I was sitting in my chair, restless.
My legs trembled as I tapped my feet against the floor. It was an unsightly habit, but what could I do? The fate of the Plains Faction hung on this battle.
I sat hunched over all through the night, waiting for word, my eyes fixed on the crystal ball resting on the desk.
Barbatos cannot fall this early.
The central-northern region of Habsburg was of tremendous strategic importance.
The vast majority of Demon Lords had made their nests in the area known as the Demon Lords' Sanctuary—the terrain enclosed by the Black Mountains. My Demon Lord's Castle lay in the westernmost reaches of it, at a place called Pagae-giai, the southernmost tip.
The name didn't matter. The problem was that this was an incredibly dangerous location.
To the west lay the Teuton Kingdom, and to the south stood Habsburg. It was a region all too easily exposed to the humans. This was precisely the area that Barbatos's forces needed to control.
For me, who had earned the deep hatred of the Human Realm's rulers... if, say, President Elisabeth flew into a rage and sent an army, it would be over that very day. I needed a friendly force to serve as a bulwark, making it impossible for them to let troops pass through.
If Agares or Gamigin seized this region, I'd be in a tight spot. They were by no means friendly to me. They might well turn a blind eye to an army marching toward my dungeon with a cheerful "Oops, we somehow let the enemy forces slip through! Sorry!"
Just imagine roughly five hundred troops led by knights storming in. Terrifying, wasn't it?
Even if my dungeon was fortified, I couldn't hold off an army.
At least seven floors. No, five. Barbatos had to serve as my shield until a dungeon of that scale was completed.
...Playing the Sitri card had been my ace in the hole. Sitri was recognized as a warrior a cut above Brother Beleth. If she led reinforcements to join us, our odds would improve considerably. Of course, there was still a possibility of defeat.
Victory or defeat. Depending on how things went, I might have to rush straight to Gamigin, drop to my knees, and lick her toes. I wasn't joking. If it could increase my chances of survival in the future, I'd clean her toes dozens of times over. But I also desperately hoped that Barbatos would not lose...
— Dantalion.
A greenish light seeped from the crystal ball. Captain Zepar's figure was projected from within. Word had finally come!
— Dantalion, are you there?
"Yes, Brother Zepar! I've been waiting."
Captain Zepar was drenched in exhaustion. He hadn't even removed his armor yet — it looked as though the battle had only just ended. I leaned closer to the crystal ball in a hurry. A knot of anxiety tightened inside me. Why hadn't Barbatos contacted me directly?
Every communication so far had been relayed through Barbatos. It was hard to imagine her handing off the task to someone else without good reason. That meant Barbatos herself was in no condition to bother with something like a transmission. Injuries, defeat, retreat… Desperate words began surfacing unbidden.
I asked in a trembling voice.
"The battle. How did the battle go?"
— Ah. We won.
Victory! Barbatos had won!
I clutched my face with both hands. My heart hammered as a sigh of relief escaped me. The exhaustion that had built up over the past few sleepless nights seemed to lift all at once. Barbatos had won!
"What about our casualties? How is Lady Barbatos? She hasn't been so badly injured that she can't manage a transmission, has she? Have you captured Agares? What's the situation with the independent Demon Lords?"
— Dantalion, you're getting ahead of yourself.
Captain Zepar let out a small, weary laugh.
— I can't answer that many questions all at once. Don't get worked up.
"…I'm sorry. My nerves have been a little too on edge these past few days."
— Our side won. That fact will never change. There's no need to grow anxious now. The frenzied battle is over, and it's time for calm reason to return. The role you've been given is far removed from excitement… wouldn't you agree?
"No. You're absolutely right."
I nodded.
That's right. In this civil war, I wasn't a general — I was a diplomat. I had to be more clear-headed than anyone. After all, my adversary was the Demon Lord Gamigin, a sly old fox who could probably hide two hundred foxes under his skin. He was no pushover.
"Brother Zepar. Please tell me the scale of casualties for our side and the enemy first."
Captain Zepar's expression turned serious.
— Out of eighteen thousand six hundred on our side, four thousand suffered casualties. Three thousand wounded, one thousand dead. We haven't been able to get an exact count yet. And the enemy… out of twenty-one thousand, roughly ten thousand casualties.
My face brightened.
Out of twenty-one thousand, casualties numbered a full ten thousand. This was no simple victory. It was a rout — a crushing, annihilating triumph so decisive you could call it total destruction. My heart raced. I barely managed to contain it and asked in a calm voice.
"How is Commander Barbatos's condition?"
— I understand your anxiety, but put your worries aside. The Commander simply overexerted his mana in his clash with Agares. It was on the verge of causing a mana backlash, so he's recuperating now.
"You mean he isn't injured?"
— I'll be honest with you — he's in peak condition. Beleth and I had to practically wrestle him into bed. He was shouting blue murder about chasing Agares to the ends of the earth.
What an immense relief. I let out another sigh. I felt exactly like a perpetually worried old grandfather. Damn it — the more you sigh, the faster you age, or so they say.
— Unfortunately, we failed to capture Agares alive. Though I suppose capturing Agares alive was questionable to begin with. It's a poor substitute, but we did manage to take three unaffiliated Demon Lords prisoner.
According to Captain Zepar's explanation, the Plains Faction held the enemy in place while Sitri's forces struck from the rear. The result was a classic hammer-and-anvil formation that utterly annihilated the enemy.
Captain Zepar gave a wry smile.
— I never imagined the day I'd receive help from the Mountain Faction. Dantalion, our Plains Faction is quite astonished. They keep asking what kind of magic you pulled off this time. Becoming the hero of the hour without ever lifting a finger in battle — some things never change.
"I'm humbled. Then would it be all right to begin negotiations today?"
— Indeed. The Commander has given his permission. Go hunt that desert fox to your heart's content.
The desert fox was the nickname for Gamigin. A fox with beautiful golden fur, yet infinitely cunning. The time had finally come to hunt that fox without restraint.
I nodded.
I, Dantalion, was infinitely weak against the strong but infinitely powerful against the weak. I'll torment you until tears stream from your eyes, Gamigin. You can look forward to it. I'll add interest to every bit of humiliation I've suffered until now……
Gamigin owned a massive estate in Niflheim.
You might call it what passed for cutting-edge architecture in this era. Most of the grounds were filled with gardens, with a waterway running through the center, and the villa itself was tucked away as a modest structure at the very deepest point. The building was small but opulent. Those of the highest rank apparently each had a villa in one of the Demon Realm's great cities.
I smiled as I passed a beautiful fountain. Cooped up in such a lavish estate, Gamigin was probably sitting there with that perpetually gloomy scowl. The thought made me feel quite pleasant.
"Please, this way."
I was led by a maidservant to one side of the garden. The shrubs had been meticulously pruned. An artificial beauty dwelled there — much like Gamigin himself, who had spent a lifetime deceiving others with his smile. Rotten taste, rotten character. Ha ha.
After walking along the dirt path through the garden for a while, I found Gamigin sitting on a low-lying patch of grass nestled between the shrubbery, as though deliberately hidden away.
"Welcome, Dantalion."
Gamigin greeted me with a smile. She still had the energy to smile. Impressive.
"You're the first man to ever set foot in my garden."
"How many men have you whispered those exact words to?"
"Hmm, roughly two hundred, give or take~?"
I knew it. I sat down across from her.
"You seem quite composed. I expected you'd be a bit more on edge."
"Looks can be deceiving — inside, I'm reeeally incredibly nervous."
Gamigin laughed. Perhaps for her, a smile had already fused itself to her skin and could never be scraped off. Suddenly, I found myself wondering what it would look like if this woman's face contorted in front of me. Her expression crumbling grotesquely, dyed in pain and pleasure, with absolutely no room left to smile.
It would probably feel like paradise itself.
Just imagining it sent a thrill through me.
"There's only the two of us here. No need for pleasantries, wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh my. Don't tell me you're saying we have a special relationship?"
"Well… depending on how things unfold between us, perhaps we just might."
I deliberately left a lingering note at the end of my words.
"Hmm," Gamigin tilted her wine glass. She was wearing a garment far more revealing than usual — was it a nightgown? The fabric slipped and bared her thighs and the valley of her chest with shameless abandon. The cloth was so thin that glimpses of Gamigin's snow-white skin shone through here and there.
The sun was already setting, so wearing a nightgown wouldn't be out of the place. But to greet a guest in something like that was outrageously improper.
That nightgown was an unmistakable provocation… or perhaps seduction. It certainly carried that kind of meaning.
Judging by Gamigin's personality, it was probably seduction. Was she trying to lure me in with her feminine wiles? How interesting. Let's see just how skillfully she could seduce me.
"I'll get straight to the point. Our Plains Faction cannot accept any territorial distribution whatsoever."
"Oh my, coming in awfully strong, aren't you?"
"I told you during the last negotiation. I made the warning quite clear."
I wiped every trace of a smile from my lips.
"That was, in fact, your last chance to present a 'good' compromise, Lady Gamigin. Our Plains Faction won. And we will continue to win. There are no more opportunities for Lord Agares and the unaffiliated Demon Lords."
"Why? Victory and defeat are just part of the game."
Gamigin idly toyed with a strand of hair beside her ear.
"Today Agares lost, but who knows what tomorrow holds. Agares has the power to turn things around. You can't deny that."
"Of course. I acknowledge it. Lord Agares is truly the mightiest warrior in the world. Across the Demon Realm and the entire continent combined, there is no one alive who can stand against him."
But, I continued.
"That is precisely why I have been moving busily to eliminate even the slightest possibility."
"Hmm?"
"The day after tomorrow. Marbas will lead the Neutral Faction across the border of the Habsburg Kingdom."
"……."
Gamigin froze for an instant.
"That's a lie. Marbas never militarily intervenes in faction disputes."
"Correct. If this current conflict had been a struggle between 'factions,' that is. This situation is nothing more than an event orchestrated single-handedly by Lord Agares. Every Demon Lord on his side is unaffiliated."
I smiled.
"From Marbas's perspective, it was simply a band of unaffiliated rabble causing chaos. An era is dawning in which the Plains Faction and the Mountain Faction, which have been opposed for over a thousand years, can finally coexist. And yet, there are those who fail to read the room and seek to sabotage this era of coexistence……"
I deftly plucked the wine glass from Gamigin's hand. I took a sip and spoke. It was sweet, with surprising depth. The finest vintage. My mood was steadily improving.
"I'm sure it was thoroughly unpleasant. A bunch of monkeys causing trouble by interfering with the factions' unity — nothing more than an irritant. Might as well crush them while we're at it. That's only natural to think, wouldn't you agree?"
Or maybe it was just my imagination, but Gamigin's crimson eyes sank into a cold stillness.