Dungeon Defense (WN)

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Brother Beleth ran out of the war tent as soon as the officer finished talking. Zepar and I immediately followed after him. I could hear the sound of footsteps behind us, which means that the other Demon Lords understood what the officer had said a second late.

It was raining and the ground was covered in mud. We ran while splattering the mud all around us. Our bodies were drenched because of the rain, but that wasn’t important right now.

There was a unit marching out of our encampment and through the rain and the mud. It was a unit of undead monsters.

“Dear Lord, Miss Barbatos!”

General Zepar who always had a serious expression on his face displayed a look of shock.

“We must stop her right this instant! Charging at the 1st legion with only 5,000 soldiers is insane!”

“Let’s attack like this!”

One of the Demon Lords following behind us shouted. The rainwater made me close my eyes, so I couldn’t see their face for a moment. General Zepar cried out.

“The enemy has 30,000 soldiers while we do not have even 20,000! To make matters worse, are you telling us to also charge at their encampment where they have set up their defenses? If you are going to kill yourself, then do so on your―.”

Lightning struck. General Zepar’s words were buried under the bolt. Damn it, the weather was horrible. I want to take over a nearby city and rest comfortably, but our monsters would complain that ‘cities are uncomfortable’, so we never could. These dang animals.

There was no point in talking any more than this. We ran to the undead monsters. Other monsters had come out in droves to see what the commotion was.

Fortunately, the undead monsters stopped just as they were about to leave our base. Brother Beleth had gone to the front and was blocking their path.

Brother Beleth and Barbatos were having an argument, but watching a 4-meter-tall giant and a girl shout at each other was a rather interesting sight.

No, should I say they were shouting……. For the most part, the girl was hitting the giant. She was assaulting Brother Beleth’s calf and thigh with punches and kicks. We managed to get within earshot of their conversation once we caught up to them.

“Move! Get out of the way, you fuck!”

“…….”

“You son of a bitch! I said move!”

Despite her outer appearance, Barbatos’ strength is insanely high. There was some incredible power in her fists. Despite this, Beleth remained silent as he continued to receive Barbatos’ attacks. He disregarded the rain flowing down his face as he looked forward.

“You, you―!”

Barbatos summoned her scythe. It was a weapon that represented her. Barbatos raised her instrument of Death and shouted.

“Fuck off before I make you!”

“…….”

“Do you think I won’t!?”

She really intended to swing her scythe. General Zepar rushed in between the two. He spread his arms out and spoke.

“Sortieing is out of the question, Miss Barbatos.”

“Did you all do drugs together or something……? What, it’s out of the question? I’m the commander!”

“There is no army that fights in order to intentionally get wiped out.”

Brother Beleth opened his mouth from behind Zepar.

“If we’re going to fight, then we should do it properly. If we just rush in like dogs, then we would only be discarding our men just as Little Zepar once did. Your Excellency, this isn’t the way to do this.”

“He is right.”

General Zepar agreed. His hair was matted down due to the rain. He wasn’t the only one. Brother Beleth, the other Demon Lords, and Barbatos were also soaked.

“Has Your Excellency not always been calm and composed? This is when you should compose yourself the most. Nothing can be gained in a battle without any plans.”

“All of our plans are done for!”

Barbatos cried out.

“Our cause has collapsed. Our pride was insulted! Zepar, the only option we have left is to fight―What could there possibly be left for a warrior that has lost their sense of direction!? We’re simply slaughtering machines. We’ll slaughter those bastards that are looking down on us over there!”

“Miss Barbatos……!”

“Those pigs from the Mountain Faction have come before us to do something so arrogant as to pincer us!”

Her cries resonated through the sound of rain and thunder.

“Our pride is in war. Those bitches are trying to use their disgusting pig feet to step on it and ruin it! How could I let them do something like that!? You Demon Lords! My close sons of bitches! Let me ask you as well! Could you allow them to do something like that!?”

“…….”

No one could answer her cries. It wasn’t because we didn’t agree with her. We all felt the same way; however, if we sympathize with her now, everything will come to an end……Both our dream for world conquest and our lives.

Barbatos breathed heavily as she looked around. Once she saw that no one was responding, her expression began to gradually lose its form. Barbatos, who was like an impregnable fortress, crumbled…….

The rain was flowing down the girl’s face. However, even now, I’m uncertain as to whether that was truly rain or not. Eventually, she dropped her scythe. The weapon that had never left her hand even in the most hopeless of battles fell to the mud powerlessly.

“A-Aah…….”

At that moment, Brother Beleth and Zepar grabbed their mantles as if they had arranged to do this beforehand. They then covered Barbatos. Their mantles fluttered like curtains as they hid Barbatos from everyone’s sight.

The sound of crying could be heard from behind the scarlet mantles.

“Hua, ah……uu…….”

Referentially, the leader of the Plains Faction is supposed to be the most indomitable Demon Lord.

Rank 1 Baal is the greatest Demon Lord.

Rank 2 Agares is the strongest Demon Lord.

Rank 3 Vassago is the wisest Demon Lord.

However, the most adamant Demon Lord who always stands at the frontlines―whose banner will never fall, whose advance will never stop, whose cries will never cease, and will always be the one to push demonkind from behind and lead them to a new land, this has always been the Rank 8 Demon Lord.

The Lord of Immortality.

“Uuuu……hkk, uuaah…….”

Therefore, Barbatos cannot cry. The sight of her crying must not exist. Before she’s a warrior, she’s the Demon Lord that represents demonkind’s past and present desires for continental conquest. If she were to fall into despair and cry, then that would be dashing the lives of all the demons that have shed their blood.

“Huuah……guh, huaaaa……ah…….”

Beleth and Zepar held their mantles out and looked forward as if they couldn’t see anything. We did the same. We turned our back towards Barbatos. We simply gazed out into the distance.

Beleth and Zepar were first, then the other Demon Lords, before finally, the monsters. All 18,000 of us turned away. Rain fell all around us. That’s right. The only thing we could hear was the damn sound of rain.

We couldn’t hear anything else.

Anything.

* * *

“How strange.”

Rank 9 Demon Lord Paimon muttered to herself. She was under a canopy taking cover from the rain. She disliked being closed in, so she preferred canopies over tents. This also allowed her to see the area outside.

“Sis, is something wrong?”

Sitri, Paimon’s lover and the Rank 12 Demon Lord, asked from her side. Sitri was wiping her chain sword with a piece of cloth. She was readying herself since there was no way to know when the 6th legion would come to attack them.

“I am talking about Barbatos. She should have lost her temper by now…….”

“Hm? Isn’t her head like a chunk of ice?”

Sitri tilted her head.

She had also participated in several Crescent Alliance expeditions. There was even a time where Sitri fought together with Barbatos after they were assigned to the same unit. Back then, Barbatos would always lead her armies in a calm and composed manner. Contrary to the other armies that would always roar and shout, marching her army in complete silence was one of Barbatos’ main traits.

“People often misunderstand, but Barbatos is actually hot-tempered.”

Paimon chuckled.

“She simply uses her rationality for the sake of achieving her emotional goals, but her violent and sinister true nature is always ready to pop up at any moment. You can tell this is the case if you consider the fact that she has pursued a futile dream like continental conquest for 2,000 years. She is a very emotional child.”

“Is that so? You know Barbatos rather well, huh, Sis?”

“……We were comrades, after all.”

One of the most trustworthy comrades.

The middle army was directed by Marbas, the left wing was commanded by Paimon, and the right wing was led by Barbatos. These were their positions during the 1st and 2nd Crescent Alliances. 1,700 years ago, they were praised as being undefeatable as they managed to wipe out two human kingdoms. If their allies hadn’t cut off their supply lines, they could’ve marched to the far ends of the continent.

Afterward, the Crescent Alliance regressed as they could no longer lead armies of 100,000 soldiers. Their armies shrunk to the size of 10,000 to 30,000 soldiers and a new method of acquiring provisions by procuring them on the spot arose. It would be a nightmare to have an army of 100,000 soldiers when it was uncertain when their allies would decide to cut off their supplies, after all.

During the 2nd Crescent Alliance, Marbas, Paimon, and Barbatos had to carry out a retreat while they were deep within the continent. They had to do so for 3 weeks with no supplies and while being surrounded by the enemy. With no provisions, ogres had to eat orcs while orcs had to eat goblins. To make matters worse, knights would give them no time to rest as they would charge at them in droves…….

The 1st legion that had a massive army of 130,000 soldiers was reduced to 20,000 soldiers in only 3 weeks. The greatest success turned into the worst failure. The three Demon Lords that represented the brawns side of the Demon Lords ended up holding a severe meeting about the Crescent Alliance. What is this Crescent Alliance for? What are these sacrifices for?

Rank 5 Demon Lord Marbas established the Neutral Faction. He believed that stopping the greedy conflict between Demon Lords was the most important goal. It was also Marbas who hosted the meeting of Demon Lords, the <Walpurgis Night>. He wanted a political solution.

Rank 9 Demon Lord Paimon established the Mountain Faction. Continental conquest is an impossible pipe dream, therefore, we must lessen our losses as much as possible by working with the humans and learning to live together. She sought out a practical compromise.

Rank 8 Demon Lord Barbatos established the Plains Faction. She could no longer trust her allies. Thus, she only gathered Demon Lords she could trust. These Demon Lords united under Barbatos’ charisma like knights and they began to move their armies autonomously starting from the 3rd Crescent Alliance. They went from being normal extremists to more aggressive extremists.

1,500 years went by.

These individuals who once worked together in a single legion were now walking down their own paths after being split apart into the 2nd legion, 1st legion, and 6th legion. Adding to this, Paimon was marching for the sake of biting the neck of her own allies …….

‘I am doing the same thing those Demon Lords in the rear did to us during the 2nd Crescent Alliance.’

Paimon mocked herself. Who could’ve imagined that things would turn out this way?

A sudden wave of guilt washed over her as she remembered the sound of Barbatos’ childish laughter. Barbatos has not committed any crimes. Paimon knows this as well. The reason why the Crescent Alliance has always failed wasn’t due to a single Demon Lord doing well or bad. It was because of every Demon Lord’s desperate desire to live and their fear of having their lives questioned if the Crescent Alliance were to succeed…….

Thus, the Crescent Alliance will never succeed.

Paimon became sure of this 1,500 years ago. Demonkind will not be the ones to grasp victory after all this is over. The humans will win in the end.

It would be too late to make any changes at that point. The most she could do would be to give her body up and beg the humans to give demons at least a single autonomous city to live in……. Paimon trusted in her beauty and charm. Charming a human was like taking candy from a baby.

However, that would be humiliating. A single race must not be placed above another as the absolute superior. All races must establish a subtle line of equality. They must respect each other’s words. ……This is why an armistice is necessary.

For starters, the 1st and 6th legion must form a treaty with the Habsburg Empire. This will be like the starting flare. The other Demon Lords and the humans will realize that ‘they are a side that we can form a treaty with if necessary’.

‘This will bring an end to an era where one side must be completely slaughtered for the other to survive. No, I will make it end……!’

Paimon believed in the greed of humans and demons. She had been horribly betrayed by that very greed, so she paradoxically trusted in it even more. After demons and humans fight for a while, they will eventually try to come to an agreement if it seems that they’re losing. Gradually, at an almost snail-like pace, demons and humans will become accustomed to each other.

This may take a thousand years.

Similar to the Crescent Alliance’s 2,000 years’ worth of history, this goal might require another 2,000 years.

‘It does not matter.’

Paimon had already resolved herself for that. She has lived for 2,000 years, so another 2,000 years was not something to be afraid of. Most importantly, she had hope now. She was hopeful towards a world where humans and demons could live equally.

Crushing Barbatos under her feet is the first step towards that world.

‘Barbatos, you are much too violent. You incur the fear of not only humans but demons as well.’

Paimon hoped for Barbatos to not take this quietly and come to attack her. She would still gain something even if Barbatos does nothing, but using this opportunity to wipe out the Plains Faction was much more appealing.

She glared at the terrain ahead of her from under the canopy. Her vision was limited due to the heavy rain, but she knew that Barbatos was somewhere beyond the rain.

‘I will not take her life due to our past camaraderie……but I will make it so she cannot resume her operations.’

Barbatos did not attack that day.

Only the rain struck the camps of both armies strongly.

Paimon even wrote a letter with deliberately taunting words in order to lure Barbatos out. The tone of the letter was very snide. It was an ultimatum declaring that something bad might happen if the armistice isn’t signed within the next 2 days.

Paimon’s strategy was simple. First, the third imperial princess will inform Barbatos that ‘We will immediately agree to the armistice if you leave our land’. There is no way that Barbatos would accept this. The third imperial princess will then carry out a ‘demonstration’ in order to make Barbatos leave.

It would only be a demonstration in name as it will actually be an attack. Barbatos’ 6th legion will naturally fight back.

At this point, Paimon’s 1st legion will participate in the battle in order to help ‘induce’ the armistice. The armistice will be their justification. In reality, her goal will be to push Barbatos’ 6th legion to the point of almost being wiped out through a pincer attack.

Finally, once they’ve lost all of their ability to fight, she will force the armistice on the 6th legion.

A classic type of political war.

Paimon waited leisurely. There was no hole that Barbatos could slip out of in this plan. Paimon simply had to do a show of force after waiting for a day or two.

However, this was Paimon’s mistake. There was already a person who had seen through her plan a long time ago―and, unfortunately, they were a part of the Plains Faction and not the Mountain Faction.

Similar to how Demon Lords normally don’t expect a Demon Lord to attack another Demon Lord, Paimon also failed to realize that there could be a Demon Lord who expects Demon Lords to attack each other. It wasn’t surprising. This was almost impossible to do unless you could see the future.

The price for this mistake ended up being massive.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Uh, not really much to say. My head has been empty lately. Like, I want to focus on something, but the drive isn’t there. It’s probably just a random mood thing. 

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.