Dungeon Defense (WN)

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I smiled.

“That is correct.”

A nation being held together by a king’s personal charisma will fall apart the moment that king dies.
His successor can’t be average or even slightly above average.

The nobles who had a taste of that great charisma will constantly compare the successor to the previous king.
They would say things like, “The previous king wasn’t like this,” and complain.
As a result, the authority that had temporarily gathered under the king will quickly return to the nobles.

The new king would use forceful means to prevent this from happening, which will prompt the nobles to fight back.
Sovereign power and divine power will clash.
As the two sides clash, the nation will gradually lose its strength…….

“Sovereign power, no, national power must ultimately be maintained by a system.
A single person’s noteworthy charisma is not enough to maintain an entire nation.”

So we’ll wait.

Until Elizabeth dies of old age.

Until Stephen Bathory becomes a rotten skeleton.

Until all of the humans of great standing, who are supposed to iron this era out, are ten feet under their graves.

“Compared to them, we Demon Lords can live forever.
We must consider the long run and prolong this war.”

“Time is on our side, is it?”

Marbas laughed.

“Dantalian, you are quite cunning.
You shower the other party with praise, but what is the point? In the end, you are saying that we will be the victors.
I doubt the other party would be delighted to hear such praise from you.”

“Oh, Noble Marbas.”

I shrugged.

“The more we praise them, the more our value will increase once we defeat them.
Please trust me.
Similar to how wine tastes sweeter the longer you age it, I promise you that our victory will also become that much more special.”

Marbas burst into laughter again.

It was at that moment that my upper body bent forward a bit.
I paused for a moment because I didn’t remember leaning forward.

Marbas gave me a weird look while I was tilting my head in confusion.

It was then that I realized why my body had bent forward.
Marbas had affectionately patted my back.
I haven’t been able to feel my back that well ever since the punishment incident with Laura.

I smiled slightly.

“My body got slightly injured a short while ago, so I cannot feel my back.”

Marbas furrowed his brows.

“Your back? Is it a serious problem?”

“Haha.
I was told that my body itself is completely fine.
This is most likely a psychological problem.”

“I have several excellent doctors under me that I could send your way.”

I shook my head.

“Out of everyone in the world, are we Demon Lords not beings that require doctors the least? This is most likely nothing to be concerned about.”

“Hm…….”

Marbas gave me a sideglance.

“You can treat this as the concern of an old man, but you need to cherish your body more, Dantalian.
More so than you are now.”

“Pardon me?”

This wasn’t just a simple concern.
Marbas had a serious look on his face.

“You stated that Stephen Bathory had overcome systematic limitations through his own abilities.
From my perspective, the same can be applied to you within our Demon Lord Army.
Why do you think we were able to obtain continuous success lately?”

“…….”

“It was not because of a system.
We have nothing like that.”

That’s right.
If you devalue the Demon Lord Army a bit……then we’re comparable to a tribal union.

The way every Demon Lord governs their Demon Lord Castle and treats demonkind is different.

Just like how Barbatos and Paimon are prime examples of this, Demon Lords have differing opinions about what the ideal demon society is.

“This is why I created Walpurgis Night.
I wished to establish a system, no matter how small, within our ranks.
However, as you know as well, Walpurgis Night is nothing more than a gathering.”

And barely half of the Demon Lords would even attend this gathering.

“The reason we have been able to achieve success in succession is solely thanks to our individual abilities.
Dantalian, you are undoubtedly included within this.
You have the most important position.”

“……I do not deserve such praise.”

“I am not saying this for you to be modest.”

Marbas’s monocle glimmered.

“Your death would mark the end for the Holy Demon Lord Army and the Habsburg Empire.
You said that Demon Lords live forever, but you must not forget Baal’s demise.
Fate is a fickle thing.
I ask you to always exercise caution.”

“…….”

I smiled wryly.

How should I respond? I felt a little embarrassed.
Hearing a straightforward compliment like this doesn’t suit my personality.
I prefer hearing twisted, distorted, and ill-spoken praises.

I should probably thank him genuinely here.

“Thank you very much, Marbas.
I will keep this in mind.”

“Mm.”

Marbas gave a satisfied nod.

Marbas has a lot of titles.
Most Noble Demon Lord, Sworn Father of the Empire, and Sebastokrator.
By referring to him by only his name, I was promising this to solely him as a person.

“While we are on this topic, I have a proposal for you.”

Huh? I guess the conversation wasn’t over yet.
I put on a smooth smile.

“What is it?”

“Ehem…….”

Marbas cleared his throat.
Dragging on the conversation wasn’t something that Marbas did, so this was somewhat surprising.
Marbas swallowed his words a few more times before he eventually managed to  speak.

“Dantalian.”

“Yes, Marbas?”

“……What are your thoughts on becoming my son?”

I unintentionally froze up.

Marbas also went quiet as he stared at my face.
I couldn’t imagine how my face must look right now.
I could only stupidly, very stupidly ask back in a daze.

“……Excuse me? I didn’t quite catch that.”

Marbas spoke more resolutely as if he knew that there was no turning back now.

“As my adopted son.
I wish to take you in as my stepson.”

My mouth fell open.

What is he saying!?