Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

Chapter 359: Strategy

There was a room made of a white marble-like material.

Only one door served as entrance and exit.

The room was completely empty.

Other than a magic circle drawn on the floor, the white room was devoid of anything.

<em class="chakra-text css-0">Paahh!!

The magic circle began to glow, and Kyubel appeared inside the empty room.

He wore his usual clown costume, his face covered by a mask.

The room was used as the arrival spot for those teleporting from afar.

'Welcome back, Lord Kyubel.'

When he left the room, a female demon wearing servant clothes took notice of him.

She bowed deeply to greet him, as he was a Demon Great General and the Demon King's Army chief of staff.

'Is the Demon King in the throne room?'

Kyubel answered in a light voice.

'Ah, yes. You should probably wait before entering however… Demon Great General Ramonhamon is inside right now.'

The Demon King was in the throne room.

But the servant awkwardly added that it was not the best time to enter.

'I guess that means the center attack has fallen already. That was faster than I expected.'

He understood the situation from the servant's response.

Without adding anything more, he continued walking amongst the columns holding the ceiling of the white palace, without a speck of dust marring the floor.

Kyubel held a large book in his hand.

He began climbing a set of stairs when he heard a loud tumult.

There seemed to be multiple voices trying to overpower each other.

'Is it true that the attack on the Central Continent failed too?!'

'I heard they got annihilated. I guess it's the same as Rosenheim?'

'Yeah, I heard that only Lord Ramonhamon who spearheaded the attack returned alive. The army and generals all died.'

The source of the noise were the hundreds of Demon Generals gathered there.

Many of them looked quite different from humans.

Some of them were many times bigger than a person, or others had multiple limbs.

It seemed that even insect and beast type monsters could be turned into Demon Generals.

This was the Demon King's Palace, the headquarters of the Demon King's Army.

They had waged war on humans, but their assault on Rosenheim failed, and now the one on the Central Continent failed as well. The Palace was in disarray hearing those news.

The army heading to the Central Continent had been the biggest one.

Only a small group, the one in charge of relaying information, had survived. The rest of the army had fallen under siege.

They were still discussing that when Kyubel reached the end of the stairs and everyone looked at him.

'''?!'''

They seemed surprised he had decided to show up there, being the chief of staff in charge of all strategies.

It was hard to imagine he would show up like that, knowing the position he was in, and who was further up in the stairs.

Kyubel merely glanced at the shocked Demon Generals, and began humming to himself as he resumed climbing the stairs.

The floor above the one with the Demon Generals was quite large.

At the end of the room there was a throne, and one man was sitting on it.

The throne was on an elevated platform, a set of stairs leading to it, and a couple figures were kneeling at the foot of the stairs.

A male voice and a female one could be heard simultaneously, and no one raised their heads while they spoke to the man on the throne.

''Milord! Why do you keep Kyubel as chief of staff?! His strategies just bring us defeat everywhere!!''

"...Hmm…"

The Demon King was reclined to one side, his cheek resting on one palm as he listened to them.

Both voices came from the same entity.

They had a male and a female face on their head, four arms and legs, but only one torso.

They were still speaking while Kyubel approached the throne nonchalantly.

'I've returned, Milord. These are the results from my last outing.'

Kyubel ignored the voices, merely glancing momentarily at their source, and presented the souls gathered by Gushara to the Demon King.

There was a considerable distance between Kyubel and the throne, but the pitch black orb seemed to be pulled by an immense force into the palm of the Demon King.

"Mm, good job, Kyubel."

''H-how dare you return looking so carefree, Kyubel! How do intend to make up for your failures!!''

While Kyubel spoke without a single care in the world, the two faces lashed out at Kyubel.

Kyubel had been the one who decided to send more than two million troops to the Central Continent, Rosenheim, and Baukis.

'I concur with Ramonhamon, would you be so kind as to explain to us your reasoning behind that strategy?'

That Demon Great General with two faces was Ramonhamon, the one the servant mentioned earlier.

Ramonhamon had been in charge of the army attacking the Central Continent.

The entire army had been defeated not long ago, so they retreated back to the Demon King's Palace and began venting their anger and frustration at the Demon King.

Another Demon Great General, who looked like a beetle with a metallic caparace, agreed with Ramonhamon's sentiment.

That Demon Great General had been the one leading the attack on Rosenheim, which ended in failure as well.

''Good said! We knew you would think so too, Bildiga. I feel like we've only tasted defeat after the last time we attacked!!''

The beetle Demon Great General was called Bildiga.

They were joined by a handful of other Demon Great Generals in the throne room.

It seemed that they all had important roles in the Demon King's Army.

'Huh? Defeat? Surely you must jest! You led such a large army there.'

Kyubel made full use of his clown attire to exaggerate his surprise.

Everyone could tell he was making fun of them.

''I-I'll kill you!!''

Ramonhamon looked ready to slice his throat.

"Regardless, you're late Kyubel. What held you up?"

The Demon King asked, raising his hand at Ramonhamon.

That seemed to clear all of Ramonhamon's anger, and they bowed deeply.

They decided this was not their place to get angry, and instead let the Demon King deal with it.

The Demon King glanced at another of the Demon Great Generals present there.

Basque, who still had a large gash diagonally through his body.

This was where he had escaped earlier, and now sat in the throne room cross-legged.

He did not seem to hold a smidgen of respect for the Demon King, but he was allowed to remain in the throne room as a Demon Great General.

Basque had been there for a long time now.

And he had reported that Kyubel left the temple on the floating island before he did.

'I'm truly sorry. I was busy looking for something.'

Saying that, he showed the book he held in his hand, saying he had been looking for it everywhere.

His careless tone of voice ticked off Ramonhamon's anger again.

"So, the army is exterminated left and right while you search for a book. I was already starting to suspect you had double crossed us and had gone to Elmea's."

''M-milord! What do you mean?!''

"Oh it's nothing, just something a little bird told me. Say, Kyubel, is it true you used to be the First Angel in the past?"

'''?!'''

The Demon King asked whether Kyubel really had been the First Angel before.

The Demon Great Generals were all speechless.

They knew his moniker of the Primordial Demon General, and that he had lived for a long time.

Now they understood why he always wore a mask and never revealed his face.

'Once upon a time, yes. It truly has been eons since I last spoke to Elmea, however.'

Kyubel chuckled, saying that was all in the past.

"So you don't deny it?"

'I don't.'

He had no reason to claim otherwise.

The Demon King and around ten Demon Great Generals were there.

Somehow he did not seem afraid of turning them into his enemies though.

Ramonhamon reached a conclusion.

Kyubel used to be the First Angel, he still had ties to the Divine Realm, and had planned everything so the Demon King's Army was defeated.

''Milord, please let us kill Kyubel. Please?''

Ramonhamon's eyes filled with bloodlust as they asked that.

"And that's Ramonhamon's position. So, do you have any way to justify yourself?"

'Excuse me? Justification? I'm sorry, I'm a bit slow sometimes, did I make a mistake?'

"Oh?"

''J-just listen to yourself!! All our campaigns under your supervision since last year have ended with failures!!''

Ramonhamon's two faces yelled back.

They would not allow Kyubel to get away alive after his true identity had been revealed.

'Last year too? Wait, let me think for a bit, I don't believe I've failed two times as you claim.'

"Go ahead."

The Demon King gave him permission to think, so Kyubel got on his feet.

He crossed his arms, tilted his head a little, and let out a 'Hmmm…' as he thought.

'I believe I've always shown good results… Just like the fruits of my labor that you hold now, Milord.'

He claimed the concentrated souls in the pitch black orb were the results of his strategy.

"The fire of life stripped from humans, huh. It looks rather small. Do you believe the Evil God will awaken only with this? It's only a fraction of the amount you promised."

'I'm aware of that. If Allen and his party had not interfered, I would've easily gathered five times more.'

Apparently Kyubel had planned on killing five times more people, but was stopped by Allen.

"So, isn't that a failure then?"

'Of course. If we keep having overwhelming victories, the Divine Realm will be on the move. So I had to limit myself a little.'

"Hmm."

'Thanks to me, we were able to utilize the Divine Artifact to gather souls, and we got rid of that cultist after he was no longer useful. We have to remember what our true objective is.'

''Our objective?!''

'Yes, our objective. I'm sure all of you are aware of what will bring us certain victory.'

They had no plans of spreading the Evil Cult any further.

And the leader of the Evil Cult had been dealt with now that he was of no use.

After a quick glance at Ramonhamon, Kyubel continued speaking.

Their latest endeavor had not ended in failure.

He believed they had gathered enough power to partially reawaken the Evil God.

On top of that, they had managed to grant the humans a sense of security, who now believed they had defeated the Demon King's Army.

This could become a similar situation as the time when they stole Freya's Divine Artifact.

They had continued winning all the time then, the Hero Helmios had become weak, and the Demon King's Army too large, which helped them distract the Divine Realm.

''T-that reeks of cheap excuse, Kyubel!!''

Ramonhamon believed that was merely Kyubel weaseling his way out.

'Please don't forget it's only thanks to me that the Demon King's Army continues to exist. It was I who stopped a foolish young Demon King from going out to war too early.'

"You're right. You really knocked some sense into me that time."

The Demon King replied with a nostalgic voice.

He had taken the name of Demon King and made an enemy of the human realm.

But he was too weak to take over a single country, and just when he was about to set out to war, Kyubel came to stop him.

All that happened a century ago, but the Demon King still remembered it.

The other Demon Great Generals felt like Kyubel was claiming too much credit for that, but the Demon King did not refute it, so they swallowed their words.

They could tell from the Demon King's expression that it was true.

But then Ramonhamon noticed something was slightly off.

The Demon King mentioned Kyubel being the First Angel as if it was a rumor, but they had never heard about that.

It was rare that Ramonhamon had never heard such a rumor even suggested, being that they were one of the highest ranking Demon Great Generals.

Ramonhamon looked at the other Demon Great Generals, and noticed some of them were shocked to hear that too.

All of them who were shocked were all recently promoted Demon Great Generals, who just like Ramonhamon had been put in charge not too long ago. Except for Basque, who was barely paying any attention at all.

Those who did not look surprised had been aware of Kyubel's identity.

'All in all, I'd appreciate it if you could not air my identity in public.'

Ramonhamon was still trying to process everything when Kyubel confirmed once again that it was true.

"Well, everyone seems to be a little on edge, you see, and my army has grown considerably. And you, Sacred Beetle Bildiga? Are you satisfied now?"

It was not just a mere rumor that Kyubel had been the First Angel.

It almost sounded like the Demon King had brought that up just to make Ramonhamon aware.

But then another intriguing term came from the Demon King's lips.

'Milord, I merely wished to inquire about the strategy's success. Also, that title belonged to me once in the past, not anymore. I'm merely a Demon Great General under your command, Milord.'

He claimed that he only agreed with Ramonhamon to push the conversation forward.

''Bildiga was the Sacred Beetle? What, what does this all mean…''

Ramonhamon finally realized that the Demon King had been playing with them all along.

Some of the Demon Great Generals did not seem surprised hearing that either.

The Demon King was trying to inform everyone about the identity of Kyubel.

And that Bildiga used to be the Sacred Beetle as well.

"Kyubel is my ally, Bildiga too. Now, Kyubel, why don't you tell everyone what you told me before? What's your wish, and why you help me?"

The Demon King wanted Kyubel to tell everyone what he had told the Demon King a century ago.

'Of course. I want to kill Elmea. I'll aid the Demon King's Army as much as necessary until that is achieved.'

''?!''

Even though his face was covered by a mask, his voice made his expression obvious.

His eyes were filled with insanity.

The Primordial Demon General, who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, wished to kill the God of Creation Elmea.

He became the Demon King's lackey and the Demon King's Army chief of staff for that.

"Do you all understand now? We're all doing everything we can here."

''''Yessir!'''

All the kneeling Demon Great Generals answered in unison and bowed.

Basque bowed after a slight delay, realizing everyone else was doing it.

"So what's our next objective then? Should we use these souls to revive a part of the Evil God? If memory serves, the Evil God was split into five, so this should be enough for one part, correct?"

The Demon King asked Kyubel what their next move would be.

He was aware that the Evil King had been split into five, before being banished to the Underworld.

The First Angel Merus was aware of that as well.

Kyubel had only gathered a fifth of the souls he had promised, but he claimed he had not failed, so the Demon King assumed his plan was to resurrect one of the parts.

'No. Those souls won't be enough to awaken even one of the Evil God's five parts.'

"Oh? Doesn't that mean you failed then?"

Everyone was wondering what Kyubel was thinking now.

The Demon King wanted a satisfactory answer to believe Kyubel had not failed.

'It's said the Evil God was banished to the Underworld, I believed so too. However! It was worth researching more after all! Look here, this picture book, it says the Evil God's tail was sealed in the bottom of the ocean. This is an important find!!'

Kyubel moved around in comical poses as he showed the Demon King the results of his research.

"A picture book? Do you mean human children books?"

Kyubel seemed to value the book very much, so everyone thought it was something important. But it turned out to be a children's picture book.

'Yes. Those foolish and shortsighted humans. This is the original book that those picture books are based on. The story within is slightly different to that known by the common folk.'

He claimed only humans would be so foolish as to ignore their failures are spread such information widely.

The picture books used commonly by human civilization sometimes contained very important information.

But the source of said books sometimes contained slightly different information.

"Well, just try to not fail me again."

Kyubel did not seem worried about anything, but the Demon King still warned him to not fail again like when confronting Allen.

'Yes, dutifully noted. I believe this book's contents need to be researched in depth though, so please give me time.'

"I see. As long as you don't miss the schedule, feel free to do so."

With that, the Demon King was done talking to Kyubel, he turned to the other Demon Great Generals.

''?! We're truly sorry for everything…''

Ramonhamon felt the Demon King's gaze, and immediately recalled how many times they raised their voice in his presence, apologizing by instinct.

But the Demon King quickly moved on, he did not seem to think anything of Ramonhamon anymore.

"So now we're going after the Evil King's tail. That sounds like fun!"

The Demon King's eyes glistened like those of a young boy going on an adventure.

But his face was contorted with madness.

All the Demon Great Generals bowed hearing him.

A new battle was going to start between the Demon King's Army and Allen.