He said he would follow him with all his heart, but he cannot help but be dissatisfied.
Clearly, the Demon King had no desire to occupy the human world. He realized that the reason for the Demon King's purpose of taking over the human world was none other than to test and utilize Deon Hardt himself.
'But now that I have a toy, shouldn't I use it?'
The Demon King was not the type of person to just store toys in a storage box and look at them. Aren't toys meant to be played with?
A place where he could make the most of the toy called Deon Hardt.
Without hesitation, the Demon King thought of 'war'.
'Let's wage the largest war. That would be a sufficient stage.'
H also understood Deon Hardt's dissatisfaction because it was a meaningless and unnecessary war that was literally a waste. That's why Deon's actions and remarks, which could be considered arrogant, were dismissed with a light complaint, like his resignation letter.
The Demon King grinned without avoiding his red eyes.
"Yes, we should sweep them all away."
"..."
Deon's brow furrowed for a moment.
For a moment, he took his eyes off the Demon King with a calm expression, as if he had never done that before, and turned his attention back to the meeting. A calm and oppressive gaze, different from before, swept over the Corps Commanders as if pressing them down.
"... The Empire has excellent military power and Rweche is rich in materials. Sure... it'll be a hassle if you leave it alone. It will be easier to get rid of at least one of the Empire or Rweche from the alliance. I will take charge of this."
"Any way?"
"Can I use the magic that was used during the last declaration of war again?"
... Aha.
He felt like he was laughing a lot these days.
The Demon King, who had a vague idea of what the intention was, couldn't suppress the rising corners of his mouth and laughed again.
"It's possible. Are you trying to warn them?"
"Yes."
"I'm sure the mental blow will be effective. It's also cruel."
Humanity still did not know the identity of Commander 0.
Even in the demon realm, the only people who know that 'Demon Arut' and 'Deon Hardt' are the same person are Ed, Ben, Hien, and the Corps Commanders.
This was a situation induced by Deon.
'I hope the fact that 'Deon Hardt' is the '0 Corps Commander' has not been made public yet.'
'Why? It is already widely known that you are a traitor to humanity. There would be no reason for the Emperor to keep your identity a secret, right?'
'There is no reason to reveal it. Humans bite and fight with each other whenever they get the chance, so just because I, who was protecting them, betrayed them, doubts about the Emperor's vision are already being raised within.'
In such a situation, what if it was revealed that Deon Hardt, the third hero of the Empire, was the Commander of the 0th Corps?
As an Emperor who could not reveal the fact that he played a dangerous game with the Demon King over Deon Hardt, he became a foolish person who did not know that important fact for a long time.
Of course, there will be doubts about his insight, and using this as an excuse, the nobles' right to speak out will become considerably stronger. They are always looking to create a gap in the Imperial power, so rather than considering the current situation, they will even try to use the current situation for their own power.
In other words, the Emperor would become quite tired both internally and externally.
From the Emperor's perspective, it was better to postpone the revelation of the 'same person' case, even if it meant handing over the hilt of the sword to his enemy.
'However, if the war continues, the demons will often hear news from the human world, and the number of people who will know about it will increase.'
At the very least, there will be people who have doubts.
They heard that the third hero of the Empire named 'Deon Hardt' betrayed the human world and sided with the demon world. Who on earth is this? The only human being with the Demon King is 'Demon Arut'.
No way.
Could it be that Demon Arut is Deon Hardt?
Their thought processes would be as such.
'There is no need to hide it from the demons, but thorough control is needed to prevent this fact from being passed on to the human world. It is an immutable truth that the fewer people who know, the more tightly a secret is kept, so it would be better not to reveal it until the right time comes, but that doesn't mean it can't be kept a secret at all...'
The end of the sentence dragged on.
His voice slowed down, as if he was thinking, and continued pretending to be relaxed.
'I guess I'll have to pick out people I might find out about if I just leave it alone. Ordinary demon soldiers, who will fight frantically and be thoroughly controlled, are put on the back burner...'
'...'
'A Corps Commander with a wide range of action and relative freedom, and the 2nd and 4th Corps Commanders who deal with information will definitely know. No, they must have guessed it already.'
'... You mean to reveal it to the other Corps Commanders, right?'
'To be precise, I am informing the corps commanders and others close to me in advance and having them join the group.'
For example, Ed, Ben, and Hien.
For those who had been watching him closely, it would only be a matter of time before they notice the news from the human world. Deon didn't want to waste his attention trying to hide the fact that it was going to be revealed anyway.
'I knew his personality could change to some extent, but...'
This was completely different. Aside from the unstable nature of his personality coming and going as a result of merging his separated memories, Deon Hardt, who had no memory gaps, was sharper than ever.
The corner of his mouth twitched at the sharp analysis, but the Demon King naturally laughed for a moment.
'Do whatever you want. However, it's not like humans can't make reasonable guesses, so is that okay?'
Deon Hardt betrayed the human world and went to the demon realm.
He must have a place as a hero, but they can't hear his name anywhere?
Of course people will have doubts.
'There will be various guesses. There is probably some truth in it.'
'It's okay. The important thing is 'not being sure.''
'... Good!'
So the Demon King and Deon gathered the Corps Commanders and Ed, Ben, and Hien that day and revealed that 'Demon Arut' was 'Deon Hardt'...
He was able to see a variety of reactions beyond what he expected.
The 2nd and 4th Corps Commanders nodded as if they had expected this to happen, and some were slightly surprised but convinced that it was not something they had expected.
Some people, including the 9th and 7th Corps Commanders, were very surprised as if they had no idea, but they quickly laughed it off and said that it was indeed Demon.
'Lirinel had the most unique reaction.'
She grabbed her head with both hands and shouted, "I can't believe the leader of the Demon Cult didn't even know his name!"
Anyway, the identity of Demon Arut will be revealed in this 'Warning from the demon realm'. Humanity, which has not been able to even deal with the shock of Deon Hardt's betrayal, will suffer considerable psychological shock.
Deon looked with an emotionless face at the Demon King, who was joking that he was cruel, and then turned his head.
"... So let's skip the alliance issue and focus on the current battle. No, before that, there's something I need to address..."
When Deon remembered the fall of the castle, which took longer than he had calculated, he couldn't hold back his irritation and frowned as he chewed the words out.
"I know that demons cannot use their natural power in the human world, but to what extent is that true? It seems like there are more restrictions than I thought."
He expected restrictions on the use of magical power and the inherent abilities of demons, but he had no idea that their physical abilities would also decline. He didn't know that even if it did fall a bit, the difference would be this big.
Somehow, the preparation he had made when fighting back and forth between the demon world and the human world turned out to be easier than dealing with the demons. He thought it was because they were ordinary demon soldiers, but it seems that their physical abilities were limited.
"Um... it's because of the border."
The Demon King said with a troubled smile, as if telling him to calm down.
"The original border was only for warriors. The demons were not given permission to use it. Unauthorized people are using it as they please, so restrictions are bound to be imposed."
"... Can I ask you to explain in detail?"
"How should I explain this? Do you know why demons are a race hated by the World?"
"... I think I know why. Is it because you know how to use 'magic'?"
"Well... right."
He glanced at the Corps Commanders who were sitting in their seats and silently watching the conversation, and then his eyes fell on Deon again.
The Demon King was a mistake and error created by the World, and the demons were a race born from him. It was natural that they would be an eyesore to the World. But there was no need to go on here. The Demon King chose his words slowly.
"The border is for the movement of beings that will exterminate such a thorn in the eye. But conversely, what would happen if demons came into the human world and exterminated the species the World cared about the most? What if the Demon King came to the human world before that?"
"..."
"The border is ultimately a passage. If it is possible to come in, of course it is also possible to go out. Since it cannot completely prevent the movement of all demons, it's imposing restrictions. So that we cannot easily run amok in the human world."
"... Then, the Demon King, in the human world..."
"I can't go to the human world at all through the border. The World used all its remaining power to stop me."
It was impossible to prevent all demons, including the Demon King, from using the border.
The World faced reality and made a quick decision. Instead of preventing the movement of demons, it changed its direction to impose 'restrictions', reducing power consumption and putting all remaining interference power on the Demon King.
Because the Demon King is the most dangerous one who should not go out to the human world.
'Thanks to this, the other races of the Abyss benefited.'
Thanks to the demons attracting the world's attention at the forefront, other races were freed from restrictions.
There were no particular restrictions on both the friendly fairy race and other races that did not have any special feelings about the World when they go to the human world through the border. Only demons, including the Demon King.
In any case, it was a measure that was met with ridicule.
"... That's enough. Please explain the rest separately later."
This was not a topic to be discussed in depth here.
Deon, who belatedly became aware of the Corps Commanders around him, raised his hand to signal a halt to the conversation and pointed out a thing worth paying attention to in the Demon King's remarks.
"You said the borderline is an abnormal passage... Then what is a normal passage?"
"A contract. Originally, we had to come out to the human world through a contract with humans. It cannot be said that there are no restrictions at all."
A brief explanation followed immediately afterwards.
It was said that the total amount of power that could be used in the human world was determined depending on the vessel of the human who signed the contract.
Deon quickly raised his hand as it seemed like the conversation was about to continue like this.
"Wait a minute... before that, there's something I'd like to point out. What exactly is the scope of the restrictions imposed upon crossing the border into the human world? I knew the physical abilities were low... but what about the use of magic?"
"It's possible. Because we have to consume twice as much magical energy as when we were in the demon world, everyone tends to restrain themselves, and now that there is a ban on magic, we don't use it at all."
"But... if your life is in danger, it's worth using, but I haven't seen that happen..."
"... Really?"
The Demon King's expression, which had been relaxed the whole time, hardened for a moment.
"... Did you say that knowledge and wisdom are passed down to descendants through records... Even if that were the case, it would have been lost if time had passed… That's terrible."
It felt like he was going to stop, but he kept crawling on and on, like a cockroach.
The Demon King, who pondered what the Emperor had said in the previous declaration of war, lightly sneered and muttered lowly.
"Deon, I'll have to include this in your account too."
"What is that...?"
"Spells that suppress the magic of demons."