Chapter 16 – Hidler Appears
This was the castle of the Demon King Army; a citadel in a small country. Although even if it was called a 'country', it was merely the size of a small city, and was an insular nation isolated from its neighbours. A few weeks earlier, the Demon King Army had invaded here, and it became the headquarters of the Demon King Army.
Hidler sat down heavily upon the throne in this castle, and overlooked the surroundings with a glare. Lined up before him were the demons who had survived the life-and-death struggle of the earlier great battle.
"Hidler-sama, I cannot agree with your decision to suspend the human clean-up!"
"I feel the same. We of the Demon King Army have waited earlier for this very moment, you know!"
"Indeed. Why have we been recalled from the Royal Capital Extermination? My subordinates are now desperately eager to drink the blood of humans and devour their flesh."
The demons whose duty was to exterminate the humans were now kicking up a fuss. The battle instincts of the demon race was tremendous. It seems that there was quite a lot of resentment from being forced to hold back.
"You lot, this is disrespect to Viceroy Hidler!"
The one who roared at the noisy demons was the Chief of the Demon King Army Intelligence Division, Yose. Although he was a small man, he was the brains of the Demon King Army, and the power of his intelligence analysis was critical to the army.
"It's fine, Yose."
"H-, However…"
"It is fine."
"Yessir!"
Hidler stood up from the throne, and gave a sweeping glare over the clamouring demons. The pressure was extraordinary, and the people around all curled themselves up to a degree incomparable to when they had received Yose's roar.
"You are all aware of Camilla's betrayal, are you not. Settling that issue takes precedence over the humans."
"Ehh! Camilla-chan betrayed the Demon King Army? Betraying Zolg-sama? What an idiot. Let's kill her♪"
The one who made a slitting motion at her neck was the recently awakened demon, Luxembourg. She was one of the Six Demon Generals, and a demonic beastman. She had an appearance like a cat, had four flexible limbs, and had a red eye like burning fire, and a blue eye like ice. Unlike her lovely appearance, she was the host to a brutal and wicked personality.
"To think that Camilla-dono, who had both wisdom and talent, as well as deep loyalty would…"
The one who was lost for words was the recently awakened demon, Poe. In pure strength, Poe was foremost amongst the Six Demon Generals. His entire body was clad with tough scales, of a hardness that dragons couldn't compare to. He had the nature of a military man, but was a demonic dragonoid who would become ferocious in battle.
"No matter what, betrayal is unforgivable! Why are you leaving a traitor as is, Viceroy!"
With brutal emotions clear in his eyes, the Demon General Garm howled. He was a demon that controlled a vicious dragon, and fought together with it.
"Your questions are all very natural ones. Were it only Camilla, I would have handed down punishment myself. The problem is the one that Camilla has sworn new allegiance to, the Evil God."
"Viceroy, what type of being is this Evil God?"
"Evil God Dark Matter. Their strength may rival Demon King Zorg-sama."
"I-, It can't be! That kind of being…"
A commotion spread through the demons. That was natural. Zorg-sama held so tremendous a power that no other could compare. Hidler himself had believed that nobody could be powerful enough to rival him.
But that day, that Evil God had withstood a knifehand from Camilla, and easily defeated Iron Wall Nielsen.
What where they?
Hidler had secretly used mana detection on the Evil God. He had expected mana that was at the very least above the Six Demon Generals, roughly on par with himself but…
That prediction of his weakly crumbled away. Their mana seemed bottomless. Hidler himself couldn't stop his cold sweat. When it came to that Evil God, even if the whole army attacked at once, it would be meaningless; they would probably just be killed. Now convinced of this, he decided to withdraw while the Evil God was preoccupied with Camilla.
Indeed. Although he felt bad, he decided to use Camilla as a sacrifice. For the sake of Zorg-sama's revival, he couldn't allow the Demon King Army to be annihilated. He believed that Camilla's betrayal was also because she was abandoned by the Demon King Army.
However, when Hidler was retreating, he ordered Yose to stay there and solely gather intelligence. Because of that, he knew about how the intruder girl was the Evil God, and about Camilla's defeat.
"It is unbelievable, but it is the truth. Because of that, I have decided that we will avoid fighting both the human forces and the Evil God Army at once, and prioritise intelligence collection first."
"So that's how it was. And so, what intelligence on the Evil God were we able to obtain?"
"Yose, explain the state of the scouting unit."
"W-, Well――the Evil God Army was on guard, and our scouting unit was annihilated."
Yose was deeply ashamed as large amounts of sweat ran down his forehead. The scouting unit had followed Yose's command. Being annihilated was an unbelievable disgrace. It was natural that even the calm-headed Yose was panicked.
"Annihilated! You, hasn't your skill gotten dull after reawakening?"
"Enough, Luxembourg. So Yose, what happened?"
Demon General Poe had stopped the angered Luxembourg and continued the conversation. Yose, whose commands he had followed fanatically in the last Great War, had suffered a failure. It meant that the Evil God Army was just that formidable.
"Y-, Yes. The final report from the unit stated that they were observing the Evil God stronghold, and had been encircling it, but they were discovered by their household guard, led by Nielsen, and were completely destroyed."
"Iron Wall Nielsen, huh. How cunning. Viceroy, we aren't just going to sit quietly after this, right? I can't stand it!"
Demon General Garm yelled angrily with a frenzied look. Garm's disposition was intense. It seems that hearing that his own forces were defeated made him unable to stand it.
"Garm! I forbid you to attack. Making a move now would only reduce our forces."
"But is it fine being looked down on by the enemy like this!?"
"Garm-sama, it is as the Viceroy says. Kira-sama also shook off Viceroy Hidler's restraints, and meaninglessly lost his life."
"That Kira died?"
"Yes. Kira-sama ignored the Viceroy's warnings, completely fell for the Nielsen Unit's provocations, and tragically lost his life."
"Hah! Looks like re-awakening did nothing to help his simple-mindedness huh. So then his Kira Unit was annihilated as well."
"It is as you say. After losing Kira-sama, the members of the unit fell into a panic, and without acting together as an organisation, they were individually crushed by the Nielsen Unit."
"And because of that you're telling us to gather intelligence!? I can't agree. And that Evil God? There's no way they have power that compares to Zorg-sama. Viceroy, sorry but I'll be doing as I please."
Garm opened the door and left. Shining bloodlust was being released from but, and it was likely that he would now head on to attack the Evil God Army.
"Wait! This is the Viceroy's order, you know!"
"That's enough. If saying it won't get through to him, then he probably won't understand unless he feels it himself."
"Understood. Then, what is the strategy for our next move?"
"Yose, you will continue to gather intelligence. This time, choose the best to bring with you."
"Yessir."
"Then what about us?"
"Luxembourg, you, Poe and the others are to come with me. There is something we must do."
"What do you mean by that?"
"We will unseal the Demonic Evil Three."
"Wha-!? V-, Viceroy, are you sane!? They're so lawless that Zorg-sama sealed them himself, you know!"
Yose's expression changed, and he advised Hidler. As the Chief of the Intelligence Division, and the strategist of the Demon King Army, it was something that he ought to oppose.
"This one is also opposed. Although we all belong to the Demon King Army, their way of thinking is completely different to ours!"
Demon General Poe also vehemently objected. Poe who always took care of his surroundings and would absolutely obey an order from above was now voicing his objections. You could infer from this just how lawless the Demonic Evil Three were.
"I am aware. I also find their disrespect towards Zolg-sama repulsive. However, their combat strength is on another level. There is nobody who can oppose the Evil God but them."
"…If you go to say that much, then I understand. We will also help to undo the seal."
The Demonic Evil Three; their battle strength was immeasurable. Without them knowing, the siege of the Evil God Army was on its way.