kscans

Chapter 124 - A Full Course of Lies and Deceit

"Oh no, don’t fall for it, Oni-san!"

"That’s one of Hero Uncle’s despicable schemes!"

The children shouted at the screen, their fists clenched. Within minutes of it starting, everyone except for Hades’s daughter had emotionally taken the side of the oni.

I suppose I could not blame them.

Right now, on the other side of the screen, the Hero was disguised as a wounded oni, feeding false information to another. The chaos of the moment, coupled with the Hero’s own acting skills, had the oni completely fooled.

"That’s enough, don’t talk! Hey, get this guy to an aid station, quickly!"

Most of the aid stations were impromptu facilities. This meant the Hero and his allies did not have information on their locations. Having successfully located one, the Hero knocked out the oni who had brought him, then used the opportunity to burn down the station and its supplies without a shred of hesitation.

He must have known there was likely valuable intelligence inside.

But he chose speed. The Hero made an immediate withdrawal and repeated the same act in a different location. This time, however, there was one difference.

"B. Be careful… They’re disguising themselves as oni to locate our bases…"

"What did you say!?"

"Spread this information at once! And dispatch guards!"

They would never suspect that the oni standing right before them was one of the impostors. His judgment was too quick. He had abandoned his cover before the information could be compromised, and instead began spreading the intelligence himself. This offered several advantages, but being able to control the timing of his own discovery was a significant one.

He was also clever about who he chose to tell.

A sharper mind might have had a countermove available here. For instance, they could have ordered the oni who brought the information to be finished off as proof he was not an enemy. If an ally took lethal damage, they would be teleported away automatically, so there would be no risk. The oni before them was already in tatters, after all. The loss in terms of fighting strength would be minimal.

"Hey, where are you going!?"

"I’m not much of a fighter anymore, but I’m going to spread this information to as many places as I can until I reach my limit… urgh…!"

"But with those wounds, you should go to an aid station…"

"Idiot! Depending on the situation, we might have to evacuate the patients and supplies that have already been brought in!"

What was the point of adding another burden? When the disguised Hero argued it was more efficient to keep moving until he was forced out, the other oni nodded, looking deeply impressed.

"We can’t let those humans keep doing whatever they want! You stop being so soft and do your part too!"

"Ooh! Well said! You’re absolutely right!"

This guy, his ability to talk his way through things is truly pathological.

"Grr… That uncle…"

"But Rika-chan, Satou-san isn’t uninjured either," the young Akatsuki said, watching as the Hero took cover and dispelled his transformation magic. He was right. The Hero had sustained wounds that were by no means shallow. Without the restrictions, he could have healed himself in an instant, but with his current handicap, his resources for recovery were not limitless.

He is being cornered, yes he is, but… that is likely part of the plan as well.

He could fully heal with his current resources. The reason he was only applying minimal treatment was because he wanted to allocate those resources elsewhere. I can say this with certainty. The Hero and his allies will be taken down before long. But to call that our victory and their defeat would be incorrect.

Our very conditions for victory and defeat are different.

This was a result of our own shortsightedness. We wanted to confirm whether our revised defenses could repel an invading enemy. They, however, are only looking to see how much damage they can inflict on us. We initially saw them as the enemy’s main force, but they have been operating as a vanguard from the very beginning. They are not seeking a spectacular victory. From start to finish, all they have done is cause trouble.

Our past conventions are holding us back.

The Hero and his allies are running rampant, but in truth, they are not targeting any of the vital locations in Hell or Paradise. This was true even from the initial fall of Paradise. It would have been a catastrophe had they taken the center of Paradise, but what fell was a remote region. Our defensive resources are not infinite. It is impossible to deploy troops evenly everywhere. Consequently, there are always going to be areas where our defenses are weak and thin. And it is not as if being attacked there causes us no pain. After repelling the enemy, we have to spend people, goods, and money on reconstruction.

I believe their intention is to tell us to start thinking about what to do under the assumption that we will take damage.

Take a bridge, for example. Suppose there is a bridge that we know will be targeted, and that defending it completely is impossible. Yet, after the war ends, this bridge must be rebuilt for life to resume. If its destruction is a foregone conclusion, then we should be focusing our ingenuity on how quickly and cheaply we can reconstruct it.

Ugh… Deep-seated values are a troublesome thing.

When it came to a war in the afterlife, we had been far too lacking in the awareness that there could be a second time, or a third. We assumed it would not be a protracted conflict, given the location. Invading the afterlife is an inherently risky action, after all. Indeed, Hades himself had launched a blitzkrieg, a surprise attack, and had poured all his efforts into his true objective, which was to seize the authority I hold. Had he failed, he would have likely withdrawn to Greece without attacking the Hero. Then, through subsequent political negotiations, he would have minimized his losses and kept a low profile for a while.

The fault is mine for seeking out malice, yet still believing the enemy to be a rational entity.

As the Enma of Hell who has judged many evils, I should have known better. Among the villains I have judged in the past, there were many who disregarded conventional calculations of profit and loss. That type of person operates entirely according to their own internal set of rules. They do not make rational judgments based on things like risk.

The moment I allowed Hades’s invasion, that illusion was shattered. Is their message that I should stop treating this place as special?

I thought I understood. That was why we began discussing a new defensive posture in the first place. But I had not fully cast it away. The illusion that the afterlife is a special domain. It is a flaw of the undying, this difficulty in changing one’s values. The Hero and his comrades have brilliantly exploited that. The other Ten Kings in command must have been made to realize it early on as well. But at this stage, they have no effective countermeasure, which is why they continue to be outmaneuvered.

Choosing those former scoundrels as our opponents for this drill was the right decision.

We have managed to identify numerous problems before falling into a critical situation.

"Look! It seems like Hero Uncle and the others are finally cornered!"

The tide of battle shifted in the blink of an eye. The Hero and his allies, who had been moving separately and carrying out terrorist acts, were now being driven into one location. It certainly looked like they were at their limit… no, that is wrong. I only noticed because I could see it in real time, and with my own eyes. They are certainly suffering from severe exhaustion. But their eyes are not dead. What is it? What can they do in that situation? They should not be able to use any significant techniques… Unease burns in my chest, a feeling that I am overlooking something important.

Self-destruction? But if they self-destruct in that state…

It would amount to nothing more than a cornered animal’s last gasp. And yet, that defiant smile…

"Looks like we’re out of options."

"Seems so."

"Alright, let’s do it."

The three of them nodded with smiles, then shouted.

"""Glory to Lord Hades!"""

They self-destructed, just as I had expected. However, the scale of the explosion far surpassed my estimations. It was powerful enough to wipe out the entire surrounding army. Where on earth did they get the resources for that much power…

"…So that’s what this is."

Sarna-jou murmured, her face twisting into a massive grimace. A moment later, I also understood. And my own face twisted in exactly the same way.

Do they have… any human decency…