Chapter 91

The flight continued.

After being scolded harshly, Ludwig shrank his flame into something smaller.
Even though the heat weakened, the light grew brighter, enough to see the sea below.

“There are quite a lot of islands.”

They were uninhabited islands where no demons lived.
Of course, that didn’t mean no creatures lived there at all.

“Richmond said some of those islands might have monsters living on them, right? Not just the Sea Serpent, but smaller ones too.”

The Demon King remembered Richmond’s words.

In lands without a sun, monsters devoured each other endlessly in a hellish cycle.

Ariella narrowed her eyes.
“You’re right.”

Some islands carried the faint trace of monster mana, others did not.

Still, she didn’t sense anything on the level of a Demon King-class monster—at least not yet.

Every time they passed an island with a presence, Ariella pointed it out to Pi.

“Pi, you’re remembering the locations of these islands, right? And how far apart they are?”

“Of course! Pi never forgets!”

The dragon must have been memorizing their speed and direction down to the second.

With that, Ariella would later be able to calculate exact distances.

There was another reason she brought Pi along besides his Dragon Tongue magic.

“Later, when we’re back on land, you’ll help me, Pi.”

“If Ariella needs something, I can do anything!”

“How sweet.”

Ariella reached out and scratched the scales beneath his jaw.
Pi purred like a giant cat, satisfied.

“The old map I found in the library was too simple and only showed the currents. If we’re going to open a sea route, we’ll need a much more detailed chart.”

“A map? That sounds fun.”

With the dragon’s perfect memory, they could draw a chart that would become the greatest guide to this sea.

“The positions of these islands will be very important. A ship will need to know where it is, and we might even anchor here if necessary.”

That was why Ariella had been checking for monsters.

Hearing this, Pi grew even more excited and started boasting.

“So far we’ve passed 106 islands and 1,540 reefs! Out of those, 35 islands have monsters!”

Ariella let out a dramatic gasp.
“Wow, Pi, that’s amazing!”

“Hehe!”

“If only I could take just a tiny bit of that memory and give it to Ludwig.”

The Demon King, flying beside them, grumbled.
“Why are you picking a fight again?”

“When I teach you letters, it makes me want to scream. Even when I drill them into your head until my throat hurts, you forget them right away. It’s as bad as the retired head maid who taught me as a child.”

“Still, compared to others, don’t I learn pretty fast?”

“Let’s not talk about it.”

They continued bickering in the sky.

Then Ariella’s face suddenly darkened.
Ludwig frowned.
“You sensed something?”

All this time, Ariella had been praying silently—even while detecting smaller monsters.

Praying that the Sea Serpent wouldn’t be here.

If they searched and still couldn’t find it, then they could believe it was dead or had moved elsewhere.
That would make things easier.
They could just focus on building a ship.

But…

“Pi, over there.”

Ariella pointed, and Pi turned his head in that direction.
Ludwig followed silently.

After a while—

“Stop here.”

An island appeared beneath them.
Ariella’s eyes grew serious as she looked down.

Her senses reached deep below the rock of the island.

Something only she could do in the Demon Realm.

“……”

And then, after a moment—

“Tch. This is annoying. I was hoping it moved away. But I guess it found this place comfortable.”

Ludwig understood immediately.
“The Sea Serpent?”

“Looks like it.”

Ariella nodded.
“As they said, it really is Demon King-class. With this kind of power, there’s no mistaking it.”

The mana was overwhelming.

It wasn’t the same as demon mana—it was different in color and density.
And it spread out from beneath the island.

It almost looked like black mist, stretching like tentacles in every direction.

But what troubled Ariella most was the sheer scale of that energy.

She remembered the early days, when she had first come to the Demon Realm.

‘It’s as big as the day Ludwig fainted.’

That day, she had pushed Ludwig’s power to its limit while arguing with Bephar.

Even without chanting, the scattered power alone had crushed Bephar.

‘It’s just as massive as the power that flowed into me then.’

They circled above the island.
Still, the monster itself didn’t appear.

Instead, they found the entrance of an enormous cave in the center.

“A cave on the island… just like Richmond described.”

Ariella met Ludwig’s eyes.

“It’s the Sea Serpent.”

“Yes. The Sea Serpent.”

It wasn’t the best scenario.
But at least they had found it before building their ship.
That much was fortunate.

“Well, we’ve located our target.” Ariella’s voice was calm.
“Now it’s time to hunt.”

The next day.

After resting and recovering their stamina and mana in the Demon King’s Castle, Ariella’s group took to the skies again.

This time, they brought along Ulken and Richmond as allies.

Fwoosh!

Like yesterday, Ariella rode on Pi’s back.
Richmond simply cast flight magic and glided along smoothly.

But someone had to carry Ulken, who couldn’t fly.
That job naturally fell to Ludwig.

“Why me?” he grumbled.
“I’m the highest-ranking one here.”

With one hand, he carried the massive lycanthrope by the scruff of the neck as he flew.

If it were Ariella, she would have shouted about suffocating.
But the gray-furred wolf looked completely relaxed.

“Why am I the one carrying him?”

Richmond chuckled.
“Because you’re stronger, of course. Look at me. I’m nothing but bones these days. If I tried to carry that big beast, my arm bones would snap right off.”

Ariella suppressed a laugh.

She knew Richmond’s bones were actually tougher than steel, filled with flowing mana.
As a lich who crafted undead bodies with extreme care, his own body must be perfectly built.

But Richmond added with a shrug,
“Besides, my robe is black.”

“……”

Ariella stared in disbelief.
“So you just don’t want wolf hair sticking to your clothes?”

Normally, Ulken would have erupted with fury at having his glossy gray fur called “dog hair.”
But this time, there was no reaction.

Ariella glanced at Ludwig’s arm.

“Snore… snore…”

The wolf had fallen asleep, snoring softly, even while being carried by the scruff of his neck.

‘We’re on our way to fight a Demon King-class monster, and yet…’

No one looked tense.

‘Well, I guess this is better than being too nervous.’

At this point, Ariella herself had grown used to their strange group.
Maybe this was what people meant by “strange affection.”

“There it is.”