The Niflheim Mayor's Residence.
In that very place where a hearing had been held not long ago, a fierce debate was once again raging. If the Walpurgis Night had been a gathering organized for social purposes, the Demon Lords had now assembled in haste to discuss the events unfolding in the Human Realm.
The scale was different, too. Whereas thirty-two had attended the Walpurgis Night, a full sixty Demon Lords were now present. In effect, every last Demon Lord had shown up.
"The Frank Empire must be burned to the ground! Spare no one—children and women included!"
"Get out! If that's all you have to say, then get the hell out right now!"
"Get lost! You don't even need to hear the drivel from those Plains Faction bastards—"
"Tear open the guts of every last human species crawling on the surface!"
The residence's meeting hall was in an uproar. Dozens were shouting over one another. There was no way to tell who was saying what—to me, the meeting hall itself looked like one enormous gaping mouth, babbling without cease in a voice that no one could understand.
I leaned over and whispered to Barbatos.
"There's no end in sight."
"Hmph. This is about what a serious meeting of Demon Lords usually looks like."
Barbatos answered with an angry expression. She wasn't angry at me—she was putting on a performance. She had come here as a leader of the Plains Faction and needed to project the appropriate gravitas. The Plains Faction had lost one of its own Demon Lords. She needed to make those around her feel just how furious she was about that.
I casually surveyed the meeting hall. It was roughly divided into four groups. On the left side of the building stood the majority of the Demon Lords—the Mountain Faction. Among them, Paimon stared straight ahead, lost in deep thought.
The right side of the building had been claimed by our Plains Faction. The Plains Faction Demon Lords stood in a long line on either side of Barbatos. Near the entrance, roughly ten Neutral Faction Demon Lords had gathered in a tight cluster. I could see Marbas—Rank Five—who had served as moderator at the last hearing.
Finally, directly across from the entrance, at the seats of honor. Five Demon Lords sat there. Every last one wore either a stoic or a bored expression, sitting in silence. No one dared approach them—for they were the five most powerful sovereigns in the meeting hall.
Rank Two: Agares.
Rank Three: Vassago.
Rank Four: Gamigin.
Rank Six: Valefor.
Rank Seven: Amon.
After the meeting began, not a single one of them opened their mouth. But it was palpable. The ones who were currently shouting and screaming at the top of their lungs—all of them were watching the six Demon Lords. The six Demon Lords remained silent, yet they radiated an invisible pressure. Even I felt goosebumps rise on my skin. Their auras were terrifying.
I whispered to Barbatos.
"Hey, why are those guys sitting there playing mute?"
"Because Uncle Bael hasn't shown up yet."
Bael referred to the Demon Lord ranked first.
"No matter how much noise you make now, once Uncle Bael arrives, it all goes back to square one. And if you go ahead and push some agenda only for Uncle Bael to reject it—shit. You'd just be embarrassing yourself for nothing."
"So we're supposed to endure this market-stall circus until Bael shows up? How delightful."
"Hmm. Yeah, that is pretty awful. I guess someone needs to put things in order."
Barbatos shot to her feet. The Demon Lords of the Plains Faction shut their mouths. She let out a shout—its volume was impossible to believe coming from her small frame.
"Enough!"
Her voice echoed through the meeting hall. In an instant, the clamor died down. The Demon Lords who had been bickering all turned to look at her. Barbatos glared at them. The moment their eyes met hers, they quietly looked away.
Barbatos spoke with a dignity utterly unlike her usual self.
"Rank Forty-Nine, Crocell, is dead. Rank Fifty, Purcas, has lost his Demon Lord's Castle as well. The non-human tribes who had been declaring themselves allies of the Demonkin in the Human Realm have abandoned us without hesitation."
She waved her right hand. A massive, transparent map materialized in the air. It depicted the Human Realm's continents, with seventy-two Demon Lord's Castles marked across them. Two locations—labeled "Crocell" and "Purcas"—were crossed out with X marks.
"According to the most recently obtained intelligence, the Habsburg Empire's army has begun marching northward. Does anyone here possess detailed information on this matter?"
"I have reports from my informants within the Habsburg domains."
A Demon Lord belonging to the Neutral Faction replied.
"The imperial army has reportedly departed toward the Valencia region. Rank Sixty-Eight, Belial, and Rank Sixty-One, Zagan, are stationed there. We must prepare to defend against an invasion of Habsburg's northern territories!"
"That's absurd!"
A Demon Lord from the Mountain Faction shouted out in alarm.
"The Habsburg Empire hasn't moved. Our Demon Lord army can keep the empire fully contained. The humans aren't invading—they're courting the non-human races! And they're taking advantage of this lull to seek out allies. Right now, this very moment, the Elf tribe and the Dwarf tribe are meeting with envoys from the Human Realm! They're trying to form an Anti-Demon Lord Alliance across the entire continent. We could lose our hold over the non-human races in the Human Realm once again!"
"Nonsense!"
This time, a Demon Lord from the Plains Faction fired back.
"The Elves and Dwarves would never break neutrality! They know full well what our Demon Lord armies are capable of. I'm certain it's the humans forming alliances among themselves. The Habsburg Empire wasn't the only nation to mobilize—every single one of the twelve countries has deployed their armies. They intend to mass their forces at the entrance to the Black Desert."
The conference room boomed. Barbatos had stomped her foot, triggering a mild tremor. As all eyes turned to her, she spoke.
"First, we consolidate information. If we're all working from different intel, there's no point in debating. Paimon."
"...Did you call for me?"
Paimon, the Mountain Faction's leader, responded. She cast a suspicious glance at Barbatos for summoning her. The two were famous for being bitter enemies. Barbatos despised speaking with Paimon as well, but under my earnest request, she had no choice but to play along.
"Our Plains Faction has received intelligence that all twelve nations of the Human Realm have mobilized their armies. We have a rough idea of where each army is headed. What about the Mountain Faction?"
"......"
Paimon propped her chin on her hand, weighing how to respond. I already knew she had obtained the same information as the Plains Faction—because I was the one who had instructed her to let that intel slip. Barbatos had taken me on as her advisor, and under my plan, the Plains Faction had been operating with clockwork precision.
Paimon let out a sigh.
"That's correct. I've also confirmed that the armies of all twelve nations are on the move."
"And you probably know where they're heading as well."
"...I won't deny it."
Barbatos swept her hand through the air. Lines etched themselves boldly across the map floating before them. Twelve lines in total, each representing a Human Realm army. They originated from the cities of their respective nations and converged toward a single destination. Among them lay the Demon Lord's Castles of Crocell and Purcas, both already destroyed.
At last, the lines all gathered at one point.
"The northern continent. Where the vast majority of Demon Lord's Castles are located."
"......"
Paimon didn't answer. Everyone gathered here knew that silence meant assent. A commotion erupted in the conference hall. The Demon Lords stirred. Shouts crashed in like a flood.
"Is that true, Lord Paimon!"
"This isn't some simple invasion! The humans are banding together!"
"Those filthy, worthless vermin! Are they seriously eyeing our territories!"
I laughed to myself.
Over the past five months, I had worked tirelessly to steer the Human Realm's movements. I'd coerced Ivar into mobilizing the Kunkuska Trading Company. Through the Trading Company, I'd greased the palms of the Human Realm's leaders with considerable bribes and successfully spread the information I needed.
The result was twelve armies whose routes converged on the same point.
The human nations wanted to sacrifice a sufficiently weak Demon Lord's Castle — one loaded with as much plunder as possible — in order to quiet their own dissatisfied populace. I had the Trading Company feed them exactly the information they were looking for. It wasn't exactly false intelligence. I had simply hand-picked the Demon Lord's Castles that matched their criteria. The humans wouldn't even realize their routes overlapped.
But how would it look from the perspective of the Demon Lords being targeted?
Twelve armies were all marching in the same direction. No one would chalk that up to mere coincidence. They'd grow worried that the Human Realm was preparing a full-scale invasion. In fact, two Demon Lord's Castles along those routes had already fallen. One of those Demon Lords had even been killed in battle. The invasion of the Human Realm was no small matter — they could be forgiven for feeling that way……
"Help me! My Demon Lord's Castle is in danger!"
A mustachioed Demon Lord shrieked the words. When I whispered to Barbatos, he told me the man was Belial, ranked sixty-eighth. A fellow with whom I shared a rather tangled history. The reason Belial was panicking was simple: his Demon Lord's Castle sat directly in the path of the Habsburg Empire's army.
The Habsburg Empire's army numbered two thousand. That was far more than Belial — ranked sixty-eighth — could handle. Right now, he must have felt like an axe had dropped on his foot.
"Please, someone, help me! Any of you!"
"......"
"The humans cannot be allowed to crush our cause! We are predators, and humans are prey — a hunter must never be hunted and devoured…… Please, I'm begging you!"
The other Demon Lords turned their backs on Belial as if he were a nuisance. As long as no immediate threat loomed over them, a future rival being eliminated was cause for celebration. That was surely what they were thinking. Belial's face had gone bone-white.
With unsteady steps, he made his way toward Paimon. Was he hoping to lean on her as the leader of their shared Mountain Faction? Belial dropped to his knees and reached out toward Paimon.
"Lord Paimon. Please — please save me. Send me a thousand troops, no, even five hundred! This Belial will never forget your grace for as long as I live."
Paimon remained silent. A wise decision. If Paimon had promised reinforcements here, it would be tantamount to a public declaration that the Mountain Faction was actively entering the war. For the Mountain Faction, which opposed war with the humans, the risk was simply too great.
She spoke quietly.
"For now, stay put."
"Lord Paimon!"
Belial's face drained of color, overtaken by horror. Paimon had just abandoned a single member—Belial—for the sake of the entire Mountain Faction. As the leader of a faction, perhaps it was the rational choice, but for Belial himself, the one being cast aside, his heart could only shatter.
Now.
I looked at Barbatos. She caught my gaze and gave a slight nod. Her voice echoed softly through the conference hall.
"Belial. I, Barbatos, will come to your aid."
"R-Really!?"
The Demon Lords' eyes went wide with shock. That the Plains Faction and the Mountain Faction were at odds with each other was well known. That Barbatos, the head of the Plains Faction, would personally step forward to rescue a member of the Mountain Faction—no one could have predicted that. Paimon also furrowed her brow and glared at Barbatos.
Regardless, Barbatos continued speaking exactly as we had planned.
"We are kin. Even if we are adversaries under ordinary circumstances, we all live beneath the same divine mandate—the conquest of the Human Realm. Now that the human scum are eyeing our territories, how can we let past grudges blind us to the greater cause! I, Barbatos, shall immediately mobilize five hundred Death Knights!"
"Oh, ohhhh...! Thank you! Thank you!"
Belial was overcome with emotion. Five hundred Death Knights were enough to crush two thousand imperial troops on their own. Belial bowed repeatedly to Barbatos, expressing his gratitude over and over again. Watching the whole scene, Paimon wore a look like she had just swallowed something foul.
I barely held back my laughter.
You were too cautious, Paimon.
And so, the Demon Lords belonging to the Mountain Faction began to question Paimon's leadership. Paimon, who would stand by and watch her own allies perish. Barbatos, who was willing to send reinforcements despite being on the opposing side. Which of the two was more trustworthy—it must have been glaringly obvious. In the first round, the Plains Faction had scored the point.
Everything was progressing step by step, exactly along the blueprint that Barbatos and I had drawn up.
"S-Seat Number One!"
A guard at the entrance to the conference hall shouted out. The guard was trembling with fear.
"The first sovereign of the Demon Realm and Grand Duke! The leader who commands sixty-six legions, the master of all swords! His Majesty Bael has arrived—!"
The heavy doors of the conference hall kicked up a cloud of dust.
The Demon Lords hastily bowed toward the entrance. Barbatos was no exception, nor was Paimon. Even the six supreme Demon Lords seated at the highest seats paid elaborate respects. The true ruler of the Demon Realm was arriving.