COUGH!

Dorche coughed up blood. The black scales covering his entire body reacted swiftly.

“You goddamn bastard...!”

His black eyes darted around. There were no other enemies nearby. But the tower’s power was pressing down on him. Lies, who had risen from his throne, was far stronger than Dorche had expected.

“You dare rebel!”

“How amusing.”

Lies laughed.

“First you went on about an inferior race not knowing its place. Now that you realize that won’t work, you immediately bring up rebellion? Is the grand duke next? Go on, try it.”

Lies took a step closer. The pressure intensified. Dorche’s scales writhed.

“... How can you have such power?”

“I told you to try it.”

Another step. Wind rose, its sharp blades tearing through his scales.

“Try it, you worthless demonic dragon fuck.”

Lightning erupted. Dorche screamed as its energy pierced a demonic dragon’s tremendous resistance.

‘Impossible...!’

Every demonic dragon specialized in a single element. Just as Berge’s was fire, Dorche’s was lightning. Lightning energy was his source and his strength. His affinity for it made his resistance overwhelmingly higher than against other elements. Yet this attack had pierced that resistance and hurt him?

“Try it!”

This time it was fire. His scales melted. His muscles burned. Dorche swallowed a groan of agony.

“You’ll regret this. Grand Duke Alkain will never stand for it!”

“There. You said it.”

At last, they were within arm’s reach. Jason stretched out his hand and seized Dorche’s throat.

“Gah...!”

The binding force constricting his body left Dorche unable to move.

“You demonic dragons are all so predictable. You have nothing except what you were born with, and you rely on that to swagger about. An inferior race? Insignificant? Then what does that make you, being trampled like trash by that inferior race? A mere lizard?”

“You goddamn traitor...!”

“Yes, I’ll give you credit for that look in your eyes. A demonic dragon indeed. Even now, you refuse to abandon your pride.”

Jason hurled Dorche away. His body rolled across the floor like a piece of garbage.

“You have two choices. One, become my servant. Two, die.”

“Stop spouting nonsense. Do you think a mighty demonic dragon would submit to threats like these and become your servant?”

“Ah, I thought you’d say that. Which is why I never intended to give you an easy death.”

Jason smiled.

“Did you know? Demonic dragon blood is regarded just like the blood of this world’s dragons. Well, I suppose that’s only natural, since you’re distant relatives. You know, don’t you? There’s no shortage of demons and demonic creatures eager to drink demonic dragon blood.”

“... What?”

“You won’t be allowed to die. Your body will be bound so you can’t move, and I’ll keep you supplied with nourishment. In exchange, you’ll spend the rest of your life as a blood bag, drained for me and my servants.”

“... Y-you son of a bitch!”

The thought of that horrific future sent chills through Dorche. In his hundreds of years of life, he had never imagined such a thing.

“Now choose. Will you become my servant, or my blood bag?”

“Why the hell are you doing this to me? I descended at your request to help you!”

“Why?”

Jason looked thoughtful for a moment, then answered casually.

“The sight of you daring to demand demonic energy points from me was laughable. I was already on edge from another demonic dragon giving me trouble.”

“Over something so trivial...!”

“Whether it’s trivial or not...”

THWACK!

Dorche’s head snapped to the side.

“Is for me to decide, you worthless demonic dragon. Now, I’ll give you five seconds.”

Jason’s outstretched fingers folded down rapidly. In the end, Dorche had no choice but to choose. Had he been allowed to die with dignity, it might have been different. But he could not endure such disgrace and humiliation.

* * *

『“... What do you mean?”』

“Jason Cockmundo is not Jason Cockmundo.”

Outside the communication orb’s field of view, Berge quietly listened in on Reina’s conversation with Grand Duke Alkain.

『“A doppelganger...?”』

An unexpected call, followed by an unexpected declaration. Grand Duke Alkain was utterly bewildered. Had anyone else said it, he would have angrily told them to stop talking nonsense and ended the call. But he could not, because the caller was Reina Sordein. Not only could he not disregard the frost demons behind her, but frost demons were also renowned for their sober refusal to lie.

『“The doppelgangers are all dead. They were wiped out long ago.”』

“I thought so too.”

『“Reina Sordein. Can you take responsibility for what you’re saying? That the things Berge Deias did were actually Jason Cockmundo’s doing, and that this Jason Cockmundo is really a doppelganger who concealed his identity and operated in secret?”』

“Frost demons do not sully their noble lips with lies. I can swear it upon the great First Demon Emperor and the Guide.”

『“An oath, too. Do you understand what that means? You’re saying there was a mistake in the Demon Realm’s undertaking. That the previous Demon Emperor made a mistake?”』

“Burying the matter despite clear evidence would be a greater problem. For hundreds of years, he has operated in secret in Arain, joining forces with heroes to kill Demon Kings. If we fail to eliminate him, he will become an even greater threat.”

『“Your evidence?”』

“I have a recording orb containing footage of Berge Deias breaking the shell worn by the hero who collaborated with him, along with that hero’s statements.”

『“Send it. I’ll examine it before making a judgment.”』

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The connection ended.

“Well done.”

“I merely did what had to be done.”

“But you don’t use that lofty way of referring to yourself with the grand duke, do you?”

“... Give me the recording orb. I need to send it.”

“And here I thought you always talked that way because it came naturally.”

“Grand Duke Alkain is waiting.”

Reina persisted in trying to change the subject, but Berge simply watched her in silence. Finally, her face faintly flushed, she murmured in a shrinking voice.

“... I thought I needed to project authority before my servants.”

“As a Demon King?”

“As a Demon King.”

“But now you’re my servant.”

“That was how things began between us, was it not?”

“So you’re actually a demon who’s different on the inside?”

“I am a stalwart frost demon. My outward and inward selves are the same!”

“But you act differently with your superiors and subordinates.”

“... You.”

Seeing the smile on Berge’s lips, Reina bristled.

“You enjoy teasing me.”

“Not particularly.”

“... Please don’t tell the others. Especially that succubus without a shred of dignity.”

“I don’t know.”

“You!”

“Well, I’ll think about it. Take this.”

Berge handed her the recording orb.

“How do you think Grand Duke Alkain will react after watching this recording?”

“First, he will sever Jason Cockmundo’s connection.”

That was one hundred percent certain.

“It would be disappointing if that’s all he did.”

“It will be one of two things. He’ll make it public, or try to bury it quietly.”

“What do you think?”

“The latter.”

Reina was right. Grand Duke Alkain had no further aspirations or ambitions. He was simply an old dignitary content with his present circumstances, who did not want to retire in disgrace. And if word got out that a doppelganger—a traitor to the Demon Realm—had surfaced under his jurisdiction and spent hundreds of years devouring Demon Kings? The grand duke would want to avoid that at any cost.

“Then what would he do?”

“If there were a tower available, he would send demons under his command down as Demon Kings.”

Grand dukes were demons of the highest rank, a position attainable only by those who had conquered dimensions multiple times. Even among their subordinates were some of the Demon Realm’s strongest.

“But there are no spare towers.”

Berge had only belatedly learned that someone named Dorche had recently descended.

‘Dorche, huh.’

He was a fairly famous demonic dragon. Though with so few of their kind, all demonic dragons were famous. Berge had never expected someone who had conquered other dimensions several times to come to Arain. He had probably been sent by the grand duke. In any case, what mattered was that, with his descent, all five towers were now in use.

“I see two possibilities. He will either try to subjugate Jason Cockmundo through cooperation between us and the Demon King named Dorche...”

“Or?”

“Or reclaim a tower and send down a trustworthy subordinate in its place.”

“Reclaim a tower?”

“There is someone, is there not? A Demon King who descended here on the grand duke’s orders before Dorche did, with a promise of returning.”

Yes, there was. Someone who had once been such a ‘Demon King.’

* * *

“... Good heavens.”

Grand Duke Alkain examined the recording orb sent across dimensions. It showed a Demon King interrogating a hero. Berge Deias. That rebellious idiot he could not stand the sight of was peeling off the hero’s skin. No, tearing off a shell.

It unmistakably belonged to a doppelganger. Nothing else could conceal everything so perfectly.

‘A fabrication by Berge?’

Impossible. Great as the demonic dragon race was, even they could not do that.

‘Is it truly a doppelganger?’

Reina Sordein would never lie after swearing upon the First Demon Emperor and the Guide. Either she genuinely believed he was a doppelganger, or he actually was one. And by every indication, it was the latter.

‘Jason isn’t Jason?’

How could this be?

‘He survived that purge and slipped into Arain? And evaded my notice for hundreds of years?’

Was it really only hundreds of years? Moreover, Reina had said he had devoured numerous Demon Kings. The hero in the recording orb said the same thing.

‘Perhaps.’

Just perhaps.

‘Is he the reason Arain became the worst dimension?’

No, that was going too far. Arain undeniably had overwhelmingly more heroes than other dimensions, and that was why the Guide did not work. That was simply because the dimension’s own power was overwhelming. The doppelganger wearing Jason Cockmundo’s guise was only an additional factor.

‘If this becomes known...’

He would certainly bear the responsibility. He did not want that. It had to be resolved quietly, very quietly. But how?

‘Reina Sordein.’

The frost demon Demon King who had brought all this to his attention. She would agree that the doppelganger had to be dealt with and would gladly lend a hand.

‘Berge Deias.’

He disliked the bastard, but he had to acknowledge his ability. With his connection to the Demon Realm severed, Berge must be in a considerable predicament. Given a chance to clear his name, he would gladly step forward.

‘Dorche Astin.’

The demonic dragon he had struck a deal with and sent down to confront Berge Deias. He could not be certain how powerful Jason had become after devouring Demon Kings for hundreds of years, but he thought that together, they should be more than capable of subjugating him.

‘No. If Jason is a doppelganger, he would never have allowed Dorche to shed all his dimensional interference.’

Then even with Dorche, he could not rest easy. He needed one more safeguard.

“... Vivian Blunt.”

The succubus had wanted to return from the moment she descended. Although their relationship had soured after she apparently lost her mind, she would still want to come back. He would recall her and send a trustworthy demon directly under his command down as a Demon King.

‘I’ll have to bear the demonic energy cost, but that’s better than retiring in disgrace when this comes to light.’

The moment it was exposed, he would lose everything.

Having formed his plan, Grand Duke Alkain restored the connection to Vivian that he had severed. He called her and waited a long while.

HISS!

A response came.

“Vivian Blunt, I will give you one more chance. Do you not wish to return to the Demon Realm?”

Grand Duke Alkain assumed Vivian would accept, of course. That desire was ultimately why she had hurled insults until the very end and fallen out with him. But...

『“Shut up, you crazy fuck.”』

Vivian’s response...

『“If you were going to offer that, you should have done it ages ago, you goddamn vampire bastard...”』

Was beyond anything he could have imagined.

『“Why, why! Why! Why now of all times? You only had to be a little sooner!”』

She wept bitterly.

『“Do you know what humiliation I’ve suffered? My tail, my horn...!”』

『“Do you think everyone else has time to spare because you sleep in a coffin for a hundred years at a stretch? Just crawl back in and sleep! Stop getting on a succubus’s nerves!”』

“... Y-you insolent...!”

『“Shut up! Don’t piss me off! I’m the one who gets to curse here!”』

“You will never return to the Demon Realm, you bitch! Never! I’ll make you regret this day for the rest of your life!”

Grand Duke Alkain did not know. Having already become Berge’s servant and had her tower absorbed, Vivian was no longer in any position to accept his offer.