It was a trap.

Jason stopped his hand before it reached the communication orb.

Berge had attacked only the Black Toad Trading Company. The First Prince.

What if Jason contacted him in anger?

He would suspect a connection. Perhaps he had already considered that possibility before carrying out the attack.

But...

'Not contacting him would be a problem in its own right.'

Jason had warned Berge every time he caused trouble. Of course he had. The trouble Berge caused was not his alone.

As long as they were all bound together under the name of Demon King, his wrongdoing became the wrongdoing of every Demon King. If his actions highlighted the threat they posed, humans would grow wary of them all.

A single troublemaker was undoing nearly a century of efforts to diminish the fear and suspicion surrounding Demon Kings.

"..."

This time, he had truly crossed a line that must never be crossed.

Whether Berge's target was Jason or something else no longer mattered. Somehow, he had to put Berge's head on display in the Empire and proclaim that Demon Kings were nothing so formidable.

Before humanity's anger turned on all of them. Before everything he had prepared fell apart.

He had to set things right. He had to steer their course back in the proper direction.

"That is not how you conquer Arain. You disgusting demonic dragons."

Why did those lizard bastards, who lived longer than anyone else, have the least patience?

"Lord Berge."

In the end, he made the call.

『What is it, Jason Cockmundo?』

The black demonic dragon's eyes looked straight at him.

"I will keep this brief. Why did you do it?"

『Do what?』

"Why did you scatter monsters across the Empire?"

『I have no idea what you mean. I am busy running about to stop the expedition attacking my tower. As you know, its location has been exposed.』

『And you think I am doing something else? If I had that kind of time to spare, wouldn't stopping the expedition be more effective?』

At first glance, Berge's words sounded reasonable. Yes, for the briefest moment.

"The expedition has not found your tower. They are still wandering somewhere in the mountains, and they have not found the slightest trace of demonic creatures or demons."

『Oh?』

The Demon King beyond the crystal ball smiled.

『And how do you know that?』

"We both have a fair idea, so I won't bother explaining."

『How interesting.』

Berge marveled at his unexpected openness.

But this was not good news. Quite the opposite. Berge realized Jason had made some kind of decision.

"What you have done is a declaration of war."

He had unleashed monsters on imperial territory—on a ducal house's lands, no less—and devastated it.

『Against the Empire?』

"Against humanity."

This was not merely the Empire's problem.

The fear that a Demon King might attack them at any moment—the very fear Jason had struggled to eradicate—had reared its head again.

That fear would soon turn to anger. They would demand to strike before they were struck.

It was a portent of chaos and catastrophe.

"The antiwar sentiment we barely managed to quiet will flare up again."

"Humans will tremble with anxiety and demand the overthrow of the Demon Kings."

"Kings and nobles will use that public sentiment to expand their armaments and attack us."

"Heroes will gladly lend a hand for fame and power."

"The snowfields will come under attack, as will the gorge and the lake."

"All because of your reckless arrogance."

『Should we fear that?』

『We are Demon Kings. Conquerors, not those destined to be conquered.』

『If we tuck our tails like frightened dogs and bow to humans, will they happily hand over their dimension?』

"Confidence without a plan is recklessness. And recklessness destroys not only you, but everyone."

『And?』

"There is no reasoning with you."

Fine.

He had never expected a proper answer anyway.

"Do you have a plan?"

『At the very least, you need not worry about my life.』

"I see. So that's how it is."

Jason pushed up his monocle.

The patience he had strained to maintain finally reached its limit.

"You're simply impossible to reason with."

"Arrogant and self-righteous."

"A demonic dragon through and through."

"It was a mistake to expect understanding or compromise from the start."

His mask shattered.

The emotions he had suppressed burst forth.

『No longer inclined to be polite, I see?』

"Courtesy is for those who deserve it. Not lizard bastards like you."

『Hardly something you should say, when you used the First Prince and sent the Beast's demons to attack my trading company.』

"Was that why? Why you attacked Black Toad?"

『You aren't even trying to hide it.』

"No. Not anymore."

A smile formed on Jason's lips. It deepened, twisting into something vicious.

"You can look forward to it."

He murmured quietly. Berge felt a chill.

You acted as though you meant to take us all down with you, but I will not let that happen.

"The anger meant for the Adamant Tower."

"For the Tower of Bitter Cold."

"The anger meant for me."

"I will redirect every last bit of it so that it points at you alone."

All humanity's emotions would turn toward him, and every hero would move to kill him and him alone.

『Can you really do that? You, a Demon King?』

"I will make it happen. Whatever it takes."

He spat out each word as though grinding it between his teeth.

"Demonic dragon, Berge Deias."

You will become the common enemy of humanity, the common enemy of the continent, and without fail...

"You will die."

Bearing all the consequences of your deeds and all humanity's fear of Demon Kings.

The demonic dragon smiled in the face of his fury.

『I thought it strange. Of the five seats, only one kept changing hands.』

『You have been using humans to eliminate those you dislike this way, haven't you?』

"And if I have?"

『Ugar and Reina would be delighted to hear that.』

"If that's your final desperate struggle, do as you please."

『You don't care if those two turn against you?』

"It would hurt. It would infuriate me."

But even if he had to kill those two Demon Kings as well...

"I will tear you limb from limb with my own hands."

Berge, at least, had to die. He could no longer be allowed to live.

The answer came only after a long pause.

『Hahahahaha!』

In the form of booming laughter.

『This should be interesting. Which of us will fall first?』

『I wish you luck.』

The connection ended.

CRASH!

Jason hurled the glass beside him.

"Berge...! Berge Deias!"

For a long while, the smashing continued. Dozens of glasses shattered.

* * *

"..."

Berge stood still for a long time.

"A little(?) provocation, and he shows his true colors."

It had worked better than expected.

"He'll turn all the anger toward the other Demon Kings onto me alone?"

"Every hero will try to kill me?"

That implied a great deal.

In the Empire, perhaps in other countries, and in the Heroes' Guild, Jason Cockmundo's influence was greater than Berge had thought.

Perhaps the power base he had built over more than a century was the entire continent itself.

And perhaps, truly...

"You may have been involved."

In Berge's death before his return to the past.

"The entire continent will attack me?"

Well, too bad. Berge had already experienced that once.

Before his return, most of the Heroes' Guild's heroes had marched under the Empire-led order, joined by the elite forces of every nation.

He had withstood them time and again.

Of course, Berge then and Berge now were very different...

But the first time was always the hardest. The second was easier.

That did not mean this would be easy, but having experienced it once gave him some composure.

'No.'

This composure did not come from experience.

At its root was the confidence born of his belief that, whatever happened, his tower would not come under attack.

"Search all you like."

See if the tower ever appeared before them.

"Now, then."

This confirmed the collusion between the First Prince and Jason.

How could he sever their relationship and take revenge?

"I don't know how strong Jason is."

Much about him remained hidden. Even when they had met in person at the Harmony of Towers, Berge had been unable to gauge his strength.

Of course, he did not think that was due to a difference in their stature. It was probably a characteristic of Jason's power.

Still, he could not deny that fighting him now would mean certain defeat.

No matter how many demonic energy points Berge had gathered in a short time compared to the other Demon Kings, his opponent had endured and survived in Arain for over a century.

With that much time, might he have not only fully recovered his power from the Demon Realm, but grown stronger still?

Of course, that was merely conjecture. Berge had never lived in a lower dimension for more than a century.

'Even if I were stronger, I couldn't kill him.'

A Demon King killing another Demon King was an absolute taboo. Unless he never intended to return to the Demon Realm, it was something he must never do.

'Then I will have to use human hands as well.'

Hillen Cargill, after all?

Berge stroked his chin.

If Jason had the Empire, the First Prince, and even Balaf Dislord, Berge had Hilderan, its Crown Princess, and Hillen Cargill.

'I'm not sure this even counts as a fight between Demon Kings.'

It was then that another call came.

"Too many people want to speak to me."

This time, it was an imperial prince.

"What is it?"

『... I'm only asking on the off chance, but...』

"Your suspicion is probably correct."

『It really was your doing! What on earth were you thinking...!』

Martin lamented.

『This is nothing like what happened before! The entire Empire will rise up!』

"An expedition is already searching for my tower. Can things get any worse?"

『So you've given up completely and decided to take us down with you?』

"Wouldn't my death be good news for you?"

『How can you even say that...!』

"I'm a Demon King, and I'll live dozens of times longer than you. Don't worry."

『Are you truly confident?』

"Who do you think you're asking that question? Just do your own job."

Beyond the crystal ball, Martin bit his lip.

『If anything happens to Kaede, I will not stand idly by.』

"Do as you please."

Berge cut off the communication without waiting for a reply.

He understood, to an extent.

He knew better than anyone what repercussions his actions would bring. He had already experienced them once.

He knew how vicious and revolting it was to awaken the sleeping Empire.

They would inevitably return to Erjest in search of the tower. Of course, they were there already, but they would come with far greater ferocity.

And it would end in Berge's death.

But...

Had he known nothing, he might have fallen victim again. Berge was not foolish enough to let that happen when he could predict the future to some extent.

Especially when this incident was something he had deliberately orchestrated.

Seated on his throne, Berge summoned Logger.

"Logger Fridri."

"Yes, my lord."

The dwarf who had quietly answered the summons bowed his head.

"How is it coming along?"

"Here it is."

Logger handed him a complex blueprint.

"I've set the height at roughly fifty meters, with two floors. I cannot make the interior a storage dimension like the real thing, so two floors would be ideal for making it convincing."

Spatial magic made a Demon King's tower appear only fifty meters tall from outside, while each floor inside was nearly twenty meters high.

Logger's design was the right choice if they wanted to prevent people from noticing something amiss and fleeing the moment they entered the first floor.

"That's fine."

"Given its size, it will require a great deal of material, but fortunately no rare materials are needed. We only need dye and large quantities of a few metals, such as steel, copper, and zinc."

"I'll find a way to obtain them."

"We will also try to source as much as possible from the surrounding area."

"Source it?"

"Erjest is untouched. Mountains like these usually have plentiful ore veins. If you assign us escorts, we can prospect for them. Of course, it would be better if you supplied the materials."

"Understood."

"The problem is the levitation stones. No amount of money can guarantee obtaining those. They would be the best way to build it nearby and move it to the desired location."

"You can make it a hollow shell. It only needs to look convincing from outside. We have monsters to supply the muscle, don't we? They can shoulder it and carry it themselves."

"Ah... Then I'll need to revise the blueprint a little. Make it lighter."

"Yes."

Berge studied the details of the blueprint as though savoring them.

It was a blueprint for a tower.