〈 Succubus (1) 〉
The size of the Demon World, one of Outerica’s subdimensions, was not very large.
Even if we take the entire area into account, it would be at most about the size of the Ion continent.
Plus, things like the sea didn’t even exist in the first place.
There are countless monsters roaming around like wild animals everywhere, as well as plants that have evolved closer to monsters and actively hunt their prey.
In a way, it was natural that the combat power of the demons living in this barren world naturally increased.
‘It is understandable that they are eagerly targeting the ground.’
Although it hasn’t been long since I came to the Demon World, there is no other fact that I felt more keenly than that.
Hela looked down at the strangely shaped food served in front of her and let out a small sigh.
Never would I have thought that I would see in real life what I had only seen in exaggerated renderings in cartoons.
“I’m done with it, so put it away. “What do you throw away? You eat it.”
“I understand, Hela.”
First of all, there wasn’t much to enjoy here.
Gourmet food was just a pastime for a few high-ranking people, and the quality wasn’t very high.
Since they are a demon race that does not need to eat in the first place, cooking has developed only to effectively stimulate the sense of taste.
‘Of course, the limitations of food ingredients will be decisive.’
The workers gathered up the trays containing food and left.
Meanwhile, Hela clicked her tongue, glaring at the eyeball stuck in the unidentified food that was staring at her until the end.
‘Cultural life is lacking. At best, all you can do is hit and fight like a gladiator in the Colosseum or gamble with it.’
In this environment, even if you have a passion for art or literature, it will be difficult to reveal it openly.
It might be difficult to come into contact with something like that in the first place.
“Hmm, I think we need to fix this part a bit.”
A rich culture was one of the means to ease the rule of the masses.
Of course, in this demon world society where the value of force is the top priority, there are no people who would dare to ignore the demon king’s orders, but wouldn’t there be a difference in efficiency between reluctantly following and actively taking action?
‘Of course, all that is something to think about later.’
Hela slowly looked around.
Paintings, sculptures, armor of rare appearances, etc.
This space, decorated with all kinds of artwork that is difficult to find in the demon world, was not the castle of Dalun, the first city she visited.
“I’m sorry, Hela. Since there are limits to cooking with ingredients that grow naturally in the demon world…”
“It’s okay, Cromwell. “Because I know that well.”
Hela roughly waved her hand at the man who came next to her and bowed politely.
A humanoid demon with the lower body of a goat standing on two legs, horns, and square eyes.
The place where she was now was the territory ruled by the Viscount-level devil Cromwell.
Her influence, which began to expand rapidly with Dalun’s assistance, soon reached even the demons who loved this art.
“The work is going better than that, isn’t it?”
“of course. Cromwell is proud of having the widest feet in the Demon World. “Due to the chaotic situation, it may be difficult for high-ranking people above the count, but for those below, it is enough to make room for the goblin.”
…Is that metaphor a proverb from the demon world?
Indeed, the word ‘demons’ was a bloody expression that came out naturally, but it was not difficult to see that it was roughly an easy task.
‘Anyway, I’m lucky. ‘I can’t believe they harvested such talent so quickly.’
Cromwell, a viscount-level demon who is a master of spatial magic and has relationships with many people based on his outstanding sociability.
He was a neutral person who did not belong to any faction.
Thanks to this, he was a valuable human resource who could easily build bridges not only with those with the same neutral tendencies but also with those belonging to opposing factions.
‘Actually, I should see it as an inevitability rather than a coincidence.’
That wide network even included Dalun, a baron-level demon.
Not one to shy away from meeting others, he casually agreed to Dalun’s request for a meeting, and what happened next was just as you can see.
“It’s important to move secretly. “Because it’s not time to attract attention yet.”
“Do not worry. I am a person who has always enjoyed meeting and talking to various people. Now, no one will think that’s strange.”
The Hella faction, which had begun to sprout in the demon world, was steadily increasing its power at this very moment.
The demons who came under her command continued to maintain their existing factional activities on the outside, but internally ignored all affiliations and established a new command system.
‘There is no need to worry about internal betrayal. There is a limit to the information that the lower-level people can know.’
The leaders of each force, as well as the leaders under them, have already fallen into her hands.
It still took a lot of effort to get to the noble level, but the lower level demons didn’t take up as much time.
In the process, the spies planted by each faction surrendered and turned to this side, which was a significant achievement.
‘After all, the best way to get used to anything is to use it often, right?’
It was the same not only in the “Mysterious Eye of Domination” but also in other aspects.
No matter how much potential one was born with and achieved transcendence from the beginning, time to adapt was essential in order to fully demonstrate the capabilities of a completely new body.
Due to that imbalance, it is true that even a self-proclaimed demon king had some shortcomings before.
Strictly speaking, it could not be denied that the charm ability was a one-time tool.
That too is now a thing of the past.
“The devil is looking down on you.”
That gaze is proof of that.
I don’t know if it was because she was that busy, or because Hela thought she was still lacking, but the demon god, who had been quiet even after entering the demon world, finally began to show interest in her.
“Okay, when I’m done, I’ll give you a bunch of art pieces from other worlds as well as things made by other races. Please take care of it?”
“Oh oh! A work of art from another world! “I will do my best to carry out Hela’s command with all my might!”
The devil Cromwell, who loved art so much that he collected precious works of art every time he was summoned to earth, bowed in excitement.
Hela, who had boosted her subordinates’ morale and efficiency by providing appropriate compensation, nodded slightly.
Cromwell, who has excellent ability to manipulate space and has humanity-friendly ideas, is a key talent who will help Hubert Company advance into the demon world in the future.
If you get used to it well from now on, you will be able to use it usefully later.
“ah! Hela. And I have one more matter to report to you.”
“huh? What?”
Hela blinked and tilted her head at the words that the head of the Demon World branch of the Hubert Company (scheduled) carefully spoke.
He bowed his head again at the loveliness that naturally radiated from each of those small gestures and took a deep breath to calm his mind.
Cromwell had already had the experience of praising her beauty using all sorts of rhetoric during their first meeting, only to be beaten down.
Now that I felt Hela’s tendencies with my whole body, I needed to be careful about every word I said.
If I were not careful, I might have been unnecessarily stamped out by the new lord, who had a tyrant temperament.
“We have made secret contact with the ‘Dream Worker.’ As you said, he responded as if he had been waiting. “They say we’re already ready to welcome you no matter when you come.”
“Ohh? okay?”
Hela opened her eyes wide at those words and smiled happily.
Secretly increasing power here was important, but the work over there was just as important.
“Then there is no further delay. “I’ll move on right away, so get ready.”
“As you commanded.”
Dream Walker.
It is a powerful force with a marquis-level demon at its head.
It was the home of the succubus that produced the 14th demon king Leraye, the root of Hella.
***
Roselia Grand Shrine located in the sacred place of the continent.
“…Hmm, that’s strange. Was it still a mistake?”
Saint Riesta, a member of the main church who was praying in the chapel, frowned and tilted her head.
“I definitely felt something at that time…”
That happened just a few days ago.
As she was concentrating on her work as always, but keeping a close eye on the situation on the continent in preparation for the Immortal King’s plans, she sensed something foreign to her senses.
‘It certainly seems closer to the devil follower side than the undead side. I felt it for a while, but now it has completely disappeared again.’
Because of that, she was still working hard to track down what she sensed back then whenever she had time.
No matter how busy you are, you can’t just ignore an unknown threat and move on, right?
‘As of now, there are no clues other than that it is the Tulk Kingdom.’
She sighed softly, shook her head lightly, and left the chapel.
There is too much to do right now to just hold on to something that is not yet certain.
After the giant giant that attacked Tarak was defeated, the White Giant incident that had terrified the entire continent was completely ended.
As a result, Saint Riesta, who had joined the death squad to quickly counter the appearance of the White Giant, had to take a step back from the scene, but that did not mean that her work had diminished.
Immediately after that, the ‘Apostle of the Evil God from Another World’ attacked the Great Temple of Roselia and caused great damage, and the conclave to elect the next Pope ended not long ago… “No, wait a minute
. “Tarak?”
As she continued to think like that, she suddenly stopped.
Until now, that place had been only one of many candidate locations, but a sudden intuition began to tell me to keep an eye on Tarak.
“Umm Tarakra.”
It was worthy of being called a big city before, but it is one of the strategic locations that grew even more rapidly after a continent-sized business called Hubert Company established its home.
There was no need to mention the importance of Tarak, which had now become the center of logistics connecting the central empire and the western kingdom union.
‘…Of course I can’t just ignore it.’
The saintess nodded firmly and took a long stride again.
I quickly turned around and went into the chapel I had just left.
She has been the pinnacle of this huge sect ever since the previous pope, who has now passed away to God’s arms, fell ill.
Even though many people, including the cardinals, helped, that fact never changes.
Because of this, there were many times when I suffered under the weight without anyone knowing…
‘Now, I don’t have to suffer alone.’
Now she had someone to share her burden with.
Like the saint, he is a saint of the church chosen by the main god to represent his will, and a knight of light who is given the destiny to punish the absolute evil immortal king who is disturbing this land.
“—Heinrich.”
She knelt down and closed her eyes, clutching the badge tightly.
To send a message to the most reliable person in this world.
[…Saint? What’s going on? Is something happening to the church?]
[Oh, I’m sorry all of a sudden. I have something important to tell you…]
While the conversation continues like that—.
A thin smile appeared on her lips without her realizing it.
***
A space where various magic circles are installed so you can see the situation of each region at a glance.
In that wide space, handsome men and women, each with distinct personalities, were busily moving about.
Until now, they had somehow managed to hold on by maintaining a balance with other factions, but recently that collapsed and the situation was spiraling out of control, making them so busy that they couldn’t even wake up.
“…Did you successfully contact me?”
“Yes, Godmother. “We, as well as Cromwell, have paid attention several times, so there is no major problem with security.”
A woman in her early thirties with a tired expression looked at it for a while.
As she turned and walked out into the hallway, a handsome man with horns dressed like a secretary followed behind and responded to the words she spoke.
She nodded slowly and asked the other woman with the secretary another question.
“Siana, are you really saying that he possessed the essence of the Queen?”
“Yes, godmother. “I saw this with my own eyes.”
“Huh… I just felt like I was grasping at straws. “Are you sure it really remained on the continent?”
Until recently, Syanna was concentrating on her work at the Immortal Castle as a member of the Immortal Army.
She was now back in her hometown, the Dream Walker Realm of the Demon World.
To carry out a dispatched mission directly ordered by the Immortal King.
And to end a search mission that has lasted hundreds of years.
“You’ve done a great job, Siana. I never thought I would actually do it. “It’s a big problem.”
“…No, I didn’t do anything. “I was just an errand boy…”
“That’s enough. If you hadn’t taken the risk of sneaking under the Immortal King’s command and eventually gained his trust, this connection wouldn’t have even occurred. “If the person with the Queen’s essence had even come into contact with another faction…”
The succubus’ godmother shook her head with a dizzy expression.
At that undeserved praise, an embarrassed crack appeared on Sianna’s calm face.
They reported it with all kinds of excuses, but in reality, they were just being captured by the Immortal King and being used like slaves.
“But the one with the essence is so great?”
“…yes. It’s a shame, but I couldn’t even fathom it. To be honest, it would be no exaggeration to say that I was overwhelmed the moment I encountered it. What I saw was like…”
Sianna was speechless as she opened her mouth like that.
Like… what was he going to say next?
She swallowed the words she wanted to say without realizing it and pursed her lips.
The legendary name was not something that could be mentioned carelessly.
Moreover, it was a taboo that should never be brought up in front of the godmother who lived in the same era as him.
When she momentarily panicked and froze for a moment.
“Godmother! “I have received a message from Cromwell.”
An urgent voice came from the side as if to save Siana.
The incubus assistant who was following the godmother with her put a finger to her temple and frowned.
“What did you say? “You’re saying you’re going to come this way, right?”
“…Yes, it is.”
“Good. It was an urgent situation. “They must have given us the access code in advance. So when are you coming?”
“…Yes, that’s it…”
Just then, their steps stopped at a place where numerous transmission stations were installed.
In a real-time war, this place where most troops were transported was one of the most important strategic facilities.
Aren’t a group of reinforcements preparing to move quickly to the dangerous battlefield right now?
The secretary’s voice flowed into the ears of the godmother, who was checking the entire situation with sunken eyes.
“…now.”
“huh?”
And as soon as those words are over.
Jiying—
The transmission line in one corner began to emit a loud vibration and go crazy.
Because space movement itself is such a difficult mystery, it takes a considerable amount of time to activate it.
No matter how much the magic circle assists him, there will inevitably be delays in the efficient energy distribution process.
Ugh—!
However, the phenomenon occurring now easily ignores all of those processes.
What would have taken minutes was compressed into just seconds, necessary intermediate steps were skipped, and results were reached immediately.
It is no exaggeration to say that what makes it possible is knowledge that has reached the ultimate level.
And it was almost infinite—it was truly overwhelming magical power.
In an instant, the door to the completed space opens.
Finally, the moment when a figure appeared from beyond.
“…Lerayeh?”
The mouth of the succubus godmother, who had lived for over a thousand years, opened wide.