The Demon King Overrun by Heroes Novel - Chapter 142

Chapter 142
## Chapter 142: A Scheme by Roger?

“At last.”

The time had come.

Ernyan Hilderan was now securely back with the Hilderan strike team.

Berge wasn’t certain if the Third Prince was successfully executing his part of the plan, but so far, there were no reports of the Empire mobilizing a hero’s crusade.

Whether this was truly peace or merely the deceptive silence before a gale, it provided a window of opportunity.

That narrow window was the final lifeline for Berge.

“Are the schematics finished?”

“To cross the jagged peaks of the Erjest Mountains, standard bipedal legs or tank-like treads won’t suffice. I’ve developed an eight-legged design, modeled after a spider, capable of traversing any terrain—even vertical precipices!”

Initially, Roger had been hesitant, but once he saw the structural potential, his engineer’s obsession took over.

If he was going to build this thing, it had to be superior, more durable, and flawless.

It was the culmination of countless sleepless nights spent in intense collaboration with the golem smiths.

“Each limb will span 22 meters. When bent for travel, the operational height will sit at roughly 10 meters.”

“To ensure natural articulation, we’re looking at 211 separate joints per leg, powered by 315 intricate magic circuits…”

“As for the projected resource list…”

The sheer volume of materials Roger rattled off was staggering.

The one relief was that since they were essentially turning a tower into a walking golem, it didn’t strictly require a core.

The core served as a golem’s heart; without demonic energy to power it, they couldn’t have forged one even with the right materials.

Furthermore, no one within the Bervelt Kingdom currently possessed the specialized knowledge to energize a golem of such massive proportions.

“What’s the timeline?”

“The blueprints are still in development, so I can’t give a perfect estimate.”

“Give me a number.”

“This is the absolute peak of modern magitech—a project never before conceived, let alone executed. Because the mechanisms are so precise, we need a vast workforce of elite smiths. The duration depends entirely on the caliber and quantity of the hands we have…”

“So the speed of construction depends on my actions. Is that it?”

“…Haha, well, put simply, yes.”

“Understood.”

“Haha…”

“Gordon.”

“I have already opened negotiations with the Golden Moon Merchant Guild. However, it presents a challenge.”

“Explain.”

“Recruiting masters for the tower means revealing your identity, my lord, and our location. We can’t exactly release them back to the mainland once the work is done. Finding high-level artisans without social ties that would cause an uproar if they vanished is rare.”

“Then we’ll just have to give them an uproar to talk about.”

“Sir?”

“I’m going to abduct some dwarves.”

The tower was a higher priority than protecting the Golden Moon Merchant Guild’s secrecy, though he’d prefer to keep the guild intact if possible.

It would be more believable for a crazed Demon King to go on a kidnapping spree than for several master smiths to vanish without a trace after being hired by a merchant group.

“…The Bervelt Kingdom will not take that lying down.”

Berge was aware of that. He’d prefer to remain undetected, but if the truth came out, the kingdom would be in an uproar. If they called for a crusade against the Flame-Hating Demon King, every nation would soon be armed with dwarf-forged steel.

Provoking the dwarf kingdom was a suicidal move.

At least, for someone who had something left to lose.

“The situation can’t get much worse. It’s the difference between a swift execution and being drawn and quartered. What does it matter to a man already on the gallows?”

“Are you truly prepared to fall?”

“It’s a metaphor. One more enemy won’t change our fate once this machine is operational.”

“That is fair. If we fail to build the legs, we’re finished regardless of whether Bervelt joins the hunt.”

“Time is our greatest enemy. The Empire could arrive any day. It’s better to seize the most talented dwarves we can find immediately.”

“I see the logic.”

“It’s a bitter pill, though.”

Even if they were outmatched by the Empire, it felt wrong for a Demon King to simply retreat like this…

“We will settle this score one day.”

“Of course. For now, we have two primary needs.”

The massive amount of materials and the specialists to assemble them.

The materials were manageable via subspatial storage; he could make multiple trips if necessary.

The artisans were the real problem.

Kidnapping them was the easy part. Roger had provided maps of his hidden tunnels, and with Berge’s ability to mask demonic traces, infiltration was simple. The difficulty lay in transporting hundreds of people without being spotted.

A crowd of that size would be impossible to hide, and living creatures could not survive the airless, four-dimensional void of subspatial storage.

“That’s the hurdle.”

“Hmm?”

“I think there’s a workaround.”

“A workaround?”

“I heard a theory from Sharloto. If you use magic to flash-freeze a person, pausing their biological functions and isolating them from external energy flows, they might survive the void. It requires an incredible amount of mana, though.”

“Cryostasis to survive the storage dimension?”

“That’s Sharloto’s theory. But the seal has to be perfect to block out inter-dimensional interference.”

“Can Sharloto do it?”

“Briefly… but…”

“Not long enough?”

“Exactly.”

“Then…”

Gordon wouldn’t have brought it up if it were a dead end.

He had a strategy. Or rather, he had a contact that Berge could leverage.

There was one option.

The only Demon King who could be considered an ally: the ruler of the frost demons, famous for preserving royalty in blocks of ice.

“I need to see Reina.”

He also still needed to talk to her about the favor Ugar requested. He wondered what she would demand in return.

—

“I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure.”

Reina Sordain had granted the audience without a moment’s delay.

Inside the Demon King’s private study, sitting across from him, she spoke her mind immediately.

The scent of sweet cherries hung in the air.

She always seemed to have a piece of candy in her mouth.

“Unsure about what?”

“I had a feeling you might come to me like this. But another part of me thought you were too stubborn.”

“What changed?”

“The first reason is your current predicament.”

“I suppose I’m in trouble if even you, tucked away in the frozen wastes, have heard the news.”

“It’s hard to miss.”

Reina’s expression darkened slightly.

“And the second reason?”

“Your pride.”

*Crunch—*

The cherry candy shattered between her teeth. She swallowed, pulled out a fresh one, and tucked it into her cheek.

“…Just how much of that candy do you carry?”

“I have a permanent supply. If I ever take Aren, I’m bringing this recipe back to the demon realm with me.”

“Do you want to try this?”

Berge produced a bar of chocolate he had recently obtained from Ernyan. It was high-grade stuff, elegantly packaged.

“Chocolate? You have a taste for this?”

“Not really, I just came across it.”

“It doesn’t last as long as hard candy, but it’s quite good.”

She unwrapped it and took a bite. A small, satisfied smile touched her lips as the sugar hit her tongue.

“Delicious.”

“I’m glad.”

“Don’t assume for a second that sweets will buy my cooperation, Berge.”

“What makes you so sure I’m here to ask for something?”

“I can read the room.”

“How so?”

“Based on your status and our pact. I hate to say this right after we formed an alliance, but…”

Reina genuinely wanted to support Berge. Out of the five Demon Kings, he was the most reliable and their fates were now linked.

However, providing direct military aid would be a catastrophic mistake.

It might stop one imperial force, but if the blade broke, the Empire would turn its full fury on her.

If she were alone, she would have helped without question—she was a noble of the demon world and a woman of her word.

But she led an entire nation of frost demons and monsters.

“I cannot send you troops. No monsters, no beasts, no demons. But anything else? Ask, and it is yours.”

“Is that how an ally speaks?”

“It is. And I’ve given you nothing but trouble so far.”

“You’ve had a difficult time since our meeting. I understand.”

“I still owe you for that favor involving Ugar.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“……”

Berge was caught off guard by her almost protective attitude.

The Reina he remembered from before his regression wasn’t like this. She had been as cold as the tundra she ruled, radiating the chilling authority of the King of Severe Cold.

‘We weren’t close back then, so maybe I didn’t know the real her, but this is a total 180.’

She acted as if she truly believed things would just work out if they stayed true to one another.

“What if I take your gifts and then leave you to rot?”

“Are you planning to betray me?”

“You’re far too trusting.”

“You misunderstand me, Berge Dayas.”

Reina’s eyes turned icy. It was the first time since he’d come back in time that she looked at him with that specific gaze.

This was the Reina from his previous life.

“It isn’t trust. Do you know the frost demon proverb?”

“…’When a frost demon holds a grudge, even a volcano will freeze’?”

“Precisely. Our anger is the deepest and coldest in existence. And we never let go.”

*Crackle—*

A layer of white frost bloomed across the tabletop.

“If you betray me, my ice will find your heart long before it ever touches a human.”

“…Even if the humans are at your gates?”

“I might wait a day or two. I’m not so foolish as to let myself be killed while I’m busy freezing a traitor.”

But.

*Crack—*

A jagged spike of ice shot downward, narrowly missing Berge’s face, shearing off the armrest of his chair and burying itself in the floorboards.

“It would end with one of us dead. Period.”

“…I wasn’t actually planning a betrayal. I was just worried you were being too generous.”

“Then save your breath. I am not naive.”

“…You could have fooled me.”

“I am making an investment while your stock is low. I expect a high return later.”

“You’re terrifying.”

“But you need my help, don’t you?”

“Even after you banned me from using your army?”

“I won’t trade the lives of my people for yours.”

“That’s fine.”

It was actually perfect.

“I wasn’t going to ask for soldiers anyway.”

“Then what?”

“Your innate power. The chill that can suspend and lock away anything.”

“My cold?”

“Yes. I need to freeze and seal people so they can survive being transported through subspatial storage. Can you do that?”

“So you are planning a kidnapping.”

“Yes. I need to cause some chaos for the humans, but if my face is seen, it makes everything worse.”

“I can imbue magic orbs with my essence. It’s less potent than if I cast it myself, but if I focus, they should hold for over a week inside a subspatial void.”

“That’s exactly what I need.”

“How many?”

“As many as you can spare.”

Then came the cost.

“If I make it through this, I’ll pay you back double.”

“I’ll hold you to that. I’d prefer you stay alive.”

“I don’t plan on dying yet.”

That afternoon, Berge left with 50 magic orbs brimming with high-level freezing spells.

—

“This should be the spot.”

In his guise as Pale, Berge consulted the maps Roger had provided.

There were many dwarven settlements, but he had set his sights on the Bervelt capital.

The security was the tightest and the danger was immense—but that’s where the best smiths were. Excellence gravitates toward the center.

If he was caught, it was game over, but he had a secret way in.

He would use the network of tunnels Roger had spent years digging.

Some might have been found and filled in, so he had to check them carefully while maintaining his cover as Pale.

“Here.”

Berge forced himself into a hidden gap between two large boulders. The tight space made him grimace.

‘Roger, you lunatic, you dug these to fit your own scrawny frame.’

Thinking back, the tunnel to the Mana Ghost’s lair had been just as claustrophobic.

His complaints died out after ten minutes when he hit a dead end. The path was caved in.

‘A waste of time.’

He spent the next few hours scouring the mountainside, confirming that eight of the secret entrances had been discovered and collapsed.

‘Please let one of these be open.’

Luck was finally on his side. The ninth tunnel was clear and stretched deep into the earth toward the subterranean city.

Eventually, the narrow passage opened up. The air felt different, and he could hear a hollow resonance when he tapped the walls.

This was the end of the line.

Berge threw a heavy punch, shattering the final layer of rock.

Dust filled the air.

Berge stepped through the hole, blinking.

*Whoosh—*

“…Who’s there?”

‘Roger, you absolute madman…’

He found himself staring directly at Louise Bervelt. Her face was covered in soot and grime, and she was gripping a heavy axe.