Perspective of First Army Commander
At my report, the Demon King seated before me gives a quiet nod.
Then she slowly raises her teacup to her lips.
First she savors the aroma, then drinks.
Her expression doesn't change, but she seems to be satisfied.
I inwardly breathe a sigh of relief at that.
This person has an extraordinary attention to detail when it comes to what she consumes. Serve her something subpar and you don't want to know what follows.
I still don't know who this person truly is.
With a genuine Demon King in existence, this person can only be a self-proclaimed one — and yet, I have no choice but to say that her power far surpasses the real thing.
I've used my own intelligence units to try and investigate this person's background.
But in the end, I couldn't reach an answer.
I did manage to learn that she apparently knows the real Demon King, and is currently residing in a mansion near the Demon King's castle.
That mansion also belongs to Lord Balt.
The fact that she's staying at the mansion of Lord Balt — who serves as an aide to the new Demon King — makes it safe to assume there is a connection with the real Demon King.
But then, why did she call herself the Demon King when she first met me, and act as though she were an emissary of a false Demon King?
I don't understand.
It doesn't seem like she's actually in opposition to the real Demon King, and I can't figure out what benefit there would be in secretly contacting me.
The only thing I can think of is the Elves.
Is there something about the Elves that the real Demon King doesn't want discovered?
If so, what is it?
And could it possibly be this person's weakness?
That's the question.
No.
Even if it were a weakness, I couldn't act on it.
The gap in our power is too great.
No matter how many schemes I devise, she could crush me with brute force alone.
And she wouldn't hesitate to do so.
It's perfectly clear from her attitude that she views me as nothing more than a tool.
"Don't get any funny ideas, okay?"
When did she say that to me?
She said it after understanding that my loyalty wasn't genuine.
And after those words, she added a murmur: "Because it'd be troublesome."
If I were to do anything — troublesome. That's the extent to which she regards me.
I, who have poured my life's effort into serving as a pillar of the Demon race, reduced to that level.
It goes beyond anger — I almost want to laugh.
That I, of all people, am being treated as a mere tool.
Reaching this point, the realization is drilled into me.
There is nothing I can do.
Everything I've built up until now is collapsing in an instant.
And I cannot stop it.
This person is about to bring about upheaval on a world-shaking scale.
The real Demon King is scheming to start an unprecedented great war, and yet even that pales in comparison to what this person intends to bring about.
I have absolutely no idea what that might be.
Until now, I have done everything in my power to protect the worn-down Demon race and to avert war.
When the previous Demon King vanished, I thought it was a chance.
No Hero, no Demon King.
Such an opportunity would never come again.
The Demon race was in no condition to wage war at the time.
The same could be said for the Human race, of course.
If both the Demon King and the Hero had been active back then and the two sides had clashed, the Demon race and the Human race might have destroyed each other.
I scrambled to rebuild the Demon race, which had been reduced to ruins.
I even borrowed the help of those insufferable Elves.
Most of them can't be trusted, but among them there were some who genuinely wished for the world's peace.
I couldn't afford not to use them.
I was in no position to stand on pride.
And just as things had finally begun to recover to some degree, the new Demon King appeared.
That Demon King's objective is to pit the Demon race and the Human race against each other.
She has been steadily advancing her preparations for that purpose.
If it were an ordinary Demon King, I could have secretly defeated her and put a stop to such reckless actions — but the one who became the new Demon King is a monster even called the oldest Divine Beast.
There's no way I could win.
And then there's this person, who would surpass even that.
This person also seems to approve of the war the real Demon King is planning to start.
I have no means of preventing the outbreak of war, no matter what I do.
In the end, it's simple.
I was already defeated before the fight even began.
What exactly were all my efforts up until now?
If war breaks out, everything I've built will crumble with a crash.
The Demon race will be cornered once more.
Or perhaps my battle lies in what comes after the war ends.
Yes.
As long as I draw breath, I cannot allow the fate of the Demon race to be extinguished.
The sound of a cup shattering rang out.
I turned my gaze toward the Demon King, and saw that she had crushed the cup in her hand.
Her eyes were opening — wide.
"Has something happened?"
Had I committed some kind of blunder?
Thinking that, I suppressed my inner anxiety and asked.
The pupils within the Demon King's eyes darted about frantically.
One of them looked at me.
That alone was enough to make me feel a pressure as though my heart were being crushed.
"I have urgent business."
The Demon King said only that, and teleported away.
In that instant, the sweat I'd been holding back poured out like a waterfall.
What happened?
What could have occurred that would make her panic like that?
I immediately summoned my subordinates and ordered the security around us to be heightened.
I also had them gather information.
But there were no abnormalities in the surrounding area, and in the end, I was unable to obtain any intelligence that would warrant the Demon King's alarm.