Chapter 452: Chapter 452

Early in the 4th month of the Continental Calendar year 1513.

The very next day after I lost one of my legs, I called for the Elector Demon Lords. The reason was simple. From this point on, there was a high chance that a large-scale, all-out war would begin.

Elizabeth was not the type to miss an opportunity. She had learned that Emperor Rudolf von Habsburg was nothing more than a puppet corpse. There was no way she would pass up the chance to exploit that. She would surely bide her time for a suitable pretext and launch a diplomatic offensive…….

That made things simple. I only had to take one step ahead of her.

I arrived at the audience chamber first and waited for the other Demon Lords to arrive, idly fiddling with my cane in both hands. This chamber was much smaller than the grand hall, making it the perfect place for private meetings with a handful of high-ranking Demon Lords one.

It was practically a closed-door meeting. Unlike the grand hall, there were only about ten chairs here. After some time, the first to enter the chamber was Vassago. He glanced around the room and furrowed his brow.

“Where have the guards gone? There is no one here.”

“There is no need for guards at this meeting today. We cannot allow even a single word to leak out.”

I pointed to the wine bottle on the table. It was my way of saying he could help himself. Vassago clicked his tongue in annoyance, then went to sit in the chair farthest from mine.

There were still thirty minutes left until the time set for the closed-door meeting. A heavy silence settled between us. But it wasn’t awkward. We had been in situations far too many times before.

Whether it was surprising or perfectly fitting for his demeanor, Vassago was someone who adhered strictly to punctuality. For every meeting, he would arrive exactly thirty minutes early. Along with me, he was the earliest of all the Demon Lords to show up at the meeting hall. For reference, the one who was always the latest was Barbatos…….

“The armies of the Plains Faction Demon Lords who were executed yesterday have risen in full-scale rebellion.”

“That is quite a fast response.”

Had the backlash already grown strong enough to be called a rebellion? This was nothing like the time when the unaffiliated Demon Lords were purged. Back then, the rebel forces barricaded themselves inside their Demon Lord Castles and practically collapsed in on themselves.

But the armies of the Plains Faction had risen in revolt just one day after the executions. It was an almost unbelievably swift response. It was only reasonable to assume that they had been preparing beforehand. The rebels must have already been resolved to revolt from the very moment the Plains Faction Demon Lords were captured…….

They truly were a battle-hardened elite corps. They were on a completely different level from the armies of the unaffiliated Demon Lords who had grown complacent in times of peace.

“You do not seem particularly surprised.”

Vassago looked at me with a crooked gaze.

“No less than twenty thousand rebels have risen simultaneously in multiple locations. Would it not be fitting to at least show some surprise or urgency?”

“I assure you, I am impressed.”

I set my cane down, leaning it against the armrest of my chair, then took a pipe from inside my coat. As I lit it, I spoke.

“When the unaffiliated Demon Lords were purged, their armies chose to barricade themselves in their strongholds. It was practically a collective suicide. There was only one reason they would willingly confine themselves in the Demon Lord Castle: because even if they rebelled, it would be too difficult to oppose the Demon Lord’s authority.”

No matter how many troops the rebels gathered—ten thousand, twenty thousand—there was a fatal weakness they could not overcome. They had no Demon Lord to lead them.

On the other hand, our side, which was suppressing the rebels, had Demon Lords lined up like a glittering array of stars. For example, if Marbas and Gamigin simply ordered, “Stop the attack at once,” the rebels’ combat power would drop sharply. It would be impossible for them to fight.

That is why the rebel forces of the unaffiliated Demon Lords chose instead to die honorably by their own hands. I had no idea whether that was a wise choice or a foolish one. It only showed how difficult rebellion was for demons who had lost their sovereign.

“Even so, the armies of the Plains Faction have chosen to rebel. They’re carrying out a large-scale rebellion even though they cannot wage an all-out war……. In other words, they are aiming for guerrilla warfare. The rebels will send small units across the Empire to wreak havoc for a long time.”

Vassago stared straight at me. His face seemed both incredulous and somewhat weary.

“You. Did you obtain information about the uprising in advance?”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“And the first thought you had after hearing my words was that?” Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel✦fire.net

I held my smoking pipe between my lips, causing a fragrant scent to fill my mouth. Since I only wanted to lightly enjoy the tobacco for now, I didn’t inhale deeply. I instead let the aroma linger slowly in my mouth. This, in its own way, has a pleasant flavor.

“Yes. Is there some kind of problem?”

“More importantly, a guerrilla force numbering as many as twenty thousand……. That will certainly be a headache. It seems today’s meeting will be longer than I expected.”

Vassago clicked his tongue again and muttered something. His voice was so low that I couldn’t make out the words, but his tone was undoubtedly filled with complaint.

As the time for the meeting drew near, the Elector Demon Lords began to arrive one by one. One after another, Gamigin, Sitri, and Marbas entered the reception room and each chose a seat as they pleased. Sitri, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, sat right next to me.

“Dantalian. Are you sure you do not wish to take a bit more rest?”

Marbas personally poured wine into a glass for me. I accepted it politely.

“Thank you for your concern. But I believe how the Empire responds from here on is more important than my own discomfort. The sooner we act, the better.”

“However, we still do not know where Barbatos has been taken. Without knowing her destination, the scope of discussion will inevitably be limited.”

I poured wine into Marbas’ glass with both hands. Marbas accepted the drink with a faint “hm,” his face expressionless. Including myself, the five highest-ranking Demon Lords present each took a light sip.

“You may have already heard, but the remnants of the Plains Faction have raised an army. They claim they are taking up arms to avenge the wrongful deaths of their lords. For now, why not focus on suppressing the rebels while also trying to discern Barbatos’ whereabouts?”

At Marbas’ words, the other Elector Demon Lords gave small nods. In any case, we had far too little information at the moment. Whether to rescue Barbatos or abandon her, we could not decide without even knowing where she had been taken.

In that sense, Marbas’ proposal was close to textbook. His tendency to favor sound strategy and tactics was as present here as ever.

But that would leave us a step too late.

They have no idea what kind of person Elizabeth is. She is far beyond someone who can be dealt with by sticking to textbook responses. To overtake Elizabeth, you must be one, even two steps ahead of her.

I opened my mouth to speak.

“Barbatos is in the Habsburg Republic.”

The eyes of everyone in the room turned to me.

“Shameful as it is, my adopted daughter knows our Empire’s information in great detail. She also understands exactly which country she must defect to in order to deal the Empire a decisive blow.”

I continued speaking in a more relaxed tone than usual. The five gathered here were political leaders with deeply entangled relationships, but that was precisely why there was a certain ease to it.

Think about it. In less than ten years, the number of Demon Lords had fallen from seventy-two to sixteen. There was a limit to the rate at which a population could decrease.

These were Demon Lords who had survived fierce and merciless competition, and among them were the powerful figures who had managed to remain at the very top until the end. Whatever they might say outwardly, they acknowledged each other’s abilities deep down. There was no need to waste energy on pointless political skirmishes.

“Mm. But why the Habsburg Republic, of all places?”

“Because of Emperor Rudolf. If Barbatos dies, the body of Emperor Rudolf, having lost its master, will naturally rot away. And if the emperor dies, the country that stands to gain the most is the Habsburg Republic.”

Marbas furrowed his brow and let out a groan.

“I see……. Come to think of it, the ruler of the Republic is indeed Emperor Rudolf’s younger sister. She’s the only one besides Rudolf who holds the right to inherit the throne.”

As expected, he was quick on the uptake. I nodded.

“Yes. The consul of the Republic will gain a highly favorable hand. Simply by killing Barbatos, they would profit from the emperor’s disappearance, and if they’re lucky, they might even uncover evidence proving that our Demon Lord Army has been controlling the emperor. If they expose that to the world, our empire would instantly become an open enemy.”

Vassago let out a scoffing laugh. It was clearly meant to be mocking.

“You have quite the remarkable human as your adopted daughter, Dantalian. ‘A worm in a lion’s heart,’ this saying was made for this exact moment. And to think that you, who are usually so thorough in all matters, would show a lapse to a mere human girl.”

“……I have no excuse.”

I bowed my head without protest.

This, too, was a clever tactic from Vassago. By reprimanding me, Vassago naturally gains the highest authority among the Demon Lords gathered here. Even though Marbas was the one leading the meeting, it kept the attention from focusing solely on him.

“Oh? Didn’t we agree yesterday to put the matter of the traitor’s responsibility to rest?”

And, almost as if preordained, Gamigin took the baton.

“I thought this was the meeting to decide how we’ll respond from here on. I hate it when meetings get needlessly dragged out, so I’d appreciate it if we could move things along.”

“Understood. I’ll return to the point.”

I wet my tongue with a sip of wine.

“If my assumption is correct, the Habsburg Republic will soon send an envoy. They will make up any excuse they like, claiming they want to expand trade, strengthen relations, and so on, anything that sounds convincing enough.”

But the envoy will have a different, hidden purpose.

“And the envoy will almost certainly request an audience with Emperor Rudolf himself. They will want to confirm whether he is truly a living human, or a corpse brought back by resurrection magic. They will secretly bring an artifact capable of such verification.”

“In short, if the Republic sends an envoy, it will prove your assumption correct.”

“Yes, I am certain. We should prepare a stand-in for the Emperor in advance.”

“Hmm. Then a puppet would do nicely.”

Gamigin joined the conversation.

“Wasn’t the original plan to use a puppet to stand in for the Emperor? Can’t we just use that to fool the envoy?”

“Yes. Replacing him with a puppet should deceive the envoy’s eyes. But there is an even better way.”

Originally, after executing Barbatos, we had planned to replace the emperor with Ivar’s puppet. The marionette Ivar had crafted with painstaking care was indistinguishable from a real human. However, there was a certain reluctance to play that card right away.

I bent low and whispered.

“We first allow the delegation to examine the emperor’s corpse to their heart’s content.”

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I apologize for the long delay. Like I said in my update post, the main hard drive on my work computer decided to suddenly die on me a week ago, and it corrupted almost everything that was in there. I lost days’ worth of progress and had to work OT and two weekends to make up for it. I hope you understand that I was just feeling too stressed to work on this as well while I was trying to catch up on work and redo work I already did. It has not been fun.

I’m going to try and squeeze out another chapter next week to make up for it, but for now, back to finishing my weekend work and then I’ll be all caught up.