060. Ugar's Realization
The Demon King's Tower.
The tower, once an object of terror in the past, was no longer a source of fear.
Over the past few decades, the Demon Kings had been relatively quiet, merely kidnapping royalty now and then without sparking any major conflicts.
Even those princes and princesses could be rescued relatively easily if humans put their minds to forming a hero party or an assault team, so the general attitude across society was one of treating Demon Kings lightly.
Recently, with problems cropping up one after another, wariness had begun to return, but as always, greed devoured everything.
Thus, groups of heroes and humans hunting around the Diamond Demon Tower had formed.
Monsters drawn by the demonic energy gathered around the Demon King's Tower, attracting heroes who sought their byproducts.
How ridiculously did they have to underestimate a Demon King...?
Even after the incidents with Drakson and Vivian, this showed just how lowly Demon Kings were regarded.
Berge ground his teeth as he surveyed the surroundings. Swallowing his rage, he asked Rozel.
"What kind of place is the Diamond Demon Tower?"
"You're here to conquer the tower, but you're not saying you didn't do any prior research, are you?"
"What I know and what Rozel Charnt knows are probably different."
"So you've finally realized my value."
He had simply been curious about what a Demon King's Tower was like from a hero's perspective.
"Speaking from experience climbing up to the fifth floor of the Diamond Demon Tower, it's quite annoying."
"Annoying?"
"It's a matter of matchup."
"I see."
Ugar Belbek was a Titan, a giant race from the Demon World. Naturally, the demons following him were the same, and they favored large, massive monsters.
And generally, larger monsters had abilities skewed toward physical prowess, which included strong resistance to physical attacks.
The type mages hated most.
"The Diamond Demon Tower isn't popular, but the desperate dig their own wells, don't they?"
"What's the inside of the tower like?"
"Just like it looks now."
Uneven floors and rugged rock walls, with monsters scattered about, exuding killing intent and lunging sporadically.
"It's Rozel Charnt."
"Hillon Kargil's there too."
"The Red Flame Assault Team?"
The heroes battling the monsters recognized Rozel and Hillon and began murmuring.
"By the way, I have a question too."
"What is it?"
"Is the leader of this assault team Hillon Kargil, or is it you, Phail?"
Rozel's remaining eye gleamed.
"Obviously Hillon Kargil."
"Right? That's normal, but..."
Hillon Kargil, one of the ten Star heroes even if at the tail end, and Phail, who possessed remarkably pure mana but wasn't even a hero.
The answer was simple.
"But why does it feel like it's you?"
"Please don't say such strange things, Lady Rozel."
Hillon interjected into the conversation.
"I am the leader of the Red Flame Assault Team."
"For a leader, you're awfully meek."
"Because Phail isn't part of the assault team. He's just an old acquaintance I've known for a long time."
"Known for a long time? How'd you meet?"
"There's no reason to tell you that much."
"Playing hard to get."
"Continuing like this would be rude."
"People can be rude a few times in life. And a few questions aren't nearly enough compared to the mess you caused at the Beast Tower, are they?"
"It's not entirely my fault."
"I know. But I lost an eye."
"...The me from back then is different from the me now."
"You've swallowed two Demon Kings whole, so yeah, you better have changed."
Otherwise, I'd die of resentment.
"Or else my missing eye would have died in vain. Right?"
"...I apologize once more for that incident."
"Forget it. I didn't expect Drakson to be that strong either. And even if not, you can't blame someone for doing their best but falling short, can you?"
"Amusing."
Berge clapped.
"Saying there's nothing you can do after already screwing things up. Shamelessness is a talent too. I still feel like you're lacking."
"You're mocking me right now, aren't you?"
"I'm serious."
"Seriously mocking me, you mean. Crabs stick together, huh?"
"I'm on everyone's side. For now, since we're conquering the Diamond Demon Tower together."
"Fair point. After the tower conquest, for the more important next step, I'll roll out the red carpet for you."
Rozel gripped her mount's reins. As it surged forward, the Red Flame Assault Team followed behind.
"Clear a straight path to the Diamond Demon Tower."
"Understood!"
A carpet unfurled all the way to the entrance of the Diamond Demon Tower. One made of monsters' blood and corpses, and flames.
"The Red Flame Assault Team is climbing the Diamond Demon Tower."
The tower's door could be opened by anyone.
But not everyone climbed the tower.
No matter how accustomed demons, monsters, and even heroes had become, the pressure from a Demon King and their tower was entirely different.
Without a proper assault team, no one climbed the tower.
Without being on a hero quest, no one climbed the tower.
That was the unwritten rule among heroes.
Not to avoid provoking the Demon King, but to protect their own lives.
Humans envy what they can't do. Thus, the Red Flame Assault Team's entry into the tower became a spectacle.
"Excellent."
Hillon smiled.
"This attention from people."
"Attention turns to malice in an instant. Like when they failed to take down the Beast Demon King all at once."
"I believe that's the fate all heroes must endure."
Rozel ignored Hillon.
"So we just go in now? What's the target floor?"
"The third floor."
"Higher than I thought. With this level of skill."
Rozel's gaze swept over the Red Hawk mercenaries. Bark flinched but couldn't retort.
The Red Hawk mercenaries and the Red Flame Assault Team shared the descriptor "Red," but the gap between them was like heaven and earth.
Berge nodded to Hillon. He strode forward to the door.
"I'll open it. Everyone, prepare for monsters."
"What's on the first floor of the tower?"
"Why do you keep asking? Am I your tour guide?"
"You appointed yourself as one."
"More like a debt collector. It's a Mile Troll."
Mile Trolls were like Krutoo. Monsters that had partially regained their original form by receiving some demonic energy from their Demon King to be of use.
But the amount of demonic energy was too low compared to Krutoo, making them infinitely inferior.
Even so, they were incomparable to regular trolls.
Creeeeak—
Hillon drew up his aura and opened the massive door.
With a harsh noise, the interior revealed itself.
The first thing to greet them was...
"...So modern Mile Trolls look like this, huh."
"...Who's this now?"
A woman lying atop a towering rock.
With a pale complexion and eyes closed as if dead.
It was ridiculous.
On the first floor, right behind the door, there were no Mile Trolls as Rozel Charnt had described, nor the hordes of monsters meant to guard the tower.
Just a towering rock and a princess lying atop it with her eyes closed.
"...Elena."
She was Berge's rescue target.
Ernan's voice trembled. She reached out with shaking hands.
Berge forced her hand down and whispered.
"Don't get worked up."
"...Sorry."
"Is that Elena?"
"Yes. Why is she here...?"
As expected of Ugar.
I'd told him to imagine the consequences if Elena wasn't on the third floor by the time we arrived, and he'd just dumped her right at the entrance.
Always exceeding expectations, that guy.
"Who's that woman? What's with this tower layout?"
Rozel Charnt shouted.
"She's a princess."
"Princess?"
Hillon, who had already heard from Berge about the agreement between Demon Kings, spoke up.
"The 13th Princess of Hildean, Elena Hildean."
"That's Elena? This is hilarious. Did the Diamond Demon King suddenly decide to copy the Frost Demon King or something?"
"We need to rescue her."
At Berge's signal, Hillon Kargil dashed forward. Quick-witted Granada led the Red Hawks after him.
"Yeah, you guys save the princess. We'll handle the rest."
Behind the rock where the princess lay.
They hadn't noticed, distracted by the princess, but over a thousand Mile Trolls were growling and baring their teeth there.
"Kill them all!"
The Red Flame Assault Team charged at the Mile Trolls.
Berge and Ernan arrived at the rock wall a step late.
"Her condition?"
"Her breathing is faint, but relatively stable."
"Granada. Go help Rozel."
"Yes."
Granada led the Red Hawks into the fray.
Only four remained atop the rock wall overlooking the entire first floor.
"Hillon Kargil. Did you know the princess was here?"
"Yes. I've met her once. It wasn't this bad back then, though..."
"She was hiding it as much as possible with artifacts. Even heroes wouldn't have noticed easily."
"I see."
Do you know of the World Tree's Child magic?
Ernan's whisper echoed in his mind.
Elena Hildean's complexion was deathly pale.
Her life force was so feeble she could die any moment.
"You're right."
"...Yes."
However.
Within her.
An enormous amount of mana coiled like a serpent. A chillingly vast quantity.
"The World Tree's Child."
Humans always want more. Once they have much, they crave even more.
The World Tree's Child magic was born from that.
Just as the fruit of the World Tree was a noble elixir, this magic made born humans more perfect.
Artificially enhancing humans from the fetal stage.
It suited the term "augmentation" more than "magic."
That was the World Tree's Child.
At first glance, it seemed like tremendous magic, but something created by imperfect humans could never be perfect.
The Hildean royals were proof. Elena Hildean was the witness.
"Hillon, you take care of her. Saving the princess has to be your achievement."
"Yes."
"Be careful. She's fragile."
"I will."
Hillon carefully lifted Elena. She still hadn't opened her eyes.
Berge turned at the orange glow. Where his gaze landed, hot flames flickered. No, wherever he looked, it was a sea of fire.
"Kyahahahaha!"
Rozel Charnt's mad laughter echoed from afar.
"The flames are spreading this way!"
"Crazy, dodge!"
The Red Flame Assault Team swept through the battlefield amid the inferno, while the Red Hawk mercenaries scattered to escape the flames.
"...Definitely a madwoman."
He'd known since first seeing her, but her caliber was on another level. Who sets an entire floor ablaze?
"Ugar's gotta be pissed."
Berge calculated the magic points needed to restore the dead Mile Trolls and the burned first-floor facilities, then gave up.
No need. The damage wasn't his problem.
"...What?"
Ugar had been informed that heroes had entered the tower.
But that was it.
Rozel Charnt and Hillon Kargil teaming up was unexpected, but as promised, he'd placed Hildean's 13th Princess on the first floor.
In the perfect spot visible right upon opening the door. They could grab her and leave.
But.
"They burned the entire first floor!"
Over a thousand Mile Trolls annihilated.
The environment he'd prepared for the trolls to fight effectively was engulfed in flames and gone.
"Berge, you son of a bitch!"
Trolls had top-tier breeding and growth rates among monsters, so Mile Trolls weren't hard to procure, but a thousand was a thousand.
The thought of restoring the first floor made rage boil over.
"Good thing I put her on the third floor, or it'd have been disastrous."
A chill ran down his spine at the worst-case scenario that hadn't happened. He admired his own foresight.
Then, suddenly.
"But..."
He sensed something off.
"Rozel Charnt and Hillon Kargil came?"
They were the ones who killed Drakson too?
Was this a coincidence?
"...Coincidence."
He snorted in disbelief even as he thought it.
"Drakson died because he killed Ormus's second prince."
Rozel Charnt took command because Balaf Disrod gave up, and right before that, she'd been competing with Hillon Kargil for the Frost Demon Tower.
"They might have formed a connection there."
Hillon Kargil was a hero from Hildean. It wasn't strange for him to come rescue the 13th Princess.
"...But."
Ugar muttered uneasily. The doubts he'd tried to brush off resurfaced.
"Drakson said it wasn't his fault. That someone sent a high demon."
He'd even gone so far as to dig through tower records to vent his grievances.
What if he was telling the truth, and it was all planned by someone?
And if that someone was a Demon King?
"...Jason Cockmondo."
He hadn't done it. Reina Sordain wasn't the type. And Berge Dayas had no high demons.
Not that he doesn't have any, but...
Tower adjutants didn't leave the tower.
"And Berge Dayas, who's only been around for a year, couldn't have ties to Star heroes. He must have gotten help from someone."
And there was only one who could connect a Demon King with heroes.
The False Demon King, Jason Cockmondo.
Oh god...
Ugar covered his mouth.
It's Jason. Jason bought off the heroes to kill Drakson.
But why?
That night, Ugar couldn't sleep.
< 060. Ugar's Realization > End