Chapter 85 - Big and Enormous

When Akan began its ascent, Berge climbed the mountain as well. The difference was that Akan had to proceed slowly and cautiously, lingering over the terrain, while Berge met up with the Poil Orcs along the way and raced ahead on a frost wolf. By the time Akan was struggling through the foothills, Berge had reached his tower.

"You're back, my lord?"

"They've made their move. Position the orcs in each sector and lure in the monsters."

"Yes. However, Demon King Vivian left a message while you were away, my lord."

Vivian?

"What was it?"

"She wouldn't explain exactly why. She insisted on speaking to you directly, so I told her you were busy and to call again later, then ended the communication without waiting for her response."

"Well done."

It wouldn't do to let anyone discover that he was roaming outside his tower. Berge entered his office and contacted Vivian. A moment later, her face appeared.

『Why haven't you been answering! What on earth were you doing?』

Berge scowled at the shrill voice ringing in his ears.

"Just say what you came to say."

『I'd like you to help me.』

Vivian's opening words were, well, such nonsense that he couldn't even laugh.

"Why should I?"

『Because it will keep me alive and give you an opportunity too.』

"An opportunity?"

『You haven't been in this damned dimension very long either, have you? I hear you fell out of favor with Grand Duke Alkain and were forced to come here. Don't you want to go back?』

"Go back?"

『Yes.』

"Is that possible?"

『I wouldn't have brought it up if it weren't.』

Beyond the crystal ball, Vivian smiled seductively.

『Grand Duke Alkain promised me that once I find the culprit, he'll use his authority to summon me back to the Demon Realm.』

『If you help me, I'll do what I can to let you return with me. What do you think?』

"Grand Duke Alkain promised you that?"

『Yes.』

"I thought you were being far too reckless. Was this what you were counting on?"

『Indeed.』

A sigh escaped him.

"You really..."

『Really what?』

At this point, he actually felt sorry for her.

"You really are an empty-headed bitch."

『... What?』

"There's a limit to stupidity. This makes me wonder how you ever conquered a dimension. Were you just cheering from the sidelines while the other Demon Kings did all the work?"

『... Watch your mouth. Before my patience runs out.』

"Do you have any patience to run out? Or enough brains to be patient?"

『You just won't stop!』

"Grand Duke Alkain will summon you back to the Demon Realm? Have you forgotten that once a Demon King descends, they can't return until they're either a corpse or have conquered the dimension?"

『Of course I know that. But ultimately, demons made that law. And demons enforce it too.』

He understood what she meant. There were two main reasons a Demon King couldn't leave a dimension. One was the demons' refusal to tolerate failure and their sense of honor; the other was entirely practical.

Their pride forbade them from cowardly turning their backs and disgracing the Demon Realm, or showing weakness by fleeing.

Then there was the enormous amount of energy required to cross the barriers between dimensions: demonic energy.

Dimensional barriers were a tricky thing. The higher one's standing, the more energy crossing a barrier consumed, and the amount of demonic energy required varied enormously from dimension to dimension.

Nor was that all. Traveling from a higher dimension to a lower one consumed relatively little energy. In the opposite direction, however, consumption increased exponentially. And the Demon Realm was unmistakably a higher dimension than the Middle Realms it had conquered.

Of course, the journey wasn't impossible; it merely consumed a great deal of demonic energy. But why would Grand Duke Alkain bother?

"He'll bring you back, you bitch, even if it means spending an enormous amount of demonic energy and bearing the disgrace of having a Demon King under him not only fail, but flee in cowardly, shameful fashion? Why would Grand Duke Alkain do that?"

『Because he promised.』

"You believe he'll keep his promise?"

『Hmph. You wouldn't know this, but my house and his are deeply intertwined. He cannot break his promise. This isn't an agreement between individuals, but between houses.』

So she did have something to fall back on, in her own way. Berge briefly recalled the houses of the Demon Realm.

It was true that House Blunt and House Blamif, which represented the succubi and vampires respectively, had extensive ties. Both also wielded such enormous influence in the Demon Realm that neither could disregard the other.

'But would that really...'

Be reason enough to honor the promise?

If a Demon King died in the dimension they had descended into, no one else could be blamed. The only person at fault was the Demon King themselves.

In other words, if Vivian Blunt simply died, there would be no problem with not sending her back. This stupid bitch didn't seem to have thought that far ahead.

Well, that was why she'd accepted the offer and happily come all the way here.

'No, perhaps he really will summon her back to the Demon Realm.'

But even if everything she said was true, would Grand Duke Alkain do the same for Berge? Absurd. Besides, Berge had no intention of returning in the first place.

"I'm busy enough as it is, and now some worthless pest is buzzing in my ear."

『You...! You really act as though there's no tomorrow.』

"You should try living for today, bitch. Keep trying to live for tomorrow, and you might not even make it through today."

It was sincere advice. Berge wanted Vivian to live a long time and attract plenty of human attention. That would make things at least a little easier for him.

He abruptly ended the communication. With a force coming up from the foot of the mountain to put a blade to his throat, he had no time to sit around listening to nonsense.

"Gordon, guard the tower. I'll command the orcs myself and stop them."

"Have you found a way?"

"Not particularly."

He had infiltrated their ranks as Pale to discover what they were plotting, but had failed. They had kept it too tightly under wraps.

Still, ignorance was no excuse for leaving himself undefended.

"For now, I'll give them a little prod."

"How, exactly?"

"By doing the opposite."

"The opposite?"

"Last time, I only tried to stop them after they'd climbed a fair way up, so this time I'll start right away. They believe the monsters swarmed them at night, so I'll send monsters during the day. And at night..."

"At night?"

"I'll set off an avalanche."

First, he would test the waters and see what preparations they'd made. Berge smiled faintly.

* * *

Akan's journey to find the Demon King's tower had begun.

WOOF! WOOF!

The five demon hounds Lavinia had created tracked the demonic energy. But perhaps because they were still at the foot of the mountain, they couldn't find their bearings. Naturally, Akan's hopes turned elsewhere.

"We're counting on you."

"Of course."

Granada took the lead, his gaze sweeping across the snowy mountain. Slowly and cautiously, he left footprints in the pure white snow.

"As I told you, we never found the tower. Therefore, I can't provide an exact route to it."

"Yes, of course."

"Nor can I say for certain that the tower isn't along the route Hillen and I took. We were utterly exhausted then, and we were avoiding monsters. We couldn't examine every area without overlooking anything."

"Yes."

Granada laid the groundwork first, and Cain readily agreed. For one thing, nothing he had said was false. A perfect search of terrain as treacherous as Erjest was impossible to begin with, so Cain wasn't demanding perfection either.

"You only need to take us to a few of the most likely locations. We'll handle the rest."

"Trust me."

"My sister says to trust her once we get close."

A Demon King's tower gave off a faint trace of demonic energy simply by existing. Even apart from that, there might be demonic creatures nearby. And Akan had its demon hounds, as well as Lavinia Akan—beings more sensitive to demonic energy than anyone else.

"Yes. Understood."

For a start, Granada headed up the mountain in the direction opposite the tower. The monsters that occasionally emerged in the foothills couldn't withstand the barrage of magic and perished.

Several days passed like that. Nothing that could be called a proper attack had occurred.

"We'll camp here tonight!"

On the fourth evening, before darkness fell, Cain established camp in a good position. The raised hill gave them a wide field of view, and the rocks behind it protected their rear. It was a well-chosen site.

They erected magical tents, laid alarms, and began setting up all their magical artifacts.

'Magic mines, inscriptions, even deployable spell scrolls. However you look at it, this is one hell of a splurge.'

If monsters charged them, they would step on the mines and fall crippled before they even reached camp, then be bombarded into the next world.

"These can't have been cheap. Just how much did you bring?"

"This is only a fraction of it."

"Impressive."

"That shows how much we expect from this undertaking. We will succeed without fail."

They only had to spot the tower, even from a distance. What came afterward wasn't their responsibility.

The sun set completely, and night fell. Around dinnertime, the occasional snowflakes grew heavier until the snowfall resembled a storm. Cain allowed everyone except a few sentries to rest inside the magical tents.

"Would you like a drink?"

Granada had been invited to Cain's tent. Magical lamps made the interior bright and warm. Cain offered him a cup of warm hot chocolate.

"Thank you."

Granada took a sip and barely managed to keep his face from contorting. It was far too sweet.

"I hear elves don't care much for sweet things, but you seem to be fine with them, Granada."

"..."

Was he trying to pick a fight?

"I'm joking. My apologies."

Cain smiled and offered him another cup. The fragrant tea refreshed Granada's throat, which was aching from the cloying sweetness.

"Now I feel human again."

"What was it like in the early days of your expedition?"

"In what sense?"

"It's only been a few days, so perhaps it's too soon to say, but we haven't encountered any monsters worthy of Erjest's reputation."

"Are you looking forward to it?"

"Of course not. I'm frightened because it feels like the calm before the storm. Isn't it better to get the beating over with?"

"It's no different from our hero's journey. We only began suffering serious monster attacks around halfway up the mountain."

It wasn't that there were no monsters in the foothills. But they were indeed fewer in number and weaker.

"Then we can take things a little easier for a few more days."

"Still, this is Erjest, so letting your guard down would not be a wise—"

Granada turned his head. His pointed ears perked up.

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you hear a strange sound?"

"A strange sound?"

It happened then.

RUMBLE!

The teacup on the desk trembled. A soldier rushed inside.

"Your Highness! We have a crisis!"

"What is it?"

"A-an avalanche!"

"...!"

Cain and Granada hurried outside. They heard the frightened murmuring of the soldiers and felt the earth shaking. In the distance, a surging wave of snow raced toward them, reflecting the moonlight.

"Good heavens...!"

"Is Erjest always like this? Didn't you say an avalanche occurred during your hero's journey too, Granada?"

"I couldn't really say..."

"... Not that it matters right now."

Cain quickly assessed the situation. The avalanche was still some distance away, but there wasn't enough time to break camp and flee. Nor could they abandon everything.

"Mages, take your positions! Raise the barriers!"

The mages channeled mana into the scrolls they had deployed in advance.

RUMBLE!

A massive earthen wall encircled the entire camp.

"Ice Wall!"

"Ice!"

The Blue Meteor mages chanted spells and formed hand signs. An ice barrier reinforced the newly risen earthen wall. Cain didn't stop there.

"Bring them out!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Bring what out?"

He didn't answer Granada's question. There was no need.

CREEEAK!

Enormous bodies emerged through a rent in a storage dimension.

* * *

"This will hit them like a bolt from the blue."

"It had better."

Standing on a mountain peak, Berge looked down below. Akan's camp lay in the path of the raging avalanche, as precarious as a lamp in the wind.

Humans might anticipate a midnight attack, but none could foresee a midnight avalanche. They would be sleeping soundly, only to wonder what catastrophe had struck them. He was confident he'd caught them completely off guard.

An earthen wall rose, followed by a reinforcing wall of ice. Berge scoffed at their desperate resistance.

"As if that could stop it."

He had dismantled several of the cannon batteries they'd set up, brought them over as additional firepower, and fired them all at once. He was certain this avalanche was larger than the one during Hillen's hero's journey.

Faced with the grandeur of nature, humans could only become utterly insignificant.

"... Hm?"

Just as the avalanche reached Akan's camp, something suddenly rose up.

ROOOAR!

The avalanche battered the barrier. It swayed as though it might topple at any moment, then suddenly stood straighter and firmer.

"What on earth are those...?"

Krutu and the orcs were aghast.

"Ooooh!"

Logger let out a cry of admiration.

It was a giant. They were giants.

But they were manufactured giants.

"Golems! Big, enormous golems! Golems that huge! Just what you'd expect of Akan!"

Five golems over five meters tall and a single titan braced the barrier, holding out against the avalanche.