Chapter 907: The Pressure Now Falls on Megumin
Megumin stared blankly at the ruins before her, feeling a sense of loss.
This was the Demon Lord Army's temporary base built several kilometers outside the Crimson Demon Village. The lesser and greater demons had all evacuated, leaving only Wolbach in the entire base.
And now, Wolbach was gone too.
Just one minute ago, she had died by Megumin's hand.
"Megumin…"
Yunyun looked sadly at the dazed Megumin, tears glistening in her eyes as she empathized with her friend's pain.
"Leave me alone for a while."
Megumin turned her back to the two, pretending nothing was wrong.
Then she secretly sniffled, the sound clear enough for even Yunyun to hear.
The story began an hour earlier.
After Eiji confidently declared that he would deal with Wolbach today, everyone was overjoyed and eagerly asked how he planned to do it and if they could help.
Eiji had everyone else stay behind in the Crimson Demon Village, selecting only Megumin and Yunyun, along with Toshinosuke, to head to the Demon Lord Army's forward base for their operation against the Crimson Demon Village.
Then Eiji pulled out Toshinosuke and shouted:
"Wolbach, if you don't want your other half to disappear, face us in a fair fight!"
Wolbach jumped out, shocked, and agreed to face them in a direct confrontation.
Though the method was underhanded, they couldn't afford to worry about that for the sake of the Crimson Demon Village.
The outcome of the battle goes without saying. While Eiji and Yunyun kept Wolbach occupied, Megumin used Explosion Magic, choking up as she yelled, "Watch closely, this is my final Explosion Magic!" Then she launched a fireball that blasted Wolbach into nothingness.
Eiji looked deeply moved as he led Yunyun away from the ruins.
No one saw the sinister smile that appeared on his face.
You little brat, trying to fight me!
Who do you think you are!
That'll teach you to steal my kill!
Wolbach hiding in the shadows: ()
I'm so done with this asshole!
After resolving the Crimson Demon clan's extinction crisis, Yunyun's admiration for Eiji reached its peak, her eyes overflowing with unspoken affection.
Given Yunyun's easily deceived nature, Eiji felt that with her current level of affection, he could probably trick her into bed in just one night.
But the girl was still young, and the thought of making a move filled him with guilt. In the end, Eiji couldn't bring himself to commit such a crime.
"What's going on with you all?"
The next morning, when Eiji arrived at Megumin's house, he found Kazuma performing a dogeza on the floor.
"This scumbag Kazuma tried to take advantage of Megumin while she's feeling sad!"
Darkness and Aqua looked at Kazuma as if he were kitchen garbage.
"What are you talking about? I'm hurt too, I'm also sad! Megumin and I were just comforting each other's emotional wounds, there weren't any impure thoughts involved! You're the ones with dirty minds for thinking we were doing something inappropriate!"
Kazuma vigorously refuted the accusations, throwing all the blame back on the two.
"We've been staying in the Crimson Demon Village for many days now. Do you want to go back?"
"You're right. Thanks to the Crimson Demons' help these past days, I've leveled up quite a bit and my defense has improved significantly!"
"I'm tired of playing around, I want to go back to Axel!"
The others had long wanted to leave but stayed out of consideration for Megumin. However, after last night's farce, it was clear she had moved past her gloom, so there was no further need to remain.
After all, the Crimson Demon Clan's way of thinking was genuinely unhinged—not everyone could handle it!
"I'll send you all back first. I need to make a stop somewhere."
After packing their belongings, everyone gathered in the yard outside Megumin's house.
"Where are you going?" Darkness suddenly glanced over, her gaze somewhat evasive.
"Meeting a few acquaintances."
Seeing his visibly dismissive attitude, Darkness suppressed her frustration.
With a single teleportation spell, Kazuma and the other three returned to Axel.
Then Eiji cast teleportation on himself.
A flash of white light later, he was back in the Demon King's Castle.
"Your Majesty."
Silvia bowed respectfully, while Wolbach stood nearby.
The two had been waiting there for some time.
"To the succubus shop."
At Eiji's signal, the three headed underground together.
The upper levels of the Demon King's Castle housed facilities like the Demon Lord Army's headquarters, cafeteria, and dormitories. The underground area, however, was filled with various commercial establishments—shops selling armor and weapons, magic tool vendors, and more. After all, the Demon Lord Army wasn't solely composed of combat specialists, and retaining such diverse talents was crucial.
Deep within the underground market stood a succubus shop run by the succubus clan leader, Nia. It didn't offer physical services but specialized in designing custom dreams for clients.
"Your Majesty, why are we visiting the succubus shop again?" Silvia couldn't quite grasp Eiji's intentions. "Wasn't that shapeshifter already sealed by Lady Wolbach?"
"Oh? Do you think the succubus who instructed you to attack the Crimson Demon Clan was that shapeshifter?"
"Uh... wasn't it?" Silvia replied timidly.
As a chimera, her expertise lay in biological sciences—strategy was Serena's forte.
"Wolbach, what do you think?"
Instead of answering directly, Eiji turned to the silent goddess.
"Probably not," Wolbach speculated without hesitation. "If someone wanted to impersonate another to give Silvia orders, mimicking the Demon King would be most effective."
A shapeshifter could replicate the appearance of any known creature. Thus, had it taken Eiji's form to command Silvia to attack the Crimson Demon Clan, she would have obeyed without question, rushing off eagerly.
Yet, the reality was that a succubus relayed the false orders. Silvia had been skeptical for a long time, even consulting Strategist Serena extensively before half-heartedly heading to Crimson Demon Village.
"I see!" Silvia finally understood. "So the one impersonating that succubus wasn't the shapeshifter but someone else?"
"Possibly. That's why I brought you here to investigate."
As they spoke, the group arrived at the succubus shop.
The demons gathered there paled upon seeing the trio, bowing respectfully before scattering like startled birds.
"Your Majesty!"
Shop owner Nia hurried forward, not daring to show any resentment over the lost customers as she respectfully attended to the three.
"Nia, bring out all the succubi in your shop."
Eiji commanded.