Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: The Puppet's Dance
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“What in the world is happening!”
In a chamber within the cathedral of Labyrinth City, where the leaders of the Grand Demon Alliance had gathered.
The Master Templar, representing the Church, and High Elder Boreas of the White Magic Tower raised their voices.
“While two of the Church’s priests and a deacon were being murdered in the square, what in God’s name was the Black Armor Company, who is responsible for the city’s security, doing!”
“Why, they are busy working to protect the peace of the Demon King’s Domain. Just—not here in Labyrinth City,” Dale said.
“Have you forgotten that it is your calling to be responsible for the security of the Demon King’s Domain?!” the Master Templar shouted.
“Don’t think you can get away with some foolish scheme to hand over the Demon King’s Domain to us and then sit back and do nothing.”
“I understand that point very well. And as one of the representatives of the Grand Demon Alliance, I am prepared to willingly fulfill my duties, separate from having offered this area to the Church.”
Dale shrugged his shoulders and continued.
“However, the adventurers in Labyrinth City are, at the very least, not ‘demons.’ Is that not correct?”
Dale asked in return.
“Furthermore, now that this area of Labyrinth City has been offered to the Church, I can exert no influence over the execution of duties within the territory, in accordance with the principle of Immunity. Therefore, the only duty I must perform is to confront ‘demons.’ Not the people of this city.”
“Are you spouting such nonsense even after seeing that they have already started an armed uprising?”
“The city’s adventurers are simply exercising their rightful voice, as they always have.”
Dale smiled placidly, unfazed.
“Especially regarding Young Lord Edward of Dulles, who is rallying the adventurers, I’m sure the Church is not unfamiliar with his name.”
The second son of House Dulles, one of the Empire’s most distinguished count families. Furthermore, as long as the faction of noble adventurers acted alongside him, not even the Church could unilaterally hang them.
Noble blood was a nuisance. And Dale knew exactly how to use that nuisance.
Summarily executing a mere band of rioting adventurers under church law was no trouble at all. But the story was different when those with noble blood were mixed among them.
That was precisely why Dale was using Edward and the noble adventurer faction as a shield.
“Those are very wise words.”
Hearing this, Princess Kiara, who was also present, spoke up. A moment of silence fell.
“Y-Your Highness!”
“Young Lord Dale’s words have merit. Among the adventurers of Labyrinth City, there are not a few of our Empire’s own precious sons and daughters. Therefore, it seems the Church will need to make some concessions on this matter.”
“B-But!”
Following Kiara, it was Lady Scarlet, a high elder of the Red Magic Tower, who spoke next.
“Ah, what disgusting, greedy oinking from pigs.”
“Lady Scarlet…!”
“In the face of your pig-like, oinking desires, did our brilliant Young Lord not make the greatest concession he could? For the sake of our great cause.”
Lady Scarlet flashed a sweet smile at Dale.
“The situation currently unfolding in Labyrinth City is a grave act that insults the dignity of the Church, and by extension, the Goddess herself!”
“Did you say the dignity of the Church?”
At those words, Lady Scarlet laughed coldly.
“Ah, I remember now. The time when my brother and I captured the capital of the Holy Kingdom during the Unification War.”
The two siblings at the pinnacle of the Red Magic Tower, Marquis Yuriseu and Lady Scarlet. She began to reminisce about the time they brought down the Land of the Goddess.
“Crying out the Goddess’s name until their last fiery breath, their country burning to ashes… The screams of priests cursing the Goddess as they turned to cinders. Even now, the memory of that exquisitely delightful harmony sends shivers down my spine.”
Lady Scarlet laughed, her voice filled with ecstasy.
“Does the Church, which has already fallen as far as it can, still have any dignity left to hold its head up so stiffly?”
The Master Templar’s expression froze solid.
“Ha, what a damn dysfunctional bunch of bastards.”
Watching the scene, Prince Modred’s voice rose in ridicule.
“This goddamn country, this goddamn land, and all you goddamn bastards.”
“…”
“Instead of spouting this bullshit here, does not a single one of you have the sense to think of forming a unit right now to go wipe out the demon bastards?”
“I, too, agree with His Highness Prince Modred’s sentiment.”
Hearing this, Dale nodded. The Rose Cross Knights of Lancaster, who were growing weary of the bickering, also expressed their assent.
“But, Your Highness!”
At those words, High Elder Boreas of the White Magic Tower opened his mouth in bewilderment, but Modred continued without pause.
“What, you piece of shit. You got a problem with what I said?”
“…N-No, that’s not it.”
“We’re a bunch of bastards gathered to wipe out demons, and I’m saying let’s go wipe out demons. Any bastard who has an issue with that…”
Prince Modred said.
“I’ll just assume you’re not part of the Grand Demon Alliance to begin with, and you should pack your bags and get out. Now, any bastard got a problem with what I said?”
“Y-Your words are most correct.”
‘So, I suppose a dragon is a dragon after all.’
Listening to Modred, Dale also held his breath in surprise. It wasn’t a needlessly clever calculation. But to pinpoint the heart of the matter and bring the situation to a close was a dignity befitting the ‘imperial bloodline.’ His boorish methods and vulgarity aside.
“From the very beginning, our purpose was to clear the darkness from this land.”
Thus, it was a proposal Dale had no reason to refuse.
“In accordance with His Highness Prince Modred’s will, let us prepare for a swifter, more decisive conclusion.”
To eliminate the remnants of the demons scattered throughout the Demon King’s Domain. But that was not the full extent of the Grand Demon Alliance’s purpose.
It was to resolve the threat from the land beyond the Demon King’s Domain, the land of darkness once called the home of the Demon King and his kin.
A land veiled in mystery, where even the Hero and the Empire’s strongest warriors dared not set foot.
Officially named the ‘Dark Land,’ some connoisseurs of the dramatic had another, more exaggerated name for it.
The Demon Realm.
And the ultimate goal of the ‘Grand Demon Alliance’ gathered here was singular.
To erect a magical barrier to stand guard between the Demon Realm and Sachsen’s Demon King’s Domain.
That was why High Elder Boreas of the White Magic Tower had brought a ‘Holy Relic’ of the Church to carry out the task, and it was also why he could raise his voice so loudly before Dale.
After all, nothing in this world is free.
***
Following Modred’s proposal, the regular forces of the Grand Demon Alliance began to assemble. To bring about a swift and decisive end.
At the same time, the Church temporarily yielded to the adventurers, accepting some of their proposals. At Modred’s request to carry out a ‘large-scale battle,’ they had no choice but to set aside the city’s affairs.
And Dale would not miss the moment the city was freed from the Church’s control, creating a power vacuum.
He recalled an artifact that Edward of Dulles had acquired while Dale was away fighting the War of the Roses.
Edward would undoubtedly believe it was an artifact he had obtained with his own hands. But he was wrong.
Sword of Puppet.
From this moment, Dale and the ‘Grand Demon Alliance’ would advance into the deepest part of the Demon King’s Domain and engage in battle with the demons there. These were by no means mere orcs or ghouls.
The possibility of confronting high-ranking demons, even a Shadowmancer, could not be ruled out.
And while a fierce battle unfolded there… the scenario Dale had prepared for Edward was as follows.
Officially, Edward had illegally laundered and acquired the artifact. Therefore, the responsibility for it rested solely on his shoulders.
At the same time, the artifact was an item imbued with the darkness of a high-ranking demon, and he would be consumed by its power, lose consciousness, and go on a rampage.
Right now, while the Church that ruled Labyrinth City and their main forces were away fulfilling the duties of the ‘Grand Demon Alliance’…
The ‘Sword of Puppet’ in his hand would dance.
To eliminate Dale’s political enemies remaining in Labyrinth City—the Church’s administrators.
***
At the proposal of the Seventh Prince, Modred, a swift expedition into the darkness of the Demon King’s Domain began.
And in a sense, it was an unexpected butterfly effect that no one could have foreseen.
In any world, work is bound to be sluggish and slow. This tendency is even stronger among conflicting interest groups.
Dale’s plan, which had initially required slowly laying one brick at a time, had unexpectedly proceeded at a breakneck pace.
From a situation that called for gradually assessing the state of the Demon King’s Domain and moving troops incrementally, it had shifted to a strategy of moving a large-scale force all at once to draw a line between the ‘Demon Realm’ and the Demon King’s Domain.
But to be brutally honest… Dale had his reservations. The phrase ‘swift and decisive’ sounded good, but in reality, it could easily become a synonym for irresponsibility.
Nevertheless, the reason Dale went along with Modred’s will was that he had something to fall back on.
In the end, the ones to be sacrificed in this battle would not be Sachsen’s forces. They would be the ‘potential enemies’ fulfilling their duty to the Grand Demon Alliance. Although House Sachsen’s troops were no exception, it was a worthy sacrifice when compared to everyone else gathered here.
Even if it succeeded, there was nothing to lose. In the meantime, Dale’s pawns would manipulate Edward of Dulles like a puppet, and by the time they returned, there would be nothing left to undo.
For Dale, it was a gamble where he had nothing to lose.
***
The edge of the Demon King’s Domain, and the entrance to the Demon Realm where ancient darkness resided.
Detecting the movement of the large-scale forces of Dale and the ‘Grand Demon Alliance,’ the demons there began to stir.
In an old fortress, built during the war between the Demon King Balor and the Empire in the past.
There stood a man in a black robe.
The hem of his fluttering robe writhed as if it were alive, and a deep shadow was cast beneath his hood.
“We have a report that the main forces of the Grand Demon Alliance have begun to mobilize.”
A goblin scout spoke to the man. Not in human tongue, but in the common language of demons.
“Summon the chiefs of the orc, troll, and goblin tribes, and issue a rallying order to all guerrilla units scattered throughout the Demon King’s Domain. We will use this place as a base and prepare for a long siege.”
The man spoke. His demonic voice was exceptionally fluent.
“A-As you command!”
After the goblin departed, the man stood alone on the fortress walls.
A frozen wasteland raged around him, but even this cold could not compare to the darkness that lay beyond.
“Demons…”
Just then, what flowed from his lips was, without a doubt, a human voice.
The wind died down.
But even in that place where not even a light breeze blew, the man’s black robe continued to flutter like a living creature.