Ch.252Side Story: Demon Sword

“A demon god afraid of handling a demonic sword? The passing goddess would laugh.”

“Equinox already laughed and went… No, that’s not it! Are you really sure it’s okay to create a demonic sword?! If something goes wrong, the Demon Lord might again—”

“Do you think I can’t defeat a Demon Lord?”

The demon god fell silent immediately. Even to her own perception, I probably didn’t look like someone who would lose to a Demon Lord.

With just my holy spear alone, I could manifest divine power strong enough to render a Demon Lord powerless. Plus, I had the Hero by my side, and the Celestial God would surely provide full support if a battle with the Demon Lord broke out.

Conversely, the demon god wouldn’t help the Demon Lord, so it would be stranger if we couldn’t win.

“I’ve always been fine. I’ll be fine this time too, so don’t worry. Oh, except for when I was caught in the time flow and when I fought Aria.”

“…Alright. But let me ask one last thing. Is it really okay for me to handle demonic energy? I mean your body. It would be troublesome if there were any side effects.”

“Are you worried about me?”

“Argh! If you get hurt, others won’t leave me alone! My sister will scold me too!”

The demon god, who had been hopping around, muttered very quickly and softly.

“It’snotlikeIdon’tworryaboutyouatalljustdon’ttellanyoneaboutthis…”

Though her words became exponentially faster and quieter toward the end, it wasn’t difficult to understand. I patted her head a few times.

“How admirable. You know how to worry about others.”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to treat me like a child!”

The demon god once again jumped around and swatted my hand away. Seeing mini-Latina like this, I couldn’t help but think how cute she was.

“Besides, if we’re talking about candidates who can handle a demonic sword, it’s not just me. We have a succubus here who could become a Demon Lord candidate.”

Nika smiled awkwardly.

“I don’t mind… but I’m not sure how Ciel would react.”

“She’d obviously like it. She genuinely wanted to abandon the role of Demon Lord. She might even call you ‘Demon Lord’ once.”

Since Elisciere couldn’t possibly have good feelings about the position of Demon Lord. If even the connection to the demonic sword was severed, she would surely be quite happy.

“Hehe, hearing that makes me feel strange. Astaroth was also a Demon Lord. Before that, she was a Succubus Queen who wanted to become the Demon Lord. And even before that, she was extremely wary of me becoming the Succubus Queen, but in the end, I ended up taking both positions.”

How much Astaroth kept Nika in check is fully explained by the fact that despite being a succubus, she had never had a sexual experience.

It was so bad that when she invaded Bellium Academy and was caught by me and driven to the brink of death by Erestica, she begged tearfully to spare her life, saying she had never absorbed energy even once.

‘Though that’s still the case now…’

A virgin Succubus Queen—truly a collection of contradictory words.

“You can forget about it now. The past is just the past. After all, you became the Queen, Nika, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I understand, Master.”

A bright smile appeared on Nika’s face.

“Then I’ll begin, human. Be careful, just in case. Though someone like you probably doesn’t need to be.”

The demon god began extracting demonic energy from the nearby ground. The absorbed energy was immediately reborn as more concentrated and powerful demonic energy, flowing out in hundreds of times the amount absorbed.

The cycle repeated. It didn’t take long for the surrounding space to fill with an enormous amount of demonic energy. The air was filled with ominous energy, and the ground writhed like a living creature.

I firmly suppressed the holy spear that was twitching, ready to spring forth in response to the demonic energy.

—Whoooosh…

An ominous sound swept through like strong wind rushing between buildings.

The demon god’s body began to be dyed with reddish-black demonic energy. Her body floated about 30cm into the air. Watching Latina dyed with demonic energy gave me a slightly unsettling feeling.

“Your creator commands.”

Her eyes opened. The eyes that were always gray had changed to purple.

“Manifest.”

With that brief incantation, the demonic energy swirling around gathered into one. The concentrated energy was soon reborn as a crude stone in the shape of a sword.

Tentacles sprouted from the crossguard, reddish-black colors were engraved on the surface, and it emitted a sinister aura that dyed the surroundings. It was exactly the appearance of the demonic sword I knew.

The demon god, now back on the ground, held out the handle.

“The rest is up to you, human. Do you know how to handle a demonic sword?”

“I do. I just need to subjugate it with power, right?”

“You know well. Did you hear that from that human woman, Elisciere?”

“I’ve actually held one before.”

It was after Astaroth died. She suddenly spoke to me, and I wondered what was going on.

I took the demonic sword. The sensation was similar to my memory but slightly different.

Back then, it tried to persuade me first, but now it felt like it was trying to invade my mind to test if I was worthy of wielding it. Certain words kept repeating in my head.

‘Become the Demon Lord, prove your worth, huh…’

It’s not particularly difficult. I gripped the handle firmly and infused mana into it. The demonic sword squirmed, and I felt a sensation as if it was in pain. I gripped the sword more tightly.

—CRACK!

“…Huh?”

The demonic sword shattered from the inside as if exploding. The pieces that were once a demonic sword tumbled to the floor.

“…What did you do, human?”

The demon god looked at me with an astonished face. Conversely, Nika had a satisfied expression, though I didn’t know why.

“It told me to prove my strength, so I infused some mana, and it burst.”

“You burst a demonic sword? That’s absurd…”

Her astonished face half-withered at my next words.

“Since that happened, it seems you’ll have to make another one.”

It was only after breaking three demonic swords that we realized why this was happening. Due to the holy spear in my body, divine power was mixed in when I channeled mana.

It was only natural that the demonic sword would burst when it couldn’t withstand divine power stronger than its own.

“Indeed, the swords I create are not so weak. It was a matter of compatibility.”

The demon god, who had been almost crying when handing over the fourth one, puffed out her chest proudly again. I thought about teasing her but patted her head instead.

This time, although she puffed her cheeks in displeasure, she didn’t jump around or try to remove my hand like before.

“This will do.”

“Is it over, Master?”

“Yes. Look, it’s calmed down.”

Instead of infusing mana, I changed my approach to directly suppressing its power, and after about 30 minutes, the demonic sword became docile.

“What will you do now? Will you keep carrying it? Or should we prepare a separate storage place?”

“No, I’m giving it to you, Nika.”

“…What?”

Nika blinked blankly. Then she hastily continued.

“B-but the demonic sword clearly recognized you as its master—”

“I intended to give it to you from the start, so just take it. Why do you think it took me so long to subjugate this thing?”

“…I don’t know.”

“I was ordering it to serve you, not me. The demonic sword’s memories are passed on even if it’s destroyed, right? After being destroyed three times, it surrendered unconditionally, begging not to be shattered again. But it insisted that you had to prove your worthiness separately to serve you, so I was wrestling with that. I mentioned earlier that you’re a Demon Lord candidate, remember?”

“I remember. But… weren’t you just saying that?”

“How could I? I said it because I really intended to give it to you. What would I do with a demonic sword? I’d be lucky if it doesn’t get destroyed by the holy spear. Right?”

As I said this while stroking the blade of the demonic sword, the entire sword trembled. Nika was looking back and forth between the demonic sword and me, exuding disbelief.

Despite everything, it seemed Nika was still a demon after all.

“…I understand. If that is your wish.”

Nika knelt on one knee on the floor. Like a knight receiving a title, she bowed her head deeply and extended both hands forward.

I was about to tell her that she didn’t need to be so dramatic, but thinking that it must feel special to her, I decided to play along. I placed the demonic sword sideways on her palms.

Nika, now holding the demonic sword, rose with a solemn expression.

“Thank you, Master. I won’t disappoint you.”

“You’re already doing well enough, Nika. You don’t need to try harder.”

“Master…”

The solemn expression vanished without a trace, leaving only a Succubus Queen who was highly excited, rubbing her lower abdomen and thighs. It was a sudden transformation.

It seemed the nature of a succubus never goes away.

“Now you can use demonic energy too, right? You said you could only draw on the power of the holy spear before.”

“That’s true, but… human, why are you helping me to this extent? For what reason?”

“You’re the older sister. Don’t be so downhearted.”

Whether on Earth or in the novel world, I’m in the younger sibling position, but I’ve always had a relatively good relationship with my older sisters. It would be simply good if it were just Diana and Trisha, but with Kang Yuna included, it’s relatively good.

But because of that, I couldn’t just watch the demon god being so depressed. Even if I were in the celestial god’s position, I would have teased her thoroughly but ultimately helped her.

“Th-thank…”

The demon god, who had frozen momentarily at my answer, mumbled something hesitantly.

“What?”

“I said thank you! Why do you keep making me say it twice!”

Slap! The tiny palm hit my arm. This time I genuinely couldn’t hear because it was too quiet.

“Let’s just go back quickly!”

“Okay, okay. Nika, what about you?”

“I’ll stay. I have some things to check with my children, and other things to do.”

“Really? Then come back at your leisure when you’re done.”

Since she received the demonic sword, she probably needs to visit the succubi. As it has always been, the demonic sword has always been a symbol of the Demon Lord. It’s practically announcing the rebirth of a Demon Lord.

Nika kept smiling and waving until we disappeared through the dimensional gate.

After Mira disappeared with the demon god in his arms, Nika, left alone, gripped the demonic sword in her hand tightly. The demonic sword, which had acknowledged Nika as its master regardless of the process, emitted reddish-black demonic energy.

“…I understand your intention clearly, Master.”

Nika realized the hidden meaning behind Mira’s actions. To fulfill her duties not as the Succubus Queen but as the Demon Lord.

Currently, the demon race, having lost the Demon Lord as their central figure, was fragmented and fighting among themselves.

Most were engaged in civil war, while others were fighting monsters from the gates, but there were also demons attacking humans, causing casualties.

As the Demon Lord, she was to pacify them all and stop the fighting with humans.

“Succubus Queen Nika will gladly obey Master’s command.”

Stroking the pink mark engraved exactly where her womb was located, Nika soared into the sky.

Her eyes were glowing pink, symbolizing not the maid Yustera or the succubus Nika devoted only to her master, but the strongest Succubus Queen of the current era and in history.

“What do you think she’ll do with the demonic sword?”

“I’m not sure. She said she was going to meet her subordinates, so maybe she just wants to show it off. Like, ‘Look, I got a demonic sword.'”

“Indeed, with that woman’s personality, that’s quite possible.”

“Right. That’s Nika for you.”