Dungeon Defense

When I opened my eyes, it was already dark outside the window.

“ ……. ”

I was lying on the floor of brother Zephyr's room. You hear the owl's cry through the slight crack in the window. For a while, I heard the voices of the birds echoing in the night sky. It seemed like the hearing had taken over all of the consciousness.

“Hnng.”

Gradually, vision and touch drove away the hearing. First, my cheeks turned off. You feel a lot of pressure on the carpet because you fainted on the carpet. I slowly got up as I stroked my cheek with my right hand, and it was not until this moment that I had my first thought in my head.

‘…… This is where the scenario takes place. ’

Yes, a scenario.

Recalling the word, the thought immediately bites the tail of the thought, as if a fish were hanging from a fishing line. Mountain wave. Citri. Plains. Barbatos. Inner peace and incitement.

Sacrifice.

A plan to use Zephyr as a scapegoat. I had to quickly check if it had succeeded or failed. I took the mirror out of my arms and checked my face. Your eyes narrow. Your head is a mess. You can't even hit on a country girl with a molehill like this.

But it was just as messy. Now everything needed to be a mess.

My script was simple and efficient.

First, we kill the traitor Belial to keep the mountain tribes together. This is to prevent the mountain waves from weakening due to the death of their child Pymon.

Next, in the plains, we make Brother Zephar a scapegoat. Brother Zephar is one of the flanks. The collapse of your brother means that the political power of the Plains is weakened by itself.

The power of the mountain tribes is enhanced. The Plains have a narrow position. So we have a new balance with the Demon Prince again....

However, I had a bad feeling about him. Think about it. The mountain tribes have lost Pymon. Not the tail or arms, but the headache itself was cut off. Killing the political life of Jeopardy alone was not balanced.

“Good.”

I put the hand mirror in.

If the mountain tribes lost their heads, the plains had to lose theirs, too.

What to hide.

“Let the games begin…… Barbatos. ”

Barbato will pay for her crossing the line on her own.

* * *

Barbato was in the back garden of the imperial palace, not his bedroom.

She squints at the wine and looks at the pool in the garden with an unclear focus. As I approached, Barbatos glanced over here and turned his gaze again.

“Someone who can hardly see his face these days. ”

Barbatos mutters in a low voice.

“A gentleman who enjoys dating other women in a halfway house, I don't know what happened to his lungs today, and he's visiting an old girlfriend. Maybe he finally realized he can't fuck corpses. ”

“I am Barbato. I'm not here to see you. ”

Barbatos snorts and shakes his drink lightly.

“Hey, that's amazing. All this time, I thought my name was Barbatos. For over 2,000 years. If I'm mistaken, I need you to correct me. ”

“I'm here to see the regent of the Pyramids and the Empire. ”

“ ……. ”

Barbato stares at me. The golden eyes were clearly covered in fatigue. But not as sharp as a blade.

“That's it? Is that what you're saying to me in a month? ”

“Barbatos. I wasn't avoiding you. I haven't even met Gamigine. ”

“Ha. Don't you dare compare me to that psychopath's tits. ”

Barbatos said it was a threat.

“Do you even have feelings for Gamygin in the first place? You were fucking her from the start, asshole. Are you seriously gonna put that bitch on the same page with me? ”

“ ……. ”

We both looked at each other.

Ever since Pymon died, we've been fighting every time we meet. They started with small arguments and eventually raised their voices with each other's pride. After getting to know each other so well, I can now guess what the other person is thinking just by looking at their eyes.

“So you want me to prove to you again that you're the best. ”

I opened my lips.

“Pymon isn't enough? You have to kill Gamekin to free the castle. You want me to kill Citri so you can be the only guy I can look at? Is that really what you want? ”

“Don't talk to me like that. ”

“Oh. Of course we should speak politely, Mr. Barbatos. You are the great leader of the Flats, and I would have been seared in the bottom gutter if it weren't for you. ”

I smiled bitterly.

“Can I pay you the same respect I did the first time I met you? Do you like it? I'm sorry, I didn't expect your earholes to be this weak. ”

“ ……. ”

Barbato bites his teeth. This was you, though. The days of the mutual handswords and shouting were painful. Elegance was getting weaker in our relationship.

“I don't want to fight you. So Barbato, let's just talk politics. ”

“…… good. Tell me something, palace white. ”

“You can't ask Commander Zephyr to apologize. ”

Barbato frowns.

Perhaps Zephyr went to Barbatos and explained the situation. He would have said that he provoked the mountain waves unnecessarily because he had made a careless mistake, so he would take responsibility and apologize to the mountain tribes.

However, the person who advised me to meet Belial would have left out and explained everything about me, whether it was me or my advice that had a decisive impact. You wanted to solve this on your own terms.

So, from Barbatos' point of view, I had no choice but to suspect that I knew what was going on. Just a few hours ago, Jeopardy would have reported that it was all an accident that I had done without my knowledge, but now he was talking about the case as if it were natural for me.

“How did you know? ”

“I'm the one who convinced Commander Zephyr to meet Velial. ”

“What?"

I said dumbass.

“Common sense, Barbatos. I don't know if Captain Zephyr has ever made a decision about the faction ambassador without consulting you. The commander always follows your orders. However, if there are exceptions... ”

“That's what you advised. Son of a bitch.”

Barbato growls.

“I thought it was weird, but it was weird. What are you up to?”

“Trying to raise awareness for the mountain tribes. ”

“What kind of a frozen man's awareness? ”

I sighed.

“Look at the massacre in Citrus. Citri is unusually excited to be seen right now. If the mountain waves collapse rapidly in this situation, Citri will once again react impulsively. In the worst case, it may cause a civil war. ”

“ ……. ”

“I needed some kind of shock therapy. If you keep this up, you'll see traitors tearing your faction apart." Belial is the weakest of the mountain tribes, so it's a good idea to plant only moderate awareness...... ”

My voice became darker here.

“Actually, it didn't go as I expected. ”

“What was the problem? ”

“Citri. Citri is more than I could have imagined. If Citri's mental state was normal, Belial would have to react by the second or third time he met Jeopardy. But Citri only killed Belial once because she met him. This is not a normal reaction.... ”

I said with a face that I don't like Barbato.

“Hmph, a faction in the mountains wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for Pymon anyway. No wonder those bastards are getting sloppy. So?”

“So even more so, Commander Zephar should not apologize. ”

I look directly into Barbatos' eyes.

“No matter how much Captain Zephyr says he's done this alone, no one will believe him. It's very clear that the commander is one of your henchmen. Everyone will think you were actually behind the captain. Even flat waves like ours. ”

“ ……. ”

“If so, Barbatos. You'll be the one to blame your own men. It brings laughter to the mountain tribes, contempt to the neutrals, and disappointment to our plains. We have to stop that from happening. ”

The longer I spoke, the weirder Barbatos looked.

“…… What are you talking about? So you can't because you're going to hurt my face? ”

“That's easy for you to say. ”

Barbato frowns.

“Who said anything about an apology? The bad thing was Belial, and our plains had nothing to do with it? Citri, I don't think that crazy bitch is gonna convince you. ”

“Commander Zephyr should not apologize, nor should you apologize, nor should you apologize at all. ”

I said it out loud.

“I forgive the hillbillies. ”

“…… huh? ”

“I'm not like Captain Zephyr. Almost every Demon King knows he can move around on his own without your orders. Even if I apologise, there's very little chance that the charges will go to you. ”

Barbato opens his lips in protest, but I continue to speak without waiting.

“Besides, I'm being used as a second-in-command to the Pyramids. If I bow my head, the mountain tribes will accept me. Either way, you'll get satisfactory results. ”

“Hey, wait a minute. Shit, wait a minute. ”

Barbato presses his finger against his temples.

“Unless I was so stupid that I didn't understand...... it sounds like you'd rather be upside down than hurt my face. ”

“Don't get me wrong, Barbatos. I'm not saying I would sacrifice myself for you. ”

I insisted on being cold.

“In the first place, it was because of the incident that I gave the wrong advice to Commander Zephyr. It is natural that the person who provided the cause will be held responsible. Commander Zephyr will think it's all if he sacrifices, but it's a big mistake. ”

“No…… ”

“I'm the only one who sees the damage when I look down. On the other hand, when you bow your head, the whole plain sees the damage. It's obvious which one of us should be in the position of an apology. ”

Barbatos stares at me with his lips slightly opened for a moment to see if he had lost his words.

“No, so wait a minute... you idiot. You may think you're the only one conspiring, but you're usually the one who's involved with our faction, so you should have consulted me before proceeding. Ang?”

Barbato narrows his eyes.

“Well, fuck it. Instead of taking responsibility for me...... I become a lowly bitch who abandons responsibility to her lover? What's the difference between handing it over to Zephyr and handing it to you? ”

“I'll take care of it. ”

An emotionless voice came out of my mouth.

“Don't worry. I'll make sure you're not involved. You have nothing to do with this case, so stay out of it. ”

“Get out of here...? ”

Barbatos stares at me with an absurd look. I didn't stare back. Instead, he turned his back and took a step to get out of the garden.

And then, again and again.

A small palm firmly grasped my wrist.

“Fuck you, Dantalian. Wait."