Laughter shook the air.
"Hah, khuhuhu, hahahahaha—bahahahaha!"
Something that had been festering for ages upon ages, something that had merely crouched within his gut, came surging back up through his snake-like esophagus, erupting all at once.
"How long has it been since anyone spoke thus to me! How delightful! What a luxury!"
It was madness. The ominous laughter battered the deepest recesses of his skull, over and over again. The Demon Lords stared at Bael with hollow expressions. The laughter ceased without warning.
"Oh my. It truly has been a long wait."
Bael let his gaze, brimming with longing, linger in the empty air for a time. A tenderness like a spring breeze drifted across a face that had only ever known how to wear a stern expression.
Dantalion's voice was equally gentle.
"It seems it dragged on longer than you anticipated."
"How was I to know that I would have to wait two thousand years from that day? Mortals must embroider their time with folly. The gods do not forgive arrogance."
Bael gazed steadily at the other.
"An unexpected person, and an unexpected ending. Who would have thought the one to close that comedic stage and raise a new curtain would be a fellow like you. This too must be retribution the gods have dealt back to me."
"I am mortified that a small fry like myself has ended Your Majesty's entertainment."
Dantalion said with a playful air.
"But has it not been proven that there are still things in this world that Your Majesty cannot predict or even fathom? Forgive the presumption, but I believe it may even be a blessing."
"You are right. I am tasting boundless joy."
The two exchanged words with warmth.
It was a sight that seemed almost miraculous to the other Demon Lords. Did it not look like old friends catching up?
"Which Demon Lord did you expect would end Your Majesty's ennui?"
"I surmised that Paimon might have been capable of noticing. But it was a threadbare hope at best."
Bael nodded.
"Barbatos is second to none when it comes to responding to events unfolding right before his eyes, but he has a tendency to interpret the root causes of those events through an emotional lens, so he was unsuitable. Marbas is the best at solving and mediating problems, but he doesn't treat the underlying causes with any seriousness, so he wasn't appropriate either. The rest were out of the question."
Bael narrowed his eyes and glared at Vassago, who was standing on the far side of the ballroom.
"I created the ranking system as an official hierarchy with the express purpose of inciting fury among the Demon Lords. Why is my rank so low? Why is someone else's rank lower than mine? That was supposed to spark their competitive instincts, but…"
"Instead, it had the effect of freezing the Demon Lords' rankings in place."
"Yes."
Bael let out a long sigh.
"The custom of lower-ranked Demon Lords deferring to higher-ranked ones became entrenched as though it were only natural. Some, like that Vassago, even began using the rankings to cement their own positions. Pathetic wretch."
Vassago flinched.
Dantalion spoke without so much as glancing his way.
"If you had revealed from the very beginning that it was Your Majesty who had done it…"
"A foolish question. That would have turned it into a play where I instigate the whole thing only to finish it off myself, wouldn't it?"
Bael furrowed one brow.
"I didn't do this because I was hoping for some anticlimactic ending. I yearn to fight and die at the hands of someone stronger, wiser, and nobler than myself. If I can't even determine that on my own, then what's the point?"
"Hmm. A warrior's worth is also determined by the worth of the one who kills him…"
"That is precisely it."
Just then, a low voice drifted over.
"…Don't make me laugh."
In a corner of the hall, half-swallowed by darkness, Barbatos stood with his face contorted in fury. He barely managed to contain his rage and spat out his words, one syllable at a time.
"Don't make me laugh, old man... You're the one who cut those damned supply lines...?"
"That's right."
Bael nodded.
Dantalion sighed and took a few steps away from Bael. At that, Bael smiled and continued.
"The one who killed the three Demon Lords responsible for supply management was also yours truly. I still remember how hard the enemy worked to disguise it as a knight order raid."
"Eighty thousand soldiers died of starvation without ever getting to swing their swords!"
Barbatos screamed, eyes bloodshot and red.
"Because of you, eighty thousand soldiers...!"
"How tragic. A true tragedy."
Bael said.
"But tell me, Barbatos. Pure warrior that you are. I find myself genuinely curious... If you're truly this sorrowful and enraged, why don't you take your revenge on me right here, right now?"
"...!"
In that instant, Barbatos shot forward like an arrow.
Black liquid surged from the shadows and exploded outward around Barbatos. From the shadows spreading in every direction, dozens of greatswords erupted. They formed a massive pair of wings and rained down toward Bael alone.
The exchange lasted barely a single second.
Bael's cloak fluttered as he spun once, and in the blink of an eye, a two-handed sword had appeared in his right hand. He carved a semicircle through the greatswords hurtling toward him. They shattered like glass, scattering into fragments.
Bael's blade continued straight through, severing Barbatos's right arm.
"Graaaah—!"
Barbatos shrieked and swung her battle scythe with her remaining left arm. But the strike had already lost its momentum, and when Bael casually deflected the scythe's side, it veered off in a wild direction.
"Barbatos, I've told you this many times—"
Bael drove his fist deep into Barbatos's body as she lost her balance.
The fist struck the young girl square in the chest, punched clean through her body, and emerged out the other side. A bright red heart was clenched in his fist. Barbatos let out a choked gasp.
"Guh… khaaah… hahh!"
Barbatos collapsed pathetically to the ground. She pressed her left hand against the hole punched through her chest and groaned. The sudden, overwhelming pain made her body convulse like a writhing insect. A pool of blood spread wider and wider around her.
"The problem with you is that you become too emotional when it comes to your subordinates. If you truly care for your subordinates, you should in fact remain composed at all times. And if you ask why…."
Bael lightly crushed the heart in his hand.
With a dull squelch, the girl's heart crumbled into a dark red clump and a spray of blood, falling to the ground below.
"…it is because the subordinates will lose control the moment their leader is injured."
Beleth and Zepar launched from their positions at the same instant.
Beleth screamed as she brought her axe crashing down, while Zepar swung her spear in silence. Bael kicked Barbatos's crumpled form on the ground. As Barbatos was launched into the air with a pain-filled shriek, Beleth and Zepar's gazes faltered for a split second.
"She can serve as a rather useful hostage, after all."
Seizing the opening, Bael charged straight at Beleth.
Beleth realized his intent and twisted her body in a hurry, but Bael had already thrust his two-handed sword squarely into her shoulder. Beleth's right arm was severed from the shoulder down.
Zepar, by contrast, reacted wisely. The moment she saw Bael rush toward Beleth, she dodged out of the way. Zepar caught the falling Barbatos and swiftly retreated.
Bael severed Beleth's remaining left arm and let out an impressed "Ho ho."
"So yours was to rescue Barbatos from the very start. Impressive. You refused to abandon your original objective even after leaving your own back exposed."
"…."
Zepar glared at Bael with icy eyes. She removed her cloak and carefully draped it over Barbatos. Covered in the red cloak, Barbatos gasped in agony.
"Hm."
Bael shook the blood from his blade. He spoke to Dantalion.
"I beg your pardon, Dantalion. The buzzing was so bothersome I had to sort things out first. I trust you'll generously forgive my rudeness."
"……Of course."
Dantalion offered a wry smile.
"I suspected you'd be formidable, but this exceeds expectations. That sword — could it possibly be the Grand Sword of Exorcism?"
"Oh? You knew the true nature of this artifact."
Dantalion let out a sigh.
"A weapon into which the Red Dragon compressed every unique magic known to the eleven dragonkin clans. It includes the White Dragon's unique magic that forcibly reverse-summons summoned creatures. Against Barbatos, I'd call it the perfect counter."
"You truly are erudite. How did you come to know of an artifact long forgotten since ancient times?"
Dantalion shook his head slowly.
"Among the forces currently surrounding the arena, the most dangerous threat is undoubtedly Barbatos's summoned creature…… That's why you provoked Barbatos first to lure him out, and at the same time neutralized the summoned creatures as well."
"I simply didn't have the confidence to brawl like Agares, you see."
Bael grinned amicably.
While the clash had unfolded, the remaining Demon Lords had formed an encirclement with Bael at its center. The Plains Faction, the Neutral Faction, the unaffiliated — nearly every Demon Lord stood in formation together, their tense faces fixed on Bael without a single gap.
Bael turned his gaze toward Paimon.
"Paimon. You heard it yourself."
"……."
"I had hoped you would forge a powerful nation that even extended its reach into the Human Realm. That is why I spared no effort in providing support."
"……There is no fundamental difference between humans and Demonkin."
Paimon stared at Bael with eyes gone cold as ice.
"The one who told me that was none other than yourself, wasn't it? Were you lying the entire time?"
"What do you mean, lies? I'm rather hurt. I merely provided the catalyst. But it seems you did have a certain weakness of heart."
Bael wore an expression of regret.
"I thought you had finally reached greatness during the last battle of the Crescent Alliance Army, only for you to lose even your mana and fall... I'm disappointed. It simply means that was the extent of your capacity after all."
"Bael. You told me you wanted me to mediate between the factions."
Marbas spoke with a blank expression.
"A unified Demon Lord's army. A single force advancing as one. Wasn't that the request?"
"Old friend, I'm sorry, but it wasn't. If that were the case, I should have bolstered your Neutral Faction's power even further."
"...I wanted to prevent a situation where the factions existed but their conflicts escalated, weakening them excessively. That way, you would stockpile just enough power to serve as a counter to Bael."
Bael nodded his chin.
"Indeed, you are wise. But the wise tend to be so devoted to their assigned duties that they fail to look outward. That was your flaw, Marbas."
"...I'll take that advice to heart."
Bael slowly surveyed his surroundings, then turned his gaze back to Dantalion.
"Truly a magnificent gift, Dantalion. I acknowledge you as my adversary. But tell me — could you actually kill me right here and now?"
"I think it might be possible."
Dantalion shrugged his shoulders.
"It doesn't look as easy as I'd hoped. That cloak Your Majesty is wearing right now is also slightly suspicious. I'd guess it's a specially made cloak enchanted with powerful anti-magic."
"A perceptive guess. There was once a rumor circulating that you possessed the ability of prophecy, Dantalion — it seems that wasn't merely a rumor after all."
"Then we're in the worst-case scenario."
Dantalion stepped away from Bael as he spoke.
"Even so, I can't very well just stand here and politely send Your Majesty on his way. If there's one thing I hate most in this world, it's letting the prey right in front of me slip away, only to get backstabbed later."
He raised his right hand.
"You will have to die here, Your Majesty."