A coastline where cliffs stood in a row like folding screens.
A temple that had long since rotted away under the sea wind and crumbled hung perched upon the cliffs. In the sea, massive debris lay buried.
Demon Lord's Castle, the Sky Garden. The island that had once floated in midair was now without its master. After its magic faded, the Sky Garden had slowly fallen from the sky. It was a coincidence. On the day of Paimon's funeral, the Sky Garden had also plunged into the sea before this very shore, sending up great waves as it sank……
The garden that had once bloomed beautifully year-round was gone now. The lush greenery that had defied the seasons — gone too. Everything had been swallowed by seawater and was slowly sinking into the depths. The day they rose into the air once more would never come.
"Comrades."
I turned around.
"Our Liberation Alliance's leader, Demon Lord Paimon, is dead."
Twelve figures clad in black robes stood gathered there. Their faces were hidden beneath their hoods, but we were already more or less acquainted with one another. These were the senior members of the Liberation Alliance — the organization Paimon had built over the course of centuries.
"She died right in my arms."
"What were her dying words?"
A woman spoke. A voice familiar to my ears.
Anna der Wit, the Chief Director. She had been in charge of the Batavia Republic division within the Liberation Alliance. Considered the second most powerful figure in the organization after Paimon, she was also one of the most formidable power brokers in Batavia. During the Lily War, she had led armies alongside me.
I said, my expression flat.
"Her final words were as noble and honorable as she was. Until her very last moment, Paimon worried for the peace of the continent and the equal coexistence of all races. She entrusted me with the future of her cause with her dying breath."
"……."
"— Do you think that was the case?"
The senior members froze.
Anna der Wit asked carefully, as though trying to read my intentions.
"What do you mean?"
It was neither a noble death nor an honorable one. Paimon was killed in the ugliest manner imaginable. By assassination.
I glared at the robed officers and spoke.
"There was no time for last words. Paimon spent her final moments shielding me and nothing else. As the assassin stabbed the back of her neck, tore her back apart, and bit into her like a mad wolf, Paimon suppressed even her groans and screams so she would not let go of my body."
"……."
"As she fell for the last time, Paimon whispered softly. 'Don't cry.' If that counts as a last wish, then so be it."
The officers fell silent. Curse me all you want, Paimon. If it serves a purpose, I will weaponize even your final words politically. There was not the slightest hesitation in me.
"Right up until her last breath, Paimon's concern was for the person standing before her eyes. That was who Paimon was. She was my beloved, and she was your leader."
"……."
"What exactly are we fighting for when we cry out for republicanism? Is it because some lofty ideal lies beyond it all? Or is it because we, as particularly virtuous intellectuals, must bear responsibility before the course of history?"
I felt the night air flowing naturally around me. It was not restless. Whenever I spoke with precision and craft, it felt as though I myself dissolved into the air around me. It was no different now.
"No. We always begin from something small. We simply cannot stand by and watch the tragedy and suffering unfolding right before our eyes. When an old woman on the street gasps for air with difficulty, we too feel our breath caught in our throats. When a slave is whipped in the marketplace, we too feel the rage. That is where we begin……."
"……."
"I watched the most noble woman I have ever known die in the most wretched manner, right before my eyes. From that, I feel a sorrow and a fury beyond endurance. And I will never forget it."
I pulled a piece of cloth from inside my coat.
It was a strip cut from the hem of Paimon's garment, stained with her blood, fashioned into a handkerchief. I had cast a preservation enchantment on it, so the blood would not discolor for a semi-permanent time. I explained nothing, but the officers of the Liberation Alliance already seemed to understand intuitively what it was.
"Comrades. I, Dantalion, swear this to you all. Until the very moment of my final breath, I will mourn and honor Paimon and Paimon alone. The method of that honoring is revolution. What is right, I will restore to justice. What is sorrowful, I will bring the sympathy of all people to bear upon. And what deserves wrath, I will bring down the hammer upon."
I spoke in a low voice.
"Will you die with me?"
The officers stared back at me through their hoods in silence. A moment passed.
Then a stocky figure removed his hood. He was a dwarf — Jacques Bonhomme, the officer I affectionately called Jacky, a mercenary captain who had fought at my side with everything he had during the Lily War.
"I vote in favor of appointing Lord Dantalion as our new leader."
The officers murmured.
Jacky was the most active figure in the Liberation Alliance — in other words, the vanguard leader. He fervently worshipped Paimon and held republicanism as sacred as a religion. For such a zealous partisan to declare his support for me, that was bound to send ripples through the room.
"Among us all, I believe I have spent the most time with Lord Dantalion. If my comrades trust my judgment even a little, then extend that same trust to what I am saying now. Lord Dantalion is the one who will make republicanism bloom across the continent."
"The time you've spent together is far too short."
Anna de Witt countered.
"I do not question His Excellency's sincerity. However, I worry whether he may lack the experience to lead the Alliance."
"But in that short time, he has accomplished a great many things."
Jacky looked around the room.
"Who brought down the Frank Empire and placed republicans at the head of government? Lord Dantalion. Who crushed the Sardinian royal family and liberated the free cities? Lord Dantalion. And just recently, he declared the abolition of all slavery regardless of race."
Jacky pointed at me with his right arm.
"His Excellency single-handedly, in less than five years, achieved accomplishments that tens of thousands gathered together would struggle to accomplish! I will not accept the argument that he lacks experience. I dare say with full conviction — if not Lord Dantalion, then who else could step forward to realize our great cause?"
The officers stirred in a restless murmur, though some nodded their heads.
They generally valued results over authority. In that regard, no one had accomplishments as dazzling as mine. In truth, simply having pushed through the total abolition of slavery at the Walpurgis Night session alone placed me in an unrivaled position.
"The Teutonic branch votes in favor."
"The Moscow branch casts its vote in favor."
"The Sardinian branch also votes in favor."
The branch heads began to express their approval of me becoming the leader of the Liberation Alliance.
Excluding myself, out of the twelve branch heads, the vote came to nine in favor and two abstentions. It had already far exceeded the majority, so I was effectively confirmed — but the real question was whether everyone would agree. If even a single dissenting vote appeared, the Alliance could face a potential split.
"......"
At last, it was time for Anna der Witte, the General Branch Head, to voice her opinion.
"While Lord Paimon was alive, he always spoke of Lord Dantalion with a beaming smile. What foods Lord Dantalion liked, what extraordinary deeds he had accomplished… He would prattle on without a care for how tired I was of hearing it, like a young girl lovestruck for the first time."
Anna der Witte pulled the hood of her robe off her head.
The golden-haired elf bore a scar etched into her cheek — a memento from the near-death experience she had endured when she was crushed by Henrietta at the Battle of Saint-Denis during the War of the Lilies.
"I do not trust my own judgment, nor do I trust Zachary's. But I trust Lord Paimon's judgment absolutely. If Lord Paimon believed in Lord Dantalion, then I believe in Lord Dantalion as well."
The final vote of approval.
No one opposed. Two abstentions had come through, but these were not votes against the motion — they were deliberate abstentions born from concern that a unanimous vote would grant me excessive authority. In reality, every single person had consented.
I gave a solemn nod toward the executives.
"We are many, yet one and the same."
"For the revolution."
The executives quietly recited the slogan of the Liberation Alliance.
There were none of the lavish ceremonies of wine being passed around. The installation of a new leader to succeed Paimon was, for the executives, anything but a joyous or celebratory occasion.
All the forces that Paimon had commanded now became an inheritance passed down to me.
Sitri, the leader of the Mountain Faction, was dependent on me entirely in matters of politics, if not militarily. My word alone carried decisive influence over the Mountain Faction's direction. And now I was set to lead the Liberation Alliance as well…
As I left the ruined temple behind, I reflected.
I wielded near-absolute influence over both the Plains Faction and the Mountain Faction. I had the entirety of the Demon Realm as a reliable ally. I used the wealthiest merchant guild among the Demonkin as if it were my personal vault. And the secret organization woven across the continent like a spider's web was now firmly in my grasp.
I was, in every sense, a Demon Lord straight out of the pages of legend.
Whenever Ibar looked at me, he would mutter "Angolmois" under his breath. It was a legend passed down among the Demonkin — that one day, a Great Demon King called Angolmois would appear and open the entire continent to their kind.
It was the sort of legend that could have existed anywhere. But Ibar, by sheer luck as unexpected as an ox stepping backward and catching a mouse, may have stumbled upon the truth. What an absurd notion…
I held a secret meeting with the head of state of the Frank Empire.
The person currently leading the Frank government was, of course, Count Versi. As I had served as Minister of Justice for the Habsburg Empire while Count Versi held the same post in the Frank Empire, our positions happened to be identical. There was also a commonality in that I, a subject of the Empire, was shouldering the responsibilities of a nation whose emperor was little more than a figurehead.
"It has been too long, Court Count. Have you been well in the interim?"
Count Versi looked visibly exhausted. Rumor had it that he was sacrificing sleep to hold his ravaged homeland together by sheer force of will.
"You've grown unreasonably thin."
"I never knew governing a nation could be this difficult. And you yourself don't look particularly comfortable, I must say."
"Much the same — I too am in the business of running a country, after all."
Count Versi managed a bitter smile.
I had first met Count Versi while posing as Priest Jean Vollet, but roughly a year ago, through Ibar, I had loaned the Frank Empire a massive sum as a loan and revealed my identity as Demon Lord Dantalion.
The Count had been considerably startled, yet showed no reluctance or apprehension. Count Versi was a republican. Knowing full well what kind of speech I had delivered at the Bruno Plains, he had instead accepted me as a firm ideological ally.
"But why all this secrecy in meeting? I do hope you're not here to add another wrinkle to my face."
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid wrinkles are exactly what this conversation will bring."
I smiled.
"It's time you started paying back the money you borrowed, Count."
"......"
"The loan I extended at seven percent interest. At the very least, return the interest."
Count Versi's face froze as though he had just encountered a demon.