Reina did not believe the towers could be merged. She told him to stop joking and offer a proper solution.

“That is a proper solution. If you become my servant, I can merge your tower with mine. Everyone in both towers will then be moved to my tower.”

“If that is possible, why has no one in the Demon Realm ever tried it?”

“What Demon King would willingly become another Demon King's servant? Unless they faced a situation like this in this godforsaken dimension.”

“... I see.”

Only then did Reina accept his explanation. But her doubts had not vanished entirely.

“Truly...”

“Truly, I am not lying.”

And Berge understood. She had sacrificed her pride and the life ahead of her not for her own survival, but for her servants.

If it all proved to be a web of lies and her servants died, who could bear that despair and grief?

“I swear on the First Demon Emperor and the Guide. I have not spoken a single lie.”

Had Ernyan or Kaede been there, they would have given Berge a narrow-eyed look, but neither was present.

Besides, he really wasn't lying.

“However...”

Reina rolled a candy around in her mouth.

She had clearly crunched up the last one earlier. When had she unwrapped another and put it in her mouth?

“Why do you omit the honorific when you swear by His Majesty the First Demon Emperor?”

Her gaze sharpened.

“A coincidence.”

“It is not just this once. When we all swore together last time, you alone called him the First Demon Emperor. You should say ‘His Majesty the great First Demon Emperor.’”

“I was cursing the Guide from the moment I descended here.”

“That is the Guide, not His Majesty the First Demon Emperor, is it not?”

At first glance, those were separate matters. To Berge, however, they were one and the same. The First Demon Emperor was the son of a bitch who had created the Guide.

“... I swear on His Majesty the great First Demon Emperor and the Guide that there is not a single lie in what I have said. Satisfied?”

“I am.”

Reina smiled contentedly, but soon sighed.

“... Even after becoming a Demon King, I never dreamed I would become another Demon King's servant.”

“In the end, survival is what matters.”

“What about you becoming my servant?”

“By all means, if you want us all to die. You know better than anyone that future would not end well.”

“If it merges with your tower... In truth, I still cannot believe it. Your claim that you have a way had better be true. Otherwise, even I do not know what I might do.”

“Reina Sordein. A healthy dose of suspicion is good, but too much is ugly.”

“... No one may call me ugly.”

“... My apologies.”

Berge turned away from her icy stare.

“Anyway, that is not what matters now. Let me ask you properly once more. Reina Sordein.”

Demon King of the noble frost demons.

“Will you become my servant?”

“... I will.”

After a moment's hesitation, Reina finally nodded.

Reina knelt. Berge laid a hand on her forehead.

A contract of souls bound them to each other.

“Now that you are my servant, I should tell you this: even if you find my tower unacceptable, you will have to accept it.”

“What? What on earth does that mean?”

“You'll understand when you get there.”

Berge smiled at the fish caught in his net.

That day, a tower vanished from the snowfields.

* * *

“... Unbelievable.”

Ha ha.

It was so absurd he could not even laugh.

Balaf seized the guide by the throat.

“Didn't you say you knew the way? Didn't you say the tower was definitely here?”

Was that a tower?

Was this the route he had promised?

“Th-the tower was definitely here! T-traces! You can still see the traces!”

“Traces,” Balaf growled, “mean nothing.”

They were literally nothing but traces. Neither the tower nor its Demon King was anywhere to be found.

All that greeted them was a small pit, its interior blanketed in piled-up snow.

After all their hardships, the hope they had arrived with turned instantly into emptiness, helplessness, rage, and despair.

“Even the Tower of Bitter Cold is gone?”

“Was it even here to begin with?”

“There are traces, aren't there?”

“No, how does this make any sense? I've been to the Tower of Bitter Cold before! There was definitely a tower here! Where did it go?”

“Haven't we been dancing in the Demon King's palm this whole time?”

“What the hell is this?”

The coalition army fell into panic. The sense that everything they knew about Demon Kings was being shattered, one assumption after another, only deepened their confusion.

The overturning of common knowledge brought still greater chaos.

“Lord Balaf, everyone is shaken.”

“...”

The aide who had approached Balaf, the overall commander, for instructions fell silent. His savagely twisted expression held a ferocity the aide had never seen in all his time serving him.

'Once is a mistake.'

Twice is coincidence.

'And three times is inevitable.'

Since when had towers disappearing become inevitable? Why had it become inevitable?

'A hero's journey with so much fanfare.'

Yes, that was the problem.

They underestimated Demon Kings and made a spectacle of the expedition, as though it were some grand event.

In other words, it was no different from sending the Demon King a letter announcing their attack.

They gave the Demon King room and time to prepare. And if the threat became too great to handle, they even gave the Demon King the opportunity to move the tower.

'In that case...'

With superhuman patience, Balaf suppressed his rage. His mind raced.

'I will do the opposite, too.'

If Demon Kings no longer followed the well-known Guide, humans had no reason to follow custom either.

If the expected was no longer to be expected, his side had no reason to act predictably.

'Jason Cockmundo.'

He had not betrayed him.

Balaf had worked with Jason for many years. He had received his help and given help in return.

Each had his own agenda, so theirs was not a relationship of complete trust. Even so, Balaf knew Jason would not do something so foolish that it amounted to severing their ties.

'Jason did not intend this, but his actions may have contributed to Hellfire or Bitter Cold escaping.'

He was a fellow Demon King, after all.

So Balaf would keep this from Jason, too.

Rather than rage, he would move swiftly while none of the Demon Kings could know.

While they were off guard, believing themselves safe.

He would strike elsewhere.

“Marquis Argan.”

“Lord Balaf.”

“Lead the legion in my place. There will be some losses, but stall in the snowfields as long as possible.”

“What do you mean?”

“If this tower is gone, we must target another.”

“Are you saying...?”

“I will take the Stars, including Roselle Charnt, Aina Diaphrin, and Ralph Schmitz, and most of the heroes with me.”

“Where?”

“The Adamant Demon King. If they refuse to abide by the Guide handed down all this time, we must strike them from behind as well. I will cut off that unsuspecting bastard's head, without fail.”

Balaf had never needed Bitter Cold specifically. Any suitable Demon King would do, so long as killing them restored his fallen reputation and added even a little to his insufficient strength.

He had merely chosen Bitter Cold first at Jason's request.

“It is not a bad plan, but the Adamant Tower is in Akan! Moving a group there without permission could cause a diplomatic incident...”

“Roselle Charnt. What do you think?”

“If it's just the heroes, I'll work something out. Go.”

Roselle Charnt, who had been listening quietly, spat the words out as though grinding them between her teeth.

“There's only so much of these fucking Demon Kings' bullshit I can take. One way or another, I'm going to wring at least one bastard's neck.”

“Then it is settled. We will all travel swiftly through teleportation circles, so you need not waste too much time.”

“But moving that many people will cause problems, won't it?”

“I will handle that. Do not worry.”

“Word will spread, too.”

“We simply need to move faster than word can spread.”

That day, four Stars and three hundred heroes vanished.

* * *

This was hell.

So thought the mighty giant.

“The third floor has been breached!”

“Orman and the fifty-one low-ranking demons who went down to the fourth floor to stop the heroes have been wiped out!”

They had arrived without warning.

He knew that public opinion of Demon Kings had soured lately.

Hostility toward them was rising because of what Berge had done. He had felt uneasy, but Jason had told him everything would be fine if he kept quiet.

He had believed him.

And it had happened just as Jason said. The humans had set out to conquer the Tower of Bitter Cold, not his own.

He felt sorry for Reina, but was relieved that he was not their target. He had prayed for her soul and torn into some meat.

But why?

Why were they in his tower?

“Lord Hamers is dead!”

He knew. He was watching alongside them.

The one burning the mid-ranking demon Hamers's body was unmistakably Roselle Charnt.

“They've broken through the sixth floor!”

A large-scale ice spell froze every demonic creature on the sixth floor. Aina Diaphrin.

“Lord Moitai!”

The high-ranking titan Moitai's mace was stopped by a steadfast shield. He was being overpowered. Anyone could recognize Ralph Schmitz.

A clean sword strike severed his neck. The titan's massive body fell in an instant.

Balaf Dislord flicked the blood from his sword.

“Why...!”

Why were four Stars here?

Why were hundreds of heroes hell-bent on killing him?

“Stars. Four Stars!”

Stars were strong. That was undeniable.

Two or three together could easily hunt down a Demon King.

But that only applied to those who had been here for less than a few decades.

Ugar Belbek had descended well over ninety years ago. He sought stability, but strength as well.

Two or three ordinary Stars? It would be difficult, and his defense would not be perfect, but he could somehow hold them off.

Especially since they had not brought tens of thousands of troops as they had to Erjest or the snowfields.

But if there were four, and one of them was Balaf Dislord...

That was a different story.

“What the hell is going on, Jason Cockmundo?”

You said I only had to keep quiet.

You said I only had to avoid making trouble.

You said Bitter Cold would be the scapegoat.

Then why are they in my tower?

『...』

Jason did not answer from the other side of the communication orb. His face rigid, he merely adjusted his monocle.

After a long while, he spoke.

『... Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do for you.』

“You were the one who told me to trust you! So I did!”

『I know. I am deeply grateful. That is why I, too, made every effort to help you, Lord Ugar.』

“What kind of answer is that? It's Balaf Dislord! Didn't you say he was your collaborator? Didn't you say you were working on a grand plan together?”

Ugar trembled with a sense of betrayal.

“And now he's here to kill me? There was never a place for me in that grand plan! Reina was right. You were an untrustworthy Demon King full of lies!”

『... I will offer no excuses.』

『But I sincerely pray that you survive.』

The connection was cut off from the other end.

“Jasooooon!”

Ugar roared. His rage-filled fist smashed the communication orb.

“... My lord. They have reached the eighth floor.”

At his adjutant's report, Ugar bit his lip.

'I don't want to die.'

Not after everything he had done to survive.

'A servant?'

Vivian's final desperate struggle came to mind. Perhaps... If he could survive that way, wouldn't it be better?

Ugar valued his own safety above all else. He thought it better to be a servile servant than a proud Demon King.

Death was the end. No matter how people praised him for having behaved like a true Demon King after his death, he would know nothing of it. What could be more futile?

'... Whose?'

Not Jason's. Balaf was his lackey, which meant Jason had plainly abandoned him.

'Then Reina...'

No. He could not imagine becoming that haughty frost demon's servant.

'Berge.'

He did not like him, but he was the best option among the remaining Demon Kings.

'Just you wait, Jason Cockmundo.'

He would have his revenge.

Ugar searched for another communication orb. But time did not wait for him.

BANG!

The doors to the great hall flew open.

CLANK! CLANK!

Military boots trampled the tower's floor. The thick smell of monster, demonic creature, and demon blood wafted in.

“So this is the top.”

Dimensional interference. The humans bearing that sickening power spotted Ugar.

“So you're the Adamant Demon King.”

“Are you Balaf Dislord?”

Ugar bit his lip. He had to buy time somehow.

“I must be famous. Even these Demon King bastards all recognize me.”

“Did you have to do this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, must you take this to the bitter end?”

“Well, this is a surprise.”

Balaf sneered.

“A so-called Demon King talking about moderation to the hero who has come to kill him.”

His gaze darkened. So did those of the other heroes.

“Have you forgotten what you bastards did? Planting dark mages in the Empire to stir up trouble, releasing monsters to destroy cities, killing heroes and legions, and even abducting the Empire's First Prince?”

“I did none of that. If you want, I can even tell you where the Tower of Hellfire is!”

“A Demon King through and through. Not a shred of loyalty to one another.”

But that was all the more reason.

“I have no reason to trust you.”

A sword was leveled at him.

“I will deal with him.”

“Wait, I want to...”

“I promise you the remains. If you get involved, won't everything burn up?”

“Fine.”

Balaf took one step forward. Ugar was enraged.

He knew Balaf Dislord was a remarkable hero. Even so, he was a Demon King, and that man was only one hero.

It was an established fact that even a Star could not face a Demon King alone.

“You bastard! I've been too accommodating, and now you think I'm a joke!”

Ugar heaved his enormous body upright. The titan charged with a thunderous rumble.

“No.”

Balaf calmly extended his sword. Just before the collision, he slipped aside as smoothly as flowing water.

—!

Ugar's enormous body staggered. Using the titan's skin as a canvas, Balaf's sword painted a picture in red.

—!

A massive fist slammed down on him. With a crunch, Balaf's feet broke through the floor.

As the impact overwhelmed his entire body, he bared his teeth in a grin.

“A Demon King is a Demon King, after all.”

Ninety whole years. Time truly was precious to a Demon King.

But...

“You're weaker than him.”

“What?”

Balaf did not answer. Instead, he reached into his storage dimension. A red sword spewed flames.

That day, the Adamant Tower was forcibly summoned back to the Demon Realm.