Dungeon Defense (WN)

The woman was split in half.

The cut was not even remotely clean. The blade of the axe bluntly and mercilessly dug down from the top of her body to the bottom.

Red chunks and liquid splattered everywhere. The solids that collided with the axe were the woman’s bones. Beleth enjoyed the vibration that was being transmitted to his palms. Eventually, the body was split horrendously in half from the skull to the pelvis.

The swords returned to the shadow. Once they did, the severed body could no longer hold itself up as the sides of the body fell in opposite directions. Does this not look like a red flower has bloomed? Beleth thought to himself. He didn’t feel anything beyond this.

“Hmm, hoo. Khmp khmp, khmhp, khmhup, khmhmhp.”

Beleth hummed to himself. He walked between the woman’s body that had been split in half and stepped on her innards that had fallen. Toward the cloud of dust that had been kicked up after the gate had fallen, Beleth walked as if he were on a morning stroll.

The female swordsman met a tragic end. Considering her title as <Master of the Sword>, this was a tragically empty death. However, her death wasn’t meaningless. She was able to hold Demon Lord Beleth in place for a brief moment. That brief moment was enough for the imperial army to gather at the gate.

“Get into formation!”

The commander of the fortress came down from the rampart as well. The Demon Lord had entered. It would be difficult for his men to endure if he didn’t step forward as a swordmaster. He reassured his men as he kept an eye on the gate.

The cloud of dust was denser than before. The sound of humming could be heard from the cloud. The melody was slow, but you could clearly hear the sound of footsteps growing closer. Furthermore, the number of voices would increase after each step, so the humming that started alone eventually became a dreadful chorus.

Black shadows slowly became visible within the dust.

– Khmp. Khhp. Khmoola. khmrp.

– Khrp khrp, khmrp. Khhp. Khmoola.

– Laila palilia, kmhoola khmoola.

It was an old military song.

During an era where instruments were yet to be invented so the only musical tool you had was your vocal cords, this was a song sang by ancient demons who didn’t even have a score to follow. The linear melody was sacred like the singing in a temple, but it was also so crude that the harmony didn’t line up at all. This primitive song made the imperial soldiers boasted by the Habsburg Empire tense up.

Step.

A foot appeared from the cloud of dust. It was the Demon Lord’s foot.

Shortly after, hundreds of feet appeared out of the golden dust as well. Death knights that were clad in pitch-black armor were lined up with no gaps between them. Even the dust cloud couldn’t find an opening as the dust particles bounced off their armor.

“…….”

“…….”

The two sides confronted one another. A curtain of silence fell over the imperial army and the Demon Lord army.

A peculiar feeling swept over the fortress commander. The Demon Lord standing at the front, the man who was as large as an ogre had a strange expression on his face. He had an overjoyed expression on his face like a man who had just reached his climax.

“I am a rank 1 swordsman of the Habsburg Empire, Viofalt von Ragrants.”

The commander shouted in order to change the atmosphere.

“I believe that you are a Demon Lord worthy of receiving my blade. State your name!”

“Sheesh. What a hopeless moron. Are the warriors of the empire all like this?”

Beleth shook his head.

“Whether you belong to the empire or are a rank 1 swordsman does not matter at all. Are you not a warrior? Generally speaking,”

Beleth pointed to the sky with his left hand that wasn’t holding his axe.

“As the sky is above our heads and the earth is below our feet, warriors are people who are satisfied just by holding their weapons in their hands. Outside of this, fame, honor, and decorum are nothing more than inconveniences.”

“…….”

“I have already forgotten that I am a Demon Lord. My name is Beleth. The one who will fight you, defeat you, and insult you! Kuhahaha!”

Beleth charged forward like a boar. His massive body was like a cannonball as he ran.

Hundreds of death knights followed behind Beleth. They let out a fierce roar as they shot forward like a flock of seabirds diving at food. The imperial soldiers didn’t want to lose here so they also let out a cry as they ran forward. The swordsmen created a closed formation as they dived into the battlefield covered in clouds of dust.

“Kuhuaaaa!”

“Push them back! Kill them all!”

The narrow path in front of the gate instantly became a ferocious battlefield. As spears and shields, swords and swords collided against each other, the sound of metal rang loudly through the sky.

The warriors pushed back their opponents with their shields and let out cries of rage. The air shook due to the shouting from the humans while the mana in the air began to surge as the demons shouted. This caused ears to become numb and for every fiber of muscle in everyone’s body to start shuddering in excitement.

“Beleth, I am your opponent!”

The commander of the fortress held up his iron rod. He came here with the goal of facing the Demon Lord. Since the other party was swinging around a massive axe, he had to fight back with a different weapon than a sword. The commander’s mana-enhanced voice traveled straight to Beleth’s ears.

“Kuhu!”

Beleth bellowed in laughter. Beleth had just crushed a swordsman’s chest plate with his elbow. Even though it was protected by a blue aura, it was destroyed with ease. The swordsman vomited blood as he fell to the ground.

“Are you calling for me, Beleth, you human!?”

Beleth wasn’t wearing any armor. His copper-toned upper body was completely revealed. He already had a few red cuts, but they quickly healed. The fearsome regenerating ability of Demon Lords was basically Beleth’s armor.

The commander of the fortress and Beleth ran at each other. Distance meant nothing to them. It only took a single leap for both of them to collide. Sparks flew as their axe and rod slammed into one another.

“Kuhahahaha! Excellent!”

Beleth let out a manic laugh. He skillfully parried the rod as soon as it blocked his axe before immediately thrusting the handle of his axe. The fortress commander blocked the handle with his elbow before it could gain any momentum. The gap between them closed in an instant.

Beleth shouted with the fortress commander’s face right in front of him.

“Antagonize me! Despise me! Bare your teeth before no one else but me, Beleth!”

“Such nonsense!”

The fortress commander punched Beleth’s abdomen with his right hand. His fist was blocked by muscles that were as sturdy as metal. ―As the commander predicted, the Demon Lord had a monstrous body. Beleth didn’t even let out a grunt as he continued to laugh maniacally. The commander backed away quickly once he realized his attack was blocked.

“I feel alive when you humans despise me!”

Beleth shouted passionately as if he were some young girl who was giving a confession. He raised his axe and brought it down heavily. The commander hastily raised his rod to block the strike. The axe itself was like a landslide as it slammed down on the rod. The commander had no other choice but to let himself slide back in order to alleviate the impact.

“Kuuuh!”

“Throughout all the land, only you humans despise me! You guys are the only ones to confront me with your pure hatred and animosity!”

Demon Lords are monarchs that take in the emotions of others and judge them fairly.

However, Demon Lords become meaningless before humans. They cannot read their emotions. They could stand against each other as absolute individuals. Ever since Beleth discovered that humans exist, he vowed to war against them eternally.

Humans do not submit to him. Thus, they are worth conquering.

Humans do not try to curry favor with him. Thus, it is worth making them submit.

Humans do not obey him. Thus, they are worth killing.

Humans were completely different from demons. The only reason Beleth joined the Plains Faction was due to the fact that they were hostile toward the humans the most. Compromise with the humans?! How ridiculous. Beleth believed that demons and humans exist solely to fight each other.

If this were not the case, then why did both demons and humans exist?

“Aah! I truly do love humans!”

Demon Lords cannot read the emotions of other Demon Lords. Demon Lords cannot read the emotions of humans. Therefore―each and every individual human was like a Demon Lord to Beleth. They were equal to him. There was no joy in making demons submit to him.

The sole act of making humans submit to him was the meaning of his existence.

Bodies upon bodies piled up around the path to the gate. The screams of carnage resonated throughout the air. The roars from those who win and the pained cries from those who lose, these sounds mixed together and created hell on earth. This hell was Rank 13 Demon Lord Beleth’s home.

Beleth swung his axe down again like a typhoon.

“Is that it, human!? Does your hatred only go that far!?”

“Kuuh!”

“I will destroy your hometowns! Children, the elderly, and women. From the weakest person to the strongest, I will leave no one behind as I slaughter them all. Your fields will be burned down and the villages you’ve built up for the past hundreds of years will fall into ruin. Aah! I swear on this!”

Beleth shouted.

“I will destroy everything you have. I will rape your wife and put your children on display after mutilating them. I will graciously offer your ruler to the pigs!”

The commander mustered up all of his aura to receive the axe.

“Be―leth!”

“If you wish to save them, then give me the best you got, human! Kill me!”

The commander swung his rod. An impact that was far stronger than the one before managed to make Beleth’s hands go numb. The commander was using up all of the aura he had left in his reserve. He disregarded the order Imperial Princess Elizabeth had given to him to defend for four days.

Beleth laughed crazily.

This was it. This was the type of war he wanted. He knew very well how much effort a human had to put in to become a swordmaster. He must’ve strived desperately to get this far. His muscles must’ve ruptured tens of thousands of times. Despite this, he managed to swing his sword with a clear state of mind before eventually reaching the top.

In other words, the blow he had received contained the swordsman’s entire life.

It’s heavy!

It’s possible for life to be this heavy!

“Kuhahaha!”

What sort of days and nights did you go through? Did you harbor doubts about your own intelligence at times? Did you feel delighted while being loyal to your lord? Did it feel marvelous to be able to experience enlightenment with each swing of your sword? Was this your life?

Beleth received all of this lifeforce and raised his battleaxe once more. 

“Viofalt von Ragrants! I shall end―that life of yours!”

Was he surprised because the Demon Lord remembered his name? The commander’s eyes widened.

Beleth swung down with all his might. The commander managed to block it, but all he had done was block it once.

“Crumble!”

Top to bottom, right to left, left to right, diagonally, Beleth swung his axe continuously. The commander managed to deflect by after blow; however, he wasn’t blocking them because he was predicting their trajectories. He was just barely able to move his arms in time to block the strikes each time.

This feeble human was enduring the weight of a Demon Lord who had lived for 1,500 years.

A human may one day be able to withstand a Demon Lord’s attack. The day may eventually arrive where a human manages to come out victorious in a clash of lives against a Demon Lord.

However.

“Crumble before me, human!”

The aura-enhanced rod was cut. Beleth’s axe dug into the commander’s face before he could even show a look of surprise. The blade of the axe crushed his head gruesomely and kept going all the way down to his neck and chest.

“―Kruuuuaaah!”

Beleth pulled his axe out and roared like a beast.

However, that day was not today. As it has always been this way for the past 1,500 years and will most likely continue to be this way for a while longer, the one to survive today was not the human but the Rank 13 Demon Lord, Beleth. The earth trembled in terror and respect to the Demon Lord’s victory.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Something about Beleth’s taunts were a bit hard to translate. They still don’t sound exactly right to me, but oh well. I hope you guys appreciate the chapter coming out quickly. Fast chapter = no time for me to think of something to say here.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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