Butterfly Effect (2)
It was magicum.
A magicum that was impossibly pure and deep. A high-ranked one.
Draxon, who had been sitting on the throne at the top waiting for a report, shot up his heavy backside.
"Did you perhaps send another demon?"
Even though she knew the answer, Casey had no choice but to ask.
Because the aura belonged to at least a high-rank demon.
"Why would I ever do that!"
It was an alien presence. Draxon was the Beast Demon Lord, and the demons and demonic beasts around him were all his subordinates.
Their magicum could never escape his notice. But this magicum hadn't just escaped his sight—it had erupted out of nowhere.
"Then the intruder is…"
"Who!?"
Entering another Demon Lord's territory without prior agreement was a taboo. To demons, who were intensely individualistic, a territorial intrusion was no different from a declaration of war.
Draxon rushed down to the first floor. Casey followed close behind.
"It must be one of the other two Demon Lords, excluding Demon Lord Ugar and Demon Lord Berze."
"Berze? Why exclude that bastard?"
If anything, in terms of likelihood, Berze should've been at the top.
"At the time of descent, not a single demon accompanied him aside from his adjutant, Gordon. Even the demonic beasts and benefits he was supposed to receive as chief were stripped away. All the magicum points he earned were also…"
"Even if he wanted to send one, he has no demon to send."
Berze was the one most hostile to Draxon, but for that reason he was removed from the list.
"If a Demon Lord really did send a demon, I suspect it's Demon Lord Jayson."
"That's what I think as well. Reina—that idealist—she doesn't have the guts to pull something like th—"
At that moment, the crystal orb rang urgently.
It was Quail.
『My lord, we're in big trouble!』
"If a high-rank demon appeared, I'm already aware. I'm on my way there personally, so—"
『That's not the problem! The dwarves' princess killed Prince Ormus! The enraged warriors of Ormus are charging in to kill the princess!』
Draxon's face twisted grotesquely.
"...What in the…?"
His mind froze at the incomprehensible situation. But soon after, he assessed it quickly.
"Stop them! Under no circumstances can the princess be allowed to die! If she's a corpse before I get there, I'll hold you responsible."
『I obey! I will protect her with my life!』
***
While the warriors of Ormus were surrounding and driving back the dwarves, demonic beasts struck from behind.
It was a completely unexpected surprise attack, and the warriors' full attention had been locked onto the dwarves.
What followed was a one-sided slaughter.
Graaagh—!
"Look behind you! Stop the beasts!"
The encirclement collapsed amid screams.
"Princess, now is our chance!"
Bolbov gathered the knights. The dwarves, who had been scattered in all directions under the fierce assault, reformed a tight formation around the princess.
"Move. I'll carve the path."
"It's dangerous."
"If you planned to whine behind me with tears in your eyes, I shouldn't have brought you."
Before they could stop her, Louise stepped forward with her Battle Axe in hand.
Kwaang—
Sword and axe collided. The brutish force pushed the warrior of Armos two steps back. But he couldn't fully disperse the force, and the axe did not miss the opening.
Crunch—
Louise kicked away the corpse whose neck had been torn off. A blade aiming at her blind spot behind the corpse was deflected with a twist of her axe.
Bolbov's sword pierced the warrior's heart.
"Are you all right?"
"Keep up. I'm going to speed up."
She exhaled through her nose.
***
"We opened a path so the princess and the dwarves could escape."
"Well done."
The battlefield was already rushing toward its end. Most of the dwarves, led by Louise, managed to pull back, while most of the Ormus warriors had become food for the demonic beasts.
"Don't kill those ones. Let them go."
"Is that acceptable?"
"They will be the witnesses. Witnesses who will spread the word that the dwarven princess crushed the skull of her own kingdom's prince."
At first, upon hearing that the Second Prince of Ormus had died, Draxon was horrified. But upon reflection, it wasn't that bad.
Why? Because the one who killed the prince was the princess herself. And there were countless witnesses.
'The high-rank demon who cornered the Second Prince is a problem, but at least he didn't kill him. The surviving Ormus bastards will testify well enough.'
If that happened, a major war—or at minimum, a covert conflict—was highly likely. And the chaos of blood and death was quite entertaining to watch. Hostility, killing intent, fear, terror—those yielded plenty of magicum points.
But that wasn't the most important issue right now.
"Where did the demon go?"
Draxon scanned the surroundings rapidly. But nowhere could he find the culprit who had made him move his heavy backside.
The high-ranked magicum was undoubtedly from at least a high-rank demon. But Draxon had sent no one except Quail.
"I'm sorry. By the time I sensed the magicum and arrived, the presence had already vanished."
"You couldn't find even a trace?"
Quail bowed his head.
'Just what kind of bastard…!?'
Beastkin were naturally born with heightened senses, and the higher their rank, the more those senses evolved.
A high-rank beastkin demon misses almost nothing. Their keen vision, touch, and smell were unmatched.
'And this is my territory. The only one who could fool Quail here is…'
A Demon Lord, or a high-rank demon specialized in stealth.
"Where exactly did it appear?"
"This way."
The ground was gouged out, stone fragments scattered everywhere.
Traces of a violent battle. And remnants of magicum lingered there as well.
'A high rank.'
And it wasn't entirely unfamiliar.
'Naturally.'
Whatever the goal was, it was certainly sent by another Demon Lord, especially now that the tower had been forming harmony among them. It must've been one of their subordinates.
'Berze and Ugar are not options.'
Berze had no high-rank demons under him, and Ugar was not someone who would betray him.
And as Casey had said, it didn't seem like Reina Sordein either. She was not the type to make cowardly moves in the shadows.
She was a demon whose head was full of flowers, chasing ideals.
Then the only one left was—
'Jayson Cockmoondo.'
The Demon Lord of Falsehood. A sly Demon Lord who always wore the mask of politeness while stabbing others in the back with a smile.
Recently, they had been exchanging information and maintaining relatively good relations, but Draxon did not trust him.
If anyone had sent a high-rank demon to infiltrate his territory, Draxon was certain it was Jayson.
"But for what reason?"
There was no way he would create conflict for no reason at all.
"Is he trying to trap me?"
Did he intend to kill the princess and the prince and frame Draxon for the murder? But Jayson had no real motive to do that.
"And besides, if that was his goal, he didn't lay a finger on the princess. The Princess of Verft has far greater political weight than some Ormus prince…"
That meant his purpose was not that.
Draxon slowly tracked the lingering magicum. But it had been cleanly severed. Even as a Demon Lord, he could barely find a trace—whoever it was, the stealth was extraordinary.
"Ridiculous."
Draxon activated all his senses to their extreme. He sniffed the air and felt the currents.
And then—
He found a faint, almost imperceptible trail heading toward Mount Mercon.
In an instant, his mind snapped awake.
"No way…?"
He had been careful—careful beyond measure. He had hidden it—hidden it thoroughly. But he could never claim it was perfect.
If it was Jayson, he might have found a way to uncover it. If he had discovered the Phoenix corpse and intended to snatch it—
"Damn it all!"
The Phoenix's corpse was valuable enough to justify souring relations with the other Demon Lords.
After all, it was only unusual that the Demon Lords were cooperating at all—betrayal was the true nature of demons.
Draxon threw everything aside and sprinted toward Mount Mercon. Trees and boulders exploded to pieces along the path he carved.
At that moment—
KWAaaaaaANG—
The volcano in the distance erupted.
Pure, blazing mana burst outward in every direction.
He was one step too late.
"Jayson, you sons of a bitch!!!"
Draxon roared.
The Demon Lord's magicum surged violently.
So enormous and ferocious that even the warriors of Tarta would feel it.
***
"Huff… huff…!"
Ormus warrior Karchin ran while clutching his throbbing shoulder. A long trail of blood followed behind him.
His head spun, but he gritted his teeth.
"I must live."
He had to survive and report to His Majesty.
That the barbaric dwarf princess had murdered the prince! That her limbs must be ripped apart in the same manner!
Fueled solely by vengeance, he ran.
He knew the moment he reached the king and delivered his report, he would collapse beyond recovery—but he didn't care.
As long as he could have revenge, as long as he could honor the prince's spirit that had been taken so meaninglessly—it was enough.
Swiish—
Thud—
A small sound of air tearing was followed by a heavy impact.
A short scream escaped him as the ground smashed into his face. No—his body had simply collapsed forward.
"Gaaah!"
His leg throbbed. An arrow impaled in his leg had shattered the bone completely.
A shadow fell over him. Karchin lifted his trembling eyes.
It didn't fully block the sunlight. The figure was short. A dwarf.
"You… you bastards…!"
The air reeked of metallic blood. Until now, he thought it was his own—but it wasn't.
Perhaps because he had only been staring straight ahead as he ran—now he finally saw.
The ground was stained entirely red. Between sparse bushes, hands and feet stuck out.
"A-ah…"
They were all Ormus warriors like him. The very royal guard who fought alongside him moments ago to protect the Second Prince.
"Don't resent it too much. You lot tried to kill us first, didn't you?"
He understood what the dwarf meant. And thus he screamed.
"You damned dwarf bastards! Do you think this will hide the truth!? Aren't you afraid of the heavens!?"
"At least you bastards aren't the heavens."
"Why…?"
He frantically searched the area. But there was no one.
Normally, the place would be full of heroes and mercenaries hunting monsters.
Why was today of all days—
Blood-tears of resentment streamed down his face.
Swiish—
A black arrow tore through the sky.
Thunk—
Karchin's consciousness ended.
****
A dwarf knight dragged Karchin's fallen body and tossed it into the bushes. They erased all traces as best they could and waited for the next prey.
After a long while, twelve more Ormus warriors appeared—and became vengeful spirits.
"No more seem to be coming."
"Agreed."
Louise wiped the blood off her Battle Axe.
"Mind your mouths. The Second Prince was killed by a demon. He died fighting desperately to help us and was annihilated."
"Yes. With the battlefield full of demonic traces, it won't be hard to make it believable."
"Burn all the bodies and withdraw."
"Yes."
The dwarves burned all the corpses and buried the remaining ashes.
"It's good no travelers came by."
"Yeah. I heard heroes and mercenaries usually pass this way often. We got lucky."
Louise said that and sliced her own forearm.
"Princess!"
"If we don't do at least this much, does 'annihilation' look realistic to you?"
"...Understood."
The dwarf knights silently made their own bodies look even more battered. They carved wounds, smeared themselves with blood, and caked their armor with dust and dirt.
"Let's go."
When their preparations were perfect and they returned to Tarta—
"The Demon Lord broke the tacit agreement and acted without warning! Gather the heroes and prepare for war at once!"
They realized—
All of it had been meaningless.
READ MORE CHAPTERS HERE: https://shinchan1.podia.com/
We glad to inform you readers about our new launch of membership on patreon for this novel. A lot of manpower is used to translate this novel, and seeing how well you guys liking it. We launched a membership, show your support and enjoy daily chapter updates.
PATREON LINK : https://patreon.com/ripper1920