The sight of the dam collapsing and the water gushing out was the most shocking thing Grand Duke Neighdelberg had ever witnessed in his life. This operation was the second and final chance Emperor Stuttgart was granting him, so Neighdelberg staked everything—even his life—on it.

Why? The answer was obvious. Neighdelberg’s entire household would be annihilated if this operation failed.

If his punishment last time merely ended with him losing his status as a noble and being branded as a slave, then this time, his kin and everyone he knew would be executed for treason.

“Huff... Huff...!”

Grand Duke Neighdelberg struggled to breathe as he looked at the torrent of water surging toward the Marchioni Empire’s territory. The vast volume of water was about to crash down upon the nearby cities like a tidal wave.

If that much water falling from a high place crashed into the cities down below, millions of people would drown in less than an hour.

“...”

The Marchioni Empire’s soldiers engrossed in their work suddenly came to a standstill, staring dumbfoundedly at the collapsed dam. The mages drawing the magic circles to topple the mountain all stopped and looked at the torrent of water rushing toward the cities.

At that moment, the exact same thought popped into their heads.

‘I’m dead.’

‘We will be executed.’

‘We’re all doomed.’

‘None of us will be spared.’

Grand Duke Neighdelberg was not the only one screwed.

The soldiers, mages, knights, engineers, architects, and even the laborers who had participated in this operation would find it difficult to escape responsibility for this catastrophic failure.

They would have to bear the price for the millions of people who would die from this incident, and that price would come at the cost of their lives.

Knowing Emperor Stuttgart's ruthlessness, it was very likely that everyone who had taken part in this operation would be sent to the gallows or have their heads chopped off with the guillotine.

“Your Excellency! Grand Duke Neighdelberg!” The commander approached Grand Duke Neighdelberg and cried out, his face filled with despair and horror.

He was General Clark, the commander of the Marchioni Imperial Army’s Ninth Corps and a three-star general, to boot.

“Arrest me, General Clark...” Grand Duke Neighdelberg said.

“B-But...”

“Arrest me and take me before His Imperial Majesty the Emperor. That way, you might be spared from his wrath and live to see another day,” Grand Duke Neighdelberg said weakly.

He knew that there would be no escaping death this time, so he intended to offer himself as a sacrifice in hopes that the emperor’s wrath could be quelled and the men would be spared.

He clung to the hope that the emperor would forgive all those who had participated in this operation, and only execute him.

However, General Clark disagreed. “Everyone will die anyway, Your Excellency.”

“But still. Those who can live should—”

“His Imperial Majesty will not spare us. How many disasters have struck our empire recently? How many operations have failed?”

“Ah...”

“His Imperial Majesty might have shown mercy in the past. But things are no longer the same, Your Excellency.”

“T-That’s...”

“His Imperial Majesty’s anger is at its peak. I am certain that nobody will escape responsibility this time.”

“Then what do you propose? What do we do?” Grand Duke Neighdelberg asked.

“We must survive,” General Clark replied resolutely.

“Surely you don’t mean...?”

“We must rebel against the empire.”

“...!”

“All of us will be executed if we return to the imperial capital. All thirty-five thousand troops deployed to this operation will be sentenced to death,” General Clark said, his voice trembling with fear.

“That’s...”

“We should use these troops to seize and hold this region as our stronghold. If we become rebels and pressure the empire, then other disgruntled feudal lords may rise up as well.”

The general proposed that they place their hopes on the fragmentation of the Marchioni Empire. He was placing his bets on the possibility that the frontier nobles would make a move after seeing an entire corps rise in revolt. It made sense. Those frontier nobles had long been dissatisfied with the empire's policies, after all.

Since their lives were already forfeit, they might as well gamble on such a risky bet.

“But that is going to destabilize our—”

General Clark shouted, “Grand Duke! You must stand firm and lead us!”

“But still... That is a bit...”

“Our lives are as good as forfeit, so what is there to fear?! If we are going to die anyway, then we might as well die trying! If we do fail, then we can just commit suicide!”

“Ahem!”

General Clark knelt and said, “I will serve under you, Your Excellency. Please, lead us.”

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

As a result of the general’s persistent persuasion, Grand Duke Neighdelberg decided to start a rebellion.

It was a decision born out of desperation. Rather than let himself be executed, he judged it would be better to start a rebellion and try to find a way to survive.

***

Meanwhile, Siegfried went back up to the mountain and was spying on Neighdelberg when he overheard an unexpected conversation.

“Huh? What was that all about?”

He was curious about the reaction of that obnoxious and cunning fellow, Neighdelberg, but the grand duke’s reaction was truly unexpected.

“That guy is going to start a rebellion?”

Siegfried was surprised when he heard Neighdelberg and General Clark’s exchange.

‘Tsk, I guess I can’t let that annoying old man leave here alive,’ he thought as he conjured an aura blade.

He thought of sniping Neighdelberg from a distance, ending his miserable life once and for all.

Then, he realized something.

‘Hold on... If Neighdelberg and that Clark fellow rise in rebellion... That means they will cause more trouble for Stuttgart, no?’

Siegfried’s ultimate goal was to destroy the Marchioni Empire and take Emperor Stuttgart’s head. If the rebellion stirred up by Neighdelberg weakened the Marchioni Empire, then that would greatly serve Siegfried’s interests.

According to the saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," they were technically on the same side now.

‘It’s a pity, but I guess I’ll let him off this time,’ Siegfried thought. He decided to spare the annoying old cunning fox. he wanted to kill him as much as he wanted to kill Emperor Stuttgart, but the thought that Neighdelberg’s rebellion would give the emperor a huge headache was simply too good to pass on.

‘I’m sparing you, so you better pull off a proper one. Good luck, old man.’

Silently cheering Neighdelberg on, Siegfried turned and left.

The better the rebellion went, the stronger Emperor Stuttgart's headache would become. With that in mind, Siegfried had no choice but to support him wholeheartedly and hope that the cunning old man could truly wreak havoc.

***

The next day, Siegfried logged in early in the morning and ordered that a prisoner be brought to him.

Siegfried turned the prisoner, who was awaiting execution, into an Irradiator and sent them to the Marchioni Empire. He had no choice but to send an Irradiator, as he couldn’t send one of his officials as an envoy.

Why had he decided to send an Irradiator? Well, they were destined to have their heads lopped off the moment they stepped into the Marchioni Empire, regardless of whether they were a diplomatic envoy or not.

He couldn’t risk driving his loyal retainers to their deaths, so he turned a criminal who deserved to die into an Irradiator and sent them to the Marchioni Empire.

Meanwhile, Emperor Stuttgart did not get a wink of sleep the night before.

The operation to flood the Proatine Empire had ended in utter failure, and the Marchioni Empire’s cities ended up getting flooded instead. As if that was not enough, those involved in the operation rose in rebellion and seized control of the region.

Emperor Stuttgart was now as stressed as he could be, and his fury had already gone far beyond its limits. In the midst of it all, he received word that an envoy from the Proatine Empire had arrived.

“Your Imperial Majesty. An envoy has come from the Proatine Empire.”

“Tell them to wait. I will come shortly.”

Suppressing the rage boiling up inside him, Emperor Stuttgart headed toward the audience chamber.

The Irradiator opened the box Siegfried had sent and said, “This is a gift His Imperial Majesty, Siegfried von Proa, has bestowed upon you.”

Inside the box was a rotten squid—one so rotten that it emitted a foul stench that pervaded the audience chamber.

The so-called "gift" combined with the words used by the so-called envoy was a blatant provocation from Siegfried.

However, the emperor barely even reacted, as if the provocation was unworthy of a response.

Then, he ordered, “Behead him.”

“Yes, my lord!”

A knight stepped forward and drew his sword, ready to cut off the Irradiator’s head.

However, he was a step too late.

“Long live... the Proatine Empire!”

Kaboom!

The Irradiator exploded, unleashing a burst of energy.

Siegfried’s gift to Emperor Stuttgart included a bomb. Unfortunately, the bombing had no effect on Emperor Stuttgart or the officials gathered in the audience chamber.

Why?

It was all because the ancient protective spells installed in the Marchioni Empire’s audience chamber protected them from such an attack.

While the damage was blocked, the fragments from the explosion were not.

Splat!

Something smacked Emperor Stuttgart’s face.

It was the rotten squid.

The explosion blasted away the rotten squid in the box, and it struck Emperor Stuttgart’s face.

“...!”

The officials of the Marchioni Empire were so stunned by the sight that they staggered a few steps back.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

In fact, some of them actually fainted from sheer terror.

Emperor Stuttgart peeled the rotten squid off his face and commanded, “Guards. Kill them all.”

At last, the emperor gave that command.

Rampage.

True to his nature as a tyrant, Emperor Stuttgart ordered that every official who had witnessed the rotten squid landing on his face be executed.

With the command, he had made sure that no one, except for his loyal imperial guards, would remain alive to speak of the humiliation he had suffered today.

***

“Lalala~ Lalala~”

Siegfried was in such a good mood after sending his little gift to Emperor Stuttgart. His mood was so good that he couldn’t help but hum a cheerful tune while tending to his morning duties.

Soon, he summoned Oscar and shared Metatron’s proposal with her.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“W-Well, I am not quite sure if it will really work, but...” Oscar replied, looking flustered.

Traditionally, entering into a contract with a demon was frowned upon, as one would be staking their soul as collateral.

However, the idea of turning them into comrades-in-arms and letting them fight side by side on the battlefield was something that no one had ever thought of before.

There was definitely huge upside potential to it, but it was not something that could be implemented so easily.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle the demons myself. As for the Proatine Empire, well... I guess I’ll be leaving them to you,” Siegfried said.

“Well, yes, I can handle them, but still...” Oscar hesitated.

“This is a contract that will benefit both sides. Our soldiers will be empowered and gain powerful comrades. And in turn, the demons can harvest the souls of the Marchioni Imperial soldiers they kill on the battlefield.”

“Hmm...”

“It’s a win-win situation. Nobody except the Marchioni Empire loses here.”

“If that is Your Imperial Majesty’s will, then I will gather volunteers who are willing to be the first to form contracts with demons,” Oscar replied with a nod.

“Good. Then I'll persuade the demons while you go get volunteers.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.”

After finishing his talk with Oscar, Siegfried immediately set off for the Demon Realm, as he wanted to persuade the demons directly.

“His Majesty the Demon King has arrived!”

As soon as Siegfried arrived at the Demon King’s Castle, all the demon lords scattered across the Demon Realm dropped what they were doing and came rushing to him.

Being the most powerful Demon King in the history of the Demon Realm meant that Siegfried held absolute authority and commanded unwavering loyalty from all demonkins in the realm.

For that reason, none of the demon lords dared to even dream of being late when Siegfried had made his appearance. It went without saying that nobody dared to speak ill of him or rebel against him.

They came running the moment Siegfried summoned them.

“Is everyone present? Nobody’s absent or late?” Siegfried asked.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The thirteen Demon Lords answered in unison with a resounding shout.

“From this moment onward, we will begin recruiting demons to be dispatched to the Middle Realm. Each of you is to gather ten thousand demons for the first deployment. As for the terms of the contract, use this as a reference,” Siegfried announced..

Then, he tossed a stack of documents onto the desk. It was the terms of the contract that they would use for establishing a contract with the Proatine Empire’s troops.