Chapter 414
Chapter 414
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 414
Chapter Title: Demon World Great War (1)
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“Mm, so it turned out that way after all.”
Hela slowly nodded upon hearing the report from her subordinate.
“I had fully anticipated it... Still, now that it's become reality, I can't help but feel it's a waste.”
She had prepared a grand welcoming ceremony just in case.
Clicking her tongue in disappointment that the best option had slipped away, she turned to Siana at her side.
“Since that's how it is, Operation Dragon Snare is canceled. We'll have to move on to the next plan.”
“What a shame. If it had gone well, we could've wrapped this up easily.”
“Well, it just means they're not complete idiots.”
Hela's gaze shifted to the strategy map sprawled across the large table.
A map of the Demon World, dotted with pieces of various shapes.
Her eyes narrowed at two particularly massive pieces standing side by side among them.
'Mad Dragon Duke Crushaier...'
In truth, for someone of his caliber, bypassing the checkpoints via spatial transfer wouldn't have been all that difficult.
Of course, that would mean abandoning large-scale troop movements, but his superior mobility could be repurposed in any number of ways.
For example, swiftly rallying the remnants of Dark Nest that hadn't fully fallen into Helheim's grasp yet...
'Hmm, maybe I should've leaked Ken's position to him? ...No, that would've introduced too many variables. What a pity.'
If things had gone according to plan, she could've seized him by the throat in one fell swoop.
Sighing deeply as she thought of the prey that had slipped her meticulously prepared trap, she twirled a strand of her long hair around her finger and spoke.
“Any other contacts besides that?”
“No, it seems they're being extra cautious with security after everything they've been through lately. Linking the two forces wasn't too hard to detect from the start—it's not something you can easily hide—but the specifics of their discussions are a different matter.”
“Well, we've been exceptionally lucky up until now.”
“That's because everyone believes in you, Lady Hela. They know you're the true Demon King of the Demon World.”
Hela let out a chuckle at Siana, who was flattering her openly with a beaming smile.
Of course, with the hegemony of the Demon World finally coming into view, it was only natural.
Who could have foreseen that Dream Walker, flickering like a candle in the wind before Hela's arrival, would become the key player in selecting the next Demon King?
As the heir to her faction, she couldn't help but feel immense satisfaction from this achievement.
'Of course, not all problems are solved yet.'
Leaning back in her chair, Hela quietly gazed at the pieces on the strategy map once more.
The Mad Dragon Duke, seething with rage after repeated betrayals from behind, and the Black Rock Duke, who had realized he'd been thoroughly played.
The two, who had seemed ready to fight to the death just recently, had now joined hands in dramatic fashion to oppose her. To become the true king of the Demon World, she first needed to crush them utterly.
Thump— Thump—
Feeling the fierce pulsing of her heart, she gently closed her eyes.
'It's really not far off now.'
With each passing moment, she could feel her body gradually linking to this world—the Demon World.
Along with the presences of the countless followers who breathed, lived, and served her within it.
This was the true authority of a Demon King.
The real power that made the Demon King inevitably the strongest in the Demon World.
👁️ DEMON GOD GAZES UPON YOU 👁️ The Demon God gazes upon you. And so time passed.
Finally, a massive assault by the Mad Dragon and Black Rock allied forces began along the greatly expanded Helheim front lines.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The office was shrouded entirely in darkness.
Black Rock Duke Pieta kindled a pair of blue ghostly lights in his eyes as he sank into thought.
'Things are getting complicated.'
All the plans he had previously established had long been scrapped.
In this rapidly unfolding situation, all he could do was improvise on the fly.
He usually preferred schemes and intrigue over brute force, but in circumstances like these, even those had little shine.
'In the end, power reigns supreme in the Demon World.'
Schemes had only been feasible thanks to centuries of accumulated intelligence on his rivals.
Skills naturally honed in the relentless pursuit of their weaknesses.
In contrast, Hela—who had appeared out of nowhere, from who-knows-where—and her organization Helheim were variables incarnate.
What could they do? What couldn't they? Where were the limits of their members? Who called the shots in planning? What were the leader's values and the organization's tendencies?
The unknown.
He had poured immense effort into planting spies in Helheim to pierce that veil, but the results were far from satisfactory.
No matter how steadfast the mind, anyone who got close enough to Hela inevitably became a fanatic, confessing all their secrets.
In an intelligence war, they were doomed to lose no matter what.
Just like the recent blow to the back of his head.
'Circumstantially, Hela must be behind the incident that provoked Crushaier.'
Yet the Mad Dragon Duke, who had pinned the blame on him, had immediately mobilized his entire army for a massive attack.
Whether it was some monumental secret or lingering half-doubts.
Even now, after personally meeting to clear the misunderstanding and restore their alliance, he hadn't heard the exact cause—but there must have been reason enough to name him the culprit.
“It happened right after those two clashed head-on. In that case...”
It meant Helheim, without Hela, had the capability to orchestrate something requiring the Black Rock Duke's personal intervention.
In the worst case—perhaps an unidentified duke-level powerhouse was attached to her.
If so, the competition was essentially over.
'...A headache. I need to secure an escape route in advance.'
He coveted the throne of Demon King, but not at the cost of his life.
The war had overheated to the point where two dukes had already perished.
He had no intention of becoming the third sacrifice.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The war, temporarily quieted, reignited.
Not targeting a single point like Hela had, but a full-scale assault across most of the border regions.
As if exploiting the instability within Helheim while it consolidated its internals.
Helheim had been preoccupied absorbing the demons of the existing Dark Nest territories it had claimed, but with powerful foes now allied and invading, it couldn't focus solely on internal affairs forever.
The vastly expanded territory, stronger enemies, and lingering internal unrest.
That Helheim endured without collapsing owed not just to Hela, but to the many talents steadfastly supporting her from below.
And shortly after the war resumed, some welcome news reached one such talent and greatest benefactor... the meritorious Dream Walker matriarch.
“Congratulations, Matriarch!”
“As expected of the Matriarch. We've waited so long for this day...”
“Congratulations! You've finally done it!”
While Hela had been stirring up Dark Nest's home base, Dream Walker's matriarch, Liriana—who had handled territorial defense—had finally ascended to duke rank.
The faces of those gathered lit up with excitement at this monumental news that could tip the scales in the current situation.
“Hehehe, it's thanks to all of you holding strong. ...Above all, without Lady Hela's grace, this would've been impossible from the start.”
Gazing down at her palm, she smiled bitterly.
Her proficiency was still low compared to other duke-level demons, leaving her lacking in many ways, but having elevated her tier itself, she knew better than anyone how deficient her former self had been.
Without the 'Essence of the Succubus Queen' bestowed by Hela, a talentless one like her ascending to duke was impossible from the outset.
'Even becoming a marquess late in the game was purely due to my Demon King and Queen bloodline. Without even that...'
Even when her sister Reray became Demon King, she had barely scraped marquess rank.
Despite an environment offering near-unlimited support for growth.
In the Demon World, even earls were considered high demons, but she couldn't help feeling inferior compared to her Demon King sister.
Squeeze—
Pink mana overflowed from her tightly clenched fist.
Pure mana she had only felt in her mother's presence while alive.
That same power now filled her very being.
'How can I ever repay this grace?'
Having received so much, she felt at a loss instead.
The best way to even begin repaying it was surely to aid that lady in ascending to true Demon King as swiftly as possible.
“Whew— Then shall we start lightly?”
And so, Dream Demon Duke Liriana took the field.
And.
“Long live Dream Demon Duke!”
[For Helheim!] “Uwaaaah—!”
Shortly after she stepped forward.
One battlefield was cleanly resolved.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ [That wench Liriana?]
The Mad Dragon's vicious face twisted even more ferociously at his subordinate's report.
Trouble on top of trouble.
His demons were already growing restless, and now a duke-level powerhouse had joined the enemy ranks in this situation?
'Best case would be that greedy wench clashing with the mongrel...'
He entertained that hopeful notion briefly, but no matter how he thought about it, the odds were slim.
The two weren't in a mere lord-vassal relationship to begin with.
Besides, betraying Hela and going independent now would require a brain not fully steeped in dark mana.
'Damn it, what kind of bullshit is this...'
Victory seemed truly out of reach now.
Just recently, he had been certain he'd become Demon King.
How had it come to this?
'Again? Again like this? Me, Crushaier, again?'
A future he had longed for over thousands of years, finally within grasp.
He thought he'd finally seize it this time.
Thought he'd mock fate, which had thwarted him at every turn!
His triple gaze blazed with murderous intent amid surging fury.
Black flames seeped from between his razor-sharp teeth, flaring nostrils, and scales covering his body.
Seizing the moment his ironclad composure cracked, some energy that had subtly infiltrated during his temple stay gently prodded him.
So faintly he wouldn't notice.
🔥 ROAR OF FURY! 🔥 [KRROOOOAAAR—!]
At this point, it was certain.
The Demon God was blocking his path once more!
To prevent a dragon-born, non-native of the Demon World from claiming the throne!
He had even allied with a nameless god to minimize the Demon God's interference.
But now that intruders had ruined centuries of preparation at the temple, all that remained was boiling hatred.
'Could the temple intruders have been...? ...No, it's confirmed she was marquess-level until recently. She must have truly broken through this time.'
Twisted and hasty he might be, but he was no fool.
Even after naming Black Rock Duke as culprit and launching his assault, he had verified multiple times just in case—Liriana and all known marquesses were cleared.
The only one he couldn't be sure of was Pieta, who had reached a similar realm and wielded strange curses.
Though priorities shifted with his home base raided, he still harbored suspicions toward Pieta.
That scheming skeleton who loved plots might be deceiving him again.
Thus, while pretending the misunderstanding was cleared, he monitored Pieta as closely as he did Helheim.
The persistent gaze of the Demon World's foremost black mage.
⚠️ SUSPICION CONFIRMED ⚠️ [...Ha! Hahaha! I knew it! Kuhahaha—!] ...Finally caught the suspicious signs.
💥 RAGE EXPLOSION! 💥 [Pieta, you dare—! Mock me?!]
Suspicious contacts amid their mutual war.
The unnatural movements that followed only fueled his convictions.
[Kuhuhu... So you two bastards were in cahoots from the start, screwing me over. Treating me like a total fool.]
The temple raid during his frontline battle, the ensuing retaliatory war, Dark Nest's base falling, and Pieta's peace proposal—all a perfectly scripted play.
To deceive him thoroughly and slip the noose around his neck.
'...Fine, if that's how you play, I have no choice.'
There was nowhere left to retreat.
If he lost this competition too, this time his long life would truly end.
Once they learned what he had schemed in that temple, they wouldn't let him live.
[Pieta. Come see me a moment.]
-“What's this about, Mad Dragon Duke? I'm busy now. As you know, things have gone awry thanks to that Dream Demon Duke.”
[Same here. It's urgent, so make time. I've thought of a sure way to take down that mongrel.]
-“Hmm?”
That was why.
Demon King or continental conquest—it no longer mattered.
His heart burned solely with raging fury.
“Kuh, no way? What madness is this, Mad Dragon!”
😂 MANIACAL LAUGHTER! 😂 [Kuhuhuhu! Kuhahaha! Madness? No, this is the answer! We should've done this from the start!] “Sacrificing all your followers as offerings...! You think you can still become Demon King after this?!”
[I don't care.]
So he decided.
To just smash everything.
The demons still loyal to the Mad Dragon Duke evaporated.
On that basis, even the Black Rock Duke, who had fortified stoutly, fell into the Mad Dragon's clutches.
And.
The Abyss Gate opened in the Demon World.