Butterfly Effect
"Your Highness!"
"Your Hiiiiiiiiighness!!"
Their anguished cries echoed.
But their prince had already crossed the river from which none return.
"You all must've really loved your prince, huh? Anyone watching would think your lover just died."
Too bad for them.
Louise sneered.
She yanked out her axe and shook it, the severed head dangling loosely.
"Want to take Max's 'Max' with you?"
"You fucking bitch!"
"Kill that whore!"
"Retrieve the prince's remains!"
Louise's provocation erupted into a massive crater.
Grief became despair, and despair turned into wrath.
A murderous intent far beyond anything before burst forth—
all of it aimed squarely at Louise.
"Come on then, you bastards! As if I'd ever be scared!"
"Protect the Princess!"
Louise roared.
Volbof and the knights hurriedly formed a defensive wall.
A tidal wave of fury and killing intent came crashing in, made of furious warriors.
The dwarves planted their short legs firmly on the ground.
Their shields went up.
BOOOOM—!
The shields rattled violently.
The dwarves screamed.
"All this over one dead prince. You're charging like dogs in heat."
Louise rolled up her sleeves and raised her axe.
Volbof rushed to stop her.
"You must flee!"
"You think I even can?"
"Princess!"
"Don't worry. I'd rather die than get captured."
"I will never allow that. I will carve a path even if it costs my life!"
"You think that'll work? We're better off hoping that mysterious demon from before shows up again and smacks these idiots around."
Now that she mentioned it—where did he go?
"Who are you referring to?"
"That demon bastard who delivered that horny mutt right to my feet."
"...He's gone."
Silent, just like when he appeared.
At that moment—
SKREEEEEE—!
A monster!
Block it!
Screams echoed from the distance.
The foul stench of monsters filled the air.
"...Did you summon it, by chance?"
"With what power?"
"...But then why did it really—"
Why did a monster appear now?
***
Quail sent out the gargoyles.
The flying gargoyles scattered through the sky, swiftly locating the two groups of intruders.
"The dwarves and Ormus forces have just made contact."
"What's the distance?"
"About five kilometers southwest from here."
"Approach slowly."
The monsters advanced, melting naturally into the jungle.
"Ormus soldiers have surrounded the dwarves."
"Surrounded?"
"Voices are raised. I'll move the scouts lower to hear them better."
Quail received real-time reports.
Ten gargoyles flew back and forth between the scene and him.
"The Second Prince of Ormus is among them."
"So that's one more bastard we need to be careful of."
"It seems the Second Prince is trying to stop the dwarven princess from heading toward Mount Mercon."
"Really?"
Quail brightened.
He wanted nothing more than to slaughter every arrogant fool who dared ignore the Demon Lord's warning and trespass into their domain—but following the Demon Lord's orders came first.
If humans and dwarves chased each other away on their own, that was even better.
"...But the atmosphere is turning bad."
"Bad?"
"The princess and the prince are arguing. The Ormus warriors have their weapons pointed at the dwarves."
"Well, that's quite entertaining."
That was fine too.
If they pointed blades at each other, they wouldn't point them at the Demon Lord.
"Pick up the pace. I'm not missing this show."
There was one thing Quail loved as much as fighting—
watching foolish humans ruin themselves.
Their greed, their arrogance, their downhill sprint toward disaster—
the despair at the end of it was delicious.
At that moment—
KWAaaaaaa—!!
Quail suddenly froze.
The monsters shrieked.
"This is…"
Demonic energy.
"No way…"
Pure and immense.
Not a mere demon.
Certainly not a monster.
"A high-ranking demon."
But why?
The Demon Lord was in the tower.
"Could the Demon Lord have given separate orders to another demon…?"
But no matter how he tried to explain it, something felt off.
This demonic energy didn't belong to any high demon he knew.
A heavy sense of dread drove Quail to sprint forward.
And then he saw it.
The princess splitting the prince's skull—
and the Ormus warriors, mad with vengeance, throwing their lives away to attack.
And the demon he expected… was nowhere to be seen.
His confusion faded as dwarven screams rang out.
Quail shook his head.
He remembered Draxon's command.
"No matter what happens—keep the dwarf princess alive!"
Everything was strange, but that was a problem for after saving the princess.
Saving the living, importhant princess mattered far more than the already-dead, less importhant prince.
"Kill every Ormus dog! No matter what happens—protect the dwarf princess!"
KRWAAAAAH—!
A three-way battle erupted—humans, dwarves, and even monsters clashing together.
***
They definitely noticed.
If he used his power, he would inevitably be detected.
But he had no choice.
There was no way to fight that guy without using demonic energy.
Ormus was far enough from the tower that fighting while suppressing his mana was impossible.
If he fought normally, he would lose.
But fleeing was something the Demon Lord's pride would never allow.
Even if he walked a different path from his previous life, he was still a Demon Lord—
arrogant, exalted, and absolute.
He would never show his back and run.
He would never forgive a mere human charging at him.
Berze was not merciful.
So in that fleeting instant—he unleashed everything.
He never expected Louise to finish the bastard off, but thanks to her, he slipped away easily.
Draxon had probably sensed it, but…
He won't suspect it was me.
Demonic energy wasn't just a measure of power—it marked one's rank among demons.
Berze's full release of mana would make it obvious he wasn't a mere monster or low-ranking demon.
But never would they connect him to the Demon Lord, Berze Deias.
Because the idea of a Demon Lord secretly sneaking into another Demon Lord's territory without warning—
was something demons simply could not imagine.
A stupid prejudice.
A fool's rule.
A perfect, idiotic pair.
And that cursed foolishness smiled on him now.
How ironic.
Berze smirked bitterly.
That whole situation became a complete mess.
Who could have predicted Louise would kill the Ormus prince herself?
Thanks to that, the Ormus dogs had gone mad, and the dwarves were desperate just to protect their princess.
On top of that, monsters suddenly burst in.
Thanks to all this chaos, Berze slipped out unnoticed by anyone.
Now that I think about it… this is the perfect opportunity.
He already sensed signs of monsters nearby.
He could tell by their movement that they were trying to avoid combat.
That was clearly Draxon's intention.
A desire not to antagonize Louise.
But Berze ruined that plan.
The Ormus prince was dead, killed by Louise, but the presence of demonic energy couldn't be denied.
All right, let's think.
If humans felt demonic energy move in the Demon Lord's territory…
who would they assume caused it?
To anyone—
"It's Draxon."
The bastard peeping from the tower couldn't possibly fail to sense Berze's mana.
By now, he was probably in an uproar—maybe even rushing here.
Which meant he wouldn't be able to focus on anything else.
Leaving Mount Mercon…
"Empty."
Berze's lips curled.
***
Berze suppressed his presence and landed atop a tree.
Far off, he spotted monsters.
"So they didn't lose the path."
The monsters were increasing in number.
It forced him to hide his presence even more carefully—
but it also meant he was heading in the right direction.
The entrance is that way.
Monsters were spread throughout the mountain as if guarding it.
Watching their patrol patterns and points of focus, he noticed overlapping routes.
The most heavily guarded area—
there, he found a single cave burrowing into Mount Mercon.
Berze slipped silently inside.
Trained at the Demon Lord Academy for kidnapping princes and princesses, his stealth arts were far too advanced for ordinary monsters to detect.
The cave was dark.
Only one passage.
Damp, foul-smelling air.
It was deep.
He didn't run into any demons or monsters, but something gradually changed.
It got warmer.
Then hot.
Then scorching.
The dull darkness glowed faintly with red light.
Heat shimmered in the air, illuminating the interior.
"Move faster!"
At the end of the passage, a massive cavern opened up—
like the mountain's entire interior had been carved out.
Dim light shone down from the impossibly high ceiling.
And at the center—
A giant lake.
A lake of molten lava, glowing red.
Heat waves rippled.
The voice belonged to a figure atop nearby rocks.
A tiger beastkin.
Over three meters tall.
Orange fur with the piercing blue eyes of a demon.
A high-ranking demon.
Berze clicked his tongue.
A high demon supported by his own Demon Lord's territory—
and a Demon Lord restricted by distance from his tower.
The difference was massive.
And this was their home turf.
If he wasted even a little time, he would be at a huge disadvantage.
He couldn't fight.
He must not fight.
Berze's gaze swept elsewhere.
The red lake.
Calling it merely "red" felt wrong—
it had an eerie, overwhelming presence.
The lava bubbled.
Mana overflowed.
Even surrounded by monsters and demons in the Demon Lord's domain,
that mana seemed even greater in comparison.
That's where…
It was.
Around the lake was another path.
No—more like a ring.
An artificial trench dug around it, growing steadily deeper and more refined.
Grizzly Bears.
Dozens of hulking beast-type monsters dug up the earth and flung it aside.
The high demon commanded them.
The purpose was clear.
This lava wasn't ordinary.
Even Draxon wouldn't enter it carelessly unless he had fire resistance.
So they were digging it out—
excavating a trench enormous enough to drain the entire lake.
Once the lava was gone, what lay hidden beneath would be revealed.
But that—
—was for Draxon's method.
Unlike that beast who solved everything with brute force,
Berze had fire resistance.
No—authority over fire, more like.
He steadied his breath.
Held it.
Shrouded his body with demonic energy, strengthening his flesh.
His muscles expanded.
"Who's there!"
He had gone too far.
A high demon sensed him.
BOOOOM—!
Berze kicked off the ground.
Pebbles shattered and sprayed everywhere from the force.
Before the monsters or the high demon could react—
Berze's silhouette plunged straight into the lava.
FWOOSH—!
A wave of blistering heat swallowed him.
Everything he wore melted instantly.
The pure mana within the lava clashed violently with his demonic energy.
Opposing forces collided in a fierce struggle.
Within that overwhelming mana flow, everything outside vanished.
The high demon's shout, the monsters' cries—gone.
Their mana couldn't reach him.
Agony struck.
Pain unlike anything he felt since becoming a Demon Lord.
Berze grit his teeth.
With pain tearing through his skull,
he slowly swam deeper into the lava.
At last, he found it.
A faint presence—so faint that if one didn't stare intently and attune themselves to its aura, it would be completely overlooked.
A massive shape, nearly five meters tall.
Long, outstretched wings—
Feathers made of pure flame.
It was a bird.
A corpse—yet a living creature.
He found it.
In Arein, there exists a bird made of fire.
A bird that plunges itself into lava to don a new flame and live an endless cycle of life.
People called it the Undying Bird, the Phoenix.
Its corpse—
No, its body, merely waiting for its next cycle—
Lay asleep within the lava.
"But…"
Suddenly, a question arose.
Draxon obtained a phoenix after a long wait.
He consumed it and gained immense strength.
"If a beast and fire meet, shouldn't that beast get roasted? Why does he get stronger instead?"
Even before regression, and even now—
Berze never understood it.
No matter how much he thought, it made no sense.
But that wasn't importhant right now.
Berze reached out.
And at that moment—
KWAaaaaaa—!!
A blinding beam of light erupted.
The lava exploded upward.
The volcano erupted.
***
Rewind time slightly—
to when Berze and Max were fighting.
The mana Berze unleashed deliberately and without restraint was overwhelmingly intense.
Its shockwave spread beyond the Demon Lord's territory and reached the surroundings of Tarta.
"...!"
Deyran, who had been hunting monsters near Tarta, suddenly raised his head.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
A demon.
The hero's instincts, sensing the power of its natural enemy, screamed.
The distance was considerable—
but that only made it more terrifying.
Because even from this far away, that wave of demonic energy hammered his senses with crystal clarity—
far beyond anything he could endure.
"What's wrong?"
The mercenaries hunting with him noticed his strange behavior.
"We're leaving."
"Eh? We've only hunted twenty lizardmen. We need at least fifty to break even—"
"There's a demon. A really strong one."
"...A demon? That's impossible…"
Ormus and Draxon acknowledged each other's territories.
Ironically, because of that, Tarta—though overflowing with monsters due to the Demon Lord—
was a safe hunting ground where no demons appeared.
"We don't feel anything."
"You're telling a hero he's imagining demonic energy? You think I'm lying?! This thing is insane!"
The sight of Deyran shouting, pale and trembling, made the mercenaries stiffen.
They finally understood the gravity of the situation.
"W-We'll go!"
"Let's go! Withdraw!"
The mercenaries abandoned the half-b butchered corpses and ran back the way they came.
This scene repeated across all of Tarta.
What would normally be a jungle packed with heroes and mercenaries—
Was suddenly empty.
And the city of Tarta—
Turned upside down in a frenzy.
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