Jespine
It truly was a coincidence.
Right after releasing the hero party, Ernan came to find Berze.
"I have a favor to ask."
"You're not exactly in a position to be asking for favors."
"I know one of the secret vaults of a high-ranking noble of the kingdom."
"Go on."
"I need Seniel Powder."
"The powder used for spirit contracts?"
"Yes."
Hundreds of years ago, an elf named Seniel defected to a human kingdom. At the king's request, she created a reagent to help humans contract with spirits more easily—that was Seniel Powder.
"Isn't your blood more effective?"
But that was merely supplementary—meant for those who lacked the sensitivity to spirits. Ernan, already contracted with spirits and gifted in the art, didn't need it.
"I'm going to mix it with my blood. As you know, there's very little mana in the tower, so I'll need the assistance."
"You're planning to contract a new spirit?"
"Yes."
"Intermediate?"
"Well…"
Her answer was vague, but Berze could guess.
A high-grade spirit.
I think something like this made noise in the previous life too…
Among humans, spirit contractors were rare. And those contracted with high-grade spirits could be counted on one hand.
Yet she had contracted one at only twenty-seven years of age. Hilderan had publicized her achievement widely, and spirit practitioners from across the continent flocked to Hilderan afterward.
But now she was attempting the contract three years earlier.
What changed?
Previously, she hadn't been kidnapped.
She hadn't been forced to live in the tower for months.
But wouldn't that actually be a disadvantage?
He watched her—but she simply smiled brightly. Well, what did it matter? It wasn't particularly important.
"Here's the deposit."
"It's in the Felsen region of the Acan Kingdom. There's a secret manor in a place called Feltor. The vault is in the basement."
"You hid it that far."
"So it won't get seized if something goes wrong."
"And you happened to know?"
"Spirits see and hear quite a lot."
She explained further details of the noble's vault.
"Since it's a secret vault belonging to one of Hilderan's most influential nobles, I assume they've stashed quite a bit of embezzled money in there."
"And a princess is allowed to tell all this to a Demon King?"
"Well, they smuggled the kingdom's wealth abroad… so I think it's justified."
Looks like I'll have to go myself.
He wanted to check the state of the continent firsthand. Fortunately, as the Demon King, he had not yet revealed himself, so it was possible.
"You'll be able to find Seniel Powder relatively easily in the Acan Kingdom."
Spirit practitioners weren't common among humans. Naturally, there weren't many facilities for them. The only place that had proper supply was a mage-dominated kingdom like Acan.
"I'll keep that in mind."
And so, he descended the mountain.
"If I knew you were slacking off like this, I would've just ordered you to handle it."
"What part of this looks like slacking—"
"Who are you?"
The mercenary who had cornered Granada finally regained his stance, tightening his grip on his sword.
"The slave owner of the one you're bullying."
"Nonsense!"
"Correct nonsense! Absolutely nonsense!"
Granada and the mercenary shouted one second apart.
The mercenary gritted his teeth.
It was like watching a cheap, childish play. It was laughable that someone of Granada's level could be a slave—and even more laughable that they stuck to the act.
It was obvious they were mocking them.
Who is he? Why would someone this strong be in a backwater place like Hotenwalk…?
"And you—who are you?"
"...…"
"Not answering? I answered your question, you know."
Berze laughed. Between the laughter, the killing intent seeped out, making the mercenaries tremble.
A newly summoned Demon King is weak. Dimensional interference makes them so. It suppresses invaders and empowers heroes, trying to stabilize the dimension.
There was only one way to overcome that interference—twist the interference granted through the tower and the magic points.
Or, even if restricted, stack enough raw power through elixirs or magic points to force your way through.
Berze hadn't had the luxury.
Most magic stones had been sent to other Demon Kings for the sake of money. He had only consumed a few elixirs—gaining a small amount of magic.
But—
It was enough.
Not all power was suppressed. Only the ratio was suppressed. Ten percent of a strong one was very different from ten percent of a weak one.
And Berze—
Had been called "one of the greatest of all time" in the Demon King Military Academy that had operated for thousands of years.
Naturally, even his restricted power was extraordinary.
And he was not merciful enough to tolerate an insolent "human" who dared glare straight at him.
"When something goes out, something must come back. That's etiquette."
Flames of the Demon King rippled.
When the flames died, sharp claws remained. Blood-red scales faintly spread across his skin.
"M-ma… demonkin…!"
The mercenaries recognized the magic power flickering with the flames. The crushing pressure forced them to their knees.
Is it fine to reveal magic this openly?
Granada thought it was too blatant. And the blatancy made the air tremble.
There was only one person who could resist that storm of violence.
CRACK—
"Filthy demon!"
Brilliant blue aura engulfed the mercenary's entire body. It pushed back the magic and propelled his body forward.
His forged blade grew even larger than before. It cleaved through the flow of magic. The mercenaries freed from the pressure gasped for breath.
But helping his men was not his goal.
CLANK—
Heavy boots crushed the ground. Muscles swelled to the extreme.
BOOM—
He blasted forward, shattering the earth.
In the blink of an eye, the distance between them vanished.
The moment Berze saw his opponent's movement—
A line was drawn.
Compressed aura detonated. Space tore apart.
It was impossibly fast. Impossibly sharp. Impossibly destructive.
Where did a monster like this come from…!?
Granada stood upright before he even realized it. This was not a mere mercenary. Not someone who would rot away hunting low-grade monsters trickling into Hotenwalk.
He's not going to lose… right?
A faint—very faint—unease crept in. He didn't truly believe the Demon King would lose, but for a moment, the opponent's slash was so fast and precise that it made him wonder.
And then—
CRAAAAASH—
Shattered debris scratched Granada's cheek and scattered.
When the smoke cleared and he saw the calm silhouette standing there—
He realized his worry had been unnecessary after all.
"I am speaking."
I was caught in Black Berze's grasp. The aura that could cut through anything was blocked by the black flames and couldn't advance.
The mercenary's face flushed bright red.
"On my way down this time, I tried to cultivate something called patience."
There had already been one failure. I had tried to follow the proper method, but I had also acted capriciously—like a Demon King ought to.
Thinking about it now, it was a miracle I even made it to the 20th floor of the tower. The other Demon Kings had probably been slow to react because they were thrown off by my reckless, head-on style.
"So I actually held myself back once."
When kidnapping Logar, I had turned my back on a mere princess and run away.
I had no choice. I couldn't allow my identity as a Demon King to be exposed, and being too far from the tower meant my power was severely restricted.
But the fact remained—I had trampled on my pride as a Demon King.
"And now these worthless creatures are causing a scene in my own front yard."
Should I endure it again?
No. HotenWalk imposed heavy restrictions compared to Ergest, but compared to the Dwarf Kingdom, it was basically nothing.
And the princess's insolence was tolerable because she didn't know I was a Demon King. The creatures before me, however, were not.
"You… who the hell are you…?!"
Crack—
The sword snapped. A line of blood dripped from the mercenary's mouth.
"You're not an ordinary demon."
Just as you are not an ordinary mercenary.
"It doesn't matter anymore. The dead don't speak anyway."
Fwoosh—
The flames intensified.
They devoured the aura bit by bit as they advanced. The mercenary screamed.
"Run!"
He collapsed as he gave his last order. The mercenaries turned their backs.
"Who said you could leave?"
I never gave permission.
Berze took a slow step. Space folded, blocking their escape.
I swung my hand through the panicked mercenaries. Long, grown claws tore through leather armor and stained flesh with blood.
That was when someone suddenly intervened—Kaede.
"Hero."
Sensing the presence of her natural enemy, Berze's lips curled upward. Kaede drew her treasured sword against the chilling murderous intent.
Clang—
Her posture wavered. The slash she barely managed to swing was swallowed by the flames. Even so, she advanced one step.
She thrust her sword forward quickly, but a small explosion blasted her back. With a scream, she rolled across the ground.
"Wait! You can't kill her!"
Berze's shadow loomed over Kaede. His gaze shifted to Granada.
"That woman—she's a princess! We need to capture her!"
"Is that true?"
"…"
"She confessed."
Kaede bit her lip.
"…What do you plan to do with them?"
"What is your relationship?"
"They're knights who came to capture me."
"…I fail to understand."
"I had circumstances, so I secretly escaped the imperial palace."
"…The imperial palace?"
Not the royal palace?
"If you agree to spare them, I'll reveal my identity."
Kaede's legs trembled, but she did not step back.
"You don't seem to understand your situation."
"…"
"If you don't want to speak, then don't. I can just kill them all."
"Jespine!"
She shouted urgently.
"I am Kaede Jespine, ninth imperial princess of the Jespine Empire!"
The Jespine Empire.
Berze had no pleasant memories regarding the greatest, mightiest empire on Arein.
If anything, it was full of bad ones.
Thinking back, the moment his death was sealed was when he kidnapped Jespine's crown prince.
He had been doing well. His pride as a Demon King pierced the heavens. His repeated successes made his arrogance boundless.
He believed he could even wage war against Jespine, so he kidnapped the crown prince. From that moment on, the entire Hero Guild sharpened their blades and hunted him down.
'Come to think of it…'
He recalled the conversation among the Demon Kings during the harmony at the tower.
'The ninth imperial princess of the Jespine Empire has gone missing. I've wanted to ask—was that anyone's doing here?'
'I have no intention of provoking the Empire.'
'Wasn't there talk of the ninth princess being engaged to the king of Ormus?'
"She ran away because she didn't want to marry?"
"Wh—what… mmph."
The princess hurriedly covered her mouth, but it was too late.
'The Ormus Kingdom is nothing remarkable.'
Though its land was fairly large, half of it was jungle and rainforest, making its national power pathetic.
It had no notable warriors, no eye-catching heroes—there was nothing to fear from its retaliation.
'The problem is the Jespine Empire…'
Unlike Hilde Ran, Jespine had no firmly established successor.
The first prince, second prince, first princess, and third princess were locked in fierce competition, while the younger princes and princesses supported various factions and fought in the shadows.
Later, the first prince would eliminate all his siblings and become the crown prince—but that was far in the future.
'There is no such thing as familial affection among imperial royalty.'
They saw one another only as blood-stained rivals.
'Some of them might even be happy one competitor disappeared.'
Of course, the best option was to never provoke the Empire at all—but could he simply release a slab of meat that had rolled into his own front yard?
Especially after he'd already revealed himself as a Demon King—there had to be a harvest.
There was another reason, too.
He needed to collect more Magi to repay his debt, and after experiencing Hilen Cargill's hero quest, he had newfound confidence in himself.
That was why he was certain:
This was something he could take.
"You're coming with me."
"T-the knights…"
"I've kidnapped a princess—obviously I need witnesses. Your choice saved them."
Though they wouldn't know that.
Berze grabbed Kaede.
"You stay here and finish the task."
"Yes."
Berze and Granada vanished.
The wounded knights remained unconscious until the city guard, sensing the Magi, arrived and discovered them.
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