073. This Place is Insane
Before his regression, Berge had hardly ever left the tower.
The only times he ventured out were the occasional kidnappings of royalty.
It was only natural.
Demon Kings had to guard their towers to await the heroes' arrival, but they were also the core of the invasion force.
If the Demon King died, the tower vanished.
If the tower vanished, the demons became prey for the humans.
As the key figure who had to survive until the very end, the Demon King always needed to stay in a safe place.
But after his regression, Berge had no choice but to roam the continent. Perhaps he'd grown accustomed to it, but now staying cooped up inside the tower doing nothing felt suffocating.
No, it felt unsettling.
Because the heroes were growing stronger.
Because they hadn't yet reached that level from back then.
At any moment, the hero hunt could begin, and the tower could be exposed.
His heart could be pierced by a hero's sword once more.
'Ralph Shmitz. And the hero with the red sword.'
Above all, those two worried him the most.
He'd met Ralph Shmitz recently. He'd tasked Granada with investigating him, but the man had vanished without a trace.
That gnawed at him.
And the red sword hero was the one who'd pierced his heart. He'd never forget that face, not even after a lifetime—or after successful revenge.
"I hope we find a lot today."
"Yeah."
That was why Berge often wandered the mountains with Ernan Hildean. To find spirit herbs, corrupt them with demonic mana, consume them himself, or bestow them upon the Frost Orcs.
To strengthen the orc legions that would face their enemies.
Berge and Ernan rode massive frost wolves, galloping across the terrain.
Ernan rubbed her cheek against the wolf's soft fur.
"I hope we find a lot this time."
"Yeah."
Recently, they'd discovered twelve more spirit herbs, corrupted them, and handed them over to Krutoo. He'd consumed one more himself and distributed ten to his subordinates, forming an elite guard.
The unified tribes had grown to seven, numbering in the hundreds.
Their growth was Berge's growth.
That was when it happened.
"Mm...?"
Ernan mumbled, pursing her lips.
"What is it?"
"The spirits found something weird. It seems like a monster, but not quite... like a magical beast, but not that either...?"
She tilted her head.
"Like a monster, but not?"
"It's not far. About four kilometers?"
"Let's check it out."
He yanked the frost wolf's fur, and it bolted swiftly across the snowy slopes.
Kroooar—
A roar echoed. A faint metallic tang of blood tickled their noses.
'Demonic mana?'
As they drew closer, the demonic mana became palpable.
It was filthy and repulsive enough to instinctively furrow his brow.
'No way.'
A strange sense of déjà vu gripped him. He clutched the wolf's fur tighter. The beast yelped and accelerated.
And finally.
"...What is that thing?"
They came face-to-face with the creature devouring a troll's torn limbs, crunching them greedily.
Its torso was an orc's.
Its long arms were from a troll, and its centaur-like lower body was a hellhound's.
Krrrng—
Its red eyes locked onto Berge and Ernan. The frost wolf bristled, going on high alert.
The monster dropped the troll and lunged. Berge hurled a fist-sized fireball.
Kaboom—!
An explosion erupted in midair.
The creature's lower body melted away, and it writhed on the ground.
"An artificial lifeform forcibly stitched together with magic. Commonly known as..."
"A chimera?"
"Yeah, a chimera."
Berge's expression hardened.
"Looks like that troublesome bitch has come this far."
He snapped his fingers, and flames spread, consuming the corpse without a trace.
Berge turned away.
"Let's head back."
"Okay."
"No more foraging for spirit herbs for a while."
"Is she dangerous?"
"We avoid shit because it's filthy, not because it's scary."
The two soon returned to the tower.
Berge immediately summoned Krutoo to the tower. The orc chief arrived, his gleaming bald head shining.
"You called for me."
"During your territorial expansion, have you encountered any unusual monsters?"
"Unusual monsters...?"
"Ones that look like their limbs come from different creatures, or patched together with weird stuff."
"Do such monsters even exist?"
Krutoo, who'd spent his life in the Erjest Mountains, knew little of chimeras. So Berge rephrased.
"Just tell me if you've seen any monsters that don't match the usual ones in these mountains."
"No new monsters."
"I see."
So he'd just happened to stumble upon a stray one?
'Unlikely.'
Chimeras—artificial fusions of lifeforms—were purely a human creation.
Though associated with black mages due to their use of bodies or corpses, they had little real connection to black magic.
There was no way he'd "accidentally" find one.
'It's her.'
Chimera creation was magic, after all. Magic bore the caster's unique traits in every aspect.
In other words, chimeras carried their creator's signature. And Berge recognized this aura.
So, avoid her.
As he'd told Ernan, no need to deal with filth.
"From now on, those unusual monsters I described might appear in the mountains."
"I'll kill them all."
"No, avoid them."
"Avoid them?"
"Yes. If you spot any traces, don't engage—just evade. Keep yourself and your subordinates away."
"Understood. I'll obey."
"Not curious why?"
"I am, but I'm your subordinate, my Demon King. I follow your orders without question."
"......"
Berge fell silent at the perfectly demonic response.
'...Why am I surprised? This is normal.'
Ma-gye was a world of the strong dominating the weak. Subordinates followed superiors' commands without hesitation.
A proper subordinate obeyed their Demon King's orders unquestioningly.
So why had he started seeing that as abnormal?
No need to wonder.
Granada.
Hillon Kargil.
Roger and even Ernan.
With non-demons as his subordinates, this was inevitable.
And since he'd deviated from the canon from start to finish—though less now— he'd clashed often even with his sole demon subordinate, Gordon.
Having a normal demonic conversation felt refreshingly novel.
"Good thing I took you as a subordinate."
"...Pardon?"
"Never mind. Chimeras are made by humans. Clashing with one means clashing with its mage."
"If it's human, just kill it, right?"
"That works for ordinary humans, but this chimera's master is a pain. Just ignore her."
"Must be some noble or royal from a kingdom."
"Exactly."
"I'll follow orders."
"They might be mixed with magical beasts, so if you sense unfamiliar demonic mana, evade immediately. Report it."
"Yes. I'll drill it into the tribe."
Krutoo returned to his tribesmen. Roger Friedri, who had been pretending to work on the mana cannons while eavesdropping with his hammer clanging, spoke up.
"Um..."
"What?"
"...You said chimera?"
"You know what that is."
"Mixed with magical beasts..."
"So?"
"Doesn't that mean the creator can handle magical beasts?"
"Probably."
"And demonic mana too?"
"Likely..."
By then, Berge caught on to what Roger was getting at.
"Rejected."
"If we recruit that mage, golem production could speed up! I don't know how they source and fuse magical beasts into chimeras, but she's perfect."
"Maybe."
Roger beamed at Berge's agreement. He'd been agonizing over using demonic mana for golem cores. A chimera mage who incorporated magical beasts felt like a godsend.
"But your head might end up as a chimera in exchange."
"Pardon...?"
"Listen well."
Berge leaned in close, enunciating each word deliberately.
"That bitch."
"Is even worse."
"Than Luize Berft."
Hic!
Roger's legs buckled at the name, denying reality.
"N-no way. No woman could be crazier than the second princess..."
"Why would I lie to you about this?"
"...You wouldn't."
"I'll handle finding a mage. You finish the first floor. We can make golems after the mana cannons are done anyway."
"...Yes."
Berge left the trembling dwarf behind and ascended the stairs.
As a guest of Luize Berft, Hillon Kargil received exceedingly lavish treatment.
Dozens of servants attended to him and the Red Hawk mercenaries, with feasts at every meal.
"Ah, this is the life."
Gulp.
Bark, captain of the Red Hawk mercenary band—formerly White Eagle—picked the last scraps of meat from the bone.
"Right? How long's it been since we relaxed like this?"
"Erjest Mountains, Beast Tower... we've been through hell."
The mercenaries chuckled and nodded.
The Red Hawk unit had come to the Berft Kingdom as Hero Guild envoys alongside Hillon, but they had little to do.
Meeting the king or princess was Hillon's job, and guild-level negotiations fell to his aide Parn and the staff.
Thus, the idle Red Hawks savored their leisure.
Granada was among them, but he couldn't feign ignorance and relax like the others.
'The Demon King is coming.'
Berge had guaranteed it, so he would come. The question was when and how.
'He told me to stop him no matter what.'
He worried if he could thwart a Demon King kidnapping.
'No, with Hillon Kargil here, as long as we know he's coming, it's doable.'
That thought sparked another doubt.
'Is his ballsiness inflated? Kidnapping a dwarf princess?'
Did the newly descended Demon King know nothing?
'Or...'
A high-level scheme?
Granada remembered Berge's first move.
Unexpectedly kidnapping Hildean Kingdom's crown princess, stirring chaos, then counterattacking in a way that defied all common sense.
Unlikely, yet what if this Demon King was another Berge? The worry lingered.
'...Not my problem anyway.'
He still had 99 years of serving the Demon King ahead.
As he smirked.
Kaboom!
A massive explosion rocked the area.
"Grab your weapons, everyone!"
Granada bolted urgently toward the source.
Thick black smoke billowed from Luize Berft's palace.
Demon King or demon kidnappings usually happened at night.
Night.
When living beings slept.
When guards were lax.
But for demons, when energy peaked.
Vivian Blunt exploited that advantage fully.
Even if the dwarf kingdom was underground, it wasn't hard.
Just snatch the sleeping princess and flee.
Yeah, that was the plan.
"Welcome."
The door guard was large for a dwarf, but whatever.
His mutterings? Just a madman.
But.
When she realized he was a hero.
When his gaze pierced exactly where she hid.
She couldn't brush it off anymore.
"...You can see me?"
"Clear as day."
Her faint hope dashed. Vivian's pupils trembled. The knight, clad head to toe in armor, drew his sword.
"...Why's a hero guarding a princess's door?"
She knew this dimension had overwhelmingly more heroes than others.
But still.
A hero of this caliber just babysitting a door?
The number 3198 flashed in her mind.
How insane was this place? Alein.
"No obligation to answer that."
The knight didn't. Instead, he unleashed his aura. His sweeping sword cleaved the palace wall, lunging for Vivian's neck.
'...!'
Vivian screamed silently.
One strike, but its ferocity was clear.
Clash and die.
She couldn't win now.
'A Demon King who conquered a whole dimension, and this?!'
Humiliating, but the aura was too overwhelming for bravado.
Vivian gritted her teeth, ducked, and charged forward. The slash severed a few strands of her hair.
'Flee, and no second chance.'
Against a formidable foe, retreat once and it was endless. That was unacceptable to her.
Crash—
Her form shattered the door past the hero.
Vivian scanned the room swiftly.
'Kidnap the princess and escape.'
No chance in a straight fight, but she was confident in evasion. The Demon King Academy prioritized stealth and escape alongside it.
But.
"So you're the demon here to kidnap me?"
No demure sleeping princess awaited.
"How should I smash your skull to make headlines?"
A beast roaring, gripping a battle axe.
"You bitch."
The massive axe blade plummeted toward Vivian.
"...This place is insane."
Vivian swallowed a groan.