Chapter 192: A Stratagem?
Berje’s strength had been his bold decisiveness.
The mont the conclusion was reached to take in the pirates and provide them with a base, he sent them back to their ships and guided them to the island.
Then the elves began planting trees, and the dwarves began constructing the port.
“...There are countless things you can make with dragon bones, yet I have to make garbage like this.”
“No, a dragon is one thing, but mounting mana turrets all over that massive tower is more urgent, isn’t it?”
“Golems! There is nothing more important than golems made from dragon bone. Not a lousy port like this.”
The dwarves, who had been subjected to forced labor, and the golemancer grumbled.
But they had no right to refuse.
“I am glad we can turn this barren place into a beautiful forest.”
“Just imagining a future filled with lush woodland makes happy.”
On the side, the tactless elves were rejoicing. In the end, a decision was made to finish as quickly as possible and then return to what each of them wanted to do.
Thus, the port and the ships were being built at a terrifying speed.
“The number of warships has increased?”
“Yes, we even spotted Dormunt’s Southern Fleet roaming the southern waters, so it wouldn’t be wrong to say they are concentrating their naval forces.”
“Navies are gathering where they shouldn’t be. It looks like they are preparing sothing.”
While listening to the captains’ reports, Berje caught sothing strange.
“For it to be simply to fight pirates... it lacks persuasiveness.”
Once it beca known that it had not been the pirates but Berje who had abducted the dwarves, the dwarves withdrew.
And the three nations that had already dealt sufficient blows to the pirates also had no intention of pushing themselves further.
Although they had smashed all of the pirates’ main forces, their true strength lay in their tenacious resistance using the archipelago.
With the dwarves pulling out in a punitive campaign that had already been faltering due to the three kingdoms checking one another, there was no longer any reason to continue a war where losses outweighed gains.
Thus, the war ended as suddenly as it had begun.
And yet they were gathering fleets again?
“It wouldn’t be a war between humans.”
This was a ti when the entire continent had united in rage and resolve to overthrow the Demon King. Even the Zespine Empire and the Kingdom of Arkan, sworn enemies, had joined hands—there was no way they were foolish enough to turn their blades on one another.
“...Don’t tell ?”
Had they realized the tower’s location...?
No, that was excessive conjecture. How could they possibly find a tower hidden in the sea?
It could simply be training.
He might just be overly sensitive.
But Berje’s instincts kept prickling. Thinking he wouldn’t reach a conclusion alone, he summoned his adjutant, two Demon Kings, and four princesses.
“It’s impossible to find this tower through magic. Unless there’s even the tiniest clue that could specify the tower’s location, scouring the entire continent would take centuries and still not be enough.”
Ellena spoke from a mage’s standpoint.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t know.”
Kaede and Lavinia simply kept their mouths shut.
“Dwarves do have advanced technology for detecting demonic energy, but finding this would be absurd.”
The Dwarven Princess also declared it impossible.
Just as they were about to feel reassured—
“They can find it.”
“They can find it?”
The Frost Demon King spoke of a possibility.
“If they go through Archduke Arkaine, it’s possible.”
“How?”
“Although it consus a certain amount of Demonic Points, an archduke can always check the location of a tower under their jurisdiction.”
It was an authority only archdukes possessed, but among the archdukes there had been Frost demons, and still were.
And Reina, as a noble of the Frost demon race, had considerable exchanges among them.
“Of course, this presupposes that Jason Kokemundo truly intends to kill you. If he told Archduke Arkaine that he wanted to know your tower’s location, and if that archduke conveyed it to the humans cooperating with him, then it’s possible.”
Originally, Reina had not believed that Jason was so determined to kill Berje. She had suspected it, but she had not been certain.
But after becoming Berje’s vassal and with the connection to the Demon Realm severed, she was convinced. There was not a shred of falsehood in Berje’s words.
“But this is, in the end, just one possibility....”
“No, it doesn’t hurt to prepare.”
It might be a pointless flailing, but preparing for the worst was always right.
“Then, if they really have found my tower and are preparing to attack it, what thod do you think they would use?”
“Is there even a need to think about that? No matter how you look at it, humans shouldn’t be able to enter the tower.”
At Vivian’s words, everyone nodded.
The Tower of Dark Fla was currently about 120 ters below the deep sea, and from above the surface its location couldn’t be seen at all.
Logically, they couldn’t just scuttle their ships, so to enter the tower they would have to dive directly into these waters teeming with sea monsters.
“If we keep moving the tower in the first place, they might get exhausted and drop out.”
Movent itself—everyone knew how great an advantage that was.
“Hmm.”
Berje rested his chin on his hand in thought. It wasn’t wrong, but leaving everything as it was still felt unsettling.
Because if Jason knew the tower was underwater, Berje was certain he wouldn’t prepare lightly.
“Ah.”
At that mont, Louise exclaid.
“There is one way to lead an army down to the deep sea.”
“...What is it?”
“A floating battleship.”
“A floating battleship?”
“It’s a national treasure of the kingdom....”
“A national treasure? Explain properly.”
“In the kingdom—no, in the entire continent—there is only one such ship. It can be called the culmination of the magi-engineering the dwarves have built up.”
“The Berfht Kingdom is an inland nation. It doesn’t even have the sea, let alone a huge lake—does a floating battleship an a ship that flies through the sky?”
“That’s right. The floating battleship was built based on a massive floating stone discovered in the Berfht Mountains. It was a great discovery that had never existed before and will never exist again.”
Floating stone was a rare ore with the property of floating when mana was injected. It wasn’t sothing one could obtain just because one wanted it; no amount of money could buy it.
“And then? If it flies through the sky as you say, we certainly should be cautious, but the tower is in the sea.”
“It has the modifier ‘floating,’ but at its core it’s still a ‘battleship.’ And one capable of subrging.”
“...!”
It was also called Berfht’s last bastion.
* * *
Jason kept his promise.
“Jason Kokemundo has sent Demonic Points.”
“Use all of it to lift the interference power.”
Dorche Astain lifted the interference power with all the Demonic Points.
Clenching his fist at the power that had partially returned—
“...At this level.”
About half, perhaps. Compared to when he had been in the Demon Realm, it was quite insufficient. But it was more than enough to teach the fear of the world to an arrogant young kin who had been summoned just over two years ago.
“So where is that bastard’s tower?”
“That is....”
The adjutant displayed a hologram. Dorche frowned at the sight of the continental map spread out before him.
“The sea? Is this correct?”
“It is said to be the location directly conveyed by Archduke Arkaine.”
“This is driving insane.”
A tower must neither be in a remote place no one could ever reach, nor in an urban center that was too easy to find. It had to be sowhere appropriate.
Letting heroes and humans find it at a suitable pace—that had been the teaching of the great First Demon Emperor.
Yet what was this young Demon Dragon brat relying on to act so brazenly?
“If I had been at the graduation ceremony, I would have personally torn his snout apart.”
At the ti, he had fallen into a long slumber after completely conquering a dinsion.
Because of that, he had missed the chance to punish a foolish kin who tarnished the prestige of their race and the First Demon Emperor. It was a regret that would last a lifeti.
“So do the humans know this?”
“Yes, the humans are said to be preparing a hero’s march.”
“A hero’s march. This one must be on a different scale, right?”
In any dinsion, heroes were hope. Departing amid great fanfare with the expectations of all living beings upon them was no different across dinsions.
“Yes, in terms of scale, there are said to be hundreds of heroes alone.”
“It truly is a mad dinsion. But with the tower in the sea, how will they even find it?”
“According to Jason Kokemundo’s ssage, Berje left behind so kind of trace.”
Jason did not say that he had inford them by using his ties with humans. To Dorche, who was thoroughly wrapped in pride and arrogance, cooperating with humans was an option not worth considering.
Had he known the truth, he might have flown into a rage and attacked Jason first.
“So he still had a shred of conscience.”
Tsk. Dorche clicked his tongue.
That didn’t an he intended to go easy on him. Just what had happened at the graduation ceremony was more than enough reason for that young Demon Dragon nad Berje to die.
“Fine. Then I will observe the situation for now. I’ll move depending on the outco of the hero’s march.”
Dorche was an arrogant Demon King who had conquered no less than five dinsions.
That ant he wasn’t foolish enough to rush in without any counterasures, and unlike novice Demon Kings with no backing, he had heard plenty about Arein’s infamy, making him all the more cautious.
“I’ll watch how he deals with the heroes and devise alternatives accordingly.”
“Who do you think will win?”
“Well, I can’t be certain.”
Given Arein’s infamy, it was almost guaranteed that the heroes had to win.
But if it were that simple, would the Demon King Jason Kokemundo have paid such an enormous price to request help from Archduke Arkaine?
“The heroes are said to have sharpened their blades, and it’s said that Berje survived not through sheer force but through scheming. So the focus isn’t on victory or defeat. It’s on whether Berje survives or not.”
“I understand.”
“And in the process, all we have to do is watch what kind of power the heroes possess and what thods they use to attack Berje.”
“What if Berje dies?”
“If the heroes’ power is weak, I’ll slaughter them all as they are. But if they’re stronger than expected, I’ll quietly lift the interference power and wait for my ti.”
And if the opposite happened—
“I’ll personally tear apart the exhausted Berje.”
“Everything will proceed according to your will, Demon King. However....”
“However?”
“Jason’s ulterior motives are suspicious.”
Demonic Points weren’t only used to lift interference power. If that were the case, they wouldn’t have been so desperate to conquer other dinsions in the Demon Realm just to obtain Demonic Points.
When one had just descended, lifting interference power was the most efficient use, but even after all interference was lifted, Demonic Points did not beco aningless.
Demonic Points obtained through the life force and negative emotions of other beings strengthened the demon race in and of themselves.
Why demons strove to beco Demon Kings, and why they returned stronger after conquering dinsions—
“That he would hand over such precious Demonic Points so easily, and that he managed to gather this much Demonic Points even after completely lifting his interference power in just a hundred years....”
“You’re right. Of course he has so sche. He might even be planning to stab in the back, or perhaps he’s using and Berje to weaken the heroes while aiming for sothing else.”
But none of that mattered.
“If he could solve it on his own, he wouldn’t have asked for help in the first place. If that’s his level, there’s nothing to worry about.”
The truth he had realized after living for hundreds of years was a single one.
Before overwhelming power, any sche was useless.
“But lifting all interference power is....”
“If it cos to it, while Berje and the heroes are fighting, I can strike from behind and absorb their power. They’re said to be the strongest in this dinsion, and with hundreds of them, I should be able to lift quite a lot of interference power.”
That would be enough.
Because he was a great Demon Dragon.
“Everything will go according to your will, Lord Dorche.”
The adjutant bowed his head.
“Of course. If a young Demon Dragon goes astray, it’s only natural for an elder to set him straight.”
Even if it ant killing him.
The great Demon Dragon licked his lips.
Surely, the power of that young Demon Dragon would be of considerable help to him.
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