"... It's true. The towers really have merged."

Two towers becoming one. Reina shuddered as she witnessed the astonishing sight firsthand.

"Truly, the First Demon Emperor was great."

The towers were said to have been created by the First Demon Emperor. Any hidden functions they possessed must ultimately have been part of his design.

"Yes, well, leaving that aside."

Berge mumbled, swallowing his next words. With the towers merged, he had cleared the greatest hurdle. But it was not over yet.

A tidal wave was about to crash down on him. He expected it to be enormous and vicious.

"My lord, what is all this... Lady Reina?"

Gordon was the first to rush up to the summit. He swiftly grasped the situation.

Realizing they had swallowed the Tower of Bitter Cold, he quietly shut his mouth. Then he spoke to Berge with his eyes.

'Absorbing the Tower of Bitter Cold is all well and good, but if Lady Reina sees what this tower is like...'

'It'll work out somehow. Things might have been different before, but she's my servant now.'

'That's generally called having no plan.'

'It worked with Vivian. Why should Reina be any different?'

'The two are clearly different, my lord.'

Gordon shrugged.

'Well, when it comes down to it, this is your problem to deal with.'

'You little...! And you still call yourself my adjutant—'

As Berge silently ground his teeth at Gordon's irresponsibility, a second visitor arrived after noticing the change in the tower.

"What's going on now, Ber—Reina Sordein?"

"Vivian Blunt?"

Their eyes met. Then both turned to Berge.

"Give each other a friendly greeting. You're in the same boat now."

"Aha."

The corners of Vivian's mouth lifted. Her eyes curved into mocking crescents.

"So this lofty, great frost demon has become your servant?"

Good heavens.

"How vulgar and unbecoming of a Demon King. As someone once put it. Isn't that right?"

"..."

Reina bit her lip.

"... Berge Deias."

"What is it?"

"No, yes, you did tell me. You said Vivian had become your servant."

That was when it happened.

"My lord! What's going on...?"

"Who...?"

"A human hero...?"

Kaede Jespine and Elena Hilderan came face-to-face with the Demon King of Bitter Cold.

Reina radiated murderous intent. Berge hurriedly stepped in front of her.

"Stop. They're both my servants."

"... A hero is your servant?"

"If she weren't, how could she possibly be meeting you here?"

"A hero cannot become a Demon King's servant."

"That's not true here."

"..."

He was not merely saying it. The women were under no restraints or binding spells. He truly had let a hero roam freely through the tower.

Then Berge added another shocking remark.

"... Princesses?"

"The Jespine Empire's Ninth Princess and Hilderan's Thirteenth Princess."

"Why have princesses become your servants?"

A wave of chaos crashed over Reina, utterly beyond the bounds of her common sense.

"Hmm, so this is what it feels like?"

Vivian smiled with her arms crossed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's only one thing I have to tell you."

"Tell me?"

Vivian strode over to Reina.

"Whatever you see from now on, whether you can accept it or not..."

Ignoring Reina's icy stare, she whispered in her ear.

"He's the Demon King you chose. Grit your teeth and tough it out."

Her laughter was profoundly irritating.

* * *

After inspecting every part of the tower, which now stood fifteen floors tall, Reina regretted her choice.

"... Berge Deias."

"Yes."

"You are insane. You are unfit to be a Demon King."

"Then you're the servant of someone unfit to be a Demon King."

"How..."

Reina poured out her impressions of the tower tour.

"How are there more humans than demons? There are even two heroes!"

"Demons, heroes, humans, elves, dwarves—does it matter? Right now, they're all simply my servants. To me, you're no different from them. Of course, you're a little special, but so are they."

"... This is a scam."

For Reina, a proud frost demon, the makeup of Berge's tower was utterly unacceptable.

But she had to accept it. Now that she had become his servant and her soul was bound, she could not defy Berge's words.

Berge knew that too. That must have been why he had shown her the entire tower without hesitation.

"Accept it. He did the same thing to me."

"... Vivian. For the first time, I understand how you feel."

The two Demon Kings found solace in their shared plight.

"So."

After quite some time, Reina calmed down and took stock of the situation.

"You have accepted servants without distinguishing between dwarves, elves, and humans, and among them are princesses and heroes. Correct?"

"Yes."

"You have a princess skilled at creating chimeras modifying monsters into chimeras, and dwarves making mana cannons and bombs?"

"That's right too."

"Truly astonishing."

Yet viewed from the perspective of a Tower Master rather than a Demon King, it was an extremely efficient operation.

"How in the world did you win their hearts?"

"I merely had them swallow Armani Orbs."

"Those have no effect unless swallowed willingly. That is no different from winning their hearts."

"If I had to explain it, I'd say it was much the same as with you."

"You drive them into desperate circumstances until they have no choice but to reach out to you first? Vicious, and befitting a Demon King."

"... How did you arrive at that?"

"Were you not the one who prodded me when I was distressed? Pretending to worry about my servants, and about me. I should have known you harbored such dark intentions."

She stopped there. Reina voiced no further grievances.

She still felt baffled, and the sense that she had been deceived remained strong.

But ultimately, it had been her choice. Berge might have pestered her from the sidelines, but she had made the decision herself.

Thanks to that, she was alive and her servants were safe. That was enough.

She was already a servant, and servants had to obey their master's commands.

She might dislike it, but if Berge told her to let it go, she had to let it go. That was what being a servant meant.

Above all...

'Different races, people who aren't demons, follow Berge.'

They all lived together in harmony. With his capacity to embrace others, her own servants, including the frost demons, should be able to fit in without difficulty.

That was enough.

The tower's interior.

The people who made up its population.

Even the fact that dragons were the reason he could grow stronger so suddenly.

But...

"How does this make any sense?"

Reina turned her gaze outside. The door was open, but water blocked the way. Fish swam nearby.

"The tower is under the sea."

No, it would have been better if it were simply under the sea. She could have assumed he had built it there from the beginning.

But those eight bizarre legs attached to the tower...

"Does the tower truly move?"

"How do you think I brought it here from Erjest?"

"I am asking whether that is possible."

"It must be possible, since it's here."

"How, exactly?"

"Just as I told you last time. I combined an artifact with the tower."

"This is an artifact?"

"An artifact I had the dwarves build myself."

"The dwarves..."

"To be precise, the tower's power is the more impressive part. The dwarves only made the legs. It was the tower that connected them and made them move."

"... Truly, the First Demon Emperor was extraordinary."

Merging towers was astonishing enough, but incorporating legs like these? It was a whole new world.

"Do you intend to merge all the towers?"

"It's the surest and fastest way to conquer this damned dimension."

"You approached me with that intention."

"You're the one who called me."

"... Yes, I did. But Ugar and Jason are different from me. Especially..."

Just then, the communication orb vibrated violently.

『My lord! The Adamant Demon King is dead!』

The worst possible news arrived.

One tower was gone.

* * *

【Adamant, Not Bitter Cold? A Vanished Tower, a Demon King Found Dead...】

【He Knew the Demon King of Bitter Cold Would Hide Her Tower? Balaf Dislord's Brilliant Strategy...】

【For Every Running Demon King, a Flying Hero: The Great Heroes Who Slew the Adamant Demon King.】

【Demon Kings Remain Beneath Humanity: The Expedition Firmly Establishes Its Superiority. The Heroes Were Strong.】

【Roselle Charnt Condemns Those Spreading Disturbing Rumors. "We can't beat a Demon King? I'll personally burn any bastard spouting that bullshit. He was nothing but an oversized idiot. Well, at least he left plenty of useful remains."】

【Balaf Dislord Announces His Grand Ambition: "I merely did what had to be done. I will continue to subjugate Demon Kings for the peace of the continent. The Demon King of Hellfire, in particular, will fall without fail."】

The Adamant Demon King's death silenced questions about why they had attacked somewhere other than the Tower of Bitter Cold.

It was the victory everyone had so desperately desired. The continent's leaders deliberately magnified the heroes' achievements, and the heroes received an even warmer welcome.

The expedition's victory did much to dispel the fear of Demon Kings that had begun to stir once more.

And amid the celebrations and cheers, the great hero prepared for what came next.

『Without so much as consulting me...!』

"The Tower of Bitter Cold had vanished too. Are you saying I should have failed again and come back like a mangy dog?"

『That is not what I mean!』

Jason pushed up his monocle. The glass in his hand shattered.

"I do feel sorry in some respects. But it was the best choice."

『...』

Jason steadied his breathing. He painstakingly restored the mask that threatened to crumple.

『... I concede that.』

He had never imagined even the Tower of Bitter Cold would disappear.

Had Balaf not killed Ugar, his reputation and that of the heroes would have hit rock bottom.

Human anxiety would have grown, with most of those emotions fattening Berge's coffers, while humanity declared an all-out war against the Demon Kings.

Rather than live with anxiety, humans chose to eliminate its source by any means possible.

But with Ugar dead and the hero's journey ultimately ending in success, that anxiety had been somewhat quelled. Relief that humanity still stood above the Demon Kings, the dismissive assessment that the Demon King of Hellfire was merely a somewhat unusual exception, and faith in the great heroes had stabilized the situation.

It was not enough to completely dispel the shock of losing hundreds of heroes and a Star, but it was at least an oasis that could briefly slake their thirst.

That brief respite was their opportunity. Now was the time to drive the point home, not sow discord among themselves.

However he had done it, that damned demonic dragon must be reveling in having hidden his tower under the sea. They had to strike him from behind.

『The levitation ship is ready.』

"Good."

:

『The Empire will mobilize its finest forces.』

The dragon orders. Those who bore the dragon's name in order to slay dragons would take the field.

There was ample justification to mobilize the dragon orders, which acted solely for the imperial family.

The First Prince had been abducted.

They would pressure the Heroes' Guild to mobilize the Stars and heroes once again. Naturally, their numbers would exceed a thousand.

This time, even Berge could not escape.

That left only one thing.

『Let me ask you.』

『Are you...』\n『Confident?』

"Am I confident?"

The great hero laughed at the Demon King's question.

He sneered, as though it were absurd.

"Even before, I never thought I would lose."

At the time, the Demon King of Hellfire had been so strong it was hard to believe only two years had passed since his descent.

But that was all. If that was the extent of his power, he would die.

"No, even if he's stronger than that, he'll die."

Balaf clenched his fist. Power surged through him.

"Nearly a hundred years really does make a difference."

The Adamant Demon King, Ugar Belbek.

The power he had accumulated was greater than that of any Demon King Balaf had faced. And the fruit he yielded had been just as sweet.

"Just make sure you keep track of his location so he can't run away again."

『I will trust you. Please be sure to take Berge Deias's head.』

"That goes without saying."

He would kill that bastard with his own hands, without fail.

Balaf spat the words out as though chewing them to pieces. The connection ended.

"..."

On the other side of the communication orb, Jason hurled the shattered glass fragments onto the floor.

"Aina."

"Yes, my lord."

"What do you think of my preparations?"

"They are more than sufficient."

There would be at least five Stars.

The strongest knightly orders in the Empire—in the entire continent—would join them.

They had borrowed the levitation ship, and it would be filled with a thousand heroes.

Nor was that all. In cooperation with Akan and the other kingdoms, dozens of ships would sail to the target location and tighten the noose around Berge's neck.

It was more than sufficient as a force to capture a single Demon King.

"But a force of that size has already failed once."

"Because they did not know it was a trap."

"Is there any guarantee this isn't another trap?"

"There is."

Grand Duke Alkain had provided the information himself, and it was being updated in real time at the cost of vast quantities of demonic energy points.

That tower was definitely not a fake.

That should be enough. If it was not a trap, then by any reasonable reckoning, Berge's chances of winning were infinitely close to zero.

And yet.

And yet, why...

"... Am I so anxious and irritated?"

—!

Everything on the table was swept to the floor.

"Why do I feel as though Berge will survive to the very end and mock me? Why does that image keep flickering before my eyes?"

Doubt became anxiety, anxiety became certainty, and certainty became thirst.

It was not enough. Nowhere near enough.

"... Aina."

"Yes, my lord."

"Berge is currently a traitor implicated in the murder of a Demon King. Correct?"

"Yes."

"And Ugar is dead."

"Yes."

"Then a new Demon King must descend."

Very soon.

Someone very powerful.

"It seems I will have to concede a great deal to Grand Duke Alkain."

"But however powerful they may be, a Demon King who has only recently descended..."

"I have plenty of demonic energy points."

More than he knew what to do with. Jason dealt in money and people, not demonic energy points. He had been in Arain for far too long.

"And I have no intention of calling an ordinary Demon King."

"Then?"

"Isn't it strange that he has grown so astonishingly strong in two years? Unless there is something special about him."

"Certainly, but..."

"I believe what makes him special is his race."

The greatest race in the Demon Realm.

Demonic dragons, the same race as the First Demon Emperor.

Perhaps they had secret arts of their own. A way to make better use of the towers, to grow stronger and shed dimensional interference more quickly.

"Therefore..."

Use one enemy to defeat another.

"The Demon King summoned this time will be a demonic dragon."

He would make sure of it.

Without fail.

Jason pushed up his monocle.