Chapter 188: What You Chose
“...It’s real. The towers really rged.”
The idea that two towers had beco one. Reina shuddered as she witnessed that astonishing sight with her own eyes.
“As expected of the great First Demon Emperor.”
It was known that the towers had been created by the First Demon Emperor. The functions hidden within the towers must, in the end, have been part of the First Demon Emperor’s design.
“Right, let’s set that aside.”
Berje muttered as he swallowed his words.
For now, rging the towers ant the biggest hurdle had been cleared. But it wasn’t over yet.
From this point on, there was a tidal wave waiting to crash down—one he expected to be enormous and vicious.
“Demon King, what is this aga...Lady Reina?”
Gordon was the first to run up to the summit. He quickly grasped the situation.
Realizing that the Tower of Frost had been consud, he quietly closed his mouth. Then, with his eyes, he spoke to Berje.
‘Absorbing the Tower of Frost is good and all, but if Lady Reina sees the tower’s appearance....’
‘It’ll work out sohow. Not before, maybe, but now she’s been accepted as a retainer.’
‘That’s usually what people call having no counterasures.’
‘Vivian worked out. Why would Reina be any different?’
‘The two of them are clearly different, though.’
Gordon shrugged.
‘Well, if you really get into it, it’s sothing the Demon King has to deal with.’
‘You bastard...! And you still call yourself my adjutant....’
As Berje quietly ground his teeth at Gordon’s irresponsibility, the second guest—having noticed the tower’s anomaly—arrived.
“What’s going on this ti, Ber...Reina Sordein?”
“Vivian Blunt?”
Their gazes collided, then simultaneously turned toward Berje.
“Greet each other nicely. You’re in the sa boat.”
“Ah-ha.”
The corners of Vivian’s lips rose. Her crescent-moon eyes curved in a sneer.
“So the lofty and great frost demon race noble has beco your retainer?”
Unbelievable.
“That’s rather vulgar and unbecoming of a Demon King, isn’t it? Just like soone said. Right?”
“....”
Reina bit her lip.
“...Berje Deias.”
“What is it?”
“No, yes, you definitely said it. That Vivian had beco your retainer.”
That was when—
“Demon King! What is going o...?”
“Who...?”
“A human hero...?”
Kaede Zespine and Ellena Hilderan ca face to face with the Frost Demon King.
Reina released killing intent. Berje hurriedly stepped in front of her.
“Stop. Both of them are my retainers.”
“...A hero is your retainer?”
“If that weren’t the case, do you think you could be eting them here?”
“A hero would never beco a Demon King’s retainer.”
“Only excluding this tower.”
“....”
These weren’t empty words. There were no restraints or bindings on them. He had truly just let heroes roam freely inside the tower.
“...A princess.”
At that, Berje added one shocking line.
“The 9th Imperial Princess of the Zespine Empire and the 13th Princess of Hilderan.”
“Why did princesses beco your retainers?”
A wave of chaos Reina could never comprehend by common sense ca crashing down.
“Hm, so this is what it felt like?”
Vivian laughed with her arms crossed.
“What do you an by that?”
“Well, there’s only one thing I can tell you.”
“One thing?”
Vivian strode over to Reina’s side.
“No matter what kind of sight you see from now on, whether it makes sense to you or not.”
Passing by Reina’s icy gaze, she whispered into her ear.
“This is the Demon King you chose. Grit your teeth and endure it.”
Her laughter was exceedingly unpleasant.
* * *
After checking every corner of the tower—now expanded to fifteen floors—Reina regretted her choice.
“...Berje Deias.”
“Yes.”
“You’re insane. You don’t deserve to be a Demon King.”
“Then you’re the retainer of soone who doesn’t deserve to be a Demon King.”
“How could....”
Reina vented her impressions after finishing the tour of the tower.
“How are there more humans than demons? There are even two heroes!”
“Demons, heroes, humans, elves, dwarves—does that matter? Right now, they’re all just my retainers. To , you and they are the sa. Of course, you’re a little special, but that goes for them as well.”
“...This is a scam.”
From the perspective of Reina, a lofty frost demon race noble, Berje’s tower was a composition she simply could not accept.
But she had to admit it. Having already beco a retainer and had her soul bound, Reina could not disobey Berje’s words.
Berje knew that too, which was why he had shown her the tower’s entirety without hesitation.
“Admit it. I was caught the sa way.”
“...Vivian. For the first ti, I understand how you felt.”
The two Demon Kings shared a strange sense of comradeship in misfortune.
“So.”
After so ti, the now slightly composed Reina organised the situation.
“You accepted retainers regardless of whether they were dwarves, elves, or humans, and among them are princesses and heroes. Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“You have a princess skilled in chira creation modifying monsters into chiras, and dwarves producing mana cannons and bombs?”
“That’s right as well.”
“Truly astonishing.”
But seen not as a Demon King, rather from the perspective of a Master of a Tower, it was extrely efficient managent.
“How did you gain their loyalty?”
“I just fed them Armani’s Orb.”
“That has no effect unless it’s taken voluntarily. That’s no different from saying you won their hearts.”
“If I had to put it into words, you could say it’s similar to you.”
“You push them into extre situations until they have no choice but to reach out first? Vicious. Very Demon King-like.”
“...How did you reach that conclusion?”
“Weren’t you the one who stirred up this troubled maiden, pretending to worry about my retainers? I should have known you had such pitch-black intentions.”
That was as far as she went. Reina no longer poured out her grievances.
She still strongly felt foolish and deceived.
But in the end, it had been her own choice.
Berje had urged her on, but the decision had been hers.
Thanks to it, she lived, and her retainers were safe. That was enough.
She was already a retainer, and a retainer must follow their lord’s orders.
Even if she didn’t like it, if Berje told her to move on, she had to move on. That was what a retainer was.
Above all—
‘Different races, those who aren’t demons, follow Berje.’
All of them lived together in proper harmony. With his capacity for acceptance, her own frost demon race retainers would likely blend in smoothly as well.
That was enough.
The interior of the tower.
The mbers who made up the tower.
The reason they could suddenly grow strong being dragons.
But still.
“Does this even make sense.”
Reina’s gaze turned outward. The door was open, yet blocked by water. Fish swam right infront of their eyes.
“The tower is under the sea.”
No, if it were simply under the sea, that would have been better. She could have thought it was built there from the start.
But these bizarre eight legs attached to the tower—
“Is the tower really moving?”
“What do you think we used to move it from Ergest to here?”
“I’m asking if that’s even possible.”
“It must be, since it’s here.”
“How?”
“It’s the sa as what I told you last ti. I combined an artifact with the tower.”
“This is an artifact?”
“It’s an artifact made directly by those dwarves.”
“Dwarves....”
“To be precise, the tower’s authority is even more impressive. The dwarves only made the legs, but it was the tower that connected them and made them move.”
“...As expected of the First Demon Emperor.”
The rging of towers alone was astonishing, but even being able to attach such legs—this was a whole new world.
“Do you intend to rge all the towers?”
“It’s the surest and fastest way to conquer this damned dinsion.”
“You approached with intent.”
“You were the one who summoned .”
“...Yes, that’s true. But Ugar and Jason are different from . Especially....”
That was when—
The communication device vibrated violently.
『Demon King! The Gold-Steel Demon King is dead!』
The worst possible news arrived.
One tower had vanished.
* * *
【Frost, no—Gold-Steel? A vanished tower, a Demon King appearing as a corpse....】
【Did he know the Frost Demon King would hide the tower? Balraf Dislode’s brilliant stratagem....】
【Above the running Demon Kings flew the heroes. The great heroes who slew the Gold-Steel Demon King.】
【As expected, Demon Kings beneath humans. The hero party firmly establishes superiority. Heroes were strong.】
【Rozel Charnte criticizes those spreading subversive rumors. ‘Can’t beat a Demon King? Anyone spewing that kind of bullshit, I’ll personally burn them. That guy was just a big idiot. Well, plenty of byproducts, so it worked out.’】
【Balraf Dislode: ‘I rely did what needed to be done. I will continue to subjugate Demon Kings for the peace of the continent. Especially the Demon King of Dark Fla.’ Declares great ambitions....】
The death of the Gold-Steel Demon King led to questions about why they had struck sowhere other than the Tower of Frost.
It was because the victory had been so desperately desired. The continent’s leaders deliberately exaggerated their achievents, and they received even greater acclaim.
The hero party’s victory played a major role in erasing the fear of Demon Kings that had begun to resurface.
And amid that festival and those cheers—
The great hero prepared for what ca next.
『Without even consulting ...!』
“The Tower of Frost has also vanished. Does that an I should have failed again and returned as a miserable dog?”
『That’s not what this is about!』
Jason lifted his monocle. The glass in his hand crumbled.
“In so respects, I do think I’m sorry. But it was the best possible choice.”
『....』
Jason steadied his breathing, carefully rewrapping the mask that threatened to crumple.
『...I acknowledge it.』
He had never imagined even the Tower of Frost would disappear.
If Balraf hadn’t killed Ugar, his and the heroes’ honour would have fallen to the ground.
Human anxiety would have grown, and most of that sentint would have fed Berje’s coffers, while humanity would have declared an all-out war against the Demon Kings.
Humans chose eradication over coexistence whenever possible, especially when anxiety was involved.
But with Ugar dead and the hero’s march ending in success, that anxiety was sowhat subdued. The reassurance that humans still stood above Demon Kings, the downgrading of the Demon King of Dark Fla as rely a slightly special case, and faith in the great heroes stabilized the situation.
It wasn’t enough to completely erase the shock of hundreds of heroes and Stars dying, but it served as an oasis to briefly quench the thirst.
That brief respite was the opportunity now. Rather than internal conflict, a decisive blow had to be struck.
No matter how he did it, they had to smash the back of that damned demon dragon who had hidden the tower in the sea and was laughing it up.
『The floating fortress is ready.』
“Good.”
『The Empire will mobilize its finest forces.』
The Dragon Knight Order. Those who bore the dragon’s na to slay dragons would take the field.
There was ample justification to move the Dragon Knight Order, which acted solely for the imperial family.
The First Crown Prince had been kidnapped.
They would pressure the Hero Guild to mobilize Stars and heroes again. Their number would naturally exceed a thousand.
This ti, Berje would not be able to evade it.
So only one thing remained.
『I will ask you.』
『Are you』
『confident?』
“Confident, you say?”
The great hero laughed at the Demon King’s question.
As if it were ridiculous, he sneered.
“I never once thought I would lose before, either.”
At the ti, the Demon King of Dark Fla had been unbelievably strong for soone who had only descended two years prior.
But that was all. If that was all there was, he would die.
“No—he’ll die even if it’s more than that.”
Balraf clenched his fist. Power overflowed.
“Nearly a hundred years truly makes a difference.”
Ugar Velbek, the Gold-Steel Demon King.
The power he had accumulated was greater than any Demon King Balraf had ever faced. And with it ca correspondingly sweet spoils.
“Make sure you’ve got his location nailed down so he can’t run again.”
『I trust you. Please, be sure to take Berje Deias’s head.』
“Obviously.”
I will kill him with my own hands.
Balraf spat the words as if chewing them apart. The communication ended.
“....”
On the other side of the communicator, Jason tossed the shattered glass fragnts onto the floor.
“Aina.”
“Yes, Demon King.”
“How do you think our preparations are?”
“They are more than sufficient.”
At least five Stars.
The Empire’s strongest knight orders would join.
They had secured the floating fortress, and it would be filled with nearly a thousand heroes.
That wasn’t all. Cooperating with Arkan and other kingdoms, dozens of warships would sail to the target point, tightening the noose around Berje’s neck.
More than enough. For capturing a single Demon King.
“And yet, we already failed once with that level of force.”
“That was because we didn’t know it was a trap.”
“How can you guarantee it isn’t a trap this ti?”
“There is a guarantee.”
Information directly provided by Archduke Arkaine, updated in real ti at the cost of massive Demonic Points.
That tower was absolutely not a fake.
That was enough. If it wasn’t a trap, then by common sense, Berje’s chances of victory were infinitely close to zero.
And yet.
And yet, why—
“...Why do I feel so uneasy and irritated?”
─!
Everything on the table was swept to the floor.
“Why does it feel like Lord Berje will survive to the very end and mock ? Why does that image keep flickering before my eyes?”
Doubt beca anxiety, anxiety beca conviction, and conviction beca thirst.
It wasn’t enough. Far from enough.
“...Aina.”
“Yes, Demon King.”
“Lord Berje is a traitor involved in the murder of a Demon King. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And Lord Ugar is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then a new Demon King must descend.”
Very soon.
A very powerful one.
“It seems we will have to give Archduke Arkaine a great deal.”
“But no matter how strong, a Demon King who has only recently descended would....”
“We have plenty of Demonic Points.”
They were overflowing. What Jason had been amassing all this ti wasn’t Demonic Points, but money and people. He had been in Arein for far too long.
“And I have no intention of summoning an ordinary Demon King.”
“Then?”
“Isn’t it strange how he beca so astonishingly strong in just two years? Without sothing special, it wouldn’t make sense.”
“That’s true, but.”
“I believe that special quality lies in his race.”
The greatest race in the Demon Realm.
The demon dragonkin, like the First Demon Emperor.
Might they not possess their own secrets? thods to use towers more effectively, to grow stronger faster, to resolve interference power.
“So.”
Using one to counter another.
“The Demon King summoned this ti will be of the demon dragonkin.”
I will make it so.
Without fail.
Jason lifted his monocle.
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