Release that Witch

”Technology...” Roland muttered while knitting his brows. He had probed into the demons’ memories once and seen how they upgraded. Basically, the demons upgraded through merging with various magic stones. Failure to merge with magic stones would result in a miserable death. In a way, their upgrade method was pretty similar to witches’, and probably even more cruel.

Although the demons used different technologies, once they learned the principles, they would further develop and expand the technologies based on their needs. This was definitely not a good sign for the mankind.

”Are you sure?” asked Anna, who immediately understood what that meant.

”We need to conduct further research on the remains, but...” Agatha broke off and turned to Celine.

Celine tapped her main tentacle and led everyone to a giant black stone covered in scratch marks. ”This is a part of the Giant Skeleton. From the initial autopsy, we judge it’s very likely a living being.”

”Fair enough. This is pretty much like the armor of a deformed demon, isn’t it? ” Roland commented while stroking his chin. In the report, the military officer mentioned that the Giant Skeletons had produced a bloodcurdling howl after being hit by the cannon shells.

”No, Your Majesty,” Celine denied, a little embarrassed. ”What I was trying to say is that... the stone itself is alive.”

”What?”

Dumbstruck, everybody took a step backward involuntarily.

”Hang on. You mean the stone is alive?”

”Is the stone also a type of demon?”

”I don’t quite... follow you. Could you tell me more about it?”

The hall exploded with a rush of inquiries.

”To put it short, this stone is an independent system that operates on its own,” Celine said as she scooped up an iron hammer and gave the stone an almighty strike. With a clank, the stone trembled, and Roland could spy, through its numerous cracks, something wriggle with pain. The stone did not stop quivering until half a minute later, and Roland was positive that the quaver was not the offspring of the blow.

”At the scene, we found a huge organ hung below the Giant Skeleton’s abdomen. We thought it was the main body of the deformed demon, but the autopsy showed otherwise,” Agatha continued. ”This finding puzzled me and Celine. As the Skeleton could move by itself, then why is there a separate deformed demon attached to its abdomen? We didn’t find out the reason until we saw the transformed Mad Demon created by the Magic Slayer.”

Anna, who was the first to realize the true nature of this peculiar Skeleton, blurted out, ”Is it a host?”

”Correct,” Celine said approvingly. ”Both the original carriers and the devouring worms could live on their own.” She then turned to Roland and asked, ”Your Majesty, do you still remember what Kabradhabi said? It asked us whether we also upgraded through a legacy shard.”

”And it also said another thing,” Roland assented with a nod. ”I remember that it almost blustered ’I’m Tadalin’. It asked whether our weapons were made out of the legacy shards.”

Tilly responded meditatively, ”It appears that the demons learned how to create hosts from the legacy shards. That was why Kabradhabi asked such questions. In other words, both the Spider Demons and the Giant Skeletons were demon hybrids comprised of a host and a operator.”

”Very likely. They share many similarities, such as the extreme long lifespan of a carrier, the ability to remain in activity even in the state of dormancy, the ability to survive upon serious injuries, etc.”

”But I don’t think the underground civilization used what the demons called ’legacy shards’ to complete their upgrade, because they controlled carriers by soul transfer. That’s quite different...”

”Perhaps, the demons don’t know how to create a magic core exactly, and that’s why they can’t transfer soul like the underground civilization,” Agatha returned. ”Or perhaps they found a more suitable way for their kind, just as the Union found a way to create the God’s Punishment Army. The God’s Punishment Warriors, in a sense, are hosts as well.”

”Hold on, that doesn’t sound right,” Nightingale interposed in confusion. ”Although I don’t quite follow your deduction, but I’m quite sure that human beings didn’t get any legacy shards whatsoever. The First Army’s weapons are solely His Majesty’s ideas, and the God’s Punishment Army is the Union’s achievement. Without the so-called legacy shards, we still learned how to create a magic core and inherited the ruin of the underground civilization.”

”That’s the key to the problem,” Agatha replied in a serious tone. ”I think obtaining the ruin is only one of the many ways to inherit a civilization, which is exactly why we call it technology rather than an ability.

Roland felt his chest suddenly constrict, and the truth seemed to come to him in one shining piece. He said, ”Are you referring to... learning?”

”Yes,” the Ice Witch replied on a sigh. ”We could upgrade through teaching and learning, even if we don’t have what Kabradhabi describes as legacy shards.”

There was a brief silence in the hall.

At length, Celine spoke, ”The demons have developed so many new weapons over the past 400 years. The legacy shards are probably something that helps them learn faster, or even something that enables them to comprehend new knowledge within a second. This is how their civilization evolves and ’upgrades’.”

Hearing Celine’s explanation, Roland suddenly understood what Kabradhabi had meant. Human beings did upgrade, but it was not through an artifect of an old civilization but through teaching and learning, the most traditional means of communication. As a time traveler, Roland connected the two worlds.

”If that’s really the case, doesn’t it mean the legacy shard is continuously recording every arena of our life?” Wendy said as she glanced at the secret chamber on the other side of the hall apprehensively, where the demon was.

”We have to obtain a legacy shard to know if this is really the case,” Agatha replied while shaking her head. ”If the demons did learn how to create hosts, we’ll face a lot of new challenges.” She then turned Roland apologetically and said, ”I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I’m afraid the years of war experience that the Union gained probably won’t help you much now.”

”Don’t mention it. The third Battle of Divine Will will be an entirely new experience for the demons,” comforted Roland. Although the future remained uncertain, he must stay resolute and continue to take the lead. ”If technologies could be upgraded, we could also learn from those civilizations who lost their legacy shards, right?”

”Exactly,” Celine responded heartily. ”This is we members of the Quest Society are obligated to do.”