Ch.119The Demon Lord Astaroth – 4

On a lush green field, a girl wearing a black robe pulled up to the top of her head was smiling brightly and muttering to herself.

“Really. You always exceed expectations. I didn’t know you’d become this strong.”

Beneath the girl’s feet stretched a natural landscape so beautiful and brilliant it felt almost unnatural. It was the aftermath of the “Light” sweeping through.

After plucking one magnificently bloomed flower and briefly savoring its fragrance, the girl walked forward humming a tune, then stopped at a certain point. Looking down, she spoke.

“Failed again, Astaroth?”

Just like last time.

“You should have waited a little longer. If you’d just waited one more week, a perfect opportunity would have come. Why were you so obsessed with becoming Queen when you already had the Demon Lord position? Being a Demon Lord is much better than being a Succubus Queen, isn’t it?”

The girl giggled.

If only Astaroth hadn’t gone mad with jealousy and rushed off immediately after realizing that a new Succubus Queen had been born and that Queen was Nika, she could have met a better end than this.

“Sorry. I can’t save you this time. Your very concept has been erased.”

But Astaroth couldn’t help herself.

This was the result. An ending where not even a fragment of her small body remained to be laid in a handful of earth, and even the concept that she once existed in the real world was permanently erased.

Finding something immensely amusing, the girl kept humming cheerfully before plopping herself down on the flower bed. Then, as if someone were sitting beside her, she continued speaking.

“That light was truly amazing. Even just feeling its aftermath made my body shiver. Me, of all people! Isn’t that wonderful?”

The girl began rambling about the sensations she had felt, like a child who had received a desired Christmas present. Most of it was praise for Mira Crate and joy at witnessing what had happened.

After chattering for quite some time, the girl stood up, dusting off her bottom.

“Ah, that was a good talk. It really is nice to have someone to converse with. Though you probably couldn’t hear me anyway.”

She chuckled toward the ground beneath her feet and was about to leave when she seemed to realize something, letting out an “Ah!” and exaggeratedly hitting her own head.

“Oh my. Look at me. I almost left without doing it. This is all that man’s fault. How could anyone stay calm after seeing something like that?”

Grumbling words that could be either praise or criticism, she raised her right index finger. Black energy seeped from its tip, covering the surrounding nature.

The land that had held countless lives died, reverting to a barren wasteland where no life could survive. The girl stepped on the dried-up grass, making it crackle, and laughed gleefully.

“There. That’s done. Now I should head back.”

The girl held between her thumb and middle finger the flower she had plucked earlier—the one she had tucked into her chest, which had remained unwilted until the end. She smiled as she poked its petals with her other finger.

“Keep getting stronger and stronger, Mira Crate.”

When she stabbed the flower for the third time, its life lost its final light and withered. Her delicate finger fell away. The colorless petals fluttered down to rest among their companions.

“Until you can come find me.”

“……”

As I opened my eyes, a dazed feeling washed over me. At least my body was still moving. I raised my upper body and looked around. Familiar ceiling, familiar walls, and familiar sights.

“Young master! Are you conscious?!”

Beatrice, who had been sitting in a chair right next to the bed, rushed over with a clattering sound and firmly grasped my hand. I squeezed back.

“More or less. This is your room, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Rest assured, no one knows you’ve returned except for me, Yustera, and one other guest.”

I felt grateful that she hadn’t called doctors or informed my parents, instead quietly bringing me to her room to rest. But that feeling was short-lived as Beatrice immediately began nursing me.

As if she had been waiting for the moment I would wake up. Her eyes blazed with determination fueled by worry.

“Wait. I can eat porridge by myself.”

“Do you know who it was that left alone and then returned unconscious, carried on Yustera’s back? I don’t know, so please tell me the name clearly and distinctly. I need to explain how shocked and saddened I was by that sight.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“If you’re truly sorry, please open your mouth.”

I obediently opened my mouth. I had nothing to say after leaving alone saying not to worry, only to return unconscious.

Beatrice hand-fed me no less than four bowls of porridge before finishing the meal. Then she produced a wet towel from somewhere and proceeded to wipe every corner of my upper body.

She seemed determined not to allow me to leave her care for even a moment.

“Now that you’ve eaten, please go back to sleep. It’s bedtime, young master.”

“I just woke up and I’m not sleepy.”

“Ah, the wound in my heart from watching you unconscious—”

“……”

In the end, Beatrice claimed the spot beside me on the bed and gently cradled my head. My head was buried between soft mounds of flesh. I still wasn’t sleepy.

Only after a full hour passed was I finally released. Despite using her arm as my pillow for the entire hour, Beatrice showed no signs of discomfort and immediately moved on to her next task.

“No clothes. I’ll dress myself.”

It was time to change clothes. Beatrice approached me with indoor clothes and a determined expression.

“Didn’t I dress you until you were sixteen, young master?”

“I’m not sixteen now. And I clearly said I wanted to dress myself starting when I was seven.”

“Ugh, the wound in my heart is again—”

“This much at least is non-negotiable.”

“……”

After negotiating with a pouting Beatrice, we reached a dramatic compromise where she would only help change my upper body. Her delicate touch, like handling a cup filled to the brim with water, traced over my upper body for quite some time.

Beatrice bowed respectfully with the changed clothes and disappeared through the door. My body felt fine, but somehow my mind was getting tired.

“…Are you alright, Master?”

As if trading places with her, Nika timidly entered. She had returned to her usual shy and gentle maid Yustera, not the Succubus Queen Nika she had shown in the demon realm.

“How are you feeling? If anything hurts—”

“I’m fine. I was just a bit dizzy. I’ve said I’m fine several times, but no one listens.”

I deliberately spoke cheerfully as if Beatrice’s overprotection was the cause. It was a method I’d been using for ages. And it also meant I didn’t want to recall what had happened then.

“How long was I unconscious?”

“Two hours.”

“What? That’s not as long as I thought.”

“Well, from your perspective, you just fell asleep and woke up. But when we carried you back unconscious and laid you on the bed, how could we know if it would be a day, a week, a month, or a year?”

“……”

“The Demon Lord… I mean, the former Demon Lord…? Anyway, she was extremely worried too. She thought you might die from using too much power.”

It probably did look like I had used all my strength. But that wasn’t really the case. I had simply released all the power of the Divine Spear that I had been unconsciously limiting.

Still, I felt relieved. If I’d only been unconscious for two hours, then counting from when I left the academy until now with Beatrice’s nursing, it had only been about half a day.

It seemed I could return to the academy on time.

“Where’s Elysiere then?”

“She’s downstairs as a guest. Now that you’re awake, the head maid probably went to inform her.”

As if to prove those words, Elysiere entered the room shortly after. Perhaps because she needed to hide her identity as a Demon Lord, her appearance was slightly different from usual.

The horns on her head were gone, and her hair and eye color had changed from purple and pink to ordinary black.

Her attire was also different—instead of her usual white coat and revealing dress, she wore a noble-style uniform provided for guests.

The uniform clung tightly to her body, emphasizing her characteristically large chest, hips, and buttocks, making her look quite provocative. However, she seemed very satisfied simply because there was almost no exposed skin.

“You’ve regained consciousness. I am glad.”

“What exactly happened?”

“That is what I wish to ask. What was that power? No, not its identity, but something else. Despite its scale and feeling similar to a holy sword, it had no effect on me or the Succubus Queen. It even felt warm and comforting.”

I answered with a bitter smile, and Elysiere, realizing that I didn’t want to discuss it right now, didn’t press further.

Nika, who had been watching us, cautiously spoke up.

“Um… Master. If it’s not too presumptuous, may I ask one question? What kind of relationship do you two have? Last time and this time too…”

“Whatever you imagine, our relationship is deeper than that,” Elysiere snorted in response.

It was half a joke. We’re both reincarnators in this world, aren’t we? By the imagination of people in this world, it would indeed be a deeper relationship.

“A deep relationship…? Between a human and… a Demon Lord…? How…?”

“Is there any reason why it shouldn’t be so?”

“No! That’s not it, but…”

Nika seemed confused for a moment before quietly bowing her head. I heard a quiet murmur: “Then maybe I too…”

She’s already in a slave-master relationship, what more is there to pursue?

“Now that the small talk is over, I must deliver bad news. I could not recover the demon sword. Whether it was destroyed by your power or simply disappeared, I cannot say, but despite searching the area thoroughly with the Succubus Queen, we ultimately could not find it.”

“You couldn’t recover the demon sword? Then Elysiere, you—”

“I am now just a demon who is merely a bit stronger than ordinary ones. And tremendous chaos will come to the demon realm. The Demon Lord has disappeared, after all. Many must have seen that light, and they might conclude that the Demon Lord is dead.”

Elysiere laughed as if pleased by this.

“However, that is not something we need to concern ourselves with or get involved in. They are a race that must disappear someday. The time of fate has simply been brought forward a little.”

That was true. I nodded quietly.

“Nika, what will you do?”

When I turned to Nika, she hesitated before answering with a shrinking demeanor.

“I need to go to the demon realm for a while. Everyone is having trouble with their regular energy supply, and I’m in a position where I need to feed them somehow… Ah, but I’m definitely not giving anything strange! I just take it out of my body and throw it to them like this…!”

Something translucent and white appeared in her hand. Judging by how its color changed constantly, it seemed she could set the color at will.

“So, um, Master…”

Nika glanced conspicuously at my lips while fidgeting with her fingers.

“I think I’ll need quite a lot of energy to share with my children… So… hehe…”

Her intention was obvious. Elysiere, who was standing nearby, sighed, looked at me, and left, closing the door behind her with advice not to drag it out too long.

Left alone, Nika climbed onto the bed, straddled my thighs with her legs spread, and sat on my lap. Her eyes were gradually turning pink.

“It’s okay, Master. This isn’t a kiss. It’s just you feeding your possession…”

Despite the warning and advice to finish quickly, it took a full 30 minutes before Nika left the room. Elysiere, noticing that my clothes weren’t particularly disheveled, remarked with a surprised expression.

“So that creature does possess the concept of self-restraint. How unexpected.”

“She couldn’t hold back. I blocked her, so she failed.”

“…So that’s why she left rubbing her thighs together.”

Nika’s patience ran out after exactly five minutes.

As soon as her patience ran out, she pressed her body close to mine and repeatedly tried to touch my lower body or tear open the buttons on her maid uniform’s chest, but I firmly blocked every attempt, preventing her from achieving her goal.

She asked for energy, so I gave her energy and that was it. If she really couldn’t stand it, she could take care of it herself.

“What will you do now, Elysiere? You can’t return to the demon realm for now. And you’re no longer the Demon Lord.”

“I have something in mind.”

“What is it?”

At my question, Elysiere suddenly clung to me.

“I’ll do anything, so please help me live here.”

“…Huh?”