My axe will split your skull
Volbof wanted to stop Louise, but he failed.
The only option left to him was to contact the homeland and report the current situation.
『You're just letting her do that?!』
"My apologies."
『If she doesn't listen, then you make her listen! Even if those Demon Lords are keeping their heads down, stepping into their territory of your own accord is a completely different matter! Anything could happen!』
"...I'm sorry."
『If His Majesty hears of this… if something were to happen to the Princess…』
The minister beyond the crystal sphere pressed a hand to his forehead. The king's overwhelming affection for his late-born daughter was infamous.
『…It isn't your fault. All of this is simply the karmic consequence of His Majesty spoiling her too much.』
『Just stall for a few more days. I'll find a way to send support and resolve this.』
"You think Ormus will sit still?"
『All those people want is equipment and money. Their complaining is nothing more than a tantrum to squeeze more out of us. The Finance Minister will glare at me like he wants me dead, but what choice is there? With the Princess involved, we must secure her safe return—no matter the cost.』
"...I'll do what I can."
『Yes. Please, somehow, do that.』
But what the minister hoped for never happened.
"Wait a few more days? And what if Logar completely disappears during those days? Say something that makes sense!"
And so, driven by the violent tantrum of the delinquent princess, a force of one hundred soldiers stepped directly into the Demon Lord's domain.
***
The Kingdom of Ormus.
Half of its land was smothered in jungle, and the kingdom was desperately poor.
The soil was barren and its population was small.
Every other day, monsters would crawl out of the jungle, making public safety a distant dream.
The way Ormus survived… was pillage.
Their numbers were few, but their lives were constant struggle, and strength was the only path forward.
They plundered from one another and plundered other nations. Their lands were mostly useless, desolate regions, so although many countries protested, none bothered attacking them.
But as the Ormus marauders grew bolder, they tugged on Jespine's whiskers—and the kingdom nearly faced annihilation.
From then on, their choice was trade.
They sold byproducts of jungle beasts and monsters throughout the continent, and officially outlawed pillage.
"Louise Verft is heading toward the Demon Lord's territory?"
But that was only a stopgap measure.
With their income drastically reduced, Ormus was forever hungry, and their greed remained unsated.
Verft's proposal was like a single drop of rain to thirsty men.
Dwarven-forged armaments were excellent for Ormus warriors to use, but worth a fortune when sold to other nations.
"This is quite the unexpected prize."
Thus, Ormus wanted more armaments, and the princess failed to get what she wanted.
They tried to use the extension period as leverage to squeeze more out of her—but instead she planned to walk straight into the Demon Lord's territory.
"Princess Louise has made a foolish choice. If this goes badly, she could be kidnapped by the Demon Lord."
The Beast Demon Lord and Ormus maintained an unspoken symbiotic relationship.
They never negotiated directly, but Ormus acknowledged the Demon Lord's territory, and the Demon Lord never stepped outside it.
Thanks to that, Ormus suffered little damage and even earned a tidy sum from the money adventurers brought as they sought the Demon Lord's tower.
So Ormus wished for this unstable peace not to break. But if the Princess of the Dwarven Kingdom was in danger… the story changed.
"If we don't help, the Princess will suffer all sorts of humiliation at the hands of that barbaric, vicious Beast Demon Lord. Isn't that right?"
"You speak the truth, Your Highness."
"Especially since the jungle is unforgiving to those who don't know its paths. We must send a rescue squad immediately."
One by one, his attendants voiced agreement.
"And the Kingdom of Verft will certainly not ignore what we did to rescue their Princess."
"If they have any conscience, they absolutely won't!"
"Even if we rescue her, for her safety she should remain with us for the time being, shouldn't she?"
"Of course. We can't have her fall into danger again after rescuing her."
The Second Prince of Ormus rose from his seat.
"Summon the knights and gather the troops. We rescue the Princess first—then I will personally explain everything to Father."
"We obey!"
The Second Prince and two hundred Ormus soldiers began their charge toward Mount Mercon.
***
Quail was a bear beastkin.
One of the Demon Tribe under Draxon, he was a commander who led countless demonic beasts.
Sniff—
Quail's nose twitched. The sharp instincts of a beast swept through the scents around him.
"I smell humans and dwarves."
"Not only dwarves?"
"Mixed with earth, dampness, and beasts. Jungle scent. Ormus."
"Why would they be here?"
"That doesn't matter."
Quail bared his teeth.
"The order I received from the Demon Lord was to let no one into Mount Mercon. Ormus humans, dwarves—makes no difference."
He said that, but still took out a crystal sphere.
He was loyal and straightforward, but not foolish enough to distort his lord's intentions.
『...』
A long silence. Draxon did not answer easily.
Quail waited quietly for the command.
『…Scare them off. Just enough to chase them away.』
His voice held fury—barely suppressed.
"...Is that acceptable?"
『Do not provoke me. No one is angrier than I am.』
At the deep growl, Quail shut his mouth.
『I want to slaughter them all. Rip their limbs off, pull out their hearts, and chew them apart.』
『My territory was violated, and they think I'm some pushover. They dare treat me, Draxon, as a stray mutt!』
But even so, he had to endure it.
The future was clear.
What if he killed Louise, the root cause of all this?
The King of Verft adored his late-born daughter more than anything. If she died, the Kingdom of Verft would fly into madness.
There was a high chance the tragedy of two hundred years ago would repeat itself.
There was a high possibility that the events of two hundred years ago would repeat themselves.
That was why, at the very least for now, he had to endure.
『But it won't be for long. If this affair goes the way it should…』
***
"...The situation will change."
Draxon swallowed his rage down hard.
"Ormus as well. Now is not the time to fight them."
『Then I shall pretend to fight them and guide them elsewhere.』
"Good. And be especially careful with Princess Louise. She must not die."
The connection cut. Draxon clenched his teeth until the bones creaked.
"Are you all right, my lord?"
"It will be soon."
Draxon crushed the skull of the wolf he had been stroking.
The beast died without even having time to scream.
"If we acquire that thing from Mount Mercon, everything will be resolved. Just endure a little longer."
"That item isn't all-powerful."
"At the very least, it will give us more options than now."
Draxon tore apart the wolf's hide with his bare hands.
Only then did his anger abate, just slightly.
"But seriously—where the hell is that bastard Logar?"
The demons and demonic beasts were scouring the domain, but there wasn't even a trace of the dwarf.
***
The jungle was brutal.
The ground was swampy, insects swarmed the air, beasts prowled, and monsters revealed their wild nature.
Everything in the jungle was a threat, and the dwarves—unaccustomed to it—couldn't adapt easily.
In contrast, to the people of Ormus, the jungle was home.
Dwarves were slow, and Ormus warriors were fast.
That was why the dwarves were caught by the scruff of their necks near the entrance of the Demon Lord's territory.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Never seen it up close before?"
Hundreds of warriors surrounded the dwarves.
Weapons tightened in hands. Hostility and caution surged between both sides.
"Greetings, Princess of the Dwarves."
The formation parted.
From between the rough warriors of Ormus emerged a tall man radiating presence.
"I am Max Ormus, Second Prince of the Kingdom of Ormus."
His black eyes curved into an arc.
"What do you want?"
"As the rumors say—you really don't look like a typical dwarf."
His gaze swept over Louise from head to toe.
"No one's run their mouth at me like that before."
"Am I the first?"
"No. They're all dead. Their skulls shattered by my axe."
Louise tightened her grip on the massive battle-axe.
"How frightening. Do you have a complex? Personally, I like that you're not very dwarf-like."
Max chuckled, licking his lips.
"Remove those disgusting eyes before I do."
"Princess."
Volbof held Louise back.
"I know."
She forced her rage down.
She was reckless, but even she wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight with an Ormus prince inside Ormus territory.
"Move."
"If I could, I'd gladly grant your request. Unfortunately, I cannot."
"You want to test me?"
"Surely you understand you mustn't provoke the Demon Lord carelessly. As a prince of Ormus, I have the right to stop you."
"I paid your people a fortune in money and armaments to search Ormus territory. That means I have the right to continue searching."
"It didn't include the Demon Lord's territory."
"That's strange. For me, it did."
Their gazes clashed.
"Move."
Louise repeated.
"If you continue like this, for your safety and for the peace of Ormus, I'll have no choice but to restrain you."
"You're provoking me on purpose, aren't you?"
"Of course not."
Volbof stepped forward after signaling the princess.
"Then we shall turn back."
Volbof was almost grateful to Max.
Louise was furious, but it was far better than her falling into the Demon Lord's hands.
But—
"You will need our protection. With the princess's reckless personality, you might pretend to turn back and then head into the Demon Lord's territory again."
"What, you son of a bitch?"
"Until when?"
"Well… who knows."
His attitude was so blatant that even an idiot would notice.
Volbof clenched his teeth.
He should have stopped Louise no matter what.
"Prince Max! Do you think our homeland will stay silent? This benefits neither side!"
"That's your opinion."
"Prince!"
"We tried our best to block your entry for the princess's safety, but the delinquent princess attacked first so we had no choice but to respond. Then monsters rushed in and chaos broke out. That's the story I'll tell. How does that sound?"
Ting—
He flicked his sword playfully.
"A few sacrifices are regrettable—but sacrifices made to save the princess are noble, aren't they?"
"If you can't kill me, you won't be able to stop me from speaking."
"That part isn't really importhant."
What mattered was that the princess ended up in Ormus's hands.
Ormus had no deep ties with Verft.
They could extract a massive reward through this affair and then sever relations entirely without regret.
As though removing a mask, Max's face split into a full grin.
"Escort the Princess of the Kingdom of Verft with utmost courtesy.
And if there are obstacles—"
Max's killing intent burst forth.
"Remove them all. By force, courtesy of the monsters."
The warriors of Ormus roared.
Blades gleamed under the sunlight.
"Never thought I'd be cutting down dwarves with dwarf-forged weapons."
"Protect the princess!"
The two forces collided.
Birds scattered at the roar of battle cries and monstrous screams.
"Show these humans the pride of the mighty dwarves!"
The dwarves did not retreat.
Their princess was someone they must protect, even at the cost of their lives.
Their loyalty demanded it.
But they were outmatched.
The jungle belonged to Ormus, and they were greatly outnumbered.
One by one, the dwarves fell.
Red blood stained the earth.
"Something interesting is happening."
Without a sound—
An uninvited guest appeared.
"...!"
There had been no presence.
It was as if he had simply existed there from the beginning.
Until he spoke, Max hadn't even noticed him.
The realization made his skin crawl.
"...Who are you?"
Max leapt down from the boulder where he had been observing the battlefield.
"Your Highness, allow us to handle him."
"Step back. He is not your opponent."
Instinct screamed danger.
But Max forced down the unease.
They were killing dwarves here.
Any unintended witness had to die.
Yes. He had to.
He was one of the strongest in the kingdom, and he had plenty of loyal warriors with him.
"I don't know how you made it all the way here, but consider yourself unlucky."
"Unlucky?"
"You don't need to know the details. You'll be dead soon."
"So you really think trash like you can kill me?"
Max answered with his fist.
His body, honed by running through the jungle, was harder than most weapons.
His fist was both a blunt instrument and a lethal weapon.
Boom—
A shockwave rippled outward.
Both Max and the stranger stepped back a single pace.
"...I knew it."
His bad feeling was correct.
Since becoming an adult, he had never met an opponent he couldn't overwhelm barehanded.
"Interesting."
And so, instead of fear—excitement surged.
His muscles thrilled at meeting a true rival.
His muscles writhed.
He kicked off the ground again.
Aura surged in response, rising with him.
A red killing intent wrapped around his fist.
A crimson streak tore through the air.
Boom—!
A powerful rebound.
Even so, Max pushed forward a step.
He forced his way through the countershock and brought down his opposite fist.
The intruder retreated a single step.
"Use your aura."
Max whispered.
"This isn't your best, is it?"
That strange sensation in his mind had long been forgotten.
For the first time in ages, he had found a worthy opponent—
and he wanted that opponent to face him with everything they had.
And then—
"If that's what you want."
His opponent accepted his proposal.
"I'll oblige."
In that instant—
Something exploded.
KWAaaaaa—!!
Something writhed.
A dense darkness.
An abyss without end.
Sticky, ominous, unbearably heavy.
Max involuntarily swallowed as the black tide washed over him.
The feverish excitement within him instantly cooled.
A chill ran down his spine.
"...De… demon?"
A demon.
And not just any demon—
an extremely powerful one.
BOOM—!
The massive impact made him vomit blood.
His body was hurled ten meters back.
The arm he instinctively raised to block throbbed in agony.
"Come on. Keep holding out."
The opponent's voice whispered.
Soft—yet the madness within it dwarfed Max's entirely.
"GAAAAAAAAH!"
His innards were shaken.
His body stiffened.
Pain piled up endlessly, and he couldn't even resist—
all he could do was defend.
He retreated, then retreated again.
He wanted to call for help, but no sound came out.
He couldn't allow even the tiniest opening.
He was going to die.
He was actually going to die.
Like this?
When everything was finally going well?
Because of some demon who suddenly appeared?
"Is this the will of the Beast?!"
Max screamed in desperation.
The intruder paused his assault for the briefest moment.
"Are you planning to break the unspoken agreement between Ormus and the Beast Demon Lord?!"
"Yeah. I am, you son of a bitch."
The answer came from elsewhere.
CRACK—
A dizzying pain overtook Max.
Hot blood ran down his face.
"Ah."
"My axe and your skull, you see."
He slowly turned his eyes.
A massive axe cast a shadow over him.
He didn't realize it.
The steps he'd taken while retreating—
had brought him right in front of the princess who wanted him dead.
He had shown her his back, completely defenseless.
"I told you. Every bastard who talks to me like that ends up dead."
"...You bit—… bitch…!"
Those became his final words.
Thud—
Max collapsed.
The focus faded from his eyes.
"PRIIIIINCE!!!"
The warriors of Ormus screamed.
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