Soldiers have always been swift as lightning once set in motion.
The moment the order was given, Demon Lord forces stationed nearby swept in. The imperial capital was seized in one stroke. All twenty-six Demon Realm Grand Dukes were dragged in—this took less than an hour. A thoroughly clean operation.
"What in the world is going on?!"
"This cannot be, Your Grace!"
The Grand Dukes of the Demon Realm had been staying in the imperial capital for days. The conference that was originally scheduled had been postponed indefinitely, and they were stuck here with no way out. It made sense. The whole conference had been nothing but a pretext.
"We have obtained testimony implicating several of you, Grand Dukes, in the recent assassination."
"…!"
Horror froze on the Grand Dukes' faces.
The faction I had targeted in this assassination was not some lone, independent Demon Lord. While their masters were away, these Grand Dukes had ruled the Demon Realm like petty kings, doing whatever they pleased. They had been thorns in my side for ages. If I could lure them outside, any excuse would do.
"I heard a very interesting piece of testimony. Some of you allegedly conspired to ensure the Crescent Alliance Army's expeditions kept failing. Every last one of you will be executed."
"Th-that is slander… There is no way a traitor like that exists among us."
"That is not for you to judge."
The Grand Dukes stared at me with trembling eyes.
"Th-then who will judge us?"
"Hmm. It seems you've misunderstood what I said."
I curled the corners of my lips upward.
"I only said it is not a matter to be judged right now."
Starting that night, horrific torture was carried out.
The Demon Realm Grand Dukes must have finally grasped the reason they had been summoned here this time.
The Blood Purge.
I had always known that the Demon Lord's army failed due to internal division. Now that I had seized power from behind the scenes, I had no intention of repeating such laughable failures. Why should Demon Realm Grand Dukes even exist? Wouldn't it be better if they didn't exist at all?
A single Demon Lord was more than enough to rule the demons.
It was far cleaner to simply eliminate the remaining warlord factions.
Of course, there was no evidence that the Demon Realm Grand Dukes had been involved in treason. That was precisely why I needed to fabricate some. A Demon Lord's testimony carried exceptionally high value. The independent Demon Lords were, so to speak, bait for landing the big catch that was the Grand Dukes……
I used the same methods I had employed when torturing the Demon Lords.
"You Grand Dukes deliberately obstructed the Crescent Alliance Army's expedition. Am I correct?"
"It has been revealed that your scheme was to secretly collude with the traitor Bael and sever the supply lines of the Second Crescent Alliance Army. Confess."
The Grand Dukes couldn't last four days and admitted to the crimes.
Out of twenty-six Grand Dukes, eleven were found guilty. These were the ones who had been particularly hostile toward the Demon Lords. The remaining fifteen were acquitted. Half of those consisted of Grand Dukes who had previously offered me bribes totaling ten million gold……
If you want to continue living safely in the future, cooperate with me. That was the meaning behind it.
Perhaps because I had released quite a number of Grand Dukes so readily, suspicion arose.
My accomplice Barbatos puckered his lips and complained.
"Why not just kill them all while we're at it?"
"A purge doesn't mean you kill everyone."
I said, sipping my wine.
"If you slaughter them all, you're no longer a ruler — you're a tyrant."
"Hm. So what's the difference between the two? I'm pretty sure we've already become tyrants."
"A very big difference. You set a precedent for how people can survive."
Politics was similar to the battlefield in many ways.
If I had to pick the most similar point between them, I wouldn't hesitate to choose "no victory is ever perfect." Even if you succeed in annihilating every last enemy soldier without sparing a single one, it can never be considered a perfect victory.
Someone might envy your accomplishments and slander you out of jealousy. The people of the rival nation will treat you as a butcher, resenting and cursing you for generations. That resentment and hatred might eventually deliver a fatal blow to you......
"The ones we convicted were uncooperative toward us. The ones acquitted were relatively favorable to us. We don't kill just anyone. We made it abundantly clear that we only kill those who act against us."
In other words, he had laid out a guideline for survival.
I lightly swirled my wine glass.
"There's no need to go out of our way to kill even the Grand Duke who cooperates with us. Once they've tasted fear, they'll become fine hunting dogs loyal to us... Just be sure to toss them a proper bone now and then. They'll be so excited they'll wag their tails."
"To think you'd treat a Grand Duke like nothing more than a mutt."
Barbatos giggled.
I was laughing along when, without any warning, Barbatos suddenly pressed their lips to mine. It wasn't a light display of affection. It was a deep kiss. Then again, Barbatos's shows of affection were always heavy......
"Mm...hah, nn..."
For the record, the two of us were currently inside Emperor Rudolf's bedchamber. The pretense was that we were privately reporting the results of the prisoners' interrogation to His Imperial Majesty first.
Of course, Emperor Rudolf was not alive or moving, so he sat wedged in a corner like a doll, blankly watching the two of us exchange a passionate kiss. As the kiss dragged on, both my breathing and Barbatos's grew heavier.
We finally managed to pull our lips apart, and I smiled playfully.
"Your Highness the Regent. I am well aware that you're perpetually in the mood, but this hardly seems like an appropriate place for a secret tryst. His Imperial Majesty the Emperor is right here before us."
"Did you know? You've been reeking of blood all over for the past few days."
Barbatos grinned and pressed close to me.
"For some reason, I like it when you're acting like a real bastard."
"That's because I'm a pervert. A pervert."
"Pfft. And who's calling who a pervert."
Barbatos climbed onto my lap. Since I was sitting in a chair, we naturally ended up leaning back in it, facing each other. We kissed once more.
"Mm, mmm… hnnn…."
The clothes befitting a Grand Duke's consort were extravagant and cumbersome by nature, and Barbatos's attire was no exception. I peeled them off her, one layer at a time, one layer at a time, slowly.
There was no reason to rush. Sometimes my fingers slipped her top away, sometimes she slid her undergarments down herself. Like snowflakes drifting, clothes piled up beneath the chair.
Before long, Barbatos's flawless, pristine skin was bared without a single mark.
In the Emperor's bedchamber. In the most secretive space in the entire Empire.
"Hah… haah… Hey, Dantalion."
"Yeah?"
"Honestly, it bugs me that you let Gamigin fool around with you."
Barbatos tolerated me enjoying multiple women. I likewise accepted Barbatos playing around with multiple women without complaint. From an outside perspective, we probably came across as quite the eccentric couple.
"So what would you have me do, my princess?"
I snickered.
"Should I kill Gamigin too?"
"Hmph. I don't care about the fooling around itself. But that girl acts like you're her personal property. Disgusting woman… hnn."
I lightly licked Barbatos's chest.
For someone with a modest bust, Barbatos's sensitivity was absurdly high. Once she seemed sufficiently worked up, I gave her the lightest little bite — more of a graze with my teeth than an actual bite.
"Hah, wait a minute. You bastard. Stop acting like a dog in heat and just wait — hnng!"
"What? I'm right in the middle of enjoying myself."
I pulled my face away from her chest and furrowed my brow. She was the one who seduced me first, and now she was going to ruin the mood? Even being capricious had its limits. Barbatos was grinning mischievously.
"I just had a great idea. Watch this."
Barbatos flicked her right hand lightly. The golden crown that Emperor Rudolf had been wearing flew toward her hand as though pulled by an invisible string. She placed it on her own head, then put her hands on her hips with a flourish.
"How does it look? Does it suit me?"
"…Looks like there's one more person here who should be locked up for high treason."
I let out a bitter laugh, completely at a loss. Barbatos's attitude was less impudent and more endearing.
"I am wearing an emperor's crown right now."
"Ah. This must be the first time in history a Demon Lord has worn a golden crown."
She wrapped both her hands around the back of my neck, bringing her face closer until I could feel her breath on my skin.
"Haven't you ever wanted to bed someone who's at least an emperor once?"
"…."
A girl, completely nude save for a golden crown on her head—it was a decidedly sinful sight. I had no choice but to yield to that temptation.
"In exchange, just make one more promise."
"Ah."
I didn't even need to hear what the promise was; it was obvious. That's why she'd brought up Gamigin. It was a subtle warning not to let my eyes wander elsewhere.
"You'll always be the one who's most important to me, Barbatos."
"…You're way too perceptive for no good reason."
No more words were needed. I covered her lips with mine.
That day, in the emperor's bedchamber, Barbatos was thoroughly ravished until she fainted twice.
A week flew by in the blink of an eye after the assassination attempt.
Three major charges were leveled against the eleven Demon Realm Grand Dukes.
First, they had repeatedly conspired with the traitor Bael to sabotage the Crescent Alliance Army expedition.
Second, during the latter stages of the Puppet War, they had unauthorizedly dispatched a separate brigade to plunder southern Franc. This greatly damaged the credibility of the Demon Lord's army as a result.
Third, they had conspired to assassinate me, a Court Count, in defiance of the newly formed Demon Lord's army.
In short, they had piled every previously unresolved charge onto the condemned.
All three counts were substantiated by the testimonies of independent Demon Lords and other Demon Realm Grand Dukes. The evidence had been fabricated at will, but precious few knew the truth. The eleven Grand Dukes and three Demon Lords were executed immediately.
The executions took place in a public square. When word spread that Demon Lords were being put to death, throngs of demons and humans alike crammed in to watch the spectacle. It must have been quite the sight.
"Curse you! Curse you, Dantalion, you son of a bitch! I curse you to the bitter end—!"
Most of them used their final words to leave me a dying imprecation.
For the executioner, none other than Brother Beleth volunteered. True to form, he separated the heads of the Demon Lords and Grand Dukes from their bodies with a single stroke of his axe each. A masterful display.
The last in line was Valefor.
"Criminal Valefor. Do you have any final words?"
"……."
Valefor glanced over at me and murmured, his expression blank.
"When Bael died, I told myself it was simply the flow of time. When Agares died, I told myself it was an event that was bound to happen someday…… Now that I look around, there is no one left under the heavens willing to speak in my defense."
Valefor let out a sigh.
"I treated an unjust death as though it were perfectly natural. Very well—let my own death be swallowed by time and washed away in the current. That, too, is only fitting retribution. The only regret I carry to my grave is that I was a fool…… Just leave it at that."
Brother Beleth gave a nod.
The great axe flashed. With a dull thud, something struck the ground. The crowd erupted in cheers and roars at the spectacle of a Demon Lord's execution. Any internal forces that might have opposed me were now thoroughly eliminated……
Some among the crowd, who believed that the blood of a Demon Lord held sacred power, sent children scrambling to smear bits of bread in the pooled blood. The little ones squeezed through the adults' legs and came scurrying forward.
"Shall I stop them?" the captain of the guard asked me cautiously.
I shook my head.
"Did you not hear what he said? Leave them be."
"I understand."
The children smeared the bread with bright red blood and ran out again. Their faces beamed with joy at having successfully completed the orders their parents had given them.
That was the last sight left behind by the fourteen Demon Lords and the Grand Duke.