Dungeon Defense-Chapter 438: DAISY (2)

“You…….”

My heart pounded violently. Heat surged through my head. My vision blurred with scorching intensity, and even my breath escaped in fevered bursts.

Only one thought surfaced in my mind.

Laura—always smiling radiantly.

Confident, often exasperated by everything, yawning with an unseemly expression of boredom, sometimes recoiling in horror while hurling curses at me. Yet, she had never once refused my demands or desires, always declaring herself my eternal companion—my little soldier girl.

– I’m sorry, Lord… I’m sorry…….

– You were whipped……because of me…….

The memory of that night when Laura wept and wailed.

The way she clung to me, repeating over and over, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” as if something inside her had broken. That night, soaked in the gloomy colors of rain-drenched sorrow, filled every corner of my mind.

“You…… to my Laura…….”

“The Military Affairs Minister followed my intentions perfectly. Thanks to that, I discovered a flaw in the slave brand. While I may not be able to directly harm you or your lovers, I realized I could still induce suspicion, injury, and internal discord indirectly.”

Daisy had broken Laura—merely to uncover that truth.

No, that wasn’t all. I could see right through the way Daisy thought. Laura was the only one I had allowed to stand as my equal. In other words, Laura and I had gone beyond a simple lord and vassal relationship—we treated each other as friends, as lovers.

Daisy wanted to shatter that one and only relationship.

Because only then could she inflict true harm upon me. Because that was the way to corner my mind, to drive me into despair.

“It was as if I had glimpsed a ray of light.”

Daisy confessed in a detached voice.

“The Military Affairs Minister locked me in the underground prison and tortured me for days, for dozens of days. She left me hanging from the walls, giving me only a few drops of water each day. She called the slop meant for pigs ‘food’ and forced me to eat it. But even in that situation, my mind was more exhilarated than ever.”

A small, gentle smile appeared on Daisy’s lips.

“The betting board between Father and me was overwhelmingly unfair in Father’s favor. I couldn’t harm you, nor could I even lay a finger on your lovers. But then, on a gambling table where my defeat was predetermined, I found a way out—a single escape route. Narrow, terribly narrow, but nonetheless a certain ray of light. I am sure you must understand my joy, my ecstasy.”

“…….”

“In the dark underground prison, eating pig feed, vomiting from the nausea, my skin being stripped away by the whip……. Even in the midst of all that, I was thinking—how could I exploit this loophole? What would be the surest way to bring about your ruin?”

Daisy’s tone was so gentle it could almost be described as happiness. A faint delight colored her voice.

A girl born human, who became the daughter of a Demon Lord, quietly confessed her crimes.

“Perhaps it was on the third day? As I watched Military Affairs Minister Farnese flog me like a madwoman, it suddenly struck me. A revelation. A thunderbolt coursed through my entire body, making me tremble. And in that moment—I understood everything. I knew exactly what I had to do.”

A ten-out-of-ten probability. A game where Daisy’s defeat was supposed to be absolute—and yet, Daisy caught a glimpse of victory.

“It was almost embarrassing, realizing that I had momentarily forgotten something so simple. The woman wailing before me, Military Affairs Minister Laura de Farnese—she is the lover of Demon Lord Barbatos, is she not?”

Silence settled between us.

But it wasn’t a silence born of shock. It was the silence that came from the gap in understanding. Daisy had spoken with absolute confidence, as though stating the obvious. And yet, I found myself unable to comprehend what she meant. My lips parted slightly, struggling to form words. Noticing my lack of reaction, Daisy spoke again, her tone laced with amusement.

“I am talking about Barbatos, Father. The Barbatos standing here before us. Think about it.”

Daisy tilted her head slightly.

“Barbatos suddenly began pressuring you one day. Were you not ever curious about the reason? No matter how much Barbatos despised Paimon, did you not think an assassination was excessive?”

At that, Barbatos, who had remained silent until now, furrowed her brows.

“You…… what are you—”

“Be quiet.”

The moment Barbatos opened her mouth, Daisy brought the greatsword down. The blade struck true, piercing directly into Barbatos’ thigh.

Barbatos screamed. Even the Neutral Faction Demon Lords surrounding Daisy flinched at the unexpected attack.

Daisy cast a cold, expressionless glance at Barbatos.

“I am speaking with my father right now. This is not a conversation for some third party to interrupt.”

“You…… filthy little—”

“There is only one answer permitted from you, Barbatos. Who was it that warned you to be wary of Paimon?”

Daisy twisted the greatsword still embedded in Barbatos’ thigh. The blade dug deeper, mercilessly tearing through her flesh. Barbatos bit her lip, trying to suppress her screams, but a pained groan still escaped her throat.

Daisy clicked her tongue softly.

“Are you unable to even give a proper answer? What a useless woman. To think you fell for such a useless wretch, Father. I am almost embarrassed for you as your daughter.”

I ground my teeth in frustration.

“Put that away……!”

“You are contradicting yourself again, Father. Did you not just say to exclude Barbatos from all orders?”

Daisy sneered faintly.

“It is quite perplexing for me to figure out which order I should obey. But it’s fine. I’m a dutiful daughter. If you wish, I’ll gladly accept any unreasonable command.”

Daisy withdrew her greatsword. Dark red blood gushed from Barbatos’ thigh. Daisy casually shook off the blood from the blade, clearly uninterested.

The atmosphere was tense.

Daisy was undeniably in control of the space now. Even the Neutral Faction Demon Lords, who had been standing on the sidelines, were now captivated by Daisy’s voice, watching her with a mixture of caution and curiosity. The citizens of the square murmured among themselves, but they watched the intruder’s bold actions from a distance.

I had to stop this.

My instincts screamed a warning. And then, Daisy’s jet-black eyes locked onto mine with a sharp, unwavering gaze.

“Are you planning to stop me here? That’s fine. But let me make something clear. If you stop me here, you will never know how I came to oppose the slave brand. If that is acceptable, then by all means, stop me.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“It’s not a threat. It’s the truth.”

Daisy’s lips curled into a subtle smile.

“And I will behead Barbatos with my own hands. Your most beloved lover, killed not by you, but by someone else’s hands. You could never endure that, could you?”

“…….”

Daisy then shifted her foot onto Barbatos’ thigh, pressing down where the greatsword had torn through. Barbatos, blood dripping from her lips, stifled a groan of pain.

“I will answer the question that this woman couldn’t. Barbatos received an urgent warning from someone. A warning to be cautious of Demon Lord Paimon, that if things continue this way, Paimon would most likely end up killing you, Father. Because of this warning, Barbatos took action to remove Paimon.”

Ah.

“The one who gave that warning was Laura de Farnese, the Minister of Military Affairs.”

Aahh.

Ah, aaah!

“The Military Affairs Minister had already been wary of Demon Lord Paimon. It was only natural. Paimon had many conflicts with you, Father. But now, the place where the poisoning attempt against you took place was at the Governor’s mansion in Batavia. The mansion of the Batavian Republic, where Demon Lord Paimon operates. Do you really believe that the Military Affairs Minister dismissed this as a mere coincidence?”

Daisy shook her head.

“The Military Affairs Minister had to urgently come up with a plan. There was no direct evidence that Paimon had tried to assassinate you, Father. But just because there was no evidence, that doesn’t mean that the Military Affairs Minister’s love for you was shallow enough to not prepare any countermeasures. She devised a safety plan to block Demon Lord Paimon, preparing for a ‘what if’ situation…….”

My mind felt paralyzed, as though it had been struck by lightning.

My jaw trembled.

“Father, the one who prides himself as the smartest in the world, tell me. Who do you think Laura de Farnese, the Minister of Military Affairs, consulted with?”

“This is nonsense……. There’s no way…….”

“Demon Lord Paimon is a powerful being. The one who can stop Paimon must be someone as strong as she is. Someone who is close enough to Laura that she can caution, someone as strong as Paimon, and also someone who views Paimon as a threat.”

Daisy pressed her right foot down firmly.

Barbatos’s weak scream erupted.

“That’s right. The Military Affairs Minister warned Barbatos. ‘It seems that Paimon tried to kill Father, so please be cautious.'”

While being tortured in the underground prison.

Daisy didn’t answer Laura’s harsh interrogation, but she whispered just one sentence—one sentence that planted doubt in Laura’s heart.

―Is there no contact from Batavia?

This strongly solidified the suspicion that Daisy was working with Paimon. At least, that was how Laura took it. Over time, Laura turned her suspicions into conviction and sought help from Barbatos, who was her most trusted lover and ally.

Naturally, Daisy said.

“Barbatos kept a close watch on Paimon. Laura is your closest confidante. If even someone like her is warning her, it’s likely she thought the situation was serious.”

The memory of that night when Barbatos had begged to kill Paimon resurfaced.

Was it not simply out of jealousy toward Paimon?

Laura knew that Paimon was the leader of the Republican Liberation Alliance. If she had told Barbatos that fact, explaining just how calculating and dangerous Paimon was, Barbatos’s wariness would have been heightened to the extreme.

It was at that precise moment that the abolition of slavery was proposed within the demon army.

In Barbatos’s eyes, that could have been seen as evidence that Paimon, a Republican, was beginning to take action in earnest.

Was that why she dared to take such risks and sought to eliminate Paimon?

In other words—

Laura falling apart, consumed by paranoia.

Barbatos, being overly wary of Paimon, ultimately resorting to the extreme act of assassination.

And even the moment when I would come to kill Paimon—.

“Of course, I didn’t expect Barbatos to go as far as attempting to assassinate Paimon. At most, I thought it would escalate into a grand factional struggle.”

Daisy smiled.

“I suppose that should be called a most delightful miscalculation.”

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

It was all a trap orchestrated by Daisy.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Okay, this should’ve been out last week, but after becoming the main reviewer for Brown Dust 2, I’ve had like back-to-back assignments involving huge batches of story text for the past 2 weeks and I still have another 2 weeks of more story stuff to translate/review. If you play the game, then know that the past few event stories have all been translated/reviewed by me (mostly). It’s definitely a huge gooner game, but I’ve sort of been pouring my attention on it a lot since it’s probably one of the biggest games I’ve become a main reviewer for. Soooo, apologies for my slow progress with DD!

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter… I’ll get through it…