Chapter 159 : Reorganisation
Chapter 159: Reorganisation
Sinking the tower into the sea.
It had its own advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was that it freed them from everyone’s gaze and drastically reduced the possibility of the tower being attacked.
‘The disadvantage was.’
That external activities became almost impossible. The tower was sturdy enough to withstand even the deep sea, but monsters could not exactly breathe underwater.
‘The Peul Orcs will be left as they are.’
Locking orcs that needed to run across snowy mountains and act on instinct inside the tower was never a good choice.
If released, they would naturally expand their forces and form legions on their own, so why bother?
‘Of course, since I won’t be able to help them nearby anymore, I’ll take in as many Peul Orcs as retainers as possible beforehand so they won’t feel abandoned.’
He had already told Krutu to bring the most outstanding warriors. Demonic Points consumption would increase a little, but the infamy that had piled up to excess was supplying an enormous amount of Demonic Points in real time.
‘But will the legs really hold even underwater?’
The dwarves said there would be no problem, and even to Berje it did not seem like the legs reinforced by the tower would cause major issues, but one could never be sure.
After all, there had never been a case of putting a tower into the sea to begin with.
“The tower is going into the sea?”
“To think I’d witness this giant walking through the deep sea. I could die without regrets.”
“What do you mean, without regrets! If a golem lies down, it wants to get up, if it gets up, it wants to walk, if it walks, it wants to run, and if it runs, it wants to fly!”
“That’s right. Are we stopping here? We created a masterpiece, but we can make this masterpiece even greater!”
“Then first we should check whether it’s really fine to go into the sea. This will become quite valuable data.”
“Very interesting.”
Watching the collective madness of the dwarves, who volunteered to maintain the legs if problems arose, Berje clicked his tongue.
‘Run and then fly?’
Running, perhaps, he could understand. Honestly, if they poured in enough Demonic Points, it would probably be possible right away.
But flying through the sky.
‘A Sky Tower, huh.’
It was interesting in its own way. If the opportunity arose someday, it might not be a bad idea to make one.
Aside from that, there was no one who opposed dropping the tower into the sea. Well, the princesses who had been kidnapped relatively recently protested, but they were quieted by the hand of the Princess of the Dwarven Kingdom.
They had no right to speak in the first place.
‘Not every princess is unusual, after all.’
Ernan, Kaede, Ellena, Lavinia, and Louise. They were exceptionally outstanding and exceptionally special—no, peculiar.
The other five princesses did not have that level of value. Being mere conduits that brought in Demonic Points was sufficient.
─!
─!
“Demon King, I will definitely make the entire mountain range your territory.”
“Never enter the regions I told you to be careful about.”
“Yes!”
After taking in and awakening an additional hundred Peul Orcs as retainers under Krutu, he began moving the tower.
It was an extremely boring task.
The mountain range was vast, and the tower was slow. The constantly changing scenery outside was worth watching at first, but that only lasted a day or two.
Berje decided to thoroughly inspect the inside of the tower. He would soon have to leave for the empire, and there could be no problems.
“I don’t really mind. It’s a shame to stop fighting monsters, but recently we have Louise Berfht.”
Kaede, while not perfect, replaced part of Ernan’s absence. She commanded the elves, taught swordsmanship, and sometimes hunted monsters riding wolves together with the orcs.
It was to hone practical combat sense. After a warrior named Louise Berfht, who requested sparring almost daily, arrived, it became rather meaningless.
“I see. So you’re roughly satisfied.”
“Yes. And though it’s not something I should say as your knight, Demon King, I actually think being underwater is better.”
“If you have to fight, you’ll fight, but you’d rather avoid clashing with the empire as much as possible?”
“...Yes. I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
That much was understandable. No one was ever completely free from their origins, and she had already fulfilled her role well enough as a Dark Knight.
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Do you want some chocolate?”
“...Ah, thank you.”
As Kaede chewed on the small piece of chocolate, the corners of her mouth lifted.
“Is there more?”
After giving Kaede a few more chocolates and sending her off, the next to enter was Ellena.
“I like the sea. Wherever we go, I still can’t leave the tower anyway.”
“Come to think of it, you already engraved your third Sigil, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
Only one year after properly entering the path of magic, she had engraved three Sigils.
Indeed, her ability rivaled Ernan’s. Sisters both being geniuses.
‘And both of those sisters are my retainers.’
He had not formally made a retainer contract with Ernan, but there was something beyond that.
“I hear you’re particularly talented in wind magic?”
“Yes. Wind magic suits me better. It’s easier and doesn’t feel repulsive compared to other magic. It’s fun, too.”
Every living being had an affinity. For Ellena, that seemed to be wind.
“Hold out your hand.”
“Yes.”
He took her hand and examined her interior. The mana heart formed around her heart and the three Sigils engraved within it were clearly felt.
The mana that had once overflowed and raged was now neatly contained within the Sigils.
‘But it’s not perfect.’
There was still uncontrolled mana spreading throughout her body. The heart was too small to contain everything.
If she went outside and did not return to the tower, problems would arise.
But it wouldn’t be long.
‘The fourth.’
By then, she would no longer die from her body bursting due to mana overflow. And it didn’t seem like it would take very long for the fourth Sigil to form.
“Do you want some chocolate too?”
“If you give it to me.”
Munch—
“This is from the Deer’s Leaf bakery in the imperial capital, isn’t it?”
“Seems like a familiar taste.”
“It’s the most popular chocolate in the capital. My sister likes it too.”
“I see.”
“Ah, my sister prefers tarts to chocolate.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“I’m in favor of it.”
“What nonsense are you spouting.”
“No, it’s nothing. Just saying.”
She spoke exactly like Ernan.
Ellena took a few more chocolates and disappeared.
“The sea. Sea monsters.”
“You want to study sea monsters and make chimeras?”
“Yes, yes! Big ones, really big ones.”
Lavinia spread both arms wide, drawing a large circle.
“Sea Serpents?”
An adult Sea Serpent was a monster exceeding thirty meters in length. Its power rivaled that of high- ranked demons, and since it was not affected by interference power, it was even stronger than Vivian in the sea.
It couldn’t compare to the calamity known as Leviathan, but it was still one of the strongest monsters of the sea. Capturing one would be quite troublesome. In other words, annoying.
Why bother?
“Yes.”
“Rejected.”
“...Mean.”
“Instead, I’ll catch some of the marine monsters that come near the tower.”
“Yes! A volcano.”
“Next you want to go to a volcano? Don’t talk nonsense.”
Lavinia, sulking, grumbled as she left. He offered her chocolate, but she refused, saying she didn’t want it.
She looked the most childlike, but her tastes weren’t.
“The sea? As long as I don’t die, who cares. Oh right, I do have one request.”
“What is it?”
“Can I fight that Dark Elf named Gordon too? Hm? The craftsmen all threatened that they’d only follow your orders.”
It seemed she had seen Gordon teaching Kaede.
“I’ll think about it.”
“I’m counting on you!”
Louise shoved all the chocolate she received into her mouth at once, grimaced at how sweet it was, and left.
After the princesses, the next one summoned was Vivian.
“Why am I last? Shouldn’t I, a former Demon King, naturally come first?”
“You came in the latest.”
“But I was a Demon King.”
“Right now, you’re just an high-ranked demon.”
“Do you know who you survived thanks to? You can’t deny that you’d be dead if not for my tower.”
It wasn’t exactly false.
When the two towers merged into one, efficiency improved in every aspect. In other words, the legs that made the tower move—requiring a staggering 7.2 million Demonic Points—should have cost double that.
From the moment she realized that, Vivian’s pride soared to the sky. He wanted to crush it at least once, but since she wasn’t wrong, he left it alone.
“They say even good words get annoying if you hear them three or four times.”
“Alright, fine, I’ll stop. But I can make one request, right?”
“I haven’t even heard your business yet.”
“I don’t mind going into the sea. That’s fine, right?”
“What nonsense.”
“No? When you asked the princesses—”
“You’re not a princess, Vivian Blunt. You’re my retainer. If I tell you to do something, you just do it. I don’t need your opinion.”
“...Some of the princesses are retainers too.”
“If it’s unfair, then become more useful than Kaede or Ellena.”
“...This is the first time I’ve suffered such humiliation after attaining the rank of Demon King.”
Vivian bit her lip in frustration.
“Since that rank is gone, it’s only natural.”
“...Then what does my illustrious lord want with this mere demon?”
“Don’t cross the line, Vivian Blunt.”
“...Tch.”
After briefly setting the discipline, Berje got to the point.
“Vivian Blunt, you are officially considered dead. You know that, right?”
“Of course.”
“But since the tower wasn’t destroyed and the Demon King didn’t die, you weren’t reverse-summoned to the Demon Realm. So there’s a high chance the Demon Realm doesn’t know about your death.”
“Probably.”
“But they can’t stay ignorant forever.”
If no new Demon King descended, the other Demon Kings would sense something amiss, and they would soon contact the Demon Realm.
“When they learn this, what kind of measures do you think Archduke Arkaine will take?”
“Isn’t that a problem for the entire Demon Realm, not just Archduke Arkaine?”
The tower hadn’t returned. Losing one out of the mere fifty towers was a severe loss for the Demon Realm.
“True. Then how will the Demon Realm respond?”
“What are you asking? They’ll look for the reason. And if they find out you’re the cause, they’ll try to forcibly summon you.”
They would try to uncover the truth at any cost and eliminate the cause.
“And if I don’t want that?”
“They’ll cut off support, right? Or use other Demon Kings to get rid of you.”
The owner of a tower was the Demon King. Bound by the tower, the system, blood, and soul, they held the highest priority of rights.
However, the Demon Realm was not that lenient. It was a place where countless rebellions occurred due to the law of the strong.
Would they leave a potential rebel Demon King and their tower without a single safety measure?
No.
The tower and the Demon Realm were connected, and the Demon Realm could sever that connection.
All support from the Demon Realm would disappear. Traps that strengthened the tower, terrain changes, summoned monsters and demons.
Everything was taken from the Demon Realm in exchange for Demonic Points.
The release of interference power was the tower’s own authority, so it didn’t apply, but if everything else became impossible, it would be meaningless.
With just the tower alone, there would be nothing he could do.
“But doesn’t that not matter to you? You’ve got elves, dwarves, humans, and even heroes. The only demon is one Dark Elf adjutant, and instead of demon beasts you’ve got monsters.”
It wasn’t intentional, but that was how it turned out. Even maintaining the interior of the tower could be left to the dwarves, so one could say there was no need to be bound to the Demon Realm.
But that was a shortsighted thought.
“I’m talking about what comes after. If the Demon Realm cuts off support, that means they’ve identified me as an enemy, and that creates problems whether I return to the Demon Realm after conquering Arein or not.”
“That’s true, but isn’t that way too far in the future?”
“The future soon becomes reality. I will conquer Arein and return to the Demon Realm.”
“...Well, that’s true, but it doesn’t seem like there’s anything we can do right now.”
“Tch.”
Vivian was right.
‘To think it would come to this.’
He hadn’t known the tower would be absorbed. Nor that one would disappear as a result.
If he had known, he wouldn’t have nodded absentmindedly back then.
‘No, I would have nodded anyway.’
Without the efficiency of the merged towers, he wouldn’t have been able to attach the legs and move the tower at the right timing.
In the end, it was a predetermined course.
“Fine. So what’s the request you want to make?”
“My retainers are left hanging.”
They had helped make the legs together. But as demons, they had an instinctive aversion to mingling with dwarves and elves.
Part of it was also because there was no proper role for succubi to adapt to.
“Guarding floors is the role of demons affiliated with the tower, isn’t it?”
“Normally, you don’t send succubi to guard floors.”
“So you want to do succubus-like work?”
“Exactly. Of course, not me.”
It didn’t apply to Vivian, who as a Demon King had transcended the usual category of succubi.
“Succubus-like work, huh.”
That meant seducing someone. But in the Demon Realm, the role of succubi wasn’t limited to becoming incubi and roaming dreams.
“You want to manage the tower?”
“More precisely, we want to contribute. As members of the tower. If you take us in as retainers and then leave us alone, fear sets in.”
Dark Elves and succubi were known even in the Demon Realm as the best races at handling administrative work.
But there was a problem.
“Do you know this? Even Gordon, my adjutant, doesn’t really do anything amazing. He spends more time passing it meaninglessly than working.”
Most of that time was spent training alone or wandering the tower. Or teaching Kaede.
As scale increased, managing the tower and its personnel became important, but Berje’s tower was different.
Several floors were completely empty, the elves were perfectly controlled by Kaede, the dwarves by Roger or Louise, and the monsters by Lavinia, so matters never reached Gordon in the first place.
“Well, the tower is pretty empty.”
“Still, I’ll talk to Gordon for now. The tower will continue to grow, and coordinating with him won’t be a bad thing.”
“Thank you.”
As Vivian stepped forward in delight, her lips were blocked by a thick palm.
“Don’t try anything funny.”
“...Doesn’t work, huh.”
At the growl, Vivian clicked her tongue.
After Vivian disappeared, Berje called Gordon last.
“Manage the tower well together with the succubi.”
“Is there really anything to manage?”
“There’s such a thing as appearances. How long do you think you can stay this relaxed?”
“...I’ll try my best. But do you really have to go to the empire? It’s too dangerous there.”
“I can hide my demonic energy .”
“Even so.... Do you really have to attend that report?”
In the end, it meant the king entering the heart of enemy territory. If the gambit worked, it would be a dagger strike, but if it failed, he would die on the spot.
Then the tower would be reverse-summoned, and everything would be over.
“I have to go.”
Even so, Berje did not bend. His eyes were not on Gordon.
“I have never forgotten that sword, not even once.”
How could he?
It was the sword that pierced his heart and granted him death.
“A sword, you say?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“You won’t listen even if I try to stop you.”
“Obviously.”
“Then I have only one thing to say. Please return safely.”
“That, too, is obvious.”
And so, after several weeks.
The tower finally ended its long journey. One by one, the legs began to sink into the water. Fish flapped away at the thunderous noise.
At a depth of one hundred meters, beneath the now-dark sea, the tower came to a stop.
And then.
“Oh, fascinating.”
“The door opened, but the water can’t enter the tower.”
“I don’t feel any particular magical energy.”
“There aren’t even any Sigils.”
“This is intriguing. I want to tear it apart and examine it.”
“Ahem, I have obtained that qualification from the Demon King.”
“What?”
“If you bring methods to effectively strengthen the tower, you too will be granted that right.”
“Oh, really?”
“Rights...!”
“Efficient strengthening, huh. Since we’ve attached legs, how about attaching arms too and turning it into a humanoid golem?”
“That’s inefficient. Rather, since the Demon King likes mana cannons, how about manufacturing thousands of mana cannons and plastering them all over the tower?”
“A fortress that moves while firing mana cannons. Just imagining it is thrilling.”
Leaving the heated discussion of the dwarves behind, Berje once again set foot on the continent.