Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 274 – Grand Coalition(2)

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After getting rid of Baal’s remaining troops, we held a large-scale victory celebration in Niflheim.

We had created a memorial arch two months prior for the sake of this event.
We didn’t have enough time, so it came out smaller than planned, but it came out rather nice thanks to the work of the expert dwarven craftsmen.

 

“Glory to Her Highness Barbatos of Immortality!”

“Glory to Her Highness Paimon of Purity! Glory to His Highness Marbas of Nobility!”

The citizens of Niflheim came pouring out to scatter flower petals.

The army of fifty thousand walked proudly.
Cheers poured down from all around them.
Even though it was the middle of the day, fireworks of various colors were shot into the sky endlessly.
It was like a festival.
We waved at the people while on horseback.

There was a lot of meaning behind all of the faces that were leading the massive army.

First, the three individuals who officially rose to the top of the Demon Lord army due to this incident.
Barbatos of the Plains Faction, Paimon of the Mountain Faction, and Marbas of the Neutral Faction were marching at the front.

The three factions had always boasted their strength.
However, both Baal and Agares possessed a strength that went beyond the factions and allowed them to hold their ground on a battlefield alone.
It was because of this that the leaders of each faction were always treated as ‘second’.

Now that Baal was gone, there was nothing to stop the factions from running ahead.

The era had truly changed.

The Demon Lords who had remained unaffiliated until now were starting to get anxious.
Some of them joined the Neutral Faction while others looked for influential people who could protect them.
The people who joined the Neutral Faction probably did so since they believed the Neutral Faction would be the most easygoing when it came to politics.

The very sight of the three leaders walking together was incredibly awe-inspiring for demonkind.

They were the same three people who led back during the 2nd Crescent Alliance which was historically the most successful Crescent Alliance.
The three leaders united once more in this current era where pessimists were slowly starting to worry that demonkind might get annihilated by the humans one day.

Although I was the one who went through a lot of effort to make this scene happen…….

“Glory to His Highness Vassago!”

“Kyaah, Your Highness Gamigin! Please look this way!”

Demon Lord Vassago and Gamigin followed behind them.

It was an interesting order.
If ranks were prioritized, then Rank 3 Vassago and Rank 4 Gamigin should’ve naturally been at the front.
Despite this, they were positioned second.
Vassago and Gamigin were smiling as they waved at the people, but, well, who knows what’s actually on their minds…….

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“Glory to His Highness Dantalian of Many Faces!”

And then it was me, Dantalian.

The respective flags of these six Demon Lords were fluttering all throughout the town.
Referentially, my flag had a face with seven masks on it.
Coincidentally, my territory consisted of seven hills, so it was somewhat appropriate.

“The world is really going to the dogs.”

I heard Vassago mutter to my left.
His face was smiling brightly, but his tone was overflowing with discontent.
He had quite an interesting talent.

“The lowest Demon Lord is walking side by side with us at the front.
This would normally be unimaginable.”

“The past is gone.
This is what this probably means.”

Vassago let out a snort.

“Do not misunderstand, you insolent cur.
Do not get ahead of yourself just because you have borrowed Barbatos’ strength like a parasite.
I was taken by surprise during the Walpurgis Night, but I have four spirit kings…….”

“You are referring to the Fire Spirit King, the Water Spirit King, the Earth Spirit King, and the Wind Spirit King.
The public is not aware, but I know that you also have a contract with the Dark Spirit King.”

Vassago’s expression froze.
Dear me, you should quickly smile.
Hundreds of people are looking at us.
If you don’t smile a little wider, then your political appeal will decrease, you know?

Vassago is a spirit master.
He himself doesn’t have a lot of power, but he’s fairly difficult to deal with since he has five spirit kings under his command.
If you raised your player character as a mage or a magic swordsman, then it would basically be impossible to beat him.

I’m not sure why, but spirit masters have the image of possessing a ‘clean mind’.
Vassago, who is at the top of spirit masters, is actually a sly person with pitch-black insides.
The world is a mess.

“How……? I have never summoned it before…….”

“Dear me.
I am certain I said it during the speech.
Lies will always fall.”

I chuckled.
From a distance, it probably looks like we were having a pleasant conversation.
It was funny.

“It is the same for Your Highness as well.
You need to realize that an eternal secret does not exist in the world.
Was the example not enough to teach you this lesson?”

“…….”

“Barbatos will declare in today’s victory speech that the ranking system between Demon Lords will be abolished.”

Vassago scowled.
He wasn’t even smiling anymore.

I felt this in the past, but the top 3 ranking Demon Lords are inexperienced when it comes to politics.
The fact that factions formed around people like Barbatos and Paimon proved this.
Did people develop less politically when they have an excessive amount of strength?

“Abolish? What do you mean…….”

“It is as I said.
The ranking system was something Baal, the criminal of high treason, had established.
By assigning ranks to Demon Lords when we were originally all equal, it is a system that has been preventing the Demon Lord army from uniting.
Evil practices must be done away with as soon as possible.
Do you not think so as well?”

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Vassago’s face went pale.
It wasn’t only Baal who was deeply involved in the ranking system, but Vassago himself was also deeply involved.
Going against this system meant that Vassago would also become a purge target.

I let out an ‘oh right’ as if I had just now realized this.

“Come to think of it, the reason Your Highness is called the Demon Lord of Fairness……comes from the fact that you had assigned the ranks fairly.
How troubling.
We were planning to deny the ranking system itself…….”

“This is different from what you said.”

Vassago spoke with a trembling voice.

“You promised that you would overlook everything if I participated in eliminating Baal.
I was also the person to slit Baal’s throat.
Why am I still being treated as guilty by association?”

“Yes, that is correct.
That is what ‘I’ had promised.”

I made a sorry face.

“But it seems our other comrades think otherwise.
Can we believe in His Highness Vassago’s sincerity when he only stabbed Baal once? Unfortunately, this is the consensus.”

“T-That cannot be…….”

“The logic being brought forward by our comrades is as follows: The fact that Your Highness had stabbed Baal, from another perspective, can be seen as you betraying Baal.
There is no guarantee that someone who had betrayed once will not do it again.”

I smiled awkwardly.

“Well, it is not exactly wrong, so I failed to defend you fully.
I apologize.”

“…….”

“Please do not reprimand me too much.
Our comrades decided to give you a chance after I did my utmost to defend you.”

“A chance…….”

I nodded.

“As you are aware, we are now going to go after the traitor Agares.
According to my personal information network, there is a chance that Agares is communicating in secret with the Frankia Empire.
It will not be an easy threat to deal with.”

I say the Frankia Empire, but it’s actually the nation controlled by Queen Henrietta de Brittany.

There is a rather high chance that Queen Henrietta and Agares will cooperate.
No, it would be best to simply believe that this is exactly what they are going to do.
The strongest monarch in the human world and the strongest monarch in the demon world had formed a secret alliance.
This was undoubtedly horrifying.

“Agares must be punished at all costs.
Agares is nothing more than an individual who squanders the new Demon Lord army that protects peace and harmony.
Your Highness Vassago must stand at the forefront in this historical war.”

“…….”

Vassago’s shoulders trembled.

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“I have to stand at the front……in a war against Agares……?”

“Yes.
If you do that, then our comrades will no longer doubt Your Highness’ sincerity.
I swear on my name.”

“You are insane…….
Do not make me laugh! It is Agares.
That Agares!”

Vassago gnashed his teeth as he shouted.

Even Baal had to utilize a large army to deal with that boar-like woman! You also barely managed to defeat her after that faction of yours reached out to both the Neutral Faction and the Mountain Faction.
No, I would not even say that you defeated her.
Agares got away alive! This is absurd!”

I smiled bitterly.

“I think you are misunderstanding something, Your Highness.
This is not a request.
This is my final advice.”

“What?”

“Even children are aware of Agares’ strength.
We know it very well as the people who fought against her three years ago.
That is why we are trying to put Your Highness forward since you are known to be next in line in terms of strength.”

To be more precise, we intend to use him as a meat shield.

Vassago must have understood what I was implying as his face went red.

“How dare you people try to look down on me?”

“It seems you still do not understand.
I told you that this is my final advice.
If Your Highness refuses, then, unfortunately, I will no longer be able to protect you.
I cannot hold back our other comrades.”

“You sly snake……!”

Vassago raised his hand as if he was going to grab me by the collar.

However, he couldn’t move any further.
Gamigin, who was walking to my left, had turned her head slightly to look at Vassago.
Vassago’s face contorted over and over again before he dropped his hand back down.

“Your Highness, it is fine if you refuse.
You have the freedom to do so.
You can go back to your castle right now and settle down.”

I whispered as gently as I could.

“But I do not know how long you will be able to last.
Even Baal was cut down by our comrades.
Public opinion throughout the demon world is already leaning in our favor.
Barbatos might even declare Your Highness as public enemy number one during her speech later today…….”

“…….”

You could even run away and join Agares, but Baal’s army melted in only 2 months.
Are you confident in your ability to turn your back to us after having witnessed that? Do you have the guts to turn the entire Demon Lord Army and demon society against you?

I patted Vassago’s shoulder.

“Do not feel too uncomfortable about this.
We would not foolishly kill the dog after the hunt.
Agares is a powerful enemy.
We will fully support Your Highness.
You can look forward to it.”

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“…….”

Vassago nodded his head weakly after a long moment of silence.

I immediately sent a message to Barbatos.
The message itself didn’t have any meaning to it, but it was a gesture to make Vassago relax.

You have to show these kinds of gestures as soon as possible if you don’t want any problems down the road.
By showing them this kind of gesture, you make the other party think ‘Yeah, I didn’t choose wrong.
This is the best choice.’

I spoke with a smile.

“You said that I am leeching off of Barbatos, but did Your Highness not also leech off of Baal all this time? Your Highness and I are both comrades in leeching.
From now on, we will both be leeching off the same group.”

“…….”

“Let us get along.
To be honest, I have always liked Your Highness.”

Only Vassago’s shoulders trembled as he remained silent until the end of the event.

On that day, the ranking system within the Demon Lord army was publicly abolished.

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TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter.
Vassago is having it rough, huh? He’s descended into being a complete pushover now.
On another note, the demolition is still stressing me out.
Why do they start work at like 8am? It’s nuts.

Ugh, in any case, I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.