The Demon King Overrun by Heroes

Chapter 85-Unedited: Bigger and More Colossal

When Akan began climbing the mountain, Berje ascended it in a similar manner.

The difference was that Akan had to climb cautiously, slowly, as if savoring his way up, while Berje encountered a Peul Orc halfway and rode off on a Frost Wolf.

While Akan struggled near the base of the mountain, Berje arrived at the tower.

“Have you come?”

“They’ve begun to move. Deploy the orcs to each sector and lure the monsters.”

“Yes, but while you were away, there was a message from Demon King Vivian.”

Vivian?

“What is it?”

“She didn’t explain the exact reason. She insisted she had to speak to you personally no matter what, so I told her you were busy and to contact us later, then cut the call unilaterally.”

“Well done.”

It was not wise for it to be known that he had gone outside the tower.

Berje entered his office and initiated a communication with Vivian. A moment later, Vivian’s face appeared.

『Why aren’t you answering your calls! What on earth have you been doing?』

Berje frowned at the sharp voice that pierced his ears.

“Say what you have to say.”

『I want you to help me.』

Vivian’s first words were, well, so absurd he couldn’t even laugh.

“Why should I?”

『Because that way I live, and you also get a chance.』

“A chance?”

『You haven’t been in this damned dimension for long either, have you? I heard you displeased Archduke Arkaine and were forced to descend. Don’t you want to go back?』

“Go back?”

『Yes.』

“Is that possible?”

『If it were impossible, I wouldn’t have brought it up.』

Beyond the crystal ball, Vivian flashed a seductive smile.

『Archduke Arkaine promised me. That once the culprit is found, he will use his authority to summon me back to the Demon Realm.』

『If you help me, I’ll try to make it so you can return with me. How about it?』

“Archduke Arkaine made such a promise?”

『Yes.』

“So this is what you were foolishly believing in?”

『That’s right.』

A sigh escaped him.

“Truly…”

『Truly?』

At this point, he felt almost pity.

“You really are empty-headed, you stupid woman.”

『…What did you say?』

“There’s a limit to how stupid something can be. This is enough to make me wonder how you even managed to conquer a single dimension. Didn’t you just cheer from the sidelines while the other Demon Kings did the work?”

『…Watch your tongue. Before my patience runs out.』

“Patience that runs out? Do you even have the brain required to possess patience?”

『You—!』

“Archduke Arkaine will summon you back to the Demon Realm? Have you forgotten that once a Demon King descends, they cannot return unless they die or conquer the dimension?”

『Of course I know that. But the ones who made that law are ultimately demons. The ones who enforce it are also demons.』

He understood what she meant.

There were two main reasons a Demon King could not leave a dimension.

One was the demonic nature and honor that did not tolerate failure, and the other was an exceedingly practical one.

A pride that would not show cowardice nor bring shame to the Demon Realm by turning their back and fleeing.

And the enormous energy—demonic energy points—that had to be consumed to cross the barrier between dimensions.

The barrier between dimensions was a vague thing.

The higher the rank, the more energy was consumed when crossing it, and the amount of magi needed differed wildly between dimensions.

That wasn’t the end of it. Moving from a higher dimension to a lower dimension consumed relatively little energy.

But if the direction was reversed, the cost increased exponentially.

And the Demon Realm was clearly a higher dimension compared to the middle realms it had conquered.

Of course, it wasn’t that one could never travel back and forth—only that it consumed a tremendous amount of demonic energy points. But would Archduke Arkaine really go that far?

“He’ll consume an enormous amount of demonic energy and bear the disgrace of having a Demon King under his command flee cowardly and pathetically after failing—just to bring you back? Why would Archduke Arkaine do that?”

『Because it’s a promise.』

“You really believe he’ll keep that promise?”

『You may not know, but my family and his family are deeply intertwined. He cannot break a promise. This isn’t a deal between individuals but between families.』

So she did have something she felt confident in. Berje briefly recalled the Demon Realm’s noble houses.

It was true that House Blunt, representing succubi, and House Blarimph, representing vampires, had deep ties. They also wielded so much influence in the Demon Realm that neither could ignore the other.

‘But even so…’

Would that really be a reason to honor such a promise?

If a Demon King died in the dimension they descended into, no one could be blamed but themselves.

In other words, if Vivian Blunt simply died cleanly, there would be no need to send her back.

This foolish woman clearly hadn’t considered that far.

Well, that was exactly why she accepted the offer and came here so happily.

‘No, perhaps they really would reverse-summon her to the Demon Realm.’

But even if everything were true, would Archduke Arkaine truly do the same for Berje? Nonsense. And Berje had no intention of going back in the first place.

“I’m busy enough to die, and this useless thing is yapping in my ear.”

『You…! You really live as if today is the only day.』

“You should try living today for once. Keep trying to live tomorrow instead, and you might not survive to see today.”

It was sincere advice. Berje hoped Vivian would live long and draw lots of human attention.

That would make things a little easier for him.

Berje cut the communication unilaterally. A group was rushing up from the foot of the mountain to put a blade to his throat—he had no time to leisurely listen to nonsense.

“Gordon, guard the tower. I’ll personally lead the orcs and block them.”

“Have you found a method?”

“Not really.”

He had tried slipping in as “Pale” to uncover their scheme, but failed.

They had hidden it far too thoroughly.

But just because he didn’t know didn’t mean he could afford not to prepare.

“For now, I plan to poke at them a little.”

“In what way?”

“In reverse.”

“In reverse?”

“Before, we waited until they climbed high enough before trying to stop them. This time, from the beginning. We know monsters gather at night, so we’ll send monsters during the day, and at night—”

“At night?”

“Cause an avalanche.”

Time to see how prepared they were.

Berje smiled faintly.

Akan’s journey to find the Demon King’s Tower had begun.

Woof woof—

The five Demon Hounds shaped by Lavinia chased after the magi. But perhaps because they were still near the base, they couldn’t find direction.

Naturally, Akan’s hopes shifted elsewhere.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Yes.”

Granada stepped forward. His gaze swept across the snowy mountains. Slowly and carefully, he left footprints across the pure white snow.

“As I said before, we were unable to locate the tower. Therefore, we cannot give you a perfect route toward it.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Also, I cannot say that the tower is absolutely not anywhere along the path Hero Hillan and I took. At the time, we were utterly exhausted and too busy avoiding monsters to examine every area without missing a single spot.”

“Yes.”

Granada laid the groundwork, and Cain accepted it willingly. After all, nothing he said was wrong.

It was impossible to perfectly search such rough terrain as the Ergest Mountains. Therefore, Cain did not expect perfection.

“Just take us to the few places that seem most likely. We’ll handle the rest ourselves.”

“Trust me.”

“My lady says that once she gets close, we should trust her.”

The Demon King’s Tower, by its mere existence, released a faint aura of demonic energy. Even if it didn’t, monsters might be lurking nearby.

And Akan had Demon Hounds—plus Lavinia Akan herself—beings more sensitive to demonic energy than anyone.

“Yes. Understood.”

Granada first took a direction opposite of the tower and climbed.

The monsters that occasionally appeared near the base could not withstand the torrent of magical bombardment and were annihilated.

Several days passed like that. Until then, there had been nothing that could be called a proper assault.

“We camp here today!”

On the evening of the fourth day, before darkness settled, Cain set up camp early in a favorable spot. The bulging hill allowed a wide view, and the bedrock at the rear created a safe cover for their backs. A good choice of location.

They pitched magic tents and set up alarm devices. Then they began installing all their magical artifacts.

‘Magic mines, engravings, and even deployable spell scrolls. No matter how you look at it, this is some extravagant money-wasting.’

If monsters charged in, they would step on a mine before even arriving, collapse as crippled wrecks, and then be blasted to death.

“The cost must have been enormous. Just how much did you bring?”

“This is only a portion.”

“Amazing.”

“It means we have high expectations for this mission. We will succeed.”

They only needed to spot the tower from afar. Everything beyond that was out of their hands.

Night fully arrived. By the time they had dinner, the few flakes that fell earlier thickened into a storm-like snowfall.

Cain allowed everyone except a small number of sentries to rest inside the magic tents.

“Would you like a drink?”

Granada was invited into Cain’s tent. Thanks to the magic lamps, the interior was bright and warm. Cain handed him a cup of hot chocolate.

“Thank you.”

Granada took a sip, barely suppressing the grimace that tried to surface. It was far too sweet.

“I heard elves don’t like sweets, yet you seem fine with it, Granada-nim.”

“……”

Was he trying to pick a fight?

“I’m joking. My apologies.”

Cain smiled and handed him another cup. The fragrant aroma cleansed Granada’s throat, which had been overwhelmed by that unbearable sweetness.

“This is much better.”

“What was it like in the early days of the hero expedition?”

“In what sense?”

“It’s only been a few days, but not a single monster worthy of Ergest’s reputation has appeared.”

“Are you expecting one?”

“Of course not. It just feels like the calm before a storm, and that alone is frightening. They say it’s better to take the beating first, after all.”

“It wasn’t much different during the hero’s march. We also didn’t encounter serious monster assaults until reaching about mid-mountain.”

The base didn’t lack monsters, but their numbers and quality were indeed lacking.

“Then we can relax for a few more days.”

“But because this is Ergest, letting our guard down is not—”

Granada turned his head. His pointed ears twitched.

“What is it?”

“Did you not hear that strange sound?”

“A strange sound?”

It happened at that moment.

Rumble—

The teacup on the table trembled.

A soldier rushed inside in a panic.

“Your Highness! It’s terrible!”

“What happened!”

“A-a-avalanche!”

“……!”

Cain and Granada raced outside.

The flustered murmurs of soldiers filled the air. The ground vibrated beneath them. And far away, waves of surging snow rolled forward, shining under the moonlight.

“Dear heavens…!”

“Is Ergest normally like this? Didn’t you say an avalanche happened during the hero expedition as well?”

“That much I’m not… sure…”

“…I suppose that’s not what matters right now.”

Cain quickly assessed the situation.

There was still some distance, but evacuating the camp in time would be impossible. But abandoning everything wasn’t feasible either.

“To the mages’ positions! Erect the barrier!”

The mages infused mana into the preinstalled scrolls.

Rumble—

A massive earthen wall rose and enveloped the entire camp.

“Ice Wall!”

“Ice!”

The Blue Meteor mages chanted and formed hand seals. Around the earthen barrier, an ice wall layered itself on top.

Cain didn’t stop there.

“Bring it out!”

“Yes!”

“Bring out what?” Granada asked.

Cain did not answer him. He didn’t need to.

Creak—!

Through the torn subspace, enormous bodies emerged.

“It’ll be a thunderbolt to their skulls.”

“It had better be.”

From atop the peak, Berje’s gaze traveled down.

Akan’s encampment lay directly in the path of the rushing avalanche—mere candlelight before a storm.

While they might expect a night-time ambush, there existed no human who could predict a night-time avalanche. They would think what in the world hit us? He was confident he had struck precisely where they least expected it.

Earthen walls rose, and ice walls were added.

Berje snorted at their attempts.

“As if that will stop it.”

He dismantled several of the artillery installations and dragged them over, triggering them all at once. This avalanche was, without question, far greater in scale than during Hillan’s hero’s march.

Humans could only become infinitely small before such overwhelming nature.

“…Hm?”

The avalanche reached Akan’s encampment, and something suddenly rose.

Crash—!

The avalanche slammed against the barrier. It swayed as if about to collapse—until suddenly, it straightened, firmly, unmistakably holding its ground.

“What in the…?”

Krutu and the orcs were aghast.

“Ooooooh!”

Roger shouted in admiration.

They were giants.

But giants that had been constructed.

“Golems—massive golems! To make golems that large! As expected of Akan!”

Five golems over 5 meters tall and a single Titan braced the barrier, enduring the avalanche.