150. Foresight

'Subordination?'

It meant belonging to something.

The tower had become subordinate to Berge Dayas's tower.

Why?

Because its owner, Vivian Blunt, had become one of Berge Dayas's retainers?

'Absorption?'

A tower absorbing another tower?

Was that even possible?

Berge nodded unconsciously, as if entranced. The tower's system registered it as affirmation.

And then.

The anomaly began.

─────!

The tower started to shake.

"W-what's going on! Berge, what did you do!"

This was on a whole different level from before. It was so intense it felt like the tower might collapse. Vivian struggled to steady herself.

Throughout the entire tower, people were falling and tumbling everywhere.

"...Yeah. What did I do?"

Berge muttered blankly. Unlike the chaos around him, Berge and the throne he sat on remained perfectly still—like the eye of a storm, unaffected by the vibrations and shocks, continuously displaying the tower's status.

As the numbers climbed rapidly, the tower's shaking grew even more violent.

"What is this! What the hell did you do!"

"I don't know either."

"My authority over the tower is disappearing!"

"Ah, so that's how it shows up for you."

'But if the tower gets absorbed, what happens to the original one?'

The question didn't last long.

"My lord! What in the world is happening?"

"Gordon?"

This place...

was no longer the Tower of Lust.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Making the Demon King of Lust into a retainer."

Berge had shared everything with his adjutant.

When he first heard it, Gordon couldn't believe it. But Berge wouldn't lie without reason.

'The Demon King of Lust is currently backed into a corner.'

He'd heard that all hell had broken loose because she was being blamed for the dwarves Berge had kidnapped.

'Even so...'

To completely abandon her pride as a Demon King and become another Demon King's retainer.

Of course, he understood. Life was precious to everyone. But shouldn't a Demon King at least face death with composure? That's what Gordon thought.

That was his ideal image of a Demon King.

The supreme Demon King who boldly faced countless humans scaling the tower and slaughtered them all.

'My lord is already far from that image.'

The Demon King himself would stand in for the Four Heavenly Kings and hundreds of mana cannons to greet the humans.

And now he was even planning to build legs on the tower to avoid facing them altogether.

'I've changed a lot too.'

If it had been right after his descent, he would've grabbed the Demon King by the collar and called it nonsense. In just over a year, he'd grown so accustomed to this accursed dimension called Alein and to Berge, who had tossed the Demon King's Canon to the dogs.

With the Demon King away, Gordon was patrolling the tower in his stead. The first floor required the most attention.

Materials for building the tower's legs were piling up, and it was overflowing with dwarves.

"Come on, think about it, everyone!"

There, a hero named Roger was fervently persuading his kin.

He had pinned a massive blueprint he'd drawn himself to one wall. In front of it floated a crystal orb projecting the design as a hologram.

The dwarves, freed from their ice statues, gathered closely and listened intently.

"How big were the golems you were making in the Berft Kingdom? 15 meters? 13 meters? No. A measly 10 meters!"

But look at this blueprint!

"The Demon King of Flames doesn't skimp. A whopping 22 meters. Each leg is 22 meters. And there are eight of them!"

"The core will be replaced by the magic tower's core. If we make it work properly and integrate it well, the tower's power will connect more naturally."

"We can do it. We can build an ultra-giant golem no one's ever imagined or created before! We can see it! That golem marching across the snowy mountains!"

"If this doesn't make your heart race, you don't deserve to be called dwarf craftsmen!"

Roger snorted roughly. Most of the craftsmen nodded in agreement.

They had been kidnapped, this was a Demon King's tower, and suddenly asked to build a golem—it was disorienting. But at their core, they were artisans mad about creation.

The newer, more innovative, and grander, the better.

"It is impressive."

"A tower itself becoming a moving golem with eight 22-meter legs. My hands are itching."

"But is it feasible?"

"If the tower acts as the core, what's impossible? Honestly, with our current tech, we could build up to 50 meters. We cap at 10 because there's no core to power it."

"True. If the core issue is solved..."

"Honestly, I'd love to dissect the tower that's supposedly the core."

"Same here."

The craftsmen murmured in discussion. No one could stay unmoved by the blueprint and Roger's ambition.

But there was one major hurdle.

"Still, working for a Demon King..."

"Aren't we proud dwarves? How can we build golems for a Demon King?"

"I want to build it, but I don't want to be branded a traitor to my race."

"Thinking of this golem attacking our homeland..."

Revulsion at aiding a Demon King.

And anxiety that the golem they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠built might trample their country and kin.

"You don't need to worry about that."

"What do you mean?"

"First, my lord has no intention of attacking the Berft Kingdom first."

This was pre-arranged to persuade the dwarf craftsmen.

"Wait, 'first' implies you'll attack if there's trouble?"

One dwarf raised an objection. The word "first" carried heavy implications.

"If they strike first and you sit idle, you'd be a pushover, not a Demon King, right?"

"...Fair point."

"'Fair point'? You think we can just gloss over that?"

"My lord gave one more firm assurance. He won't invade the Berft Kingdom until humans are fully conquered. He swore on the first Mahwang and the Demon King's Canon, so you can trust it. If you want, I'll stake ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my hero's Dimensional Interference too."

"Hmm, if it's that much..."

The dwarves, knowing the weight of the first Mahwang and Demon King's Canon to demons, and what staking Dimensional Interference meant for a hero, began to nod.

"And second. You're all 'kidnapped' and 'forced' to cooperate. Who'd blame you for struggling to survive?"

"That won't fly. Victims of the golem we build will curse and hunt us."

"What if someone vouches it was truly unavoidable? Someone authoritative, convincing to all."

"Does that person exist?"

"Right in front of you."

"Her Highness the princess...?"

The craftsmen nodded again.

Luize Berft's words, born of the king's and crown prince's love and family bonds, carried that much weight.

"And one more thing."

"One more?"

"This is closer to a threat, but my lord said non-cooperators go straight to the underground dungeon. No release, ever."

Suppose.

Roger lowered his voice to set the mood.

"You refuse, get locked up, and the legs get built anyway. Then the tower flees the Empire and Hildean. What happens to you?"

"...Horrifying."

"If the tower can be the core, it can move. Not wrong at all."

"Rotting in prison forever?"

"Exactly. No crafting, just sitting idle for life!"

"...My god!"

Gordon felt certain watching the scene unfold like a play.

It seemed my lord's plan would work.

That was when it happened.

Gordon was the adjutant and temporary master of the tower in the Demon King's absence. Thus, he could access the tower's system.

'The tower's been subordinated?'

But the notification was hard to believe.

He'd never heard of it. A tower subordinating another? Did that even make sense?

But the anomaly didn't end there.

The tower began to shake.

Strange numbers filled his vision.

Uwaaaah!

What's going on!

The tower's shaking!

Screams echoed throughout the tower. Gordon steadied his shaking body and rushed to the fifth floor.

The moment he threw himself onto the throne to control the tower, he was repelled.

"What...?"

At that moment.

"...!"

A bizarre sense of flotation hit, like his body was being compressed.

"...Huh?"

Gordon gasped raggedly, clenching his fist.

His strength returned. More precisely, the Dimensional Interference pressing him had eased considerably.

By a lot.

It felt like when Berge had dumped millions of magic points into interference reduction.

'What is this?'

Then, someone appeared on the empty throne where no one had been.

The culprit behind it all: Berge Dayas.

"My lord! What in the world happened?"

"Gordon?"

"What is this place?"

"...Demon King Vivian?"

But Berge wasn't the only one to appear on the fifth floor. Or rather, it wasn't the fifth floor anymore.

Berge first assessed the tower's situation.

The height, formerly just five floors, was now ten. Vivian and her retainers had come to Berge's tower.

'The towers merged. Everyone from Vivian's tower was transferred here.'

So Vivian's tower had been fully absorbed and vanished.

'That's not all.'

The biggest change was the Dimensional Interference. The force squeezing them had weakened. No extra magic points consumed.

Just improved efficiency. Nearly double.

'Insane.'

He recalled the message: tower powers enhanced. The functions of two towers merged into one, yielding more than the sum.

"...I see. So when Demon King Vivian became your retainer, the towers merged."

"Yeah."

"Who knew the tower had such power..."

"News to me too."

"Either way, it's good for us."

The merged tower was stronger, more efficient.

Perfect for turning it into a golem with magic points and making it mobile.

"But what about Demon King Vivian's tower?"

"Gone."

"...Won't humans find that suspicious?"

A perfectly fine tower vanishing overnight.

"...I've got a good idea for that."

"A good idea?"

"Spread a rumor. Some hero secretly defeated the Demon King of Lust."

"Who'd believe that? No official hero activity or raid..."

"They ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠won't fully buy it, but it'll seem plausible enough."

"What do you mean?"

"I tossed Vivian's horn into her magic tower."

Even if he hadn't foreseen this.

"Tower gone, Demon King's remains scattered—harder to believe she's alive than dead."

"...Pardon?"