Chapter 158 : A Great Demon King and His Adjutant
Chapter 158: A Great Demon King and His Adjutant
“How did you really do it?”
After the Harmony of the Towers ended, Berje arrived at the Tower of Frost. It was because Reina had requested a brief conversation.
Her question was more or less what he had expected.
Even if Berje claimed that they had stupidly searched in the wrong place, there was no Demon King naive enough to accept that at face value.
Even so, the reason she had not pressed the issue further was—
‘That bastard Ugar followed along because Jason went along first….’
Reina, as an ally, did not want to put Berje at a disadvantage in front of everyone present.
‘What should I do?’
It was not that she expected no compensation, but from beginning to end, she had helped Berje purely and sincerely.
If one was an ally, repayment was only natural. A relationship of only giving or only taking could not be called an alliance.
However, he could not say that it had been he himself who kidnapped the Dwarven princess and the craftsmen, nor that he had used them to attach a bridge to the tower.
It was information that would cause a massive uproar, but more than that, he had sworn before everyone.
That he had never kidnapped the dwarves.
To Reina, who valued honor and trust, that alone would have been enough for an ally to become an irreconcilable enemy in an instant.
Because of that, Berje decided to mix part truth with part falsehood. At the same time, it could serve as a small repayment for everything she had given him so far.
“I have never once heard that a tower simply vanished.”
“The tower remained right where it was.”
“Then?”
“But it hid itself for a time.”
“You hid the tower?”
“Concealment. I placed a concealment spell over the entire tower so that it completely hid itself when they came.”
“…Is that even possible?”
As far as Reina knew, the tower possessed no such authority.
“Do you truly believe you know everything about a tower’s authority?”
“…I do not, but.”
At the Demon King Military Academy, they taught about towers. And after becoming Demon Kings, those who descended and erected their towers experimented with various things using them.
However, most of that was limited to the inside of the tower—altering its structure, reinforcing its floors, summoning monsters.
They were Demon Kings. That was already sufficient. At least, in another era.
And that sense of ‘good enough,’ carried on for thousands of years, had by now descended almost as a standard.
There were no longer any who tried to learn more about a tower’s authority.
The Demon King Military Academy had stagnated beyond repair and rotted.
He had not known it in the past, but now he did.
“So there is an authority among a tower’s powers that allows it to hide itself?”
“No, there is not.”
“Then?”
“But there is a function that allows artifacts to be combined with the tower.”
“Combining an artifact?”
“What kind it is does not matter. If it has a magical function, the tower recognises it, expends Demonic Points to amplify that function, and fuses it with itself. That function then spreads throughout the entire tower.”
“…Something like that is possible?”
“There is no reason for me to lie to you.”
“Even so, you are saying that something like that alone kept you from being detected by the hero party?”
Reina did not readily believe it.
Naturally so. This hero party had been stronger than any before it.
Balraf Dislode, Gillian Aint, Aina Diaphrin, and even Watton Colo.
‘Stars’ referred to those who were exceptional even among heroes. And that exceptional quality included their ability to sense demonic energy.
The stronger a hero’s power and interference power became, the more intense their discomfort and hostility toward opposing demonic energy grew.
And yet, the claim that merely fusing a single artifact with the tower had allowed him to avoid the attention of all of them was unbelievable.
And in truth, it had not been enough to hide it completely.
If he had relied solely on the Ghost of Mana and merely hidden himself, Berje would not have been standing here now.
“It is possible. You simply need that much Demonic Points to deceive them.”
“Ah.”
Reina nodded.
If it was Demonic Points, she could understand. If he had used a truly enormous amount of Demonic Points—if he had borrowed part of the tower’s authority through them—then even Balraf Dislode could have been deceived.
If he could not deceive them, it would simply mean there had not been enough demonic energy.
“Then you are now…”
“That’s right. This time, I was fortunate that they withdrew, but I do not know what will happen next. Still, since rumors have spread that the tower does not exist, I believe it will be safe for the time being.”
“Was that why you kidnapped the princesses over the past few months?”
“Yes. It was to obtain as many Demonic Points as possible. If I could not avoid the Empire’s hero’s march, I would die anyway, so I had no leeway to weigh this or that.”
“Fusion with an artifact, huh….”
Reina gently stroked the ring on her finger.
“It contains defensive magic, but you are not talking about something like this ring, are you?”
“Correct. Rather than a simple artifact, it would be more fitting to call it an installed magi-engineering device.”
“I understand what you mean. You are referring to something like Braezna that was installed at the academy, correct?”
Braezna was an artifact created by a demon named Braezna. It was a training device that made the surrounding mana heavier, making Demon King training more difficult.
“That’s right.”
“It would be worth verifying.”
Reina nodded.
“Thank you. I learned something unexpectedly important.”
“A small repayment for what you have done for me.”
“For something like that, it is truly small.”
“…I never said that was all. I am still alive, so I will have chances to repay you gradually.”
“I was joking. For now, focus on surviving. The Empire will not let this end here.”
“Of course.”
“I should contact the Demon Realm and bring artifacts from my family.”
“That is a good idea.”
It seemed the snowfield would grow even colder.
* * *
The shock of the Tower of Dark Flame disappearing swept across the entire continent, but the Empire was hit the hardest, and the one with the most complicated feelings was the Third Prince, Martin Zespine.
No sooner had the news spread that the Empire’s hero’s march had failed than he received contact from the very Demon King who had humiliated the Empire, making matters even worse.
“…You say you are coming to the Empire?”
『That’s right.』
“Do you have any idea how chaotic the Empire is because of you?”
『Is that something I need to take into account?』
“Just how did you hide the tower?”
『I did not hide it. Those foolish ones simply failed to find it.』
“You expect me to believe that?”
『And if you don’t?』
At the chilling gaze, Martin swallowed his anger. He could not forget. Right now, the one holding the upper hand was, without question, the Demon King.
Kaede had been captured, and the key to the report had been handed over. It was no different from having a leash placed around his neck.
“…No. I misspoke. My apologies.”
『As a Demon King, I will show leniency. In any case, I will be heading there soon, so make preparations in advance. So that I may enter the archive immediately.』
“What does that mean? Preparations?”
『What are you talking about? Was it not you who said I could enter the archive as an escort knight?』
“…….”
Martin unconsciously swallowed a groan.
Come to think of it, he had said something like that.
But he had never imagined that the Demon King would try to formally enter the archive through him.
He had taken his blood, which caused the tokens to resonate, so Martin had assumed he would infiltrate it secretly.
『Could it be…?』
“O-of course I remember. But are you not a Demon King? If a Demon King comes to the imperial capital…”
『That is not something you need to worry about. But at the very least, I can assure you that you will not be put in a difficult position due to demonic energy.』
Martin bit his lip.
“What about the tower? It failed once, but this is not the end.”
The atmosphere was ominous. The Emperor was furious, and Balraf Dislode, who had led the hero party, was incensed.
Because Balraf Dislode, who had never known failure, had failed for the first time, the public was shocked, and even he himself could not easily accept it.
With the Emperor’s full support, a second hero’s march was being planned.
No, in truth, there was hardly anything to prepare. The hero’s march had failed, but they had merely failed to find the tower, and there had been almost no casualties.
They only needed to go again, so not much time was required.
And this time, even if the tower was not in its original location, they would not simply withdraw as they had before.
『It does not matter even if they rise a hundred times.』
“…That is astonishing confidence.”
That confidence made things exceedingly difficult for Martin.
However, since he had already given his word, he could not simply refuse outright. And since the opponent was a Demon King, he could not expect a rational response.
“…Very well.”
『We will meet again soon.』
The contact was cut off.
“…What should I do?”
There was no clear solution.
He did not know. He did not know that the Demon King, having sensed something strange in his attitude, had gone looking for his younger sibling.
* * *
“They say a second hero’s march will soon take place.”
“That seems likely. In truth, with that level of force, they would have no trouble even if they searched the entirety of Ergest. In that case, you will need to relocate the tower again.”
When the Demon King left his seat, some of the tower’s major authorities were restricted. An adjutant could not fully replace a Demon King.
If a hero party stormed in while he was away in the Empire, it would be the end.
“Yes, that is what I will do.”
“Where are you considering?”
“The north. Somewhere humans will never be able to find.”
Moving a tower required an enormous amount of demonic energy. Even so, Berje was confident because his demonic energy was overflowing.
[12,025,914pt]
However, the amount that had been depleted in just one week was far greater than before.
It was not difficult to guess why.
It was because of the failure of a hero’s march composed entirely of heroes.
Because the leader of that hero party had been Balraf Dislode, and because it had included four Stars.
Because the whereabouts of the Demon King who had even killed Daphne Phillian and kidnapped five princesses had once again become unclear.
Fear, born from everything intertwining upon itself.
That fear was giving Berje an enormous amount of demonic energy—and continued to give him more.
“I do not think that is a particularly good idea.”
“Not a good idea?”
“If we limit it to Ergest, they will inevitably find the tower. And you cannot keep moving it forever, can you?”
“That is true.”
“Then how about leaving Ergest altogether?”
“You know that is impossible.”
To the south lay human kingdoms. There was no way to hide a massive tower that produced thunderous sounds.
The eastern snowfield was an ideal location untouched by human hands, but Reina Sordein’s influence was deeply rooted there.
“It is not particularly impossible. I have never heard that a former Demon King’s tower was not waterproof.”
“……!”
Berje’s eyes widened.
“So what you are saying now is—”
“You are thinking correctly. I already asked the dwarves as well. They said it would not rust or malfunction from mere seawater.”
The sea was vast. And it belonged to no one.
Even if humans claimed territorial waters, they could not plant their flags deep beneath the ocean.
“You…!”
Berje grabbed Gordon’s hands.
“You are a genius! Truly someone worthy of being top of the Demon Race Training School!”
“Thank you. But could I possibly compare to you, my lord, who ranked first at the Demon King Military Academy?”
“When I first descended, I wondered how on earth I was supposed to teach this fool…”
“It was not quite that bad.”
“Not that bad?”
“…It is simply that I did not know the circumstances of the dimension called Arein very well. Yes, that is it. I did not know. I did not know it was this utterly wretched.”
“Well, it does not matter. When they fail to find the tower even after searching the entirety of Mount Ergest, I can clearly imagine the looks on the humans’ faces.”
“All the more so when one considers the damage they will suffer from monsters while rummaging everywhere.”
“You are an excellent adjutant.”
“My lord is the greatest Demon King.”
The Demon King and the Dark Elf faced each other and exchanged sly smiles.