Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 290: Puppet War (7)

Chapter 290: Puppet War (7)

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“What do you mean by guaranteeing my safety, you brat……!?”

Vassago muttered with clenched teeth.

In this expedition, Demon Lord Vassago was the least motivated among the Demon Lords. He was someone who was satisfied as long as he felt comfortable. He wouldn’t have participated in this war if Dantalian hadn’t guaranteed his safety afterward.

And yet, this went against what he was told.

“It’s Agares!”

“Agares is approaching!”

Shouts erupted from here and there throughout the army. The demons started to hastily withdraw. Even if a dozen, a hundred, or even a thousand common soldiers were to stick together, they wouldn’t be able to stop the approaching individual. The soldiers listened to the officers and left the trenches in an orderly manner.

There were only three people left. Vassago was one of them.

“It doesn’t matter if my safety is guaranteed after all this when I’m in danger right now—!”

This genuinely changes things. If he knew that he was going to have to face Agares, then he would’ve done whatever he could to not participate in this expedition.

“Oi, you won’t be in that much danger anyway. The harlot and I are the ones who’ll actually be fighting up close.”

“Covering us from behind is more than enough, Vassago. Hehe.”

The other two people, Beleth and Sitri, responded to Vassago’s anguished cry. The two Demon Lords were holding their respective ax and whip sword.

“You fools. Do you even know who we are facing?”

Vassago gnashed his teeth.

“It’s Agares. Agares the Slaughterer. There is no doubt that you two will fall before taking even thirty blows. I am next in line after you two are gone. How is that not dangerous!?”

“Yup. You’re right.”

Sitri smiled cooly.

“That’s why you should do your best to keep yourself from being in danger!”

“……Damned fool.”

This was why he hated meatheads. Words didn’t get through to them. The biggest joke was the fact that he had to fight with these ignorant fools.

Beleth spoke up apathetically.

“It’s great to have a light chat and all, but we should start making preparations now.”

“O Goddesses, please place a curse upon Dantalian!”

Vassago bit his thumb. Blood sprayed out as his teeth pierced through his flesh.

A sky-blue colored magic circle expanded with Vassago at the center. The magic circle expanded for about forty meters before suddenly coming to a stop.

Like a spider laying eggs, new magic circles appeared on the north, west, south, and east corners of the original magic circle. The intensity of the magic was so powerful that the flow of air around it became distorted. The wind turned into a gust as it swirled around the magic circles.

Beleth whistled. The raging wind was making his hair flutter.

The magic circle that was currently being cast was something that only Vassago could pull off. It was probably like this throughout all of history as well. No, how many people were there that could even create a single one of those small circles?

Vassago scattered his blood in the air. The handsome young man’s face, which was dyed in a blue light, was contorted greatly. Ex-Rank 3, the individual who was once referred to as the wisest Demon Lord shouted.

“—Hurry up and come out, you hungry servants.”

The words that came out of his mouth were rather crude for it to be called a magic chant, but the effect was still absolute.

The smaller magic circles on the four quadrants exploded with magic power. Arms and legs penetrated through the storm. The total number of beings that had stepped out was four.

A woman with red hair, the <Fire Spirit King>. A woman with blue hair, the <Water Spirit King>. A woman with green hair, the <Earth Spirit King>. A woman with white hair, the <Wind Spirit King>. Being able to summon even one of them would cause an uproar within human society, but four of them were summoned all at once.

– Dear me, how long has it been?

– What’s the occasion? The young miser called all of us at once. If my memory serves me right, the last time this happened was 2,455 years ago.

– How sad……it seems you’re already going senile. It hasn’t been 2,455 years. It’s been 2,454 years. To be more precise, it’s been 2,454 years, 67 days, 7 hours, and 48 minutes.

The blue-haired spirit king furrowed her brows.

– It must be nice having such a good memory. But did you know? You’re really annoying.

– Being jealous of the young is a privilege for the old. If you can call that a right, that is. Mhm. In that regard, I admit that you have that right.

– Oh dear. You two are really overflowing with vigor.

– …….

The spirit kings ignored their summoner as they chatted. Only the white-haired spirit king remained silent.

– In any case, your makeup is all sloppy. You should always be prepared to be summoned at any time and place. How could you let your faces get so oily?

– We don’t powder our brains like you, so we don’t need your advice.

– That’s right. You’ve been ugly since birth, so you have to rely on makeup, but I don’t need anything like that since I’m naturally beautiful.

The spirit kings glared at each other while smiling.

– Oh dear, the way the ugly speak is also dirty.

– Look who’s talking, you old maid.

– You want to fight?

– ……Everyone. Get along.

Vassago placed his hand against his forehead. He was already getting a headache. This was why he avoided summoning all four of them at the same time. This was a decision he had maintained for over 2,000 years, but it was none other than Dantalian who made him break his resolve.

Vassago muttered.

“……Get over here before I cancel the summon.”

The spirit kings stopped their idle chatter. They all turned to look at Vassago. Their gazes were so blunt that you wouldn’t think that they were looking at their summoner.

– Eeh. I don’t really care if you cancel the summon.

– He must be in quite a serious situation if you consider that he called us.

– How unpleasant. What’s with this unpleasant threat?

– ……Knowing your place. Is required.

“Damn it! If you don’t want to get your summons canceled and your contracts revoked, then get over here!”

Vassago gnashed his teeth as he shouted. Once he did, the spirit kings complained as they slowly approached.

– See? This guy doesn’t have any sense of camaraderie. It’s always contract this, contract that.

– Sheesh, this is why we can’t bond with him. The spiritualists in the past weren’t like this.

– What can we do? We have to do what our summoner tells us to do.

– ……Tyranny. Revolution, urgent.

The spirit kings got in a line. The annoyance on their faces was prominent. NEETs who were relaxing in their rooms because they didn’t want to work and were suddenly called out to a family reunion. This described them perfectly. The image they were portraying was a hundred thousand light-years away from what normal people would picture when they thought of spirit kings.

Sitri and Beleth were watching the scene unfold from the side. They whispered to each other astringently.

“……I always wondered why Vassago hated going to war.”

“……Same. I thought it was because he was a coward, but it seems he had his own set of problems.”

If the masses saw this, then Vassago’s dignity and prestige would probably plummet to the ground. Vassago knew this better than anyone else. He gave an order with the intent to end the battle as soon as possible.

“The enemy is Demon Lord Agares. There is only one thing you need to keep in mind. She is stronger than any of the dragonkin you’ve faced before. The one good thing would be the fact that she can’t use magic whatsoever. The bad thing, however, is the fact that she is stronger than any dragonkin despite not being able to use magic. In other words, she’s a monster.”

It was at that point that the spirit kings’ expressions became serious.

“We have two allies. The Demon Lords over there. Your jobs are to support them, cooperate with each other, and stall for as much time as possible. If possible, it would be great if you could defeat Agares, but consider that impossible for now.”

– Oh dear. You came out to fight knowing that you can’t win? What’s the occasion? Were you threatened by someone?

“Personal chatter is now forbidden.”

The spirit kings pouted as they glared at their summoner.

Nevertheless, Vassago was right in this regard. Beleth and Sitri were already wielding their weapons and ready to fight. There was blood lust emanating from across the field. That blood lust gradually approached before it eventually pressed down on the earth around them.

The sound of soldiers shouting could be heard in the distance. The metallic sound of spears colliding echoed.

However, the area around them was strangely quiet. The knights of Brittany didn’t turn their horses in their direction and a long time had already passed since their spearmen had withdrawn. The sound of a wolf approaching resonated within this inapparent space where even air itself seemed like it was holding its breath.

“Two faces were expected, but one is a surprise.”

Demon Lord Agares was seated on top of that large wolf.

“Vassago, I didn’t think that even you would stick to ‘that side’.”

“…….”

“Well, whatever. I can’t blame someone for following the crowd. But…….”

At that moment, a blaze of fire started to pour down without any warning. The flames being shot out by the Fire Spirit King instantly engulfed Agares. The crackling sound coming from the embers thundered loudly. However, after only three seconds, a gust of wind erupted from within the center of the fire, splitting the flames in half.

After the flames disappeared, a dark red aura replaced its place.

“But, only the weak follow the crowd.”

Agares grinned with her halberd in hand.

“Vassago. It doesn’t matter if the new strong person you discovered after Baal was Barbatos, Paimon, or Marbas. I will give you one chance to answer this question. —Are they stronger than me?”

“…….”

The attack just now was by no means an attack to test the water. That was the Fire Spirit King’s strongest attack. It was the perfect attack at the perfect moment, but Agares blocked it like blowing out a candle.

This Agares was the one asking him this. She was implying that if he was uncertain about his side, then she would still forgive him if he switched over now.

The corners of Vassago’s mouth twisted.

“……Agares, let me ask you a question as well. Are you stronger than Baal?”

“Hm? Maybe? I wonder what would happen?”

Agares raised a brow.

“It depends on the situation, but if we aren’t fighting with only our bodies, then I’d probably lose. I  probably have a forty percent chance of winning. Why are you asking?”

Vassago nodded.

“This side killed Baal. This should be a good enough answer for you.”

“……Hm. That’s unfortunate.”

Agares pointed the end of her halberd at the Demon Lords. No more questions were exchanged.

Beleth and Sitri let out a shout as they charged at Agares from both her flanks. Agares spun her halberd and blocked the two Demon Lords’ ax and sword at the same time. After blocking the coordinated attack, Agares hopped off of her horse and ran at Sitri.

Sitri’s whip sword wasn’t a normal weapon. It could extend freely and curve however it wanted, allowing for attacks from unexpected directions. It was an annoying weapon to go against. Therefore, Agares chose to attack Sitri first before Beleth.

Sitri clenched her jaw. They had missed their timing. She didn’t expect their coordinated attack to be repelled so effortlessly. Agares scoffed at Sitri’s expression and swung her halberd, but—.

“—Hm?”

The halberd swung through the air and missed Sitri’s face by a hair’s breadth. Agares looked down to see tree roots wrapped around her ankle.

She put a little strength in her legs and the roots fell off powerlessly, but that was long enough for Sitri to widen the gap between them. Before Agares knew it, Sitri and Beleth had her surrounded again. Beyond them, the Earth Spirit King next to Vassago was smirking.

“I see. So this is how you’re going to play?”

The spirit kings were going to intervene while she exchanged blows with Beleth and Sitri. Agares laughed once she figured out the other side’s strategy.

“I just realized……be it dragons, demons, humans, and the beast race, I’ve at least killed one of everything, but I’ve never cut down a spirit king before. How strange.”

Agares adjusted her grip on her halberd.

“Let’s find out if spirit kings also scream when they die.”

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I’m so damn tired. I had to go through a family dinner with celebrities on Friday and the big wedding was yesterday. It was so exhausting. The wedding itself was pretty fun, but before and after it was suffering. My mom and brother got the whole spa+makeup treatment, but I didn’t receive anything, so I was just grimey all day. I was wearing a full suit and it was annoyingly hot. I was also standing for like 4 hours just waiting for things to happen. I don’t even want to imagine how I probably appeared on the cameras. My hair was a constant mess. I also got interviewed at the end which was horrid. I can’t speak Korean confidently and my words sort of trail off at the end of my sentences. Uuuugh… The venue was also 2 hours from my place and the interview ended at 9pm.

I just want to scream. This episode is probably coming out in several weeks. Maybe even a month. I swear to God if my friends from like middle school and high school recognize me and try to contact me…

Okay, rant aside, I’ll see you guys in the next chapter. Maybe I should just take a day off to fully cool down…