Dungeon Defense (WN)

Author’s note: This chapter is a ‘what if’ supplementary story. Those of you who dislike Bad Endings can skip this chapter.

***

Ending conditions

1. Demon Lord Paimon’s affection is below 50. 2. Among Lapis Lazuli’s jobs related to magic, none are above A rank. 3. Dantalian’s infamy is above 100,000.

***

. . .

***

There are times when people have to do something even when they don’t want to.

Lapis Lazuli was currently keenly aware of this fact. She was standing at Habsburg Palace and had urgent news that she had to deliver to the regent of Habsburg. Shortly after, Barbatos finished her work and entered the reception room.

Lapis must have seemed like a very unlikely visitor to Barbatos. Barbatos gazed at Lapis with interest.

“Your Highness.”

Lapis normally had a strong heart that prevented emotions from getting involved in her work, but no words came out even after she opened her mouth. Her lips moved slightly. How should she tell her? It almost felt like she had forgotten how to speak.

Barbatos tilted her head.

“I’m guessing that Dantalian sent you. What, did he get in trouble again? He should keep still if he’s bedridden. Tsk tsk.”

“Your Highness.”

“Yeah, don’t be nervous and just speak.”

Barbatos chuckled. Lapis could tell that she was being considerate. It was Barbatos’ decorum to be considerate of others without using any sort of considerate words. Lapis had witnessed this from the side several times and it was because she knew this that she felt more miserable.

She muttered the words in her mouth several times before Lapis finally spoke them verbally.

“His Highness Dantalian has…… passed away.”

It almost felt like time had stopped.

Barbatos’ expression froze with her smile still on her face. The only thing that showed the passage of time was the muscles on her face slowly shifting.

“……What?”

Lapis felt more miserable due to the obvious question.

That was an instinctive rejection. She wasn’t asking that because she truly didn’t hear properly, but in order to reject the words she had heard.

“This morning, at around 4 am, His Highness Dantalian suddenly passed away.”

Lapis felt a corner of her mind rot away as she tried to talk formally. This was the best Lapis could do.

“The reason of death is still uncertain. However, I personally believe that there is a high chance that he was assassinated.”

“Huh……?”

Barbatos’ expression slowly crumbled.

“Hey, what kind of joke is that? You’re lying, right?”

“…….”

“There’s no way Dantalian could die. He’s like a cockroach that refuses to die even if you try to kill him…….”

Barbatos raised the corners of her mouth as if she were trying to stop that collapse. Was she trying to smile? Her desperate recovery attempt was utterly pointless. Her lips were already trembling as they had escaped her control.

Ah, Barbatos let out a sound as she opened her eyes wide as if she realized something.

“I see. This is another one of Dantalian’s tricks. He’s trying to get a response out of me by having someone tell me this, right? Sheesh, what a pathetic guy. There are jokes you can make and jokes you can’t make…….”

“Your Highness Barbatos.”

Lapis couldn’t listen to this any longer as she raised her voice. It was a discourtesy that a low-tier demon shouldn’t do to a Demon Lord, but she couldn’t bear looking at Barbatos’ face any longer.

“I believed that I had to inform Your Highness of this first. To him…… to Sir Dantalian, you were someone whom he genuinely loved, after all.”

Barbatos shut her mouth.

A moment of silence went by.

“Ah…….”

Tears fell silently.

It was that expression. Lapis lamented in a deep corner of her mind. Everyone made that same face when she informed them of her Lord’s demise. Be it Laura or Ivar, they all reacted the same.

They were currently collapsed next to Dantalian’s bed and crying relentlessly. The level at which they were wailing was almost frantic. Lapis was the only one composed enough to tell others of the news, hence why she was the one to go to Barbatos.

“Ah, ah…… ah…….”

Barbatos covered her face with her hands.

Her small hands couldn’t possibly stop the flow of her tears. An uncontrollable amount of tears kept flowing out from between her fingers.

In truth, Barbatos probably already knew. Demon Lords can feel the emotions of demons. An unsettling feeling must have wrapped around her the moment she met Lapis in the reception room. That was why she acted cheerful instead.

Yeah. She knew.

What must’ve happened to make Dantalian’s chancellor visit her urgently in the middle of the night.

Why Lapis felt despair the moment she saw her.

She knew everything.

—The first man she fell in love with had died.

“Uu, aah…….”

Gradually, her wailing came out.

She had witnessed countless deaths. She had also harvested countless deaths. Despite this, Barbatos still wasn’t used to death. It was because she despised and feared death the most that she was contrarily able to become a necromancer.

She thought that he would never die.

He was a Demon Lord, so she believed that he would always be at her side.

She had reassured herself that he was far from death.

“Is……is there a will?”

“He passed away without being able to say any last words.”

Lapis took something out of her pocket. It was a scroll. She respectfully presented the scroll to Barbatos.

“However, Sir Dantalian always carried a will around with him.”

“I never heard about that…….”

“He had ordered this humble one……to deliver it to Your Highness if something were to happen.”

Barbatos shut her mouth. Dantalian had chosen her as the person to receive his death. Barbatos’ hands felt numb under the weight of the scroll.

In other words, something her man had left for his absolute final moment.

Barbatos wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. Although it was pointless since they continued to flow out endlessly, she still did her best to wipe them away. She didn’t want to see Dantalian’s final words with eyes that were blurred by tears.

Unrolling the scroll revealed some slightly messy handwriting.

「The fact that this will was revealed means that I have met an unexpected demise.

I cannot make any excuses for my life.

However, life is lamentably not a one-man performance as there were guests who were invited to my humble stage, be it coincidentally or deliberately. My only concern is whether I will be able to say my goodbyes to them before my departure.

Thus, I will use this opportunity to say my farewells.」

Names followed afterward. Lapis Lazuli, Laura de Farnese, Daisy, Jeremi, Gamigin, Paimon, Sitri…….

Her name was mentioned last.

「Barbatos is my most faithful friend.

I dedicate all the affection and friendship I am allowed to have in my life to her.

Barbatos, I am worried since you have a soft side to you. I am sure that if I die, you will try to look calm on the surface while shouting all sorts of sick things on the inside. The following list will address your sickness, so I ask you to follow my prescriptions fully.

First, do not fret over whether you provided enough for me or not.

I guarantee you that you showed me more affection and understanding than necessary.

Second, do not ponder about whether you could have stopped my death.

Just like how your life is solely your own, my death is solely my own as well. Respect my possession. I believe you will understand what I mean by this.

Third, this is entirely for caution’s sake, but do not suddenly declare abstinence and stop your debauchery.

That would be placing an unjust burden on my already dead shoulders. I wish to stop you from doing this at all costs. Respect the dead.」

It ended there.

There wasn’t a single line of him expressing his love for her or telling her to do her best. If anything, his will badmouthed her. Barbatos fully understood why Dantalian left his will like this.

“Asshole……that bastard…….”

Wiping her tears away earlier became pointless as she began to cry again. She held the parchment tightly in her hands as she raised her head.

“I have the right to be sad too, you know?”

It was raining.

* * *

Lapis had to endure terrible day after day.

Barbatos conducted the funeral, but most of the formal work was left to Lapis. This was something that Lapis herself wanted greatly. She didn’t have even the slightest desire to let someone else take care of her Lord’s death.

The funeral……was something she didn’t want to really think about.

Lapis only had fragmented memories of the event. Numerous people had shown up to the funeral that was held in the Habsburg Imperial Palace with the respect of the Emperor. It almost felt like that disgustingly large number of people would interfere with her memory.

The worst moment was when Demon Lord Gamigin latched on to the coffin.

“Aaaah! Aah, aaah! Huaaaah—!”

Gamigin cried out sorrowfully as she held Dantalian’s coffin. Her magic-amplified voice went beyond the palace and echoed throughout the entire city as well.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all! I won’t forgive you! Never……!”

What was she not going to forgive? There was no one who could stop a Demon Lord. Gamigin cried for longer than an hour before she tired herself out. It was a hellish scream…….

Everything fell apart from that day on.

Laura immediately executed Daisy on the night of the funeral. She claimed that Daisy must take responsibility for Her Lordship’s death. Lapis didn’t even have the time to stop her. Laura’s sword slit Daisy’s throat.

“There is no meaning in a place without His Lordship.”

“Then where are you trying to go, Laura?”

“Is it not obvious?”

Laura showed a terrifying smile as she wiped the blood from her sword.

“To where His Lordship is. However, he would be sad if I came empty-handed.”

Laura took all of the monsters that were left in the Demon Lord Castle and departed.

“…….”

Lapis didn’t have the strength or will to stop her.

Immediately after, Laura dedicated herself to Gamigin. There was no way of knowing what kind of conversation they could’ve had beforehand. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be weird if the two people who wanted to avenge Dantalian the most in the world recognized each other…….

Gamigin promptly declared war against the ‘Batavia Republic that aided in three assassinations’. Marbas of the Neutral Faction was fiercely against it, but it didn’t matter. Gamigin raised an army on her own.

Ivar Lodbrok backed them from behind. Ivar supported Gamigin like she was going to use all of her firm’s money. The best mercenaries were gathered regardless of their race which quickly raised their numbers above fifty thousand.

Lapis remained alone in Dantalian’s territory and took care of business. Someone had to continue her Lord’s desire…….

It was by no means an easy task. Once Dantalian died, the Demon Lord Castle lost its magic power which led to the Mage Towers leaving without hesitation. The merchant firms all withdrew once the Mage Towers were gone. The territory’s fall was inevitable.

Despite this, Lapis didn’t give up. She had memories here with her Lord. This was quite literally her Lord’s final keepsake. She couldn’t abandon it…….

“Chancellor!”

The office door shot open as Parsi entered. His forehead was drenched in sweat. It was clear that he had run here frantically.

On a side note, Parsi still referred to her as Chancellor even though Dantalian’s Demon Lord Army had turned into dust. He was a loyal human despite his bear-like rugged appearance, Lapis thought to herself.

“What is it?”

“W-Well……they say that the army led by Miss Farnese was defeated.”

Lapis’ quill pen stopped in its place.

“I am uncertain of the details……but they were ambushed by an army under that one Consul’s command…….”

“Is the Minister safe?”

“……There is no news.”

There was no news about Laura who was the commander.

In other words, it was almost certain that she was dead.

“……I understand. I will look into this further.”

An instinctive feeling washed over Lapis as she stood up.

The day she goes to Sir Dantalian’s side wasn’t far.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Well, that was a pretty depressing ending. We got to watch as everything just sort of fell apart with Lapis being the only one trying to remain cool. I remember sort of taking my time with this chapter because it just made me sad.

In any case, work is still a pain. I’m still on the verge of working overtime and not having to work overtime. The wage slave life is truly difficult. The next chapter might get delayed because I honestly do want to get some rest during the weekend, which means I won’t get that much done. I’ll just have to see what kind of mood I’m in.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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