"Huh? You're still spewing that bullshit, you worthless fool."
Barbatos raised his right foot and kicked Sitri square in the gut. Sitri let out a choked groan. It wasn't just sound—she coughed up a dark, clotted mass of blood as well. Barbatos didn't care in the least and launched another kick.
"Sorry? To Paimon? Why?"
"...to...sister...apologize..."
"Un-fucking-believable. The hundred thousand innocent people you massacred—were their lives worth nothing? Only Paimon's life matters? You act like you're the only tragic figure in the world, don't you? You mangy bitch."
Barbatos looked down at Sitri with cold indifference.
"Born a king, treated like a king, lived as a king—that alone is an incomparable privilege and luxury. You've never gone a single day with an empty stomach, never spent a single hour digging in the dirt, yet you never shut up about how tragic your life is."
Barbatos seemed to have grown tired of kicking her abdomen, so he changed targets. He pressed his sole firmly into the raw stump where Sitri's right arm had been severed. Blood sprayed outward, staining his toes a vivid red.
"Aaaaagh! Aaaaagh...!"
Sitri writhed in agony. Barbatos continued torturing her with an expressionless face, almost mechanical in his movements.
"You know, every time I see people like you who curse the world, it feels like worms are crawling through my stomach. Know your place, for fuck's sake. You've lived over a thousand years as someone in power—what have you ever done for the people of the Demon Realm, huh? All you did was have fun swinging the cock between your legs. Tell me one thing you've ever done right."
"...Sister...sister..."
"Pathetic trash."
Barbatos withdrew his right foot. The torture was over. Sitri, like a broken recording, kept repeating words of apology over and over. Tears streamed from her eyes without end.
"Ugh, you've ruined my mood. If you hadn't been born a Demon Lord, you'd have ended up as some whore in the depths of hell. It's always because of assholes like you that innocent demons end up suffering."
Barbatos slung the great scythe over his shoulder and let out heavy sighs. He swept his gaze over the Plains Faction Demon Lords lounging about the quarters, then bellowed.
"You're lying there saying you're tired from killing a few scraps?! Get up, you losers!"
Beleth quietly raised his hand.
"Your Excellency. My legs are completely destroyed—what am I supposed to do about that?"
"I don't know. Swim here for the rest of your life, for all I care."
The Plains Faction Demon Lords snickered quietly. Then, groaning like old men, one or two of them rose to their feet. Brother Beleth needed his companions' support to stand, since everything below his thighs had been cleanly severed. His frame was so massive that it took two of them just barely holding him up to keep him upright.
"Go and help support them."
Marbas issued the order. The Neutral Faction Demon Lords responded with a chorus of "Yes" and scattered in a hurry. Barbatos furrowed her brow. She was the type who hated accepting kindness from others.
"There's really no need to go out of your way like that. Everyone should look after their own bodies."
"There are three seriously wounded, but plenty more with light injuries, aren't there? Accept the goodwill."
"Well, if you insist on going through the trouble... I won't consider it a debt or anything. Now, cast preservation magic on the dead ones and throw the living ones into the cells."
Barbatos snorted through her nose. Just then, laughter rang out from somewhere. Marbas, Barbatos, and I all turned our heads toward the source of the sound. Across the way, Gamigin was clutching her belly with both hands, laughing her head off.
"That idiot's losing it again."
Barbatos clicked her tongue. She wasn't showing it openly, but one of the Plains Faction Demon Lords had died, so she was in no great mood. Torturing Sitri had partly been a way to vent her frustration. In a situation like this, Gamigin's laughter was enough to make anyone's expression sour naturally—and Marbas and I were no different.
"Why are you laughing again, Gamigin?"
"Sorry— sorry, Marbas. Ahaha, sorry. But it's just too funny of a sight, isn't it?"
Gamigin swept her blonde hair back with the back of her hand and pointed to the center of the detention area.
"Just a little while ago, we were all gathered around the Imperial Palace's front gate, bickering over who'd get to sleep with Dantalion first. And now one of us is sprawled out over there."
Gamigin next pointed at Sitri, who was lying scattered in a pool of blood.
"And another one is over there, missing an arm and a leg, swimming around."
Gamigin turned to Barbatos and grinned.
"Ahaha. No, really— isn't this the kind of joke you can't help but laugh at at this point?"
"Huh...? Hey, you wire-brained bitch. If you want to pick a fight with me, for the love of God, speak in words that a normal person can understand. Every time you open your mouth, your room-temperature IQ comes wafting out."
"Yeah, sorry. Sorry, Barbatos. I just saw such a delightful scene today."
"Gamigin."
Up until then, Vassago had kept his mouth shut, but now he muttered a single word.
"Shut up."
"Ah. Sorry, truly sorry. I was too oblivious and got carried away, huh? Hehe. It's just that Paimon's burial vault is turning into a graveyard, and I find it fascinating."
"I said shut your mouth."
Only then did Gamigin stop chattering. But the grin still beamed across his face.
"……."
Barbatos suddenly turned her head. She looked at me. I had been glancing at Vassago's face at that very moment, so I met Barbatos's gaze a beat late. Her golden pupils stared straight through me.
"……."
"……."
Around us, the Plains Faction Demon Lords were being helped by the Neutral Faction Demon Lords as they slowly, ever so slowly, shifted their steps forward. Perhaps the two of us facing each other made time feel like it was crawling by more than it actually was.
"Thanks for the help. I'll treat you to a meal later."
"Good grief, you old geezer's got more strength than you'd expect — made things tough, I tell you."
The grumbling voices of the wounded drifted from nearby. The sounds bounced off the distant walls of the burial vault, echoing back somewhat dully.
"……."
Barbatos slowly turned her head. This time, she looked at Marbas. Marbas had been ready to receive her gaze all along, so he met her eyes head-on immediately. Unlike in my case, Barbatos did not hold Marbas's gaze for long. She simply parted her lips slightly.
"……."
Barbatos looked back at me again. Those golden eyes were pleading for something. In an instant, the air of the entire world seemed to freeze, and it felt as though only the two of us existed in isolation, communicating without words.
I nodded once.
Barbatos's mouth fell wide open.
"---Get out of the way!"
A step before she screamed. Or perhaps at the very same moment.
The Neutral Faction Demon Lords drew their weapons and brutally stabbed the bodies of the Plains Faction Demon Lords. Blades pierced through abdomens, waists, napes, and thighs without a shred of hesitation. The Plains Faction Demon Lords, who had let their guard down around their counterparts, screamed.
"Graaahh!"
Blood and screams erupted in every direction.
The Neutral Faction Demon Lords didn't stop at a single strike—they immediately drove their blades in again, twisting them repeatedly into the bodies of the Plains Faction Demon Lords. The Plains Faction Demon Lords seemed to endure the butchering for a moment, standing on both feet—but shortly after, their knees buckled and they collapsed.
"Th-this—!"
The moment Barbatos took in the sight, he bit his lip and raised his great scythe.
But Barbatos had no choice but to stop right there.
A sharp blade was pointed right beneath Barbatos's chin.
It was the sword of Demon Lord Marbas.
"I won't bother with the tiresome recommendation to surrender, Barbatos. However, I will say this—none of your subordinates have been killed by us so far. A wise one like you should understand what I'm implying."
*If you move, we kill your Plains Faction subordinates immediately.* That was the threat his words contained. Barbatos's hands, gripping the great scythe, trembled slightly. The banquet hall was drenched in the scent of slaughter.
"Khahh... kkhuff..."
In an instant, the vast majority of the Plains Faction Demon Lords had fallen. Brother Zepar, Brother Beleth—neither had been able to escape the catastrophe and had been savagely shredded. They had already been wounded. And then they had been ambushed on top of that. Staying unscathed under those circumstances was impossible.
There, amid the corpses of the Mountain Faction Demon Lords.
Once more, the Plains Faction Demon Lords toppled over as if stacking atop one another.
"You bastards, how dare you...!"
Three Plains Faction Demon Lords, who had avoided the ambush because the Neutral Faction Demon Lords hadn't closed in on them, froze completely the moment Barbatos had a sword to his throat. It was the wise course of action. Had they resisted even slightly, it would have been the independent Demon Lords who stepped forward this time.
A terrible silence dominated the banquet hall.
"Barba… tos… sir…"
"Your Grace…"
The Plains Faction Demon Lords, even as they spilled blood, stretched their trembling hands toward Barbatos. They no longer had the strength left to do anything further. Even if they had, resistance would have been futile. The Neutral Faction Demon Lords had wisely cut off every finger on both hands of the Plains Faction Demon Lords — a precaution to ensure they could never grip a weapon again.
Only the faint groans the Plains Faction Demon Lords intermittently let out made the air quiver. Everything else was silent. The Neutral Faction Demon Lords. The independent Demon Lords. Paimon, still entombed in the glass case. Sitri, who still wept. Everything.
Including me.
"…Why."
Barbatos's lips parted. His entire body trembled with fury. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but the only word that finally escaped was *why* — nothing more. Marbas regarded him with a gaze heavy with sorrow.
"You should not have permitted Paimon's death, Barbatos. You should not have engineered Sitri's. From beginning to end, your actions were misguided."
"…"
"Now that Paimon and Sitri are gone, it is plain as day that the Mountain Faction cannot sustain itself. Once that happens, the balance between the factions collapses, and you monopolize power. I would serve as a check on you, but it would not be enough."
Marbas continued, his voice tinged with melancholy.
"I was uneasy — and foreboding — about the hatred between you and Paimon. The two of you were the twin wings of our Demon Lord army. I feared that in your mutual hatred, you might forget the simplest truth: that even the greatest bird can never take flight with only half a wing."
Barbatos moved. In that instant, Marbas pressed the blade closer to Barbatos's throat. The edge bit into flesh, and a thin stream of bright crimson blood trickled down. Barbatos had no choice but to freeze.
"Regrettably, my fears became reality. The world truly never unfolds the way one wishes… I knew that already, of course, yet it never stops breeding regret."
Barbatos fixed Marbas with a glare from eyes that burned like embers.
"How dare you…!"
"I shall state the charges. Barbatos. We have obtained proof that you orchestrated Paimon's death."
The focus in Barbatos's eyes wavered.
"That's a lie…"
"Every single Grand Duke of the Demon Realm has acknowledged that they received threats or coercion from you, Barbatos. I personally interrogated each of them. I am now fully convinced that you assassinated Paimon by proxy."
Silence lingered.
Barbatos's gaze turned toward me.
She was silently asking me.
And.
"That's right, Barbatos."
I said.
"I told Marbas the truth."