Find the Dwarf
All information inside a tower is transmitted to its master—from the smallest triviality to matters of great importance.
On the 4th floor, an anomaly appeared.
How unpleasant.
In a demon king's tower overflowing with demon energy, a sudden surge of pure mana erupted.
The foreign energy was unbearably irritating and bothersome.
"It succeeded."
"Thanks to you."
Zzz-eeeeng—
"Gah—!"
Kaede coughed blood and collapsed.
"Your skill has improved."
"When summoning the spirit, I absorbed part of its mana."
Ernan replied casually without even glancing at the fallen Kaede.
Berze looked around. The 4th floor had changed.
"At this rate, tell her I'll throw her into the underground prison myself."
"You won't do it personally?"
"The first and only time I saw her face directly was when I first kidnapped her."
Thanks to her, he had accumulated quite a lot of Magic Points, so he had been lenient.
But his patience was nearing its end.
I've tolerated this much? I've really mellowed.
It was because Ernan was the first one he kidnapped after regression.
She had obediently followed his intentions, so he assumed Kaede would be the same—and gave her chances.
But now, it was over.
"That is…"
So that's the spirit.
Behind Ernan stood a spirit he hadn't seen before.
A woman radiating more powerful presence than any spirit that had roamed the 4th floor until now.
— Nice to meet you, Demon King.
— I am a high-ranked water spirit, Nairuniel.
She extended her hand for a handshake.
"..."
Was there ever a spirit friendly toward demon kings? No.
Which made him suspicious.
"What's your scheme?"
— Don't misunderstand. I don't like demons either.
— But you and Ernan's—
"That's far enough, Lady Nairuniel."
Ernan quickly covered Nairuniel's mouth.
The high-ranked spirit flailed, muffled.
"…What are you doing?"
"Lady Nairuniel talks a bit too much."
— No, I just— mmph!
Watching their little comedy skit, Berze suddenly wondered something.
The tower converts mana into demon energy.
"I've never brought a spirit inside the tower before, so I'm not sure."
And spirits were pure crystallizations of mana.
"If you stay here, do you become a dark spirit?"
— Do you think I'd be corrupted by this level of demon energy!? That's an insult!
"Then never mind."
— You insult me and then say 'never mind'!?
— Apologize! What do you take me for!
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Ernan bowed her head repeatedly.
Berze snorted and left the 4th floor.
***
Seeing the high-ranked water spirit Nairuniel made Berze realize he had been neglecting himself.
He had plenty of excuses.
He bought and deployed the elf Granada across the continent.
He kidnapped the dwarf hero.
He stopped the hero Hillen Cargill.
He kidnapped the Ninth Princess and had been executing a grand plan.
Ever since descending into Arein, Berze had been truly busy.
But those were excuses.
Ultimately, the most important thing to a demon king was his own combat power.
And Berze had not put real effort into improving his own strength.
His attempts were minimal—eating a few elixirs, spending a small amount of Magic Points to remove a tiny portion of interference.
At this rate, I might lose to that idiot Ugar.
Even fighting inside his own tower, he could lose.
In the Demon Realm, it would be different—but the interference placed on Ugar and on Berze in Arein were vastly different.
That was why Ugar and Draxon, those fools, dared to bare their fangs at him.
They believed only what their eyes could see.
Even though Berze had changed paths after experiencing death once, his essence had not changed.
He worshiped strength, prioritized force, and erased obstacles without hesitation.
So he did not want to tolerate the annoyance of the two demon kings any longer.
"..."
The problem was—he didn't have an immediate method.
"…Maybe I should go out for the first time in a while."
He calmed the fighting spirit rising within him.
He would check how the Frost Orcs were doing and hunt with them.
Maintaining real combat sense was important.
Berze burst out of his office and sprinted outside.
***
Ergest was vast.
It was not a single mountain, but an entire mountain range.
Countless monsters lived there, their ferocity beyond imagination, honed by the brutal struggle for survival in such harsh terrain.
To humans, a forbidden zone they could never challenge.
To monsters, a battlefield for survival.
And to Berze, it was both a sturdy wall blocking the hero squads and a prison preventing princesses from escaping.
"It's an honor to have you here."
Chief Krutu of the Red Frost Tribe bowed his head.
The Red Frost Tribe, having migrated to a peak not far from the tower, had grown considerably in size.
Upon Berze's arrival, they all dropped to their knees in worship.
"Your tribe has grown quite large."
"We have unified three tribes. All thanks to the power you granted us, Demon King."
Though they unified three tribes, their total size had doubled.
Berze could easily imagine how fierce the battles had been.
After all, in a land of monsters, how many would obediently say,
"Yes, we accept your rule,"
when another monster tried to dominate them?
After all, their roots were still demonic.
The Frost Orcs had even bared their fangs at him—the Demon King himself.
"You've lost a good bit of fur."
"Ever since receiving your grace, Demon King, it began to fall out. Yet I barely feel the cold anymore."
Frost Orcs were a type of orc whose skin and fur developed to survive the cold.
But once their bodies were strengthened through demon energy, they no longer felt cold—so shedding fur was expected.
"There's no need to dress up your baldness so much."
Though losing fur was one thing—losing the hair on their heads looked a bit pitiful.
"…Please, ride this one."
Krutu quickly changed the subject. What he brought was a massive Frost Wolf, over three meters tall. Its blue fur was laced with shimmering silver—quite beautiful.
Kiiing—
Whine—
"Is it yours?"
"Yes, it is… but I'm not sure why it's acting like this…"
"It's natural."
Frost Wolves were sensitive monsters.
They instinctively perceived the rank of a Demon King and felt fear.
Normally, such overwhelming difference would make them obedient—but there was a problem:
Berze and Frost Wolves were natural opposites.
"Be still. Before I roast you whole."
Kiiing—
No rejection could overcome the fear of death.
The Frost Wolf, with a few singed hairs, calmed down.
Berze mounted it, and the warriors of the Red Frost Tribe began to run in unison.
As if waiting for them to start, snow began to fall.
After running for some time, a distant Frozen Drake thumped around the snowy terrain.
Its bright yellow pupils swept over the Frost Orcs and Berze.
For a moment, killing intent flashed—but vanished when they landed on Berze.
It turned away.
But that indifference was only the instinct being forcibly suppressed by the presence of demon energy.
If they showed killing intent first, the drake would bare its true ferocity again.
"We shall show you our strength."
"Are you confident?"
"With the power you granted us, Demon King—anything is possible."
No.
What Berze gave them was nothing more than a demon-energy-infused elixir.
The demon energy simply awakened a primal monster instinct Krutu had forgotten.
It was merely an instant catalyst—not some great power.
And a Frozen Drake was a high-tier monster even in the ecosystem of Ergest.
Berze could not easily overpower it in his current state.
A Frozen Drake could tear through dozens of Frost Orcs alone.
Even so, Berze nodded.
"The Demon King has given the order! Go!"
KROOOAR—!
With Krutu at the front, the Frost Orcs stormed through the snow.
The Frost Wolves howled.
The Frozen Drake bared its fangs.
Whoooosh—!
A torrent of white cold breath spewed from its maw. The snow iced over instantly.
Krutu narrowly evaded and yanked his wolf's fur.
The wolf leaped, bounding up the drake's arm.
The creature thrashed, but Krutu maintained balance with near-supernatural instinct.
Rough demon energy coated his crude blade.
CLANG—!
The Frozen Drake's scales did not break.
Instead, Krutu's blade snapped.
But it wasn't meaningless.
A tiny gap—the blade had managed to scratch the scale.
"I like your tenacity."
The drake's thrashing flung Frost Orcs aside.
Even so, Krutu continued an astonishing assault.
He dug his hand into the tiny gap and clung on.
He bit down.
He took weapons handed up by his tribe and tore the wound open further.
The battle dragged on.
Dozens of Frost Orcs fell.
But in the end, the victors were the Frost Orcs.
Krutu crushed the drake's fragile eye.
He roared triumphantly, slit open its chest, and pulled out its heart.
A monster heart filled with mana was itself an elixir.
Though far inferior to proper spirit herbs or refined elixirs—
"I dedicate the glory of this battle to the Demon King! Glory to the Demon King!"
"Glory to the Demon King!"
"Glory to the Demon King!"
Krutu knelt and offered the heart.
As Berze stared at the pulsing mana, he suddenly remembered a moment from before his regression.
Now that I think about it… around this time, Draxon…
Draxon had taken something like this.
That moment had triggered his explosive growth.
It was the only thing Berze had ever envied about Draxon before his regression.
"I should return. I bestow that heart to you."
"Th-Thank you!"
Krutu bowed deeply.
Berze urgently pulled his reins and headed back.
***
Louise Verft, the second princess of the Dwarf Kingdom, had once again struck nothing but air.
"Logar, you bastard!"
Of course there was nothing to find—because the whole thing had been a lie.
But seeing Logar's necklace, Louise believed he was simply better at hiding than expected.
"Princess, this is impossible. Ormus has issued a final warning."
No country tolerates foreign armies marching through its territory without results.
Louise had promised dwarven equipment and negotiated beforehand, but even that goodwill had limits.
Especially because the dwarves, beyond their designated search zone of Tarta, had ransacked neighboring cities as well—causing enormous civilian damage.
The people of Ormus were furious.
The king of Ormus no longer tolerated the situation and issued an ultimatum:
Leave now, or war.
"They didn't say we must leave today."
"It is no different from telling us to leave immediately."
"I can't give up like this. One more place—just one last place."
"Tarta has already been searched thoroughly. So have the surrounding areas."
Her knight bodyguard, Volbof, believed that if they hadn't found anything by now, continuing would change nothing.
"I think we were deceived."
"But why? And the necklace was real!"
Volbof couldn't refute that point.
"And there's still one place left."
"There is not."
"Think about it. Logar is a coward. A coward wouldn't hide somewhere easy to find."
Especially after being discovered by that person, he would have hidden even deeper.
"Isn't that place perfect for hiding?"
The mountain near Tarta.
"That is a volcano. It has shown signs of eruption for years—no one goes there."
"For all the commotion, it hasn't actually exploded."
"It could erupt any moment—even now."
"But the humans of Tarta haven't abandoned their city. They must think it's safe for at least a few more years.
Think about it. A place so dangerous no one visits—wouldn't it be ideal for Logar to hide?"
"It would not. If he's a coward, that is the last place he would go."
"No, my instincts are telling me."
"It is still impossible."
"Volbof. I'm not persuading you. I'm informing you."
"No matter what you say—that is the territory of a Demon King!"
Yes. That was the problem.
Ormus was a country where half the land was covered in tropical jungle, and Tarta was a city sitting at the jungle's edge.
And within that jungle, one of the five Demon Kings had built a tower and made his nest.
"And you, Princess, are a princess. Please be aware of that."
"No, I am not a princess."
Louise grinned faintly.
"I'm an executioner. I came to cut off Logar's head. I will snap that bastard's neck myself."
"..."
"The dwarven knights are with us. No matter how powerful a Demon King is, killing them all and kidnapping me would be the same as declaring war on the entire continent. Do you think Father would stay still? And there's even a precedent—unless the Demon King is an idiot."
The Dwarf Kingdom was intertwined with many nations.
The equipment they produced was indispensable to others.
"That was two hundred years ago."
A foolish Demon King had once kidnapped the dwarven crown prince.
The enraged king requested aid from all nations and offered tremendous equipment in exchange.
As a result, a continent-wide Demon King subjugation crusade swept across the land.
The Demon King, overwhelmed by sheer numbers, was decapitated.
"To a Demon King, two hundred years is not a long time."
Louise strapped on her gear.
"Don't worry. I'll take a quick look and come right back."
"…Understood."
He could not stop her.
Volbof prayed desperately that the Beast Demon King would remember the past and not dare lay a hand on the princess.
***
"…What is coming where?"
"Louise Verft, Your Majesty."
"That insane dwarf bitch—why her?"
Ptew—!
Draxon spat out half-chewed meat. His appetite vanished instantly.
"You're aware that she arrived in Ormus with soldiers some time ago."
"She bribed the Ormus king to allow entry because she's looking for someone—of course I know."
"Her search was centered around Tarta."
"And?"
"Having searched Tarta and the surrounding regions without success, she is now heading toward Mount Mercon."
"That damn bitch!"
CRACK—
A bone shattered in Draxon's grip.
The thick, grimy demon energy he exuded made his subordinates tremble.
"If she couldn't find anything, she should've gone home quietly! How dare she try stepping into my domain!"
"What shall we do?"
"..."
He wanted to grab her immediately and rip her head off.
But the problem was—she was a princess of the Dwarf Kingdom.
Touching her carelessly without preparation would cause a catastrophe.
But he also couldn't simply open the path and let her reach Mount Mercon.
"We're almost finished here. I cannot let her interfere. Send monsters and magical beasts. Block her path. No matter what—she must never reach the summit of Mount Mercon."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"And who is the dwarf she's searching for?"
"A dwarf named Logar. She claims he disappeared in Tarta."
"Find him. Before that crazy bitch pushes through to the end—find him and place him in front of her."
"As you command."
Casey vanished.
"Damn it… all this because of one brainless dwarf…!"
Draxon ground his teeth.
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