Chapter 176 : It Was Extremely Sweet
Chapter 176: It Was Extremely Sweet
An ordinary Demon King usually built a tower in a place that made one think, ‘Ah, there should be a tower around here.’
Moderately dangerous and moderately difficult to find.
Humans did not know that this followed the clause of *The Demon King’s Standard* stating that ‘it must neither be too easy to reach nor too difficult,’ but through a thousand years of experience, they knew that towers were built in such places.
As a thousand years passed, that became something taken for granted.
But the Demon King of Dark Flame was different.
Ergest. He built his tower in a forbidden land that humans had yet to conquer. Even then, it was not placed at the most likely spot—the summit.
That small difference caused multiple searches and hero’s marches to fail.
Despite devouring countless humans and heroes, and even giving the great hero Balraf Dislode the taste of ‘failure,’ they had not been able to exact retribution.
That was what created the present situation.
An allied force of no less than 110,000, and a thousand heroes.
A massive army on a scale that had only been formed in ancient times, when humanity’s ability to deal with Demon Kings had been lacking.
For one purpose alone: to kill the Demon King of Dark Flame.
Everyone’s eyes—the eyes of the entire continent—were focused here.
Balraf Dislode almost tried to count how long it had been since he last set out on a hero’s march under such continent-wide attention, but stopped.
That was not what mattered.
‘Find the Tower of Dark Flame and kill the Demon King.’
He had no intention of letting him die peacefully. As much as the Demon King had made him suffer, as much as he had tarnished his reputation, the Demon King would suffer.
Before that, he would have to spit out everything—why he had not followed the Standard, and how he had moved the tower.
“There is no tower in this sector.”
“This basin is ogre territory. We clashed with five ogres and killed them all.”
“Harpies have appeared. Seventy-six were killed, and about half escaped.”
“Contact has been lost with the 34th Search Unit that headed northeast.”
“Twelve Frost Drakes attacked the rear. Forty-two dead, and—.”
Reports poured in endlessly, and the damage continued to grow. As the alliance expanded its search radius, clashes with the harsh natural environment and the monsters living within it were inevitable.
“Isn’t this an overly crude method?”
“The Demon King is already a rat trapped in a jar. Rather than forcing things like this, wouldn’t it be better to take a bit more time and proceed step by step—.”
“The Demon King has already put us in dire straits several times. Are you suggesting we relax and be taken in again this time?”
The heroes represented the alliance, but in reality, the armies were commanded by nobles from each nation.
They voiced their dissatisfaction with Balraf’s forced advance, but fell silent at his icy rebuke.
Thanks to that, the Empire and the Dormunt alliance, which were in charge of the western front, conquered the mountain range more quickly.
At the head of that advance was, of course, Balraf Dislode.
Several weeks passed like that.
One night, as Balraf was organizing the camp and looking up at the night sky, a knight came to find him.
“Sir Balraf, we’ve received word from Lady Aina.”
“What is it?”
“She says she’s found traces of demonic energy.”
“...!”
At last.
Balraf bared his teeth and smiled.
“Where?”
“At Buarn Rock—.”
“That’s enough. I’ll communicate with her directly.”
“Yes.”
After the knight left, Balraf went into the tent and found the communication device. A moment later, Aina appeared.
“You found traces of demonic energy?”
『Yes.』
“Location?”
『About thirteen kilometres northeast of Buarn Rock.』
For smoother searches, the search units were mapping Ergest while assigning names to memorable rocks and terrain features. Buarn Rock was one of them.
“Is it the tower?”
『I can’t be certain. I didn’t see it directly. What we found was literally traces of demonic energy. Very faint and minimal.』
“Not minimal at all. It’s the first result in weeks.”
It was a tower whose very traces had been impossible to find. If they had detected even faint demonic energy, what could be more gratifying than that?
“I’m going.”
『Now?』
“Immediately. Contact Gillian Aint and Buern and gather everyone.”
『It’s already very late—.』
“Have you forgotten our humiliation?”
Balraf spat the words as if chewing them apart.
“What if that damned Demon King hides the tower again or moves it? Will you swallow empty hope again and accomplish nothing? Can you take responsibility? Can you guarantee the tower won’t disappear again?”
『We only sensed demonic energy so far.』
“Demons and monsters are the only ones who possess demonic energy. That directly connects it to the Demon King and the tower.”
『...I’ll contact them.』
At his growl, Aina nodded slightly.
“Wake up! Everyone, wake up!”
“We move immediately!”
To move through the darkness, humans needed light. The armies of the Empire and Dormunt illuminated their surroundings using artifacts called magic orbs.
But that light did not only brighten human eyes.
The original owners of Ergest, whose territory had been violated—the ones called monsters—were largely nocturnal.
Drawn by the scent of prey and the light, monsters descended upon them.
──!
───!
Screams, howls, shouts, and death crossed paths. The pure white snow was stained red as a road of blood was carved out.
Blood and corpses attracted even more monsters. A vicious cycle repeated. But Balraf Dislode did not care.
In his eyes, there were no drakes baring filthy maws at him.
Nor did he see the yetis hurling massive boulders from afar.
Only the tower that would be not far away—the Demon King’s tower, the Tower of Dark Flame.
And only the Demon King of Dark Flame who would be inside it shimmered before his eyes.
“You’ve come.”
And at the end of the blood-soaked path was what Balraf had long desired.
“It really is demonic energy.”
Beyond the darkness, faint demonic energy could be felt. It was so weak that ordinary humans, and even most heroes, would not notice it, but it was different for Aina, who had ascended to the rank of Star, and for Balraf, said to be the greatest among heroes.
“Where are the others?”
“Neither of them has arrived yet.”
“When they arrive, we advance immediately.”
“Moving at night isn’t a good idea.”
“It’s better than watching the tower disappear with our eyes open. By now, the Demon King of Dark Flame has noticed our movements. We must grab him by the scruff of the neck before he runs.”
After some time, the two groups arrived. Like Balraf, they had shed blood they need not have shed. They had carved a bloody path.
But no one called it an excessive order.
They agreed with Balraf’s assertion that the tower might disappear again, and that they must never let go of this thread.
They, too, had tasted failure alongside Balraf.
“First, we follow the demonic energy. We find the tower, and we’ll talk about the rest after that.”
“Yes.”
“Agreed.”
The great army began to move again. Tension spread at the words that demonic energy had been sensed.
Demonic energy was the aura felt from demons or monsters. Ironically, the tower—the stronghold of demons and monsters—was filled with demonic energy inside but barely leaked any outside, so following demonic energy did not guarantee that a tower would appear.
But in the end, it meant the same thing. Monsters and demons would eventually return to the tower, so if one followed demonic energy, the tower would inevitably appear.
And fortunately.
That was correct.
“A t-tower!”
“There are monsters too!”
The monsters lurking around the tower went berserk and charged at the alliance. They soon became corpses, and beyond them, the tower, boasting its stately presence even within the darkness, greeted them.
“...At last.”
Balraf’s eyes gleamed at the tower’s all-too-familiar shape and size.
The other Stars, the heroes, and the humans all felt the same.
At last, their target had revealed itself.
The tower that had kidnapped the Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Hilderan.
That had given Hero Hillan Cargill the despair of failure.
That had toyed with humans time and again, kidnapping countless princesses.
That had given the great hero Balraf Dislode his first failure—its tower stood before their eyes.
After weeks of searching, to not be excited, to not be elated, would mean one was not a human with emotions.
“Hm...?”
Balraf, who had been carefully examining the tower, tilted his head.
“Something is strange.”
“What is it?”
“Something is different.”
“Different?”
Gillian examined the tower, then shook his head.
“It looks the same to me.”
“It looks that way to me too.”
“...Am I imagining it?”
Perhaps he had grown overly sensitive, thinking only about the Demon King.
Calming himself, Balraf issued an order.
“Only the heroes enter.”
The tower did not welcome only heroes. It was merely that the power called interference power, which heroes possessed, was far more effective against demons and monsters.
Thus, given their numbers, there was no need to send in only heroes.
But no one objected to Balraf Dislode’s command.
Because no fewer than three Stars were present here.
And even excluding the Stars, a full 349 heroes were with them.
Within the limited space of a tower, too many allies would only become an obstruction. Three hundred fifty-two heroes were the perfect number.
Above all else, the strongest belief was that Balraf Dislode could not possibly lose to a Demon King who could do nothing but hide his tower.
Thus, they entered the tower.
And after some time—
────────!
A massive explosion swallowed the tower and everything beyond it.
* * *
Cough, cough—
Kyaaagh—
Save me...!
My leg! My leg!
Through the piercing ringing in his ears, the screams of soldiers could be heard. Through the acrid smoke, the thick stench of blood stabbed at the nose.
Count Armuts, who had temporarily taken command in place of the heroes who entered the tower, could not comprehend the situation.
‘What is this....’
They had found the tower.
And the heroes had entered it.
All that remained for them was to surround it so it could not escape and hold their positions.
At first, the monsters that had charged in with resolve hesitated after producing countless corpses before the formation of tens of thousands of soldiers.
And after some time.
They waited only for the heroes to emerge, for the tower to collapse, swelling with hope that they would finally be able to leave this cursed mountain range.
Then.
An explosion occurred.
The explosion that began in the tower collapsed the entire structure and struck the backs of the alliance fighting the monsters.
Flames surged, and melted snow turned to steam, obscuring their vision.
Count Armuts instinctively wrapped aura around his entire body, but the dizzying shock pierced through it and slammed into his flesh.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
A hell on earth unfolded.
Half-melted corpses lay scattered. Burning soldiers rolled across the snow, screaming.
Above all, the tower had collapsed.
But could this be called the subjugation of the Demon King?
“T-the heroes...!”
They could not be found. More accurately, it was difficult to find them. Screams filled the ears, and steam and demonic energy blinded the eyes.
‘Demonic energy...?’
Yes, it was demonic energy. Dense demonic energy, visible even without focusing one’s senses.
“...!”
A chill ran down his spine. A sense of foreboding struck his mind.
Something—something that should never have happened—was happening.
“We have to run!”
His instincts warned him. He shouted. But the hellish chaos swallowed his cry without a trace.
And then—
Grrrr—
Kwaaaar—
Drawn by the thick demonic energy, monsters were shining their eyes in the darkness.
Far more than before.
* * *
“As expected, it was worth watching in person.”
Clap, clap, clap—
Berje applauded.
How could he possibly stay still?
This massive explosion was dazzling beyond measure. The raging inferno that devoured everything fulfilled its role perfectly.
The tower collapsed, shaking not only the heroes inside but even the alliance outside.
“As expected, explosives made by dwarves are the best.”
The explosive power was truly satisfying.
“Now then, the second stage.”
Along with the explosion, the demonic energy that had been planted in advance began to overflow.
The second trap Berje had prepared, along with the bomb.
The roots of monsters lay in the Demon Realm. Monsters scattered from the Demon Realm into various dimensions eventually settled there over long periods of time.
Even if they no longer used demonic energy, the instinct to crave it remained.
In other words—
“They’re coming.”
Demonic energy was the perfect bait to lure monsters.
The massive explosion that shook the mountain range drew their attention.
And the sweet demonic energy that followed delighted their mouths and noses.
“Now.”
Berje smiled.
“Just how many will make it back alive, I wonder.”
In a cheerful mood, he unwrapped a piece of chocolate and put it into his mouth.
“...Now I see why humans like it.”
It was sweet. Extremely so.
Just like the play unfolding before his eyes.