Bashbarza, the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army 'Ayan Fire', was in a good mood.

　Although the news of the overthrow of the brave man had not yet arrived, his mood was unusually good because the magic research he was conducting independently was going well.

　What is this?!

　The Four Heavenly Kings of the Wind, Zebiantes, enters the laboratory.
　And he is surprised by the magical experiment that Bashbarza is passionate about.

''What is it?　Rude to come into my lab without permission?
'No, it's just that I had something urgent to do... What is this?　It's a bit too white to go through, isn't it?

　Even if it was, the magical experiment objects were so impressive that it would astonish a great magician of the Four Heavenly Kings class.

　The scale is large and the amount of energy injected is also large.

　What exactly is Bashbursa trying to accomplish?

'Do you want to hear it?　I'm sure you're curious.　It's the best kept secret, but you, the same Four Heavenly Kings, have the right to ask. I have a special lesson for you.

　Bashbarza had wanted to brag about it for a long time, and he took the initiative to explain it, even though he was pompous.

'This is where we manufacture condensed magic bombs.
Condensed magic bomb?

　Zebiantes grills his temples with his fingertips, as if they sound familiar.

''You have to wait a moment. .........I think I've heard that this is an explosive weapon that can be created by super-compressing a material with a high magic absorption rate.
You know a lot, don't you? You've been elected to the Four Heavenly Kings, so you know a few things.

　That said, Bashvaza seemed unhappy that his own commentary opportunity was taken away.
　He regained his composure and spoke.

'Yes, this is a horrible magic bomb.

　Description.

''If you mix mithril as the main material with several other magical materials in a certain ratio and continue to compress it, from a certain point on, it will have the property of absorbing magic power inexhaustibly. Mithril has a high magic absorption rate to begin with, but this treatment allows it to accumulate hundreds of times more magic power and release it all at once...!
And by doing so, you mean you can turn it into a very powerful bomb?

　Zebiantes is sweating fat.
　'Imagine the damage that super-bomb could do.

'How powerful do you envision it being?'
"It's enough to blow up a city of humans without a trace. And on a much larger scale.
They're going to make something amazing again.

　If this was completed, it would have a remarkable effect on the balance of power between the demon race and the human race.
　For example, it would be possible to erase the entire city where the heroes are staying.

''But I've heard that you need a tremendous amount of mithril to create this bomb?　I've heard it's too cosmetically incompatible to be practical, even though it's just a high-end mithril?
''If you put it on an ordinary person's scale. But I'm the pinnacle of the Demon King's army, leader of the Four Heavenly Kings, nothing is impossible!

　Exactly now, Bashvaza was issuing orders to the Mithril Mines with the power of the Four Heavenly Kings and pressing them to deliver four times the normal amount of Mithril.

　Once that was delivered, the super bomb was finally complete.

　It wasn't a particularly vital project at first.

　The Mithril mine in question was also a key location where Dariel had once been the officer in charge and provided a steady supply of good quality Mithril steel.

　It was a place where Dariel's achievements would remain.
　When I thought about it, I felt like torturing Bashbarza for no reason.

　In order to create an excuse to consume a large amount of mithril, he forced a mithril condensation bomb, which had been put on hold due to its poor cost effectiveness, to be brought back to life.
　However, as he neared completion, he was excited about the horrors that would be caused by using it, and he became more enthusiastic about its construction.

　When he blew up the heroes with this bomb, he would have the highest reputation among the four heavenly kings of all time.
　Bashvaza's sense of merit is tingling.

''How much mithril did you invest in making this bomb?''
''It's all that my Demon King's army has in reserve. It's still not enough, so we're having them dig it out at a rapid pace.

　Once the newly dug mithril from the mine was delivered, the bomb would be complete and would be shot into the city where the brave men were staying.

　There would be havoc in the mines with the outrageous demands.
　But to Bashbarza, the anguish from below was of no importance.
　Whether the knockers working in the mines would suffer or spit blood and die.
　The lower races should be willing to die if they could die for a higher species like Bashbarza.

　Seriously, he thought.

'So, Zebiantes, what are you doing here? "So, Xeviantes, what have you come to me for?　Didn't you say it was urgent?
'Oh, yes. I must have forgotten about it.

　The Four Heavenly Kings of the Wind reported that they had just remembered.

'The Mithril Mine must have defected.
What?
Something about the knockers working in the mines, they had a mutiny. They kicked the officer in charge out.

　Zebiantes says without a care in the world, but Bashbarza, who receives the report, gradually realizes the gravity of the matter.
　It makes his blood boil.

　The fact that the mine has defected means that the minerals to be dug out there will not be sent there either.
　What would be produced was mithril, which meant that there would be no more material for the condensation bombs that Bashbarza was currently building.

'What nonsense!　Magic bombs are in the process of being manufactured right now!　What happens if it stops in the middle of the compression process with a little bit of mithril added...?
What happens when it stops?
The compression process cannot be interrupted. If we stop, the mithril in compression will lose its original properties and become nothing more than scrap metal...?
What's left in the Demon King's Castle now isn't enough?
'There's a minimum amount needed to make a condensed bomb!　If we don't reach that, we won't be able to obtain the infinite absorption of magic power, a property that is absolutely necessary for bomb-making!

　In other words, if new mithril was not delivered from the mithril mine, not only would the magic bomb not be completed, but all the stored mithril used so far would be wasted.
　It would be the worst possible outcome.

''d*mn it!　Why?　How could there be a mutiny?　Who was working in the mine?
It was like a knocker.
"A low-life Knocker wouldn't dare defy me!　The nonsense is getting to be too much for me!　I'm going to go in there myself and kill every last one of you right now!
But I have news for you.

　Zebiantes had been talking like someone else all along.

'The human adventurers entered the mines soon after the Knockers broke away. The human adventurers got into the mines as soon as the knockers broke away. They said it would take a lot of forces to bring it down.
What~?

　Bad news followed bad news.
　It would take a long time to retake the mine, and the production of magic bombs would definitely be aborted.

''Fool........!　A perfect narrative, a perfect plan, and now you're going to ruin it by doing something as trivial as this...?　What if my knocker is the only thing that could possibly go wrong?
"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but...

　'Zebiantes,' he says as if to drive home the point.

It's not like your toy making is going to be a complete failure. The Mithril mine is a very important facility for us, as well as for the Demon King's army. The Mithril Mine is an important facility for our Demon King's army and it's a shame that we lost it.

　And the situation is more serious.
　It's because Bashbursa has used up all of Mithril's savings for making magic bombs.

　Normally, it wouldn't have any real impact until the reserves were exhausted, and there would be time to deal with it.
　Such leeway was blown away by Bashbarza's whim.

''This means we can't make any new magic tools at all. I want a replacement for the magic tool that was broken in the fight with the brave men.
'Bother!'

　Blackmailing his bitter colleague, Bashbarza bites his nails.

　The rebellion came about in the first place because he pressured the knockers with his outrageous demands.
　If that was pointed out, Bashbarza would be in even more trouble, but he hadn't taken that into account for a minute.

　It was because he didn't have the slightest sense that he was in the wrong.

　He was the Four Heavenly Kings, the supreme authority in the Demon King's army, and everyone had to obey the decisions he made.
　So what he says is right.
　It is evil and foolish to disobey him. I believed, as a matter of course, that it was always someone other than myself who should be blamed.

　So, in this incident, too, it was the renegade knockers who were guilty, and it was Bashbarza who didn't even have any doubt that he was not in the least bit at fault.

　However.
　Reality doesn't always align with his perception.

'Hey, hey, Bashburza.'
What the hell?　What's going on?　I don't feel like talking to anybody right now!
I'm afraid that's not possible. There is one more thing I have to tell you. There is a gentleman who wants to talk to you.
Talk?　Who the hell do you think you are to ask me for an unannounced interview?

　Bashvaza is in a very bad mood right now.
　If anyone provoked him at this point in time, he'd be taken out and might even lose his place in the Demon King's army.

　But in fact, that won't be the case.

''Then you could just meet the person in question and complain to him directly.
Okay!　I'll strip you of all titles and knock you out of the Demon King's army!　Who is that idiot?
It's a demon king.

　As soon as it was said, Bashvaza's expression froze.

''It's the Demon King personally calling for you. The Mithril Mine has defected. The fact that the Mithril stock has been used up. I hear he has heard it all in his ear, right?

　Even the Four Heavenly Kings who stand at the pinnacle of the Demon King's army are not in truth all-powerful.

　Even from their point of view, there are people who have equal or higher positions.

　The Demon King is one of them.

　He rules over all the demon races, and even the demon king's army is just one of the agencies he has in his control.

　Even the Four Heavenly Kings Bashbarza had to crawl on the ground against the Demon King.