Ch.131Chapter 131. An Unwelcome Reunion

Demon Tribe.

A race of plunderers from another dimension who have penetrated the dimensional wall and entered this world through the mighty power of the Demon Lord.

They can grow infinitely as long as their desires permit, becoming an increasingly greater danger to humanity as time passes.

And among the members of the Demon Lord’s army, everyone would unanimously name the “Four Heavenly Kings” as the strongest demons aside from the Demon Lord himself.

“Me, Me, Me…”

Mephisto, second in command, has appeared before her.

Realizing this, shock began to burst from the lips of Yuinoi, the young saint of the Meter Order.

“Why is Lord Mephisto here!?”

“Shh.”

Merilyn swung her hand to cover the young saint’s mouth.

The young saint trembled in surprise at her strength, but Merilyn paid no mind and quietly observed the atmosphere around them.

This place was the saint’s private room connected to the prayer hall of the Meter Order.

Merilyn had come here because while wandering the city to gather concerning information, she received a request from the Meter Order to perform music for their sacred hymns.

Meter was the most influential religious order after Priga, the empire’s state religion.

She had accepted the request expecting to gather plenty of information, but what she actually encountered was a fellow demon acting as a saint in the order.

How could she not be concerned when priests who would gladly kill demons were worshipping one as their saint?

“Most compassionate Saint of Meter, I apologize for this insignificant poet daring to lay hands on your noble person, but I must nevertheless speak with you.”

“Mmph, mmph.”

The young saint’s eyes welled with tears as her mouth remained covered.

Soon, Merilyn narrowed her eyes and began to glare at her.

“You do realize we’re in human territory, don’t you?”

“Mm, mmph. Mmph.”

“I suppose your appointment to the precious position of saint means humans had some influence, but it seems you’re hiding your identity from the public… We should probably avoid revealing our identities openly, shouldn’t we?”

“…Mmph.”

The girl nodded with difficulty while her mouth remained covered.

Seeing her trembling subside, Merilyn gradually loosened her grip.

“Good, now let’s… quietly reveal our identities to each other and have a little chat.”

“Y-yes. P-please speak, Lord Mephisto…”

The saint Yuinoi finally caught her breath and opened her mouth…

Or rather, there was no need to hide her identity in front of this person.

“What is your name?”

“I’m Yuinoi, a low-ranking member of the Demon Lord’s army.”

A young succubus who appeared to be barely 10 years old.

This young girl, who hadn’t even learned how to drain life force, would have been limited to trivial chores in the Demon Lord’s army.

“You don’t seem to have infiltrated humanity on the Demon Lord’s orders… Why is a small, young being like you acting as a saint in this order?”

“Th-that’s what I want to say! The humans here are all crazy!”

Yuinoi continued rambling in response to her question.

From what Merilyn gathered, some deranged hero had proclaimed her a saint, after which a flood of lunatics had joined the order, dramatically increasing its size to what it was today.

“Ugh, hic. Humans are scary… If I don’t escape quickly, I’ll surely be eaten.”

“Well, from what I saw earlier, they seemed quite fond of you.”

“F-fond? Don’t say such nonsense! Lord Mephisto, you saw it too! They call it sacred hymns, but such insane behavior is something I’ve never seen even in the Demon Lord’s army…!”

-Thump!

Her heart sank and her mouth clamped shut.

The subsequent chill that rose was due to the killing intent emanating from the demon before her.

“Nonsense? Are you addressing me?”

“Eek!”

Yuinoi’s breath caught in her distorted voice.

Then Merilyn rose and leaned forward, closing the distance between them.

“Miss Yuinoi. Do you not know who stands before you?”

“I-I know. You are Mephisto Rage, second in command of the Demon Lord’s army…”

“And knowing that, you still talked back to me so impudently. To me, a top executive of the Demon Lord’s army, from a mere lowly foot soldier.”

It would be natural to feel displeasure.

Demons don’t have any sense of kinship to begin with, and in such circumstances, a fellow demon who has fallen for human tricks would be seen as an object of ridicule rather than rescue.

Furthermore, if such a being posed a risk to the army, they would be considered a priority target for elimination.

“I’m not particularly pleased that you’ve been manipulated by humans… Should I just nip this in the bud before troublesome issues arise?”

“Waaaaaah! I’m sorry! Please spare meeeee!”

The young succubus collapsed in tears as her fear reached its limit.

Looking down at her with cold eyes, Merilyn eventually gave a bitter smile and gently stroked Yuinoi’s head.

“Hehe, I was just joking, so don’t cry.”

“Huh, what?”

“As it happens, I’ve left the Demon Lord’s army, so I have no obligation to dispose of defectors or uphold the army’s standards.”

Blink, blink.

Yuinoi stared blankly at Merilyn with tear-soaked eyes.

By then, the killing intent that had surged earlier had long vanished, but the truth of what Merilyn had just said was still quite shocking to Yuinoi.

“L-left the Demon Lord’s army? Who did?”

“Who else? I’m talking about myself.”

“Y-yes!? W-why would Lord Mephisto? Why would the second-in-command!?”

“If you’re curious, find out for yourself. You can easily gather information that humans have collected by using your position as a saint.”

But Merilyn dismissed Yuinoi’s questions without much concern.

Though this was clearly shocking to the young succubus, Merilyn had only wanted to confirm whether someone’s influence had led to this young demon becoming a saint.

At least if no such connection was found, she had no obligation to intervene in this girl’s situation.

“Well, anyway, I currently neither oppose humanity nor support the Demon Lord’s army, so I won’t interfere further in your situation. If we meet again, please treat me casually.”

“Ah, wait! Lord Mephisto! Mephis—”

-Twang!

“Eeeek!”

As the girl tried to follow her out of the room, Merilyn plucked a lute string.

The special noise, audible only to demons, caused the young succubus to collapse just as devotees near the entrance, belatedly noticing the commotion, began approaching Merilyn.

“We heard the saint’s scream just now. What happened?”

“The saint was trying to see me off but seems to have tripped and fallen. Would you please tend to her wounds for a moment?”

“Ah, yes, of course!”

The devotees rushed into the room without suspicion.

Merilyn had worried someone might have overheard, but fortunately, she had placed a sound-blocking spell when entering the room, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

‘That child won’t spread this around if she values her life.’

Of course, at her age, survival was paramount, making her extremely fearful.

She would probably spend days crying after Merilyn left, but Merilyn didn’t consider that worth her concern.

The most important thing for her now was how to maintain her relationship with the person she loved…

And to eliminate, within her capabilities, anything that might pose a danger to him.

“Would you like a newspaper?”

“…Keep the change as a tip.”

Merilyn tossed a coin to a newspaper boy nearby.

As the boy rejoiced behind her, Merilyn focused on the contents of the newspaper in her hand.

‘So everything I’ve been investigating was true?’

The war that had broken out at the Dragon’s Tomb recently.

During that war, the remaining two knights of the Undead Legion had engaged in direct battle with the Demon Lord’s army alongside the Lord of Corpses.

And in the process, information had indirectly reached humanity that new Four Heavenly Kings had risen in the Demon Lord’s army, and that the existing ones had been dismissed or killed…

‘The suspected new executives of the Demon Lord’s army include a non-demon orc and a Demon of Gluttony… Well, I’ll skip over that.’

Other notable demons had also taken positions, but they weren’t even pureblooded demons like the original Four Heavenly Kings, so she didn’t consider them worthy of her attention.

What she needed to focus on was whether the Demon Lord’s army posed a risk of large-scale invasion into human territory, and whether her former master showed signs of direct movement.

[The Demon Lord was still not seen on the battlefield where the Lord of Corpses appeared directly. With his identity concealed for over 10 years, some experts optimistically speculate that the Demon Lord’s condition has weakened, forcing him into seclusion…]

‘Weakened? The Demon Lord?’

What nonsense.

Rather, he was an absolute being who spent every moment in emptiness, unable to control his own power. How could humanity underestimate her former master so much?

If he were to move, not just humanity but the Undead Legion, beastmen, and vampires would all be annihilated overnight.

How dare humans attempt to measure an absolute being who could directly achieve powers equivalent to the “gods” worshipped by religious orders?

‘…Lord Demon.’

While she felt relief that he hadn’t moved until now, a bitterness also crept into a corner of her heart.

Until she met the person who awakened love in her, she had sworn lifelong loyalty to him, but now, ironically, she regarded him as a threat and remained vigilant of his existence at every moment.

‘When I meet you again, what feelings will I have toward you?’

But this vacuum probably wouldn’t last much longer.

When the limit comes to soothing his current emptiness, he will ultimately lose his reason and move to destroy everything in this world.

So she too needed to devise some measures for when that time comes.

-Flinch.

As she was about to continue investigating the movements of the Demon Lord’s army with such determination, Merilyn suddenly sensed something suspicious nearby and stopped in her tracks.

‘…That man is not human.’

Yes, a disguised non-human like herself was walking through the town.

A noble gentleman in a black suit with a cape. He seemed familiar because she had seen him once before.

It was the vampire who had shown interest in her and her beloved when they reunited for a meal, and who had given them tickets to the theater.

‘No, he’s not just any youngster.’

Just as pureblooded demons like herself were called “pure,” vampires who had cultivated their power for the longest time were called “True Ancestors.”

The being before her was a True Ancestor. The fact that he was walking the streets in broad daylight despite vampires’ vulnerability to sunlight made this immediately apparent.

But that only meant he could endure it, not that he was comfortable.

‘…Suspicious.’

Of course, she didn’t care about vampires, but knowing he had taken an interest in her beloved, she couldn’t simply ignore it.

Deciding to follow him as a precaution, Merilyn began to quietly track him, concealing her presence.

Through the crowds, gradually toward a secluded path with few people…

-Thump, thump.

Just as she thought about approaching stealthily, she felt her heart beating violently.

It was because she sensed what is commonly called “danger.”

But it wasn’t coming from the vampire heading deeper into the alley, but from somewhere near the path he was taking.

‘Why.’

Was the vampire unaware of this energy and just passing through? Or was he retreating because it was outside his interest?

Either way, Merilyn couldn’t ignore this power.

She realized that something incomparably stronger than a True Ancestor was scheming in this area at this moment.

-Crunch.

Merilyn rushed to where this power was strongly felt and physically broke through the barrier surrounding the area.

The barrier, designed to violate the minds of intruders and prevent entry, was even now deeply penetrating her mind, trying to make her turn back.

Yes, a demon with power strong enough to interfere with the mind of a pureblooded demon like herself had set up this barrier and was up to something.

“…Oh my?”

As if to show that recognition wasn’t one-sided.

Soon, a red-haired demon who had been reaching toward a man collapsed on the ground began to show a welcoming expression toward her.

“My goodness, who do we have here~ Isn’t it our Mephi~?”

“Our Mephi, it’s been too long~♥ Have you been well? You haven’t forgotten your big sister, have you?”

“…Yasmo.”

Reaper Succubus – Yasmo Deus.

One of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Lord’s army who had survived the massacre carried out by the Demon Lord that day, along with herself.

“Aww~ Why so stiff when we meet after so long? Call me by my nickname ‘Yas-des’ like you used to, all friendly-like~♡”

What she showed toward Merilyn might seem like one-sided courtship at first glance, but Merilyn knew well that the reason she took interest in someone was due to her “twisted sexual desire.”

Before, she had found it merely annoying and disgusting.

“What… are you doing right now?”

But at this moment, what Merilyn felt upon seeing what the person before her had done was nothing but anger.

Because she saw the man who had become the source of her desire lying helplessly on the ground, intoxicated by the other’s demonic power.

“Ah, this man?”

As if unable to gauge her emotions, Yasmo sneered at the man lying on the ground like he was dead, with an indifferent attitude.

“Actually, I came here looking for you, Mephi, but this guy seemed like he would interfere between us. So I was thinking of turning him into a mummy so he couldn’t get up again, but for some reason, he’s not responding well to stimulation…”

-CRASH!!

Merilyn’s fist, launched in a fit of rage, mercilessly crushed Yasmo’s face.