The incident traced back half a year ago.
The Demon Lord's sigil was discovered on the corpse of Rift, the adventure company captain. Upon this discovery, Dantalion and Lapis plunged into a marathon meeting. The Demon Lord and the Half-Succubus agreed on one point: all forces hostile—and potentially hostile—to them had to be weakened, no matter what.
In the Demon Lord's chamber atop the cave ceiling, the two spoke in low, unhurried tones.
"Whether Belial truly sponsored Rift, or whether one of Paimon's lackeys pulled strings—for now, we simply can't know. Worst case, Paimon himself might have done it directly."
"A valid point."
Lapis agreed with an expressionless face.
"More than anything, the problem is that Lord Dantalion has become more conspicuous than necessary. The first Demon Lord in history to have killed a Demon Lord in person... Anyone could find Lord Dantalion unsettling."
"We need to redirect the eyes of the Demon Lords and Demon Realm society elsewhere. This time, we crush the potentially hostile factions as well—make it so they don't even have the bandwidth to worry about someone like me."
It was the moment the Crescent Alliance Army's war was being manipulated by just two people.
"Black Herb—sell it only to the uppermost echelon of humans. That way we profit more and sow discord between the commoners and the aristocracy."
"I will spread rumors that the Demonkin released the Black Death, and further rumors that the nobles of the Human Realm spread those rumors themselves to cover up the incident."
Trust in their nations had plummeted to rock bottom due to an unprecedented plague, and to reclaim that trust, the rulers of each country mobilized their armies under the banner of "slay the Demon Lord, the root of the curse."
Individually, each nation's force numbered only two to five thousand troops, but when every country mobilized that many simultaneously, Demon Realm society fell into anxiety, convinced that "the humans are coming in force."
As a reaction to this, the Demon Lords resolved to wage a defensive war—a strategy of striking first before the human armies could attack. When one of the Plains Faction's Demon Lords fell in battle against the human forces, the Demon Lords' unease only deepened.
That was the first stage.
"This Crescent Alliance Army is, at the end of the day, a defensive war. The idea is to act before the human offensive unfolds. In other words, excluding Barbatos's Plains Faction, the other Demon Lords are likely to sit around doing nothing. They'll put up a halfhearted fight and call it quits."
"That is when Lord Dantalion joins the Plains Faction. You break through the front assigned to the Plains Faction as quickly as possible—and this time, it will be the Human Realm's monarchs who are consumed by fear."
The Plains Faction had been assigned the Habsburg Empire front. It was no coincidence. Dantalion had specifically instructed Barbatos to take the Habsburg Empire front, and Barbatos had relayed the request straight to the number-one ranked Bael.
At the moment the Crescent Alliance Army's formation was declared, this was the exchange that had taken place between Bael and Barbatos.
'Dantalion, ranked eighth among the Demon Lords.'
'I was getting nervous about when you'd summon me. The place I'm headed is obvious, isn't it?'
'I appoint you as commander of the Sixth Legion. You are to march toward the Habsburg Empire front. I hereby grant you full command over the entire Plains Faction.'
The destination had already been agreed upon between the two Demon Lords.
Just as Dantalion had planned.
The Crescent Alliance Army's Sixth Legion set out toward the Habsburg Empire. Here, Dantalion employed a strategy that had once been used in the Dungeon Attack, successfully breaking through the Black Mountains. The news that a force of merely several thousand monsters had pierced through the Black Mountains in just four days sent shockwaves not through the Demon Realm's society, but through the Human Realm's instead.
"From this point on, spread a new rumor immediately. Say that the Demon Lord's army isn't massacring the humans in occupied territory—on the contrary, they're distributing Black Hub for free."
"You must actually do so as well, of course."
"Yes, yes. Naturally."
Following this, Dantalion avoided direct confrontation with the Margrave of Rosenberg for the time being. He persuaded Barbatos to seize the territory without bloodshed, and in order to win the hearts of the populace, he not only distributed Black Hub but also purged the monster settlements. The people of the territory voluntarily proclaimed Barbatos as their Count.
The news that the Demon Lord's army had broken through the Black Mountains at an unprecedented speed—and had even accepted the populace as their subjects—rocked the Human Realm. The Sixth Legion of the Crescent Alliance Army had no particular designs, but for the monarchs of the various nations, this was a grave threat.
Public morale had already hit rock bottom thanks to the Black Death. With sons and husbands literally rotting away from disease, the Demon Lord—or anyone else—handing out Black Hub was nothing short of rain during a drought.
Until now, the Human Realm had united as one—from emperor down to slave—to defeat the Crescent Alliance Army. But this time, unity was hard to expect.
Hostility between the nobility and the commoners was more fierce than ever. Commoners and slaves rose up in rebellion, demanding Black Hub, and the nobles crushed them without mercy. It was precisely in this climate that talk of 'defending humanity' and the like fell completely on deaf ears.
The decisive factor was the fact that the Margrave of Rosenberg had been chased from his own territory without even putting up a proper fight. A grand army of thirty thousand had dwindled to ten thousand in the blink of an eye. It had been revealed that the conscripts, aside from the knight orders, had absolutely no loyalty to their homeland.
At last, the twelve nations of the continent came to share the recognition that the eighth Crescent Alliance Army was the most dangerous in two thousand years of history.
This was as far as the second phase went.
"From here on, what matters is how we can wear down the forces of the Demon Lord's army and the human army as much as possible..."
"Yes. We need to draw both forces into a single concentrated point."
Unlimited total war!
Dantalion wanted both the Demon Lord's army and the human armies to suffer devastating blows, all to buy himself time to grow. For that, both sides would need to pour every last ounce of their strength into the fight "desperately."
On the Demon Lord's side, the perception that failure to break through here meant defeat.
On the human side, the perception that failure to hold here meant annihilation.
So what kind of preparation would be necessary?
"If they receive intelligence that the Crescent Alliance Army has been organized, the human nations will want to wage war before the Demon Lord's army reaches their own borders."
Not every nation shared a border with the Demon Lord's territory. Excluding the Teuton Kingdom, the Habsburg Empire, Polithunia, and the Kingdom of Moscow, the other nations were far removed from the Demon Lord's lands.
If the Demon Lord's army wished to invade the Frank Empire, they would first need to occupy the Habsburg Empire. Naturally, the Frank Empire would prefer to intercept the Demon Lord's army not on its own soil but on Habsburg territory before the Empire fell. War inflicted devastating damage on a nation's homeland. Fighting a war in someone else's country was vastly preferable to fighting one on your own.
As the fortresses in the Black Mountains crumbled one after another with no resistance, five nations—the Frank Empire, the Batavia Republic, the Kingdom of Bretagne, the Kingdom of Castile, and the Kingdom of Sardinia—immediately mobilized their armies.
They had, fortunately—or so they believed—already assembled advance forces. These were units of two to five thousand troops that had been dispatched to assault the Demon Lord's Castle before the Crescent Alliance Army even began. The nations first sent those vanguard units out, then urgently organized their main armies.
Each nation's small detachments marched right up to the border zone, ready to enter Habsburg territory at a moment's notice. They requested permission from the Habsburg Empire to pass through its lands.
But the Crown Prince, as well as the Third Imperial Princess, refused the foreign requests. The Crown Prince, to monopolize all military merit for himself. The Third Imperial Princess, to use this opportunity to broker a ceasefire with the Demon Lord's army. The foreign armies were stunned. Whatever the circumstances, refusing passage while the Demon Lord's army was bearing down on them was outrageous!
Dantalion was certain.
"Once they have a justification, they'll definitely invade the Habsburg Empire."
"I'm sure you're right, but how do you plan to provide one?"
"There's a reason I specifically chose the Habsburg Empire."
He smiled faintly.
"The Empire is currently in the throes of a fierce power struggle between the princes and princesses. If war breaks out, the imperial family will be eager to seize as much military authority as they can. For a sovereign, war is always a crisis—and simultaneously an opportunity to legitimately seize military power."
"...Understood."
Lapis nodded.
"Whether it's a prince or a princess, we only need to capture one to manufacture a justification."
"Ah."
As tensions between the Habsburg Empire and other nations continued to escalate, the Battle of Austerlitz erupted. Just as Dantalion had anticipated, the imperial army was completely annihilated at the site where the Crown Prince had personally taken the field.
One of the peculiarities of the Battle of Austerlitz was that the Demon Lord's cavalry played no role whatsoever. In truth, Dantalion and Barbatos had formed a separate cavalry detachment in case they failed to capture the enemy's high command. The detachment was to circle around the battlefield and intercept the enemy leadership should they attempt to retreat. However, since the Crown Prince was captured without so much as a fight, the plan came to nothing.
Now everything had fallen into place.
While Barbatos raised his undead army and the other Plains Faction Demon Lords conscripted monster villagers, Dantalion did something no one expected — he sent communications to the rulers of ten nations. He transmitted images of the Crown Prince through a Magic Crystal Orb.
—I, Rudolf von Habsburg, am the rightful sovereign of the Habsburg Empire, the one destined to be its sole and sacred ruler. Alas, the Empire currently finds itself on the brink of collapse. Therefore, I, Rudolf von Habsburg, humbly beseech the rulers of ten nations in the name of humanity and fellowship……
It was a request for military reinforcements.
In truth, the Crown Prince was already dead — merely a puppet reanimated by Barbatos's dark magic. But there was no way to discern that through the images transmitted by the Magic Crystal Orb. No, even if they had noticed, the rulers of the ten nations would not have cared.
The nations that had been trembling in fear, convinced that if the Habsburg Empire fell their own would be next, erupted in cheers. The documents sent along with the Magic Crystal Orb bore the Crown Prince's seal without question. They knew that in practice it was Third Princess Elisabeth who ruled the Habsburg Empire, but it didn't matter. All that counted was having a pretext!
Dantalion had also wisely sent letters to the Habsburg Empire's border margraves — those who had loyally served the first in line of succession for generations. They responded immediately, volunteering as guides and marching alongside the foreign forces.
That marked the end of the third stage.
"……Lord Dantalion, you are truly a terrifying person."
At the end of the marathon meeting, Lapis let out a sigh.
"No one could have devised such an audacious scheme. Who would dare imagine that all of this originated from a single person's mind?"
"If it succeeds, that is."
"How could someone like me possibly guarantee that?"
Lapis looked straight at me.
"I stake two hundred years of life on it. I am convinced that you, Lord Dantalion, will succeed."
"Reassuring. Yes, I'd like to think that when all is said and done, the one laughing last will be me."
"Then I will return to the Demon Realm at once and execute the first operation.……But Lord Dantalion — what would you like to name this overarching operation?"
"We'll call it Operation Minerva."
The heart of this grand plan was the Kunkuska Trading Company.
For spreading all manner of rumors swiftly and serving as the channel to deliver bribes alongside intelligence to the heads of various nations, there was no organization that could rival the Kunkuska Trading Company. The sole problem was whether the entire Kunkuska Trading Company would rally behind Dantalion's operation, even if Lapis were to lend her assistance wholeheartedly.
Of course, Dantalion believed they would.
After all, Ivar Lodbrok—the owner of the Kunkuska Trading Company and a True Ancestor Vampire—was the one who despised the Demon Lords more than anyone else!
Ivar Lodbrok and Dantalion met in secret. The two spoke at length in grave earnestness. Ivar's expression shifted from shock, to deep contemplation, and finally to cold resolve. He understood that this plan would deal a devastating blow to the Demon Lords as a whole.
Ivar muttered abruptly.
"...The Great Demon Lord Angolmois."
"Hm?"
Dantalion found this peculiar. Ivar shook his head.
"No. A thought from the past simply came to mind. I, Ivar Lodbrok, swear to lend my humble but active cooperation to Your Excellency Dantalion's plan."
Naturally, it was also Ivar who had procured the finest wine in the Demon Realm to lure Barbatos.
In truth, this was the entirety of Dantalion's stratagem. He had perfected the plan to draw in the human armies, but he had no confidence in how to bring the Demon Lord armies beyond the Sixth Legion into the fold. He had only been considering a fallback of retreating all the way to the Black Fortress while being chased by the human forces.
That was precisely why, upon realizing that Paimon harbored intentions to betray the Demon Lord army—Dantalion was thrilled. He was so delighted that he pulled out wine and drank it with Laura. How could he not be? The final fourth stage had completed itself!
"Paimon! You fool of a woman!"
He burst into hearty laughter.
"You really do help me from beginning to end!"
Dantalion immediately leaked information to Marbas of the Second Legion, Agares of the Third Legion, Vassago of the Fourth Legion, and Gamigin of the Fifth Legion. The information: that Paimon of the First Legion was planning to attack Barbatos of the Sixth Legion.
The majority did not put much stock in the information Dantalion had leaked. They considered it too outlandish to be true.
However, Marbas—the Fifth-ranked Demon Lord whose Affinity had been sufficiently built up through the hearing held on Walpurgis Night—took Dantalion's words seriously. Above all else, Marbas knew Paimon's character well. He judged the scenario to be entirely plausible.
Marbas halted the Second Legion's advance and silently observed the First Legion's movements. The First Legion was behaving oddly. Even accounting for the Mountain Faction's aversion to war, they were being far too sluggish. And when the First Legion finally did move, they advanced not toward the Teuton Kingdom, but toward the Habsburg Empire.
"…So Dantalion was right."
Marbas swallowed hard.
He was not the only one. The other legion commanders had merely failed to take the matter seriously—that was all. Each had still placed at least one spy within the First Legion. Word that the First Legion was heading toward the Habsburg front reached every commander of the Crescent Alliance Army almost immediately.
The supreme Demon Lords who ruled the Demon Realm made their decisions.
"All forces, wheel around. March on the Habsburg Empire."
—Marbas, Fifth in rank, commander of the Second Legion.
"Craaah! That bitch Paimon—I can hear her scheming all the way from here! We can't just let her pull off something like this on her own! Come on, boys, let's move!"
—Agares, Second in rank, commander of the Third Legion.
"Change the direction of advance."
—Vassago, Third in rank, commander of the Fourth Legion.
"Ugh. What a pain. I knew my luck had been off lately."
—Gamigin, Fourth in rank, commander of the Fifth Legion.
The Second Legion, the Third Legion, the Fourth Legion, and the Fifth Legion—virtually every force belonging to the Crescent Alliance Army—immediately pivoted and headed for the Habsburg Empire. None of them wanted Paimon to seize all the glory of the campaign for herself.
Paimon was already horrified that Marbas had appeared. Had she known that three other legion commanders were bearing down on her just as aggressively, she might have fainted on the spot.
The great war that Dantalion had so fervently desired had entered its first countdown.