The Demon King Overrun by Heroes Novel - Chapter 110

Chapter 110
## Chapter 110: Black Magician

The reigning sovereign’s approach to inheritance was barbaric to its core.

As long as the truth remained buried.

As long as the public stayed blind.

Any tactic was permissible in the pursuit of becoming the crown prince. Ultimately, that was the very path he had carved to seize the throne himself.

The court consisted of three empresses and six concubines.

From these unions, eleven princes and eighteen princesses had been sired.

Among these twenty-nine royal descendants, only four were considered genuine contenders for the crown.

The eldest prince and the eldest princess, born of the first empress.

The second prince, born of the second empress.

And the third prince, born of the third empress.

The concubines lacked the fundamental status to challenge the empresses’ dominance, meaning their children inevitably aligned themselves with the empresses’ heirs based on personal gain.

The eighth prince had been one of the few high-ranking royals to side with the third prince.

His passing signaled that the true, bloody contest for the imperial seat had officially commenced.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“So your instruction is for me to seek out the third prince and establish a connection?”

“Precisely.”

“That is a poor strategic choice.”

“In comparison to the first prince, the second prince, or the first princess, the third prince possesses the weakest support. If I show him favor and earn the enmity of the others, I put myself in an impossible position.”

“Furthermore, the empire would react poorly to an Argon from the Hero Guild meddling in internal palace politics.”

“If you were truly thinking like the Demon King, I suspect you would have directed me toward the first or second prince—the probabilities of success are higher there. Why the third prince specifically? Is this because of the ninth princess?”

Hillun Kagil posed the questions and then deduced the answers himself, reaching the conclusion through his own logic. Dealing with intelligent individuals always made communication seamless.

“And if it is?”

“I am merely a hero, so it is perhaps out of place for me to say… but please, behave like the Demon King.”

Behave like the Demon King.

It was a phrase he never expected to hear from a hero credited with the downfall of two Demon Kings.

Yet, the sentiment was accurate. Berge had no legitimate reason to fulfill Kaede’s plea. It was a reckless path fueled entirely by emotion.

Should the plan fail, the utility of his pawn—Hillun Kagil—would plummet. Regardless of his status as a legendary hero, making an enemy of the empire would alter his destiny.

And if the empire uncovered Berge’s shadow behind these events?

That would mean total conflict. The imperial legions would reduce the Erjest Mountains to ash in their pursuit of him.

“This goes beyond just Kaede.”

“Wait… are you actually contemplating placing the third prince on the throne?”

“If it can be done.”

“It is a fantasy.”

Hillun’s rejection was blunt.

“The emperor is remaining detached. In the end, a candidate needs the backing of the great houses, and the Eincheil marquisate—though once a pillar of the empire—has been fading into obscurity for generations.”

“Their clout has evaporated. They do not possess the weight required to crown the third prince.”

“What if you provided the necessary weight?”

“A mistake. The empire would never tolerate the Hero Guild’s interference. The emperor himself would likely move to crush such a development.”

“The only benefit is that the other royals might hesitate to strike the third prince directly. They have no reason to invite a confrontation with me.”

That was the pragmatic ceiling Kaede had hoped for.

But Berge was looking beyond that.

The second Kaede had mentioned the imperial line of succession.

The second he resolved to step in.

The dormant coals of his past self began to glow.

The hubris of the Demon King from his previous life—a being of absolute arrogance—flared up.

The deep-seated resentment toward his own past death at the hands of a mere human empire, a lingering dread he had kept hidden, acted as accelerant.

If he was going to stir the pot anyway to find Jason’s imperial connections…

Shouldn’t he aim for the total subversion of the empire?

“The eighth prince is dead, meaning the wolves are moving. The third prince is a dead man walking.”

“The third prince can survive. Your concern should be focused on the aftermath.”

“What does that imply?”

“An unpredictable factor is about to surface. A crisis that will leave the rivals too occupied to spare a thought for the third prince.”

“You haven’t already set something in motion, have you…?”

“No, this is merely the inevitable progression of history.”

An event that had unfolded in the timeline before his regression.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

It was a truth he had revisited until it was weary, but the Berge of the previous life had been drowning in conceit.

He held no concern for human trivialities. He acted on whim and impulse, seeing no need for strategy.

However, the abduction of the Jespain Empire’s heir had shifted the scales.

As if to mock his previous ease, a relentless tide of heroes and imperial soldiers had descended upon him.

The tower began to crumble under the pressure, and Berge’s fury grew. He desired to march into the heart of the empire and burn it to the ground, but he was stretched thin defending his home, and as the master of the final floor, he was bound by his position.

He had turned to espionage instead.

To dismantle the human structure from within, he needed to comprehend it.

He expended vast quantities of magi to summon demons and monsters, casting them into the empire’s territories.

In retrospect, it was a clumsy, primitive strategy.

Hordes of his minions were obliterated, only worsening the tower’s state. Paradoxically, the magi supply remained stable because the humans’ enraged counter-offensives provided a constant source of energy.

Though his monsters perished in droves, he had gained something: a map of the empire’s internal strife, its rivals, its nobility, and the inner workings of the Jespain Empire.

Berge was certain. In this realm of Aren, there was no nation he understood more intimately than the Jespain Empire.

That was why he had initially tried to avoid it—but circumstances had shifted.

‘There is Kaede Jespain.’

Whether he could truly link himself to the third prince through her was uncertain, but she was a direct gateway into the imperial heart.

And Hillun Kagil was aware of the storm approaching the empire.

‘Utilizing those events to consume the empire’s future…’

Was it genuinely out of reach?

Granted, the timeline had drifted significantly.

Berge had populated the tower with elves and heroes rather than mindless beasts. Drakson was already out of the picture. Reina had no ties to Jason.

Most importantly, Berge wasn’t desperate for a specific outcome.

Success was preferable, but he wouldn’t gamble everything on a low-odds bet.

The mere act of interference would destabilize the empire, ensuring it wouldn’t be the same juggernaut he remembered.

Eroding his greatest enemy was a victory in itself.

The enemy of one’s enemy is a tool, but watching them destroy each other is the ultimate prize.

‘The conflict that would have narrowed down to the first and second princes…’

What if he forced a third contender into the ring?

Even better, what if he ignited a civil war that turned the entire nation into a pyre?

‘The mere thought of it…’

Was intoxicating.

“Take this.”

Kaede presented a necklace to him.

“It was a gift from my mother. Only my brother and I possess one like it, so it serves as the most undeniable proof of my identity.”

“Understood.”

“But if you arrive with this, won’t it only heighten his wariness?”

“You are in no position to go yourself.”

“…That is true.”

Her desire to return was evident, but she understood her constraints.

“Is it necessary for you to go personally? Could you not simply instruct Hero Hillun and…”

“Rest easy. I will oversee this.”

“…What are you plotting?”

Kaede whispered, her voice laced with concern.

“Do not worry. Regardless of the cost, I will ensure your brother’s safety.”

“…That statement actually makes me feel more uneasy.”

“Does it?”

Berge gave a casual shrug.

It wasn’t his concern.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

The empire was currently standing on a precipice.

If one desired to sow chaos, this was the hour. If one wanted to break the system, this was the window.

In a few years, the eldest prince would have purged his siblings and unified the empire into a terrifying force.

“Even so, showing up at the Hero Guild headquarters… You are truly a piece of work, Pale.”

Hillun sighed as he met him.

“Shall we go inside?”

“I have no interest in entering a place that reeks of those arrogant fools.”

“Well, at least you arrived without a fight.”

“I am still technically outside.”

“The guild is looking into you, Pale.”

“Let them look.”

If they could find anything regarding his fabricated identity as Pale, they were welcome to try.

“So, what narrative did you use to make your exit?”

“You may be unaware, but Argons are required to visit five major continental branches every half-year.”

“Hasn’t the empire seen enough of you already?”

The northern wastes were the domain of the Demon King, and the nearby lands of the Chernian frontier lord naturally hosted a guild outpost.

“The empire is massive. The trek from the capital to Chernian is as long as crossing an entire kingdom.”

“And your retinue?”

“Standard procedure requires guards, but I am not exactly a standard Argon, am I?”

That was the luxury afforded to a man who had killed two Demon Kings.

Who would be foolish enough to threaten Hillun?

“The eyes on us are irritating.”

“You are a person of great interest.”

“Not my problem.”

The pair quickly moved beyond the city limits.

“But seriously, the third prince?”

“Yes.”

“This is ill-advised. If this fails…”

“Regardless of the prince, your standing in the empire will be destroyed.”

“You realize that and still push forward?”

“The first and second princes are already powerful. They have no use for you.”

“Then the logical choice is to stay out of it entirely.”

“If you succeed, you become the power behind the throne.”

“And if I fail, I lose my life.”

“You won’t die. At worst, you’ll be forced into a degrading pact with the winner.”

“…So there is no swaying you.”

“Does my presence here not answer that?”

“Fine. What is this ‘event’ you mentioned?”

“The empire is vast. It claims many territories it does not truly control. The snowfields are the obvious example.”

“True.”

“Currently, people focus on the Demon King, but historically, many Demon Kings established their towers within imperial borders. They were eventually brought down after immense bloodshed.”

“That is common knowledge.”

“No, you lack the specifics. Over the last millennium, eleven towers have risen and fallen here. Five of them were built on the exact same coordinates.”

“Hampstrine Gorge.”

“You know the place. Why do you think they chose it?”

“High mana density?”

“Exactly.”

Hampstrine Gorge was crawling with monsters, but it wasn’t a wasteland like Erjest.

The ambient mana there was unnaturally thick. No human ignores a mana-rich site. Neither does a Demon King.

More mana meant more magi for a tower to harvest.

It was no accident five Demon Kings picked Hampstrine Gorge as their final stand.

“When a Demon King falls, the tower vanishes. Left alone, the monsters and demons lose their source of power and weaken. They are eventually cleared out.”

However.

“Magi does not simply evaporate.”

“It doesn’t?”

“Magi is fundamentally different from the mana of Aren. It doesn’t dissipate or blend. It fragments and lingers.”

The repetition of five separate towers in one spot had created a statistical miracle.

“Are you saying…”

“The depths of Hampstrine Gorge are saturated with the accumulated magi of five Demon Kings.”

“And we are going to seize it? How does that create a crisis for the empire…?”

“Be quiet and listen. It will.”

Hillun went silent at Berge’s sharp tone.

“I wasn’t aware of this in the past.”

Likely no one was. Usually, magi scatters across the world when a master dies. This was a unique phenomenon.

In his first life, Berge discovered it too late.

In this life, even with the knowledge, he couldn’t just take it.

It was imperial soil, and erecting a tower there was too high a risk.

Eventually, he had pushed the thought aside.

“I also didn’t know an arrogant human was dwelling there, consuming that magi.”

“…A human?”

Hillun looked stunned.

“A person is there?”

“Yes. A black magician who has grown powerful by feeding on that residue.”

A unique individual who could wield magi without a demonic contract.

People believed Ravina Akan was the foremost human expert on magi, but this person was likely on a similar level.

“Normally, he would surface much later, but I intend to force his hand early.”

“Even so, he is just one man.”

“And if he is a necromancer?”

And.

“What if he is transforming every monster in that gorge into an undead servant, one by one, constructing a private legion?”

“Good gods.”

“Under normal circumstances, they would hire the Hero Guild to clean it up. But the emperor will take a different path. He will command the royal heirs to settle the matter.”

It will be an evaluation.

A test to see who is fit to wear the crown.

The capable will rise; the weak will be abandoned.

“I am going to turn that test into a slaughter.”

Berge smiled, a dark and predatory expression.

End