I’m the Only Totem in Another World

Chapter 35: Golden Sun Tribe (2)

“Demonic energy acts as oxygen for demons, so if we close the dimensional rift that emits demonic energy, the demons will self-destruct… There was definitely talk like that.”

Harry stroked his beard.

“I remember the church claiming that. They must have said it was a revelation from the goddess.”

Harry took a bite of the roasted lizard and continued.

“What’s certain is that the demonic energy currently spread across the land has the effect of strengthening demons and polluting the ecosystem. Not only the ecosystem, but it also pollutes the human mind, turning them into worshippers.

Unless you have the ability to repel demonic energy like priests or mages, it’s difficult for ordinary people to resist it.”

In a way, I think demon worshippers are more like zombies in the modern sense than Karon’s zombies.

Virus zombies are the current trend, not voodoo zombies.

Harry, who was speaking passionately, turned his gaze to Rake.

“…It’s fascinating how well the barbarians have adapted.”

That’s a bit curious to me too. Could it be that barbarians have some kind of magic resistance?

Rake, who had been listening quietly, opened her mouth.

“It’s not that different from you. It’s just that those who couldn’t adapt are all dead.

Losing our faith means death to us.

There is nothing more disgraceful than abandoning our Loas and becoming demon worshippers, so many chose to commit suicide before they were completely infected.”

Oh… It was ‘survival of the fittest’.

“Ahem.”

Harry, embarrassed, just stroked his beard.

By the way, polluting the ecosystem… Is it something like terraforming? It’s possible that the demons are spreading demonic energy to create an environment optimized for their survival.

Then why do demons and their worshippers eat uninfected livestock?

Wouldn’t infected creatures contaminated with demonic energy be better food for them?

Well, maybe they feel a sense of kinship because they share the same demonic energy…

A chill ran down my spine as I thought that far.

━ Mage Harry. Is it possible for an infected creature to become a demon?

No way. Please, no.

Harry looked at Totem No. 3 with a serious expression.

“…Don’t the demons’ appearances strangely resemble the animals of this world?”

Oh, shit.

So every infected creature is a potential demon?

I’ll have to kill them all on sight. I’m already doing that, though.

Harry said that there are research results from the Imperial Magic Technology Research Association that suggest infected creatures can undergo a process similar to evolution and become low-ranking demons if they continuously absorb demonic energy and engage in cannibalism, but this was too difficult, so I only understood half of it.

“Cawww- Hmm! Demon. Infected creature. I see.”

Kanto was almost on the verge of falling asleep.

━ Is there any other information that could help us drive out the demons?

Is there a Hidden Piece that only civilized people know about?

“Before the empire collapsed, it called in Golem Studies authorities to a secret research facility and launched a project.

I remember the purpose was to mass-produce new combat golems to fight against the demon army.

I didn’t participate because I had to take care of my granddaughter, Luna, but I know where that place is.

…There might not be any living mages there now, but if you’re lucky, you might be able to obtain their research results.”

Harry closed his eyes as if reminiscing about them. Since they were in the same field, he must have known many people there.

This is valuable information. Even if we only obtain the blueprints for mass-produced golems, it will be of great help.

━ Mid-ranking demons send their coordinates to a high-ranking demon before they die. Is there any way to stop that?

“It can be neutralized by interfering with the casting, but to do that, you need to have better mana control than the target.”

━ Can you interfere with a mid-ranking demon’s casting?

This is a serious matter.

“I can’t interfere with the casting, but I can make a device that can. The materials are easy to obtain, and the crafting is simple, so I can make it quickly.”

Harry added that he made several such devices before the collapse and supplied them to the military.

The brand name is ‘Magic Disruption Device’.

“I don’t know if it will work on a mid-ranking demon, but there’s a good chance.”

Good. At least there’s a possibility.

If we can just interfere with the coordinate transmission, Harry has already done more than his part.

The Symphony conquest is not far off.

Harry finished his meal, saying that if we went down to the village we had conquered, we could gather magic stones and materials to increase the operating time of the golem he had and create interference devices.

1. We need to close the dimensional rift no matter what.

2. Infected creatures can evolve into low-ranking demons.

3. There is a place where Golem specialist mages gathered and created their ‘masterpiece’.

4. Harry can create a device that interrupts casting.

Is this all the information we gained today?

It wouldn’t be bad to visit the location from the third piece of information once we have some free time after conquering Symphony.

It’s not too far from here.

* * * * * *

Several days have passed since we gathered the magic stones and all the materials for the Magic Disruption Device.

Denjo, who had gone to scout the foot of the mountain, stood before the Tribal Federation leadership to report.

The leadership was just Rake, Paya, Kanto, Muri, and Harry gathered at the altar.

“Demon’s Eyes are everywhere. They were all the way to the entrance of the mountain.”

━ I see.

“I saw quite a few worshippers too. They were moving like they were scouting.”

The same thing that happened to George at the beginning has happened again.

The demons have noticed because of our excessive subjugation. Even if they hadn’t noticed, they would have at least realized that something strange was happening.

“It would be best not to move for a while. We could be ambushed if we move recklessly.”

“Low-ranking demons can’t think in complex ways like humans. They’ll patrol for a few days and then turn their attention elsewhere.”

Rake gave her opinion, and Muri added.

Muri, who had rested for a few days, still used a cane as if she was uncomfortable moving around.

She said she suffered magical pain from creating two Mini Totems in a short period.

I told her it wasn’t life-threatening, but I’m still a bit worried because of her age.

Anyway, the suggestion was to rest for a while. I agree with the two women.

George’s raiding party had four level 5s, so they had the combat power to attack three villages at once and could counterattack, but the current Tribal Federation doesn’t have anyone who can face a low-ranking demon except for Rake and Kanto.

Rake can subjugate a village alone, but Kanto can’t.

Even though he defeated a low-ranking demon, it was only because he had the support of strong warriors like Denjo and Una that he was able to achieve victory safely.

━ Can golems handle low-ranking demons?

I asked Harry.

“Rock golems have excellent durability and strength, but they’re slow. They were originally designed for construction. They might be able to handle slow, large demons, but they’ll struggle against agile demons in direct combat.”

In other words, there’s a chance of defeat since we don’t know what kind of demons we’ll be fighting.

In the end, the only one who can cleanly deal with low-ranking demons is Rake.

In this case, it’s better to wait quietly for an opportunity.

It’s not like George’s raiding party’s situation where ‘we’ll lose if we don’t attack quickly’.

George’s raiding party used a village as their base. They launched a hasty attack because they were afraid that the demons would join forces and surround the village.

On the other hand, this is a mountain. It’s a place where demons and worshippers don’t come, and even if they do, the terrain makes it difficult for a large army to come up.

The warriors of the Blue Moss Tribe were born and raised in the mountains. Rake, who has excellent mobility, would probably fly around too.

We have an absolute advantage if we fight in the mountains.

We had plenty of time.

The demons and worshippers would get tired if they kept scouting for days. We can attack them then.

Also, my growth won’t be significantly delayed just because the Tribal Federation headquarters takes a short break.

The Golden Sun Tribe is steadily earning points too.

I maxed out the Zombie Control blessing to intermediate yesterday.

━ Let’s do that.

I decided to suspend the subjugation operation for a few days.

In the meantime, I decided to move to Totem No. 2 and help the Golden Sun Tribe with their hunting.

“Malak-nim! It’s Chieftain Tur. We are steadily carrying out the subjugation. The totem is not yet complete, so please wait a little longer.”

━ I came to help the Golden Sun Tribe today.

I mainly targeted groups of infected creatures because trying to catch low-ranking demons would lead to significant troop losses.

It was an unavoidable choice since the Golden Sun Tribe didn’t have an asymmetrical force like Rake.

It’s not like a simulation game where I can just have them pop out babies to replenish lost troops.

Do you think the birth rate would increase in a demon apocalypse world?

“Oh! You came again today!”

They were very happy when I supported them with Healing Totem and Zombie Control a few times.

“Long live Loa Malak!”

“He is the Loa of Loas!”

The warriors who were conflicted when they saw me because they only worshipped and considered Rakan as the best have now truly come to serve me.

It’s natural to be more concerned about the chicken that’s close by than the pizza that’s far away. What more if it’s a god?

The analogy might be a bit strange, but it gets the point across.

It was when I moved to Totem No. 2 to support the Golden Sun Tribe’s battle today.

It’s quite fun, like raising a secondary character.

“Ah, Malak-nim!”

“You’ve arrived!”

Tur and Bojak greeted me.

Tur was riding a horse while armed, and I (Totem No. 2) was placed in a carriage with Bojak, along with various decorations.

Why are they armed? Were they in the middle of a subjugation?

“I was just about to pray to Malak-nim. We might need your blessing… Haha.”

I followed Bojak’s gaze.

I saw people engaged in combat with a group of potential assailants, no, potential low-ranking demons, infected creatures.

They were civilized people with white skin, and a woman in a nun’s habit and a middle-aged knight were leading them.

This is the first time I’ve seen a group of civilized survivors.

━ Are you going to rescue them?

Tur grinned.

“Didn’t Malak-nim tell us to save the civilized people? We would normally ignore them, but since Malak-nim wished it, we must follow.”

I didn’t expect them to voluntarily help the civilized people like this.

This is a bit touching.