Dungeon Defense (WN)

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Paimon was in front of me.

I looked down and saw that I was wearing shoes.
This alone was enough for me to know that I was in a dream.
What was happening? I quickly churned my brain to find an answer.

– Succubus Queen.

That was Paimon’s race.
She was one of the people who became a Demon Lord after being born as a normal demon.
Succubi could freely control the dreams of humans.
Paimon still had this ability even after becoming a Demon Lord.
Even in the game, the protagonist had spoken with Paimon multiple times in his dreams.

However, there was something more important here.

‘She was hiding among the group of assassins.’

A succubus’ ability was not omnipotent.
They couldn’t meddle with the dreams of people who were several hundred kilometers away.
They had to be nearby.

What did this mean……? This meant that Paimon had secretly mixed herself in with the group of assassins.
She was probably one of the gray-robed figures.
She pretended to be a normal assassin as she watched me from the side and she most likely heard the entire conversation I had with the light blue-haired woman.

Damn it.
This was my mistake.

‘She hid within a group of assassins that have little to no emotions.’

Demon Lords cannot read the emotions of other Demon Lords.
If the assassins were normal monsters, like orcs, then I would have immediately noticed Paimon’s presence.
She would have stuck out like a sore thumb as the only individual with no emotions out of all the monsters.
It would naturally seem odd.

Assassins are incredibly dry when it comes to their emotions.
This was like hiding a leaf in a forest.
You are better than I expected, Paimon…….
I put a courteous smile on my face as I bowed my head.

“Long time no see, Your Highness.”

“As I thought, you are not surprised.”

Paimon brushed aside her scarlet hair as she chuckled modestly.

“Pardon my rudeness.
I wanted to see your look of surprise at least once.”

“I am more than surprised right now.
However, I was already surprised multiple times today.
I do not have the energy to make a fuss out of being surprised again.”

She raised the edges of her dress as she greeted me with a curtsey.

“It has been a while, Dantalian.”

“Indeed.
I never would have imagined that we would be reunited in this manner.”

Paimon nodded.
Once she did, a table appeared between us.
It was covered by a white tablecloth and had a ceramic tea set on top of it.
I approached the table and pulled out a chair for her.
Paimon thanked me as she took a seat.

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“Dreams sure are impressive.”

I sat at the other side of the table as I spoke.

“Is anything possible? Like, for example, summoning a dragon.”

“This lady can only recreate things that she has seen and experienced.”

Paimon picked up the ceramic teapot and poured out some tea.
It was green tea.
The scenery around us changed rapidly as the cups were slowly filled with tea.
A dragon with golden scales appeared right next to us and was sleeping with its head down like a drowsy dog.

“Amazing!”

I let out a sound of awe, but I wasn’t utterly shocked.
I was still mulling over why Paimon had invaded my dream.
I was engaging her in small talk in order to give myself time to think.

– The light blue woman asked what was on my mind.

– There is a high probability that Paimon had ordered her to do that.

– I fell for it on the spot.

If I were a real republican, then I would have welcomed the woman’s words, but I didn’t.
From Paimon’s perspective, it was truly questionable whether I was a genuine republican or someone who was simply using the ideology for his own personal gains.

“So this is the reason why succubi are referred to as beings of the night.
My subordinate is also a succubus, but she has never shown me something like this.”

“That is most likely because the succubus blood in that child is weak.
This is not an absolute rule, but only pure-blooded succubi can roam through dreams.”

Despite this, she came into contact with me anyway.
She easily could’ve left after discovering that we weren’t exactly like-minded, but she went out of her way to enter my dream and talk to me anyway.

I don’t believe she was here to only confirm whether I was on her side or not…….
What was her goal? I had to figure this out.

“If anything, not being pure-blooded might be a blessing.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Because you can have a family.”

What did she mean by that? Paimon covered her mouth and chuckled once she saw me tilt my head.

“As you can see, succubi can create all sorts of things within dreams.
Men are often charmed by this aspect.
Men that pair up with succubi all end up becoming infatuated with this ability as they are able to see the world’s most beautiful woman, most beautiful scenery, and most delicious food.”

The scenery changed.
The dragon disappeared and was replaced by dozens of beautiful women.
The scene was now that of a harem.
The women all had on only a single layer of thin fabric as their glamorous bodies were practically on full display.

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“In the end, the men turn their backs on reality.
To live in a perfect dream or a miserable reality, it is obvious what they would choose…….
They ignore their wives and children.
They have more beautiful wives in their dreams and children that are more perfect than their counterparts in reality, after all.
This is why a majority of succubi do not fall in love.”

They would only get betrayed, after all.

Paimon pushed a cup of tea to my side.
I courteously picked up the cup.
The taste of the green tea was excellent.
Not only did it have the perfect amount of bitterness and warmth, but it also cleansed my palate nicely. 

“This lady pondered about this a long time ago.
If the most beautiful woman and the most delicious food exists, then perhaps―would it not be possible to dream of a perfect society?”

“A perfect society, is it? Would something like that really be possible?”

“Of course not.”

Paimon laughed.

“It is impossible.
Or, at the very least, it was impossible back then and it still is now.
Nonetheless, this lady is a succubus, a race that sows dreams into people.
This lady believed that allowing one to have a single dream would not make someone live beyond their means.
This lady required a dream of her own to continue living like the others.”

“……I understand.”

I didn’t understand.

“It was like that at first.
2,000 years ago, I thought that a world ruled by Demon Lords was the closest to perfection.”

The scenery changed once again.
This time, we were in the center of a bunch of soldiers.
Orcs, ogres, and trolls moved around our table busily.
We were in the center of a massive army with tens of thousands of soldiers.
They were standing in ranks and holding banners up high.

There were three individuals leading them all.
A girl, a lady, and a middle-aged man.

– Men! Demons! You have all accomplished a great feat!

Among the three individuals, the white-haired girl started to shout.
Adorned on her was a silver helmet and matching armor.
The sunlight shined radiantly upon her.
Paimon spoke while pointing to her.

“That is Barbatos.
She was not much different than how she is now.”

“She wore armor back then, huh?”

“Back then, Barbatos was a warrior and not a necromancer, after all.”

In that case, were the two individuals standing next to the girl Paimon and Marbas respectively? Are you telling me that the three individuals who are now separated into the Plains Faction, Mountain Faction, and the Neutral Faction commanded their armies together 2,000 years ago?

Barbatos shouted as her red mantle fluttered in the wind.

– However, there is still work to be done! We are the phantoms of conquest.
Therefore, we must not become fools who are unable to utilize the momentum of our victory.
Soldiers, O Great Descendants of Satan, raise your weapons once more.
Something like rest will only slow us down.

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– We cannot lose our days of glory.
Those weak humans and cowardly demons would say that they had fought enough and that it is now time to rest if they were in our position.
However, we―as beings that have come together indiscriminately solely due to our genuine camaraderie―come together as one and shout.

– For more battles! For more blood!

– If we cannot pursue eternal glory, then bestow upon us eternal death!

The monsters cheered.  

They started to blow their horns, pound their drums, and stomp their feet all on their own.
The earth trembled and the humans that were across the plains were terrified as they felt the vibrations.
The 1st legion of the Crescent Alliance had never lost before.
Barbatos of Immortality, Paimon of Victory, and Marbas of Nobility―this elite army led by these three individuals made even the human knights tremble in absolute terror.

– I promise you, no, we promise you that the Demon Lords that will be fighting with you will not be hiding in the back.
We are different from cowards.
We are warriors, thus we will live and die together with our fellow warriors.

– We are on the front line!

– When you are struck by a knight’s aura and look up in despair, you will see us standing there.
When your knees are on the ground and you are overcome by a sense of powerlessness, we will be standing one step ahead of you.

– Warriors! We are on the front line!

Barbatos raised her right hand.
Black mana started to surge in her hand before a battle scythe appeared.
Her remaining mana spiraled upward like a tornado.
At the same time, the woman and the man, Paimon and Marbas also raised their hands.
A white staff appeared in Paimon’s hand while a long sword appeared in Marbas’ hand.

– Show those humans who the true reapers of war are!

Tens of thousands of monsters raised their arms.
Spearheads were thrust up to the sky.
The sunlight reflected off these blades and created tens of thousands of shimmers.
Goblins, orcs, and trolls all shouted in their respective languages.
It didn’t matter if they didn’t speak the same language.
There was no need for them to understand the words spoken by their comrades.

Our Lords, the great Demon Lords understood them, after all.

– Descendants of Satan―All forces, advance!

Barbatos turned around and her mantle fluttered like a banner.
She then jumped ahead as if she had nothing more to say.
She ran forward with her weapon in her hand like a normal soldier.
Tens of thousands of monsters followed behind her like a wave.

The humans propped their spears up as they formed a defensive line; however, something about them was awkward.
A palpable feeling of dread was flowing between them.
Their defeat was already set in stone…….

“It was a grand battle and we won magnificently.”

Paimon brought her cup to her lips.
The tea flowed between her lips soundlessly.
She quietly lowered her empty cup on the table.

“With a legion of 120,000 soldiers, we managed to wipe out the human army of roughly 250,000 men.
Two human kingdoms were destroyed in a single battle.
Barbatos, Marbas, and I were certain that we were invincible.
That we would never be defeated and that we would be able to create a beautiful nation on the surface.”

And yet, the 2nd Crescent Alliance failed.

It was recorded as the most horrendous Crescent Alliance expedition in all of history.

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“Before our own kind betrayed us.”

“…….”

“We immediately marched into the deepest part of the continent once we conquered two kingdoms.
This was shortly after the human alliance was annihilated.
We intended to shake the continent to its core before the humans could organize another alliance.
This was the outline of our plan.
Our assumption was most likely not that far off the mark…….”

However, the Demon Lords who were in charge of handling the supplies in the rear had betrayed them.

They consisted mostly of low-ranking Demon Lords.
Low-ranking Demon Lords don’t have a lot of soldiers.
It was better for them to handle the supplies instead of making them fight at the forefront.
Making the high-ranking Demon Lords take the front while the low-ranking Demon Lords took the rear was incredibly rational.
However, those low-ranking Demon Lords betrayed them…….

The scenery shifted.

A dignified army was nowhere to be seen now.
It was an army that couldn’t move properly because their supply line had been cut off.

A massive army of 100,000 soldiers was more a burden than anything else.
Their provisions bottomed out quickly.
The humans fortified themselves inside a fortress and stood their ground.
Even after the demons managed to destroy the fortress, the humans carried out a scorched earth policy.
The 1st legion had no other choice but to retreat since they had already charged too far into the continent.

Knight brigades kept biting away at them from all sides like packs of wolves.
If they kept fighting back, then they would lose their opportunity to retreat.
Barbatos shed tears of blood.
Her lips were already blistering as a side-effect of being low on mana.
Blood flowed down her mouth once she bit her lips.

– Retreat……Ignore them and retreat.

Barbatos watched her allies get torn apart by the knights before turning around.
Paimon and Marbas did the same.
All they could do now was send as many of their men back home alive.

“Dantalian, do you know how many survived out of those 120,000 soldiers?”

“…….”

“I remember it even now.
2,000 years have passed since then, but I still remember……26,084.
Out of our massive army of 120,000 soldiers, only 26,084 warriors made it home alive.”

Barbatos was crying in the background.

She was on her knees and crying audibly with her torn-up, hole-ridden mantle wrapped around her.

The Paimon of the past quietly placed her hand on Barbatos’ back with her head lowered.

“Truly, why did something like this happen? What had we done wrong……?”

The Succubus Queen was sitting at the table and staring at her past self from 2,000 years ago…… and also the girl who was once her close friend.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter! Life is normal.
I’ve been grinding some levels in FFXIV and my body is also sore after playing Beat Saber for a couple hours. Hm, I’ve been seeing a lot of non-english comments for a while now.
I wonder if they’re reading in English and simply leaving comments in another language.
Or are they using like Google’s autotranslate function or whatever.
I guess that would be better than trying to get it to translate Korean to whatever language.
I sort of have to check the comments when they’re in another language just in case it might be spam. 

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