Subjugating the Demon King's Army (2)
'A strange human.'
Cain gazed at Sisilia, who had boldly entered his castle without fear, with eyes tinged with nostalgia. No human—no, not even the Demon King himself—would dare such a thing. How delightful. To him, trapped in an endlessly repeating routine, this variable was a welcome stimulus.
"So, what is it you want to say to me?"
"To revisit that conversation from before."
"I answered everything, and so did you. Isn't that enough?"
"Not quite. There's still something you haven't answered."
Cain nodded. He would hear her out, at least.
Sisilia spoke in her emotionless tone. "Why are you still lingering as a duke of the Demon Realm?"
"Hm."
'The current Demon King would be troublesome for humans. Is this a ploy to incite internal strife and buy time?'
But seeing Sisilia's demeanor, Cain quickly lost interest.
"Have you come to sort out the chaos? If so, go home. None of what's happening in the Demon Realm has anything to do with me."
Cain's words rang hollow. The faint curiosity he'd shown earlier had vanished cleanly.
Sisilia glanced at him once, then clasped her hands behind her back and strolled leisurely around the room.
"This is a rundown castle."
"It is old."
To put it kindly. As a residence for a duke of the Demon Realm, it was utterly unqualified. Demons loved to flaunt. Their own strength, their wealth—anything at all.
The castles of the high demons she'd seen in Another World had all glittered impressively. Back then, whenever she ran low on gold, Sisilia would sneak off with a pickaxe to mine the Demon King Castle's bricks for a quick buck.
But Cain's castle wasn't worth the frost. The traps she'd spotted on the way in were too old to function properly, and the bricks, unmaintained, were cracked everywhere.
"But it must have been glorious once."
Yet Sisilia could see it. From what she'd sensed arriving here, the castle's structure was meticulously designed for practicality against intruders. The now-dull fixtures must have once shone brilliantly.
In other words, this dilapidated castle of Cain's was proof that he had once poured his heart and soul into fortifying it against invaders.
"There was a time like that."
Cain didn't deny it. But he saw no value in continuing the conversation.
"Last time, I was an uninvited guest as well. You're one now, too. I won't hold you accountable."
Meaning he'd let her leave alive if she went now.
Sisilia didn't even look at him as she replied. "Doesn't everything feel dull and boring?"
"……."
Cain tilted his head slightly. Not because of her words, but her destination.
The door to the throne room, and on the floor before it, a sword that had lost its light, embedded in the stone.
"Don't you ever worry time has stopped, so you peer into others' lives more often?"
Sisilia was quite a distance away now. Yet her voice felt as close as if whispered in his ear.
'Wind's Blessing. Pity about her talent.'
That was Cain's brief assessment. Normally, he wouldn't allow the conversation to go further. No need.
But for some reason, he couldn't end it. Why? Curiosity toward a human who'd reached this far by unconventional means, after so long? Whatever the reason, Cain found this moment of banter with her rather enjoyable.
Sisilia murmured softly before the sword. "You must have had those days too. Waiting for the hero, heart pounding, as you decorated this castle……."
She reached out. Her right hand lightly gripped the blade firmly stuck in the floor.
Cain's pupils, until now utterly indifferent, dilated hugely. He even rose blankly from the throne.
"But no matter how long you waited, the hero never came. Even the strongest humans faded away, their short lives spent."
Sisilia lifted the sword lightly, inspecting it with a beaming smile. Worn, but a fine blade.
"Become the Demon King. Then, before long, you'll see one—a hero party that might just kill you."
A spark of life flickered briefly in Cain's hollow eyes. He sat back down. Then, he chuckled softly.
"And what do you gain from that?"
Sisilia's eyes lit up as she replied swiftly. "At least a year. I want temporary peace."
"A year. How do you plan to form a hero party in that short time?"
"That's a secret. We'll be killing each other when the time comes, so I can't hand vital info to a clear enemy."
Sisilia walked back to Cain and held out the sword. "It's a fine ornament, but wouldn't it look better in a more fitting place?"
Cain stared silently at the sword in her hand for a long while. A hero who had reached this point but never stepped into the throne room, perishing there.
—Someday, a hero will surely reach you. I will perish here, but the human resolve to exterminate demons will not fade.
A very brief moment, yet memories of incalculable time flashed through his mind.
"It's a gift for this truce. Humans have that custom, I hear. It's a good sword. Clean the rust, and it'll be usable."
This was as good as accepting her proposal.
Sisilia beamed purely with joy. And a sword worthy of her Sisilia Collection, to boot!
'Now that's the bearing of a Demon King.'
A true Demon King needed pride. In that regard, Sisilia quite liked Cain.
"But there's one thing I must tell you."
"Yes."
"I haven't become the Demon King not because I chose not to, but because I can't."
"You have the power."
"If power alone made one Demon King, the Demon Realm would be at war every day."
Cain spoke with keen curiosity. "High demons like me are bound by constraints."
Sisilia blinked. "A curse preventing us from killing the Demon King."
'So that's it.'
This was news even to Sisilia.
"In other words, for your wish to come true, you must kill the Demon King with your own power. Can you?"
"On that condition, let's contract."
Sisilia had already sliced her wrist and extended it.
Cain let out a hollow laugh at her audacity, then offered his own hand. A complex pattern on the back glowed red.
A vast magic circle unfurled between them.
A contract with a demon. Her second time.
But this one wouldn't break. Neither Sisilia nor Cain intended to void it.
**
Sisilia returned to the expedition camp in high spirits. She'd reached an agreement with Cain on the timing to kill the Demon King. Until then, her task was simple.
'Time to plan a medieval WWE.'
She needed a scripted show to drag things out. Crucially, without leaving any doubts.
Sisilia immediately assembled the knights.
"Want to scout the area? No heroics—stay undetected."
Three knights nodded and departed.
"The rest, stand by until they return."
Sisilia issued the hold order and hunkered down at camp.
'No stealing the show! Drag it out quietly, without raising suspicion.'
Just get past this hurdle, and she'd face the newbies as the lovely Sword Princess…!
As Sisilia burned with motivation, the three scouts faithfully executed her orders.
"Demons massing there. What now?"
Rihaeton asked tensely. Scout leader Rahel replied simply.
"Wipe 'em out."
"But the orders…."
"If we can, why not?"
'Senior knights have sharp judgment. Per doctrine, minimize presence and….'
But Rahel was already charging ahead.
"Humans?"
"Solo?"
"Got a wife and a girlfriend."
"Adulterer? Sinful bastard."
Rahel infused her blade with sword aura and grinned. "That's why I'm killing you lot for the light."
Rihaeton stared blankly as Rahel moved. She dispatched monsters past fifty and two demons in under ten minutes.
"W-Was it always like this?"
"About average for our order. Hey, Rahel! My turn next. I'll beat your three minutes."
"With that dull spear? Dream on."
"Wanna bet? Loser buys drinks back at base."
"Deal."
That day, the scouts obliterated 48 demon squads and returned.
**
"……Well done. 48 squads wiped out—impressive."
'I said just scout, you guys….'
Sisilia sweated bullets, eyeing the proud scouts.
"No big deal."
Rahel shrugged.
Sisilia's composure crumbled.
'That was a week's worth!'
—Too weak? Trap? Yeah, smells like one. Let's play it safe.
Sisilia's plan to gauge and meet the deadline went up in smoke.
'Okay, still fine. Issue tedious, time-consuming orders to stall.'
She desperately comforted herself and barked orders.
"Rahel, take eight and push deep along the scouted route, veer left. Advance B, C, D, E in sequence. Clear only to D and return. No advancing to E."
"Herald, this is A-point. Take seven and mop up."
"Philaion, when Rahel hits D, E's forces will shift. Capture the mid-tier demon stationed at E alive then."
She'd picked points with minor minions, avoiding the core.
And—
"A-point cleared."
"B, C, D sorted."
"Captured the mid-tier demon as ordered. But this guy's barely resisting?"
The Windsor Knights executed flawlessly. In under four days.
'Why are they so competent! This is abnormal! Even off the main forces, why is the Demon King's army this weak!'
But Sisilia overlooked something herself. She adored every single Windsor Knight. From age six, they'd always hugged and doted on her—it was natural.
—Practically communal parenting.
So she didn't want to send them anywhere risky. It was Cain's Demon King's army anyway; if they died there, nothing could hurt more.
Thus, using Wind's Blessing intel, she sent them to the weakest spots. Hollow inside, but showy on the surface.
A solid plan. With average subordinates, it might've worked.
But the Windsor Knights weren't average. The world's finest order. Twenty-four elites, each worth a full squad. Ask for one, get ten—it was par for the course.
The Demon King's army fell like autumn leaves—
"The Windsor Knights' relentless exploits have shattered the filthy demons' lines. A once-in-Liannen-history genius commander stands right here."
'This isn't what I wanted…?'
Sisilia had become a highly competent commander.
"We can't sit idle, can we? Full advance—! Trust the Windsor Knights, who upended fifty years of stalemate in under a week!"
And so, before the prologue even began, the grand mad party hurtled toward the ending.