Chapter 178: Lavinia and Cher
Splash-
Ripples spread across the once-calm seawater. Monsters that had rushed in after catching the scent of blood t a rare end, burning to death beneath the surface.
In the dark abyss where not even light reached, a gigantic tower stood on the seabed.
The tower opened its doors at its master’s arrival, and Berje stepped inside.
“It’s the Demon King!”
“The Demon King has returned!”
“How was it, Demon King? The power of the special bombs we made!”
“I wanted to see it with my own eyes!”
“You said you’d record it with the scrying orb, didn’t you?”
“Thanks to the research on creating a golem core, we layered demonic energy neatly over the mana, so they wouldn’t have noticed until right before the explosion—sir?”
“...Demon King?”
“...Are you all right?”
“Call Vivian. Bring Vivian here.”
“The Demon King is injured!”
“Could it be that the bomb’s power was stronger than expected and caught him in it?”
“That just ans we made it well enough to affect even the Demon King! As expected of my skills—!”
The dwarves made a fuss as they hurried upward. Shortly after, Vivian appeared.
“What is this? What happened? Don’t tell
it failed?”
“It succeeded. It’s just that....”
“Just that?”
“No, never mind. There was one variable. But it was handled well.”
“This doesn’t look like it was handled well.”
Berje’s condition was, at best, far from normal. His scales had been torn away by half, and deep sword scars were carved into him. Blood flowed endlessly, showing no sign of stopping.
“You’re a Demon Dragon. A Demon Dragon’s regenerative ability should—.”
“Dinsional interference power. The interference is suppressing recovery, so I called you.”
Succubi learned healing magic, however weakly. Compared to a proper healer, it was far from sufficient, but it was better than nothing.
And this was the Succubus Queen.
“You said you’d just go take a look. Did you get exposed and surrounded by tens of thousands of people or sothing?”
“Sothing like that.”
The fight had been a one-on-one with Balraf Dislode, but there had been an alliance army filling the surroundings, so it wasn’t wrong.
“So you tucked your tail and ran?”
“I did not tuck my tail.”
He had rely retreated temporarily because there was no room to see it through to the end.
It was unclear whether the outco against that man would have been victory or defeat. And even if they had panicked, there had been tens of thousands of humans nearby.
He did not want to win only to beco a wounded, miserable dog hunted down afterward. So he swallowed the humiliation and retreated.
“We call that running away.”
“Shut up. I am not part of that ‘we.’”
“What a pride you’ve got. Fine. This is my best.”
“That’s all?”
“It wasn’t my specialty to begin with.”
“Well, it’s not bad.”
Berje checked his condition. The wounds hadn’t fully healed, but much of the interference had been stripped away. He hadn’t suffered mortal injuries to begin with, so the rest would recover naturally with ti.
“Are you all right?”
Gordon ca down belatedly. Berje nodded.
“Summon the princesses imdiately. There’s sothing I need to confirm.”
Balraf Dislode. The questions about that damned hero still hadn’t left his mind.
How did that man possess the Red Dragon Sword?
How could a re hero be that strong?
No.
‘Is he really Balraf Dislode?’
Was he truly the strongest star who had hunted a Demon King and lived as a hero for decades?
“Yes.”
“You’re coming too. Vivian, you as well.”
“Alright.”
Shortly after, at the top of the tower, the Demon King, four princesses, the adjutant, and the one who had once been a Demon King gathered.
“Just now, the hero party fell into the trap I prepared.”
“Ah.”
“Then are they all dead?”
“Dead?”
“They must all be dead. Everyone knows dwarven bombs.”
They spoke in order: Kaede, Ellena, Lavinia, and then Louise.
“The heroes who entered the tower suffered near-total annihilation, and even the allied forces guarding the area around the tower took heavy losses.”
“Wait, there are survivors?”
Louise frowned.
“That’s right.”
“That’s impossible. Dwarven bombs are the best on the continent! How many did we plant in that fake tower, and it wasn’t a wipeout?”
“Even so, nothing changes.”
“In cases like this, it’s one of two things.”
“What is it?”
“Either there weren’t enough bombs, or that Roger bastard made them carelessly!”
“Neither.”
“Neither?”
“The explosive power was sufficient.”
They had inflicted enough damage. Increasing the number of bombs would have widened the range, but no matter what, it wouldn’t have killed Balraf Dislode.
“There was one bastard who exceeded my expectations.”
“A very strong hero?”
“Balraf Dislode.”
“No matter how strong he is, to that extent?”
“Yes. Kaede Zespine.”
“Yes, Demon King.”
“You rember when I asked you about Balraf before.”
“Yes.”
“At the ti, it was suspicion.”
“...And now?”
“Now I’m certain. He drew the Red Dragon Sword.”
Kaede’s pupils dilated.
“That can’t be.”
“Then the Emperor must be involved, as you said. Isn’t that right?”
“...If there’s any possibility, that would be it, but it’s hard to believe His Majesty would hand the symbol of the Empire to a re hero.”
“Balraf Dislode is no re hero.”
“Compared to the Empire, he still is.”
“Then what if the Emperor’s anger toward
is that great?”
Berje had carved a massive scar into the once-unshakable honor of the Empire.
At Hapstrain Gorge, he had let Black Mages run rampant, dreaming of national subversion, and he had dropped monsters into imperial territories.
If it were the Emperor, the supre ruler of the Empire, he would never have tolerated such provocation.
“But didn’t the Red Dragon Sword disappear before you dropped monsters, Demon King?”
“But it was also after Balraf failed one hero’s march.”
Of course, nothing could be said with certainty. Berje was rely considering a plausible possibility.
“In any case, that’s not what’s important right now. Balraf Dislode’s strength. He fought
on equal footing.”
After absorbing a Phoenix’s corpse.
After absorbing the tower and improving the efficiency of interference release.
After even consuming a Dragon’s heart.
This surpassed everything known about Balraf so far.
“How long has it been since he beca a hero?”
“Twenty-eight years. I heard he first made his na during imperial monster subjugations.”
Twenty-eight years. To him, a Demon Dragon, it was a very short ti, but to a human, it was long.
And even the sa span of ti did not flow equally for everyone. Humans with short lifespans lived that much more fiercely—so who hadn’t even lived fifty years killed Demon Kings.
Twenty-eight years wasn’t extraordinarily long, but it was enough ti for an exceptional human to grow imnsely strong.
But even so.
‘That level is impossible.’
“How many Demon Kings has he killed?”
“One.”
“If he’s only absorbed one Demon King, then all the more.”
“What was the na?”
“I heard it was a Demon King bearing the epithet of the Blood Sea.”
“The Demon King of the Blood Sea, huh....”
Just hearing the na made it clear. Truly a straightforward naming sense.
“A Vampire Lord?”
“Yes. A Demon King subjugated about fifteen years ago. At the ti of subjugation, I heard it had been about ten years since its descent.”
“Why was it targeted for subjugation?”
The Demon Kings of Arein did not act recklessly, as Jason intended. Setting that aside, they knew such behavior favored survival.
A vampire that had lasted ten years wouldn’t have been ignorant of that.
“It attacked the eastern region of Hilderan.”
Ellena answered instead.
“The east of Hilderan?”
“Yes. At the ti, the Demon King of the Blood Sea reportedly commanded thousands of thralls.”
“Why?”
“It expanded its power rapidly, so Hilderan was already planning a subjugation. It struck first.”
“So it rampaged like a typical Demon King.”
“Probably. In any case, the near-ambush devastated cities and villages in eastern Hilderan, and His Majesty—then the Crown Prince—organized a subjugation force and requested help from the Hero Guild.”
This wasn’t a case where armies couldn’t be sent due to intervening nations. Like Ormus, which had lost a prince and sent thousands of troops, Hilderan decided to subjugate it directly.
While organizing the subjugation force, they requested aid from the Hero Guild, and the one dispatched then was Balraf Dislode.
“At the ti, Balraf Dislode was just one of the heroes with a bit of fa.”
He was strong and had succeeded in many subjugations, but he lacked a decisive finishing blow. Because of that, his evaluation was lowered, and he hadn’t entered the ranks of the stars.
“So the one who ca as the hero party’s captain was a star nad Beirn Kockna.”
“Did he die?”
“Yes. I believe he died during the Demon King subjugation. And Balraf Dislode, who cut down the Demon King, beca a new star.”
“And after that?”
“He showed pro-imperial tendencies, joined assault units, and often participated in subjugating various monsters and magical beasts. But nothing particularly special.”
“Then it’s even stranger. If there’s nothing special, why is he evaluated as the strongest hero?”
Of course, that was true. No hero of the present day surpassed Balraf Dislode. Berje had experienced it firsthand.
“There was one incident.”
“An incident?”
“It was a few years after the Demon King of the Blood Sea died. As Balraf Dislode’s fa was rising, he got into a dispute with Carlson Donette, who was one of the stars at the ti.”
“Carlson Donette?”
“He was a star praised as the strongest back then.”
Humans always liked ranking others. Among active heroes, the star called the strongest was the object of admiration for all heroes, and among them, one was subtly upheld as the very strongest.
Carlson Donette had been a great hero before Balraf Dislode.
“No one knows why the dispute started. Neither of them explained.”
“But one day, the two formally sparred at the guild headquarters of the Trafarta Union.”
“Balraf won.”
It was an all-too-predictable outco.
“Yes. Balraf Dislode won.”
“Not just won—he overwheld him. From start to finish, the duel was completely one-sided, and Carlson Donette couldn’t inflict a single wound on Balraf Dislode. On the other hand, his right arm was severed. He retired because of it.”
A new powerhouse who overwhelmingly defeated the strongest of the era. It was only natural that awe followed and that he soared.
“And that continued until now.”
“His countless subjugations matter as well. Everyone who joined him in assaults or monster hunts holds him in awe.”
“Because he subjugated them too easily?”
“Yes.”
‘It’s insufficient.’
Everything was too abstract. Overwhelming a previous star sounded impressive at first glance, but compared to the power he had shown, it was a drop in the bucket.
‘But can one judge that he had that level of power since over a decade ago?’
To have skill enough to treat fellow stars lightly from that ti. Considering the short lifespan of humans, it was quite astonishing.
“What about before that?”
“There probably isn’t anything notable. Even if there was....”
“You wouldn’t have had reason to pay that much attention to him. I understand.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
“It’s fine.”
It had been helpful in its own way.
‘I expected too much to begin with.’
Thinking of Ernan, who answered everything readily, he had habitually summoned the princesses. But the personal history of a single hero wasn’t sothing they would know in detail.
‘I should give orders to Ernan, Hillan, and the Golden Moon to gather more information on him.’
‘And separately from that, proceed with the plan as intended. If I abduct that damned man in a situation like this, the continent will be shaken even more—.’
Only then did he realize everyone’s gaze was on him.
‘Hmm.’
Berje cut off his thoughts and habitually reached into subspace.
“Do you want so chocolate?”
The princesses nodded.
*
*
*
Grrr-
The Titan opened his eyes. The ceiling of the tower, now familiar, ca into view.
He sat up, scratched his backside, and let out a lazy yawn.
Then, suddenly alert, he examined his body. He sighed in relief. Thankfully, nothing had changed.
Grrng-
His lord always worked on him while he slept. Until now, he hadn’t thought that was bad.
Whenever he woke up, he was always stronger. He was a demon, and a Titan. Chasing strength was instinctive, part of his nature.
He trusted that his lord would never harm him. At least, until recently.
That trust broke not long after coming to this tower. When he woke up, sothing that hadn’t been there was now on his backside. His bulging muscles were gone, replaced by a strange form.
For a proud mber of the Titan race to be saddled with the tail of a weak succubus.
To have muscles that had degenerated because of it.
It was a disgrace to Titans.
No matter how much his lord cared for and cherished him, this was unacceptable.
He went at once to demand that the tail be removed.
“Quiet.”
But his lord was firm. She smacked Cher on the head as he argued.
It hurt enough to bring tears to his eyes.
He tried to remove the tail himself, but no matter how it had been attached, it wouldn’t co off.
Even so, he didn’t give up. He shouted that unless the tail was removed, he would no longer allow anything to be done to his body.
And so, up to now, he had been avoiding his lord.
“Cher.”
At that mont, his lord approached.
Cher shrank back warily. Ready to flee at any ti, he checked his escape route.
“Enhancent.”
Grrr-
His lord pointed at the tail.
“No.”
If that happened, then he wouldn’t. He shook his head.
But his lord didn’t back down.
“This.”
Monsters brought sothing forward. It was a beautifully vivid red.
“Dragon. Scales.”
“...!”
They were a radiant jet-black hue.
“Dragon horns, wings.”
“...!”
“You?”
Cher imagined it. Himself, covered in dragon scales, with dragon horns and wings adorning his head—an overwhelming, majestic form.
It was beautiful. Strong and ferocious. His ideal vision.
Like a gigantic Demon Dragon. A suprely noble and great demon race.
He nodded vigorously.
“Tail.”
He nodded again.
If he could have dragon scales and horns attached, he could overlook a succubus tail.
“Hand.”
He held out his hand.
Bang-
With a dizzying pain, his head was slamd into the floor. It hurt.
“Don’t whine going forward.”
He swore he wouldn’t complain anymore. He rubbed his face against his lord’s hand.
“Good. Good boy.”
Only then did his lord smile.
Cher smiled too.
It was a little humiliating, but so what? Dragon power was waiting for him.
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