I won the gamble.
When Marbas appeared on the plains leading the Second Legion, I instinctively let out a cheer. In truth, I had been about to suggest we retreat to the Black Mountains at an opportune moment. After all, it was far more likely that the Crescent Alliance Army would arrive later than the Human Realm forces could assemble.
But Marbas took my proposal seriously. Affinity was something worth banking on. At the hearing, I had refrained from pressing Paimon on her guilt and let things slide amicably — and that had, as it turned out, won me the favor of Marbas, who had presided over the proceedings. That favor was what led to this war.
In the end, everything traced back to that hearing…… I had been nothing more than an independent when I forged a connection with Barbatos and became part of the Plains Faction, which in turn led to the Eighth Crescent Alliance Army. Isn't the way of the world just perverse? Whatever misfortune Paimon now faced, she had brought it upon herself.
"So you're the one who summoned old man Marbas."
Barbatos stared at me in silence. I could not read a single emotion in her gaze.
I spilled everything I knew to her.
Sooner or later, the truth — that I had orchestrated all of this — would come to light. Better to confess at least part of it to Barbatos ahead of time. It would be trouble if she suspected I wasn't a genuine supporter of the Plains Faction. Barbatos was an excellent bulwark. The kind of bulwark that would shield you from the attacks of other Demon Lords.
"I see."
"…Why did you lie to me?"
I let out a faint smirk. Barbatos's eyebrow twitched.
"You're laughing? Did you just laugh?"
"Of course I did. It's funny."
Barbatos's palm flew toward me. Crack — it slammed across my cheek.
She was no ordinary woman. Her combat stats numbered in the hundreds. I sprawled pathetically across the ground. My mouth was buzzing and I could taste blood. Something small and rough rolled around on my tongue. It was a tooth.
"Don't laugh."
An utterly emotionless voice settled down over me from above. Was she controlling her emotions? Or was she so incandescent with rage that she had no choice but to kill them entirely? I spat the tooth out.
"I lied? Don't make me laugh, Barbatos. I have never once deceived you."
"You son of a bitch, where do you get off spouting sophistry——"
"Shut up!"
I rose to my feet and looked Barbatos dead in the eye.
Ah, now I could clearly read the emotion in her eyes. Fury. She believed she had been betrayed. The thought of being deceived by someone she trusted made her shudder with rage. That's not like you, Barbatos.
"Do you remember the first time I came to your Demon Lord's Castle? The day we drank that god-awful Valernon wine? That was where we first resolved to form the Crescent Alliance Army. Quite the conspiracy, wasn't it?"
She glared at me in silence. I kept talking regardless.
I gave her back, word for word, the conversation we'd had back then. …The majority of Demon Lords don't want to conquer the Human Realm, because once they do, the uppermost Demon Lords will annihilate the lower ones in some form or another — that's what causes internal strife. Therefore, paradoxically, for the Crescent Alliance Army to succeed, the number of Demon Lords needs to decrease… .
Barbatos shouted.
"That's the whole goddamn point, you son of a bitch! You were the one who said it! If the Demon Lords won't fight on their own, then we should make the humans attack them!"
That was indeed what I'd said.
Because of the Black Death, humans would come to despise Demon Lords with extreme hatred before long. A Hero would lead the charge to subjugate them. Before that, we would weaken humanity's forces drastically. Not only that, we would provoke them into attacking on their own, igniting a war. That way, even the most selfish Demon Lords would have no choice but to fight. — That was my argument.
However.
"You seem to be misunderstanding something, Barbatos."
"What?"
"What I said wasn't limited to just that."
A laugh escaped my lips.
"I was very clear. 'The number of Demon Lords must be drastically reduced.'"
"…!"
Barbatos's expression changed. I see. So she was finally starting to catch on.
A strange sense of pleasure washed over me. The cheek she'd struck still throbbed. I kept on talking.
"You thought all we had to do was raise the Crescent Alliance Army, and the number of Demon Lords would go down? Did you really think that was the only trick I had up my sleeve? I have no choice but to say you underestimated your mistress's level of insight… ugh."
"You…"
"Yes. I did it all."
I deliberately told him to swallow the border lord's territory. That way, the human realm's leadership would grow anxious.
I deliberately asked him to capture the crown prince. That way, the other nations would be dragged in as well.
I deliberately left Paimon alone even knowing she was coming.
"That's how we draw all the other Demon Lords in!"
I shouted, worked up into a fever pitch.
"The Plains Faction is bait! An ant trap designed to lure every last soldier from the Demon Realm and the Human Realm! Here, at Brunswick of the Habsburgs, the continent's armies will all converge. This is where the nightmare begins."
"…."
"You think I deceived you? Let me say it one more time. Don't be ridiculous. From the very start, you agreed that the number of Demon Lords had to be reduced. That was the entire purpose of this eighth Crescent Alliance Army. I have done nothing more than remain faithful to 'our' objective. Isn't that right?"
Barbatos was silent. Her head hung low, so I could no longer see what expression she wore. But someone like her would have already realized it — that I was right.
With her head still bowed, Barbatos murmured:
"Then… you could have just told me ahead of time."
"No."
I answered immediately.
"The Plains Faction must appear to be squarely in the position of victim. Under no circumstances can word get out that we deliberately laid a trap of our own. Look closely. Because I didn't tell you, you were able to cry from the bottom of your heart. The Demon Lords and monsters who witnessed that will consider you an absolute victim.
"I, Dantalion, grew suspicious of Paimon and happened to uncover her scheme by pure chance. That is the only scenario that can be allowed to stand."
After the eighth Crescent Alliance Army ended, the Plains Faction would hold the moral high ground — the moral authority of having fought at the forefront for the Demon Realm. Meanwhile, the Mountain Faction would lose its purpose of 'attacking its own kind for the sake of the Demon Realm' and be left shouldering nothing but the stigma of 'having tried to attack its own kind.'
If things went well, the current political landscape — in which the Mountain Faction held the upper hand over the Plains Faction — might be turned on its head. The Demon Lord's armies would plunge ever deeper into chaos.
"To deceive your enemy, you must first deceive your own ally. That is the basics of strategy. Being denied a pat on the back or even getting slapped in the face — I did none of that."
"......"
Another long silence passed.
How much time had gone by? Barbatos suddenly spoke up.
"That...human advisor of yours?"
"Huh?"
The question was so unexpected that I reflexively asked him to repeat myself. He was referring to my human secretary — Laura de Farnese. Why was Laura coming up here of all places? I couldn't make sense of it.
Barbatos spoke again.
"I'm asking whether your human advisor knew. That you orchestrated the entire war."
"......No. She knew to some extent, but not everything. I'm not the type to tell my subordinates everything."
"Then, anyone else?"
Lapis came to mind.
"There is."
"One? Or several?"
The meaning behind his questions grew more and more opaque. No — was there some deeper significance here? I thought of Ivar Lodbrok and answered.
"Two. Probably."
"Two."
Silence again.
What was this all about?
I had no idea what to say, and as I sat there in silence, Barbatos slowly rose to his feet. He then began muttering something under his breath. I couldn't make out the words, but I could tell it was an incantation.
"Very well."
And then Barbatos spoke.
"This place is completely sealed off. Even if you scream your lungs out, nobody outside will hear a thing."
A sense of unease washed over me.
I asked in the most polite, deferential tone I could muster.
"...Um, Lady Barbatos. Why did you cast that spell?"
"Hmph."
She smiled darkly.
"Everyone else was despairing over and over again, but there you were, lounging around all by yourself without a care in the world. And what's this? There are apparently two people in this world who know something I don't?"
"Wh-what?"
"You have to trick your own allies to trick the enemy? What kind of bullshit is that? So I'm just some fake ally while those two bitches are the real deal?"
The atmosphere had taken a strange turn.
For reasons I couldn't fathom, Barbatos was absolutely furious. She was smiling, but her aura told an entirely different story. If anything, she seemed even more on edge than when she'd slapped me earlier!
"You were my first, you know... And here you are, a Dantalion of all people, carrying on with someone behind my back? Huh?"
"W-wait a minute! Cheating? Chea— what the hell are you talking about?!"
I shouted in shock.
"When were we ever officially together?!"
"You son of a bitch. I was a virgin for two thousand years. If you deflowered a world-class virgin, you damn well better take responsibility, you hear me? Even if you can't cherish me more than anyone else, how dare you two-time me?!"
"When did I ever deflower you?! You deflowered me!"
"Hah. I was a virgin. You weren't."
Has she lost her mind?!
I raised a finger.
"What do I care whether you're a virgin or not! You're the one who cast a lust spell on me and practically drove me wild!"
Barbatos's eyebrow twitched. Even though his expression was clearly amused, there was something shadowed about it. It was the feeling of, you just hit my sore spot.
"Huh. What's that supposed to mean? You slept with me and didn't like it?"
"No, that's not—"
"Then you liked it?"
I nodded my head very carefully. If I answered that I didn't enjoy it right now, the Scythe of Death would undoubtedly be summoned to lop my head clean off my shoulders in an instant. In truth... it wasn't bad, either.
Barbatos spoke in a flat, toneless voice.
"In short, you took advantage of a girl who looks twelve years old on the outside, and even though you were that girl's first man, instead of manning up and taking responsibility, you deceived her."
"..."
"The world generally calls men like that sons of bitches. You son of a bitch."
No, something was really off here. Literally speaking, it wasn't wrong, but... anyway, it wasn't right. I felt incredibly wronged.
Besides, that woman Barbatos had only been a virgin with men — she'd been doing plenty of wild things with women. So what was this act of playing innocent now, acting as though her first time had been stolen by a man? Why was the atmosphere shifting as if I were the one in the wrong?
"And sons of bitches deserve to be beaten like sons of bitches."
Shaaah — something materialized in Barbatos's grip.
It was a whip.
Cold sweat rolled down my back.
I opened my mouth, but my tongue trembled uncontrollably.
"B-Barbatos. I don't know why you're angry, but please, let's just have a rational conversation. Okay?"
"You moron. The reason I'm angry is because I don't know why I'm angry."
Barbatos grabbed the whip with both hands and pulled. As if testing just how tough the whip was. At least from where I was standing, it looked incredibly sturdy. Not good news for me whatsoever.
"For your information, every single word that comes out of your mouth is piling up my anger, piece by piece? So it'd be in your best interest to shut your mouth and stay quiet."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not telling you about my plan beforehand!"
I decided to just apologize unconditionally. I didn't think I was in the wrong even by a tiny bit, but I'd heard somewhere that when it comes to women, blind apology is always the right answer.
But for some reason, Barbatos just gave me a cold sneer.
"A piece of shit is a piece of shit to the very end. Seriously, what the hell got into me to end up with a guy like this?!"
"G-Gaaaahhh!?"
The whip cracked through the air with vicious speed.
What happened next — I'm going to omit for the sake of preserving whatever shred of dignity I have left.
I will say this much: I begged with every means and method I could think of to survive, and in the end, Barbatos's mood did soften. Of course, why Barbatos was so furious in the first place remained a mystery to the very end.
One moment she's swooning, saying it's great that I'm such a bastard, and the next she's beating me senseless for being one.
If I had to take a careful guess, she was probably trying to blame me for the humiliating incident of crying in front of her subordinates. Barbatos's pride is enormous. Crying where her minions could hear might go down as the greatest humiliation of her life. In that case, I suppose I deserved the beating.
But still, no matter how you look at it, this was just too unfair. Completely irrational… If I weren't such a ridiculously magnanimous man, I would've thrown a fit and quit the Plains Faction ages ago. What a nasty woman.