210. Irreversible Deeds
Cough—
Dorche spat up blood. The black scales covering his body reacted nimbly.
"You damned bastard…!"
He rolled his black eyes.
There were no other enemies around. But the power of the tower was pressing down on him.
The False One, rising from the throne, was far sturdier than he'd imagined.
"You dare incite rebellion?!"
"How amusing."
The False One laughed.
"First you rant about lowly races not knowing their place, then realize it's impossible and jump straight to talk of rebellion? What's next, the Archduke? Go on, give it a try."
One step forward. The pressure intensified. His scales writhed.
"…How can you wield such power?"
"I told you to try."
Another step.
A gale whipped up.
Razor-sharp blades tore at his scales.
"Try it, you pathetic little dragon whelp."
Lightning crashed down. Piercing the lofty mana dragon's resistance, the thunderbolt made Dorche scream.
'Impossible…!'
All mana dragons specialized in one attribute. Just as Berge favored flame, Dorche commanded thunder.
Lightning was his essence, his power. He was intimately familiar with it, granting him overwhelmingly superior resistance compared to other elements. Yet it broke through and struck him?
"Do it!"
This time, it was fire. His scales melted. His muscles burned. Dorche swallowed a groan of agony.
"You'll regret this. The Archduke Alkain won't stand for it!"
"Yeah, you did it."
Finally, they were mere inches apart. Jason reached out and seized his throat.
"Gah…!"
Bound by the constricting force, Dorche couldn't move.
"You mana dragons are all the same. Without your innate gifts from birth, you've got nothing—and you strut around on that alone. Lowly races? Insignificant? Then what does that make you, getting trampled like trash by those very 'lowly' races? Just a lizard?"
"You filthy traitor…!"
"Fine, I'll give you credit for that glare. A true mana dragon—holding onto your pride even now."
Jason hurled Dorche aside. His body tumbled across the floor like garbage.
"You've got two choices. One, become my familiar. Two, die."
"Don't spout nonsense. Think a great mana dragon would bend to a pathetic threat like yours and become your familiar?"
"Yeah, I figured as much. So I wasn't planning to let you die easy anyway."
Jason grinned.
"You know mana dragon blood is treated the same as this world's dragon blood? Distant kin, after all. Surely you're aware—demons and beasts alike, plenty crave it."
"…What?"
"You won't die. Your body will be bound immobile, and we'll keep you fed. In return, you'll spend your life as a blood bag, drained for me and my familiars."
"…You, you son of a bitch!"
The grim future sent chills down Dorche's spine. In his centuries of life, he'd never imagined such a thing.
"Now choose. Familiar, or blood bag?"
"Why are you doing this to me?! I descended here at your request to help you!"
"Reason?"
Jason feigned contemplation for a moment, then shrugged it off casually.
"You had the gall to demand magic points from me. I was already on edge from dealing with you mana dragons."
"Just for that…?!"
"Whether it's 'just' or not—"
Thwack—
Dorche's head snapped back.
"—is for me to decide, you trash mana dragon. I'll give you five seconds."
Jason's outstretched fingers folded down one by one.
In the end, Dorche had no choice but to choose.
Dying honorably might have been one thing, but he couldn't bear that humiliation.
* * *
『…What do you mean by that?』
"Jason Cockmondo is not who he claims to be."
Berge eavesdropped quietly on Reina and Archduke Alkain's conversation from a blind spot in the communication orb's view.
『A doppelganger…?』
The sudden call, the sudden claim.
Archduke Alkain was utterly confused. Anyone else, and he'd have dismissed it as nonsense and cut the line. But he couldn't—not when it came from Reina Sordain herself.
Not only could he not ignore the backing of her Frost Demon Clan, but they were renowned for their unyielding honesty, never speaking falsehoods.
『All doppelgangers are dead. Their line dried up ages ago.』
"I thought so too."
『Reina Sordain. Will you take responsibility for your words?』
『That Berge Dayas's deeds were actually Jason Cockmondo's doing, and that Jason Cockmondo is in truth a doppelganger lurking in disguise.』
"The Frost Demons do not soil their noble lips with lies. I swear it upon the great First Mahwang and the Demon King's Canon."
『A vow, no less. Do you grasp the implications? It means there was a grave error in Ma-gye's descent protocols.』
『An error in the acts of the previous Mahwang?』
"Hiding clear evidence is the real issue. He's lurked in Alein for centuries, allying with heroes to slay Demon Kings."
"If we don't eliminate him, he'll become an even greater threat."
『Evidence?』
"We have it. A recording orb capturing Berge Dayas shattering the shell of a hero he'd collaborated with, and the imposter's own confessions."
『Send it over. I'll judge once I've reviewed it.』
"Understood."
The communication ended.
"Good work."
"Merely what was necessary."
"Yet you drop the 'this lady' act when dealing with the Archduke?"
"…Hurry and hand over the recording orb. I need to send it."
"I always thought it was just your natural speech pattern."
"Archduke Alkain is waiting."
Reina tried to steer the topic away, but Berge simply stared at her in silence. Finally, her cheeks flushed faintly as she mumbled in a subdued voice.
"…I thought familiars needed an air of authority."
"As a Demon King?"
"As a Demon King."
"But now you're my familiar?"
"Didn't we start off on that note from the beginning?"
"So you're actually a demon whose facade differs from her true self?"
"This lady is a proud Frost Demon. Facade and truth are one and the same!"
"But you treat superiors and subordinates differently, huh."
"…You."
Seeing the smirk on Berge's lips, Reina bristled.
"You enjoy teasing this lady."
"Not particularly?"
"…Don't tell the others. Especially not that succubus with not a shred of dignity."
"No promises."
"You!"
"Eh, I'll think about it. Here, take this."
Berge handed over the recording orb.
"Once the Archduke views this recording, how do you think he'll react?"
"First, he'll sever ties with Jason Cockmondo."
That much was certain.
"If that's all, it'll feel underwhelming."
"One of two things. Either he brings it to public light, or he buries it quietly."
"Your bet?"
"The latter."
Reina was right. Archduke Alkain was an elder content with the status quo, harboring no further ambitions or desires—just someone who didn't want a dishonorable retirement.
But if word got out that a traitorous doppelganger from Ma-gye had emerged under his watch—and devoured Demon Kings for centuries?
The Archduke would avoid it at all costs.
"And his next move?"
"If he had a tower left, he'd descend trusted subordinates as Demon Kings."
Archdukes were the pinnacle of demons, those who'd conquered dimensions multiple times. Their retinues included some of Ma-gye's mightiest.
"But no towers remain."
He'd only just learned that Dorche had newly descended.
'Dorche.'
The mana dragon was fairly infamous. Mana dragons were rare to begin with, so they all were, but still.
He hadn't expected one who'd conquered other dimensions repeatedly to come to Alein. Likely at the Archduke's behest.
Either way, with Dorche already descended, all five towers were spent.
"This lady sees two possibilities. Either collaborate with Dorche the Demon King to subjugate Jason Cockmondo."
"Or?"
"Reclaim a tower and send down a reliable subordinate anew."
"Reclaim a tower?"
"Isn't there one? The Demon King who promised return after descending at the Archduke's earlier behest, even before Dorche."
Yes. There was.
One who had been a 'Demon King.'
* * *
"…My god."
Archduke Alkain reviewed the recording orb transmitted across dimensions.
It showed a Demon King interrogating a hero.
Berge Dayas—that insubordinate punk he couldn't stand—had peeled off the hero's skin. No, its shell.
Unmistakably doppelganger.
No doppelganger, and it couldn't have concealed itself so perfectly.
'Berge's fabrication?'
Impossible.
No mana dragon, great race or not, could pull that off.
'A real doppelganger.'
Reina Sordain, swearing on the First Mahwang and the Canon, wouldn't lie.
She either truly believed it—or she was one. One or the other.
And it was clearly the latter.
'Jason… isn't Jason?'
How could this be?
'Survived that massacre, infiltrated Alein? Evaded my eyes for centuries?'
Just centuries? Reina claimed he'd devoured countless Demon Kings. The hero in the recording echoed the same.
'Could it be.'
Just maybe.
'This world's hero plague stems from him?'
No, that was too far. Alein's overwhelming hero numbers were factual, as was the Canon's failure there.
It was the dimension's inherent power—not some doppelganger in Jason's skin as the root cause.
'If this gets out.'
The blame would fall squarely on him.
He couldn't allow that. It had to be handled quietly, silently. But how?
'Reina Sordain.'
The Frost Demon King who'd revealed it all. She'd agree to eliminate the doppelganger and lend her aid gladly.
'Berge Dayas.'
He loathed the punk, but his capabilities were undeniable. Cut off from Ma-gye now, he'd be desperate. Offer a chance to clear his name, and he'd jump at it.
'Dorche Astrin.'
The mana dragon he'd sent to deal with Berge via their deal.
Uncertain of Jason's power after centuries of devouring Demon Kings, but together, they could surely take him down.
'No—if Jason's the doppelganger, he wouldn't have fully released Dorche's interference. Too risky even with him.'
He needed another safeguard.
"…Vivian Blunt."
The succubus who'd longed to return since descending. Sure, things had soured when she lost it, but her desire to come back remained.
Call her in, descend a trusted direct subordinate as Demon King.
'I'll bear the magic point cost, but better than exposure and dishonorable retirement.'
One slip, and he'd lose everything.
Having devised his plan, Archduke Alkain restored his severed connection to Vivian.
He called and waited.
Hiss—
A response came.
"Vivian Blunt, I'll give you one more chance. Don't you want to return to Ma-gye?"
Archduke Alkain assumed she'd accept instantly.
That was why their fallout had dragged on, after all.
But.
『Shut your trap, you lunatic.』
Vivian's response.
『If you're gonna offer, you should've done it sooner, you bloodsucking bastard…!』
Exceeded all expectations.
『Why, why?! Why now?! Just a little sooner would've been fine!』
She wailed bitterly.
『Do you know the humiliation I've endured? My tail, my horns…!』
『Sleeping centuries in a coffin makes everyone else seem leisurely? Crawl back in and snooze! Don't rile up this succubus!』
"…You insolent—!"
『Shut it! Don't piss me off! I'll do the cursing!』
"You'll never return to Ma-gye! Never! You'll regret this day forever!"
Archduke Alkain didn't know.
Vivian, already Berge's familiar with her tower absorbed, was in no position to accept his offer.