---Minas Mar---

"We just received bad news from Karina. Y-City has started impeding on the advance of the route."

Mary entered the room and placed a stack of papers in front of Leana and sat down on the chair opposite her. It was the report on what had happened at Tree Station 8. Karina had come by earlier and explained everything to her before returning to TS8.

"Is this true? They became resistant to the soul-whisking formations?" Leana asked gravely, after reading through the report, Mary had compiled.

"Yeah, but Cromwel, that madman, already mentioned that the Soul Whisking formation was not the be-all and the end-all of it," Mary said with a big sigh.

No matter the power of the formation, it needed more time the stronger the soul was. The ones they had prepared to set up were able to instantly whisk away the soul of a normal human. They were military-grade technology and technically banned on battlefields.

However, since the mad scientist had made the recipients of the serum able to grow stronger, it explained why they were able to survive. If the souls their soul cluster was made of were stronger than a normal person's soul, it could buy enough time for them to pass the formations.

Only the parts of their bodies that had their souls whisked away while passing through the formation would be damaged. The problem was that they could also simply heal the damage after passing, shedding their dead tissue like a snake.

"At least the Hangingtree has proven effective against their cannon fodder, even if it is strong enough to pass the formations," Leana tried to find the silver lining.

"Yeah, but that is only because they only have physical power and regeneration going for them. It's not a permanent solution, especially if we have to prepare for troops that can use skills. Karina said she would put in some more effort to strengthen the individual tree, to prepare in case of a bombardment."

For now, the dryad had not asked for reinforcements. Many troops were currently in the Holy Land, while the rest, like the Faer and the Chimeras were stationed to protect the other Tree Stations in case of an attack.

"Right, we can't do anything else, huh? We can only hope Seth comes up with something, or Cromwel manages to make an antidote in time," Leana stated. With a sigh, the princess had to accept that his mad scientist may be his only chance to get some practical solution for their immortal problem.

"Are you sure you don't have any idea?" Mary asked looking at the princess. After all, Mary was a person of Urth. Although she had learned a lot since Seth put his trust in her, a princess from an inter-dimensional empire was bound to know more obscure or exclusive stuff than she did.

Leana shook her head depressed.

"I don't know what you think, but I'm only one of many princesses and princes. I'm a politician who was never that deeply involved with the military, or research sectors of our family. How would I know how to defeat monsters with immortal souls?" she exclaimed stressed.

"...Immortal souls, huh?" Mary mumbled. Her fingers started tapping on the tabletop, as her gears started turning. It suddenly hit her like a divine revelation, maybe it was one since she was the chosen of Hestia? Her fingers stopped.

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"What? Did you have an idea?" Leana asked, looking up at her, who was staring through her into the void.

Mary remembered a short conversation, she had with Seth several weeks ago. It was after he had left mumbling something about looking for a source of souls. When he came back, he had mentioned a source of information among the demons.

Charred, a demon and underworld information broker of the demon district. She had only utilized it once or twice to get information. The scale and detail of the reports she had gotten in return had actually served to frighten her. It was like a power that could swallow one if one touched it too often. Back then she decided not to use it, afraid to reveal too much about Minas Mar to a potential source of trouble.

But now? Weren't demons experts for souls? Who else was there to ask anyway? Since the otherworldly princess was as clueless as them, maybe the dimensions traveling scourge of existence had a better idea.

"Yes, I believe I may have a good idea. Excuse me, I have to send someone to the demon district."

…

Not even an hour later Mary, Jane, and Leana were facing a demon inside their meeting room. Sitting on one of the sofas, sipping on a cup was a cheery-looking demon girl. Her skin was a dark orange with wine-red to brown markings and black hair. Her big eyes which were almost completely black fixated him as she gave him a warm smile. Contrary to her alien looks, she wore a simply modern blouse and tight jeans.

Let's start with an introduction. I'm Mary, in charge of the administrative tasks in Minas Mar-" she started but was interrupted.

"I know who you are. You are the most powerful woman of Minas Mar, except maybe the catgirl and the fairy, since they are the ones with the power to sway Seth. This is Leana, the princess of Chrona and you are Jane, in charge of the business management, right?"

One by one, she pointed at them and revealed her knowledge with a big smile. Then she pointed at herself.

"Nice to finally meet you, I'm Ember, a demon bard and an acquaintance of Seth from college," she finished with her melodious voice.

"Oh, Seth mentioned you. You are Charred's niece, right?" Mary said with a smile, unperturbed by the interruption.

"You remember me? That's great, then this will be quicker. I'm here since you sent a message to my uncle asking for a meeting. It's about the immortal monsters from Y-City, right?"

"How did you know?"

This time Mary couldn't hide her surprise. Neither could Leana or Jane. Currently, this kind of information was not public knowledge outside of Minas Mar. Even within, it was mostly the direct members and affiliates of Minas Mar that knew.

"It's too early to be surprised. We also know about your guardian program to find strong people to protect the tree Stations." she added mischievously.

"How did you hear about it?" Leana asked upset. Were there any leaks? If there were, were they on her side or had the demons managed to infiltrate Minas Mar? It was concerning that the demon knew about it. If they did, maybe Y-City also knew.

"Don't underestimate our means, we are demons after all," she answered mysteriously.

"But please calm down, we mean no harm. We were about to approach you, too. We want to join," she finally revealed the reason she was here so quickly.

"The demons want to join Minas Mar?" Leana asked confused.

As far as she knew, the demons had originally wished to settle here because of the volcanic activity close to and below Delta. Not only was this place perfect for many demons with a fiery nature, but it was also great for the forging aspect of demonic bards.

This was one of the reasons a Bard College was moved here in the first place. Although there were other places with slight volcanic activity in the central mountain range, none of them were comparable to those in Delta.

"Not all demons... A group of us and part of the bard college wish to migrate to Minas Mar. An elder of the Bard College would like to meet personally with Seth to discuss the matter."

"You want to leave Delta? Didn't you come here because of the geographic circumstances? Why do you want to leave now?" Leana couldn't help but ask confused.

"Things are changing. It's hard to explain, but recently more and more … unsavory folk have flooded into Delta. They are foreign hardliners that started dividing the people. We do not wish for a confrontation, which leaves only leaving," she said direly.

"Okay, but what does that have to do with our problem?" Jane asked bluntly. Ember smiled mysteriously.

"That's easy. In exchange for refuge, we offer you a way to put those immortals to rest, once and for all."