"[Holy Ray]!" Kelart Custodio shouted, using the 4th tier spell to evaporate one of the strange flying Imps she had seen before, during that Demon's invasion not long ago.
Indeed… This seemed to be an attack in retaliation for the previous failure…
And instead of the previous one… This one was stronger.
After the first attack, the city of Kalinsha had several problems rebuilding itself, as the Demons' fire was difficult to extinguish without using divine magic.
With the losses, including that of the Color Pink… Kalinsha suffered a great blow, and it was only thanks to the survival of the Holy Queen, Kelart, and Remedios that the people did not succumb to despair.
They quickly prepared for another siege at any time, with the help of the summoned Angels, the Paladins, and the civilians. All as they could within the few days, resources, and personnel they had.
However, another attack came, with Demons stronger and more abundant than before… Therefore…
Kelart was running with Remedios in her arms, as a Demon had knocked her unconscious…
She had to avoid looking back, as the once glorious city of Kalinsha was now a bonfire of screams and Demons.
It was fortunate that the sacrifice of the Angels, Paladins and Priests had allowed Kelart to flee with her sister…
Unfortunately… The Holy Queen was not so lucky.
Kelart couldn't erase from her mind the screams of the Queen when a scorpion-like Demon broke her legs with one of its pincers, and threw her to the side and made her break her neck unpleasantly against a wall, only for hordes of Imps to start eating her alive from head to toe…
She suppressed the pain in her heart, and looked down, seeing her sister's face, with a wound on her forehead that covered part of her beautiful face with blood…
Kelart had to be strong… She had to, as always, save her older sister…
In fact… She only had one option left. Try to flee to the next city… Praying that it's not infested with Demons… And that the Demons don't follow her…
…
A sound of clashing swords was heard deep within the forest.
Neia Baraja groaned as her arms ached after blocking the blow.
"Pay more attention!" Her opponent shouted reproachfully, causing Neia to groan slightly as she frowned.
The blonde girl saw the sword approaching her, and jumped to the side, at least taking advantage of her thin build to slide to the side.
However, her opponent seemed to foresee this, and quickly kicked the shieldmaiden away.
The air left her lungs as the kick hit her stomach, making her feel dizzy and her vision darkening slightly, writhing on the ground with a grimace of pain.
Her opponent sighed, and crouched down in front of Neia.
"Mm… Come on, honey, let me help you…" Camilla Castilla said somewhat worried, but also firmly, as she helped Neia recover from the blow, despite her earlier more aggressive tone.
The blonde girl, with the same disturbing eyes as her father, pouted in disappointment at not being able to improve… Not even in these times… And not even with the help of her mother, the Color Purple of the Holy Kingdom, could she truly improve…
And that… Made Neia angry and sad… Her mother was one of the strongest Paladins in the Holy Kingdom, only surpassed, or equaled by the famous Remedios Custodio, the Captain of the Order of Paladins…
And Neia… She wanted to be like her mother. A Paladin. Even when her father, Pabel Baraja, the Color Black, told Neia that she was far more talented as a Ranger, like him, Neia still wanted to be a Paladin. So she trained night and day to go from being a Squire to a Paladin… However, she couldn't even cast Divine Magic yet, and her swordsmanship only surpassed that of some above-average soldiers.
She didn't even have any friends, due to her eyes inherited from her father, which made her look horrible and drove everyone away…
"I-I'm fine, mom…" Neia said with a slight pout, causing her mother to snort, and insist on helping her daughter.
Her mother was very stubborn after all.
Neia looked back, seeing more or less what was left of 'civilization' in the city where she lived.
It was just a few paladins, a couple of priests, and many civilians.
Thanks to Pabel's efforts, the city of Marshal was able to be evacuated before the Demons destroyed everything. Or at least many people were saved.
Pabel, of course, had to carry his wife while Neia was forced to walk. After all, Camilla had a broken leg. Only thanks to the efforts of the two priests, her mother was able to be healed faster, so that she could serve as proper protection for the group of survivors.
Sure, Camilla to be careful for a while in order to fully recover, but in the meantime, she could help train her daughter and patrol a bit.
Pabel, on the other hand, as the only Ranger, and the Color Black, was forced to basically be the survivors' only source of sustenance and survival for the time being.
That was why the Archer wasn't here.
After all, he was searching for supplies and food in the ruins of Marshal, since the Demons didn't destroy everything. They only took the corpses, and left a lot of people injured and abandoned.
And considering Pabel's speed, he was the best suited to go to and from Marshal.
Neia grumbled as her mother forced her daughter's chin to look at her.
Camilla examined Neia's face carefully, looking for any injuries. The hard, steely gaze of the beautiful woman with blonde hair and ice-blue eyes didn't make her look like a concerned mother, but Neia knew her mother, and she had to admit that she was somewhat happy to see her worrying about something as trivial as scrapes at a time like this…
The Paladin didn't say anything when she saw that Neia was mostly fine, and only patted her on the head.
"Go rest, that's enough training." Camilla practically ordered, both as a Paladin, as the Purple Color of the Holy Kingdom, and as a mother.
Neia groaned at this, but she couldn't argue with her mother.
…
Dont readjusted the black rose in her hair, giving some finishing touches to her Lady Nyx Morgause costume.
After all, she had a meeting at hand now.
Black Abyss was beside her, disguised as Titania, as well as several hidden units throughout the room and hallways, as well as Superbia in the throne room of the Marble Palace, as if to properly deal with a level 100 ambush.
She then felt the Paladin's hand hugging her waist, looking at her she could notice her cheerful smile.
Dont blushed, and glanced at Black Abyss.
"Mm~ My love~ Aren't you very excited~?" Dont chuckled.
"I'm just happy~ I like being with you~" Black Abyss said, then giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Dont laughed and purred a little, letting the Angel show her affection with all her joy.
"Anyway~ When are you going to find the little group~?" She asked, leaning her head against Black Abyss's shoulder.
"I thought you were going to send me with a team." Black Abyss said with a curious, somewhat doubtful look.
The duo of Supreme Ladies looked at each other in silence.
Dont groaned a little amused, and dismissed it with a wave of her hand.
"No. Nevermind~ I can't be bothered with you~ Tell one of your Angels to manifest in front of the group, and I'll tell Eyesight to prepare [Gate]. There are 15 minutes left until the appointed time anyway~ So there is time." Dont could no longer be angry with Black Abyss's nonsense. Now she found it funny, cute. It was… A nice change.
"Still… I just remembered that I promised that I would go find them… Although yes, a [Gate] would be enough~" Black Abyss said, now hugging Dont from the side with both hands, leaning her face against her shoulder.
"I see~ Still… I would prepare Bulldoger… But only Alucard, or Lord Arthur rather, should be fine. I will have him brought, and you can go find them… After I assign you a couple of level 90 Mercenaries and summons… And have Eyesight prepare a magic bombardment in case something happens… And… Ejem." Dont coughed into her fist as she noticed that she was now being overprotective. Which was more cute than justified due to Black Abyss being a tank.
Although of course, the topic of 'Wild Magic' and what the Dragon Lords could do was something that did make the Demon somewhat anxious.
"Relax, sweetheart~ Alucard and Achernar will be more than enough~ Plus I have summons around Carne~ Achernar will stay there for a while to inspect the wall and Carne's defenses, but I won't be there for long~" She explained, then giving the Demon a few kisses on the cheek, beginning to snuggle tenderly against her.
"Mm~ Well~... Speaking of Achernar… Isn't he… Er… Technically like your son…?" Dont muttered somewhat doubtfully about the subject. After all, Black Abyss was her creator, therefore, she was, in essence, the Dragonoid's mother.
"It's an easy way to put it~ I guess he sees me as a mother, and I see him as a son, even though we're not blood related~ But I think that would be the case, with Achernar as well as with Mimosa and in a way with Caren~" Black Abyss explained with a smile.
"Mm… That's one way of looking at it… Technically, then… Bachelory, Brynhildr, and St. Joffrey are my… Children, too… Umu… I didn't visit the latter two much…" Dont now felt somewhat bad. The realization that the trio of NPCs were basically Dont's family, in a sense, left her feeling bitter about her lack of attention towards them.
After all, Dont only interacted with Bachelory for work reasons for the most part, and she barely went to see Brynhildr once only.
And she still didn't have much time to go to the Silver Citadel to meet Joffrey…
"Eh… Well, I think I was worse… I didn't see Caren even once… And I didn't want to bother Mimosa too much either, she always has a lot of work being the intermediary between all the financial information and Bachelory… I only have a close relationship with Achernar, I hope they don't hate me for that…" She said somewhat worried.
Now the pair of biblical women, in some sense, felt bad, but Dont just sighed, and smiled at Black Abyss.
"Okay… Then we'll have time to meet up with them and talk~ We can go to the Silver Citadel on the, er, 8 of us, and visit the facilities there~ There was an ice cream shop, I remember~" The Demon Queen's smile was a work of art for Black Abyss, making her blush and feel a delicious shiver down her spine.
"Is that a date~?" She asked with a mischievous smile.
Dont blushed slightly, but smiled, looking to the side somewhat embarrassed.
"…Yeah~ A single mother date you could say~ Or well~ No more singles~" She admitted amusedly, playing with a finger through a lock of the Paladin's beautiful hair. But then she shook her head. "D-De todas formas~ D-Deberías ir y prepararte para traer el paquete~ {A-Anyways~ Y-You should go and prepare to bring the package~}"
Black Abyss gently cupped Dont's cheek, causing her to look at her, then gave her a nice kiss on the mouth.
"Don't miss me~" She said, letting go of her hug and moving away a bit.
"Mo~ No promises~" Dont said dreamily, looking at the Paladin with a smile, caressing her arm as she walked away, speaking to the sky for Eyesight to open a [Gate].
Dont really enjoyed this feeling.
…
Enri couldn't be more anxious.
Dressed as best as she could, which was nothing for a noble of the lowest rank, she was anxiously waiting 30 minutes before the appointed time at the entrance of the village.
Nemu was at her side, holding her hand, Nfirea on her other side, and lastly, Kalos, behind the group like a kind of father in a way, ignoring the race of course.
Kalos of course, was dressed magnificently, so he didn't have to change much of his wardrobe.
Today was the day that one of the village's saviors, Titania, had invited the quartet to the capital of the kingdom that the three saviors were affiliated with. The Deorum Regnum.
They didn't know whether to pack or not, so they were anxious for a while due to how to carry the luggage, they had even considered preparing Nfirea's wagon, but it wasn't necessary, as Kalos could store... A lot of things in his coat and inside his galley somehow.
According to Nfirea's calculations, the trip would probably take a week, just the way there. Though if they didn't rest, it might take 4 days. But if the horses were good, maybe 3 days. And that was just to get to the closest city to Carne in what was once the Empire.
The mere thought of it, of being able to do even something rude on the journey, at their destination, or at any time in front of the heroes of the town, gave her a terrible stomach ache.
One was a simple village girl, and the others were a powerful merchant now a noble of immaculate beauty, a Paladin of great power and divine beauty, and a knight of noble bearing and enormous strength.
They simply lived in different worlds.
Thanks to Kalos, she was able to calm down a bit, as the Demon's jokes relaxed her enough to not go around hysterically.
She took a deep breath, still nervous, of course.
Nfirea grabbed her hand, smiling at her, and Enri smiled back.
However, they had to admit that, looking at the empty road that anyone could come to Carne through was something…
In itself, the meeting was in 10 minutes, but they were 7 days away… Lady Titania was sure to come looking for them but… How would they even get there on time…?
In her nervousness, Nfirea caught her attention.
"E-Enri." She looked at him, who pointed behind her, in front of the entrance of the village, where… She could see a kind of dark red and purple vortex, almost forming a kind of door…
She opened her eyes in surprise when Lord Arthur came out from there, looking around, cautious.
He saw her and gave her a gentle smile, making her blush, but in a moment he stood to the side of the strange two-dimensional structure.
From there came another man, one in quite a prodigious physical condition, his face was covered by black threads except for his eyes, wearing a black hood and dark clothes, although leaving his large arms exposed.
He stood on the other side of the strange door, from which, like light in the middle of the darkness, the famous and legendary Paladin, Titania, came out with a confident and firm step.
"Hello~ Are you ready~?" She asked towards them giving them a bright smile.
Enri froze, but Nfirea lightly squeezed her hand, bringing her out of her trance.
"A-Ah~ L-Lady Titania, Lord Arthur. I-It's a pleasure. S-Sure. We're ready." Enri greeted as best she could, which was a nervous mess, and nodded.
The Paladin then pointed to her right side.
"I suppose you haven't met him yet~ He is… Acheron~ He will stay behind to protect the village in the absence of you two and I~ He is one of my utmost trust, so you can have faith in him~" Titania explained, to which Acheron at her side gave a slight bow to Enri and Nfirea.
Enri looked at Acheron for a moment, and smiled at him.
"I see. It is a pleasure, Lord Acheron. W-We entrust you with our home." The villager gave a slight bow to the man, with Nemu copying her sister, and Nfirea nodding. Kalos gave a somewhat exaggerated bow.
"You can rest assured, Miss Enri, I will make sure that nothing external threatens Carne Village in your absence." Acheron exclaimed in a calm and serious tone, before straightening up again.
"Well with that settled~ Shall we~?" Black Abyss asked towards the group.
"Yes!" Enri said, getting somewhat tense and wary of the vortex.
Titania looked at Nemu, who looked more nervous than Enri about that thing… She had never seen anything like it before.
Titania stretched out her hand towards her.
"Do you want to come with me, Nemu~?" She asked the girl, smiling angelically at her, causing the girl to calm down enough to nod and shake her hand.
Enri smiled seeing this, she was… Quite grateful, and convinced that she was making the best decision possible.
…
Dont sat down somewhat bored in the chair at the end of the long table. She was here for about 10 minutes, doing nothing, with the least 'evil' maids there were. That is, Maria herself and the selection of Agares, Marbas, Valefor, Gusion, Sitri, Leraje, and well, a few more maids, who would personally serve Dont, Black Abyss, and well, the guests.
"So… Maria. How's your boyfriend?"
The Angel's glasses broke imaginarily and she blushed up to her ears, looking at Dont as if she had said something outrageous and she didn't understand what he was talking about.
"M-My Q-Queen!? W-Wh-What are you talking about!?" She blinked, causing the series of waiting maids to spot the juicy gossip…
"Pfu~ It was a joke~ Calm down~" Dont chuckled, causing Maria to sigh in relief as she looked like she had suffered a heart attack while the maids were somewhere between amused by the joke, and disappointed by the lack of gossip.
"P-Please don't scare me like that, my Queen… I-I don't think it's good to make up r-rumors like that… M-Much less in front of the Maids…" The Saint Maid trembled, fixing her hair that had shot up from the scandal of Dont's little joke. After all, Titania's maids had a habit of gossiping about everything that happened.
Dont chuckled, before looking at Maria again.
"Jokes aside~ Oh, sweet Maria~ Who am I supposed to play now~?" The Demon asked the Angel.
"Y-You play Lady Nyx Morgause, my Queen." The Holy Maid said, recovering from the previous surprise.
"Mhm… And why do you call me 'my Queen'?" She raised an eyebrow. And although it almost sounded accusatory, she was smiling at her with sly amusement.
Maria blinked, noticing her mistake, and before she could practically cry in apology and offer her life in compensation, as the Maid had already done once when a mix-up with Black Abyss had happened, Dont interrupted her.
"It's okay, Maria~ You don't have to apologize. Just fix that mistake. Now. I'm Lady Nyx. That's all. Or you can call me Duchess, of course." Dont sighed, with a slight smile, amused by the NPCs' nonsense.
"Y-Yes. Of course… Duchess Nyx." The Saint Maid nodded with a bow.
Sitri and Gusion, at the door, seemed to receive a message, to which they nodded at the same time, approaching the double doors and turning the handle of both doors, opening them, allowing Dont to see... Her precious and beloved dovey~ Black Abyss~ And the knight of Titania, Alucard. Although the Angel had the girl, Nemu, raised in her arm.
A girl almost died that day for a second while a random thought threatened Dont's mental health about secret love affairs or something.
The Demoness stood up, with a cheerful, gentle and welcoming smile.
"Ah~ The guests~ Enri~ Nemu~ It's been a while~" 'Nyx' smiled at the pair of girls, approaching to greet them properly, giving a kiss on the cheek to Nemu, who was still above Black Abyss, and another to Enri, who blushed and did not know how to respond to the greeting.
Two girls nearly died that day, this time by a holy hand instead of a demonic one.
"Nfirea~ Look how you've grown~ Titania has told me about your inventions~ I'm really interested and excited about it~"
"I-It's a pleasure, Lady Nyx. I-I should be the one to be grateful to you for granting me the materials and motivation." Nfirea blushed slightly, as Dont offered him the back of her hand.
Somewhat nervously, Nfirea delicately took the 'noble's' hand, and planted a delicate kiss in greeting.
Another child nearly died that day…
"Fu~ And Kalos~ The hero of the people they call me~ You managed to deal with the crown prince's army and 'drive them away' with a spectacular costume~ Also~ You also grew a bit~ Haha~" Queen Titania laughed as she looked at the respective… No Imp, not anymore, Alptraum.
The pair of Demons looked into each other's eyes for a moment, and Kalos trembled a bit, but took off his hat, and bowed deeply to the Demon Queen.
"There are no greater heroes than you, my ladies~ I only prevented a possible conflict or a possible tragedy~ There is no need to thank or praise~ It is all thanks to your enormous kindness in the first place~" The Alpraum said with elegance and charisma, worthy of a circus presenter, as he stood up.
"Fufu~ Is that so~? Jaja~ Well, I won't keep you any longer~ Let's go eat~" Dont said with a smile.
"T-To eat?" Enri blinked. She was notified of a meeting after all, not a lunch.
"Didn't I tell you to make sure you're hungry…?" Titania asked, as if she was doubting her own memory.
"A-Ah, s-so this is what it was for, jaja~" Enri laughed nervously, seeming to understand something, but still shy. As if she was too overwhelmed about being able to eat in such a… Wonderful place…
The room made of literal pure marble, white down to the most forgettable corners, spotless and clean, without a speck of dust… The walls had carved shapes of classical mirrors, as well as flowers and geometric shapes, even the floor was practically a polished marble mirror. This was a true palace worthy of heroes like Lord Arthur and Lady Titania… She had never seen such a beautiful work, the hands that created something like this must be those of an enormous artistic genius…
The chairs were pure platinum, with white velvet padding. The table was of clear, whitish glass, with marble embroidery… Vases, plates, and flowers of pure white, with silver cutlery… Platinum candelabras, white crystal chandeliers, candles with white flames instead of orange. Even the light coming through the windows was pure white.
{Deorum Regnum's Dinner Room}
Enri clearly noticed the maids, each one so beautiful as to be celebrities, princesses sought after by everyone who left Enri herself as what she was, a country girl.
Although what caught the attention of the maids the most, were their inhuman characteristics, from some with feathered bat wings, some with horns, others with little tails, extravagant hair or eye colors... But having lived with more inhuman creatures for so long, it didn't even seem strange to her.
And next to Lady Nyx's seat, at the tip, a practically divine servant, with impeccable beauty and bearing that made her a Goddess...
Nyx herself was like a black sheep among so many white people, but that made her even more beautiful and majestic, like a queen who stood out among the monotony...
"If you've finished visualizing everything, let's sit down~" Black Abyss said somewhat amused, walking towards the table and taking Nemu with her, gently placing her on the highest chair in the middle of two chairs, sitting herself on the right of the tip of the table. "You too Kalos~ Don't feel uncomfortable, we don't discriminate by race~" She said towards the 'Demon', well... He always had to hide from everyone outside of Carne, clearly feeling somewhat withdrawn for being in such a place, with such important people and who... Apparently, they had no problems with his race. It almost seemed too ideal.
The Demon looked at Black Abyss, sensing the 'wrong' with her, namely, too pure divinity. Almost irritating and disgusting, and then looked at Dont, the Demon Queen, followed by looking at the maids who clearly demonstrated demonic characteristics.
"Mm~ Of course, my lady~" The Circus Master nodded, before walking over and sitting on the chair beside Nemu.
"Fu~ Good~ Now~ Let Maria here tell us what we'll eat, and then talk business~" Dont smiled towards the group of humans, and the Demon, and looked at her Angel maid.
Mm… Angel maid… Maid… Black Abyss… Maid Black Abyss… Dont had a great revelation of thoughts at that moment, as Maria opened her mouth.
…
"Eso fue bien~ {Now that went well~}" Dont chuckled, leaning back in the 'Lady Nyx' chair at the end of the table in one of the, like, 10 dining rooms in the entire Marble Palace.
"I hope you make good use of the resources you were given~ It's enough money to renovate all of Carne and stabilize it, and since they agreed to become part of Deorum Regnum, the tax cut will be very high, so they might as well expand~" Black Abyss said, quite happy with the results.
"Well, I offered the position of Master Alchemist to the boy. I let him think about whether he would accept or not, and I simply offered to do a renovation in Carne to make it more suitable, like a small potential city with an alchemy academy and everything~" Dont smiled, enjoying seeing Black Abyss' smile, as she drank her coffee. "We can even create a university there~ Specialized in natural sciences then~"
"I like to see that you've become softer with others~ I'm proud of you, darling~" Black Abyss said with an angelic smile, gently caressing the Demon Queen's cheek with her fingers.
"M-Mo… I-I didn't go soft… I'm a terrifying Demon Queen~…" Dont blushed slightly, pressing her cheek against Black Abyss' hand, quite cuddly by her touch.
"Scarily cute~ Fu~" Black Abyss said amused, continuing with her caresses.
Dont blushed a little more, and looked to the side, with a pout. "I'm evil~…" She complained. "I-I'm going to burn women and steal children~" She falsely threatened with her arms crossed.
"Well, if you consider that a higher priority than spending time with me~ Maybe~" She said with a mischievous smile, pressing a finger against the terrifying Demon Queen's cheek. "-500 karma and +500 karma equals 0~"
"I-I guess…" Dont murmured somewhat shyly, warming up to her Paladin tenderly, before sighing. "Anyway… With Carne protected and dealt with, there's only the matter of the war with Re-Estize left… Let's talk to Superbia about that." Dont became more serious, but without taking Black Abyss's hand away.
"They're fools… But they don't know the extent of Titania's power, it's normal that they would simply… Declare war to obtain this territory…" Black Abyss said with a sigh, somewhat discouraged by it. "They are like ignorant children…"
"Only that we will have to punish them in a… Very~ Severe~ Manner~ Maybe wipe out 95% of their army~ And arrange between the Eight Fingers and the Golden Princess to slowly kill Re-Estize from within, so that we can give an ultimatum once a civil war breaks out, annexing the territory and all the 'rebels' of the crown~" Dont laughed sinisterly, now truly showing why she was a Demon Queen. Why she had a karma of -500.
Why the world should fear her.
"Ha… That's too extreme, it would only waste more time and resources than necessary… Plus I don't like the idea of allying with an organization like the Eight Fingers, as far as I'm concerned they're better off dead than alive… And slowly killing the country… It's better to just be loved… Still, if they were to hate you, I might let you be less inflexible… But it's still a very extreme option and ineffective to many others with our resources and principles." Black Abyss explained, then sighing and stopping petting the Demon, drinking some water.
"Come on, my dear~ The Eight Fingers are basically a puppet criminal organization that we control~ Also~ The civil war will certainly be caused by us making Deorum Regnum receptive to any immigrants, giving support to the masses of Re-Estize in crisis to gain their favor, and thus, winning over the people that the Nobles and Royalty think they can simply force to obey them no matter what~ We wouldn't be spending anything, as we would just be sending some completely expendable Shadow Demons to give instructions and bring back reports from our agents there~ In fact, we can incite the crisis by having the Eight Fingers clandestinely pass us resources~ By stealing from Re-Estize right under their noses~" Dont explained more or less what she had in mind.
"The Eight Fingers are still an organization that I dislike. Working with them, even if it's indirectly, is disgusting. And even if they don't expend a lot of resources, things like that tend to cause a great loss of valuable lives, what if there's someone in Re-Estize with the same capabilities as Nfirea? We've proven that they're not useless, and they're not necessarily bad… Killing them indirectly by causing all those kinds of things, is something that could cost us great chances."
Dont looked at Black Abyss's face as she spoke, and just sighed, thinking for a moment.
"… Mm… I see… Ha… Fine then. We'll put that plan aside unless it's necessary. We can build schools, academies, and instigate immigration and labor, taking away Re-Estize's population with our tempting offers. Things like workers' rights or something. You know~ Life insurance~ Medical~ Vacations~ Etc~" Dont proposed a more peaceful way to slowly weaken and take over Re-Estize, trying to be patient and more 'merciful'… Just for Black Abyss.
"A kind of cold war… It would be based on who has the best conditions for people to live in… I like the idea~" The Angel said with a smile.
"Only rather than a 'cold war', it would be a 'cold massacre'~ One-sided, you know~ It's not like their exploitative, poor, and weakened system thanks to the Empire and our future project is tempting to anyone~ And if we 'find out' that the Nobles are holding people back from coming to our territory, having won a war, we can put pressure to get people out, and further improve our image~" Dont improvised a bit, going more down the 'peaceful' path when she saw that the Angel agreed.
"It would be a good kind of intervention. But remember that violence should always be the last thing in these cases, people get scared at the sight of blood, and if they get scared, they fear. I don't want that reputation for our people." She explained, now calmer.
Dont pouted slightly, but sighed. "Fine~ We'll leave any violence as a last resort~ At least physical~ Deorum Regnum is supposed to be an ally of all races and justice and light anyway~" The Demon Queen smiled fondly at Black Abyss. "Speaking of physical violence~ At 5, Brynhildr will be sent along with a small draconic army to the Draconic Realm to deal with the Beastmen, as promised. That will give us large amounts of corpses, and experience for the Maids~ Or well, souls~" Dont seemed a bit more excited, especially at the thought of 'deploying' Brynhildr. Her NPC~
The fact that Titania had learned that leveling could be done at this point must have been fate, for now, in the Draconic Realm, they had a massive source of experience, called Beastmen. There were a lot of them. They were 'strong'. And they were 'enemies'. Therefore, they could kill enough of them to reduce their population enough, and force them to adapt to civilization by forcibly integrating them into Deorum Regnum. That was the initial plan after all.
"… Fine, I'll accept at least that much death… It will benefit Titania, so I don't see much of a problem, just tell her not to be too hard on them… I don't think the Draconic Kingdom would be too pleased with a psychopathic general…" Black Abyss indicated with a droplet on her forehead.
"Fu~ Don't worry, my love~" Dont placed a hand on Black Abyss's cheek. "I'll tell her to follow Suryt's role during her time there~ No one will notice~" She purred like a cute kitten for her dovey.
Black Abyss smiled at Dont with a slight blush on her cheeks, nodding at her words. She liked knowing that, although she probably wouldn't change her way of seeing things and acting, she could at least avoid much worse things by being here.
In a sense, everyone would be in her debt, although it was a somewhat arrogant thought, one she didn't like to have very much.
But it was true.
…
"[Hell Mist]" The spell activated without a problem, and instantly, the small attempt at an army that formed against him was easily extinguished as they suffocated in the demonic poison that burned their lungs, eyes, and skin, even through their armor.
The Archarchaeologist hummed disinterestedly. Using a high-level skill.
"[Create Medium Hell Army]" With the skill, a massive pentagram opened, as all the newly slain corpses were consumed into ashes.
However, as the level 40-50 Demon army was summoned and marched through the pentagram, the Archarchaeologist ignored it, sitting on a stone, resting his chin on his hand, in a thinking pose.
The Infernal General, who led the summoned army by default, tried to speak to him, but the Archarchaeologist only ordered him to march his army south without much interest.
After all, he was thinking… Very deeply.
In less than a month, he almost failed his queen several times. Once with those 'Paladins' and that 'Queen', and another against that Leviathan, who fortunately couldn't chase him.
Fortunately, the Pope of Sin whom he ordered to command the army before it submerged, reported that he had been spreading 'Her Majesty's word' throughout the humans, destroying and wiping out cities and armies in his absence. The losses were minimal, and the gain in corpses was high.
The Archarchaeologist only groaned as he broke his pose, and clutched his head in frustration…
It was impossible… What was he supposed to do now…? He thought and thought, until his head hurt…
Days could pass with the Archarchaeologist in that same pose and gestures, in a cycle of frustration and reflection…
Until finally an understanding came to him…
His Queen… Told him to gain experience… And the Archarchaeologist… Based on his summons… He kept gaining it in minuscule portions, but he still gained it… He had to flee against that Leviathan, but he managed to survive it in the first place. His strength level escalated excessively since his defeat against the humans with holy magic…
And while it would be sensible to assume that his goal should be to level up to 100 and formulate a strategy to defeat that Leviathan… In reality, that wasn't necessarily his goal.
With the way he was doing things and according to his calculations, he would gain enough experience to level up to 100 between his massacre in the south, his current massacre in this area, and the future massacre he would do once he let these humans and Demihumans reproduce in the next generation… Although that last thing would take a lot of time, especially cultivating strong entities. Millions of weaklings were of no use to him, since even with 10 million weak humans he couldn't level up a level, outside of the level he was about to level up to.
He already devoured a large part of the sea in this area, except, of course, for the Leviathan…
Therefore… Although, in the long term he fulfilled his mission… What should he do with that? Once he reaches level 100… What? Should he continue gaining experience? See if he can level up to level 101?
Even as a summon, when he was summoned, he knew things like the level cap. Level 100. Therefore, level 101 is something imaginary. A distant dream that cannot be achieved… Except by the Supreme Ladies.
And considering that, in essence, his goal was accomplished…
He hummed. He hummed as the ecstasy of joy at being able to see even a tiny letter of the massive, endless book that was the simplest of Her Majesty's plans washed over him.
"Your Majesty! Finally! I can see it! Your wonderful plan! Your plan for this servant! I understand!" He shouted towards the sky.
After all, he was so blind… He was so stupid until now…
Her Majesty gave him and his deceased companion a series of orders.
'Why don't you go and try to see if you can gain experience?' That is, gain experience, level up, and create an 'experience farm' for the use of Her Majesty and any of Her subordinates.
And the other orders… 'Oh, and both of you must refer to my existence as 'the Komodo Devil' out of your thoughts. I am the 'legendary Komodo Devil' and so on.'
… He must… He must spread the word of His Lady. Of Her Majesty. Of the Demon Queen!
It must not have been a coincidence that he sent the Pope of Sin as the 'leader' of his demonic army while he invaded the underwater world.
Now he understood. His duty was to spread the word of Her Majesty as 'the Komodo Demon'. A lesser idol that was only a fragment of something immensely greater…
Only the true beings blessed by Her would understand its true immensity, or at least a part of something even greater. Amongst the other Demons of Her Majesty, and those 'Created' by Her Majesty and the Supreme Lords, the 'NPCs'.
However, Her Majesty only spoke of Her, and the 'Komodo Demon'… Therefore… And added to the 'experience farm'… Now it all made sense…
Him! The Archarchaeologist! He had to impart the word of Her Majesty, the Komodo Demon, to the weak! He had to make them loyal to Her Majesty! Why hunt the boar when you can tame it and turn it into a pig? An animal that will willingly go to the slaughterhouse when it is its time?
And what better place to start the legend of the 'Komodo Demon', Her glory, at the place marked by Her Majesty's third subtle order?
'Here, a map.'
The Archarchaeologist reached into his inventory, and pulled out the valuable map, bestowed by Her Majesty Herself, the Demon Queen.
He carefully opened it, and saw what had always piqued his curiosity. That spot marked in a black circle.
A spot near where he was created.
The so-called 'Katze Plains'.
A point between Her Majesty's realm, namely Hell on Earth, or as Her Majesty wished, a fake Eden on Earth, and the neighboring human realm. 'Re-Estize'.
"BRILLIANT! AHAHAHAHA! YOUR MAJESTY! WAIT FOR ME! I WILL GO AND CREATE A GINNUNGAGAP! A HELL ON EARTH BETWEEN YOUR EDEN FOR THE BLIND RATS AND THE WORLD OF MORTALS! I WILL SHOW THEM YOUR GLORY! I WILL MAKE THEM YOUR 'CATTLE'!" The Demiurge shouted in pure delight and insane happiness towards the sky. His voice unconsciously had some passive abilities, which corrupted the surrounding grass, as the Demons were strengthened under an order with no 'end', nor any true order.
But by reflex, the entire army raised their weapons, fists, and claws towards the sky as the Archarchaeologist laughed in absolute delight at the supreme revelation.
And they roared in unison in a war cry.
…
Pabel Baraja sighed as he loaded everything he could into his 'magic bag', which looked like it could barely hold a few coins, but actually had a capacity of 5 square meters inside thanks to magic.
Thanks to it, he could store a lot of things. Among them, food, and medicine.
After all, Marshal, although it was razed to the ground, still let a lot of people live for some reason. But it didn't guarantee that the Demons wouldn't come back.
And considering that, thanks to Pabel, a lot of people were able to be evacuated to a makeshift camp deep in a forest 'inside' the now destroyed Great Wall, he, as the only Ranger, and a true man capable of traveling, was the only one in charge of getting supplies for the people he saved. From soldiers, Paladins, a couple of Priests, several civilians and families, as well as his wife and daughter.
He could subsist on hunting and wild fruits, he could even go several days without eating or sleeping, while his wife was injured, and his daughter would be his priority anyway.
He sighed as he prepared to leave through the crumbling walls of Marshal, leaving behind the survivors who were doing everything they could to survive, doing quite well considering that the Demons didn't even touch any warehouses or food stalls, which was strange really.
He tied the magic bag tightly to his belt, while mentally counting the money he had left.
Marshal's economic stability was strange, as the money was not looted or thrown away either. Only a few coins were lost that were accidentally cut, or ended up melted by the fire by pure chance... Although if he really thought about it, he doubted that the Demons would be of much use for money.
Normally he was not as extremist as his wife regarding 'evil' creatures, but the image of the Demons trading in human bones crossed his mind, which was why they took the corpses.
However, since money was the most useless thing for a person's immediate survival, mere pieces of metal that were neither edible nor useful to be used as fuel, it was difficult to use it to trade properly in this situation.
He was sure that even a bit of flour would be much more valuable than 100 gold coins… It didn't mean that they would lose their original value in the long run, of course, so he didn't expect to find a bag of money or gold coins lying around either.
He sighed again as he pushed his thoughts away, the exhaustion of rushing from one place to another at top speed, without much rest, was starting to get to him. However, as he was about to leave, he saw something in the distance.
He squinted, because, ironically, what he was seeing was so far away that even he couldn't see it accurately.
For a moment he considered that they could be Demons, or even Demihumans, but a closer look showed that they were humans.
Two to be precise. One carrying the other, dragging his feet, while he forced himself to carry the person in his hands…
Pabel raised an eyebrow for a moment, considering ignoring the pair of people, but then he saw the person carrying the other collapse on the dirt road he had been following…
Pabel sighed again, scolding himself for being too kind sometimes… At least they could be helpful hands for the camp… That's what he wanted to believe.
And so, he looked at his horse tied to a tree off to the side, patted it, before releasing it and climbing onto it.
The animal, following the direction its rider had told it to go, instead of going the way it came, headed towards the duo of unconscious… Women… suspiciously similar.
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Name: Ghøst
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