Dungeon Defense Chapter 1 - Volume 1

Prologue

“Does thou believe in divination?”

“My apologies, your highness. This maiden does not believe in superst.i.tions.”

“What a shame. Superst.i.tions are quite grand. They give invigoration to one’s life.”

The surrounding was silent.

The crowd of five thousand silently listened to the conversation between the two people before them.

On one side stood a radiantly beautiful woman. While she was a n.o.ble who governed this city, she was also the one to have been defeated in this siege.

On the other side sat a dark man. Wrapped in a black cloak and dressed up in similarly black clothing, he could only be described as a person of darkness. Peculiarly, he was plucking the petals of a flower. Petal by petal, the rose was plucked apart and fell to the floor with an ominous feeling.

“Thou had the opportunity to surrender before.”

“I admit this.”

“Four times.”

The man spoke.

“I had dispatched an envoy presenting thee the opportunity to surrender, four times. However, each time, thou had slit the throat of the envoy and sent back the corpse. Seeing how it has already come to this, let us speak truthfully. I desire to behead thy beautiful head and display it on a spear.”

The man muttered nonchalantly. If you were listening from an outside perspective, the way he spoke that last sentence was like as if he was simply commenting about how nice the weather was.

In spite of that, if you were to look even slightly to the side you would learn how wrong that feeling was. From goblins to orcs and to finally ogres, these bulky monsters were guarding the man without leaving even a single gap. These monsters could slaughter the five thousand humans gathered here immediately if the man so ordered them to.

‘… For such a normal looking man to give off such intimidating force.’

The n.o.ble woman could only gulp. The responsibility to protect the lives of the citizens were resting on her shoulders.

‘To want to put my neck on a spear. Is he speaking the truth or is he threatening me? Or perhaps he’s simply testing me…’

Christiane Louise Von Volfusbrook.

A heroine known as the ‘Northern Pearl’ of the Empire.

She had started a rebellion in the demon lord’s army. It had been about half a year since the Empire was invaded by the demons and there were humans that had still not completely accepted being ruled by monsters. It was thought that there was a considerably high chance of succeeding this revolution.

But the man before her reacted before anyone else.

In a matter of days, contact between other cities were cut, supply routes were plundered, and fortresses were captured. Once she was able to finally collect herself, her city had already fallen in only four months.

‘So this is a Demon Lord…”

Christiane Louise bit her lips strongly.

만마(萬魔)를 호령하는 일흔두 좌의 일원.

거짓된 연금술과 모든 수사학을 관장하는 주인.

연극배우 중의 연극배우.

가로되 이면(異面)의 마왕이라 칭송받는 자.

A member in an order of 72, who rules over 10,000 demons.

The lord managing false alchemy and all rhetoric.

Actor among actors.

Praised as a Demon Lord of many faces.

(TL note: I honestly have no idea what they mean by the second line, and I’m a bit iffy about the fourth line’s translations)

Dantalian.

Demon Lord Dantalian.

That was this man’s name.

Christiane Louise shuddered in terror.

‘One wrong move and I’ll be killed…!’

In order to calm her shaking knees, Christiane Louise thought of her father’s dying words. ‘Always be dignified’. That was right. Now was the time to behave like a n.o.ble and respond resolutely.

‘I could sell my body if necessary.’

The rumor that the demon lord in front of her was a s.e.x fiend was already wide-spread.

Although she wasn’t trying to brag, Christiane Louise was quite confident in her own appearance.

If need be, she’d become a s.e.x slave if it meant to protect her family(‘s name).

Christiane Louise had made up her mind.

“Oh great Demon Lord-”

“Sorry, but could you not call me that?”

The man cut her off, showing clear detest.

“What do you mean by, ‘Oh great Demon Lord’. I feel so nauseous just hearing those words, that I wouldn’t be surprised if my ears were to melt off this very instant. There’s over fifty Demon Lords roaming this continent alone. I wonder if I’m the only ‘great Demon Lord’.”

“Then, what should this one call your highness by.… …?”

“Just stick with ‘your highness’.”

Christiane Louise nodded in response.

“Yes, your highness. May I humbly inform your highness that there are three reasons to spare this one’s life?”

“Is that so? Tell me only one.”

The man plucked a petal and let the single red petal descend slowly.

“I do not have that much patience.”

“…!”

A chill went down Christiane Louise’s spine. The man was not even looking at her, and yet it felt as if hundreds of invisible floating eyes were staring down at her.

‘I-I must be hallucinating.’

The inside of Christiane Louise’s mouth became dry.

‘It’s nothing more than my mind playing tricks on me.’

She muttered in her mind the wise saying pa.s.sed down the generations of her household.

‘Oh ancestors. Do not respect injustice because of growth, and do not ignore justice because of youth.’

Like a traveler walking down a dark mountain path whilst relying on a poorly made torch, Christiane Louise was just barely able to muster up the courage to open her mouth by depending on the pride of her family.

“… There are six cities remaining that are still supporting the rebellion. It is obvious that it’ll take an immense amount of time and manpower to conquer them all.”

The man raised his shoulders.

“Indeed. I’ve been getting the urge to commit suicide just thinking about that.”

“Your highness. Gain control of them not with spears but with generosity. If your highness shows tolerance and forgives us here, those other cities will naturally submit on their own. However, if your highness treats us with cruelty…”

“In fear of being treated the same, they’ll rebel more violently.”

The man cuts her off.

“Is that what you mean to say?”

“Yes, your highness.”

As expected, he understood quickly.

Christiane Louise could see a small glimpse of hope.

The man in front of her wasn’t simply a tyrannical Demon Lord. He was one of the more knowledgeable type. In short, words got through to him. The chance to stay alive might not be a hope in vain after all. Christiane Louise settled her fears.

The silence continued.

After plucking a rose bare the man picked up another. Without saying a single word, he tore the entire flower off the stem. The red petals scattered like snow, falling slowly into a pile at the man’s feet.

“—strip.”

A single word settled down over the surrounding.

It was an incredibly normal tone. Christiane Louise could not understand the situation. She could only blink in surprise.

“Pardon?”

(TL note: I can’t find any scanned version of these ill.u.s.trations, so you guys will have to make do with the pictures from my phone) “Baroness Von Volfusbrook. Thou had started a rebellion on thou own stubbornness. As a result, two thousand citizens lost their lives. Of course, they were not my people. Be it two thousand or twenty thousand, it is not of my concern. But… …”

The man raised his head slowly.

Christiane could see the man’s eyes for the first time.

It was as if pure black pupils were piercing into the deepest depths of her heart.

“…not thou. All two thousand who had perished were thy people. In all of the continent, the only one who can take responsibility for all these lives is thee.”

The man sighed.

“A few minutes ago thou appealed to me to spare thy own life. Thou was not supposed to do that. Not for thy own life, but for the lives of all the people over there. Thou was supposed to plea to spare the lives of thy people. That is how a person takes responsibility.”

“Y-Your highness. This one was……”

“Baroness Christiane Louise Von Volfusbrook. Thou are a kind and beautiful woman. To be more precise, a devilish person. I sentence thee a disgraceful death.”

The man stood from his seat.

At once all of the monsters that were surrounding the area raised their weapons. The citizens became struck by fear and broke out into screams.

Upon these people the Demon Lord’s grave verdict fell.

“Thou shall be stripped and humiliated by my soldiers. In front of all these civilians, at that. I, Dantalian, rank 71st and possessing the name of different faces이면(異面), shall hereby sentence; Christiane Louise shall be deprived of her t.i.tle as a n.o.ble and face death as a mere commoner.”

“Your highness……!?”

“Many lives shall come to an end here. Despair as I place the name of the one who pointlessly wasted the lives of others at the very bottom of my heart.”

The man left the stage indifferently.

The sudden movement of the man’s cloak caused a small gust on the floor, forcing the rose petals that had finally settled down to be scattered by the wind. From behind, Christiane Louise continued to shout. “Your highness!”, however, the man never turned back.

This day, the woman known as the ‘Northern Pearl’ was executed.

▯Demon Lord of Different Faces, Rank 71st, Dantalian

How did it become like this.

d.a.m.n it. This was not how I planned it!

Christiane Louise appeared as a heroine in the game as well. Her role was to a.s.sist the protagonist, who was the hero, in political affairs. The ending where you are able to overcome the social gap between each other and finally score in marrying Christiane was considerably loved by fans. Obviously, I was one of those fans.

If possible, I wanted to spare her.

Seeing her in real life, she was much prettier than her ill.u.s.trations in the game.

My G.o.d. It was as if a G.o.ddess had descended from the Heavens.

In concern of being affected by her beauty, I had kept my head down. The only reason I continued to pluck roses was to hide my trembling emotions as well……

[1. Execute]

[2. Spare]

As per usual, whenever an important decision approached a choice box would rise up. A transparent box visible to only my eyes. Of course, I tried to select choice number 2 to spare them.

But as the conversation progressed, the mood got stranger and stranger.

Even if you’re being shameless, how can one have this little shame.

Two thousand people had died. Two thousand. Despite the fact that a strange choice box would appear and a stat window s.h.i.+ned in front of my eyes, this was nonetheless the cruel reality. In this reality, two thousand people died because of one person’s ambition.

There wasn’t even a slightest bit of guilt in Christiane Louise’s att.i.tude.

My mood started to get cold. The excitement I felt when I first met in person the heroine that I’ve only seen through the computer monitor until now, quickly subsided. Once I came to —I found myself ordering for the most disgraceful execution.

I did it again.

I let out a small sigh and spoke to a subordinate.

“Return to the grounds and behead the prisoners.”

“Yes? Should we not make them suffer more?”

“That’s enough. This is enough of an example for the other cities.”

The subordinate received the order and walked back to the grounds.

Shortly after.

[1. Execute]

[2. Spare]

The writings s.h.i.+ned brightly in mid-air.

The words then broke apart into white particles and drifted. Although it felt they would disappear in any second, the particles abruptly moved together to form new words.

[A cruel and merciless decision!]

[The continent is frightened by your ruthlessness.]

[Infamy increased substantially.]

Then the words dispersed like petals.

The information that my infamy rose again put me further into depression.

“How did it turn out like this.”

I could only ask myself.

This wasn’t it.

Main point, I wanted to live a quiet life.

Where did things go wrong. Surely my birth itself wasn’t a mistake, right? Is that it? Life was irrational from the very start……

Aah, I wanted to rub{(부비부비)b.o.o.bib.o.o.bi} against Christiane.

Not only Christiane, but I wanted to enjoy a fun life with the other heroines like Romei or the Emperor’s daughter, Elizabeth.

Truth be told, I don’t want to work at all.

Seriously, why did I have to end up possessing a Demon Lord’s body.

Anyone is okay. Please, someone fix my broken life……

Or at least give me a one month vacation……!