For a brief moment, a silence like a drawn line hung in the air.
People were dumbfounded by the abusive words Zepar had hurled. Immediately after, an unprecedented roar erupted across the square. I quickly looked not elsewhere, but at where Sitri was seated. Sitri maintained her expressionless composure throughout.
"The only thing I regret is one thing. That I couldn't witness the sight of that red-haired whore dying with my own eyes. It must have been a masterpiece without equal. To think I couldn't see that filthy bitch's face being obliterated — how regretful, truly regretful!"
But only her hand.
Sitri's left arm trembled violently.
I turned my head and glared at Zepar.
"Can you swear that what you've just said contains not a single lie?"
"Swearing or whatever — this is the truth. I was the one who masterminded the assassination. I met with Belial and engineered the schism within the Mountain Faction myself. That idiot couldn't even hide his whereabouts properly and was exposed in no time."
Zepar scoffed, looking at Sitri with contempt filling the corners of his eyes.
"The Mountain Faction was nothing but a group of such pathetic weaklings from the start... They would have collapsed miserably on their own eventually, even without my intervention. If anything, you should be grateful to me. At least I ensured that wench wasn't branded a noble sacrifice. She was the kind of woman who could've been stabbed to death in a back alley by some common thug and no one would have—"
At that moment, Sitri screamed and lunged at Zepar.
Sitri had received careful treatment and her arm had been regenerated, but her legs hadn't fully recovered. As a result, she crawled across the ground like an animal and pounced on Zepar. Raising her fist, she struck his face with relentless blows.
"Don't you dare insult my sister! Don't you dare insult Paimon!"
Bound hand and foot, Zepar was utterly helpless against the assault. Blood splattered. The Neutral Faction Demon Lords rushed over in a panic and restrained Sitri. Even while being held back, Sitri continued to scream.
"Why — why does everyone — toward my sister—!"
Sitri thrashed weakly like an animal caught by a hunter. She had no artifact equipped with amplification magic. The citizens in the square probably couldn't hear her words. Yet through gestures more desperate than any eloquence, Sitri pleaded.
"I saved you! You Plains Faction brats were on the verge of being annihilated by Agares, and I — we, the Mountain Faction — rescued you! We shouldn't have helped the likes of you! We should have left you to die at Agares's hands!"
When Agares, along with Gamigin, raised the banner of rebellion against the Plains Faction.
When the Demon Lord army was reorganized under the name of the Empire, and independent Demon Lords rose up en masse in opposition, the Plains Faction faced the brink of annihilation. I didn't know it at the time, but the Rank 1 Demon Lord Bael was also tacitly supporting the rebels.
No — perhaps Bael had been behind the rebellion all along. The Plains Faction was cornered on all sides, militarily by Agares and politically by Gamigin, with an uncertain future.
The Demon Lord who saved the Plains Faction at that moment was none other than Sitri. Despite being rivals, Sitri helped the Plains Faction on the grounds of keeping her promise — that single, simple reason alone. Thanks to that, the Plains Faction averted the crisis, and a brief peace was established between the Plains Faction and the Mountain Faction...
"You ungrateful bastards!"
Sitri bared her teeth and roared.
"You pigs who don't even understand the barest honor or the meaning of a promise! May you all die! May you all—!"
"The interrogation of Zepar is hereby concluded."
I stepped in to wrap up the situation. The Neutral Faction Demon Lords placed the helmet back on Zepar's head and dragged him down from the platform. Just before his face was hidden by the helmet, Zepar cast his gaze toward me. From those indifferent eyes, I read nothing at all.
But Sitri's suffering did not end there.
The Plains Faction Demon Lords who were dragged in one after another after Zepar followed.
"That's right. I assassinated Paimon!"
"I ordered the blade to be thrust into that wretched body until it was torn to shreds!"
"Lord Barbatos knew nothing!"
All of them.
All five declared Barbatos's innocence and their own guilt. As if they had all agreed upon it beforehand, every one of them savagely maligned Paimon. To ensure that even a shred of blame would fall upon themselves.
Three days ago, I had gone from cell to cell, sowing suspicion among the Plains Faction Demon Lords. The possibility that Barbatos might have truly committed the assassination. And that if the trial proceeded as is, Barbatos would almost certainly take the blame and be executed — I had engraved this clearly in their minds.
Because I knew the Plains Faction Demon Lords would respond this way.
The Plains Faction Demon Lords would rather sacrifice themselves than stand by and watch Barbatos die. There was not a single exception. Every one of them, including Zepar and Beleth, loudly proclaimed their own guilt.
Their loyalty to Barbatos was pure.
To prove that purity, the Plains Faction Demon Lords called Paimon a whore, a filthy bitch, a woman who deserved to die. For to them, Barbatos was infinitely more precious than the likes of Paimon.
"..."
In the end, Sitri lowered her head and quietly let her tears fall.
No one had protected the dead woman's honor. No one had commemorated the fact that this woman had devoted herself exclusively to the demonkin for over two thousand years. Only Sitri, alone, wept for Paimon.
How many hearts were pulling in different directions here, I wondered.
The Plains Faction Demon Lords had confessed to crimes they hadn't committed, simply to save Barbatos. Sitri was sacrificing everything to avenge Paimon. Yet the actual culprits who killed Paimon and sought to kill Barbatos were right here, and not a single person suspected me.
Brilliant.
I called out the last Demon Lord to be interrogated.
"Comrades. I shall now bring the final sinner to this place. Please bring forth Barbatos."
"Granted."
The Neutral Faction Demon Lords brought Barbatos out.
Barbatos was dressed in rags that barely qualified as clothing. Filthy, worn-out, and faded scraps that could hardly cover her body. Both wrists and both ankles were shackled tightly with iron chains. She was a pitiful sight.
Every time Barbatos took a step, the chains creaked and bit into her limbs. Her skin had already been torn open, and blood trickled out. Dripping with blood, step by step, Barbatos ascended toward the platform. She kept her head bowed.
—Splat.
Something struck Barbatos's white hair. It was a piece of rotten fruit.
From that moment on, the demonkin standing near the platform began hurling every filthy object they could find. Barbatos's surroundings were a mess in an instant. She was covered in a thick, viscous red liquid.
"Cowardly assassin!"
The citizens shouted. Through the testimonies of the Demon Realm Grand Dukes, Barbatos's guilt was already sealed. The Plains Faction Demon Lords struggled to exonerate Barbatos however they could, but it was useless.
If it had been one or two people, perhaps, but all of the Plains Faction Demon Lords had proclaimed their own guilt. Six people had appeared for the same crime. Even the dimmest person could see that the Plains Faction Demon Lords were lying.
It was too much.
The Plains Faction Demon Lords had tried to shield Barbatos, but their efforts were far too transparent. It was nakedly obvious that loyal subordinates were fabricating testimony to cover up their lord's wrongdoing.
And this was the trap I had set.
If only Zepar alone had proclaimed his own guilt, there might have been a chance for reversal.
If all the Plains Faction Demon Lords had simply confessed their innocence — if they had firmly insisted they had nothing to do with the assassination — there might have been a chance to turn things around.
But not a single one of them confessed innocence.
The Plains Faction Demon Lords would have been better off simply leaving Barbatos alone. Turning their backs on her, condemning the very person who might have carried out the assassination, and finding their own way to survive. If they had done that, there would have been at least a slim possibility that everyone would have been released for insufficient evidence.
I trusted the loyalty of the Plains Faction Demon Lords, and so I used that loyalty.
The result was the torrent of filth now raining down on Barbatos.
"..."
Barbatos was covered head to toe in rotten fruit and raw eggs. The already filthy rags were now so soiled it was embarrassing to even call them clothing. Objects struck her head, her thin forearms, her pale calves.
Barbatos was being humiliated by the very demonkin she had once sought to protect. Like a certain warrior woman who had fallen from saint to witch. And yet, she continued walking forward in silence.
At last, Barbatos mounted the platform.
I spoke.
"Barbatos. The Grand Dukes have recognized your guilt. Your guilt is now virtually certain."
"..."
"However, the Plains Faction Demon Lords insist that this crime was not committed under your orders. They claim that they alone planned and carried out the assassination. That you, Barbatos, have no involvement whatsoever in this crime."
And this was the final trap.
Barbatos, you had two choices.
One was to expose my guilt. To declare that this assassination was born purely from a plan between you and me, and that the responsibility for killing Paimon rested with both of us. I have no intention of refuting this claim.
I intend to die here cleanly alongside you.
Because, Barbatos — you have every right to kill me. Dying together with you is not such a terrible thing for me either. Let us descend together, bearing the sin of having killed that beautiful woman, Paimon...
The other was for you to shoulder all the guilt alone and die.
If left as is, the Plains Faction Demon Lords will be found guilty. They will be executed for a crime they didn't commit. Barbatos — only if you claim your own guilt will there be a chance for their innocence to be recognized.
Choose.
Will you die with me? Or will you save the Plains Faction Demon Lords?
Barbatos was silent for a time, then slowly opened her mouth.
"Hah? What kind of bullshit is this? Our kids assassinated Paimon?"
Barbatos raised her face.
Her face was hideously smeared with every manner of filth. But those golden eyes, undimmed by any of it, stared straight ahead with unwavering clarity.
"I've never heard anything like that. Paimon — however stupid that woman might be, she wasn't so dumb as to be taken down by kids as slow as ours. Killing her would have required quite a bit of careful planning."
Having been betrayed by the demonkin, and betrayed even by me, her lover—
"Our kids didn't do the assassination. It was I — the former Rank 8, master of the Plains Faction, the one who hated Paimon more than anyone in this world and desired her death more fervently than anyone — I, Barbatos, killed Paimon."
Barbatos was smiling broadly.
As confident and beautiful as she always was.