A public execution.
No death could be more humiliating for the Demon Lords of the Plains Faction. They had lived their entire lives on the battlefield. To die by the blade of a rival acknowledged as a true enemy — that was the end they had dreamed of. And yet, to be beheaded in a public square? They would never accept it.
I spoke to the Plains Faction Demon Lords, their entire bodies trembling with shame.
"Of course, compared to Barbatos, the rest of you from the Plains Faction aren't charged with grave crimes. Executing every last one of you may well be excessive punishment. So I'm going to offer you a condition."
"A condition…?"
"Yes. If you'd prefer, you can call it a plea bargain. Despite appearances, I was once one of you — a member who served under Barbatos alongside you all. So naturally, I'd like to save you, even if it takes unfair methods. I really am too kind for my own good. It's a character flaw."
The word "plea bargain" sent a murmur through the air.
Brother Zepar, however, remained consumed by rage and shouted out.
"Don't even try that transparent trick! You're just going to make us testify against His Excellency!"
"How hurtful. Do I really look that demonic to you?"
The possibility that even a single Plains Faction Demon Lord might betray Barbatos and agree to fabricate testimony was nonexistent. Their loyalty to Barbatos was genuine. What I was after was something far simpler.
"The condition is straightforward. Publicly acknowledge that in this incident, you had no involvement whatsoever with the criminal Barbatos."
I smiled.
"Declare it before the eyes and ears of every citizen in the Demon Realm. That you knew nothing about Paimon's assassination and were not connected to it in the slightest. How about it? It's a remarkably simple request."
Confusion settled over the faces of the Plains Faction Demon Lords.
They had every right to be bewildered. My condition was not only simple — it was also the truth. For them, there was absolutely nothing to lose by simply admitting it.
And that was precisely why suspicion bloomed all the more.
"In addition, not only Marbas but every Elector present here will guarantee my bargain. That you had no involvement in the crimes Barbatos committed. All you need to do is acknowledge that, and I will cause you no harm whatsoever."
"……"
As to why such a simple demand was being made.
In their minds, the notion that Barbatos had assassinated Paimon was an absurd lie. Nothing but slander. And the true purpose of that slander was to obliterate the Plains Faction — that was the conclusion they had no doubt already reached.
But the condition I had just laid out directly contradicted the scenario the Plains Faction Demon Lords believed in.
If the assassination was a frame-up, then the standard playbook would be to somehow rope in the Plains Faction Demon Lords as accomplices. Yet here I was arguing the exact opposite — that the Plains Faction had nothing to do with it.
Why?
Why would he do that?
"Commander Zepar. What's the matter? Why have you suddenly gone silent?"
"……"
"It's a very simple demand. Think about it. If, as you believe, Barbatos never conspired to carry out the assassination, then all you'd be admitting is that you had no involvement in an assassination that never happened. There's no issue whatsoever."
I broke into a warm smile.
It was the perfect smile of a good man. In a situation like this, however, that good man's smile came across as grotesque and twisted. Right about now, I must have looked to the Plains Faction Demon Lords like an unfathomably repulsive traitor.
"Even if Barbatos truly did commit a crime, it has nothing to do with the assassination, so you'd simply be confessing the truth. See? In either case, you're telling the truth."
"……"
"Commander Zepar. Are you still going to call me insolent? I've gone out of my way to arrange the easiest judicial bargain in the world for you. All you have to do is state the facts as they are, and you'll be granted complete and total acquittal. An opportunity like this doesn't come along often……"
Bloom already.
Bloom spectacularly.
Run those brains of yours. This level of deduction is well within your capabilities. Even a bunch of brawlers like the Plains Faction should be able to work out the answer when I've given this many hints.
Doubt your own assumptions. Examine your beliefs from a different angle. It's nothing extraordinary. It's actually normal and proper thinking. Just as it's easy to suspect others, suspecting yourself isn't all that difficult either……
Plains Faction. Your problem was that you were too exceptional.
Demon Lords had no need for any particular art of governance. They merely needed to sit upon their thrones, and the demonkin would naturally offer loyalty and submission. That was what a Demon Lord was. No matter how haphazardly they ruled, no matter how little they cared for their subjects, a Demon Lord's power was absolute. Because power was eternal, the art of politics had never been born.
What remains on a throne where governance has gone extinct?
War. Only war remains.
The ranking system itself proved it. The sole criterion for evaluating ranks one through seventy-two was "how well one conducts war." The Demon Lord realm was a place where everything was decided purely by one's ability in battle.
If that wasn't absurd, what was.
They were kings. And yet their rank and honor were determined not by their talent for governing others, but by their talent for toppling others…… It was only natural, then, that the Demon Lords had spent thousands of years feuding over who was superior.
In that Demon Lord world, there were the Plains Faction.
Those innately gifted in fighting and war. Combat machines who found pleasure in shedding blood on the battlefield and who derived the meaning of life from leading cavalry charges to ravage enemy forces.
They surely considered their birth as Demon Lords to be divine destiny. Naturally. They would have been utterly convinced that they, above all, were the truest Demon Lords, without a shred of doubt — and they would have had no hesitation whatsoever in worshipping Barbatos, who surpassed them all as a warrior……
The very notion that they might be wrong was alien to the Plains Faction Demon Lords. They truly harbored no doubt at all that their way of life and the path Barbatos walked were correct.
The image of an honorable warrior was undeniably beautiful.
But their beauty was their blindness.
Now it was time to wake from that beautiful dream. I don't think living in a dream is necessarily a bad thing. If anything, I think it's admirable. The problem is that right now, I need your doubt.
Don't worry. I won't completely shatter your convictions. Put it this way — you're still in bud form. Add a touch of doubt, and you'll be on the cusp of full bloom. You can trust me on this. When it comes to this particular field, I'm the expert……
"……So."
At last, Brother Zepar spoke up.
"So — what is it that you stand to gain? What kind of profit are you people after?"
"My apologies. I don't understand the question. What do you mean by profit?"
I feigned ignorance and parried. Rather than bluntly stonewalling, which would have felt unnatural, I simply asked politely for him to restate his question. Like an assassin slipping poison into wine — perfectly ordinary behavior.
"Don't play dumb. Even if we were to make such a statement, there's no profit in it for us……!"
No, Zepar. That's not it. And you know that perfectly well.
The only case where we would gain absolutely nothing is if Barbatos was truly being slandered. If Barbatos had genuinely committed the assassination—then naturally, your declaration would hold meaning.
Because the objective of Marbas and the Neutral Faction is purely to condemn Barbatos.
This is not political slander. It is not a fabrication of false testimony designed to destroy the Plains Faction. Marbas, the Neutral Faction—they simply wish to punish Barbatos, who strayed from the righteous path and assassinated Paimon.
That is all.
There is no reason to punish anyone in the Plains Faction other than Barbatos. In fact, in order to declare you innocent, we are currently offering you the opportunity to make a conscience-driven confession.
"Allow me to pose a counter-question."
Do you understand? You have established your premise incorrectly.
We are not slandering Barbatos right now.
"I don't understand the meaning of the question, Captain Zepar."
Your proud liege, your illustrious legion commander, truly assassinated Paimon.
It is only under this premise that your confession carries any meaning. Because this premise is correct, we are demanding your confession.
This is the answer.
Do not turn away from the truth, Plains Faction.
"……."
Despite my counter-question, Captain Zepar's face remained stiff as stone. Sometimes, posing a counter-question to a question itself becomes an excellent answer. Such was the case now. My very act of countering reinforced a hypothesis in Captain Zepar's mind. It reinforced it.
The "sinister profit" that Captain Zepar had anticipated and expected was nowhere to be found. At least, not for Marbas and the Neutral Faction.
Because the Neutral Faction's sole purpose was to stop Barbatos's rampage and unilateral tyranny.
Brother Zepar clenched his teeth.
"If… if you succeed in framing Lord Barbatos… and we declare that we had nothing to do with that absurd slander… then what happens?"
I smiled a secret, triumphant smile to myself.
He took the bait.
Brother Zepar had used words like "framing" and "absurd slander," but dressing it up with such a smokescreen didn't change the essence of the question. If I were to restore the question Captain Zepar had just uttered to its true form, it would read as follows:
—What happens if Barbatos really did order the assassination?
A clear suspicion.
The demons of doubt.
A simple possibility—that Lord Barbatos may have plotted Paimon's assassination. A possibility that had been obscured until now by blind loyalty and faith, and was finally raising its head. Like a trumpet flower quietly unfurling in the pale light of dawn.
"Let me address one matter first."
There was no stopping it now. A flower that had already begun to bloom could never return to its bud.
This was it.
This was my domain.
"The assassination charge is by no means a frame job. Someday the day will come when I can show you all the evidence. No—I plan to show you as soon as tomorrow. The time your faith can hold out is merely about fifteen hours."
I dared to declare it. From this moment on, the Plains Faction and Barbatos would be at each other's throats.
Just as Marbas held dominion over rule. Just as Barbatos held dominion over the souls of warriors. Each Demon Lord had a domain they governed.
"And to answer your question—of course Barbatos will be executed and you will all be acquitted as innocent. The positions we arbitrarily stripped from you will all be restored."
"……."
"Why do you insist on asking the obvious, Captain Zepar?"
I, Dantalion, the Demon Lord of the other side, held dominion over schemes, vengeance, and the art of acting—deception, to summarize it in a single word. A sculptor's art of casting a statue of betrayal from the bronze of suspicion, the alchemy of alchemies that transforms a false ingot of lead into gold.
Marbas, Gamigin, Vassago, and every other Demon Lord who had cooperated tonight—all of them were now nothing more than ignorant outsiders.
Demon Lords who command ten thousand demons and wield armies of thousands—lower your chins, cast your eyes downward. Bow your wrinkled foreheads and submit to my words.
From this point forward, this was the territory of me, Dantalion.