Chapter 23

Chapter 23
“It isn’t a big deal.”

Roger tumbled across the stone. Hillun slammed a boot into him and spat on the floor.

“A supposed hero swinging a mallet for the Lord of Demons? That mana cannon that tore us apart—was that your masterpiece too?”

“You bet it was! My only shame is not working harder to snap your thread of life in one go! And you call yourself a hero while trashing someone else’s hard work like a common thug?”

“What kind of maniac is this? The power of this dimension is truly a tragedy to behold.”

His rising bloodlust boiled over, and he delivered another kick to Roger. With a choked gasp, the dwarf went limp.

“I’m busy as hell, and now I’m stuck with this pathetic beggar.”

He wanted to grill the dwarf and release his fury, but the Demon King was closing the distance from behind.

He didn’t have a moment to spare, yet this fellow hero was picking a fight—it was enough to make his skin crawl.

“This is entertaining. Please, carry on. From a Demon King’s seat, watching heroes tear into each other isn’t a show that comes around often.”

It was already too late to move.

“Ha.”

Before he realized it, the Demon King had settled into a seat right in front of the tower’s entrance. The relaxed arrangement, featuring a chair he had somehow produced, could only be interpreted as a taunt.

Running away? Not an option.

From the beginning to the end, he had been a puppet dancing to the Demon King’s melody.

“What the hell are you supposed to be?”

“The Demon King. They call me Berge Dayas.”

“As if everyone doesn’t know that!”

“Asking for information you already possess is quite poor taste.”

The Demon King found the entire scenario deeply amusing.

Particularly when he weighed it against his former life.

Demon King and heroes. Heroes and Demon King.

In his old memories, the Demon King was the one toyed with, exploited, and eventually put to the sword.

But now? The roles had flipped.

He was the one belittling and playing with the heroes. It was healing the dignity that had shattered just before his return to the past.

“You know, I tried to wrap my brain around it a hundred times—why there were zero monsters or devils.”

Leaving a castle undefended was a lord’s choice. Fine, that made some sense. But no sane person employed an ogre as a doorman.

“How on earth did you get the princess and this trash on your side? Is it brainwashing magic?”

“Regrettably, I have absolutely no talent in that field.”

Whoosh—

Berge summoned flickers of black fire.

“My expertise lies in hellfire. I’m sure you were already aware.”

Yeah, he had heard the reports.

Hillun ground his teeth together.

He had learned from a nobleman that the Demon King was a specialist in fire sorcery. Because of that, he had spent a fortune to provide every member of his team with fire-resistant equipment.

But since arriving here, he hadn’t encountered so much as a single fire mage. All that gold wasted with nothing to show for it.

“Don’t tell me that rumor was your doing as well…?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Doesn’t matter. I asked how you turned the princess.”

“To give you a direct answer: it wasn’t turncoating—it was a conversation. The princess allied with me by her own choice.”

“Lies! There is no possible way a princess would serve a Demon King like you!”

“Even a piece of filth like you claims to follow her, so why wouldn’t a Demon King be an option?”

The retort came from another direction. Hillun’s eyes widened.

The Demon King was standing right there. He thought he was dead?

“Granada… sir…?”

“Sir, my foot. We’ve already seen each other’s worst sides—quit the formalities.”

“Ah, I missed the introduction. This man has sworn to serve me for a century. His name is Granada.”

“…An elf as well?”

This was madness.

What in the world was happening?

“What is your deal! Are you truly the Demon King?!”

“That is exactly why I constructed the tower!”

Crack—

The elf’s knee connected squarely with Hillun’s jaw.

“You’re the rat who tried to trade my life as a sacrifice.”

A series of heavy blows followed, and his world faded into darkness.

—

“What’s the plan for the ones knocked out in the yard?”

“Gather them all up and dump them in the sub-level cells.”

He hadn’t anticipated that the captives would outnumber the tower’s actual staff.

He let out a short laugh. The humor just kept rising.

“Have you gone off the deep end, sir?”

“I think you’re the one losing it. Your mental discipline must still be lacking.”

“I’ll go out and round them up immediately!”

Granada sprinted off. Gordon, who had been listening in silence, lowered his head.

“…You were correct, Demon King-nim.”

The spirit of a demon who worshipped the laws screamed in opposition, but in his gut, he had vaguely suspected this outcome.

If things truly unfolded this way, even a legendary hero would have no choice but to take a devastating blow.

Berge’s tactics were all bizarre, yet strangely effective.

But suspicion and absolute certainty were two different things.

Gordon, having seen the results with his own eyes, pondered.

If they had stuck to the laws.

Built the tower out in the open.

Sent beasts to harass the heroes.

Put the weaklings on the first floor.

Could they have halted the heroes?

No. Despite his pride in the demon realm and its codes, Gordon wasn’t a fool.

If they had clung to the old ways.

‘We’d be dead. Without a doubt.’

They would have been located instantly, without being forced to split up.

No casualties from the entrance trap.

Without the princess, they never could have seized Hillun Kagil so effortlessly.

He had been mistaken. The Demon King was right.

‘Now that I think about it, his talents have always been legendary…’

Before he insulted the laws, he was celebrated as the greatest graduate in history. The Demon King Academy had stood for millennia, and to receive such praise across all generations meant there was a very real reason.

“From this point on, I will serve you with more devotion, Demon King-nim. I will do my best to remain at your side.”

“Glad to hear you won’t be nitpicking my every word anymore.”

“……”

To have the complex emotions he struggled with and finally voiced brushed off like that.

Yeah, he really detested the blockhead Demon King he served.

—

“Finally.”

Drakson was in high spirits today.

He had just received a report from his agents stationed near Hortonwork.

“The hero expedition’s journey is coming to a close. The second the hero party scales the mountain and forces the tower door, it will be his end.”

Kuhuhu. Visualizing that arrogant head rolling on the floor was pure bliss.

“What’s your take, Berge? That guy’s neck is going to fall, isn’t it?”

“Hillun Kagil’s past combat stats weren’t exceptionally high.”

He was viewed more as a political strategist than a front-line fighter. Of course, that was only when compared to the absolute peak of heroism.

“But that’s outdated information.”

Public perception shifted when he brought down the Lust Demon King.

Just as demons grew more powerful by hunting heroes, heroes evolved by toppling demons.

The difference was in how the Demon King consumed the negative emotions of humans fed by hero fame, while heroes converted the Demon King’s own power into interference force and integrated it—but the end result was identical.

“The elf hero Burtein, who everyone had high hopes for, was defeated, and shockingly, it was Hillun who took his head in the end. The vital point is that he did it and claimed that power. Of course, how well he’s integrated it is another question.”

At the very least, it would be more than enough to handle the current Berge.

No matter the talk of him being the greatest graduate, he was still just a green beginner.

Furthermore, he hadn’t invested a single magic point into his own person.

His interference force would be exactly where he started, and a Demon King in that state couldn’t defeat Hillun Kagil even if he were born again.

Drakson was certain.

Thus, one day passed, then two, three, and four.

Time ticked by. Just as Drakson’s self-control reached its breaking point, the long-awaited update arrived.

『Um…』

“Just say it! Hillun Kagil must have returned in glory with Berge’s head, right?”

『We still can’t verify if it was a success or a failure.』

“What kind of garbage is that?! Didn’t the hero party get back?!”

『The quitters, led by Wahton who surrendered halfway after failing to locate the tower, have returned. Hillun and several others are still up on Erjest Mountain.』

“Couldn’t find the tower…?”

Impossible.

The tower should have stood tall in the most glaringly obvious spot.

“On the highest peak, right at the crest! Those morons have been heroes for years—how do they not know that?!”

『It’s not like that.』

『They couldn’t see the tower from the crest, so they combed the surrounding areas but hit nothing but dead ends. Eventually, an exhausted Wahton and a few others broke off.』

Good grief.

Drakson slammed a hand against his forehead.

Only then did he see the full picture.

“You absolute lunatic! Blockhead, blockhead—they called you that, and you really were one!”

Not satisfied with just mocking the laws, the guy had actually gone and broken them completely.

—

A partial failure.

The return of Wahton Kollo and the others from the expedition sent a massive wave of shock through the public.

“Hillun Kagil failed? This Demon King must be terrifyingly powerful!”

“An unbelievable Demon King has appeared!”

“Hillun Kagil hasn’t come back yet.”

“What if it’s not just a failure—what if he’s dead?”

All kinds of whispers and scandals took root. Those negative rumors turned directly into points for Berge, though the people had no clue.

As the gossip grew, Wahton Kollo finally held a press conference as their spokesperson.

“It isn’t a failure quite yet. I and some of the party members simply recognized our limits and stepped back. Hillun Kagil and the elite heroes following him are still searching for the Demon King’s tower, so there is still a chance.”

But that only triggered a new wave of debate.

“Why do they have to search for the tower? Does that mean it isn’t on the summit?”

“The tower is supposed to be in the most visible place, right? No Demon King has ever changed that.”

Their retreat—and the new mysteries they brought back about this Demon King—created chaos everywhere.

And no one felt the impact more sharply than those whose whole lives were dedicated to hunting them.

“Is he truly different from every Demon King we’ve seen?”

“Yes.”

Wahton, having been brought to the Hero Guild headquarters, lowered his head. Five shadowed figures stood in a circle around him.

In the heavy air, he fought to keep his composure.

“Hero Wahton, describe the sequence of events exactly as they happened.”

“If there is even a trace of a lie, you will be held accountable.”

“I promise to speak only the truth before the guild elders.”

From the start of the climb to the moment he quit, Wahton finished his full report and left the room.

“…There has never been a Demon King quite like this.”

“Hiding the tower and sending out no monsters? I’d believe dwarves lived in the treetops before I believed that.”

“But Wahton has no reason to lie. The other heroes told the same story.”

“Which makes it even more bizarre. Why would a Demon King suddenly act this way? To ignore the laws they hold so dear? He’s completely lost his mind.”

A brief silence settled over them. But no one in the chamber had the solution.

Not unless they could ask the Demon King himself.

“I will make the call.”

At the sound of the deep, echoing voice, the five elders bowed their heads.

“This Demon King has several unique traits.”

“First: no beasts or devils were sent to wear down the expedition.”

“Second: he situated his tower in the brutal Erjest Mountains.”

“Third: it is hidden not on the Erjest summit, but in a secret location.”

“Whether Hillun Kagil won or lost is still unknown, but these new factors create significant hurdles for future teams.”

“Because of that.”

“As the acting guild master while the master is away, I will go to verify this anomaly.”

“According to the agreement between the Demon King and the guild, I am requesting full cooperation regarding these variables.”

The session ended.