Chapter 43 - I'll Have to Kill Him

A hero's journey undertaken to kill a Demon King and bring down his tower drew the attention of the entire continent. Their failure therefore sent enormous shock waves through it.

『The expedition suffered near-total annihilation, and Roselle Charnt lost her left eye.』

The grim news reached Berge after his meeting with Reina, while he was considering how best to pass the bomb on to someone else. Hillen Cargill's face was utterly lifeless as he delivered the bleak report.

Berge tapped his desk.

He had hoped the heroes would win. Failing that, he had at least hoped they would deal Drakson a heavy blow.

Of course, he had known it would not be easy. Drakson was strong. He, too, was a graduate of the Demon King Military Academy, and after decades in Arain, it was safe to assume that the restrictions on his dimensional interference had been lifted as far as they could be.

But if that guaranteed Drakson's victory, Berge would never have failed in his previous life. He would never have been toyed with by heroes and beheaded, nor would he have regressed, cursed the Guide, and been branded a troublemaker.

Back then, Berge had been stronger than Drakson was now.

"I even told you his weaknesses, didn't I?"

『... That's why we survived.』

"Tell me exactly what happened. Don't leave out a single detail."

A deep sigh came through the communication orb.

『... We pushed through the monsters in his territory and reached the tower's entrance.』

* * *

The hero's journey had been troubled from the outset.

The expedition had originally been planned with two leaders: the archmage Roselle Charnt and the great knight Balaf Dislord.

Two heroes who would accept second place to no one had joined forces, bringing their elite mage corps and knight orders with them. On top of that came the heroes the Heroes' Guild was sending in earnest, along with two thousand troops from Ormus.

It was a truly enormous force.

No one imagined that the hero's journey would fail. This was different from the oddball who had built his tower in the Erjest Mountains. The Beast's Tower had stood for so long that everything about it had already been exposed, making failure seem even less likely.

Balaf Dislord was the one who threw cold water on that blazing enthusiasm.

"I'm withdrawing from the hero's journey."

When he abruptly withdrew, the knight order and heroes who had followed him left as well.

With their strength reduced by nearly half, morale plummeted. Hillen Cargill joined them afterward, but...

"I suppose you're not enough to measure up to Balaf Dislord?"

『He is one of the strongest heroes alive. You could say he has nearly reached the summit through sheer fighting prowess alone.』

Hillen was not weak. The man he was being compared to was simply too formidable.

Since Drakson was by no means an easy opponent, some called for the hero's journey to be postponed. Roselle Charnt and the king of Ormus stopped that from happening.

『I understand Roselle Charnt. Once that woman decides on something, she has to charge straight ahead. She wouldn't have liked the situation, and she's overflowing with confidence, so she must have thought she could manage it herself.』

『But I never expected Ormus's dying old king to insist so strongly.』

"And what did you think?"

『I thought I'd be a fucking idiot not to go after you'd told me his weaknesses.』

Roselle Charnt and Hillen Cargill—the two central heroes—and the king who had commissioned them all demanded they proceed. The hero's journey had no choice but to begin.

At first, it went smoothly.

From the gnolls and hellhounds on the first floor to the lycanthropes on the sixth, and finally the saber-toothed tigers on the tenth, the steady increase in difficulty prescribed by the Guide was all too familiar.

『Unlike someone else's tower.』

"Do you think I can't hit you just because you're far away?"

Berge manipulated the Armani Orb. Hillen Cargill caught his breath as pain stabbed through his brain. A moment later, he answered in a much more subdued voice.

『... We had no trouble up to the tenth floor. Roselle Charnt more than lived up to her name.』

The demonic creatures were not weak, but the fire magic Roselle Charnt unleashed swept everything away. The jungle filling the Beast's Tower provided plenty to burn, making her magic all the more effective.

"Drakson must have been thrilled."

Destroyed sections of the tower and lost demonic creatures had to be restored with demonic energy points, and she had burned the whole lot to ashes?

Imagining Drakson's contorted face left Berge feeling strangely refreshed.

『The problem was the eleventh floor. We should have realized why we hadn't seen a single demon by then, and why there were only saber-toothed tigers on the tenth floor.』

Every Demon King except Berge followed the Guide. Arain was no exception.

They merely twisted things within the bounds it permitted.

According to the Guide, a Demon King had to receive the heroes at the top of the tower with a prince or princess. But it did not say that every kidnapped prince and princess had to be there.

That was why Reina Sordein placed princes and princesses turned into ice statues on certain floors, letting heroes leave with a suitable sense of satisfaction.

『All the demons suddenly came pouring out.』

Drakson, meanwhile, had lured his opponents into letting down their guard.

The Guide stated that the floors had to grow more difficult the higher one climbed. Yes, that was all it required. How weak the first floor was, and how much stronger the upper floors became, remained entirely at the Demon King's discretion.

Drakson had gathered his tower's entire fighting strength at the top, disregarding the sacrifices necessary to do so.

Naturally, the Demon King was there to greet the complacent heroes as they reached the top—with an army of demons and demonic creatures under his command.

* * *

"Everyone, stay calm! We'd have to face these bastards to kill the Demon King anyway!"

Roselle Charnt chanted a spell. Magic circles rose all around them, forming walls of fire that bought them time against the incoming demonic creatures.

In that brief interval, the expedition swiftly formed ranks.

"How dare you play with fire in my presence!"

But a roar shattered their formation.

The Demon King's claws cut through the flames, baring their fangs. As though she had been waiting for him, Roselle Charnt thrust out her staff.

"I figured out your movements long ago!"

A searing beam of flame shot straight ahead. It melted the air as it battered the Demon King. An immense blast shook the tower, and everyone groaned under the violent shock wave.

"Do you know something?"

The Demon King growled amid the sizzling residual heat.

"Your pathetic magic doesn't work on me, you bitch. Worthless hero."

A wolf wreathed in flames charged forward.

Hillen Cargill stepped between the mage and the Demon King.

BOOOOM

* * *

『He had none of the hypocrisy Demon Kings usually display. Instead of sitting on his throne waiting for us, he swept over us like a wave the moment we reached the eleventh floor.』

『It wasn't that magic didn't work on him. But aside from Roselle Charnt's spells, most of it was useless.』

"Naturally."

Beastmen had no magical abilities whatsoever, but their physical capabilities ranked among the highest of all demons. Those capabilities included high resistance to magic.

『And the Demon King knew that as well.』

Someone had to hold the Demon King in place while Roselle Charnt attacked.

Normally, that would have been Balaf Dislord's job. With his withdrawal, however, the role fell to Hillen Cargill.

"So you lost because of you."

『...』

Berge said that, but he could not put all the blame on Hillen.

Had the enemy's forces been properly spread out, he might have been able to hold Drakson off alongside the other heroes. Instead, amid the flood of demons and demonic creatures, Hillen Cargill had to restrain Drakson alone as he went after Roselle Charnt.

He simply hadn't been enough.

From their first clash, he had sensed their defeat.

『Everyone was wrong. Even if Balaf Dislord had come, we couldn't have beaten the Beast Demon King! Even the Demon King of Lust wasn't this powerful!』

These were not the flimsy excuses of some wretched dog that had lost a fight.

"Did you expect a Demon King who has spent nearly a century building his strength in this dimension to be weak? Drakson is in an entirely different league from the likes of Turus."

Not all Demon Kings were equal. Their stature and the time they had spent growing differed.

Yet the humans had placed Turus and Drakson on the same level, and lost as a result. Their own complacency had brought this about.

Still, Berge did not think this represented the limits of humanity. There were plenty of heroes left, and barring exceptional circumstances, they would not leave a failed hero's journey at that.

"Enough excuses. Just tell me how things stand now."

『There is talk of a second hero's journey. Roselle Charnt believes we should press the attack as soon as possible, while the Heroes' Guild wants to take more time and gather sufficient strength.』

"So no one disagrees about undertaking a second hero's journey."

『The two failures have dealt their reputation a severe blow. People are questioning the Heroes' Guild's usefulness again, so they'll pursue this even more aggressively. It's only a matter of when.』

Hillen Cargill explained that the Heroes' Guild was sharpening its swords.

Just then, a knock came.

KNOCK, KNOCK

"Come in."

It was Gordon.

"What is it?"

"We've received word from the Beast's Tower."

"...?"

"He has requested an emergency meeting of the Demon Kings."

* * *

Opening a gate to another Demon King's tower always brought the traveler to the entrance on the first floor.

Berge therefore had no choice but to take in the burned-out surroundings.

"What a mess."

Only black ashes remained where a lush jungle had once stood. Dried, scorched bloodstains and piles of corpses testified to the horrors of that day.

The door stood open, but there were no demonic creatures to greet him.

"Welcome."

A lone bear beastman received Berge.

'He looks familiar.'

It was the high-ranking demon he had seen on the battlefield where Ormus's prince had died.

"My lord is waiting upstairs."

"And the other Demon Kings?"

"They have all arrived."

From the first floor through the tenth, it was harder to find a floor that was still intact.

"It seems you had a difficult time."

"There were no problems at all."

Without much further conversation, they ascended to the eleventh and final floor. The surroundings were relatively unscathed.

The Demon Kings sat at a table in the center.

"Is being late a habit of yours?"

"So what?"

Drakson glared at him in silence, then turned away.

"Now that everyone is here, I'll get straight to the point."

Drakson set the tone of the meeting.

"Just a few days ago, a hero's journey targeted me and my tower. You all know why it happened."

"Because you killed Ormus's Second Prince."

"Let me be clear. I never killed the Second Prince."

"The humans have a proverb: there's no smoke without fire."

Drakson snorted at Berge's words.

"An enormous surge of demonic energy was detected in my territory at the time. And the demon responsible was not one of my subordinates."

"So that was what this was about all along?"

Jason frowned.

"Suspecting the other Demon Kings and shifting the blame?"

"It's the truth."

"You've already decided it was my doing."

"You're the most likely culprit."

"I have done nothing. What could I possibly gain by sending a demon into your territory, Lord Drakson?"

"The person responsible would know that best."

The two Demon Kings' gazes collided.

"This is your last chance to confess."

"I find this deeply offensive."

Jason adjusted his monocle.

"Are you prepared to take responsibility for those words?"

"I only ever say things I can take responsibility for."

"I suspect this may instead be a performance of yours. You killed Ormus's Second Prince and want to turn the humans' resentment on me. As a Demon King, at least have the dignity to own what you have done. I would prefer you not make yourself so contemptible."

"If you insist on this to the end, I have plans of my own."

Drakson declared through a harsh snort.

"I will report to His Grace the Grand Duke and request that every last tower record be searched."

"...!"

"...!"

The Demon Kings stirred at his bombshell declaration.

"That is a bad move."

Reina tried to dissuade him.

"It will consume an enormous amount of demonic energy. You have suffered heavy losses, and the humans are discussing a second hero's journey. Shouldn't restoring your tower come first?"

"Reina Sordein, do you think my tower matters to me right now? Or are you afraid your involvement will be exposed? Jason is the most likely suspect, but I suspect you as well."

"That is an insult. Do you believe I would do something so shameless?"

"Who can say?"

"Are you challenging me?"

"I see no reason not to!"

Tempers flared. Killing intent mingled with their power, warping the space around them.

But they did not actually clash. Even with their fury at its peak, they adhered to the Guide's rule that Demon Kings must not fight one another.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Drakson spoke again.

"Jason Cockmundo. I suspect you, but I do not believe it can only have been you. What I do know is that it was someone here."

That was only natural, since only a Demon King could command a high-ranking demon.

Drakson slowly met the eyes of each of the four Demon Kings.

"I don't know what you hoped to gain by doing this. I don't know why you did it."

"But I, too, am a Demon King. I have lived in Arain for decades."

"I will find you, whatever it takes. And once I do..."

"I will make you pay."

He spat the words as though grinding them between his teeth.

"On my honor as Drakson Doldorf."

It was neither a question nor a request for opinions.

It was simply a declaration.

Even if he drove himself to the edge of a cliff, he would find and kill the son of a bitch who had screwed him over.

* * *

"What did Demon King Drakson say?"

Back at his tower, Berge walked past Gordon.

"My lord?"

Gordon started to ask again, then stopped short.

'His expression...'

Goosebumps rose on his skin. He had not served as Berge's adjutant for very long, but he had never seen that look on his face before.

'... What on earth happened?'

Gordon swallowed hard. Berge went into his office and shut the door.

He settled into his chair and tapped the desk.

'... If he submits that report.'

Drakson had said he would identify the culprit even if he had to stake everything he had.

He would search every tower record to trace the demonic energy. It would cost an enormous number of demonic energy points, and he would have to offer Grand Duke Alkain no end of things in return, but he would do it.

'There's no guarantee he'll find me.'

But there was no guarantee he wouldn't, either.

As far as Berge knew, the tower records were not all-powerful. They were merely traces of events that had occurred within the territory.

They could prove that a demon had appeared there, but could they identify that demon as Berge? Could they determine the nature of demonic energy that had already dissipated after so much time?

He was skeptical.

But what if? What if, against all odds...

'They find out it was me?'

Demonic energy reflected a demon's stature. Simply viewing the tower records would likely not identify him, but Berge could not confidently claim to know everything about the tower system created by the first Demon Emperor.

'...'

If Berge were exposed as the culprit—the one who had trespassed in another Demon King's territory and set Drakson up...

'The other Demon Kings won't stand idly by.'

It was simple if he put himself in their position. No, Reina Sordein's reaction alone made it easy to predict.

He had foolishly squandered his first life as a demon. Now he had been given a chance to take revenge on the heroes who had mocked him.

He did not want to throw away this precious opportunity, won with such difficulty, so pointlessly.

If Drakson would do anything to find the culprit, Berge would do anything to avoid being discovered.

And to do that...

'I have to bring down the Beast's Tower.'

Before Grand Duke Alkain became fully involved, everything recorded in the tower had to vanish along with it.

So...

'... I'll have to kill Drakson.'

CRUNCH

His fingers sank into the desk. Outside the door, Gordon flinched at the thick killing intent.