Pursuit
Found it. I found it!
At long last—he had found it.
The highest peak of Ergest.
Not far from it, hidden inside a bowl-shaped basin invisible from normal paths—
There stood a structure utterly out of place in the mountains.
A black tower, stark and alien against the pure white snow.
The Demon King's Tower.
The Blazing Tower.
A long line of orcs marched into it, carrying mana cannons and hauling them inside the tower.
Mana cannons… inside the tower?
Daphner swiftly recorded the location.
He marked it in his recording orb and even on the hand-drawn map he had made, ensuring he would never forget it.
But this place…
It felt familiar.
Yes—this was the same basin he had almost checked at the very end of his first attempt to find the tower.
Back then, the tower had not been here.
But now, it was.
How?
Did I fail to notice it?
Did the tower move?
Was it hidden?
He didn't know.
If it was the first, that meant negligence—but when he climbed the mountain then, he had maintained sharp vigilance from start to finish.
If the tower had moved—he had never heard of such a thing.
For a thousand years, once a tower appeared, its location never changed until the Demon King died and the tower collapsed. That was the unbroken truth.
Then the last option—
The tower had been temporarily hidden.
How? There were many possible methods.
Through magic, through terrain manipulation, through illusions…
The Third Prince…
He was nowhere in sight.
In fact, Daphner had not found a single trace of the prince while following the orcs.
Nor the demon. Nor the Spirit Summoner of Darkness.
So they hadn't come to the tower.
Then where had they gone?
I should return first.
More important than the prince was the fact that he had found the Tower.
Why had Hilderan, whose Crown Princess had been kidnapped, failed to rescue her?
Why had the Jespine Empire, after losing the Ninth Princess and now the Thirteenth Princess, been helplessly swallowing their rage?
Because they did not know where the tower was.
Because they could not strike at anything without knowing where to strike.
Because in the forbidden lands of Ergest, finding the tower was nearly impossible—and no kingdom could afford to grind endless resources into a blind search.
But now everything had changed.
With the tower discovered, the Empire could send a Heroic March without hesitation.
In fact—it was already expected that one would be launched.
Therefore—
"Your Highness the Third Prince, please endure the Demon King's embrace just a little longer."
The Empire would soon come to rescue him.
The prince's reputation would collapse, yes, but what of it?
The name of Daphner Philian—the man who found the Blazing Tower—would rise to the heavens.
A smile spread across his lips.
And soon after—
He vanished.
Two days before Berze arrived with wings unfurled.
***
"Gone."
Gone.
He's gone.
Berze muttered blankly upon reaching the tower.
He had followed the tracks of the Feral Orcs all the way up.
He had searched every corner of the basin where the tower stood.
Even so, Daphner Philian was nowhere to be found.
Yet faint traces remained—
And that enraged him even more.
He had been here.
He had seen the tower.
And then he had escaped.
The worst-case scenario.
They had to catch him.
They had to make sure he never left this mountain alive.
The dead tell no tales.
"Gordon!"
"If you were absent, my lord, the tower's functions are drastically reduced. If he entered the tower's interior I might have sensed him, but outside… it was beyond my—my apologies. This was my failure."
It was all an excuse—
He was the tower's chief adjutant, and yet a Hero had walked past him right under his nose.
Gordon bit down hard, furious at himself.
"I apologize. I… didn't imagine that could have been a Hero."
Kruutu pressed his forehead to the ground.
He said that once, while returning with the cannons, he had felt something odd.
But it disappeared quickly, so he assumed it was an animal.
"If Daphner is deliberately hiding, it's not strange that you couldn't detect him."
If they had realized then—
If they had caught him then—
They would not be suffering like this now.
But Berze forced himself to calm down and lifted Gordon back up.
This would be nothing but venting my frustration.
Their incompetence made his teeth clench, but anger solved nothing.
What mattered was rallying the orcs and hunting the escaped prey.
"Forget suppressing the other two kingdoms. From now on, all of you will search for Daphner Philian—that cursed bastard."
"We obey."
"Lavinia."
"Mm."
"How many hell-hounds do we have?"
"Five. Newly bred."
"You made quite a few. Release them all."
"Okay."
Hell-hounds were beasts that tracked demonic energy—far more sensitive to magia than any monster.
But being sensitive to magia also meant they were exquisitely attuned to interference force, the energy that clashed with it.
All they needed to do was chase the presence they hated most.
"Find interference force. Find the Hero."
"Cher. Hero."
"No. Neither you nor Cher are to join the hunt directly."
He would fix this somehow, but Berze was already preparing for the worst.
If Daphner Philian managed to descend the mountain safely and reveal the Tower's location—
then the kidnapping of Lavinia would be exposed, creating a new enemy on top of Jespine and Hilderan: Acan.
He could not allow that.
The hell-hounds were released.
The Feral Orcs who had carried the cannons inside the tower now dispersed in all directions at the Demon King's command.
"Do NOT waste time fighting monsters! Finding him is the only priority!"
Berze mounted the wolf with Ernan. Flying was faster, but you missed too much.
They needed certainty—so they would track him from the ground.
"You're coming with me."
"Shall I release spirits?"
"Do it. The search party is elsewhere anyway."
Dozens of spirits scattered into the snowy wilderness.
"We catch him."
And then we kill him.
Berze's killing intent radiated like a blade.
***
BWOOOO—CRACK!
The horn that echoed across the snowy mountains suddenly stopped.
An arrow had shattered it.
The orc holding it collapsed with a hole punched through its throat.
"…They really won't let me rest."
Daphner ended his very short break and forced his heavy body upright.
How many days had it been?
He was too exhausted to remember.
Just that night and day had swapped several times.
Relentless bastards.
The curses spilled out automatically.
He sensed approaching presences—drawn by the broken horn.
Feral Orcs riding Frost Wolves.
"How many of you are there?"
He lowered his body and sprinted.
Normally he would erase his tracks and even suppress his scent—but he didn't have the luxury anymore.
How did it end up like this?
It had started four days after he found the tower and began descending.
Orcs began appearing—one, two… and then dozens. Then more.
Add the monsters they herded in front of them, and the numbers were uncountable.
He could neither rest nor sleep properly.
After three days of this chase, Daphner realized—
They weren't just pursuing him.
They were herding him.
Waiting for someone?
Likely one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
The Spirit Summoner of Darkness… or that other demon. He's probably a Heavenly King too.
Could he win if both came at him at once?
Both were high-ranking demons.
And especially the one who wielded black flames—his true level was impossible to judge.
If Daphner were at full strength, maybe.
But now, exhausted as he was… no guarantee.
I saw the tower. And they realized it.
The tower's concealment was one of the Blazing Demon King's greatest assets.
Now that the secret was revealed, they would do anything to hide it again.
And the simplest method was total extermination.
I cannot get caught…!
He had finally found the tower. The achievement was his and his alone.
The sweet fruit was right before him—
Then.
A shadow fell over him.
Daphner threw himself sideways.
A massive figure crashed down where he had stood.
"Hero. You will not escape."
"…You."
The one who had blocked him during the great battle—
the one who had prevented him from killing the Heavenly King.
"You?"
All the tension evaporated in an instant.
"Thank you. Because of you, I found the tower."
Yes—because this idiot had brought all those orcs along, escorting Daphner all the way to the tower's doorstep.
"…You bastard."
Kruutu was furious.
Since becoming a subordinate of the Demon King, he had never seen Berze this enraged.
Knowing he had played a part in causing it made his blood boil.
"If not for you…!"
None of this would have happened.
Kruutu roared.
Black magia swirled violently along the dwarven-forged blade he carried.
"Come, then."
Daphner gripped his bow.
With a single pull, ten arrows materialized.
FWEEE-!
Direct shots, curved shots, flowing shots—
ten arrows cutting ten different trajectories toward Kruutu.
Kruutu leapt off his wolf.
His blade shattered half the arrows midair.
He rolled across the ground to dodge two more, then twisted his body to slash apart the last three—
And then—
His shoulder exploded with pain.
One arrow had pierced through his magia and dug into his flesh.
"I enjoyed the show. Ten arrows? And you thought ten was all?"
Two more slammed into his stomach.
Kruutu clenched his teeth, enduring the agony as he charged.
When he reached striking distance, he grinned.
"It's over."
"You think you win just because you closed the distance?"
Truly?
────!
Sparks burst.
Magia and aura chewed at each other.
A short dagger flashed in Daphner's hand.
Kruutu brought his blade down with all his power—
but Daphner didn't so much as flinch.
KAGAK—
The dagger scraped up along Kruutu's blade.
The killing edge aimed for his fingers—
Kruutu reflexively let go of his weapon.
A long scar tore across his face.
"So close."
Daphner flicked the blood off his dagger.
"I could've split your face open."
Daphner stepped back—
Kruutu pursued desperately, snatching his blade from the snow.
FWEEE—!
A blue arc carved through the freezing air.
Kruutu's blood splattered, staining the snow crimson.
Daphner's dagger was heavier than Kruutu's sword.
Faster.
More refined.
More lethal.
He Overwhelmed Kruutu
In every way, Daphner utterly overwhelmed Kruutu.
Each swing of his dagger became a wound.
Each wound drove the orcish demon further toward collapse.
Bleeding all over, Kruutu fell to one knee.
His upper body wavered, barely held up by the blade he leaned on.
Daphner reversed his grip on the dagger.
"Sorry, but I don't have time to play with you anymore."
Feral Orcs were charging in from all directions.
And he had no idea when those ridiculous "Four Heavenly Kings" might appear.
Daphner drove his dagger downward.
At that instant—
FWOOM—
Black flames clung to the blade.
A shadow fell.
KWAANG—!
A demon with unfurled black wings dropped from the sky.
"Found you."
Berze, black-haired and black-eyed, stared at Daphner with a blank expression.
"Kruutu. Fall back."
"But—!"
"I don't repeat myself. Move him."
The Feral Orcs who had been bowing in reverence to the Demon King scrambled to drag Kruutu away.
Until then, Daphner could not move.
The suffocating killing intent and oppressive aura closed around him like iron.
"…Four Heavenly Kings."
"Four Heavenly Kings?"
Berze turned, but Ernan wasn't behind him.
Of course she wasn't—she had sensed the battle and flown ahead first.
"…Are you referring to me?"
"Who else would I be talking to?"
"…You're calling me a Heavenly King?"
Ernan calling him a Heavenly King whenever she pleased…
Kaede and Lavinia being touted as Heavenly Kings…
He didn't care.
"But calling me a Heavenly King is something I cannot tolerate."
Not that the label mattered—
"You saw the tower."
Therefore, inevitably—
"You will not leave this mountain aliv—"
────!
An arrow cut him off.
A moment's hesitation—
Daphner spun around and fled with his back exposed.
"Coward! It's etiquette to give someone time to transform or speak!"
Ernan shouted as she arrived late to the scene.
"What nonsense. Ambushes are normal."
Berze scoffed as he watched Daphner disappear rapidly into the distance.
Last time, he had failed to catch him.
But now—it was different.
The five million magia points that had accumulated within him had all been spent on releasing interference force.
Compared to the interference force suppressing him, five million was not much.
The amount of suppression lifted was small.
But that small amount was enough—
To allow Berze to use his wings again.
And so—
He unfurled them.
Toward the Hero.
And took to the sky.
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