POV: Rygar Adoldia
It had been almost two months since we arrived on the Demon Continent. We were once again approaching Fort Necross, in Gaslow Province.
Come to think of it, you could say we were fast — mainly thanks to the Teleportation Circles — but that doesn't mean it was easy. On the contrary, we encountered several difficulties along the way.
The Demon Kings were extremely slippery.
Some fought against us when they heard our demands, others hid in Labyrinths or the deep layers of their territories, and there were still those who simply weren't in their provinces when we arrived.
Fortunately, that last group was a minority.
In the end, we ended up killing six of them over the course of the journey — whether because they were future apostles of Hitogami, or simply because they were vile, cruel, or disgusting creatures by nature.
A perfect example was that Demon King who devoured other sentient species as if they were cattle—humans, elves, dwarves. I killed him simply because I wanted to. He was too repulsive to leave alive.
As I thought about all that, I heard Verdia say:
"I think this is our last stop on the Demon Continent, right?"
We were flying over Ezkalor, as usual, and she was lying on Skoll's fur, reading and reviewing the subordination contracts and agreements we had made with the various Demon Kings.
I helped a little with that, but most of the diplomatic work fell to her — after all, Verdia fought in the Laplace War and even knew some of those demons personally.
"Really?" I answered. "It doesn't seem like that much time has passed… but I think we've finished almost everything we came to do."
I mentally reviewed every important point of the trip.
The Ravennite ore — secured. Now it would be possible to begin forging the Sköllvindr Armor as soon as we returned home.
We traversed the Provinces of the Demon Continent, meeting, confronting, and subjugating every significant Demon King, especially the most powerful of them, the Immortal Demon King Atoferatofe.
We also "conquered" Demon King Beethove Tovetha's Labyrinth Library — which, according to Oldgar, was the best source of knowledge in the entire world — and with it we obtained important information about the Nether King Vita.
In the end, all that remained now involved Demon Empress Kishirika Kishirisu.
Verdia sighed as she put the papers away again, relaxing on Skoll and stretching.
"They say the Great Demon Empress is not easy to deal with… although Gretta told me that those were just rumors. What do we want from her, after all?"
I looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean, what do we want from her? Weren't you the one who taught me that saying? 'The Demon Empress grants Demon Eyes.'"
Verdia smiled knowingly. "I already knew that, but I know you have another reason to speak with her..."
Eris, who was beside her, immediately became excited.
"Am I going to get a demon eye too?!"
I smiled at her expectation.
"Who knows? It all depends on how the conversation goes."
I thought for a few moments before continuing:
"But even if she doesn't want to grant Demon Eyes, Kishirika has an extremely strong Destiny. As strong as mine, according to the Future Guide. So having her as an ally will benefit us regardless."
As we talked, we finally saw Fort Necross rise on the horizon again.
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POV Narrator
Deep within Fort Necross, in the little-used dungeons, a prisoner resided.
"Grrrrr!"
The prisoner's hands were chained and a metal ball was attached to her feet. She had even been given a blue-and-white striped pajama to wear. She looked miserable.
"Grrrrr!"
The low growl that echoed against the walls was not the girl's voice. It was her empty stomach.
It growled to express all its discontent, agreeing with the frustration she felt at the current circumstances.
"Get out!"
The door of her cell opened suddenly to reveal two imposing figures, hidden in black armor.
They forced her to stand and dragged her out. She had no choice but to go with them.
A furious and unpleasant sound reverberated through the corridor as she dragged the heavy metal ball behind her. The prisoner, however, did not care about the weight. She was stronger than she looked.
Led by the black knights, she left the dungeons. The path took them down a long corridor and up a flight of stairs. Finally, the journey ended in the fortress's throne room.
"Hurry up. Move!" They shoved her forward. She stumbled into the circular space, lit by purple chandeliers.
It was the kind of place where one might expect a criminal's punishment to be carried out. When she managed to lift her head, she spotted the throne in front of her.
It was a place the prisoner had occupied in the past, but now a Demon King was seated on it.
"Atofe…" the prisoner murmured.
The Demon King was dressed in the same black armor as her subordinates. The moment the prisoner laid eyes on Atofe, her cheeks flushed red with anger.
"What is the meaning of this?!" the prisoner roared with all the strength she could muster, her voice erupting from the base of her very, very empty belly. Perhaps that had given her its power.
In contrast, the Demon King before her — the most feared in the entire Demon Continent — merely adjusted her posture and made a face at her prisoner.
"How pathetic," said the prisoner. "The late Necross would be lamenting to see you like this!"
"Dad told me to live however I want!" Atofe shouted back.
"Just because you're an idiot who doesn't listen to others! He should have known that this was the only way for you to live. He gave up on you!"
"I'm not an idiot!"
Demon King Atofe became absolutely furious, but the prisoner did not back down. Instead, she snorted with an ironic laugh.
"No doubt, you are an idiot. An idiot among idiots. Even you must understand that. All someone needs to do is show something promising in front of you, and you don't have the brain to think twice about it."
Atofe shook her head vigorously.
"That's not true! Kal said I was smart! That I learned things quickly!"
"Atofe, that was…" The prisoner paused significantly, as if to prolong the moment.
"…just flattery."
"Gaaaaaah!"
The Demon King's rage overflowed. The black knights around her flew at her, trying to pin her down, but she easily knocked them over. Still, the black knights would not be dissuaded.
They adopted a formation similar to a rugby team and immobilized their mistress.
The Demon King flailed her fists in the air, screaming:
"You rotten weakling! I'll kill you! I'll tear you limb from limb! I'll make you swallow those words!"
"Yes, yes. If that bothers you so much, learn to count."
"Gaaaaaah!"
The prisoner's provocation drove the Demon King to the point where she gathered her power to force her knights to step back.
"Lady Kishirika, please stop with these provocations! If you continue provoking Lady Atofe, she…"
"Shut up!" Kishirika retorted to them. "I only came with you because you promised me delicious treats, and look how you treated me! I won't be satisfied until I've fully expressed my complaints!"
Yes, the prisoner Kishirika had really been lured into a trap. One of them had taken off her black armor, her trademark, and tried to tempt her saying: Little girl, we'll give you some sweets if you come with us.
That's how she found herself in this situation.
It was true; Kishirika was the one who fell for the promise of something promising without thinking much.
She had fallen in love with the prospect of hook, line, and bait, only to realize later that she had been deceived. Worse still, the men didn't even keep their promise. She received no treats!
"You didn't even tell me why you took me captive! What are you claiming I did wrong? I didn't…" Kishirika hesitated for a moment.
"I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" She began to fidget, rubbing her hands. There were many possibilities to dismiss.
Kishirika was involved in all kinds of mischief — too much, one might say. Even she had enough self-awareness to know that most of what she did with her time was wrong.
It wouldn't be very surprising if someone were angry with her for that.
To her surprise, the Demon King declared:
"Hmph! You didn't do anything wrong!"
It only took a few seconds for her fury to subside. Atofe knew how futile it was to stay angry with that particular captive.
"Then tell me why!" Kishirika demanded. "No matter how irrational you are, you are not so evil as to capture me for no reason at all! The only time you do something like this is when you have a wrong idea about something, or someone tricked you into…"
Her voice trailed off as realization struck her.
"So that's it. Someone tricked you again!"
"No! No one tricked me!" Atofe shouted back, denying Kishirika's claim.
"That's what people who were tricked say! Fine then! If that caused all this, tell me everything. There's still time. I can save you before it's too late and you do something irreparable. So why don't you remove those shackles first?" Kishirika held out her hands.
Atofe wasn't looking at her. She looked away, lost in thought.
"Deception is committed through conversation. That wasn't our case. We fought each other and, in the end, I admitted defeat."
"You liar! Are you trying to tell me that someone as ridiculously competitive as you admitted defeat?!"
"The one who forced me to admit my defeat… is that man there!" Atofe pointed her finger at a tall, dark-skinned man who stood beside them.
"You…?!" Kishirika looked at the man, but then quickly added: "...wait, who are you?"
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Demon Empress. I am the Beast God, Rygar Adoldia."
Kirishika seemed to understand the situation immediately. As soon as she looked at Rygar, her eyes shone with recognition.
"Ah! So it's you!" she exclaimed. "If it really is you, then it's possible you were able to defeat Atofe."
Rygar blinked.
"You know about me?"
The Empress snorted as if the question were absurd.
"Who doesn't know you these days, you monster?" she said in a somewhat indignant tone.
"Besides… I can't even see you with my eyes. What exactly do you have? Did you take some crazy potion like Badi?"
As she spoke, her eyes spun like real slot machines — changing color in sequence: purple, blue, green, pink, back to purple.
Rygar observed the phenomenon with deep interest. That was the way the Demon Empress manipulated her various Demon Eyes — freely alternating them, as if she were merely switching lenses.
It would be a lie to say he didn't want those eyes for study. It was all very fascinating.
However, he decided to set that curiosity aside, since Oldgar had described her as a great ally. She was eccentric, but loyal to her own principles.
Rygar smiled.
"I didn't take any potion. I just possess a magic that can conceal me from that kind of sight."
Then, he looked away at one of Atofe's demon guards and ordered:
"Alright, release her. I didn't come here to talk to a prisoner. By the way… why did you imprison her?"
Atofe puffed out her chest, proud, as if she had made the most logical decision in the world.
"She ran away many times when I wanted to talk to her in the past! Imprisoning her is the best method!"
Rygar sighed — a long sigh.
"Don't do that in the future. We will be allies from now on."
"Aaaall right!" Atofe replied, without arguing.
Kirishika was shocked to see this.
Rygar commanded Atofe's guards, and they really obeyed without thinking twice. The most impressive thing about the situation was someone being able to command Atofe so directly. The Demon Empress couldn't help but become more serious, reevaluating Rygar.
After they were released, everyone proceeded down the black stone corridors to a meeting hall of Fort Necross.
The room was spacious, with thick columns and a heavy table in the center, probably made of some sort of sturdy demonic wood.
Eris and Skoll were not present — they were outside, training with the fortress guards. The sound of fights echoed even from inside.
When Atofe heard that, she immediately became excited and went to join the fight. So, in the hall there remained only Moore, Rygar, Verdia, and Kishirika.
Verdia was the first to speak, smiling warmly.
"It is an honor to be in the presence of the Great Demon Empress! I heard that you like sweets, so I made some new recipes I learned from Rygar. I hope you like them."
Kishirika's eyes lit up at the word "sweets." But there was suspicion, after all, she had just been deceived because of treats.
"Well… I think there's no harm in trying…" she murmured, taking a spoon with some hesitation.
The sweet smell of the pudding rose slowly; Kishirika brought the spoon to her mouth, closed her eyes…
And tears began to stream down her face immediately.
"Th-this…" her voice trembled. "Something this delicious really exists? I… I can't believe it…!"
On the table there were several kinds of sweets — the industrial advancement of the Gaia Kingdom had allowed some of Rygar's old recipes to finally be reproduced: pudding, dango, anko… the latter especially versatile.
The Empress seemed hypnotized as she tasted each one.
Verdia looked on the verge of exploding with joy; after all, Kishirika was also one of her idols, alongside Atofe. For her, it was like serving dessert to a celebrity she had admired since youth.
As she devoured the sweets, Kishirika sighed deeply — as if she were experiencing the meaning of life.
"Maybe the reason I was born was… to savor the taste of these divine creations!"
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