Act 1 - A World At Its Last Leg
The Demon Realm.
An endless expanse of barren lands where not even blades of grass could grow, and all that was on its ground were soil and sands. Remains of dead trees scattered the landscape, and the sky was enveloped in an eternal night with only the lights of the distant stars illuminating the realm, giving the surroundings an eerie atmosphere which was quite matching with the current state of this world.
After fighting their way through the portal in the demons' former fortress, Ren, Karis, and Kurumi found themselves standing in the middle of nowhere, however this nowhere was a place that was quite familiar in the eyes of the demon girl.
"I'm back...finally," Karis said in a soft voice as she turned her head around, observing the surroundings.
"Damn. When you said it was in a bad state, I wasn't expecting it to be THIS bad," Ren remarked as he surveyed the area.
"*cough* *cough* What's this? The air's tough to breathe in," Kurumi said as she took in a few deep breathes, only to regret the choice soon after.
"Well, that's to be expected. I see no plants around. Plus the sky is too dark for one to grow anyway."
Ren knelt down and brushed his hand on the ground to try and search for any greenery. However, not only did he find anything, but the soil was too coarse that it easily broke apart by his mere touch.
"It's a miracle this world was able to survive this far."
"Wait, Ren isn't that a bit too insensitive to Karis-san?"
"No, it's fine. He does have a point. That's why my brother was desperate with the invasion because we don't know when our world would break down for real."
"Still..."
"I appreciate the sentiment Kurumi-san. However, we have to face reality. Sugarcoating won't save this world. None can. That's why I have to hurry up and speak to my people," Karis smiled.
"There you go. Now let's head off. Karis, lead the way."
"Right."
"Actually, wait--"
As the three were about to set off to their destination, Ren halted first in his steps. He stretched out his arm, showing that he was about to try something. Karis, and Kurumi simply watched in silence as they let Ren do his thing.
Ren gathered his concentration as he closed his eyes, imagining the scenery of a certain place, his home. As he did so, a portal appeared in front of him, however, instead of the usual scenery that he was expecting, he only saw darkness on the other side of the portal.
"I see, so I can't use this here huh?" Ren concluded.
"What are you doing?" Kurumi asked.
"I'm testing if I could create a portal here that can take us back home. However, it seems like it's not possible."
Ren attempted to pass his hand through the created portal just to check. However, instead of going to wherever the other side of the portal was connected, his arm was stopped at its surface, as if touching a hidden field that cannot be passed through.
"Well, can't say I wasn't expecting this. We just did an inter-dimension travel after all," Ren remarked.
"Is that bad?"
"It depends. Hold on, let me run another test."
Ren closed his palms, making the portal he just created to evaporate into nothingness. He then looked around the area, presumably searching for something.
"Hmm... Maybe that's good enough."
As he made up his mind, Ren once again made the same gesture he did earlier to create the portal. However this time, instead of the void portal that he got earlier, a scenery can be observed from the other side. He then stretched his arms towards the portal, and turned his head to the left.
Karis, and Kurumi followed his sight, and sure enough, the other half of the portal was placed over there with his stretched arms hovering within it.
"Okay, at least that works. With that, we can return to this portal no problem."
"Great! So should we go now?"
"Yeah, lead the way."
The three then departed from the portal and headed deep within the territory of the demon realm. Karis led them as she was the one who knew of the place more than anyone in the group while Ren, and Kurumi were looking around, observing the sights.
However, there wasn't exactly any sights to see. Everywhere they look was just an endless barren land with the occasional dead trees, and skeletal remains. The demon realm was nothing but a giant wasteland, created by years of conflict between different demon factions. Their bloodthirsty way of living their life had ultimately led to this pathetic state of their world. Sooner or later, their entire race would cease to exist along with this world if nothing was done.
"So Karis, mind telling us where we're heading?" Ren asked.
"Oh right. Well, our true destination would be the Demon Lord's palace which is in the center of Altera, the remaining habitable city of this realm. All of the demons are gathered there which makes things easier for me to speak with them all," Karis replied.
"You're kidding right? You're telling me that the entire population of this world lives in one measly city?"
"Honestly, I would be relieved if it was all just a joke, unfortunately, it's not. The remaining people of our race, excluding the wild Savages, is so few that a city is enough to house them all," Karis said with a melancholic tone.
"How many are we talking about?"
"About six to seven hundred thousand maybe? Again, excluding wild Savages since we can't really document their numbers."
"That's... not a lot. Yeah, your people REALLY need help."
"Yeah..."
"Come on now, cheer up. That's why we're here. Your people are gonna get worried if they saw you wearing that frown," Ren said, being the one to spread positivity for the first time. However, Karis merely replied with a silent nod.
Suddenly...
The land that the three of them were standing on began quaking out of the blue. Ren, and Karis were easily able to maintain their balance but Kurumi almost fell over until Ren supported her. The earth crumbled as their foothold suddenly split apart. All three of them moved over to the left side to remain together. As they did, a serpentine creature emerged out of the cracks between the separated land. The serpent hissed at the sight of the three before it.
"Will you look at that, someone finally came to greet us!" Ren exclaimed with an excited voice.
"Geez, we just fought something a few minutes ago and now you're out for blood again?" Karis sighed.
"Heh, I was holding back a lot back there because we're in an enclosed space. I need to let out some steam. Thankfully, we have a volunteer right here."
The serpent swayed its body elegantly in the air, waiting for its chance to strike. However, before it could do anything, Ren was already in the middle of channeling his attack. He held his hand in the air, gathering wind currents in his grasp. Because of the tainted air of the Demon Realm, the air that was gathering at his palm had a blackish color that made it extremely visible to Karis, and Kurumi.
Seeing that one of its targets was stationary, the serpent began to lunge its body towards Ren. It opened its wide jaw, revealing a pair of sharp fangs that glistened with the color of its venom oozing around it, and coating its sharp edges. Ren however, did not move from his spot. Instead, he was anticipating the serpent's attack as he then brought his palm out towards his target.
"SHAAAAA!!" the serpent hissed.
"COME HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Ren shouted back.
The orb on Ren's palm kept gathering wind currents while the serpent was on its way towards him. A few moments later, as the distance was close enough, Ren unleashed the devastating power of his attack. The orb had exploded outwards in a fan-shaped area, releasing a deadly horizontal tornado that shredded the serpent's upper body, all the way to its bones. The serpent's shredded upper segment went with the flow of the air, twisting with the current of the tornado.
However, it seemed like the attack's firepower was a bit too much. With how brittle the soil, and rocks were, they easily got swept up with the wind. As the attack flew away, the ground that it was passing through got fractured, and a rift opened up that ran for quite a fair distance from Ren's location.
All of those event happened within the fraction of a second as Ren's attack was just that quick. Karis, and Kurumi witnessed the event and barely missed it all with the blink of their eyes.
"Isn't that too much?" Karis remarked.
"Agreed," Kurumi replied.
The bottom remains of the serpent fell lifelessly to the ground as its blood oozed out of its body. The two girls couldn't help but pity the poor creature that stood no chance in front of their husband.
"Whew, that felt better!" Ren screamed while stretching his body as if that attack was just a warm up.
"You know, I'm actually getting quite worried of our journey."
"Yeah, me too."
After Ren's short release of power, the three then continued onward as they went to the city of Altera.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Act 2 - Altera, the Last City
Ren's travel to the demon city had been going on for two days, or at least that's how he and his companions had perceived it. With the unchanging state of the sky, there was no telling how much time had passed. Their only basis of the passage of time was their own internal body clock.
Their trip was, by no means, smooth. There were occasional encounters with wild Savages, which was either quickly taken care of by Ren, or served as Karis' combat practice with him supervising. Kurumi was never involved in any of the fights and instead was just assigned as the group's baggage carrier whenever they're busy.
"Ahh, are we there yet?" Ren asked who was clearly getting sick of walking all this time. He had an extremely bored look on his face as even the Savage encounters were getting less and less exciting for him.
"Don't worry. We're pretty close now," Karis replied.
"In the first place, why was that portal way out of your main city? Wouldn't it be easier if you just placed it near your city gates?"
"That's because we did not build that portal. Apparently, it had been there for a long time already but was only discovered in my father's generation."
Ren's bored expression suddenly shifted to that of great interest after Karis' small revelation.
"Wait, with a structure that big, and how desolated the place was, you JUST found out about it?" he asked.
"Yeah. Also, I believe the underground basement where it was located was already there as well. The castle was just built on top of it."
"Hmm..."
Ren began to think to himself as they walked. Karis' words did trigger something from his memory, or rather borrowed memory from his summoner, Phoros. The old man, after all, had dedicated himself into reading academic books, and magic research. This also included history books as he was also the type to be curious about origins.
"Hey Karis..." Ren called out.
"Yes?"
"Have you remembered reading a book called 'The Queen's Broken Heart?'"
"Doesn't ring a bell."
"From what I could recall, it was a story about a certain queen who fell in love with a being from another world," Ren said what he could about the mentioned book in his memory.
"Doesn't that sound just like you two?" Kurumi giggled.
"Come to think of it, yeah-- where have you read this book?" Karis asked.
"No, I didn't read it. It was from Phoros' memory. From what I could tell, it was apparently an old history book retold as a short novel. Hmm... wait a second..."
Ren stayed silent for a bit as he closed his eyes trying to picture the book in his mind.
"Yeah, it looked so damn old. I bet it's something from hundreds or thousands of years ago. Wow, those must be some tough papers," he added.
"Could you tell me more about it?" Karis requested.
"Oh sure wait a second...hmm... yeah it's what I said, it's about a human queen who fell in love with a being from another world. However, the story ended in a tragedy since her lover was forced to return to his world. The two promised to be reunited again one day. However, years passed and the other-worlder still hasn't returned. The queen, who was eagerly waiting, was getting sick, and in the end, she died having not seen her lover in her final moments," Ren summed up the story and narrated what he could make sense of the plot. As he mentioned more and more about the story, the look on Karis' face was beginning to get more serious by the second.
"The name of the two lovers. Do you know them?" she asked.
"Ermm, let's see, the human was called Queen Atera, and the other-worlder was called Ru."
At that moment, Karis stopped in her tracks. Ren, and Kurumi halted as well.
"Ru...Atera.... wait... there was a demon lord from about a hundred years ago with the name Atera!" Karis exclaimed.
"Hmm, so whoever wrote that book swapped their names? So does that mean that story could be real?"
"I don't know, probably? However, there weren't any records that says that he crossed to that world."
"Then maybe no one knew about it? Maybe it was his own escapade."
"Probably, I'll go take a look about his anecdote when we made it to the castle library."
With that, another objective had been added into Ren's list. He was not interested in the history of his summoned world by any means, however, it seemed like Phoros' curiosity was getting rubbed on him.
As they walked a few more steps forward, Ren could see a huge wall taking shape from the horizon. He squinted his eyes to see better in the distance. Sure enough, there was a gigantic wall, protecting a large city within its territory. A magnificent castle stood at the far back middle of the wall.
"There it is, Altera, the last city," Karis pointed out.
"Hmm, Altera? Al-te-ra... A-ru-te-ra... I see. Atera might had never returned, but Queen Ru always remained in his heart," Ren thought to himself as he noticed the hidden pattern within the city's name.
"Hmm?"
"What's wrong Ren?"
"Is it just me or does that place look a lot like Ironblade?"
As Ren had observed, the city had a rather similar look to Ironblade's capital. The castle's build, the architecture of the dwellings that he could see as they got closer were very similar indeed to the houses he used to see as he strolled through the streets of Ironblade.
"Huh... I never noticed. Then again, this city was one of the oldest kingdoms from the past warring eras. We just inherited it," Karis replied.
The three were getting closer to the city gates, however before they got close enough, Ren grabbed something from his mobile storage as they walked. A few moments later, he pulled out three sets of hooded mantles which he then placed on top of Karis, and Kurumi.
"What?" Karis yelped in surprise.
"Cover yourself up. We can't reveal your identity just yet or we may have trouble moving around," Ren instructed as he wore the mantle on his back and wore the hood over his head.
"Oh yeah, got it."
Karis, and Kurumi then followed suit, doing the same.
The gate was getting closer, and closer by the second. However, something seemed strange. There was no one guarding the entrance to the city. Usually there would be soldiers posted just outside to guard from intruders and screen the incoming visitors.
"That's strange. No one's guarding the gate," Ren thought out loud.
"What for? The walls are enough to keep the wild Savages out," Karis replied.
"No but do you just let everyone in without reviewing their backgrounds? What if an intruder managed to sneak in your city?"
"There won't be any intruders. This is the only city in the world remember? Everyone lives here," Karis chuckled.
"Oh... right."
"Pfft!" Kurumi tried to hold in her laugh but couldn't stop her voice from leaking out. Ren gave her a look of disbelief at how shallow her humor was.
"Sorry," she apologized immediately soon after but even her apology couldn't contain her giggles.
The three then, upon arriving at the city walls, silently entered the city gates. Sure enough, there were no guards stationed even at the inner entrance. The people nearby merely gave them a quick, uninterested glance and immediately turned away, minding their own business. They had successfully entered Altera without catching much attention.
"Oh how long has it been. So nostalgic..." Karis said as she stood along with Ren, and Kurumi by her side, marveling at the sight of her hometown.
There were the humanoid, Anthro-Demons, which populated most of the streets. Some Beastfolks were also seen walking around in groups. Each group was led by a Beastfolk with significantly redeeming qualities. However, Ren seemed to notice something odd about the city.
"Hmm, is it just me or does the town seem rather gloomy?" Ren remarked.
"Their world is in the brink of collapsing. Wouldn't it be strange if they were all jolly instead, no?" Kurumi retorted.
"That's fair, but if it were me, I'd be living the best out of my life thinking that everyday might be the last."
"You'll bring the whole place into anarchy if you did that."
"Fair point. Oh well, that's why we're here. Now it's just off to the castle right?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
The three continued to walk through the town. Their destination, the demon lord's castle was on the other end of the city, and so a little more walking was required.
"Hahh. Hahh."
Suddenly, Ren noticed that Karis' breathing seemed to be getting heavier. Her movement was also getting sluggish as she began to fall slightly behind from the group. Ren stopped for a bit, followed by Kurumi who also noticed Karis' fatigued state.
"Are you okay?" Ren asked.
"It's...fine...I'm...good..." Karis replied in between pants.
"We've been walking for quite some time now without rest after all. Maybe we should settle down for a while," Kurumi suggested.
"Agreed. Hey Karis, is there any inn nearby here?"
"No inns... but there are abandoned houses that we can use. There are more houses here than people could occupy."
"Great. So where's the nearest one we could use?"
Karis turned her head around to search for any uninhabited dwellings. It was quite easy to tell since the houses where there were demons living within had their windows open. Karis pointed at one of the houses where the windows, and door were all closed.
"That one."
"I see. Got it," Ren said as he picked Karis up and headed over to the empty house with Kurumi. He turned the knob and pushed his way inside. Ren may have found themselves in an empty house, however the furnitures were quite well-maintained despite the fact.
The house only had one floor, but the necessities were complete. A dining table sat at the far back and a small bed was placed just beside the entrance. Ren placed down Karis on the bed, laying her down to give her some needed rest.
"Rest up, Karis."
"Yeah, thank you."
The two shared a quick kiss and then Karis closed her eyes to take her nap. Ren, and Kurumi went around the small house, checking everything out.
"You're quite tough are you?" Ren said to Kurumi.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Kurumi replied.
"Well, it's just that you don't seem tired at all after all that."
"I don't get tired. My stamina recovers instantly remember?"
"Oh, right..."
Ren grabbed a water canteen from their supplies, taking a few quick sips to rehydrate himself. After finishing his drink, he instinctively looked at Karis' way. Concern was evident on his face as he set his eyes on his napping wife.
"Worried about her?" Kurumi said as she noticed the uneasiness that Ren was feeling.
"Yeah. I might just be paranoid, but she hasn't been herself quite lately," Ren replied, not turning his eyes away from Karis.
"I noticed it too. Especially back at the portal room."
"What is happening to her? Should I be this worried?"
"It's fine. It's only natural to be concerned. She is your wife after all."
"Maybe bringing her here was a bad idea after all."
"Don't speak like that. You're going to make her cry."
Ren grabbed another canteen from their baggage and took another quick sip. Kurumi did the same.
"Yeah. You're right," Ren said after finishing his second drink.
"You're overstressing yourself. Stop worrying too much. Or if you want, I could help you with that," Kurumi replied as she grappled onto Ren's arm and stuck her chest on it, clearly inviting him for something. However, Ren did not react at all.
"Not now. I can't when I'm worried this much," he gently refused.
"I see. I understand..." Kurumi said as she pulled away. Her disappointment could be heard from her voice. Although before she could completely pull herself away, Ren pulled her in front of him and gave her a tight embrace from behind.
"But thank you for the thought," he spoke.
Kurumi's disappointment was immediately brushed off as she savored her husband's embrace all for herself. It was quite rare after all for her to have him all to herself. She held his hands, removing any minor insecurities she had after her offer was declined, and reaffirming the fact that she was indeed loved.
"You're welcome," she replied.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Act 3 - Mark of a Leader
It didn't take long for Karis to fully recover from her fatigue. In a few hours, she was already standing strong, ready to continue their journey to the palace. However, Ren's worries still hadn't subsided.
"Are you sure you're good to go now?" Ren asked.
"Yep, I'm in tip-top shape now. Come on let's go, we still got a good walk ahead of us," Karis replied, seemingly full of energy.
"Well if you say so... hey wait!"
Karis then stepped out of the dwelling that they were staying at, however much to everyone's surprise, there was a crowd of demons waiting for her outside. The demons looked up at her as she opened the door. Smiles spread across everyone's faces the moment they saw the demon exiting the dwelling.
"It's true!"
"It is her!"
"The princess has returned!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd as Karis, with her hood not properly placed, showed herself to her subjects. Realizing what had just happened, Karis started to panic inside but did her best to suppress her emotions.
"You airhead! You left your hood wide open!" Ren screamed as she chased after her, but it was too late, her face was already revealed to the public.
"Look! The rumors were right! She is with a human! What is going on here?" said someone when Ren appeared behind Karis.
"There's another one right there!" another one said when Kurumi appeared in their eyes. The demons then exchanged words amongst each other as they witness the presence of two humans casually taking refuge in their realm.
"What is going on here?!"
"So the rumors were true! Lord Damian was defeated and now the princess was taken hostage!"
"U-unhand her you fiend!"
The situation suddenly took a turn for the worse as the demons were giving hostile remarks onto Ren, and Kurumi. Hysteria was slowly starting to build up within the crowd, however before the situation could get any worse, Karis had decided to step up and put out the flames while it was still weak.
"Listen up everyone! Indeed, it is I, Karis von Diablo, first princess, and daughter of our late lord, Dante von Diablo, and younger sibling of Damian von Diablo," Karis started speaking to her people, prompting everyone to fall silent despite the commotion earlier. It seemed that Karis' authority was the real deal.
"Well, this is the best course of action now," Ren sighed in defeat.
"Are we going to be in trouble?" Kurumi asked.
"I can't give you a definite answer. For now, let's just believe her."
Kurumi nodded and turned her attention back to Karis.
"Everyone, it seems like you were already aware of my arrival here in the demon realm. I tried my best to lay low, but you have found me out. I won't asked how you knew, or where you got it from, however to confirm, yes it is I, and just so you know, I am not being held hostage."
Positive reactions came from the crowd now that they're minds were put at ease. They just silently listened, waiting for the young princess' next words.
"I was planning to head back first to the palace so that the whole city will hear of my message, however now that you're here, it wouldn't hurt to let you hear of my message in advance," she paused for a bit and took a deep breath as she prepares herself to pass on the news.
"First of all, we have lost the war against the humans. My brother, our reigning Demon Lord, was defeated in battle and died an honorable death. However!" she spoke loudly before anyone could react.
"Even though we have lost the war, our migration to the human realm will still continue. After all, I have already secured a place for all of you to live in!" she spoke happily, trying to increase the crowd morale.
"War had always been a part of our history. It is why we were in this situation in the first place. All those centuries of us desecrating our beloved land with the blood of our own kin had brought about this sad state that our world is in. That is why, to break free from tradition, and embrace revolution, I tried my best to make peace with the humans!"
"It was a long, exhausting fight, but in the end, I've succeeded! And it was all thanks to this man that stands beside me!" Karis waved her hand and proudly showcased Ren to her people. All of the demons hearing her speech followed her hand and turned their attention towards Ren.
"This man, had been my greatest ally throughout this whole ordeal. He is non other than my beloved husband. Yes, you heard that right, him, a human from the other realm, and me a pure-blooded demon, are joined together by love. Through meeting him was when I only turned my dreams into a reality!"
The crowd had mixed reactions upon the revelation. There were some who were in disbelief while there were also those who felt amazement. Regardless, no one still said a word while Karis was still talking.
"Our union is my proof to show you that it is indeed possible for us to live in harmony with the humans. Now, will you accept this and join me in our new home, my people?!"
A long silence ensued as Karis waited for her people's response.
"If Lady Karis says so, then I would be happy to obliged," someone in the middle of the crowd finally spoke.
"We believe in your judgment Karis-sama!" another cheered.
Karis' face lit up as she heard the crowd in front of her give their positive responses one-by-one. Even those who were skeptical about living in peace with the humans were convincing themselves and believing Karis' words.
A big smile spread across the hopeful demon princess' face. Ren gave her a light pat on the shoulder as recognition for her achievement.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! I'm glad to know that everything I fought for had been worth it!" Karis happily said her gratitude with tears in her eyes.
"But, Lady Karis, telling us this won't be enough, and even if we did spread the word, I doubt the other demons will believe us, especially those with strong loyalty to Lord Damian," one of the demons reminded.
"Yes, I'm quite aware of that. As I said, we're heading towards the palace right now so that my message could reach farther. Speaking of which, how is Lilith ruling you these days. She was the one left in charge of things here right?" Karis replied.
"Well, the truth is, we're not really feeling Lady Lilith's presence while she was ruling us. Most of the governance was being dealt with by the elders, and we haven't heard nor seen Lady Lilith at all."
"I see... sounds like she's been slacking. I will be heading there myself anyway so I shall go check on her. However, if you could please not spread about my presence as of yet. I want to get there as discreetly as possible so as to not attract unnecessary attention. Can I count on you?"
"As you wish, our queen!"
All the demons bowed in synchronization.
"Looks like you really are quite popular with your people. They have a huge respect on you," Ren remarked.
"Yes, and I don't want to betray their respect. So shall we go to the palace now?"
"After you."
Ren, Karis, and Kurumi then continued their walk to the demon palace. The surrounding crowd of demons gave them way to proceed smoothly on the narrow road. All of them were still wary of the two humans, but with Karis' presence, their worries were quickly dismissed.
"Wow. I can't help but admire you Karis-san. I've never seen someone endeared that much by their own kin. Looks like you're going to be a great queen with Ren's new land," Kurumi said, praising Karis' potential as an incoming true sovereign.
"Thank you so much Kurumi-san. However, don't forget, you're going to be a queen as well. You're Ren's wife as well after all," Karis happily replied.
"Me?! No, no no no way. I don't think I can act as a leader to a group of people. I don't care about the title really. I don't have to be a queen, you'll be more than enough!"
"Well you haven't tried it yet how can you tell?"
"No no no, really, I'm not fit for it."
"Aww, come on."
"Let her be, Karis," Ren suddenly cut-in as he fixed Karis' mantle and placed the hood over her head which she forgot to do earlier. Ren was not risking another sudden encounter like earlier, they were in a rush after all.
"What? You don't think she can be a leader?" Karis asked.
"Not all people are fit to become leaders. Out of the three of us, you're the only one who could fit the job."
"Even you?"
"I'm no leader. I can't control a group of people unless I use force, and that already says a lot. That's why I'd rather have you rule the land we'll be getting. I'll just make sure that your plans are put into action," Ren explained.
"He's right you know? And I'm too soft-hearted to become a leader. I will just cave in to pressure and do whatever my people want without thinking about it," Kurumi added.
"Well, if you say so..." Karis sighed in defeat as she was beaten in numbers.
With their identity properly masked now, the three then headed to the next section as they approached the heart of the city where the magnificent palace, the place where the past rulers of the demon realm once dwelled, stood.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Act End - Lilith, the Lord's Vassal
Demon Realm, Altera the last city.
A magnificent palace proudly stood within its walls, towering over the dwellings of the common folk around it. It's architecture was like a massively improved version of the castle that the invading demons had built in the human realm.
However, as opposed to what was usual, the palace had no security at all in its gates, showing the confidence in power of the demons who stood at the top of the hierarchy. The palace gates were all open to the public, daring anyone to enter the lair of the Demon Lord.
At the heart of the castle, there stood a certain lone girl in a dark room who appears to be reading a book. The book's cover showed the face of a glorious demon. 'Atera, the Founding Demon's Magnificent Life' was written as well in large print, easily readable to the naked eye.
The girl gently flips the page of the book, turning over to the next section. She then silently read its content, her eyes moving from left to right in a brisk motion. Suddenly...
"I'm here to report, my lady."
A demon slowly opened the doors of the room, letting in some light coming from the hallway. The demon slowly marched towards the girl and kneeled in her presence.
"Speak," the girl said in an uninterested tone as she hadn't ceased on reading her book.
"Right. We've received report from the city gates. The first princess, Lady Karis, had just arrived along with two humans," the underling replied.
The girl's eyes stopped in their tracks. She gently closed the book with her palms, and turned her attention to the demon reporting to her.
"Details."
"Right. Apparently, the three, unknown at first, were observed to have entered the gates wearing hooded mantles. They took a rest inside one of the uninhabited houses, however some of our people standing by took interest on them and waited outside. Some time later, Lady Karis came out of the door, and even gave them a speech she intended to deliver to the whole city."
"A speech?" she asked.
"Yes, according to her, Lord Damian and his army have lost the war against the humans, but she was able to secure us a place on the other world through peaceful methods." the underling answered.
"I see, that does sound like her."
"Also, she claimed that one of the humans who are with her is her lover apparently."
"What?!" the girl's tone changed as she let out a calm but angry response. Her gripped on the book she was holding got tighter following the underling's words.
"Is that all?" she said, maintaining the tone.
"Y-yes," the underling answered, clearly feeling the girl's anger as his voice shook a bit.
"You're dismissed."
"Thank you very much!"
With his leave approved, the henchman then swiftly left the girl's room, closing the door as he went. The girl, now all alone, went over to her bookshelf and carefully placed her book back to where it belonged. As she did so, her lips curled from an angry scowl into a mischievous smiled as she failed to contain her excitement.
"I see. Damian-sama was defeated. However..."
As she trailed off, the girl brought her arms onto her body, hugging herself. Her body shook and she began letting out stifled moans.
"Ahh~ Karis-sama! It's been a long time since we've seen each other! Oh how I missed touching your smooth, supple skin, and feasting my eyes on your beautiful face," the girl moaned as her body continued to tremble in excitement. Sweat began to run down her body, and her crotch was even starting to dampen with her arousal.
"Although what is the meaning of this? Why is a human you're lover! Is he the one who took down Damian-sama? That's it! That's gotta be it right?!" the girl began murmuring her thoughts out loud. Her arousal from earlier had turned into worry, then anger, and then finally, into pure confidence.
"Well, it doesn't matter. The moment they step foot into this castle, they'll already be in my grasp. Karis-sama will be safe, and those humans would serve as my nutrients. Fufu," she chuckled.
Suddenly, a violent knock on the door interrupted the girl's monologue. The people who knocked didn't even bother waiting for her answer and barged right in.
Five old-looking demons who appear to be of great importance with the way they were dressed up forced themselves inside the room. The girl quickly fixed her posture as she turned to face the unwelcomed guests.
"Oh? Well, well, to what do I owe this pleasure, council elders?" she gently asked.
"It's been a long time already and we haven't heard from the frontlines! When are you going to send reinforcements to check on the state of the other world, Lilith!" one of the elders angrily shouted, however the girl, Lilith, wasn't fazed by the elder's intimidation one bit.
"Damian-sama ordered us to stay put and await further orders. I'm just following what he said," Lilith replied. Of course, she already had a hunch that her lord had already fallen in battle, but she put up a front as if she had no idea to the elders.
"We're already running out of resources! We need to send some of ours to the new world else we'll begin to starve!"
"Right! Also, what if the Demon Lord had already fallen in battle?! Then you're just waiting for nothing!"
Each of the elders tried to deliver a sound reasoning however, Lilith didn't seem the least bit interested to their yapping as she was just half listening to their complaints.
"Are you doubting Damian-sama's strength?" she asked with a menacing tone.
"Wha- no! We never said such a thing! It's just that we're running out of time!"
"Such disrespect to our lord, that's high treason you know? A serious crime to our proud race. A crime punishable by death, you know that don't you?" Lilith continued without bothering to listen to the elders as her face twisted back into a mischievous smile.
"Also, I am kinda pissed off right now, so..."
As she trailed off, countless tentacles sprouted from her back, some even came crawling from the crevices of the room's walls. In a few seconds, the room was filled with her tentacles, almost as if the entire room became a part of her body. The elders all looked around, witnessing the horror, and realizing the danger they were in. They turned back and tried to run back towards the door, however, the exit was already blocked by Lilith's tentacles.
"Wait! We never meant to disrespect his highness!"
"Right! Isn't this a bit too sudden?!"
They tried pleading for their lives in a roundabout way, but it all fell on deaf ears. Lilith was already decided about her next course of action, and nothing was going to stop her.
"Wait! Wait please! Don't kill us! We're the council elders you know! Do you realize how serious of an impact your action will do if you were to continue with this?"
More desperate cries came out of the elders' mouths as they felt death's grasp approaching closer. Just then, one of Lilith's tentacles came and effortlessly whipped one of the elder's head off. The head flew to the far side of the room, and lifelessly rolled to the ground.
"GAHHHH!!!" screams of terror escaped the lips of the remaining elders as they witnessed one of them got mercilessly beheaded by the girl before them.
"Wait! Wait! Let's talk about thi--" before another elder could even finish, his head was already blown right off. At this point, the remaining elders fell into despair as they realized that there was no saving them anymore. They helplessly kneeled to the ground. Even amongst demons, there was still a monster left to be feared.
"Why?" one of the elders who still had a shred of their sanity left asked the girl standing before them.
"Your meddling is no longer needed. Together with my queen, we will be the new rulers of the demons, and will continue the invasion of the other realm," Lilith bluntly answered. As she did so, a giant tentacle slammed onto the remaining elders, turning their bodies into a bloody paste on the floor which had transformed into a flesh-like texture.
The scattered remains of the elders were then slowly dissolved as the whole room itself transformed to the same fleshy material that the floor was made of. In a few seconds, the bloody remains of the elders were nowhere to be found, and the room was returned to its previous stony material.
"Thank you for the meal~" Lilith said as she licked her lips.
"You've done it now," a voice suddenly called from beyond the room's door. A demon with the body of a man, and tiger combined, came marching inside the room with no shred of fear despite being close by when Lilith partook in her meal.
"Leo? How long have you been there?"
"The whole time."
"Oh is that so?"
"Well, what's the call now?" the demon called Leo asked.
"Isn't it obvious? We welcome our queen Karis-sama as she returns to her humble abode. It's going to be quite a celebration. But, we have to do something with the pests on her side," Lilith replied.
"I see. Then, shall I go prepare for her arrival?" Leo smirked.
"Fufufu... Ahh it's been so long..." Lilith giggled.
"I've been waiting, my queen."