The castle of Dantalian, smack-dab in the center of the city, stretched into the skies in front of our eyes. With a slow gait that matched those of the others entering the place, Noa and I stepped toward the gates.
Infiltration was tough in the place where dozens of demons stood on guard, but with the horns we had stolen from her puppets, I was certain it would be easier.
An octopus demon accompanied by a goat came over to us with spears in his hands. Noa and I ignored it all and continued onward. Thankfully, we weren't bothered and the gatekeepers moved ahead.
With a few more steps, I was inside the castle of Dantalian. The castle made entirely of black stones and wood tore into the skies with its sharp towers and pinnacles.
Noa and I shared a nod and killed our presence as much as we could, holding in the reins of our Ki and Mana. Soon, we stepped inside the main building filled with people and made our way around.
Long and narrow passages stretched in all directions before merging with stairwells, on the other side, were passages again. The only thing that remained everywhere was the large number of demons with spears and weapons in hand.
We strode around but not a clue neared us about Dantalian's location.
I slowly turned and looked at Noa.
She seemed to have noticed it too.
Even if I wanted to speak out and affirm my doubts, it would be troublesome.
Because not a single whisper resounded in the entire castle of Dantalian.
From the guards to the servants, from the octopus to the goats, no one let out either a whisper or a word. True to their titles as puppets, they only walked around and performed whatever duties they were assigned. Sentience seemed like a far dream for such beings.
It was smart, a technique to sound out infiltrators. Act even slightly sentient and you would be captured. On the other hand, if only one could act like a puppet, it would be more than easy to infiltrate the place. As long as she wasn't aware of infiltrators, she couldn't hope to get a read on their actions, not with these many numbers.
For someone invading someplace, the greatest issue of being asked 'Who are you?' was rid thanks to her puppets.
It was a gamble. A game of fifty-fifty, and she had placed her stakes on her experience.
There must not be one or two people out to kill Dantalian once she was weakened considerably after using her authority. Maybe. Maybe if it was any other demon or human, any other enemy, they would have slipped and dropped their act.
But Dantalian probably didn't know. No, she may have not even considered.
That I was the one who had chased her all the way to hell just to kill her.
Someone who had already fooled her as her puppet once.
It was only natural that I could do it twice.
Dantalian… had placed a losing bet.
***
"LORD AGARES!!"
A small crocodile demon barged into the room of the first Duke of the East. Inside, an unnaturally attractive old man with two black horns was slouched over a couch while reading a book.
The old man, whose physical fitness and sharpness betrayed the age that his hair let on, looked up from the book and back at the demon that had just stepped inside.
"Take a deep breath, vassal," the old man, Demon Lord Agares said.
The crocodile demon nodded at his words and calmed down. It was a strange thing, all of Agares' soldiers were hyperactive and full of vigor, it was in ways the best and in ways the worst match-up for the forever calm old man whose interests didn't go beyond reading more books.
It was still thanks to his vassals that he could rise to his rank, so he was more than happy to have them around. Even if he hadn't, it would have been fine for the old man to raise them like his own kids.
"Now, Crorcorocorococo. Tell me, did my daughter kill another of her boyfriends?"
"N-no, my lord! It's worse!"
The old man placed his book down and sat up straight.
"What happened?"
"My lord! The general's army has halted as an extensive battle with a human swordswoman has started. We are unsure of the casualties currently, but that woman is alone enough to overwhelm half of the brigade."
"What!? Half of them have died?"
"No sir! They are simply facing off, the other half just decided to watch the fight and the first half is going against her in different numbers."
"So you little brats are teaming up ten to one on a single girl while the rest watch? Go and send a command to the other half to help the girl! It's a good drill anyway."
"Sir, yes sir!" Crocorocorococo nodded. "Other than that, my lord, it seems most of our city's water had turned funny. We think it's a human poison."
"Ah… yes, that's why the water tasted weird."
"A lot of demons are dying, my lord. It is rendering us incapable of fighting much."
Death was a bit of a hassle. But at the end of the day, Agares was still a demon lord.
He didn't care if a lot of people died.
"Just put in some antidote. What's so urgent?"
"My lord! Lastly, it seems one of the ten strongest humans is on his way here. Some of our other generals sensed his presence just a bit back."
"Ten strongest humans? Don't tell me! Is it Kaiser?"
"No… it seems to be the grandest human wizard. The one who invaded Walpurgis, Lushan von Bergus!"
Lushan.
That name was enough to bring the old man on great alert.
He stood up from his seat with a stern look and in that very moment.
The ceiling above him caved and broke apart.
"Thanks for the introduction, strange crocodile being." In the air stood a young man with deep blonde hair and loose garbs of green and blue. "Long time no see, Demon Lord Agares."
"Lushan von Bergus!"
"Now… where are my students?"
***
The entire day had passed.
And as we had thought…
We stood in front of the bunker leading down to the bottommost parts of Dantalian's castle.
A place that no one saw us enter, where no one suspected us even the faintest.
I pushed the doors open and a small pool of water revealed itself beyond the door. In the center of the dark stony room was a single coffin.
And atop it.
"Hello there,"
The woman atop it turned.
"Have you been well, trash?"
***
[A/N: Hoo, big changes are coming. With this arc, we'll be done with roughly 40% of the story, probably more.]
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