Dungeon Defense (WN)

“Wow. It’s really nice being able to hold your hand like this.”

Gamigin was holding a glass of wine in her left hand while feeling up my hand with her right hand. I opened my mouth to speak.

“Your touch is like silk compared to my own.”

“Sitri, do you mind giving us a moment? There’s something I want to talk to Dantalian about~.”

Gamigin spoke in a cute tone to Sitri. She was speaking rather politely even though it was a Rank 4 talking down to a Rank 12. Sitri puffed her cheeks out like a hamster since she seemed displeased by the idea of leaving my side, but she returned to where the other Mountain Faction members were gathered.

Gamigin spoke to me.

“I kept throwing amorous glances at you back at Bruno Plains, but you ignored them! I almost lost my confidence as a woman.”

“It was because I had quite the terrifying lady as my mademoiselle.”

“Are you saying that I’m no match for Barbatos~?”

Of course not, I answered.

“All things proceed according to fate, so one’s entire life can change depending on who you meet first and who you meet later. Miss Gamigin, I can only regret not having met an individual as beautiful as you first.”

“Hehe.”

Gamigin gave a shy laugh once I courteously gave her a gentlemanly response. She had actually been smiling before she even approached me. There were only two types of people in the world who would go around smiling for no apparent reason. They were either an incredibly kind person――.

“So, what do you want?”

Or a very dangerous person.

Furthermore, if that person wasn’t a normal individual but a person who held the 4th ranking position out of all the Demon Lords, then……it wasn’t hard to guess what they were. The number of humans Gamigin had slaughtered alone probably numbers in the tens of thousands.

I maintained the smile on my lips as I spoke.

“What do I want? I naturally only wish for your goodwill, Miss Gamigin.”

“Hm? You’re going to feign ignorance? Fufu, there’s no need for that.”

Gamigin continued smoothly.

“I know very well that Dantalian isn’t Barbatos’ confidant. Do you remember the letter you sent in the past to screw Paimon over? I thought it was strange since that time. I didn’t understand why it was Dantalian who sent the letter and not Barbatos~.”

Previously, Paimon had tried to annihilate Barbatos by forming an alliance with Elizabeth. I became aware of this scheme and sent a personal letter to the other high-ranking Demon Lords. Gamigin was saying that that was strange.

“It would’ve been a lot more credible had Barbatos been the one to send the letters, and yet, she didn’t. Perhaps, Barbatos wasn’t aware of your plan at all? Fufu.”

“Mm. How troubling.”

I smiled awkwardly.

“Allow me to be honest. I was not absolutely certain that Paimon would take such actions or not. I intentionally framed it in a way that allowed me to take all of the responsibility if my prediction were to be incorrect…….”

“Got you.”

At that moment, Gamigin’s narrowed eyes widened.

Gamigin repeated the phrase ‘got you’ over and over again as she brought her face close to me.

“Got you. I got you~.”

Her bright red eyes were brimming with an uncontrollable joy as they glimmered ominously.

“Dantalian. I said that Barbatos might not have been aware of ‘your plan’.The plan of calling all of the commanders together in order to denounce Paimon……. As I thought, it was you, Dantalian, who planned it all by himself instead of Barbatos~?”

“…….”

“In the end, you’re also the one who provided a reason for us to fight over the land in Habsburg. Ah, don’t worry. I cast a soundproof spell around us, so no one can hear us!”

Shit.

I swore in my mind. Not yet. I still had excuses I could make. However, it was right when I was about to open my mouth calmly. Gamigin gently let go of the wine glass in her left hand. The glass descended and let out a clamorous sound as it shattered.

Gamigin was staring directly into my eyes the entire time.

“Dantalian. Your expression is ‘frozen’, you know?”

Gamigin smiled with her eyes.

“Unfortunately, people who create a role for themselves and get immersed in it are unable to escape their role even when something unexpected occurs. Like a third-rate actor who continues to act like a king when a spectator suddenly steps up on stage~.”

Gamigin stepped on the shards of glass. The sound of glass cracking resonated unpleasantly.

“A glass had just shattered, but rather than get surprised, you’re still smiling. Your expression has stopped. You shouldn’t do that, Dantalian. You shouldn’t~. Acting like that may be able to deceive the people who are earnestly living their lives, but it’ll get seen through by a ‘first-rate actress’ like myself.”

“…….”

My mind went cold.

“Jeez, now you’re getting way too serious. This was just a small bit of fun. You should enjoy it together with me.”

“May I ask why you are trying to sound me out?”

“Ah. Because I felt a sense of kinship.”

Gamigin spoke.

“The world is too fucked to just live smiling, right? If you want to live in a world like that while smiling, then you have to become a more fucked up person than the entire world combined. That’s why I’m always smiling. I believe that you’re the same, Dantalian.”

“……You and I are the same type of person?”

An unpleasant emotion started to boil within my chest.

“Don’t people like Barbatos and Paimon really annoy you~?”

Gamigin smiled widely.

“People like them believe something like justice exists in the world. The two of them probably wouldn’t admit it themselves, but they resemble each other a lot. They keep talking about grand things like the wishes of demonkind and peace of the demon world, so I don’t want to play with them. I’ve wanted to kill them so many times, but I’ve been just barely able to hold myself back.”

“You are wrong. I like Barbatos.”

“I wonder about that. Are you sure that isn’t just longing?”

Gamigin tapped my forehead jokingly.

“I’m Rank 4. I was Rank 70 2,800 years ago. Rank 4, this position was the furthest I could get. No matter how many times I deceived and insulted people, I couldn’t get up to Rank 3 or above. That’s where the real monsters are. Do you understand? I’m the furthest you can get.”

Gamigin was in a situation worse than mine in the distant past. Back then, there were high-ranking monsters that rampaged in order to not get controlled by Demon Lords even though they were demons. Furthermore, the Demon Lord army was dying off trying to defeat the dragonkin before they could even set their sights on the continent.

Gamigin was revealing to me that she started at Rank 70 and climbed up to Rank 4. She probably had to go through all sorts of hardships in order to survive. Moreover, she had also mastered the same survival skill as me…….

Treachery.

As I expected, Gamigin was smiling on the surface, but she was a person who had snakes inside of her.

“Let me give you a prediction as your senior and ilk. I, Gamigin, say this as the greatest witch among witches, a great misfortune will fall upon those who mistake yearning for love! Handsome Dantalian, stop acting and let’s have a little more constructive discussion.”

“A constructive conversation?”

“I asked earlier, didn’t I? What do you want?”

Gamigin continued.

“A smart child like you wouldn’t have gone against Agares and I without any reason. There’s probably some sort of profit that only you can see. That’s why I flat out asked you what you wanted~.”

Aah, I see.

Sure enough, Gamigin and I were similar. She acted only after thoroughly thinking out the gains and losses. Things like ideals, beliefs, and righteousness were probably nothing more than empty words to Gamigin. Survival was the only thing that had value so she sacrificed everything else for it.

Therefore, I made a declaration.

“Gamigin, I am different from you.”

She blinked.

“Are you still trying to back down? Jeez, there’s no reason for that.”

“No, I am being serious. There is a decisive difference between you and I.”

It was so decisive that it was enough to clearly say that we weren’t of the same ilk.

“Gamigin, you are a part of the strong. You have climbed up to a high position and you treat others as simple-minded as you look down on them. To you, Barbatos and Paimon are nothing more than fools who say nonsense. Survival is the ultimate truth. Everything else is false and delusions……. You are most likely certain of this. This is a correct viewpoint to have.”

“Mhm.”contemporary romance

Gamigin gave a quick answer.

“So? What about it?”

“You are ignoring the beauty of delusions.”

If you were in my position, then you probably wouldn’t have made the same questionable decisions as I. You wouldn’t have tried to spare the slave merchant, Jack Aland’s life. You wouldn’t have spared the lives of Daisy and Luke who were fated to possibly become heroes in the future.

“They are values that have no meaning. However, the act of flapping one’s wings fruitlessly towards things like the wishes of demonkind and peace is what is beautiful. It is not disgusting because it is hopeless. It is because they are hopeless that they are contrarily moving.”

“……What?”

“Oh dear. It seems you do not understand my taste, Miss Gamigin.”

I smiled.

“Think about it. Everything is going to disappear anyway. Let us say that, as Barbatos had hoped, demonkind is able to reach an ideal society. Even if they do, everything would be gone without a trace after a few million years. Miss Gamigin, it is the same for you as well. Even Demon Lords are not eternal.”

It was exciting. There hasn’t been a single boring moment ever since I had fallen into this world. Even Gamigin, whom I thought was simply an obscene miss, turned out to be a splendid person of great character. I liked people like her as well.

“Fundamentally, the world is like a colosseum. Gladiators put their entire bodies on the line to survive each passing day. They pierce the skins of their opponents, shed blood, and let out cries of victory. However, whether it be the next day, the day after, or three years later, they will one day lose and die a cold death!”

“…….”

“As a Demon Lord, can you not help but love that cockroach-like, absolutely pointless struggle!?”

I grabbed Gamigin’s hand and shook it. She had cast a soundproofing spell so I shouted as much as I wanted. Aah, I might be meeting a comrade who understands my preference. There was no way I wouldn’t be elated!

“Barbatos will probably perish without realizing her ideal. The same goes for Paimon as well. Those individuals holding such lofty ideals……. They carry willpowers that normal people couldn’t dream of and after hundreds, thousands of years those people going forward……will ultimately fall! They will meet their ends! Without any worth or meaning.”

This was truly―.

“Does this not excite you!?”

So magnificent.

Gamigin’s expression was rigid. Her smile had frozen. I pushed up against her more.

“Truly, what sort of wills will they leave behind? How beautiful will their deaths be? Aah, just imagining it is amazing. Miss Gamigin, do you not agree? What sort of final testament will Barbatos leave behind in her final moment, what sort of life will Paimon show us in the end, are these things not something that keeps you up at night!? Oh. There are people like this even among the humans. Rarely, there are existences that possess a ‘splendid will’.”

I recalled Fabian. Among the recent people I’ve met, Fabian was the most splendid. I will cultivate an image of him in the temple within my mind forever. The thought of him will probably put me in awe like a firework rocket.

“I, Dantalian, believe without a doubt that our duty as Demon Lords is to watch the birth and fall of these wills!”

***

Author’s Afterword

Gamigin: Fufu, I’m this area’s crazy person…….

Dantalian: Gyahahaha, gyarurururk, ggumrugrghkrgjrk!

Gamigin: ……Sorry, can I leave?

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. What a weird afterword from the author. All things considered, after the whole lovers thing with Barbatos and the others, it sort of makes you wonder how Dantalian is going to interact with Gamigin to get her under the sheets as well. I don’t feel like Gamigin would be particularly interested in sleeping with Dant after this, but who knows? Maybe she’s into this kind of stuff?

Welp, I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

done.co