306. Starlight (1)
306. Starlight (1)
- 1 -
Four days.
A short but densely packed span of time.
Disguised as a demon realm noble with Sister Stella's help, I drifted between glittering parties and secret gatherings, gathering information.
Though I smiled, twirling a glass of red wine between my fingers, my eyes and ears never rested for a single moment.
The first objective was to find forces capable of keeping Dantalion and Astaroth in check.
There were some achievements on that front.
"The Duke of Obsession and the Secret Duke form no true alliances with anyone. Because of that, quite a bit of resentment has built up."
The Marquis of Cold Fury under the Wrath Duke, the Marquis of Deceit under the Duke of Pride, the Marquis of Folly under the Sloth Archduke, and so on.
However, these seemed to be more personal grudges than outright hostility toward the two archdukes.
"Yeah... they dislike them simply because surface nobles dare to call themselves archdukes... but that's precisely why they're useful..."
I nodded at Shue's words.
Their base greed and jealousy would become a pretext for them to move aggressively the moment they deluded themselves into thinking it was to their advantage.
All I had to do was light the fire appropriately.
That much, I was fully confident in.
"Beyond that, Asmodeus and Astaroth are on bad terms..."
The two archdukes were half-sisters.
Each carried the blood of the demon realm's Gumiho clan and the Dream Demon clan, respectively.
But it seemed their father was originally a demon.
Now dead and gone, the Marquis of Pleasure, Mephistopheles.
Because of this, even now that they had each risen to the highest positions of archduke in the demon realm and on the surface, the matter of inheriting their father's single peerage title still appeared unresolved.
Currently, Asmodeus occupied that position, but she was in a situation where she did not wish for Astaroth, who was constantly eyeing her title, to become the Demon King's successor.
"It'll be worth making contact in the future."
Beyond this, there was even more information obtained.
The power struggle that had unfolded during the division of the lands of the Jealous Duke after the Demon King placed him under Fate (緣) confinement. The new forces that had emerged in the midst of it.
All the archdukes of the surface and demon realm were showing interest in that land, but the common people of the demon realm continued their lives without paying it any mind.
What was especially important was the talk about the demon realm archdukes who had begun to take an interest in me.
[Wrath and Pride will try to reach out to you, even if it means appearing to ignore the Father.]
The warning my sister conveyed was true.
Cross-verified through multiple sources.
The Wrath Duke, Satan, and the Pride Duke, Lucifer, were attempting to make direct contact with me regardless of the intentions of my biological father, the Gluttony Duke.
This carried another implication.
The fact that Satan and Lucifer's movements, which they were trying to conceal in their own way, had been discovered by Stella.
And that the influence she wielded in the demon realm held a considerably favorable position.
The noble faction supporting her was gradually thickening, and they could become valuable allies going forward.
"Let us return."
Having thus finished gathering information in Pandemonium, I turned my steps back toward the surface.
The method of return was the same as when I came.
Since I had come in secrecy, I also needed to conceal myself on the way back.
However, the passage was not the same one I had used to come.
Together with Shue, I stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the demon realm's sea.
Because the sky was red, the sea was consequently dyed red as well.
Would there be mermaids even in that sea that looked as though it were stained with blood?
- Guuuuu...
While I was lost in thought, the cry of a massive sea creature from the demon realm came from far away.
A type of creature akin to a whale, by surface standards.
It rose from the sea, churning up violent waves, and flew off into the sky somewhere.
Together with its family.
And immediately after.
Swaaak—!
The empty air split vertically, as though slashed by a blade.
A rift shining within the darkness. A door leading to the surface opened.
"Let's go."
I stepped forward without hesitation.
The moment I stepped into the void, gravity pulled me in.
Holding my skirt with my hand so it wouldn't flutter in the wind, I surrendered my body completely.
Free fall. Into the deep, dark abyss of Fate (緣).
Hwooook—!
Swallowed by the darkness.
The passage was deep and dark.
It felt like falling endlessly into an abyss of Fate (緣).
It was deep enough to create the illusion that the human world lay beneath the demon realm.
As I fell, I was organizing the information I had gathered in my head.
The confrontation with Dantalion, the threat of Astaroth, and the movements of the demon realm archdukes. I thought about how all of this would affect my plans.
Then suddenly, a faint light became visible below.
"Master."
"I'm fine."
Shue slipped her arm under my knees and pulled me into her embrace.
A princess carry. I naturally wrapped my arms around her neck and turned my eyes downward.
Beyond the light, a forest was visible.
Hwaaak—!
The next moment, we appeared in the sky above the surface.
Kung—!
Hwiik!
As Shue set foot on the surface, the dirt and dust spread out in concentric circles in all directions.
She let out a light whistle, and the dust scattered without touching her or myself.
"Any idea where we are?"
"It looks like a forest in central Hysen... I remember it because it was a place I used to come to for hunting."
"I see. Then we should stop by Hylash first. Let's go see Yurena."
Tok. Seureureuk!
I lightly tapped the ground with my foot, and shadows began to rise.
They transformed in an instant into a black carriage and black horses.
She escorted me into the carriage and climbed onto the coachman's seat herself.
Dagak dagak...
Listening to the rhythmic sound of the black horses' hooves, I continued the thoughts I had been having just moments before.
The information gained in the demon realm and the meeting with Vellastella were of sufficient value.
This information would become a crucial weapon in the confrontation with Dantalion, and on the long journey toward the Demon King's throne.
Among it all, the warmth her lips had left on my forehead was... exceedingly, overwhelmingly vivid.
"..."
A faint smile rose to my lips. Without my realizing it.
- 2 -
It took time to return to Orbis.
Because I had stopped by Hysen to meet Yurena along the way, and also stopped to see the two sisters of Leophere.
In the end, it was five days after returning to the surface that I arrived at my dungeon on the northern edge of Orbis.
"Countess Philia has returned."
The name of the city built into the mountains was Clarent.
When the official count of the Orbis Duchy and mistress of the new city returned, the guards stood in rows to welcome me.
After meeting each of their eyes one by one, I walked slowly toward the interior.
Ttogak. Ttogak.
Passing through the entrance and climbing the spiral staircase, the interior, practically integrated with the mountain, revealed itself.
My dungeon was currently composed of the rear section, a dungeon fused with the mountain, and the front section, an inner citadel that appeared to be an ordinary fortress.
The reason my castle was wider than it appeared from the outside was because it utilized the entire mountain in this way.
"It has been a long while."
The core room was located on the 5th floor of the double outer section.
Exploiting the blind spot that it would be inside the dungeon, it was instead placed boldly in an exposed location.
When I opened the core room's door and entered, the first thing that caught my eye was a sphere emitting a familiar violet light.
Kung. Kung. Kung...
The core pulsated like a heart, radiating mana.
"Hoo..."
When I exhaled deeply, my senses spread out like ripples.
I closed my eyes.
A feeling as if every cell in my body was awakening. As if a giant lifeform had woken from sleep, the entire dungeon became a part of my senses.
It was faint at first.
Just as consciousness that has sunk beneath the surface slowly rises, the dungeon's senses flowed into me.
One stream, two streams... and soon they became a mighty river.
My heartbeat changed.
No longer a single pulse, but a complex rhythm as if thousands of hearts were beating simultaneously.
The life forces of humans, monsters, even plants circulated through my blood vessels.
In a single instant, I saw everything.
In the underground prison, two newly captured prisoners were huddled on the dirt floor.
Spies who had crossed over from Zenota to observe Leophere. The sound of their anxious hearts was vivid in my ears.
In the western laboratory, Mure was experimenting with new necromancy and soul magic.
The mana of spiritual coordinates blooming at her fingertips was felt distinctly, strand by strand.
To the east, the nests of the monsters residing in my dungeon were visible.
The spider monsters, which aside from the undead had the highest population in my dungeon, stood out.
And in the deepest part of the dungeon, in my secret garden, my flowers were quietly growing.
They were materials that would make my future bloom even more brilliantly.
The moment I felt all of this, the tension from the demon realm completely melted away. I was once again my complete self. Libertas. Dungeon Lord. The absolute ruler of this domain.
I felt everything, down to the faintest vibration.
My dungeon grew by consuming whether it was humans or monsters, and that was returning straight to me as power.
Everything, was mine.
"Now, let us assess the situation."
When I placed my hand over the core, an even larger core rose above it.
A core as massive and brilliant as the sun, white in the center but emitting rainbow-colored light of various hues at the edges.
From this, which was formed by combining cores stored in various kingdoms, five more cores orbited like planets, connected by Fate (緣).
These cores were each shaped as though a different kind of black flower dwelled within them, one in each.
As one could easily guess, these were the flowers representing the five nations of Grakheisen.
Hysen's narcissus, Kiza's asphodel, Leophere's rose, Hilsa's chrysanthemum, and Orbis's lily.
Ttak!
When I snapped my fingers, those cores each brought up the map of their respective nation, centered on themselves.
The countless points of light that rose above the maps indicated the adventurer guilds in each city and village.
Among them, the lights in Hysen and Orbis were all dyed violet.
The detectors in Leophere and Kiza were a little more than half-dyed, and Hilsa's were slowly changing while still less dyed.
'About 70%, I suppose.'
A smile rose to my lips involuntarily.
It seemed it was about time to begin preparations.
The Eclipse Plan.
It was the task of preparing the 'Ultimate' to leap to being a high-grade dungeon Lord.
The Ultimate. To reach the pinnacle.
Currently, my level remained at the elite grade.
But that was only by the world's standard.
Just like a feline beast poised to hunt, I too was gathering strength for a leap and a sprint.
'The core of the plan is to prevent the adventurers from detecting my power.'
The adventurer guild's detectors were a crucial tool for determining a dungeon's grade.
If I were to rise to the high grade, they would immediately notice and begin responding accordingly.
Adventurers from all over the continent would step forward regardless of national interest, of course.
'But what if those detectors are already dyed with my mana?'
They wouldn't notice a thing.
That would grant me some breathing room.
Until I became sufficiently powerful.
Such an absence of information would also help hide the time when I grew stronger from the demon realm archdukes.
- Master. May I come in?
While I was thus lost in thought, Evangeline's voice came from outside the door.
"Come in."
When I answered, my hero, with her brilliant golden hair flowing down past her shoulders, entered the core room.
Since Kiza had completely stabilized, there was no reason for her to remain there.
Thanks to that, she had been leisurely coming and going through the dungeon gates built in Orbis and Kiza.
"I came to see you immediately upon hearing the news of your return. Did your business in the demon realm proceed well?"
"It did. Better than expected."
"That is a relief. And... Master."
Evangeline approached me with sparkling eyes.
After pressing her lips once to the back of my hand, she looked up at me and revealed the purpose of her visit.
"The preparations to conduct the 'experiment' have been completed."
A smile rose to my lips.
Along with the achievements from the demon realm, this news would be yet another stepping stone toward my future.
With the experiment conducted today, the final piece of the plan would be fitted into place.