Ch.723She’s a Heavenly Demon!

Could she have recognized the sincerity in my persuasion?

Hersella finally set aside her anger and regained her human rationality. Indeed, when people communicate sincerely, they can understand each other.

[Someday, I’ll definitely make this wench pay dearly…]

…That counts as understanding, right?

I thought I heard some ominous muttering, but it must be my imagination. Yeah, just my imagination.

Anyway, thanks to Hersella evolving into a human being, I was finally able to tell her about the last words Orhan had been babbling about.

Though his message was rather long-winded, it basically boiled down to advice to quit all troublesome matters and live however she pleased.

Honestly, following such advice seems like excellent guidance for ruining one’s life… but since these were his last words, it seemed right to convey them to Hersella.

[Even in his final moments, he spoke nonsense.]

True to her role as the embodiment of Ka’har filial piety, Hersella’s response to Orhan’s last words was utterly cynical.

[What’s the point of saying such things now? I’ve been living as I pleased all along.]

Well, Orhan probably left such a message because he mistook my actions for Hersella’s intentions…

The Hersella inside me still maintains her aggressive nature, completely uninterested in duty or responsibility, willing to use any means necessary to achieve what she desires.

[I could have continued doing so if some unknown intruder hadn’t taken over my body.]

‘That couldn’t be helped. I’m also a victim who got swept up in this without knowing why.’

[A victim, you say? For a victim, you’ve been making quite good use of my body. You shameless wench.]

Shameless wench? She really misunderstands me. I’m nothing if not conscientious, and actually, I’m not even a “wench.” I haven’t revealed this truth yet for fear of what storm might follow.

‘…I’ve been working hard to fulfill the requests you’ve made.’

[Ha, this is absurd. Setting aside your ridiculous use of the word “request,” when have you ever listened to me? What exactly?]

Hersella burst into mocking laughter, spitting out sharp sarcasm. Like a middle school girl in her rebellious phase shouting, “What has Dad ever done for me?!”

…She clearly doesn’t understand. Everything I’ve done has been for her own good.

Think about it. You wouldn’t want to survive alone in a ruined world where creatures with two hundred eyes become your neighbors, would you?

Actually, surviving alone would be fortunate. If things go wrong… honestly, with a very high probability, that creature might become your 450th husband. Could you handle such a future?

I’m doing all this to prevent such a future from befalling both of us.

Of course, these thoughts remained in my head, not to be spoken aloud.

In my experience, when a woman starts saying “What have you ever done for me?!”, trying to explain what you’ve done only leads to disaster.

So in this situation…

‘…You’re right. I’m sorry. I was trying to help in my own way… but it didn’t work out. My fault.’

Taking a submissive approach and apologizing is the wisest course of action.

[What…?! Wait, you’re apologizing?]

Hersella exclaimed in surprise, as if she never expected to hear an apology.

[You know how to apologize? You? That’s impossible. Did I hit my head too hard…?!]

…What does she mean by “impossible”?

What exactly does she take me for?

Anyway, once I readily apologized, Hersella seemed to have no more accusations to throw, and our uncomfortable hearing came to an end without further incident.

After hesitating for a while, Hersella simply said, “Very well then,” and fell silent. I fixed my disheveled hair, sat in the chair, lit a cigarette, and enjoyed the hard-earned peace.

[…Ha, live as I please? Don’t worry because I’ve gained the power to do so…?]

‘……’

[What nonsense to say now… at this point, such meaningless words as a last testament…]

I pretended not to hear Hersella’s troubled muttering.

======[ The Great Plains ]======

Orhan’s death.

The annihilation of the Aishan main force. The deaths of War Chiefs Glar and Hatan.

News of this devastating defeat, almost too shocking to believe, spread rapidly throughout the Great Plains.

“Is it true? That monster has fallen? And by his own daughter’s hand?”

All the plains people were shocked.

Those loyal to Aishan, and those who had been waiting for a chance to rise up.

Orhan’s death was like seeing the sun rise from the western sky instead of the east.

He hadn’t died of old age, nor had he fallen after endless battles of attrition. To think his Unyielding Flesh itself had been broken and defeated. It was simply unbelievable.

“How was that even possible…?”

The plains stirred with confusion.

The officials remaining in Aishan and the khans of various tribes who had submitted to Orhan hastily sent people to verify the rumors, and finally confirmed them to be true.

Kagan Orhan was dead.

Leaving behind a partially collapsed wall, an enormous number of corpses, and an extremely unstable unified plains nation.

‘With Orhan and his war chiefs dead, someone must ascend the throne to manage this chaos. Who is more capable than I?’

The khan of seven tribes eyed the empty Kagan’s seat with ambitious eyes.

‘This is our chance. With Orhan gone, his children and the major tribal khans will begin fighting for succession. Now would be the perfect time to declare independence—they won’t have the resources to stop us.’

Tribal leaders who had never welcomed Ka’har unification carefully observed the changing political landscape, longing for their former authority.

‘Only I, Targiyan, can continue father’s legacy…!’

Orhan’s eldest son, Targiyan, returned with the remnants of the Black Banner and Red Banner armies, grinding his teeth.

Dreaming of the moment he would annihilate the six thousand Blue Banner troops commanded by his half-brother Sahakal, and completely eradicate Meiharin’s family without leaving a single servant.

And,

Orhan’s second son, Sahakal, and his mother Meiharin….

—-

“Such fools.”

Meiharin looked down at Ordos, where an ominous atmosphere had begun to spread, and mocked the plains people whose hearts were swelling with vain ambitions.

Unlike the First Empress Biyashen, who was said to have secluded herself and refused food upon hearing the news, Meiharin was sipping tea with a completely composed expression, as if she hadn’t felt even a hint of shock.

Was she unaware of the approaching crisis? She appeared remarkably at ease.

“Is everything going according to plan?”

The man sitting across from her, Sahakal, rested his chin on the table and quietly asked his mother.

“Yes, it is.”

Meiharin answered calmly.

Perhaps displeased by her composure, Sahakal sighed lightly with an expressionless face and spoke again.

“Mother. At this rate, Aishan will soon shatter into pieces. And it will take decades to regain the prosperity we had just after unifying the plains.”

“Yes. That’s how it should be. It would be troublesome if we didn’t decline to the point where it takes decades to recover.”

Despite her son’s pessimistic assessment that their country was about to collapse, Meiharin smiled, raising the corners of her mouth as she revealed her true intentions.

That the collapse of Aishan through civil war was precisely her wish.

…This was an answer Sahakal couldn’t understand.

“Why?”

Meiharin set down her teacup and explained to her son why she desired—no, was actively encouraging—Aishan’s civil war.

“Think about it. If Aishan doesn’t fragment through civil war, would the western Empire leave us alone? They would surely march here and shatter us themselves. Ruthlessly and thoroughly, to ensure the Great Plains no longer remains a threat to the Empire.”

Having lost the invincible shield that was Orhan, the Great Plains had to split apart. If they didn’t weaken through division, they would be broken by the Empire’s hand.

“And at the forefront would be… that mixed-blood wench who has absurdly begun to be called ‘Abha Gisaka.'”

The worst traitor of the plains who shattered the myth of the Unyielding Flesh and ultimately frustrated Aishan’s progress. Aishan-Gioro Haschal.

Since rumors spread that she had fallen like a meteor from the high heavens, blocked Orhan’s path to victory, and killed him, she had gained a new title among the plains people.

Abha Gisaka.

The name of a legendary great sorcerer said to have brought calamity to the plains. The title meaning “Death from the Sky.”

Though Haschal didn’t know it yet, she had already become the plains’ celestial demon.

“…You mean Haschal. If the rumors that she defeated father single-handedly are true… our only option would be to surround her and drive her until her strength is exhausted.”

“Even that wouldn’t be easy. That wench could kill thousands in one place without showing any sign of fatigue.”

Meiharin shook her head.

Unlike Orhan, who could eventually be defeated by throwing enough troops at him, human wave tactics held little meaning against Haschal.

Unlike Orhan, who weakened below Champion level once his Karma was depleted, she was wrapped in all kinds of power, not just warrior’s Karma.

Defensive power that, unlike the Unyielding Flesh, didn’t consume energy.

Fire sorcery that could erase wide areas in an instant.

And a divine sword that granted nearly infinite stamina.

To make Haschal die from exhaustion would require deploying forces numbering at least in the tens of thousands.

“If we committed all of Aishan’s forces against that wench, we might win… but unless all the western soldiers are scarecrows, they wouldn’t allow such a situation to develop.”

While tens of thousands of warriors attacked Haschal alone, would the Empire’s knights and soldiers just stand by and watch?

Therefore, the human wave tactic involving tens of thousands was nothing more than an armchair theory from the start.

“So, we need to make the Empire ignore the Great Plains. Even that wench wouldn’t fight the entire plains alone without western support.”

That was precisely why Meiharin wanted to divide Aishan.

As Aishan weakened itself through civil war, the Empire would postpone attacking the Great Plains and deploy troops to more urgent locations.

“If Ludwig were still alive, he might have forced an attack on the Great Plains… but they say he died in the last battle, so we can rest easy.”

“…I understand. That’s why you let Biyashen escape. If Targiyan’s mother were in our grasp, he couldn’t move recklessly.”

“That’s… yes. That’s how it turned out. I didn’t expect the noble Empress Biyashen to disguise herself as a lowly slave and escape, enduring the guards’ harassment.”

Meiharin nodded, slightly averting her gaze.

In fact, contrary to Sahakal’s misunderstanding, she had no intention of letting Biyashen escape.

Even with Biyashen in their grasp, it would have been all too easy to provoke Targiyan into a frenzy.

With his temperament, wouldn’t he charge in blindly if he saw his mother being treated like a dog?

However, Biyashen had fled Ordos before Meiharin could capture her.

Disguised as a slave, barely covering her private parts with crude clothing and enduring the disrespect of guards who fondled her, she had escaped with only her closest aides.

Meiharin hadn’t expected that someone of the First Empress’s stature would be bold enough to escape using such methods, so she had failed to prepare for this and let her slip away.