158. The Excellent Demon King and His Adjutant
“How on earth did you pull it off?”
After the Tower Harmony concluded, Berge arrived at the Frost Demon Tower. It was at Reina's request for a brief chat.
Her question was more or less as expected.
Even if Berge told her they'd just bungled their search like idiots, no Demon King was naive enough to take that at face value.
Still, she hadn't pressed the issue further because...
'Ugar flipped to Jason's side, so he went down with him...'
Reina didn't want to put Berge at a disadvantage in front of everyone, not as his ally.
'What should I do?'
She hadn't asked for anything in return, but from start to finish, she'd helped him purely out of goodwill.
Allies had to reciprocate. A one-sided give-and-take wasn't a true alliance.
But he couldn't admit that he was the one who'd kidnapped the dwarf princess and craftsmen—and used them to give the tower legs.
It was valuable intel that could cause a massive uproar, but more than that, he'd sworn in front of everyone.
That he absolutely hadn't kidnapped any dwarves.
To Reina, who prized honor and trust above all, that alone could turn an ally into a blood enemy in an instant.
So Berge decided to mix some truth with lies. It could serve as a small token of repayment for her help so far, too.
“This lady has never once heard of a tower vanishing.”
“The tower was right there in its place.”
“Then?”
“But it hid its presence for a time.”
“You hid the tower?”
“Stealth. I cast a stealth spell over the entire tower, so it was completely concealed when they arrived.”
“...Is that even possible?”
As far as Reina knew, towers had no such authority.
“Do you claim to know every authority of the tower?”
“...No, not entirely.”
The Demon King Academy did teach about towers. And Demon Kings who descended and built theirs experimented with them.
But most tinkering stayed inside: reshaping structures, reinforcing floors, summoning monsters.
Because they were Demon Kings. That was plenty in other dimensions.
And over thousands of years, that complacency had become the received wisdom, practically canon.
Few bothered digging deeper into tower authorities.
The Demon King Academy was rotten to the core.
He hadn't known back then. But now he did.
“So you're saying the tower has a function to hide itself?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Then?”
“But it can integrate artifacts.”
“Integrate artifacts?”
“The specifics don't matter. If it has magical functions, the tower recognizes it and fuses it in, enhanced by Magic Points. Those functions then spread across the whole tower.”
“...That's possible?”
“What reason would I have to lie to you?”
“Even so, you expect me to believe a mere artifact fooled the hero party?”
Reina wasn't convinced.
Rightly so. This hero party was stronger than any before.
Balaf Disrod, Gillian Aint, Aina Diaphrin, Waton Colro.
Stars were the elite among heroes. And that elite status included exceptional mana detection.
The stronger a hero's power—their dimensional interference—the greater their instinctive revulsion and hostility toward opposing demonic energy.
Yet one artifact integrated into the tower had evaded all of them? Unbelievable.
And truthfully, it couldn't have hidden them completely.
If they'd just relied on the Mana's Phantom to conceal traces, Berge wouldn't be standing here now.
“It's possible. It just takes that many Magic Points to fool them.”
“Ah.”
Reina nodded.
Magic Points made sense. If he'd poured in a staggering amount, borrowing the tower's authorities through it, even Balaf Disrod might be duped.
If not, it just meant insufficient Magic Points.
“So right now, you're...”
“Right. They backed off this time—good luck on my part—but who knows about next. Still, with rumors of the tower gone, we're safe for a while.”
“Was kidnapping all those princesses in the last few months to stockpile Magic Points?”
“Yeah. If I couldn't dodge the empire's heroes, I'd be dead anyway—no time for half-measures.”
“Integrating an artifact...”
Reina stroked the ring on her finger.
“This has defensive magic, but you're not talking about something like it, are you?”
“No. Less a simple artifact, more an installable magitech device.”
“I get it. Like the braziers at the academy?”
The braziers were artifacts crafted by a demon named Brazer. Training tools that thickened ambient mana to make Demon King drills tougher.
“Exactly.”
“Worth checking out, then.”
Reina nodded.
“Thanks. You've given me unexpectedly crucial info.”
“A small token for what you've done for me.”
“Pretty small token, if you ask me.”
“...I didn't say it was everything. I'm still alive, so plenty of time to repay the rest.”
“Kidding. Focus on surviving first. The empire won't stop here.”
“Naturally.”
“I'll contact Ma-gye for artifacts from the homeland.”
“Good idea.”
The snowfields were about to get even chillier.
The shock of the Flame Demon Tower's disappearance rocked the continent, but hit the empire hardest—and left Third Prince Martin Jespain with the most conflicted heart.
The news of the imperial hero party's failure spread fast, followed immediately by contact from the very Demon King who'd humiliated them.
“...You're coming to the empire?”
『Yes.』
“Do you have any idea how much chaos you've caused?”
『Do I need to consider that?』
“How did you hide the tower?”
『I didn't. The fools just couldn't find it.』
“You expect me to buy that?”
『What if you don't?』
Martin swallowed his rage at the icy glare. He couldn't forget: for now, the Demon King held the upper hand.
With Kaede captured and the scouting key in enemy hands, it was as good as a collar around his neck.
“...No. That was careless of me. Sorry.”
『I'll show mercy as a Demon King. Anyway, I'll be there soon—prepare in advance. So I can head straight to the annex.』
“What do you mean, prepare?”
『Don't you know? You're the one who said your guard knight could enter the annex.』
“......”
Martin stifled an involuntary groan.
Come to think of it, he'd said that.
But he'd never imagined the Demon King would use him to infiltrate officially.
With his blood that reacted to wards, he'd assumed a covert entry.
『Don't tell me...』
“O-Of course I remember. But you're a Demon King? If you show up in the capital...”
『That's not your concern. But I can promise your mana detection won't be an issue.』
Martin bit his lip.
“What about the tower? They failed once, but this isn't over.”
The mood was dire. The emperor raged, and Balaf Disrod—who'd led the party—was furious.
The public reeled from his first failure; even he struggled to accept it.
With the emperor's full backing, a second hero party was already forming.
Not that much prep was needed. They'd failed to find the tower but taken minimal losses.
Just go back—wouldn't take long.
And this time, no backing off at an empty site.
『Let them come a hundred times.』
“...Impressive confidence.”
That confidence only made Martin's position more precarious.
But with his word given, he couldn't just refuse. Demon Kings weren't exactly rational.
“...Understood.”
『See you soon.』
The connection cut.
“...What now?”
There was no clear solution.
He didn't know the Demon King had sensed something off in his attitude and gone looking for his sister.
“A second hero party will launch soon.”
“As expected. With that much firepower, they could scour all of Erjest without issue. Time to move the tower again, sir.”
The tower's key authorities limited without its Demon King. An adjutant couldn't fully substitute.
If heroes struck while he was away...
It'd be over.
“Yes.”
“Anywhere in mind?”
“North. Where humans could never find it.”
Moving the tower guzzled Magic Points. Yet Berge brimmed with confidence.
Because his reserves overflowed.
Magic Points
12,025,914 pt
They'd replenished far beyond before—in just a week.
The reason was obvious.
The hero party's failure—all Stars.
Because their leader was Balaf Disrod, with four Stars total.
The Demon King who'd killed Daphne Philian and snatched five princesses had vanished again.
Fear woven from every thread fed Berge immense Magic Points—and kept feeding.
“Not the best plan, if you ask me.”
“Not the best?”
“Confined to Erjest Mountains, they'll find it eventually. Can't keep relocating forever, right?”
“True.”
“Why not leave Erjest altogether?”
“You know that's impossible.”
South meant human kingdoms. Couldn't hide a stomping giant tower.
East snowfields were untouched by humans—perfect—but thick with Reina Sordain's influence.
“Not impossible. Never heard towers aren't waterproof.”
“......!”
Berge's eyes widened.
“You mean...”
“Exactly what you're thinking. Already asked the dwarves. Seawater won't rust or break it.”
The ocean was vast. Unclaimed territory.
Humans claimed territorial waters, but not the deep sea.
“You...!”
Berge seized Gordon's hands.
“Genius! Top of Demon Clan Training Academy for a reason!”
“Thank you. But not above you, the academy's top graduate Demon King.”
“When I first descended, I wondered how to train this fool...”
“Not that bad.”
“Not?”
“...Just didn't know Alein's situation. Yeah, that's it. Didn't know it was this pathetic.”
“Whatever. Picturing humans panicking after combing Erjest in vain...”
“Even more so, considering monster casualties from their rummaging.”
“You're an excellent adjutant.”
“You're the greatest Demon King.”
Demon King and dark elf exchanged sly grins.
< 158. The Excellent Demon King and His Adjutant >