Dungeon Defense (WN)

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The background vanished completely. The corpses of monsters and the plains were all gone.

Our surroundings became pure white. The only ones that remained were Barbatos and Paimon.

Only the sound of the girl crying could be heard in the white void. It was a scene quite disparate from reality. Strangely, this white space fitted Paimon.

This was most likely the most basic form of her memory.

Everyone has at least one or two memories like this.

“At that time, I could not comfort Barbatos by telling her that it would be all right, that things would get better. I might have already known instinctively back then that we would no longer be able to fight together.”

It was around this time that I figured out Paimon’s intentions.

She was still trying to persuade me even though she should’ve concluded that my ideology was uncertain. She was pleading for me to join her side.

She and I were Demon Lords. We couldn’t read each other’s emotions. We couldn’t receive the other party’s absolute trust through normal means nor could we genuinely persuade each other. Despite this, she utilized the dream world.

What sort of life she had lived, what she had felt, what the issue was, and what had to be done to solve it, she intended to show all of this to me vividly within a dream.

‘What a noble attitude.’

She was putting her whole life on display and opening herself up to me completely. By doing this, she was asking if I could cooperate with her.

‘―But emotion alone is not enough to move me, Paimon.’

I took a sip of tea.

Try to persuade me. You paid off your debt to me from the hearing by helping me during the ceremonial speeches. There is now nothing between us other than some lingering resentment.

‘We are on equal grounds.’

What sort of plan do you have? How elaborate is the scenario you have planned out? What is there for me to gain by investing in it? I’m not an easygoing man. You have to convince me properly.

“Dantalian, you most likely know the reason why the Crescent Alliance has continued to fail.”

“Even if they are all Demon Lords, the difference in power between high-ranking Demon Lords and low-ranking Demon Lords is like night and day. If the continent is united, then the high-ranking Demon Lords will start to pressure the low-ranking Demon Lords. At that time, a great war will happen not between humans and demons, but between demons and demons…….”

“That is right.”

Paimon chuckled as if she were pleased.

“This lady realized that later. Until that point, I always thought that our supply line was destroyed by the humans. I never would have imagined that our fellow Demon Lords had secretly leaked information to the humans. When I tried to hold them accountable, it was too late.”

There was no proof.

The low-ranking Demon Lords desperately tried to defend the supply line. However, they couldn’t defend against the knight brigades that kept attacking them elusively. Many low-ranking Demon Lords lost their lives defending the supply base to the very end.

“They were most likely the ones who were loyal to the Crescent Alliance. They either refused to cooperate with the humans or seemed like they simply would not, so they were purged by their own comrades……. No, they might have used the humans to murder them in their stead.”

The high-ranking Demon Lords failed to realize this.

They believed that it was the human army that was skilled instead of thinking that the low-ranking Demon Lords had done anything wrong. Or perhaps, it was their fault for advancing so far into the continent. It was due to their actions that the supply line had become excessively long. This was what they thought.

“At the time, Barbatos and the other high-ranking Demon Lords apologized to the low-ranking Demon Lords. Saying that it was due to their strategy that the Crescent Alliance expedition failed.”

However, Paimon realized the truth a moment late.

As someone who started as a mere succubus and became a Demon Lord later, she was able to think in the shoes of low-ranking Demon Lords. This led to her realization. What the low-ranking Demon Lords feared…….

“But Miss Paimon, I still do not understand why you chose to create the Mountain Faction.”

I asked out of curiosity.

“You realized what those low-ranking Demon Lords had done. Could you not have set up a trap for them during the 3rd or 4th Crescent Alliance?”

I would have.

They could have pretended to advance deeply into the continent and ambushed the low-ranking Demon Lords as soon as they betrayed them. They could have rounded up the low-ranking Demon Lords. If Paimon insisted to the others that the low-ranking Demon Lords were plotting to betray them, then they would have had a reasonable excuse to set up a trap. Would this not have been the best decision?

“It was because I knew that there was a more pressing matter.”

“A more pressing matter? What might that be?”

“The fact that a war would break out as soon as we unite the continent.”

Paimon spoke.

“This lady believed that unifying the continent would be the most optimal path for demonkind. That demonkind would experience peace and wealth if we managed to conquer the human world. However, the unification of the continent would actually be the start of calamity. The demons that had been united as one under the pretext of conquering humankind would split up and go to war for the sake of the Demon Lords they served respectively.”

For the sake of one ruler. The entirety of the demon world would get engulfed by calamity for the sake of raising up a single ruler. For what purpose were they conquering the continent? The claim of unifying the continent for the sake of demonkind was nothing more than a lie……. As I thought, Paimon harbored doubts about the Crescent Alliance’s very purpose.

“This lady realized that humans are a necessary evil. Demons are a necessary evil to humans as well. If either humans or demons did not exist in the world, then the remaining race would go to war with each other endlessly.”

“…….”

“This lady thought about how war would happen regardless of whether the continent was united or not. Is this not strange? There is no commoner that wants war. If their lives and wealth are guaranteed, be it humans or demons, no one would go out of their way to step foot in a battlefield. And yet, why do wars happen?”

Paimon turned to me.

“It is because of rulers.”

“…….”

“Let us say that in order for a war to happen, the commoners have to agree to it. The commoners would have to voluntarily shoulder all of the sufferings that happen in war by themselves. They would have to decide whether they want to pick up their spears, commit murder, pay for all the war expenses, and restore all of the cities and villages that are destroyed by war. They would naturally never agree to war.”

Paimon’s voice started to get heated.

“But it is not the same for rulers. They are not commoners. They are the owners of commoners. If it is for the sake of obtaining something far greater, then they would more than gladly throw out their wealth, the lives of commoners, and the homes of commoners like some gambling chips. This lady realized―be it the human world or the demon world, as long as someone in society is being treated like an object, war will never come to an end!”

Her eyes that were as dark as obsidian shimmered with rage.

“Is this not laughable!?”

She shouted.

“How foolish have we Demon Lords been? We thought we were acting for the sake of demonkind, that we were fighting for them. And yet, Demon Lords were not the ones who were actually dying. Only a small minority of Demon Lords died in battle. The ones sacrificed on the battlefield―the hundreds of thousands of people who lost their lives―were not the Demon Lords but the demons!”

Paimon gnashed her teeth.

“Despite this, we thought that we were acting for the sake of demonkind! Such hypocrisy and deceit. This hypocrisy and deceit will not end even if the continent is conquered. Rather, they will burn even stronger and singe the human world, the demon world, and eventually, the entire world to the ground. Simply because we Demon Lords cannot read the minds of humans……because they are unfamiliar to us, we sacrificed the lives of hundreds of thousands of demons for the sake of wiping them out!”

The scenery around us changed completely. The white space disappeared and was replaced by a battlefield.

An orc was slaughtering the humans in a village. The sound of screams and groans echoed throughout the sky. On another side, a human was massacring a goblin village. Young goblins were played with like toys before letting out a final cry of desperation as arrows pierced their chests.

Slaughter, an endless slaughter continued.

“We Demon Lords are at fault!”

Paimon cried out.

“It is not the fault of humans or the fault of demons either. For the purpose of establishing an ideal nation ruled by a perfect monarch, for the sake of creating this flashy empire, we Demon Lords deceived everyone……!”

There were 8 Crescent Alliance expeditions in the past 2,000 years. The Mountain Faction would always participate the least ever since the 3rd Crescent Alliance. In the end, this resulted in a majority of the demons who followed the Demon Lords in the Mountain Faction surviving. On the other hand, the demons of the Plains Faction continued to die off.

The Plains Faction referred to the Mountain Faction as traitors. However, the Mountain Faction returned that sentiment and accused the Plains Faction of betraying demonkind. Which side was right or wrong……?

I spoke up.

“So you decided to establish a republic.”

“Yes.”

Paimon nodded.

“In the end, Demon Lords must all disappear. Whether you can read the emotions of others or not is not important. Humans cannot read each other’s emotions, and yet, they have continued to live. They think and act as we do.”

Demon Lords are beings that shouldn’t exist.

This was what Paimon was declaring.

“Humans and demons must establish a society and maintain it on their own. This will not stop conflicts, however, they should eventually come to an understanding. They will realize that we are all similarly rational beings.”

Her eyes glimmered with certainty.

“…….”

This was an interesting story. As someone who knew how history was originally supposed to unfold in this world, I was fifty-fifty about agreeing with her.

Paimon was right. In the end, the republic won. However, how much blood was shed in order to reach that ‘end’?

It was not in the tens of thousands. It wasn’t in the hundreds of thousands either. It was tens of millions. People carried out slaughters and were slaughtered constantly……. Could the term ‘in the end’ handle the weight of all that blood? I disagreed.

“Miss Paimon, pardon me, but you simply sound like an idealist to me.”

Your opinion was filled with passion.

However, it did not have any persuasive power.

“I guarantee you, Miss Paimon, that for the sake of creating your ideal republic society……a society where humans and demons live equally, an endless amount of blood will have to be shed.”

“……Yes, this lady believes that as well.”

Do you really? How much blood are you actually prepared for?

I continued.

“The blood that will be shed by demonkind after the continent is conquered and the blood that will be shed by both humans and demons in order to establish a republic. If you were to compare these two options, then they are probably not that different. There will be sacrifices no matter what path you choose to take. Do you understand this?”

Whether you follow Barbatos’ ideal or Paimon’s ideal, demons will lose their lives either way. Despite this, Paimon, I really am curious.

“What makes you think that you can do this but Barbatos cannot?”

“…….”

“If you are unable to give me an answer, then you are nothing more than another Demon Lord. A Demon Lord comparable to a fire. You set the entire world on fire for the sake of accomplishing your goal and demons jump into the blaze like moths to a flame. I personally refer to these people as monsters.”

They’re also known as the strong.

Those who sacrifice others without reserve for the sake of their philosophy. Those who fool themselves into believing that they aren’t acting for ‘their own sake’ but for some lofty ideal; thus, the sacrifices that are made are for the sake of everyone.

Not me, though. I don’t make excuses when I kill someone. It’s not for the sake of some ideal. It’s not for everyone either. Hawk, Jack Aland, Riff……all of them were killed purely because of my selfishness. This was the truth and I knew it.

“I have no intention of criticizing your beliefs. I honestly think they are praiseworthy. However, in that same regard, I think that Barbatos is also praiseworthy.”

You are unable to persuade me.

“If you wish to persuade me, then do not only talk about your ideals. Tell me about what there is to gain. At the very least, show me an outline. A republic? Sure. But how exactly do you intend to establish one? Is it possible?”

Paimon didn’t respond. She simply gazed at me silently.

I waited for a moment. As expected, I received no answer. I stood up in slight disappointment.

“Even if you are only looking at ideals, please walk in reality. I could lie to you, but you assisted me while I was in the Crescent Alliance. You also rescued me when my carriage was assaulted today. I gave you an honest response in order to pay back this debt. ……Please do not expect me to be honest like this next time as well.”

I turned away and walked. This was a dream. I couldn’t go anywhere even if I walked away, but this was basically my way of implicitly asking her to end the dream. How many steps had I taken?

“If it is an outline, then I have one.”

Paimon spoke from behind me.

“This lady is not just a fool. 1,700 years ago, when this lady first had this thought and initially did not relate it to republicanism, this lady decided to test this idea out carefully.”

“Oh?”

I didn’t turn around and simply gave her a verbal response. So?

“This lady thought, would it not be easier to establish a republic in human society than a society where heterogeneous beings like Demon Lords exist? So I decided to test whether a republic was truly possible or not in the human world.”

“……!”

That line forced me to turn around.

Paimon was still sitting casually in her chair. Her eyes were still filled with certainty like before. Don’t tell me, I started to utter.

“What do you mean……?”

“The Republic of Batavia.”

Paimon spoke with a smile.

“It is the sole republic in the human world. Did you think that the humans created such a peculiar nation by themselves?”

The bombshell fell on my head.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Honestly, I don’t remember how the part about Paimon being the founder of Batavia was revealed in the LN. It’s been so long. 

Welp, on another note, my arms have been killing me because a friend has been making me play Beat Saber with him for the past 4 days. 2 hours every day really strains your arms. It burns.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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