world, where only demons walked. Though the realms were divided, there were ways, specific methods, for demons to cross over into Yunatea... and vice versa.

But the real danger didn’t come from just any demon.

It came from the Named Demons.

These were beings of terrifying power, monsters whose strength was so immense they were classified among the 72 Ranks of Named Demons. The lower the number, the greater the power. These weren’t just soldiers or scouts, they were rulers. Kings. Warlords. Tyrants who dominated vast territories within Hell.

And nearly all of them had one shared obsession: escaping Hell.

They weren’t content with the dominion they held. No, they wanted more. More land, more power, more control. They wanted Yunatea. And they were always seeking the cracks, the loopholes, any chance to cross over.

And now... now they were surfacing near Dissidia?

This! This was the turning point. A moment that would reshape everything.

Because this was the moment. The beginning of it all. The moment when demons would first start to appear openly in the regions of the Dissidia Kingdom.

The moment that would mark the beginning of... Tave inhaled sharply.

...the fall of Dissidia.

A catastrophe so colossal, so unstoppable, that it was beyond anyone’s ability to prevent.

Like... This wasn’t supposed to happen for another five years! It wasn’t meant to come this soon!

Tave had prepared himself for that timeline. He had carved out five full years in his mind. Five years to train, to climb, to build his strength, his levels, his everything. That was the window. That was the time he thought he had.

But now?

Damn!

Reality was shifting right under his feet.

Of course, deep down, he’d always known it wouldn’t follow the novel exactly. He couldn’t rely on that script, not anymore. This wasn’t a story written in his book. This was the real world now, and it had already begun veering off course.

And at the heart of that deviation... was Theo.

The original protagonist.

If Theo had done something, anything, that wasn’t in line with the original story, it could’ve easily triggered the change. It could’ve twisted the timeline into something unpredictable, something dangerous. And if the flow of time was already bending...

Then that meant catastrophe was coming.

The kind that couldn’t be undone.

Damn it!

There was no way Tave could afford to take things slow anymore. No more waiting around to hit his targets comfortably. No more calculated pacing. He had to act. Fast. Now.

The princess of the Dissidia Kingdom was coming to Deadbay City. And this, this was one of the key moments from the novel. A major turning point.

Tave drew in a long breath, steadying himself as he listened closely to what Logan continued to say.

"Her Highness, Princess Baneth," Logan continued. "She’s coming to bring several knights. At least Gaia Guardian level, to reinforce the defenses around the capital, and to help secure more scattered regions across the kingdom."

Princess Baneth.

Tave exhaled slowly the moment her name was spoken. That name carried weight, and not just because of her royal title.

Tave took another look at his current status.

[ Name: Tave ]

[ Level - Stage: 20 - Gaia Apprentice ]

[ Elements: Dark (Burned Out) | Fire (High) ]

[ Sigils: Shadow Cloak (Sealed) ]

[ Relics: The Flamebound Seraph ]

[ Echoes: None ]

[ Pacts: None ]

His elemental slots already showed two affinities. One of them, Dark, was currently burned out, a direct result of his Core being fully exhausted. His Shadow Cloak Sigil had likewise become sealed, rendered inaccessible until he could restore and reignite his first core.

Even with a Sigil and a Relic already in his possession, there was still one more power source. Perhaps the most extraordinary within the entire system of Gaia Force. It was called an Echo, a force so rare and transcendent that only a select few could ever hope to access it.

In the most straightforward terms, an Echo was borrowed power. But not just from anyone. It came from gods, divine entities, and legendary beings whose existence towered far beyond mortal comprehension. These beings could, under sacred and binding terms, lend their strength to a chosen individual through a powerful contract.

And that contract was what they called an Echo.

Of course, considering the scale of such a contract... it wasn’t something that happened often. We’re talking about deities. Mythical, eternal beings, sharing even a fraction of their power with a mortal. That wasn’t just rare, it was revered.

Only a handful had ever been granted this privilege.

Tave exhaled once more, this time longer, heavier. Because Princess Baneth... Not just her. Her older brother did too.

Both of them... wielded Echoes!

Two individuals in the entire kingdom possessing Echoes, an extraordinary feat by any measure. And yet, even with such awe-inspiring power among its ranks, it still wasn’t enough to lift Dissidia from its reputation as the weakest kingdom on the continent.

Why? Because the strength wasn’t widespread enough. Not enough solid coverage. Not enough high-level forces to boost the kingdom’s collective might. Two Echoes weren’t nearly enough to sway the balance of power.

The arrival of Princess Baneth in Deadbay City... that was something Tave himself had written into the original version of this story. Seeing it unfold like this, right in front of him. It was surreal.

Logan continued. "Her Highness will take with her as many as she needs. Whoever she deems fit to serve as reinforcements."

Tave and Lily listened intently, not missing a word.

And then, almost hesitantly, Logan added, "That... might mean I’ll need to stay in the capital for a while."

The room fell quieter.

Logan turned his gaze toward Lily. "You need to recover, Lily. Fully."

Lily didn’t say a word. She simply gave a slow, solemn nod.

"Father," Tave said.

Logan turned to him.

"Can you explain more clearly just how far the demons’ activities have spread?"

There was a moment of silence. Then Logan’s expression shifted, just slightly, but enough for Tave to notice. A tension in his jaw. A flicker in his gaze.

"We’re still interrogating everyone involved, Tave," he replied. "But... it’s very likely someone opened a path. Let them into the kingdom."

Tave gave a slow, tight nod. His jaw clenched, his teeth pressing together as the weight of that truth settled in.

It was clear. If a major campaign was forming, Commander Logan, their father, would undoubtedly be taken along. He was one of the few with the authority and skill to lead knights into full-scale battle in Deadbay.

But that also meant something else: Deadbay’s defenses would suffer. Without Logan, their military strength would take a hard hit. The city would be left vulnerable.

Or perhaps... Perhaps that was exactly why the forest elves of the Vensalor Kingdom had shown up earlier than expected. A precaution. A quiet preparation for what was coming.

At this point, Tave felt like he’d completely lost track of everything unfolding in the world around him. The pace, the shifts. It was too fast, too far off-script. And it left him with a single, pressing realization:

He had to catch up. Fast. With everything. He couldn’t afford to fall behind.

What if... the war against the demons really did begin soon?

That terrifying possibility was now lingering closer than ever. No longer a distant, abstract threat. Not when signs were already surfacing.

Especially considering what happened in the rift during their last expedition. They’d encountered a demon there. Not one of the 72 Named Demons. But still a demon nonetheless. That alone was more than enough of a warning.

Because if even low-tier demons had begun slipping through into the rifts... Then the veil between Hell and Yunatea was thinning.

And if those cracks were forming, it was only a matter of time before the Named ones followed. The real threats. The rulers of Hell.

Tave clenched his jaw. The war wasn’t just coming. It was already whispering at the edges of their world.