While the Emperor prepared for the war and while Isadora began to use the trading company's funds, a large Barbarian appeared outside of Eastern Lafort, covered with dirt and dust. It was Lampion.
Lampion looked around and ran to a man in the most expensive armor, his footsteps gave an audible thump as it touched the ground. He asked the man where Demian was.
Scared by the Barbarian's threatening gestures, attitude, and loud voice, Lafort's knights pulled out their weapons at once. Soon, they all fell to the ground. After defeating Lafort's knights without even a weapon, Lampion scratched his greasy hair and said.
"Why are you so weak?"
Then, he looked at the knights' superiors who belatedly came and asked the same question.
"I'm in a hurry! This is an urgent matter! Where's Demian?"
Lampion's words sounded like he would take a dump there if they did not bring Demian in front of him right now.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Does Master indeed have the right to be the demon lord? Did I make the right choice?
Thought Vassago while wiping Lara's boots.
Lara was a special human being. Having lived for more than a thousand years, this sense that Vassago had would come every once in a while, and he believed in it more than he believed in his abilities. The feeling was so sharp and mysterious that he knew he should never ignore it. He realized that several times in a thousand years. And, now he had reached a level of almost blind faith.
Humans called it the sixth sense. Some praised it as foresight, and depending on the job, it could become a prediction.
Lara was special. It was right to follow her. In order to prevent the fall of hell, the saintess must be made into the demon lord. However, no matter how he looked at her, Lara did not seem to be the real saintess.
As soon as he saw her, he could tell that Lara was a human being who reached God. For the power of God that demons hated yet craved ever so much had remained too strong in her soul.
"But it's weird…"
Why does she look more like a demon?
It was not because of the way she looked. Rather, Lara's appearance in Vassago's eyes was only that of an extremely ordinary human being. However, there appeared to be something ominous in her eyes.
A trap to overpower opponents, scales to weigh, standards to value, a spell to force blind affection, an endless hunger, and a jar to draw tragedy. Demons used to express their expectations for the demon lord in that way over the years.
The demon lord had numerous nicknames. The demons wanted to use all the wonderful words they thought of as modifiers for the demon lord. Vassago remembered himself in the past, laughing at them for being pathetic.
"I'm out of my mind."
After sighing, Vassago put down Lara's boots. The leather was so shiny that he could see his face reflected on her boots. He let out a satisfied smile.
"I can't believe it. Master Vassago, the demon who used to be known as a strong candidate for the demon lord, lookin' so happy wiping the saintess' boots."
Paimon trudged up and sat opposite to Vassago. Feeling awkward about his short hair, he stroked his hair with one hand.
"If you came to pick a fight, there's a pushover parasite vampire there. Go over there."
Vassago said with a smirk. He was still maintaining that gloomy appearance of his, perhaps because he liked the body of the female black sorcerer he occupied. Paimon stared at Vassago and asked.
"Did you make a vow?"
"What vow?"
"The vow of obedience."
"No."
Vassago shook his head and replied. Then, he openly sneered at Paimon.
"You must have done it."
"No way. You didn't even swear obedience but the saintess accepted you? I thought you were up to something… Vassago, you'd better tell me right away here."
"Why? Since you decided to be loyal to Master, are you worried that I might have ulterior motives?"
"I made the vow. I don't want to incur the wrath of God and die. So I have to be loyal until the saintess dies."
"What about after she dies?"
When Vassago asked, Paimon said with a smirk.
"I'm not foolish enough to fall into such an obvious trap. I'm being sincere right now."
"So am I, you vain young demon."
Vassago moved very diligently. He put a clean pot on a bonfire and lit it with magic. Then, he put a curse on the passing rabbit to make it come his way before slaughtering the rabbit cautiously as if dissecting the body. He only picked the white meat part of the rabbit and put it in the pot.
The sizzling sound of meat cooking filled the air. After various vegetables and spices were added to it, it began to smell more decent.
"Humans are great at things like this. Is it because they live for a short time? They make every effort to make their food just a little more delicious. How did they figure out that this little grass and this humble root tastes so good?"
"Since when have you been so interested in cooking?"
"This is much more valuable than the music you're into."
"It's just for one meal. How can a piece of meat be more valuable than art…"
"It's for me."
"Lies."
"There was a time when this piece of meat felt more valuable than the magic that I had studied for many years, more important than the power that had been mine since birth."
There was not an inch of falsehood in Vassago's voice. Was it because he had a human face? He seemed to be reflecting on his memories with remorse. No matter how much of a liar the demon race was known to be, what he said just now sounded true.
While Paimon hesitated in his speechlessness, Valac returned from scouting out the area. He was in charge of recon because he was the weakest of the group.
Valac smelled the wonderful smell spreading around the fire and walked in a hurry, delighted at the thought that Lara had already woken up. But when he saw two demons stronger than him sitting there, he crept towards the barracks where Lara was asleep.
"You, weak one. Come here."
But he could not deceive Vassago's eyes.
"You have served our Master the longest, haven't you? We are out of the food we brought from the city so it's the duty of the servant to take care of the Master's meals. Come on and try this food. I'm not sure if it suits Master's taste."
Is it poisonous?
Valac panicked at the thought that the food was made by Vassago. He felt like his whole body would melt due to the poison and that he would die painfully and disgustingly if he ate the food.
"If you don't hurry up and eat it, I will spice you up and roast you next."
Vassago grinned.
Valac had no choice. Without being able to hide his distorted face, he hesitantly moved toward the fire. Suddenly, the barracks was suddenly lifted.
Lara, who had just woken up, murmured in a hoarse voice.
"It smells good."
"Oh, Master."
Vassago called Lara. While he took the food out of the pot and put it on a plate, Paimon walked to the barracks with the clean boots and put them down at Lara's feet. Paimon sat on one knee so that she could wear her shoes comfortably. Valac did not even have a chance to step up.
Their movements were so natural that even Lara did not feel awkward being served.
Valac groaned.
"The great demon lord candidates of hell…"
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
After eating, Lara nodded with satisfaction. The seasoned rabbit made by Vassago was delicious. No, it was not just delicious, it was a delicacy. And it did not lose to Lara's previous meals when she only ate delicious and good food with her mother, Isadora.
"I didn't expect a demon to know how to do all sorts of things like that."
"It's a learned skill of mine."
"From whom."
"Humans, of course."
It was known that a demon devoured everything of a human. Perhaps it also included recipes.
"Hell must be a boring place."
"Not really. The boring one is not hell, but the demons."
"Why?"
"After a thousand years since I was born, I stopped counting my age."
After hearing Vassago, Lara nodded with a look of understanding. Even Paimon did not argue and agreed with Vassago's statement.
"From some point on, I have spent more time learning and mastering man-made instruments and music than fighting in hell."
This time, Lara's gaze reached Valac, who was sitting like a child in a corner. He grumbled in a disgruntled voice.
"Both of them have been strong since they were born. Every day was very intense and exhilarating for me to survive. Geez… They should all feel how thrilling it is to live an honorless parasitic life here and there for fear that someone will eat them."
"That's why you ran away, isn't it?"
"Well, no one here treats me like vermin, so…"
Lara looked at Valac as if she just heard something new. The demons probably could not even guess it, but whenever Lara saw Valac with Prince Sidhar's face, she thought that his relationship with her was as interesting as a comedy.
She was betrayed and killed by the man she loved. But when she came back, a demon came into the body of her enemy and became her slave.
If Prince Sidhar was alive in Valac's consciousness, he would have ruined himself or gotten half-crazy by now. Sidhar was someone who was drunk on self-love and a desire for power; he could never bear Valac.
"Master."
Vassago, who was looking closely at Lara's gaze, spoke to her.
"Yes?"
"Are you really going to hell with us?"
"Do you think I'm lying?"
"A human with lingering feelings always reverses their decisions at the last minute. Important people, unfulfilled dreams, long-held treasures… For those reasons, they always regretted holding hands with a demon."
"So, did you let them go?"
"No, Master."
Vassago grinned, revealing his teeth.
"I tortured, killed, and robbed them of their souls."
"Then, why are you asking me that question? If I betray you, you can just do that."
"I can't do that to you, Master."
"Why?"
"A demon's instinct is to lie down and obey when he meets a creature stronger than him."
"That's a beggar-like habit."
Lara smirked.
"I'm not that strong. I don't even know how to use that oh-so-great magic, and I can't even hold a sword. I received some gifts from God, but… It's not enough to go to war with demons. So, despite all that, why did you, the demon Vassago, the strong candidate for the demon lord, the wise demon who has lived for a thousand years, kneel down to me?"
"Master."
"If you want to save hell from destruction, isn't it better for you to be the demon lord yourself and make the other demons obey you?"
Lara asked.
Neither Paimon nor Valac looked at Vassago. They thought Lara had a point. Vassago had the power to do so. He was one of the strongest demons in hell, the most insidious, and even the wisest.
Vassago smiled, showing his teeth again.
"Master, I remember eating a saintess a long time ago."
"What did you say?"
Paimon shuddered. Valac was very openly wary of Vassago and moved behind Lara so that he could get Lara out at any time.
"It's a strong memory."
When news of the saintess' appearance reached hell, the demons would become madly engaged to come to the human's realm to eat the saintess. Vassago knew the reason.
"Because if you eat a saintess, you can get a glimpse of the secrets of the world. For the saintess is God's vicegerent."
"So what was the secret of the world that you saw?"
"The demons and humans must join hands to kill God."
"God?"
"I'm so tired of being used as a tool for those crazy Gods, being pushed around like a puppet and waiting without doing anything even when I know destruction is right in front of me. I have determined God as my enemy, and I know that you're the only one who can make it happen."
Vassago decided to make a very demon-like choice. Kill God and eliminate the cause.
Abraxas, he was the enemy of Vassago.