The Empire's New Target
The Blazing Demon King.
That name alone was enough to seize the attention of the imperial royals.
"…The Blazing Demon King, you say?"
"What did the Blazing Demon King tell you?"
"He told me to kill you all! To kill you and throw the Empire into cha—!"
Bairif, now fully betrayed, had nothing left to hold back. He used all his strength to confess everything. Or rather, he tried to.
Hrk—
"…Huh?"
Bairif touched the pitch-black blood dribbling down his lips.
"What… is…?"
That became his last words. His head detonated. The headless corpse collapsed onto the ground.
Nothing remained—no trace, no evidence. All that had happened was the price of betrayal, enforced by a contract etched onto his very soul.
If anything, the only residue was the demonic energy inside Bairif spasming violently for a brief second.
Thus, no one noticed the truth.
"There's a demonkin nearby! Find him!"
"Who dares!"
But humans believe only what they want to believe. The royals assumed someone had assassinated Bairif and flew into a rage.
Daphner Philian, Balaf Dissrode, Rozel Charnt, Aina Diapyrn, and the rest of the Stars and warriors—along with knights, mages, and soldiers—scattered in every direction.
The dispute from moments ago was instantly forgotten, all replaced by a single shared objective:
To find the imaginary demonkin who had supposedly killed Bairif.
"How dare he…!"
The royals were furious, and Berze blended in among the enraged crowd, climbing out of the crater with them. He pretended to search the surroundings alongside Hillen Cargill.
"Was this your doing, Lord Pale?"
"Yes."
"How did it happen without any demonic energy leaking out?"
"It has nothing to do with demonic energy. It acted directly on his soul as payment for breaking the contract."
There was only one reason Berze bothered explaining—
"Remember this well: whatever contract you had with that black mage… the one in your mind is far stronger."
"…"
It was a warning.
Even if Berze had decided to abandon him first…
Even though he understood the sheer desperation of Bairif's final moments…
Understanding did not equal accepting.
A mere subordinate—an insignificant black mage—daring to betray him was something that could never be allowed.
He himself might discard a subordinate.
But a subordinate betraying him?
That was unacceptable.
That was the demon king.
That was Berze.
"…I understand."
Hillen avoided his gaze and quickly changed the subject.
"So what will you do now? It's no longer a question of weakening the Empire by using the Third Prince or not, is it?"
"…Bairif, that damned fool."
Hillen was right.
Through Bairif's dying words, Berze's existence had been revealed.
In front of four imperial royals—before the heirs of the Empire themselves.
He had been so careful.
Had hidden himself so meticulously.
"You must calm yourself."
"I am calm."
The mere fact that he wasn't letting demonic energy leak was proof of an almost superhuman level of patience.
He was deeply unsettled.
A black mage had never betrayed a demon king before.
The fool had paid the price, but the aftermath was now tightening around Berze's own throat.
"What do you think the Empire will do?"
"They will be desperate to find your tower, my lord."
"Of course they will."
"We do not know exactly what method Bairif used, but there was an explosion that shook the entire canyon. The First Prince's forces suffered tremendous injuries and their numbers are low. If they consider that these are the elites of House Osrian… and if you consider the First Prince's pride…"
The First Prince of the Empire—heir of the Empire's greatest noble house—had suffered a grievous blow to his pride.
The Empire was a massive fortress obsessed—pathologically so—with the prestige it had built over countless ages. It tolerated not even the slightest scratch.
Failing to notice a demon king operating within their territory was, among many things, an unforgivable insult.
In other words, the Empire would move—without question—to restore its honor.
"…Truly."
Berze sighed.
"What a dog-shit situation."
Isn't it?
"You miserable little wretch. All because of you."
Berze ground his teeth. His gaze was fixed on the soul clenched in his hand.
— Th-this is impossible! Why… why is this happening to me—?!
"You idiot. Did you think death would free you from my grasp? That death would solve everything?"
To become a black mage—to belong to a demon king—did he truly understand nothing?
Well, perhaps it made sense.
Black mages had vanished from Arein centuries ago, and Bairif had become one through his own power, not by serving a demon king. Ignorance was expected.
But it was no excuse.
"Look forward to it. Your end will never be peaceful."
— N-no…!
Bairif's soul trembled in terror.
And Hillen Cargill, watching beside him, trembled likewise.
***
In conclusion, the hunt for a demonkin that did not even exist naturally failed.
The subjugation force gained only one thing:
information that the Blazing Demon King was involved.
And they suffered enormous losses in exchange.
Instead, they discovered something else.
"There is a dungeon here."
"No trace of any other black mages."
Bairif's underground dungeon—located directly beneath the massive crater—shocked everyone.
Because, despite everything, there was not a single trace of anyone else.
"Are you sure Hillen Cargill wasn't lying? There was only one black mage, after all. There's no way such powerful undead existed."
The First Prince, Second Prince, First Princess, and Third Prince—
The imperial royals in charge of their respective divisions gathered separately.
Not far from the crater, a large tent flew the imperial flag.
The Second Prince spoke, and the First Prince scoffed.
"Don't spout nonsense."
"Nonsense?"
"There were two Death Knights. Dozens of Dullahans, a thousand undead, and even a Lesser Dragon."
"And who will believe your words are true, brother?"
"Go outside and ask anyone you wish."
"Who knows? Perhaps you've all agreed on the story in advance."
"You still grasp at absurd excuses, I see. Don't tell me you're claiming you didn't see that explosion."
"…Well, that much is true."
The explosion had been powerful enough to shake the entire canyon. Whoever caused it, it was undeniable that the First Prince suffered the greatest losses.
"Then for now, I will treat it as fact."
"It's not something to 'treat as fact.' It simply is fact."
"But believing one man caused it all makes no sense no matter how you think about it!"
"My brother is correct. Alone, it would be impossible. Therefore…"
Martin interjected.
"The only answer is that the Demon King deliberately intervened."
The other three royals nodded. Only if the demon king had granted the black mage such power could the incident make sense.
"The Empire has truly been underestimated. That a mere demon king would dare…"
Quiet fury spread across the area.
"But brother, do you truly believe it was the Blazing Demon King?"
"What other possibility?"
"It could be the False Demon King, could it not?"
"That man believed, until his final breath, that he would be saved. You don't think that was an act, do you?"
"Well, if it was acting, he should've been a performer, not a black mage. Or a politician."
The Second Prince nodded at the First Prince's firm conclusion. The image of Bairif screaming curses, weeping blood, and then vomiting blood the moment he uttered the demon king's name was engraved in all their minds.
"However, we should also consider why the False Demon King came to be known as false."
"He was cautious for over a hundred years. And now, suddenly, he would do something so stupid and openly exposed?"
"That is odd."
"And the Blazing Demon King has a precedent of hiding his tower entirely. Even if he uses crude tricks other demon kings no longer bother with, it wouldn't be strange."
One by one, the royals agreed with the First Prince's reasoning.
"In that case, this is no longer an issue concerning some black mage. The Empire is being toyed with by a single demon king. If not for Hillen Cargill's help, no one knows what disaster might have followed."
"Are you praising the warrior you recruited?"
"I am stating facts."
"Yes, facts are facts. But brother, aren't you the one too quick to insist he's not the False Demon King?"
The Second Prince shrugged, siding with the Third Prince.
"I'm simply calling something what it is."
"Perhaps so."
"You brothers seem quite close. As your elder brother, I find that very admirable."
"Seeing as you're saying things you don't even mean, you must be quite angry."
The Second Prince smirked.
"Enough pointless sarcasm. What do you all intend to do now?"
"And what does brother intend to do?"
The ones who suffered the most damage were the First Prince and First Princess. Their anger was the greatest.
"I will return to the capital. I will report everything to His Majesty and formally recommend a demon king subjugation campaign."
The First Prince wished to erase the direct cause of this disaster—the one who created the black mage.
"I intend to search for any other surviving black mage and extract whatever we can."
The First Princess believed there were still traces left of the black mage or demonkin.
"Well, that's convenient. No black mage corpse left for us to argue about. I too should see the face of that insolent demon king."
Bairif's corpse, assassinated by "a demonkin," had vanished into dust. They had no physical evidence of a demonkin's presence anywhere, meaning there was no proof except the black mage's final testimony.
Yet every person here was a royal. Each possessed enough power and legitimacy to vie for the throne.
Thus, what they declared became truth.
The moment the black mage's mouth uttered "Blazing Demon King",
and the moment the royals accepted it—
the conclusion was sealed.
"Is there anything left to discuss?"
Withdraw.
The four royals—who normally opposed and restrained each other for the sake of the throne—now joined hands.
And their unified target was the Blazing Demon King.
For Berze, it was the worst possible outcome.
***
"Ha… haha…"
Laughter spilled out.
"Hahahahahaha…!"
It burst out uncontrollably.
Suddenly, the past resurfaced.
When he kidnapped the crown prince of Jespine and imperial soldiers stormed in like a horde of zombies—
Block one, and a stronger one came.
Block another, and an even stronger one followed.
It was hell.
Officially, the subjugation had been declared a success.
The black mage was killed, and the undead returned to their original forms—so it wasn't a lie.
But it hadn't been the end.
It had only been the beginning.
"Hillen."
Back in the capital, Martin summoned Hillen and Berze.
"I never expected I would be able to fulfill my promise to you this quickly."
For Berze, it was a promise he hoped would never come to pass—an excuse fabricated solely to tie Hillen to Martin.
"We have decided to launch a warrior expedition against the Blazing Demon King."
…Good god.
He had sensed things heading this way.
But hearing it directly from a prince, in the capital, only days later—was entirely different.
"To think he would kidnap Kaede and then cause this disaster… The Blazing Demon King who mocks our Empire will never sleep peacefully again."
Indeed, that was true. Berze felt as though his blood dried a little more every day. He racked his brain, but no good ideas came.
"But my lord, the Blazing Tower is different this time."
"Yes, the tower itself has been concealed. That is why you, too, failed."
"Correct."
"That is what troubles us."
If they could find the tower, the Empire was confident they could crush him instantly.
No matter if he was a demon king—he had barely been around a year. A fledgling.
Before the might of the Empire, he was merely an inconvenient monster.
But Ergest was not so simple.
That land was not human territory.
Hapstline Canyon was harsh, but Ergest—snow year-round, mountain ranges that defied reason—was incomparable.
And the monsters inhabiting it were far stronger.
"In the end, the key is piercing through such brutal conditions and discovering the tower. But that will not be easy."
There is a reason mountain ranges are mountain ranges—they are not one mountain but a flow of many, forming an expanse the size of a kingdom.
"'We cannot find it' is not an option."
But when they would find it, and at what cost, was the real issue.
How to shorten that cost and time—
that was the core question.
"Indeed."
"His Majesty also views this as an extension of the black mage subjugation."
"…Meaning."
"Exactly what you're thinking."
"I hesitate to say this, but…"
"Speak."
"Isn't that far too naive?"
Even for the Empire, Ergest was another nation's territory. If the Empire and Ergest shared a border, perhaps—but it was undeniably foreign land.
They couldn't deploy the army—and now they intended to split what little they could send?
Hillen couldn't understand it with any normal sense of strategy.
"I understand. I think the same. But it is His Majesty's will, and the Emperor's will is absolute in the Empire."
"Good grief…"
Hillen was horrified. Berze was relieved yet enraged.
Yes, dispersing imperial forces was good for him—
but the fact that the Empire could afford to split its forces meant one thing:
They thought very little of him.
That mere humans dared belittle him—
him, a demon king.
"Well, in a sense this is convenient. I will bring Kaede back without fail. And so, I wish to ask you one thing."
"I will of course search for the Tower with Your Highness."
Whether Berze desired it or not, he had already been tied to the Third Prince through the Ergest expedition. There was no longer a choice.
"Thank you."
"It is only natural."
The prince and the warrior clasped hands.
***
There was no excuse for refusal.
To Martin, Hillen was the warrior who most desperately wanted to conquer the Blazing Tower.
If any action could raise their chances even a little, it was the right thing to do.
"Your Highness, climbing Ergest requires extensive preparation. I request that Lord Fail be sent ahead first."
"Agreed."
This was Hillen's way of helping Berze escape the capital under a legitimate reason.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it…!"
Berze used a teleportation circle to leave the Empire.
He changed cloaks several times to avoid having his trail detected and finally arrived at Hotenwalk.
And then he discovered another unpleasant sight.
These wretched bugs…
They were Acan's dogs—Acan soldiers searching Ergest for Lavinia Acan.
He wanted to kill every last one of them on the spot,
but for now, he held back.
He slipped past them and returned to the Tower.
The first floor was still nothing but an empty labyrinth—but his eyes easily saw the magic cannons hidden within the walls. Seeing that they were nearly complete did give him a small sense of stability.
"Demon King! You've returned!"
"Maou-sama!"
The dwarf and the crazy princess greeted him, but Berze just waved them off and walked past.
He passed the empty second floor and the third floor, where Elena groaned and slithered about.
"Demon king."
"You have returned?"
On the fourth floor, the dark spirit summoner, the dark knight, and the elves greeted him.
He admired the much richer structure of his forces—but he had no time to appreciate it.
Just as he was about to head to the fifth floor, he stopped.
He realized: these were now true members of the Tower.
If he intended to do anything to stop the Empire, they would have to move together.
"You. Go up to the fifth floor and bring Gordon. And you—go to the first floor and bring Logar and Lavinia."
"Yes, my lord."
The elves dispersed.
"What happened? Demon king, your face looks pale."
Ernan approached with worry.
"There is. And it's a very big problem."
"…If you say that, then it must be truly serious."
"It is."
"What is it?"
"The Empire is coming."
"The Empire?"
"All of them—the First Prince, the Second Prince, the First Princess, and the Third Prince. All four royals with claims to the throne."
"…My brother?"
Clang—
Kaede dropped her sword.
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