After a long while, Paimon raised her head. The moist sensation lingered on her lips.
"I am of the mind to strike while the iron is hot, however."
She gave a shy smile.
"I have never once begged from this side, you see. My pride as the Succubus Queen is at stake. If Dantalion were to ask first, I would gladly offer up my body... Well? How about it?"
"I'll have to decline."
I waved my hand back and forth. I had no intention of watching some male fool play his middle leg around freely and ruin everything. Besides, what was this? Become the man who takes both Barbatos and Paimon at the same time? It was madness. A political catastrophe would erupt in an instant. I had no desire to voluntarily buy a first-class ticket on the express train to the afterlife.
"Hmm. Your defenses are surprisingly solid."
Paimon furrowed her brow, as if displeased with something.
"Could it be that Dantalion has a thing for childlike builds like Barbatos? This is a dream, you know. I could change my body type as well."
"Absolutely not."
After falling into this world and ending up as lovers with Barbatos and Raora and all those childlike girls, it was by no means my own doing. Some damned fate had certainly been at work. I have an entirely ordinary sexual preference. I swear. Damn it all.
Paimon pouted.
"Well, fine. The true enjoyment comes when I conquer an impregnable fortress. The sight of the first man Barbatos ever takes a liking to kneeling before me and begging... Heh heh. What a splendid sight that will be. I'll be looking forward to it."
Please don't look forward to it.
I was now certain. Whether they belonged to the Mountain Faction or the Plains Faction, every one of the upper Demon Lords was a pervert with a brain drenched in pink paint. Barbatos was quite literally the world's most depraved SM lolicon, the unaffiliated Demon Lord ranked fourth — Gamigin — was a blonde masochist, and the Paimon before my eyes was every bit as twisted as her former lover.
I couldn't understand why you people had split into factions in the first place. Why not just found a new party called the Pervert Faction and be done with it? I guarantee it — the Demon Lord army would be unified without a single drop of blood spilled. Wouldn't that be something? Every last one of those Demon Lord bastards was exactly like that... As I have stressed time and again, there is no Demon Lord as upright and diligent as me.
"I look forward to working with you from now on, Lady Paimon."
"Yes, Dantalion. Let us both work toward our own objectives."
We clasped right hands.
"Also, I hope we can become intimately close on a personal level as well."
"......That is, well, quite the honor."
She was persistent! But I was a man who knew how to keep his carnal desires in check. I possessed a cool-headed rationality. No matter how much Paimon wagged her tail, I wouldn't fall for it.
I was just a little curious, though. Paimon's affinity toward me was low. Judging by her personality, she didn't seem like the type to go around kissing just anyone.
'Status Window.'
Just to be sure, I checked Paimon's Status Window. Since her affinity was low, it would probably only display the most basic stats — HP, Attack, and Defense. In that case — and this was a truly terrifying hypothesis — it would mean Paimon was deceiving me too. Just as she had done with the Hero, she might be putting on an act for me right now.
But my anxiety was cleanly shattered.
— Ding!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Paimon
Species: Demon Lord Affiliation: Paimon Demon Lord Army, Mountain Faction, Liberation Alliance
Alignment: Evil (-34)
Level: 349 Infamy: 5,354,100
Job: Demon Lord (S), Dungeon Operator (A+), Archmage (Obsolete)
Command: 300 Combat: 224 Intelligence: 107
Politics: 448 Charm: 572 Technique: 349
Affinity: 44
Current Psychology: 'Should I just pounce on him right here? Hmm.'
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
For reasons I couldn't understand, Paimon's affinity was actually at 44. I simply couldn't comprehend it.
'Paimon's affinity went up? I don't think I ever saw a notification about that.'
Besides, her stats were incredibly lopsided. Politics and Charisma were abnormally high. Just as she'd said herself, she wasn't specialized in scheming—she was specialized in political strategy. Well, with that level of political power and charisma, it made sense she'd built the largest faction within the Demon Lord's army.
…Her psychological state was deeply unsettling, but I decided to ignore it for now. The déjà vu kept piling up. I forced myself to calm down and asked.
"Forgive me for asking, Lady Paimon. What exactly about me do you find so appealing?"
"Well, that's a rather sudden question."
Paimon murmured, "Hm," for a moment.
"Let's see. I saw your speech at the Crescent Alliance Army, and I felt it strongly. You're someone who could become an ally to a young woman in the truest sense."
"Ah, that."
It must have been during the pre-battle rally. Probably right after I'd broken the Imperial Princess. Thousands of notification windows had come crashing down like a flood, with messages like "So-and-so's affinity has increased" and "This person's affinity has risen."
I couldn't possibly check each of the thousands of holographic windows one by one, so I'd just dismissed them all at once. Among them, there had to have been one showing Paimon's affinity increase… No wonder I hadn't noticed.
"You don't have any more questions? Good. Then allow me to introduce you to something."
"Huh? Introduce?"
"We are many, and yet we are one."
Paimon curled a mysterious smile at the corner of her lips.
"It's time to wake up, Dantalion."
Snap. She flicked her finger.
In that instant, my eyes opened. The pure white void was nowhere to be seen. The ceiling of a carriage loomed dark above me. It was night.
I bolted upright. Across the carriage, Lapis was fast asleep. In the quiet interior, her breathing sounded in a steady rhythm. …Had I just woken up from a dream?
It was strange. It felt like an incredibly long time had passed. It also felt like only the briefest instant had gone by. My mind was crisp and clear, as if I'd just woken from a refreshing deep sleep. As though possessed by something, I slowly rose from my seat. Then I carefully opened the carriage door and stepped outside.
"Welcome back, Dantalion."
There stood Paimon, neatly dressed in a black gown.
She was not alone. Behind her, roughly a dozen people stood in formation. They all wore black roves. Like priests conducting a funeral, they stood solemn and silent.
In the center of the ruined castle grounds—where the campfire had gone out and only the pallid moonlight poured down—Paimon curtseyed gracefully, lifting the hem of her dress on both sides and bowing at the waist, as though she were the mistress of a castle that time had passed over.
"We are the Liberation Alliance. The one and only coalition between the Human Realm and the Demon Realm."
*Shff.*
The figures standing behind Paimon in unison raised their right hands to their chests.
"We believe that every rational being living in this world is fundamentally equal, and so we have resolved to return this world to its original form. We are comrades who have sworn to devote our blood and sweat to the revolution until the promised day arrives."
"......"
I stood there, transfixed, my gaze stolen by the scene before me. Then, one by one, beginning with the person on my right, they spoke. Their voices melted cleanly into the night sky.
A man of mixed blood with a bushy beard bowed his head in greeting.
"It is an honor to meet Your Grace, Dantalion. My name is Stefan Timofeyevich Razin. I am of mixed blood—steppe elf and human. I oversee the Liberation Alliance's Kingdom of Moscow chapter. On a personal note, I serve as commander of the Don Cossack cavalry. I look forward to working with you."
Next, a short, stocky dwarf spoke.
"My name is Jacques Bonhomme. I am of the green-bearded dwarven folk. I have served as chapter head of the Liberation Alliance's Frank Empire branch. I lead the Double-Blade Axe Mercenary Company. I have long heard of Your Grace's great renown."
"A pleasure! My name is Wat Tyler! I head the Liberation Alliance's Venetia Kingdom chapter!"
And so, one by one, they introduced themselves.
Kingdom of Moscow, Frank Empire, Venetia Kingdom, Bretagne Kingdom, Castile Kingdom, Kingdom of Sardinia, Habsburg Empire, Teuton Kingdom, Kalmar Union, Polithunia Kingdom, Anatolia Empire... Last of all, a woman with dull blonde hair spoke.
"My name is Anna de Witt. I serve as the Liberation Alliance's Secretary-General and as head of the Batavia Republic chapter. I also hold the junior seat on the Batavia Republic's Council of Thirteen. Looking forward to working with you all."
Twelve in total. They had their roots planted in every kingdom on the continent. Some as heads of vast nomadic tribes. Some as high-ranking officials in kingdoms. Some as key figures in the corridors of power within republics.
"......"
The republicanism Paimon had spoken of was far more extensive than I had imagined—and it had infiltrated the key positions of every society. If these people were to act in concert, they could easily plunge the continent into chaos. I was struck speechless as I imagined the magnitude of that power.
Finally, Paimon spoke.
"I am the leader of the Liberation Alliance. Paimon, the Demon Lord ranked ninth."
I barely managed to speak.
"I am Dantalion, the Demon Lord ranked seventy-first."
"Dantalion. Can you swear that you will not breathe a word about the Liberation Alliance, even if the blade of death tightens around your neck?"
It wasn't a simple declaration of an oath. There was likely some sort of magical contract attached to it. The look in Paimon's eyes said as much.
If I took one more step forward, I would be entering a world I had never experienced even in the game. The information I had gathered up until now would no longer serve me as well as it once had. In other words, my life and death would be decided entirely by my own ability.
Standing before that crossroads—
"Yes. I swear it."
I answered firmly.
Paimon smiled.
"From this moment on, you are an eternal comrade of the Liberation Alliance. Dantalion, welcome."
Wine bottles and cups were distributed to everyone, as if they had been prepared in advance. Wine as red as blood filled the cups. As I shared the oath's toast with them, I thought—
I could no longer predict what events would unfold from here on out.
The Black Death had grown far weaker than it was in the original history. The Crescent Alliance Army had erupted ten years early, and like everything else, it had diverged from the game—flowing in a direction favorable to the Demon Lord's forces. Princess Elisabeth, who was meant to become the continent's supreme ruler, had suffered a devastating political blow. The rift between the nobility and the peasantry had widened.
And here, there were those who cried out for revolution.
"We are many, yet one."
Paimon quietly led the toast. It was the slogan of the Liberation Alliance.
"For the revolution!"
The people shouted in a single, unified voice.
"For the revolution!"
"For the revolution —!"
All fourteen of us, myself included, drained our wine in a single gulp. Then we smashed our glass cups against the floor. The customs of the Demon Lord's army were preserved even in this organization. The glasses shattered with a crisp ring, scattering moonlight in white fragments.
'Whether it's the Plains Faction or the Mountain Faction, I'll use them all.'
Just as I had until now.
And going forward.
Dawn approached.
The members of the Revolutionary Alliance had vanished. They each cast teleportation magic and returned to wherever they needed to be. Paimon lingered until the very end before delivering a cryptic remark.
"The Revolutionary Alliance doesn't only have branches in the Human Realm."
"So there are some in the Demon Realm as well."
"This girl knows exactly what you've been telling the Grand Dukes of Hell."
Paimon flashed a sweet smile. In other words, there were republicans among the Grand Dukes of Hell too — who exactly, I had no idea.
I couldn't begin to guess how far the reach of Paimon and Bael extended. Bitterly smiling to myself, I sent Paimon off.
I sat on a boulder and gazed at the horizon. The sun was slowly rising. Relaxing for a moment in the languid atmosphere of dawn, I heard a voice from behind.
"...Lord Dantalion."
It was Lapis. I turned my head and gave a gentle smile. Then I turned back to stare quietly at the horizon. Lapis, too, came to stand beside me in silence. She must have been gazing at the horizon as well.
I'm sorry for the trouble. No — I was the one who should apologize. You shielded me and I didn't sustain a single wound. It was simply my duty. ...Both Lapis and I knew this. There was no need to actually say any of it.
Just one thing.
"Thank you."
"Yes. Thank you."
That much gratitude was enough.
We both simply gazed quietly at the faint light of dawn.
============================ Afterword ============================
─ Treason Chapter END.