The Demon King Overrun by Heroes Chapter 194 : He Really Lived Diligently

Chapter 194: He Really Lived Diligently

After hearing about the possibilities involving the floating battleship, Berje imdiately began making preparations.

Berje halted the port construction and gathered all the dwarves to issue orders.

“So you’re telling us to plant bombs in the sea?”

“Yes. Lay underwater bombs around the tower.”

No matter how formidable the floating battleship was, to reach the tower it would ultimately have to subrge and cut through the sea.

But if the sea was swarming with magic-powered bombs? They could land a heavy blow before it even reached the tower.

“Underwater bombs in the sea… I’ve never even imagined such a thing.”

“There isn’t even any technology like that.”

The dwarves’ nation was the mountain range itself, and even if a floating battleship could cleave through the sea and subrge, its original purpose, true to its na, was a strategic weapon ant to fly through the sky.

Underwater bombs were completely uncharted territory for the dwarves—sothing they had never once produced.

“But it doesn’t seem that difficult.”

“If we just handle the waterproofing properly…. Since it’s a magic-powered bomb anyway, we can send signals using mana or demonic energy….”

Of course, it wasn’t that they couldn’t make it.

“Good. And can you make the mana cannons bigger? Ideally powerful enough to smash a gigantic ship.”

There was no need to ask why.

“It is possible, but….”

It would require far more ti, effort, materials, and technical expertise, but it wasn’t impossible.

“Then make them. Imagine it. A magnificent bombardnt smashing a floating battleship already rocked by underwater bombs.”

“Ohh, certainly….”

Soon, the Demon King disappeared, and the dwarves fell into deep contemplation.

“…It does sound cool, but is it really right for us to help with this?”

“Are we supposed to cooperate in destroying a sacred relic of the kingdom?”

“The Demon King clearly said he wouldn’t touch the Berfht Kingdom.”

“He said he wouldn’t just sit back if they attacked first.”

“And this counts as attacking first, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Ugh, this is driving crazy.”

They were cooperating to survive, but patriotism still existed. Was it truly right to kill their own kin and destroy the kingdom’s sacred relic just to survive?

At that mont, Roger appeared.

“Try thinking about it differently.”

“Differently?”

“If you help His Majesty the Demon King destroy the floating battleship and stop the hero’s march, His Majesty will keep his promise. Berfht will lose its sacred relic and its people, but it will survive.”

But if not?

“He might just smash the Berfht Kingdom first.”

“…Surely not.”

“You haven’t forgotten that he’s the one who dropped hundreds of monsters onto the Zespine Empire just because things didn’t go his way, have you?”

“…….”

A chill ran down the dwarves’ spines.

“And above all.”

Roger raised both hands.

“If we destroy the floating battleship, we can beco legends.”

“Legendary traitors who betrayed their country, you an?”

“No, that’s not what I an.”

Despite the dwarves’ sneers, Roger steadfastly laid out his reasoning.

“Think about it. If the floating battleship is destroyed, its wreckage will remain, won’t it?”

“Of course. A brilliant dwarven relic reduced to re debris.”

“Then floating stone will fall.”

“…What?”

“What will you do with the enormous amount of floating stone that made up the floating battleship? I still rember your ambition to install mana cannons across the entire tower and lift it into the sky to create a Sky Tower.”

“……!”

The dwarves’ eyes went unfocused.

“Putting aside the fragnts of the tower His Majesty promised us, if we can lift the tower into the sky, we can carve our nas into history.”

The dwarves were as obsessed with honor as they were with their pride as craftsn.

The honor of creating an artifact unlike any other in the world, the renown of forging a weapon rembered by history.

That was one of the driving forces that moved the dwarves.

“Centuries ago, the ancestors who built the floating battleship left their nas in history. But what about you? Compared to them, you’re no less capable—if anything, you’re superior. Yet all you can do is repair or modify a floating battleship. That alone will never put your nas in history! But!”

Roger shouted.

“What about a Sky Tower!”

“Hea!”

“Ven!”

“Tower!”

The dwarves shouted in unison.

“So what if we’re traitors! We created a Sky Tower no one else could make!”

“So what if we’re rebels! A craftsman speaks through results and nothing else!”

“When the tower we built flies through the sky, rains bombardnt upon the land, and becos an impregnable fortress no one can conquer, how will the continent judge that fortress?”

A once-in-a-lifeti masterpiece etched into continental history.

An irreplaceable legend.

“You will surely be recorded as demons. But the Sky Tower you created will remain forever and be spoken of as legend.”

Even so.

“Won’t you do it?”

Roger extended his hand.

“And above all.”

At that point, Roger offered the craftsn a psychological safety net.

“Didn’t Princess Louise tell you to do your utmost to help His Majesty the Demon King?”

“That’s right! She did!”

“Yes, I’m just following the princess’s orders.”

“Indeed!”

The dwarves were consud by madness.

From afar, Roger’s eyes t Berje’s, who was watching him.

‘Don’t forget the reward you promised!’

He whispered softly. Berje nodded.

* * *

“Impressive. So this is how you made use of the dwarves?”

At Reina’s question, Berje shrugged.

“It’s easy to incite dwarves who’ve spent their entire lives holed up in workshops.”

He had deliberately put Roger up to it. A fellow dwarf and craftsman would be far more effective than doing it himself.

And the results turned out exactly as he wanted.

“…Lifting the tower into the sky. That’s a notion I could never have imagined.”

“Well, you’re the very definition of a narrow-minded demon, aren’t you?”

“It seems your tongue needs to freeze soday before you co to your senses.”

“Oh my, how scary. I’m just a vulgar demon, so I wouldn’t know.”

“No, it’s simply that without a horn and a tail, your ears aren’t functioning properly.”

“What did you say? What do ears have to do with tails? You’re just a woman who clung to Berje because you wanted to keep living while making excuses about your subordinates!”

“That’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. And unlike you, I didn’t wail and throw a tantrum in disgrace.”

“A tantrum? ? The idiot who barely won after fighting inside the tower is running her mouth now?”

“I barely won, but you didn’t even manage to win at all.”

“I’m a Demon King too!”

“There are ranks even among Demon Kings.”

“Grr…!”

The Succubus Queen and the frost demon race snarled at each other.

Watching the now almost daily scene, Berje sighed. He never thought the two Demon Kings would easily cooperate or beco close, but he never dread they’d turn into sworn enemies who bickered every ti they t.

Strictly speaking, Vivian picked fights at every opportunity and never ca out ahead.

“More precisely, it’s because the Demon King Military Academy never taught this. I won’t tolerate any further conflict.”

Berje brought the situation under control.

“For now, we can’t lift the tower into the sky before they arrive. We need to destroy the floating battleship and obtain floating stone first.”

So whether they liked it or not, they would have to face them in the sea.

“What about heading farther north?”

“North?”

“The Northern Sea is filled with drifting glaciers. Ships can’t easily enter, and the cold strengthens us frost demons. What if my subordinates confront them outside while you face them from the tower?”

It wasn’t a bad idea. Cold was practically poison to humans, so it would at least give them an advantage.

The problem was—

“Louise.”

“What?”

“What’s the power source and top speed of the floating battleship?”

“The power source is mana stones, and as far as I know, it can fly at close to 300 km per hour.”

“The tower is much slower. We’d likely be caught mid-journey and forced to fight without proper preparation.”

Even though the Northern Sea and this place looked close on the map, the actual distance was vast.

“What a sha.”

At that mont, Gordon quietly raised his hand.

“Do we really need to worry that much?”

“What do you an?”

“In the past, when we had no subordinates and the tower was empty, we resorted to every trick imaginable. But now, honestly, I don’t think we’d lose no matter who cos.”

Co to think of it, that was true.

The Lust Demon King and her subordinates.

The Frost Demon King and her subordinates.

The elves.

The dwarves.

And even the four princesses.

There were thousands of monsters alone, along with countless monsters and demons.

And that wasn’t all. Traps laid everywhere by the dwarves, mana cannons overflowing in every direction.

It was overwhelming force that no hero would dare challenge.

There was no need to scurry about while calling themselves weak.

“…I.”

He really had lived diligently.

The realization felt fresh. At this point, he could confidently say he had surpassed his strength from before the regression. Above all, he now had two Demon Kings and the high-ranking demons who followed them at his side.

After being mocked by that damned hero, regressing with that rage intact, ruining the graduation ceremony, and descending with only Gordon, it had felt quite bleak.

“You, what was that all of a sudden?”

“Do you have so bad mories or sothing?”

“Are you alright?”

“Demon King?”

The Demon Kings and princesses asked one after another.

“Tears?”

A small hand tapped Berje’s shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Lavinia offering a white handkerchief.

“I’m not crying.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So put that away.”

Anyway.

Berje changed the mood.

“You’re right. There’s no need to prepare anything extravagant.”

“One variable would be Balraf Dislode.”

“If we fight inside the tower, I’ll win no matter what. Leave the other Stars to you.”

Reina, Kaede, and Lavinia nodded.

“Cher, dragon. Star.”

“You can even deal with Stars? Is the modification finished?”

“Almost?”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

A Titan with dragon scales and horns along with the Succubus Queen’s tail attached to it. If it wasn’t strong, that would be stranger.

There was the drawback that Lavinia could be exposed, but they had already decided to go all out, so what did it matter now.

“But why are you staying quiet?”

“Huh? Do I count too? I’m not confident in combat.”

Vivian averted her gaze.

“Then I suppose we should postpone the horn as much as possible.”

“N-no! I’ll do my best! I’ll fight too! You already had the dwarves build ports and underwater bombs, so there’s no telling when my horn will get compressed!”

Vivian whimpered. Ellena lowered her head.

“I’m sorry. I’m still not up to the Stars yet….”

“No, it’s fine. You’re doing more than enough. Just do the best you can.”

Ellena had already engraved four Sigils. She was far behind the Stars, but no one could deny that her growth rate was unmatched.

And with her consuming dragon blood to soon engrave a fifth Sigil, it was like adding wings to her montum.

“Still, it’s better to minimize damage. We’ll carpet floors one through five entirely with traps.”

It would be best to pause the port construction for now. There was already plenty built, so deploynt and maintenance wouldn’t take too long.

“And the decisive battle will be on the sixth floor.”

“…You? Aren’t we eting them at the summit?”

“Then everyone gathers at the summit and fights the enemies.”

“…….”

“Facing them sequentially is nothing more than throwing them food so they can grow. They’ll be coming up with full force—so why should we disperse our power evenly across the entire tower?”

“That is the standard.”

“Then discard it now. It’s an order from the one who is now your lord.”

Reina’s smooth brow creased, but she soon sighed and relaxed it again.

“Very well. I am now your subordinate. I will follow.”

But she didn’t forget to add one thing.

“At this point, I’m starting to doubt whether you’re even a Demon Dragon.”

“I’m doing this precisely because I am a Demon Dragon. It’s the standard created by Demon Dragons, so another Demon Dragon is breaking it.”

“That’s sophistry.”

“Sophistry is better than stupidly multiplying casualties. You care for your subordinates—you should understand.”

“…….”

“Now then, there’s only one thing left for us to think about.”

“What is it?”

“How do we get our hands on the floating battleship?”

The Sky Tower that flew through the sky.

The dwarves’ desire spread to Berje as well.

“First, we should probably fire the giant mana cannons until it falls and can’t move again, right?”

In his eyes, he saw the image of a tower flying through the sky and bombarding the continent.