Chapter 214: Grand Reconciliation
The False Tower.
The Demon King’s tower that had guarded its place for the longest span of years was located within a vast lake.
Within a lake called Gracikal, larger than most kingdoms, bordering no fewer than three kingdoms and one alliance.
At its center, atop a small island, the tower stood tall.
Because of that, to subjugate the False Tower, ships were absolutely necessary.
And so, that lake would soon be filled with countless vessels.
“Because they are coming to subjugate .”
Jason savored his drink while gazing at the sunlit panorama of the lake. The fragrant fruit wine tickled his nose.
“Doesn’t it look like it will be quite a spectacle?”
“....”
The great Demon Dragon, Dorche Astain, stared at him in silence, lips tightly sealed.
“Hillan Cargill and Ernan Hilderan departed for Trafarta to participate. From the very beginning, I had been thinking about it wrong.”
A smile ford at the corner of Jason’s lips.
“To think that the Crown Princess of Hilderan was that famous Spirit Sorceress of Darkness. Isn’t it astonishing?”
He had thought, simply, that Hillan had been used to induce Ernan Hilderan’s actions. That was not the case. Ernan Hilderan herself had been the head.
The collective that served the Demon King.
The leader of the Four Heavenly Kings, and the one who issued orders to Hillan Cargill.
Just how.
“How exactly did he kidnap a nation’s Crown Princess and turn her into his subordinate? Berje-nim’s skill truly defies belief.”
“....”
“Isn’t that right?”
Jason turned his head. His eyes t Dorche’s. For a brief mont, silence hung between them.
“...I—”
Jason’s brow creased. He flung aside his glass and strode forward, grabbing Dorche by the face.
─!
Along with his chair, Dorche’s body was slamd backward.
“I’m asking you, you disgusting Demon Dragon bastard.”
“Ghk...!”
The Demon Dragon swallowed a groan between Jason’s fingers.
“Is that the look a vassal gives his lord? Or are you trying to appeal that even if you were forced into being a vassal, a Demon Dragon’s lofty pride isn’t so easily broken?”
The grip tightened. Dorche’s head began to dig into the floor.
Gritting his teeth through the horrific pain and humiliation, Dorche endured.
“...What proof is there that they are Berje’s vassals?”
“Didn’t you go and see it yourself?”
Only then did the hand withdraw. The shattered mask returned to its original form.
Jason adjusted his disheveled clothes and hair.
Aina Sermyun poured fruit wine into a new glass and handed it to him.
“A human who can summon a Spirit King. In this Arein, there is only one such person. If it is a water spirit, then it cannot possibly be anyone else.”
And that was not all.
“To think that the na ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ actually referred entirely to princesses—never in my dreams did I imagine that. Berje-nim continues to amaze more with each passing day.”
“You expect to believe they’re not just lowly races, but princesses? That nonsense?”
A kidnapped princess fighting heroes for the Demon King who abducted her—Dorche had ruled over five dinsions, yet he had never once seen such a case.
“That is precisely why Berje-nim is so extraordinary.”
“He’s nothing more than trash that mocked The Demon King’s Standard.”
“Quite a few Demon Kings here believed in that pitiful ‘standard’ and ended up falling dead.”
“How dare you mock the Standard!”
“Of course. Do you really think soone like , who loathes disgusting Demon Dragons, would like the Standard created by the First Demon Emperor, who was himself a Demon Dragon?”
And why would he be so obsessed with Arein.
At the sight of him mocking the First Demon Emperor and the Standard with a smiling face, Dorche was left utterly speechless.
“Just who are you? You are not so Jason Kokemundo.”
“Of course not. But right now, I am. At least for now, I am the False Demon King, Jason Kokemundo.”
“I am now your vassal.”
“Even though you have no intention of cooperating properly, you spew such trash words so easily.”
Was he unwilling to tell? It had been expected, but Dorche bit his lip, feeling as if he were being deliberately provoked.
“So Berje plans to use the heroes to strike you?”
“Ernan Hilderan and Lavinia Arkan have joined. What do you think that ans? It ans Berje-nim is desperately hoping for my death.”
“A simple problem, then. Just spread the rumor that the princesses are Berje’s lackeys.”
“Do you have proof?”
“Well, I....”
“You saw it, but you didn’t even record it with a recording orb. How foolish.”
“The heroes! The heroes who survived—!”
“Since his descent until now, Berje-nim has ticulously planned everything to corner humanity. Do you really think he wouldn’t have accounted for even that? Most likely, even the freed heroes have all beco Berje-nim’s vassals.”
“That’s impossible—!”
“The princesses were like that, and Star was like that. Ordinary heroes would be as easy as eating a piece of cake.”
At least, for Berje-nim.
If he had not been so confident, Berje would never have let all the princesses go. He would have killed them all.
“I find myself wondering whether his epithet should be changed from Dark Fla to Temptation.”
“So you’re just going to accept it? By your words, won’t tens of thousands of troops co pouring in?!”
“Are you afraid?”
“Afraid? I am a great De—!”
─!
Dorche rolled across the floor.
“Ah, my apologies. Hearing that disgusting ‘great Demon Dragon’ talk makes my hand move on its own. I would appreciate it if you recognized your place as a lizard crawling beneath my feet.”
Jason brushed off his hand.
“Have you ever drawn a picture?”
“A picture?”
“When drawing, you first establish the fra and skeleton, then move on to the fine details. After that, you apply color using paint.”
But you see—
“Once you apply paint, it becos difficult to fix mistakes. Paint does not erase easily. A master might manage to a certain extent, but beyond that, the paper just tears.”
“Why are you suddenly talking about that?”
“I would like you to listen quietly. Without flapping that insolent mouth of yours.”
“....”
“And that’s not all. Once things reach that stage, the more you touch it, the more likely it is to beco strange. Trying to make it better, only to ruin it further. Do you know what the right thing to do is then?”
“....”
“Of course not. A stupid Demon Dragon wouldn’t know. Others may differ, but my thod is to ‘tear the paper and draw on a new one.’”
What had been done so far was a waste, but clinging to torn paper would not fix it.
At such tis, boldly discarding it and drawing a new picture was the better choice.
“A very splendid new picture.”
Jason smiled.
* * *
Hero Guild.
The honor of the guild that had endured for hundreds of years had fallen to the ground.
It had not been trampled and ground into mud, but it had undeniably descended.
And the very fact that a guild which once floated proudly in the heavens had co down to the earth was a trendous shock to those involved.
Especially so for the Grand Elder, who had devoted everything to the guild and its Guildmaster.
“Guildmaster, where on earth are you?”
He called out with a desperate heart, but no answer returned. The office prepared for him remained empty.
It had been a return after long waiting—a ti of endurance spent holding out against the greedy fangs that targeted the guild.
A new powerhouse nad Balraf Dislode was becoming the prevailing force, yet the Grand Elder believed that once the Guildmaster returned, he would seize control again and set everything right.
Because though he might not know the world, he was a truly great hero who had lived for hundreds of years.
And indeed, even during the brief ti he had been present, however short, it had been so.
He restored order to the chaotic guild and planned the hero’s march.
He deceived the Demon King and created a true hero’s march. So why had he suddenly disappeared?
‘Did the hero’s march fail?’
If the hero’s march had failed, shouldn’t he step forward even more?
To fill the empty void and restore the guild’s fallen honor, wasn’t now precisely when the Guildmaster should act?
“Why, where did you disappear to?”
The gaze of the man clutching his head sank.
“No, no. This is not the ti.”
The Guildmaster was not soone who would go off and die sowhere.
So there was no need to worry. When he deed it necessary, he would return. Just as he had swiftly corrected the shaken guild and carried out the hero’s march.
He must have hidden himself again for so grand purpose.
‘Then what I must do is....’
To calm the shaken guild and restore its honor. To polish the seat where the Guildmaster would return and shine all the brighter.
‘First....’
He recalled his last conversation with the Guildmaster.
“...Hillan Cargill.”
Hillan Cargill had been said to be a lackey of the Demon King of Dark Fla.
That was why he had been excluded as bait. Even though it ultimately ended in failure, Hillan Cargill remained a traitor to humanity.
“A traitor must....”
Be killed.
To betray humanity while being called the Hero of Star.
“Guards! At once, summon Argann and Hillan Cargill!”
At the sa ti, he called forth the shadows that pledged loyalty to the guild.
‘He is a hero who killed two Demon Kings. We must not let our guard down.’
He could not be killed carelessly. As a lackey of the Demon King, he surely knew many things.
The Grand Elder quietly began sharpening the blade that would sever Hillan’s neck.
‘Guildmaster—no, Daniel-nim—I will clear away all those who obstruct the path you walk.’
He had served Daniel Deyrus for a long ti, and thus knew that the Guildmaster was another of his aspects.
But he had never once imagined that Daniel Deyrus had secretly created a new identity called Balraf Dislode.
* * *
After completely dismantling the floating battleship and extracting the floating stones, the dwarves put their heads together.
“Is this enough?”
“It’s enough. If we design the magic circuits properly, it can fly. And at a fairly high speed, too.”
“The structure is....”
“It should be similar to the floating battleship. That structure is the most ideal form refined over hundreds of years!”
The fact that dwarves who had operated and maintained floating battleships joined them was truly a stroke of fortune.
Though the royal craftsn and Roger possessed excellent skills, floating battleships were not their specialty.
At best, they occasionally repaired or maintained them. In contrast, the dwarves captured this ti lived their lives alongside floating stones.
“Alright. Then we attach the floating stones underneath and design the circuits, but then the legs are the problem.”
“Then we modify the legs.”
“Looks like that’s the only way.”
“Of course. The Sky Tower is nice, but we can’t give up legs that roam freely in any environnt!”
“Like how you can’t give up the few strands of hair you have left?”
“What did you say, you Peul Dwarf bastard?”
“Alright, alright! Everyone, calm down, and let’s move on! Didn’t we agree to finish everything before the Demon King arrives?”
Roger cald the dwarves, who were about to grow noisy again.
“How to modify the legs, and how to combine them with the floating stones.”
“What if they stay in leg form normally, but when flying, the legs curl inward?”
“If the floating stones are attached under the tower, they’ll be obstructed like that.”
That would reduce efficiency.
“Then we fold them the other way. Attach them along the tower’s walls.”
“That’s not bad. Then how about installing the mana cannons along those legs? It seems better than just punching holes in the walls and placing the mana cannons outside.”
“Oh? Not bad.”
The dwarves drew hundreds of blueprints across hundreds of sheets of paper.
“Then we need to reinforce the legs. They can’t weaken just because we add mana cannons.”
“Agreed. Reinforcent will be necessary.”
“Then the final form will be the legs lifting up, revealing the hidden floating stones from the bottom of the tower.”
“We also need a way to protect the floating stones. Getting hit by so stray mana cannon would be disastrous.”
“Of course. We must add defensive magic arrays and various protective asures.”
“Um, excuse ....”
At that mont, a relatively young dwarf raised his hand.
“Floating stones are ultimately a type of mana stone. Couldn’t we also manifest magic through them?”
“Magic?”
“For example, releasing lightning magic in a straight line. We couldn’t do it with floating battleships because there was no leeway to use the floating stones’ mana elsewhere, but the Sky Tower uses demonic energy, doesn’t it?”
The dwarves imagined it.
A Sky Tower flying through the heavens.
Hundreds of mana cannons spewing fire.
And from below, a massive bolt of lightning striking the ground in a straight line.
That was—
A calamity.
The greatest destructive power that no one could stop.
“Insanely fantastic!”
“Let’s gooooo!”
“I just imagined it. I need to go to the bathroom!”
“Why didn’t we think of that? The Sky Tower is the Demon King’s tower, so it’ll have many enemies. Then we’ll need even more weapons, right?”
“Mount lightning on the mana cannons and have the entire tower emit flas. That’ll keep enemies from approaching.”
“What are you doing standing around? Let’s build it right now!”
As ideas poured out one by one, the hands of the madness-filled dwarves grew ever busier.
At that mont, an elf passing by happened to glance at one of the blueprints.
“What is this hideous thing?”
Frowning, the elf hurried up to report to Ellena and Charlotte.
Shortly after, dozens of elves ca down in force.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Huh? We’re just doing the work the Demon King ordered us to do....”
At Ellena’s sharp tone, Roger shrank back.
“Sothing like this?”
Ellena held out a blueprint.
“Yes, is there a problem?”
“A problem? There are far too many.”
At her reply, the elves nodded one by one.
“Way too many.”
“Honestly, dwarves....”
“You’re calling this design? Get out and die. You dwarves.”
“Ugh, it’s awful. Has dwarven aesthetic sense not only degenerated but vanished?”
“You intend to make the great Demon King’s tower look this grotesque, plastered with piles of scrap tal?”
“Do you have even a shred of thought for the Demon King’s dignity?”
“Move aside!”
Ellena and the elves began tearing apart and redesigning the tower’s appearance.
“Oh, it’s definitely better.”
“Hm, it’s annoying, but what the long-ears drew is a bit more....”
“Ahem.”
It was a great racial reconciliation between dwarves and elves.
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