Ch.168The Demon Lord Belphegor (7)

# Demon Lord Belphegor (7)

Manpower and food rations? Starting exchanges?

Isn’t that laughable?

What we need right now is land.

Land that’s alive, where we can breathe clean air, away from the demon realm where even breathing is painful.

Yet the Emperor never once mentioned anything about that.

Even if it kills him, he doesn’t want to let demons into the human realm.

“Emperor, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t treat me like a complete idiot. You know I didn’t come here for that kind of thing. We’re already past the point where that would solve anything.”

“So you’re determined to wage war? If it’s now, this could still be dismissed as a tantrum.”

“When did you plan to cut off my head while providing massive support to the hero?”

Belphegor, who had been slumped over the table, sneered with a cold smile.

“Hmph… What a shame. If you had that much intelligence, you shouldn’t have done something as foolish as walking into enemy territory.”

“Kyahahahaha!”

Belphegor laughed. The Emperor had intended to kill her from the beginning.

Literally, the feast they just enjoyed was nothing but a last supper.

“Emperor, I must look quite stupid to you, right? Actually, that’s correct. I’m so stupid that even simple calculations take me quite some time.”

Belphegor, who had been slumped over the table all this time, raised her body as if waterlogged and leaned back against the chair.

In the same indolent posture as when she sat on her throne.

“You must have done your own calculations. How many troops would it take to dispose of me, and so on.”

Belphegor had caused a disturbance in front of the imperial palace, and the Emperor, unable to tolerate it any longer, decided to invite her inside.

But was that really all there was to it?

Is that the proper way to treat an enemy monarch during wartime?

Did Belphegor appear so stupid that she wouldn’t understand such common sense?

“To be honest, I was terrified about coming here. I agonized over what would happen if things went wrong.”

The Emperor is cunning.

He’s not a monster who rules over the vast empire for nothing.

To deceive such a monster, Belphegor had to be extremely careful.

For years, she pretended not to understand, acted stupid despite the humiliation.

Being genuinely unintelligent, there were certainly many things she truly didn’t understand, but she deliberately presented herself in a way that made her opponent underestimate her.

The Emperor must have thought:

Seeing Belphegor visit the empire repeatedly, practically begging, he must have sized her up.

Watching the Demon King behave within the bounds of common sense, he applied the same standards to her.

So he couldn’t help but underestimate her. He failed to recognize Belphegor’s true strength.

It was like the head of an enemy nation at war had rolled in voluntarily. He had plenty of time to summon all kinds of powerful individuals under the pretext of a banquet. He used a simple trick, like a shop owner dealing with a drunk customer.

Yes, the Emperor intended to kill the Demon Lord who had invaded alone.

However…

“When I was causing trouble in front of the imperial palace, I worried, ‘What if I fail to control my power and you misjudge me and hide like a rat?'”

The Emperor hadn’t considered:

That Belphegor might be deliberately acting weak while concealing her power.

That such a simple trick wouldn’t work. How reckless it is to apply common sense to a being beyond common sense.

“Yes, I do have that much intelligence.”

A fatal mistake born from thinking of Belphegor as just a strong idiot.

“I know very well that whoever grabs the head first wins.”

Arrogance stemming from his confidence that he would be safe as long as the empire’s powerful figures were gathered en masse, no matter how strong she might be.

“What made you come before me so defenseless?”

To be precise, he wasn’t completely defenseless. The Emperor had wrapped himself in every safety measure he could take.

At least in his view, there was no safer place than his current position.

But he didn’t know. If he intended to face Belphegor, he shouldn’t have been concerned with his own safety—he should have hidden himself completely from her sight.

“Now let’s see whose calculations were more accurate by emptying our pockets.”

***

The three decided to split up and search for clues in the cave after hearing Lilith’s story.

The mood had grown heavy.

Lug had called it trivial matters, but it concluded with Lilith’s warning.

Not only had the atmosphere soured, but even Lilith, who had issued the warning, belatedly realized her mistake and became less talkative.

Eventually, Tina suggested investigating the cave, and they decided to split up to search for clues.

It was a natural course of action, as they were unaware that Belphegor had flown directly to the human realm through the divine power of a heavenly god.

But is that really the case? Can we truly say that everyone is unaware?

Could it be that no one noticed Belphegor transcending space through divine power?

No, at least one person knows. How could they not?

When it’s their own power.

“Mr. Lug is late. I wonder if something happened.”

“Hah…!”

Lilith furrowed her brow, thinking of Lug who hadn’t returned by the agreed time. She couldn’t help but worry.

She couldn’t even begin to guess what might have happened here.

But Tina was different.

She had experienced this pattern several times before.

Each time, she felt that Lug was very good at exploiting gaps in awareness.

“This bastard…”

A certainty born from experience.

Tina sighed, brushing her bangs back.

It felt like being blindsided. A situation she thought impossible turned out to be true.

Tina glanced sideways at Lilith standing right beside her.

Lug came to meet this woman. That’s why he escaped.

That was the conclusion she had drawn.

But what if that wasn’t it? What if even that was misdirection?

What if he had deliberately led Lilith to reveal her past with Belphegor, making Tina learn about Lilith?

“Did he run away again?”

After that, even if she left, Tina wouldn’t be hostile toward Lilith.

She had already heard the story and perfectly established the perception that this demon Lilith was also a “person” who suffered and struggled just the same.

From the beginning, Lug’s goal wasn’t to join Lilith.

His objective was to talk with Belphegor. So joining Lilith was just a process, not the end goal.

“This is driving me crazy…”

Tina sighed, looking at Lug who had disappeared in the same manner as the Demon Lord, and at the new burden (Lilith) who still hadn’t grasped the situation and was worried about Lug.

“Should we join Esmeralda’s group and ask?”

“Eh…?”

Tina had essentially pronounced a death sentence on Lilith.

***

It took less than 30 minutes for the Demon Lord Belphegor to bring down the imperial palace.

“Honestly, I’m surprised. Were you always willing to risk your lives for the empire? You didn’t seem like it.”

In a place where the majestic and splendid imperial palace once stood, now only a mountain of broken stones remained.

Belphegor, who had preserved only the Emperor’s throne, was lying on it while gripping someone’s neck.

“Since when did the magic towers contribute to world peace?”

“Kuk…!”

All the masters of the continent’s seven great magic towers had challenged Belphegor and died.

And that wasn’t all.

All manner of powerful figures in the empire had died by Belphegor’s hand.

The empire’s strongest knights, the elderly imperial mages famous throughout the land.

Mercenaries and the empire’s shadow operatives.

The only survivor was Glisha Lentisimo, master of the Glacies Tower, whom she had kept alive to understand the situation.

“Weren’t you all half-aligned with our side to begin with? Why would you come to a place where death was certain and risk your lives?”

“…Ah, yes. Indeed. But let me tell you something you may not know. We aren’t on anyone’s side. We’re just people who’ve dedicated our lives to a secret wish.”

“Then is opposing me the way to fulfill that wish?”

“No, we couldn’t do that. But… that child is different…”

“That child?”

The common secret wish of the seven magic towers: to evolve humans into superior beings.

This meant the development of humanity as a species, not individuals.

The various convenient magical tools researched in the towers were also part of this wish, but what they truly desired was the growth of humanity itself.

They didn’t think it impossible.

Just as primitive humans who discovered fire achieved rapid growth.

Just as those who learned to handle mana could create sword auras and cast magic.

That’s how humans had evolved. They believed it would happen again.

And they all believed Millia would be the key to that. That’s what all the current tower masters thought.

“So as her worthless teacher, if I don’t at least break down part of the wall blocking that child’s path…!”

Glisha grabbed Belphegor’s arm that was gripping his neck and began releasing all his mana.

“I’ll at least take one of your arms!”

Crack!

Glisha began freezing Belphegor’s arm with his own flesh.

His tenacity was at a level that even Belphegor couldn’t easily dismiss, and she couldn’t counter it until she eventually turned into a massive ice statue.

“…Indeed.”

Belphegor glared at the ice attached to her arm and clicked her tongue.

It was worthy of being called a life-risking strike.

It hadn’t even been a minute since it froze, but already her hand had lost feeling.

“I’m sorry. I’m too stupid to understand that noble secret wish you all speak of.”

Crash!

But Belphegor shattered the ice just by clenching her fist.

She could have blocked it earlier, but she recognized it as a life-risking strike. She didn’t understand what their secret wish was, but since they risked their lives, she wanted to see it once.

Yet even after taking the blow head-on, Belphegor still couldn’t understand.

“I’ve been too busy trying to survive to ever dream such grand dreams.”

Belphegor gripped her still-trembling hand with her other hand, the cold not yet fully dissipated.

Time would solve it.

“How amusing. War ends so simply like this.”

The heart of the empire had collapsed, and people began fleeing the capital.

Those who didn’t were either attacking Belphegor, who sat alone in the center of the destroyed imperial palace, or watching from a distance.

Having killed the Emperor, the war was essentially won.

Humanity had lost its center, and Belphegor had no intention of giving them time to find a new one.

Before they could determine positions through meetings and dialogue, the Demon Lord’s army would swoop in.

Soldiers who had lost their center and started fighting among themselves couldn’t defeat the Demon Lord’s army, even if called a ragtag bunch.

Yes, if Belphegor returned to the Demon Lord’s army and took command now.

“Only one step remains.”

Belphegor, who had disposed of Glisha and was now languidly leaning back on the throne, asked with narrowed eyes.

To a young man in the distance, laboriously approaching while pushing aside debris.

“And you’ll be that final step, won’t you?”

“Ah, finally seeing your face. It was quite difficult getting here.”

“I was hoping not to see you again.”

The end of a long journey that had taken many detours.

“It’s been a while, Heavenly God.”

Was drawing near.