Chapter 100 - Hide, Now!

The snowfields were vast, and cold all year round. Blizzards swept through every other day, obscuring vision, while the bitter cold froze everything solid.

An elemental opposite.

Both for Berge Deias, a demonic dragon and a fire dragon, and for Pale, who possessed the Phoenix's flames, the snowfields were hardly a pleasant place. To make matters worse, Reina's presence permeated the land, as though proclaiming it her territory.

This was his second time sneaking into another Demon King's domain, but it was not a particularly pleasant feeling.

"Will you be able to find Sir Hillen?"

"Easily."

Of course he could. The Armani Orb was embedded in the bastard's head. Unless that head exploded or he entered another dimension, he could never escape Berge's grasp.

But knowing where he was did not mean reaching him would be easy.

The snowfields. The domain of Reina Sordein, the Demon King of Bitter Cold.

He would not be going as a Demon King, so there would be no repeat of what had happened with Drakson, but...

'That also means I can't use my full strength. There's no telling whether I can save Hillen.'

On reflection, even using his full strength would not change that.

He had neither upgraded his tower nor expanded his domain, nor purchased anything that loosened the restrictions on his power to interfere with the dimension. His combat strength was therefore not much different from when he had first descended.

Vivian, who had descended later than him and was a weak succubus to begin with, might be another matter, but he was inevitably weaker than the other three Demon Kings.

'Above all, the situation couldn't be worse.'

Reina had said she would make an example of Hillen. If she was confident enough to declare it, she would not be halfhearted about it.

She would not act personally, of course, but... she had likely sent out high-ranking frost demons in droves. If they attacked him together, Berge as he was now could not defeat them either.

'Damn it.'

He had to fight his way through countless monsters, demonic creatures, and demons to rescue Hillen Cargill—without revealing that he was a Demon King.

It was so fucking difficult that he could not help cursing this damned Arain.

'All because I wanted to cure him of that arrogant attitude...'

It had become the worst possible move.

He admitted it. This time, the mistake was his.

He had underestimated Reina Sordein and put too much faith in Hillen Cargill. Even while trying to teach him a lesson, he had trusted him.

One wrong turn, and everything he had accomplished since descending could be lost.

No, not everything—but most of it.

'Still, it's not too late to undo this.'

As long as he rescued Hillen safely, nothing would change. The question was how.

He could not simply force his way through. And devising a trick was difficult in snowfields where there was nothing but snow and monsters.

'If there's nothing to work with, I'll make something.'

Berge headed south again. Taking teleportation circles straight through cost an enormous amount of money, but that was not what mattered.

"My lord!"

"There's no time for small talk. Give me everything you have, now."

"Wouldn't it be better if I operated them myself?"

"Could you even survive in the snowfields? I won't have time to look after you while escaping."

"Actually, dwarves prefer the south to the north."

After collecting what he needed, he returned north and reunited with Ernyan and Granada.

It had taken three days. He had paid his way through everything money could solve and sprinted through everything it could not.

"We haven't taken too long, have we?"

"Don't worry. He's alive."

If Hillen Cargill died, the Armani Orb would vanish, and its destruction would be conveyed to its owner. The orb had yet to send Berge that signal.

"That's a relief. But will those do any good?"

"At least they'll be better than nothing."

He only needed to make the enemy hesitate for a moment. He was confident he could escape.

"Ernyan, you..."

"I'm coming too."

"The snowfields are dangerous. We need to rescue Hillen and escape quickly. I won't have time to look after you."

"You won't need to."

"You're that confident?"

"I'll actually be useful. In the snowfields, at least."

"On what grounds?"

"Lady Nairuniel."

"I see."

That convinced him.

Ernyan was an exceptional spirit summoner. The very fact that she had summoned a high-ranking spirit proved it.

She could pull her weight anywhere, but with a high-ranking spirit that commanded water and the ice it became, there was no question that she could wield greater power in the snowfields. Especially considering how much faster she was progressing than before his regression.

'She might be able to hold her own against mid-ranking demons, perhaps even the weaker high-ranking ones.'

Provided they were not frost demons.

In any case, Ernyan would be an asset, not a hindrance.

"All right."

"Thank you!"

"As for me..."

"You're coming, no exceptions. Surely you're not going to say you can't keep up."

Granada tended to be overshadowed by Hillen Cargill, but he was by no means weak.

At first, years of slavery had left him so frail that Berge had defeated him easily. That was no longer the case. If anything, the hero's journey had brought him even more noticeable growth.

'This one's no ordinary elf either.'

The way the other elves readily trusted and followed him was evidence enough. Berge had a rough idea; he simply did not ask because Granada wanted to conceal it, and it was not particularly important.

"Yes."

"Let's go."

They crossed the city walls and headed north. White snow gradually covered more and more of the barren ground. Snowflakes began to fall.

"There aren't any monsters."

"There wouldn't be."

They would all be after Hillen Cargill. That was not good news. It only meant Hillen was in that much more danger.

With a clear destination, finding their direction was easy.

They ran swiftly. The elf, exceptional in forests but quick to adapt to most environments, and the spirit summoner with her high-ranking water spirit did not fall behind.

They continued for a long while. For days.

Then the sounds of battle reached them through the blizzard. They could make out the silhouettes of countless monsters and the fighting energy of demonic creatures and demons.

Berge suppressed his presence.

Hillen Cargill was hidden behind the wall of monsters. But his familiar mana and the location of the Armani Orb proclaimed that he was right in their midst.

"... There are too many. What do we do?"

"I have a plan."

"As expected of you, my lord. What is it?"

"We break through, rescue Hillen, and get out."

"... What an impressive plan."

He ignored Granada's sarcasm.

In truth, there was no way he could have a proper plan. The situation had arisen too suddenly. All he could do was save Hillen Cargill somehow.

"First, let's get their attention."

He opened his storage dimension and took out what he had collected from Logger. Twenty gleaming mana cannons appeared.

"... Good heavens. That's what you went to fetch...?"

"Yes. Twenty cannons are nowhere near enough to wipe them out, but they should be enough to draw their attention."

These were not ordinary mana cannons. One of Berft's three finest craftsmen had built them, even imbuing them with dimensional interference.

His only regret was that he had loaded shells made from ordinary mana stones rather than tainted ones. Using demonic energy would increase their destructive power, but it would also invite suspicion.

"We'll sweep the front with the mana cannons. I'll go through the opening and bring Hillen back. You two keep operating the cannons—"

Berge stopped short.

Hillen's presence had dwindled noticeably. The demonic energy grew denser, and the smell of blood intensified.

Alarm bells rang in his head.

Something was going wrong.

"What's wrong?"

Ernyan's question hung unanswered in the air. Berge was already gone.

Wreathed in flames, he soared into the sky.

Like the Phoenix of legend.

* * *

No longer caring about concealment, he rose into the air.

Amid the countless enemies, he saw Hillen swaying precariously, looking as though he might die at any moment. Surrounded by corpses, he was filthy and hideous.

But he was alive.

That was enough.

'I have to draw their eyes.'

So they could no longer attack Hillen.

WHOOSH!

He gathered the flames and released them. As they enveloped his body and he poured out heat, every gaze turned toward him.

He hurled himself into their midst.

The flames traced a far longer trail than he had imagined.

Unlike his demonic energy, which was suppressed by dimensional interference, the Phoenix's power belonged to this dimension. The strength of a mythical beast rivaling a dragon was by no means insignificant, and it could grow endlessly if Berge put in the effort.

And though their nature was slightly different, flames were what Berge wielded best.

BOOOOM!

An enormous explosion erupted.

The world lit up. Heat surged outward. A moment later, a shock wave swept through.

Only a handful of high-ranking demons withstood it unscathed.

'Armand...'

His gaze turned toward the frost demon who had been pressing Hillen moments before. The face was familiar. He was one of Reina's close aides, whom Berge had seen several times at the Tower of Bitter Cold.

"... Demon King Berge?"

Armand muttered in a daze.

"No, that's impossible..."

Then he quickly shook his head.

'Damn.'

Only then did Berge realize his face felt exposed. His crude mask, protected by neither magic nor engravings, had been half shattered by the explosion of flames.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

No demon would believe he was Berge merely because their faces matched, anyway.

"Who are you?"

"A human."

At that nonchalant reply, Armand calmly recreated his melted ice spear.

He had many questions. Why did this man look almost identical to Berge? How had he evaded his senses and reached this place? Who was he?

But all of those were trivial beside the power the man possessed.

'He's not a hero. But...'

He was more dangerous than most heroes.

'He knows Hillen Cargill.'

What if a man like this joined forces with the hero who had killed two Demon Kings?

For demons, that was truly the worst possible outcome.

'It doesn't matter who he is. I just have to kill him.'

Both Hillen Cargill and the human with Berge's face.

"You die here today."

Armand charged. Drained from unleashing all those flames at once, Berge gritted his teeth and kindled them anew.

The demonic creatures that had backed away once again bared their savage killing intent.

At that moment—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Dozens of simultaneous reports shook the snowfields. Blasts thundered. Explosions erupted. Monsters screamed.

Everything happened in an instant.

"... Mana cannons?"

Had the humans already reached this far?

Armand's eyes widened. Naturally, he could no longer focus on the fight.

And in that brief moment, fire and lightning struck him together. While he defended himself, the two slipped away.

"Stop them!"

He shouted urgently, but the human who had fallen like a meteor had already torn the encirclement apart. Ceaseless cannon fire widened the gaps still further.

And above all—

CRUNCH!

SLASH!

Mere monsters could not stop those two.

"Lord Armand!"

"After them, now!"

Armand raced after them at the head of the demons.

"Sir Pale!"

"Run!"

"The mana cannons..."

"We're destroying them."

There was no time to leisurely pack them away. Nor could he let the enemy use them. Burning them all was his only choice.

He cast flames onto the mana cannons. When the fire reached the shells, a spectacular explosion erupted, obstructing the demons' pursuit once more.

"Logger will be sad."

"His sadness doesn't matter. Hillen Cargill."

"Yes."

"Keep your wits about you. If you fall behind, there won't be a second rescue."

"... I'll run as though my life depends on it."

Hillen gritted his teeth.

But he was exhausted. His injuries were far too severe to overcome through willpower alone.

He gradually slowed. The distance closed.

Ernyan raised a wall of ice.

"Pointless tricks!"

Armand threw his spear. It whistled through the air like a flash of light, shattering the ice wall and hurtling toward Hillen.

"Keep running!"

Berge stepped into its path.

CLANG!

Rubbing his numbed arm, he swallowed a groan. Blood flowed from the wound in his palm.

The pursuers drew a little closer.

ROOOAR!

Monsters appeared from another direction, blocking their path.

"I'll handle them."

Granada swung his sword. A troll's head came off in a single stroke.

But there were far more than one or two monsters, and they lost more time. The distance narrowed further.

'Damn it...!'

At this rate, they would be caught.

'If it comes to it...'

Berge bit his lip.

Hillen Cargill was valuable. That was why he had come all this way to save him.

But however important a chess piece Hillen might be, he was not worth more than Berge's own life. A piece was only a piece. He could not let his priorities turn upside down.

'I'll have to hand over Hillen, since his injuries are slowing him down, and save Ernyan and Granada.'

Ernyan in particular, above all else...

That was when it happened.

BWOOOO!

A horn blast pierced his ears.

THUD-THUD-THUD!

A snow-white cloud billowed. Thunderous hoofbeats shook the ground.

"... Knights?"

"That's House Chernian's crest!"

The knights at the vanguard radiated unmistakably extraordinary power. Wreathed in aura, they charged as one.

It was like a masterpiece of a painting. Horses and riders, a hundred knights breathing with mechanical precision—the unity of their breaths and aura was breathtakingly beautiful.

BOOOOM!

Screams and monstrous cries rang out. Most of the chunks of flesh flying in every direction belonged to monsters.

ROOOAR!

NEIGH!

The monsters faltered. The demons and demonic creatures stopped pursuing.

"... We're saved."

Berge sighed in relief. As the tension left him, Hillen Cargill passed out.

'Lucky bastard.'

He would never know how close he had just come to dying.

"We must retreat."

"We have them. All that's left is to take their heads."

At the mid-ranking demon's advice, Armand laughed hollowly.

"Those are the banners of Margrave Chernian and the White Frost Knights. He's come in person."

The snowfields' monsters and demonic creatures clashed most often with the barbarians. Their second most frequent opponents were the margrave guarding the imperial frontier and his knights.

They could kill them if they wanted. They could slaughter every last one.

But...

Armand ground his teeth.

Wiping out a few barbarian tribes was completely different from laying a hand on an imperial margrave.

Killing a hero who had assembled a raiding party to climb the tower was likewise different from killing an imperial margrave.

Even though Hillen was a hero who had killed two Demon Kings, he did not belong to the Empire. The Empire had no reason to intervene. And no one other than the Empire would lead an army into the land of bitter cold.

"... Retreat."

Armand cursed himself for indulging his curiosity about the hero who had killed two Demon Kings and exchanging a few words with him.

If only he had used his full strength from the start.

'I would have killed him...!'

It was too late to undo it now.

* * *

The demons began to retreat.

As Berge watched them in a daze, his gaze happened to fall on Ernyan. He saw the humans approaching in the distance.

'What if the imperials recognize Ernyan?'

Instinctively, he shoved her head into the snow.

"Hide, now!"