Dungeon Defense (WN)

Daisy went off somewhere with the messenger.

It was probably where Demon Lord Agares was located. I contacted and informed Vassago, Gamigin, Barbatos, Brother Beleth, and Sitri about the matter through the communication orb. All of the leading fighters of the Demon Lord army participated in the hunt. There was no future for Agares.

“Lord, they are running to the inner walls.”

“Let them run. That is nothing more than their last-ditch effort. Oh right. Give the order to kill all the people who come to surrender.”

Since we knew that Queen Henrietta intended to surrender to us, it would be best to kill the prisoners. By doing so, even if they do surrender, the Brittan army would return home with little to no soldiers.

“What if they struggle more desperately because of that?”

“I welcome it. If anything, I wish they would fight earnestly until their final breaths.”

The Brittan army retreated to the inner walls.

The systematic resistance in the city had stopped. All that was left for us to do was sweep up. Our army pillaged and slaughtered mercilessly. I ordered everyone not to touch the children, the elderly, or the women. In other words, it meant that they could slaughter all the men.

Five hours had passed since we started our siege. Black smoke was billowing up from the city. We judged that the sweep-up was mostly finished and entered the gates with the rest of our troops that were in reserve.

Several areas here and there throughout the city had turned into ruins as if a bulldozer had gone through them. There were soldiers standing in formation in an area that became open after a building had collapsed. As Laura and I rode our horses in side by side, the soldiers spread their arms and welcomed us as soon as they recognized us.

“Glory to General Farnese!”

Their morale was incredibly high since we allowed them to pillage practically as much as they wanted. The monsters ate human flesh until they were full and stuffed their pockets with anything they could find that looked even remotely expensive.

We didn’t have even a single pitched battle which was a type of combat that was the most dangerous for normal foot soldiers. From their perspective, this war was full of slaughter and pillaging. In other words, there was little danger and only gains. Laura de Farnese was like a war hero to them.

“What splendid shouts.”

Today was undoubtedly going to be the day that Laura’s name went down in history. This twenty-year-old girl led an alliance of demons and humans for the first time in history and crushed the Brittan army that was almost about to reign over the continent as a dominant force…….

More than anything else, Laura had no interest in looted goods.

Normally, it was a custom to offer the looted goods up the chain of command all the way to the commander. Laura received those offerings, but she would distribute them back to the people below her afterward.

‘The soldiers are the main characters who stood on the battlefields with their own two feet, held their spears, and thrust their weapons while united in heart and mind. You have all contributed to our victory.’

She was modest and took care of her subordinates. Laura was referred to as the ‘General who was blessed by the Goddesses’ among the soldiers.

“How do you feel? I believe this emotion must be new to you.”

“Mm. It is great the more the commander is idolized in an army.”

As expected of my vassal, Laura responded with an utterly shameless answer.

“Soldiers will believe in their commander and endure even when their defeat seems certain, and if their victory seems certain, then they will believe they won because of their commander. Fortunately, this young lady also has rather good looks.”

Laura raised the corners of her mouth teasingly.

“Am I not the perfect person to be idolized?”

“You’re saying that yourself?”

I let out a sigh.

“Who knew that my first vassal would have princess syndrome. I must have had quite the karma in my past life.”

“At the very least, you may not have been the hero who saved the land, but you are together with a lady as beautiful as I. This would not be possible by saving only one or two countries.”

I let out a laugh. Aah, seriously. I actually was a hero who saved the land.

We arrived at the square in the middle of the city.

The unit commanders were all gathered here. There were people like Barbatos who were covered in blood and Demon Lords who looked squeaky clean as if they were uninvolved in any sort of combat like Paimon. A Demon Lord was kneeling between them.

Agares’ entire body was bound.

I was actually surprised because I never thought that they would capture Agares alive.

“Impressive. To think that unrivaled Agares would get captured like this.”

“Though I lost my right arm again because of this.”

Brother Beleth shrugged. Just as he said, he only had one arm.

Other than him, Sitri had also lost an arm, and there wasn’t a place on Barbatos’ body that wasn’t injured. Vassago, who was all about security and trust, lost his Water Spirit King as well despite bringing out the Spirit King of Darkness. Only Gamigin looked completely fine with a bright smile on her face since she had been supporting everyone from behind.

Barbatos chuckled.

“It’s fortunate that she was already covered in injuries. It seems those Brittan brats latched on to her rather persistently. Well, your daughter was the one who gave the decisive blow, though.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

I looked at Daisy and saw that her face was covered in blood.

“Yup. The brat snuck up behind Agares while we were distracting her. Agares noticed that as well, but she probably didn’t expect the brat to be using Baal’s sword. Thanks to that—.”

Chop, Barbatos jokingly made that sound.

“She managed to slice Agares’ halberd away along with her hand. That was the decisive blow. She may be a crazy lunatic, but what can she do when we all rush in and gang up on her? Keke.”

Barbatos seemed rather pleased about capturing Agares. She did get screwed by Agares a lot during the last civil war. She probably thinks she got payback. Although it was actually Barbatos who wronged her first, I just smiled.

“Good job, Daisy. You did well.”

“…….”

I took out my handkerchief and wiped the blood off Daisy’s cheeks.

Daisy stared straight at me with her obsidian-like pupils.

“You have played a part in the defeat of both Baal and Agares, so you are a human with a fair share of responsibility now. Your face is my face and your accomplishments are my accomplishments. Do not forget to mind your demeanor at all times.”

I put the blood-soaked handkerchief away in my pocket. Daisy opened her mouth a bit before closing it. It looked like she was mulling over how to respond.

“……Understood, Father.”

Was it because she was tired?

Daisy’s voice sounded weaker than usual. This wasn’t unlikely since she had to face Agares. I could scold her for sounding so weak in front of all these Demon Lords, but, well. I overlooked it because of her contribution today.

I turned to Laura.

“Deputy Commander, the enemy’s ringleader, Agares, is here. The other commanders are waiting to hear your decision. How will you punish her?”

“Traitor Agares.”

Laura spoke up so that everyone around us could hear her.

“You betrayed your allies in pursuit of your own personal gains when we should have been uniting under a single cause. Afterward, you took your troops and ran away to the human world without showing any sort of repentance. You are undoubtedly an axle of evil that creates division and betrayal, be it within the demon world or the human world.”

“…….”

Agares raised her head slightly. Her face was ragged due to her torn skin. Her hair, which used to shine brilliantly, was now a mess covered in congealed blood. Her eyes were the only things that were still glowing coldly.

“The death penalty is the only suitable punishment. There is no room for reconsideration here.”

Laura’s tone was casual as if Agares’ glare didn’t intimidate her even slightly.

“However, Agares, the ex-rank 2 Demon Lord, there have been dozens of occasions where you acted for the sake of your fellow kin throughout these past thousands of years and the reputation you have built up is by no means a small one. Demon Lord Agares, I ask you this as the proxy of His Excellency Rudolf von Habsburg, the Supreme Commander of our alliance.”

“…….”

“Do you have any intent to regret and repent for your crimes and serve our army as a commoner? If so, then your crimes will be forgiven if you cut off the horns that prove you are a Demon Lord.”

A Demon Lord’s horns were a symbol of their pride.

As the horns were proof of one’s Demon Lord status to all of demonkind, they could also be used as a place to concentrate mana in some cases. Giving up on your horns was no different from giving up on your honor as a Demon Lord. Although they would still grow back over time.

There was a moment of silence.

Agares’ shoulders started to shake as all of the Demon Lords watched with interested eyes.

She was laughing quietly.

“Kuhuhu……huha, huhuhu…….”

Agares looked like she couldn’t hold back her laughter. It didn’t look like she was deliberately laughing in ridicule either. Her expression looked like she was simply letting out the laughter from deep inside her lungs.

“Is this it?”

Agares slowly looked around and asked.

“You slaves who once cried out about your pride. Is this how the Crescent Alliance ends? For the sake of victory, you put on human masks and hide in the back. You create a position as ridiculous as the regent of the Empire and deceive people……. To make matters worse, you even let a human command your armies.”

There was a thin smile on Agares’ lips.

“What a rotten smell. Demon Lords were once considered gods. And yet, they’ve devolved into being commoners and are now slaves. This is such an unsightly end that I cannot help but laugh…….”

“That is not something that you should be saying, Agares.”

I responded. I didn’t like how she was trying to act clean.

“When Barbatos suggested the pursuit of the enemy at Vindobona, you refused. After the civil war, you sought asylum with the ruler of Brittany. What Demon Lord pride are you talking about?”

“…….”

All Agares had was excuses and betrayals. Everyone felt this way.

If Agares were truly a Demon Lord among Demon Lords, then she would have backed away quietly when she lost to Barbatos. She would have had some justification left if the fight ended there. However, Agares didn’t accept the result of the battle and sought asylum…….

“In the end, you were betrayed by the ruler of Brittany as well. The end of a traitor is betrayal. Is this not an excellent conclusion?”

“……I wasn’t betrayed.”

Agares gnashed her teeth. Her torn skin put her teeth on full display.

“I was going to use the human ruler to wipe you guys out before killing Henrietta afterward. My plans didn’t change, but Henrietta tried to surrender to you guys. I couldn’t forgive her, so I attacked first…….”

I see. So it was Agares who caused the discord, not Henrietta.

Henrietta probably suggested that Agares should surrender with them. That pushed Agares over the edge. Agares attacked them all of a sudden and Henrietta was forced into a sudden plight because of the attack, thus the chaos that swept over the city…….

I smirked.

“Then you are truly a fool, Agares.”

“What?”

“Henrietta never betrays her comrades. She may be a cold and cruel ruler, but, at the very least, she is extremely generous to her people and comrades. Had Henrietta wanted to, she could have easily assassinated you and surrendered to us peacefully.”

“…….”

And yet, Henrietta gave you a chance. A chance to run away or surrender together.

“The moment you caused discord saying that you could not forgive them was the moment you threw away whatever pride you had left as a warrior. You are not a warrior. You are nothing more than an animal obsessed with victory.”

“…….”

“My dear comrades.”

I turned to face the other Demon Lords.

“As you all can see, the traitor, Agares, is showing no indication of being remorseful. A majority of Demon Lords are currently present. I, Dantalian, suggest that we vote on whether to execute Agares.”

A vote was held on the spot.

There were 32 votes in favor of executing Agares. There were no votes against it. The death sentence was agreed upon unanimously.

I received Baal’s sword from Daisy and handed it to Laura. Laura nodded and approached Agares herself. Agares appeared to have accepted her fate as she was closing her eyes.

“Agares, do you have any last words?”

“…….”

No response. That was probably her answer.

Laura swung the Demonslayer sword down without hesitation. The sound of something being severed resonated in the air before an object with some weight to it rolled on the ground. Dirt got all over it.

Demon Lord Agares who once made the heavens tremble with her strength alone came to an end just like that.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. This chapter came out a bit late cause I was busy for the last few days. I was going out a lot cause people wanted to congratulate me on getting a job. In any case, as I mentioned in the last chapter, all future releases after this may have larger delays between them. I won’t know for certain until I’ve fully settled in, so just keep that in mind. Chapters will also start being uploaded at this point in time since I will no longer have the leisure to do so in the morning.

I’ll update you guys about my work situation in the next chapter.

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