The Kingdom of Karland, which had fallen into ruin, was surrounded by three nations.
The Kingdom of Haiden, which had maintained friendly relations with Karland since ancient times, and the Duchy of Raiz, which had gained independence from Karland.
And then, the Balzac Empire, which was hostile to Karland, Haiden, and Raiz alike.
Now, the rulers of these three nations were holding a meeting.
“Let us begin the Tri-Nation Conference.”
“Why should you be the one to lead, you old hag from Haiden?”
The meeting began with a tense atmosphere.
The Emperor of Balzac, a barrel-shaped dwarf named Debon, immediately picked a fight with the Queen of Haiden.
The Queen of Haiden, Capra, who had been insulted, was far from being an old woman. In fact, she was a stunningly beautiful woman who would turn heads wherever she went.
However, her age exceeded five hundred years.
Capra was an elf who had experienced a rare ancestral reversion, and she had ruled for over three centuries.
Thus, she calmly brushed off Debon’s insults.
“I’m only five hundred years old, you bearded barrel from Balzac!”
“Who are you calling a barrel?! I’ll kill you, you old hag!”
“I’ll pluck out that beard of yours and burn it, you fool!”
She brushed it off… or rather, she didn’t, and instead engaged in the fight.
In a panic, the Duke of Raiz, a thin, bespectacled man named Jupel, stepped in to mediate.
“P-please, both of you, calm down. If we fight among ourselves, it will only play into the hands of the Demon King.”
“Tch.”
“Alright then. Since it seems that if either of you tries to lead the discussion, it will only escalate into a fight, I will take charge of the proceedings.”
Perhaps in agreement with Jupel’s suggestion, both Debon and Capra nodded.
“First, let’s reconfirm the information. Approximately a month and a half ago, a massive horde of monsters emerged from the ‘Great Hole’ in Karland, wiping out the entire kingdom in a single night. The royal family, nobles, and commoners alike were all slaughtered, with only a few survivors. It was an unprecedented massacre.”
“And then, at the suggestion of the young lord of Raiz—my apologies, Duke Jupel—we formed a coalition army. Though I must admit, I wasn’t thrilled about including the empire ruled by you dwarfs.”
“And I had no desire to aid a nation ruled by an ancient elf hag. I only agreed because of young Jupel’s proposal.”
“Excuse me?”
“What did you say?”
The tension between Debon and Capra was thicker than ever.
Though Jupel understood the reason for their animosity, the meeting was getting nowhere, so he forcefully pushed the discussion forward.
“The coalition army, consisting of a hundred thousand soldiers, set out to exterminate the monsters and the Demon King leading them. However, the result was—”
“Total annihilation, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. The only survivors were Haiden’s Grand Magician, Crena, and a portion of Raiz’s Maiden Knights. As for Balzac’s Seven Heroes…”
“Don’t say it, young Jupel. I don’t want to hear it.”
Indeed, the coalition army that had marched to Karland to exterminate the monsters had been completely wiped out, including the so-called heroes.
They were destroyed by a rain of fire that fell from the sky.
“…What we need to discuss now is our next course of action. We underestimated the Demon King’s army. We sent a hundred thousand soldiers and couldn’t even defeat a single monster, resulting in total annihilation. Well, to be precise, we did manage to kill one low-ranking demon, but given its strength, it must have been at the very bottom of their hierarchy.”
“Hmm. I heard it was Raiz’s Maiden Knights who defeated it. If it was that weak, you should have taken it prisoner.”
“Ah, yes. I thought the same, but they got emotional after having their chests groped and accidentally killed it.”
Jupel spoke awkwardly.
“And then, you immediately searched for the magician who cast that grand spell, correct?”
“Yes. However, we couldn’t find them. Someone who cast such a powerful spell should have been exhausted, so we searched the surrounding area with the surviving troops, but we found no trace of anyone fitting that description…”
“If we attack again, we’ll only meet the same fate.”
“Indeed. What do you all think? Should we continue to fight, or should we offer peace to the Demon King?”
“It’s impossible. We already rejected their initial warning.”
This had happened a month ago.
Just as the surrounding nations were beginning to take action, a strikingly beautiful maid wearing a revealing outfit appeared in a border town, carrying a young man who seemed to be from Karland. She said:
“My master is a merciful one. If you humans surrender, he will grant you a degree of autonomy in exchange for offering slaves annually.”
Everyone was outraged.
No one knew the true identity or strength of the Demon King, but surrendering to an invader without a fight was unthinkable.
Everyone felt the same, and the soldiers’ morale soared.
Some even went so far as to suggest capturing the maid and making her a sex slave.
However, the result was the total annihilation of the coalition army.
If they had accepted the initial offer of surrender, the soldiers wouldn’t have died, and they could have retained some degree of autonomy.
“Honestly, I’m terrified. If that grand spell that wiped out the coalition army were used against our cities, we wouldn’t be able to stop it. We would be utterly destroyed.”
“…Indeed. I spoke with Crena, who barely survived, and she said that spell was on the level of divine power. I doubt they can use it repeatedly, but the fact that they used it twice in such a short time suggests otherwise.”
“…We can’t win.”
“No, we can’t. However, if the prophecy is true, the Demon King will be driven back to the demon realm. Ah, this isn’t the version that’s been adapted for the public.”
There is a prophecy on the surface world.
It states, “The evil king who seeks to devour the surface world and his army shall be defeated by a white hero.”
However, the version commonly known to the public has been altered by those in power.
“‘The white hero of Karland, accompanied by two suns, shall seal the evil king at the bottom of the Great Hole through sacrifice.'”
“Yes. That is the true prophecy, known only to the rulers of each nation. We should be grateful to your ancestors, who disliked the outdated notion of sacrifice and didn’t let this prophecy spread. If it had, people would have been searching for a saintess like they did during the witch hunts.”
“The prophecy…”
That is the true prophecy.
A prophecy left by a seer from a certain nation hundreds of years ago, foretelling the destruction and rebirth of humanity.
“Can we… rely on it?”
“Yes. I know of that seer, and to my knowledge, they have never been wrong.”
“And when will this saintess appear, you old hag? Karland has been all but wiped out, with only a handful of survivors.”
“…I don’t know.”
“I’ll kill you, you ancient hag!”
“I don’t know what I don’t know!! If you have a problem with it, take it up with that snot-nosed seer!!”
(So the legendary seer was a snot-nosed kid…)
The meeting continued, but made no progress.
For the time being, they decided to wait and see, but there was no guarantee the Demon King would wait for them.
Meanwhile, the Demon King in question was…
“Ugh!! I can’t do it! No matter how many times I try, I end up groping her breasts!!”
“…This is quite the predicament, Lord Baldin.”
He had collapsed to his knees, troubled by something utterly trivial.
