Dungeon Defense

―The sky above was perpetually dyed in ashen gray.

"……."

The girl blinked her eyes.

The acrid smell of smoke lingered at the tip of her nose. She could faintly detect the scent of blood, too. It seemed she had fallen asleep on the battlefield again, she reasoned with herself. Something sticky clung to her cheek, compelling her to reach up and touch it. Her fingers brushed against a dark, crimson scab, the dried blood rough beneath her palm.

"Hey."

A deep, heavy voice called out. As she turned her head toward the direction of the sound, a damp cloth struck her face. She grabbed the cloth and stared blankly at the person before her.

"You were sleeping like the dead. I cannot tell if you are brave or just empty-headed. What are you going to do if you got your throat slit by a stray soldier?"

"I'm not dead, now am I?"

The girl wiped her face with the damp cloth. How much blood had splattered across her face? The gray cloth quickly turned red. It was hard for her to guess how much of that blood had come from her own body.

"Isn't that enough?"

"It was too close for comfort; I could not just stand by and watch."

"You're meddling too much. That's not very fitting for a Demon Lord."

The girl smiled dryly.

She looked around. Now that she had wiped her face with the cloth, she could see a little better. She was on an endlessly vast plain. A barren land stretched to the horizon without a single blade of grass in sight. The girl suddenly recalled what the mages once told her. Such wastelands are formed when magic is rapidly depleted.

But it wasn't just the land covered in red sand that caught her eye. Corpses. Countless corpses were strewn across the ground, the soldiers who had died in last night's battle.

"I haven't been a Demon Lord for very long, you see."

"How old are you?"

"Well, I lost count somewhere along the way……. I guess I'm over ninety."

"So you're still just a brat."

The girl chuckled.

She didn't really intend to insult her companion. It was just that the other person looked incredibly old. Grey hair. A face deeply lined with wrinkles. If it was just based on appearances, he seemed like he would be considered the oldest among all the Demon Lords. Yet, in reality, he was one of the youngest.

"……."

"Sorry. Don't glare at me like that. I can't help but find it funny that I'm two hundred years older than you. Anyway, what was your name again?"

The girl scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

"I'm terrible at remembering names."

"You said the same thing yesterday and the day before that. It has already been a week, has it not? Consider how I feel having to introduce myself dozens of times."

"I said I'm sorry."

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With a grunt, the girl stood up. Her whole body felt stiff, like old hinges creaking at every joint. She twisted her waist back and forth, stretching her body.

"But it's not my fault. Even if I try to remember names, they all end up dead. Especially with new Demon Lords like you, their heads get sliced off so easily. How many Demon Lords died yesterday?"

"From what I know, three of them fell in battle."

"See? Over twenty Demon Lords have dropped just this week alone. How am I supposed to remember all of them?"

Demon Lords and the Dragonkin.

The battle between rulers who could never coexist was reaching its final stage.

The Demon Lords proclaimed themselves the true rulers of demonkind. Meanwhile, the dragons, who could fiercely challenge the Demon Lords' dominance, resisted. It didn't take long for these two forces to plunge into a great war where blood washed blood.

This wasn't an ordinary war. Both the Demon Lords and the Dragonkin claimed to be the noblest beings in this world. It was a war of annihilation, where neither side could retreat until one was completely destroyed. In this unyielding conflict, those who couldn't afford to back down took up arms.

The girl raised her fingers and began counting them one by one.

"Let's see. Old man Mammon got torn limb from limb, old lady Beelzebub got roasted to a crisp, Belphegor got all his skin peeled off, and Baal is nearly dead and preparing to die in the back. Look, even the so-called greatest of them all got wiped out. Even if I did remember your name, do you think I'll have to for more than half a month?"

"I will not die."

The old Demon Lord remarked in an irritated tone.

"At least I will die later than someone like you who's desperately trying to die. I swear, even if I do die, I will not die before you."

"What a funny guy."

The girl scowled.

"Fine. I'll really remember it this time. What's your name?"

"Zepar."

The man glared right at the girl.

"It is Zepar. Never forget it, brat."

"Who's calling who 'brat'? You're a runt who hasn't even lived a hundred years."

The girl stuffed the towel into her pocket, intending to wash it and return it later.

The man hadn't said anything, but the girl knew well enough. When she had collapsed in exhaustion, he had stayed nearby, keeping watch to ensure nothing happened to her. He had even prepared a damp towel just to hand it to her.

He'll most likely die, the girl thought to herself.

This wasn't a war where a clueless young Demon Lord could survive. They had succeeded in killing most of the dragonkin, but the Demon Lord's Army had suffered terribly. Now, they had to march on to defeat their final adversary, the strongest Dragon Lord.

In all likelihood—no, without a doubt—the man would die there.

That was why she had deliberately chosen not to remember names. She hadn't even given her own. In a battlefield where death was inevitable, acknowledging each other would only make things more painful later on.

But after being helped so much, refusing to even exchange names was difficult……. The girl smiled bitterly and spoke.

"Barbatos. Let's try not to die today, either."

"Barbatos."

The man slowly repeated the name, as if trying to commit it to memory.

"I want to ask you one thing."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Hundreds of thousands of demons are dying in this war. Considering the damage across the entire demon world, it's truly staggering. Is it really necessary to wage a war that inflicts such losses?"

The girl furrowed her brow.

"What's this? I thought you were just the quiet type, but it turns out you're a philosopher tormented by pointless worries."

"I am asking seriously. Surely, you did not choose to become a Demon Lord. One day, you just woke up and found yourself born into it. So, where do we get the right to drive hundreds of thousands to their deaths?"

The man stared intently into the girl's eyes.

The girl was one of the relatively younger Demon Lords. However, in war, she displayed an overwhelming talent. When she swung her two-handed sword and charged forward, the soldiers were emboldened and rushed fearlessly toward the massive dragonkin. They were unafraid of death.

In short, there was something about the girl that compelled others to follow her, even at the cost of their lives.

The man thought to himself. Perhaps the girl could answer his question. If she was the one soldiers willingly sacrificed themselves for, she might be able to explain what meaning lay behind those deaths…….

"It's a simple matter."

The girl shrugged her shoulders.

"A world ruled by Demon Lords or a world ruled by dragonkin. If you think about which one would make the demons happier, the answer comes naturally, doesn't it?"

"Happiness……?"

"Yeah. We Demon Lords can read the minds of demons to some extent. At least enough to know whether they're lying or not. If we were the judges, there would be no one punished for crimes they didn't commit, nor would anyone go unpunished for crimes they did commit."

The girl smiled softly.

"Do you understand? A world where there are no wronged people."

"……."

"It isn't much, yet even that isn't being achieved in this world right now."

The girl stretched her hand toward the sky and clenched her fist tightly as if trying to grasp something.

"Until there isn't a single life that dies unfairly or unhappily in this world, I will keep fighting. I want a world where everything is clear, where those who commit crimes are punished, and those who are innocent do not suffer."

That ideal is something only we can achieve, the girl stated.

"Of course, many people will die before we reach that point. I have no way to take responsibility for those lives. So—at the very least, I've sworn to lead from the front."

That's why, on the battlefield, the girl always charged ahead before anyone else.

She never hid behind anyone, even as a Demon Lord. She didn't force sacrifices upon her soldiers. She always stood at the front lines, leading her troops. The demons were captivated by the sight of her, inspired by her genuine actions, and followed her.

And in the final battle, the girl remained true to her convictions.

When the entire Demon Lord Army froze in fear at the sight of the colossal dragon with wings that could cover the sky, when the dragon's roar shook the earth, and a hundred thousand soldiers trembled in terror—at that very moment, without hesitation, without even a trace of doubt, someone stepped forward.

The girl, with her white hair flowing, swung a two-handed sword twice her size toward the dragon that was a thousand times larger than her. The strike undoubtedly tore through the dragon's scales which were harder than steel.

With every step forward, the girl bled.

But by the time she took another step, tens of thousands of voices surged behind her, roaring in pursuit.

The battle raged on for three days and nights.

Even when everyone else collapsed in exhaustion, the girl alone did not bend her knees. When despair took hold and the soldiers stared blankly ahead, convinced of their inevitable defeat, it was there that the girl relentlessly launched her strikes, keeping the colossal dragon's gaze fixed on her.

At some point, the girl most likely fought the dragon alone. Whether others were around or not, she continued to take step after step forward.

If legends were to ever manifest in reality, that moment surely was one where myth came to life.

A small girl, relying solely on her sword, was single-handedly slaying a dragon.

It seemed as if she would be engulfed by the dragon's flames at any moment and vanish, but she narrowly evaded the fire each time. It seemed as though the dragon's foot would crush her, but she dodged with just enough space. And, even though her strikes seemed as if they would cease at any moment, they never faltered.

Someone muttered.

Immortal

—The Immortal Barbatos.

In the end, the one who delivered the final blow to the last Dragon Lord was also the girl. Out of an army of one hundred thousand, eighty thousand soldiers had perished, and forty Demon Lords had fallen in battle. The war, which had started with the girl's steps, ended with her sword.

"……."

As soon as she delivered the fatal strike to the dragon, the girl collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

The man rushed over to catch her, genuinely believing the girl had finally died. For the past three days, she had fought a battle where death could have taken her at any moment. Yet, in the man's arms, the girl let out a small, faint laugh.

"We're both a mess."

"……Indeed. We truly are."

The man laughed in disbelief.

"I really thought I was going to die this time. How was it? Wasn't I a little cool?"

"It is sad that I cannot deny it."

At that moment, the man found the answer to his question. He realized that protecting this girl and safeguarding the path she would continue to walk was the very reason he had been born as a Demon Lord.

"You were so cool that I have fallen for you. Marry me."

"What's this old man saying?'

The girl closed her eyes and faintly whispered.

"Grow a cool beard first. Then maybe I'll consider it."

And so, the great battle came to an end.

An old memory.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I think my busy schedule has finally relaxed. I was actually able to spend like an hour at work just translating DD. It feels nice to be able to breathe again. But who knows what else I have in store for me later this month since we usually get huge projects at the end of the year… Enjoy this reprieve I guess.

Oh I also finally upgraded my PC last week. It was long overdue and playing the Monster Hunter Wilds beta really made me realize I needed an upgrade. I may be distracted trying out games with my upgraded specs… I'll try to control myself to at least translate when I can :^)

In any case, see you guys in the next chapter.