Chapter 186: Deja Vu
A floating ship.
True to its na, it was a vessel, yet it could not be dismissed as a re ship.
Floating stone. A bizarre ore that, when infused with mana, possessed the property of rising into the sky.
What was made from that floating stone was precisely the floating ship.
Even in the Berfht Kingdom, there was only a single one—a national treasure of the kingdom.
It was not rely an aerial weapon that flew through the skies, imbued with the dwarves’ magi-engineering; it could also cleave the sea and dive straight beneath it.
Since the tower lay beneath the sea, the empire’s insistence on requiring the floating ship was, in its own way, reasonable.
However, the dwarves were extrely reluctant to expose the floating ship to the outside world.
A treasure beca poison rely by being possessed.
The reason the relatively weak Berfht Kingdom had been able to keep the floating ship was not because its power overwhelmingly dominated other nations.
It was because there was only one, and mass production was no longer possible.
The mutual restraint of “If I cannot have it, neither can you” created a strange balance.
For that reason, the Berfht Kingdom kept this firmly in mind and used the floating ship solely for defending itself—and only in the worst possible circumstances.
And yet, they were asking for it?
They claid it was rely a loan, but there was no guarantee it would be returned intact.
“That is nonsense.”
“The Emperor also said this: ‘The current situation ultimately arose because of you dwarves. Thus, the responsibility to resolve it also lies with you. However, since you lack such power, I will not force you to untie the knot yourselves. Instead, should you not provide more concrete support to the alliance striving to resolve it?’”
“Hmm.”
It was not an incorrect statent.
The fact did not change that forty-nine artisans had been kidnapped and forced into labor, or that they had collectively fallen into dentia and voluntarily aided the Demon King.
And since they were artisans belonging to the royal workshop, the Dwarven Kingdom could not be completely free of responsibility.
A misunderstanding? Not of their own will?
Saying such things before the countless dead would not carry any weight.
If it was so even among humans, then even more so for themselves as a different race.
The dwarves recalled the heterogenous slave hunts once perpetrated by humans.
“And he also said that if you refuse until the end, only the worst outco will await you....”
It was a declaration of war. The dwarves swallowed their groans.
The king briefly changed the subject.
“...What exactly does it an that the Tower of Dark Fla is under the sea?”
“I only heard it secondhand as well. According to what the empire discovered, the Tower of Dark Fla is located in the northwestern sea of Dormunt.”
“A Demon King’s tower being under the sea. That is unheard of.”
Yet the Demon King of Dark Fla had never adhered to convention from beginning to end.
Perhaps the thought arose—‘Really?’
If it was the Demon King of Dark Fla.
And the Emperor of the empire had no reason to tell such an absurd lie.
‘Let us view it positively. If the empire intended to monopolize the floating ship, the other kingdoms would not remain silent.’
Especially Arkan. The Magitech Kingdom of Arkan, which had consistently served as the empire’s counterweight for centuries, would not stand by and watch the empire run rampant.
‘And we have no choice.’
“...Send another envoy to the empire.”
When the assault force toward the Tower of Dark Fla was re-ford, an agreent was made that the Berfht Kingdom would dispatch the floating ship along with one hundred dwarves to operate and maintain it.
*
*
*
Countless battles erupted across the snowfield.
There were quite a few traps, and in the vast snowfield, it was nearly impossible to discover every single one perfectly.
This was partly because the dwarves’ traps were so covert and precise, and partly because the blizzard—symbolic of the snowfield—had begun to fall.
The advance slowed. The ever-deepening snow made trap detection even harder. A vicious cycle repeated itself.
Every other ti, they fell into a trap, and when that happened, monsters inevitably appeared and attacked from all sides.
Battle, battle, battle, battle.
It was like an antlion pit. The deeper they ventured into the snowfield, the more obstacles arose to hinder them.
The force of fifty thousand was being gradually, steadily whittled away.
Yet they had hope.
“Monsters!”
“Follow !”
Hope nad Balraf Dislode.
“As resistance grows fiercer, it ans we are closer to the tower. These are the desperate struggles of a Demon King who fears you!”
Hope that the tower’s location was certain.
The allied forces were steadily closing in on the Tower of Frost.
“More than three thousand monsters have been killed.”
As that happened, the atmosphere within the Tower of Frost grew heavier.
The more hope they gained, the darker the tower beca.
“What about the traps?”
“The mana bombs were all discovered in advance. Traps that do not use mana are being detected by detection magic at about half.”
It was different from Berje’s fake tower. Back then, he had rely twisted the mana of the mana bombs to feel like demonic energy. The tower had been overflowing with demonic energy anyway. Hiding trees in a forest was not difficult.
“Of course, they are definitely buying us ti.”
It held little real aning.
“It is not entirely aningless.”
Berje, who had been listening quietly, interjected.
“A considerable amount of Demonic Points is accumulating in real ti.”
Originally, the humans’ emotions that had focused solely on Berje spread across all Demon Kings. And among them, especially toward Reina, where the hero’s march was currently unfolding.
At present, though not to Berje’s extent, since her descent, she had been collecting large quantities of Demonic Points at the fastest pace.
If she released her interference power, the interference applied to her subordinate demons, monsters, and all her retinue would also decrease.
It ant that stalling for ti was not without value.
However, unless this state continued for at least several weeks, there was not even a week left until the allied forces arrived.
Ti was absolutely insufficient.
“....”
Reina sank briefly into thought. With a heavy gaze, she swept over the demons who trusted and followed her.
Here and there, empty spaces were visible. They had crossed a river from which there was no return. For her sake.
Had their actions for her ever weighed this heavily?
“Berje.”
“Speak.”
“If this one were to ask to borrow your Demonic Points, would you lend them?”
“As many as you want.”
“If all of them were used to release interference power, could this one win this war?”
“Perhaps.”
“Perhaps....”
Reina held a candy in her mouth.
“Everyone, leave. This one wishes to speak with Lord Berje alone.”
“Yes, Demon King.”
At the top of the tower, only the two Demon Kings remained.
“‘Perhaps’ ans there is also the possibility that it is not so, correct?”
“Yes.”
“You have changed greatly from before. Unless this one clashes with you directly, I cannot know your exact level.”
“So?”
“If even you speak like that, then it must be real.”
“If you wish, I can even swear an oath.”
Berje, who had mocked the First Demon Emperor and The Demon King’s Standard, was sincere this ti.
Balraf Dislode was no ordinary hero. He was not rely soone who had killed a single Demon King.
“This one is the Demon King who bears responsibility for them. I cannot wager all their lives on ‘perhaps’ or ‘if.’”
Unless there was no alternative at all—if a clear alternative was visible, then all the more so.
“Then that ans?”
“But.”
Acrunch—
Reina bit down on the candy. The bright red candy shattered into pieces.
“This one will not beco the retainer of a demon weaker than herself. If you wish to take this one as your retainer, prove that value.”
“Now?”
“You know better than anyone that ti is short.”
“Here?”
“Of course.”
“This is your tower. You receive the tower’s protection, while I am suppressed instead.”
“Could you not even overco that, and yet dared to covet this one?”
Reina sneered. That deanour overlapped with a scene from the past.
‘Berje Deias, arrogant Demon Dragon. The world is not limited to what you know.’
It was advice and mockery she had once given to Berje when he rampaged recklessly. Spoken in a tone as if soothing a child, Berje had snapped back, telling her to shut up and mind her own business.
“...Fine.”
Fighting in another’s tower ant starting at a disadvantage.
Reina Sordein had released interference power for a full hundred years, achieving a state nearly perfect.
In contrast, Berje had done so for rely two years. Anyone with even a little knowledge of Demon Kings would predict Reina’s victory without exception.
But Berje was a Demon Dragon.
The greatest, strongest species in the Demon Realm.
Interference power functioned by ratio. From the outset, the Demon Dragon’s 1% was fundantally different from the 1% of other demon races.
Moreover, Berje had absorbed Vivian’s tower, doubling its efficiency.
He had absorbed the corpse of a Phoenix and a dragon heart, further drawing out his true body’s power, making his current 1% entirely different from his previous 1%.
And he was pouring all the unprecedentedly accumulating Demonic Points into releasing interference power.
That was why Berje was confident.
No—whether confident or not, he had to be.
This was an opportunity to take Reina Sordein as his retainer.
An opportunity to obtain even her nurous retainers, to swallow an entire legion whole.
An opportunity to rge another tower, and to twist off Balraf Dislode’s head.
“I will show you why a Demon Dragon is called a Demon Dragon, and why I am feared by humans.”
Wings spread.
Horns grew from his head.
Dark crimson scales covered his entire body.
Draconic eyes surveyed the front.
“So that is the form of a Demon Dragon.”
Reina calmly exhaled.
A chilling cold rged with the tower, amplifying its power.
Crack—
A spear of pure white ice settled into her hand.
“But you must also know this.”
A Demon Dragon was indeed the greatest and strongest among demon races, but—
“That the Frost Demon race is also a great existence not far behind.”
And that Reina Sordein was the next leader destined to lead those Frost Demons.
“Co, Berje Deias.”
If you desire this one—
Defeat this one.
“As much as you like!”
Berje soared upward.
Flas erupted.
*
*
*
The ceiling ca into view.
Berje shivered under the chilling cold. He spat out the blood filling his mouth.
‘I lost.’
He had lost.
Even so, Berje laughed.
“I lost, didn’t I?”
“....”
No answer ca. Berje raised his head. Reina’s stiffened face was rather striking.
“You are the victor, yet you look like the defeated.”
“Victor? Can this be called a victory?”
Reina bit her lip.
“What in the world happened? It has been barely a little over two years since you descended upon Arein.”
“A Demon Dragon’s two years are different from those of other demon races.”
“There is an alien power mixed within your aura, different from demonic energy. Mana. How did Arein’s power blend so well with you?”
“If you want to know, beco my retainer.”
“How absurd.”
Reina laughed hollowly.
“If we had fought outside the tower, this one would have lost without question.”
It had been a victory by the thinnest of margins—achieved only with the tower’s support.
The tower suppressed Berje as an intruder and aided Reina as its master.
That difference decided the outco.
Yet no one here acknowledged that outco.
“What were my hundred years, then?”
Reina gnawed on her candy in frustration, crunching it again and again.
Though she had invested much in turning monsters into retainers and nurturing a legion, she had not neglected her own martial strength or the release of interference power.
No matter how much of a Demon Dragon he was, it had been only two years—yet her hundred years had been caught up to.
“So, will you beco my retainer?”
“This one is the victor.”
“A victory you yourself cannot accept is not a victory.”
“...Balraf Dislode. You said you fought him on even footing and could not guarantee the outco?”
“No. I win.”
“Against a hero who received the power of dinsions, a natural enemy to us.”
Interpreted differently, that ant...
“This one cannot handle him? A hero who has lived rely a few decades?”
“Hmm.”
The Berje of then and the Berje of now were different.
After blowing up hundreds of heroes and stars, Berje’s infamy had increased exponentially, and the quality of Demonic Points he received had changed.
And he continued to pour all of it into releasing interference power. Naturally, the gap was large—but he did not bother to say it.
In the first place, the hero had not fought at full strength, so he could not be certain either...
‘Better to stay quiet.’
If she misunderstood in a positive direction on her own, that was only welco.
“If this one becos your retainer, can I learn that thod?”
“That thod?”
“The thod by which, in rely two years, you caught this one by the back of the neck.”
A yearning for strength was common to all demon races. Even if she valued honor and dignity, the essence of being a demon did not disappear.
“I can tell you the thod.”
Only the thod.
The byproducts of a Red Dragon imbued with the energy of fire would likely be poison to Reina. She would not be able to put it into practice anyway.
“This one accepts your proposal.”
“Truly?”
“This one does not speak two words with one mouth.”
“Did you not say I must defeat you to make you my retainer?”
“A victory I cannot accept is not a victory.”
“My words.”
“This one had been thinking the sa.”
“Right. If that is how you see it, then that is how it is.”
If she was willingly becoming a retainer, did it really matter?
“...That expression displeases .”
“You like sweet things, don’t you? My tower has plenty of chocolate.”
“This one likes candy.”
“I will prepare plenty of cherry flavor.”
“Not bad. But before that.”
“Before?”
“Tell
your plan. Simply becoming your retainer and abandoning this tower to migrate to yours?”
“There is no need for that.”
“Then?”
“I will rge this tower with mine.”
“...If it is not rude, may I ask one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Is sothing wrong with your head? Or are you simply insane?”
“How rude.”
‘Hmm.’
Why did this feel like deja vu?
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