Pablo Barkat opened his eyes at the cool sensation moistening his parched lips. He raised his head. Dark red eyes gleamed in the shadows, looking down at him.

"You wanted to see me? To strike a bargain?"

The overwhelming presence told him that the person before him was the Demon King of Hellfire.

"... Yes."

SMACK!

His head snapped sideways. His cheek burned.

"It seems you still don't understand your position."

"Though I may be a prisoner, I am the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Barkat and the de facto leader of the southern alliance! Even a Demon King cannot treat me like—!"

SMACK!

This time, it was the other cheek.

"Go on. Keep running your mouth. I enjoy breaking stiff-necked bastards."

"..."

Their eyes met. Barkat bit his lip at the savage fury roaring through the space between them.

'He's insane. Completely insane!'

In the end, he backed down.

"... Understood, sir."

"Now you have the proper attitude for bargaining. Let's hear what you have to say."

Barkat quietly ground his teeth in humiliation. But he was not foolish enough to let his temper cost him this hard-won opportunity.

"It concerns Balaf Dislord, said to be the greatest and strongest hero."

"What about him?"

"Do you know his true identity, my lord?"

"His true identity? And you know it?"

"Of course."

"How?"

"I cannot tell you that much. But I can swear on my dimensional interference that there is not a single lie in what I say."

"Then what do you demand in return?"

"Release me. That is all I ask."

"An amusing fellow."

Someone wearing the guise of a hero might at least pay lip service to saving the other heroes, but this man made no pretense. Well, Berge had already known what sort of man he was.

"I'll hear you out first."

"Promise me. Promise that you will release me once you know."

"Must I?"

"Then I will not speak either."

"You don't seem to understand your situation."

"If I am going to die anyway, there is no need to divulge what I know before dying, is there?"

The sight of him trying to bargain was laughable. It was as entertaining as watching a play, and the corners of Berge's mouth rose.

"Very well."

"Please swear it."

"I swear on the great First Demon Emperor and the Guide. If your story interests me, I will release you."

"Thank you."

Pablo bowed his head, then cautiously began.

"Do not be surprised. Balaf Dislord is actually..."

"Actually?"

"The Guildmaster!"

"The Guildmaster? But their faces are different."

"He seems to have concealed his face using some special method."

"Is that all?"

"All?"

"Well, it's less impressive than I expected."

"How is that not impressive? Balaf Dislord and the Guildmaster who disappeared decades ago are the same person!"

It was unimpressive because he already knew it all. Instead of answering, Berge stared at him disapprovingly.

"Th-then there is something even more surprising."

"I hope it interests me this time."

"The Guildmaster actually has another hidden identity."

"Another?"

"Have you heard of the hero who killed two Demon Kings hundreds of years ago, then vanished with a tower just before killing his third?"

"I've heard of him. Some humans became fanatics and claimed he had become a god, didn't they?"

"That is an empty delusion. He did not become a god. Instead, he remained very much alive, acting as a hero and preying on countless Demon Kings."

"Oh? And who is he?"

"The Guildmaster himself! Balaf Dislord is the Guildmaster, and the Guildmaster is Daniel Deirus, who supposedly disappeared hundreds of years ago!"

"That really isn't impressive."

"Indeed. Isn't it astonishing? The missing Daniel Deirus... Pardon?"

"What interests me more..."

The play was over.

Berge's gaze turned cold. A suffocating pressure bore down on Pablo, forcing his head into the floor.

"Wh-why are you doing this?"

"...is who told you that."

That hidden truth, which no one had known, which no one had even suspected. How had someone who knew it appeared with such convenient timing?

"Who was it?" Berge whispered. "Who told you that and sent you here?"

The Pablo Barkat he knew never ventured outside the southern alliance.

"I already have a fair idea, but hearing it from your own mouth would be different, wouldn't it?"

"Th-there is no such person."

"Spill it. That alone will pique my 'interest.' Only then can I spare you, after all."

The Demon King smiled.

* * *

Two days after the Demon King took them prisoner, not a single hero remained ignorant of the Four Heavenly Kings' identities.

"The Dark Knight was Her Highness Imperial Princess Kaede?"

"And Louise Berft, who was supposedly abducted, is what? The Giant of Hell?"

"She says she prefers being called the Dwarf."

"What about Her Highness Lavinia Akan? They say she turned every monster in the tower into a chimera."

"Did you see the spirit king that sank the levitation ship? That was the Dark Spirit Summoner—Her Highness Ernyan Hilderan!"

Heroes fought Demon Kings for their dimension and for humanity. They killed Demon Kings and rescued abducted members of imperial and royal families. No hero rejected that truth, repeated for nearly a thousand years.

"Then why are those princesses fighting us?"

"If only that were all! The Demon King of Carnal Desire and the Demon King of Bitter Cold are here too. Aren't Demon Kings supposed to stay in their own towers unless they're kidnapping royalty?"

"What the hell is this place? The tower is deep underwater, and it has mana cannons outside blasting away at us!"

Princesses who could each defeat a Star, and three Demon Kings. The overwhelming disparity in strength had made this a losing battle from the outset. It was absurd that they could still be outmatched after mobilizing a thousand heroes and six Stars, but that was the truth.

The heroes had lost their will to fight. Not that prisoners had much morale left to begin with, but theirs had plunged past rock bottom and into the earth below. They felt like condemned prisoners awaiting death.

If anything gave them even a glimmer of hope, it was the nonhuman races and princesses living in the tower.

"There are elves here."

"Dwarves too. So the dwarves did make those mana cannons."

"Traitors."

"No, think about it for a moment. A Demon King who accepts princesses, elves, and dwarves as servants..."

"Could that mean...?"

"What are you saying? We're heroes! You want heroes to betray humanity and become a Demon King's servants?"

"Shut up. Will justice and the cause of humanity save my life? What has this continent ever done for me?"

"What good is being hailed as a hero after I'm fucking dead?"

The heroes were sharply divided.

Berge had deliberately left them alone for two days. He had merely sent elves and dwarves to bring them food, hoping they would agonize over their choices and descend into confusion on their own.

Once events were unfolding as he intended, Berge drove the point home.

"I, too, have become the Demon King's servant."

"... Shameful as it is, so have I."

"You're ashamed of being his servant?"

"Exactly. Even Lord Hillen has become his servant, so why shouldn't we...?"

The Stars who had joined them on the hero's journey had become the Demon King's servants: Roselle Charnt, Ralph Schmitz, Aina Diaphrin, and even Watton Collo.

Their declarations unleashed a storm in the hearts of the already wavering heroes.

"... Even the Stars have done it."

"They said the Demon King of Hellfire is different from other Demon Kings."

"... And even Hillen Cargill is his servant? Surely one more won't hurt?"

"We can hide our allegiance and keep going on hero's journeys? And the servants will even help one another?"

"... Hmm."

"I-I don't want to die here! I'll become the Demon King's servant!"

"Me too!"

Once one person opened the way, others clamoring to become servants poured forth.

"You damned bastards! Betraying humanity because you're afraid to lose your miserable lives!"

"Then you can throw your own life away like it's nothing!"

Conflict broke out between the heroes with a strong sense of duty and those without it. With their mana completely suppressed and their wrists and ankles shackled, a proper battle was out of the question. Still, their basic physical strength as heroes had not gone anywhere.

"Stop."

The one who stopped the two groups of heroes from brawling was the Dark Spirit Summoner—or rather, Ernyan, who no longer even bothered to conceal her identity.

"I will warn you only once."

Her icy rebuke brought every hero to a halt.

"Is there anything more to discuss? Those willing to become my lord's servants, go to the right. Everyone else, go to the other side. Sort yourselves out."

"Y-you're Hilderan's Crown Princess! Why are you helping a Demon King?"

"Exactly! Aren't you ashamed?"

The heroes shouted, burning with righteous indignation.

"Should I be ashamed?"

"Don't you feel sorry for the people who died because of you?"

"If I became a monarch and ordered a war, I wouldn't need to apologize. Why should I apologize for helping a Demon King?"

"... That's sophistry."

"Yes. But that isn't what matters."

Droplets of water engulfed the heroes who had shouted. Cut off from air, they thrashed in agony. Just before they lost consciousness, the droplets disappeared.

"Gah...!"

"Hah, hah...!"

"You have two choices. Faced with those choices, nothing else matters."

"B-but if we become servants, the other heroes will discover it. Even if we survive now, we'll have to spend our whole lives in hiding!"

"We wouldn't take you in without provisions for something that basic."

Ernyan held out an Armani Orb.

"Unlike ordinary servants, this conceals your demonic energy completely. There is no danger of discovery. It does have the drawback that you must lower all your defenses when accepting it, of course."

"Th-there can't be anything like that..."

"But there is. That settles the discussion, doesn't it? Now, choose. Will you become my lord's servants? Or will you die as proud, loyal champions of humanity? Though there's no telling whether anyone else will recognize your sacrifice."

If they were still ashamed...

"Remember that I, the Crown Princess of Hilderan, my younger sister, a royal princess, an imperial princess, the princesses of Akan and Berft, and four Stars already follow my lord. You are merely making a choice you cannot avoid."

"..."

"..."

It was not perfect, but it was a hammer strong enough to break their final thread of conscience. All but a tiny minority began clamoring to become servants.

That day, exactly 722 Armani Orbs were consumed.

"Kill everyone who refused to the end."

Berge gave the order. Offering mercy once was enough. Any more was foolishness.

"..."

He addressed Kaede, who was watching the heroes sentenced to death.

"What is it? Do you feel for them as a fellow human?"

"Prisoners we cannot manage are a burden. You offered them mercy once. Refusing it was entirely their own choice."

"You're uncompromising in the strangest ways."

"I am your knight, my lord. They are invaders."

Of course, killing fellow humans—and heroes at that—did not sit comfortably with her. Before being abducted by the Demon King, she would never have imagined saying such things.

But much had changed. Her circumstances, the world, and Kaede herself.

"Those prepared to kill others must also be prepared to die by their opponents' blades."

"Quite right."

Berge smiled in satisfaction.

"Kaede. You said you assured the First Prince he could never be rescued, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Then you should show him proof."

Although the First Prince had merely been a scapegoat, rather than the power behind Berge's death in his previous life, there was no denying that he had set those events in motion.

Berge was the sort of man who would gladly take any opportunity to make him suffer a little more.

"Those men will serve as conclusive witnesses."

Their corpses would tell him that a massive hero's journey had taken place—and failed.

"Will your brother despair, or grow even angrier?"

"... You are quite cruel."

"I'm accommodating you. Didn't you say you had plenty of grievances?"

"It seems you're using me as an excuse to vent your anger. Did something happen between you and my brother?"

She certainly had good instincts.

"Nothing happened. Would you like some chocolate?"

"Thank you."

Recognizing the signal that he did not wish to answer, Kaede obediently took the chocolate into her mouth.

It was delicious.

"Thank you."

"Of course."

And she thanked him because she knew he was thinking of her, at least a little.

* * *

"You really kept your promise."

"Of course. Consider who I made it to."

At the top of the tower, Ernyan sat on an enormous mana cannon and looked upward. Deep-sea fish swam above her. The immense pressure of the sea could not penetrate the space the spirit king had created.

"You were a great help this time. Thank you."

"Of course I helped. Besides, you promised to pay me, didn't you?"

Ernyan held out both hands.

"Hand it over."

"I already did."

"That was an advance. If that's all I get, you're exploiting me."

"It's a good thing I bought a few more just in case."

Berge took an entire sack of chocolates out of his storage dimension.

"No."

"What do you mean?"

"Not like that. Give it to me the way you give it to Kaede or Lavinia."

"... Very well."

Berge took out a chocolate. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth.

"Ah."

"You're going too far."

"Hurry and put it in."

Grumbling, Berge removed the wrapper and popped it into her mouth.

"That should do."

"I'll give you one too, my lord. Say ah."

"... You."

"Hurry. I made a huge contribution to capturing the levitation ship and persuading the heroes. Can't you do even this much for me?"

"..."

She had a point. She had accomplished so much that even unwrapping a chocolate and feeding it to her, then accepting one from her, ten thousand times would not be enough.

Even so, he resisted the loss of dignity as a demonic dragon and a Demon King.

"Once I leave, I don't know when I'll be able to visit the tower again. We won't see each other for a while."

"I can visit you."

"Will you?"

"Yes."

"Good! But that's one thing, and this is another. Hurry."

His dignity and the reasonable obligation to reward her achievements tugged against each other until they reached a compromise: opening his mouth just a little.

"Close your eyes."

"Why my eyes?"

"I closed mine."

"What does that have to do with—"

"Hurry."

He closed his eyes.

Sweet chocolate entered his mouth.

At the same time—!

Something soft brushed his lips. When he opened his eyes in surprise, Ernyan was already gone.

- See you next time.

- Keep your promise to visit Hilderan.

As her figure receded, message magic drifted faintly past him.

"..."

Berge touched his lips. Her warmth still lingered.

* * *

- I understand now.

The water spirit king nodded.

- I see why Nairuniel is so delighted.

"Don't tease me."

- Then you shouldn't have done that in front of me.

"Our souls are connected, Lady Naias. That's impossible."

- Then grow a little bolder. What's the point of making the first move on the Demon King if you're the one who blushes more?

- Though that does make it more entertaining.

"... Please don't become like Nairuniel."

- Insulting a king is a grave offense, but you amused me this time, so I shall overlook it.

"Am I supposed to thank you?"

- You should. At least I have no intention of spreading this story.

- Imagine it. If I told Nairuniel about this, the entire Spirit Realm would be in an uproar.

- No, if she found out, there's no telling what sort of scene she'd make over missing the chance to see it herself.

The water spirit king burst into laughter. Ernyan, her face as red as it could possibly get, struggled to avoid her gaze.

"It's unfair. Everyone else gets to stay in the tower, but I have to go back."

- You could simply stay.

"Then I couldn't take control of Hilderan. I told my lord I would become queen and help him. So..."

- So?

"I'll have to deal with my annoying brother quickly and make it so I can visit the tower without worrying about what anyone thinks."

Her gaze turned cold.

- You mean to take the throne?

"No. I only intend to secure my position as heir. If I became queen, I'd be too busy to leave the kingdom."

The Dark Spirit Summoner, who had briefly slipped away for a dalliance, became Hilderan's Crown Princess once more.