Miyamoto Ken, who had burrowed into the depths of Dark Nest, quickly solidified his position.
In truth, under ordinary circumstances, it would have taken quite some time.
No matter how great a contribution he had made this time, it was true that until recently he had seemed somewhat on the outskirts.
However, the situation Dark Nest now found itself in ignored all interests and made it possible.
“They’ve been pushed back as far as Othorel’s territory? Wait, if that happens...”
[This is troublesome. That place is a strategic point among the central gates, serving as a passage for expansion to the outside. We cannot allow it to be taken like this.]
“You fools! Just how incompetent do you have to be to fail to hold them back even for a moment and get broken through so helplessly?”
The central command, where several high-ranking demons of all shapes had gathered.
Demons, including two marquis-ranks, noisily discussed the three-dimensional map floating in the center.
“The exchange ratio is the worst. If we clash head-on, you can assume we’ll lose without exception.”
“What about the Abyssal monsters? We’re being pushed back like this even with those monsters?”
“Those monsters are excellent resources, but they’re not万能. The core of war is strategy. And we’re being completely outclassed in that strategy.”
Their attacks were blocked by ironclad defenses prepared in advance, the enemy’s attacks dug only into their vulnerable weak points, and the traps they had gone to such lengths to set were often turned against them.
Since such things were happening across the entire battlefield, it was only natural that they were being pushed back so helplessly.
One marquis-rank demon, who had been silently staring at the battle situation board, slowly opened his mouth.
[Internal information is leaking.]
“Yes. And beyond that, the biggest problem is that we simply can’t stop the army led personally by the head of Helheim. Even Tovares, who went out with his elites himself not long ago to buy time...”
[...Ended up defecting to their side in less than a few days.]
“......”
The betrayal of a marquis-rank demon, of which there had been only four in Dark Nest.
It meant more than simply the loss of one core force on their side.
A heavy silence settled over the room.
It was, in the truest sense, a total crisis.
In the current situation, the overwhelming scale of Dark Nest’s forces was of little help.
Rather, as time passed, the number of those defecting to the enemy with their information only increased.
[Still, we should be able to catch our breath to some extent now. The Demon Dragon Duke will personally take action soon.]
“But stopping only that side won’t solve everything. First, we need to revise our strategic policy.”
The two marquises facing each other let out deep sighs.
If internal information continued to leak, an even greater collapse than the present one would come someday.
In the end, they had no choice but to take extreme measures, even if it meant accepting a drop in the efficiency of conducting the war.
They began controlling the information going not only to those directly participating in the battlefield, but also to all allied forces in the border regions who were highly likely to have come into contact with the “enemy.”
Strategic planning would be handled solely by central command, and those from regions with a high possibility of spies being mixed in were granted no authority beyond the tactical level.
Not even the high-ranking demons based in the outer regions were exceptions.
“They’ll be dissatisfied for the time being, but it can’t be helped. We have no choice but to ask for their understanding at least until Helheim is dealt with.”
[We’ll be short on hands for a while.]
In such circumstances, it was only natural that high-ranking demons with an extremely low possibility of contact with the outside would be entrusted with even more important duties.
Yes, for example...
Someone like Miyamoto Ken, who had been dispatched to the surface until only recently and, even after returning, had stayed solely in the center of Dark Nest.
‘As expected of Lady Hela! She must have foreseen even this in advance.’
Ken, whose eyes were thoroughly blinded by devotion, burst into admiration.
Who could possibly have anticipated it?
That he, who had obtained and offered up a precious item from the surface, had already switched flags before even returning to the Demon Realm.
No, that in the first place, the one who had provided the decisive opportunity to draw “Hela,” the very head of Helheim now causing all this trouble, into the Demon Realm was none other than him!
He gathered information as cautiously as possible so as not to arouse suspicion.
Because he had never had any particular interest in the Demon Realm’s affairs, his prior knowledge was quite lacking, but with nothing but a loyalty bordering on fanaticism, he moved actively.
Then one day.
For Ken, who had been constantly watching for an opening, a golden opportunity finally came.
‘The Demon Dragon Duke is leaving his seat...’
The participation of the Demon Dragon Duke, who had rarely taken action after beginning to gain the upper hand in the war and had shut himself away in his headquarters unless something extraordinary occurred.
At last, he had decided he could no longer sit by and watch Helheim’s army advance like a hot knife through butter, and would take action personally.
From the moment Ken heard the news, he devised a plan.
‘I have to check inside that place after all.’
It was to investigate the underground ritual chamber he had visited several times after his first errand.
In particular, the objective of this operation was to check beyond the door behind the place where the Fighting Demon Duke was being detained.
‘Even within that secretive ritual chamber, it was hidden away that thoroughly. There must be a weakness or secret of the Demon Dragon Duke inside.’
However, even if the duke left his seat, a problem still remained.
Sodian, the marquis-rank demon who practically resided inside, doing who knew what.
Against a magic-type enemy who had established her domain within her own workshop, he had no confidence in victory even if they were of the same rank. And she was even of a higher rank than him, so there was no chance of winning in a fight.
‘I can’t do this in a frontal confrontation. I need to find some other way...’
He did not know when such a chance would come again.
This was the opportunity to prove his worth.
Ken racked his brains over it.
Then an unexpected visitor came to him.
“Mm? It’s been a while, Frances. Is this the first time since the mission?”
[“What is it, Frances? Didn’t we agree not to make contact unless it was something fairly important?”]
While asking after him with a calm expression, Ken sent a mental wave to the old gentleman in the pure white suit, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
This viscount-rank demon, who had been dispatched to the surface with him, had been serving as a bridge for Ken, who had avoided contact with the outside all this time.
Since all he had to do was deliver information, their meetings until now had taken place in the world of consciousness using Frances’s psychic abilities. But this time, he had suddenly come in person.
If Frances were discovered, would there not be a risk that Ken would be implicated as well?
Naturally, he had no choice but to react sensitively.
“Haha— It has been a while, Ken. Since I received help from you last time, I brought a precious gift in return.”
[“Well, once should be fine. Above all, we did carry out a dispatch mission together.”]
[“That isn’t a reason. This place is literally thin ice right now. The fact that we met will already have been reported to the higher-ups. To make contact so recklessly at a time like this, of all times...”]
[“It is Lady Hela’s instruction.”]
The secret conversation taking place beneath their calm exchange came to an abrupt halt.
Now that that name had been spoken, Ken could no longer reproach the other man’s careless action.
He slowly nodded and opened his mouth.
“Hmm, a gift? Well, let’s have a look first.”
“You will like it. I had a hard time obtaining it myself.”
“Fine, so stop dragging it out and open it already.”
Immediately afterward, the space beside Frances rippled, and a box reaching waist height appeared.
Looking closely, it was not an ordinary box, but an animal cage with the entrance blocked by metal bars.
“...What is this?”
Ken’s expression showed genuine bewilderment.
He had said it was a gift, yet he had brought a cage used to transport beasts.
He could not understand what this had to do with Lady Hela’s command.
As he stood there in confusion, a certain creature slowly revealed itself from inside the bars and stuck its head out.
Ken, who had been looking at the cage with narrowed eyes, opened them wide.
“This is?!”
“Hahaha, as expected, you recognize it?”
Of course he recognized it.
With such distinct features, it would be stranger not to know what it was.
After all—
“A Cerberus pup?”
“You got it right away. It was very difficult to obtain.”
The creature, the size of a large dog, had three heads.
Ken stared at it with surprised eyes.
Cerberus was a type of demonic beast native to the Demon Realm, but it was not an existence one could easily encounter.
Once it became an adult, it would possess intelligence surpassing that of most intelligent beings, and its physical abilities were said to exceed even a dragon’s—a monster among monsters.
Sifar, the Monstrous Wolf Duke who had died not long ago, was proof that showed its majesty in the clearest possible way.
Even if it did not grow to the duke rank as he had, the chances of it becoming a high-ranking demon were not small. If raised well and instilled with loyalty from a young age, it would be nothing less than a treasure that could become an excellent fighting force.
[“Why give this to me?”]
That was why he found it even more puzzling.
Was this really an object that needed to be delivered even while risking exposure in the current situation?
If it had been out of genuine goodwill, that would be one thing, but for them, who did not know what tomorrow might bring, it was not exactly a helpful gift right now.
[“She said this would help with your operation.”]
[“This little thing?”]
[“Well, I merely follow orders, so I know nothing more than that.”]
[“...I see.”]
Ken crouched in front of the bars and looked at the creature inside with a subtle gaze.
Since he had been periodically organizing and delivering information from this side, Hela must also know his situation.
If she had sent it in such circumstances, it must surely have some use.
“Thank you. To think you would bring me something this precious.”
“With this, I have repaid my debt. Then I will be on my way.”
The two demons naturally exchanged farewells and parted.
There was nothing in particular being sensed around them, but they did not let their guard down for even a moment.
In this place, Dark Nest’s headquarters, there were truly countless ways to deceive their senses.
“Kuhkakakak!”
“Kahat—!”
The Cerberus pup inside the cage yowled in a bizarre voice.
It was a cry that seemed like laughter, and yet also somehow like mockery.
As it dug into his ears, Ken’s heartbeat subtly quickened, and he felt an inexplicable discomfort.
‘...Something feels unpleasant. Are Cerberus pups usually like this?’
Of course, since this was his first time seeing one, he had no way of knowing.
Feeling strangely unsettled, he carried the cage with a frown and headed toward his quarters.
Telling himself that he was only tense because of the sudden contact.
Meanwhile, the three pairs of eyes inside the cage, moving comfortably along, merely swept lazily over the surroundings.
As though surveying a new territory, their eyes shining with curiosity.
***
The appearance of that being was exceptionally dramatic.
Rumble—! Kwang—!
Dense black clouds suddenly appeared, covering the purple sky and the scar at its center.
Amid the thick lightning flowing between them, a colossal life-form broke through the darkness and descended from the sky.
Whoosh— whoosh—
An overwhelming body, which at a glance seemed easily over a hundred meters long, flapped two pairs of enormous wings.
The pitch-black scales covering its entire body, as though absorbing the surrounding light, plainly revealed the ominousness of that existence.
“Wow~ Now that’s one impactful entrance.”
“H-He-Hel-la! It’s appeared! That is...!”
The battlefield had fallen into silence at the sudden anomaly.
Paying it no mind, Siana hurried over to Hela’s side as Hela chattered leisurely.
At the same time, the long neck of the being hovering in the sky and looking down at the ground turned toward where they were.
Horns of all sizes protruding from its head, countless spines rising like a mane, and three pairs of eyes emitting a violet glow.
“...The Demon Dragon Duke, Krushire...!”
The ancient dragon, even larger than the statue of the Ancient Dragon she had seen in Horus’s Golden Treasury, roared.
[Kuoooooooo——!]
That dragon roar, containing power so vast it was visible to the eye, spread across the entire battlefield in an instant and disrupted Hela’s aura, which had been exerting a tremendous influence on the battle situation.
It was a power of domination that even a marquis-rank demon had been unable to do anything about and had ultimately submitted to, yet it was neutralized by a single roar.
“Mmm, the difference really is pretty big. Is that thing truly the same rank as that monstrous hound?”
“…The Demon Dragon Duke has been a leading candidate for Demon King for thousands of years. But perhaps he was simply too unlucky… At every decisive moment, he was edged out by the narrowest margin, and so he has remained number two to this day.”
“Wow… His luck really was disgustingly bad.”
Astonished, Hella covered her mouth with one hand and shook her head.
At that point, wasn’t it some kind of force of fate at work?
Perhaps the Demon God hadn’t wanted him to become the Demon King.
‘If that’s true, it’d be enough to make him fall to darkness. No, even if it really was all coincidence, he’d still have more than enough reason to resent the Demon God.’
Just then, Hella, who had been clicking her tongue lightly, met the gaze of the Demon Dragon Duke floating in the sky head-on.
Crackle—!
The 「Mystic Eye of Domination」 that had activated out of habit was repelled by something, and sparks scattered through the air.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
It was a mystic eye supported by skills such as 「Nation-Toppling Beauty」 and 「Lord of Bewitchment」, yet it had met this much resistance.
But thanks to that, she was able to realize one thing.
‘Don’t tell me all six of those eyes are mystic eyes?’
A mystic eye—the power to impose a specific mystery merely by directing one’s gaze, without the need to construct mana or design a formula.
Through that light preliminary exchange, Hella roughly gauged the Demon Dragon’s abilities and lightly licked her lips.
Of course, she was not the only one who had measured the other’s strength.
[The power of dominion… I had wondered. So you have inherited R’lyeh’s power after all? What are you?]
Dragon speech imbued with immense power resounded across the entire battlefield.
The battle had already long since entered a lull.
The gazes of everyone in both camps turned toward them.
“Who knows? I don’t think you’d understand even if I told you.”
Hella shrugged, and her wings spread wide.
Then, with a light flap, she soared high into the sky in an instant.
The two, now at nearly the same height, met each other’s eyes once more.
[That is for me to judge. You need only answer my question, mongrel.]
Immediately after, with sparks flying once again, her blood slowly began to boil hot in anticipation of the battle to come.
‘A one-on-one fight against an enemy this powerful, all by myself?’
He was by no means an easy opponent.
A monster who might well be the strongest being in the current Demon Realm.
And yet, even standing before such a formidable foe, only a smile hung on her lips.
An inexplicable thrill spread from deep within her chest.
‘Isn’t this the first time?’
When facing the Monstrous Wolf Duke, she had no choice but to borrow the power of Harley… no, Davidson, in order to end things as quickly as possible.
If she hadn’t, it would have been difficult to properly secure Abnormal, and perhaps Dark Nest or Demoniac might have interfered and completely ruined the plan.
‘The same goes for the fact that I’ve been leading an army until now. It was the fastest way to end the war while using my abilities most efficiently.’
In the process, the marquis-class demons had at least somewhat quenched her thirst, but it was true that even then, some dissatisfaction had remained.
As time passed, her influence as the Demon King expanded, and the power amplified within the Demon Realm grew even greater; by now, her martial strength had already far surpassed the moment of her birth.
‘And now, finally!’
Whatever else might be said, the blood of the warlike demon race flowed in her veins as well.
Now that she had come face-to-face with an opponent she would have to fight with all her strength, an uncontrollable fighting spirit began to surge within her.
“Enough. No need for long-winded talk anymore.”
A crimson radiance burst forth once again from her inverted eyes.
Kiiing—
But the target was not the colossal life-form before her, as it had been until now.
“Let’s have ourselves a bout first, lizard.”
Her lips curved into a savage arc.
And together with a wave of mana so dense it was almost suffocating,
the 「Mystic Eye of Domination」 swallowed the surrounding space.