Chapter 198: Entry Prohibited
Rozel Charnte had provided a great deal of extrely valuable information.
The dwarves had decided to provide floating battleships.
The navies of Arkan, Hessen, and Dormunt would step in, and the elite forces of each nation would act together.
The hero’s march would occur as early as next week, or at the latest, within a month.
The participating Stars numbered six: Balraf Dislode, Rozel Charnte, Aina Diaphrin, Ralph Schmitz, Watton Colo, and Pablo Barkat.
“I didn’t know why Hillan Cargill was excluded, but now I get it. The Guildmaster realized that bastard was the Demon King’s lackey.”
Those were the last words Rozel Charnte left behind.
Berje had expected even that much.
That was why he had already told Hillan to prepare for when this matter was over.
The problem was whether that thread of suspicion stopped at Hillan, or whether it extended all the way up to Ernan and Hilderan.
‘There’s a high chance it stops at Hillan.’
They might suspect that he had ties to a hero, but there was no way they would know that he had joined hands with the kidnapped princess.
Still, certainty was never a good thing. Because of that, Berje decided to keep it in mind for now.
‘What matters right now is how to stop the hero’s march.’
The broad outline of the hero’s march was not much different from what he had expected.
They would use the kingdoms’ navies to transport a massive army, while the heroes boarded the floating battleships and advanced on the Tower.
Rather than gaining entirely new information, the gain was in turning assumptions into certainty.
The thod itself had already been decided. They would simply face the enemies head-on.
Those who possessed overwhelming power did not need to devise elaborate sches to win.
Even so, to eliminate any unforeseen variables, they would first receive the enemies with traps and then concentrate all their forces at the summit.
That would be enough. No matter how many enemies there were, in the end, the only ones who could enter the Tower were the heroes aboard the floating battleship. No matter how much the others fired mana cannons and raised a ruckus, how were they supposed to get into the deep sea?
The dwarves might be able to make diving suits, but their numbers would not be that great. Even if the mana cannons’ range reached, mana cannon fire that had forced its way through the resistance of the deep sea would not be able to leave so much as a scratch on the Tower’s exterior.
Why did humans give up on destroying the Tower itself in the first place?
“So, the conclusion is.”
“A way to capture the floating battleships.”
Reina muttered.
“Can floating stone really be attached to the Tower?”
“With the Tower’s authority and the dwarves, it’s more than possible. You just need to add so Demonic Points on top of that.”
“Amazing. If it’s possible, I’d very much like to see it myself.”
It wasn’t that she had so sort of romantic longing for the Sky Tower. She was simply curious, unable to easily believe that the Tower could do such a thing, and wanted to confirm it with her own eyes.
“When the heroes enter the Tower, the floating battleships will be left empty. How about seizing the empty battleships?”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“It’s a bad idea.”
Louise directly refuted Kaede’s suggestion.
“No matter how many heroes disembark, the ones controlling them are the dwarves. Father will have ordered them to prioritize the safety of the floating battleships above all else, so if there’s even a hint of sothing strange, they’ll imdiately retreat.”
Lavinia quietly raised her hand.
“Monsters.”
“You an to keep them in place with a few tad sea monsters?”
She nodded.
“Are you kidding? There are hundreds of mana cannons mounted on that. A few sea monsters would be turned into mush in no ti.”
“Since you’ve made a hero called Rozel Charnte an ally, how about having her cause chaos from the inside?”
“If you do that, the Rozel we went to the trouble of planting will just get killed.”
Balraf Dislode was not soone to take lightly.
“What if I seduce all those dwarf bastards?”
“We’re watching too, you know.”
“Oh my, what is this dwarf yapping about right now?”
“What I’m saying is that proud dwarves won’t get their eyes flipped over so Demon King who’s fallen to being a re demon.”
“Even if I weren’t a Demon King, I could easily cook up a brat like you.”
“Wouldn’t my axe splitting your skull be faster?”
“Why do you two always fight whenever you et?”
“This impudent dwarf bitch keeps picking fights with !”
“That lanky demon keeps trying to bewitch the dwarves!”
Berje’s brow creased.
“Was that so?”
“...Well, rather than saying I bewitched, you could say the dwarves recognized this superior beauty and sensuality of mine?”
“Don’t.”
“...Seduction is practically instinctual to a succubus. Telling to suppress and hide my instincts is no different from castrating an incubus—.”
“Don’t.”
“...Tch.”
“You have pirates, don’t you?”
“They’re outside the Tower, so it’s no fun.”
“Then you can live on that island too.”
“Really?”
“If you hide your identity properly—no, that’s not it. There’s no need to hide it anymore. Just go around doing pirate work together.”
“And if sothing happens, we run back to the Tower?”
“Yes.”
“Hm.”
Vivian put on an intrigued expression. In truth, life in the Tower had probably been quite stifling for her.
Succubi possessed an instinct to seduce others, but here, she had to watch Berje’s mood and couldn’t properly do anything.
Being treated like a queen by pirates, harming humans, and building an infamous reputation might be better.
“Alright, let’s put that aside and return to the main point.”
“How about using the dwarves to make a binding device? We bind the floating battleships so they can’t move.”
“It wouldn’t be easy to bind them with ordinary ans, would it?”
“Probably?”
“There isn’t much ti.”
No matter how skilled the dwarves were, they couldn’t create sothing within that ti fra that could completely restrain a treasure like a floating battleship.
“I’ll step in. The mont the ships anchor, I’ll freeze them all.”
“Oh?”
It was quite an appealing suggestion.
Although it ant Reina Sordein would have to be outside the Tower and, as a result, would not participate in the battle against the heroes, Berje did not think that losing Reina alone would lead to defeat.
‘Especially since Rozel Charnte is now an ally.’
Just in case, he couldn’t tell her outright to betray them, but if he told her to rely pretend to fight, that would remove one.
Then there would be four left.
Balraf Dislode would be handled by Berje himself, while Ralph Schmitz, Aina Diaphrin, Watton Colo, and Pablo Barkat would be entrusted to Kaede, Lavinia, Louise, and Vivian respectively.
The strength of the self-proclaid Four Heavenly Kings, who had absorbed elixirs derived from dragons, had increased exponentially. On top of that, equipnt for them was being produced with top priority, so by the ti the hero’s march arrived, they would all be outfitted with the finest armants.
If that was the case, it was enough. They could face the Stars.
‘Even if the remaining heroes are strong, there are dozens of high-ranking demons….’
Leaving aside Vivian’s succubi, the Frost demons Reina had brought with her were certainly powerful and reliable.
The problem was—
“Reina, whether you can hold out.”
“What do you an?”
“The ones entering the Tower will be at most around two thousand, even counting elite non-heroes alongside heroes in the thousands. But outside the Tower, there will be hundreds of ships.”
Along with tens of thousands of troops.
Unless they were idiots, they would co prepared for naval combat.
“If you freeze the sea, they’ll notice your presence. You’ll be subjected to concentrated fire.”
No matter how powerful Reina was as a Demon King, the enemy numbered in the tens of thousands. There was no castle that could stand against the tsunami.
“There will be plenty of mages too. When hundreds of mages deploy combined magic, can you be sure the freezing won’t be undone? And the floating battleships will naturally struggle desperately to break free.”
“I can hold out.”
“No matter what?”
“I’ll prove it.”
Her eyes were filled with determination, but Berje couldn’t shake his unease.
Every ti he thought, ‘It’ll probably be fine,’ when he felt this uneasy, sothing always went wrong.
“Um.”
Ellena raised her hand.
“The key point is keeping the floating battleship bound without issue while the battle is going on in the Tower, right?”
“Yes.”
“And the location will be the sea, correct?”
“We’ll move the Tower, but in the end, yes, it’ll be the sea.”
They were even now moving in search of an even deeper part of the deep sea to make the enemy’s entry more difficult.
“The sea is water.”
“Obviously.”
“Then wouldn’t it be an environnt where water spirits can really shine?”
“...Are you suggesting we call Ernan?”
“If the Demon King calls her, she’ll co running right away.”
“But it’s too dangerous—.”
“My sister contacted .”
“Contacted you?”
“She said she contracted with the Spirit King.”
“...!”
* * *
『Is it true?』
“It is. It’s all thanks to the dragon blood you gave , Demon King. Thank you.”
Ernan bowed her head deeply.
She had already been standing at the threshold. The overflowing mana dwelling in the dragon’s blood had guided her to a higher realm.
Through a contract with the Water Spirit King, Naias.
“I wanted to tell you in person, but Ellena already said it.”
『Impressive.』
“I’m pretty impressive.”
Ahem, she lifted her nose proudly.
“So, did you contact just to ask that?”
『No.』
“Then please tell .”
Ernan t the Demon King’s gaze through the communication device. Her athyst pupils shone vividly.
『I need your help.』
“How?”
『When the battle breaks out inside the Tower, I want you to bind the floating battleships beneath the sea so they can’t escape.』
“As what?”
『...As one of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Spirit Sorceress of Darkness.』
“Gladly!”
Ernan smiled brightly.
“But is that a request? Or an order?”
『Is there a difference?』
“If it’s a request, you have to give compensation, and if it’s an order, I’ll just follow it as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, right?”
『And what compensation do you want?』
“Chocolate.”
『Chocolate? That’s sothing you gave —.』
“Exactly. I never got chocolate from you, Demon King.”
『....』
The silence lasted only a brief mont.
『I’ll give it to you.』
“I like chocolate mixed with almonds.”
『I don’t think there was any like that among the ones you gave …』
“Exactly.”
『...Very well.』
If the price of putting a Spirit King to work was chocolate, that was cheap.
Berje consoled himself.
『Then I’ll contact you again soon.』
“Yes.”
The communication ended like that.
“Phew.”
Ernan let out the breath she had been holding in.
He seed even cooler sohow.
A faint blush crept onto her face.
- It’s nice, isn’t it?
- Now you both just look cute to each other, right?
- You want to hug him, don’t you? Don’t you just want to do sothing?
Nairuniel poked her face out from between the inactive communication devices.
“Yes.”
- You’re not even denying it anymore?
“I’ve figured out how to deal with you, Lady Nairuniel.”
- How to deal with ?
“Lord Naias.”
Wooooong—
A massive presence manifested.
- Uh....
“Could you please move aside?”
- If you hadn’t asked first, I might have stepped in myself.
The queen of all water spirits drew an elegant figure.
- H-Hey, is it okay to treat spirits like baggage?!
- I’m the one who’s been by your side all this ti!
- You can’t just throw away an old spirit like worn-out shoes just because a new spirit showed up!
Nairuniel scread.
- Be quiet. I’ve already heard that your licentious delusions have spread through the Spirit Realm and are harming the minds of young spirits.
- I-I’ve been wronged! Delusions? This is a clear reality!
- That’s the part you’re upset about?
The queen laughed.
- You are forbidden from entering the Middle Realm for the ti being.
- N-No! Being unable to witness sothing this fun any longer is far too harsh a punishnt!
- Judging by your reaction, it seems like an appropriate punishnt.
Naias dragged Nairuniel by the hair and returned to the Spirit Realm.
The noisy space returned to silence.
“Then....”
Ernan took out the mask she always carried close to her.
It was the kind of mask one would use at a masquerade ball, with no particular magic cast on it.
But it was the symbol of the Spirit Sorceress of Darkness.
“It’s ti to return to my main profession.”
She smiled seductively.
Just thinking about returning to the Tower after so long made a tune slip from her lips.
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