Prologue

Man, my life really was pointless, wasn’t it? the girl thought with a quite literally dead expression, her legs dangling in the air. She was flying. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that the claws of a dragon had her by the shoulders—leaving her hanging in the air.

So this is how it all ends, huh?

Far below her was an uninhabited plain, lit only by the moonlight. They were flying high in the sky alongside the clouds. If she fell from this height, the impact would surely cause her body to explode into a thousand pieces. Though she couldn’t exactly get more dead than she already was, that feeling was still unsettling.

The name of this undead, lich-in-training girl was Claire. Though she knew her end was at hand, she didn’t struggle or resist. If she really wanted to, breaking free from the dragon’s grip wouldn’t be a challenge at all.

But where would that get me?

She’d be sentencing herself to an eternity of solitude. No one would accept a walking corpse like her into their life. Trying to stay hidden from the professor would be next to impossible, and there was no telling what traps she had up her sleeve. The strong will, the backbone, that Claire had managed to keep a hold of even after the transition from life to undeath was long gone. Her false life, this whole vacuous afterword, was ending. That was all.

...Huh?

But then the dragon began to descend. However, there was nothing here. It was simply empty, untamed wilderness. There was no sign of any lights from possible nearby settlements, let alone from the Demon King’s castle. So why were they landing?

The dragon settled beside a stand of trees, illuminated only by the soft glow of the moon. And, with unexpected gentleness, the dragon placed Claire back on her feet. The silver-white dragon then politely took a seat. There was a conflicted look in her shining golden eyes as she stared down at Claire—not quite pity, not quite sympathy.

“There we go.” A young, blue-skinned demon hopped off of the dragon’s back. He was the one responsible for bringing Claire here—Seventh Demon Prince Zilbagias. In his arms was his pet high elf puppy. With a woof and a lick to his face, the high elf pup finally made her way to the ground, where the prince ruffled her hair. As innocent as the elf looked as she happily rubbed her face against her owner, the sight only filled Claire with fear.

These two really are the natural enemies to undead like me, aren’t they? It’s almost funny.

A white dragon and a high elf. Both were like avatars of light magic. In other words, they were the perfect tools for disposing of an undead like her.

“So you plan to erase me here, huh?” Claire asked sarcastically, putting on a faint smile. Normally she’d have been a bit more courteous, but the encroaching despair over her fate had robbed Claire of any fear. “But considering your relationship with the professor, I don’t understand why you’d come all the way out here... Oh, you want a peek at how my body works underneath, is that it? I guess it is a great example of the professor’s craft.” Claire let out a laugh as she seductively rubbed her body.

But the usually quick-witted Zilbagias didn’t so much as crack a smile. Instead, he pulled out a silver pendant, and a dome-like barrier immediately appeared around them.

“What’s this?” Claire asked.

“It’s a pendant enchanted with the Sauroe family’s Bloodline Magic. With it, any attempts at magic inside the barrier are made extremely difficult. Basically, you must be incredibly strong to use magic.”

“Ha ha! So it’s to seal me in? You’ve really thought of everything.” Testing the prince’s words, Claire tried to open a gate to the spiritual world, but it of course failed. She couldn’t even separate herself from her current body. Though she still felt it was a bit spiteful, she was surprised at his thoroughness.

It will take some special handling to deal with this guy, Professor.

Countless thoughts swirled in Claire’s mind about what her prince-obsessed master would do after Claire was out of the picture, but those thoughts were interrupted by an unbidden nervousness as the prince stepped closer.

But he didn’t do anything. He just approached her and started taking in the surroundings. “Isn’t this nostalgic?”

“What?”

Claire’s face was blank as she tilted her head in confusion. Of all the things he could’ve said...but now that she looked around, there was something somewhat familiar about the scenery. It was almost like déjà vu.

“There was a hill like this just outside our village. We went there for picnics all the time, didn’t we?”

“What are you talking about? What village?” Claire was at a total loss. Certainly she had spent a good deal of time with the prince due to his classes with the professor, but she had never gone on a picnic with him.

And then his expression caught her. Staring up at the moon, it was like the usually cold, ruthless demon prince before her had been replaced by a normal human being. His expression was sad, lonely. One could even say it was tortured.

“Tancrette.”

Just that one word was like a punch in the face. That was of course because it was the name of the village where Claire had been born.

“What...? Why...?”

How did Zilbagias know that? She couldn’t recall ever mentioning it to him. Even beyond that, it was a memory she had locked deep away in the back of her mind. There was nothing for her to gain from dwelling in reminiscence any longer.

How?! Did the professor tell him about me? But why?

Claire was speechless. Her face was now vacant, a typical characteristic of an undead that had lost their composure. But while she reeled, Zilbagias continued.

“When you get reborn, memories of your past life are gradually overwritten with memories of your new one. That is to say, I don’t really remember much of Tancrette anymore. But undead are different, right? If your soul was caught not long after you died, you’d remember everything clearly.”

Past life? What was he talking about? As if she had forgotten how to speak altogether, Claire’s artificial body began to heave wordlessly. This...demon prince. Though he was more rational than any other demon she had come across, he was still cold and cruel. She hadn’t thought of him as anything other than an enemy of humanity...

No way. There’s no way!

“Claire...do you remember me?” Zilbagias turned to her, his voice practically pleading.

“Who...are you...?” she barely managed to squeeze out. And the prince responded with a small smile, looking as if he were on the verge of bursting into tears.

“Alex,” he replied shortly. “Your childhood friend, Alexander. Long time no see, Claire.”

Chapter 1: The Days of the Demon Prince

Hi there. It’s me, marquis of the demonic kingdom, head of the Royal Necromancy Research Laboratory, governor of the Evaloti Temporary Autonomous Zone, Zilbagias Rage (six years old). Work in the Evaloti Autonomous Zone had already started, so my days were filled with appointing officials and building a governing framework for the place. When you stopped to think about it, it was pretty dumb to dump this kind of work into the lap of a six-year-old. What in the world was everyone around me thinking?

“Probably that having you shoulder so much work could present them with an opportunity to take over any tasks you fail to carry out. That gives them more than enough justification to do as they please,” Ante explained with a chuckle.

Ah, I get it. They want me to feel in over my head. So people like the night elf officials I appointed can point out everything I mess up, and then step in to “fix” it themselves. I’ll need to stay sharp and keep an eye on everyone so nothing catches me off guard.

But that aside.

“Whoa! This is the kind of thing I’ve only ever dreamed about!”

“This is dwarven-made! It’s incredible!”

In the middle of my private room, Hessel and Barbara were getting rowdy. They were looking over a pair of dwarven-made swords that had just arrived from the forge. One was a greatsword for Hessel, the other a rapier for Barbara.

“Man, even for a shitty demon, you’re really living it up like royalty! This is some pretty rare stuff!” Hessel whistled as he inspected his new sword from different angles. I was certainly glad to be royalty, given how bad my situation was otherwise.

“But even with such a beautiful sword right in front of me...!” Barbara moaned as her translucent hand passed right through the hilt of the sword sitting on the table. Ghosts couldn’t exactly hold physical objects. “Not being able to touch it really reminds me that we’re half dead!”

“Half dead? More like full dead!”

The two ghosts laughed together at their little undead joke. I didn’t say anything. Even Layla, watching the two with a smile, was wearing an apparent strained expression. The only one actually relaxed here was Liliana, sleeping on my bed.

Yeah. Getting these swords made doesn’t mean anything until I find a way for these two to actually use them.

“Master! Master Zilbagias!” Accompanying the knock at the door was Garunya’s voice. After making sure Hessel and Barbara were hidden, I opened the door to permit the fluffy white maid to poke her head into the room. “Um, an undead calling herself Claire is here to see you. She says she has a letter from the lich Enma...” Garunya reported, nose twitching as if bothered by the smell of death in the air.

Upon my triumphant return from Evaloti, I had paid Enma a visit. The hug she had given me in greeting had had so much enthusiasm that she’d almost broken my ribs. I was pretending to be upset about that, so I hadn’t seen her since. I was expecting a formal apology from her sooner or later.

I instructed Garunya to lead Claire into the room.

“I come bearing a letter from my master, Enma,” Claire declared from under her heavy hooded cloak, respectfully proffering an envelope. Though she was a high-level undead, able to retain her personality and memories from life, Claire still hadn’t been given a rank within the demonic kingdom. So up in the castle, she had no choice but to feign respect like this.

“Thanks,” I replied. As I took the letter from her, her eyes immediately narrowed at me. Though she was an expressionless undead, her eyes spoke just as much as her mouth. Was this exasperation at being given an honest thank-you after obviously only feigning respect? At any rate, I turned my attention to the letter and opened it.

“My dearest Lord Zilbagias.” I couldn’t help but close my eyes with a heavy sigh at that before forcing myself to press on. “I’m very sorry that my carelessness resulted in crushing the bones in your chest. I didn’t take into account how tired you would be after returning from the battlefield. I’m really sorry.”

So the letter began, and so it continued for quite a while, doing the literary equivalent of bowing down so far she was practically doing a handstand.

“I am also elated to hear of your promotion to marquis and your appointment as governor of Evaloti. It seems you surpassed me in rank in no time at all. I am very much looking forward to our next meeting.”

Those formal words brought a crisp end to the letter.

“So no thoughts on your plan to protect the humans within the autonomous zone?” Ante commented.

I mean, it would kind of ruin the tone of the letter if after all the apologizing she followed it up with a “what is the meaning of this,” don’t you think?

“Hmm...?” And then I noticed something at the very bottom of the page, scrawled in tiny letters.

“As promised, now that you are a higher rank than I am, I will gladly lick your feet. Or whatever gesture you wish.”

I just about choked on the unexpected postscript. Claire continued to stare at me, expression as unimpressed as ever. I had to wonder if she knew about the contents of the letter.

“My master has ordered me to ask you when you would like to schedule your next Necromancy lesson,” she said, managing a legitimately impressive bored monotone. So yeah, she definitely knew.

“Hmm. Okay.” I wanted to get to work on making bodies as soon as possible, but I’d be pretty busy for the next couple days... “How about the day after tomorrow?”

“Very well. We will be awaiting your visit.” After a friendly bow, Claire then shot a look at both Layla and Liliana, who were behind me. “You have some beautiful friends,” she murmured somewhat coldly before giving another departing bow and taking her leave. She didn’t so much as glance back.

Ever since I had returned from the battle in Evaloti, ever since I’d killed all those humans, Claire hadn’t spoken a single word to me of her own volition. I guess that wasn’t surprising though.

“So that’s Enma’s lackey, huh? It’s hard to tell she’s undead.”

“Guess that’s why they call Enma the Dollmaker. I rarely saw such lively undead on the front lines.” Hessel and Barbara commented as they reappeared. “Undead freely walking around...must be a sign that the world is ending. The Demon King’s castle is something else.”

The ghosts spoke seriously, but I had to wonder if this was their attempt at cracking another joke.

“You said Enma plans on wiping out all of humanity, right? Is that girl helping her?” Barbara crossed her arms, her tone disapproving.

“She...was my childhood friend,” I said after double-checking that the soundproof barrier was in place. Barbara immediately tensed up at that. “Know how my village was destroyed by the fourth demon prince? Well, while I escaped, she didn’t. After meeting a terrible fate, she eventually died. Not that I know the details.”

And after she died, Enma picked up her soul. That was when Enma offered Claire two options: cooperate and retain her sense of self, or don’t cooperate and have her mind shaved down until she was a mindless automaton.

“She said she basically didn’t have a choice. After everything she had been through, she couldn’t bear to let things end the way they did.”

“That’s...awful. And to be reunited like this...”

“The world really is ending...” Barbara said, tears in her eyes, while Hessel cast his gaze helplessly upward.

“Anyway, it’s hard to tell if she really plans on cooperating with Enma.” There was one last ray of hope I had for her: our previous conversation about Anthromorphy.

“Well...it’s not like I really want to be human again.”

Those were the words Claire had said, her eyes darting every which way just like they did whenever she was lying as a child. There was a good chance she wanted to go back to being human. That put her in direct opposition to Enma, who intended to put an end to the needs of a mortal, living body.

“What’s wrong, dear?” Layla interjected.

Could undead use Anthromorphy? If so, Hessel and Barbara could have bodies again, and maybe Claire too...

“Nothing. I was just...thinking.”

Layla gave a wordless smile and put an encouraging hand on my shoulder at my response. That warmth really was encouraging. But learning Anthromorphy required drinking the blood of a living dragon. To do that, Hessel and Barbara would need bodies capable of drinking. And a skeleton probably wouldn’t cut it. They’d need something that could properly digest what they ate.

“Why not have them temporarily inhabit some dead body that’s still in reasonable condition?” Ante suggested.

That would probably solve things, but...aside from the ethical issue, getting my hands on a body like that without anyone noticing would be pretty tough. Especially given my current position. I really had way too much to think about.

In any case, learning more from Enma would broaden my options in the future.

Two days later, I was making my way down the endless staircase toward Enma’s lair. I had tried to count how many steps there were in the past, but I always got tired of counting halfway, so I never got the exact number. Following Claire down, we finally made it to the bottom, passed some heavily armed skeletons to slip through a heavy door, and at last we were in the lich’s palace.

“Lord Zilbagias!” Beyond the doors was Enma, who turned to greet us perfectly on cue. “I am really, really sorry for last time!” And as she looked up at me through her eyelashes, a single tear dripped down her face.

Aha! So she managed to make her body cry. Without a word, I stepped closer and wiped the tear from her cheek.

“Huh? Zil?”

Ignoring the bewildered Enma, I inspected the “tear,” rubbing the transparent liquid between my fingers. It was smooth. Was it just normal water? It didn’t seem like it. What had she used to make these eyes? I turned to stare into her eyes.

“Z-Zil?!” Enma’s voice went shrill, but I reached a hand around her waist to hold her in place as she tried to shrink back.

“Stay still. I’m trying to get a good look at your face.”

“Y-Yes, sir...” I almost felt bad for being so forceful, but for some reason she was much more cooperative than I had anticipated. Now I could really inspect her body!

It was truly a remarkable specimen. By getting all up close and personal, I could tell that both the shape and movement of her eyes and eyelids were remarkably natural. There wasn’t a hint of warmth to her body, but the softness of her skin made it hard to believe it was entirely artificial. She’d be an incredible reference for my own work.

“Beautiful.” From an engineering standpoint, her body was all but flawless.

Enma meanwhile had gone rigid, her breathing turned ragged, and her eyes darted around wildly like an animal on the verge of death. Yeah...that was the one problem. Those glass eyes still seemed a bit off. If it weren’t for them, I could totally buy that this was a real human body. It was no wonder Enma had left her name in history as one of humanity’s greatest enemies with skills like this. I couldn’t deny that.

I then noticed Enma had closed her eyes, and for some reason her lips were pursed. What the heck was she doing?

“Ahem,” Claire cleared her throat from behind us, prompting me to quickly step away from Enma. I had been so absorbed in inspecting Enma’s construction that I was probably coming across as some kind of corpse-obsessed pervert.

“In a way, there may be some truth in that...” Ante commented silently.

Sure, I was interested in the construction of the bodies, but Enma’s body in particular was neither here nor there.

Enma gave what I could only describe as a longing sigh as she rearranged her disheveled hair. I tried to smooth things over by flashing a smile at Claire, but she returned the gesture with an entirely blank, unreadable look. Damn, she really thinks I’m a pervert, doesn’t she?!

“Sorry, Enma. I got a bit carried away.”

“N-No, please, don’t worry about it... Um...” Enma replied while suspiciously twiddling her fingers. “Do you... Do you really think I’m that pretty? Enough so that you got carried away?”

“Of course. You’re stunning. Even now it’s hard for me to look away.” Her body was a crystallization of her incredible skill. In that sense, it was like a mound of treasure. It sparkled like gold. As someone interested in Necromancy and human anatomy, I could hardly look away.

Enma started giggling to herself, muttering about being honored as she swayed back and forth, but her face was devoid of emotion. It seemed she hadn’t primed a suitable expression for this feeling. The way she swayed made me think of a worm that had just popped out of the dirt, but I still couldn’t deny the remarkable smoothness and range of motion her body demonstrated.

Anyway, now that we had made up (or at least, I had stopped pretending to be upset with her), the lessons resumed as usual. Naturally, the theme today was practicing creating undead. Unlike my experiences from our previous lessons, where I had simply inserted a soul into a corpse, we covered all manner of topics relating to the construction of undead. The efficient use of magic, altering the nervous system to allow movement via magical impulses, the various chemicals and substances used to preserve the body itself, methods of reinforcing the skeletal structure, and so on.

“By the way...” As we came to our first break (which was entirely for my sake), while discussing the contents of Enma’s lecture over a cup of tea, Enma suddenly switched gears. “You were appointed as governor of Evaloti just recently, yes? Congratulations. I happened to overhear bits and pieces around the castle. Something about a plan to preserve the humans within this Evaloti Autonomous Zone? And of all people, it was you that suggested doing that.” She was smiling as always. A bright, beautiful, entirely artificial smile. One that wouldn’t look at all out of place on a doll. “Is that true?”

Glassy eyes stared intently at me. It seemed this conversation was unavoidable after all. Considering Enma’s goal of wiping out humanity, I kind of knew this was coming.

“Yeah, that’s right,” I answered, unfazed.

Enma paused for a moment. “I thought you all understood my objective quite well. The Demon King of course, but you too, Zil.” Her smile was unchanging, not so much as twitching. “So, is this plan to preserve humanity a new policy for the demonic kingdom?”

“Oh, is that what you’re worried about? Of course not. They’re just a convenient tool for the time being,” I replied with a cruel smile, feeling Claire’s burning hot gaze.

“Ah! So that’s it! Just a convenient tool!” Enma and I shared a hearty laugh. “So, they are a tool for what exactly?”

Guess I should’ve figured she wouldn’t back off easily.

“Well, a number of things, I suppose. How much do you already know?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “For someone usually stuck underground, you seem pretty well-informed to me. Where did you hear that I was the one who proposed this?” Give up the mole, I dare you.

“It’s not like I’m down here all day every day. As you know, I’m quite fond of taking a nice stroll. Did you forget how we first met?” Enma shrugged, giving me a sad look.

“Of course not. I’ll remember that even long after I’m dead.” The sight of her incinerating herself in the sunlight was burned into my memory.

“Aha, you’ll remember it after you’re dead? How bold of you!”

What’s so bold about that...? Anyway, it sounds like she’s still making her rounds regularly.

“Anyhow, that’s all it is. I’m often out and about around the castle during the day. The people there often treat us undead like objects, so they ignore me entirely. They just carry on with their conversations like I’m not even there. And, just so you know, your name comes up quite frequently in those conversations. In particular, the beastfolk and the dragons love sharing rumors about you.”

Huh, so the dragons are in on it too? I had no idea. Kinda suspected demons feel pretty comfortable while flying dragonback. That’s probably when they let a lot slip. And here’s Enma, moving right under everyone’s noses, collecting all these rumors... I really couldn’t underestimate her.

“I heard the Rage family is very proud of you, especially the way you seem to have the Demon King’s ear. And as one of the leaders of the demonic kingdom, I was given orders regarding the plans to preserve humanity in the autonomous zone. So the natural conclusion was that you were involved.”

“That’s some impressive deduction. You’re exactly right. Being a member of the Rage family made the situation in Evaloti really complicated,” I said, crossing my arms with a heavy sigh. “Until now, we’ve used human slaves solely based on the premise that they’re merely expendable. For the Evaloti Autonomous Zone, we’re giving them status in the kingdom so that the other races leave them alone. If they were simply livestock, the other races would have no qualms simply stealing them for personal use. And that’s without mentioning how it would disrupt the quotas for healing established by the Rage family. Oh, but of course, don’t tell anyone I said that.”

“Of course! It’ll be our little secret! I see, so that’s the situation.”

“Besides that, you should be well aware of the agricultural situation in the kingdom, yes?”

The demonic kingdom was running out of food. The cat beastfolk and night elves ate primarily meat, and as their populations rose, so did the frequency of livestock theft between them. There was a very real possibility that the demonic kingdom would fall into a massive food shortage. The establishment of the Evaloti Autonomous Zone was one attempt to resolve that impending problem. Additionally, the Demon King himself would oversee the raising of livestock to stabilize the kingdom’s food supply.

“My suggestion was that by guaranteeing the humans’ safety, they would feel encouraged to work harder. But of course, it’s all temporary. Once they realize their lives aren’t actually in danger, they’ll start scheming ways to rebel in no time. And once that happens...” I shrugged with a mischievous smile. “I think you’ll be pleased with how things turn out.”

“Suppression,” Enma said.

“Yeah. On a huge scale.”

“To sate the demons’ desire for battle as well?” she asked, a faint smile on her face.

And once again, I felt painfully aware of Claire’s eyes on me. So they already know the autonomous zone’s true purpose. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised Enma was able to figure this much out.

“That’s right. But, eventually, this plan will see humanity dwindle away to nothing. So your dream will come true in due time.”

“If your plans are that detailed, then I suppose there’s no way to avoid all the suffering that will come as a result.” Enma sighed, massaging her brow as if to rearrange her expression.

Yeah, one of the annoying things about Enma was that she didn’t actually hate humanity. Her wanting to wipe them out was to spare them from suffering. She was that crazy.

“Unfortunately, yes, you’re right. But even if they end up suffering a bit longer, for those like you who will live forever, it isn’t a substantial difference. Am I wrong?”

“It’s...hard to argue with that.”

“One thing I will say though is that the establishment of these autonomous zones might speed up the demonic kingdom’s invasion,” I said while lazily leaning back in my chair.

I fully intended to govern Evaloti fairly. On the surface, that was to allow the night elf misinformation network to spread the idea that losing to the demonic kingdom wouldn’t actually be all that bad for humans. The Evaloti Autonomous Zone would be a shining example of that. Having a small kernel of truth at the heart of all the lies would help to utterly disrupt the Panhuman Alliance’s coordination.

If they’re not going to wipe us out, why not just surrender? If we could bolster our standing instead of trying to support our allies, why not do just that? Once those thoughts started to creep into the minds of the humans, things would get much easier for the demonic forces. And once the autonomy to rebellion to suppression loop had been established, there would be less reason for the demons to hold back in their invasion. At that point, they would have already secured a long-term enemy.

“Does whittling down the Alliance like that not make things more difficult for you as a hero?” Ante teased.

It did, and I hated it. But the more battles there were, the sooner I’d get to go back out on the battlefield. And the more often I went to battle and the more often I committed the taboo of bringing harm to those I was supposed to protect, the greater my power would grow. With that, the day I could finally take down the Demon King would draw ever so closer. In any case, all of that hinged on the results of the Evaloti Autonomous Zone. It would probably take at least ten years before any major shake-up in the demon kingdom’s invasion policy.

“Regardless, the autonomous zone will eventually be destroyed,” I said with a faint smile. Would they rise in rebellion and be crushed? Or would I bring down the demonic kingdom, and give them true freedom? We’d have to wait and see! “And of course, my father is well aware of your intentions, and of the boon you have been to our kingdom. This is just a compromise for practical reasons. Hopefully you can understand where we’re coming from...”

This was probably the same wording the Demon King would eventually use in order to convince her. But what would happen if the demonic kingdom truly intended to leave humanity in this prolonged state of suffering? If Enma’s dream of wiping out humanity became impossible, what would she do? To be honest, it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest if the denizens of the dark were at each other’s throats.

“Alternatively, I suppose you undead could always fill that role,” I gave Enma a challenging smile. “Farming, raising livestock...even rebelling.” What do you say, Enma? Feel like becoming an “enemy” of the demons? I, for one, would definitely be on board. I felt a growing chill in the surrounding air. And I was sure it wasn’t just my imagination.

“Oh come on, Zil. Don’t tease me like that!” Enma replied with her usual smile, raising her hands in some sardonic act of surrender. “Sorry if I came across as unhappy about this. No...let me be more clear.” With her face shifting to a much more serious look, Enma put her hands to her chest and leaned forward. “To say I’m perfectly happy about the situation would be a lie. But I have two objectives: to create a paradise for the undead, and to destroy the Holy Church. Everything else is secondary,” she insisted. “I’m not so childish as to obsess over something that’s impossible. When I swore loyalty to His Majesty Gordogias, those were the only two things he promised me. And as far as those goals go, I have no objections. As long as I’m permitted to create my paradise and be left alone to enjoy it, I’m happy.”

It was quite interesting. There was no sign that she was lying. I had to wonder how her vows would hold up if the one she swore them to, the Demon King Gordogias, were to fall...but I kept that question to myself.

“I see. Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I was testing you,” I replied, copying Enma’s serious, almost apologetic expression.

“Oh no. If anything, it’s my fault for being so forward with my questions.” Enma laughed. “I didn’t make you hate me, did I?” she said, shoulders slumping as she looked up at me through her eyelashes.

“No, not at all. There’s no need to worry.” I smiled back. And that was the truth. My opinion of her hadn’t changed. My opinion of Enma had hit rock bottom the same day I was reunited with Claire. There was no getting lower than that. “If anything, I like you a bit more.”

That caused Enma to jump as she looked up at me again. And I was telling the truth. Now that I’d gotten a glimpse of her rebellious side against the demons, I liked her a bit more.

Enma started to giggle. “O-Oh, really? I think I’m starting to get a handle on the kind of things you like,” she said, starting her wormy wiggle once again.

“Is that so? I guess that’s unavoidable...” I stood up, looking Enma in the eye. “In that case, please become more of the kind of person I’d like.” The kind that would rebel against the demons.

“Yeah...okay. I’ll try.” With her eyes tearing up again, Enma nodded, entirely oblivious to the meaning behind my words.

Meanwhile, while we stared and smiled at each other, Claire sat with her book open—glaring daggers at us.

And so the day continued. Though my friendship with Enma had deepened, it came at the cost of having no real opportunities to speak with Claire. We resumed the lessons until I eventually bid goodbye to the undead palace. Enma had taken measures to keep the air circulating underground so I wouldn’t suffocate, but it was still stale down there. Coming back to the surface was always a welcome relief. So I enjoyed the fresh air, walked through the corridors of the castle, and looked out over the castle town.

“Huh...?”

Something was coming toward me, like a fog or a blur crawling across the ceiling. Whatever it was, it possessed considerable magic.

“Greetings, Your Highness.” The blur spiraled around in front of me as it took the shape of a person. They were wearing a bright red dress and their skin was sickly pale. The combination of long, golden hair tied up on both sides along with her sharp eyes gave off a kind of domineering sense of beauty. But right now, there was a friendlier look to her expression.

Pinching the edges of her skirt, she gave an elegant bow. “I have come to greet you on behalf of my father, Count Vlad Chisina. My name is Viscount Yavka Chisina. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Oh boy. So now the vampires decide to pop up, huh?

†††

Yavka Chisina was the daughter of a proud and noble vampire house, pure in blood and rich in history. Their family’s legacy stretched back six hundred years. They’d received blood directly from the first ancestor Tsetse, granting them a place in the Eternal Night and making them a noble family in the Kingdom of Night.

“You called for me, father?”

In a wing of the Demon King’s castle sat an office without a single door. This meant Yavka’s only means of entry was by transforming into mist. As she floated into the room, her father’s stern expression was all the warning she needed of the trouble she was about to be shouldered with. Her father was Vlad Chisina. Besides his poor complexion and slightly pointed ears, he looked no different from the average thirty-year-old human. In actuality, he was an over four-centuries-old vampire, making him one of the three eldest vampires in existence.

“My apologies, Yavka. I have a mission which only you are capable of fulfilling. Please, come closer,” he said, folding his hands on his desk. Despite his words, there was not a hint of remorse in his expression.

“Yes, father.” She had long since grown accustomed to her father’s selfishness. So, while irritating, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

“I’ve received word that Demon Prince Zilbagias has returned from the previous battle with an overwhelming victory.” Despite having set up a soundproof barrier to prevent eavesdropping, Vlad still spoke in a whisper.

“Yes, that rot-obsessed prince...”

“Rot” was of course a derogatory term used when referring to the undead as well as the liches they served. Among the vampires, it had become common to derisively call Zilbagias “rot-obsessed.”

“Well, as a reward for his achievements, he has been granted governorship of Evaloti. And it appears he intends to establish it as an autonomous zone for protecting humans!”

“What?!” That very much took Yavka by surprise. Protect humans? What in the world for?

“No matter his intentions, this is an excellent opportunity for us. There is never enough blood to go around.”

At present, the vampires’ position within the demonic kingdom was dire. Acquiring blood was extremely difficult. Without blood to drink, vampires couldn’t sustain themselves, let alone grow in strength. They could neither distinguish themselves in battle nor earn their keep as intelligence officers. As it was, they were on a fast track to completely crumbling.

“His Majesty accepting a delay in his plan to exterminate humanity is great fortune for us. If humanity is permitted to coexist with us, we can grow in power once more. For now, we need blood. Blood is everything. That is the only way for us to reclaim our rightful glory as nobles of the Night!” Vlad raved, a burning passion in his eyes. “As such, I asked His Majesty to grant us permission to enter this autonomous zone...”

“Did...it not go well?” Yavka asked.

“He said he relinquished all leadership matters of Evaloti to Zilbagias.” Vlad’s face twisted in disgust.

And that gave Yavka a terrible premonition. It was becoming clear to her why she had been summoned here. Rumors of the seventh demon prince’s tastes had even reached Yavka’s ears. She gently ran a hand down her face. When it came to her looks, Yavka had full confidence in the beauty she had inherited from her mother.

“Yavka. You are the only one I can ask. Win us a connection with the seventh demon prince.”

Of course that’s it. Yavka sighed inwardly. Zilbagias was famous for his insatiable desire for women of other races.

“The humans in the autonomous zone are to be treated as lower in rank than the beastfolk, somewhere around the rank of the goblins. In other words, better than livestock. But in order to encourage efficiency and dutifulness in agricultural activities, killing them is expressly forbidden. Of course, that guideline extends to us as well. However”—Vlad gave his daughter a long, hard look—“they are still below the beastfolk in rank. That means their blood is cheaper. Though we cannot simply take it as we please, purchasing it should still be an option. At least in theory. As infuriating as it is to have to spend currency to acquire human blood, for the sake of regaining our power, it is worth the shame. Given our current position, we can no longer afford to be picky. Gaining a stable source of blood is vital.” And there was no other place within the demonic kingdom that could serve that purpose besides the Evaloti Autonomous Zone. “Yavka! Bring Zilbagias to the negotiating table! If you can accomplish that, I will handle the particulars of the deal. So do it...by any means necessary.”

Yavka winced. This was how her father always spoke. When he said “by any means necessary,” he wasn’t giving her permission—he was giving her a command.

“Understood.” Yavka bowed her head after a short pause. She was in no place to refuse the orders of her father.

Though if you think about it, this is a great opportunity. Gaining access to blood in the autonomous zone will also mean more power for myself.

Now as she spoke with the prince himself, she managed to put a positive spin on her ordeal. If she could get stronger, she might even be able to break free from her pitiable existence as her father’s pet. She could be free!

I’d love to see the Alliance someday... Yavka had been born in the Demon King’s castle. She had never gone beyond the demonic kingdom’s borders. I hear it is quite dangerous there, but...

The land of the Alliance was supposedly crawling with heroes, priests, and vampire hunters, all at the ready to do battle with the denizens of the dark. But even that was better than an eternity of weakness on her father’s leash.

I want to see the world!

If she could get Zilbagias to negotiate, her father could probably handle the rest. While she’d initially loathed the responsibility her father had forced upon her, now that she saw its potential to bring her future freedom, she wouldn’t so much as hesitate to put every seductive charm at her disposal to use.

But, Zilbagias was now just watching her with suspicion. The beauty of which she was so proud, the smile that had her doted on like a princess by nobles of the Night, had been ineffective. Had Enma filled the prince’s head with slander? Yavka struggled to keep her smile from cramping.

“Hmm. Okay, let’s hear it.” Zilbagias suddenly smiled, crossing his arms. Though his lips smiled, his eyes were devoid of the expression.

Yavka was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding. This felt too much like she was talking to her own father. “My father, the Count, has a matter which he would like to discuss with you—”

“Oh, guess I wasn’t clear enough. Let me try again,” the prince cut her off as she started to speak, his smile unwavering. “I meant what the vampires in general wanted, not you personally. As I’m sure you know, I am quite busy these days with managing Evaloti.”

Yavka instinctively flinched back as the prince stepped forward, peering into her face. That reaction made Zilbagias’s smile deepen.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to waste on all this politicking. Count Vlad is the leader of the vampires here in the demonic kingdom, yes? And as his daughter, you are also his envoy. I’m sure you know exactly what it is he’d like to discuss with me. He certainly wouldn’t have sent some useless brat to talk to me, right?”

Yavka stared at the prince with a stunned look. A six-year-old had just called her a brat. If he had been anyone else, she would have immediately flown into a rage. But as the realization of what was happening set in, a shiver ran down her back. She had come here with the intent of luring Zilbagias to the negotiating table. Instead, she had found herself unwittingly dragged there.

“So speak. What do you want?” the prince ordered, his smile finally evaporating. Yavka reflexively straightened her posture, and opened her mouth to speak.

But what do I say?!

She had no idea. This was completely outside her realm of expectations. She hadn’t even considered this possibility. But she also had no time to leisurely mull it over. Were she to fail to speak promptly, Yavka could already imagine how the prince would sneer as he took his leave. Trying to be too clever here would just backfire.

“We, the vampires, would like to ask for permission to enter the autonomous zone,” Yakva stated her request directly and bowed.

“Oh, is that all? Go for it.” But while she was straining under her nerves, the prince replied with a cheerful smile. He didn’t even stop to think. It had been effortless.

“Th-Thank you—”

“But should you harm any of the humans there, expect severe punishment. That includes taking their blood,” he continued, still smiling.

Yavka felt like she had been slapped across the face.

†††

I stared back at the vampire lady, my proud smile unwavering.

“B-But...that...”

Her name was Yavka Chisina. She stared back at me with the trembling lips of a young girl who had been treated so kindly, only to be unexpectedly slapped across the face. What had her so shocked? Since she had just asked for permission to enter the territory, that’s all I had given her. It was my job to protect the humans there, so of course I’d punish anyone who tried to harm them.

“I believe I told you I was busy.”

That seemed to be enough of a hint that she hadn’t been direct enough. Her face twisted into a scowl as she bit her lip, drawing blood as fangs cut into skin.

“You knew full well what she was asking for. You’re the one teasing her.” Ante giggled.

Oh cut it out. Praise like that’ll make me blush.

By the way, if she had come out with “please let us drink their blood!” I had planned to angrily shout back “you think my job to protect the humans is some sort of joke?!”

Okay, little vampire lady, what’s your next move?

Would she get angry at my treatment of her, or did she have some clever—

“My sincerest apologies for wasting your precious time,” she declared, falling prostrate before me. Heedless of how it would wrinkle or dirty her dress, she dropped her head to the floor with considerable force. “Please gift us with a measure of human blood! Of course, we are willing to offer just compensation! I beg of you!”

Huh.

“She has quite the drive for someone who seemed like a stuck-up, young aristocrat.”

Right? That, or the vampires were actually that desperate. Though I was curious about what expression she was making, I couldn’t tell with her forehead on the floor.

Now then, turning her down here would be the easiest thing in the world. In fact, it would be practically effortless. As governor, as a hero, letting vampires into my village to drink blood from the people in my care was unthinkable. Even if they promised not to kill those from whom they drank blood, the lives of humans within the demonic kingdom were just treated with triviality. I could already see every other vampire saying, “Oops, I drank a bit too much” as they stood over a body drained of every last drop of blood.

Besides, if it was that easy for vampires to control their thirst for blood, they wouldn’t be so zealously hunted by the Holy Church. Just a single drop of blood hitting their tongues was enough for them to go into a frenzy. You couldn’t trust them to hold to their word in that state. It was like tasking a drunkard with guarding the wine cellar.

“Then what will you do? Step on her head and send her on her way?”

Believe me, I’d have loved to. At least on a personal level. But my ties with Enma meant I was already in bad standing with the vampires. Now that they had finally taken it upon themselves to approach me, if I were to spurn them so directly, it would be making a very clear statement. The vampires would be my enemy for eternity.

That would be fine by me. If it came to it, I could take on dozens of them at once. But the problem was the autonomous zone. Between the vampires’ Charm Magic and the ability to transform into mist, they excelled at kidnappings compared to the other races. I could potentially call back the souls of the victims to have them stand as witnesses against their abductors, but if they were killed while in a charmed state, they might not have been in the presence of mind to understand what had happened to them. Or worse, since they knew I was capable of that, the vampires might resort to magic or torture to destroy their victims’ minds before actually killing them. And that was something I absolutely could not allow. Not now, not ever.

Yavka timidly started to raise her head, glancing up at me. The moment she saw my face, she yelped and slammed her face back onto the floor. I ran a finger down my face as I could only imagine what expression she was making now.

I needed to think about this calmly. One wrong move here would result in making the vampires my enemy forever. If the other demons learned of that, they could leverage the desperation of the vampires against me. In that sense, rather than solidifying them as an enemy, it would be better to welcome them into the fold and drain every drop of usefulness from them that I could. Luckily, I had all the leverage here.

“Lift your head,” I said slowly after getting my thoughts in order. Once again, Yavka timidly lifted her face, eyes running from my feet to my face to see my reaction. “You know full well that I have guaranteed the safety of the humans with the establishment of the Evaloti Autonomous Zone. The purpose of that condition is that by offering them enough security, they will feel encouraged to work with all their might,” I said, staring down at her pompously. “In all the years of the demonic kingdom’s history, it will probably be the best treatment humans have experienced. And I plan to maintain that state for at least twenty years. I won’t allow anyone to infringe on that goal. No one.”

At my strong insistence, Yavka’s face filled with despair. She must have figured that this was an absolute refusal.

Okay, hold your horses.

“Talking like this is annoying. Stand.”

“Yes, sir...” Yavka lurched to her feet. For a moment, it looked like her figure had blurred. Had she considered transforming into mist and turning tail? She was giving up awfully quickly. The look on her face was a dead giveaway that she wanted to run on home, but sorry kid.

This conversation is far from over. Don’t give up so easily.

“My night elf officials are compiling a register of all the humans within the Evaloti Autonomous Zone. Everyone on that list will be considered my citizens. And as such, they will be ascribed full rights and protections.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Securing their rights as individuals will be a lot of work, but it comes with its advantages. For example, we can keep track of the number of humans present. If one goes missing, we will be right on top of the situation and able to figure out their name without issue.”

I dropped my smile, looking Yavka directly in the eye.

“And that’s all I need for my Necromancy to bring them back. Even if someone was abducted and killed outside of the autonomous zone”—being so much shorter, I had to glare up at her—“I will be able to sniff out which fool dared to insult me with ease.” Assuming they didn’t damage the person’s soul too badly. But I didn’t need to go into the details. Look, you could tell from her face that she had already picked up what I was getting at.

“Y-Your Highness! We would never stoop to such a level!” Yavka declared, shaking her head emphatically.

“Are you certain about that? That not even the greatest fool among your people would cross that line? Even if one of my enemies—one of my fellow demons—sets you up to do it? Are you confident in that?” If anything happened, the fault would fall on her.

“W-Well...” She was shaking again, evidently on the verge of tears. I could tell she was lamenting being forced into this position. I even felt a little bad for her. Just a little, though.

“Of course, my personal forces will be working to ensure the safety of the people of Evaloti...but the autonomous zone is quite large. My forces alone aren’t enough to be a deterrent against the other denizens of the dark. Simply put, I lack the numbers.” I gave her a meaningful look. “In particular, I’m lacking those suitable to stand guard over them during the night, when the humans are generally asleep.”

At that, a puzzled look took over Yavka’s face.

“By the way, as governor of the Evaloti Autonomous Zone, it’s my responsibility to answer the complaints of my people should they suffer harm. If their complaints are valid, naturally I along with my officials will step in to punish the wrongdoers. But on the other hand, if there is no complaint...well, that’s the same as there being no victim, right? For example, if someone were to lose a little blood in their sleep, so little that they failed to notice.” If they didn’t know it happened, it was the same as if it had not happened at all.

Yavka’s eyes shot wide. I was basically saying that as long as they were willing to stand guard over the humans during the night, I would look the other way when they took a little blood from their charges.

“Y-Your Highness!”

“However. If even one dead body is discovered, if even one person goes missing, you will learn exactly what it means to trample on my generosity.”

Even after everything I said... No, because I’ve shown this much leniency...

On the other hand, there could be some who would simply drink to their heart’s content before fleeing to the Alliance. If that were to happen, I would greatly regret this decision. I refused to become the living fable of the man who set a dog to stand watch over his sheep, only for that dog to turn out to be a bloodthirsty wolf that devoured every last one of them.

“I can assure you...that will absolutely not happen! You have my word! My people would never commit such an egregious crime!” Much to my surprise, Yavka snapped to attention and made quite the bold declaration.

“Oh? You seem pretty sure of yourself.”

“Please...” Putting a hand to her heart, she gave me another deep bow. “Please appoint me as supervisor of the vampires within the autonomous zone. I will not permit any who are too weak to control their impulses to enter Evaloti. I vow that only those of power and a sense of noble duty will be stationed to guard the people of the Evaloti Autonomous Zone.”

“It’s easy to say that, but what if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain? How do you plan on taking responsibility?” I narrowed my eyes at her.

“With my own fangs. My own blood. My own heart. There is no suitable compensation I can offer you but my own life,” she managed to squeeze out, before another thought occurred to her. “And, should that be deemed insufficient, then I would invoke the customs of my people. One such custom being that the sins of the child are the burden of the parent. Should you require anything further, I would ask that you lay that charge upon my father.”

After a brief silence, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Her response was just...perfect. I had already figured I’d have no choice but to place a reasonably high-ranking vampire in Evaloti. If their own life was on the line, they’d definitely take the job seriously.

And here Yavka was suggesting just that. Even going so far as to request that she have that responsibility placed on her own shoulders. I’d thought she was some spoiled princess, but it seemed that I’d misjudged her.

“She certainly has some backbone, doesn’t she?”

I couldn’t agree more. For a vampire, she had guts. Honestly, I kind of liked her.

“Good. If you’re that determined, then it’s a deal. Yavka Chisina, I hereby appoint you representative of the vampires in the Evaloti Autonomous Zone. I charge you with selecting the vampires permitted to enter the autonomous zone, as well as ensuring the safety for its residents during the night hours.”

“Yes, sir! I humbly accept!”

Though she gave another courteous bow, I didn’t miss the hints of regret and relief in her expression. Was she really up for the task? Should something go awry under her watch, she would be met with no mercy. I guess I had no choice but to trust her judgment of her own people.

But having the vampires (or at least the Chisina faction) as an ally was a huge accomplishment. They had plenty of weaknesses, and their position in the demonic kingdom wasn’t particularly good at present, but there was a reason they were called the Rulers of the Night. No other race would be able to breach their perimeter unnoticed.

“Here, Yavka. Take this.” I pulled a small brooch from my pocket. Yavka was startled by the sudden present, but when she felt the powerful magic infused in the brooch, she was thoroughly stunned. “Consider it your start-up fund. It protects against all kinds of poison, so it should sell pretty well to anyone with a particularly long life. Go buy a new dress or something.” She had quite thoroughly ruined the one she was wearing with the way she had thrown herself on the floor earlier. “I won’t have anyone working for me do so without due compensation. I’ll provide you with more instructions once the official appointment is settled. Also, I fully intend on rewarding any vampire that manages to distinguish themself in my service. I have high expectations of you.”

“Y-Yes, sir...”

With a wave, I walked off, leaving the stunned vampire in my wake.

“Well, that certainly went swimmingly,” Ante quipped.

It did, I supposed. I still had some misgivings about bringing vampires into the mix at all, but having them as friends I could control was much better than as enemies that would come and go as they pleased.

After all, the daughter of their own leader would be supervising them. With her in that role, I was sure they’d make every effort to ensure nothing untoward happened. And as long as it was during the night, they’d be able to turn aside even lower ranked demons that tried to mess with the autonomous zone. If a demon powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with the vampires came knocking, that would be a big enough scandal to justify an all-out war. Even I would have no recourse but to retaliate with full force, so it was way out of the league of someone like a vampire.

All in all, things were falling into place pretty well. Even if the vampires kept their word about not killing any humans, I had to imagine there would be some who would grow weak or sick from being preyed on, but I would just have to put up with that.

About as much as I’d put up with a mosquito.

Meanwhile, the dazed Yavka stood alone in the hallway, staring at the brooch in her hands. She could hardly believe she had made it through the encounter in one piece.

But she didn’t know if she had done the right thing. Things had strayed quite far from her father’s idea of paying for access to human blood. And that was without mentioning that her own life was now on the line.

As she stared down at the brooch in her hands and felt the powerful magic it possessed, she eventually collapsed into a cloud of mist, scattering everywhere. Spreading herself as thin as possible, she let the night breeze carry her away. For the time being, she wanted to relieve her mind of everything.

†††

A few days after my meetings with Enma and Yavka, I found myself dragging my feet to another dinner party with the royal family. Wearing my usual aristocrat-style clothing, I felt struck by lightning as I stepped into the dining hall.

“Hey, Zilbagias.” Daiagias was, of course, in his newly favored Bon Dage Style outfit. It was a new variation to boot. That was all to be expected.

“I guess it’s been a week, huh?” the fifth princess Spinezia managed around a few mouthfuls of food...and her outfit left me thunderstruck.

Those legs!

In appearance, she was comparable to a twenty-something human woman, and she typically wore quite voluminous dresses that covered everything. Today, however, that “everything” was on full display.

Her remarkably slender frame was wrapped in tight leather that perfectly accentuated her reddish purple hair. Though her leather shorts formed a single piece with her boots, as connected as they were, they left many gaps filled by some kind of mesh. Naturally, it was all skintight, yet open enough to make it hard to believe it offered anything in the way of warmth. Her top was a tightly fitting leather vest, opening shortly below her chest to leave her stomach fully exposed. A human lady would have turned beet red if caught wearing an outfit like this, but Spinezia wore it all without the slightest hint of shame. Though with the way she was always chowing down while in the presence of others, maybe the definition of “shame” was lost on her. And of course, as I thought that, she opened her mouth wide and tossed another cutlet down the old gullet.

Wait, those weren’t the hors d’oeuvres she normally eats before the meal starts. Did she jump right to the main dish...?

As she happily gorged herself, her new outfit allowed us to see the lump of food’s journey from her throat to her gut before disappearing. It was like watching a snake swallow an egg whole.

“Man, these clothes are great. It’s so much nicer not having my stomach all squeezed tight. More please!”

At her call, a servant came dashing in with another cart packed to the brim with food. Even while her old plates were being cleaned up, the Gutsy Gorger went back to work, digging into yet another helping of the main course.

So her previous appetite was what happened when her stomach was constricted?

While I stared in awe at her performance, Daiagias sat with crossed arms, nodding emphatically in agreement with her assessment of their new outfits.

“Hey every— What the?!” The next to arrive was the green bastard himself, Emergias. For a moment, I felt something of a lingering glare from him, but I was soon upstaged by Spinezia’s performance, which caused his jaw to drop.

“Oh, you’re still wearing your normal clothes?” Spinezia said, not slowing her pace as she looked at both me and Emergias. Though we briefly shared a look, we just as quickly looked away. Both of us were in ordinary clothing.

“Hello, everyone!” Without delay, the door swung wide open to allow Aiogias to enter.

“Guh?!”

And judging by seaweed head’s reaction, I didn’t even need to look.

“So, you ordered an outfit as well, Aiogias? It looks good on you,” Daiagias commented, supremely satisfied.

He even talks like that to men?!

“Doesn’t it, though?”

And as I turned to look, I found Aiogias striking a pose in the doorway.

“Oho ho! What a powerful look!” Ante started to cry out. In strong contrast to his cool and collected visage, Aiogias actually boasted an incredibly muscular body, something his new outfit was quite proud to show off. Like Daiagias, his lower body was clad in a simple kind of leather pants, but his upper body was barely covered at all, the barest straps of leather accented by blue fur wrapped around his neck and waist.

The true standout feature was the head of a monstrous wolf fixed to his left shoulder, as if it were some kind of armor. If I had to describe the outfit in brief, I’d say it was like the coat of a wealthy man who had a passion for hunting, but who had misplaced his sleeves.

“It’s a great frost wolf. Quite a look, isn’t it?” Aiogias said as he took his seat, running a hand through his hair.

Daiagias commented on the impressive specimen, and even the Gutsy Gorger stopped eating for a moment to admire it.

The green toilet stain and I shared another look of stunned amazement, but it was one with a much different tone than the others in the room. Rather than impressed, we were struggling not to cringe.

Damn. Why did he have to be the one to agree with me?! That wolf head would definitely just be in the way.

The door swung open once again.

“Rubifya!” The way Daiagias jumped from his chair, the way his expression fell in an instant, I didn’t even need to look.

Her too...

“Oho ho!” Ante added her exclamations to the chorus.

I turned around anyway, where I found Rubifya wearing not only a daring smile, but also a dress of shining red leather. Of course, though it was a dress, it was still exceptionally revealing. Not to mention the great lengths it went to accentuate her glamorous figure. In particular, the area from her flank to her back was incredibly bold.

“Rubifya! What about the outfit I prepared for you?!”

“You expect me to wear that out in public?!” Rubifya’s angry shout was all it took for us to put together just what kind of outfit Daiagias had given her.

“But it would look so good...” Daiagias moaned, dropping to his knees...but after he looked up to give her another look, he was by her side in a purple flash. “This magic... It’s my enchantment! Does that mean under this dress—”

“Oh, shut up!” Pushing Daiagias’s head away as he slunk closer—or rather, bashing his head aside with the heel of her palm, judging by the interesting grunt he made as he was sent hurtling backward—Rubifya stepped over to drop Topazia into her chair.

The sixth princess, our little Sleeping Beauty, looked...huh. She almost looked like she was in a cocoon with the way she was wrapped in glossy black fur. But as she slid from Rubifya’s shoulders into her chair, the cocoon opened, revealing a dress of fur and leather that gave a distinctly fairylike impression. Cute, to be sure, but also oddly bewitching. As always, she was still fast asleep. I had to wonder if the previous cocoon helped her sleep more soundly.

“Looks like everyone is here,” the voice of the Demon King filled the room.

“Wha...?!” seaweed head gave another wordless cry.

No, not you too...!!!

Before I even had time to turn my head, the Demon King walked by in front of me...and I couldn’t keep myself from crying out in shock. It was so...extreme!

The Demon King Gordogias was draped in golden fur. Unlike Aiogias and Daiagias, who wore something like leather pants below the belt, the king’s lower body was virtually exposed save for his crotch—and that was covered by the head of a lion. His upper body was wrapped in belts and leather that squeezed to accentuate his muscular frame. In other words, he was tiptoeing close to the line of nakedness without actually crossing it, with a cloak added for decoration. And almost as if to compensate for how revealing the rest of his outfit was, the enormous cloak was a shining golden pelt of a lion—easily a work of art itself.

“A dreadliger! And such a large one!” Aiogias’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

The king chuckled. “Yes, one that I hunted personally in my youth. But it seemed like such a waste having it collect dust in the storeroom.” Normally, the king went right to his seat, but today he stopped to pose with his fancy cape.

“But that’s not all!” he continued. “Behold!” With a flourish of his cloak, the golden pelt was suddenly black as night. “This outfit has two sides!” the king declared proudly, like a child showing off his new toy.

Voices of admiration rose up all around. On closer inspection, the lion head that had adorned his crotch had transformed into a snarling fiendwolf.

He put transformation magic on it?! How over the top can you get?!

“It also bears magic to inspire its wearer, and a small pacifying enchantment. It blows away all my fatigue from working!” the king explained proudly. It had crossed my mind that he appeared in higher spirits than usual, but needing to rely on magic to handle his workload made him somewhat more pitiable...

“Guh...looks like I have no choice but to admit defeat! As expected of you, father. You are truly dressed with splendor suitable for a king!” Aiogias reeled in defeat.

“That’s incredible... I’d love to go hunting myself sometime, but I can’t seem to find the time...” Meanwhile, Daiagias scratched at his head in frustration.

“Father...you look incredible...” Rubifya was entranced. Even Spinezia was clearly moved by the sight as she shoved another plate of food down her throat.

Emergias and I shared another look.

Are we the weird ones here...?

“Hmm...I see Zilbagias and Emergias are still in their ordinary attire.” The king turned to us with a measure of disappointment. “I was looking forward to seeing your own take on the Bon Dage Style. But Aiogias, that shoulder ornament is remarkable!”

“Thank you, father. But it pales in comparison to your own. I had completely forgotten about the crotch.”

The king chuckled. “Yes, I, too, thought of mounting it on the shoulder at first...”

While the king and Aiogias got deep into the weeds about animal pelts, Daiagias shot me a confused look, as if he couldn’t understand why I was in ordinary dress.

Wait... I really am the weird one here?

“Of course you are. Do you not see how cool they all look?”

I couldn’t help but think that this devil god might have had a point.

“You two seem surprisingly alike,” Spinezia commented as she polished off another plate, looking at Emergias and me. And the two of us immediately went stiff.

Like hell! I’m nothing like him!

With another glare and a dismissive snort, we turned our noses up at each other. I had made up my mind. By tomorrow, I’d have my own Bon Dage Style outfit! Being put in the same camp as the green bastard was the last straw!

So anyway, the dinner party today...or should I say, the Bon Dage Style Fan Club meeting (if you of course ignored greeny, Topazia, and myself) proceeded to its end with a great deal of excitement. I had already felt drained before we started, now I was downright exhausted.

After leaving the king’s palace, I returned to my private room.

“Welcome home. Are you not feeling well?” Sophia greeted me upon my return with a puzzled look.

“No, it’s nothing. I was just surprised by...the new menu they’ve chosen,” I replied offhandedly. There was nothing wrong with me physically. Besides, it was now time for me to get changed—into battle gear.

“Here you are, dear.”

“Thanks.”

Layla helped me get into my armor, handing me each scaled piece with tender care. I then slipped on my gauntlets, boots, and helmet, finishing the look.

“Are you ready, Layla?”

“Yes.” She nodded, putting a hand to her chest as if to touch Konectus beneath her clothes.

“Here you are, Your Highness.” Veene handed me the saddle. It was heavy, and jingled with the sound of coins. After we made our way to the launch area, Layla stripped out of her maid uniform and took on her true form as a white dragon.

“Safe travels.”

“Thanks. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Among my collection of subordinates bidding me farewell, Sophia was the first to sound off. And once I was through them all, I climbed onto Layla’s back and we leaped into the sky. The weather was clear. It would be a good day for flying.

To where, you ask? The Rage family territory, of course. If things had gone as planned, the others should have been on their way back home right about now.

Back to the Rage family territory, together with the carriages carrying Alba and my other subordinates.

†††

The weather around here was quite unpredictable. Spring, as usual, had been rough. The previous day’s thunderstorms had been so intense it had seemed they’d last for days, but the sky had completely cleared just before dawn. Now, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Or at least, so she was told. She couldn’t see the sky herself.

And as she thought that, the falling raindrops returned. The restless Marinfia Rage stopped her weaving, and turned to the window. Having no eyes, she of course couldn’t see anything outside. But she listened, hoping to hear the familiar sound of her brother’s footsteps mixed in with the rain.

The Oryl house here in the Rage territory was as quiet as a graveyard. News of Alba’s death had reached them just the day before. Though they had all anxiously awaited news regarding the Rage family’s attack on the enemy capital, reports of Evaloti’s demise had reached them within a few days. And those reports had been accompanied with word of Alba’s death on the battlefield. The Rage territory was blanketed in a sense of quiet shock. The enemy capital had fallen in a mere three days. Such a remarkable achievement had never been accomplished before in the demonic kingdom’s history.

And to match, casualties among the demons were equally unprecedented. Far greater than were justified for what they had achieved. None of them could believe it. The Oryl family weren’t alone in their state of shock.

Marinfia still felt like Alba would pop his head in the door any day now, saying, “Sorry about the mix-up! There was a mistake in the paperwork, so they thought I was dead!” She still clung to that faint hope. That the notice of his death had been some kind of mistake. That Alba would come back with a bright smile and presents for all of them.

The sound of approaching wheels sent a jolt through Marinfia. That sound belonged to a carriage. This area’s terrible roads meant wheels rattled tremendously. And the carriage stopped right in front of her house, followed by a knock on the door.

“Yes...?” From downstairs, she could hear the somewhat timid voice of her mother.

“This is the Oryl residence, correct?”

With her lack of eyesight, Marinfia’s sense of hearing and her horns’ sense of detecting magic were exceptionally sharp. The unfamiliar voice came from a demon of considerable strength. “Yes, it is...” her mother replied, voice trembling.

“I have come to deliver the remains of your son, Albaoryl Rage,” the man continued, voice heavy with sympathy.

And with those words, time stopped in the Oryl house.

Marinfia was snatched from her daze by her mother’s wails. That was impossible. She couldn’t believe it. She had to confirm it for herself. Marinfia jumped up and dashed to the door, only to stumble over her own two feet and fall to the floor.

She gave a soft grunt as she landed awkwardly, painfully. “No, that can’t be...!”

“Alba...”

She heard the voices of her parents. She had to go! Returning to her feet, Marinfia ran a hand along the wall to guide herself to the stairs, and took her frustratingly slow descent one step at a time. Now... Now she could feel it. The faint magic of her mother and father, clinging to some kind of box.

“Father...mother...” She couldn’t see, so she had no idea what was there.

“Marin! Alba is...!” Her mother grabbed her hands as she struggled to speak through sobs. Marinfia was gently guided toward the object, her hands placed on top of it.

She jumped a bit at the touch; the thing felt as cold as ice. She didn’t know what it was. It was so hard, so cold. But as she traced her fingers along the object, it seemed familiar. The shape was the same. This was a cheek. A nose. Eyelids. Ears.

It was a person’s face.

“No... No...!”

And then...horns. Horns that were so, so familiar.

“No... Alba...!”

It was familiar, yet so cold, so hard. She felt no movement, no signs of breath. Like it was merely a cast-off shell of her younger brother.

Then, the cruel reality set in. This was no longer a person. It was just a thing. The Oryl household’s wails summoned the presence of their neighbors. When word spread that the popular young man had “come home,” people from across the city came running to see.

“Alba...you really...!”

“No! This has to be a mistake! Come on, bro!”

“Please! Wake up! Why is he so cold...?!”

The cascade of voices pouring in felt surreal. Marinfia had fallen on her backside, tracing her fingers foolishly along the face of what had once been her brother. Something deep down was telling her that if she kept at it, she could somehow bring warmth back to him. That everything would work out. She really felt that way. That there was no way her brother, as bright and energetic as he was, could possibly be dead...

A jolt went through the crowd. The cries of the people around her suddenly went quiet. Someone was coming. She could feel it. A massive power was approaching. It was like a giant making its way through their village.

“Your Highness,” the unfamiliar voice that had arrived with the carriage spoke again.

“Did he just arrive?” The voice that came from that unbelievable giant seemed so...young, yet familiar. She remembered the voice...but the magic behind it was much different. He hadn’t been this massive when he first left the Rage territory along with Alba.

“Yes, sir. The storm yesterday slowed us down considerably...”

The giant simply responded with a quiet “I see” before turning toward Marinfia. Ironically, despite being entirely blind, she could feel his gaze on her without issue. That gaze belonged to Demon Prince Zilbagias Rage.

“I am...deeply sorry for what happened to your son,” Zilbagias spoke, voice heavy with pain. “I sorely regret being unable to bring him home safely.”

If you were going to have this much regret, why did you take him in the first place?! she instinctively wanted to scream, knowing full well it had been Alba’s own wish to go to the front lines.

“Why? Why?!” a child in the crowd started to scream. “Why him?! Why did he have to die?! He said he was going to make it big! And when he did, he was gonna train me!” The screams crumbled into sobs. “So why... Why do you look like you don’t even care?!”

With a pitiful wail, the tiny lump of magic charged toward Zilbagias. “What do you think you’re doing?!” the soldier roared as shouts of alarm ran through the crowd. There was a sound of someone being struck, and a child’s cry.

“Stop! It’s fine. He’s only a kid,” Zilbagias calmed the soldier with a steady voice. “Being willing to challenge me is proof of just how much he loved Alba.”

Sorrow oozed from the prince’s voice.

“Your... Your Highness...” As she clung to her husband, Marinfia’s mother spoke up with a sniffle, having been silent since Alba’s arrival. “Was he... Was Alba...able to help you...?”

Marinfia could feel Zilbagias’s breath get caught in his throat. And a few moments later, he took a deep breath, and struggled to squeeze out a reply. “Yes. Alba’s fighting was remarkable. Our squad was the first to bring down one of the enemy fortresses. Alba was instrumental, bringing down one of the forest elf mages.” Zilbagias spoke, detailing just how heroic Albaoryl’s deeds had been. “And when... When I was in the greatest of danger, he saved me. Even after being fatally wounded by a Swordmaster, he recovered in an instant with Transposition, and provided support when holy magic prevented me from recovering. If it hadn’t been for him...I wouldn’t be here now...”

While she listened, she felt Alba’s icy cheek start to soften...but even so, it was still so very cold.

“We managed to successfully take out a squad of enemy elites...but after our victory, a cowardly hero attacked while Alba’s back was turned, stabbing him right through the heart...”

Sobs and wails started up again from the crowd.

“So...that’s why...he still looks okay...” her mother struggled past her sobs, her words barely intelligible. Marinfia too felt a burning pain from where her eyes should have been, but no tears came. She had been born not only without eyes, but also without the sockets for them. Crying was physically not possible for her.

“He defeated multiple forest elf mages, including a monk. Beyond that, numerous forest elf archers, priests, and Swordmasters. And above all, he saved my life during a time of need. For these numerous accomplishments, His Majesty the King has recognized him personally.” There was a rustling sound as Zilbagias pulled something out. “Albaoryl Rage has been granted the rank of marquis of the demonic kingdom. Here you are.”

Her father took something from the prince, likely a symbol of Alba’s rank. And as he did, the bag rattled heavily with the sound of coins. Even after receiving it, her father stayed silent.

Zilbagias took a lengthy pause, a painful silence settling over the gathering.

“As both his commanding officer and as a prince, I offer the highest possible commendation for your son’s valor and loyalty.” The sound of armor scraping reached Marinfia, informing her of the prince’s deep bow. “The soul of a warrior as magnificent as he will no doubt find peace in paradise... Please, excuse me.”

With the sound of heavy footsteps, Zilbagias’s enormous magic receded. All that remained were Marinfia’s family and Alba’s mourning friends.

“Ah...” Still foolishly running her hands across Alba’s body, as Zilbagias departed, Marinfia finally noticed the faint traces of magic on her brother’s body. Her hands quickly started searching, Alba’s frozen clothing cracking and snapping as she reached into his chest pocket...

And the moment she touched it, she knew what it was. A handkerchief. The same one she and her mother had woven for him as a good luck charm. But now, it was far too drenched in blood and frozen solid. Her fingers could tell that it was barely recognizable, as it was ragged and torn. A slight trace of her Bloodline Magic lingered on it, but only ever so barely perceivable. And even those traces dissolved and washed away under the heavy drops of rain. All at once, the thing that had once been a handkerchief broke apart and disappeared in her hands.

“No...” This was all too much. “No! Alba!” She wouldn’t accept it. Couldn’t accept it. “Alba! Wake up! You’re home now!” She clung desperately to the frozen statue of her younger brother. “Please! Open your eyes! Alba! Albaaaaaaa!”

Zilbagias bit his lip as a bloodcurdling scream chased him through the streets of the Rage capital. The Oryl residence had only been the first stop on his list. He still had seven more families to visit.

†††

Back in Evaloti.

Why am I still alive...? a soldier with his left hand wrapped in bandages asked himself for the umpteenth time, taking a bite from his bread rations.

His name was Tafman. He was an ordinary human soldier, though his experience was perhaps slightly above average. He was supposed to have evacuated the city along with the army, but he had taken an arrow while defending the daughter of an old comrade. The blood loss from the wound had been far too great, and he’d ended up passing out.

When he awoke, he’d found he had been taken captive. But why had a wounded soldier like him been kept alive? Evaloti, the capital city of the prosperous Kingdom of Deftelos, had been transformed into a colossal prison. A hodgepodge of soldiers, civilians, and members of the Church had been thrown together, and packed tight in large rooms.

What are the demons thinking...?

Tafman kept an eye on one of their beastfolk guards as he continued slowly chewing on his piece of bread before drinking a mouthful of soup. It was far from a hearty meal as it was quite lacking in any contents to speak of, but he was still grateful to have real food. Apparently there were some bakers among the captives, so the demons were making them bake bread for everyone.

Surrendering to the demonic army never ended well. That was common sense on the front lines. Men and women alike were enslaved. Those who were injured were executed or fed to the goblins and ogres. The old and the sick were used by the night elves for target practice, or for experimenting with new poisons. They were always told it was better to die fighting than to be taken captive.

Just imagining what would be done to them had made the first few days of captivity terrifying, but after a while...the truth proved to be rather anticlimactic. Sure, the demons made no effort to properly treat the wounded, providing merely the bare minimum of medical supplies, and the minuscule number of priests they had were hardly enough to help everyone. All in all, this meant that many of the gravely wounded had succumbed to their injuries.

But the survivors were being fed properly, and had open access to wells for water.

What the hell are they scheming? Doesn’t seem like those guards have a clue either, Tafman thought. He released a sigh, observing the typically bored cat beastfolk guards as their tails swayed idly from side to side. When they asked the guards what was going on, all they said was that they were following orders. They did little in the way of hiding how upset they were at being forced to leave the humans alive, particularly when they were handing out food.

There must be some kind of plan here...otherwise, there’s no reason for them to spare a wounded soldier like me. I just don’t get it...

Tafman sipped his soup, and leaned his back against the wall. They didn’t have anything fancy like chairs or tables, so he was sitting on the floor. Luckily, it was spring. If it had been winter, he would have been freezing his butt off right about now. For the time being, his best course of action was to stay calm. He had to build up strength, and mend his injuries.

Right now, the captives had been divided up into groups. If any one group started to cause problems—for example, tried to fight back—another group would be executed along with them. None of them could afford to make a move. Not yet anyway. They were still waiting for the right chance...

So Tafman adopted the most docile expression he could muster, staring at the gentle sunlight streaming in through the window.

And then, suddenly, the door to their room slammed open—permitting a huge devil to stomp inside. It had a single horn, and venomously purple skin. The abrupt arrival sent a wave of trepidation through the captives.

“Pick a representative,” the devil said as he swept his gaze over the gathered people. His voice was like the sound of boulders rolling down a hill.

Everyone turned their attention to Tafman. He was just an ordinary soldier, with perhaps slightly above average experience. But most of those ranked higher than him had died in battle. He was one of the very few experienced soldiers in this particular room. Even beyond that, he was by far the healthiest.

Deciding he didn’t have much choice, Tafman stood up. “I’ll go.”

“Very well. Come.”

The devil immediately spun around and stepped out of the room. This action revealed quite the vivid contrast as behind the savage armor, bone ornaments, and muscular frame of the enormous demon, there was also a curly, piglike tail. It took Tafman quite a bit of willpower to prevent himself from bursting out laughing at the sight of it.

Pushed and prodded by the beastfolk guards, Tafman followed after the devil. They appeared to be heading to near the heart of the castle in the upper levels.

“What do you want me for?” Tafman asked as they walked.

“Shut up and walk, weakling. You’ll know when we get there,” the devil replied, not even giving him so much as a glance. For a moment, Tafman considered yanking on the devil’s tail, but decided against it on account of being unarmed. After walking for a while, they came to a rather fancy-looking door, and the devil instructed him to go inside. Of all places, it appeared to be an audience chamber. For a rank-and-file commoner like Tafman, it was an entirely unfamiliar environment.

Night elf hunters gave him an aggressive inspection, but of course he didn’t have so much as a splinter of wood on him, so they let him pass in short order. Within the audience chamber were numerous beastfolk and night elf soldiers, but also a number of people from the Alliance. There were middle-aged men who were likely soldiers as they were wrapped in bandages and such, older men that appeared to be nobility, and even priests from the Holy Church. All of them were waiting on one knee before the throne.

“Is that everyone?” The question was asked by a shrewd-looking goblin standing in the corner with a feather pen in hand.

A shrewd goblin?!

Tafman had to do a double take. It was a goblin. And it was wearing clothes and writing.

“What are you staring at, human?!” the goblin bared its teeth with a hiss.

And it can talk!

At best, most goblins could manage single words through grunts and shrieks.

Tafman’s awestruck reaction made a night elf across the room from them break into a smile. “He’s probably never seen a talking goblin before.”

“I’m not a goblin! I’m a hobgoblin! There’s a distinct difference!”

Now the hobgoblin or whatever was hissing at the night elf.

So some kind of high-level goblin?! He had heard rumors of such things, but this was his first time coming across one.

“Well, it looks like everyone’s here. So, let’s get started.”

Ignoring the hobgoblin, the night elf clasped his hands behind his back and stepped forward.

“Listen, men and women of the Alliance. Or should I say, former men and women of the Alliance. His Majesty the Demon King has passed judgment on all of you.”

The tension in the air spiked among the humans. Finally, they would learn what was going to happen to them...!

“His Majesty the King has designated this area centered around Evaloti, the previous capital of the former Kingdom of Deftelos, as the ‘Evaloti Temporary Autonomous Zone.’ You shall be recognized as the lowest class of citizen of the demonic kingdom. But, as citizens, you shall be provided with some measure of autonomy and protection within the zone.”

“Wha...”

A noble-looking elder gaped in shock. None of them accepted the news at face value. They were all standing at the ready. What were the demons up to...?!

As Tafman and the others waited with bated breath, the night elf snorted. “The governor of the autonomous zone shall be none other than His Highness the great Seventh Demon Prince, Zilbagias Rage.”

They knew that name all too well. The governor of Evaloti was going to be the very demon that had brought about its demise?!

“His Highness the Seventh Prince has some words for you. Bow down before the glorious Lord Zilbagias. And be thankful, for he is willing to answer your questions afterward.” The night elf flashed a wicked smile. “Make sure you are on your best behavior. The fate of all the humans in the autonomous zone now rests on your shoulders.”

Laughter resounded from the denizens of the dark around the room.

Are you kidding me?!

Even someone as fearless as Tafman broke out in a cold sweat at that.

Dammit, if only I had a weapon!

And as fearless as he was, that was the first thought that came to mind. However, with more than just his own life on the line, he really had no choice but to wait and listen to what the prince had to say.

A door in the back of the audience chamber swung open, followed by the sound of footsteps on carpet and a plop on the throne.

“Raise your heads.” It was a surprisingly young voice. Lifting his head, Tafman looked up at the new arrival.

So this is the demon prince...!

He was so young. The blue-skinned kid looked like his horns had just freshly popped out of his head!

“My name is Zilbagias Rage...” Out of nowhere, a storm of terror had descended upon the room, overwhelming the humans present. “Seventh Demon Prince, and governor of the Evaloti Temporary Autonomous Zone.”

Lounging on the throne once occupied by Ossmeier XIII, the new ruler of Evaloti, Zilbagias Rage, regarded his subjects with a crimson glare and a cold smile.

†††

A little earlier.

Having finished my condolence calls the day before, I had now arrived at Evaloti Castle. I hadn’t left the Rage territory until deep into the night. Basking in the soft light of the sunrise as we flew had helped to wash away some of the negative emotions brewing in my chest. After we had returned to the Demon King’s castle, I’d taken a short nap, after which I had been informed that my officials had arrived in Evaloti. Meaning it was ready for me to take the reins. So I had hopped back on Layla once again, and taken to the sky.

Here in Evaloti Castle, I was in a windowless underground meeting room, becoming familiar with the leaders of the various races that would be helping me run the autonomous zone.

“Devil of Oppression, Count Porkun. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

First up was a hugely muscular, purple-skinned devil. His singular horn made him stand out quite a bit. One of the first things to catch my eye when I had entered the room was his small, curly tail. It was honestly kind of cute, in an utterly hilarious way. Thank goodness I had spent so much time practicing keeping my expression in check while in the castle.

“I look forward to working with you,” I returned his greeting with a nod. Though he looked like your typical muscle-brained fighter, he was one of my head officials. He had managed to secure his position by pushing aside all other devils competing for the spot, so there was no doubt he was qualified...but there was one doubt about something else.

“By the way...your authority is ‘oppression’? I’m not going to put up with you taking matters into your own hands here.”

“There is no need for concern, Your Highness. I always act with due restraint, so that should the perfect opportunity arise, I can exercise my authority of oppression to reap maximum power from it. In those cases, I will always await permission from Your Highness to oppress.”

“Permission to oppress...” I echoed.

“Yes, sir. Precisely that.” Porkun’s face was deathly serious. What was with him...? Well, anyway. As long as he could keep himself in check. I nodded.

“Viscountess Yavka Chisina, at your service.” The vampire noblewoman gave me an elegant bow. I couldn’t say whether it had gone smoothly or not, but at any rate she had managed to get her father Count Vlad’s permission to work as leader of the vampires in the autonomous zone. She had a bright, optimistic expression, as if just being here was some extraordinary prize. I didn’t want her to get too full of herself though.

“Miss Yavka, I will have you organizing the vampires that live within the autonomous zone. They will be in charge of security during the night to keep the other races from harming or otherwise interfering with the citizens.”

All those gathered turned doubtful looks on her, as if to say, Aren’t the vampires the biggest threat?

“This autonomous zone is vital to the future of the demonic kingdom, and its people are an invaluable asset to us. I will not permit your vampires to attack my citizens. Should even a single person be found drained of blood, or go missing in such a way that can be linked to the vampires, I will show no mercy. Not to the perpetrator, and not to their supervisor.”

Yavka’s expression tensed up at my warning.

“If anything happens, I’ll snap your fangs off and drag you out into the sunlight. Remember that.”

“I will expend every effort to live up to your expectations, Your Highness!”

Good. That will be fine. Next...

“Representative of the hobgoblins, Tavogch.”

“Representative of the night elves, Nichar.”

Uh-oh. The voices of the last two overlapped as they introduced themselves at the same time.

“I’m first,” they both insisted, glaring at each other from over their desks.

The hobgoblin basically looked like some busybody goblin. They were supposed to be a completely separate race, but a hobgoblin looked just like any old goblin. So that was the best way I could describe him. Lumpy green skin, yellow eyes, jagged teeth. Though not on the level of the nobility, he still wore decently high-quality clothing, and was always scribbling away with a feather pen on some notepad or something. For the record, his name “Tavogch” was quite unique in its pronunciation, the last part requiring a kind of rumble deep in the throat. I had given it a few tries with no luck, so for now I was calling him “Tavo.” Even so, he seemed quite happy I had made the effort to try in the first place. Apparently, the vast majority of demons never even bothered attempting to pronounce hobgoblin names.

Beside him was the night elf, a close acquaintance of Sidar. He had the typical night elf sticky smile, and honestly I didn’t like him very much, but I made sure not to let that show. Sidar’s faction among the night elves was one of my most important assets, after all. Aside from being related to Sidar, there wasn’t much to say about him. As head of the night elf officials, he’d probably be in charge of the majority of the work here.

“You two,” I said with a sigh as I interrupted their glaring contest. “You don’t have to like each other, but don’t let it interfere with your work.”

“Of course, Your Highness!” they replied in unison. It was starting to sound like they got along just fine. After our short introductions, we spoke about the plans for the autonomous zone, looking over the documents provided for us.

“Hmm. They even have a register with all the names of the citizens,” an illusionary Ante commented as she peaked at the papers alongside me. The plan wasn’t without its faults. As conquest of eastern Deftelos progressed, there was no doubt the population of the autonomous zone would start to surge.

“So the captives haven’t been told a thing yet?”

“That is correct sir. They have been divided into small groups and kept under surveillance,” Porkun replied to me talking to myself.

“In that case, I guess we should let them know we’ve decided they get to live.” My malicious smile earned sounds of praise from around the room.

Man. I sure wish I could kill everyone in here.

“Okay then, gather representatives from all the captives. Let’s have a bit of a party.”

And so it was decided I’d meet with them in the audience chamber, and express the plans for the autonomous zone to them directly.

“Please wait here, Your Highness. I will go gather the representatives.”

I was left to wait in the back of the audience chamber. There was a mirror there, so I went ahead and checked my hair just in case. Thinking about how the royalty of Deftelos must have used this very mirror just as I was now filled my heart with a deep, hollow sensation.

“Listen, men and women of the Alliance. Or should I say, former men and women of the Alliance.” I could hear Nichar speaking through the door as I waited. “Make sure you are on your best behavior. The fate of all the humans in the autonomous zone now rests on your shoulders.”

And then the night elf guards at the door gave me the signal. I was up.

Playing up the role of a demon prince the best I could, I strode into the room with the most arrogant smile I could. The captives were bowing before me. Multiple were wounded soldiers, one looked like a servant of the nobility, and someone from the Holy Church—

As her face entered my vision, my mind was assailed by flashbacks of the fighting in Evaloti along with the smell of fresh blood.

“Oho ho, so she really did live to tell the tale,” Ante murmured.

Yeah. The reports made me think there was an eighty or ninety percent chance it was her. Who would have thought we’d meet again like this? Fate sure can be so cruel.

As I thought that, I plopped down on the throne.

“Raise your heads.”

The captives looked up, most of their eyes going wide the moment they saw me. I guessed my youth took them by surprise. And at the center of my attention was that priestess. Desperate to keep her expression calm, she couldn’t hide the vein threatening to burst in her forehead.

But above all else was the look in her eyes. Though there was something akin to fear present, it was dominated by a glowering hatred. Charlotte Vidwa, a friend of both Barbara and Hessel. The one who had created the opening which had allowed Barbara to decapitate me.

“My name is Zilbagias Rage...” But I proceeded with Naming, as if I hadn’t recognized her. “Seventh Demon Prince, and governor of the Evaloti Temporary Autonomous Zone.”

Overwhelming magic buffeted the captives. And for a moment, all of the captives except Charlotte had their meek expressions blown away. Fear, terror, sure...but the far more prevalent emotion was anger and hatred. Honestly, I found it kind of comforting. I liked the boldness in them. But as much as I appreciated that, it would make things much more difficult for me. Their motivation was more than welcome, but I didn’t want them to be too motivated. I needed them to patiently wait as they gathered their strength for the right moment to strike.

“I suppose I should start by saying welcome to the demonic kingdom.” I smiled, leaning casually on the arm of the throne. “Let’s discuss your future.” The brilliant, shining future at the end of this thorny road. “Evaloti Temporary Autonomous Zone. Sounds kind of weird, doesn’t it?” I kept a cold smile as I watched the captives tense up. “As the word ‘temporary’ suggests, your position here is hardly stable. You are being tested. Basically to see whether you are fit to become citizens of the kingdom, or more suitable to be worked to the bone like livestock.”

The expressions on some of the humans drew tight, while others were obviously struggling to suppress any emotion from showing. In particular, I noticed the edge of Charlotte’s eye twitch. I understood exactly how she felt. Heck, I would have been doing a lot more than eye twitching if someone gave me this preamble. Among the captives, I noticed one man who seemed to clearly have ties of some sort to the nobility.

“You. Yes, the skinny old man with the gray in your hair. Tell me your name.”

The old man was quite taken aback by suddenly being called upon. “I am Sebastian.”

“Do you have any experience in managing territory?”

“To a degree, yes,” he replied hesitantly.

As expected, he was at least somehow connected to the nobility. He was probably a steward, or some other kind of high-class servant.

“Perfect. Give him the papers,” I instructed Tavo. “This is about the taxes you’ll be paying.”

“Th-This is...!” Sebastian’s eyes went wide as he read over the documents.

I chuckled. “What do you think? Much better than you expected, right?” I grinned, propping my head up on the arm of the throne with a hand.

Sebastian didn’t answer, perhaps out of fear that any utterance would result in me upping the prices on the document.

It was a pretty lenient tax. For the first year, they’d be basically paying nothing. Afterward, they’d have to hand over a set number of cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens, but the numbers were quite reasonable.

“Hmm. You think I’ll raise the tax if you agree with me, huh? Don’t worry, the numbers won’t change for the next ten years.”

The taxes that would be levied on the autonomous zone were considerably lower than those Deftelos had in place toward the end of its life. They’d also have free rein to grow crops for themselves, so there was no risk of starvation. As long as the crops came in.

“Looks like you’re still wary that I may be plotting some scheme. But don’t worry, things won’t be as easy as those terms make them out to be. If you fail to meet your quotas, two punishments will follow.”

The captives watched me in silence as I raised a finger.

“First, people will be taken from the autonomous zone to serve as livestock to meet the quota you missed.” A jolt ran through the crowd. “Second. If it’s determined that you are unable to meet the quotas in general, we’ll be invoking the ‘temporary’ part of the autonomous zone’s name. The whole project will be shuttered. That means all of you will have your statuses revoked, and will either be enslaved or disposed of.”

A chill ran through the air of the audience chamber. I could see the blood draining from Charlotte’s face as her anger only intensified.

“That’s why the tax is so generous. I don’t have the luxury to waste time basking in your suffering under a heavy burden like that. For you all who stood against us, this is the bare minimum we demand to be recognized as our citizens.”

Harsh looks took to the faces of the captives. Even Sebastian had gotten over his shock at the light burden being imposed on them, and had now broken out in a cold sweat. They had been given a very reasonable quota to meet. If they failed to accomplish even that, he knew that the already questionable future of the autonomous zone would be erased in an instant.

“I’m sure you’re curious as to why the tax is so focused on livestock production. Here in the demonic kingdom, we have plenty of cat beastfolk, dragons, night elves, ogres...all people that need meat. So we have high hopes for this autonomous zone, for you humans living here, to provide that for us. We look forward to seeing what you grace our tables with.”

The denizens of the dark around the room did their best to hide their smirks at my joking tone. Okay, that should be a good enough hint at the demonic kingdom’s food shortage. Little by little, I’ll give them more information like this. All I can do is pray that someone like Sebastian or Charlotte catches on and notices the growing issues.

“Next...you.” I turned to the priestess herself. She stared back at me, mouth drawn tightly.

A storm must have been whipped up within her, but she knew that stepping out of line here would bring suffering to all those in the autonomous zone. She seemed at a loss as to how to respond. Strangely enough, I felt much the same way. I could feel my mask as a demon prince was slipping.

“And here I was, certain that I had killed everyone I fought in Evaloti.” As I used a hand to prop my head up on the armrest of the throne, another wave of shock went through the audience chamber. “Seeing you alive is quite the surprise. Maybe I shouldn’t look down so much on the protection of the gods of light, huh?”

I turned a smirk on my officials lining the walls of the room, who replied with hearty laughs. Meanwhile, the people of the Alliance all turned to look at Charlotte, a new sense of awe and respect in their eyes. Not many could say they traded blows with me and came out the other side. The only others would be those from the hero’s squad I had trained against back in the Rage territory, so I suppose three of them?

Vigo the musician, Dirilo the carpenter, Organo the instrument maker. They were still being held in the night elf prison. Ideally, I’d be able to move them to the autonomous zone in the future. Perhaps I could use them to relay info on the demonic kingdom to Charlotte. They’d also be able to share the heroics of Leonardo’s final moments.

“This is for Leonardo!!!”

I looked at Charlotte again, the memory of that scream on the battlefield sharp in my mind. That was right before she had virtually exploded with holy magic and charged at me. That had caught me so off guard I had ended up literally losing my head.

How did she know I was responsible for killing Leonardo? Was she even talking about the same Leonardo in the first place? I had endless questions, but asking them now didn’t seem quite in character for the heartless governor of the autonomous zone.

“Speaking of which, I suppose we need to talk about religion in the autonomous zone.”

As I said that, Charlotte’s face darkened again. She probably expected me to say something along the lines of how worshipping the gods of light was expressly forbidden. And how failure to follow suit would mean execution. I could understand why she’d be upset. But she didn’t have to worry about that.

“I have no intention to get involved with your religion. Do as you wish.”

On the one hand, Charlotte seemed relieved to hear that. But on the other hand, she was very much still on guard. As if keeping an eye out for any traps I might have set for her.

“When it comes to you members of the Holy Church, there has been quite the debate about whether you should be spared or not...but for the sake of sanitation, we’ve decided to permit the use of your healing miracles within the autonomous zone. So we’ll be expecting you to deal with your own injuries and diseases.”

“I see,” Charlotte finally broke her silence. It seemed she had managed to set aside her hatred of me for long enough to get some ideas. But come on now, calm down. No fighting back just yet.

“But, all facilities related to the Holy Church will be destroyed, and you will not be permitted to build new ones. Naturally, you are also banned from making new altars, holy symbols, or flags. You will also not be permitted to hold your festivals or ceremonies of worship for the gods of light in public spaces,” I declared emphatically, as if driving a nail home. “If you still wish to worship the gods of light, do it in whispers where we can’t see. That’s suitable for people like you.”

My sneer got a round of delighted grins from the night elves. To be expected of a race particularly hostile toward the gods of light.

Oh give it a rest. I wish I could drag you all out into the sunlight right now.

Charlotte, meanwhile, bit her lip with a soft grunt, shoulders trembling as she dropped her head. Seeing her distraught only made the night elves even happier.

Wow. That’s a surprise.

She was quite the actor. The bans I had put on them would entirely miss the mark as far as the Holy Church was concerned. Learning holy miracles required nothing more than repeating scripture in private. On top of that, the Holy Church’s most important ritual was the coming-of-age ceremony. All that required was getting a drink dish infused with holy magic, leaving it out in the sun, and purified water. They’d have no issues holding such a ceremony under these restrictions. In other words, there’d be nothing preventing the rise of new heroes and priests. Most of the children in Evaloti had evacuated during the fighting, but new children would inevitably be born. This vital tool in fighting back against the demonic kingdom had been left entirely intact.

And yet Charlotte looked crushed, like all the teachings she had grown up with had just been stripped from her. From the same woman who had fought so hard to keep a straight face in front of me, despite me being her mortal enemy.

What for? The reason was obvious. She wanted me to lower my guard. I couldn’t have dreamed of anything better.

“Okay, let’s get down to the details then. The management of the autonomous zone will be carried out by me along with the devils, night elves, and hobgoblins under my command. This will include public maintenance, tax collection, and other administrative work. Things like security and other minor matters will be left to you.”

I shifted my attention to one of the wounded soldiers. He looked somehow familiar, like an old friend.

“Organize former soldiers like you and other hopefuls into a city guard. You will be responsible for ensuring production runs smoothly, and dealing with pesky animals and enemies. For that purpose, you will be allowed weapons. There will be no firm restrictions on them either.”

The captives practically staggered at that. Never in their wildest dreams had they expected unfettered access to weapons. The wounded soldier mouthed the words “are you kidding me?” as he stared back at me in disbelief.

Oh come on, you’re gonna make me blush. But it looks like the weapons thing threw them for such a loop that they missed the part about enemies.

“First, about security. Theft, conflict, and the like among the people of the autonomous zone will be left to you to handle. The only exception is that my officials will be in charge of the prisons. For the most part, the laws for handling criminals will be similar to those that were in place in Deftelos...”

For example, thieves would be subjected to forced labor and imprisonment, while arsonists and murderers would be executed.

“But those held in the prisons will be stripped of their rights as citizens. In other words, they will be treated like no more than wild animals. There is always use for keeping energetic humans around, so don’t expect more than one or two out of every ten prisoners to make it back out alive. You can think of it as every crime being met with the death penalty.”

For the umpteenth time today, the expressions of the captives went tense.

“That said, arresting and handing criminals over to the prisons is your own responsibility. If you can resolve the disputes yourselves without our involvement, all the better. In addition, we will avoid putting any unjust restrictions on you. It is your right as citizens to be treated fairly.”

The difference between a citizen and a slave within the demonic kingdom was like night and day.

“Furthermore, if you feel as though you’ve been treated unjustly at the hands of your betters, such as demons like myself, you have the right to petition me for justice. If I feel your case has merit, the appropriate actions will be taken.”

The captives shared an unimpressed look at that. I couldn’t blame them. They probably imagined “appropriate actions” to consist of nothing more than a very stern slap on the wrist.

“Let me give you a concrete example. Say a demon enters the autonomous zone and goes wild, killing humans and taking them captive for fun.”

The overly concrete and violent example got a reaction from the captives.

“Something so obvious probably doesn’t require reporting. I imagine word of it would even reach me. I’d take it upon myself personally to hunt far and wide for that demon so I could break their horns—a punishment so severe in demonic society that it offers no social recovery.”

The captives listened in silence.

“I will guarantee that level of protection for you. But don’t misunderstand. It’s not because you hold some great value to me. The autonomous zone, and all the people, land, and material within it, are ultimately the property of His Majesty the King. Anyone who raises their hand against it in any way is smearing mud on the name of the Demon King himself.”

I snorted, leaning back on the throne.

“In short, you are His Majesty’s lapdogs.”

The dog beastfolk among the captives twitched their ears at that, earning a round of laughter from the cat beastfolk around them.

“Kicking the king’s dog is an insult to the king himself. No mercy will be given to any who act in such a way. Tragic as it is, even our glorious kingdom has fools who fail to understand this. Others will see my role in protecting the king’s assets and seek to interfere with you as a means of challenging me.”

The wounded soldier from earlier stared back at me in utter confusion, but others like Charlotte and Sebastian, those with some knowledge of the political realm, seemed to fully get it. Hopefully they’d clarify things for the others later. I continued.

“That is why you are being permitted weapons, and why you will have your own guard. To deal with not just wild animals, but also outside enemies. Even if demons raise their hand against you, as property of the Demon King, your lives are under my protection. In the same way, you have the right to defend yourselves against any harm.”

Sebastian bit his lip, shaking his head slightly as he listened. As humiliating as it all was, he seemed to grasp that they were truly being permitted to live.

“Here in the Evaloti Temporary Autonomous Zone, you are citizens, not slaves. But that only holds while you are within the territory. Most of the demonic kingdom’s people will see you as nothing more than livestock.”

I looked at each of the captives, one by one. All of them wore meek, obedient expressions...but each of them also had a light in their eyes, a strong will that had yet to surrender.

“Many were adamant in their opposition to having former members of the Alliance recognized as citizens. In particular, there was a great fear as to what humans would do if allowed to live within our borders. Giving you freedom was far too great a risk. A common belief was that we should have killed you all, or at the very least enslaved you.”

Or...

“Others argued that, individually, humans are far too weak. Barring some rare exceptions of course. They didn’t believe you deserved to be citizens of the kingdom. They believed you were fit only to be slaves or livestock.”

The captives stared back at me in silence, begrudgingly keeping their peace as the beratement continued.

“Okay then. Let’s move on to the main topic at hand, shall we?” I leaned forward, folding my hands on my lap.

The captives shared a confused look at that. I had to smile. Like a wise, compassionate ruler.

“I’m of course talking about your desire to rebel.”

A shock rippled through the audience chamber, making no distinction between captive and captor. Nichar and Tavo both looked at me with wide eyes, startled that I had even brought it up. I continued speaking to the captives, wearing the perfect demon prince smile I had been practicing in the mirror.

“If you were to remain loyal to the kingdom forever, fulfilling your duties faithfully, why would we bother giving you any autonomy? It would be far easier to simply enslave you all from the beginning.”

The irrationality of my argument took the captives by surprise. Porkun crossed his arms, nodding to himself as if to say, How tyrannical!

“The desire to rebel is basically the longing for freedom. If you don’t care to be free, then we can scrap this whole project and make you slaves at the snap of a finger. Otherwise, I take it as you admitting your desire for freedom.”

There was nothing strange about that, right?

“The application of your logic feels perhaps a tad extreme.” Ante sighed.

Yeah, I supposed maybe it was possible to take life as it was and settle if the conditions were good enough. But that wouldn’t work for me. I needed to start building strength for that day when I’d finally topple the demonic kingdom.

“Personally, I like that about you.” I grinned, getting a variety of responses from the captives. Those like Charlotte, who masked their inner turmoil with blank faces. Those like Sebastian, who stared at me intently while trying to discern my objectives. And those like the wounded soldier who, if this were any other situation, would have been on his feet shouting, “What the hell are you talking about?!” All those reactions, I loved them.

I stood up. “In the demonic kingdom, power is everything. Power is the ability to reshape the world to fit your own desires. The arrogance we demons can display is because we’ve earned the right, the power, to do so. And the greatest among us, the most powerful individual, is our king. The one who has the greatest authority to reshape the world. Is that not what makes a true ruler? Power. Power is everything. The power an individual wields determines their place in the world.”

The reason “weakling” was the greatest insult in demonic society was because it called into question the root from which demons drew respect, their power. It threatened to deny everything they were.

“On the other hand, the powerless are despised. You people, humanity, are the shining example of that. Sure, you have your moments. Banding together to form impervious defenses and carrying out devastating attacks. But anyone can achieve that. Anyone can be strong if they just pile on the numbers. Even demons,” I joked. “Aside from the rare few like Swordmasters, you are individually pathetic. That is why others don’t take you seriously, claiming you are better off dead or as slaves. In that respect, the sturdy beastfolk among you are much more to be respected.”

The hobgoblins in the room wore timid expressions, knowing the same logic could easily be applied to them.

“If you’re not happy with that treatment, then show us how strong you are. Strength as a group is a given. Show us your strength as individuals, if you are so unwilling to bear the yoke of the demonic kingdom.” I sneered back at the glare coming from the wounded soldier. “Go ahead. Rebel to your heart’s content. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

I spread my arms wide like an actor onstage, while the captives looked up at me like I was some crazed madman. Meanwhile, the denizens of the dark watched on with troubled expressions, clearly thinking I was going too far.

“Four hundred. Do you know the significance of that number?” I asked, lifting up four fingers. “That’s how many Rage family soldiers participated in the attack on Evaloti.”

Charlotte’s eyes went wide. Oh, are you surprised? That’s quite a bit fewer than you thought, isn’t it?

“All across the demonic kingdom, hundreds of thousands of demons are waiting with bated breath, desperately hoping for their chance on the battlefield.”

Of course, that was an exaggeration. Not all demons were capable of fighting.

I strutted in front of the captives, like a drill sergeant sizing up his new recruits. “Did you ever wonder why the demonic kingdom’s conquest is so slow? Why we only ever fight a single enemy kingdom at a time? Make no mistake about it, the fun of it all plays a part. But the real answer is much simpler. If we were to unleash our full might against the Alliance without restraint, we’d crush you in an instant. And then, in no time at all, we’d have no one left to fight.”

The captives must have imagined at some point what would happen if a force of hundreds of thousands of demons attacked at once.

“We demons live for the battlefield. And as far as we are concerned, combat is a limited resource. So we draw it out, savoring each small bite of the feast that is war. All to avoid consuming it at once.”

Honestly, this kingdom was crap. Nothing but a blight on the world. And here I was, playing their prince. Damn it all.

“So, if you wish to rebel, we don’t mind at all. In fact, we’d prefer it. Warriors from across the demonic kingdom will jump at the chance to take heads for themselves. Every rebellion is just another chance to prove ourselves. Doesn’t that sound great to you?”

I started to clap. Come on, what’s wrong guys? You were so energetic earlier. What’s with the cold feet? Where’s all that fighting spirit? Wake up already!

“We don’t need loyal slaves. We have our fill and then some of those. If you’re satisfied wallowing in your weakness, I’ll burn down this autonomous zone myself. So build yourselves up! Show us your strength! That’s what it means to be people of the demonic kingdom!”

We’re going to kill that damn Demon King, once and for all! No matter how well I treat you, you’d better not settle for this!

“That’s why you are permitted to have weapons. Not just to protect your lives, but also to protect your dignity! Many within the kingdom claim we don’t need humans like you. If that bothers you, show them your strength! Shout the value of your lives at the top of your lungs! Prove to everyone that you, that your people, are deserving of autonomy!”

I interrupted my fervent speech and wild gestures with a sudden, cold smile.

“To get a second chance like this, what more could you losers ask for?”

Letting a chance like this go would be the same as giving up on life.

I could see the captives gulp. This was the greatest chance they’d get.

You better make the best of it, friends.

“Anyway, all of that aside. Make sure you take your jobs seriously.” I dropped myself back into the throne with a sad look. “After all the Alliance’s blustering, Evaloti fell in a mere three days. Hopefully you lot can push it to four. I welcome your efforts toward rebellion, but I don’t want any small kitchen fires.”

If they failed, it was almost certain that Evaloti would be razed to the ground. I needed them to understand they only had one shot at this. They needed to make it count.

“By the way, if you plan on just assassinating me, I’d suggest you not bother. You wouldn’t be accomplishing much. As Seventh Demon Prince, I’m the youngest of the family. There are six greater than me. It’s a bit strange to say this myself, but my death would have little impact on the demonic kingdom.”

I could practically hear Nichar and Tavo screaming “liar!” internally.

“If you want to take me down, you’ll need to bring at least a hundred men. Don’t disappoint me with any half-hearted efforts, all right? Of course, if you pull that off, you’ll be able to rebuild your churches and raise your flags again!” I said with a laugh as I looked at Charlotte, who had expectedly gone pale. She knew best of all, having been a witness to me defeating Deftelos’s elite squad by myself.

So that’s her reaction to hearing I’d take on a hundred of them at once, huh?

“Powerlessness is in itself evil,” I intoned, as if chanting a spell. “Power itself is the greatest good. So show your worth. That’s how it is, ladies and gentlemen.”

I looked around the room to the various captives before turning back to Charlotte. I knew I was asking too much of them. But this was what it would take to bring down the demonic kingdom. I needed them to understand that the fragile peace they had been granted in the autonomous zone rested on the thinnest sheet of ice. The smallest sign of weakness would call into question the validity of the whole project. But if they erupted when they weren’t ready, the demons would rush in and grind them to dust.

They needed to fulfill the obligations they had been shouldered with, all while gathering strength. I guess it was more or less my fault for putting them in this situation, but what was I to say besides “work hard” and “good luck”?

“I have high hopes for you.” As Charlotte seemed stretched to the point of breaking at any moment, I dredged up the most sincere words of encouragement I could muster.

“So, as your governor, allow me to officially say”—I made one last desperate effort to put on my best demon prince smile—“welcome to the demonic kingdom!”

Let’s burn it to the ground!

Chapter 2: The Beginning of the Autonomous Zone

As the curtain closed on the audience with the mad prince Zilbagias, the people of the new Evaloti were escorted to a small meeting room. They were instructed to discuss and figure things out before returning to their holding rooms. There were no guards in the room, but there was fresh tea and snacks prepared for them.

“So, ladies and gentlemen...what shall we do?”

After a lengthy silence where they all stood dumbstruck, the oldest in the room, Sebastian, finally decided they had wasted enough of the time they had been given.

“What the hell is that prince up to?” one of the wounded soldiers, Tafman, groaned before biting into a pickle.

“I imagine it’s exactly as he said,” the priestess Charlotte answered, staring at the tea swirling in her cup. “At present, we’re more beneficial to them alive and put to work than dead. And if we eventually get strong enough to rebel and fight back, they’re happy with that too.”

“You think he was serious about that?” The other captives shared looks of disbelief.

“This is just the impression I got,” Charlotte began slowly as everyone turned their attention to her. As an elite who had personally exchanged blows with Zilbagias, any fleeting impression she had was an invaluable resource. “Seventh Demon Prince Zilbagias is a true believer in the supremacy of power. He is obsessed with battle. It is with his strong sense of pride that his ultimate goal is to amass power for himself. I suppose there wasn’t much of that to be seen from that audience...”

Though the mad performance he had put on during the audience shook her confidence in that assessment, she closed her eyes and thought back to the night they’d fought.

“What struck me the most was his attitude. When my squad wiped out his subordinates, any other demon would have started spitting insults at us in a fit of rage. But he didn’t get angry. He praised us.”

Maybe that was just a result of his overwhelming arrogance, or that he never considered his subordinates as anything more than pieces on a game board. But...

“I shall meet your challenge with an effort befitting the greatest of demons. Fuel my rise.”

Those somehow majestic sounding words wouldn’t leave her. And neither would the massacre that followed.

“In particular, his words ‘fuel my rise’ left a strong impression on me. I imagine he meant it quite literally. He wanted us to be some kind of fuel for him. If we assume he has an insatiable desire for power, then it’s entirely logical that the establishing of the autonomous zone to one day rebel is to give him more opportunities to fight.”

The other captives shared another silent look. They weren’t sure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Then let’s give him what he wants! This is a hundred times better than being killed or turned into slaves!” Tafman shouted, a hint of desperation in his voice. And while the other energetic members of their gathering nodded along, those like Sebastian and Charlotte who had education in military and political affairs kept silent.

They are definitely observing this conversation.

Zilbagias may want a rebellion, but his subordinates may not share that sentiment.

We can’t rule out the possibility that it’s all a trap to sniff out any rebellious elements and nip them in the bud early.

Sebastian and Charlotte exchanged a look of silent agreement that this was not the time or place to be having this discussion.

“In any case, it’s nothing that will happen in the near future. There are plenty of wounded and ordinary civilians besides those of us in this room. Our first priority should be providing them with a stable life,” Charlotte said, dodging the issue and reminding everyone of those who couldn’t fight.

“True enough. Before anything else, we need to determine the best approach to paying this tax,” Sebastian replied idly, looking over the paperwork the prince had given him. They were effectively free from taxes for the first year. But without laying down a sturdy foundation by the end of that year, they wouldn’t be able to survive a second. “We need to do something about the fields that were ruined in the fighting, and begin planting grains and legumes. Without a steady source of food for the livestock, our ability to raise them will suffer.”

Sebastian already had experience in government affairs, so he knew how these kinds of plans worked. While looking over the documents, he was calculating in his head how much they’d need to store up to make it through winter, how much fodder they’d need stocked, how much they could expect to harvest, and how the tax would impact their work. He then lifted his head, looking around at those gathered with him.

“Does anyone here have experience raising sheep or cattle?”

“I’m from a farm, but we only had a few chickens...”

“No. I come from a merchant family, but I was sent to the Holy Church as soon as I came of age.”

“I was born a soldier. We made our way by hunting.”

It seemed none of them had much experience in raising livestock.

“Hmm. Then when we go back to our rooms, the first order of business is to start collecting talent. I suppose it is a bit late, but should we introduce ourselves? I imagine we will be working together closely in the future,” Sebastian suggested. These were the representatives of the various isolated groups of captives. There was a good chance they’d end up being the core managing structure of the autonomous zone. “My name is Sebastian. I served as a steward in the past. Though I suspect you may all be aware already, it seems I’ve somehow caught the demon prince’s eye...” Sebastian said with mock seriousness, getting strained smiles from around the room.

“Charlotte Vidwa, senior priestess,” Charlotte gave a polite greeting as everyone’s attention naturally shifted to her. It just occurred to her now that Zilbagias had never asked for her name. “I can handle mid-level detoxification miracles, and can restore missing body parts to a limited degree.”

Impressed voices rose all around her.

“Thank goodness! One of my pals lost both of his legs!”

“Yeah, one of my friends lost an eye...”

“Please heal for us, Lady Charlotte!”

Someone who could restore lost body parts was like a god on the battlefield. But as the requests came pouring in, the only reply Charlotte could give was an apologetic look. “Due to limits on my magic, I can only offer that kind of healing for two or three people a day. I need to prioritize those who have lost internal organs and are otherwise critically wounded, so...” Chances were slim she’d be able to fulfill those other queries. Sighs of resignation filled the room as people accepted what she was trying to imply.

“But there’s always a chance in the future. Just having that hope is good enough.”

“I know it’ll be tough for you, so try not to overdo it, Lady Charlotte.”

“Though if you’re that powerful of a healer, it’s no wonder you survived a battle with the demon prince!”

The eyes of all the soldiers looked at her, beaming with respect. If she were honest, as much as she had been part of that elite squad, she had mostly been a fill-in for the lack of personnel. She didn’t really have the strength to justify her position with them. And she had only started being able to heal missing body parts just a few days ago. After her near-death experience and brief reunion with Leonardo, she had been tasked with leading others. With a desperate prayer following that ordeal, she had somehow been granted that limb-healing ability.

But now, Charlotte herself was becoming a symbol of hope for the people of Evaloti. Debasing herself here would undermine their confidence. So she just smiled awkwardly, trying to express what humility she could.

“I’m Tafman. A born farmer turned rank-and-file soldier. I’m nothing special, aside from being able to recover from injuries faster than most. Don’t have too high hopes for me,” the man beside her introduced himself next, patting his bandaged arm.

“I’m Dober. I belong to the Royal Hunters Battalion. None of my people are in the same holding room as I am, though. If there are any beastfolk soldiers in your groups, tell them that Dober guy is doing fine.” A narrow-faced dog beastfolk with black fur bowed his head to them. Of course, everyone was happy to oblige him.

The introductions continued, but it was soon apparent that aside from Sebastian and Charlotte, the rest of the representatives were ordinary people and standard soldiers. It brought the dark reality of all of their military commanders having been killed in battle to the forefront of everyone’s minds.

“I suppose our top priority should be treating the sick and wounded. We’ll need as many workers as we can get...”

Sebastian frowned as he looked over the documents again. The tax being levied on them was set up as a poll tax, by which the amount they were required to pay was determined by how many people were registered as citizens of the autonomous zone. They didn’t have to pay the tax the first year, so it wouldn’t be a problem for the immediate future. However, the following year, each sick person unable to pull their own weight would be another headache. They had no choice but to rely on Charlotte’s healing abilities. There was just so much to do. Of course organizing agriculture and raising livestock, but they also needed to put together a city guard, divide up the required labor among their workers, figure out how they were going to use the available homes and buildings if they were permitted to have the city itself back, dole out those homes among the people...the sheer amount of work was enough to make Sebastian’s head spin.

“For now...we just need to survive,” Sebastian spoke quietly as if to rebuke himself, but he still earned nods from around the room.

“By the way, do we need an overall leader? Like someone to be the representative of the whole autonomous zone?” one of the wounded soldiers asked.

“That should probably be the priestess or Sebastian, right?” Tafman replied immediately, munching on another pickle.

“Yeah, they’re better suited to it than the rest of us,” Dober said with a nod, crossing his arms. With no objections from anyone else, everyone turned to Charlotte and Sebastian as those two shared a troubled look.

What should we do about this?

Sebastian felt it was most appropriate for Charlotte to be the leader. She had a quiet disposition, but there was an undeniable fire in her eyes. Anyone who met with her face-to-face would inevitably find themselves respecting her. It was doubtful a better figurehead for Evaloti even existed.

But that is a heavy responsibility to put on her shoulders.

His one concern was the tremendous burden that would be placed in her lap. As far as qualifications or abilities, he had no doubt she was up to the task. But from an objective viewpoint, he knew that should she fail to meet everyone’s expectations, all that would remain was a frail young woman with a strong attitude. She was honestly young enough to be his granddaughter.

Not to mention she will probably be worked to death taking care of the wounded and educating the next generation if we want to stabilize the autonomous zone. To add the responsibilities of a leader on top of that... Even if we were to handle other matters of the state, she would inevitably be required to deal with negotiations involving the demonic kingdom’s officials and the demon prince himself. All the hopes and fears of the citizens of Evaloti would fall on her. Could she handle that burden? Really?

If he had asked her, Charlotte would likely have said yes. If that was the desire of the people, she would carry out that duty. And she would spare nothing to protect everyone here in Evaloti. But...who would be left to protect her? Couldn’t a decrepit old man at least stand in the way of those arrows for her?

“Miss Charlotte, could I ask you to give that position to this feeble old man?” he said, putting a hand to his chest. “If we are to believe the demon prince’s words, the population of the autonomous zone will continue to grow in the future. There is a great possibility that more members of the nobility and the Holy Church will find their way here. I would like to put my experience in leadership to use until a more fitting leader arrives.”

Charlotte visibly relaxed, a soft smile taking to her face. “Of course. I’ll leave it to you.”

Sebastian said nothing about his misgivings, nor anything to make Charlotte worry. He was prepared to take on the backbreaking work of being responsible for all of Evaloti in her place. For a steward who was still alive despite having lost his master, that was the best way to make use of the remainder of his life.

My lady...this old bag of bones will be hanging on a bit longer.

For many long years, he had served the ruined da Rosa barony. He murmured those words quietly to himself, picturing his master Barbara in his mind, who had failed to return home from the front lines.

Charlotte had been a close friend of Barbara, and Sebastian had spent his life serving her. It would be some time before these two learned of that connection.

†††

With the captives escorted out of the audience chamber, I reclined on the throne and drank some grape juice (because I was six), only for Nichar to approach me while wringing his hands.

“What a wonderful performance, Your Highness! Those inferiors were all but crushed by your majesty!”

You do realize we have beastfolk on our side standing guard around here, right? There were beastfolk among those so-called “inferiors” too. Would probably do you some good to read the room.

“I might have gone a bit overboard.” Agreeing with Nichar might draw some unwanted animosity toward myself as well, so I instead went a different direction.

“I would not be surprised if all those threats quashed their desire to rebel entirely.” Nichar smirked. “That’s assuming those failures had the guts to rebel in the first place.”

“If they lose that rebellious spirit, I’ll be expecting a lot from you night elves. I’ve heard what your information network is capable of. Leading others around by the nose right into pitfalls is your specialty, isn’t it?”

“Oh, you flatter me, Your Highness! You make us sound so wicked...”

Ha ha ha, asshole. I don’t want to hear that from you.

“So anyway,” I said, pushing my now-empty glass on Nichar as I stood up. “I’ll be deciding how to stimulate them in the future. As far as the priestess—”

“Yes, sir! Shall we dispose of her?” Nichar’s eyes were glittering.

You moron.

“The opposite. She’s my prey. Don’t you dare touch her!”

Thank goodness I thought to head this off early! I doubted anyone would kill her without my permission, but it was scary how quickly he jumped to that conclusion. This wasn’t the battlefield anymore. She had survived, so I wanted to keep her alive. Right up until the day the demonic kingdom fell.

I shot a meaningful look at Tavo and Porkun, who returned it with nods of As you wish, Your Highness and I will seek permission before oppressing anyone. Those two were quick on the uptake. They already looked far more reliable than Nichar.

“I suspect the humans will make her the figurehead of the autonomous zone. Even if that’s not the case, she’ll be instrumental in providing them with emotional support. Killing her would be an easy way to enrage the masses. That means others might set their sights on assassinating her, attempting to destabilize our project here. I want the autonomous zone to grow into a powerful enemy in the future, not the present. You understand?”

Those who objected to my appointment as governor of Evaloti or to the existence of the autonomous zone from the outset might try messing with us. As much as he played the fool, someone as crafty as Nichar understood that well, as evidenced by his fake smile immediately evaporating.

“I shall send instructions that surveillance of outsiders should be very strict, Your Highness.”

“Good. Next, Yavka!”

“Here, Your Highness.” A cloud of mist descended from a crack in the ceiling, coalescing into the dress-clad vampire.

“Make sure you vampires are keeping an eye out for others trying to infiltrate the autonomous zone during your nightly patrols.”

“Understood. Should we...post extra guards around that priestess?”

The way her expression clouded made it seem like she wasn’t up for the idea, but she asked anyway. As much as she was probably against the notion of protecting someone from the Holy Church, it was probably more of an aversion to sticking close to someone who was a powerful source of holy magic.

“Not around the clock, but make sure protection is tight at night. Keeping a sharp eye to see if any fools attempt trespassing in my territory is enough.”

Yavka bowed her head, probably both as an act of courteousness and to conceal her disappointment.

That seemed like a good place to stop. There were a number of other concerns, but it was now time for me to make my way back to the castle. I had a Bon Dage Style outfit to order before the next family meal...

†††

When I left Evaloti, the sun was starting to set. As the captives were diurnal people, we had held the audience in the early evening. It would be the dead of night by the time I made it back to the castle, smack-dab in the middle of a demon’s day.

“Why not take this as a chance to sleep? I’ll wake you when we arrive,” Layla’s thoughts came to me.

Nah, it would be a waste to spend our time flying together asleep.

Layla giggled at that.

Besides, I needed to brainstorm some material ideas for my Bon Dage outfit. The Demon King and the other heirs had used furs or horns from large animals they had hunted. So I’d decided if we came across a big bear or something on our way back that I’d take it out.

For a while, I peered like a hawk—stalking the ground beneath us as we raced by. Now that I got a look at it, the land here was nice and fertile. It started to dredge up nostalgic feelings in me. I had to wonder if my hometown had been a countryside like this. Like that hill, for example. Now it was totally ruined and abandoned, but once upon a time...

“Oh! What about that one?” Layla spoke up. “That looks like a fairly sizable creature!”

Though Layla indicated straight ahead, I couldn’t see anything. Even demon eyes accustomed to seeing in the dark couldn’t compete with the eyes of dragons. After a few dozen seconds, I finally picked out the dark shape standing underneath a tree.

“Is that...a bicorn?”

It was something like a horse, with two large, razor-sharp horns. In contrast to their light-aligned cousins the unicorns, bicorns were creatures of dark magic. They were larger than ordinary horses, and were quite the ferocious, voracious creatures.

And like unicorns, they were incredibly strong magically, and could run obscenely fast to boot. This one had a good pair of horns, so I figured it would be quite popular among the demons. Plus, if we tanned its skin, I was sure Kusemoun could manage something with it.

All right, that’s the one!

“Okay!” Layla began a sharp descent. The approaching sound caused the bicorn to stop munching at the thing at its feet and look up in confusion, which rapidly morphed into alarm at the sight of the dragon closing in on it.

So even a vicious, proud bicorn gets scared seeing a dragon coming head-on, huh? Guess that makes sense. Even heroes get scared in situations like that.

The bicorn immediately turned tail and bolted. And just as the rumors said, it was lightning fast. Not quite as fast as Layla, though. And now we were in range.

“Running is Taboo.”

The bicorn’s legs locked up and it was thrown to the ground. Layla spread her wings wide, slowing us down enough so that I could jump off her back. I drew my swordspear as I landed.

“Sorry.”

As the bicorn desperately struggled to get back to its feet, Adamas struck home. In one fluid motion I punctured its lungs and heart, causing the creature to collapse with a spray of blood.

Wow. This was actually the first time I had hunted a wild animal since being reborn. Magic was so unfair. Stopping animals from running away was definitely cheating. Life would be just way too easy for me if I took up hunting.

“Looks like that went well!” Layla’s metallic voice resounded as she lightly touched down beside me.

“It sure did. Thanks, Layla,” I said as I rubbed behind her eyes, getting another bashful chuckle from her.

But man, this really was a big one. Sure, I was a young demon, but this thing was still huge compared to me. I was considering just skinning it and bringing back its pelt, but Layla assured me that carrying the whole carcass wouldn’t be an issue. So after letting its blood out, we headed back to the castle.

“Bicorn leather clothing?!”

But as we arrived at the launch area, we came across Prati, who just so happened to be returning from business of her own. And she wasn’t exactly enthused by the bicorn idea, as her shrill borderline scream suggested.

“Absolutely not! That would be horribly bad luck!”

“Bad luck?! Why’s that?”

“Here, look.” Prati delivered a swift chop to one of the bicorn carcass’s horns. With a dry crack, the horn snapped off effortlessly. “Unlike unicorns, the horns of a bicorn are fragile things. They grow back very quickly if broken, but such fragility is bad luck for demons. Can you even imagine what they’ll say if you wear bicorn leather?!”

“B-But...they call me Zilbagias the Hornbreaker. Isn’t that kind of fitting?”

“And what will you do if they start calling you Zilbagias the Hornbroken?”

So anyway, the bicorn idea had to be scrapped. Now I felt bad for killing it. It wasn’t like I had any other uses for the carcass, so I went down to the parade ground and offered it to an ogre I saw. They accepted it with great excitement.

“Much thanks you, sir demon!” the ogre said, looking up at me with reddish-brown eyes. Apparently he didn’t recognize me as royalty.

“I guess you guys eat this stuff raw, huh?” I asked.

The ogre rumbled for a bit. “Raw is good. But I like cut it up, run through hot water, and add salt. Old man say that the tastiest.”

So this ogre was a chef of sorts, was he? Hearing him talk about it, I was starting to regret not keeping some to taste for myself.

“Welcome home!”

Garunya and Veene greeted me upon my return to my room, where I then got changed and settled down for a short break.

“Woof!” Liliana dashed over to me. I guess she had been a bit lonely.

Sorry for leaving you all alone.

So as I relaxed on the sofa, I gave her some pets.

But now I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The bicorn plan being off the table was an unexpected setback. Would I have to go out and hunt something else? But I didn’t really have the time...

“If only I could get my hands on some good leather...”

“What do you mean, Your Highness? You have access to the finest leather right here!”

As I was dumbstruck, Veene gave a very uncharacteristic grin.

“Uh, what are you talking about?”

“This, of course.” Veene shuffled through the closet and pulled out a piece of white leather. It was warm, smooth, and pale. Liliana cocked her head to the side, looking at the piece with confusion.

“High elf leather, of course!”

“Are you stupid?!” I immediately snatched the leather out of her hands, trying to get it away from her before Liliana realized what it was. But I was too late. Jumping off the sofa, Liliana pranced over and sniffed at the leather.

“Woof?”

Obviously, she wasn’t an actual dog. So sniffing at it didn’t do her any good and just left her even more confused.

By the way, this leather was a gift to me from the night elves after I took in Liliana. Back when I had first taken in Liliana there was an incident where, after I had left the maids to dress her, the night elves had put her in a vest made of leather using her own skin. We knew night elves were something else, but the rest of us had still been awestruck at the sadistic cruelty of it. Since then, I had kept the leather hidden deep in the back of the closet to avoid bothering Liliana, but now...

Liliana gave a curious whine, sitting politely with her tongue sticking out like the cute little dog she was. It seemed she didn’t recognize it was her own skin—yet. I was just glad it didn’t bring back memories of when they had actually skinned her. Not that I could really be happy that her memories and personality still weren’t coming back. But for now, I would just lock this away again.

“But would that not make for the best material? There is nothing to be gained by leaving it in your closet,” Ante pointed out in her usual tone.

I mean...she wasn’t wrong, but...

“Besides, with material of this quality, Kusemoun will be able to make something truly magnificent. Liliana does not appear to mind, it would result in a powerful set of clothing, and your distaste for it will reap you power from that taboo. With no downsides to speak of, it will only bring you closer to your dream of defeating the Demon King. What reason is there to hesitate?”

Ugh...I really had no way to argue. I looked back to Liliana. She looked back at me with questioning eyes.

“Do you... Do you mind?”

She replied with an energetic bark.

And so it was decided I would use Liliana leather for my outfit.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaa?! High elf leather?!” In the dwarven forge, an exhausted Kusemoun, run ragged by the sudden boom in popularity of her work, all but exploded at my request. In her hands was a piece of incredibly soft, pale white leather. “Y-You... You want me to make something? From this?!” Kusemoun’s face went white like a sheet and she started trembling. I guess this was a bridge too far, even for someone like her.

“I figured that would be asking too much.”

“No! Absolutely not!” Kusemoun slammed her hands on her desk, face flushing and breathing turning ragged. “This is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me! Never mind actually acquiring something like this, the ethical conundrums are immense! This would never be possible in the Alliance! I cannot thank you enough for this incredible opportunity! Please, please please please, let me make something for you!”

Ah. Right. She’s one of those people.

“Aah...! But the price... What kind of price can I ask for?! I honestly feel like I should be the one paying you, but rules are rules! Aah...!” And now her breathing started turning erratic; her eyes darted about wildly and sightlessly.

Okay, relax...

“That’s it! A piece of this leather! Let me keep any leftovers! For my research!”

“Uh...yeah...sure.”

Kusemoun cheered. “Thank you so much!” And then she descended into a rather unsettling laugh. But just as I was starting to get concerned, given all her shaking from this overwhelming experience, she suddenly stopped and turned to me with a serious face.

“Let me calm down for a moment. What exactly would you like me to make?”

Damn, she came down so fast I got whiplash.

“That’s a surprisingly tough question. Guess I’ll leave the actual design to you. At the very least though, I’d like something I could wear in public.”

“Understood. So formal wear, not underwear!”

That was close. If I hadn’t spoken up, I can only imagine what she would’ve made...

“Also, it would be nice if it was something I could wear under my armor or ordinary clothes. So as little decoration as possible, or at least have the decorations be removable.”

“Oho ho! Underneath your armor? I see, I see...” Kusemoun’s eyes started to sparkle. It seemed she had started to grasp that this wasn’t going to be some ordinary set of clothes. If I was going this far, I wasn’t going to settle for plain old clothing. I’d get something that would really help in my fight against the denizens of the dark!

“My white dragon scale armor has strong anti-magic properties, so would wearing something beneath it with the same effect just cancel them out?”

“Ah yes, that is a distinct possibility! The more powerful article will nullify the effects of the weaker one, I suppose! If they were made by the same person you might be able to avoid that, but there’s no real way of knowing without making it, so I recommend you pick something else!”

Hmm. I don’t want to waste this material, so I probably shouldn’t experiment. I’ll just leave the magical defense to the armor and think up something else for these clothes. So if I want clothing that’ll be the most useful to me in the future...

I immediately threw up a soundproof barrier. “Protection against heat and cold, to the most extreme degrees possible. I want something that can let me walk unscathed through the hottest fire or the coldest ice that magic can conjure up.” I wanted her to use her specialty in clothing that managed temperature to the greatest feasible extent. Naturally, these were provisions for my inevitable showdowns with the first demon prince and the second demon princess.

“I am but a lowly craftsman,” Kusemoun replied, grinning at the sight of the barrier. “Have no doubt that I would never share a word of any customer’s request with anyone. Especially not if that customer is you. I owe you a great debt for the opportunities you have given me!”

That was quite interesting. The way she emphasized “any customer” was peculiar. Even with that clear promise of confidentiality, she was all but saying “the other demon heirs had special requests like this for their outfits too.”

I suppose I could have guessed that without the hint. What kind of idiot would share the particulars of their powerful magical equipment with their future enemy? But getting that guess confirmed here was a big deal too.

“I see. Well I’d better not fall behind my brothers and sisters, then,” I said with a grin of my own, and Kusemoun’s smile only widened.

“Very well! Heat and cold resistance it shall be! But for something of this quality, it seems like such a waste to not put its light magic properties to use! Would it be fine if I made it able to glow as well?”

“You can do that?”

“With this material, absolutely!”

A glowing Bon Dage Style outfit. That would be probably a bit too cutting-edge... Actually, wait. That would mean...

“That wouldn’t just be normal light though, right? It would be purifying light?” I murmured as if to myself.

“Of course! It is leather made from the skin of a high elf, after all,” Kusemoun replied offhandedly.

In that case, there was one more feature I needed.“One more thing. I would like a blessing useful in combat against undead. Is that possible?” I said, looking her straight in the eye.

Kusemoun’s eyes widened slightly before an amused smile took to her face. “Consider it done.”

†††

“So what you need here is a potion. A mixture of quicksilver, salt, and red feather grass extract will help agitate their magic. And of course you can’t forget to invert the incantation for the Curse of Decay. Next—”

Hi there. It’s me, Zilbagias. Here I was, receiving another lecture on Necromancy deep underground in Enma’s palace. Today, Enma was wearing a pair of fake glasses while explaining the ins and outs of various potions used for making undead.

“Quite the performance. Carrying on with your lessons like normal even after requesting equipment to help fight undead,” Ante jeered silently.

“The real key to this technique is turning the magic into a purely physical phenomenon. This graph shows the ratios of different ingredients. Both power and magical efficiency are—”

As usual, Enma held back none of her secrets in teaching me. In deference to her openness, I was hard at work absorbing as much as I could from her. My motivation was at an all-time high. This was because I had run into a wall of sorts with my own experiments.

I had been doing experiments in Fort Aurora to create bodies for Barbara and Hessel that would allow them to utilize their skills as Swordmasters from life. However, their feedback so far was that they felt too unnatural, and that it was disturbingly like playing with dolls. At the very least, I needed the bodies to have strength and durability comparable to the bone horses used throughout the kingdom, or else there’d be no point.

I did try making a garbage body and just pumping it full of dark magic. That did get them a degree of movement pretty close to what they’d had in life, but it was basically the same as me moving them with magic. It left both of them with far too little control for themselves. There was no way the laws of nature would favor them that way.

If we wanted them to have full control of their bodies, I could just infuse even more magic into them and effectively transform them into liches, but that would be like turning them into mages. There was a high possibility the laws of nature would reject them at that point. So that option was tabled as a last resort.

If I wanted Barbara and Hessel to use their abilities from life as Swordmasters, I needed them to have high functioning, independent bodies... Those necessities required more efficient use of magic in their bodies, internal organs for storing that magic, functions that would convert that magic into physical motion in a way that would make them stronger than they were naturally, enough resilience to survive live combat...

Damn, there was just too much to think about! It reminded me of how those bone horses were near perfect. The fact that there were hundreds, if not thousands of them running around the kingdom made my head spin. Not only were they that incredible, but they were being mass-produced. It was ridiculous.

What kind of army would Enma have if she really tried? The thought sent a chill down my back.

“What do you think? Any questions?” the undead boss in question asked, standing in front of me with a plastered on smile.

“Hmm, well. This might be a somewhat amateurish question, but those drugs—”

I used my notes to ask a few questions. My knowledge of pharmaceutics was pretty limited, so some key points regarding the production of the ingredients she mentioned were lost on me.

“Wow, I’m impressed you caught such a fine detail. This particular example will need an unorthodox approach—”

Enma explained without pause. She really was a walking library, huh? Even Claire, who had been sitting in the corner of the room bored, eventually put down her book and started paying attention to the lecture. Though speaking of libraries, the notes I was writing were probably more dangerous than any of the forbidden tomes on Necromancy that the Alliance had...

“Okay, I think we should stop there for the day,” Enma said. “I don’t want to put too much on your plate when we have all the time in the world anyway.”

“Thanks. Today was really enlightening.”

“I’m glad to hear it! Would you like something to drink?” Enma puffed her chest out proudly, pushing up her glasses before quickly shifting to preparing some tea.

Were those glasses some kind of new magical tool? I hardly believed she needed her vision corrected, so I had assumed they were just for show. Though maybe they had some sort of magical effect. I needed to be careful.

“You’re really passionate about making undead these days, aren’t you, Zil?”

“I guess. I’ve come around to see their useful applications on the battlefield.” I had expected some suspicion from Enma on this front, so I smoothly delivered my prepared response. “I won’t be taking retainers into battle anymore. With the possibility of them getting caught in my magic, there’s too much risk involved. Plus, fighting on my own is easier anyway. But if I had allies that didn’t need to worry about my magic, say undead that I created on the spot, they could be quite the aid in combat.”

“I see, I see. But how does that relate to the kind of high-level undead we’ve been talking about?”

“Well, once I started making them myself, I just ended up getting immersed in the process. Especially things like those bone horses. They’re pretty common around the kingdom, but they seem really close to being the perfect undead. I find them really interesting.”

Enma puffed up proudly again with a super smug expression. She must have prepared that look in case she received any kind of praise...

“As their inventor, I’m honored to hear that. Here, your herbal tea.”

“Oh, thanks.”

I took a sip. Yeah. This stuff is good.

Enma made tea like it was some kind of chemistry experiment. Her precision and attention to detail always made it delicious. She couldn’t taste it herself, so she had to rely on the science of it.

“I’m glad you like it.” Enma smiled, propping her head up on the table with her hands. “Ah, by the way, would you mind if I sent a high-level undead to act as our representative in Evaloti?”

I choked.

“A representative for the undead? What for?”

“The vampires are allowed into Evaloti, right?! And they’re enemies of humanity!” Enma puffed out her cheeks angrily. “It’s just, I want to help you...or rather, the demonic kingdom more!” The (over two-hundred-year-old) girl started to throw a tantrum.

“Uh...what kind of help could you even offer?”

“Learning skills from the humans, of course. It’s embarrassing to admit, but we don’t have any experience when it comes to farming or raising animals.”

I glanced over to Claire. She had been the daughter of a baker.

“I’ve tried using undead for things like pulling up weeds, but they’re not, um...exactly well suited to that task quite yet. They still sometimes pull up the actual crops.”

Then they’re beyond useless!

“And I don’t know anything about raising animals! I want to learn more so we can be more useful! You understand that, right, Zil?” She giggled. “We want to be useful and not just as weapons!”

She squeezed her hands in front of her like she was playing the role of a cute little girl...as she argued for worming the undead into the kingdom’s food production. This was dangerous stuff she was proposing.

“I imagine it’s mostly that being one-upped by the vampires irks her greatly,” Ante commented.

I guess so.

The undead and vampires were like cats and dogs, so I supposed I needed to keep that issue in mind as well.

I took a sip of tea as I pondered the issue. It would be really easy to deny her. I wanted to shoot Enma down outright with how much having her subordinates in Evaloti scared me. But...

“I see. You’ve always said you wanted to support the kingdom in a peaceful way. I understand your feelings.” So I nodded. “Okay. As long as you don’t harm any of the humans in the autonomous zone, I’ll allow you to post a representative there. But the humans don’t know about the vampire presence in Evaloti, so I expect you to keep the undead in disguise as well. High-level undead should be able to pose as humans during the night, right?”

Enma all but cheered, jumping out of her seat. “I knew you’d understand, Zil! You’re the best!” But she settled down quickly after almost sending her fake glasses flying.

From my perspective as a prince, letting the undead work their way into the kingdom’s infrastructure like this was too dangerous. But as a hero, that danger was exactly what I wanted. Anything to help destabilize the demonic kingdom was welcome.

Honestly speaking, Evaloti itself was too small to have a significant impact on the food situation in the kingdom at large. But that could change if more autonomous zones popped up around the kingdom. If Enma became extremely efficient at producing food and went public with it, there was a good chance people would start to think we didn’t need the autonomous zones at all. Even if it reached that point, a word to the king about the dangers of relying on the undead and a reminder that we were cultivating future battlefields in those autonomous zones should be enough to protect the humans within them.

On top of that, if the undead became thoroughly ingrained in the kingdom’s food production, I could make some real waves by turning on Enma. If I really went for the jugular and tried to kill Enma or attack her undead, I could create an irreparable schism between the undead and the rest of the kingdom. The resulting political upheaval in the kingdom would be massive. And if timed just right with a push from the Alliance...the Holy Church was very much in the business of hunting undead, after all. Of course, dealing with high-level undead like Enma would be a job for yours truly.

I gave Enma a bright smile. For now, I needed to act like I was on her side.

Enma replied with a giggle and a smile of her own.

The more I acted like her friend, the more instability I introduced to the demonic kingdom.

“So, who are you planning on sending?” I asked nonchalantly. I had basically seen none of her comrades. That made this the perfect opportunity to get a peek at what kind of cards she had up her sleeve—

“I was thinking of sending Claire!” she replied brightly.

“Huh?” Claire and I blurted out in unison.

“Me?! Why me?!” Claire jumped to her feet, snapping the grimoire on her lap shut.

“You’re not that busy, you already know Zil, and the unfortunate truth is that you’re the only high-level undead we have that has any experience in this field...”

“Ugh...” Claire groaned as Enma started counting the reasons off on her fingers.

“I know, I know. Truthfully, I’d rather go myself! It’s my responsibility after all, right? And with how busy Zil is these days, that would give us some real quality time together...!” Somehow, Enma’s glassy eyes had taken on something of a burning passion as she looked over at me.

Oh give me a break.

“But I can’t really move around that freely, and I’m not nearly as mobile as Zil. Seeing how I’m not allowed to ride dragons and all.”

By the way, only demons were allowed to use dragons for transportation within the kingdom. Others could only ride one while in the company of a demon. That was mostly a concession to the dragons, one of the last desperate scraps of pride they had been able to cling to in their negotiations with the first Demon King.

“Ah, so you’d have to travel by carriage...” Judging from my experience taking a carriage to the front lines, that would take quite a while.

“You’re sending me really far, huh?” Naturally, Claire was far from impressed. “If something goes wrong and sunlight ends up spilling into the carriage, we’ll turn to ash. And unlike the professor, I won’t even last a few seconds. It’ll be a pain for you to transport someone like me.” She pouted. Even though there had been no issue when she had been sent to Deftelos to help clear out the dead before.

But I supposed she was right. They’d be totally paralyzed during the day. There wasn’t a convenient route that would keep them in the dark as they traveled. So as long as the sun was in the sky, she’d be holed up in the carriage knowing that a single step outside would be like stepping into an inferno. For a moment, I pictured Claire being reduced to ash like that. In a way, that would be for the best. For the both of us, probably.

But honestly, I hoped I could get through to her at least once before it came to that. That was likely my selfishness talking, though.

“In that case...” I spoke haltingly. “How about you ride with me to Evaloti? Just this once. It takes less than half a day to get there by dragon, so we just need to leave after sunset.”

Sorry, Layla.

“Huh...?” Claire gave me an expressionless stare.

Oh, does she really not like me? I quietly took some mental damage.

“Whaaaaat?!” But before I could process those feelings, Enma started screaming. “No way! I wanna go, I wanna go, I wanna go! A date with Zil?! In the sky?! For hours?!” Enma dropped to the floor writhing, moaning about how jealous she was.

Claire and I couldn’t help but cringe a little.

So this is the head of the undead in the demonic kingdom? Really?

“Ah! I just got an idea! Claire!” Enma suddenly jumped back to her feet, face blooming into a radiant smile. “Why don’t I put you to sleep temporarily, then take over your body for you?”

What...the hell is she suggesting...?

“Calm down, Alex.”

Ante’s chiding snuffed out my boiling anger. But it was a close call. The way Enma so casually suggested trampling all over Claire’s autonomy like that had me seeing red for a moment. I started rubbing my forehead, feigning a headache to hide my expression.

I know Enma can hop between bodies, but can she really do the same with other high-level undead?

“You can do that?” I asked coolly, trying to buy some time to calm down.

“Yeah. I made Claire, after all.”

Relax. That’s just the reality of the situation, I told myself. So I just needed to think calmly and rationally while presenting the natural objection.

“I suppose that would work for getting there, but how would you get back?”

“Well of course I would...um...huh.” Enma froze mid-response, then looked over to Claire.

“Don’t ask me.” Claire all but rolled her eyes.

“Hmm. I guess I could just hop on a bone horse carriage or something.”

“You’re that desperate?” This time it was my turn to be exasperated. “The horses from Evaloti are mostly going to be used within Evaloti itself. Are you sure they’d be okay with you taking one from them?”

Enma groaned. “Then I guess I should send one extra...”

“Now you’re just abusing your authority. And what’ll you do while the sun is up?” A nonstop trip from the castle to Evaloti took a few days, and she would be forced to stop whenever the sun was up. At the very least, she’d be leaving the castle unattended for days on end.

Please just give up...

Enma groaned again. “Yeah, I guess it’s no good. Ha ha...” She tried to play it off as a joke.

Okay, I successfully avoided having to ride on Layla with Enma wearing Claire’s skin. But wait. I still need to think things through calmly and rationally. Does physical distance matter at all to ghosts?

“That time you incinerated in the sunlight, you were able to switch bodies on the fly,” I thought out loud. “That’s not just a simple matter of being detached from your body, right? You didn’t just turn into a ghost.” With her body reduced to ash, her soul would then have been exposed to sunlight. Not even Enma would have been able to survive that. “How did you do that?”

Enma hesitated for a moment. “I just went through the spiritual world into a spare body I had prepared.”

Huh. So when she was all smiles and laughing while going up in flames, she was actually performing a bit of quick magic to open a gate to the spiritual world in order to send her soul through before it got exposed to sunlight? Quite the dangerous game she’s playing.

“Interesting. Oh, didn’t you mention time and space are pretty vague within the spiritual world?”

She had said once that over short distances, they could communicate by sending messages through the spiritual world. I hadn’t given it much thought back then, but even after killing Faravgi in those ruins two days out from the castle, I had been able to summon his spirit in my room in the blink of an eye. Even for those who had died in Evaloti, if I had their bodies or some physical article connected to them, I could summon their spirits right here. So for someone like Enma, who had the ability to maintain her sense of self in the spiritual realm and who possessed spare bodies in the real world, wouldn’t her mastery of Necromancy mean she could travel around the physical world instantly, regardless of distance?

Even if that weren’t the case, with two reasonably powerful undead, they would be able to send messages across virtually any distance without a hitch. That speed would make the dragonback and Izanis messengers look like turtles in comparison...

Enma stared at me with her usual smile. Oh, but now I understood. She wasn’t smiling. This had been her secret. But after all our lectures, she had accidentally let it slip. If it was possible to create a high-speed information network using the spiritual world, there was no way a researcher and scholar at heart like Enma could ever resist trying!

She had accidentally let that slip. And I had unfortunately caught on.

A curtain of silence hung over the room. The air felt unnaturally cool and damp. As much as I leaned back and relaxed in my chair, the alarm bells in my head were going crazy. How long would it take me to run out of this room? Could I get past Enma, Claire, and all those armored skeletons—the death knights—guarding the palace? Would I have to kill Claire here...?

I struggled desperately to keep my hand from reaching for Adamas. As glad as I was that Adamas was ready to go, I was in my regular clothes. I didn’t have any real equipment for fighting on me!

“Aw man,” Enma finally broke the silence. “Looks like you’ve figured it all out,” she said, somehow despondent—all the while her doll-like smile didn’t so much as twitch. “I guess my hands are tied.”

And then her expression changed, her smile taking on a much more unsettling tone. She lifted both hands into the air...

“I give up!” she shouted.

“Um...what?”

“I give up! I lose! You really got me. I was hoping to keep it a secret until you learned how to separate from your own body. I didn’t think you’d figure it out on your own! You’re way too smart!” Enma laughed.

As if I’d ever have the guts to try separating my soul from my body while in the same room as her. But like she said, once I was able to enter the spiritual realm myself, I’d probably figure out sooner or later that I could basically ignore physical distance.

“Oh, come on.” Enma laughed again. “There’s no need to look so nervous. I really like you, Zil. I would never harm you.” She almost sounded hurt as she said that with a pout, but I knew her expressions were all manufactured. I couldn’t let my guard down around her.

It did at least seem like she wasn’t planning on attacking me. Acting so openly against a demon would put her in a really bad spot. If she was going to attack, the smarter approach would be a sneak attack, not carrying out this whole performance.

But even if Enma was rational to a fault, I could tell that I somehow made her emotionally unstable, or at least eccentric to an unpredictable degree. So I had to be ready for anything.

“Let’s say you wanted to just move your soul, could you get from Evaloti back to the castle in an instant?” While Enma continued to joke around, I still wanted confirmation.

“Yep. Or rather, the moment I slipped out of Claire’s body and into the spiritual world, I’d be sucked back into my own body here in the castle.”

So even if her body was destroyed, she could flee to the spiritual realm and instantly switch to another spare body hidden any distance away. It was no wonder the Church had failed to kill her even after a hundred years...

“Why’d you get so quiet?” she asked.

“I mean, think about it,” I replied. “That puts you in direct competition with the Izanis and dragon messengers, doesn’t it?” I responded in a way befitting a demon prince.

But Enma was unfazed. “If the other demons were as understanding as you, maybe. But when you consider the importance and confidentiality of those messages, us undead don’t really have a place in a business like that.”

It made sense, as an excuse. I could see the Izanis family mounting a furious opposition to them.

“A good facade, but I can almost guarantee that she was keeping it hidden as some sort of secret weapon,” Ante remarked sharply. I thought the exact same thing. Honestly, I should have pretended not to notice, but I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Or rather, I’d realized that far too late.

“I guess that’s a good point.” I nodded, keeping those thoughts to myself. “Cutting into the dragons’ opportunities might be received well, but the Izanis family...that would wound their pride as messenger boys.”

I didn’t like seaweed head, and Prati wasn’t on good terms with the Izanis archduchess, so I was more than happy to be aggressive like this.

“So you do talk like that sometimes,” Enma said with a laugh. “It’s rare to see you act so demon-like.”

“Is that praise or criticism?”

Enma chuckled. “And just like that, a response that is very much not demon-like.”

It was fine since she was talking to me, but she could be pretty harsh on the demons, huh? I was starting to wonder if she felt a bit too comfortable around me. That feeling was definitely not mutual.

“Well, demons are very much believers of meritocracy. If the Izanis family is at a disadvantage, it’s because they didn’t have the power to meet the challenges they faced. If it were up to me, I’d use your communication method for everything...” I stopped there, letting the implication of pushback from the other demons hang in the air.

“I would be more than happy to let you use it! But unfortunately, it’s not quite as miraculous as you may think,” Enma said, face shifting from a bright smile to a languid frown. “You’re probably imagining me traveling anywhere instantly, but really all I can do is jump back to the castle in an emergency.”

If I took what she said at face value, that would mean she only had one spare body prepared. Though I figured she’d have more than just one. Previously, I had been in search of her “real” body.

As Enma stood before me now in her current body, I could vaguely sense faint threads of magic stretching away from it. I had assumed she was controlling the body remotely, but that didn’t seem to be the case. All of the bodies that bore her consciousness collectively made up her “real” body. These threads connecting them were just channels supplying magic to each of them.

“You probably thought having a bunch of high-level necromancers around would mean they could call on each other to send messages instantly, didn’t you?”

She was way ahead of me, huh?

“There’s no real way to share when you want to make that contact though.”

Huh? I assumed as long as you kept a spirit close by and someone else called that spirit and it disappeared, that was a sign someone wanted to speak with you. It seemed summoning a spirit already present in the physical world wasn’t possible. Necromancy only summoned spirits from the spiritual world.

“On top of that, while an accomplished necromancer such as myself can move in and out of the spiritual world without issue, those with a weaker shell will find that each trip wears down their soul.”

So even messengers would have to be as skilled as Enma.

“I see.”

Hmm. But as long as you didn’t care about the messenger... No, if the messengers themselves weren’t motivated to do the work, they’d dissipate as soon as they entered the spiritual realm. There was no way to tell the other party you wished to speak with them, but you could just have meetings at regular intervals, right? And if you had nothing to discuss, you just didn’t have to check in.

On that note, if you had multiple people with the same skill level as Enma, you could just have a meeting where everyone met in spiritual form summoned together by one designated leader. That plan’s real problem was that Enma would be worked to death.

If they only scheduled meetings once a day and something happened immediately following one, they’d have to wait an entire day to get back in contact. In that case, a dragon would be more efficient. A trip from the front lines to the castle took them half that time. If you really wanted to leverage the undead communication’s high-speed angle, you’d have to schedule a meeting at least once every half a day, but more likely once every few hours. Once an hour would be ideal. Really, the more frequent the better.

If the demonic armies tried to employ this method of communication, Enma and the other undead on her level would be drowning in work. That might have been another reason Enma had kept her capabilities a secret. Which meant if I shared what I had learned with the king, it might force her into that position anyway? In one fell swoop it would tarnish the relationship between the Izanis family and the undead while tying up a large number of Enma’s subordinates...

“Sounds like a decent plan, does it not?” Ante commented.

It really did. But severely weakening Enma’s position would come at the cost of greatly strengthening the demonic armies. My plan was to have the autonomous zones rise in rebellion while the kingdom was in chaos in the aftermath of the Demon King’s death. Giving the demons a flexible, powerful method of communication like this would be sabotaging that effort.

“Alternatively, the flood of information could lead to even greater confusion, no?”

Sure, that was possible. But it wasn’t a guarantee. There was also no telling whether Enma would quietly keep following orders in that scenario. The plan just had too many unknowns. For now, I’d keep the idea in my back pocket. As long as Enma kept her capabilities under wraps, it was best if I didn’t press the issue. This was a hornet’s nest that didn’t need to be poked yet, not while Enma was doing her best to keep it all quiet.

“Man, now I really can’t wait to detach from my body!” I lied through my teeth. “It sounds like a lot of fun. I’d like to see what the spiritual world is like for myself.”

For the record, this was something I couldn’t pull off quite yet. So I hadn’t seen the spiritual world with my own eyes. I had wondered in the past if devils like Ante and Sophia could go through the gate into the spiritual world, since they were entirely made up of magical energy, but our experiments had failed. The gate had refused Ante entirely. She couldn’t even stick her hand in. The laws of the world thoroughly rejected her.

“I am...well, devils in general are like foreign entities in this world. The spiritual realm is likely only meant for those of this world. So outsiders like myself are rejected outright. That appears to be how it functions. But if that is the case...” Ante laughed sarcastically. “I wonder, what becomes of souls that receive an overabundance of a devil’s power?”

You think the spiritual world would reject me even if I were able to separate from my body?

Well, we’d cross that bridge when we got to it. Though that would at least mean I didn’t have to worry about Enma dragging my soul into the spiritual world against my will.

“Didn’t I just mention how it will wear down your soul without strong enough protection?” Enma gave a wry smile at my (feigned) interest in detaching from my body.

“Yeah, I know it’s dangerous. But what can I say? My curiosity is winning out.”

“That’s what I really like about you,” Enma said, making a show of propping her head up on the table with both hands while pursing her lips. It took every drop of self-restraint I had to not pull out Adamas right there.

“I guess I was born with an insatiable curiosity.” I laughed instead. “So if you come across any other interesting tidbits from the front lines, I’d love for you to share them with me. Don’t worry, I can keep a secret.” I gave her a wink. A wink that made my heart shrivel up in my chest.

“I really can’t resist you, can I, Zil? Of course I’ll tell you,” she replied. We locked eyes while smiling at each other.

“So, what about Evaloti?”

“Do you even need to ask? I’m going!” Enma declared smugly. “Now that I have nothing to hide, I can go without a care in the world! Oh, of course, assuming Claire is okay with it,” she finished, glancing over at Claire.

“You think I can refuse after all that?” Claire replied, expression as exasperated as ever.

Damn you, don’t force Claire to do stuff like this!

Unfortunately, I had to seethe quietly.

And so I somehow made my way out of the undead palace in one piece.

“Ah, welcome home, master!” Garunya greeted me happily on my return.

Liliana gave joyful barks as she trotted over to me.

“Oh, did something nice happen while I was gone?” I asked, scooping Liliana up in my arms and then giving out equal pets to both her and the maid.

Garunya began purring in satisfaction before catching herself. “Ah, before that! I have some news for you! The dwarven forge has finished your request!”

So my Bon Dage outfit was complete...

“I can’t wait to see it!” I forced a smile while Liliana looked up at me in confusion.

Thank goodness I’d thought to have it enchanted with countermeasures against undead!

Get ready, Enma. Your days are numbered!

†††

It was time for another of the royal family’s meals. Emergias Izanis strode into the room, his face smug in a way unlike ever before.

“Oh...wow!” As always, Spinezia was ahead of him, in terms of both attendance and the meal. But upon seeing him, she stopped what she was doing to let out a gasp of admiration.

Of course she did. Because Emergias was now wearing a brand-new outfit, his very own Bon Dage apparel. It was fashioned using the leather of a brilliant green snake. Although it wasn’t especially revealing like most other Bon Dage Style outfits, the skintight fit accentuated each and every feature of his body, striking a powerful and imposing look. On top of that, his usually unruly hair he did naught to groom was now neatly tied up in a snake leather band, giving him a stylish new look.

“That looks great!” Spinezia exclaimed.

“Doesn’t it though?” Emergias smirked, his vain satisfaction knowing no bounds.

What a great outfit...

He was honestly in a fantastic mood. The quality of his own attire had helped him finally realize why the Bon Dage Style had so fervently captivated everyone else. He had been far from impressed upon being first presented with it, but after putting one on for himself, his attitude changed completely. It offered extreme comfort, but above all, it was incredibly stylish. Kusemoun was a master at drawing out the natural charm of her clients.

Emergias had never been fond of the stares he got while walking through the castle’s halls. His outfit had built-in support to fix his posture, forcing him out of his habitual hunch. That tiny change had massively improved his behavior, and the glowing looks he received as he walked the halls only bolstered his confidence even further. Of course, he had paid quite the hefty sum for this piece, and so it had come fitted with some power enchantments too. There was really not a single piece of criticism he could offer the outfit.

Emergias chuckled, taking his seat as the other princes and princesses made their way into the room, starting with Daiagias.

“Hey, that looks great on you, Emergias.”

“My, that’s a good look. Well done.”

“That’s incredible! So you’ve finally come around, have you?”

His brothers and sisters continued to shower him with praise. Now that he thought about it, this was the first time Daiagias had complimented him, given his affiliation with the opposing faction and lack of interest in men.

“It really made it worth all the effort of hunting down a kaiser basilisk,” Emergias murmured, earning an impressed exclamation from Aiogias.

“I figured that color and texture couldn’t have come from some ordinary monster,” the first prince said, leaning forward in his chair. “But a kaiser basilisk?! That’s remarkable!” Even he, who always seemed to be looking down on Emergias, was honestly impressed.

Kaiser basilisks were the most powerful monsters in the snake family. They were so large that they could swallow a person in a single bite, and the neurotoxin in their fangs was so potent that a mere graze was fatal. Any demon ranked count or lower would be crushed to death beneath the strength of its coils, magical wards and all. And that was without mentioning its blindingly fast quickness despite being such an enormous size. The greatest danger, however, was its ability to move silently through the forest. It was a creature of great power and tremendous terror.

Of course, if the only goal was to kill it, any high-level demon could do so. The snake had no defense against long-range magic. But if you wanted to preserve its hide to make leather, that changed things. To avoid damaging its skin, one couldn’t use wide-ranging magic or wide-sweeping attacks. Whether it was with magic or a spear, bringing it down without damaging the hide was a feat that demanded unparalleled skill.

Beyond that, kaiser basilisks were incredibly careful creatures. Just finding one was a remarkable challenge. It was not an easy task even for the Demon King. After all, he couldn’t kill something he couldn’t find.

But Emergias’s Bloodline Magic of Transmission mixed with his pacted devil’s authority of Envy had allowed him to search over an incredible range for a kaiser basilisk, locating one within the huge forest with ease.

And then, he had hunted. Using wind magic to mute his footsteps and Transmission to fake footsteps coming from the opposite direction, he had been able to distract the snake long enough to deliver a swift killing blow.

“It was quite the satisfying hunt.” Bringing down such an incredible monster himself had also served to bolster his self-confidence.

I can’t wait for father to see this...

But while he patiently waited for the Demon King’s arrival, he realized there was another not yet present.

“Oh...!” And then he heard his father’s voice from beyond the door. It swung open, revealing an uncharacteristically excited Gordogias. “Everyone, look! This is incredible!”

And then he stepped back to reveal...

“Hello, everyone. Sorry I’m late.”

He was here. That bastard was here!

“This is my new Bon Dage outfit.”

The youngest son of the Demon King shone.

“Gah, it’s so bright!” Spinezia, sitting close to the door, reeled back.

“Oh sorry, was that too much?” The glow immediately softened, revealing Zilbagias Rage in a white Bon Dage Style outfit. It was less revealing than the standard, though did not cover quite as much as Emergias’s. The belts running across his chest were reminiscent of a rib cage, while the sleeves and legs of his pants were evocative of bones. The bone white leather paired with his blue skin and silver hair to form an exquisite look.

“I expected nothing less from you, Zilbagias! Your tastes are really a cut above!” Daiagias praised him, slapping his knee.

“That’s so interesting! The light is mightily gripping, but the artistic merit of that bone motif is certainly a fine look!” Aiogias spared nothing in his praises either.

“Thank you.” The youngest prince chuckled. “But it does more than just glow.” And with a smirk, he began to glow again...this time in a full rainbow of colors. “I can also change the color.”

Everyone around the room voiced their admiration. Everyone except Emergias of course.

“Incredible...what on earth is it made of?” the king asked.

“High elf leather.”

“High elf?!” Rubifya all but shrieked. “Y-You mean, your pet high elf? No way, you didn’t...?!” She cringed. Spinezia also slowed her eating.

“No, I didn’t skin her for it. I take quite good care of her. The night elves gave me this leather quite some time ago. It’s old stuff.”

“I-I see... I can’t help but wonder what she thinks about it.”

“Your guess is as good as mine. At the very least, it doesn’t seem as though she has realized it came from her.”

“I suppose she probably never had a chance to see what they did with her skin after they skinned her,” Rubifya said, recovering somewhat as she looked over the rainbow glow of his outfit once more. “It was pretty bold of you to make an outfit that lights up though. Don’t come crying to us when the dark gods hold it against you.”

“Even the night sky is full of stars and dominated by the light of the moon. I don’t think they will be bothered by a little glow.”

“I’m only teasing. Such a gaudy light isn’t my style, but a more restrained accent could look good. I’ll have to experiment in the future,” Rubifya murmured to herself along with a passing remark about how many of these outfits she had been given.

“So this is what you decided to do with the high elf leather? It’s a shame we can’t produce any more of it.” Aiogias frowned as he looked over Zilbagias’s outfit.

“No, we’re not skinning her again. I’m taking care of her in my own way!”

Aiogias grunted, unsatisfied.

“I think this works well, Aiogias. Think about it this way,” Daiagias interjected. “With production of high elf leather halted, the value of the stuff we do have will skyrocket. We all have some of our own already, so now it will be something like a status symbol for us.”

“I see. That’s an interesting perspective...” Aiogias nodded, stroking his chin. He was probably considering giving it out as a reward to his subordinates. But in that case, Zilbagias’s outfit would become a tremendous piece, being made entirely of the stuff.

“Sure, it’s an expensive material,” Emergias finally broke, unable to keep silent any longer. “But that’s not the reward of a hunt, just the skin off your pet’s back. Isn’t that kind of pathetic? The outfit should be a display of your hunting accomplishments.” His words resonated particularly with the other men present, who all turned to watch Zilbagias’s reaction.

“Yeah, you’re right. Unfortunately, I’ve had no time for hunting since my appointment as governor.” The youngest prince shrugged.

Emergias felt a spasm in his cheek. That bastard was now lording his position over them all.

“But don’t worry, I have something to show off my feat of arms as well,” he continued, pointing to the pit of his stomach, where something distinctively not leather gleamed. “I also have white dragon scales all over.”

As Emergias took a closer look, he finally saw that the entire outfit was accented with white dragon scales!

The Demon King roared with laughter. “Well, you certainly got us there! None of us have hunted a monster on the same level as the leader of the white dragons! Even my dreadliger is outmatched!” he said, looking down at the dreadliger head adorning his own outfit.

“That makes it probably the best out of any of our outfits—” the king continued, looking around at everyone else’s clothes, when he finally noticed Emergias. “Oh, you’ve got a new outfit too! That looks great on you, Emergias!”

Finally, his father had noticed him!

Emergias replied with a smile. “Thank you, father. It’s kaiser basilisk leather.”

“Ah, kaiser basilisk?” The demon king’s eyes wavered as he searched for the right words. It was clearly a step down from a dragon. Emergias could practically hear his thoughts. “I’m impressed you found one! They are powerful, tenacious creatures, aren’t they?”

“Yes...I went to great lengths for it...”

“Well done... Okay then, shall we eat?” The king took his seat and clapped his hands, signaling for the waiters to begin bringing in their carts of food and drink.

Emergias felt his face cramping again.

Faravgi, the leader of the white dragons, should have been his prey if not for the paperwork mix-up! But thanks to that stupid mistake, he had been sent on Zilbagias’s training mission to exterminate some rowdy goblins! And Zilbagias had reaped all the glory for defeating that white dragon!

Emergias turned a glare on his younger brother. Zilbagias, clad in high elf leather and white dragon scales, paid Emergias no mind as he excitedly stared at the food being brought in.

So I’m not even worth a look?!

Emergias ground his teeth, the posture-correcting nature of his outfit being the only thing preventing him from hunching forward like some angry snake.

What a lucky bastard...!

He had to watch as everything he desired was snatched away right before his eyes. Emergias had had terrible luck since birth, while Zilbagias was blessed with fortune at every turn. He couldn’t stand it.

Deep inside Emergias, something cracked, twisted, and swelled.

But everyone around him was so much stronger than he was.

In particular, the enormous magic of the Demon King dominated the room.

Everyone was none the wiser to the small but distinctive change occurring within him.

†††

Hello again. It’s me, Zilbagias. Here I was, making my way through dinner with the royal family thanks to my glowing Bon Dage outfit. Watching Rubifya and Spinezia cringe after they heard it was made of high elf leather was quite something. It was pretty refreshing to see that level of normalcy from demons. On the other hand, that did force me to really grapple with what I was doing...

“Don’t. No need to come to your senses. Just continue pushing forward.”

Man, all this encouragement from Ante was going to make me tear up.

Kusemoun had really outdone herself this time.

“It’s called Evalogia! I believe it is no exaggeration to say it is the greatest work I have ever set my hands to!”

So she had claimed, and it really showed. The ability to glow, in seven colors no less, was quite brilliant. It was an excellent cover to hide the true nature of the outfit’s abilities. As I had requested, Evalogia offered great resistance to heat and cold. While I was wearing it, I had stuck my hand in one of the dwarven forges and the only feeling I had gotten was “wow that’s hot.” When combined with the magical protection from Syndikyos and Naming, I’d have a real leg up against Aiogias and Rubifya.

“As for the multicolored glow, each color grants a slight resistance to a different type of magic! Though it can’t make black light, so there’s no dark resistance.”

And that was a huge bonus. The smug look on Kusemoun’s face when she had explained it was unforgettable. For some reason it couldn’t offer resistance to dark magic, but it still accounted for other types like wind and lightning. Something that could offer resistance to basically all elements of magic was news to me. How had she even managed to do it?

“It just seemed like the kind of thing I could do, so I gave it a shot and it worked. Maybe it’s all thanks to those great materials!” she had explained.

It seemed high elf leather might make its way into the fashion of the royal family and the other high-rank demons, but that was no issue for me. I had an affinity purely for dark magic. Rubifya and Aiogias getting protection against fire or water didn’t make a difference to me.

And if that dark magic was turned against me, that was what my Faravgi scale armor was for. Though they had been made by different craftsmen, the two pieces perfectly complemented each other. Evalogia was honestly exactly the piece of gear I needed. It was no wonder the other dwarves murmured about Kusemoun being on the level of a Saintsmith when it came to leatherworking. She was an indisputable genius. No one could deny the skill she wielded.

“Shouldn’t you officially be a Saintsmith by now?”

“No, I have a serious gap in knowledge when it comes to metalwork! Slamming a hammer into something over and over just isn’t my style!” She had taken the compliment I gave her in stride, confessing her weakness without hesitation.

From what I heard, officially receiving the title of Saintsmith required the dwarf to submit a piece of work they had made—usually a battle-axe, warhammer, or piece of armor—and have it recognized by at least five dwarven kings or other Saintsmiths. It would be a tough hurdle for a leatherworker like Kusemoun.

But in the end, the title of Saintsmith was just that: a title. Not having it didn’t at all diminish the unbelievable skill she did possess. So being referred to as a craftsman “on the level of a Saintsmith” was the greatest praise she could get.

“As long as I am able to make the things I like, I’m happy! And I had a lot of fun with this one! Hee hee hee...” Kusemoun had said with a cheery look, rubbing her face on the scraps of high elf leather she had received as payment for her work.

Yeah...that was the kind of woman she was. By the way, my request for anti-undead properties had also been fulfilled beautifully. Evalogia’s ability to create light functioned by feeding off the wearer’s magic. In doing so, it converted my dark property magic into light property magic. It was actually kind of absurd.

I supposed there were records of people using the remains of dark dragons to gain the ability to perform dark magic and evil curses, so this was effectively an inverse of the same thing. In any case, the fact that the denizens of the dark had a means to gain access to light magic at all was a bit concerning. So, if a high-level demon such as myself poured a huge amount of magic into Evalogia, though it wasn’t very efficient, the generated light would still have harmful effects on the denizens of the dark. It would burn the skin of night elves, and reduce low-level undead to ash in an instant. Kusemoun had warned me that if I pumped too much power into it, I would end up burning myself.

This ability to create light magic turned it into a perfect weapon against the undead. It would be a wonderfully reliable ally in the future. Not having to pick off each and every run-of-the-mill undead would be a major boon...as long as Enma didn’t find a way to resist sunlight and apply it to her undead before then.

Finally, as was fitting of something Kusemoun labeled as her very own masterpiece, Evalogia was remarkably resilient to physical damage as well. If the outfit received significant damage, that damage would be transferred to one of the white dragon scales sewn into it. In other words, each white dragon scale could offer itself up in place of my life. And a great deal of these white dragon scales actually came from Layla, not Faravgi. That had been a special request from Layla herself, having pulled off the scales from her own hide one by one, turning Evalogia into a bit of a collaboration piece between father and daughter.

“How vile.”

Yeah. I couldn’t argue with that. The last thing worth mentioning was the design itself, which I hadn’t given any instructions on. She had made it with a bone motif, saying, “I just thought it would match your look.” Since she should’ve had no idea that I was a necromancer, maybe the request for anti-undead properties had given her the idea. On the other hand, the Demon King was very much aware of my dabbling in Necromancy, so he found the look quite amusing.

“I have something to discuss with you, Zilbagias. Please stick around.”

After the meal while we were sipping our tea, just as I thought it was about time to be on my way, the Demon King ordered me to stay. While I stiffened, the other demon heirs turned varying looks of curiosity and envy on me. The last time this happened, I was named governor of Evaloti. But this time, the king didn’t permit anyone else to stay. Seaweed head shot me a glare as he left, as if to say, What is it this time? Well, I would have liked to know too.

What’s your game this time, Demon King?!

“Zilbagias. Naturally, there is only a single reason I asked you to stay behind,” the king leaned forward as he began to speak. His voice was low, though he didn’t erect a soundproof barrier. Perhaps that meant it wasn’t all that important? But... “Do you remember that notebook I gave you some time ago?”

It took me a moment to realize what he was talking about, but when he added “the one with the high elf leather cover,” it finally came to me. He had given it to me back when I shadowed him at work, which was how I’d found out that Liliana was still alive.

“Yes. What about it?”

“Though it shames me to ask this, if you are not using it, may I have it back?”

“Um...excuse me?”

“Of course, the night elves have gifted me plenty of high elf leather, but...as I had no use for it, I gave it all to my retainers...” The king scratched embarrassedly at his beard.

Yeah, he had handed that book over to me pretty nonchalantly as well. And now I had given him an idea for how to use the leather. He couldn’t really ask for those gifts back from his retainers, so...

“Is that asking too much?”

“Oh, no, of course not. You’re welcome to have it back. I’m not using it.”

“Ah! Good, good!” The concern in his expression evaporated instantly, a broad smile emerging as he ruffled my hair. “You’re as reliable as ever, Zilbagias! I’m so proud to call you my son!”

“Please, there’s no need to exaggerate. It was yours to begin with anyway,” I replied to the king’s joking with a bright smile. If I could curry favor with the Demon King so easily, of course I was going to jump at the chance!

Anyway, that was all the king wanted. He couldn’t have the others around when it was the first time he had to ask for something back, given his position as the king. He felt embarrassed, or like it was a mark against his honor, so he wanted to keep it hush-hush. I felt he could have been a bit more casual about it...but when I told him that, his response was just “I suppose you’re right. Perhaps I put too much weight on a simple notebook. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Like hell there’d be a next time. And how badly did he want that scrap of high elf leather anyway? I wanted to tell him that I had plenty, but in the end I supposed I was just grateful to make it through the meeting without something absurd happening, like this autonomous zone stuff.

After promising to send the notebook over, I took my leave. Man, I had gotten all nervous for nothing. But I had made it through the meal unscathed yet again. So it was about time I started making preparations for transporting Claire’s body carrying Enma’s mind to Evaloti...

†††

“So anyway, that damn lich is tagging along, so I won’t be able to bring you guys. Sorry...”

“Aghhhh!”

“Damn, nothing we can do, huh?”

Both of my ghostly comrades were thrown for a loop as Barbara shrieked and Hessel scratched at his head.

I had originally planned on taking them with me. They had wanted to see how Charlotte had been doing, and apparently the old man Sebastian I had met during the audience with the captives was a servant of Barbara’s family. Charlotte and Sebastian had no existing connection though.

“I guess we can’t risk her noticing us. Better safe than sorry.” Barbara shrugged, exemplifying a unique ability high-level undead possessed to calm down at the drop of a hat. Generally, there was no way to detect souls that were kept dormant, but it was always possible Enma had more tricks I didn’t know about. And I couldn’t afford to take that risk.

“I’ll be gone for a few days. Sorry...”

“What’re you worried about? We’ll just chill for a bit. No need to worry about us.”

“It helps that we have each other.”

Hessel shrugged with a joke, while Barbara waved off my concerns.

“If I had to complain, I wish I had a body, or some other way to kill time,” Hessel added.

“Considering our situation, I think that’s a pretty greedy request.”

“But if we’re going to be alone for this long, wouldn’t you at least want to play cards or somethin’?”

“Weaklings like you really love your cards, huh?”

Barbara sighed. Now that I thought about it, I remembered Barbara was comically skilled at card games. She had great intuition for them, and knew exactly when to push and when to pull back. In contrast...Hessel’s card game instincts were so abysmal that it was hard to believe he was a Swordmaster. His love for card games despite how terrible he was at them was a common joke among the soldiers.

“I’ll do everything I can to make things better for you guys. Just give me a bit more time.” Once I had finished their bodies, or at least gotten them to a decent enough state, I wanted to move them to the Necromancy laboratory so they could live freely.

“The possibility remains of the other heirs hiring spies to infiltrate that laboratory. I would not recommend leaving these two there,” Ante commented.

Yeah...that was kind of hard to account for.

In other news, I had decided to bring Liliana with me this time to Evaloti. I wanted her there so I could train with Virossa without worrying about injuries...that was my cover story anyway.

My real intention was to “on a whim” set her about healing the people of Evaloti to “secure more workers.” Charlotte and the handful of apprentice healers in the autonomous zone had no chance dealing with the mountain of casualties they were facing.

“You are taking the dog with you?”

“Yeah. I can’t just use the humans there as training doubles.”

The night elves seemed a bit concerned as I scooped Liliana up to take her with me, but there was no strong opposition.

Besides, Evaloti wasn’t even on the front lines anymore. After the Rage family took the capital, the rest of Deftelos had been left to the Sauroe family, led by the Gutsy Gorger herself. They had already managed to push the line back to Deftelos’s far border. That dropped Liliana’s chances of being snatched up by the Alliance to virtually zero. The Sauroe family had already flattened the rest of Deftelos, so now the demonic kingdom was making plans for where to attack next.

All I could do was stabilize the situation in Evaloti so we could handle large numbers of prisoners of war being shipped in. That was the extent of what I could manage.

“Hey, Zil. Nice weather tonight, huh?”

As I arrived at the launch area, I found Enma there waiting for me. When she turned around, it was Claire’s face, but it was definitely Enma’s smile. There was no way Claire would make such a vulgar face...!

I instinctively wanted to say “I’ll kill her,” but she was already dead. Well, both of them were.

“Yo, Enma. You seem at ease in that body.” I stepped forward with a bright smile, in part so I could cover Layla, who I could hear beginning to disrobe behind me.

Not a single shred of shame in body snatching, huh?

“So...what’s happening to Claire right now?”

“Asleep isn’t quite the right word, but it’s not far off. She’s basically in something like a dream? Otherwise, having two souls in one body would be too confusing.”

“I see...” Undead didn’t actually sleep. So what kind of dream was Claire seeing right now?

Liliana poked her head out from behind my legs, prompting Enma to stagger backward.

“Wh-What’s the dog doing here?”

Who do you think you are, calling Liliana a dog so brazenly? I’ll destroy you.

“Since I’ll be in Evaloti for a few days, I plan to get some training in while I’m there. I can’t use the humans there for healing, so I’m bringing my own healing with me.”

“O-Oh, right. You’re really quite...stoic, huh?”

As Liliana trotted forward to sniff at her, Enma jumped back again. If Enma hadn’t been in Claire’s body, I would have sicced Liliana on her no problem.

“Relax, she’s not going to eat you.”

Enma gave an awkward laugh. “I sure hope Claire makes it okay.”

So even if Liliana bites Claire’s body and destroys her, you’d be fine? I’ll figure out a way to take you out, just you wait!

“I’m ready.” Having finished taking her dragon form, Layla called out to us in the metallic voice characteristic of dragons, hunching down so we could climb onto her back. Liliana sat in front of me (lifeline safely attached), and Enma sat behind me, holding on to me tightly.

As she took her spot, I heard Enma making a sick giggle at the back of my neck. The fact it was in Claire’s voice too made my head spin.

Sorry, Layla. This was my idea, so it’s my fault you have to carry something so disgusting...

“No, it’s nothing. I don’t mind at all,” came her reply. Despite her words, her thoughts took on a somber tone. It seemed she was sympathizing with my own disgust and frustration at having this damn lich possessing the body of my friend.

Okay, enough of that! Only happy thoughts now!

How many people would we be able to heal on this visit? I wondered if the people there were doing well. Was my crew of three bureaucrats doing their job? The vampires were slowly moving into the autonomous zone. Oh, and now that I thought about it, with Claire stationed in the autonomous zone, I could use Enma to get reports directly from Evaloti with no delay. That would be great. Maybe I’d suggest it to Enma while we were flying, so we could set up a daily report from Evaloti or something.

“Well, see you guys later.” I waved goodbye to Garunya and Veene.

Layla spread her wings wide, and with a quick jump we were soaring through the night sky.

†††

That night in Evaloti, a building that was once a pub in the heart of the city was now hosting a meeting of the autonomous zone’s representatives, illuminated by lamplight.

“So, how is everyone doing?” Sebastian’s tone was calm and polite, but there was a sharp light in his eyes. Apparently being designated as the leader of the autonomous zone had been doing him some good, as he came across somewhat younger compared to when he had been first taken captive. He was making excellent use of his experience as a steward in administrating the resources of the autonomous zone and assigning the workers appropriately for Evaloti’s reconstruction.

“The Relief Squad is...well, exhausted, but things are starting to cool down now that we are settling into our jobs,” Charlotte, the leader of said Relief Squad and likely the most exhausted of them all, reported. Every day she drove herself to the brink, exhausting every last drop of magic she had to perform healing miracles. But as unpleasant as the experience was, it had nothing on the many intense battles she had endured. There was no complaining from her. By this point, she was used to life in this hell. “All of us, myself included, are slowly starting to accept the reality that even under the demonic kingdom’s rule, we are going to be permitted to live a reasonably fair life.”

As the name suggested, the Relief Squad was responsible for healing the injured and managing the public hygiene of Evaloti. It was made up of former members of the Holy Church and women with no families. Only Charlotte and a handful of apprentices had any ability to perform healing miracles, so as much as they drained themselves every day, they weren’t making much in the way of progress on the casualties.

“I have no complaints either,” the dark-furred Dober spoke next.

He had taken leadership over the beastfolk in Evaloti. Unfortunately, the Royal Hunters Battalion to which he belonged had been effectively wiped out as there were almost no survivors remaining. Most of the beastfolk left in Evaloti were common citizens and refugees who had failed to flee in the fighting, or wounded soldiers.

“Being able to walk freely around the city instead of being cooped up in those rooms is a huge step up. There are those who voice their desire to go hunting or to eat meat, but those are less complaints and more wishes for luxury.”

The beastfolk in the Alliance were primarily of the wolf and dog variety. They were nominally omnivorous, but a diet of meat better suited their physiology. The majority of food provided to them by the demonic kingdom was grains, so while they complained about the lack of meat, they understood that it was better than nothing.

“The guards are also...well, doing their best to survive,” the man in a Deftelos military uniform, Tafman, spoke grimly. The bandages over his left arm where he had taken a night elf arrow had already been removed, and his chest wound seemed to have entirely closed up. His role was to organize the former soldiers, making him effectively captain of the Evaloti City Guard.

As much as he called them the City Guard, so many of them were men that had been wounded in combat that a good number of the members referred to themselves as the “Wounded Squad.”

“In terms of complaints, there’s a lot of grumbling about the wait for healing, but they get that complaining won’t change anything. It’s not like they’re criticizing the Relief Squad,” he finished, giving Charlotte an apologetic look. Tafman himself didn’t have any ill will, he was just frankly stating the words of the people.

As one might have guessed from Tafman’s appointment as the head of the City Guard, the number of soldiers that were in good enough condition to work was exceptionally small. Even Tafman had been just another casualty a few days before.

“But there’s food, and medicine is getting around. Now that everyone realizes they’ll get to live, morale is looking up.”

The fact that they had food meant they were already in a better situation than Evaloti’s last winter. A lot of former soldiers made up the City Guard, so once they had recovered from their injuries, they’d be able to serve as a police force for the city.

“I see... So no actual serious complaints or negative feelings, then.” Sebastian nodded with a small bit of relief.

“Not as far as I’ve seen,” Charlotte replied.

“Me neither,” Dober added, eyes narrowing. “Not on the surface.”

Tafman gave an ambiguous nod.

An awkward atmosphere descended upon the gathering. The mad prince’s performance was still vivid in their minds. Who could have imagined that the demons would encourage rebellion just so they would have someone to fight?

Charlotte’s eyes suddenly snapped upward. The abruptness of her movement caught the attention of the former soldiers in the room, who all immediately shifted into ready stances.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh...nothing. I just felt like something was wrong. Like someone was watching me.”

Everyone looked up at the ceiling, but all they saw were shadows flickering on bare wooden beams.

“Excuse me, priestess,” Dober spoke up, stepping closer to Charlotte and sniffing around. The unexpected inspection made her stiffen up, but she kept her calm by clutching her staff. Dober soon stepped away, tilting his head. “You don’t wear any perfume, do you?”

“No. Not in years,” Charlotte replied, confused by the question.

Dober sniffed again. “I smell something faint. Like perfume.”

“That is...strange.” Charlotte patted her worn priestess robes. “I suppose I did burn incense while wearing these clothes, but that was many months ago.”

“And for a dog beastfolk to say it’s faint, that means there’s basically no smell at all.”

“Maybe someone was here during the day wearing something?”

“But who would have perfume in Evaloti? None of us are nobility here.”

The others in the room shared a look. The vast majority of the people in the autonomous zone were men, and almost all of them were commoners. No one here would be wearing perfume in this situation, nor would they be able to get their hands on any.

“Perhaps one of the prince’s people is listening in on our conversation,” Sebastian said, his tone jokingly polite.

“But they had to know we have dog beastfolk with us. I can’t imagine a night elf wearing perfume. Granted, I suppose I can’t say the same for demons or devils.”

Charlotte considered the possibility that someone was using magic to conceal themselves, but revealing them here might prompt them to attack, so she decided it would be better off to avoid forcing their hand.

“Anyway, even if someone is listening, I don’t think that matters. The prince said so himself that he wants us to get stronger. We’ve done nothing to feel guilty over,” she said while looking back up at the ceiling, trying to convince herself as well as everyone else.

“True enough,” Sebastian agreed. “Our first priority is stabilizing our way of life here. Let us simply be careful in the future.”

Everyone nodded. Though under the rule of the demonic kingdom, they were united in their opposition to it. It was a strange sense of solidarity.

After a bit more conversation, the group dispersed, each returning to their homes. The former pub they used had been selected for its central location, and was being transformed into a head office and hospital for the city. In case of emergencies, Sebastian and Charlotte were always needed to be on-site, which meant they lived there.

Everyone else had found various other solutions. Houses within the city had been given over to the people of the autonomous zone, but many of those had burned down, so the pickings were unexpectedly slim. Among them, the organizer of the City Guard, Tafman, had been given a small house near the main street with easy access to the castle.

“I guess it’s off to home then...though it’s pretty much just a place to lay my head,” Tafman muttered dejectedly. It would have been nice to have a family or lover to come home to, but he lived alone. His friends weren’t particularly keen on living together with him either.

The old couple who had once owned the house had taken their own lives. The bloodstains from the deed had left a mark on the house like a skull on the floor, and no amount of cleaning seemed enough to get rid of it.

“There aren’t many places left in the city where someone hasn’t died...”

Tafman didn’t let it bother him, but he could understand why others weren’t exactly jumping at the opportunity to live in the house. Any traces of the former residents left a rather unpleasant atmosphere.

Tafman sighed. “Man, I could really go for a good drink.” Being the drinker that he was, that was his biggest problem. Just the thought of it made him depressed, so he quickened his pace so he could get to bed and stop worrying about it.

“Hey! You there!” A pair of night elf hunters patrolling the city shouted at him. “Who are you? Why are you walking around so late?”

The hunters quickly began interrogating him, their tone anything but friendly. It was too dark for Tafman to see their faces, but not having to see them honestly made him feel better.

“Tafman, vice captain of the City Guard!” Without a moment’s hesitation, Tafman snapped a salute and replied. He had the title “vice captain” because the nominal captain of the City Guard was a night elf official. But since that captain barely showed his face, his existence didn’t make much difference. “All of us representatives of the autonomous zone just finished a meeting. I am on my way home now!”

One of the night elves snorted. “A meeting, huh? Scheming some sort of rebellion?” he said, an unpleasant smile lighting his eyes.

“Yes, sir! In the long term, most likely!” Tafman held his head high, looking right at his interrogators.

They were still enemies of the demonic kingdom. There was no doubting that. All of them shared that resolve. But they also understood that they were in no position to put up a fight as they were now. Like Charlotte had said earlier, the demon prince had basically given them free rein. He had told them to become powerful enemies in the future, to spare no effort toward that goal. But if they were going to fight, they needed to gather as much strength as possible, and be willing to put their lives on the line to do so. Right now, it was too early. Ten years would probably still be too early. But in twenty years, who knew?

That was the attitude they needed to take to survive today. They couldn’t let things get out of hand, but accepting servitude would make them no more than slaves. In order to fulfill the mission of the autonomous zone, for the sake of the future, they needed to walk the tightrope of maintaining a strong rebellious spirit while displaying restraint.

The night elf hunters seemed quite taken aback by Tafman’s brazen response. One of them snorted again. “Good,” he said offhandedly, though it was clear by his tone that even he wasn’t actually sure that was the case. In that state of minor confusion, the night elves stepped away, returning to their patrol.

Tafman felt rather out of sorts himself. This was how they had to do things. He wasn’t sure whether he should say it was the fault of the prince or thanks to him. Either way, it was because of him that a curious, tense peace hung between the denizens of the dark and the citizens of Evaloti.

†††

After a few hours of uneventful flying, I arrived safely in Evaloti, no thanks to Enma clinging to my back the whole way. If it hadn’t been for Liliana in my arms and Layla beneath me, I don’t know if I would have survived. In contrast, Enma was in great spirits, and had accepted my request for daily reports through her from Claire without hesitation. Now I would be able to respond to any emergencies in the autonomous zone within hours...maybe. But either way, having preparations in place was a good thing. All that was left was to hope those preparations were for nothing.

Evaloti Castle had nothing like a launch area for dragons, so we landed in the middle of the parade ground. Night elf hunters stationed there came out to greet us.

“Welcome back, Your Highness.”

“Please allow us to escort you to your room.”

“Thanks. Please gather the head officials for me as well.”

Claire couldn’t report anything if she had no information to report, so I needed to introduce her to the leaders in Evaloti as soon as possible. Despite the long flight, Layla showed no signs of fatigue as she changed back into her dress and started stretching. It was more comfortable than her usual maid outfit, so this was her usual traveling attire. Liliana was looking around, confused as to where we were. She even ran off to sniff some flowers growing at the edge of the parade ground.

“Wow, that took no time at all. Dragons are amazing, aren’t they?” Even after sliding off of Layla, Enma made no effort to let me out of her grasp as she spoke.

“Was that your first time riding one?”

“Yes! I’ve never had the chance before. So, this is Evaloti? It sure has changed since the last time I saw it. Maybe I’ll take a look around before I bring Claire back...”

Like hell you will. Quit using Claire’s face to laugh like that or I’ll smash you to pieces.

“Her expressions really are Enma’s own. I knew they had to prepare expressions in advance, but I suppose those are attached to the soul, not the body.”

My heated anger was contrasted by Ante’s remarkably calm remark. It helped to cool my head a little.

“Oh, I guess Claire is still dreaming, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Huh. I wonder, what is she dreaming about?” Did Enma have some way of reading her thoughts?

“No idea,” Enma replied. “Her consciousness is on a lower level than mine, so I can’t see it. Though I suppose I could pull her soul out to take a peek at her expression.”

“Oh, I see,” I replied idly, starting off toward my room.

“Ah, Your Highness. It is good to see you again.” A beautiful woman in a long dress approached me. It was Yavka, greeting me with an elegant curtsy.

“Yeah, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Any problems while I was away?” I gave a friendly response, but Yavka immediately scowled. “Wait, did something happen?”

“No, no problems. But that priestess, Charlotte...”

No way. Did she really try something already? Or, is she planning?

“The leaders of the autonomous zone got together for a meeting, so I went to observe...and she picked up on my presence even though I was in my mist form. However, she was unsuccessful in locating me.”

Oh, so that was all. Yavka must have assumed that hiding with the use of magical means would result in being completely undetectable by humans. Though their senses were weaker, humans could still detect magic. All the more when we were talking about a veteran of the battlefield.

“I see. Well, it’s not like I’m going to punish you just for being discovered. As long as none of the people of the autonomous zone have died. If I don’t get any reports of attacks on them, I don’t mind a little blood sucking either.”

If the humans became aware of the vampires, they’d tighten up their guard. That would make getting blood harder for the vampires and they would have no one to blame but themselves. If that caused further trouble and people started dying, that’s when I’d start getting angry.

“That’s what you get for relying on fools,” a certain dead person at my side chuckled, twisting Claire’s face into an arrogant smirk. “Do you really need to keep people like this around?” Enma continued, talking offhandedly to me while she glared at Yavka. In turn, Yavka gave a quiet snort, as if trying to expel the stench of death from her nose. “Vampires living together with humans was impossible in the first—”

I delivered a swift jab to Enma’s head, silencing her.

“Who might this be, Your Highness?”

“This is Claire. She will be serving as a representative for the undead in Evaloti,” I said.

Don’t forget, you’re supposed to be Claire. Stop making things more difficult for her!

Apparently Enma picked up on my intention so she shut her mouth.

“I know you won’t get along, but try not to mess with each other. The last thing I need is for your personal grudges to cause trouble for the rest of us.” I gave a wry smile, but both Enma and Yavka were expressionless. “Don’t disappoint me.”

Go ahead, try your silly scuffle in Evaloti. I’ll drag you both out under the sunlight without a lick of hesitation.

“Of course.”

“As you wish.”

Enma and Yavka replied instantly, nodding. Good. We continued on our way, leaving Yavka behind us. I had to admit, Charlotte was impressive. I hadn’t expected that she’d be able to detect a vampire who was hiding in mist form. It wouldn’t be long before the vampires were discovered. And on the topic of being discovered...

“Hey, Enma. There are a lot of dog beastfolk here in Evaloti. Will you really be able to disguise yourself as a human?” After all, wouldn’t they be quickly tipped off by the scent of death?

Enma’s expression immediately fell. By Enma’s standards, she gave an extremely lengthy pause. “Well...I’ll just tell them I’m a gravekeeper or something.”

Oh come on, you aren’t even trying!

“There are no gravekeepers in this city.”

“I figured as much.” She nodded, as if she had known all along. Claire’s body was that of a young woman. It would be strange for someone so slender to be doing the work of a gravekeeper, and there was no large-scale graveyard in Evaloti anyway. If that was her plan, she should have taken the body of some grisly old man...as bad as that would make me feel for Claire.

“Honestly, us undead don’t have much in the way of a sense of smell,” Enma said, tapping her nose with a finger. “Do you think we really smell?” she asked, grabbing my arm and pulling herself closer. A perfume smelling of citrus wafted over me.

So Claire chose this scent, huh?

“Hey! Alex!” The voice of a much younger Claire sprung unbidden to my mind. “My dad made some bread with orange peels for me!”

One afternoon, Claire came over to visit, offering me a loaf of bread with a wide smile.

“Let’s eat it together!”

I took the bread from her slowly, eyeing her cautiously.

“Hey! Don’t be a worrywart. I didn’t put anything strange in it!”

“You’re always up to no good!”

So with a pouting Claire at my side, we went to a nearby hill and had a bit of a picnic.

“It tastes great, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does!”

It was plain old bread, with no tricks or the like at all. The orange peel gave it a softly sour aroma, while honey gave it a sweet flavor. We split the loaf in half and enjoyed it together, basking in the sun. I could still vaguely recall the memory, though it felt far too distant.

For example, I couldn’t quite remember what Claire’s face had looked like. Instead, Enma’s smirk on Claire’s face sneaked its way into the memory.

Before I realized it, I had shoved Enma away.

“Huh...?” Enma’s blank stare brought me back to my senses.

“Oh...sorry, you kind of caught me by surprise.” I gave an awkward smile, taking Enma’s hand. “My heart skipped a beat there. If it’s you, I don’t really mind at all.” I’ve already decided that you’re my enemy. “But that’s Claire’s body, right? So...”

“Ah, I see. You weren’t the only one taken by surprise, but I guess you’re right.” Enma gave a playful smile of her own.

Stop smiling with her face!

No matter my desperate attempts to dredge up the memory of Claire’s actual face...it was far too late, far too distant. It was long gone, overwritten.

“Looks like I did it again. I should have been more considerate...”

When have you ever been considerate?!

I took a long, slow breath to calm myself. “As far as smell...I don’t get any particular smell from undead, but I don’t know if it’ll be that easy to trick the dog beastfolk.”

Honestly speaking, even with Enma and her clinginess, I never smelled anything unpleasant. But dog beastfolk were a different story. Their sense of smell was on another level. Back in my previous life, their noses had saved my skin more times than I could count.

“Well, Claire’s body isn’t made up of much flesh, so I don’t think there’s much there that could have an odor. But in my experience, hanging around places that have their own distinct smells makes it harder to be caught. Like a pub, or a brothel.”

Uh...brothel?

The suspicious look on my face caused Enma to hurriedly start waving her hands.

“No, I mean, when I was back in the Alliance, a lot of stuff happened, you know? When I was trying to stay hidden in a city, places filled with strangers or with an abundance of cooking and incense were ideal hiding spots. Though honestly, I rarely did any hiding...” she rattled off at a remarkable pace, trying to laugh it off.

I also doubted she’d done much in the way of hiding. She was the type to find some means to worm her way in and turn everyone she met into undead...!

Enma sighed. “Looks like I need to do a bit more research. As ashamed as I am to admit. It’s a tough problem, but I’ll try to find a solution. I guess it’ll be best to keep Claire in the castle until the city regains some liveliness.”

Wasn’t that the whole point of sending Claire here? Well, either way, it was convenient for me.

“So as unfortunate as it is, I think I’ll have to head back now.” Enma sighed.

I stopped myself just short of saying, “Well, that’s too bad.” I wouldn’t want her to change her mind and stay. So instead, I said, “Oh, okay.”

“Okay then! See you later!” After she winked and blew me a kiss, Claire’s face suddenly went blank, and she started to teeter.

That was instant!

I had been watching closely, so I just barely noticed a flicker of magic from her opening a gate! But wait, Claire was about to fall over! I jumped forward, grabbing her so she didn’t hit the floor.

Claire groaned, blinking as she came back to reality. Oh, she was already awake. Now it was going to look like I was doing something improper...

“No! No, no, no! Stop! Help! Help!” Claire shrieked and immediately began to flail.

Claire’s strength was something else. Her movement caught me completely off guard as she handily sent me flying.

“Stop! No, no, stop! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”

Writhing on the floor, she had curled up into a ball as she wailed...before coming to an abrupt stop.

“Ah...” Lifting her head, she saw me and instinctively scrabbled backward. Reflected in her glassy eyes was a blue-skinned demon. “Oh. Ah, we’re here.” For a moment her face was blank, then she seemed to relax and returned to her feet. “This is Evaloti?” she asked, as if nothing had happened.

“Yeah...we’re here.” All I could do was nod like an idiot.

“Wow, that took no time at all. The castle is in better shape than I expected,” she said, an obviously fake smile on her face.

Any questions I had about her dreams had been put to rest.

And so, my childhood friend had made it to the sole human settlement in the demonic kingdom.

Chapter 3: Artifice and Unnecessary Trouble

We moved to my private room in Evaloti Castle, where my three head officials—Porkun, Nichar, and Tavogch—met with me so I could introduce Claire. None of the three seemed particularly impressed to meet her. Since she was an undead without a court rank, it wasn’t all that surprising. Claire being Claire, the sight of Tavo got a bit of a squeal out of her. To be fair, hobgoblins looked just like goblins but with better grooming. Her instinctual response was probably to kill him on the spot.

But unfortunately, of my subordinates, Tavo here was the most useful while also being the least harmful. I really didn’t want him dead. Apparently, he always carried that notebook around as a measure against forgetfulness and to keep himself on task. He was a hard worker and had an eye for detail. I quite liked him.

Nichar was similarly industrious in his work, but his potential decision-making when left to his own devices worried me. Porkun, meanwhile, was extremely volatile in the quality of his work, and so was rather hard to rely on.

In order to make sure they got the right impression—with Claire’s express permission beforehand—I looped a hand around her waist and held her close as I introduced her. I could see the lights turning on in their heads as they saw that. They now knew how they were to treat her. My reputation seemed to have preceded me.

“It seems the prevailing opinion has become ‘Daiagias for quantity, Zilbagias for quality.’”

That was very much a reputation I didn’t need.

After meeting with the other officials, I asked Claire if she would be willing to send reports daily to the castle like I had discussed with Enma earlier.

“Ah, so you’ve arranged something like that, have you? I figured I’d have to make some kind of regular report anyway. So, where exactly am I supposed to stay? Oh, are you going to make me stay in your room?” Though her smirk suggested that was a joke, her eyes held an indescribable emptiness.

“No, I’ll have a proper room prepared for you.”

So Claire was given a room near the castle’s library. The library had already been stripped of most of the more important books and documents, but there were still a good number left behind. Since she’d be trapped in the castle until the city came to “life” again, I hoped that would offer her some relief from the boredom.

“Also, I’d appreciate it if you could share some of your magic with me,” she said.

“Of course. I don’t mind at all.”

“Thank goodness. I’ve lost access to the leylines, so that helps a lot,” Claire said with a sigh of relief.

“What do high-level undead usually do when they’re moved somewhere else? I’ve never heard of them asking demons to share their magic before.” It was hard to imagine demons being willing to cooperate, what with how they usually viewed undead as such a taboo.

“Ah...well, this is a secret, but normally we take what we need from the bone horses. If we were to ask for magic, they’d hate us for it. But if the bone horses run out, they’ll get refilled without a second thought.”

It was logical, but surprisingly miserly. So if I hadn’t agreed to share my magic with Claire, she likely would have just taken it from the bone horses anyway.

“Well, you don’t have to worry. As long as I’m here, you’ll have everything you need.”

If my disgusting dark magic could help sustain Claire, I was glad it served a useful purpose. Could you say that made it indispensable? I wasn’t quite sure. Nor was I sure if I should be happy about it having that new purpose.

Leaving Claire in the library, I returned to my own room. Liliana greeted me with a soft bark, which I returned with some head pats. Now that Liliana was here, I wanted to take her out to start healing as soon as possible... As the reports went, Charlotte and her priests were up to their necks in work. In terms of the progress on the healing, they’d barely made a dent in it. But it would have been strange for a demon prince to suddenly show humans compassion out of the blue. I needed the healing to be “on a whim.”

“Virossa.” I called the night elf Swordmaster. Having my night elf forces just waiting around the Demon King’s castle felt like such a waste, so I’d had them all stationed at Evaloti.

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“It’s been a while. Let’s do some live-blade training.”

It would be a good change of pace. With how busy I had been recently, I’d barely had time for training, even with Prati. I was dying to cut loose and go wild!

“As you wish.” Virossa gave a respectful bow, and then his form started to waver. In short order, he had been replaced with a middle-aged human man wearing a vicious smile.

The harsh sound of swords clanging filled the air. Shouts and roars echoed across the parade ground as sparks from our blades illuminated the night. The intensity of our training, so close to real combat, had brought no small number of spectators out from the castle.

Our training scenario was that Virossa had been blessed by a high elf monk, effectively nullifying all of my curses. Which meant I was fighting a Swordmaster without any magic except for the occasional blinding distraction. And man, was Virossa strong. He had ripped me apart almost ten times already. No matter what magic I used to reinforce my swordspear’s haft, he shredded the human bone like paper. I was practically defenseless. And Virossa didn’t so much as hesitate to cut deep with his sword.

His blade made quick work of my defensive wards as well. All they were good for was buying me a little time. That was because I wasn’t using Naming. If I were, there was no way Virossa’s attacks could hurt me, so I was operating under a bit of a handicap.

With a hiss, Virossa slipped his blade past my magical defenses and delivered another slash. If I took it head-on, it would be easily fatal, splitting me in two diagonally from shoulder to hip. To avoid such a fate, using Adamas in my right hand, I blocked the strike.

Once again he had cut through my spear haft, rendering it useless. This left me no choice but to now wield Adamas like a proper sword in my right hand. In my left hand however I held the leftover bones, using them as a makeshift offhand weapon of sorts—shifting between a spear and a shield depending on what the situation called for.

Though Virossa’s strikes could slice through the barriers of a marquis-class demon like butter, Adamas deflected them like swatting a fly.

This blade survived a strike from the Demon King’s own spear! Adamas may be asleep, but you’ll need to be better than that!

With a grunt, I followed up my block with a left-hand jab, driving a bone spear into Virossa’s gut—or so I tried. But as was often the case with Swordmasters, his lightning fast footwork made it seem like he had vanished into thin air.

As a tingling sensation reached the back of my neck, I held Adamas as if carrying it on my shoulders and swung it to my rear—managing to block Virossa’s attack in just the nick of time. I then retracted it before letting out a shout as I lashed out once more with the spear in my left hand. The bone blade narrowly grazed Virossa’s clothing as he dodged it by only a hair’s breadth, smoothly transitioning into yet another slash...and this time my left arm was sent careening into the night.

But simultaneously, Adamas found a new home in Virossa’s gut. The disguised night elf dropped to the ground, blood spurting from his mouth. A cheer resounded throughout the audience as I held a hand to my stump of a left arm.

“Damn. Another draw, huh?” I spoke around a gush of blood from my own mouth as I transposed Virossa’s wounds onto myself. Liliana dashed over, barking wildly as she jumped on me and started licking.

Man, this healing feels good... Oh, I should probably get my arm though. Reattaching the original was much faster than growing a new one from scratch.

“I think that counts as your victory...” Virossa said, rubbing his stomach as he climbed back to his feet. The wry smile on his face was a bit too bitter. “With Transposition, losing an arm is pretty trivial for you.”

“Except the rules were that I couldn’t use Transposition.” If this scenario were real and I lost an arm, the priests and mages supporting the Swordmaster would be getting ready to pounce on me. I’d be in for a pretty tough fight.

“That may be so...but the fact I cannot claim a clean victory despite the numerous restrictions you placed on yourself is somewhat embarrassing.” Virossa was clearly frustrated.

Well, I could understand that. Our battles were pure contests of skill, no-magic-allowed affairs, and he couldn’t consistently best me. That was kind of a huge issue for him, especially considering I was just six years old. After ten bouts, he had only cleanly defeated me twice. The rest were draws like this one, or victories for me. Two wins, two losses, and six draws.

If I had even a lick of fear about getting injured, Virossa’s win rate surely would have been much higher. My knowledge of Transposition, together with my accustomedness to pain and dismemberment, meant I didn’t hesitate to reply with a killing blow of my own when I knew avoiding an incoming attack was impossible. But with my Transposition off-limits, that kind of outcome was actually really bad for me. So any draw like that was effectively a loss.

Of course, in real combat, there were few who could resist my Transposition. Plus, I could always use Naming to strengthen myself. Rage warriors were quite the headache. They could reverse their fortunes in an instant with Transposition, or even strategize specifically around the use of Transposition.

The audience—mostly night elves, beastfolk, and hobgoblins—seemed to understand that too, judging by the respectful fear on their faces as they watched me. Everyone here was already subservient to the Rage family, but after all this, I doubted any of them would even think to disobey me.

“I suppose we should call it a day.” With Liliana’s help, my wounds were already gone.

Thanks, as always.

“Woof!”

Liliana looked up at me with a bright smile. If she had a tail, I was sure it would be wagging.

“I look forward to our next training session, Virossa. I don’t think there’s anyone in the demonic kingdom that I can go all out against except for you.”

“It would be an honor, Your Highness. I will strive to sharpen my skills through training as well,” Virossa replied with a courteous bow, but I could see the fire still burning in his eyes. Being unable to be anything other than overwhelming in a pure contest of arms must have left him with great shame.

“Good. Let’s improve together.”

Practice fighting an actual Swordmaster was a luxury I couldn’t have ever afforded even back during my days in the Alliance. I’d squeeze every bit of value out of training with him as I could.

“If any of you wish to join in, feel free to speak up. And no matter if it’s old battle wounds or new training scars, I don’t mind having those healed.”

My invitation caused restless murmurs to ripple through the crowd. About one in ten seemed actually interested. The rest were plain terrified.

“Hmm...speaking of which...” I looked for Tavo among the crowd, beckoning him over.

“Yes, Your Highness? How may I help you?”

“Send a notice to the people of the autonomous zone. Tell them I’m willing to heal their sick and useless.”

“Yes, Your...Highness...? Very well...” My request caused Tavo’s eyes to widen, but he nevertheless jotted it down in his notebook.

This was just something that occurred to me now, as an addendum for training...! “Yeah. I’ve read your reports. It sounds like healing is not going well in the autonomous zone. I want them working, not wasting time when they could be getting stronger,” I explained.

“Understood. How much healing should I tell them to expect?” Of course you wouldn’t heal all of them, Tavo’s expression all but shouted.

“About ten a day, I suppose. Prioritize amputees and those on the brink of death. I’ll get to it just after my training, so bring them right before dawn.”

“Yes, Your Highness. So the first group will be brought before dawn tomorrow. I will let the leaders know.” Tavo gave a bow before taking his leave.

All right. Looks like I was able to play it off well enough.

“Now, to do something about all this blood.” Though it didn’t bother me while we were fighting, with training over, being covered in blood was pretty uncomfortable. “Don’t worry, Liliana. I’m already fully healed.”

Damn, even Liliana was covered in my blood. I guessed it was time for a bath.

†††

“Healing?!” Tafman shouted as Sebastian explained the situation to the leaders of the autonomous zone.

“Yes. A hobgoblin official just gave us the notice stating, ‘Bring those who need healing to the castle before dawn.’ Ten a day, prioritizing those severely injured.” Sebastian didn’t seem to believe what he was saying either.

“Are the denizens of the dark even capable of healing?” Dober muttered, eyes narrowing.

“For that prince...I imagine it is possible.” Charlotte’s bitter tone drew the attention of all the gazes in the room.

“What do you mean?”

“Demon Prince Zilbagias possesses a magic that can transfer his own injuries onto others. Even during battle, he received a neck wound only to force it onto a nearby hero, returning himself to perfect health,” she explained slowly. The story sent a wave of terror through the soldiers present.

“I heard rumors about that...so it really happened?”

“That’s ridiculous! How are you supposed to kill someone like that?!”

“But how does that help him heal others...?”

“If that magic functions as a way to manipulate injuries, maybe it can also work in the opposite direction. In other words, he may be able to take on the wounds of others himself...and then transfer them once again to someone else.”

“No way...” Charlotte’s conjecture got a shocked look out of Sebastian. “You think he could save lives by collecting the injuries of many and placing them onto a single person?!” The thought of such an inhumane practice sent a shudder through those gathered.

“I believe so.” And Charlotte didn’t deny it.

If one were to ignore the ethical implications, it was an exceptionally logical course of action. And they all knew what the demons thought of ethics.

“So, what do we do?”

“Don’t be stupid. There’s no way we can let that happen.”

“But we have so many wounded who can’t even move...”

“So what?! You think that makes it okay to sacrifice others just to save them?!”

“Calm down. For all we know, this could be some scheme to sow division among us.”

“Is that battle-crazy prince even that clever?”

The arguing didn’t slow down in the slightest.

“But if we refuse, he’ll probably say something like ‘Oh, so you have no injured left? Then you better put them to work!’”

“Alternatively, if we accept the offer, he might say it is proof we are incapable of handling ourselves...”

“Things could take a turn for the worse any number of ways. If he has bad intentions, he’ll find some fault with us regardless of whatever we do,” Tafman spat out angrily, scratching at his head. While most of them were opposed, and the few who were in favor still didn’t like the idea, the truth of the situation was that Charlotte’s Relief Squad wasn’t going to make it in time to heal a lot of their people.

Should we just take up any chance at healing we can get, even if it means sacrificing others...? Charlotte bit her lip. She couldn’t bring herself to ask the question aloud. But doing nothing means those people will die. What am I supposed to do, Leo...?

She wanted to save as many people as she could, but she couldn’t save everyone at once. Who would be prioritized? Who would be abandoned? Those choices all fell squarely on her shoulders. Her own lack of determination was a constant source of torment for her. Out of desperation, she called for the memory of the man she loved.

She wished. She prayed. What was she to do here? She just wanted someone to tell her—

“That’s what makes you a wonderful priestess.”

She felt like she heard Leonardo’s words come back to her. And then, an idea came to her. She knew how to avoid sacrificing anyone.

“I will go with them. We will select ten severely wounded people whose lives are not in danger,” Charlotte proposed, looking around the room. “If the prince’s goal is to gather the wounds of the many and force them onto a single person, I will heal that last victim myself. That way, we should be able to avoid the worst possible outcome.”

“I see...”

The primary dilemma was whether or not the healing would come at the cost of sacrificing someone. If they could avoid that outcome, there would be no downsides to the prince’s offer.

“Healing that one person may take all of my power, but even if so, healing ten people in one day is far more efficient than our current pace.”

“I suppose...it’s worth trying,” Dober growled, fangs bared.

Tafman crossed his arms, deep in thought for a moment, before turning to Sebastian. “The orders said to send ten people, right? Can we send an escort with them?”

“Yes. People with wounds that grievous won’t be able to make the trip to the castle under their own power, after all.”

“Good. Then I’ll tag along. I’ll also look for any guys with missing limbs. We’ll get a front-row seat to what this prince’s healing is all about!” And if things were worse than they imagined... “Just because we can’t throw punches doesn’t mean we can’t hurl complaints to his face.”

Wry grins filled the room. It was hard to say whether Tafman’s declaration was brave or pathetic. But the truth was that even a tiny show of resistance like that was risking his life.

Within the day, they had selected ten people for healing. All of them had injuries with severity along the lines of lost limbs. Their lives weren’t in immediate danger, so they weren’t a priority for the limited healing the priests of the autonomous zone were capable of. Even so, that still made them a heavy burden on the rest of the people there. They were chosen because even if all of their injuries were collected and placed onto a single person, such an affliction likely wouldn’t be fatal for the poor victim. Gathered together at the old pub, they waited restlessly for dawn to arrive.

“Priestess, the sun is rising.”

“Then let’s go.”

As some linked shoulders for walking support while others were carried by stretcher, the group began the laborious process of making their way to the castle.

It was mere moments before dawn. The deep blue, predawn sky created a backdrop that made Evaloti Castle much eerier than usual. Countless pitch-black flags declaring the demonic kingdom’s ownership of the property fluttered in the wind—looking down imperiously on Charlotte’s approaching procession.

The wounded they brought with them were silent from start to finish. One with no legs and missing an eye could do naught but trepidatiously raise his head as the castle loomed overhead. Another who’d had his face smashed in couldn’t even expel groans of agony. Another was missing both arms, but at least he could walk on his own two feet.

Upon speaking to the beastfolk guards at the gate, they were immediately let inside and taken to a large room.

“Oh, you’re here.” The prince called out to them.

Never mind the wounded, the escorts such as Charlotte and Tafman watched the prince approach with wide eyes. Stepping briskly, Demon Prince Zilbagias was wearing clothes that had been reduced to tatters, and was drenched in blue blood.

“Hmm? This? I was just getting some training in.” The prince smiled, brushing hair wet with blood and sweat from his eyes.

It was without a doubt demon blood, but despite the state of his clothing, there wasn’t even the most minor scratch on him.

“And you came too, huh?” The prince’s expression clouded slightly as he noticed Charlotte. Was her presence a problem? Had he been planning something nefarious after all...? Though those immediate thoughts crept into Charlotte’s mind, the prince didn’t look upset or frustrated, but rather...awkward?

“Woof!”

A strangely cute sound cut through the clashing silence as something came trotting toward them from the far end of the chamber. The new arrival, the “dog,” sat down politely at the prince’s feet.

The castle’s visitors were stunned into silence. Even Charlotte’s hair stood on end at the horrible sight.

“N-No way... Who is this...?!”

Long, pointed ears, a practically divine beauty. And above all, an overwhelming magical power, one which could even be felt by humans.

“Oh, her?” the prince said, something of a desperate smile on his face as he ruffled the “dog’s” hair. “This is my pet high elf, Liliana.”

But...her arms and legs were too short, and capped with metal fittings. As if unaware of her own horrid state, Liliana’s face was bright as she looked back at the people of the autonomous zone, tongue sticking out of her mouth.

“Woof!”

She wore a radiant smile, as if meeting new friends for the first time.

“Let’s get started then, shall we?” The prince tried to move things along, but something was nagging at Charlotte that she couldn’t simply let go.

“Liliana?! You mean Liliana El Del Milfrul?!” Charlotte’s cry made everyone look at the “dog” anew. The saint Liliana. All Alliance soldiers were familiar with that name.

“You know her full name? I’m impressed,” the prince said, rubbing his chin. Charlotte responded with a glare.

“Why wouldn’t I know her full name?! She is royalty among the elves!”

“Oh, yeah. Liliana, of the El Del Milfrul family.”

“Why is the missing high elf saint here? And...like...this?!” Charlotte couldn’t continue. How could she even express the state Liliana was in? Pathetic? Miserable? Wretched?

“Missing, huh? So that’s what the Alliance told you?” The prince spoke as though he was quite intrigued by the news. “She took part in the assault on the Demon King’s castle eight years ago.”

Charlotte had heard a rumor about that. It went that the white dragons had cooperated with the Alliance to launch an attack directly on the castle of the Demon King. But just seeing Liliana’s current condition before her more than answered how that attack had gone. As such, it made sense that the Holy Church hadn’t divulged the results of their effort. And considering Liliana had disappeared from the front lines around that same time, and had been designated as having “gone missing” by the forest elves...

“She was in the night elves’ care for quite a while.” For eight years. The prince rubbed the elf’s head as he shared that horrifying fact. “I took a liking to her, so I went ahead and adopted her. At present, she thinks she’s a dog because her mind is a wreck. So it’s like I said, right? She’s my pet.”

Once again, a shudder went through the crowd. Meanwhile, Liliana gave a soft whine, confused as to why the people in front of her were making such scary faces. The frightened high elf pet scurried behind the prince’s legs.

She was afraid of them. That earth-shattering realization made Charlotte feel like the world was collapsing around her. The only thing that prevented her from dropping to her knees was the nearby wall offering some semblance of support. The mere sight of her was enough to break the heart of any soldier that had stepped foot onto the battlefield. And seeing her like this, it was abundantly clear that no trace of her former self remained. If any forest elves had been present, they likely would have died from sheer anger alone.

Suddenly, the mystery behind this supposed healing started to become clear. If the prince had a high elf under his control, healing of this nature would be easy.

He’s going to share the blessings of a brainwashed high elf with us...?!

The rage and humiliation Charlotte felt was hard to express. But that blessing was undeniably a boon to the people of the autonomous zone. The most humiliating part of it all was how desperately they needed this aid. They didn’t have the strength to refuse the gift. While under the guise of showing them mercy, the prince was once again trampling all over their pride. Truly, this was befitting behavior for a savage.

“Okay, let’s get started, shall we?” the prince said, before turning to one of the beastfolk nearby. “Get me a bucket or something, will you? The bigger the better.” The citizens of the autonomous zone shared a confused look, wondering what he needed a bucket for. In the blink of an eye, a large barrel had been brought out.

“This is perfect. So this guy’s missing two legs and an eye? Is that all?” Zilbagias nodded in the direction of a man on one of the stretchers.

“Um, yes, for the most part.”

“For the most part? Is there more? Just so you know, I can heal anything except birth defects.”

“He...also has a deep wound on his chest.”

“Okay. Me Ta Fesui.”

Suddenly, a wave of pressure emanated from the demon prince. Charlotte instantly tensed up, her head suddenly flooded with memories of that night in Evaloti. And in no time at all, the suffering soldier blinked in surprise. His missing legs and eye had returned, healthier than ever.

In contrast, Demon Prince Zilbagias blurted out a very unroyal cry of pain as he dropped to the ground. As if rotting as they watched, both his legs and one of his eyes withered and fell off, dropping into the barrel. Liliana gave a mournful bark before she started licking the prince. With a hiss, divine light enveloped Zilbagias, and in short order restored his missing body parts. It was as though they were never missing in the first place.

“What...was...that...?” Tafman moaned as if trapped in a nightmare.

The prince chuckled. “My family’s Bloodline Magic, Transposition,” he replied smugly.

“Transposition?!”

“That’s right. It allows me to transfer any injury or illness from one person to another. So I take on the wounds of another person myself, then let Liliana heal me. As it stands now, she can only heal someone by licking them. And I’m certainly not allowing my beloved pet’s tongue anywhere near the likes of you. When was the last time any of you took a bath anyway?” the prince asked, overly serious. A number of the wounded looked a bit disappointed at that.

Meanwhile, while Charlotte engraved the name Transposition into her memory, a fresh wave of fear washed over her. He had said that was the magic of his family. Though she’d had the sneaking suspicion before, that confirmed this wasn’t a unique magic to the prince. There were plenty of demons with the very same ability.

It’s...incredible.

Even Charlotte felt her heart start to wither at the unbelievable strength the demonic forces wielded. How many of them could use this power? Thousands? Tens of thousands? How could the Panhuman Alliance ever stand a chance? While she fought with that realization, the healings continued. Something she should have been happy about...

“By the way...do you remember when I mentioned how keeping energetic humans like you around has its uses in the demonic kingdom?” Zilbagias asked as he used his freshly regrown arms to throw the scraps of the old, shriveled ones into the barrel. “The anatomy of humans and demons are remarkably similar. Aside from your lack of horns, all of our organs are in basically the same place. That’s what allows Transposition to work between us.”

Charlotte gulped. Another use for humans. She had assumed he meant as slaves, but...

“No way...!”

“It’s the truth. Healthy humans can be used to heal any injury a demon receives except for broken horns.”

“And...what happens to the person who takes those wounds?”

“Isn’t that obvious? They die.” The prince tilted his head, as if baffled by the naivety of the question. Charlotte had to avert her eyes. She wasn’t sure if she could keep her rage suppressed before it boiled over and reached her face.

And so the healings continued, the demon prince taking on the wounds of the humans and turning himself into a ragged mess, only for Liliana to then heal him back to perfect health. The humans watched as their injuries were all immaculately healed, over and over, like some sort of never-ending nightmare.

The strangest part was not the unique magic that the demons possessed, nor the saint acting like a dog. It was the prince himself, taking on unspeakably brutal injuries left and right, yet never so much as flinching in pain.

“That’s the last one. Everyone’s happy and healthy thanks to you, Liliana. Good job.”

Liliana replied with a happy bark, shaking her rear slightly as if trying to wag a tail.

“I’ll do ten for you every day. Since I’ll be here for the next few days, that should take care of a good number of your wounded for you. Next time, make sure you bring people that are actually dying,” the prince said, grin deepening as he stepped over to Charlotte and looked into her face. Charlotte tensed up at the obvious indication that he had seen through their cautiousness. “When I say I’m going to do something, I mean it. I said I would heal ten people, so I will. There’ll be no underhanded trickery from me. Relax.”

The prince’s smile brightened, taking on a hint of madness.

“I care for you people, truly I do.” And then that ghastly color deepened. “So get better soon and start working on the autonomous zone. You’ve got a battle to prepare for.”

With Liliana at his side, the prince took his leave with a riotous laugh.

Once he was gone, Charlotte finally realized she had been holding her breath. She gasped, sucking in as much air as she could.

The retinue of civilians left the castle. Those who required support or stretchers on the trek to the castle could now make the trip back on their own two feet. It should have been cause for celebration, but a heavy, bitter atmosphere hung over them.

“What a monster...” one of the men muttered once they were a fair distance from the castle. Turning back in a daze, they looked up at the pitch-black flags fluttering above Evaloti Castle in the light of dawn.

It had taken the demonic army a mere three days to overtake the capital of Deftelos. And now, those present had no choice but to recognize the reason behind that feat.

“That was what we were up against...?” Tafman murmured to himself, echoing the heaviness weighing on all of their minds.

They were supposed to rebel against that? Still, they had more than enough resolve to fight back against the demonic kingdom. The animosity between them hadn’t weakened in the slightest.

But...just for today...they couldn’t dismiss the need for rest.

†††

A few days had passed since I started healing the people of the autonomous zone. Something must have had them worried since they didn’t bring a single person whose life was actually in danger on the first day. But ever since then, they’ve only brought those knocking on death’s door. So now it felt like I was really making a difference. With ten being healed per day, a sense of liveliness started to be breathed into the city. I also “leaked” information about Transposition and Liliana so they would understand just what kind of a threat they were dealing with when it came to the demonic kingdom. All in the hope that they would start to make headway toward their eventual rebellion.

“Do you really think they will rebel? Are you sure your actions thus far haven’t already broken their spirits?”

Well...they certainly did seem a little shocked...but I doubted that would be enough to make them surrender. I needed them to be a bit tougher than that! Them being privy to this info didn’t change the fact of their enemy’s strength. If they started to chicken out, I’d light a fire under them myself. That was the whole point of all this healing I was doing.

“Your Highness, in regard to you healing the people of the autonomous zone...”

On that note, it seemed Nichar, my night elf official, held some opinions on that matter. It was always a pain wading through the way he always beat around the bush. But in short, his point was that if I was going to spend so much time healing humans and beastfolk, then I could dedicate more to healing night elves.

And that was something I was firmly against. Who the hell would want to heal a night elf? Though those were my feelings, I couldn’t express them outright. I had expected a little bit of pushback from my subordinates though, so this would be a good opportunity.

“The people of the autonomous zone were given to me by His Majesty the King. In a sense, they are my property. Even if it costs me personally, that slight expense makes sense to ensure my property is kept in good working order,” I declared quite brazenly. “But Nichar, you night elves are first-class citizens of the demonic kingdom. I can hardly consider you property. Of course, if you were willing to abandon those rights and become citizens of the autonomous zone, I suppose I could consider it.”

So, how about it? Feel like becoming my property? Huh? What do you say?

I laid the pressure on thick, and Nichar quickly backed off.

“Um, Your Highness. Do you mean we could swear loyalty to you and serve as citizens of the autonomous zone at any time?” Tavo asked after listening in on the conversation Nichar and I were having.

“Yes. I suppose I’d have to run it past my father first, but I doubt he’d object.”

“Is that so...?” With a word of thanks and a bow, Tavo stepped out, apparently deep in thought. Though the hobgoblins had been permitted to keep their standing within the kingdom thanks to my advice to the king, it was as unstable as ever. I wondered if Tavo was considering becoming one of my citizens as a means to obtain protection should he lose his job with the kingdom.

Well...if it came to that, I could accept it. I’d feel bad for Claire, but despite looking similar, hobgoblins weren’t as much of a threat to humanity as goblins were. In fact, historically speaking, there were many cases of them being persecuted by humans due to being viewed as no different from ordinary goblins. There were some parallels between them and Garunya’s white tiger beastfolk.

If they were willing to coexist with us, I’d allow it. As long as they were willing to relinquish their desire for revenge.

As usual, I had my bloody training session with Virossa later that day. Afterward, Yavka came to speak to me.

“Your Highness, there is a matter I wish to discuss with you.”

“What’s wrong? Did the autonomous zone’s citizens notice the vampires?”

“N-No! Nothing like that yet!” She hurriedly shook her head, sending her golden pigtails to and fro. She seemed pretty panicked at the thought...and wait, did she say “yet”? Oh well.

“Good. If they raise their guard against you, it’ll make it harder to get any blood from them.”

My stance was that as long as the humans weren’t aware of it, I would turn a blind eye to the vampires’ blood-seeking behavior. I was expecting a certain level of self-control and reason from the vampires. Luckily, there hadn’t been any cases of people found sucked dry yet. Yavka must have done a good job in her selection of those with restraint. So far, at least.

“So, what is it then?”

“Fifth Princess Spinezia will likely finish securing the rest of Deftelos’s territory shortly. I have received word that she intends to make a stop at Evaloti on her way back to the castle. One of my men overheard her saying as much, and I figured you would wish to know.”

I gave a thoughtful hum. It was rare to have news delivered faster than the Izanis messengers, the dragons, or the night elves. I glanced at Virossa, but he shook his head. Apparently he knew nothing about this. Was it merely a coincidence that one of Yavka’s men had come back early? So the Kingdom of Deftelos was finished...and the fifth princess was coming here? What for? I couldn’t think of a reason she would.

“Hmm. Quite interesting. I will keep that in mind. Thank you for your report.” After I offered her some praise, all she did was stare back at me silently. “Is something wrong?” I asked, but she didn’t respond, her almost feverish gaze still steady staring at me. And then...was that drool coming out of the corner of her mouth?

I looked down at myself for a moment, only to then finally realize that I was still drenched in my own blood from the friendly sparring session with Virossa. Even now, blood dripped from my fingers onto the ground.

“Ah...” Yavka all but moaned, as if she couldn’t bear to see such blood wasted.

“What’s wrong? Thirsty?” I joked, and she finally snapped back to her senses, wiping her mouth.

“M-My apologies! I just...” She reclaimed her usual collected demeanor, but the thirst in her eyes was unchanging.

“Is demon blood that good?”

“I...wouldn’t know. I have never tasted it. It is hardly something I could ask...” She gulped. “But...it looks exceptionally rich...so full of magic...!”

The eyes spoke as much as the mouth, huh? She was practically salivating over me here. I imagined you’d get the same reaction from a heavy drinker if you put a bottle of the highest grade distilled liquor in front of them.

And suddenly, a very mean-spirited idea came to me. Or I guess you could call it a stroke of curiosity.

“Want to try?” I held a hand out toward her. Yavka’s eyes went wide, like she was being offered the nectar of the gods.

“A-Are you sure?!”

“Of course. You vampires have done some pretty fine work, so I’ll share some of my blood with you. Consider it a reward for your efforts.” I had already spilled who knew how much blood all over the ground anyway. But above all, I was curious how a vampire would react to drinking demon blood.

“I-I cannot thank you enough!” Apparently deeply moved by my gift, as evidenced by the way she trembled, Yavka stepped forward and knelt before me. Then she opened her mouth, stuck out her tongue...and waited. It was like a baby bird awaiting its meal. Oh, was that how she was expecting we’d do this? I guess it was better than letting her bite me.

I clenched a fist, pushing blood out of one of my open arm wounds. It started to drip into her mouth...and then she jumped.

“Ah...”

“‘Ah?’”

“Ahhhhh!!!” Yavka’s eyes rolled back in her head as she dropped to the ground convulsing.

Huh. Was she dying? Her choked, spluttering sounds made it seem like she was fine enough. She was covering her mouth with her hands as she convulsed. Did my blood have so much magic that it was like poison to her? But her expression seemed quite a bit more...ecstatic...than I would have expected from that...

Liliana started to bark excitedly while trotting over toward us, as if asking if she should jump in to help. But if she touched Yavka, the vampire would probably be reduced to ash, so we would hold off on that. Instead, I had her heal my wounds. Then we waited.

“My apologies...for such a vulgar...display...” Yavka finally squeezed out, staggering back to her feet like a newborn fawn.

“How was it?”

“It was like tasting heaven itself... I never thought such a flavor even existed...” she moaned, cheeks flushed. She stared at me again with fervent eyes and took ragged breaths. And notably, she bared her fangs.

“I see...”

I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to being told my blood tasted good. And...was it just me, or was her magic a bit stronger than before? I supposed it made sense that vampires gained strength by drinking blood.

Meanwhile, there was no sign of Yavka calming down. If anything, her breathing was only becoming more erratic. To top it off, a dangerous look now took to her eyes. Was she okay?

“She looks very much like an addict who has just gotten a taste of their drug of choice...” Ante put my vague suspicions into concrete terms.

“Just for the record, if you attack me I will defend myself.”

“No! I would never do such a thing!” Yavka shook her head violently at my warning, seeming like she might drop to her knees as she started to regain her senses. “In fact, I can say with certainty that my loyalty toward you is stronger than ever! I swear to spare no effort in supporting you however I can!”

Really now? Is that your loyalty or hunger talking?

Either way, I could take on a hundred Yavkas at once as I was now, so it was no skin off of my back.

After thanking me profusely for the gift of my blood, Yavka took her leave, stepping with such exaggerated gracefulness which seemed like her attempt at making up for her episode just a moment earlier.

And then the next day, shortly after my training with Virossa, she showed up again.

“Um, Your Highness...about the blood you gave me yesterday...”

Already back for more?

“If at all possible...would you be willing to preserve the blood you shed during your training for my subordinates in Evaloti...?”

Oh? She wants it, but not for herself?

“What for?”

“After tasting your blood, I no longer feel my rationality challenged by the taste of human blood...” she said, a mournful expression on her face. “Actually...I partook of some human blood earlier, from one of the citizens of Evaloti. Compared to your blood, it tasted like it was absent of flavor entirely. I felt no desire to keep drinking.”

Huh. So it only took one taste to turn her into a gourmet, huh?

“All of the men I have brought to Evaloti are discerning and possess an abundance of self-control. But if they were to taste your blood even once, it would eliminate the possibility of an unfortunate accident altogether. I...am not sure whether or not that is truly a good thing for us, but...” she trailed off, turning hungry eyes on me again.

“It appears she is an addict after all...”

It sure does...but hey. Giving vampires a taste for demon blood?

“Sounds like a...potentially interesting development, don’t you think?” Ante said. I could hear the wicked grin in her voice. It took a lot of willpower to not make the same expression myself.

“Very well.” I accepted her request. It would help keep the people of Evaloti safe, but above all...vampires were always going to be vampires. They were beasts. It was impossible to tame their thirst for blood. So I’d show them there was better prey out there than humans.

Right now, I was sure they wouldn’t try anything. But once things started to unravel in the kingdom...who could say for sure? When the demons got pushed into a corner, when they were wounded and bleeding, how would the vampires react?

After that, whenever I trained with Virossa in the autonomous zone, a few vampires would show up and taste some of my blood. Watching as middle-aged vampires writhed along the floor upon tasting my blood was a pretty unpleasant sight to say the least. And Yavka, as their leader, was always present—always drooling and twitching as she lapped it up right alongside them. Well, the responsibility would be on her hands should anything happen, so I guessed I’d let her have a bit of a bonus.

And then came the arrival of Fifth Demon Princess Spinezia Sauroe and her army to Evaloti.

†††

“What the hell is going on here...?”

As I gave Yavka some blood, I could practically hear the speaker behind me cringing. Turning around, I saw Spinezia, clad in her Bon Dage outfit and munching on an apple as she watched us with open disgust.

“Oh, Spinezia. You’re here.”

She had sent a notice ahead of her arrival, but after she hadn’t shown up for a while, I’d decided to kill time with some training. And as usual, Yavka and her crew had turned out to lap up the blood that I had spilled everywhere. Vampire men were writhing all over the floor, while Yavka at least had built up a bit of a tolerance to my blood and so had kept some semblance of decency. But that didn’t stop her expression from taking on uncontained ecstasy as drool dribbled out of her mouth.

“What is...this?”

“I guess you could say I’m feeding them?” I replied as Spinezia marched in, muttering under her breath about how stupid it was to give demon blood to a vampire.

“What’re you trying to do? Teach them how to drink demon blood?”

“Yes.”

“...What?” My reply left Spinezia stunned. What was going on here would be pretty easy to figure out for any onlookers, so I was making no effort to hide it.

“Apparently my blood is pretty appetizing, and after tasting it, they can’t even stand human and beastfolk blood anymore. At least this way they won’t overindulge in blood from the citizens of the autonomous zone, so there’s less risk of accidents happening and people dying.”

“Huh. Your blood is that good, is it?” The Gutsy Gorger turned an all too serious look on me.

“For vampires,” I answered emphatically.

“I know, I know. It was just a joke.”

“It never sounds like a joke coming from you. In any case, just letting them take the blood I was spilling anyway has them working like madmen. It’s a small price to pay.” They had even taken it upon themselves to clear out the rubble in the city. All because they wanted my blood so badly.

“And what’ll you do if they start coming after demons for their blood?” she asked.

“I’ll destroy them, of course. Why would we be scared of weaklings like them?” I replied, motioning with my chin to the vampires convulsing pathetically on the floor. Yavka was a viscount, but the rest of them were all knights and baronets. Basically trash.

“Well...that’s true.” Spinezia nodded. A count would only need one hand to take on this gaggle of vampires. Though they posed a threat to ordinary humans, they were no more than pests to demons. Only kids whose horns hadn’t grown in yet would be scared of them.

Besides, my blood was only tasty because it had the magic of a high-level demon. So if vampires sought out blood for the flavor, they’d have to target high-level demons. That wasn’t something they could do on a moment’s notice. Not while the demonic kingdom’s authority was still solid. Though even if they did go crazy and start killing demons (other than myself), I couldn’t have cared less.

“And don’t worry. These guys won’t be leaving the autonomous zone anymore.”

“I guess it’s fine then.” In the end, judging by the cold gaze Spinezia cast upon them, she determined this matter was beneath her concern. “Anyway, it looks like your training is pretty intense. It seems the rumors were true,” she said, looking my blood-drenched form up and down. Not far away, Liliana was sitting while patiently waiting, and Layla was standing with towels at the ready. It was a safe bet that I was the only one in the entire demonic kingdom who had access to unlimited healing. A resource which allowed me to carry out training to the death.

“You’ve been fighting that human?” Spinezia asked, glancing over at Virossa as he slid his weapon back into its sheath.

“Yeah.”

“This human really did a number on you, huh?”

Oh? She didn’t know? “I know what it looks like, but he is a Swordmaster.”

Spinezia gave an impressed hum as she appraised Virossa from head to toe. The night elf Swordmaster replied with a polite bow. “Training with a Swordmaster, that’s pretty bold of you. Did you take his family hostage or something?”

“Something like that.”

If she didn’t know about Virossa, I wasn’t about to spill the beans. She likely hadn’t done much research on me considering she was on her way back from the front lines. She’d probably figure it out eventually, but it would be quite educational to see how long it took her agents to discover it.

“Didn’t you have a night elf Swordmaster among your people?” She scowled at me.

Oh. Never mind then. “So you knew all along?” I gave Virossa a wink, prompting him to shift back into his night elf form.

“That’s pretty tasteless of you. Where’s your charm?” Spinezia sighed, taking another bite out of her apple, paying no mind to the seeds and stem she was now chewing.

“I wouldn’t want you to find me tasty.”

You’re the one who initiated this conversation by bringing up how much I got beat up. Trying to see if I’m quick on my feet, huh? You’re being just as “charming” as I am.

“So, can I help you with something?” I cut right to the chase. There was no way Spinezia would have come here if it was just to drop off some captives.

“Oh, nothing in particular. I just wanted to do some family bonding.”

Really now?

Though I was smiling, Spinezia evidently saw the suspicion in my eyes as she gave an awkward shrug and took a plate of cookies from one of her beastfolk servants.

“Hungry?” She held the tray out to me.

“What are you after?!” I all but shrieked. The Gutsy Gorger was offering food to someone else?!

“Oh come on, even I know how to share!” Spinezia scowled again, but I didn’t miss the shock on the faces of her servants behind her. Apparently Spinezia had caught on to where my attention was as she quickly spun around and shouted, “What are all of you looking surprised for?!”

“I mean, you ate our rations just the other day!”

“Oh shut it! I’ll shave the lot of you!”

“Now you’re just being a tyrant!”

It looked like Spinezia got along pretty well with her beastfolk servants. Though that last comment had Porkun sticking his head out one of the castle windows.

She didn’t mean you. Sit down.

Spinezia sighed. “I have to admit, this new Bon Dage Style has helped rein in my appetite a bit. Before...it was kind of hard for me to control myself.”

Kind of hard? Really? You could barely squeeze a word out with all the food you were scarfing down your throat.

“I’m here to spend time with you. Seriously,” she said around a mouthful of cookies, a troubled look encroaching on her expression.

“Though it appears this bonding experience idea might not have been her doing...” Ante commented.

Was this all Aiogias’s idea? Had he sent her here to investigate me? It felt like he could’ve done better in finding someone more suited to the job... As I continued to look at her with doubt, she snapped her fingers, putting up a soundproof barrier.

“Is there anything you need help with?” she asked, with the fakest smile I’d ever seen.

Wow, a straight shooter! Please! Aiogias, find someone better next time! This girl is not at all cut out for this!

Talking on the parade ground—especially when I was all bloody—was kind of silly. So after getting cleaned up (and secretly doing some healing for the citizens of Evaloti), I met with Spinezia again in the castle.

She was now chewing her way through the food we had prepared for her, though I couldn’t say I was confident we had what it took to satisfy the needs of her stomach. I could only hope she wouldn’t set her sights on the food intended for the people of the city... However, considering she’d brought her own food with her, she seemed at least somewhat considerate of our position.

“I’ll go ahead and eat first so I can concentrate later,” she had said, loosening the fastener on her outfit, and thus putting her full abilities as the Gutsy Gorger on display. I sat by and waited patiently while she stuffed herself.

Her servants barely had time to cut the roast beef before it disappeared into her mouth.

“Wouldn’t it be faster to just forgo the cutting and eat it as is...?” I murmured. I meant it as honest feedback, but she immediately glared back at me like I was completely out of line. Yeah...while the quantity of food and the speed at which she ate it was absurd, her manners were pristine.

“Even so, that is still an incredible amount of food...”

True enough. The way she ate made her look so desperate. What had happened to her self-control from earlier when she offered me a cookie? As usual, all I could do was be an audience to her lengthy feast, a sight that in itself made me feel bloated and overstuffed.

“Phew...”

After eating through everything I had prepared for her along with quite a bit of her own stock, Spinezia finally leaned back with a sigh, rubbing her swollen belly. Even as I watched, I could see the swelling starting to shrink... It was honestly kind of creepy.

“Thanks to the Bon Dage outfit, I can suppress my cravings for as long as I need to, but there’s some backlash when I let them loose again...” she explained.

What a horrific cost. That explained why she’d eaten with such desperation despite her calmness earlier.

“I’m feeling a bit more comfortable now,” she said, resetting the fastener on her outfit at about halfway before she started munching on some cookies again. Her servants brought out some dessert for me as well. As expected of the Gutsy Gorger, she had quite the skilled baker at her disposal, and the dessert was really good. I had to wonder what race the baker was...

“Woof woof!”

By the way, Liliana was sitting at my feet, having her own meal. She was usually happy enough eating fruit and vegetables, but now she was looking up at me with sparkling eyes.

“You want a cookie too?”

“Bark!”

I held a cookie out for her, and she happily gobbled it up. Typically, forest elves were vegetarians who only ate fruit and vegetables. But Liliana here had found herself captive to the allure of baked sweets long ago. That appeal wasn’t lost on her even in her current state as she happily scarfed down cookies as I held them out.

“How should I put this... It looks like you really do love her. In your own way, of course.” Looking up, I saw Spinezia staring intently at me.

“Is that how it looks?”

“The way you smile as you look at her makes it hard to believe you’re the kind of freak who’d destroy a high elf’s psyche just for your own pleasure.”

Huh. I had no idea I was making any kind of face like that. Kinda feels like I’m in a bind here. Maybe I should try to come across as more brutish. Well, here goes.

“Oh, you know. The idea of a proud high elf sitting at my feet, in such a disgraceful condition...it really sets a fire in me.”

“Woof!”

“You want another one? Here, open up.”

Without a second thought, I immediately softened up again, leading Spinezia to drop her head into her hands.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“No, it’s nothing...” She shook her head before collecting herself, looking up with a strained smile. “I can’t help but be curious about what authority you wield that is capable of destroying her mind so thoroughly,” she said. Though it seemed half like she was talking to herself, the other half seemed like she was poking fun at me.

Oh, wanna know how my magic works? Too bad. It’s confidential.

I patted Liliana on the head, giving Spinezia nothing more than a silent smile.

“Anyway, since it’s you, I’m sure you have a pretty good idea of why I am really here,” Spinezia continued, stuffing a strawberry tart into her mouth. “But truthfully, it was my idea to form a connection with you.”

Huh. So that all but confirmed her presence here was Aiogias’s doing, but she felt it would be advantageous for her to get close to me on a personal level too. Or at the very least, she saw value in making me see things that way. Even if we would inevitably be enemies in the future.

“What’s the harm in that? We are siblings after all,” I replied with a smile, getting a hard look from her.

“Of course, if I just suggested we swap info, I doubt you’d bite.”

“Well, no,” I replied. There would be nothing in it for me, really.

“So to get back to our previous topic,” she continued, reaching for her tea. “Don’t think of it as just a sign of friendship. It’s more like I don’t mind lending a hand if you need help with something or help finding something. At least, as much as I can.” And she would use that information to see what she could learn about me. Though that analysis would almost certainly be handled by Aiogias, not her.

I gave a thoughtful hum. This deserved some thought. It wasn’t an especially bad idea. The only deadly secret I held was my true identity. Things like my dabbling in Necromancy or Ante’s authority (or supposed authority, as a Devil of “Constraint”) wouldn’t be that damaging if they got out. In the end, as long as I could keep building strength, I could mow down anyone that wasn’t the Demon King.

As I mulled it over, I was thankful I knew Spinezia had nothing but Naming and Hunting Ground behind her. That made things a lot easier. I’d already had my fill of scary run-ins after the situation with Gorilacia’s Effusura.

“A truly terrifying experience indeed.”

After that, I’d had Sophia give me a list of all the known Bloodline Magics among the demonic families. Unfortunately, the list wasn’t quite exhaustive as it was missing some of the minor families and those that were particularly tight-lipped.

Anyway, I did have a personal interest in the Sauroe family’s Bloodline Magic.

“Out of curiosity. Is it possible to enchant objects with your Hunting Ground?”

Spinezia chuckled. “Who knows?” With a mischievous smile, she propped her head up on the table with one hand.

“Okay then. I know you’re busy, so let’s call it a day—” I said, draining my tea and standing up.

“Wait! Okay, okay, fine! The answer is yes! It’s possible for people who are particularly strong!”

Wow, she was pathetic. If she was going to fold that easily, she should have saved me the trouble and just spilled it from the start!

Hunting Ground was the Sauroe family’s Bloodline Magic. I had been told it was a kind of barrier that bore whatever properties the user wished. It couldn’t be moved once deployed, so unlike most other magic used by demons, it was much more defensive in nature. Even so, its vast range of applications made it a valued asset among high-level demons.

Something had crossed my mind earlier. It was about Claire. She had spent the past few days locked up in the library reading. Though I was sure she had figured out I was healing the people of Evaloti by now, she hadn’t said a word about it when I went to provide her with magic.

If at all possible, I wanted Claire on my side. If not...I wanted to get some information out of her at the very least. I had to. As one of Enma’s closest associates, she knew more about that underground palace than anyone. There could be something there that could help in defeating Enma once and for all. But in either case, however I ended up dealing with Claire, Enma’s observation and intervention made her an obstacle. Ante and I were racking our brains as I was making progress on my Necromancy studies...but this was a century-old master we were dealing with. There weren’t going to be any quick and easy answers for us.

On a fundamental level, Necromancy was magic that affected the soul. In order for magic to reach a soul in a distant place, it had to go through the spiritual world. In other words, if I could sever Claire’s ties to the spiritual world, maybe that would also sever Enma’s control over her.

Hunting Ground was capable of all sorts of things, and if it was possible to enchant an item with its properties, that made things much easier.

“There is something I am interested in personally,” I said offhandedly, as if it were just an aside. “It doesn’t need to be that big, maybe large enough to cover a small room. But could you make something that totally cuts off the ability to use magic?”

Spinezia stared at me, blinking slowly. “It’s not impossible.” I could practically see the wheels spinning in her head, as though she was trying to peer through the curtains to my hidden intentions. “Does this have something to do with the fortress that father gave you?”

Oh, so you wanna talk about that, huh? I had figured it was about time people figured out about Fort Aurora. Since the Corvut family was involved in the reconstruction, it was more than obvious word would reach Rubifya eventually. Though whether Topazia the Sleeping Beauty of the Corvut family, or Daiagias who had nothing but sex and Bon Dage clothing on his mind, cared enough to notice was anyone’s guess. In any case, it seemed news had finally spread to Aiogias’s faction as well. Maybe that was why Spinezia had been sent here.

“Not directly.” There was no direct correlation between my request and the research I was doing there. Not yet anyway. I would keep my Necromancy knowledge under wraps for a little longer. The Demon King knew, so it was only a matter of time before it became common knowledge, but the longer it took for that to get out the better. So I’d keep it a secret for the time being and let them dig, pry, and speculate all they wanted. It would be good bait.

“So what’s with that fortress anyway? Father’s never given me anything that big before.” Spinezia pouted, not bothering to hide her jealousy.

“I’m just borrowing it. It’s not actually my property.”

“What are you using it for?”

I made a bit of a show of hesitating. See, we already had a soundproof barrier up. But here was the unfortunate thing: the stronger the caster, the larger the barrier they could produce. This one encompassed not just the two of us, but also all of my servants as well as Spinezia’s. So I put a finger on the table, letting magic run out into it and form letters across its surface.

“Highly confidential. I’m doing research into something of royal interest. Not allowed to talk about it without father’s permission.”

There. It was the king’s problem now. If the king gave me permission to speak, then fine. But I suspected he’d most likely try to dodge the issue. I doubted he wanted it to get out that I was practicing Necromancy, and he certainly didn’t want it getting out that we were working on countermeasures for dealing with Enma.

Spinezia stared at the words on the table as if trying to bore a hole through them with her eyes. Once I had given her a reasonable amount of time to memorize the message, I erased it. Rubbing her forehead like she was struggling with a headache, Spinezia grabbed another fruit tart.

“You realize I’m royalty too, right?”

“In that case, you should have no problem asking father about it yourself,” I replied with a smile, getting a frown out of her. Spinezia was apparently quite magically talented, capable of wielding all attributes with the exception of light. Supposedly, by coupling that with her Hunting Ground, she was basically invulnerable to any kind of ordinary elemental magic. But when it came to something like Necromancy, which required pure dark magic, her talent wasn’t so exceptional.

“You’re only six years old, right?” she grumbled, as if to complain that the king would entrust something so important to a child.

“In this world, at least,” I said, hinting at my time spent lost in the Abyss. Though really, I meant in this life.

“Maybe I’ll go wander around the Abyss myself one of these days.”

“I won’t try to stop you.”

We stared at each other for a moment. As I sat unflinching before her gaze, her expression took on that of a military commander perplexed at the notion of trying to topple a mountain fortress.

“If you let me in on a bit more, I can get you that enchantment you want,” she tried again.

“Would you really trust anything I said if I spilled it that easily?”

“Not at all...”

“Exactly. I’m telling the truth. The enchantment I’m looking for is unrelated to my research. Maybe there could be a connection, but I don’t know. I just want to experiment for myself.”

If a Hunting Ground enchantment was capable of cutting off magical intervention like that, I might be willing to let a little something slip about my Necromancy research. If we could lure Enma into a large-scale barrier, preventing her from escaping into the spiritual world, it would be possible to put her down for good. That’s what I wanted to prove.

“Once I can confirm if it would be of any help...well, maybe then we can continue this conversation.”

And this has nothing to do with our factional differences. This is a project for the kingdom as a whole. You want to be part of that, don’t you? Just say the word and you could buy yourself an invitation into that project right now...

Spinezia leaned back, putting a hand to her mouth as she thought. There was no hiding the curiosity shining in her eyes. “Then I guess we’ll just say you owe me one until then.”

“What happened to the sign of friendship?”

You brought that up, remember?

Spinezia sputtered a bit as some food got caught in her throat. Man, she was just too easy.

“Okay, fine. I’ll get you something enchanted with our Bloodline Magic. Just the size of a room, right?” She sighed, motioning to the room we were in.

“Yes. That would be extremely helpful.” This was just a verbal promise, not a binding contract, so I couldn’t thank her too much.

“Then one last thing.” I had thought the conversation was over, but Spinezia kept going, turning another serious look on me. “Does this have anything to do with the Corvut or Gigamunt?”

The families of Topazia and Daiagias? Ah, so that’s what all of this is really about.

“No need to worry. I have yet to even share a cup of tea with Rubifya. I haven’t made any final decisions yet.”

Don’t worry, I’m not on their side.

“I see.” She visibly relaxed, leaning back in her chair. By the look on her face, it was clear a sense of relief was washing over her...followed by the leathery sound of her outfit’s fastener loosening.

“I’m starving!”

Wait, really? I know you feel like this is a job well-done, but...

As if this were all par for the course, her servants didn’t hesitate for a moment in bringing out more food. Meanwhile, my maids looked on in horror as the thought crept into their minds of having to dredge out more food to satisfy her stomach’s whims.

And so I managed to put in my order for a tool to block out magic...

...at the price of a chunk of Evaloti Castle’s emergency food supply.

†††

Spring came and went, bringing the advent of summer in Evaloti. With his City Guard training finished for the day, Tafman enjoyed a refreshing shower, then marched energetically through the former capital—which had started to gain a renewed sense of liveliness. Thanks to Demon Prince Zilbagias’s occasional visits, there were no more severely wounded individuals left in the city. In exchange for the healing, everyone was forced to work. But that rejuvenated workforce had the face of the city back to a reasonable imitation of its former self.

Tafman passed many familiar faces, but gradually unfamiliar ones were getting mixed in with the crowd. With the eastern half of Deftelos now fully under demonic control, those who had failed to escape to the neighboring kingdoms had been captured and brought to the autonomous zone. Evaloti’s population had grown to many times its initial size. As vice captain of the City Guard, Tafman made it a point to check in around the city as much as possible, but even he could no longer keep up with all the new arrivals.

Isabella and Nina never got brought here, huh? Tafman thought as he watched a woman deeply involved in her weaving.

Isabella and Nina were respectively the wife and daughter of one of his comrades. They had escaped Evaloti with the retreating army, but he had no idea if they had successfully made it out of the country, or if they had been killed in the fighting that ensued afterward. Not knowing gnawed at him. And besides...

It’s not like escaping guaranteed an easier life for them...

That realization brought a cloud of gloom over his thoughts. Would they have been better off being captured and brought to the autonomous zone than living as refugees in a foreign country? He couldn’t help but feel that way, even knowing how unstable the peace that Evaloti now stood on was.

Tafman was now receiving training from the new arrivals in the autonomous zone who had experience with military leadership.

When the autonomous zone had been first established, Tafman’s appointment as vice captain had been a temporary measure to keep the City Guard united. And among the new arrivals, there were many with far more leadership experience. Tafman couldn’t wait to relinquish his position and return to his role as an ordinary soldier, but unfortunately the city’s situation barred that from happening. This was partially due to the strong relationship he had built up with the City Guard, but more importantly appointing those experienced leaders (former nobles and their servants) to his position might trigger a response from the demons. And that was without mentioning how many of those new arrivals were far too old to shoulder the load of such a leadership position. That meant Tafman was trapped in his role as vice captain, the newly arrived leaders settling for being his advisors or assistants.

Recently, that group had started ganging up on him. They forced him to learn tactics, as well as basic reading, writing, and mathematics. Though he was entirely uneducated, Tafman wasn’t stupid, and his experience in combat gave him an intuitive sense for surveying a battlefield. Seeing Tafman’s unrealized potential, his new helpers had become desperate to see that potential fulfilled.

He couldn’t just refuse. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. He couldn’t see any future where they overcame the demonic armies, nor one where they survived just fighting that monster of a demon prince, but that didn’t mean he could give up.

With the war still ongoing, the demonic armies continued their advance against the Alliance. And as they did, the population of the autonomous zone continued to climb. One autonomous zone rising up in rebellion would be squashed like a pest. But if multiple autonomous zones rebelled at once, and if the Alliance provided them with support, then maybe...

Though that plan still had plenty of holes. They had no way to communicate with the other autonomous zones, nor to synchronize with the Alliance. At worst, a rebellion elsewhere might set off a chain reaction of revolts across that kingdom. That naturally positioned Evaloti, the first autonomous zone to be established, as the front line of the war.

If it came to that, they had to be ready. Under Charlotte’s tutelage, the surviving apprentice priests were undergoing intense training. Even among the City Guard, there was no shortage of men who had sworn revenge against the demons and trained themselves to the bone in pursuit of greater heights—to awaken new talent as Swordmasters.

Seeing the determination those around him carried as he went through his daily training, Tafman couldn’t bring himself to give up on his own leadership training either. If they just surrendered and did as they were told, they’d be no better than slaves. And the difference between slaves and the citizens of Evaloti was enormous. In order to protect the transient peace they had here in Evaloti, they needed to fight and win a future for themselves. He needed to show that he was still fighting.

Though with his new education, and with all he had learned about the demons from the prince, he was starting to see that the reality they lived and the dream they desired were on opposite sides of a vast valley. That realization tormented him every day. All that stress was too much for a simple rank-and-file soldier like Tafman. And so twice a week, he found himself at the local pub, where he left his problems at the door in the best way he knew how.

“Welcome!”

As he opened the door to a pub facing the main street, loud voices and the heat of the crowd spilled out. The smell of spices in the air stimulated the appetite. Human waiters and waitresses raced across the floor, while a nervous-looking green-skinned humanoid stood behind the counter, scribbling industriously away in his notebook.

This restaurant was called Bistro Three, the highest class establishment here in the autonomous zone. Though it was run by a hobgoblin, the chefs were all skilled humans hired from within Evaloti. There were other restaurants and watering holes run entirely by the citizens of Evaloti, but as this one had been set up by a citizen of the demonic kingdom, it was a cut above the rest. The food was delicious and the drinks were incredible. They had high-end alcohol! Here, in Evaloti!

It was no exaggeration to say that Tafman’s salary existed to be burned at this restaurant. For the record, his salary as vice captain was effectively the same as that of the other members of the City Guard. He was only given a small additional allowance as compensation for the extra burden placed on him by his leadership training. And the whole thing disappeared in a flash, bonus and all, right into Bistro Three’s pockets.

“Oh, you again? You sure seem to like it here.” The hobgoblin owner gave a toothy grin as he noticed the entering Tafman. “Rejoice. Today, we have some alcohol in stock that’s far more high-end than even this place deserves. Granted, no one has ordered it since it’s so expensive...”

“What?! What is it?!” Tafman couldn’t help but lean forward over the counter.

The hobgoblin chuckled. “Warlito Bimi.”

Warlito Bimi was a distilled liquor produced in the eastern reaches of Deftelos. It wasn’t quite the legend that Arien Bimi was, but its mellow flavor and affordability to the common people made it an especially beloved brand.

“How much?!” Tafman gulped...and the owner raised four fingers. Tafman grunted like he had taken a punch to the gut. That was a lot. Viciously expensive even. But...!!! “Give me a glass!”

“Any food to go with it?”

“Just the usual!”

The hobgoblin bobbed his head, scratching something happily into his notebook. As a combination of excitement and defeat overwhelmed him, Tafman made his way to his favorite seat.

At first, he had been pretty prejudiced against the hobgoblin owner of the restaurant.

But despite their looks, hobgoblins might be the best the demonic kingdom has to offer...

Recently, his opinions had started to shift. The smug looks the night elves always had made you want to punch them in the face. Demons and devils were obviously out of the question. The cat beastfolk made no effort to hide their distaste for humans, and their open hostility toward the dog beastfolk was too much to bear. There weren’t that many ogres around, but Tafman wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to get near one.

That left the hobgoblins who were, for lack of a better word, pretty normal. Though they typically carried themselves with a detached and overly businesslike air, for better or for worse, they had a dryness in their attitude that well suited merchants. Plus, they could even smile, as insincere as those smiles appeared. With no critical flaws to their name, they were extremely well positioned, relatively speaking. And while the prices this particular hobgoblin charged were exorbitant, the quality of his services very much matched them. Many refused to step foot in the restaurant, loudly declaring they’d never be caught dead drinking a goblin’s swill. But those who overcame that prejudice and became regulars were all people with good taste in alcohol.

As he waited, Tafman looked around at the civilians of Evaloti happily sharing drinks. He happened to notice that right beside him, seated right in the corner of the restaurant, was an unfamiliar face.

Their small and slender frame made him think it was a woman. Despite the majority of new arrivals being women and children, there were still slightly more men than women currently in the autonomous zone. Even so, seeing a woman all by herself in an establishment such as this was quite the rare sight. She had a cup of the cheapest ale the restaurant had to offer, but it had hardly been touched. Instead, she was making her way through one of Bistro Three’s flagship dishes, one renowned for its extraordinary spiciness.

“You waiting for someone, miss?” Normally he’d leave someone like this alone, but there was almost a sense of loneliness in her demeanor, so he tried striking up a conversation.

“No,” she replied after some hesitation. “It’s just me.” Getting this attention seemed to take her by surprise, but she nevertheless responded rather calmly. Her voice was confirmation enough that she was a woman, and quite a young one at that.

“I see. You’re making quick work of that plate. I heard it’s got quite the kick.”

“I like spicy stuff. So I eat here every once in a while,” she replied, gobbling up another spoonful of mustard. Any normal person would have been chugging their drink to ward off the spiciness of that dish, but she didn’t so much as twitch. She really must have loved spicy food.

“Wow... Oh sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. The name’s Tafman. Nice to meet you,” he shook off his amazement to introduce himself properly.

“My, how polite.” The woman pulled down her hood. Her tied up flaxen hair, her refined features, made her look almost like a doll... “I’m Claire. Nice to meet you.” And she smiled, in a way that seemed almost too perfect.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Claire.”

She was rather cute, so he was sure she’d leave a strong impression on anyone who crossed paths with her, but Tafman had no recollection of ever meeting her. That must have meant she was one of the recent arrivals to the autonomous zone.

Kinda hard to ask about that, right?

Tafman went quiet. He wasn’t so bold as to barge into the personal affairs of someone he had just met. Maybe he would try it with some grisly old guy, but not with a woman.

“It’s gotten pretty hot these days, hasn’t it?” So he ended up falling back on a rather cliché conversation starter.

“Oh... Y-Yeah, it has.” But Claire gave a rather suspicious response, her smile not moving in the slightest. She then slipped off her heavy cloak and made a big show of fanning herself.

“Well...it’s pretty cool tonight though...”

“Oh, right! With my limited wardrobe, it’s kind of tough managing temperature!” She then put her cloak right back on.

I stuck myself with quite the weirdo, huh? Tafman thought.

“If needing clothes is an issue, I know just the place that can help you out,” he suggested.

She had to have a good chunk of change to her name if she was eating at this establishment. But then, why didn’t he have any idea who she was?

“What kind of work do you do?” Tafman asked, dropping his voice a little. She apparently took his change in tone very seriously as her expression immediately went blank.

“I...work in the castle.”

“What? The castle?” Tafman’s eyes went wide. As a member of the first group inducted into the autonomous zone, Tafman had never heard of a human working in the castle. He was pretty sure the administration was entirely made up of night elves, devils, and hobgoblins.

“I’m, uh, not one of the normal citizens of the autonomous zone.” Claire shrugged with an awkward smile. “I... My father was a low-level government official, so I have pretty good handwriting. Some weird demon took a liking to it, so he kept me around as his personal prisoner. Think of me as a skilled slave. He has me doing all kinds of work, like rewriting reports he gets from the night elves, or writing out the letters he dictates. Stuff like that.”

“Ah... I’ve never heard of jobs like that.”

“Anyway, one thing led to another, and I found myself here in the autonomous zone. I’m less of a new captive here, and more a longtime slave of the demonic kingdom.”

“I see. No wonder we’ve never met.”

She had come to the autonomous zone by different means than the other humans, so he could understand why he had never come across her. And it made sense she could come and go from the castle if she was already used to working for the demonic kingdom. If she was responsible for handling documents in the castle, she probably got paid at least as much as Tafman, if not considerably more.

“What about you?” she asked.

“I’m...the City Guard’s vice captain,” Tafman replied awkwardly. He still wasn’t quite comfortable with a fancy title like “vice captain.”

“Oh, vice captain? Wow! I thought your name sounded familiar. Here I was, talking to Vice Captain Tafman all along.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” As far as he knew, there was no other “Tafman” in Evaloti.

“Here you are!” A waitress stepped up, delivering Tafman’s food and drink.

“Oh, it’s here!” Tafman’s face lit up instantly as he was presented with his meal: a wooden mug filled to the brim with Warlito Bimi, and a plate of summer vegetables fried with cheese, then roasted in the oven until crunchy. Meat was a rare luxury here in Evaloti, so there was only a little bacon added, but it was still a fantastic dish.

Hmm. I might have made a mistake...

While basking in the flavorful aroma, he realized his blunder. He had ordered his usual dish like always, with no thought for how it would pair with the mellow taste of Warlito Bimi.

No! I won’t know until I try it! First things first...

He lifted the mug to his mouth with both hands.

“It’s... It’s perfect!” Tafman crowed, tears welling up in his eyes. The alcohol rushed through him, invigorating his exhausted body. He could feel it infusing with each of his organs. It was many times stronger than any ale, yet the mellow flavor made it easy to keep drinking.

Oh no! This stuff is dangerous!

He had tasted Arien Bimi once before. Back then, he had partaken in the drink alongside his comrades just before they had abandoned their fortress and retreated. It had belonged to his commander who had fallen in combat. Compared to that magnificent drink, Warlito Bimi was clearly made with the working man in mind. When you wanted to chat with friends in the pub and were looking for a drink to knock back, this was exactly what you needed. But it was so expensive! If he didn’t keep his wits about him, his month’s wages would go up in smoke! The urge to chug the stuff came over him, but he just couldn’t. He glared down at the cup in his hands, so much of its contents already gone.

The soft sound of Claire trying and failing to stifle a laugh came from beside him.

“Oh...sorry.” He had completely forgotten about her, lost in his own world. That was plainly rude.

“Don’t worry about it. You love your alcohol, huh?” He couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed at the way this girl the same age as his niece laughed at him. “If you’re the vice captain, shouldn’t you be able to drink as much of this stuff as you want?” she asked.

“No... I get paid the same as any other guard...”

“Huh? Why?”

“I’m not all that important to be lording my position over others.” Tafman shrugged, Claire staring at him in silence.

“Is it really that good?”

“It is. It really is.”

“Huh. Maybe I’ll give it a try.” Calling over a waitress, Claire ordered her own mug of Warlito Bimi. The casual way in which she ordered only further reinforced his assumption that she was loaded with money. In short order, a wooden mug was brought out for her, sloshing with transparent liquid. Claire regarded the beverage coldly.

“To my first meeting with the illustrious vice captain,” she said with a mischievous grin, holding out her mug.

“To cool summer nights,” Tafman jabbed back, clinking his mug against hers.

“Cheers.”

And they drank.

“Hmm...” Claire seemed to chew the beverage, her face expressionless. “Nah, I don’t get it. I really can’t tell the difference between good and bad drinks.”

“Wait, really...?” Tafman turned a look of unveiled shock on her as she entirely failed to be moved by the drink.

“Here, you can have it.”

His shock only grew as she casually placed the mug in front of him after only drinking a single mouthful.

“What?! Are you sure?!”

“I’m sure the drink would be happier to be enjoyed by someone who can actually taste it.” There was a hint of sarcasm, of self-derision, in her voice, but Tafman was far beyond catching it.

“Th-Thank you so much!” Though he was a man who knew how to rein himself in during conversation, he had no shame when it came to alcohol. He showed his thanks to Claire by bowing without hesitation, displaying no concern for public appearances.

Claire’s expression went blank. Maybe she had been put off by his response, or maybe she just didn’t know how to react. “So, uh...not to try and make a business deal out of it, but in exchange, why don’t you tell me a bit more about yourself? What’s the City Guard like? How is work?”

“Well, actually...” With another mug of Warlito Bimi in front of him, Tafman promptly answered all of her questions. “Right now, we have our hands full doing work outside the walls. Like trying to restore the fields and orchards that were destroyed in the war.”

“Oh, really?”

“But it looks like security is going to be pretty rough. Oh, of course I mean protecting the people of Evaloti. ’Cause, y’know, humans in the demonic kingdom...”

“Yeah, I get the picture. Things are complicated.”

“And like our governor said, the other demon princes and princesses might try to mess with us.”

Delicious food, an even more delicious drink, and the company of a young woman pressing him for conversation. Tafman was in higher spirits than he had been in a long time, and so the words poured out of him. He talked about the City Guard, about instability in the autonomous zone, and about rumors that Sebastian had uncovered. While he talked, Claire continued to order food and drinks, sharing them with him as he went.

“So anyway, we’re making progress on rebuilding the villages. But there’s no telling what those demon princes and princesses are gonna do. We still might have to deal with fiends showing up, so we gotta keep at it,” Tafman said, starting to feel the effects of the alcohol as he watched the drink swirling in the bottom of his mug. “But you can leave all that outside the walls business to us. You’re perfectly safe here in the city.”

“Why, thank you. But no worries, I barely get to go out during the day anyway. I’m basically always doing work for the denizens of the dark.”

“Huh?” Tafman gave her a puzzled look. “They have you working all day, even while they’re asleep?” In fact, right about now was the middle of the day for the denizens of the dark. How did she have the free time to hang around with the city’s drunks?

Claire hesitated for a long moment. “That’s exactly why. They want all their work cleaned up and ready by the time they wake up.”

“Ah, so it’s the opposite. I get it.” Tafman nodded.

“But even so, I guess I should get going soon. It was fun talking to a normal person for a change. First time I’ve done that in a while. Thanks.”

“No, thank you! For all of this!” Looking down at the table, Tafman was struck silent by the huge collection of dishes and cups in front of them. “Er... Okay, at least let me pay half...”

“It’s all right, I already paid for it.” Claire shrugged as Tafman reached for his coin purse. “Don’t worry about it. I probably make a lot more than you do. But it’s not like I have much to spend it on when I’m on my own. Really, I don’t. So please take it as a gift, okay?” she finished with a wink. Though he felt embarrassed to be treated by a girl young enough to be his daughter, he knew it would be in poor taste to protest further.

“Then next time, it’s on me,” he insisted.

Claire laughed. “I told you, don’t worry about it. I...don’t really eat that much.” She waved off his offer as she stood. “But you told me so much about yourself this time, so if we meet again, I’ll do a bit more talking. I should be able to share some juicy tidbits I’ve picked up around the castle.”

With that, Claire departed, leaving a faint scent of citrus in her wake. For a moment, Tafman considered walking her home, but they were already on the main street. The castle was quite close, and the city was remarkably safe these days. Anyone vile enough to attack one of their own had died long ago in the fighting.

And so from that day forward, Tafman and Claire regularly met up in the hobgoblin’s bar to exchange information.

†††

Near the border in the western reaches of what was once the Kingdom of Deftelos, Emergias Izanis stood among the rolling hills in full hunting garb. For their role in conquering Deftelos, the Izanis family had been rewarded with this, a strip of land stretching north and south directly adjacent to the Evaloti Autonomous Zone.

“There. That way.” As the night breeze ruffled his hunting garb, Emergias motioned to the forest below him, eyes still closed. The Izanis soldiers arrayed around him moved into the trees.

They were in the middle of a hunt. Emergias and his warriors were unflinching as they navigated through the long untouched wilderness, using a spear or spell to mow down any beast they encountered along the way. Finally, they reached a clearing in the forest where trees had been broken and shattered—signaling the current resident’s dominion over this territory.

An enormous fiend lay within. The creature rose with a roar as the blue-skinned intruders roused it from its slumber. It had huge, bat-like wings, an impressive mane, a large maw resembling a lion’s capable of swallowing a man whole, and a long, snakelike tail tipped with a venomous barb.

This ferocious creature was known as a manticore. Using his Bloodline Magic of Transmission in concert with his authority of Envy, Emergias had located the beast’s lair in the forest. Not even the collective might of a hundred humans could slay this terrifying beast. They were often referred to as “dragons without the breath.”

Even the Izanis soldiers of baron rank and lower grew nervous at confronting it, but Emergias and the other high-level demons were unfazed. After all, even with its massive size, it was still just an animal. It couldn’t hold a candle to the immense magic they wielded.

The manticore bellowed once again as it took notice that Emergias was undeterred by its previous threat. It immediately lunged forward with its claws, perhaps a sign of its now-wounded pride. The manticore moved with unprecedented mobility thanks to its enormous wings, allowing it to cover a hundred paces in the blink of an eye at lightning-fast speed.

But against the warriors of the Izanis family, specialists in wind magic, taking to the sky was a fatal mistake.

“Kresh.”

Fall.

At Emergias’s intonation, a vicious burst of wind struck the beast from above, slamming it into the ground.

The manticore immediately rose back to its feet—

“Spasimo.”

Rip apart.

—only for blades of wind to tear into its face as it moved to make another strike, causing the beast to flinch back.

“My name is Emergias Izanis.” Emergias’s presence tangibly swelled. “The man who shall slay you.”

The manticore cringed back, mane standing on end as it watched him with wide eyes. This was the powerful creature’s first encounter with someone superior to itself.

“Begone!”

With as much menace as he could muster, Emergias unleashed another wave of wind blades at the creature. The blades bit shallowly into the creature’s mane and chest, prompting it to bolt in the opposite direction, its tremendous wings carrying it away at unbelievable speed. In no time, the manticore had vanished into the forest.

“Perfect.”

Looking up to gauge the beast’s trajectory by the position of the stars, Emergias nodded with a faint smile. Just as they had hoped, the manticore had fled east. Having been thoroughly ousted from its former territory, it would never return here.

“Is that the last of the beasts worth ‘hunting’ in this area?” a woman said as she approached Emergias, slinging her spear over her shoulder.

Her name was Hisuizia Izanis, one of Emergias’s closest subordinates. She was strong-willed with the muscles to match, often giving off an even tougher impression than the prince himself. Even still, she was only a viscount. After Emergias’s recent explosive growth catapulted him to the rank of marquis, there was hardly a comparison between the two in terms of strength.

“Let’s see.” Closing his eyes, Emergias unleashed a wave of magical wind, emerging from his feet and rushing through the undergrowth. “I don’t see anything. Seems that manticore was the last one. And it’s still in a panic, running with its tail between its legs. At that speed, it might even catch up to that gorewolf we chased out earlier.” Emergias snorted a laugh, his subordinates around him starting to buzz. He could even pinpoint the location of distant enemies as they fled.

In the Izanis family’s lengthy history, Emergias might very well have been the most proficient user of Transmission. For so long Emergias had been regarded as the family’s shining failure, but recently attitudes toward him were shifting. After prolonged stagnation, his power had finally begun growing once more. Duke was still a distant title, but he was steadily climbing toward it. This hunting excursion was clear evidence that he had grasped a new application for his devil’s authority.

“Let’s hope they all find a nice new home to settle in,” Emergias said sarcastically, getting a round of snickering out of his subordinates.

On paper, their mission today had been to clear out the newly conquered Izanis territory of dangerous wildlife.

“I’m sure the people of Evaloti will appreciate the meat,” one of his subordinates joked, getting another round of laughs.

They hadn’t killed a single one of the large fiends they’d encountered this night. Instead, they had driven them east, toward the newly established autonomous zone. No doubt some would stop running short of Evaloti’s borders, but a good number would likely resettle within it. Why would the Izanis warriors have done such a thing? It went without saying—to cause anguish for not only Zilbagias, but also the Rage family at large.

The Izanis family couldn’t help but be infuriated by the rewards they had been granted for their contributions to the war effort. They had conquered all of the cities and fortresses between the border and Evaloti, taking virtually half of Deftelos’s land themselves. But their reward had been a mere thin stretch of land along Deftelos’s western border. The rich, fertile ground west of the capital had been subsumed by the autonomous zone.

Of course, there was a logical reason for this decision. After the demons had punched through Deftelos’s western defenses, those farmlands were all but undefended. The Izanis family had walked through those lands basically uncontested, so it was hard to argue they had earned them. And after Zilbagias led the Rage family in toppling the capital, the advance had been passed to Spinezia—another member of Aiogias’s faction like Emergias—to secure the remainder of Deftelos’s territory.

In other words, Aiogias’s faction was doing fine, but the Izanis family in particular had received the short end of the stick. After setting their sights on those rich farmlands, they had only been granted a strip of mountainous wilderness. They understood that the plan for those farmlands was to help alleviate the demonic kingdom’s food shortage issue, and that the territory effectively belonged to the Demon King personally. However, it was Zilbagias who had been given governorship of the autonomous zone, and in practice his domain included those farmlands. To add insult to injury, rumors around both the castle and Evaloti had made it clear that Zilbagias saw the contents of the autonomous zone as his personal property. The Izanis family inevitably had come to resent him for snatching up what should have been their spoils.

Thus their current hunting expedition. The autonomous zone had plenty of fertile land, but that autonomy was key. With the demonic army lacking influence in the area, the autonomous zone’s defenses were nigh solely the responsibility of the pathetic humans and beastfolk that inhabited it. With basically no priests, heroes, or Weaponmasters at their disposal, calling what they had an “army” rang as a joke.

In other words, the autonomous zone was still weak and fragile. While they were still trying to cultivate their farmlands, having such vicious beasts—like the ones the Izanis warriors had encountered tonight—moving into their territory would undoubtedly cost the autonomous zone dearly in blood.

“I wonder, can that little governor of ours handle such a tall order?” Emergias said, a satisfied grin on his face. If the agricultural efforts of the autonomous zone fell through, the blame would rest squarely on Zilbagias’s shoulders.

Perhaps he doesn’t have what it takes to rule over such a large territory.

Once such beliefs started to be spun and spread around the aristocracy, the Izanis family would inevitably be able to claw back some of those farmlands that rightfully belonged to them in the first place.

“I can’t wait to find out!”

“Yeah! Let’s see if he can wiggle out of this!”

The Izanis soldiers echoed Emergias’s sentiments with raucous laughter.

They were a close-knit group. Not one of them would let slip what had truly transpired here tonight. While they used the wind to carry the words of others, the wind never spoke of the Izanis family’s own doings.

†††

Some time had passed and a great deal had happened since I became governor of Evaloti.

First of all, there was what remained of the Kingdom of Deftelos. Spinezia had led the Sauroe family in its conquest, crushing the remaining eastern territory of Deftelos and making it their own. With the Izanis family to our west and the Sauroe family to our east, it seemed like the Demon King was trying to scatter everyone’s holdings.

The refugees that had been driven out of the land in Deftelos had narrowly been spared from slaughter and instead carted back to Evaloti. But that didn’t mean that all of them had been saved. Even though the weather had warmed up considerably, not all of those spared had survived the journey. The sick and weak had been effectively abandoned, and those who had been immobilized by their severe injuries had been disposed of on-site. As such, the majority of those who arrived in Evaloti were mobile and in good health.

As a demon prince, I couldn’t protest the methodology. Maybe I just needed to keep in mind how the current circumstances were an improvement over the past. Without the autonomous zone, those sick, weak, and injured would still have been executed. And those healthy and able would have been mercilessly enslaved, put through hell until they eventually died within a few years anyway.

Damn it all.

Of course, the survivors harbored a deep resentment against the demonic kingdom for being forced to leave their loved ones behind, or seeing their friends executed before their eyes. Many arrived as hollow shells of who they once were, while others were filled with a burning passion for revenge and trained themselves to the bone. Every time I visited the autonomous zone, I could sense that the growing renewed liveliness in Evaloti was accompanied by something smoldering under the surface.

It was a scent I knew all too well—the scent of the battlefield.

Speaking of the city, the family of Tavo—my hobgoblin official—had set up a restaurant on the main street. I had made a modest investment in the establishment as well. It was a relatively upscale place, serving citizens who held official positions within the autonomous zone so they could put their salary to use and keep the economy moving. They used a lot of powerful spices in their cooking, which had turned off the keenly sensitive dog beastfolk entirely, making their patronage at the establishment exceptionally rare.

That was, of course, my doing. I had used my clout as an investor to try and make things easier for Claire as she used the place to gather intel. Apparently she had come to terms with the owner being a hobgoblin, understanding that while they looked a lot like the goblins she so vehemently hated, they were technically a completely different race. It was much more common to come across a hobgoblin here than back at the castle, so it was a relief that she wouldn’t go crazy every time she saw one.

“The blacksmith mentioned that apparently the short swords sold for self-defense are flying off the shelves. It seems it doesn’t sit right with them to be walking around unarmed even under the demonic kingdom’s rule.”

Every time I went to resupply Claire with magic, she shared what she had learned at the pub. From requests she had drawn out from merchants, to complaints from the vice captain of the City Guard, and so on.

“Dealing with drunks is so easy. All you have to do is make it sound like you’re listening and they’ll spill everything on their own,” Claire would say with a laugh. Her face was always locked in that polite smile, but something in her tone made it sound like she was actually becoming quite attached to them. Getting attached to the people of the autonomous zone...

Whenever I left Evaloti, Claire would send reports every day through Enma who would then share them with me. Though generally those reports consisted of little more than “nothing especially of note.”

Then there were the slaves I had brought back from the Rage territory: the musician Vigo, the carpenter Dirilo, and the instrument maker Organo. With no suitable place in the Demon King’s castle for human slaves to stay, they had been kept in the night elf prison for quite a while.

All things considered, they were looked after reasonably well. But they were almost never permitted to go outside, and were constantly subjected to screams of agony from those being tortured around them. So even still, they were in quite the hellacious position.

I still regularly visited the night elves for the special healing quota, so I used it as an opportunity to talk with Vigo and the others briefly once a week—basically just me giving them updates about what was going on around the kingdom—and to listen to Vigo perform. I couldn’t say I had grown close to them in any way, but it seemed they understood I wasn’t going to harm them, so they were no longer nervous when dealing with me.

As you might expect, after confirming the three of them were willing to go, I put in a request to have them transferred to the autonomous zone. It was a city of humans and beastfolk, the closest thing to the “outside world” that the hero Leonardo had described to them. They rarely showed even a hint of emotion when talking with me, but there was a noticeable shift in them at the prospect of a change of scenery. Though, when I told them the intention of the autonomous zone (to produce food for the demonic kingdom, then eventually rebel and become a battlefield), that shift seemed to be leaning more toward unease rather than excitement.

“I made a promise with the hero Leonardo to let you three live. Don’t hesitate to ask for my protection should things get dangerous.” So I told them at our last meeting in the prison, but after sharing a brief look, the three men slowly shook their heads.

“I’m sorry, but if it comes to that...we would prefer to share the fate of the autonomous zone. That’s... That’s what we believe Leonardo truly meant about what it means to ‘live.’”

Even if that fate led them to be caught up in the fighting, they would rather die fighting as people than simply surviving as property. I could feel the meaning clearly beneath the surface of Vigo’s words. The flame Leonardo had lit in their hearts, that respect for the dignity of life, still burned in their eyes.

“Very well.” I’d figured they would say as much, so I just nodded casually. After taking a short time to handle preparations, they were carried by bone horse carriage to the autonomous zone.

I wanted to send a message that they were to be received with favor, but doing that for a slave would have been strange coming from a demon prince. So instead, I had Claire spread word of them throughout the autonomous zone as gossip. “Those slaves are the personal property of Demon Prince Zilbagias, but despite promising to spare their lives, he didn’t have any use for them. So he just dumped them here.” That was the story.

No doubt the people of Evaloti would be unable to contain their curiosity at learning what life was like for humans who grew up in the demonic kingdom. And I desperately hoped that would lead Vigo and the others to spread word throughout Evaloti—and eventually the Alliance—about the life of slaves in the demonic kingdom, and the magnificent way Leonardo had carried himself to his end.

As far as the demonic army’s war of conquest was concerned, summer would see the opening battle against the neighboring Kingdom of Areina. Daiagias would be leading the Gigamunt family in the vanguard.

“Honestly, this war stuff is just a pain,” Daiagias grumbled as we sat down for tea—sharing a cup had become a regular thing between us. I suspected that was truly how he felt too. It was an unbecoming attitude for a demon, but Daiagias really had no taste for battle. He got stronger just from fooling around with women, and he enjoyed that as much as he could. As for why the sex-crazed Daiagias took time out from his “work” to drink tea with his little brother, he claimed it was “for the stimulation.”

The birth of the Bon Dage Style after our previous encounter had been a vital lifeline that pulled him out of the rut he had found himself ensnared in. This allowed his strength to continue growing at a steady pace once more. Though all we really talked about was new ideas for Bon Dage Style outfits, and women. Yeah. That’s what he wanted to talk about. With a six year old.

“I can tell you’re different from us. You’re a bit weird. Spending time with you is good stimulation. Who knows, maybe it’ll give me another flash of inspiration.”

Being called “weird” by Daiagias felt like the ultimate defeat...

But despite how much he loathed the idea, Daiagias nevertheless left for the front lines. Though he was soft on other races by demon standards, and had no love for battle, there wasn’t a philanthropic bone in his body. Once he set foot on the battlefield, he’d be merciless. He’d moan about having to kill the cute girls, but he wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone, man or woman.

Though he was the demon closest to understanding my feelings, he was still firmly not on my side. That was Third Demon Prince Daiagias. How many lives would he claim in the coming battle? I couldn’t even begin to guess.

Besides, he and I were alike in that way. When it came down to it, when push came to shove, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone.

†††

The basement of Fort Aurora—my Necromancy laboratory—had the gloomy, dim atmosphere of a morgue. My efforts to ventilate the room had fallen short as a heavy scent of mold still clung to the air. Enma’s palace was burrowed far, far deeper in the ground, but didn’t suffer from anything of the like. Maybe the cramped quarters and poor lighting were the real culprits.

“Okay then... Diastero.”

I poured a little magic into the silver pendant sitting on my desk. A dome-shaped barrier immediately expanded from it. This amulet had been given to me by Spinezia and had been infused with the Bloodline Magic of the Sauroe family.

“Hmm...not bad at all. I think you can make use of this,” Ante hummed, observing the flow of magic around the barrier while in her physical form for a change. Recently, she had taken up a very involved role in helping my Necromancy research. Ante’s magic was fundamentally different from the magic of the material world, so using Necromancy was out of the question for her. However, her extreme sensitivity to magic as a devil along with her theoretical knowledge were invaluable assets.

Within the pendant’s Hunting Ground, it was like being underwater—every breath was a struggle, and any attempts to move felt impeded by resistance. The barrier served to block all magical interference within it. Once inside, only the most powerful could use magic.

“This is kind of incredible. So if I was born into the Sauroe family, I could do a little dance and make barriers just like this? These Bloodline Magics get crazier and crazier...”

Apparently, the Sauroe magic could make a barrier with just about any properties the caster wished. The only requirement to activate it was a short ritual involving spinning in a circle. Hunting Ground wasn’t flashy, but it was absurd in both strength and its wide-ranging applicability. Transposition was similarly ridiculous. It was starting to seem like the Bloodline Magics of the great families were all like that.

“The more I learn about the demonic kingdom, the more I hate it...”

“Gotta say, I’m impressed we won any battles against them at all...”

Barbara and Hessel viewed the barrier with amazement. As ghosts, their ability to sense magic had significantly improved, so they could tell how strong the barrier was at a glance.

“Do you think this will be enough to stop Enma’s interference?” Layla asked, eyes shining. Ever since Layla had learned that Claire and I had history, saving Claire had become something of a personal mission for her. Claire’s plight seemed to torment her just as much as it did me.

Recently, she had even started going over my notes from Enma’s lectures, trying to understand Necromancy for herself. Theoretically, light magic should have the same capability as dark magic to perform the spell that opened a gate to the spiritual world, so there was a good chance she’d pick up something useful. As of late, she had been picking the brains of both me and Ante regarding Necromancy. The questions she asked had shown that she already had a better grasp on the subject than any of those amateurs studying it in the Alliance.

“It does seem more effective than I expected. Let’s give it a try.”

I pulled out a small bone, containing a spirit whose name I didn’t know. It was the lowest level of undead, with virtually no sense of self remaining. Pouring dark magic into the bone, I murmured an incantation to construct an artificial kind of “reason” within the ghost’s mind.

“Here goes nothing.” Leaving the bone within the barrier, I opened the gate. “Come forth, Test Subject 45.”

I summoned the spirit...and nothing happened.

“Okay then. At the very least, the lowest level of undead won’t be able to retreat into the spiritual world.” That was a huge step forward. I couldn’t resist smiling at the progress I was already seeing. “Now, can it stop them from self-destructing?”

Before the words completely left my mouth, the bone inside the barrier collapsed into a pile of ash.

I had given the ghost possessing the bone two instructions: If retreat was possible, open a gate to the spiritual world and go into it; if retreat was impossible, break the spell holding your spirit to the material realm.

“So while the barrier prevents the usage of spells, they can still stop a spell,” Ante murmured. This was a bit of a conundrum for me.

“Stopping outside interference is a big step forward, but...”

“If Enma has rigged Claire to self-destruct in the event of her betrayal, there seems to be nothing we can do,” Ante concluded.

“Couldn’t we stop it with Taboo?”

“Perhaps, but...well, we would need to test it first.”

“Good point. What should I say? Self-destruction is Taboo?”

“Even if it works, it would only be a temporary measure,” the devil warned.

“That’s true, but while things are safe, we could extract her soul...”

As Zilbagias prepared another bone, he and Ante engaged in a discussion using a healthy mix of Necromancy jargon, leaving Layla to watch and listen with unease. She had learned the basics of Necromancy, so she had a decent grasp of what they were talking about, but anything she said would only slow the conversation down. Right now, holding her tongue was the smartest choice.

A soft whine accompanied a rubbing sensation on her leg as Liliana made herself known. Liliana must have sensed Layla’s uneasiness and wanted to offer her encouragement.

“Thank you,” Layla said, stroking the high elf’s hair.

Claire was Zilbagias’s...no, Alex’s childhood friend. Layla had crossed paths with her a number of times in Evaloti Castle, such as when Alex went to supply her with magic, when she was in the library quietly reading, and when she sought out information from the other officials. As an undead with no court rank, Claire’s position in the demonic kingdom was especially terrible. It was widely known that she was one of Zilbagias’s favorites, but that didn’t stop high-level devils from looking down on her power. Even the night elves held a strong distaste for Claire, but that wasn’t unique to her. Due to their religious practices surrounding the dead as worshippers of the gods of darkness, the night elves felt that way about all undead.

Ironically, the ones who responded best to her were the hobgoblins, who were in a similarly low position within the demonic kingdom. Perhaps that had helped Claire shed her visceral hatred of all things goblin.

“They get the short end of the stick thanks to their appearance, huh?” Layla had heard her say once.

When she talked with Alex about the intel she gathered at the pub in the autonomous zone...like Alex had said, it seemed like she was having fun. There was no doubt Claire herself would deny it, but it was impossible to believe she truly wanted to wipe out humanity.

Claire couldn’t express her true feelings and had to juggle watching the expressions of others while changing her own to match. This very much reminded Layla of her days as a pet in the dragon caves. It was like being slowly, gently strangled with a ribbon of silk. Little by little, the pressure intensified until you could no longer breathe. Though, at least in Layla’s case, that luxury of breathing had still been granted to her, so she had been a bit better off.

On that note, the fact Layla could look back on her past and say that life was better than anyone else’s was evidence of just how happy she was now. The brilliant light of the blessings she had in her current everyday life with Alex completely cast out the shadows of her dark past.

But...Claire had no such thing. The light was so close, but she didn’t even know it.

“Honestly, it would be safest to just let her be.”

One time while returning from Evaloti to the Demon King’s castle, exhaustion had lulled Alex to sleep, allowing Layla and Ante to converse freely over Konectus.

“The information that could be gained from making an ally out of Claire pales in comparison to the risk exposing ourselves requires. That’s just how it is. But, even so...”

The best solution would be to destroy Claire outright.

“As he is now...I can hardly suggest that...”

If Alex were the kind of person who could cut off his friends so easily, Ante never would have made a pact with him in the first place. He was the kind of person to act heartlessly, ignoring the pain those choices rained down on him, yet endlessly search for that better answer. Once he had teased out all the possibilities, once he had exhausted every option, once he knew there was no other choice—then and only then would he abandon them.

“I’ve already let so many people die. Hundreds,” Alex had said once. “But that’s no excuse to let anyone else die.”

His eyes had shone with an indomitable will. If he could save even a single life, he would accept the pain of dying a thousand times without hesitation. That was the kind of person he was. That was the Alex that Layla loved.

Layla took a deep breath. If at all possible, she didn’t want him to suffer. She wanted him to find peace. But it wasn’t in his nature to live happily by turning a blind eye to those suffering beneath him. That was one of the best parts about him. Though the sight of Alex running himself ragged as he sought to save others broke her heart, it also ignited an even stronger love for him in her.

And Layla figured Ante shared that sentiment. That’s what she understood from speaking with the devil. Regardless of her posturing, regardless of how much she played up the role of the corrupting devil god, Ante really did like Alex. She really did care about him.

But due to Alex’s desire for power, Ante had dragged him down the path of corruption. She continued to give him power, continued to affirm his suffering. Because that was what Alex himself wanted.

“Agh...!” Not seeing the results he hoped for, Alex scratched his head angrily, messily scrawling in his notebook.

At the end of the road, after all this suffering, would he find the salvation he longed for? Or...

Layla gave another small sigh, trying to expel the muddy feelings inside her. Light magic mixed with her breath, sparkling in the air in front of her. Thanks to receiving her father’s memories, Layla had learned how to fly and how to use the traditional light magic of her ancestors. She could even wield their iconic breath, though apparently being able to do so in human form was unexpected. Even her father hadn’t known anyone who accomplished that feat.

But what difference did that make? When it came to Necromancy, Layla was useless. Her compatibility with Necromancy was as bad as it got. Someone possessing light magic so tremendously strong would eradicate a soul completely.

Suddenly, Layla felt a clap on her shoulder.

“Don’t think yourself into a corner.” The wild-faced beauty Barbara, in the flesh, smiled down at her.

“Everyone has things they can or can’t do. Even as undead, all we can do is swing our swords and hope for the best,” Hessel followed up, his body sporting a narrower face than usual.

“I guess you’re right. Thank you.” Layla smiled awkwardly. She was thankful for their consideration...but Layla had no intention of letting up as she racked her brain for Alex’s sake.

Just a few days prior, Barbara and Hessel had finally acquired Anthromorphy.

After numerous failures, the key ingredient was found at last—having a body belonging to another race. Anthromorphy was a magic that transformed one’s physical body into a human body, so the bodies Barbara and Hessel were possessing needed to be nonhuman for it to work.

“In other words, the ideal situation is one akin to Alex’s.”

It had been Ante who cracked the code. Alex was able to transform into a human because he now had the body of a demon. People who were already human (likely) couldn’t learn Anthromorphy, so she had suggested they try giving them bodies of another race.

However, as a demon prince, acquiring those necessary materials (in other words, dead bodies) was an exceptionally challenging task. Not only would it be problematic if Enma or any of the other factions learned of what he was doing, but the bodies had to be quite well-preserved and intact enough to drink dragon blood.

In the end, he had acquired the body of a beastfolk woman who had succumbed to illness on her way to the autonomous zone, and a forest elf man who had died in the night elf prison. This was all done under the pretense of turning their bodies into ornaments. Layla had assumed that Alex could get any number of bodies he wished from the night elf prison without any problems. So she had been confused as to why it had been an issue at all until learning that apparently the night elf religious practices made Necromancy absolutely forbidden.

“SoNecromancyis a bridge too far for the cruel and sadistic night elves. I can’t tell if that is a good thing or a bad thing...”

Night elves were already vicious enough as it was. If they added being necromancers on top of that, they’d be dangerous beyond belief. In the end, their refusal to work with Necromancy was both a blessing and a curse.

At any rate, Barbara ended up in the body of a beastfolk, and Hessel in the body of a forest elf. Once they drank Layla’s blood, they were capable of using Anthromorphy. As a result of the bodies they were using, Barbara had gained a wild, untamed look while Hessel had taken on somewhat more handsome features.

But unfortunately, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

“Okay, let’s give it a go!” Hessel declared.

“Take it easy. Our reflexes might be as sharp as ever, but our senses being dulled has me worried.”

“I totally get it. But still, this beats being a ghost by a long shot.”

Barbara and Hessel strapped on some leather armor and began taking practice swings with wooden swords. They moved slowly and cautiously; it was as though they were afraid their bodies were made of glass.

Their first weakness was that if they were injured, they couldn’t be healed. Even if they were in human form, they were still fundamentally undead. Healing miracles and Transposition didn’t work on them. If they suffered any damage, they needed to revert back to their undead forms and “repair” themselves. On top of that...

“We don’t want Liliana trying to lick away our scrapes and scratches again...” Barbara said, glancing over at the high elf. Liliana wilted slightly.

Their second weakness was that even while in their human forms, they were still vulnerable to light. Barbara had skinned her knee at one point, so Liliana had hopped over to lick it all better...resulting in Barbara’s kneecap being reduced to a charred mess. They had nothing in the way of resistance to light, and the same applied to the sun. Though Virossa’s existence had given them hope—as he was a night elf Swordmaster who was fine in the sunlight while transformed—the sun was unfortunately not so forgiving to undead.

“On the bright side, that means it won’t be easy for Enma to gain immunity to sunlight...” Alex had muttered with a scowl.

“Getting used to this missing finger is a pain...” Taking a practice swing with his wooden greatsword, Hessel shook his left hand, an unhappy expression on his face. As he shook the hand, the little finger waved lifelessly from the first joint.

In order to test their resistance to sunlight, Hessel had sacrificed his nondominant hand’s little finger. Though the project got shut down the moment his finger had shown signs of reacting poorly to the sunlight, it had already been too late. The damage had been done, both to his body and his soul, causing him to lose function in that finger entirely.

Which led to their third weakness: Bodily damage would also directly impact their souls. Lost body parts would, naturally, not function. For ordinary undead, they moved by will, not by feeling. So Hessel could still move the finger in undead form. But once he transformed into a human, the finger was paralyzed.

“Judging by the precedent we have of a devil using Anthromorphy, your soul should go back to normal after a while, but...” Ante surmised that should the head, heart, or any other critical organ become lost, there was a good chance the whole soul would become unable to sustain itself. In other words, a fatal wound in human form would be unhealable, and they wouldn’t be able to just “die” as they had before. Instead, it was very likely their soul would simply cease to exist.

When you put it all together, though they had been returned to “life,” they still had all the weaknesses of being undead, now coupled with the fragility of being human.

That said, not everything was negative. Being undead had its perks too.

“Just be glad it was your little finger. What if you hadn’t been thinking and used your pointer finger instead?”

“True enough. My grip is a bit weaker, but I still have so much dumb strength... Hah!” Hessel swung his blade again, a blast of wind emanating from it to score the wall of the basement a dozen paces away. It was a Swordmaster’s technique.

Since their senses were the same as they had been in life, they could wholly wield their Swordmaster abilities while transformed, with the added benefit of being able to leverage the greatest possible strength from their muscles. There was a chance that overdoing it physically would have ill effects on their souls, so they still had to be careful. But it seemed that unlike losing body parts, muscle and tissue damage from wear and tear had a significantly smaller impact on their soul.

“Okay, we should be able to make this work. Though, it makes me kinda scared for when things really start to heat up.”

“If you were going to lose something, it should have been that huge nose,” Barbara said, poking at Hessel’s nose with a grin. She was making fun of how using Anthromorphy while in the body of a forest elf had greatly altered his appearance. In the same way, Barbara’s canine teeth were now much longer and sharper.

“That sounds awful just thinking about it. What if I lost my sense of smell?” Hessel replied with a snort, getting a laugh out of Barbara.

An unexpected side effect of the transformation was the return of their senses of taste and smell. Of course they also could feel pain again, but since it signified damage to the body, it was pretty essential. And the sensation was dulled compared to what it had been in life, so it wasn’t much of a bother to them.

Hessel continued swinging his sword, each time leaving a deep gouge on the far wall. His specialty, the Linebreaker, usually left him exceptionally exhausted after each use. This made using it in quick succession quite the rarity. But now that he was undead and couldn’t feel tired, he was able to fire it off as many times as he liked. The only issue was...

“Ah, dammit! I’m out of magic again!” Like a marionette with its strings cut, Hessel flopped to the floor, his body unravelling and dissipating into mist as he returned to spiritual form.

Right now, the two Swordmasters had bodies made entirely of magic, similar to devils. It was a huge advantage compared to normal undead as there was no need to have physical bodies prepared everywhere they went. In exchange, their magic consumption was much higher, and their bodies would disappear once they ran out.

“Alex! I need more magic!”

“Like I said before, use the jewel! In a real fight, there’s no telling if I’ll be able to help you!”

“Oh, right.”

Hessel floated over to one of the jewels lined up by the nearby wall—each filled to the brim with Alex’s dark property magic—and touched it, heaving a sigh of relief.

“This dark magic sure is tasty...”

“Hey now, you’re beginning to sound like an evil spirit.”

Alex had started getting used to Hessel’s undead jokes, and was now starting to bite back with jokes of his own. The more he talked with Hessel, the rougher his speech became. It was like the more time spent with the Swordmaster, the more the old Alex started to come out. One that Layla had never known. She honestly felt a little jealous.

Similarly, Liliana watched Alex talk with his old friend with a strange expression. It looked somehow sad, or perhaps worried. It was so starkly different from the expressions she usually wore that Layla found herself calling out to her.

“Liliana?”

“Woof?” But when she turned to Layla to reply, the innocent, puppy-dog face returned in a flash.

Liliana had been made to think she was a dog, and so that was how she acted. However, the truth was that the seal on her memories had been removed long ago. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for her old self to return at any moment. But even if that were to happen, making her way back home afterward would still be difficult. In that case, it would be easier for her to stay this way, wouldn’t it...?

“Thank you for always being so helpful, Liliana.” Not sure what to say, Layla just thanked Liliana and patted her on the head.

Liliana gave another happy woof, a proud smile on her face as she licked at Layla’s hand. Just like any really smart dog.

†††

In the heart of Evaloti beneath the fierce summer sun, Charlotte stood in front of an array of City Guardsmen.

“Vice Captain Tafman, heading out!” Tafman and his thirty guards saluted. Of course, they weren’t saluting Charlotte, but rather some night elf official who acted as the nominal captain of the City Guard. The night elf snorted; he had to be sweltering under his heavy robes, especially since it was the middle of the day.

“Good. Don’t do anything stupid like deserting.”

“Never, sir! We all have something here to protect!” Tafman’s blunt counter to the night elf’s sarcasm got a round of chuckles from everyone gathered. After giving Charlotte a nod and a smile, he led his men out of the city.

The night elf captain let out another snort, not giving Charlotte so much as a glance before taking his leave.

May they all return safe and sound, Charlotte offered a silent prayer for their safety.

The countryside surrounding the capital had been ravaged in the lead-up to the battle in Evaloti. They were working on restoring that countryside and planning to rebuild a number of small villages around it. In advance of those reconstruction efforts, Tafman would be leading a unit of the City Guard to investigate the territory within a day’s walk of the capital, camping out in the fields as they went. And if they encountered any fiends, they’d been ordered to exterminate them.

Reports of fiend sightings outside the city walls, and their occasional attacks on farmers, kept piling up. It was thought that the prolonged neglect of the land had led to the fiends moving in. The core pillar of the reconstruction efforts was to rebuild a village that would serve as the frontline base in their endeavors against the encroaching fiends.

After seeing them off, Charlotte returned to the church, or rather the Relief Squad’s gathering spot. Seeing the life in the city now, it was hard to believe it had been a battleground just a few months prior.

That was all thanks to Charlotte’s diligence in healing the people...together with Demon Prince Zilbagias’s own repulsive style of healing. As they worked in concert, they quickly brought the wounded and sick back to full health, granting the city an abundance of manpower.

“Priestess! Nothing out of the ordinary today!”

“My shoulder feels even better than before thanks to you!”

“Thank you for your help! You really saved me!”

As she walked, many—mostly people she had healed—called out to greet her, and she replied to all of them with a smile. As time went by, more and more unfamiliar faces were among the crowd. Considering this was still part of the demonic kingdom, she wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not.

Leo...do you think I’m doing a good job? she thought, looking up at the sky. As she was the sole person capable of healing miracles in the autonomous zone, everyone looked up to, respected, and relied on her. She did what she could to respond to that admiration appropriately.

But deep down, she was still that shy, introverted girl she had always been. Having lost the man she loved, she had even started wishing for her own death. Right now, she was just barely holding together the “priestess” image that everyone wanted from her.

If Sebastian hadn’t taken over the city’s leadership, I might have been in real trouble.

On the day they were summoned by the demon prince, Sebastian had seemed quite zealous about taking the position of leader for himself. It wasn’t until much later that Charlotte had realized that he’d taken on that burden for her sake.

And to think this whole time he was one of Barbara’s retainers. That means Barbara was quite the high-class lady, right?

While they were discussing the management of the city one day, Sebastian had let it slip that he had worked for the da Rosa family. Charlotte had immediately brought up the name Barbara da Rosa, leading to the two finally making the connection. Thinking back on the late Swordmaster, that powerful woman who had had a way of taking on an older sister role around those she fought alongside, Charlotte felt her eyes start to grow hot. It would be unsightly for the priestess everyone relied on so much to cry in public, so Charlotte pretended to fall into prayer, waiting for the moment to pass.

But when she closed her eyes, everyone’s faces came back more vivid than ever. The Swordmaster Hessel, the old master Dogasin, the other priests and heroes...and of course her beloved Leonardo.

It seemed her roadside prayer would be a long one today.

“Welcome back, Charlotte! Sebastian was looking for you.”

As she made it back to the gathering spot, the deacon Mycine greeted her. For once there were no emergencies to take care of today, so they had some free time on their hands. Charlotte headed right to the former pub they had transformed into their city hall. She was guided to a small room on the second floor. Opening the door, she saw Sebastian speaking with three pale, unfamiliar-looking men.

“Hello...?”

“Oh, Miss Charlotte.” Sebastian gave her a warm smile, like he might to his own granddaughter, but there was some measure of pain in his eyes.

“Who are these gentlemen?” She had no memory of them at all. They were too pale, like they hadn’t seen the sun in months, and quite slender as well. These three had to be specialists of some sort. Those with specialized skills of that nature were a rare sight in Evaloti, so she would have remembered them if they had met before.

“These men are... They were born in the demonic kingdom. And they claim to be skilled slaves raised in the Rage family territory.”

Charlotte’s eyes went wide at Sebastian’s halting explanation. Considering their situation, it was well within the realm of possibility that they were working for the demons. Instinctively, Charlotte slightly raised her guard against them.

“And, well, they say they were previously owned by His Highness Zilbagias. That was until they were recently freed and permitted to move into Evaloti.”

The alarms in Charlotte’s head were going off. What was the prince up to this time...?

Taking the seat Sebastian offered her, Charlotte observed the men closely. The three slaves winced back at the sudden harsh examination.

“I’m Dirilo. I’m a carpenter.”

“I am Organo. I make instruments.”

“My name is Vigo... I play the violin. We once lived in the Rage family territory, but as a reward for our accomplishments in a mock battle against Lord Zilbagias, he took us in as slaves for a time.”

“I’m not sure I follow. He made you slaves as a reward?” Charlotte said, her confusion eclipsing her suspicion. Was this some kind of savage custom among the demons?

“No, um, we were initially meant to be killed by Lord Zilbagias and his men. But Leonardo... Oh, he was the hero that trained us—”

The loud clattering sound of Charlotte jumping out of her chair filled the room. Charlotte knew that Leonardo had died by the hand of Demon Prince Emergias. There was no way her Leonardo and Vigo’s were one and the same. Realizing the name had to be a coincidence, she quickly calmed down.

“I’m sorry. Please continue.”

“Over the course of the battle, the hero managed to wound Lord Zilbagias three times. So, as a reward, three of the slaves were permitted to live. And we are those three.”

Charlotte’s anger started to boil at the thought of such a barbaric “reward,” but it warred with sudden respect for this hero that had been capable of wounding Zilbagias of all people three times.

“This hero. What happened to him?”

“I was unconscious at the time, but according to Lord Zilbagias, his final act was to unleash an incredible magical blaze, incinerating himself in the process. The resulting burn wounds he gave His Highness counted toward securing our lives...” Vigo said with a steely expression. Vigo’s hands in his lap were balled into fists, turning his knuckles white. The other two showed similar signs of grief, biting their lips and closing their eyes.

This hero had used fire magic. Just like her Leo. He had the same name, and used the same magic? And by that explanation, it was clear the hero had exhausted everything he had. Though faintly, she was starting to understand...

“Um...Miss Charlotte, was it?” Vigo asked hesitantly, reminding Charlotte she had yet to introduce herself.

“Oh, my apologies. My name is Charlotte Vidwa.”

“Charlotte...Vidwa...?” Vigo echoed, the two men behind him sharing a surprised look.

“Light blonde hair, down to her shoulders...”

“Gentle purple eyes...?”

Dirilo and Organo stared at Charlotte as though they believed their eyes were playing tricks on them. That last questioning tone was likely due to how sharp her gaze had turned after the numerous hellscapes she had waded through.

“Um...Leonardo often talked about you. About a priestess named ‘Char’—” Vigo said hesitantly.

This time, Charlotte—no, Char’s chair was sent flying as she stood.

From that point on, the three men spoke of the hero Leonardo, and the fate of the skilled slaves kept in the Rage territory. The story of how a hero brought the light of hope to those who knew nothing else but life as livestock.

“He said he was defeated in battle against Lord Emergias, then taken alive.”

“He told us all about the outside world, something we’d never experienced for ourselves.”

“About the Alliance, about humanity, and...about the power of holy magic.”

Char was barely listening, her face white as a sheet. Emergias hadn’t killed Leo. Only Leo’s arm had been on that spear Emergias had thrown back at them. She had assumed that meant he was dead, but at that point, he had actually still been alive.

He’d fought a demon prince and had been taken alive, just like Char. Then he had been taken to the Rage family territory...where he’d fought Zilbagias, and died. The object of Char’s revenge was really Zilbagias, not Emergias. He was the one who actually took him from her...!

“Leo...!”

It felt like her whole body was set ablaze. Was it sadness? Anger? She couldn’t tell. But the fact that after being captured by the demonic kingdom he’d still fought to the bitter end and had been determined to protect the others held captive made her so proud... When Vigo mentioned how Leonardo had spoken so happily about Char all the time during training, her composure crumbled entirely.

“Leonardo said...he regretted that he never got to tell you...” The sight of Char openly sobbing in front of him caused Vigo to hesitate to finish his sentence, but he nevertheless soldiered on. “He said he should have told you that he loves you.”

Char’s breath got caught in her throat.

“Leonardo said that if he ever got a chance to see you again, he would definitely tell you. He really wanted to. But to do that, we’d have to defeat the demon prince. So he told us we all had to fight our hardest... He gave us so much courage.”

Vigo’s account sounded so much like Leo that Char couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying anymore. But it did confirm one thing for her—the vision during her near-death experience of Leo hadn’t been some convenient delusion. That had been the real Leo. When he had shouted that he loved her with all his heart and soul, that had been the real him.

“Um...I’m sorry. Because of us...” Vigo and the two behind him hung their heads as they apologized while Char continued bawling her eyes out.

“No... Don’t apologize. Thank you for telling me your story.” Now she knew how he had actually died. She was grateful to these three for that.

Once he had gauged that Char had sufficiently calmed down, Sebastian began asking the three men numerous questions. Though the people of the autonomous zone had some semblance of contact with other members of the demonic kingdom, including Zilbagias himself, they hadn’t had anything along the lines of a serious conversation with them. The true nature of the demonic kingdom was still hidden behind a veil of mystery.

Being slaves, Vigo and the other two didn’t know all that much, but they did know some—for example, about the harsh truth behind the Rage family’s “healing.” Specifically, regarding the human livestock that were raised and used as body doubles for Transposition. The whole story made both Char’s and Sebastian’s blood run cold. If the autonomous zone project was terminated, such a fate would await the people of Evaloti. If for no other reason, they needed to defend the existence of Evaloti with their lives.

And knowing all that, the demon prince had demanded that they rebel.

Zilbagias...! Char’s teeth clenched hard.

“From your experience...what is Prince Zilbagias like?” Sebastian posed the question upon hearing about the weekly conversations the three men had with him. Each of them gave Char an awkward glance before speaking.

“You may think we are crazy after he tried to kill us, but...” Vigo started with that preface, “personally, I found him to be...quite a gentle person.”

Both Char’s and Sebastian’s jaws hit the floor simultaneously. Gentle? What about him was gentle? The vivid memory of his performance back during their first meeting had been burned into their minds. How could that mad prince even have a gentle bone in his body?

“On the battlefield, he was as merciless as a devil. But afterward, when he took ownership of us...how do I put this...”

“He was quite...kind,” Organo murmured as Vigo found himself at a loss.

“Yes. Kind. Especially compared to everyone else. It was like...he was the only one that treated us like people, not as slaves.”

“Every time he visited us, he would ask if we had any complaints or requests. We thought it was a trap at first, but nothing like that happened. One time we asked if we could be allowed to take walks. Naturally, we assumed he would turn us down. But to our surprise, he immediately gave us permission to do so.”

“Every once in a while, he would request us to do some work. But thinking back on it, he probably wanted to give us something to do so we didn’t die of boredom...” Dirilo said, stroking the hammer and chisel on his belt.

“He was always kind to and protective toward those close to him, but harsh and cold to everyone else.”

Sebastian snorted a laugh. “Typical villain behavior, is it not?”

The three men fidgeted restlessly at the open hostility Sebastian showed toward the prince.

“Before you three arrived, what were you told about the autonomous zone?” Char asked. She and Sebastian assumed the same thing: The three men had probably been told nothing, led to believe they were being dropped into a paradise.

“We were told that the autonomous zone would likely rebel one day, and that our lives would be in danger.”

Now it was Char and Sebastian’s turn to share a look of surprise.

“His Highness said that if things got dangerous, we could ask for his protection and be guaranteed safety...”

Oh, so they would be safe regardless?

“...but we turned him down.”

After a long pause, Char finally spoke up. “Why?”

Vigo straightened, looking her directly in the eye as he answered. “Because we didn’t want to spend the rest of our lives as slaves. We wanted to live and die as people.”

For the first time, it was like Char could finally see the men clearly without the perception that they were “slaves of the demonic kingdom” obstructing that view. Their hesitant, faltering manner had hidden it quite well, but within their eyes was a powerful light—a spark ignited in them by a hero. A fire that demanded the respect of others not as slaves but as people.

“And how did the prince respond to your refusal?” Char asked regardless. She needed to know.

“All he said was ‘very well.’ And then he nodded...with a smile.”

The way they described him, he did indeed sound gentle. On the battlefield, he was a vicious warrior. In the throne room, he was a mad agitator. And now from the perspective of Vigo and the others, he was a gentle guardian. Char had no idea which facet of Zilbagias was his true colors anymore. But for Char, regardless of which side was the real Zilbagias, he was still the object of her revenge. For Leo, and for everyone else.

By the time their conversation with the three new arrivals had ended, the sun had long set. With the autonomous zone accepting them as citizens, Char and Sebastian made the necessary arrangements to have them integrated. Skilled workers like Dirilo and Organo were always in high demand, so even if it wasn’t in their exact fields, there was a tremendous amount of work for them to do.

Listening to Vigo play his violin made it clear how much skill he possessed, so he would likely have no issues earning his keep at any pub in the city. But he seemed to be more keen to the idea of becoming a soldier or a member of the City Guard, wishing to protect the people of Evaloti. The rarity of his skills and talents, measured against the bare minimum of combat training the three of them had received...it was a hard decision to make.

“Maybe he can form a military band of some sort in the future,” Sebastian had joked. Never mind a band, they’d need to form an actual military before it came to that. But despite the intention of the joke, Vigo had immediately lit up, innocently excited that there was even a concept such as a military band. They could only hope that this new dream of his would come true someday.

“We’ll have to do our best.” They needed to firmly establish the autonomous zone. Char resolved herself anew, looking up at the starry night sky.

Leo...you really were a great hero.

Proof of his life still burned brightly. She would protect that light by fighting with her all. That was what she had decided.

When she closed her eyes to pray, Leo’s gentle smile immediately rose to greet her. She could feel the heat in her eyes returning...but this time, there were no tears.

†††

It wasn’t until the next day that the City Guard’s patrol returned, broken and bloodied.

†††

“Lord Zil, an undead messenger is here to see you.”

While I was reading in my room in the Demon King’s castle, Veene called for me. This was the usual time Enma sent me her daily reports. Stepping out of my room, I found an undead cloaked under a large hood who respectfully offered me a letter.

“A message from my lord Enma...” The undead’s lack of discernible features gave no hints as to their gender. Claire used to do this delivery job for Enma, but she was now in Evaloti. The fact this undead could speak meant it must have been fairly high-level, right?

That was what I thought at first, but once I took the letter, the undead gave me a wink and made a kissing sound. So yeah, clearly it was just Enma. Luckily, I was quick on the uptake to realize that her strange behavior was a kind of signal, so I played along.

“Please excuse me...” After a grin, the undead servant (probably Enma) immediately snapped back to being entirely expressionless and took their leave.

Making the bodies for Barbara and Hessel had made me painfully aware of how difficult it was to get the soft parts like the vocal tract and lips to work properly. For a born fighter like me, the level of skill required was far outside my wheelhouse. Even the way she was able to make them purse their lips like a kiss was probably Enma’s attempt at showing off her mastery, displaying how even her messengers had such fine and precise control.

“Honestly...” Ante groaned. “No, never mind.”

What’s with you? Every time Enma comes up, you get all weird.

Anyway, I had my daily report from Enma. The envelope was quite a bit thicker than normal. That meant there was a lot more worth reporting than usual. I couldn’t say it was a good sign. Dropping onto my sofa, I scanned the letter.

Major losses in the City Guard? What happened?

While they’d been patrolling Evaloti’s surroundings, their camp had been attacked by a warbear, a fiend that was like a bear with tons of arms. Back when I was a human, I had a run-in with one. Talk about a struggle that had been. Just blocking one of its strikes with my shield had made my arm feel like it had shattered. Though of course, Adamas had had no problem splitting its head in two.

But as far as I knew, there were no heroes or Weaponmasters in the City Guard. The fact that any of them had lived to tell the tale was kind of miraculous.

Ah, four arms? So that warbear was still young. They made a desperate fighting retreat, huh? Humans don’t stand a chance outrunning a warbear, so that was definitely the correct choice.

Many had died, and there were those among the survivors who had succumbed to their injuries before healing could reach them.

I scowled, then quickly tried to smooth my expression over for the sake of my servants. The timing was just terrible. That was all I could say. I made my visits to Evaloti on a fairly irregular basis, and didn’t stay for a fixed number of days. Sophia often complained that doing things that way was a pain, so she wanted me to make a clear schedule beforehand. But I had persisted this far without issue.

My reasoning was that if Claire warned me about an emergency, I could casually head over to Evaloti without raising any suspicions. But I had returned from Evaloti...just the day before. I wanted to leave at least four days between visits. If I rushed down there immediately, I might be able to save some of the people Charlotte wouldn’t be able to.

But the situation would look far too convenient. The emergency wasn’t dire enough to be worth sacrificing my camouflage just yet. That was what the rational part of me said.

And I understood that. The conciseness and matter-of-factness of the report didn’t change the fact that human lives were critically injured. They had survived war, found a stable life in the autonomous zone, and had worked hard to protect it. They were valuable, and worthy of respect. A burning passion in my heart demanded I go save them immediately.

I knew. I understood. I really wanted to leave right away, but...

“Just when the City Guard has so many on the verge of death, the oh-so generous governor swoops in to save the day by healing them. Your fame would spread far and wide. What a wonderful tale it would be...for the people of the autonomous zone,” Ante said flatly. “But it would also be terribly unnatural. Merely giving the people of Evaloti healing without some expenditure has already caused pushback. To stir things up even more...”

Yeah, she was right. By claiming that they were my property, it was my responsibility to maintain them as best I could at my own expense. That had led people around the kingdom to believe I viewed the autonomous zone as my personal possession, and I was still struggling to deal with the backlash from that. If I ran back to the autonomous zone to save them this time, how much more pressure would I be subjecting myself to? Of course, I was happy to shoulder a burden or two. But potentially exposing Enma’s high-speed communication? Or possibly giving others reason to believe I was too invested in the people of Evaloti? Did I really need to make myself vulnerable to those risks right now?

If the autonomous zone itself were in danger, I could easily justify it, but...!

Overcome by grief, I folded up the letter. To maintain my four-day gap between visits, I wouldn’t be able to go back until the day after tomorrow. That was the best I could do.

In the end, Charlotte was able to attend to those who came back critically injured. But despite her zealous efforts, she lacked the power to save them all. A number of the more severely wounded succumbed to their injuries the next day. In total, seven men lost their lives. All because of the unlucky coincidence of encountering a warbear.

Yes, it was just bad luck. That was what I, and everyone else involved, thought at the time.

And we believed that...for now.

†††

At Bistro Three, Tafman had been drinking since sundown. The food was as tasty as ever, the ale still surprisingly good despite being so cheap, and all the usual suspects were there laughing and drinking...but Tafman alone wore a dark expression. His mind was somewhere else entirely. Maybe the others thought he was just exceptionally tired. Either way, it wasn’t like him. Perhaps partly out of consideration for him, the others had found it difficult to strike up a conversation with Tafman. With his right hand tightly gripping the mug, his eyes were locked on his left hand. There wasn’t a scratch on it. It was like it was brand-new.

“I see you’re here early today,” a young woman in a heavy cloak said as she stepped into the pub.

“Oh, hey,” Tafman looked up, giving the woman—Claire—an awkward smile. “I got off a bit earlier than usual. With me just getting back to work and all.”

“I heard about the run-in with the fiend. Sounds like things were rough out there for you,” Claire said while wearing a sympathetic expression. It had been the talk of the town over the past few days. The City Guard had fought a fiend, and suffered heavy losses. Claire had gone to the pub every day, but this was the first time she had run into Tafman since the incident.

“Yeah. Just glad I made it back in one piece,” Tafman laughed, swirling the drink in his mug. Though he laughed it off like nothing, Tafman was clearly putting up a front. Above all, it was entirely unlike him.

As an agent of the demonic kingdom, Claire was naturally privy to everything. She knew Vice Captain Tafman had been beaten and bruised all over, and had all but lost his left arm to necrosis. Despite the pain, he’d stuck it out and made sure all of his men got treatment before he did.

“Any good drinks in today?” Claire asked a passing waiter.

“Well, we’ve got some Warlito Bimi.”

“Give me a mug of that for this guy here.”

“Huh? What’s this about...?” Tafman frowned.

“You can’t fool me. I know you’re feeling out of it.” Claire shrugged. “You’re always going on about how you aren’t fit to be vice captain. So you probably feel responsible for what happened...” Claire’s eyes wandered a bit as she carefully chose her words. “But...you did your best, right? What more could anyone ask for? So have a drink and cheer up a bit.”

Man, I’m pathetic, Tafman bit his lip. Such a young girl was consoling him.

She was right. As vice captain, he felt responsible. But there was more to it than that. He was a soldier that had defended Deftelos from the front lines. He endured the demons’ insults as they called humans weak without batting an eye. He knew that if he worked together with his comrades, they could defeat any foe. That was what he had believed.

But his battle against the warbear had taught him that his confidence was built on the foundation laid by heroes and priests. Without miracles, spells, and holy magic, humans were frail and fragile. They had been crushed. It reminded him of the audience with Zilbagias. When the prince had called humans weak, taunting them to try and scrounge up some semblance of individual strength, Tafman had naturally burned with anger. But now, he couldn’t deny a single word.

When they unexpectedly encountered the warbear, Tafman himself gave the order to stand and fight. Dober, a member of the formal Royal Hunters Battalion, had agreed with his decision. When faced with a warbear, maybe a dog beastfolk like Dober could have escaped. But humans like Tafman had had no chance.

Even so, Tafman couldn’t help but blame himself. Had his decision been colored by his past experience fighting with magical support? If he had really taken into account their true strength without those magics and miracles, could he have found a better way to deal with that situation?

I really am a bad fit for vice captain...

It wasn’t his leadership skills or tactical knowledge that worried him. His failing was in emotionally coming to terms with the fact that his subordinates had died following orders he had given. Combined with how miserable he had been feeling, as someone who was renowned for being bold and shameless, he felt like he had been thoroughly defeated. He couldn’t even enjoy his beloved alcohol.

But I can’t just mope here forever.

His friends on the other side were probably laughing riotously at the sight of this kid trying to encourage him.

Get it together, Tafman! he scolded himself. Nothing had been solved, but sobbing into his drink wouldn’t help him find the answers. No one could take his place, so he had no choice but to buck up and get the job done himself.

“Here you are.” The waiter placed a mug in front of him. Tafman gave himself an emotional reset, taking a gulp of the new drink.

“Damn, that stuff’s good!” And this time, it really did taste good. He was finally able to acknowledge that. A smile naturally rose to his face.

He turned to look at Claire. For a moment, their eyes met, but she quickly turned away. She was the type to rarely look others in the eye. Even so, Tafman found her eyes to be quite pretty. They looked like little glass marbles.

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah. All thanks to you.”

By the way, Tafman was still regularly eating and drinking on Claire’s dime when they met up at the pub. She always made excuses, like “it’s the demonic kingdom’s money anyway,” or “I couldn’t spend it myself if I wanted to,” so Tafman heartily accepted her generosity. After all, Tafman was as bold and shameless as they came. But when it came to alcohol? He cranked that up to eleven.

“So, how’s the City Guard holding up?”

“Lots of people down in the dumps like me, as you’d expect. Losing seven people out of nowhere was a huge shock...” Though Tafman had perked up considerably, his response was still rather solemn. “People die in battle, everyone knows that. Even though we were ready for that...none of us expected to run into a monster like that.”

The survivors of the warbear encounter along with those who had greeted them upon their return had taken the deaths of the guardsmen just as hard as Tafman had. They had all started to think they had found a peaceful life of sorts, that the real fighting was over.

We can’t start thinking weird...

Tafman thought as he took a swig of Warlito Bimi. They were living peacefully, but they were still at war. Both as people of the autonomous zone, and as people of the Alliance.

“Yeah... No one wants to die,” Claire said, propping her head up on the table as she traced lines in the wood with her finger.

“Right? Though we can’t get stuck on stuff like that.” When push came to shove, Tafman and the City Guard knew their job was to give their lives to protect people like Claire if the situation called for it.

“Aren’t some of the City Guard still out patrolling? How’s that going?”

“Yeah, we’ve sent out some small squads to replace us. From their reports, things sound awful. If those damn demons were gonna conquer the place, the least they could do is clean up,” Tafman snorted, starting to get a little heated. “Once you get a bit out of the city, the towns, villages, and fields are all in ruins. We’ve also got packs of wolves and wild dogs just roaming about. Fiends that usually never leave the forest are waltzing around the fields. We’re hardly in a position to be raising livestock.”

It was no surprise that the flames of war had left nothing but destruction in their wake, but even then things were exceptionally bad.

“In particular, there’s tons of fiends in the west. A bicorn almost killed someone just the other day. Though in the east, the worst they’ve got are wild dogs.”

It was kind of strange. There were just too many fiends around. The former members of the Royal Hunters Battalion were all in agreement, repeatedly saying “it’s unusual for fiends to be around here,” or “these kinds of fiends normally live deep in the forest.”

“Oh? What kind of fiends are you running into?” Claire asked, a curious light in her glassy eyes.

“Well, for starters...” Tafman took another drink before going on to explain and share the reports he had received from the experienced hunters under his command. Details such as the species, sighting locations, and usual habitats of the fiends they were finding. He shared every bit of information he had.

†††

“That’s what he told me.”

“I see.”

In the library of Evaloti Castle, I was holding hands with Claire as she told me the information she had gleaned from the City Guard’s vice captain. No, we weren’t doing anything inappropriate. I was just supplying her with magic. It was a strange feeling, using my own life force to sustain the “life” of my childhood friend.

But anyway...damn, fiends? I didn’t even have to look at a map. When I thought about what resided to the west of the autonomous zone, it was obvious who was responsible for this.

The Izanis family really did it this time. I had heard that the way Deftelos’s territory had been divided had made them quite upset with the Rage family, especially me in particular. So they were getting their revenge by driving the fiends from their territory into ours. Those bastards!

It was a deviously effective method of harassing us. As a hero, the damage done and lives lost among the people of Evaloti was terrible. And as a demon prince, it threw a wrench into my plans for the autonomous zone’s development. I was trying to build up the autonomous zone to produce food for the demonic kingdom as a whole—at least that was what it looked like on the surface. Any attempts to impede my progress were an attack on the kingdom. Though I could outright declare just that, I doubted it would be of any good.

Without any solid evidence, it would be hard to argue since they could just say the fiends naturally fled out of fear of the Izanis family. Should I grab one of their underlings and beat a confession out of him? The effectiveness of that would all depend on how much weight the Demon King put on a confession extracted by torture...er, interrogation.

“We could always useConstraintto forbid them from lying.”

Hmm. That would get a confession without requiring violence. But...

“Of course, forbidding lies would harm you more than anyone.”

Yep. Plus, it would be showing my hand to the other demon heirs. It was really risky. I wasn’t sure this situation demanded such a strong response yet.

Damn, this is a pain in the ass!

I just wanted to beat the crap out of that green-headed bastard and his whole family. But until the succession war started up, the princes and princesses were expressly forbidden from engaging in direct conflict among themselves. Otherwise, the older siblings would go around killing the younger ones while they were still too young to be threats.

I had asked what the punishment was for violating that law, and the results varied. They ranged from receiving a beating from the Demon King at best, to house arrest somewhere in the middle, to being locked in the night elf prison at worst. And that imprisonment would last for decades. With the unnaturally long lifespans of demons, their prison sentences were long to match.

Obviously when it came to being in prison, and even house arrest, you weren’t permitted to take a single step outside your room. That meant no going to war and earning accolades. And definitely not a chance to interact with anyone outside your family. It wasn’t quite a death sentence to a warrior, but it was a crippling blow to your career. With all that time spent on the sidelines, your skills would rust considerably.

So what if you doubled down and violated the rules of your house arrest too? Then the Demon King himself would execute you. Failure to deal with that kind of behavior would throw law and order within the entire kingdom into chaos. Those who dared to threaten the Demon King’s authority by brute force of arms were not granted mercy.

As I was right now, I’d never win a brawl with the Demon King. Though once I could, that meant I could do whatever I wanted.

“In that case, it would just make you the Demon King.”

Exactly. At any rate, if they were going to play dirty, I’d have to respond in kind. I had plenty of ideas on how to make the lives of the Izanis family and seaweed head miserable. I’d make them regret ever messing with the autonomous zone!

Beyond that though, the problem of the fiends in the autonomous zone was still a headache I had to deal with. Flying around on Layla and hunting them down myself was an option. While that would cut into their numbers significantly, it would be exceptionally time-consuming. Not to mention the criticism I’d get for babying the citizens of Evaloti so much.

“I suppose the best you can do is cull any fiends you find on your way to and from Evaloti.”

That would probably be about it. There was really nothing else I could do. I’d have to hope the survivors in the City Guard could pull it together and find a way to deal with the fiends themselves. The total lack of high-class soldiers like heroes and Swordmasters was really painful.

“Thank you, Mr. Prince,” Claire said as she pulled her hands away.

“Done already?” It didn’t feel like she had taken that much. I definitely didn’t want to hold her hands any longer just for the heck of it.

“Yes, I’m all full now. Thanks,” she said with her usual smile. Magic was pure power. It wasn’t like a spell that was cast. Just like if I were pressing on her hands with physical force, pouring magic into her wouldn’t communicate any of my feelings. All that happened was that her reserves of energy were replenished. That naturally meant I had no clue what was going through her head either.

“This vice captain...Tafman, was it? You two seem to have gotten rather close.” Apparently, that energetic wounded soldier from the first audience I held had ended up becoming vice captain of the City Guard. I thought he had quite the backbone, but...

“It’s just a business relationship,” Claire said, expression vanishing.

“Sounds to me like you have a lot of fun talking to him.”

“I just feel bad for him, that’s all. Things would be so much easier if he just died already.” She shrugged, her usual fake smile returning. But just a moment before she said it, I saw her eyes waver and her gaze turn upward.

“Is that so? Well, hopefully your dream comes true soon.” I flashed the most natural smile I could muster, all to ensure my mask as a demon prince didn’t slip.

In the middle of the day, I was flying with Layla through a cloudless sky. We were on our way back to the Demon King’s castle from Evaloti. Normally I’d have been fast asleep, but after figuring out the Izanis family’s meddling to sabotage the autonomous zone, I was wide-awake.

So, what would I do about all this? I’d been thinking about it for a while, but the first order of business had to be that green-headed bastard himself. Driving fiends into the autonomous zone was an open act of hostility.

With the Izanis family being responsible, he couldn’t simply feign ignorance. Whether he admitted it or not, whether it was on purpose or by accident, none of that mattered. As prince of the Izanis family, he’d have to pay. And to do that, I’d make use of my incredibly unstable position as the seventh prince to the greatest possible effect. As things were currently, I was keeping both Aiogias and Rubifya equally at arm’s length. But now seemed like a good time to go pay Rubifya a visit. Of course, only after I’d made a big fuss in front of everyone about the Izanis family’s actions. I could already picture the strained smile on Aiogias’s face after hearing it. He was the one who stood to lose the most from me joining hands with Rubifya.

I imagine he would bring quite the hammer down on seaweed head for that. I really wanted to kill the bastard myself, but I’d have to settle for enjoying the thought of Aiogias chewing him out instead. The actual murder could wait until the succession war began.

Next up, the Izanis family as a whole. At this point, there was one idea that stood head and shoulders above the rest when it came to messing with them: the high-speed communication system of the undead. My daily reports from Evaloti had already proven its effectiveness. If that system became widespread throughout the kingdom, the Izanis messengers and their dragon companions would all be out of jobs.

“However...”

No need to say it, Ante. That would be putting a tool that was way too powerful in the hands of the demonic army. Sure, it would be a major blow to the Izanis family. But overall, would it be worth it? That was the first issue. The second issue was that it would let out the terrifying fact that Enma had a good grasp on the movements of the army across the entire demonic kingdom. When it came down to it, exposing the undead messaging network still seemed like a far too rash decision. So revenge against the Izanis family would have to wait.

Last was the Izanis territory that bordered the autonomous zone. I had spent quite a bit of time thinking about what to do there, but no ideas had managed to stand out. Really, that Izanis territory was basically just mountains and forests. There were only a handful of human cities that they had absorbed. So the problem was that they had nothing there worth protecting. And I couldn’t just attack their cities directly.

“Ah, I see a fiend. What should we do?” Layla asked as we passed over the border into the Izanis territory.

“Where? What is it?” I squinted down at the ground racing by below us, but nothing came into view. All I saw was a lush green forest under a beautiful summer sun.

“Forward, one o’clock. It looks like a spiky wolf.”

Ah, that’s a gorewolf. They can be pretty annoying.

“I can deal with it if you’d like.”

Yes, please. Since we didn’t have to worry about damaging its pelt this time around, I could leave it to Layla.

“Then, please excuse me.” While we were still flying, Layla opened her mouth wide, unleashing a roar that seemed both similar and different to her usual voice. When they were in their draconic forms, dragons had to strain to make their voices match our language. It would be similar to speaking in a falsetto for us. So when she roared like this, her voice returned to its natural tone.

As she roared, a beam of pure white light shot from her mouth, punching through a section of the forest. When her breath winked out, I could see something slumped under the trees. It was an enormous wolf with its head charred to a crisp.

“That’s some firepower.” I nodded, impressed as I stroked Layla’s neck.

She had great power and impeccable aim. And above all, her ability to detect her targets in the first place was unreal. If it weren’t for the leg up us demons got from our devil pacts, dragons would really be the strongest race, wouldn’t they?

Layla gave a shy giggle over Konectus as my unfiltered appreciation for her strength came through. As if to show off her performance, she circled a few times around the dead gorewolf. And as I saw the smoke rising from the charred beast’s head, I had a flash of inspiration.

That was it! I knew just how to piss off those Izanis bastards!

Hey, Layla...

“Yes?”

After a bit of hesitation, I continued. “Could you do me a favor? Use a full-power breath attack on the whole forest. I want to burn it to the ground,” I said, looking up at the glaring sun overhead. Liliana, seated in the saddle in front of me, turned around to shoot me a look of stunned disbelief.

†††

As we watched the forest before us get set ablaze, Liliana let out pitiful wails. Even as a dog, she still deeply treasured the forest.

After we returned to the castle, she refused to utter a sound for a fair length of time. Liliana kept her distance from Layla at all times, going so far as to hide behind Garunya whenever she could. She would even turn her nose up at my offers of her favorite fruits and sweets. (Though if I left them on a plate for her, she’d sneak back later to eat them by herself.)

“I hoped she would become lucid in an attempt to stop you, but no such luck.” Ante sighed. But I would have felt really bad for her if she were to have woken up to the sight of a burning forest, so honestly I was a little bit relieved.

“I’m sorry, Liliana.” She continued to ignore me, making a show of looking away when I spoke to her. But despite all her anger, when I trained, she was quick to bound over and lick away my wounds. I didn’t know whether to be thankful or sorry.

Speaking of the forest, yeah, we burned it to the ground. We had planned it out so that the wind would carry the fire to help it spread, but even then the fire spread ten times more than we expected. Though the Izanis family somehow found a way to stop it, one of their cities still got roasted. And with that, the prosperous hunting grounds the Izanis family had acquired in their new territory had gone up in smoke. It was probably kinda overkill as an act of revenge for their harassment...but unlike their meddling with the autonomous zone, the fire didn’t take any lives. I obviously couldn’t take credit for the fire, since that would risk being punished by the Demon King, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying every bit of their suffering.

As I made my way to the palace for the next lunch meeting, while wearing my high elf leather Bon Dage outfit, I thought about how to deal with the green toilet stain.

“Well, look who it is.” And the moment I set foot in the dining room, I was greeted by that emerald glare.

“Oh, Emergias. You’re awfully early today.”

Emergias was already seated, adorned in his Bon Dage Style snakeskin. The way he sat with crossed arms and impatiently tapped his foot clearly had the Gutsy Gorger at his side rather annoyed.

“You really did it this time,” he growled.

“What do you mean?” I asked with a quizzical tilt of my head.

“Don’t play dumb! I know it was you who started that fire in the mountains!” The green bastard slammed his hands on the table. “You used that white dragon’s breath to do it. We have a witness,” he declared proudly.

I, of course, was not moved in the slightest. This was exactly how I expected things to play out. After the harassment they had levied at us, it only made sense that they would anticipate some form of retaliation. As such, they surely would’ve connected the dots to my regular flights on Layla over the Izanis territory and the start of the fire. Even if I hadn’t been responsible, they would have likely tried to pin it on me anyway.

“Oh, a witness?” I replied, feigning shock.

“Almost certainly a bluff,” Ante snorted.

Yeah, we had started the fire. But it wasn’t like I had been flying around on Layla having her breathe fire all over the place. We had hidden deep in the brush, even using magic to conceal ourselves before getting started.

“Hunters out in the forest reported seeing a white dragon breathing fire, then saw you flying away from the scene.” Just saying “it was you, wasn’t it?!” wouldn’t have been very convincing, so they had cooked up this story instead.

“If that were true, we’d have quite the problem on our hands. But see, I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. Is it possible they mistook me for someone else?” I shrugged. Honestly, the word of a witness meant next to nothing. As marquises, we had no shortage of underlings willing to lie for us, and powerful magic to force those weaker to do our bidding.

It was common enough in the Alliance for the rich and powerful to fabricate witnesses out of thin air, but it was even more of a farce when it came to those with magic. That probably wasn’t the only reason, but it certainly must have contributed to why demons settled most disputes with strength of arms.

“You liar—”

“Speaking of serious matters, I heard some interesting reports regarding the Izanis family’s recent activity,” I cut him off while flashing a vicious smile. “Apparently, you have been going on some rather large hunting expeditions. And of all things, you decided to drive a great number of fiends into the Evaloti Autonomous Zone. It’s been quite the thorn in my side, you piece of shit.”

The Gutsy Gorger froze. She then turned slowly toward Emergias, so slowly and awkwardly you could practically hear the gears grinding.

As for greeny, he was thoroughly stunned at my sudden cursing. I was usually so prim and proper toward my brothers and sisters, and that had all been so I could do exactly this. For the record, it was currently just the three of us in the room. Aiogias wasn’t here yet, and Daiagias was away on the front lines.

“Did I miss something?” Stepping into the room was Rubifya with Sleeping Beauty on her back. Rubifya broke out into an amused smile, instantly picking up on the tense atmosphere.

“Oh. Hello, Rubifya. This dumbass decided to pick a fight with me,” I explained, my tone sad and despondent.

Rubifya staved off a laugh, a spark lighting in her eyes at my rare use of rough language. Meanwhile, Topazia—slipping into her chair as usual—even opened her eyes a little to look at me. But she quickly lost interest and went back to sleep. It was the first time I’d seen her wake up of her own accord, so I was a bit shocked, but I recovered quickly enough to keep the show going.

“Apparently, managing that tiny strip of land in Deftelos is causing the Izanis family trouble, so now he’s trying to blame a fire they had on me.”

“Oh my, how unfortunate.” She gave in and bellowed a genuine laugh as I poked fun at how the Izanis family had gotten the raw end of the deal in this whole Deftelos situation. She just couldn’t keep it together while seeing the usually calm and polite Zilbagias being so openly hostile.

“It’s the truth! He’s the one who started the fire! We have witnesses, and all of them can attest to the fire starting right as he was leaving our territory!”

“Oh calm down. I have a devil of knowledge in my employ. I’ll have her send you a record of how commonplace forest fires are in Deftelos during the summer,” I replied to seaweed head’s outburst with a cold smile. Once every few decades, Deftelos was the site of major forest fires of a variety of degree and intensity. The last one hadn’t been for about fifteen years, so it wasn’t strange for there to have been one now. “Besides, you wanted land for agriculture, right? All those trees burning down actually helps you out. In fact, why not have your men finish the job and burn down the rest?”

The green-headed bastard was absolutely fuming, but I didn’t let up on my flurry of taunts. Rubifya was laughing uproariously, while the Gutsy Gorger was back to stuffing her face. The room descended into utter chaos.

“What’s wrong?” Finally, Aiogias entered the room with a frown. The sight of a laughing Rubifya and a furious Emergias was all the indication he needed that something was off.

I crossed my arms and gave Aiogias a dissatisfied look. “Have you been skimping on discipline again, Aiogias?”

“What...?”

“There was a fire in the Izanis territory recently, and he wants to pin the blame on me.”

Aiogias’s eyes flickered to the green bastard, entirely unreadable.

“And if that wasn’t bad enough, this is all after they drove a bunch of fiends from their territory into the autonomous zone. The whole situation has been a real pain.”

“You’re the one making false accusations! Stop pretending to be a victim!” seaweed head growled at me with a glare. “They got scared by us demons and fled to the abandoned human land. That’s it!”

“Maybe that would make sense if they were ordinary animals, but why would carnivorous fiends flee to somewhere with no prey?!” My earlier anger had been purely pretend, but now I snapped for real. “I already know about the Izanis family’s recent large-scale hunting expeditions! And I know the people in your Deftelos territory have been celebrating how easy hunting has become with the fiends gone!”

I had gotten all that information from Enma. Wherever there were cities, there were goods being shipped around. And wherever goods were shipped around, there were bone horses and their carriages to move them. All I had to do was say the word and Enma would look into anything, anywhere. In this case, it had simply required eavesdropping on common people in the streets, so information hadn’t been challenging to attain. Also with the fair number of night elves moving through the Izanis territory, I was able to double-check her information through them.

“So either you were driving fiends into the autonomous zone on purpose...or maybe the collective force of the Izanis elites still struggles against a single warbear. Now that I think about it, that does sound likely. Maybe I did jump to conclusions,” I sneered. What’ll it be, greeny? Admit you did it, or admit your family is full of idiots?

The green toilet stain sat silently, face twitching.

“An outbreak of fiends, and a large forest fire. Sounds like western Deftelos is cursed,” Aiogias interjected with a bemused smile. “Emergias, I know how frustrating it must be to lose land like that, but don’t you think you’re getting a bit too excited?” He laughed, playfully rapping a fist on Emergias’s head. “I’ll have to ask for your patience as well, Zilbagias. As the future Demon King, I also find the damage brought upon the autonomous zone to be a concern. So why don’t we get together for a sit-down later and talk this all out? Surely we can work together to find a solution.”

Ah, he wants the fiends and the forest fire to cancel each other out, huh? All while making himself look good.

I snorted. “If you insist. Though I must say, it’s still quite upsetting having to face these baseless accusations in the first place.”

Aiogias laughed. “Yes, I imagine so. Emergias?”

Seaweed head ground his teeth, glaring at me.

“Emergias,” Aiogias repeated, voice still just as calm and gentle. But at the same time, he placed a hand on the green bastard’s shoulder, and it was clear how deep his fingers dug into him.

“I’m...sorry...” the green toilet stain barely managed to squeeze out.

And that put me at a bit of a crossroads. I could taunt him further by pretending I didn’t hear him. But that was probably pushing it...wait. Rationally speaking, I was supposed to be six years old.

“What was that? Sorry, I didn’t hear you.” I put a hand to my ear with a frown.

“I’m sorry!” he roared, loud enough to make my ears ring.

Wow, I didn’t know he had it in him.

“Hmm. Okay then. Apology accepted.” I smiled, giving him a hard glare.

There was no way in hell I’d let him off the hook after one little apology. His meddling had taken the lives of seven people. He’d killed my father, and by proxy my mother. And he was the reason Claire had to go through so many terrible things... I’d make him pay someday, for all of it! Him and the rest of the Izanis family!

We exchanged glares, unmistakable fury taking to both of our eyes. It hardly looked like we were making up.

“Oh, speaking of a sit-down...” I snapped out of it, turning to Rubifya with a cherubic smile. “We haven’t really had the chance to talk, have we? Why don’t we meet up for tea sometime?”

Rubifya, evidently disappointed by the conflict’s resolution, lit up with a smile at the sudden and unexpected invitation. Like a flower blooming... No, that description was far too mellow. A smile took to her face like fire to dry grass.

“I would be happy to,” she replied instantly, shooting Aiogias a meaningful look. “I’ve been wanting to talk with you as well.”

Aiogias bore it all with a strained smile.

“Good, everyone’s here. Oh, what’s wrong?” And then the Demon King finally made his appearance, frowning at the strange atmosphere.

“Oh nothing, father,” I greeted him with a bright smile. “Just a trivial little argument. Everything is already settled.”

Rubifya was grinning from ear to ear, Aiogias was scowling at his teammates, and above all, Emergias’s face was dark with anger as if he were overcome by a sickness. But my words gave no room for the king to intervene, so he could only say, “Is that so” and take his seat.

And so the meal began. I couldn’t tell you why, but the food today tasted better than ever!

†††

“And that’s how it went,” I finally managed to finish telling the story to Prati, having to work around my own laughter.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see Nefradia.” She laughed just as loudly, forgetting to politely cover her mouth with her fan. “Probably the first time I’ve ever looked forward to seeing her.” But there was a sharp light in her eyes, like that of a vicious predator tearing apart a venomous snake with its teeth.

Well, it made sense, seeing how Nefradia had bashed Prati’s lack of children over her head for forty years. Just like the green toilet stain, she was going to reap exactly what she sowed.

After our meal, while Aiogias was usually the first to leave, he had instead chosen to stay behind to speak with greeny and the Gutsy Gorger—all while wearing a smile. I didn’t waste any time sticking around, so I didn’t get to hear what they were talking about, but I had a pretty good guess. Seaweed head’s vapid attempt at harassment (from the perspective of a demon) could push me toward Rubifya’s side, which was a major problem for them. I could practically see Aiogias strangling the seaweed out of him.

Oh, and when I thought about it, there was the fire too. Depending on how you looked at it, you could argue that was evidence I had already joined hands with Rubifya. I could only imagine how furious that would make Aiogias.

“I’m feeling great.” Just as I started to daydream about Aiogias beating greeny for me, Prati suddenly stood up, echoing my feelings out loud. “Why don’t we do some training?”

The good mood has her blood boiling, huh? She really is a savage...

“Good idea.” But I had no reason to refuse, so I accepted the invitation immediately.

“By the sound of it, you are becoming quite the savage yourself.”

Yeah, I’ve kinda gotten used to it now.

So we made our way to the parade ground, dressed up in our battle gear. As usual, we fought each other. Things had really started to heat up in our battles. We were basically fighting on even ground now. Or maybe it was more accurate to say neither of us could win decisively.

As I was now naturally on the level of a marquis, my Naming basically put me on an equal footing with Prati in terms of magic. Being an archduchess, she had a slight edge, but neither of us could easily slip curses past the other’s guard anymore. So while we fought spear to spear, we were also raising our magical resistance to the limit, slamming each other with Transposition and other powerful curses.

It was a fusion of physical and magical warfare. Prati still brandished her multiple spear style, putting the additional arm she was granted by her devilish pact to use. I was covered in blood and wounds. Sparks scattered as spear and swordspear clashed, and the air twisted and warped with the intensity of the curses we threw at each other.

The commencement of our training drew quite the crowd, but the demons among them quickly dispersed, feeling inadequate as they compared themselves to us. Thanks to Liliana, we could fight until we were completely spent. Even should-be-fatal injuries weren’t enough to stop us. At this point, I could confidently say that Prati and I had the most intense training regimen in the entire world.

“You’ve gotten better,” Prati said while all drenched in blood and sweat as she took a drink.

“Speak for yourself. You’re going harder on me every day, aren’t you?” I all but complained through heavy breaths, chugging water myself. It had been ages since dealing with the unfamiliar swordspear had put her on the back foot. Now her multi-spear style had been refined even further, perfectly accounting for my unfamiliar weapon, turning her defense into an impenetrable fortress.

“Of course. I won’t let you win that easily.” She laughed, wiping hair from her eyes.

“Not just that. Her magic has grown stronger since our first meeting...”

Seriously? Even as an archduchess, she’s still getting stronger?

“Every wound or curse she inflicts upon you is an expression of her authority ofSadism.”

So she had plenty of opportunities for growth. Though, it was hardly the kind of authority one should have been wielding against their own son.

“But even so, it is certainly bizarre that you can fight with me on this level. Among the whole Rage family, the only other ones who can fight like this are the family head and Ziekvalt. It’s beyond terrifying,” she said, her face deathly serious. “I can only imagine what it’ll be like once you’re fully grown.”

By the way, even though I was still growing, Prati was taller than me. In human terms, I looked about sixteen years old.

After a long pause, Prati spoke again. “If you weren’t my own son, I’d be horribly envious of you.” Prati’s serious tone didn’t dilute the pride in her voice.

Regardless of whatever strangeness had happened to me in the Abyss, a six-year-old kid fighting at this level was absurd. And on top of that, Prati might have looked superior to me in combat, but that wasn’t telling the whole story. While she utilized her devilish pact and both her Bloodline Magics without restraint, I wasn’t tapping into my authority of Constraint at all. She had all her cards on the table, but I hadn’t shown mine yet, even from her perspective. All of that to say, she was very much telling the truth about how she would have been jealous of my strength.

“It’s all thanks to you,” I said, looking up at the sky as the sun started to creep over the horizon.

There was no lie in that either. On the day I had been reborn, I was just a stupid hero who was only good at swinging around a sword. Prati had given me a devil of knowledge, taught me so much, and personally trained me in combat. It was still hard to forgive her for the tremendous number of humans that had been sacrificed along the way. But the fact I had come so far in only six years could only be attributed to the incredible teaching environment Prati had created for me.

I felt a soft touch on my head. Turning to look, I saw Prati patting my hair with a smile.

“I’m so proud of you.” Such a warm smile seemed hard to believe on the face of the same woman who traded verbal jabs with the other archduchesses on a frequent basis.

Not sure how to respond, all I could do was give her an awkward smile. Maybe it looked like I was just being bashful, but I really didn’t know how to respond. The sensation of her stroking my hair felt...good.

I was at a total loss.

†††

High above in the castle, a certain man was a spectator to the whole exchange.

He was Fourth Demon Prince Emergias, sporting a fresh bruise on his face.

Chapter 4: His True Wish

Emergias stared down at them, his face swollen and bruised. Few in the entire demonic kingdom would have dared to do that to him, the fourth demon prince.

“You absolute fool!”

Aiogias had given him quite the thorough scolding after the lunch meeting. After hearing excuse after excuse, he had punched Emergias. As if he were a mere observer, Emergias casually wondered how long it had been since he last got punched in the face.

“Why did you do something so careless?”

“I told you we were trying to win him over to our side, didn’t I?”

“What are you, stupid?”

The criticism, the insults, were unending. Spinezia had watched the entire thing play out, face pale as she continued working on dessert.

“You just wait. See if Zilbagias joins Rubifya,” Aiogias said, lifting Emergias up by his shirt. “Once the war of succession starts, you’ll be first in line to fight him. Assuming you’d even stand a chance,” he spat. “How come Rubifya gets all my talented brothers...?” he moaned.

But his words didn’t bother Emergias in the slightest. See, joining Aiogias’s faction hadn’t been his choice. One day, his mother just told him that the family had decided the Izanis family would serve under the Vernas family. All the effort Emergias had put in, all the blood, sweat, and tears he had poured into trying to become worthy of the title of Demon King, had been thrown in the gutter without a second thought. His own mother had given up on him, going so far as to try and replace him with another child.

The stone railing of the balcony groaned under Emergias’s grip.

“You’re as reliable as ever, Zilbagias! I’m so proud to call you my son!”

The words of his father from the day that brat had first showed off his high elf leather outfit came unbidden to his mind. His father had ordered Zilbagias to stay after everyone had left. Emergias assumed they’d put up a soundproof barrier, so he hadn’t expected much when he stayed behind to listen through the door. He hadn’t picked up anything of their conversation, but he had heard his father praising Zilbagias at the end.

As Demon King, his father was always keeping an eye on the balance of power between his children. He didn’t casually dole out praise or favor to any of them. At least, that was what Emergias had thought. That was what he had been led to believe. Until that day.

On that day, he had heard his father praise someone openly for the first time.

The balcony railing started to crack.

And now, he saw that same Zilbagias facing off against his own mother in a fight to the death. They were both covered in wounds and drenched in blood. This kind of fatal training was entirely unusual for demons. This was only possible for the Rage family, the sole family in the demonic kingdom with access to healing magic... No. Even for them, this was far from normal.

“Bark bark!”

That high elf’s presence was a big deal. Taking his mother’s wounds after impaling her in the stomach, Zilbagias was healed in no time. And with that, they resumed their training.

Any demon would see that and recognize the threat that Zilbagias posed. He took fatal wounds without so much as flinching, wielded Transposition expertly... It was hard to imagine just how incredible he’d be on the battlefield. But the most bizarre thing of all? Despite their brutally vicious fighting...there wasn’t a shred of hatred between them.

When they took a water break, they exchanged smiles. Smiling, even while covered in blood. And what were they saying? Almost unconsciously, Emergias took hold of the wind with his magic.

“I—proud—you.”

He could barely make out what was said. But with the way she stroked his hair, the unbelievably gentle smile on her face, it was obvious what Pratifya was saying.

The railing let out another groan beneath his fingers.

Emergias pressed a hand to his chest, his face taking on a look as though he was suppressing the urge to vomit blood. His heart was a hurricane of mad emotion.

And yet, it wasn’t enough. Not even close. He felt that. He understood that.

After almost forty years, he had ascended to the rank of marquis. But, where would he go next? How long would it take him to reach the rank of duke?

And in that same time, how far would Zilbagias climb? Having reached the rank of marquis at six years old, he was an unprecedented prodigy.

It wasn’t enough. Not enough, not enough, not enough! At this rate, he couldn’t keep up. He couldn’t catch up. Emergias groaned in pain.

The stone railing beneath his hand shattered.

No matter how strong his desires were, no matter how desperate he became, all this power wasn’t enough. But at the same time, he understood. Even if he had all the power in the world...

Did he want to become king? To become the strongest warrior in the kingdom? To win fame and honor? No, he wanted none of that. What he wanted, what he really wanted...

Emergias started to laugh because it was simply impossible. And if it was impossible, then all he could do was obtain more power. That was the only option he had left.

Emergias walked away, a new kind of resolve burning in his bloodshot eyes.

“Young master...” Hisuizia—the attendant, childhood friend, and practically older sister of Emergias—called out to him with uncharacteristic concern in her voice.

“Arrange a dragon for me,” he gave her a crisp order. If he wanted even more power... “I’m going to the Dark Portal.”

All he could offer in exchange was his own soul.

†††

“We will arrive soon, boss,” the metallic voice of his familiar green dragon came to him.

“Oh...good.” Emergias straightened up in the saddle. Even though they had just left the castle thirty minutes prior, he was usually asleep by this time, so the trip was just long enough for Emergias to start dozing off.

Off in the distance, at the far end of the wasteland racing beneath him, he saw something akin to a rainbow mirage. The prism-like illumination was beautiful yet unnerving. And sitting just below it was Cosmologie, the town that had sprouted up to serve as a rest stop for devils arriving in the material world for the first time or demons returning from their journey in the Abyss. As if sneering at the very laws of nature, the buildings were constructed in a twisted fashion, winding toward the center of the city. And at that center, a pitch-black hole was present in the world: the entrance to the Abyss—the Dark Portal.

“I’ll be back soon,” Emergias informed Hisuizia at his side before he inevitably departed. Time within the Abyss passed by swiftly. To what extent depended on where one encountered a devil, but generally a visitor returned before too much time had passed in the material world. That was as long as nothing went awry.

“Understood. Be careful,” Hisuizia called after him, her voice weighed down by concern.

And, without a hint of hesitation, Emergias stepped inside.

The next thing he knew, he was standing on darkly bright ground. A black sun hung in the sky above. He was surrounded by a forest of shadows and had reddish black soil underneath his feet.

“Why hello there,” a familiar voice called out to him. Standing beside Emergias was a cane wearing a tailcoat. There was no other way to describe him. He looked exactly like an old wooden cane, standing on its end, with a tailcoat draped over it. Their first meeting had left Emergias pretty stunned.

“Odigoth, was it?” Emergias greeted the creature. As the Devil of Guidance, he was the first all demons met upon entry into the Abyss.

“It seems this isn’t your first time here,” the devil spoke.

“That’s correct. This is my third.” His first visit to the Abyss had seen him making a true pact with the Devil of Envy just before coming of age. When his strength had started to plateau, he’d made his second visit. As his soul no longer had the capacity to keep coming here, this would likely be his last visit.

“Do you require my services?” Odigoth asked.

“Of course.”

“Then allow me to show you the way, the path that you must take.” With that, Odigoth dropped like a marionette whose strings had been cut. With that, both the cane and tailcoat fell, pointing toward the forest of shadows. “You should head in that direction,” Odigoth said as he righted himself, brushing the dirt from his sleeves.

With a word of thanks, Emergias set off, finding a twisting path through the translucent trees. High grass impeded his progress, so he unleashed blades of wind to mow it down out of irritation. But a moment after they were gone, they had grown right back. It was as though they had never been touched at all. He had hoped that his growth in the time since his previous visits would have made a difference, but that didn’t seem to be the case. The concept of thick, irritating overgrowth was just too much to overcome. With a sigh, he slowly made his way through the grass.

After struggling for a while, he finally came across something like a spring in the middle of the forest. Thick black fluid, reminiscent of oil, gushed forth from its center.

“Long time no sssee, Emergias,” a hissing voice called down to him from overhead.

“Hey.” With no particular surprise, Emergias looked up to see a woman hanging upside down above him. Though her face was perfectly androgynous, the contours of her upper body made it clear that she was closer to being a woman. She wore no clothes or the like. Instead, her skin was covered in small, delicate scales here and there. Her eyes were deep black—not even a speck of white to them—and a long, thin tongue stretched bright and red from her mouth.

However, her most memorable feature was her lower body. Unlike her very humanoid upper body, her lower body was thick like a tree trunk, covered in scales, and stretched on for seemingly forever.

This was the Devil of Envy, Jiiria. Her strange appearance had left Emergias quite spooked during their first encounter, but he was no longer a child who had yet to come of age, jumping at every shadow he crossed in the Abyss. Emergias looked up at her entirely unfazed.

“It has been ssso long... How long exactly? Five hundred years?” Jiiria said, laying a friendly hand on his shoulder.

“It’s only been fifteen years in the material world.”

“Really? Only fifteen?” Her eyes blinked in surprise before narrowing. “How nice it must be. The material world sssounds ssso nice. If my body wasn’t ssso long, I would join you on the journey back. If only, if only...” she said, winding down from her perch.

Jiiria wrapped herself comfortably around him, only using some of her length.

“Anyway, you ssseem to have grown quite a bit.” She grinned, inspecting him from many different angles before she started gently stroking his hair. The way her smile revealed wickedly sharp fangs, the way her tongue writhed back and forth, made her flattery fall somewhat flat, but Emergias nonetheless let her do as she pleased.

“I have a request for you,” Emergias said.

“Oh? What sssort of request?”

“I want as much of your authority as I can handle.”

Jiiria’s hands froze.

Fifteen years ago, Emergias had come here to consult with her about why his power wasn’t growing. He had hoped to find a more efficient means of gaining power. Normally, even when a demon made a true pact with a devil—a contract which aided a demon’s magical growth—they left room in their soul so they could take on other devils as familiars. Jiiria had suggested she pour her own power into that empty space. Breaking a sealed pact was impossible, but it could still be strengthened. Emergias had accepted, granting him a sudden explosive growth in power...but now he had started to stagnate again.

“It’s still not enough.” A slight boost in efficiency wasn’t going to cut it. He needed more. More power.

“I’m sssorry to sssay, but you don’t have room for any more,” Jiiria said with a pout, resting her chin on her own scales. “Your sssoul is already filled to its limit with my power. If I gave you even a drop more, you would never be able to return to the Abyss.”

“That’s fine,” Emergias replied, eyes glowering. “I don’t care if I can’t come back.”

For a lengthy moment, Jiiria simply stared at him. “Ssso, getting a sssmidgen of power is more important to you than ever ssseeing me again.” She flicked her tongue, evidently displeased.

“That’s not true.” But Emergias grabbed her shoulders and pulled her closer, unbridled desperation in his expression. “I don’t want a mere smidgen. That’s not enough!”

“Like I sssaid, your sssoul—”

“I don’t care!” Emergias’s shout was finally enough to clue Jiiria in that her contractor was no longer of sound mind. “I don’t care what happens to my soul. I don’t care what happens to me! I don’t matter anymore! So give me it! As much as you can! Fill me with your authority!”

Despite Emergias’s raving, Jiiria turned a bored expression as she sighed. “You know, you aren’t the first one to ask that of me. If getting ssstronger was that easy, everyone would do it. Fill sssomeone up with more power than they can handle and then...pop! They’ll burst. That goes for everyone. Everyone. Including you.”

“I’ve already accepted that possibility.”

“Are you sssure? It’ll be excruciatingly painful. A thousand times worse than you can imagine.”

“What difference does it make? I’ll be dead by then. I’m basically already dead now.” Emergias’s hand tightened into a fist, tightening more and more. “You can do it, right?! You can give me power beyond the limits of my soul! That’s what I want! I want to take this useless person I’ve become and obliterate them!” And then he clapped a fist to his chest. His desperation was earnest but at the same time depressingly comical, like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Fine, I get it. This is just a fancy way of killing yourself, isn’t it?” Jiiria raised her hands in surrender, then started to grin. “If you insist ssso ssstrongly, then I’ll do it. I’ll give you more power. With this being our final meeting, ssseeing you break in my arms isn’t the worst way to end things.” In the blink of an eye, Jiiria’s endless coils began to constrict, tightly wrapping around Emergias.

“Whoa...?!”

“This is my last chance, ssso allow me to sssqueeze you a bit. It’ll help you last longer too.” With Emergias trapped in place, Jiiria draped herself over him from behind. “Okay then, let’s begin.” Then she opened her mouth wide and sank her fangs into his neck.

Emergias gasped. He could feel it pouring into him. The Devil of Envy’s authority was a poison that corrupted the heart. Though his mouth opened wide, his scream was silent.

The icy power deep within him suddenly exploded outward, filling every crevice of his being. He felt himself growing to many times his own size. Blood filled his eyes, and something began to pour out of his mouth, nose, and ears.

As he started to sputter weakly, Jiiria’s grip on him only tightened, both her arms around his shoulders and her coils around his body. While he was being crushed on the outside, the incessant torrent of power flowing into him made it feel like he was on the verge of bursting on the inside. With nowhere else to go, that power began to destroy Emergias himself.

Bubbles formed across his skin, as though the blood beneath the surface was boiling, drops of it squeezing through the pores all over his body. His blood vessels writhed like countless tiny snakes, and his skin began to snap as it ripped apart.

At this point, he was beyond feeling pain. Now he just flailed mindlessly. But Jiiria didn’t stop. After all, this was what Emergias desired.

An unnerving creaking sound resounded from within him. At last, Jiiria withdrew her fangs from his neck.

“Goodbye, Emergias.” She kissed his neck, then bared her fangs again—

“I...!” Over the wet popping sounds. “I am...Emergias Izanis...!” Emergias muttered as if in a daze. “The future...ruler of...the demonic...kingdom...!”

Whether he was even conscious or not was hard to say. His whole body pulsed with a regular rhythm, like it was being rocked by a tremendous heartbeat.

“What a brave young man.” Jiiria lovingly smiled down at him. “But this is the end.”

She once again sank her fangs into him, making way for more power to pour in. With that, he finally surpassed his limit.

With a loud bang, Emergias Izanis exploded. Dark blue fluid sprayed everywhere, drenching Jiiria’s upper body. The lump of flesh that had once been Emergias hit the ground with a thud.

And then it began to groan.

“Oh my.” Jiiria blinked in surprise, leaning down to scoop up the mess. With his skin ragged and falling off, he almost slipped out of her hands. She stretched out her tongue, licking away some of the dark blue blood covering him...

“Incredible. You actually sssurvived.”

Beneath that blood was not the pale blue skin of a demon, but small, tightly woven scales. He had undergone a complete transformation. Reptilian scales had taken the place of his skin, the whites of his unseeing eyes were now solid black, and he had vertical slits for pupils. The most unnerving change was how lithe, how flexible, he now was. It was like all the bones in his body had been ripped out. Like a snake...

Emergias moaned again, thick black fluid pouring from his mouth.

“Oh, you poor thing. It ssseems it reduced you to nothing but a fool.” Jiiria looked down with surprise, before her face broke into another smile. “But I sssuppose this means we can ssstay together forever. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.” Stroking his blood drenched head, Jiiria went back to coiling her lower body around him.

“Ugh... What...happened...to me?” But then Emergias’s mind came back to him.

“Oh?” In her surprise, she released her hold on him. And just like that, the light of consciousness in his eyes was snuffed out once more, a soft groan leaking from his mouth. She repeated the experiment a number of times, gripping him tightly and then letting him go. Whenever she held him, his mind would return to him. But if she let go, he would become a thoughtless lump of meat.

“Stop it... Stop playing with me...” Emergias finally managed to muster while she squeezed him.

“Looks like you’re awake.”

“I don’t even know. When you move away, my head goes blank...”

“It appears it was too much for you after all. You no longer have a grip on your sssense of ssself.”

Emergias tilted his head, the only part of him he could move while wrapped up in her tail. “Then how am I able to talk now?”

“Because I’m keeping you together. Like this,” she said with a gentle smile, tightening her grip on his body while she stroked his hair. “I’m holding together the broken pieces of your sssoul. Each time I let go, they fall apart and your sssense of ssself turns hazy...”

Emergias was baffled. He felt the sensation of Jiiria’s power flowing into him, the sensation of his “shell” bursting from within. He could feel the magic in the world around him better than ever before. He could feel her authority infusing with every part of his being. But that “shell” had been necessary to sustain “Emergias.” He was only barely maintaining a formal sense of self thanks to his new mother Jiiria holding the elements of his soul together. Said soul was now nothing more than loose magical power without a concrete form.

“No... So if I go back to the material world...”

“Your mind will be that of an infant.” Jiiria giggled. “There’s no telling if you’ll even make it through the Dark Portal.”

“What...?”

“Look at you. You are practically half devil now,” she revealed the devastating truth. “And you came here alone, yes? Perhaps you would have a chance if sssomeone was waiting for you on the other ssside, but...”

“One of my retainers is waiting for me...” Emergias muttered.

“Ah, is that ssso? Maybe there is a chance for you yet.” Jiiria sank into thought, wrapping her arms around him from behind while resting her chin on his head. “Do you really have to go back?”

“Of course I do...! But if I lose my sense of self...”

Ironically, while being constricted by Jiiria like this, his body felt lighter and freer than ever. He felt like he was made of wind. He understood the workings of his power. He possessed an instinctive understanding of how to properly apply magic. He knew that if he made it back to the material world, he could wield Jiiria’s authority with far greater power and control than ever before. But if he lost the ability to think in the process...

“There might be a possible sssolution.” Jiiria gave an ominous smile. “I could go with you. That way, I could hold the form of your sssoul together, letting you maintain your sssense of ssself.”

Emergias looked up at her in surprise. He hadn’t thought that was a possibility.

“With you now having ssso much of my power, surely I will be able to house myself in your sssoul. If I don’t materialize into a physical body, I should be able to do ssso with minimal cost.”

“House yourself? Inside me?” Emergias asked, uneasy as he looked up at the seemingly endless length of tail coiling through the trees. It was like she was a part of the forest itself.

“Of course not all of me could fit inside you, that would be like taking the entire forest. But a sssmall part of me should be sssufficient. It’ll be quite the task for me too, but given your current ssstate, it is probably possible.”

She then stared at him with a grin.

“Ssso, I’ll get ssstarted. It’ll hurt a little. Bear with me, okay?”

Emergias unconsciously flinched back. Was he going to have to experience that pain of his entire body being ripped apart again?

“W-Wait—” Jiiria’s fangs sank into his neck once more. The poison that was her authority flowed into him, reshaping his insides.

Emergias could only scream in pain as he was wracked with convulsions.

A woman with the lower half of a snake emerged from the trees, dragging a man covered in scales behind her. For Emergias, who couldn’t organize his thoughts, he felt like a mere spectator to the events.

“Oh, you are leaving the forest, Jiiria? What a rare sight.” The tailcoated cane waiting at the Dark Portal turned at their approach. “You aren’t perchance shorter than usual, are you?”

“I managed to cut off just a part of myself. I’ll be heading to the material world with this man.”

“My, that sounds wonderful. Enjoy your trip.” The cane waved its sleeves. “It seems you’ve found yourself quite the contractor. I must admit, I’m quite jealous.”

“Oh. Jealous? Of the Devil of Envy? Don’t think I’ll let you take my place.” The snake woman giggled before bidding a quick farewell, holding Emergias under her arm as she leaped into the portal.

Everything shuddered and warped, light and darkness inverting. Emergias felt the warmth of the Devil of Envy fade...no, more like dissolve into him. And then...

Emergias gasped as he struck the ground. It was hard, solid and gritty. He vaguely understood he was lying on paving stones.

“Young master!” a familiar voice called out to him. Familiar, yet somehow very different. “What happened?! Are you okay?!”

Emergias groaned. “I’m fine,” he replied, refusing the hand she offered to help him back to his feet almost without realizing it.

It felt like he was in the body of someone else. Not in a particularly bad way though. The sensation of lightness and freedom was exceptional, like his flesh and bones had been remade using wind. He leaped to his feet with ease. Bending and warping around him unlike ever before were the laws of nature. The way they bent so willingly made Emergias feel as though it would take quite some time to get acclimated to the change.

And that was when he realized. He was thinking.

“Young master...?!” Hisuizia gulped at his side. She stared at him wide-eyed. Emergias stepped over to one of the nearby stores, searching for his reflection in the window. His skin was still the blue he remembered, but scalelike marks were present here and there. And his eyes... They were abyssal pits of black with vertical slit pupils, like a snake’s.

“It ssseems everything went well.” Jiiria chuckled, her voice coming from deep within him. “Let’s have sssome fun, Emergias.”

And so, Fourth Demon Prince Emergias Izanis returned to the material world in one piece.

†††

“Construction of the forward base to fend off the fiends has been completed. Guards and citizens have already moved in to start rebuilding the land. They plan to expand the base into a village to provide facilities for daily life,” the Devil of Oppression, Porkun, said as he flipped through the pages of his report.

I was in Evaloti Castle, receiving reports from my three nondemon officials. Though they had received a crippling blow in their last encounter with a fiend, the City Guard had bolstered their numbers and their resolve, heading back out into the field to retake the land. With the addition of some apprentice priests to their ranks, they had achieved better results thanks to their holy blessings. It seemed that Charlotte’s efforts were starting to bear fruit, the little baby chicks finally working their way out of their shells.

“As for this ‘village,’ the humans have requested your input on giving the settlement a name,” Tavo added to Porkun’s report.

Me? Oh. Well I am the governor.

“Why should that little hovel be of any concern to me? I’m sure there’ll be plenty more, so there’s no need for me to waste time naming each of them. Tell them to call it whatever they want.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Tavo responded to my haughty answer with a deep bow. Good.

“Wow, those humans can really work!” Nichar crowed. “I must say, I’m mighty impressed! Your insight is truly a sight to behold, Your Highness!” The night elf grinned broadly.

Ignoring his brownnosing, I started to give some thought to my next plans. Maybe it was time I headed back to the Demon King’s castle. I’d fill up Claire’s magic, ask about how the humans were doing, and then make my way home.

“So, how are things in the autonomous zone?” We were in the library. The curtains were drawn, leaving the room exceptionally dark. I was holding Claire’s hand, resupplying her with magic.

“Nothing out of the ordinary.” Her reply was fairly curt. “They’re living it up like always.” Well...maybe that wasn’t the best way to put it. Let’s say she was being “sarcastic.”

“They seem strangely motivated these days,” I observed.

“Oh, are you worried about them, Mr. Prince?” she said, a somewhat teasing grin on her face. “I guess you could say that. On that note, I had another chat with the City Guard’s vice captain.”

“His name is Tafman, right?”

“That run-in with the fiend had him down in the dumps, but now he’s all fired up. Apparently he’s trying to become a Swordmaster.”

“That’s...well, fine I suppose.” I gave a wry grin. That guy must have thought if they didn’t have any high-level fighters, then they’d have to become them. If just anyone could become a Weaponmaster, life would be a lot easier for all of us, but you couldn’t succeed if you never took a chance. The head of the City Guard being so motivated would be good for the whole outfit.

“If you ask me, it seems pretty pointless. They’ll all be dead sooner or later anyway.” Claire shrugged with an unpleasant smile. “But whatever makes them happy. Thanks, Mr. Prince. This should be enough to last me a while.”

And we were done. Her hand, usually so cold but now warmed up by contact with me, pulled away.

“Don’t mention it. I’m counting on you to keep an eye on things around here. If any emergencies come up, don’t hesitate to send word to Enma.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied sarcastically with a wave as I left the library behind. With that finished, my work here was done. It was time to gather up Layla and Liliana so I could make my way back.

Layla’s scales glittered white under the beautiful midday sky. It was the middle of summer, but it was quite cool at this altitude. Below us, the people of the autonomous zone were energetically living out their lives.

I always thought about using Anthromorphy to sneak in and live among them just to see how things were going for myself, but unfortunately I was something of a demon prince. There were always denizens of the dark with their eyes on me, and my grasp of Anthromorphy was still a secret to the kingdom at large.

“It’s really too bad,” Layla said, gliding a few circles over Evaloti so I could enjoy the view.

Yeah...it would be nice to walk the streets with Layla sometime. But, even if I could ever pull that off, I got the feeling it would be a rather melancholic experience.

“Looks like old Seb and the rest are doing well. I can rest easy knowing that.”

I remembered Barbara’s words. She and Hessel were training in Fort Aurora at the moment. I had taken those two to Evaloti a few times in small bone vessels. There were a surprising number of members of the old da Rosa barony still around, so I wanted to give Barbara a chance to see how they were doing. Hessel was also delighted to see so many of his old friends still kicking.

But...that was it. Though the two Swordmasters could take on human form again, who knew what would happen if they were unleashed on the city? Never mind the people of the autonomous zone, I hadn’t even told Claire and my closest night elves about their existence. I couldn’t let them reunite with the people they knew in life until after the demonic kingdom fell. But by the time that happened, everyone they knew would probably have succumbed to old age.

Though those two were excited to visit Evaloti the first time around, they grew less and less eager each time, eventually opting to instead throw themselves into even more hellacious training rather than keep accompanying me. As if to bring down the demonic kingdom even one day sooner.

I understood exactly how they felt, but I was the one responsible for dragging them back to the world of the living in the first place. It wasn’t my right to say anything about the whole situation, nor was there anything I could do for them.

Layla finished circling, turning us west. The cityscape of the autonomous zone disappeared behind us as we passed over the walls in an instant. Then there were the fields, and then the frontline base which had been established just recently. Out in the fields, I could see people around the base working on something or other. Some of them noticed us too, stopping to point up. I considered waving down at them, but figured it wouldn’t be very princely.

Man, what I wouldn’t have given to change into my human form and work right alongside them, just like the old days... But hey, there was no use moping. I had to keep moving forward.

Despite those bitter feelings, things were moving forward quite smoothly. Managing the autonomous zone was going well, resistance from within the kingdom was a lot less than I had expected, and farming was starting to kick off in the area around Evaloti Castle.

“Oh. Alex, there’s a big one.”

Things were going well for us too. Layla pointed out a large fiend that was wandering around the edge of the tree line, some distance from Evaloti proper. It was like a huge tiger with large, daggerlike canines. At the moment, it looked like it was chasing after some deer.

Okay, do it.

“Here I go.”

Layla dropped in altitude, then opened her mouth wide. She roared, a beam of silver white light charring the fiend to a crisp. Having so narrowly escaped their own fate, the deer looked up at Layla flying overhead with unbridled terror, stumbling forward before dashing off into the trees.

We, or I suppose more accurately Layla, had been seeking out dangerous fiends every time we traveled to and from the castle, culling as many as we could. It was a pain in the ass cleaning up after the little stunt those Izanis assholes pulled, but enough dirt could make a mountain, or whatever. Basically, the number of fiends we had managed to take down was piling up.

Yes, things were going well. As long as you ignored Daiagias leading the charge in the Gigamunt family’s effort to carve away even more of the Alliance’s land.

Things were so peaceful. I could only pray that my next deployment would come sooner rather than later. Soon. Even one second sooner. All so I could turn the Alliance’s suffering against the demonic kingdom itself.

†††

Somewhere in the Evaloti Autonomous Zone, a massive creature lurked deep in the forest. It had a large, fluffy mane, and a tail like a headless snake. This creature was the manticore, ruler of the deep forest. It was a fiend that had once been chased out of its territory by the Izanis family, driven to this far-off place. Looking up to see the bright daytime sky through the gaps in the trees, the monarch growled with dissatisfaction.

It was hungry.

The fiend had established itself firmly in this new territory, reclaiming some measure of its lost dignity, but hunting had taken a turn for the worse as of late. When it had first arrived, there had been an abundance of worthy prey to fill its stomach. But fiends like the warbear were becoming a rarer sight by the day. It was almost as if someone were intentionally exterminating them.

A manticore was capable of surviving for extended periods of time without sustenance, but that didn’t stave off its sense of hunger. While soundlessly stepping between the trees, it spotted a deer. It was tiny, barely a fraction of the manticore’s size. The fiend spread its wings wide and leaped forward, devouring the deer in little more than a mouthful.

But it wasn’t enough. Even as blood and guts dripped from the corners of its mouth, the ruler of the wilds swept its gaze over its domain. This place was no longer sufficient. It needed new territory.

A faint trail of smoke rose from a cooking fire into the bright orange sky. A tiny little fortress sat bathed in the glow of sunset.

Raian Village. It was the first village to be established in the autonomous zone. “Raian” was the name of one of the soldiers who had lost their life in the warbear encounter. As the autonomous zone grew and more villages were established, all of the fallen would be memorialized in the same way.

“Okay, shut the gates! No one’s still outside, right? Didn’t think so!” a human soldier, Gusinus, shouted. His joking got hearty laughs from the other soldiers. A few began working their mechanisms, closing the drawbridge-style gate in short order. It lined up perfectly with a set of mud walls, almost four meters from their top to the bottom of the trench outside them, enough to keep the vast majority of fiends from bothering them. Raian Village had been built on the remains of an older village, and was proving to be an excellent base.

“This place cleans up kinda nicely, huh?” Gusinus smiled as he climbed up to the watchpost and looked out over the sunset-lit fields. He was the kind of man who often wore a cynical smile. His unruly shock of black hair and pointed nose gave him something of the appearance of a crow.

We’ve gotta keep this one safe... If a large fiend appeared, handling it with only the men they had on hand would be a challenge. Whatever. Being the first to volunteer just means more time to relax, he thought with a snicker.

As Gusinus was on the watchpost, the others looked up at him and rolled their eyes. “There he goes again with that same old awful look on his face,” they laughed quietly to each other.

“Everyone! Dinner! Food’s ready!” a young beastfolk wearing a soldier’s uniform shouted as he ran about the village. He was still young enough to be a child. At least he looked just like one to the humans with his big, cute eyes. He had only joined the City Guard a few days prior. As baby-faced as he was, he had demonstrated a toughness that put him on par with his adult peers. He had dedicated himself to becoming a Fistmaster, and everyone around him was optimistic about his future prospects.

“All right! Everyone’s worked hard today, so let’s get stuffed!”

“For Raian Village’s grand opening, right?!”

“You idiot, we already did that!” Gusinus retorted, jumping down from the watchpost and ruffling the young beastfolk’s hair.

They didn’t currently have anything like a fancy dining hall, so they just gathered around a huge cauldron placed in a clearing in the middle of the village. One by one, they each got their share of the hodgepodge soup. They were still transporting supplies from the city to the village, so there was no need to skimp on the meals.

“Ooh, this is lookin’ pretty fancy.” Gusinus grinned, stirring the soup with a wooden spoon. Their cooks must have really gone all out, evident by the chunks of bacon he found in it. With all the physical labor still to do in the coming days, he was more than happy to see it.

“This year might be the best we’ll ever have...”

“Yeah, last year was pretty rough.” The other ex-soldiers nodded grimly. Before the fall of Evaloti, the winter they had spent under siege had been immensely brutal.

“But hey, somehow we picked up the pieces. We gotta enjoy times like this.” Gusinus snorted, downing a spoonful of soup. If he let them keep talking, the mood would only dampen, and he wasn’t going to allow that to happen on his watch.

Between the City Guard and field workers, they had a few dozen people. All of them sat in a circle in the middle of the village, enjoying their meal of soup and hard-baked bread.

Sure would be nice if we had something good to drink right about now, Gusinus thought with a smile as he looked around at all the people gathered, lit by the light of the cooking fire. He wasn’t sure whether to say “thanks to having a well” or “because of that damned well,” but in either case, their access to water of their own meant the city wasn’t even sending them the cheapest ale. Of course, by morning, they had to be on guard against any fiends. So it wasn’t like they could get really drunk and rowdy in the first place.

“Damn! This is good!” The beastfolk boy’s tail poking out of his uniform was wagging energetically back and forth as he ate. “Huh...?” And then his face went tense, nose testing the air.

The other beastfolk had also fallen silent, all of them smelling the wind.

“What’s wrong? Fiends?” Gusinus asked, downing the last of his soup.

“Probably...but this scent is unlike anything I’ve smelled before.”

“Seems there’s some old blood mixed in with the scent. No way it’s anything good.”

“My fur’s standing on end. What the hell?”

The beastfolk all began murmuring, clearly unsettled.

Gusinus sprinted back to the watchpost. With the sun having dipped below the horizon, he had to strain to see anything in the last of the light. Empty fields that had once been farmland stretched out in every direction.

“Can you see anything?” the beastfolk boy asked, hopping up beside him.

Gusinus didn’t respond. At the very edge of where he could see, there was...something. It was an enormous shadow, gently gliding across the fields toward them. Dog beastfolk couldn’t see that well at night, but the intensifying smell didn’t prevent the boy’s expression from gradually becoming more fearful.

“Shit,” Gusinus muttered, using his fingers to try and gauge the distance between them and the creature. His already spiky hair now stood on end. That fiend...it was still so far away, yet he could see it so clearly. The bushes and shrubs it was passing by...they weren’t as small as they looked.

This thing was enormous. Absolutely huge.

“All hands! To arms!” Gusinus roared, and the whole village sprung into action. The beastfolk boy jumped down from the watchpost and bolted into the village, joining the ranks.

Thank the gods we finished the trench and walls. Fighting something that big out in the open would be suicide, he thought as he watched the boy go.

“Huh...?” But when he turned his attention back to the fiend, it was gone. No...not gone. The light of the stars had only just started winking to life in the sky, but they were now blocked as a shadow fell over him. “What...?”

Looking up, he saw the belly of an enormous fiend as a pair of batlike wings carried it overhead. The earth shook as the creature dropped to the ground. It had effortlessly soared over their trench and walls, landing squarely in the middle of the village.

Trampling over houses and shacks, the manticore lifted its face to the stars and roared.

†††

It was nighttime at Evaloti Castle. In her private room near the library, Claire waited for the time to deliver the regular report to her boss. With nothing else to do in the meantime, she had opened a gate to the spiritual realm and stuck a magical hand inside. With time to kill, she figured she might as well practice her Necromancy, entertaining herself with whatever spirits she could get her hands on.

“Huh...?” She grabbed a surprisingly lively spirit.

“Gaaaaaah! Dammit! I can’t die here!” Out of the spiritual realm came a man, flailing wildly. “Aaaaaah... Ah? Where am I? What happened...?”

The disoriented ghost slowly lifted itself back to its feet. His hair tapered at the back into a spike. When paired with his pointed nose, it gave off the impression of a crow.

“Wait, the village! Is everyone okay?! Why am I... Was I saved?!”

“Calm down. What happened? Please, take your time,” Claire prodded the ghost gently. She was quite accustomed to dealing with panicked spirits like this.

The man took a breath. “A crazy monster attacked Raian Village. It was some kind of huge lion fiend...but it could fly. We had the trench and walls, but it just jumped over. And now everyone...”

A lion fiend that can fly... Does he mean a manticore? Claire immediately guessed. It was no wonder this man had died. No ordinary human could fight a manticore. And if memory served her right, Raian Village was the name of their frontline base.

“I gotta go! They need my help!” Though the man tried to rush out, it was to no avail. Claire’s spell had trapped him within the confines of this room. “What the...?”

“Just so you know, you’re dead. I’m a necromancer. I called your spirit here. You probably died only a few moments ago,” she added. The man looked down at his hands, gaping as he finally realized they were translucent.

“A necromancer... No way. You’re with the Demon King’s army...?”

“Very sharp. That’s right.” Claire was impressed with how clearly he was still able to think. That was further proof he had really just died.

“You’re a human and yet you practice heresy for the demons?! You traitor!” the ghost shouted with a glare, before collapsing with a groan. The man’s body dissipated as his eyes rolled back in his head. Claire had used a spell to pacify him, putting the man to sleep before sending him back to the spiritual realm.

“Me? A traitor? I suppose I can’t deny that.” Claire couldn’t resist using an ironic tone. With a sniff, she reached back into the gate, searching for other ghosts of the fallen from Raian Village.

And boy did she find them.

“No! No! I don’t wanna die!”

“Stay away from me, you monster!”

“Help! Save me! Mommy!”

One by one, she calmed them down, heard their stories, then returned them to the spiritual realm.

“By the looks of it, they got wiped out,” Claire murmured, face expressionless.

And then the time came to deliver her report. Sticking her fingers into the eye sockets of a skull on the pillow beside her, she activated it. A bright blue flame ignited inside the eye sockets. This simple undead spirit was Claire’s means of getting back once she was done. Lying down on her bed, she slipped out of her physical body. Then, making a solid shell of magic, she dove into the gate before her.

Everything went dark. It was like traveling through an endless void. Both time and space became vague constructs within that bottomless darkness. She idly thought how this sensation was probably similar to floating in an ocean at night. Then, something took a hold of her soul and started pulling. The next thing she knew, she was seated at a round stone table in a meeting room. In spiritual form, of course.

“Hey, Claire.” Seated across the table from Claire with hands folded and wearing a smile was her master, Enma. This room was set aside for the leaders of the undead to confer with each other in spiritual form. Each seat around the table had the ability to call on the spirits of those high-level undead. It also worked as an emergency feature to call them back to the Demon King’s castle. “Nothing to report today either, I assume?”

“While I’d love for that to be the case, something came up just a few minutes ago.”

“Oh?” Enma tilted her head, making a show of great interest.

Claire explained what she had learned about the manticore attack, and how many dead she had found.

“Oh my. Let’s pray that their transition will be as painless as possible,” Enma said, making a shameless show of offering a prayer. “So, what did you do with all those souls? Sounds to me like this would be a great opportunity to make some friends!” And then, without missing a beat, she broke into a smile and continued. Claire did her best to suppress her feelings. With her spirit currently exposed, she had to be mindful about keeping her emotions hidden. Otherwise, they would bubble up to the surface and be clearly visible.

“I was pressed for time, so I just let them go. None of them seemed particularly promising anyway.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” Enma made a sad expression. “But oh well. I’ll make sure to let Zil know right away.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

After a little wave from Enma, Claire’s seat turned off. Giving Enma a small bow, Claire jumped back into the gate Enma made for her. As she floated in the darkness, Claire let the weak pull of the skull on her pillow in Evaloti slowly draw her back.

Despite lacking any real need to breathe, Claire returned to her body with a sigh before sitting up and rolling her shoulders. Ever since moving to Evaloti, she had started picking up some very human habits again.

“I guess it’s about time.” That man was going to be there again today. Donning her cloak now thick with the scent of spicy food, Claire stepped out of her room.

With Evaloti’s population having ballooned, the city was still full of life even after sundown. Light spilled from the windows of houses, and the sounds of people eating and making merry filled the streets. Claire breathed in deeply. She felt like she could pick up a hint of that nostalgic smell of dinner in the air, though she had no sense of smell to speak of. Nor did she have any need to breathe. Claire’s lungs were merely bags of air with the sole purpose of making her vocal cords functional.

Walking down the main street, she headed for the usual spot, Bistro Three. After double-checking to make sure she had actually brought her purse, she stepped through the door.

“Hey there.” Just like always, she was greeted by the same man upon her arrival.

“Good evening. You seem to be in a good mood today,” she replied with a friendly smile.

She didn’t dislike this particular drunk, a man named Tafman. His bright smile very much reminded Claire of her now long dead father. As she was now, she couldn’t even remember her father’s face. Even still, she felt strongly that he was quite similar to Tafman. Just speaking to the man brought out all sorts of nostalgic feelings from her. It was like she was no longer a lich in training and was back to being just the daughter of a baker.

Unlike the other customers at the pub, Tafman wasn’t constantly ogling her. He treated her like she was his niece or something. When she listened to all his nonsensical ramblings, it felt like human warmth was forcing its way back into her artificial body.

“Because we’re here to celebrate! You always pay for me, but today everything’s on me!” Tafman said, ordering another drink and Claire’s favorite (as far as she had told him) viciously spicy dish.

“Oh? What’s the occasion?” It was too bad her pretending to eat was a waste of food.

“Today’s cause for celebration is the official grand opening of Raian Village!”

Claire’s breath caught in her lungs. She couldn’t say a word. It was as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her. Tafman’s carefree smile was entirely ignorant to what was going on.

“No...I couldn’t possibly,” she muttered. She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t tell him that the village had already been destroyed.

“Oh, don’t be like that!” Tafman laughed. “A bunch of my buddies from the City Guard are on their way. They’re all great guys. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to join us—” Running footsteps resounded from outside. “Oh, perfect timing!”

“Tafman! Are you here?!” The door of the pub slammed open, a black-furred dog beastfolk dashing inside, breathing ragged.

“What’s wrong, Dober?”

“Raian Village was attacked by a fiend.” A ripple went through the customers. Tafman’s expression immediately went tense. “One of the workers just came running back. They said a huge fiend attacked. Gusinus is trying to hold it off, so they came to get reinforcements.”

“That warbear again?” Tafman jumped to his feet.

“No idea. All we know is that it’s huge. The guy who came back passed out, so we couldn’t ask any more.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re going anyway. Good thing I didn’t start drinking yet,” he growled, leaving his drink on the counter. Clenching his fists tight, Tafman started walking off, not so much as giving Claire a look.

“Wait—” Claire stood up, calling out to him.

A warbear? Not even close. This was a manticore. No number of humans banding together could stand against that. Besides, the village had already been wiped out. Sending reinforcements now would only pointlessly get more people killed.

But Claire couldn’t say any of that.

“Sorry, Claire. We’ll have that drink when we get back.” Tafman turned back to give her a smile, handing a passing waiter his entire coin purse before running off.

“Be...careful...” All Claire could do was put on an awkward smile as she watched him leave.

Little by little, anxious conversations started up around the pub.

“Um...here’s your food,” a waiter said, bringing Claire’s food to the counter as she stood frozen. It was the viciously spicy dish she had pretended to be so fond of. The one Tafman had ordered specifically for her. Still fresh, steam rose from the dish, filling her with an empty feeling.

Idiot...

Claire grumbled to herself, weakly dropping back into her seat. She didn’t know who the idiot was, or what they did to make them so. Was it Tafman for rushing into danger without knowing what awaited him? Was it the humans for struggling so hard to survive, even though they’d inevitably die someday?

She took a bite.

Or was it Claire herself for pretending to be human and eating food she couldn’t taste or smell that she’d have to dump out of her stomach when she got home?

Well, I guess it’s fine. It’s not like him dying means we’ll be saying goodbye forever, Claire tried to encourage herself. All of them would die eventually. The only thing that changed was how it would come about. Whether they were killed by the denizens of the dark, eaten by fiends, or succumbed to sickness or injury, it really made no difference. And no matter which path they followed, they’d belong to Enma soon enough. The only question was whether it happened today, tomorrow, or some other day.

Maybe I’ll keep him, she gave a self-derisive laugh. Tafman was absolutely convinced she was a human girl. She could only imagine the face he’d make when she summoned his ghost. Would he call her a traitor, like that guardsman had? Or would he join her openly, raging against his untimely fate? If she told him she was trying to bring down the demonic kingdom, he might even cooperate with her.

“Here you are.” As if to interrupt her melancholic inner monologue, a waiter placed a small silver goblet filled with a thick orange liquid in front of Claire.

“What’s this...?”

“Tafman requested this cocktail specifically for you,” the waiter gave a meek reply. “He said you don’t have much taste for alcohol, but you seem to like citrus, so maybe a sweetened orange juice would be a better complement to your food. It’s also spiced to pair well with your dish. Please enjoy,” the waiter explained, staring with a worried look at the door where Tafman had left, before walking off.

Claire slowly reached out and picked up the goblet, swirling its contents. She sniffed it...but couldn’t smell anything. She took a mouthful...but couldn’t taste its flavor at all. This was only natural. Undead lacked a sense of smell and taste.

“Ah, that hits the spot! This is what life is all about!”

Tafman’s bright smile after downing his favorite drink filled her mind. Even if she picked up his soul after he died, would he accept her offer of the flavorless life of an undead?

Of course not. She never expected he’d willingly be her friend afterward, but now she was absolutely certain of it. And if he refused, her only options were to release him back into the spiritual realm to disappear, or to fashion his soul into a lesser undead. In other words, the Tafman she knew would be no more—never to be seen again. Just like her parents. Just like her childhood friend. The moment she had gained enough proficiency in Necromancy to try and call on their spirits, she had done so. But it had already been far too late.

Claire’s hand tightened around the goblet. The expensive silver vessel crumpled between her fingers, its orange contents spilling all over her hand.

The professor always said that necromancers had overcome death, but that wasn’t true. Death was always looming, always ready. Necromancers just had a few tricks to sneak beneath its notice.

“E-Excuse me, miss?!” a passing waiter exclaimed, noticing the destroyed goblet in her hand.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Claire snapped back to reality, wiping her hand before pulling out some money. “Thanks for the food. Don’t worry, I’ll pay for it. Is this enough?”

“I-I imagine so... Boss!”

As the waiter ran off to get the hobgoblin manager, Claire donned her cloak and made her way outside. When she first came to the autonomous zone, she had almost responded on reflex to kill hobgoblins on sight. But undead bodies required a more direct will to move. As long as their minds weren’t clouded by overwhelming emotions, their bodies would take action with explicit instruction. But Claire crushing that goblet just now had been entirely unintentional.

Once outside, Claire started to head back to the castle...but after a few steps, she instead turned her attention to the city outskirts.

All I’m doing is taking a peek. That’s all, a peek. I’ll need to give the prince my report anyway, so seeing it with my own eyes is better than lazily hanging out in the castle, she convinced herself, slipping into an abandoned alleyway.

Without so much as a running start she jumped, kicking off a wall to land on a nearby rooftop. Now that she was outside the public’s eyes, she started to run, easily jumping over the city walls. Though Enma had made her body to look human, she had furnished Claire with exceptional physical abilities. Together with the fact Zilbagias had replenished her magic supply just a short time ago, athletic feats of this nature were effortless for her.

But, the moment after she touched down outside the city walls, she froze. Something was coming. Darkness swirled around her, coalescing into forms both in front of her and to her rear.

“My, quite the suspicious sight this time of night? Who might you be?”

“Clearly not a human, oho ho ho!”

Two well-dressed gentlemen, one skinny and one fat, appeared to accost her. Their formal clothing was quite old fashioned, their complexions pale, and as they revealed their conspicuously long fangs as they spoke. Claire gave an impressed expression.

“Would you look at that, the vampires are actually doing their job. This is who I am.” She pulled out her identification, showing it to the skinny vampire. Then, she peeled back some of her human disguise.

“Oh, His Highness’s favorite undead?” the vampire replied, like he had just picked up a rock only to find a particularly disgusting insect beneath it.

The fatter vampire made a show of sniffing at the air. “Oh, indeed! Is that...the smell of rotten meat?” he chortled. Somehow his failure to show any displeasure was even more off-putting.

“His Highness told us not to interfere with each other, but ignoring you now would be to neglect our duties. So, what are you doing here? Or rather, what were you trying to do?”

“It’s nice to see you’re so passionate about your work,” Claire replied. “Did you know the new village is under attack by a fiend?”

“The City Guard did just deploy. That will be quite the tall order for them seeing how they can’t even see where they’re walking,” the skinny vampire said, looking up at the half-moon hanging in the sky above them.

“I see. How many of them were there?”

“About fifty, I’d say. That priestess Charlotte was leading them.”

Charlotte’s name was well-known among the denizens of the dark in Evaloti. She could perform healing miracles capable of restoring lost limbs, and was lucky enough to have survived an encounter with Zilbagias on the battlefield.

“Oh, her? She’s probably the only useful person they got.”

“Why do you care?” the vampire asked.

“That fiend is a manticore. I heard it from those who fought it and died, so I know for sure.”

The two vampires shared a look. “A manticore? One of those breathless dragons?”

“Oho ho ho! Without any heroes or Swordmasters, a lone priestess doesn’t stand a chance!”

“Right?” Claire sighed, putting a hand to her forehead like she was suppressing a headache. “Her holy magic should keep them from being wiped out instantly. But they’ll only last as long as her magic and the troops’ morale holds out.”

“I suppose someone should inform them. Perhaps they could form up more appropriately with this information?”

“I don’t think adding more small fry will change anything. Besides, I am under orders to maintain my disguise as a human. This is entirely outside my job description. Why don’t you go let them know?”

“Unfortunately, we are also under orders to keep our presence hidden,” the vampire responded.

“I guess we’re in the same boat. Oh well, I do have to report to the prince. I figured I’d at least see their final moments with my own eyes so I could tell him about them. So I’m going to go on ahead and sneak after them.” Claire gave the two vampires a wave before walking off. “And didn’t I hear something about the prince liking to reward you vampires for exemplary service?” she added as an afterthought before running off into the darkness.

The two vampires shared another look. “What do you think, Sir Mavil?”

“Oho ho ho! It would behoove us to consult with Miss Yavka, wouldn’t you say, Sir Avv?”

“That seems wise. As tempting as a reward from the prince is, acting on our own would be rather reckless.”

The vampires nodded to each other, dissipating into twin clouds of mist before floating off toward the center of Evaloti.

†††

With torchlights at the ready, the City Guard rushed until they finally arrived at Raian Village, only to be stunned by what they saw. Anything even resembling a building had been flattened. It looked like a tornado had ripped through the settlement. On top of that, huge splotches of blood stained the ground, plainly visible even in the darkness. But with all that blood, no bodies accompanied them. The only indication of any source of that blood came from the occasional scrap of meat. And that meant...

“That thing ate them whole. It’s gotta be huge.”

“Look at these footprints! The toes are as big as my torso!”

“Has anyone seen anything like this before?”

“Of course not! But if I had to make a comparison...they look like a lion’s?”

The guards’ voices trembled as they reviewed the evidence.

Charlotte surveyed the scene with a dire expression. “Vice Captain Tafman!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Tafman stood up straight, pulling himself away from his muttering with the other guards.

“Divide into two squads. One will search for survivors, the other will stand guard. Please remember the fiend may still be nearby. In particular, all beastfolk need to be on high alert!”

“Understood!”

Tafman divided up the City Guard as per her instructions. With this much destruction, there was a good chance the fiend responsible had already eaten its fill and moved on. If that was the case, they needed to send word to the other villages to warn them of the threat. However, it would be reckless to send out messengers when they couldn’t guarantee their safety.

Besides, the possibility remained that the fiend had left momentarily with the intention to return... Or, it could be hiding out downwind, hoping the large amount of bloodshed would lure more prey.

But before the search and rescue operation could even begin, Charlotte’s worst fears materialized.

“Crap!” the black-furred beastfolk Dober shouted the moment the wind shifted direction, his hair standing on end. The other beastfolk sniffed at the air, and they all turned to face the same direction. Just outside the village—

“Call off the search! Shield formation! Beastfolk, spread out!”

At Charlotte’s orders, the soldiers rapidly formed up. Weighty, self-assured footsteps approached from the darkness, indicating that whatever creature was lying in wait understood it had been detected.

“I-It’s...huge...” one of the soldiers squeaked out as moonlight played over the fiend.

It had the head and body of a lion, the wings of a bat, and a venomously barbed tail like a massive snake. Even on all fours, it was taller than the village’s walls. A true monster, on a completely different level than the warbear.

“Hii Yeri Lampsui Suto Hieri Mo!”

May your holy light shine in my hands!

Charlotte shouted, silver fire igniting around her.

“Pu Rostacia!”

Blessings!

Silver light washed over the human soldiers, wiping away every trace of fear in them before they settled into an impenetrable formation.

The manticore growled, as if it found their resistance amusing. Fresh blood gleamed around its muzzle.

And then, it attacked.

“Here it comes! Shields up!”

“Beastfolk, focus on ranged attacks! Aim for the eyes!”

“Flas!”

Let there be light!

Claws exceeding the size of the soldiers raked through a line of their forces. Stones and chunks of rubble from the beastfolk pelted the manticore’s face along with arrows of light from Charlotte. Voicing its irritation with snarls, the manticore attempted to lunge at Charlotte, but the shield wall at its feet replied with a flurry of radiant silver blades. Though they weren’t able to penetrate its thick hide, the holy magic delivered searing agony regardless.

The manticore roared in pain, attempting to flatten the soldiers below with its sheer mass, but they in turn formed up into a pincushion of sword blades and stood their ground. Using its tail and claws, the fiend attempted to disperse the soldiers as it stepped back. However, the shields held firm. The utter force it brought to bear alongside its size was enough to break bones and crush the soldiers in the first rank, only for replacements to slip into place without a moment’s hesitation.

Neither side knew how to break the deadlock. But the fight drawing out for as long as possible played to the advantage of the manticore, not the guardsmen. Though their holy magic burned fiercely, it wasn’t life-threatening. Meanwhile, each blow from the manticore shaved away soldiers from the human formation. It all came down to whether the manticore would give up before the City Guard ran out of men. If they had a hero, a Weaponmaster, or a mage among their ranks, perhaps they could have sneaked in a fatal blow while the shield wall kept the beast at bay. But...

I told you so... Within the darkness, Claire sighed to herself. They’re doing well, but it’s only a matter of time.

The priestess Charlotte was far stronger than Claire had anticipated. It was no wonder she had survived a confrontation with Zilbagias. She was protecting the shield wall with her blessings, dispensing minor healing to soften the damage to their ranks, and used any moments of reprieve she had to shoot arrows of light at the manticore’s eyes. Though just one of those arrows would be enough to roast Claire down to her soul, they were unfortunately merely an annoying sting to the manticore.

Unfortunately? That’s strange coming from an undead...

As Enma’s subordinate, she should have hoped they’d be wiped out. Claire smiled wryly. All the while, the back-and-forth between the fiend and the City Guard continued. Claire could see strain starting to take to Charlotte’s face. Should they press forward in an attempt to take down the manticore, or retreat and regroup? It was clear Charlotte didn’t know the answer.

If you let the manticore go, it’ll probably attack another village. But who knows what the demonic kingdom will do if you let it wipe you out? Even if you retreat, you don’t have any heroes or Weaponmasters. The best you can do is add more chaff to the mix. You’re really stuck between a rock and a hard place, huh?

Though Charlotte being a member of the Holy Church made her Claire’s natural enemy, she couldn’t help but feel for the priestess. To lack was to be weak. Whether one lacked power, wealth, or personnel, it was all the same.

As Claire looked to the edge of the shield wall, she saw Tafman raise his voice.

“Now! Attack!” he urged on the soldiers from the front rank. He was on the far right edge of the shield wall—the most dangerous position as that was where he would have no ally to guard his flank. It was a position of honor, reserved for those who had proven themselves to be exceptional. It was questionable whether it was wise to place the City Guard’s vice captain in such a spot...but perhaps the City Guard didn’t have enough quality men to make any other choice. Drenched in sweat, eyes burning with fighting spirit, he looked like an entirely different person from the guy she had shared drinks with.

Not my fault if you get yourself killed, Claire thought, unconsciously pressing a hand to her chest, as if to stave off a pain in her artificial heart.

And then, the battle shifted. The manticore roared as it jumped away from the searing pain of the City Guard’s holy magic. It was retreating. At least, anyone who saw it doing such would think so. In truth, that would have been the best possible outcome for both parties.

But that wasn’t the truth. The manticore was the ruler of the deep forest. It would never back down before a gaggle of measly creatures. Sitting among the rubble, the manticore crouched down low. Something bad was about to happen—everyone sensed that instinctively. And they were right to do so.

The manticore roared as it unleashed its built-up power, delivering a powerful sweep with its tail. Its target was not the shield wall...but rather the rubble. Chunks of wood and stone rained down on the shield wall, propelled by the manticore’s incredible strength.

“Shields up!” Tafman roared, prompting the soldiers to form up.

Loud bangs and thumps were interspersed among the screams of the soldiers. Stones the size of human heads slammed into shields, knocking their bearers unconscious and out of the formation. Others avoided fatal damage, but were still injured badly enough that they could no longer stand. The manticore began hurtling debris at them once more, seemingly entertained by the spectacle. Charlotte redoubled her defensive blessing, but exhaustion was written all over her face.

“Waaah!” As the manticore sent an entire barn flying, the scream of a young man shook the battlefield. Among the broken debris and straw was a blood-soaked young beastfolk, now sprawling through the air. Apparently he had survived the manticore’s initial attack and had hidden in the barn. Now the manticore’s new tactic had sent him—as well as the building where he had taken refuge—flying.

It was a miracle the youth had survived being struck by the manticore’s tail at all; he’d likely been saved by the large amount of straw cushioning the blow. But the young beastfolk’s luck had just run out. He had been thrown to a spot a few dozen meters from where Claire was hiding out, directly between the manticore and the shield wall. The fiend licked its lips, as if it had just turned up an unexpected snack.

Poor guy, Claire thought dismissively. He was surely a goner. The manticore lunged forward, opening its mouth wide. Though the youth struggled to run, he was far too injured to return to his feet.

“Kid!” a man roared, just as the manticore’s jaws closed...on empty air.

“Wha...?” Claire blurted out.

With unbelievable speed, Tafman had broken from the formation and tackled the boy out of harm’s way, saving him in just the nick of time. The two grunted painfully as they sprawled out over the ground. The manticore snarled, angry that its snack had been stolen right from under it.

“Tafman!”

“Sorry! It was a reflex!” Tafman shouted back to his allies as they cried out.

The manticore started to drool as it turned its attention to the vice captain. It seemed intent on making Tafman take the boy’s place for his audacity.

“Don’t worry about me! At least save the boy!” Tafman shouted to the scattered beastfolk, covering the youth.

And then, defying all expectations, he charged.

“Bring it on, you monster!” Even as the manticore seemed ready to lunge forward and devour him, Tafman threw away the shield in his left hand. “I’ll shred that mouth of yours to pieces! Try eating another bite after that!” Gripping his sword with both hands, his shouts shook the night air.

His expression was terrifying. Rage and hate blazed in his bloodshot eyes. His sword shone with silver fire. He was determined to deliver a painful blow to the fiend, even at the cost of his own life. As pathetic as the tiny human was before the mighty beast, the manticore hesitated before his display of courage. And then, as if enraged that it had been scared for even a moment, the manticore roared as it brought its claws to bear.

Tafman couldn’t possibly survive. In just another moment, he’d be reduced to mincemeat. That was obvious to everyone who watched on. This included Claire, who was thunderstruck as she stared at his back.

“Someone, please! At least save her!”

A memory sealed deep within her came rushing back—the voice of a screaming man. That day. That horrible day when the denizens of the dark had ravaged their village and burned it to the ground. The screams of a man as he fell to night elf arrows trying to protect her.

Dad...

And once more, when she looked at Tafman’s back, she saw her father instead.

The claws came down.

A gut-wrenching sound, like canvas being torn, filled the air.

Fresh blood sprayed everywhere.

The manticore roared, a mixture of pain and shock, as it held up its freshly sliced forelimb.

“What...?” Tafman stood stunned, sword still at the ready. There was someone in front of him. A cloak fluttered, its color so dark that it almost melted into the night. In the figure’s hands were a pair of wickedly curved blades. Were they sabers? No, they were shaped quite differently. And among the thick smells of blood and beast, Tafman got a slight whiff of citrus.

The manticore bellowed once more as it lashed out furiously with its claws. Faster than Tafman could follow, the figure in front of him was struck and sent flying...no. It was only their cloak that went flying. The figure themself had dodged the claws, delivering a biting slash to the manticore’s toes.

Moonlight flashed over the new arrival. They had beautiful doll-like features, silky smooth hair, and eyes like little glass marbles. It was now clear to Tafman they were not holding sabers. Enormous blades protruded directly from their skin, built into their arms like they were a giant praying mantis.

“Claire...?” Tafman muttered in disbelief.

There was no doubt that this was the same young woman he had seen earlier that night in the pub. But her arms were blades. Her legs were bending in the wrong spots, at the wrong angles, and she was a bit taller than usual.

Without thinking, he reached out to her.

“Don’t touch me!” she shouted, causing Tafman to freeze.

The flickering silver light covering Tafman sent off a couple sparks, landing on Claire with a sizzling, burning sound as smoke started to rise from her.

“Sorry for tricking you.” Claire smiled. The exact same smile she wore when they were at the pub. “I’m not really human.”

He couldn’t figure out what was going on. He couldn’t understand what she was saying. He couldn’t wrap his head around how things had ended up like this...

That’s a new face. Claire had always wondered how Tafman would react to learning that she was a monster. Now that the answer had unexpectedly presented herself right in front of her, she could barely contain her laughter.

Aw man. I really messed up, didn’t I?

It was a bizarrely refreshing feeling. One moment she had seen her own father while looking at Tafman’s back. The next thing she knew, she had discarded her disguise and dashed forward in full combat mode. There was no talking her way out of this one. He had seen her face clear as day.

She had not only gone directly against her master’s wishes to let humans die, but she had also violated Zilbagias’s orders to keep her identity a secret. The situation was bad for many reasons. She had no idea what she’d do next.

“Eh, whatever.”

But for some strange reason, she didn’t have a shred of regret. She felt refreshed. She felt like she could be herself now.

Oh yeah. I guess this was how it used to be.

When she was alive, she had never bothered herself with the looks or thoughts of anyone else. She’d always done as she pleased with no exceptions. Claire started to giggle. Just here, just now, Tancrette’s little prankster was back.

The manticore growled, glaring at Claire as it licked the blood oozing from its paw.

“That was a pretty cool battle cry, vice captain,” Claire said, keeping her eyes on the fiend.

“What...?”

“‘I’ll shred that mouth of yours to pieces! Try eating another bite after that!’ I really liked that.” Claire started to grin. “I think I’ll give it a shot.” And then she charged.

The manticore responded with a whip of its tail, but Claire barely moved as she deftly dodged around it. In response, the manticore lashed out with its claws, only for Claire to counter with the blades sprouting from her arms—slicing through its thick hide. The poison on Claire’s blades would make each individual strike pretty painful. She’d teach the fiend that attacking with its claws was a mistake.

“Lively prey here, ready for the taking! Sorry for not having much meat on my bones!” And most of that meat was rotten. She kept herself from saying that part out loud as she danced around “defenselessly” in the manticore’s face.

Go ahead, bite me. Swallow me whole. That’ll make this quick and easy.

And Claire got her wish. The manticore growled before lunging forward, its mouth wide open.

“Idiot!” Claire cheered, throwing herself into the manticore’s maw.

The manticore’s cries of shock swiftly devolved into shrieks of pain. Once inside the creature’s mouth, Claire unleashed her other weapons. Blades emerged from every part of her, turning Claire into a ball of spikes.

Claire laughed even as she was thrown from side to side, drenched in the creature’s spit. And she crawled forward, toward the manticore’s throat, toward its soft, defenseless insides. Along the way, she made sure to slice every bit of flesh she could find. She felt one of the manticore’s fangs gouge out a chunk of her own body, but physical damage meant quite little to her. Breathing also meant little to her, so she was indifferent to the lack of air inside the fiend. It probably smelled putrid too, but without a sense of smell, that wasn’t a problem for her either.

The manticore continued to scream, blood spewing from its mouth as it flailed helplessly.

“Now’s our chance! I don’t know what the hell’s happening, but get it!” Tafman roared. With that, the battle commenced once more.

“Alysida Entolon!”

Chains of Admonishment!

Charlotte squeezed out the last drops of power she had, summoning enormous chains of light to bind the manticore in place.

“Die!”

“Eat this, you monster!”

“Time for a taste of your own medicine!”

The shield wall charged forward, swarming the bound fiend and stabbing it repeatedly. Drowning in its own blood, the manticore gradually lost the strength to fight back.

“Get a taste of this!” As the manticore’s head slumped down to the ground, Tafman threw in one final stab, putting all his weight behind it as his sword punched through the beast’s eye. The blade sank to its hilt, piercing not only the eye but almost certainly the brain behind it as well. After a violent spasm, the manticore finally stilled.

No, something around its throat was still rustling. With a horrid ripping sound, blades tore through its skin from the inside. Tafman and the other guards watched with shocked disgust, like they were witnessing some freakish monster emerging from its otherworldly egg.

“There we go. All finished,” Claire said, voice bright as she crawled from the carcass, coated in the manticore’s fluids.

“C-Claire...” Now Tafman was at a loss for words.

Claire chuckled. “Did I surprise you?” She gave him a mischievous grin. At least she tried to. Half the skin from her face had been torn away, revealing the bone and eyeball beneath. Her body was riddled with puncture wounds and one of her arms was shredded, hanging limply at her side. But there was no sign she was in any pain at all.

It was clear as day—Claire wasn’t human.

†††

Upon returning to the castle and reading the Daily Evaloti News from Enma, I immediately turned around and headed back to the autonomous zone. An encounter with a manticore would deal a fatal blow to the City Guard. They wouldn’t stand a chance against it. But despite pushing Layla to her limit to get there as fast as possible, things turned out to be unexpectedly complicated once I arrived.

First was Raian Village. More than half of the guards and workers had been killed in the manticore attack. Then there was the City Guard. Though they had engaged the manticore, leaving many wounded, miraculously none of them had died. When I arrived, they were in the middle of searching for those who had been killed and burying them.

Next was, strangely enough, the vampires.

“You really just showed up in front of the humans, huh?”

“Yes...well...” Yavka grimaced as she helped tend to the City Guard’s wounded. “We felt that if we did nothing after becoming aware of what was happening that...you know...”

Apparently a report had come in about the manticore attack so they went to survey the scene. But upon their arrival, the battle had already finished. However Charlotte, who was leading the City Guard battalion, had exhausted herself in the battle, leaving her with no magic left to treat the wounded. That was why Yavka and her men had stepped up and offered to treat them in her place. On the surface, vampires healing people was pretty laughable, but apparently their ability to manipulate blood with magic gave them some measure of first aid capability. I supposed if they were going to be drinking blood from the people of Evaloti without raising suspicion, they’d need to heal the wounds they made to cover their tracks.

Of course, vampires suddenly appearing out of the blue had put Charlotte and her men on edge in an instant. Even with the identification I had provided to the vampires, they were still creatures abhorred by the Alliance. Leaving their wounded in the care of such monsters was unthinkable—or at least it would have been if not for a certain beastfolk’s testimony.

“This is the same smell I picked up during our meeting...”

It seemed that when Yavka’s surveillance of Charlotte had almost been exposed, it had been due to the perfume she had been wearing. Yavka had been following Charlotte around to protect her as much as keep an eye on her. The fact of the matter was that she had been following the priestess around for so long without so much as raising a hand against her. When Charlotte also took into account how not a single person had been found killed and sucked dry by vampires, she begrudgingly accepted the vampires’ offer to help. I thought it was incredibly stupid that Yavka had worn perfume while on a covert mission, but in the end it turned out for the best. The world was a strange place.

“Of course, we likely wouldn’t have made a move if not for that,” the careless Yavka in question said, looking over her shoulder with a thinly veiled glare. She was looking at none other than the young woman sitting on the manticore’s corpse.

Yes, she was the biggest mystery in this entire affair—Claire. Why had she revealed her true form in front of all these people? Why had she gotten involved in the battle at all? Though I supposed I already had my suspicions that she didn’t have much love for Enma or her ambitions.

“But for her to act so brazenly is quite a surprise...” Ante muttered, baffled. I felt the exact same way. According to the City Guard, their losses would’ve been far greater if not for Claire’s intervention. Doing so was in direct opposition to Enma’s goals.

Naturally she wouldn’t survive such an egregious offense unscathed, but instead of running or trying to hide, she was just sitting there waiting. I had to admit, I was curious as to why. I wanted to know what she was thinking, what had drawn her out of hiding.

“Claire, please...say something. Why...?” While she sat idly staring up at the stars, resting her head on her knees, a single soldier pleaded with her. At my approach, the soldier faltered, stumbling back a couple steps.

I recognized him. He was the vice captain of the City Guard. Tafman, was it? This was the guy it sounded like Claire had so much fun talking to at the pub. From my perspective, it seemed like she really liked the guy.

“Could it be this man is her type?” Ante remarked sarcastically. I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I ignored her.

“Seems like you put on quite a show, Claire.”

As if she hadn’t noticed my presence until I spoke up, Claire slowly turned to look at me. Her motions were remarkably mechanical, her usual smile taking a moment to switch back on.

“I thought so too. Pretty good results for my first battle, don’t you think?” she said with a bright smile, patting the corpse of the manticore beneath her.

A ripple went through the gathered citizens of Evaloti, Tafman’s eyes going just as wide as the rest. Someone with no court rank like Claire being so casual with me, a demon prince, was like signing her own death warrant.

Speaking of which, she usually at least feigned some formality around me in public. I saw a mischievous grin creep onto her face as she waited to see how I’d respond. What was with her? Was she trying to get under my skin? If she was being this defiant, had she already given up on any future for herself?

I made a big show of sighing. “Come on, I told you not to be so friendly with me in public. You remember I’m royalty, don’t you?”

The people of the autonomous zone were shaken even further. Tafman’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. Even Charlotte wore a very incredulous expression on her face.

Claire giggled. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Apologies for my utmost rudeness, Your Highness.” Apparently pleased by my response, she shifted back into a more formal tone.

“A bit late for that,” Ante commented.

Yeah...my dignity in the autonomous zone was absolutely shot.

“Okay then. Sorry, but I’ll have to ask you to come with me. We need to talk,” I said while putting on a serious face and a stern tone. This was an order.

“Yes, sir,” Claire replied flippantly as she hopped off the manticore’s carcass. But then she staggered, one of her legs too damaged to hold her weight.

“Claire!” Tafman shouted, jumping forward to catch her before she hit the ground. He didn’t hesitate, not even with the stench of the manticore’s guts still clinging to her. For the first time since I’d arrived at the scene, Claire returned Tafman’s gaze.

“By the way, thanks for the drink. It was...really good.” She gave him a bright smile before dropping her expression entirely and stepping away from him, dragging her damaged leg behind her as she made her way to my side.

Tafman opened his mouth to say something—perhaps a plea to stop her—but ultimately couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

So I took Claire and left.

“Well, Mr. Prince, where are we headed?” Claire asked once we had left the village. Though she was as flippant as ever, the nervousness in her tone was unmistakable.

“I suppose our first stop will be the castle. Let’s just say I have some personal questions to ask you,” I replied with a casual response of my own. Then I turned to look at her again. “To be honest, I’m surprised. I didn’t think you’d go against Enma’s vision to such a degree.”

“I’m...surprised myself,” she murmured, smile vanishing.

So she was surprised too. My question was pretty risky, but her response had been better than I hoped.

“So, what will you do with her?” Ante asked, tone grave as we soared through the air.

I was on Layla’s back of course, but Claire was hanging from her claws. Claire couldn’t retract all the blades that were now protruding from her body, so riding in the saddle would have been too dangerous. On that note, it was quite a shock to learn she had such deadly weapons concealed inside her in the first place. And with them, she had dealt a fatal blow to a manticore. I really couldn’t underestimate Enma’s craftsmanship.

“Considering that skill, should you not expect Claire’s body to house some sort of trap? Perhaps a contingency to prevent betrayal or others from dissecting her body. If you act recklessly here and now, you may be in store for an undesirable consequence.”

That was true. But like Claire had said earlier, it was a surprise that she had been able to defy Enma’s plans. In other words, whatever mechanisms Enma had in place to ensure Claire’s loyalty might have been easier to deal with than I had initially anticipated.

And besides, if I didn’t make a move now, the question ultimately became when would I? Even with my access to Hunting Ground and thinking up numerous ways of dealing with Enma, I still had two big issues. First, how could I confirm what Claire really wanted? Second, how could I get Claire out from under Enma’s control?

From that perspective, was there any better time than now? As a demon prince, I had the authority to pass judgment on Claire for betraying Enma’s objectives. Enma would have no argument against me. She might get anxious about whatever info I extracted out of Claire in the process, but it was a bit late to worry about that.

On the other hand, if I let Claire go, there was a good chance I’d never see her again. Either Enma would dispose of her, or Claire would go into hiding deep underground and stop meeting with me. If I was going to tell Claire the truth, now was my last chance. Consequences be damned.

“You’ve already accepted that, haven’t you?”

I had to. If I were Enma, I wouldn’t give away my deepest secrets to my students. That way, no matter how hard they tried, I’d always know exactly what countermeasures they had cooked up to use against me.

My single brightest hope was that if Claire cooperated, I could extract and preserve her soul. Once I had perfected my Necromancy, I could take a crack at truly freeing her from Enma’s grasp. That would still be a long way off, but it sure beat messing with her soul without any preparation.

But to even reach that point, we needed to talk. And that would have to be a very careful conversation.

“Are we still heading back to the castle, then? Or should we find somewhere else to land?” Layla asked through Konectus. Though she was doing her best to maintain her composure throughout our conversation, I could feel her unease and concern for Claire through our bond.

Thanks, Layla. I have a place in mind where we can land. There was a hill not too far from here. It reminded me a lot of an area near our old village from back when we were alive. That would be a good spot for our conversation.

“Understood,” Layla sent back as I pictured the spot in my head, flapping her wings to pick up speed. We started to descend, the hill I was thinking of coming into view.

Layla lowered Claire to the ground before gently landing herself.

“There we go,” I said, jumping off her back with Liliana in my arms. I could tell my nerves were making my movements a bit awkward. Liliana gave a small bark and licked my cheek, trying to comfort me. I put her down and ruffled her hair to show my thanks. Then, I turned to Claire. She was staring back at me, her undead body still in tatters.

“So you plan to erase me here, huh?” Claire said, a faint smile taking to her face. “But considering your relationship with the professor, I don’t understand why you’d come all the way out here... Oh, you want a peek at how my body works underneath, is that it? I guess it is a great example of the professor’s craft,” Claire laughed as she rubbed herself seductively.

Instead of indulging in her joke, I quickly looked away and pulled out the pendant I had received from Spinezia. I deployed the Hunting Ground magic infused within it, creating a barrier that prevented the use of magic inside its domain. A tightening sensation settled over me as the barrier activated.

“What’s this?” Claire asked.

“It’s a pendant enchanted with the Sauroe family’s Bloodline Magic. With it, any attempts at magic inside the barrier are made extremely difficult. Basically, you must be incredibly strong to use magic.”

“Ha ha! So it’s to seal me in? You’ve really thought of everything.”

I noticed a faint wavering in Claire’s magic. It seemed like she maybe had tried to cast some sort of spell, but evidently it had failed. Her eyes were darting all over the place like crazy. She must have been really anxious. I guess from her perspective, she was really backed into a corner. But of course, I had no intention of hurting her. And so, steeling myself for the worst, I tried to put her at ease.

“Isn’t this nostalgic?” It certainly was for me. Even though pretty much all the memories of my past life had worn away at this point.

“What?”

“There was a hill like this just outside our village. We went there for picnics all the time, didn’t we?”

It had a great view, and was clearly visible from the village. That way, the adults could keep an eye on us without a worry in the world whenever we went there to play. I think. At the top of the hill there was this big tree, so we would lay out our mat under its shade and eat sandwiches. At least if my memory served me right. I also seemed to remember being pranked there on more than one occasion...

“What are you talking about? What village?”

“Tancrette.”

At that, Claire froze.

“What...? Why...?” She stumbled back like she had just been struck in the face. Well, that wasn’t that much of a surprise. She had probably never expected anyone to bring up the name of her village from her previous life, let alone a demon prince.

“When you get reborn, memories of your past life are gradually overwritten with memories of your new one. That is to say, I don’t really remember much of Tancrette anymore. But undead are different, right? If your soul was caught not long after you died, you’d remember everything clearly.”

Judging from the way Claire acted, it seemed like her personality had persisted from life into undeath. But if Enma had wiped her memories, all of my plans would be snuffed out.

“Claire...do you remember me?” I said, as much a prayer as it was a question. But Claire, lips trembling herself, replied with a question of her own.

“Who...are you...?”

Finally. After all this time, I could finally say it.

“Alex. Your childhood friend, Alexander. Long time no see, Claire.”

There was a long stretch of silence as Claire stared back at me.

“Who is Alexander?”

I just about collapsed on the spot. She remembered Tancrette, but she didn’t remember me? My mind knew that possibility was technically on the table, but my heart wasn’t really ready for it.

If she had no memories of me, I had just revealed my true identity to one of Enma’s subordinates for nothing. Now that it had come to this, I had no choice. I’d have to silence her for good. Of course I was speechless, but so were Ante and Layla.

And then Claire started giggling, flopping over backward and landing face up in the grass. She quickly threw her hands up to her face, trying to contain her laughter.

“No way. Claire, are you...?” I couldn’t believe it. Now, of all times. Here, of all places. This was how she chose to get revenge?!

“Of course I remember you. How could I ever forget?” she said, sticking out her tongue, unable to keep the smug grin from her face. Overwhelmed by something much closer to exhaustion than relief, I dropped to sit on the ground myself.

“But wait...you’re joking, right? Alex? The prince is Alex? Seriously?” Claire sat up, her expression going blank as she tried to process the information I had just given her. The fact she thought to play a joke on me before even considering getting confused about the circumstances was so much like her it hurt. “But Alex was a big doof! Not a single thought went through that boy’s head. He celebrated being covered in horse dung!”

“Okay, that never happened!” I shouted back, slamming a hand on the ground. Even with my patchy memory, I was absolutely sure that wasn’t true. “You’re talking about that time you used a trap to drop me into a pile of horse crap, right? I felt like such an idiot for falling for it, I had to laugh at myself! Of course I was angry!”

“W-Wow, you really remember. Are you seriously Alex...?” Claire stared at me in evident disbelief, looking me up and down. “But... No way. That can’t be true. The timing doesn’t add up. Even if I accept the absurd idea that you were reincarnated as a demon, too much time has passed. Tancrette was destroyed decades ago. There’s not a chance a soul survived that long without a body. And besides, having memories of your old life left over doesn’t make any sense.”

As Claire went through all the logical reasons I couldn’t be who I said I was, things she knew from her mastery of Necromancy, a thought occurred to me. She had changed. Both of us had. We had changed so much since our old lives.

“On the day our village was attacked...I didn’t die,” I squeezed out, like I was trying to swallow a stone. “My mom carried me and ran all the way to the next village over. She didn’t make it, but I ended up surviving. I was sent to an orphanage, and when my coming-of-age day came, I manifested the holy property.”

Hii Yeri Lampsui Suto Hieri Mo.

May your holy light shine in my hands.

“The Holy Church got a hold of me, and turned me into a hero.”

Seeing the silver flame flicker to life on the tip of my finger, Claire instinctively scurried backward, stopping herself just barely before slipping out of the barrier. “A demon using holy magic?! There’s no way! And a hero?! You?!”

“You know about the white dragons’ attack on the castle seven years ago, right?”

“Y-Yeah...”

“I was one of the attackers riding them.” I stared at Claire quietly. She was openly afraid, trembling before the holy magic I wielded. “I fought the Demon King, and he killed me. The next thing I knew, I had been reborn as his son,” I explained, rubbing my face.

Claire’s jaw dropped.

After that, I went on to explain the story of my life as a demon. I had done the same for Layla, Barbara, and Hessel, so I was getting pretty used to telling it by now. The only difference this time was that I didn’t explain what my goal was.

“It’s totally unbelievable...but it does line up. Yeah...and it explains a lot. I always thought you were strange for a demon. But deep down, you were Alex this whole time... It explains everything. Okay, maybe not everything. You’re way smarter than Alex ever was...”

“Yeah, well...I can’t really deny that. When I was initially reborn, I was that same idiot.”

“Oh, are you saying you’re not an idiot anymore?”

“Not to toot my own horn or anything, but you could say I’ve learned a thing or two. I received the minimum education required for a member of the royal family,” I said with a shrug, getting a pout out of Claire.

“How annoying. I don’t want my Alex getting all smart...” Then she turned to Layla and Liliana behind me. “So...what about them?”

“Those two are some of my very few allies. They know everything.”

Layla (still in her dragon form) nodded, and Liliana puffed up proudly with a bark.

“So...all that stuff about them being your pets and lovers...?” Claire’s eyes narrowed. I felt a cold sweat starting to form.

“No, uh...all of that isn’t exactly true...”

“He treats us very well,” Layla suddenly interjected, transforming back into her human form with her face totally flushed.

“Layla?!”

Also she was completely naked.

“Oh, I see how it is. You’ve really grown up, haven’t you, Alex?” Claire said, eyes narrowing even further. My cold sweat was getting considerably worse. Describing it as gross wouldn’t do it justice. What was I supposed to do now?!

“Okay, that was a joke,” Layla added. “But he really does treat us well. Those rumors he spread was his way of protecting us...though I guess not all of them are lies,” she explained as she shifted back into her dragon form. There was a strange force behind her words as she spoke. “Alex is the only reason I can be who I am. That’s the truth.”

“But...your father...”

“Yes. Alex killed him,” Layla said, voice gentle as her golden eyes closed. “I can’t say I don’t hold anything against him for that. But more than that, I’m grateful to him. It is because of Alex that I was reunited with my father and got the opportunity to speak with him one last time.”

“No way. So when the professor couldn’t summon Faravgi’s soul...?!” Claire’s eyes went wide.

“His soul really was erased by a special kind of light magic, that part was true. Only, it happened just before that lecture.” All I had done was smudge the details about the timing and circumstances of those events.

“Alex, you... From here on, what exactly are you planning?” Claire asked, a faint hint of fear in her voice.

Now, the real battle was underway. I hadn’t said anything about wanting to destroy the demonic kingdom yet. Claire might have had her suspicions, but not saying it out loud yet was important. Enma was a vassal of the demonic kingdom. If Claire sympathized with my efforts, that would likely be treated as a betrayal on her part. It could very well trigger whatever mechanisms Enma had placed inside Claire to ensure her loyalty.

“Before I answer that, I have an order as Seventh Demon Prince.”

“O-Okay,” Claire stiffened as I sat up straight.

“Those blades on your body, they’re probably covered in poison, right? And you can’t retract them. Seeing as how that’s a bit dangerous for me, I would prefer if we continued this conversation with you in spiritual form. Is that possible? Of course, out of respect for Enma’s workmanship, I won’t try to dissect your body or try anything of the like while we’re here. You have my word,” I said, speaking in a roundabout way to emphasize this wasn’t about betraying Enma.

Claire paused for a moment. “Okay, Mr. Prince. I suppose it was improper of me to converse with you while covered in poisoned blades like this. My sincerest apologies,” she adopted a formal tone as she spoke, bowing her head. So they were poisoned. Having such an obvious tool for assassination so close to a prince was beyond the pale. Enma really couldn’t complain if I smashed Claire to bits right here.

Claire lay down on the grass, and in short order a transparent ghost emerged from her body.

“Claire...” It was a heartbreaking sight. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this was Claire. She looked like a beautiful young woman, exactly like what I imagined the little girl I had grown up with would have looked like if she had been allowed to grow to adulthood.

“Alex...” Biting her lip, she clasped her hands in front of her chest.

Free from the bindings of her undead body, her face and body language spoke volumes. Her face trembled with fear. A slight smile tugged at her lips as all the old memories came rushing back. Something akin to a sense of yearning pulled her brow into a tight frown. And in her eyes was a faint light, as if desperately reaching for a distant hope.

“I don’t have a single doubt in Enma’s abilities as a necromancer,” I said. Hearing her master’s name made Claire flinch backward. “Hypothetically speaking, if I were to create my own undead minions to serve me as demon prince, I would place some kind of curse on them just in case they ever try to turn on me. A specific phrase that would seal their minds or make them self-destruct. Something like that.” Like the curse Sidar had tried to use on Liliana in the night elf prison. If I were Enma, I would absolutely have some sort of contingency plan in place.

As I spoke mostly to myself, Claire didn’t say a word. She neither confirmed nor denied anything. Any response here would be telling me something. But the expression she wore would likely be coupled with the blood draining from her face if she were still alive. Her eyes told the whole story—she felt the same way I did.

This was why I had wanted her in spiritual form. We were childhood friends. Just by seeing each other’s eyes and expressions, we could tell exactly what the other was thinking!

“On the other hand, by the looks of it, Enma gave you high-level undead quite the free rein over your ability to think. All of you will be spending a lot of time together, potentially for eternity. But you’ll inevitably get on each other’s nerves at some point. If this ‘contingency’ were to trigger over some minor disagreement, it could destroy a perfectly useful subordinate over something entirely trivial. Using emotions as a gauge of betrayal seems too impractical.”

This was what Ante and I had concluded after quite a bit of debate. Something based on emotions could lead to Enma’s subordinates locking up regularly from everyday conversation. It would make them next to useless. And based on my observations of how Claire and Enma interacted, Claire was more than capable of saying things to tick off her master without ill effect. If the trap needed emotions to trigger, it would have to be holding out for extraordinarily powerful emotions, like my hatred for the green-headed bastard.

“I am...grateful to the professor. Truthfully, she saved my soul,” Claire said, looking to be on the verge of tears. This wasn’t some facade to trick Enma. It felt like she was stating the honest truth. So I took it seriously.

“That day...I still remember you reaching out to me, begging for help.” As tattered and ragged as my memories were, that sight had been seared into my brain. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t save you...”

My mom had grabbed me and ran, leaving Claire behind. I had so badly wished I could have saved Claire back then. That burning regret and frustration was probably what ended up turning me into a hero.

“I do too. I remember. I remember you crying like a baby, fighting so hard to reach me.” Tears of black magic started to pour from her eyes. “After that, I called your name over and over. Begging for you to come rescue me. But by then, I had already given up. I assumed there was no way you were still alive. Once I learnedNecromancy, the first thing I did was to call on my mom and dad, and then you. But no one answered. The professor told me it was likely because your souls had already faded away. And if I couldn’t reunite with any of you again, I figured the whole world could go to hell for all I cared.” So she had supported Enma until this very day.

“Claire...”

“So really...now I feel like you saved me. I got to see you again. And I finally got to do what I wanted and in my own way,” she continued, looking back in the direction of Evaloti with a teary smile. “I don’t have any regrets. Because now I know there was meaning in me surviving as a monster all this time. If I get to disappear now, by your hand...then I...”

I wrapped my arms around Claire’s spiritual form. As she started to fade, I poured dark magic into her.

“Alex...?” Claire looked back at me with bewilderment as I reinforced her spiritual body.

Maybe letting her pass on like that would have been the kindest thing I could do for her. Among all the possibilities I could think of, it was certainly one of the better ones. But...I just couldn’t let things end like this!

“Claire... My plan is to wait for the right moment, then break you free from Enma’s control.”

“Huh...?” Claire’s eyes went wide.

“But! I don’t know how long that’ll take. At least right now. And of course, it’ll be up to me to decide when the time is right!” In other words, whether it was a hundred or two hundred years from now, it all came down to me. “As a marquis of the demonic kingdom, I outrank Enma. With her being only a count, my orders take precedence over hers. That is, as long as they don’t bring harm to your master.”

So as long as my orders didn’t directly harm Enma, they couldn’t count as betraying Enma.

“As Seventh Demon Prince and marquis of the demonic kingdom, I will be taking you into custody temporarily. I want to stay on good terms with Enma. I’ll learn everything I can from her so that one day I can become an even greater necromancer than she is! Or at least as strong as she is.” And when that happened, I’d remove all of Enma’s traps from Claire’s soul. “In the meantime, letting you roam free could throw my relationship with Enma into jeopardy. So until things cool off, you’ll be sticking with me. That doesn’t sound so bad, right? You disappearing will make Enma really sad, but she’ll have quite the surprise in store when we reveal that you were okay the entire time.” That would allow me to keep Claire safe in secret.

“That does sound like a wonderful surprise...!” Catching the meaning behind the facade I was spinning, Claire gave a mischievous grin through her tears.

We both knew full well that the surprise would happen the day I openly declared war on Enma, but neither of us had to say as much aloud.

“Okay, I understand. I have no complaints in regards to being taken into your custody. However, as a necromancer, I would like to request treatment that befits my station,” she said, face entirely serious.

“Oh? And what would that entail?”

“The resources I need to continue myNecromancyresearch. Paper, a pen, a simple body capable of utilizing them, and a place where I can work in secrecy!”

I gulped, goose bumps rising on my skin. Claire couldn’t reveal any of Enma’s fatal weaknesses to me. But just like how she was free to read any and all of Enma’s tomes during my Necromancy lectures, if she had a space where no one could find her, she would be free to write whatever she wished!

“So she intends to write down all of Enma’s secrets for you?” Ante commented, clearly impressed. “The moment she decides to share those notes with anyone, it will likely be perceived as a total betrayal, activating whatever mechanisms Enma has in place. In the eyes of Enma, that should be a sufficient act of betrayal worth protecting herself from. For those that died and were narrowly rescued to be made into undead, their greatest fear would have to be the loss of their minds. None of them would have any motivation to turn against her if it would cost them their own existence...”

Yeah, Enma had nothing to fear. So long as none of the people from the old lives of her subordinates appeared, hiding within the demonic kingdom.

“Okay then, I promise. To the best of my ability, I will prepare a place for you to continue your research as you please.”

“Then I happily accept.” Claire gave a polite curtsy in response to my serious answer.

It was only then that I took notice of the clothes she wore in her spiritual form. They looked exactly like the dresses she used to wear as a child. I felt something hot start to drip from my eyes.

“Hey, Alex.”

“What is it?”

“Let’s prank everyone a whole bunch, just like old times. Give them all...the greatest surprise we can!”

“Yeah... Yeah...!” I nodded over and over like an idiot as I sniffled. “This time, I’m all in. Let’s do it!” We would give them the greatest prank they had ever seen. Something so big that it would shake the very bones of this kingdom!

Both of us laughed through our tears. The smile on her face was far too wicked to be described as that of a prankster...and mine was no different.

And just like that, I got Tancrette’s number one prankster on my side.

†††

In the living quarters of the Demon King’s castle, the Izanis family area was positioned on the eastern side. Given the nocturnal nature of demons, east-facing windows that would allow in the morning sunlight weren’t very popular. The fact that the Izanis family had been given this section of the castle was a clear indication of where they stood in relation to the other major families.

As dawn approached, a woman walked down hallways where she could see the sky starting to lighten, a servant pushing a food cart following behind her. This woman was Hisuizia Izanis, a close friend of Fourth Prince Emergias.

“Young master...we have brought food.”

“Thank you.”

As she opened the door to the prince’s room, situated in the back corner of the Izanis area, she could see the warping of space itself and the rippling from the intense waves of magic within. The night elf maid pushing the cart of food gritted her teeth, struggling as the overwhelming force bore down on her. Even Hisuizia—all wrapped in defensive wards—felt a palpable fear akin to wading through a pool of snakes.

“Sorry. I still can’t contain my power very well.” Lying on his bed, Emergias snapped the book he was reading shut. The room was dimly lit, the curtains drawn against the soon-to-be rising sun. Bruises reminiscent of a snake’s scales riddled his face. His vertical-slit pupils were unchanged.

Ever since returning from the Abyss, Emergias had skipped out on his weekly meals with the Demon King and meetings with Aiogias, citing that he was feeling unwell. Though the lower classes hurled ridicule at him for being a demon prince under the weather, it was obviously only a front. Not a single person who had seen Emergias since his return uttered a word against him.

He’s gotten stronger...again.

Something burned in Hisuizia’s chest as the waves of magic coming off him buffeted her. His old demeanor, always acting so desperate and cornered, had been completely blown away. Here he was relaxing on his bed, a sight of pure serenity. However, the magic that swirled around him was nothing short of sinister.

He was easily on the level of a duke...no, an archduke now. By accepting so much of his devil’s authority, his power had exploded to new heights. When he first stepped out of the Abyss, all the other devils and demons in the area had been drained of their power. The dragons were sapped of their energy, left unable to fly.

Even now, his power would go wild if he let down his guard for a moment. Until he could control it, or at least suppress it to a trifling degree, he had confined himself to rest.

“Has anything changed?” Emergias asked casually, sitting up.

“Yes. We have something of an interesting report from Evaloti,” Hisuizia replied.

Emergias’s serpentine eyes widened.

“A few days ago, a manticore attacked one of the villages...”

Standing as straight as she could, Hisuizia began reading off the report about Prince Zilbagias’s baffling behavior.

“I see.” Emergias nodded after hearing about Zilbagias’s instant response to the fiend attack. “So, you are saying he responded to the attack too quickly.”

“Yes. The attack on the village occurred the day before yesterday. We didn’t hear about it until the last regular report,” Hisuizia replied, looking over the report again. “However, the seventh prince left on the same day as the attack to return to Evaloti, even though he had just returned to the castle.” Zilbagias shouldn’t have known about the attack until that regular report came in. “In the end, the residents of the autonomous zone dispatched the fiend before the prince’s arrival, but...it looks very much like the seventh prince was moving in response to that attack.”

Emergias listened quietly to Hisuizia’s conjecture.

“Surely it’s just a coincidence?” came a whisper that only Emergias could hear. The source was the one now living within his very soul—the Devil of Envy Jiiria. “Or perhaps it was an attempt at putting more pressure on the Izanis family? In that case, was it all a ssscheme by that prince?” she continued, evidently amused.

If it was something that simple, Hisui would have said so, Emergias replied.

Though he had confined himself to his room since returning from the Abyss, having Jiiria around meant there hadn’t been a single dull moment. He could speak to her with an honesty he couldn’t even show his closest subordinates. With the constant pressure from the expectations of others that came with being a demon prince, his heart had hardened over time.

But Jiiria could revert him to the state of a helpless infant at will. There was no point putting up a front for her. And because she resided within his soul, lying to her was futile as well. When she touched upon past events he wished not to recall, he tried to ignore her. But Jiiria struck back by releasing her grip on his mind, coddling him like the baby he became and thoroughly crushing his sense of self-respect.

Once he gave up, everything became much easier. He and Jiiria were now of one mind and body. They were now one and the same. Fighting with her was a fool’s errand. Once he stopped trying to defy her, Jiiria became an invaluable ally. In times of gloom and doom, she was there to console him. When it came to his jealousy of those strong and blessed, she shared his sentiment wholeheartedly.

Ironically, Emergias was more emotionally stable now than he had ever been. Even so, his partner could reduce him to a babbling mess on a mere whim.

“Additionally, there are reports from the Izanis territory of sightings of a white dragon flying much faster than usual flying speed,” Hisuizia continued, oblivious to the conversation going on in Emergias’s head. “There seems no doubt he was in quite a hurry, considering the rumors of how affectionate the prince is toward her.”

“Hmm...”

That isn’t good enough, Emergias thought. She wasn’t even a demon, just the daughter of a criminal. His affection for her could have all been a ruse, and even if not, Zilbagias was known to possess some kind of magic that enabled him to control the minds of others. At least if the existence of his high elf pet was any indication.

“Maybe it was all a performance? He might have already known the manticore would attack—”

“That is certainly a possibility, but if he intended it as a vector to attack the Izanis family, there was no need for his urgency to rush to the scene. The natural approach would have been for him to raise a fuss after receiving the regular report,” Hisuizia shot down Emergias’s conjecture. “Besides, there was one more interesting bit of information...” she said, turning a look on the night elf maid that had brought the food in.

“Please, allow me to explain. We have some information from those close to the seventh prince,” the maid spoke, struggling to remain upright before the waves of power emanating off of Emergias.

The bonds of night elves were much stronger compared to ones forged among demons. It was rare for conflict between night elf families to escalate to the point of bloodshed. They didn’t have the authority to act freely like the demons did, and their community needed to remain tight-knit to stand against the forest elves.

That said, they were hardly a monolith. Numerous night elf factions existed, and the greatest of them served the Izanis family. The Izanis family’s understanding of intelligence and espionage operations outclassed that of all other demons, making them and the night elves a perfect match. They regularly made accommodations to suit the night elves, and so the night elves returned the favor with information.

Recently, another night elf faction had risen to power. One that was heavily influenced by Zilbagias, forming around a man named Sidar. The former prison warden had secured control of the special healing quota that Zilbagias had offered the night elves, and used that authority to start breaking up opposing night elf factions and securing more personnel for himself.

Of course, his rise was met with resistance. Many took offense at the audacity of such a young man vying for leadership within the night elves. Others saw the inherent danger in so many of their men being sworn to the service of Zilbagias and sought to leech some of his momentum.

This maid here was part of that anti-Sidar faction.

“The seventh demon prince has a very close relationship with the leader of the undead, Enma.”

“Sure,” Emergias said. He had to stop himself before making a snide remark about “Zilbagias for quality.”

“What’s that mean?” Jiiria prodded.

It’s a nickname that stuck when he was found to be as lacking in fidelity as my sex-mad older brother.

From Emergias’s perspective, the idea of a former human that was now undead was stomach-churning. He could barely stand even catching sight of someone like that. He had no idea what his younger brother saw in Enma, but that was Zilbagias for you.

“For some time now, the seventh prince has been seen visiting Enma’s underground palace. But once the autonomous zone was established, they also began communicating in writing.”

“In writing?”

“Yes, Your Highness. He always burns the messages after reading them, so we are not privy to their contents. However, shortly after sunset on the day of the fiend attack, he received one of those letters. He then raced through his meal and immediately left the castle...or so the rumor circling among the beastfolk goes.”

Night elves were tight-lipped folk. Being so skilled in espionage themselves, only those of them that were especially thick could be expected to leak any information. But the beastfolk and the dragons were a different story. They loved to gossip, so anything they weren’t strictly forbidden from discussing quickly became a topic for conversation. Everyday details, the behavior of their masters, who was meeting where—the night elves were able to gather all sorts of intel just from keeping their long, pointed ears to the ground. And this time, they had stumbled upon something rather intriguing.

Emergias was starting to see why Hisuizia felt this was worth reporting. They said he flew back to Evaloti as if he had known about the attack. But what if he actually had known?

“Speaking of which...there’s also Fort Aurora. Father...”

The Demon King had contracted the Corvut family to reconstruct the fortress. Emergias’s teeth started to grind. Aiogias had asked the king what it was for, but the only answer he’d gotten was “something for the good of the kingdom.” Spinezia had also approached Zilbagias about it directly, and she had been told it was for highly confidential research into something of royal interest.

“Spinezia said that Zilbagias asked her for a small magical tool,” Emergias murmured to himself.

“A magical tool?” Hisuizia echoed.

“Yes. He wanted something to make a barrier to stop all magical interference. He said it was for a personal experiment...” It was clear Zilbagias was engaged in some sort of research. “He also said that Topazia and Daiagias weren’t involved. At this point, that appears to be true.”

Emergias scowled. But what if it wasn’t Rubifya’s faction they needed to worry about? What if Zilbagias was siding with the undead?

The demonic kingdom saw the undead as convenient tools to use as they saw fit—from skeletons as simple laborers to the tireless bone horses used for shipping goods and transportation. As repulsive as they were, their vast utility meant many demons were willing to put up with them. That included Emergias himself.

There was a good chance that these undead tools would continue to spread throughout the kingdom. And though he had no idea how they’d go about it...what if undead were capable of long-distance communication?

“Hypothetically speaking, how fast could we get a message from here to Evaloti?” Emergias asked.

“Four hours. It would require a particularly strong dragon and someone particularly powerful to use wind magic to accelerate them,” Hisuizia replied, face clouding over.

She and Emergias shared a look. They both understood the clear and present danger here. It would take the best of the best within the Izanis family four hours to send that message. Yet Zilbagias had responded to the fiend’s attack almost instantly.

Were they trying to develop a new form of communication? He couldn’t stand idly by while they did. It shouldn’t even have been possible.

The demonic kingdom had entrusted communication duties to the Izanis family! That of course included not just communication across the field of battle during conflict, but also between cities and from the castle to the front lines of the war. All of that work was done by the Izanis messengers and their dragons. People often mocked them, calling them “messenger boys.” But the higher level demons understood the critical role the Izanis family played. And they were proud to serve as the eyes and ears of the kingdom.

But what would happen if that role was snatched right from under them? And by the undead, no less! And to make matters worse, by him!

“Zilbagias...!”

The image of his younger brother’s victoriously smug smile rose to the back of his mind. Emergias had to be overthinking things. After all, Zilbagias was only six years old. This should have been a matter he could simply laugh off. But ironically enough, Emergias had the utmost trust in his little brother’s competence. He wasn’t so optimistic as to think he could just laugh this off.

That was why he was so jealous. That was why he hated him so much. Why had he been so blessed? It was like he had been backed by the gods themselves. No, not just the gods. Even his parents showered him with love.

Muddy black emotion started oozing from Emergias’s soul. Overwhelmed by the torrent of magic, the night elf maid choked, dropping to her knees.

“Good, Emergias, good! You look absolutely wonderful!” The Devil of Envy laughed. “That is jealousy you feel, yes? Feeling ssso envious that it’s gnawing at you, killing you? Then let’s sssnatch everything from him!” she whispered into his ear. “We’ll take it all for ourselves. His research, his exploits...his power.”

Emergias didn’t say a word. But despite his silence, a pitch-black fire burned in his serpentine eyes.

†††

At Fort Aurora.

“How does it feel?”

“Not bad at all!”

“Honestly, it feels way better!” Two silver swordsmen answered as they swung their blades about. Though it appeared as though Barbara and Hessel were clad in silver armor, in actuality they were now possessing bodies made from my flesh and Layla’s scales.

“Looks like the new bodies are doing the trick.” Taking a moment to step out of her study and observe, Claire watched with a smile as the two Swordmasters moved around with such ease.

With Claire’s help, our efforts to create battle-ready bodies for the two of them had made dramatic progress. Securing materials to work with while keeping Fort Aurora a secret had been quite difficult, but Claire had been quick to point out that demonic flesh would be the best material we could hope for. With all my training, I had tons of flesh lying around in the form of lost limbs. Thanks to Liliana, we had an effectively unlimited supply of the stuff. Though she had brought it up, the whole thing left Claire evidently rather disgusted.

“Never thought I’d come across someone crazier than the professor. I want better for my Alex,” she had complained. But by now, that was starting to sound more like a compliment.

Most of the time, Claire stayed dormant at my side. Whenever I visited Fort Aurora, I’d wake her up and she would go to her study to delve into her “research.” While she was very much my ally, Ante still kept an eye on her from outside the room. If Claire wanted to, she could easily whip up a low-level undead to send a message to Enma.

But if Claire had really been on Enma’s side, she wouldn’t have saved those humans in the autonomous zone. And once one was in spiritual form, it was impossible for them to hide their true feelings. Her laughing and crying with me had been indisputably how she really felt. That said, there was still the possibility she was being controlled, or that some kind of mental manipulation would trigger once she was alone. So, with Claire’s permission, we had decided to keep her under watch.

Speaking of Enma, we had a little chat about Claire...

“What?! Claire saved the people of the autonomous zone?!”

“Yeah. While I was trying to bring her back to the castle for a proper interrogation, Claire started struggling. Layla was carrying her and, uh... Let’s just say Layla had an instinctive reaction to use her breath.” I had then handed Enma a bag of ash. “So, unfortunately, the best I can do is return to you what used to be Claire.”

That was the story I cooked up. As much as I really wished I could have studied Claire’s body, it would have been a huge pain if someone witnessed me bringing her body back, so I had Layla incinerate it. That bag of ash was what remained of Claire’s body, so that part was at least the truth.

There had been a lengthy stretch of silence as Enma just stared, her pasted on smile unwavering. No doubt she had been going over every possibility in her head. If she believed me, then Claire had not only betrayed her but also attacked the direct subordinate (and lover) of a demon prince. What an awful situation to be in.

If she didn’t believe me, I could have dissected Claire’s body myself and destroyed all evidence by incinerating it. The worst-case scenario in Enma’s eyes had likely been that I had drawn out as many of her secrets as I could by interrogating Claire.

While Enma was leagues ahead of me as a necromancer, Liliana was living proof of my ability to control the minds of others. It had to be unsettling from Enma’s perspective. She almost certainly had measures in place to prevent Claire from leaking critical information, but she had no way of knowing how those measures stacked up against my powers.

“And in fact, you did glean quite a bit from that childhood friend of yours,” Ante said in an amused tone. She had a point. Claire hadn’t said anything directly, but by reading her expressions and tone, I could make a lot of educated guesses.

For example, Enma’s ultimate objective was not the extinction of humanity, but the erasure of life itself. When I had posed the question to Claire for confirmation that Enma wanted to wipe out humanity, she had looked away with a grimace, so I was pretty sure of that. But it wasn’t like I’d ever expected Enma to kick back and relax once humanity was gone.

If she assumed I had figured all that out, it didn’t make sense why I was still being friendly with her. If a demon prince discovered that she planned to bring harm to the demons, they would exterminate her without a second thought. Continuing this charade of friendship was pointless. I had a direct line to the Demon King himself, so I could have him purge Enma’s entire palace at the snap of a finger if I wanted.

But I hadn’t done that. I had come to see her like any other day. There was nothing for me to gain by stringing Enma along after learning her true objectives. So did that mean I hadn’t interrogated Claire? Or perhaps I had tried and failed, unable to draw out any useful information? That had likely been the conclusion she’d reached, if she’d thought things through logically.

But in reality, I did have a reason to string Enma along. If Enma was ultimately planning on going to war against the demons, I was one hundred percent behind her! Of course, there was no way she could ever predict that a demon prince would be plotting the downfall of the demonic kingdom!

“My deepest apologies for the utter failure of my subordinate!”

Enma had fallen to the ground, bowing at my feet. She’d spared nothing in her attempt to prevent me from getting angry with her, all without a care in the world to what her display did to her favorite clothes. In her position, with the information she had, that had been the optimal response.

“Oh, don’t be so formal. You’re going to ruin those beautiful clothes.” I’d smiled, lifting Enma back to her feet and brushing the dirt off of her. Enma was usually so casual and friendly around me, but that was obviously a front to try and curry favor with me, since I was a demon prince and all. Why was I so confident in that assessment? When I had asked Claire if Enma actually liked me, she grimaced again, just like before. This was all no more than an act!

“Come on...” Ante groaned.

What is it, Ante? Sounds like you have something to say.

“L-Lord Zilbagias...” Enma had spoken up.

“When it’s just the two of us, you can drop the ‘lord.’ I’m not big on formality. Don’t worry, I’m not angry or anything. Though I will say I was a bit surprised to learn you provided your subordinates with so much freedom,” I had replied to Enma’s contrite demeanor with a lighthearted shrug. “If it were me, I would have placed a tighter bind on their thoughts and actions. Do you put any restrictions on them at all?”

I had tried to sneak in a question under the guise of a joke, but Enma’s reply had been just as evasive.

“Yeah, I suppose I do give them a lot of freedom.”

She was careful, I’d give her that. Anyway, if this incident caused Enma to tighten the chains on her subordinates, that could serve to sow seeds of discontent among them. Even if not, limiting their ability to act freely would make things easier for me in the long run when it came time to fight them.

“I’ll be more careful in the future, I swear. I’m really sorry, Zil...” she’d apologized again, giving up nothing. And she hadn’t been acting all clingy and sappy like she usually did either. She must have really been on guard.

So ultimately, in exchange for overlooking Claire’s failure, I asked Enma to increase the intensity of my Necromancy lessons. And in meeting my request, we got right to work with a practical lesson on the construction of bone horses. That proved to be pretty worthwhile. Seeing Enma’s work firsthand was a huge help in producing a combat-ready body.

And now, the two silver Swordmasters were training as if they were on the battlefield. Since they were able to perceive their surroundings using magic, we had removed all of their physical features. No eyes, no mouths, no noses—leaving them with flat, featureless faces. It was like they were masked swordsmen. They had remarkable strength and durability plus magical resistance beyond comparison. But their greatest strength was still...

Barbara lunged forward, moving with unbelievable speed. Her rapier left a trail of steam behind as it sought out Hessel. On the other hand, Hessel swung a dwarven-made greatsword that was the same size he was with ease, deflecting the stab with such ferocity that we could feel the gust of wind his movement generated.

“Unbelievable. Pretty sure that would shred me in an instant.” I whistled.

“The professor would faint if she saw you made undead Swordmasters after all of her failures,” Claire agreed, somehow both aghast and in admiration of what she was seeing.

“Come on, Hessel! What’s wrong?! Don’t got the hang of your body yet?!”

“It feels way too different toAnthromorphy! Yah!”

Barbara was leveraging her remarkable mobility to repeatedly strike and retreat, toying with Hessel and his inability to keep up. Hessel’s trump card, Linebreaker, would be a more than perfect response to her games, but it had the distinct drawback of being too powerful to be used during training. In other words, while they trained, Hessel’s greatest strength was sitting on the shelf.

“Gaaaah!”

“Hey, Hessel. How about we spar? Seems like Barbara has you outmatched,” I said, drawing Adamas as Barbara knocked Hessel flat on his back.

“If you’re looking to train, we could spar.” Barbara laughed, tapping her rapier on her shoulder.

“Well, uh...let me warm up with Hessel first.”

“Oh, so I’m just a warm-up, huh? That’s it, I’m gonna knock that pretty boy smile right off your face!” Hessel jumped back to his feet with a roar.

We were obviously joking. While it was true Barbara was a bad matchup for me, there was no way I could treat a match against Hessel as something as simple as a warm-up.

I charged at Hessel with everything I had, a bright and cheerful smile on my face.

†††

Liliana stared at the two fighting, half in disappointment, half in resignation. Sparks filled the air of the underground chamber as Alex and Hessel exchanged blows.

“Swordsmanship is Taboo!”

“Oh, you rat!”

A wave of magic erupted from Hessel as he batted away the incoming swordspear with his left hand. With a leathery snap, the curse on him broke, enabling Hessel to once again wield his greatsword with ease. A sound like glass shattering resounded as the greatsword punched through Alex’s defensive wards. Hessel roared as he continued the assault, following up the slash with a kick that sent Alex flying.

“There! Try fighting with your ribs reduced to powder!”

“W-Wait a second...!”

“No mercy!”

As Alex struggled to keep mobile, Hessel followed up with another artful strike.

“Ha ha! Don’t think you’ll be able to get the best of me with just that swordspear!”

“Wasn’t planning on it! Swordsmanship is Taboo!” Alex unleashed his curse once more. As Hessel tried to shake it off, another wave of magic erupted from Alex, neutralizing Hessel’s.

“What the...! Oh, that devil god girl?! Come on, two against one isn’t fair!”

“No mercy!”

Naturally, the twofold Taboo was too much for Hessel to throw off, granting Alex the opportunity to launch an assault of his own. With Hessel unable to use his sword, it would be a one-sided slaughter—or so it first appeared. But Hessel simply dropped his weapon, lunging forward with lightning-fast speed to deliver a devastating elbow. Alex let out a grunt. His defensive wards were enough to dull the pain but not enough to keep him standing. In short order, Hessel had reclaimed his sword and held it to Alex’s neck.

“Okay, you got me. Since when did you learn to accelerate? I don’t remember you being able to do that.”

“Heh. Well, once I got this fancy, lighter body, I put it together. Barbara still has me beat in that area though,” Hessel declared proudly, rubbing a finger against where his nose would have been. Liliana barked as she trotted over to Alex, licking at him. Even with the absence of the usual taste of blood, his internal injuries were brutal. Warmth flowed from Liliana into him as he started to heal.

“Thanks, Liliana. Okay, I’m not taking this one lying down. Rematch!”

“That’s the spirit!”

“And after that, it will be you and me versus Barbara!”

“Okay, hold on. I’m good, but I can’t take the two of you at once!” Barbara protested.

Liliana shook her head with a disgusted woof as she watched the three banter. Not that she could understand what they were saying. After all, she was just a dog. All she could offer was to lick Alex’s face and hope it made him feel better. The way he laughed when she did it, the way he stroked her hair, felt so nice.

And so she continued to be a spectator to their training, watching as Alex got badly hurt yet didn’t hesitate to jump right back into the fight. Occasionally his wounds became too much, so she would run over to lick him all better.

“Okay, I’m starting to get tired. Can we take a short break? I need a drink.”

“By all means,” Barbara replied.

“I think we need a break too. Not that we get tired...” Hessel’s body slumped down to the floor as his soul slipped out before taking on a physical form of its own. “There. Man, it’s tough to get a grip on the difference between these bodies...” he complained, rolling his now much more slender shoulders.

“Should we have made the new bodies to match your current ones after all?” Alex asked.

“Nah. A bigger body is way better for wielding a greatsword. It’s quite the pickle.”

“And if you make the body too slender, we can’t put as many magic stones in it.” Alex nodded.

“Now that you mention it, that means my body will run out of magic sooner since it’s so much smaller, right?” Barbara said, having already slipped out of her combat body and materialized herself.

“Well, your body needs more mobility, so the balance would be all out of whack if we just threw in more magic stones. Maybe we could get you a backpack or something to carry them outside your body?”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

As they talked, Alex invited them all upstairs—Liliana included—for a break. Up on Fort Aurora’s balcony, steaming hot tea was waiting for them. For a short time, they sat around the table and enjoyed some tea and snacks Alex had brought from the castle.

“It’s so delicious...” Claire all but moaned as she sipped the tea, holding her cup using both hands. Liliana didn’t know how, but Claire seemingly had figured out a way to use magic to go from her spiritual body to a physical one like Barbara and Hessel.

With a happy woof, Liliana hopped up onto an empty chair, then leaned onto the table to lap up the tea they had placed in a saucer for her. She then turned her attention to the baked sweets beside it. Claire was right. They were delicious!

“It’s not too hot?” Layla asked. Liliana nodded with a happy bark. This was no problem. She felt like she had been forced to drink something many times hotter than this in the past. Something like boiling liquid poured down her throat against her will...or had she? She couldn’t quite remember, but either way the tea wasn’t nearly hot enough to bother her.

“The weather has started cooling off recently, huh?” Alex said, staring up at the stars outside the window.

“Yes. The dog and the snake are already so low in the sky. It won’t be long before they’re out of sight,” Layla replied, echoing the knowledge of the stars and constellations she had inherited from her father.

“Guess that means autumn is on the horizon.” Barbara sighed.

“And another year went by just like that. Time sure flies...” Hessel added, still munching on snacks.

Liliana gave a soft whine, poking Alex with her nose to ask for seconds. Alex responded with a smile, piling more cookies on her plate. She happily dug into her new haul. They were so good!

“Hey, Alex...what’s the demonic army up to?”

“Daiagias’s forces are pushing north through Areina. They’ll probably have the entire kingdom under their control before long.”

“The Alliance is putting up a better fight than I expected...”

“The Gigamunt family is incredibly strong. Not to mention Daiagias himself is something else. Goes to show Areina was right to have confidence in their military.”

They all started talking about something Liliana didn’t try to understand. After all, she was just a dog.

“And it seems they have gotten a considerable number of reinforcements from the Sacred Tree Alliance.”

Liliana froze in the middle of stuffing her face with cookies.

“And not just mages. Apparently, they’ve sent a large contingent of archers too. Word is, the Gigamunt family is facing losses on the same level as the Rage family’s during the assault on Evaloti.”

“If only Deftelos had gotten that same kind of support... But no sense complaining about that now.”

“Well, the western conquest of Deftelos was handled by the Izanis family. With them specializing in wind magic, forest elf archers are particularly ineffective against them. Areina meanwhile has tons of forests, meaning the forest elves have a better chance of bogging down the fighting there.”

“That sounds like quite a pain. Won’t the demons just avoid the forests then?”

“Avoiding a strong opponent would be ridiculed as a sign of weakness, so no. I heard that in those tough areas, Daiagias has taken it upon himself to deal with things personally. With the numbers he’s been up against, it’s almost certain he’ll be promoted to archduke when he gets back,” Alex said with a sarcastic laugh.

“A kingdom of powerful warriors, and a large contingent of archers...the demons have their hands full this time, huh?” Barbara commented.

“Problem is, once Daiagias pulls back, next in line is Rubifya. No number of archers will help if they just burn the whole forest down.”

Liliana wouldn’t understand. After all, she was just a dog.

She couldn’t understand. After all, she was only supposed to be a dog.

She wasn’t supposed to understand. After all, dogs wouldn’t understand any of this.

Looking down at her saucer, a reflection in the tea stared back at her. It was a face. Blue eyes. Short, neatly kept blonde hair. Long, pointed ears...

That wasn’t a dog. That was a woman.

Liliana’s ears twitched.

“Liliana?” someone called out to her. Layla was looking at her with concern.

Liliana looked up at her with a curious woof, an innocent smile on her face. And then she licked up the tea, not leaving a single drop behind.

†††

Back at the Demon King’s castle, a woman in a green dress stomped through the corridors. This storm of a woman was Nefradia Izanis, raging into her son’s room without so much as a knock.

“Oh, hello mother. Is something wrong?” that son greeted her, totally aloof.

“You...!” Nefradia’s face cramped as she saw him wearing his Bon Dage outfit...under bone armor. It appeared as though he was ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. “Stop this at once! What are you thinking?!”

“What do you mean? I’m just going out hunting,” he said, obviously lying through his teeth. In contrast, it took everything Nefradia had not to grab him by the collar and shake him.

For a while, she merely glared at him. Her son, usually so pathetic and servile, returned her glare with a stare of his own—totally unfazed by her anger. She knew about his trip to the Abyss and how he had gained some new power. But beyond that, she hardly cared.

He had said as much plenty of times in the past in an attempt to win back her attention, but she had long since given up on him. No matter how much stronger he got, she knew his limits. Or so she thought.

This was her first time seeing him since his return, and...something was very different. His skin was dotted by marks akin to scales. His eyes were now dominated by vertically slit pupils which regarded her coldly. But the greatest change of all? His magic. It was...enormous. Surely he hadn’t been this powerful before, had he?

“Anyways, I am leaving now.” As Nefradia stared, frozen, Emergias attempted to leave.

“Wait!” she shouted angrily, snapping back to reality and grabbing his wrist.

“What is it, mother?” he turned back to face her, an irritated look on his face.

“Just how much pain do you plan on putting our family through?!”

One of Nefradia’s men had just brought to her attention that her son was planning on launching an attack on Zilbagias’s fortress. It appeared there was a good chance Zilbagias’s research involved high-speed communication of some sort. If that was true, it would certainly be a huge threat to the Izanis family. But responding with violence while lacking confirmation was far too reckless.

“I’m doing this for the sake of our family,” Emergias responded to her reprimand slowly and calmly, like he was talking to a child. But Nefradia didn’t miss the hint of scorn underlying his words. “It’s just a hunt. You don’t know anything. Isn’t that good enough?”

“An excuse like that is unacceptable! If our relationship with the other heirs deteriorates any further—”

“Oh, so that’s what you’re so worried about?” Emergias’s face twisted into a smile. “You’ve become quite adept at cozying up to the other families, haven’t you?”

Nefradia’s vision went stark red. “And whose fault do you think that is?!”

She slapped him, doing so unwittingly. Normally he accepted her abuse without resistance, but this time he stared back at her, an unsettling calm in his eyes.

“Who the hell would bow to the Vernas family unless they had no other choice?!” she continued. “But now we’ve already thrown our lot in with them, so there’s nothing else for us! For once in your miserable life think about me! Do you not see what your recklessness is doing to us?! We wouldn’t be in this position if not for you being so useless!”

“Yes, it’s my fault, isn’t it?” Emergias replied, his voice a low rumble. “It’s all my fault. All because I was so powerless, completely unworthy of becoming the next Demon King. But now, I intend to make up for it. I have to.” His words were like the uttering of a spell, sending an indescribable unsettling feeling through Nefradia.

“You... What are you...”

“Isn’t this what you wanted, mother? For your son to be strong?” He suddenly stepped closer. “If that is what you want, how about you lend me a hand?” He grabbed her shoulders, fingernails like claws digging into her bare skin. “Surrender.”

Before she could react, a burning sensation overtook her body.

“Wha...?”

But it lasted for only a moment. Her power receded until the only thing left was...cold. The whole world suddenly felt frigid. If true coldness was just a lack of warmth, then what she felt now was the lack of power.

Nefradia sputtered wordlessly as she was absolutely stunned. She felt so weak, so flimsy. Even though she held the rank of archduchess, her power had been stripped from her so effortlessly.

“Oh, this is good.” In contrast, her son was overwhelming. His presence was far more intense than it had been just a moment prior. “Thank you, mother. You can’t beat family, can you? This power suits me very well.”

“G-Give it back! Give me back my power! How could you...?!” Nefradia clung to him, but he brushed her off as he might some peasant.

“This is what you wanted, is it not? Look at your son. Don’t you see how powerful he is?” He smiled, and something almost like a glint took to his eyes. “With this, taking the powers of everyone else will be trivial. I am thankful, truthfully.”

“Do you... Do you truly think anyone will acknowledge you if this is how you gain power?!”

“Acknowledge me? Why would I care about that? I’ll just take from anyone who stands against me.” Emergias gave a toothy grin as he growled before looking up at the ceiling. “But...father is a different story. As long as he is alive, I will have to strain myself somewhat. Regardless, surely you understand now. I fear no punishment. Even without stepping foot on the battlefield, I can gain as much power as I need.”

“But... But that’s not your power! It’s mine!” Nefradia pulled out her portable spear, holding it to her neck so it would punch through if she deployed it. “Stop this! Give it back! Now! Or I’ll take my own life!”

Nefradia knew about her son’s authority to steal power from others. But it was only a temporary theft. If the victim died, the power he had taken would be no more. Such an ability was far from reliable. It was less stealing, and more borrowing. This kingdom wasn’t so soft that such a feeble authority could take over as its ruler. All his opponents had to do was kill those he had stolen power from to weaken Emergias once more.

“Go ahead. I don’t mind.” But Emergias simply snorted. “Oh, I suppose I forgot to tell you. My last visit to the Abyss gave my authority quite the growth spurt.” He looked down at her. “Now even if my target dies, I keep their power.”

Nefradia was stunned. He had overcome his one fatal weakness?

“No... No, you’re lying!”

“Do you want to put that theory to the test?” Emergias was unflappable. The joy in his eyes made it clear this was no bluff. He was telling the truth.

“Then... Then you really...” He had actually become exceptionally powerful. Despite all of her failings, Nefradia was still an archduchess, and he had taken her power effortlessly.

Emergias’s power had already been growing while he waited in his room, exceeding that of his station of marquis. But now with the addition of Nefradia’s power, the number of people stronger than him in the demonic kingdom could probably be counted on one hand. And if he faced those few exceptions, if he took the powers of Aiogias and Rubifya as well...

But that all came at the cost of Nefradia’s own power. She was now little more than a child who had just grown their horns.

“You always went on and on about how you wanted a son who was fit to rule.” Emergias stared down at her as Nefradia crumpled to the floor. “This should be cause for celebration.”

She didn’t respond. She couldn’t. In her weakened state, Emergias’s overwhelming power was suffocating her.

With a snort, Emergias left the room behind.

“Ssserves you right,” a coarse voice Nefradia didn’t recognize spoke.

Nefradia struggled to lift her head, but she couldn’t find the source of the voice. But as she turned to see Emergias walking away, she saw a mirage of magic swirling in his shadow, like a venomous snake coiling around him.

Dragons soared through the night sky. At their head was Emergias, riding his familiar green dragon. With him wearing his Bon Dage outfit under bone armor while holding a magic spear at his side, Emergias looked ready for war. Behind him were six more dragons, all carrying warriors of the Izanis family. Dragons usually didn’t get involved in scuffles among demons, but considering the white dragon at Zilbagias’s disposal, he could probably consider the seven dragons additional troops.

Yes, troops. Emergias was fully intent on attacking Zilbagias. His objective was to learn the truth behind this new high-speed communication method, and to secure it for himself if possible. There was not a doubt in Emergias’s mind that his little brother would fiercely resist. And when he did, Zilbagias’s power would belong to Emergias.

He should be at the fortress right now.

Emergias’s intelligence had informed him that on top of Zilbagias himself, the seventh prince’s beloved pets were also at the fortress—the abused and persecuted daughter of the white dragons’ leader, and the high elf saint whose mind he had crushed. Each of them possessed incredible individual power. The old Emergias would be in for a tough bout.

“But sssuch should be trivial now,” Jiiria whispered suggestively. Thanks to the power he had taken from his mother, Emergias could undeniably say Zilbagias was now inferior to him. In a battle of magic between them, Emergias would never lose. Zilbagias could strengthen himself with Naming, but Emergias could do the same.

Glancing behind him, Emergias saw the tense faces of Hisuizia and his other warriors. The dragons were anything but enthusiastic in their flight. His subordinates were nervous at the thought of open conflict with another demon heir, but the dragons likely were just irritated at being dragged into this mess.

Whatever came of this night, Emergias planned on taking full responsibility for all of his actions. The dragons and his subordinates were compelled by his orders. That was the extent of their involvement.

Not only am I directly breaking the law against fighting among heirs, but I’m also interfering with father’s research. The punishment will no doubt be severe...

But it would likely amount to no more than house arrest. Based on previous examples, probably thirty to forty years of it. The punishment might be more rigorous if he accidentally killed Zilbagias in the process, but the ideal outcome would be to steal Zilbagias’s power and let him live a useless existence. For other demons, forty years away from the battlefield would be a fatal punishment, but as he was now, Emergias could just stay within his room and see growth in his power.

All it took was thinking about how envious his father’s strength made him for Emergias’s power to swell. And once his confinement began, his envy could extend to the other residents of the castle and their freedom to wander the halls at will. Slowly but surely, his power would grow. All while the rest of the kingdom was completely oblivious.

And once I take Zilbagias’s power, I’ll be stronger than that asshole Aiogias too.

He would have more raw magical power than Aiogias. If he continued to grow from there, becoming the next Demon King would be within reach. Once freed from his house arrest, Emergias would be able to produce incredible results on the battlefield. For him, reaching the rank of archduke would be a breeze.

The only danger was if—during the house arrest—his father were to die and the succession wars were to begin. But looking at how lively his father was now, Emergias found it difficult to believe he’d keel over in a mere forty years.

“You will then become the ssstrongest Demon King, but your power will ssstill grow,” Jiiria said. “Your immense power will become a sssource of envy among all other demons. That will provide me with sssustenance as well. Can you imagine it? Those looks of envy, of jealousy, from every demon in the kingdom?”

All of them would envy him. His putrid oldest brother, that firestorm of an older sister, his other older brother who pretended to not have a care in the world with all of his affectations...and of course, his repulsive brat of a younger brother. When Emergias became Demon King, he would show his siblings mercy as he allowed them all to live. The efficient approach would be to spare them, take their power, and let them drown in their powerlessness and despair. And above all, it would feel great.

Everyone he envied would turn around and start envying him. The very thought of it made him shudder in anticipation. He had to force himself to stop thinking about it. The prospect was too joyous for him.

That dream he desired was not the current reality he lived. His cravings had not yet been satisfied. It wasn’t time for the jealousy he held to be set aside just yet. For now, he had to put the future he sought out of mind. At least until victory was truly within his grasp.

“Oh, what a ssserious boy you are. That is why I have taken sssuch a liking to you.”

Emergias could feel Jiiria wrapping herself around him.

“Together, I shall also become ssstronger. Aren’t we the perfect match?”

“We really are,” he admitted. He couldn’t have asked for a better partner.

Jiiria chuckled happily.

And then, he saw it.

“Fort Aurora...!” As they approached, he saw figures in the entranceway. “As expected. They’ve already noticed us.” Emergias licked his lips, like a snake sizing up its prey.

He could feel their eyes on him, looking at him.

Seventh Demon Prince Zilbagias Rage met Emergias’s gaze with a crimson glare of his own.

†††

Layla had been the first to notice something was flying straight toward us. Shortly after she caught sight of it, I felt a powerful magic approaching. Just as I stepped outside, seven dragons were landing in front of the fortress. And slipping out of the saddle of the lead dragon was a green-haired demon—Emergias Izanis.

Over his snakeskin Bon Dage outfit was a set of bone armor, and in his hands was a dwarven-made spear. Bruises reminiscent of snake scales marred his face, and his pupils were vertical slits. He looked like a monster, closer to a fiend than a demon. And his power was enormous. He was stronger than me now, wasn’t he?

“The nature of his power has altered considerably. It appears he took more of his devil’s authority than he could handle,” Ante analyzed calmly. “This change has made him something more akin to a devil. I must admit, I’m impressed seeing a mortal able to maintain their personality in such a state.”

I had heard about Emergias’s visit to the Abyss and how he had been unwell since his return. After he had missed the previous meal with the Demon King and the rest of the heirs, I had assumed he was just too embarrassed to show his face. But now it was clear he hadn’t been sick at all. He easily had the magic of an archduke. I couldn’t even be sure who was stronger between him and Aiogias.

“I would say Aiogias is superior by a smidgen.”

Ante...how would I stack up if you gave me all the power you’ve been holding back?

“If I returned all of it to you, you would be Aiogias’s equal.”

So my true strength was on par with seaweed head’s? Well, I knew my power hadn’t grown much since I’d returned from the battlefield. And damn, he was decked out in war gear. Sure, I had my Bon Dage outfit and Adamas, but my dragon scale armor was sorely missed.

“Something seems to have you quite bothered, Emergias.” Regardless, the only thing to do was talk to him. “How can I help you?” Though it was obvious he was up to no good.

“Show me the results of your research,” Emergias said, his voice as coarse as always but a little bit higher than usual.

“Huh?” I blurted out.

He wanted my research into Necromancy? My countermeasures against Enma? Why? Wait, how did he even know what I was researching? Had the Demon King told him? Why would he do that? Even if he knew, I couldn’t figure out why he’d be interested.

“Of course, I have no intention of stealing it from you. If you cooperate, I’m willing to keep you as a retainer.”

What was this guy’s deal? I didn’t even know where to begin. This was not how you went about negotiating. To be fair, it was obvious he couldn’t care less about negotiating. There was a distinct malice in his gaze, as though he was eagerly awaiting the very moment I lashed out. When you also took into account the nervous Izanis soldiers behind him, and the dragons watching from a distance... Yeah, he was clearly looking for a fight.

If the green toilet stain had been anything like the last time I saw him, I would have laughed in his face, slammed the door, and paid him no mind. But now, the magic he wielded was like a massive serpent... No. It was like a dragon coiled before me. Simply brushing him off was no longer an option.

“So, what will it be? Will you cut your life short, or will you live long as my subordinate?” He chuckled, as if drunk on his own words.

It felt somehow familiar. Like that feeling of omnipotence I had when I gained a lot of magic at once. Had that feeling consumed him? Did that mean he had grown to this level recently? So it was a sudden, explosive growth?

“Does father know you’re here?” I tabled that thought for the time being, deciding instead to bring up the Demon King to try and feel things out.

“Oh, I’m sure he would be quite angry to learn about this little visit,” Emergias answered smoothly, suppressing a laugh. “But he isn’t here. While punishment may await me for attacking you, I can’t imagine it will amount to much more than a few decades of house arrest.”

So he didn’t even fear the punishment?

“Of course, a more severe punishment would be given if I were to kill you... But honestly, I’d rather avoid things getting that far. You would be doing me a great service by not offering too much of a resistance.”

A vicious wind kicked up around us, thick with venomous magic. The palpable bloodlust from it sent a chill down my spine and caused the hair on my arms to stand on end.

I was totally overcome with...joy.

This was an obvious threat. He had crossed the line. He had done it. I didn’t have to.

All I could do was laugh. Things were moving a lot quicker than I had anticipated. But man, I’d been waiting for this day for ages. Now that he showed up on my doorstep to attack me, I had all the justification needed to fight back. Why? Because I would never forget. The sight of my village burning. The sight of those goblins swarming around Claire. The sight of this seaweed-headed bastard raising his spear with my father’s head on the end of it. The sight of my mother carrying me as she ran, taking so many night elf arrows to the back. Even as my memories eroded and faded with time, I would never forget any of that. How many times had I relived those scenes in my dreams? How many times had those nightmares tormented me?

My blood started to boil, but my head was surprisingly cool, immediately taking stock of our surroundings to figure out the best way to make use of this battlefield.

“You have nowhere to run.” Emergias snickered as he saw my eyes darting about.

Don’t get me wrong, you emerald bastard. I’m just looking for the most efficient way to kill you.

He had seven dragons and six demon warriors with him. All of them were viscounts or counts. That seemed to be the extent of his forces...but I also needed to be on guard in case he had any other men hidden around the fortress. Emergias was a real threat. I wouldn’t be able to pull my punches against him, but I also didn’t want to reveal my cards to any other potential witnesses.

“I have just one question for you,” I said with a smile as I reached my conclusion. “What exactly do you think I’m researching here?”

Apparently disappointed by my lack of fear, Emergias’s smile faltered. “The high-speed communication technology you’ve developed with the undead. It poses too great of a threat to the Izanis family.”

Aha, now it all made sense. Seems like the Evaloti Daily News had been discovered. He was right, that method of communication threatened to strip the Izanis family of their greatest leverage within the kingdom. He thought I was working on it here. No wonder this idiot had brought a bunch of his men to fight me.

What a moron. Unforgivably stupid.

“He doesn’t even realize the Demon King himself is unaware of it...” Ante sighed.

If the entire demonic kingdom started to use Enma’s communication methods, that would be a huge problem for the Alliance. So while it wasn’t my intention, I was technically working to protect the Izanis family’s position too. The whole thing was hilarious when you thought about it.

And so I burst out laughing, taking my hands off my sword to hold my stomach as I bellowed.

“Well, you’ll have to forgive me. There unfortunately seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding.”

Emergias continued to stare at me, eyes narrowing.

“I’m studying something entirely unrelated to that. But it’ll be quicker to show you. Come on inside, no need to talk out here.” I casually invited him in, opening the door and beckoning him inside.

Just within was a large hallway. There Hessel, Barbara, and Layla were lying in wait, ready to turn him into mincemeat.

Seeing the number of dragons they’d brought, I had Layla and the Swordmasters on standby, prepared to fight. Liliana and Claire were hiding deeper within the fortress, just in case. If I was worried about others hiding around the fortress watching us fight, the best bet was to have our battle indoors.

That being said, there were other witnesses to worry about that weren’t so hidden. Those being Emergias’s Izanis subordinates, and the dragons they’d rode in on. But they weren’t an issue. I’d kill each and every one of them. Adamas was trembling at my hip.

Suddenly, magic swelled from Emergias behind me.

“Anemos Turoviros.”

Be sliced to ribbons.

Blades of wind rushed ahead of me into the fortress.

†††

“Young master?! Is that not going too far?!” Hisuizia gave a strained cry at Emergias’s merciless sneak attack.

“I’m no fool. My brother would never laugh off that much provocation,” Emergias spat. “The look in his eyes made it clear he was plotting something. I could tell!”

“B-But...”

“I’ll take the responsibility for all of this! Capture the fortress! Dragons, stay on guard! Don’t let anyone escape!”

Bringing his spear to bear, Emergias cautiously stepped into the fortress. His subordinates shared a look before following him in, naturally forming up around him. The interior of the fortress was pitch-black. No matter how good their eyes were, demons still couldn’t see in total darkness. Emergias used Transmission mixed with his authority of Envy to seek out any enemies within the vicinity, only to come up empty-handed. Were they concealing their presence with magic? He had expected that their fight would be taken indoors, but the room was much larger than he had anticipated. It was a bit unsettling.

“Hisui, barrier.”

With a quick “yes sir,” Hisuizia swiftly danced in a circle. A Hunting Ground formed around them, protecting against magic, physical objects, and heat. Flowing through Hisuizia’s body was Sauroe blood. At the same time, one of Emergias’s other subordinates wrapped a ball of fire in wind and sent it flying forward, illuminating the fortress’s interior.

They were in a huge stone room, way more spacious than Emergias’s expectations.

He does have a dragon...!

This changed everything. Emergias drew out dark magic.

“Get ready for a—”

Before he could finish his warning, the attack arrived. A sensation like the atmosphere was being pulled taut. No sound accompanied it, but the bloodlust alone sent a shudder down Emergias’s back. His battlefield instincts were screaming with alarm. Something was coming. Emergias drew out as much magic from his body as he could, forming a defensive wall.

A roar split the air as something invisible bore down on them, severing the world in two. The sound of glass shattering coincided with the obliteration of Hisuizia’s barrier as the attack itself slammed into Emergias’s guard. Blood sprayed from the men to either side of him as their chests and arms were sliced apart. If Emergias hadn’t been on guard, he might have been in trouble himself. But despite such sudden, substantial damage...

I didn’t sense any magic at all!

It wasn’t a breath attack. It wasn’t even magic. Through his shock, Emergias realized what he had just experienced. It was the technique of a Weaponmaster. He had no way of knowing the attack was the work of Hessel the Linebreaker. It seemed like a Swordmaster’s attack, but he couldn’t assume that was the case. After all, what in the world would a human Swordmaster be doing in a demon prince’s fortress?!

And then, something writhed in the darkness, and the room immediately filled with light.

“Young master!”

Before Hisuizia’s warning even reached his ears, Emergias’s dark magic had billowed out around him. An earsplitting roar erupted from the far end of the chamber as the white dragon shed its magical concealment, unleashing a blast of white-hot breath. As powerful as it was, Emergias narrowly neutralized the blast by desperately pouring his magic into his defenses.

“Agh!”

“Gaaaaah!”

But the wounded soldiers to either side of him weren’t so lucky. Their blue skin was roasted black, the armor they wore reduced to a searing prison as they fell to the ground. Their losses were tremendous, and now a light as brilliant as the sun itself had appeared within this very room, blinding them.

“Emergias, look out!”

Jiiria shouted from within him. As a devil, she perceived the world through a magical lens, meaning the light couldn’t blind her. A tail of magic lashed out from inside him, intercepting something in midair.

Looking up, he saw someone wearing silver armor.

“A swordsman?!”

There they were, a swordsman wielding a rapier. It was Barbara, in her combat body.

Though Jiiria had intercepted the surprise attack, Barbara retaliated with lightning-fast speed using her weapon even as she lost her balance in midair. The tail of magic was dismembered and sent flying, dispersing into the air as Barbara landed, a wave of magic emanating from the devil that once owned it like an agonizing scream.

The moment Barbara touched the ground, she blitzed him with unbelievable speed.

“Impossible! A Swordmaster?!”

One of the demons that stepped forward to intercept her attack shouted in surprise.

“Out of my way!”

With a clear, clean sound—like a bell being struck—her rapier punched through the foreheads of the demons that stood in her way, their helmets not so much as slowing her blade. They were dead instantly.

“Spasimo!”

Rip apart!

Emergias unleashed a blade of wind. Barbara leaped into the air with the grace of a gymnast, spinning to land on the ceiling. For a brief moment acceleration and gravity worked in concert, the stone ceiling grinding beneath her feet.

Fourth Demon Prince Emergias Izanis!

All the faces of those who partook in the suicide mission on the front lines of Deftelos immediately rushed to Barbara’s mind. The hero Leonardo. The Fistmaster Dogasin. So many Swordmasters she had looked up to. And now, she had the chance to avenge them.

“Die!”

She exploded forward, kicking off the ceiling and racing toward him like a shooting star.

“My name is Emergias Izanis!” The demon prince’s magic swelled.

“Anemos Turoviros!”

Be sliced to ribbons!

Countless, unavoidable blades of wind bore down on her. But Barbara’s body reacted, resisting the magic with everything it had. The sudden gust should have been enough to catapult Barbara away, but instead it merely left shallow scratches on her skin.

But Emergias grinned as that was more than enough.

“Surrender.”

All it took was him inflicting injury on another to bolster his curse of Envy. Venomous magic coiled around Barbara, robbing her of any momentum. Emergias lashed out with all of the speed she had lost.

“Guh...!”

The head of his spear struck her rapier, unleashing a shower of sparks in its wake. Feeling her loss in magic and being cognizant of her disadvantage, Barbara decided to retreat. Leaping backward, her silver body melted away into the darkness.

“My name is Zilbagias Rage!”

And then a tremendous blast of magic shook the air.

He was close! He must have used the breath attack as cover to sneak in! As Zilbagias’s concealing magic was torn away by the Naming, Emergias brought all his magic to bear as his Transmission and Envy pinpointed the seventh prince’s position.

“I am the seventh demon prince...” But he didn’t stop there. “And the Indomitable Sacred Flame, the hero Alexander!”

It felt like standing in front of a live furnace. The air burned, yet Emergias felt a freezing chill deep in his bones. Palpable bloodlust was condensed to its utmost limit. His younger brother’s presence exploded like an erupting volcano.

“What...?!”

What the hell was this magic?! And a hero?! No, that didn’t matter! What was this magic?! It was clearly greater than his own. How?! How was that possible?!

“Awaken, Adamas!”

Within the darkness, a flash of silver light ignited. Right in front of Emergias’s eyes—

“Hii Yeri Lampsui Suto Hieri Mo!”

May your holy light shine in my hands!

—silver fire filled his vision.

That was when he finally realized. The darkness that had filled this room...that had been his brother’s magic. And now a light shot through that magic, like a mad dance of silver fire in the night. Emergias had come across people who wielded magic like this countless times on the battlefield—all of them were heroes.

“What... What the hell are you?!” Emergias roared, taking a guarded stance.

“Defense is Taboo!”

Incandescent dark magic wrapped around Emergias and took hold—locking the fourth prince’s limbs in place.

“Diiiiiiieeeeeee!”

Adamas took on its true form as the brilliant silver blade arced forward to claim his head.

†††

Before me was my sworn enemy, the one who had destroyed my village—Fourth Demon Prince Emergias. In the grip of my Taboo, he couldn’t move to defend himself. His eyes could only watch as my blade made its way to his throat.

I had finally done it. My blade was almost there!

But then, the expression dropped from Emergias’s face, an unsettling kind of innocence taking its place. All strength drained from his body, as did his hostility and bloodlust. Then, he started babbling like...like a baby. And as he did, his body twisted and turned, as if he had been stripped of his bones. The unexpected range of movement took me by surprise, resulting in me only managing to shave off a few of his hairs. He had dodged the attack by the skin of his teeth.

And then recognition flashed in his eyes, his mind coming back to him. That also meant the return of his hostility as he swung his spear while trying to regain his balance.

“Guh...! What the hell was that?!” He glared at me.

I clicked my tongue, choking up on my swordspear as I held it like a sword.

That’s my line!

“Spearmanship is Taboo!”

My curse landed, evident by Emergias losing grip of his weapon. I wasted no time, dashing forward.

“Taboo... A devil god?! This kid?!” Emergias sputtered, using wind magic to throw himself backward. It sounded like he was talking to someone. And with that magic tail he had produced earlier...

“He is possessed! There is a devil within him, just as I am in you!”

Just like Ante said, I sensed some sort of foreign magic winding its way around Emergias.

So that’s the Devil of Envy, huh? I couldn’t care less. I’ll kill them both!

Emergias roared.

“Spasimo!”

Rip apart!

A desperate blast of wind blades rumbled toward me, but my Bon Dage outfit glowed green, resisting his wind magic. My enhanced defenses deflected his attack with ease.

“Surrender!”

“No!”

With sheer force of will, I crushed the curse of Envy that followed it.

Too bad, asshole! Thanks to that forest elf mage, I know your power works by stealing the magic of others!

And once you knew about a curse’s workings, the easier it was to resist. The same went for Transposition, Taboo, and of course Emergias’s Envy!

“Just die already!” With the haft of my spear now acting as no more than an enormous hilt, Adamas shone through the darkness as the blade drew a brilliant silver arc.

“Dammit!” Emergias finally managed to shake off the Taboo against using his spear. Unfortunately, just like how I could easily resist his Envy, he could do the same with my Taboo once he understood what it was doing. But I had spent months preparing for battle against his Envy while he had only learned about Taboo just moments ago. The difference between us was night and day!

With the image of Adamas being an extension of my own arm and body, I poured as much magic into it as I could. With a roar, I focused all my magic into a single point and brought the sword down on Emergias’s guard. The blade bit deep into the haft of his spear before slicing right through. As the blade grazed his face and holy fire scorched his skin, Emergias screamed in agony.

The demon woman at his side shouted for him, trying to jump into the fray, but a loud footstep resounded from behind us. I knew it. She was right on time.

From the depths of the room, a Swordmaster dashed forward at breakneck speed. She had taken a reprieve deeper in the fortress to replenish her magic using magic stones, and had now returned. With godlike speed, Barbara’s rapier sought out Emergias, leaving a trail of vapor in the air behind it as it soared.

“Like hell!” the demon woman shouted, tossing aside her spear which had been rendered useless by my Taboo. Then she lunged forward, reaching for Barbara with her bare hands. Even as the dragon scales on Barbara’s skin tore her hands apart, the demon used the Swordmaster’s otherworldly speed against her, throwing her off course as she fell.

“No way!” Barbara exclaimed as she flew, hurtling through the door of the fortress and outside. Never mind a spear wielding demon, that kind of martial prowess would have been incredible for a Fistmaster.

But that miracle would only work once. Though she had successfully thrown Barbara off course, the Swordmaster’s rapier had still riddled her body with holes.

“Young...master...retreat...!”

Emergias held the woman in his arms as blood spewed from her mouth. Her advice was sound, and her loyalty was laudable. But neither of them were making it out of here alive. I would kill them both right here!

“Dragons! Use your breath! It doesn’t matter if we get caught in it!” Emergias shouted, his Transmission carrying with clear desperation. He had brought only green dragons with them. Since their breath attack was wind magic like what the Izanis soldier wielded, he had full confidence he could withstand their attack.

But there was no response. Emergias’s eyes went wide. He finally noticed. His Transmission hadn’t reached anyone. Instead, the only response he received were the cries of dying dragons. Turning to look, he saw them falling from the sky.

†††

After unleashing her breath attack, Layla quickly shifted into human form, ran to a window in the chamber to slip outside, and returned to her dragon form.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

But as soon as she leaped into the air, she was swarmed by the green dragons Emergias and his subordinates had rode in on.

“Please let me through. My master is in danger,” Layla pleaded, hovering in place. But the green dragons circling around her just laughed, eyeing her up like starving predators closing in on their next meal.

“No, I don’t think we will.”

“We won’t get involved in a battle between demons...”

“But when it comes to you, we’ll do whatever we want.”

There was a distinct vulgarness to the tone of the green dragons’ metallic rasping.

“Is that so?” Layla lowered her head. But then she glared back at the dragons as a flash of light came to her eyes. “Then I’ll take the same liberty with you. Please help me.” A beguiling light shone from her eyes.

“Dammit! Don’t look in her eyes!” one of the green dragons shouted, but it was too late.

Layla’s Charm ensnared some of the others, causing them to lash out at their comrades in a frenzy.

“Stop it, you idiots!”

“Get a hold of yourselves! Gaaaaah!”

“Using white dragon magic?! How?!”

The green dragons that still had their wits struggled to free their allies from the spell. They knew Layla had learned to fly while in Zilbagias’s care, but she hadn’t been taught a thing about dragon magic. Her learning magic unique to white dragons should have been impossible.

But of course, Layla didn’t answer. She simply took a deep breath.

“Damn you!” The green dragon opened his mouth in turn, but not before Layla unleashed a breath attack with all her might. Such a display swept away the green dragon’s wind breath like dust, reducing its owner to a smoldering husk as they fell to the ground.

“Don’t look down on us!”

“It’s only one of her and—!”

Though two had been lost to Layla’s Charm while her breath had taken another by surprise, four green dragons were still standing. It would be hard to overcome those kinds of numbers. On top of that, these were green dragons, masters of the wind. They were the uncontested elites of aerial combat. No matter how renowned Layla’s bloodline was, handling a fight like this on her own would be an insurmountable feat.

But of course, that assumed she was alone.

The atmosphere around them stretched taut. Space warped, and the dragon lunging toward Layla suddenly spiraled off course, its head separated from its body.

“What?!” The others had no idea what had happened.

While they were stunned, a silver clad figure jumped off Layla’s back.

“I never thought I’d be hunting dragons!” Hessel shouted, swinging his massive greatsword. Linebreaker’s effectiveness extended to various beings and domains—including dragons and in midair.

With a roar, he delivered a spinning slash, bringing down a barrage of Linebreakers. The ferocious torrent sliced the wings of one dragon and through the body of another that was ensnared with one of its Charmed allies. Of course, with no wings of his own, Hessel would simply fall to the ground, but Layla deftly swooped in to catch him.

The green dragons had assumed Layla would be a powerless little girl all by her lonesome who could do no more than fly. By the time they realized their error, only one green dragon remained. With a pathetic shriek, the last survivor attempted to flee.

“I am afraid I have explicit instructions,” Layla murmured as the last dragon turned tail. “None of you are allowed to escape.”

And so she took a deep breath. With all her fury as a dragon, she unleashed another blast from her mouth, as if venting every morsel of frustration she held from the vile way they had looked at her earlier. The beam of pure white light roasted the final green dragon in midair. With the skin burned off its wings, it plummeted to the ground with a scream. A heavy thud resounded as bone and flesh smashed to pieces upon hitting the ground.

As dragons of wind, green dragons flew with incredible speed.

“But compared to light, you may as well be standing still,” Layla spat. The line got a cheer from Hessel on her back, suddenly filling her with embarrassment.

“W-We need to go help Alex!” she stuttered, quickly moving to finish off the dragons that had fallen to the ground.

†††

Ow...

Deep in the fortress’s storage room, Liliana lay bleary on the floor. The room looked like a tornado had run through it; things scattered everywhere. Liliana herself was covered in blood. When Emergias had launched his initial attack, blades of wind scoured about the fortress. Claire was fine since she was in spiritual form. But with only ordinary clothes on, Liliana had been defenseless and torn to pieces. She had no way to defend herself against magical attacks. After all, she was just a dog.

But the others weren’t worried about her. See, they knew magic of that caliber would never be able to kill her. Even now, as she was lying on the ground, her wounds were closing all on their own.

Because she was a dog?

No, that wasn’t right. It was because she was a high elf, a saint.

Liliana lay on the floor with her eyes closed. Something as simple as having her body sliced apart barely registered as pain. She had experienced far, far worse. Wait. Had she? Really? She didn’t know. She didn’t want to know.

I’m tired...

Liliana continued to lie on the floor, starting to doze off. She hoped she could just stay there and drift off to sleep, awakening to find herself in her bed being gently pet by Alex. That was what she desperately wanted. She didn’t want to wake up.

So she pretended she didn’t hear. Not the howls of Layla’s breath. Not the clashing of weapons. She pretended she didn’t hear any of it.

“I know how you feel.”

Suddenly, it felt like someone was hugging her.

“You’re scared, right? You’d rather spend the rest of your life not understanding anything...”

Someone was stroking her hair. Someone she didn’t know, yet somehow did all the same. It was a stranger’s touch, but the sensation felt so familiar.

Liliana whined. Really, she understood. She knew she couldn’t stay this way forever. She knew that soon it would be time for her to step forward. But if she did...then...

“Don’t worry,” a gentle voice assured her. “You won’t disappear. No matter what, you will always be a part of me,” the speaker continued to stroke her hair affectionately. “I’m scared too. So many bad, painful things happened to me. But as long as we stick together, I know we can get through this.”

Liliana’s eyes opened.

“So, will you come with me?” The golden-haired high elf struggled to force a smile.

Liliana barked. She had to go. That was how she felt.

“Thank you...”

And then the two were one.

Since being freed from the night elf prison, this was the first time Liliana had been badly hurt. The blades of wind had thoroughly dismembered her, cleanly severing her arms and legs. But that meant...

With a loud clang, the metal caps that once bound her arms and legs fell to the floor.

“That was quite the pleasant dream.”

She raised a hand up in front of her face. It was a brand-new hand, pale and white, having never been touched by sunlight. She clenched her fingers. She was okay. She wasn’t scared.

We can do this, right?

“Bark!”

She had to go.

Liliana El Del Milfrul lifted herself off the ground, standing on her own two feet.

†††

When on the battlefield, you never had enough eyes or heads. Rank-and-file soldiers could afford to ignore everything else except the enemy right in front of them. But once you became an elite, you didn’t have that luxury. So when Emergias took his eyes off me for a brief moment, I didn’t think anything of it.

But even if it wasn’t a mistake, an opening was an opening.

“Fleeing is Taboo!”

My magic billowed forth, restraining Emergias. He scowled as any attempts he made to back away were rendered pointless. Even if he could shake off my curses, as long as I put all my strength into them, it would take him a minute. In that time, my blade would reach him. Even if not, Barbara was there to follow up. Plus, Hessel and Layla would be back any second. This was the end!

“I’m sorry. Please, forgive me!” Emergias cried, face twisting with agony.

Huh? Now he’s begging for his life? No... He wasn’t talking to me!

“Surrender...!”

Magic swirled out from the bloodied demon in his arms and from his other men lying roasted on the floor as Emergias absorbed all of it.

“Young master... Please...become king...” The now lifeless woman slipped out of his arms, hitting the ground with a thud. Meanwhile, Emergias’s presence swelled.

Dammit, he can do that?!

“My name is Emergias Izanis!” The fourth prince burgeoned with magic. “He who shall become the strongest in the demonic kingdom!” he roared, picking up the spear the woman had cast aside. “No one can bind me but the Demon King himself!”

A leathery snap filled the air as he broke the shackles of my Taboo. With the magic of so many counts and viscounts now at his disposal, Emergias’s power exploded to new heights, quickly reaching that of my own. And that was after I had taken all the power Ante had stored, and used Naming to declare myself as both Zilbagias and Alexander!

The terror and dread I felt was something I hadn’t experienced in a very long time. It was like I was discovering how absurd demons and devils could be all over again. I had done such terrible things, and sacrificed so much just to get to this point. And here he was, matching my strength like it was nothing.

“This man...is dangerous.” There was a coldness to Ante’s voice unlike ever before.

“What the hell...?!” I growled without thinking.

“That’s my line!” Emergias shouted back. “Since you were born, life has showered you with blessings every step of the way! What makes you so special?!”

Me? Blessed? It took everything I had to not erupt right then and there. For the umpteenth time that day, resolve and bloodlust roared in my chest, which I channeled into my swordspear.

Across from me, Emergias danced in a circle around his spear.

“Hunting Ground.”

A pitch-black barrier expanded from Emergias, slamming into Adamas as I took a guarded stance.

He can useHunting Ground?! So he can take not only his subordinates’ magical power but their Bloodline Magics too?!

“Eat this!”

With lightning-fast speed, Barbara flew back into the room, slamming her rapier into the barrier. Cracks ran along its surface like an egg shell. As I moved to follow up her attack, pitch-black blades of wind fired out from within to stop my advance.

“Damn!”

“Look out!”

So his Hunting Ground blocked outside attacks while he can dish out his own from inside? That was going to be a pain. His defense wasn’t too much of a problem, but me and Barbara getting our magic stolen was another thing entirely. Barbara could retreat and resupply, but if he got a hold of mine, that would be really bad.

A violent wind accompanied by the sound of wings blew in from the outside. With the moon behind her, Layla dropped to the ground on all fours, and unleashed her breath without the slightest bit of hesitation. Blinding white light struck Emergias’s pitch-black barrier—

“Would you quiet down?” A coarse voice muttered from within. “Begone, lizard.”

Countless blades of wind raced toward Layla, scattering off her light-infused scales.

“You dragons and your strong bodies. Must be nice to be born with scales and wings!”

Dammit! Ante!

“Plunder is Taboo!” Ante and I shouted in unison, trying to erect a twofold curse against him. But our magic was intercepted by another snakelike power, evident by the curse sliding off his Hunting Ground.

“Surrender!”

“No thank you!”

Layla resisted with all her might...but even so, her body collapsed inward, like a sandcastle falling apart. For some reason or other, she had reverted back to human form, dropping to the ground.

“What...? No way...” Layla stared at her own hands in shock. And her magic, the gleaming white light that had shone over her scales, swirled into Emergias’s barrier.

“Go to hell!” Leaping out from behind Layla was Hessel. His magic blazed like the sun as he pushed his body to the limit, unleashing his Linebreaker. A deafening roar split the air as it smashed into Emergias’s Hunting Ground, cracking it open as if to expose its yolk.

“Heh heh heh. Ha. Aha ha ha ha ha ha!”

As fragments of darkness scattered, Emergias’s head emerged, laughing like a madman. No, it wasn’t just his head. It was also an unnaturally long neck. Those marks on his face that looked like scales had been replaced with the real thing. A new pair of horns punched out of his forehead to match the twisting pair on the side of his head. His laughter revealed a forked tongue as it flicked out from his mouth. There was not a hint of sanity left in his expression.

“Ah...I’m so jealous of it all. You’re all so blessed. I should get the same treatment! No one should be more blessed than me!”

As he spewed nonsense, dark magic billowed out behind him, taking the shape of a pair of wings. As more of his body came into view, a tail of magic could be seen growing out from his rear. He was a snake... No, at this rate, he was more along the lines of a dragon. He had fully transformed into a monster.

But what was with this magic? It was enormous, obviously, but its form was vague and ambiguous. Emergias’s appearance wasn’t all that changed, his whole presence was completely different too. It was like...

“A devil,” Ante finished, pity in her voice. “He has been distorted by his authority, or perhaps his soul has been shaved away. It no longer functions as an adequate vessel for his devil’s power. See? Even as he steals more power, it just flows back out of him. He’s now incapable of sustaining himself.”

As she said, intense magic emanated from him in waves, but not like the pressure that the powerful gave off. It was more like his power was dissipating into the air around him.

Like a massive beast inhaling, Emergias absorbed every drop of magic from the surrounding stone walls. The Concreta within them was sapped of its power, causing the walls to crumble. As Emergias grew in strength once more, his form became even less stable. And then that monster turned a hateful glare on me.

“You! You have everything I ever wanted! I’ll never forgive you... Never! I’ll take it all! All of it belongs to me! Now give it!!!” Emergias’s wings flared, and then with a roar, he charged.

Wait, those wings aren’t just for show? He can actually fly?

He was fast, but as long as he charged in a straight line, it was nothing I couldn’t handle. Using Adamas to deflect his spear, I let myself fall backward to avoid the force of his charge, then delivered a swift kick to his chest from below.

With a grunt, Emergias was sent flying upward and slammed into the ceiling.

He’s glaring at me... Guess that means the tail is coming, right? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Rolling on the ground to dodge the tail swipe, I lashed out with my sword and lopped off a good chunk of it.

Emergias howled in pain. With him growing so much larger, there was more of him for me to cut. I started to laugh. This was going to be good.

“What’s so funny?!” Emergias screamed, lashing out with his spear.

“Don’t mind me. I’m just glad this is finally a proper fight,” I replied, deflecting his spear with Adamas. Even though he had been the one to come to my fortress and attack me, all Emergias had done was run since arriving here.

But now he was finally fighting for real. Now we could really kill each other.

“Finally ready to fight, huh? Took you long enough. Just had to steal the magic of your subordinates, your friend, and the scales and wings of a dragon.” I snorted at the twisted freak in front of me.

Everyone else is blessed? Don’t be stupid. Not only were you born with magic and status, but you even made a pact with a devil. You have no idea how hard I had it in my last life when I had basically no magic at all.

As he was now, his magic was pretty strong. But compared to the Demon King—including the despair I’d felt back when we fought—he was just a load of crap. He was finally ready to fight for real? I couldn’t be happier. Now that he had wings, my biggest concern was him turning tail and telling others about everything he’d seen here.

“No matter how fancy you look, no matter how much magic you gain”—I sneered as I deflected his spear again—“you’ll never change.” So I provoked him further, trying to draw out as much fury from him as possible.

“Shut up!!!” Emergias screamed, lashing out with blinding speed.

I narrowly dodged the spear, countering with a slash from Adamas that tore into the scales of his arm and sent blue blood spraying.

“Damn you!!!” As if he no longer felt the sensation of pain, Emergias continued his assault. At the same time, a sinister magic emanated from him, coiling around me.

“Plunder is Taboo!” Ante and I shouted in unison. It might have been pointless, but we tried to resist him with everything we had. His jealousy was so vicious that defending against it entirely wasn’t possible as a tiny bit of my power—the thinnest outer layer—was stripped away. That being said, that speck of power dissipated harmlessly into the air before Emergias could even absorb it, so the difference in our strength didn’t change all that much.

So which would come first? Would one of us exhaust all our powers, or would one of us land a killing blow? That was the nature of our current contest.

But on top of the constant curse emanating from him, the tail, wings, and unbelievable strength he now had were still threats. Barbara and Hessel couldn’t approach as they were unable to resist his curse of Envy, and Layla had become a mere human. So, I put all my focus on following Emergias’s movements.

What was he really after? It wasn’t power, I was sure of that. As we exchanged blows, I could feel just what a pitiful creature he had become.

I had provoked him earlier by saying he hadn’t changed at all, but that was probably closer to the truth than I had initially realized. What he needed wasn’t strength, but rather something more on a mental level. Something like backbone, or grit. No matter how much he trained, no matter how much magic he stole, no matter what he accomplished in battle, his character never changed. It never had, and it never would. What he really wanted was forever out of reach, no matter how hard he strove for it.

We were alike in that way. I also wanted more power, but that was just so I could one day defeat the Demon King. What I really wanted was a world where humanity could live without fear. Or more specifically...my old peaceful village life. My dad... My mom... Claire... All of them smiling and waving at me.

“So I’m blessed, huh?”

Like hell I am.

“You already took everything from me!”

This guy. If no one else, I would kill him.

Answering the call of my emotions, Adamas trembled in my grip. Dodging Emergias’s spear, I delivered a slash that bit through the scales of his arms. Emergias screamed, the spray of blood dissipating into the air like smoke before dissolving into magic and vanishing. His body wasn’t physical anymore.

But that made him all the stronger. He charged with a roar again. I dodged and countered, but this time, he blocked with the haft of his spear. We both staggered back a step, then lunged back toward each other.

“Grraaaaaah! Give me that power!!!” His curse coiled around me once more.

“Plunder is Taboo!”

It had turned into an endless chant to ward off his curse. Another thin layer of my power was stripped away.

Damn, is this never going to end?!

Now that he was more devil than demon, shallow wounds barely left a scratch on him. The deep slash wound on his arm repaired itself using pure magic. Though the holy magic in Adamas slowed down the process, it wasn’t enough. No, it wasn’t enough yet!

And then, suddenly, I felt a burst of powerful magic behind me. A blast of wind...warm and comforting.

“Sanctus Lucus.”

Let the divine light shine.

A blinding, burning light shot past me, punching through Emergias’s wings. This was...a miracle of light.

No way...!

The sound of bare feet on stone reached my ears. Using the reflection of Adamas’s blade, I looked to see what was behind me.

And there, I saw a saint.

Golden hair like it was spun from sunlight. Brilliant blue eyes like a summer sky. The dress she wore, now torn to shreds, was the same one she had been wearing earlier in the day. But the blank, dumb expression of the puppy I had grown ever so used to was gone entirely. Now, she was standing on two feet, holding a bow of light in her hands, and wearing a determined expression on her face.

Her hands and feet are back...!

“Liliana!” Our eyes met through Adamas’s reflection...and her face bloomed into a beautiful smile.

“Her mind has finally returned!” Ante cried, a mixture of wonder and fear in her voice that I understood all too well. While her help was more than appreciated, if Emergias took her power...!

“Who the hell are you?!” Emergias roared, his wings of black magic reforming. “Blinding...so bright... I want it! Give that power to me!”

Pitch-black magic erupted from the demon prince.

Guess I have no other choice now!

“Megari Pu Rostacia!”

Oh great blessings!

I unleashed my own magic. Liliana and I were enveloped in a brilliant silver light. But while that light protected us from curses, it also burned me from head to toe. I hadn’t perfected the technique of putting a layer of protective magic between the holy magic and myself yet.

“Mythologia Replica...” Seeing my desperation, Liliana wasted no time jumping into action. Tossing aside her bow, Liliana began to sing, her fingers weaving a powerful magical blessing of protection.

“...Divinitas Adventus!”

Divine Advent!

Golden light washed over the two of us. It was incredible... Not only did my body feel lighter all of a sudden, but the holy magic wasn’t burning me anymore!

“Plunder is Tabooo!” Ante and I shouted, blowing away Emergias’s curses.

“Gift of the Land!” Warmth flowed out of Liliana again. In a flash, the burns on my skin and the pain I had felt were mended.

Thanks, Liliana!

“Wha...?!” Emergias stared at us, mouth agape.

Was he shocked because his magic had been deflected? Or was the sight of a saint fighting alongside me too much? Maybe it was both?

“Impossible! Why is a high elf on your side?!”

Liliana averted her eyes with an innocent whistle. Though on the surface it appeared as though she was playing dumb, the magic in her little action revealed its true purpose. Her tune’s magic crystallized in the air, taking the form of a harp. Grasping the instrument in her hands, she began to pluck at the strings, and a divine magic poured out of her.

“Mythologia Replica: Selenum Obsitus.”

Mythological Replaying: Heavenly Growth.

Magic infused the floor, and the stone cracked and split. Pushing up through the cracks were plants imbued with divine energy. They bloomed into a field of beautiful flowers, turning the fortress into a flower garden. Sprouting and growing in each of the four corners of the room were...enormous, shining trees.

“Mythologia Replica: Sancta Nativitas.”

Mythological Replaying: Sprouting of the Sacred Tree.

The trees pulsed with an intense light, as if each of them had been infused with the sun itself. For an ordinary elf, this great ritual would have required a branch of the Sacred Tree to perform. But for Liliana, it was trivial due to the divine power housed within her. It was the most powerful antimagic barrier possible. But now, rather than a wall that shut out wickedness, it was a cage keeping Emergias trapped inside.

“Damn it...!” Recognizing the tides of battle were turning against him, Emergias snapped out of his stupor and charged at Liliana, but of course he would have to get through me first.

“Where do you think you’re going?” We still had a score to settle here. And besides, it was a hero’s duty to protect mages!

“Out of my way!” Emergias lashed out with his spear, but the action lacked the strength of his earlier assault. While it was true that Liliana’s blessings had empowered me, the grass and flowers at our feet were also helping as they wrapped around Emergias’s arms and legs to slow his movements.

At the same time, I could hear Liliana’s voice rise behind me, her singing shifting into a rousing, powerful new melody.

“Mythologica Replica: Heroica Ultio!”

Mythological Replaying: Heroic Vengeance!

Adamas trembled for a moment, and then a blazing light erupted from it. Now, the blade shone with the divine light of vengeance... No, it was far too violent and ferocious to fit that description.

I couldn’t help but laugh. How many mythical-level spells had she just cast back-to-back? Though her magic was outmatched by the strongest of demons, Liliana’s true strength was in the divinity that resided within her, and the pure light of miracles she wielded. This was the saint, Liliana El Del Milfrul, the embodiment of light that had supported the Alliance’s entire front line!

“My name is Zilbagias. And”—I raised Adamas, drawing out as much power as I could—“Alexander! Alexander of Tancrette!”

Emergias’s face showed nothing but confusion. But that made sense. After all, it had been his first deployment. Why would he remember some tiny village from many, many years ago?

“For my mother. For my father. For my home. Here and now, I shall take vengeance!” My magic exploded together with fury and emotion.

“Wh-What?! What the hell are you?!” Emergias screamed, lifting his spear. And I only had one answer for him.

“I...”

No matter what anyone said.

“...am a hero!!!”

Let’s go, Adamas! Thanks to Liliana, now I can share my magic with you!

“Hii Yeri Lampsui Suto Hieri Mo!”

May your holy light shine in my hands!

Adamas’s blade, already blazing like the sun, was infused with a new silver light. I stepped forward. The soft grass and flowers beneath my feet held me up and pushed me onward. Emergias roared—though maybe it was more along the lines of a scream—as he threw his magical tail and wings ahead of him to defend himself. My sword obliterated both with ease.

“Damn you! Don’t look down on me!” Emergias rallied himself, lashing out with his spear once more. The spearhead was imbued with intense magic, but I blocked it with Adamas. Right when the two weapons touched, I poured every drop of magic from my body into my blade.

With a flash of light and a shattering sound, Emergias’s weapon exploded into a thousand pieces.

“Wha...?!” Emergias was stunned. He had nowhere to run now!

I lifted Adamas above my head with a roar. At long last, the blade of vengeance would get its due.

“Dieeeeeeee!!!”

Adamas slammed down into the top of his head. It cleanly sliced through his skull, his snaking-long neck, and his body—dividing him in two.

Emergias sputtered as he staggered back. Instead of blood, thick black magic poured from him.

“Agh...gah... No... No! Nooo!” His body began to warp, giving off bizarre popping sounds as it twisted and bent. “I am...going to be...the strongest Demon King! I... I can’t...!”

All devils met the same fate once fatally wounded. I jumped backward.

“Agh...guh... Gaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Emergias collapsed with a scream. A moment later, the magic within him ruptured, and he exploded with a thunderous roar.

When the smoke finally cleared, all that remained was the charred husk of what he had once been. He had been destroyed by holy magic. As he had transformed into a devil, no proper corpse had been left in the wake of his death.

At least that was what I thought...until the ashes started to squirm.

No way!

I couldn’t believe he was still alive in that state... But it was not Emergias who emerged from the ashes, but rather a snakelike woman with long hair. Her body was transparent, riddled with scales here and there. Plus, she was missing a lower half.

So this is the Devil of Envy?! I lifted Adamas to put an end to her as well.

“Wait...I just want to talk...”

No way in hell we’re talking!

“You’re the devil that made a pact with the fourth prince?” But before I could bring Adamas down, Ante emerged from my body.

“Ah... Ssso it really is you. I am the Devil of Envy, Jiiria. It is an honor to be in your presence once again, Lady Antendeixis.”

“Hmm? Have we met before?” Ante replied quizzically.

“Only once... But back then, I was no more than a little imp,” Jiiria replied, holding her fingers up to show how small she had been.

“Ah. You’ve certainly put your contractor through quite a bit, haven’t you?” Ante said, staring at his charred remains.

“Yes... Mortals are quite the ssstubborn bunch, aren’t they? This was a good reminder. Their longings far outstrip our own.” Jiiria nodded.

Why are they just having a normal chat? For the time being, I lowered my sword. But I was ready to finish her off at a moment’s notice.

“There was nothing left of his soul’s original form, was there?” Ante asked.

“It was truly in tatters. At his request, I gave him more of my authority than he could handle, and it ripped him apart. Though as long as I held the broken pieces together, his mind would return to him.”

“So it was brute force? Silly me, here I thought you discovered some incredible new technique.” Ante sighed, losing all interest.

“As embarrassing as it is to admit... When I distorted my authority to sssteal the power of his sssubordinates, he lost control of it,” the snake gave a bitter smile, her body beginning to crumble starting from her fingertips.

Her vertical slit pupils turned to look at me.

“No wonder he was ssso envious of you. You are incredibly ssstrong. Not in magic, but in ssspirit. And you made a pact with the great Devil God of Taboo...? Just what will you accomplish...?” The rest of her body crumbled away, and she was gone.

Both devil and demon gone in a flash, huh?

“Is it over...?” Liliana called out from behind me.

“Yeah. Somehow...”

Before I could turn around to face her, I felt her wrap me in a hug from behind. I didn’t know what to say. That incredibly powerful ally who had just fought alongside me in battle was now trembling.

“I’m sorry... Just...let me stay like this for a bit...”

With her mind back, that meant her memories had returned as well. There was no way she would be in a state of mind to celebrate our victory. She must have been terrified out of her wits.

“Thank you, Liliana.” All I could do was thank her. I put my hands over hers.

“You’re welcome...” she replied quietly. For some reason, the soft feeling of her fingers brought tears to my eyes.

“Um...” After a long while, Layla poked her head into the fortress, back in her dragon form. “Is it over?”

“Yeah, it’s done! And look at you! Back to normal!” I exclaimed.

Thank goodness! Now that I noticed that, I could tell the magic Emergias had taken from me was back as well.

“Yes! I assumed the fight had concluded once I felt my power come back to me. Miss Barbara, Mr. Hessel, the battle is over!” Layla said over her shoulder before returning to human form. She then hesitantly stepped into the field of flowers the fortress had become. “Wow, they’re beautiful...”

“What are those two doing?”

“They said they want to take a moment to reminisce outside.”

“Ah, I see.” I guessed that made sense. They probably couldn’t get back into the fortress even if they wanted to with Liliana’s barriers and them being undead and all. On that note, there was no sign of Claire anywhere. I hoped she was okay. She should have been hiding in the basement of the fortress. As soon as Liliana calmed down, I’d go check on her.

“Liliana! Your hands and feet are back!” Layla cried with joy, running forward while avoiding Emergias’s charred remains. “I’m glad you’re okay too, Alex!”

“You also took really great care of me, didn’t you, Layla? Thanks.” Liliana looked up with a smile, causing Layla to stop in her tracks like she had been struck by lightning.

“What?! She can talk?!”

Of course she can talk!

“Oh, uh, sorry! Of course, if your hands and feet are back, your mind is probably back too!” Layla waved her hands in a panic, finally remembering that Liliana was actually a high elf. “So, um...Li—Miss Liliana? It’s a pleasure to meet you...?”

Liliana laughed as Layla tried to act formal (despite being entirely naked save for Konectus). “Please, just Liliana is fine, like always. My older memories may be back, but that doesn’t mean my newer ones disappeared. I remember all the time we spent...together...” Liliana’s words trailed off. “I remember...everything...” she whispered. I felt Liliana’s forehead strike the back of my head.

Silence. I broke out in a cold sweat.

She remembered everything, huh? Well, I remembered everything that demon prince Zilbagias had done while I had sealed my own memories, so I got where she was coming from. But that meant the “healing by licking,” sleeping in bed together, the baths... Ugh...

Layla had mustered the best fake smile she could, and Ante was starting to squirm inside me.

Suddenly, Liliana started to stroke my shoulder. No...that wasn’t it! She was stroking the Bon Dage suit I was wearing...!

“So this is my leather, huh?” she murmured. My sweat had turned into a waterfall.

“Ohooo!” Ante started making strange sounds in my head. All of a sudden, the power of Taboo was growing awfully fast!

“Um...Liliana...”

“It’s okay.” She hugged me from behind once more. “Getting me out of that prison... You have no idea how much you saved me.” She was trembling once again. “All I had wanted was to just die, but you gave everything back to me. The warmth of the sun, the joy of living, simple happiness... I remembered all of that because of you.” Her fingers squeezed tighter. “And...I thought I’d never see you again. But I did. Just being with you made me so happy. So please don’t apologize,” she whispered, voice trembling.

“I... You also saved me. Not just by healing my wounds. Back then, no one understood me aside from Ante. But finding out that you were still alive, that I could be with you...” I couldn’t begin to express what kind of a difference that had made. “So, thank you. Seriously.” I stroked her hands. “Thank you for staying with me...until now.”

Liliana gulped. I turned around, peering my gaze up into her expression. Now that her legs were back to normal, she was a bit taller than me.

We couldn’t continue like we had been.

“You want to go back, don’t you? Back to the forest.”

Liliana’s face went pale. Though she was at a loss for words, she didn’t try to deny it.

She wasn’t a dog anymore. All her time acting like one had been because that was what she wanted. Even if I were to seal her memories again, I would have to do the same with my memories as Alex. If the Taboo ever broke on me, it would break on her too. And even if we cut off her limbs again just to pretend she was still a dog, there was no way we could trick the night elves. They were far too cunning. Staying in the castle was no longer an option for her. I had spent a long time thinking about what I’d do once her memories came back.

“As for me... I want to send a message to the queen of the Sacred Tree Alliance,” I said.

Right now, the forest elves were at a crossroads. Within ten years, their forests would be on the front line of the war. While Liliana’s mind had surely returned out of a desire to help me, I had to imagine that the threat of war reaching her home had played a part in it as well.

But the elves didn’t know that they had me on their side. And I possessed valuable intel such as the state of the kingdom, the demonic army’s strategy, and the night elf information network. If the leaders of the Sacred Tree Alliance could get their hands on all that info, it would have a huge influence on their actions. If nothing else, it would spare them from doing something stupid out of the belief that winning the war was out of reach, or retreating from the war entirely to try and hold the forests all on their own.

As I rose in standing, the demonic kingdom would inevitably start to decline. With that in mind, the Alliance would be able to focus on drawing out the war for as long as possible. Fortunately, for a long-lived race like the high elves, a plan that would take up to a hundred or two hundred years would be no problem. And if the forest elves didn’t give up, the Alliance would be able to keep fighting.

The longer the front lines held, the longer the eastern reaches of the Alliance could be kept safe. And the more innocent people would be spared.

Honestly, I would have liked to send a message to the Holy Church as well, but I couldn’t risk it with what I knew about the night elf information network. Something top secret like the assault on the Demon King’s castle had been kept under wraps, but the night elves still had a strong grasp on the movements of the white dragons and the leaders of the various nations at the time.

Not being able to rely on humans—my own people—for this was endlessly frustrating. But once word of the night elf information network and their puppet trading companies in the Alliance made it to the queen of the forest elves, no doubt they’d suffer a heavy blow as well.

Liliana gritted her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut and dropping her head. If we wanted to get her out of the kingdom, we were in a race against time. Stopping to think everything through wasn’t a luxury we had. But even so, I would wait for her answer.

“I... I...” Her beautiful face, like a gift from the gods themselves, twisted in pain. “I want to stay with you forever!” She raised her head and looked at me, revealing tears streaming from her brilliant blue eyes. “But...”

But of course. If that was all she wanted to say, she wouldn’t have been in so much pain.

“I can’t... I can’t just abandon everyone back home!”

I knew. I understood.

The saint Liliana El Del Milfrul would never be able to stand idly by while her people were in danger.

†††

Somewhere in the mountains of the demonic kingdom.

“This should be good enough. I can take it from here.” Liliana turned around, wearing the best we could scrounge together to serve as traveling attire. Clothes stripped from the Izanis soldiers, boots that had been adjusted for her size, my leather bag, an assortment of her favorite dried fruit... We had gathered all of that while utilizing various methods to hide the evidence of what had transpired. This included having Layla use her breath to burn away the plants Liliana had grown, and me destroying the souls of the Izanis soldiers.

In order to avoid the dragon patrols, we hid ourselves with concealing magic and stayed exceptionally low to the ground as we flew. After that surprise attack on Fort Aurora, any witnesses would be on the lookout for anyone moving at high altitude, so we used that presupposition against any would-be spies. Even so, we still had to be exceptionally careful. We flew low and only over scarcely populated areas, so that meant we hadn’t actually covered that much ground.

“Sorry. I really wish I could get you at least right to the eastern edge of the autonomous zone...”

After Emergias’s attack, I could justify disappearing for four, maybe five hours tops. If I wanted to make it back to the fortress before drawing any more suspicion, this was as far as I could take her.

“Bringing me this far is more than enough. The forest will guide me the rest of the way.” Liliana mustered a somewhat forced smile as she patted the leather bag she carried.

From here she’d be on her own, trekking through forests and mountains in an attempt to make it out of the kingdom. The trees loved her, she was remarkably powerful when it came to magic and miracles, and she possessed physical toughness to boot. I had no doubt she’d be able to make it.

“Disappearing in the midst of battle does make the most sense,” Ante commented.

At the end of the day, that was how we’d decided to explain her disappearance. The story would go that it had seemed like Emergias had dealt a fatal blow to Liliana. But with all the fighting going on, it had been hard to confirm. Once the fighting had ended, we had done all we could to find her, but she was gone. Unable to accept that, I had immediately jumped on Layla and started searching the surrounding area. I had been so afraid that if I told anyone else, they might kill Liliana on sight out of fear that her mind had returned to her, so I’d gone looking entirely on my own. That was the cover story.

To be blunt, it sounded stupid, but no more stupid than the idea that Emergias would pop up at Fort Aurora out of the blue, declare war on me, and launch an attack. And if nothing else, I was sure Daiagias would understand.

“One of my women went missing! Of course I searched for her!”

“Without a doubt!”

I could already picture Daiagias’s response to the whole situation. At the very least, I knew I could always rely on him.

This excuse meant that even if Liliana was seen in Alliance territory later on, my bases were covered. That said, the threat of her hiding within the kingdom’s borders would sow fear and chaos. Plus, any information she brought to the Alliance would bring great harm to the demonic kingdom. So, if she was spotted, people would likely try to pin all the blame on me. It was definitely in my best interests for her to stay undercover.

Beyond just being a high elf, she was immensely powerful. She’d stand out like a bonfire on a hilltop during the dead of the night, so the topic of how exactly she was supposed to stay hidden had brought about quite the lengthy conversation...

“Is this good enough?” Liliana asked one last time, transforming in front of me. Her hair turned from brilliant gold to a warm brown, her long ears shortened slightly, and her skin darkened.

“That’s perfect. You look just like an average, everyday forest elf.” Even her magic was weaker.

“Layla, please lend me some of your blood. I want to learnAnthromorphyas well.”

There was no reason a high elf would be unable to do so. She had mastered the magic in a flash. If she put her mind to it, she could pass herself off as a human without issue. However, any half-hearted attempt would just weaken her magic and shrink her ears a little, similar to how Layla still had her horns in human form. That allowed her to disguise herself perfectly as an ordinary forest elf.

So using that magic to conceal herself as necessary, she’d make her way back to the forest elves disguised as one of them. Once she could confirm no night elf spies were around, she would reveal her true form. Then she could speak with her mother, the queen of the forest elves.

“Here, Liliana.” As she returned to her high elf form, I handed her a notebook. “In there is everything I know about Necromancy. I hope it’ll be useful. Also...” I pulled a small bone from my bag. “This is...Sir Ordaj’s remains. Within it, his soul is sleeping at the moment.”

Liliana’s face twisted into a grimace. Such an item was far too horrific to be a parting gift, but there was no avoiding the matter. I also gave her a handful of magic stones with dark magic infused into them.

“Use these and you can probably wake him up. They should sustain him for a few days.” That would give them enough time to say their goodbyes. Though I didn’t say that much.

“Thank you, Alex,” Liliana said after a long pause. “I have a lot I’d like to say to him.”

I’m sorry...

After slipping the notebook and the bone into her bag, Liliana raised her gaze toward us. Once she returned home, she’d likely be sheltered to the point of practically being under lock and key. Chances of her crossing paths with any of us again was extremely slim.

It was impossible to shake the thought that this would be goodbye forever. I had no regrets...and we really didn’t have time for a drawn-out goodbye.

“It was nice meeting you, even for as short as it was. Take care.”

“I’m just glad you got better!”

Barbara and Hessel materialized with a pair of smiles.

“Thanks, you two. Sorry for all those times I tried purifying you...”

“Ha ha, don’t worry about it!”

“Though I’d be lying if I said it didn’t send chills down my spine...if I had one!”

Barbara gave a carefree smile, and Hessel told one of his usual undead jokes as Liliana apologized. They had only been able to converse properly for a few hours, but they talked like old friends.

“So, uh...take care,” Claire added, materializing beside them with a reserved expression. But that wasn’t surprising seeing how she had had the least contact with Liliana out of all of us. Even when it came to dog Liliana, she had barely gotten to know her.

“Thank you. I...really wish we could have talked more. I’d have loved to hear about what Alex was like before we met.”

“Yeah... I’d have liked that too. But without your help in his past life and his current one, Alex and I never would have reunited. So...thank you.”

Now in spiritual form, Claire couldn’t hide her expressions anymore. She wore a conflicted smile, mixed with sadness and gratitude.

“Please...take care of yourself, Liliana.” Beside me, Layla was starting to tear up, clearly at a loss for words. I could tell how she felt through Konectus during the flight here. She was sad that Liliana was leaving, but elated at the prospect of her getting to go home. And when it came to the idea of Liliana being able to see her family again...there was a slight sense of longing.

“Same to you. Thank you for taking such good care of me,” Liliana said, giving Layla a big hug. The sensation of being wrapped in Liliana’s arms seemed to break something within Layla as she hugged back with a wail.

Meanwhile, with an awkward clearing of her throat, Ante materialized beside me. Honestly, she had been very much against the idea of Liliana returning to the Alliance. Her greatest concern was information leaking.

“Despite everything I said, you don’t have to worry. I’ll keep an eye on him for you. So...see to it you get home safely. For this guy’s sake.”

Liliana gave a wry smile at Ante’s awkward goodbye. “Of course. Thank you. I’ll make sure to keep your secrets safe!”

Lastly, Liliana turned bright blue eyes on me. Stepping in front of me, she leaned over a little. And when she opened her mouth, out came a rather bizarre request. “Hey, Alex. Could you...pat me on the head one last time?”

I didn’t say a word as I reached out a hand to stroke her golden hair. At this point, the feeling was so familiar... Man, I was hopeless. Even I was starting to cry. I had really wanted to see her off with a smile.

Just as I noticed she was starting to tremble, Liliana jumped and wrapped me in a hug so tight it hurt. And I returned it just as fiercely.

“Goodbye, Liliana. Thank you for everything. Live on. Stay well. That’s enough for me to be happy.”

“Alex.” Liliana suddenly reached for my face and took it into her hands.

Huh?

She pulled her face close. And then, she kissed me. Her bright blue eyes, wet with tears, were more beautiful than I ever remembered.

“I love you, Alex,” she said, forcing a smile. “I’ll never forget you.” And then she danced back a few steps. “Goodbye.”

With that, she dashed off into the forest. She must have been using some sort of magic to help her run, as she was out of sight in the blink of an eye.

There was so much I still wanted to say. But all the words had vanished from my mind.

“Liliana...” By the time I said her name, she was long gone.

Like a fairy from a children’s tale, she had disappeared, vanishing into the forest. It was as if I had awoken from a wonderful dream.

†††

That day, Demon King Gordogias was handling his paperwork as usual. Some of their contents even included reports from the front lines. However, most of his time was consumed by squabbles between the various tribes. Stolen livestock here, embezzlement there, a bloody scuffle over there... It never ended.

When it came to dispensing (what the demons considered) justice, the Demon King leaned heavily on precedent. He would peruse records regarding judgments rained down by the first Demon King himself. If a similar case was found, a similar judgment would be applied. If a precedent was nonexistent, he would rack his brain for a fair judgment of his own.

“I think it’s about time for a break...”

Exhausted by the endless line of petitioners, he was just about to call for his butler to bring some tea. But then, a voice resounded from outside.

“What?!” the person all but screamed, followed by a violent knocking on his door. “Report! I have a new report!”

“Enter,” the king’s expression tightened as he invited them inside. It was one of the Izanis messengers, posted just outside his office. They used their Transmission for urgent reports.

“Your Majesty, a report...!”

The messenger’s face was deathly pale, like he was mere moments away from collapsing. What could possibly be—

“There has been an armed confrontation between Lord Emergias and Lord Zilbagias!”

The king’s initial instinct was to brush it off as a squabble between brothers, but he knew that it couldn’t have been that simple. If the report was coming by Transmission, the situation had to be far more dire.

“I’ll put an end to it. Where are they?” he said, standing from his chair.

But the messenger continued, beginning to sweat profusely. “Fort Aurora, Your Majesty. But...the report says along with six Izanis warriors and seven dragons...Lord Emergias has been slain!”

Gordogias’s jaw dropped. He slowly sank back into his chair, feeling every bit like he had just been struck by lightning.

“Zilbagias?! What about Zilbagias?!”

“He has just returned to the castle by dragon... The report says he is...unharmed,” the Izanis messenger squeezed out, struggling to remain professional.

This entire situation was downright impossible. Why? The king was well aware of the fact that Emergias and Zilbagias were not on the best of terms. But there had been no sign their conflict would escalate to bloodshed anytime soon.

Thoroughly paralyzed by the news, the next report was devastating.

“Furthermore, the high elf under Lord Zilbagias’s control was lost in the battle. Her current whereabouts are unknown!”

“Sound the alarm!” the king shouted, jumping up with such vigor that it sent his chair clattering to the floor.

“Summon the royal guard and the rapid response forces. Have them search Fort Aurora’s surrounding area for any signs of the high elf. Send the dragons to patrol the area as well. Order the castle guard to prepare to defend the city. If anyone makes contact with the high elf, they are to report immediately. Killing her on sight is permitted, but I will handle it myself if needed.”

“Yes, sir! Muster the royal guard! Send them together with the rapid response force to Fort Aurora—” the messenger began repeating the orders he had just received.

“Send messengers to the outlying cities and the front lines. They are to be on guard and aid in the search. Particularly, regardless of the circumstances, the front lines are not to allow her to leave the demonic kingdom! Also...” The king kept his face stern, hands clenching into fists. “Call for Zilbagias. I need to hear the series of events from him...!”

†††

“My, what a ruckus,” First Demon Prince Aiogias commented to himself, distracted from his writing by the chaos erupting outside. Before he even had time to ring the bell on his desk to beckon a servant, panicked footsteps were racing toward his door.

“Your Highness! Lord Emergias has...!” One of his protégés tumbled into the room, not so much as knocking.

“Calm yourself, and show some grace. What has that idiot done this time?” he chastised the young man for his behavior before asking with a sigh.

Emergias was very much the problem child of their faction. After being on the receiving end of some bullying from their youngest brother, Emergias had claimed he was unwell and holed himself up in his room. He’d even gone so far as to spurn their usual family meetings. If his actions had threatened their position in the kingdom once again, Aiogias would have to really teach him his place this time—

“He has been killed!”

Aiogias’s jaw dropped.

“Lord Emergias took a number of troops to Fort Aurora, where he engaged in combat with Lord Zilbagias. He was killed in the battle...”

The pen in Aiogias’s hand slipped from his fingers.

†††

“Emergias is dead?!” Second Demon Princess Rubifya’s voice was shrill as she repeated the news her attendant brought her while another servant behind the sofa was working on her hair.

“Yes, ma’am! The details are not known at this time, but it appears he took a squad of warriors to attack Lord Zilbagias’s villa—Fort Aurora—and was killed.”

“And Zilbagias’s forces?”

“Nothing conclusive has been able to be determined as of yet. However, witnesses claim he returned to the castle on his usual white dragon, and his pet high elf was nowhere to be found.”

Rubifya folded her legs with a short laugh at the attendant’s report. “Serves Emergias right. Attacking with those kinds of numbers and not just losing, but being completely wiped out? Even in the afterlife, he’ll be too embarrassed to show his face. I guess you can’t expect much more from the Izanis family.”

“Princess, I do not believe this is a joking matter,” the attendant scolded her like she was no more than an unruly tomboy, but he didn’t deny her words in the least. In fact, he very much agreed with them.

“I wonder...how will father react to this?” Rubifya’s smile was unwavering, a ferocious light taking to her eyes.

“It is hard to say. At the very least, it seems he has called for Lord Zilbagias to give a report of his own,” the attendant said, stroking his red beard.

“What is Aiogias up to?”

“Aside from being actively engaged with the Izanis family, we don’t see any obvious moves taken by the first prince. That being said, the fifth princess and the Sauroe family seem unusually quiet.”

Rubifya gave a satisfied hum, her smile growing. “Quite the interesting turn of events, huh?”

“Princess, please. This isn’t something you should be smiling about.” There was an evident undercurrent in the attendant’s words as he echoed his earlier reprimand.

“You’re right. Send word back home. Tell them to ready their spears.”

“Yes, ma’am! Just in case, of course.”

The attendant bowed and took his leave.

After watching him go, Rubifya leaned back on her sofa, mind racing. It couldn’t be overstated just how monumental the loss of Emergias was. The balance of power between factions would crumble. The only question now was: What would happen to Zilbagias? Depending on how that turned out...

“Things are getting interesting all right!” She laughed savagely, unable to keep her magic from flaring out in an excited blaze around her.

†††

“What?! The dog escaped?!” In the night elf quarters, Sidar dropped his drink. The crystal glass shattered, spraying wine everywhere like a splatter of blood.

“Y-Yes, sir...she was lost in the battle with the fourth demon prince, but her remains were unable to be located...!”

“No... No... No!”

Sidar’s face went pale as he was unable to form a coherent thought. His monopoly over Zilbagias’s special healing quota had granted him so much power and authority. But all of that had only been made possible because of the saint’s remarkable healing abilities.

Now, the high elf was gone. And with her, the seventh prince’s ability to provide healing. There were still reservations waiting, and plans in place with that healing as leverage. The worst part? If this also meant the end of his ties with Zilbagias, Sidar would lose all of his backing.

With no proper job any longer, he had been thoroughly enjoying the prime of his life with his cushy new position. Even his nephew Nichar—whom Sidar had managed to squeeze into the autonomous zone using his connections—would soon be of higher status.

“This... This is terrible...!”

He had swung around his authority to force others to do as he wanted on more than one occasion. And that had earned him plenty of enemies. What could he do now?! What was he supposed to do?! As intelligent and cunning as he was, the answer came to him immediately. There was nothing he could do.

He clutched his head in his hands, moaning wordlessly. All those he had wronged on his way to the top would seek out revenge. Even his subordinates...no, his former subordinates were looking at him with pity. Picturing the dark future that awaited him, all he could do was crumple to the floor while staring blindly off into space.

“His Highness was killed?!”

Elsewhere in the night elf quarters, the night elves loyal to the Izanis family reacted to the news with similar horror.

“All of them? Not a single survivor?! There’s no way...” The maid who had informed Emergias of the possibility of a high-speed communication technology dropped to the floor.

There was no doubt her report had spurred Emergias to action. They had assumed that if they informed him that the Izanis family’s position was threatened by this new technology, it would give Emergias the nudge he needed to make a move. That part had all gone exactly as they had hoped.

They’d figured that, having just returned from the Abyss and still growing in power, he had to be capable of potentially subduing Zilbagias. Even if not, acquiring any information regarding the seventh prince’s new method of communication would vastly improve the strength of their information network throughout the Alliance. Plus, it would bolster the position of the night elves loyal to the Izanis family.

That had been their hope. But instead, Emergias had lost. Not only lost, but he and all of his men had been killed.

“Also, the dog has gone missing. Sidar’s faction is in a panic,” her companion added, voice trembling.

“No way...” The maid started to feel dizzy. While Sidar’s rise in power and Zilbagias’s expansion of influence were threats to them, there was no questioning the fact that the healing the prince offered to the night elves had saved countless lives. Anger as a result of that loss would certainly be turned on the Izanis faction for the part they had played in it.

Of course, the other factions weren’t privy to their involvement at present. But it would only be a matter of time until the investigation started. And the most terrifying part of it all...

“Hey.” Another one of her friends stepped into the room, face grim as he put a hand on her shoulder. “Lady Nefradia is calling for you.”

The maid let out a strangled shriek.

Someone had to bear the brunt of the Izanis family’s vented frustrations.

†††

The moment I returned to the castle, the place was like a hornet’s nest that had just been kicked around. Apparently, no one had any idea what was going on until I came back.

Guess no one really cared about Emergias...aside from the Izanis family, of course.

“If we knew things would turn out like this, we could have taken Liliana farther.” Ante sighed.

Yeah... Why had we gone to such lengths to be all stealthy when seemingly no one had a clue something had happened? Anyway, the news of Emergias’s death sent a shock wave through the castle. But what truly rocked the castle was word of Liliana’s escape.

The Demon King immediately sounded the alarm across the kingdom, and troops were on high alert all around the castle. But I supposed if a high elf were to hide in the woods and launch a guerrilla campaign against the kingdom, farms and livestock would end up being razed left and right. The beastfolk and night elves that manned them stood no chance against Liliana, so it made sense that the king would pull out all the stops to have her dealt with.

If the kingdom found itself heavily damaged as a result of Liliana’s escape, my qualifications as the governor of Evaloti would probably be called into question. But in actuality, she was headed back to the Alliance. Messengers had been sent by dragon to inform those on the front lines so they could lock down the border, but by the time those messengers arrived, Liliana would be long gone. The extra distance we had carried her and the hours we had waited to report her escape turned out to be huge. So please, make it back home, Liliana...

“Oh...Liliana is...”

“I-I am glad you returned safely. Oh, the dog is gone, isn’t she...?”

The responses to my return were quite varied. Garunya was pretty sad...or rather, downright in shock. Meanwhile, Veene seemed torn between rejoicing in my safe return and having her soul slip free from her body.

Garunya had been one of Liliana’s primary caretakers. Even if Liliana was now clearly her enemy, it was no surprise she would have difficulty letting her go. As for Veene, she knew full well how frightening a high elf could be. And on top of the threat Liliana could have posed out in the wild, she clearly recognized that her disappearance meant an end to the special healing quota I had been giving the night elves. That pretty much sounded the death knell for Sidar’s faction.

For the record, I had yet to see Prati since arriving. She had been working at the infirmary when the alarm was sounded, so she hadn’t been able to leave her post. And before I even had enough time to sit down and catch my breath, I had been summoned by the Demon King.

“Zilbagias, reporting.”

As I stepped into the king’s office, his eyes widened as he directed his gaze at me. Most of the demons I had passed on the walk here had reacted the same way.

“Zilbagias...what is that magic?”

Now that I had accepted everything Ante had held back for me, my magic was clearly on the level of an archduke. And not “just barely” an archduke. I was without a doubt standing shoulder to shoulder with Aiogias and Rubifya.

“It was...an intense battle.”

My reluctant answer caused a grave expression to encroach upon the king’s face as he lifted a hand to his forehead.

Only then I noticed that we weren’t alone. We were also in the company of two others. One was...huh? Had she been attacked on the way here or something? It was a night elf maid, her clothes in total disarray, her body covered in bruises, and her eyes dead.

The other was a demon, a woman with green hair wearing a rather revealing green dress. Palpable intensity leaked from her deep black eyes as her sharp glare was fixed on me. I had never seen the maid before, but the woman seemed vaguely familiar.

“This is Archduchess Nefradia. Emergias’s mother,” the king squeezed out.

Ah, that’s right.

Though, something still had me quite confused. I hadn’t recognized her because her magic was so weak. She really was an archduchess, right? Sure, she might have been granted the title out of pity for the “accomplishment” of giving birth to Emergias, but surely she should have at least been on the level of a duke. But no matter how much leeway you gave her, her magic couldn’t be much greater than that of a viscount.

“Archduchess...?” I aired my doubts, earning a visible spasm in Nefradia’s cheek as she clenched her hands into fists.

“Emergias stole her power, apparently,” the king explained.

Ah... That explains it.

“And not all of it returned to her? Perhaps it had been exhausted before he died...”

Right. When he had transformed into a devil, Emergias’s magic had been constantly dissipating into the air. Guess what he stole from his mother was the first to go.

“Now then, Zilbagias. Please explain what happened. In detail.”

“Understood.”

And so I explained everything, starting from the top. I told him about how much more powerful Emergias had become, about how he had demanded I tell him about the high-speed communication thing I was oblivious to, and about how when I had tried to explain the misunderstanding to him and talk things out, he attacked me from behind. Though I had managed to avoid the first attack, I’d started fighting out of self-defense. From there, it had become abundantly clear he was intent on stealing my magic, so things had escalated to a fight to the death.

I had tried to send Layla back to the castle to get help, but the dragons that Emergias had brought with him had other ideas. He had told them they were free to do whatever they liked with her, so she couldn’t escape. In the end, Layla had fought them off and killed them. I was quite insistent that I hadn’t wanted to fight, but Emergias had left me with no choice.

The whole time I was talking, Nefradia’s glare was fixated on me, like a snake ready to lunge forward and bite me at any moment. But that was no skin off my back. You would think I’d have been a bit more bothered to have the mother of the man I had just killed listening in, but not really. Like mother, like son, I supposed. I couldn’t muster even the most measly ounce of sympathy for her. If you asked me, Nefradia was at fault for this whole mess. Why? Because of how she had gone about raising her son.

“That is about it.”

“I see...” The king listened to my entire story without interrupting. “And...this high-speed communication technology? It was just that? A simple misunderstanding?”

“Yes. Entirely untrue,” I answered clearly. I wouldn’t be revealing the Daily Evaloti News to anyone. The last thing I needed was for the demons to get their hands on a weapon that powerful. And besides, I wasn’t really lying. Almost all my research was on countermeasures against Enma. I hadn’t touched the communication stuff! Technically!

“I see...” The king flashed the night elf maid a look, causing her to flinch. His gaze was calm and composed. Nefradia turned to look at her also, her eyes terrifyingly cold. Including myself, three high-level demons were now staring at the maid, prompting her to squeak as she cringed back.

“Wh-When that incident happened in the autonomous zone... His Highness Zilbagias received a message from the undead, stopped what he was doing, and immediately traveled back to Evaloti! This was despite it occurring so soon after he left the autonomous zone! We have witnesses!”

Ohhh. So that’s what happened? It was you who set this whole thing off, huh?

“Is that what you think? That the message came from the autonomous zone?” I gave a faint smile as I nodded.

The maid was trembling, sweating profusely. To be honest, her conjecture was entirely correct. But without the proof to back it up, she was now seen as the cause of this whole state of affairs. Poor little maid. It broke my heart, really.

“Of course, this is false, yes?” the king asked.

“It is.” I nodded immediately.

Please, Enma. I’m begging you. You’d better not have gone behind my back and spilled everything to the king! I’m trusting you on this one!

The king grunted. “So, how did you respond to the incident in the autonomous zone so quickly?”

“Actually, I wasn’t responding to it at all. As embarrassing as it is to admit, the truth is I simply forgot something important there and hurried back to retrieve it,” I explained, scratching my head bashfully.

“And the timing of it all was purely a coincidence?” the king asked.

“Yes. Though even then, by the time I arrived, the incident had already been resolved.”

“What on earth had you forgotten to be in such a rush?”

“Uh...some of my research notes. Quite a number of people have permission to enter my private room in Evaloti. Of course that includes servants and autonomous zone officials, but also in some cases vampires and undead.”

The Demon King was fully aware of my position as the head of the Royal Necromancy Research Laboratory, and what I was researching there. No doubt he could piece together what the contents of those notes might be. And if he knew undead might come across it, surely he could connect the dots himself.

“Come on...” The king sighed. Luckily for me, he was a pretty smart guy, so there was no need to spell things out. “You need to be more careful... No, I doubt you even need to hear it from me.” He cut himself off just before going into a lecture. I nodded meekly.

“Your Majesty, what on earth have you tasked His Highness the Seventh Prince with researching?” Nefradia spoke for the first time. The dark and malicious tone in her voice matched her looks. Imagining her as a wife sent a shudder through me. This was one area where I just might have sympathy for the Demon King.

“Not something we can discuss here,” the king answered curtly. “Certainly not in front of someone with such loose lips.”

His gaze, deep and quiet as an ocean at rest, nailed the night elf maid to the spot where she stood. Oh boy. Despite how he carried himself, this guy was absolutely furious, wasn’t he? He was probably a hair away from exploding. The maid started to hyperventilate.

“Well, no matter. In any event, what was the message you received from the undead?”

“It was a love letter,” I responded without a moment’s hesitation.

Both the king and Nefradia looked at me with utter confusion, struggling to comprehend what had just come out of my mouth. The maid, however, was so focused on trying to avoid passing out from fear that she hadn’t heard a word I said.

“A love letter...? From who?”

“Enma, of course. She sends me one just about every day now. Reading it reminded me that I had forgotten something in Evaloti.”

“I see...” The king sighed, evidently throwing in the towel on trying to wrap his mind around this. “So to summarize, Emergias received false information”—his eyes flicked back to the maid briefly—“that stated you were researching something that would threaten the Izanis family. In turn, he reacted by going on a rampage.” For those weak in magic, simply the displeasure of those so powerful was overwhelming. Case in point, the poor maid finally fainted with a spasm, collapsing to the floor. “He attacked Fort Aurora, and was killed in the battle.”

“Yes. Though he arrived with a spear in hand, I treated him as calmly and courteously as possible. But once he attacked me, I had no choice but to defend myself,” I said, emphasizing that I had done no wrong.

“Still, you killed him,” the king rumbled.

“Yes, you killed him! You killed all of them!” Nefradia interjected.

“My apologies, but actually Emergias himself killed a fair number of them,” I added, sensing the tides turning against me. Why do I have to deal with this? I’m the victim here! But my instincts were telling me to watch myself. “It wasn’t like I got carried away and killed them all on my own.”

“Zilbagias...” The king hung his head for a moment, then raised it back up to look at me. And I was in for quite the shock. Never in my life had I seen him wear such a forlorn look before. “Why? Why didn’t you let him live? Look at your power. Look at your magic. If nothing else, surely you could have at least spared him, yes?”

Huh? Excuse me??? What are you going on about?! He was the one trying to kill me! Don’t be stupid!

But as much as I wanted to say all that out loud, I held my tongue.

“My apologies once again. But see, I didn’t have that kind of advantage over him. On top of the concern of him stealing my magic, he had taken the magic and Bloodline Magics of his subordinates. Truthfully, he posed a far greater threat than Aiogias or Rubifya would have.”

“It is clear you speak nothing but lies, Your Highness,” Nefradia spat. “Yes, Emergias took my magic and grew to the level of an archduke. But he was still not as powerful as you are...” There was a muddled look in her eyes I couldn’t quite get a read on. “Him being a threat to you? I cannot imagine such a thing. You should have at least been able to leave him merely on the brink of death without issue.”

This bitch...!

She was willing to dump everything on her own son just to take shots at me?!

“Are you sure you are not selling your son short?” I joked. But why the hell was I having to side with that bastard?! “How can he rest in peace if you talk about him like that? After taking both the magic and Bloodline Magics of his subordinates, he even took my dragon’s ability to fly. He was almost untouchable.”

“So Emergias attacked you out of the blue. You tried to resolve things peacefully, but he refused to listen to reason. And you couldn’t afford to go easy on him.” The king crossed his arms, shaking his head. “With everything I’ve heard so far, it’s hard to fault your response to this matter.”

Of course! I’m obviously not at fault here!

“But Your Majesty—” Nefradia tried to butt in again.

Give it a rest, you old hag!

“I know.” The king cut her off, frustration evident in his tone. “That is all on the assumption that Zilbagias here is telling the truth. I understand that.” He gave a small sigh. “Zilbagias, I will have to punish you for the crime of slaying your older brother,” he declared, expression as hard as a statue.

...What?!

“Why?! I’m the victim here!”

“I understand that. And I have reason to believe you are probably telling the truth. But the only ones who can verify your claims are your own retainers. Even the dragons were killed...” The Demon King gritted his teeth. “A testimony from only one side holds no weight. You could make up as much or as little as you wanted. If you had spared Emergias, even just a hair from death, things would be different. But...!” His shoulders dropped. “I cannot let you go without punishment. It would set a terrible precedent.”

“Precedent?! For who?!”

You gotta be kidding me! I didn’t know what kind of punishment we were talking about, but with how grim he was and how much Nefradia was smirking over there in the corner, I knew it had to be nothing good!

“Where is the justice in punishing someone for fighting in self-defense?!”

“It is just,” the king replied solemnly. “It is forbidden for those in line for the throne to directly fight among each other until the succession war begins. There is a little room to account for extenuating circumstances, but even so, both parties are to be found equally guilty. That is how it has been since the time of the first Demon King.”

Apparently during the reign of the first Demon King, it had become common for those in line for succession to use false accusations as a pretense to justify attempting to kill each other before the start of the succession war. It became so frequent and violent that it had effectively devolved into a civil war.

“Right now, Aiogias and Rubifya are both on edge,” the king explained, folding his hands on his desk. “Both have sent messengers back to their homelands, telling their families to prepare for battle. With Emergias out of the picture, the balance in power between them has shifted dramatically. However, both of them are waiting to see how the situation will unfold.” He stared at me, eyes suddenly devoid of emotion. “If I were to show you leniency here, the others would view any potential punishment as bearable, surely resulting in fights breaking out. And not just between Aiogias and Rubifya. Every archduke in the kingdom would jump at the opportunity to crush their rivals as soon as possible. Any hope to keep the situation under control would be long gone.”

“I don’t understand. Why does that make me deserving of punishment?” I objected, speaking slowly to try and stay calm. “I did everything I could to avoid the worst possible outcome. And still, Emergias attacked me. There was no avoiding this outcome save for tucking my tail and fleeing. My research didn’t allow me to simply run away, and neither did my honor!” But by the end, I couldn’t mask the emotion in my voice. “If you are so worried about my older siblings fighting, why don’t you just disarm them?!”

“A law that is never enforced may as well not exist. Power with no authority is meaningless, but so is authority with no power. I strongly share my father’s sentiments about forbidding fighting before succession begins in earnest. Despite already declaring that those who break that rule will be met with punishment, this still happened. It is no different from spitting in my face.” I could practically hear the bones in his hands creaking as he clenched his fingers. “Ignoring this is simply not an option.”

So he had to make an example of me?! I got what he was saying, but still!

“Emergias was the one spitting in your face, not me!” I glanced over at Nefradia, but she wasn’t at all bothered by me impugning her son’s character. She was grinning from ear to ear. Why was I being subjected to this crap from some old hag?!

“I understand what you’re getting at and where you’re coming from. But for the sake of the kingdom, my authority must be shown to be absolute.”

“Then what?! I should have just let him kill me?!”

“If he had”—the king made another pained expression—“I would have punished him harshly. Very, very harshly.”

Oh, come on! This has gotta be some kind of joke! I was furious to the point of being speechless.

Meanwhile, the king gave me an apologetic look before flipping through some papers on his desk. “Taking into account both past precedent and the extenuating circumstances, fifty years of house arrest seems appropriate for the crime of fratricide.”

Um...what? Fifty...years? I wouldn’t be allowed to take a single step outside my room for fifty years? As a demon, I could easily live to be two hundred years old. But a fifty-year sentence was still incredibly lengthy! Fifty years being forbidden from going into battle?! I wouldn’t be able to gain any power from Taboo at all!

“Of course, I will do everything I can to make it bearable for you. If you’d like, I could even provide a large room in my palace to serve as your quarters. Or if there is anywhere else in the castle you would prefer, I can make that your private quarters instead. Perhaps the full fifty years will not need to be served. A pardon after thirty years seems reasonable. I can also take measures to account for the loss the Rage family will incur. If you are worried about the details, I can put everything in writing. So please, Zilbagias.” The king looked up at me, almost pleading. “Could you bear this punishment? For the kingdom?” If he hadn’t been king, I imagine he would have been bowing.

There was a long silence as I stared back at him. “And if I refuse?”

I couldn’t care less about all that shit. It took everything I had to keep my right hand from reaching for Adamas.

“It is as I said before.” The king’s face turned hard once again. “My authority must be shown to be absolute.”

Screw all of this! As I am now, no way could I beat the Demon King! Dammit, dammit, dammit! And now I would have to wait and sit on my hands for what? Thirty years?! Me?! For the sake of the demonic kingdom?!

“Honestly, you are too kind, Your Majesty.” While I struggled to keep a lid on my boiling rage, Nefradia spoke up to stoke my anger further. “But I believe there is something rather important you seem to have forgotten,” she said with a wide grin.

What the hell do you want? I’m not in the mood. Keep it up and I’ll pick a fight with you too.

“Surely the seventh prince has a right to choose his own fate? There is always the option of another ordeal...”

The Demon King scowled, as if resentful she had brought it up at all.

“Another ordeal...?” As much as it pained me to entertain Nefradia’s diversion, I couldn’t ignore her waving it in my face like that.

Nefradia shot a meaningful look at the king.

“What she is saying is...there is another choice for you. An ordeal you could undertake. However, all others who have done so never returned alive.” The king finally resigned himself. “Zilbagias, you have two choices. Fifty years of house arrest, or one year in exile.”

Exile...? What’s that?

“For one year, you will be stripped of all status and authority in the demonic kingdom, and expelled from its borders. If you can survive all on your own without any aid from the kingdom, your crime will be forgiven,” Nefradia all but whispered. “Sounds easy, don’t you think? After all, it’s just for a single year.”

“Outside the kingdom. You mean...in the Alliance...?”

“Yes. All you have to do is survive.” Nefradia laughed wickedly.

It took all I had not to visibly tremble. In other words...if I chose exile, the demonic kingdom would completely leave me alone...and I could just walk into the Alliance?!

Hell yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!

“I, Seventh Demon Prince Zilbagias Rage, choose exile!” I declared emphatically.

Nefradia looked like she had just conquered the world, while the Demon King’s head dropped into his hands in despair.

Epilogue

“That bitch! I’ll kill her myself!” Prati roared, grabbing her spear and attempting to storm out of the room.

“Wait, wait, wait! Mother! Calm down!”

I tried my best to stop her. Honestly, I couldn’t care less whether or not she killed Nefradia, but it would be a huge pain in the butt if she did it while I was still here. If Prati wanted to go through with it, I needed her to wait at least until I was out of the kingdom.

So as one might have expected, exile was considered to be effectively capital punishment in the demonic kingdom. Since the founding of the demonic kingdom, a dozen or so people had received that punishment. Among them, not a single one had returned alive. So from Prati’s perspective, while the king’s emergency orders had her confined in the infirmary, Nefradia had tricked me into choosing to have myself executed. It was no wonder she was furious.

“It’s okay, mother,” I spoke calmly, trying to keep her grounded. “I’ll come back. Safe and sound.”

“Humans may be weak, but they aren’t so weak that you can survive alone in their territory without any help!” Naturally, her temper was unswayed by my optimism.

During my yearlong exile, I would have no rights or authority within the kingdom. I would be forbidden from entering its territory, and would receive no aid from the kingdom. But once the year was up and I was still alive, my crime would be forgiven. This ordeal was something the demons originally cooked up back when they lived in the sacred ground, where they would be allowed to return to the tribe if they survived on their own in the wild for a full year. Though the vast majority of them hadn’t made it as they were either killed by rival tribes or froze to death over the winter.

Unlike in the days in the sacred ground, exile now meant surviving in the territory of the Alliance. Let’s look at it from a hero’s perspective. What would I do if a demon with no backing from the demonic kingdom wandered into the Alliance’s territory? The answer was obvious, right? I’d hunt them down.

No help from the demonic kingdom also meant they couldn’t use dragons to get around. The dragons offered their services to the demons as they were bound by contract to the Demon King himself. But a demon that had lost their rights within the kingdom would naturally lose their right to that service as well. The forests on the edge of the demonic kingdom would be chock-full of forest elf patrols. It wasn’t like they were spies like the night elves, so there was no way a lone demon could cover their tracks. And even if a night elf spy was able to sneak past the patrols unnoticed, there was no way they could live in the forest undetected.

Now take that scenario and throw in a demon who doesn’t know a lick about acting covertly. What would happen?

“They’d be discovered instantly...” Ante answered.

Oh, they wouldn’t just be discovered. Dog and wolf beastfolk hunters would immediately be on their trail. Once the beastfolk got a whiff of their scent, the elite heroes, priests, and Swordmasters would be deployed. That demon would be hounded to the ends of the earth, not given a moment to catch their breath, let alone sleep or eat. If nothing else, sheer exhaustion would do them in.

Even if someone like Aiogias or Rubifya were to be exiled, they could last maybe a day or two tops. Not even the Demon King could survive without rest. Their magic and energy would eventually be exhausted, and they’d come up empty-handed finding somewhere safe to lie their head. So the moment they started to doze off, an arrow would claim their head. Some of those who had been exiled had just decided it was too cowardly to try and sneak around and live in hiding, and so had challenged the Alliance’s army head-on.

No doubt Prati was afraid I would meet the same fate, but for a good number of reasons, I would be an exception.

“Please calm down. I’m not going to be alone.”

It wasn’t like I was being dumped out into the wilderness buck naked. Thanks to a slight show of the Demon King’s mercy, I had a month before the punishment would be carried out—longer than was usually afforded to exiles. My status would only be stripped once the exile began, so I had a full month to take anything I’d need out of the kingdom and make preparations. And unlike other demons...

“Layla will be with me, so I’ll have no trouble moving around the Alliance.”

“Yes, I will be accompanying him!” Layla declared, pumping her fists energetically. Being a “gift” from Oruphen, Layla was technically my property.

“And we both can use Anthromorphy,” I said, shifting into my human form. Oh wow. In this weakened state, it’s clear as day that Prati’s magic is incredible. Doubly so since she’s all angry.

Anthromorphy would be a huge boon. Any demon would stand out with their blue skin, horns, and tremendous magic. But with this, I could pass myself off as an ordinary human.

“Still, you are lacking when it comes to knowledge of human society. Blending in will be impossible...”

I mean, I’m actually a human on the inside. It’ll probably be a whole lot easier than pretending to be a demon...

“Once their suspicion is raised even slightly, the Holy Church will find you, and then it’ll all be over!”

“I am aware. I’ve heard all about it from Virossa.” I nodded.

Plus, I had firsthand experience from my days as a hero, back when I did service away from the front lines, spending basically all of my time hunting down denizens of the dark. I would patrol the cities, guard the gates, pull aside anyone even remotely suspicious and give them a once-over using holy magic. Any night elf in disguise would be immediately exposed.

“I plan to avoid any major cities. I’ll be traveling around with Layla, sticking to rural areas and wilderness. Though it’s unfortunate I won’t be able to make use of the night elf information network.”

So I said, but I had every intention of diving headfirst into the biggest cities I could find. My number one priority would be to root out the night elf spies. Before my exile began, I would get as much information on them as I could from Virossa. Strongholds within Alliance cities, puppet corporations operating within the Alliance, corrupt members of the Holy Church taking bribes... Even if it meant fighting my own people, I’d destroy them all!

“Virossa... Yes, if Virossa is with you...” Prati started to think.

Yeah...I supposed she would hope that he would accompany me. He had once been a night elf spy but now worked as my private guard. If he really wanted to, he had every right to join me. The same went for all the other hunters and spies serving under me. Whether it was in the spirit of the punishment or not, the choice to leave the demonic kingdom was up to them.

“Layla!” Prati turned to her, a sudden resolve taking to her face.

“Y-Yes?” Layla jumped.

Uh-oh. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

“Give me some of your blood. I shall learn Anthromorphy and join you!”

Absolutely not!!!

“Mother...I appreciate the thought, but...” I put on a meek expression. Please, buzz off. You would be a huge pain in the ass!

“As a dragon, Layla isn’t fully grown yet. Considering the amount of supplies we need to bring, she can only carry so many people with her. Even bringing Virossa with us is going to be pushing it.”

The more people we brought, the fewer supplies we could carry. And even if Virossa was with us, Prati knew nothing about how to live as a human. She would be just another thing weighing us down, both metaphorically and literally.

Prati growled in frustration. She was intelligent enough to realize that coming with us wasn’t a good idea. So while she gritted her teeth, while veins popped on her forehead, while she trembled with anger...

“Zilbagias...!”

Just as I thought she was about to collapse, she instead wrapped her arms around me in a hug, tears pouring from her face.

Ugh. I’m still in human form. She’s actually crushing me...!

“A year...? Surviving in this pathetic form for a full year? Please. Please make it back safely. I can’t bear the thought of losing you! If you need anything, anything at all, just say the word and I’ll get it for you! So please... Please...!”

Prati started weeping openly. That was right, Prati. Seeing her lose control like this was a first for me. I was thoroughly stunned.

“It’s okay, mother,” I finally managed to say, hesitantly returning her hug. “I’ll manage. And I’ll make it back. Definitely.”

I was a hero at heart. How would she react when that truth came to light?

At any rate, my trip to the Alliance had been set in stone. Honestly, I wanted to go as soon as possible. But I still had a mountain of work to deal with before I left, such as arrangements for the autonomous zone and my night elf hunters. So, I decided to start with Evaloti.

But upon my arrival, I had an unexpected visitor.

“What?! Emergias is dead?!”

“You didn’t know?!”

It was the sex-mad demon prince himself—Daiagias. On his way home after the conquest of Areina, he had stopped by Evaloti for a rest. Word of what had happened with Emergias hadn’t reached him. While we were having tea at the highest lookout in Evaloti Castle, he noticed something was off with me, and so asked about what was going on. The answer had shocked him to his core.

“On our way back, we did see Izanis messengers flying by. But we just ignored them,” he explained.

So they had missed the message. He wasn’t aware of anything regarding the incident at Fort Aurora.

“So...Emergias is gone...” he murmured into his tea. Though they hadn’t been close by any means, he had still lost a little brother. Even Daiagias would— “Anyway, that’s not important.”

Oh. Never mind. Guess we’re moving on.

“So, about Rubifya. You swear you’re telling me the truth, right? I can trust you on this?” He looked at me, eyes dead serious.

“Uh...yes, I’m telling the truth. That wasn’t my intention at all,” I replied wearily.

He had heard about the last dinner party, when I had invited Rubifya to have a chat over some tea. Daiagias had been worried I was trying to steal her heart (our sister’s heart!) while he was away on the front lines.

“I don’t mean to sound rude, but I think it’s quite strange to feel desire for our own sister, even if we only share a father. Granted, as far as demons go, I can’t deny her remarkable attractiveness.”

Daiagias’s face scrunched unhappily.

“See, Daia. I told you. Your little brother isn’t like that!” Libidine, the Devil of Lust and sole member of Daiagias’s harem present, sighed. As usual, she was wearing her Bon Dage outfit, making it hard to know where to look at her.

“True, I don’t sense even a hint of lust from you...” Daiagias nodded as he stared at me.

Oh, he’s using his authority to check me out, huh?

“But I also didn’t sense anything from you toward your pets Liliana and Layla, right? I can’t detect love without traces of lust. Guess I need to watch out.”

Is he worried about me pursuing a completely platonic relationship with Rubifya...?

“Don’t worry, Daia,” Libidine declared confidently. “It may be a tad too faint for you to catch, but he is definitely passionate for little Layla.”

I choked on my tea. What the hell is this about?!

“But when you bring up Rubifya’s name, there’s nothing. Not even a whiff. And when it comes to mortals, we all know where there’s love there’s lust.”

“Oh, really? I guess I have no reason to worry then.”

Speak for yourself!

I nervously glanced over at Layla, whose head had dropped, her cheeks flushed. Hey, come on! If you react like that, things’ll get super awkward the next time we ride! And we also gotta worry about our feelings leaking through Konectus!

Ante started laughing uproariously.

“I’m sorry for doubting you, Zilba.”

“Uh...don’t worry about it...” It was honestly whatever. We had more important things to discuss. “Anyway, Daiagias. I actually have a request,” I said, straightening in my chair.

“What is it? I’ll do whatever I can,” he promised casually, taking a sip of tea.

“While I’m gone, the autonomous zone will need a governor.”

“Anything but that. Sounds like a pain.”

“You just said you’d do whatever you could!”

Like literally two seconds ago! The words barely left your mouth! You can’t change your mind that quickly!

“You see, I’m quite the busy man. There are so many back at the castle in need of my love,” he said, starting to rise from his chair.

Oh don’t you dare run away!

“Please, at least hear me out. I’m sure you’ll find it’s a good fit for you.”

Honestly speaking, my number one pick for governor in my absence was Daiagias. Daiagias was (in a way) (for a high-level demon) quite kind toward the other races, and had no interest in politics. That meant he wouldn’t try to get to me by meddling with the autonomous zone. As long as he stuck to my plans, my officers in the autonomous zone would keep things running exactly how I liked. Besides that, he was pretty strong and had his own influence. As far as I knew, there was no one in the kingdom more fitting for the position than him. I knew full well it would be too much of a nuisance for him to accept, so I had the perfect leverage up my sleeve to make him cooperate.

I turned not to Daiagias, but to Libidine.

“How would you like to have a child with Daiagias?”

Until now, Libidine had been all smiles while listening to our conversation. Now, her face went deathly serious.

Libidine was the Devil of Lust. And it was no secret that she and Daiagias frequently indulged in that vice together. But she was still no more than a devil, a bundle of magic bound into a shape resembling a person. No matter how much they tried, it was physically impossible for her to get pregnant. But was that a fate Libidine was willing to accept?

“Zilbagias,” Daiagias spoke softly. “This isn’t something you would dare joke about, right?” The air crackling around him was more than enough of a threat of what I’d face if I tried to pass this off as anything less than sincere.

“Of course it’s not a joke. I know of a way so that anyone, even a devil, can obtain a body that would allow them to bear children.”

“And so, in exchange for that secret, you want me to take up the role of governor? The offer isn’t bad, but I’ll need some proof first.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Let me show you right now, and you can make your decision after that.”

“What...?” Daiagias gave me a suspicious look...and then I transformed into my human form. Both Daiagias and Libidine went wide-eyed—their eyes looking like pairs of saucers.

Even if we were on relatively good terms, I couldn’t leave myself in such a weakened state in front of a potential enemy for too long, so I immediately dispelled the magic.

“This magic comes from the dragons. It’s called Anthromorphy. Though it is dragon magic, we demons are capable of learning it, as are devils,” I explained, taking a sip of tea. “My Devil of Knowledge, Sophia, learned it. Once she was in human form, she drank herself into a stupor. In exchange for gaining the weaker body of a human, you also gain all of its physical capabilities.” Including, of course, reproduction.

Daiagias and Libidine stared at me in shock.

“What do you...”

I started to ask, but Daiagias cut me off, shaking his head as if to dispel a sense of vertigo. “Dragon magic? Now that you mention it, they are always walking around in humanoid form.” He groaned, glancing over at Layla. “And we can learn it? Devils too? I never thought there would be advantages to being human. Still, it makes sense. No wonder you are so calm about being exiled.”

“I would appreciate it if you kept this little secret between us,” I added.

“But why tell us this much?” Daiagias asked. “What if I were to refuse? Now that I know it’s dragon magic, I could easily figure out the rest on my own. All I would have to do is ask the dragon that brought us here about it. I don’t need your help in the least.”

“That’s true,” I said. He was absolutely correct. But... “But if you refused, then what? So you gain the magic. Where are you going to have your child? Where will Libidine hide while she’s pregnant? What about when she gives birth? Where are you going to raise the child?”

Now the two of them looked like they had been struck by lightning.

“While she’s pregnant, she won’t be able to return to her devil form. The child would disappear.”

A look of terror passed over Libidine’s face. She wasn’t even pregnant yet, and still her hands shot to cover her stomach.

“She will need to stay in human form for nine whole months. That of course means the child will be born human too.”

Apparently it was theoretically possible for demons and humans to have children together. But I wasn’t aware of a single example in the demonic kingdom. It was remarkably difficult to get pregnant that way, but more than that...

“No one will permit the existence of a demon with weak human blood.”

The moment the child was discovered, they’d be disposed of. In the worst-case scenario, the mother would meet the same fate. When I had first received Layla, Prati and the others around me had similar concerns of what might happen if I forced myself on her. That concern could at least be alleviated by the fact Layla regularly returned to dragon form, but in Libidine’s case...

“And besides, it’s not like she will have an easy time getting pregnant if you stay as you are. But if you were to take human form as well, that would change things.”

Getting pregnant wouldn’t be much of a challenge in that case, but Libidine would be defenseless for nine months. How would he protect her until the baby was born? How would they raise the child?

“So...that’s your gambit.” Daiagias looked out over the city. A city full to the brim with humans and beastfolk. Now he got it. “This is the only place in the entire kingdom where humans can live freely.” His kid would fit in here and everyone else would be none the wiser.

“Since we’re so far from the castle, most of the officials working in the autonomous zone are under my control. And they know how to keep their mouths shut. With the help of my men, your secret will be perfectly safe.” My private soldiers weren’t ordinary night elves, they were trueborn elites. “You met Tavo earlier. The rest of my officials here are just as competent as him. The autonomous zone’s operations will run smoothly without you really needing to lift a finger. All you have to do is hold the reins, and the autonomous zone will keep stable.”

Daiagias listened in silence.

“And besides, my exile is only for a year. But once that year is up, there’s no guarantee I’ll be back immediately after it ends. In fact, I might never return at all. That should give you more than enough time to give this castle your personal touch and make it your own.”

What do you think? Pretty good terms, no? Never mind the demonic kingdom, you won’t find a better place in the entire continent.

“So, please. Will you consider serving as governor?”

Daiagias didn’t even blink as he gave me an intense stare.

“Daia...I...” Libidine reluctantly spoke up. “I don’t want to cause you—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Daiagias embraced her in a hug. Oh. Not just a hug. That was a pretty passionate kiss.

I mean...wow. Huh. Like, I don’t mind the passion all that much, but...do they really need those pink clouds all around them?

For a moment, those two were lost in their own world. Even Layla was taken aback, covering her mouth with a gasp. No...wait. She was shooting a glance at me. There was a certain heavy look in her eyes. It seemed really serious...

Come on! How am I supposed to ride Layla after all this?!

“Libidine.” Paying the rest of us no mind, Daiagias finally pulled back from his long kiss. “Will you please bear my child?”

“Of course!”

A fresh look of resolve covered Daiagias’s face as he turned to me. “I accept.”

And so, Evaloti had a new governor.

The next two weeks had passed by in a flash. Between arrangements for handing over the reins of the autonomous zone and studying, training, and making other preparations for my exile, time just flew by. The day after I convinced Daiagias to take up my position, we returned to the castle and burst into the king’s office.

“Daiagias is succeeding you...?!”

Needless to say, he had been quite thoroughly shocked. I guessed I couldn’t blame him. His son, whose interests up until now had solely consisted of sex and Bon Dage clothing, had suddenly decided to take over a city. I’d have been scared too.

“Zilba told me that I could leave all the hard work to his officials, and that I can turn the castle into my own carnal paradise.”

Don’t say it like that!

Following Daiagias’s words, the look on the king’s face had been priceless. It had a mix of understanding, exasperation, and like he had something he really wanted to say to me.

“Hmm...very well. Daiagias Gigamunt, I hereby appoint you as successor of Zilbagias Rage, the governor of the Evaloti Autonomous Zone.”

“I gratefully accept this appointment.”

But the king’s suspicions had stopped there, so the handover had gone smoothly. The choice of Daiagias would also be a big enough surprise that it would prevent any controversy from stirring up between Aiogias and Rubifya.

With our business done, Daiagias and I had left the king’s office. And once we were out of sight from everyone else, we’d high-fived. Now we were partners in crime.

After that, Virossa had started giving me and Layla lessons on how to survive in human society, teaching us basic survival skills like cooking and camping.

“In general, any city large enough to have walls will have members of the Holy Church guarding the gates. If you arouse even the slightest suspicion, they will test you with holy light...”

“This is how you use a flint. Compared to magic, it’s quite a bit of work, but you’ll have to make do. Actually...Your Highness. You seem to be a natural at this. No, Layla. You can’t secretly use your breath to start the fire.”

“Here we have edible plants. These ones taste terrible, but you can eat them if you have to. And these ones will make you sick if you eat too much, but can be used for food in emergencies. However, these mushrooms here will kill you. In general, mushrooms are very dangerous, so don’t even touch them unless you are desperate...”

The lecture had mostly been on information I already knew. However, the actually intriguing parts had been the bits about how night elf spies avoided detection. I had heard it before, but getting to hear the names of the puppet corporations in the Alliance so I could refresh my memory was good too. It would definitely come in handy...

“You picked exile? That’s crazy, even for you.”

“Gah ha ha! That’s the Rage family’s number one troublemaker for you!”

Shortly after, my grandmother Gorilacia and her brother Regorius had come to see me. It had been a while since the last time we saw each other. Gorilacia had been torn between worry and exasperation. Meanwhile, Regorius had laughed the whole thing off. While I say that, the fact he had made the journey all the way here meant he probably realized there was a good chance we would never see each other again.

“You can’t go around using your spear in the Alliance. I’ll sharpen your swordsmanship until it’s razor-sharp!”

“I’ll help too!”

And so in addition to Virossa, I had Gorilacia and Regorius helping with my swordsmanship training. To be honest, there hadn’t been anything noteworthy about it. My skills with a sword were already perfectly fine. Luckily, I had the explanation of Virossa’s training back when I first started using my swordspear.

Virossa had praised me as a natural-born genius, while the others had been flabbergasted that they had nothing to really teach me. But that just meant they had no reason to pull punches during actual training. I had taken on my human form, and pretended to be a hero fighting off Gorilacia and the others.

And with Liliana out of the picture, I had to swallow my pride when it came to healing.

“Your pet high elf ran away, huh? That’s unfortunate.”

“Tell me about it. I get that feeling more and more every day.”

I agreed with her wholeheartedly. With Liliana gone, the only way to heal my wounds from training was through Transposition. And that meant we needed slaves. Ten a day. That was my limit. And I fought as hard as I could to get that number even lower...

“I still wish I could go with you...”

According to Layla, Garunya had started saying that from time to time. After the shock of losing Liliana, she was about to lose me and Layla too. It was no wonder she was feeling so overwhelmed by all this.

She had suggested dyeing her white fur she was so proud of brown and having her ears and nose surgically altered to make her look like a dog beastfolk. However, the night elves had pointed out that Garunya’s cover would be blown immediately because of her smell, so she gave up, as much as it broke her heart. Back when I was a hero, the Fistmasters I fought alongside had always complained about things like “stinking like cats” or “stinking like tigers,” so that made sense.

“I’m so sorry. In your time of need, I’m just useless...!” she had wailed as I tried to console her with pets. But honestly, I was relieved that she wasn’t coming with me.

“I still believe we’ll see each other again someday, Zil!” When I had gone to say my goodbyes to Enma, she went over the top tearing up and hugging me. I was busy, so I had really hoped we would wrap up the conversation as quickly as possible... Instead, I had gotten a lecture on how to protect my soul from attacks with holy magic. It had felt like a huge waste of time, but if I was planning on fighting Enma someday, knowing how she protected herself would be useful.

Amid all the hubbub, the day of my departure finally came. I decided to leave before my monthlong grace period was finished. Once the day of my exile arrived, I wouldn’t be able to receive any help from the kingdom. But by leaving early, I could make use of the night elf information network and borrow whatever supplies I might need for a little while. That being said, we had decided it would be too dangerous for me and Layla to enter any human cities, so we’d be sending Virossa in to deal with them in our stead.

Wearing my traveling gear, I stood at the castle’s dragon launch area, looking up at the sky. It was a calm summer night, a gentle wind carrying a sparse collection of clouds across the night sky.

I rubbed my clothes. It was a style typical of commoners, but still of reasonably good quality. I had gotten so used to wearing clothing made for royalty that this stuff made me itchy. Apparently, my skin had become quite sensitive.

Of course, underneath these clothes, I was wearing my Bon Dage outfit—Evalogia. If I took my clothes off, it would stick out like a sore thumb. But as long as I had clothing over top of it, it would serve as good covert protection. Once fall and winter rolled around, I’d have more excuses to wear heavier clothing and fewer excuses to show skin, so it seemed too good to pass up. In contrast, I’d be leaving Syndikyos behind. It would obviously draw way too much attention.

Besides that, I had a well-worn leather bag and the leather boots I used for training. Adamas was dormant at my waist, and I had sneaked the bones of the human soldiers into my bag. I also had Barbara’s rapier, with the excuse that Layla would use it for self-defense. Hessel’s greatsword was way too big, so we had to leave it behind. Still, Hessel was so strong he could make do with a broken stick, so I wasn’t worried about him.

“It’s finally time...” Barbara murmured in my head.

Yeah, it was finally time. Layla flapped her wings a bit to make sure all the extra luggage wasn’t getting in her way. Meanwhile, Virossa was at my side—wearing rather nondescript clothing—doing a final check on our gear and supplies.

It was finally time.

I swept my gaze over the crowd that had gathered to see me off. Unlike Layla and I, who were perfectly relaxed, everyone else was desperately struggling to keep it together. They couldn’t help but fear this was the last time they’d ever see me.

Garunya was on the verge of tears, but Sophia looked entirely unfazed. “Compared to your disappearance in the Abyss and coming back with ‘Ante,’ this feels like a short vacation,” she had said.

Of particular note, the king was not here. I guess it made sense as I was currently a criminal. It would have been a bad look for the king to see me off given the circumstances. Similarly, Aiogias and Rubifya were also absent. Daiagias was already hard at work in Evaloti. The only ones here were those I was especially close to. As I looked at them all, from cat beastfolk to night elves, from demons to devils, a strange feeling welled up in my chest.

Though they were all denizens of the dark, I had a lot of friends in the castle. More than I realized.

Gorilacia, keeping a stern expression. Regorius, looking quiet and subdued. Sidar, still in tatters in the wake of his faction’s collapse. Veene, still looking at me with worry. Garunya, wiping tears from her eyes. Sophia, entirely composed. And finally...

“So you’re finally leaving, Zilbagias.” Prati, standing tall and proud in an elegant dress.

“Yes, mother.”

We shared a look. Just the previous day, we had eaten dinner together, and stayed up late engaged in trivial conversation. Now that we were here, neither of us quite knew what to say.

“Layla.” Prati turned to the dragon at my side. “Forgive me for not trusting you for so long. Since the very beginning, you’ve shown yourself to be a faithful supporter of my son. For that, thank you. Please...take care of him for me,” she said, bowing deeply. It was the greatest sign of respect an archduchess could show someone, and she was lowering her head to Layla of all people.

“Oh, please! There’s no need for that...” Layla was shocked. “I will never betray Lord Zilbagias. Never. I will do all I can to be his strength,” she declared, golden eyes shining. I could see Gorilacia wince, probably from seeing something she didn’t like with Effusura.

“Thank you, Layla.” Prati smiled, before turning to the night elf Swordmaster. “Virossa.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“I know of no night elf more capable than you. Your loyalty has been similarly impeccable. I have the utmost faith in you and your abilities. Please take care of Zilbagias for me.”

“Yes, my lady! You can leave him to me!” Virossa replied with a fervent bow. “I will ensure that Zilbagias safely returns upon the conclusion of his exile in a year, even if it costs me my life!”

I averted my eyes.

“Thank you, Virossa.” Finally, Prati returned her gaze to me. Still, neither of us could find the words to say. “Zilbagias.” So instead, she stepped forward and hugged me.

“Mother...”

I was surprised. Even if we were mother and child, even if I was about to leave for a year, this wasn’t the kind of behavior high-rank demons ever showed in public.

But...I couldn’t say anything. Her breathing was short and rapid. Her hands were shaking. Her arms were wrapped around me so tight it hurt. It was like every part of her was begging me not to go.

“Please, stay safe. Make sure you eat properly. Sleep whenever you can. Be careful...and...and...” A stream of unconnected thoughts started pouring out of her.

“It’s okay, mother.” I returned her hug. This public display wasn’t at all embarrassing to me. “I will make it back safely. There’s still so much left for me to do here.” Wasn’t there? I couldn’t afford to run around the Alliance forever. “So please. When I put my mind to it, have I ever failed before?” I joked.

Prati answered with an awkward smile, as if she had just remembered how to make one. No...she squeezed her eyes shut, shook her head to dispel her negative thoughts, and her smile came through strong and confident.

“True. That is how you’ve always been. My beloved son, always exceeding my expectations.” She let go of me and took a few steps back. “You are a better son than I deserve. Truly, you are my pride and joy.” She paused for a moment. “Goodbye. Come back stronger than ever.”

Yeah. That went without saying.

“Of course, mother. I’ll be back.” I turned around, vaulting up into Layla’s saddle. Virossa climbed up behind me, and we tied our lifelines to each other.

Turning back, I saw Prati’s usual bold smile, but her fingers were still clenched tight around her dress.

“Goodbye, everyone! See you in a year!” I waved to everyone waiting on the platform.

Let’s go, Layla.

“Okay.”

Layla spread her wings wide. Next thing I knew, we soared up into the air. Into the sky! Layla spiraled outward, gradually climbing in altitude. Prati and the others watched on from the launch area.

My gaze shifted from them to the heart of the castle—to the Demon King’s palace. There, right in front of the palace, my eyes found a demon dressed in all black. It was none other than the Demon King himself, Gordogias Orgi, staring up at the sky. Though we were little more than specks to each other, it felt as though our gazes met.

I could tell he raised his hand and waved at me.

I responded with a wave of my own.

Demon King... I’ll be back. To kill you. To destroy this kingdom. Because no matter what anyone says, I’m a hero.