Chapter 130 - Pursuit

'Found it. I found it!'

At last, he had found it.

Not far from Erjest's highest peak, in a secluded basin hidden from view, stood a building utterly out of place among the mountains.

A pitch-black tower contrasting with the pure white snow.

The Demon King's tower.

The Tower of Hellfire.

A line of orcs was filing inside, carrying the mana cannons into the tower.

'Mana cannons inside the tower?'

Dafner swiftly recorded its location. To ensure he would never forget it, he captured it with a recording orb and marked it on his hand-drawn map.

'But this place...'

It looked strangely familiar.

It was that basin—the one he had inspected near the very end of his first climb into Erjest in search of the tower.

It definitely hadn't been here before. But now it was.

How? The question rose in his mind.

'Did I fail to spot it?'

'Was the tower moved?'

'Was it hidden?'

He didn't know. The first possibility would mean he had been careless, but he had remained alert throughout that climb.

It might sound self-congratulatory, but there was no way he had missed it. As for the second possibility, he had never heard of such a thing.

For the past thousand years, once a tower took root, its location never changed until its Demon King died and it collapsed. That was an immutable truth.

'In that case... '

The tower had been temporarily concealed. How? There were more ways than one might think.

Magic, for instance, or the terrain.

'The Third Prince... '

He was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Dafner had found no trace of the Third Prince the entire time he followed the orcs.

'That demon wasn't with them either. Nor was the Dark Spirit Summoner.'

They hadn't gone to the tower? Where had they gone, then?

'I'll head back for now.'

Finding the tower mattered more than the prince.

Why had Hilderan failed to rescue its kidnapped Crown Princess?

Why could the Jespine Empire, robbed of its Ninth Princess, and Hilderan, which had even lost its Thirteenth Princess, do nothing but swallow their anger?

Because they didn't know where the tower was. Because they couldn't find a clear target on which to vent their fury.

Because Erjest, a naturally forbidding land, barred their way, and they could not grind through astronomical amounts of manpower and resources searching for a tower whose location remained uncertain.

But things were different now.

With the tower found, the Empire could launch a hero's journey without hesitation. No, a hero's journey was already anticipated.

So...

"Your Highness, Third Prince, you need only suffer in the Demon King's embrace a little longer."

Then the Empire would soon come to rescue him.

The captive Third Prince's reputation would plummet, but what did that matter?

The name of Dafner Philiain, the man who found the tower, would rise higher than ever.

The smile on his lips deepened.

Soon, he vanished.

It was two days before Berge arrived on outspread wings.

* * *

"He's gone."

Gone. He wasn't here.

Having reached the tower, Berge muttered in dismay.

He had searched the entire route the Poil Orcs had taken up the mountain. He had combed every inch of the basin where the tower stood.

Still, Dafner Philiain was nowhere to be seen.

But faint traces remained in the basin.

That made him even angrier.

He had come here.

Seen the tower.

And escaped.

It was the worst possible outcome.

Berge had to catch him. He absolutely could not let him leave the mountains alive.

Dead men told no tales.

"Gordon!"

"The tower's functions are greatly reduced in your absence, my lord. Had he entered the tower, it would have been different, but I couldn't monitor the exterior as well—I'm sorry. It was my failure."

In the end, those were all excuses. A hero had come and gone right under his nose, and he, the adjutant, hadn't even known. Gordon clenched his teeth in frustration.

"I'm sorry. I never imagined that what I sensed then was a hero."

Krutu bowed his head low. He said that while returning with the cannons, he had sensed something odd just once.

But it had quickly disappeared, so he had dismissed it as an animal.

"If Dafner was determined to hide, it's hardly surprising you couldn't find him."

If only he had noticed then.

If only he had caught him then.

Berge wouldn't have this headache now.

But he forced down his anger and helped Krutu to his feet.

'I'd only be taking it out on him.'

Gordon and Krutu's incompetence made him grind his teeth, but anger would solve nothing. Now was the time to rally the orcs and catch their escaped quarry.

"Forget stopping the other two kingdoms. From now on, you'll search for Dafner Philiain—that damned bastard."

"As you command."

"Lavinia."

"Yes."

"How many demon hounds do you have?"

"Five. New ones."

"You've made quite a few. Release them all."

"Okay."

Demon hounds were dogs that tracked demonic energy, more sensitive to it than any other creature. But that sensitivity also meant they could detect dimensional interference, its antithesis, better than any other creature.

They simply had to sense the energy they hated most.

"Find dimensional interference. Find the hero."

"Cher. Hero."

"No. Neither Cher nor you is to go out there personally."

He had to salvage this somehow, but Berge was preparing for the worst first: Dafner Philiain escaping the mountains unharmed and exposing the tower. He couldn't let Lavinia's kidnapping come to light and make a new enemy of Akan on top of Jespine and Hilderan.

The demon hounds were released.

Having brought the cannons inside the tower, the Poil Orcs scattered in every direction at the Demon King's command.

"Don't waste time fighting monsters! Finding him comes before everything else!"

Berge mounted a wolf with Ernyan. Flying was faster, but he would miss more that way. He had to ride the wolf and make certain he found the bastard.

"You're coming with me."

"Shall I release the spirits?"

"Do it. The search party is elsewhere anyway."

Dozens of spirits scattered in every direction.

"I will catch him."

And kill him.

Berge let his murderous intent show.

* * *

BWOOOO—P!

The horn echoing through the snowy mountains fell silent. An arrow shattered it. The orc with a pierced throat collapsed.

"... They won't give me a moment's rest."

Dafner cut his brief rest short and hauled his heavy body upright.

How many days had it been?

He was too exhausted to be sure. All he remembered was night and day changing over several times.

'Relentless bastards.'

The curse came unbidden.

He sensed figures approaching from far away, drawn by the horn. Poil Orcs riding frost wolves.

"Just how many of you are there?"

He ran, keeping as low as possible. Normally, he would have erased his tracks and even his scent, but he had no time for that now.

'How did it come to this?'

It had probably started about four days after he found the tower and began his descent.

Orcs had begun appearing one or two at a time, then in ever-growing numbers.

Including the monsters they herded toward him, there were too many to count.

He couldn't rest properly or sleep.

After three days of this, Dafner realized they weren't simply chasing him. They were driving him.

'Are they waiting for someone?'

Probably one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

'It must be the Dark Spirit Summoner, or that demon. He's probably one of the Four Heavenly Kings too.'

Could he win if both demons attacked at once? Both were high-ranking demons, and he couldn't fully gauge the strength of the one who wielded black flames in particular.

Perhaps if he were in peak condition, but exhausted as he was now, he couldn't be sure.

'I saw the tower, and they realized it.'

The tower's concealed location had been one of the Demon King of Hellfire's greatest assets. Now that the secret was out, he would try to bury it again by any means necessary.

The surest way was to murder the witness.

'I can't let them catch me...!'

He had finally found the tower. That discovery was entirely his achievement. Its sweet fruit was right within reach.

That was when a shadow fell.

Dafner hurled himself aside. A massive figure crashed down where he had been standing a moment before.

"Hero. You will not escape."

"What?"

It was the bastard who had blocked him when he tried to kill one of the Four Heavenly Kings during the battle.

"It was you?"

The suffocating tension abruptly drained away.

"Thanks. I found the tower because of you."

The helpful fellow who had led the orcs and guided Dafner all the way to the tower.

"... You bastard."

Krutu seethed.

Since becoming the Demon King's servant, he had never seen Berge so furious. The thought that he himself had caused it made his rage boil over.

"If it weren't for you...!"

None of this would have happened.

Krutu roared. Black demonic energy surged over the sleek blade crafted by a dwarf.

"Fine. Come at me."

Dafner gripped his bow.

Ten arrows formed as he took aim.

WHOOSH!

Straight shots, arcing shots, weaving shots. The ten arrows rushed toward Krutu along different trajectories.

Krutu leaped off his wolf. His blade knocked aside half the arrows in one stroke. He rolled to avoid two more, then spun and split the remaining three.

At that instant, his shoulder was pierced. An arrow broke through the demonic energy enveloping him and burrowed into his flesh.

"Thanks for the little show. Assuming ten arrows were all you had to worry about because I fired ten—how utterly simple-minded."

Two more arrows buried themselves in his stomach in quick succession. Krutu gritted his teeth and charged through the pain.

Only when he reached Dafner did he burst into laughter.

"It's over."

"You thought closing the distance would let you win?"

Really?

CLANG!

Sparks flew. Demonic energy and aura gnawed away at one another.

A short dagger had appeared. Krutu brought his blade down with all his strength, yet Dafner didn't budge.

SCREECH!

The dagger slid up the flat of the blade. Its keen edge threatened Krutu's fingers, forcing him to let go. At that instant, a long gash opened across his face.

"What a shame."

Dafner flicked the blood off his dagger.

"I could have split your face in two."

Dafner stayed on Krutu as he backed away. Krutu hastily retrieved his blade and fought back.

WHOOSH!

The weapon traced a blue arc. Drops of Krutu's blood stained the pure white snow red.

Dafner's dagger struck harder than Krutu's sword. It was faster, and its movements more dazzling.

He overwhelmed Krutu in every respect.

Every swing left another wound.

Covered in blood, Krutu dropped to his knees. He barely kept his collapsing upper body upright by leaning on his blade.

Dafner reversed his grip on the dagger.

"Sorry, but I don't have any more time to play with you."

Poil Orcs were charging in from every direction. And there was no telling when those demons with their childish title of Four Heavenly Kings would arrive.

Dafner drove his dagger down.

At that instant—

FWOOSH!

Black flames clung to it.

A shadow fell.

BOOOM!

A demon descended with black wings spread wide.

"Found you."

Black-haired and black-eyed, Berge stared expressionlessly at Dafner.

"Krutu, stand down."

"But...!"

"I will not say it twice. Carry Krutu away."

The Poil Orcs, who had been showing reverence at the Demon King's arrival, hurriedly dragged Krutu away.

Until then, Dafner couldn't make any rash moves. Suffocating murderous intent and pressure gripped the area.

"... One of the Four Heavenly Kings."

"The Four Heavenly Kings?"

Berge looked behind him, but Ernyan wasn't there. Of course she wasn't. He had seen the battle and flown ahead.

"... Are you talking about me?"

"Who else is here?"

"... I'm one of the Four Heavenly Kings?"

Ernyan calling herself one of the Four Heavenly Kings without his permission, or making Kaede and Lavinia members as well—none of that mattered.

"But I won't tolerate being called one of the Four Heavenly Kings myself."

Of course, even without that...

"Now that you've seen the tower..."

The bastard was never going to...

"You won't leave these mountains ali—"

WHOOSH!

An arrow cut Berge off. In that brief moment of hesitation, Dafner turned his back and fled.

"That's cowardly! It's only polite to give someone time to transform or talk!"

Ernyan shouted as she arrived late.

"What nonsense. Of course he'd launch a surprise attack."

Watching Dafner's rapidly retreating back, Berge snorted.

Before, he had let Dafner escape because he couldn't pursue him.

But now was different.

He had spent all five million demonic energy points on lifting dimensional interference.

Compared to the total interference imposed on him, five million points—and the amount they had lifted—wasn't much.

But that small amount had allowed Berge to bring out his wings.

And so, once again, he spread his wings.

And took flight toward the hero.