< 187. Bolt from the Blue >
Reina refused to believe that merging towers was possible. She demanded he stop joking and show her a real solution.
"That is the real solution. If you become my familiar, I can merge your tower with mine. All your tower's inhabitants would then transfer to my tower."
"If that's possible, why has no one in the Demon World ever tried it before?!"
"What Demon King would ever agree to become another's familiar? Not in this godforsaken dimension, at least—not unless they were backed into a corner like this."
"...I see."
Only then did Reina accept it. But she hadn't fully let go of her suspicions.
"Really...?"
"It's the honest truth."
And Berge understood. She wasn't sacrificing her pride and future for her own life—she was doing it for her familiars.
But if it all turned out to be a lie in the end, and her familiars died... who could bear that despair and grief?
"I swear on the first Mahwang and the Demon King's Canon. There's not a shred of deceit in my words."
If Ernan or Kaede had been there, they would have shot him suspicious side-eyes. But they weren't here.
And besides, it wasn't a lie anyway.
"But still."
Reina rolled a candy around in her mouth.
He was sure she'd chewed them all up earlier. When did she pop another one in?
"Why do you never honor the first Mahwang with a title when you swear oaths?"
Her eyes sharpened.
"Coincidence."
"This isn't the first time. Last time we all swore together, you called him just 'the first Mahwang.' Not 'His Greatness, the first Mahwang.'"
"I fell here precisely because I spat on the Canon from the start."
"That's the Canon, not the first Mahwang, is it not?"
At a glance, they seemed like separate issues. But to Berge, they were one and the same. The first Mahwang—that bastard—was the one who'd made the Canon.
"...I swear on His Greatness, the first Mahwang and the Canon that there's not a shred of deceit in my words. Satisfied?"
"Quite."
Reina smiled contentedly. But she soon sighed.
"...I never dreamed that I, a Demon King of the noble Frost Demons, would end up as another's familiar."
"Survival is what matters in the end."
"What if you became this lady's familiar?"
"If you want us all to die together, be my guest. You know better than anyone that future won't end well."
"If we merge with your tower—though I still can't quite believe it—then there must be a way. Otherwise... well, even this lady doesn't know what she'd do."
"Reina Sordain. A healthy suspicion is fine, but too much just looks ugly."
"...No one calls this lady ugly."
"...My apologies."
Berge turned away from her icy glare.
"Anyway, that's not the point right now. Let me ask properly, Reina Sordain."
Demon King of the noble Frost Demons.
"Will you become my familiar?"
"...Yes."
A brief hesitation, but Reina nodded in the end.
Reina knelt. Berge placed his hand on her forehead.
The soul contract took hold.
Binding them both.
"Now that you're my familiar, I'll tell you this: even if my tower doesn't make sense from your perspective, you'll have to accept it."
"What? What kind of nonsense is that?"
"You'll see when we get there."
Berge grinned like a fisherman eyeing his catch.
That day, one tower vanished from the snowy wastes.
"...Unbelievable."
Hah.
He was too stunned to even laugh properly.
Balaf seized the guide by the throat.
"Didn't you say you knew the way? Didn't you swear the tower was definitely here?"
Is that your tower?
Is this your 'way'?
"Th-the tower was definitely here! L-look! There are traces left behind!"
"Traces!"
Balaf growled.
"Mean nothing."
They were just that—traces. No tower. No Demon King. Nothing.
Just a small crater blanketed in fresh snow greeted them.
The hope they'd clawed their way here for evaporated in an instant, replaced by crushing futility, impotence, rage, and despair.
"The Frost Demon Tower is gone too?!"
"Was it even here to begin with?"
"There are traces, though."
"No, does this even make sense?! I came to the Frost Demon Tower before! There was a tower here—where the hell did it go?!"
"We've been played by the Demon Kings from start to finish, haven't we?"
"What the hell is going on?!"
Panic gripped the allied forces. Each crumbling piece of conventional wisdom about Demon Kings plunged them deeper into chaos.
The denial of the expected bred even greater disorder.
"Lord Balaf, everyone's getting restless."
"......"
The aide who ventured to ask shut his mouth. Balaf's face twisted in a ferocious scowl unlike any the man had ever seen while serving him.
Once is a mistake.
Twice is coincidence.
Three times is inevitability.
Since when had towers vanishing become inevitable? Why had it?
The heroes' noisy parade.
Yes, that was the problem.
They treated Demon King hunts like a festival, making so much racket it mocked the kings themselves.
Put another way, it was like sending advance notice of their attack.
It gave the Demon Kings time to prepare. And if things got dire enough, even time to relocate their towers.
Then.
Balaf swallowed his rage with superhuman restraint. His mind raced.
I'll do the opposite.
Demon Kings weren't following the well-known Canon, so humans didn't need to stick to their conventions either.
If the expected wasn't happening, they didn't need to act expectedly.
Jason Cockmond.
He hadn't betrayed them.
Balaf had spent quite some time with Jason. They'd helped each other.
Even if their motives never fully aligned for total trust, Balaf knew Jason wouldn't be stupid enough to sever ties like this.
It might not have been Jason's intent, but his actions could have influenced the Flame and Frost Demons' escapes.
They were Demon Kings, after all.
So he'd keep Jason in the dark too.
Instead of raging, he'd move swiftly when no Demon King expected it.
Strike when they thought they'd survived.
Hit somewhere else.
"Marquis Algarn."
"Lord Balaf."
"Lead the legion in my stead. Stall as long as you can in these snowfields, even if it costs us."
"What do you—?"
"No tower? Then we target another."
"You mean...?"
"I'll take Rozel Charnt, Aina Diaphrin, Ralph Shmitz, and most of the Stars and heroes."
"Where to?"
"The Diamond Demon King. If they're abandoning the Canon we've always known, we'll crack their skulls from behind. I'll have that overconfident bastard's head, no matter what."
Balaf hadn't needed the Frost Demon Tower specifically. Any Demon King who could restore his fallen reputation and bolster his strength would do.
He'd just targeted Frost first at Jason's request.
"Not a bad plan, but the Diamond Tower is in Akan! Marching there in force would spark diplomatic issues..."
"Rozel Charnt. Your thoughts?"
"If it's just heroes, I can handle the fallout. Go."
Rozel, who'd been listening quietly, spat the words like she was chewing gravel.
"I'm done getting screwed by these Demon King bastards. I'll snap at least one neck."
"Good. We'll use mass teleportation circles for speed—no need to waste time."
"But mobilizing that many will cause problems."
"Leave it to me."
"Rumors will spread."
"We move first—that's all that matters."
That day, four Stars and three hundred heroes vanished.
It was hell.
So thought the great titan.
"The third floor's breached!"
"Ormann and fifty-one low demons sent to block the heroes on the fourth floor—all annihilated!"
They'd come out of nowhere.
He knew public opinion had soured on Demon Kings lately.
Berge's antics had spiked hostility toward them. He'd been uneasy, but Jason had said as long as they stayed quiet, it'd be fine.
He'd believed him.
Things had gone just as Jason predicted. The humans had moved to conquer the Frost Tower—not his.
Poor Reina, but he'd sighed in relief that it wasn't him. He'd prayed for her soul and gnawed on some meat.
So why...?
Why were they in his tower?
"Lord Hammus is dead!"
He knew. He was watching it happen.
The one incinerating mid-demon Hammus's body was unmistakably Rozel Charnt.
"Sixth floor breached!"
Massive ice magic froze every monster on the sixth floor solid. Aina Diaphrin.
"Moitae!"
High titan Moitae's iron mace was blocked by an unyielding shield. Overpowered in raw strength. Ralph Shmitz, plain as day.
A clean sword stroke severed his neck. The massive titan crumpled in one blow.
Balaf Disrod shook the blood from his blade.
"Why...?!"
Why were four Stars here?!
Hundreds of heroes, bloodthirsty for his head?!
"Stars... four Stars?!"
Stars were strong. Undeniable.
Two or three could hunt a Demon King.
But those were recent Stars, decades old at most.
Ugar Belbek had descended over ninety years ago. He'd pursued stability and strength.
Two or three average Stars? Tough, but manageable. Imperfectly, but he'd hold.
And it wasn't like the Erjest or snowfield campaigns with tens of thousands of troops.
But four—and one Balaf Disrod?
That changed everything.
"What the hell happened?! Jason Cockmond!"
Just stay quiet.
Don't make waves.
Frost will be the sacrifice.
So why were they here?!
『......』
Jason on the other end of the communication orb said nothing. He just adjusted his monocle with a stiff expression.
Finally, he spoke.
『...Regrettably, there's nothing I can do.』
"You told me to trust you! I did!"
『I know. I'm deeply grateful. That's why I've done all I could to aid you, Lord Ugar.』
"This is your 'aid'? It's Balaf Disrod! You said he was your ally! That you two were painting a grand picture together!"
Ugar trembled with betrayal.
"And now he's here to kill me? I was never part of that picture! Reina was right—you're a lying Demon King not worth trusting!"
『...No excuses from me.』
『But I sincerely pray you survive.』
The connection cut off unilaterally.
"Jaaaason!"
Ugar roared. His rage-shaking fist shattered the orb.
"...Lord Demon King. They've reached the eighth floor."
He bit his lip at his adjutant's report.
I don't want to die.
Not after surviving this long.
Familiar?
He recalled Vivian's final desperate plea. Maybe. If it meant survival... better than nothing.
Ugar valued his own safety above all. A cringing familiar beat a proud corpse.
Death was the end. Praise for a 'noble Demon King' postmortem meant nothing to the dead. What could be more pointless?
Whose?
Not Jason. Balaf was his frontman, and Jason had clearly abandoned him.
Reina, then...?
No, becoming that haughty Frost Demon's familiar was unthinkable.
Berge.
He hated it, but among the remaining Demon Kings, he was the best option.
Just you wait, Jason Cockmond.
I'll have my revenge.
Ugar reached for a new communication orb. But time waited for no one.
Boom—
The throne room doors burst open.
Clank, clank—
Boots trampled the tower floor. The air reeked of monster, beast, and demon blood.
"This must be the throne room."
Dimensional interference. The humans bearing that repulsive power spotted Ugar.
"So you're the Diamond Demon King."
"And you're Balaf Disrod?"
Ugar bit his lip. He needed time—any way he could get it.
"Guess I'm famous. Even you Demon Kings recognize me."
"Did it have to come to this?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did we really have to fight to the death?"
"Surprising."
Balaf sneered.
"A Demon King preaching righteousness to the heroes come to kill him."
His eyes darkened. The other heroes followed suit.
"Forgot what you've done? Infiltrating empires with warlocks to sow discord, unleashing monsters to raze cities, slaughtering heroes and legions, even kidnapping the Jespain Empire's crown prince."
"That wasn't me. Want proof? I'll tell you the Flame Demon Tower's location!"
"Typical Demon King. No loyalty among your kind."
Which made it all the more reason.
"No reason to trust you."
Swords were drawn.
"I'll handle him."
"Wait, let me—"
"No byproducts, remember? You'd just burn everything anyway."
"Fine."
Balaf stepped forward. Ugar burned with fury.
He knew Balaf Disrod was an exceptional hero. But he was still a Demon King, and this was just one hero.
No Star could solo a Demon King—that was accepted wisdom.
"You insolent fool! You think I'll roll over just because I've been playing nice?!"
Ugar rose, his titanic bulk rumbling as he charged.
"No."
Balaf calmly thrust his sword. At the last second, he flowed aside like water.
—!
Ugar's massive frame staggered. Balaf's blade painted red lines across titan flesh like a canvas.
—!
A colossal fist smashed down. With a crunch, Balaf's feet sank through the floor.
The overwhelming shock made him bare his teeth in a grin.
"A Demon King is still a Demon King."
Ninety years. Time was a Demon King's greatest asset.
But.
"Weaker than that one, though."
"What?"
Balaf didn't answer. He reached into subspace instead. A red sword spat flames.
That day.
The Diamond Demon Tower was forcibly summoned back to the Demon World.
< 187. Bolt from the Blue > END