Ch.75The Demon Lord and Lilith (1)

# The Demon Lord and Lilith (1)

While most demons didn’t even know their own race, some were different.

Those who never forgot their origins, never forgot their history, and maintained their roots despite their harsh lives.

They are called high-ranking demons.

Because they didn’t forget history, because they didn’t forget their roots despite their harsh lives.

Because they had engraved the history of their family and race that they had built up.

“Damn that 1st Legion Commander bastard! Just! Just because he was born well, does our effort have to be devalued? Does that make any sense?!”

“That guy doesn’t make any effort! He just inherited what his ancestors built up!”

They were strong.

They had become stronger than necessary.

They merely remembered history.

They had merely heard about their roots.

Most of them were like that now, but their strength remained intact.

That alone was enough for them to be strong. Because what those who lived that way had built up was passed down through bloodlines.

However, there were exceptions among them.

“Haha! This is what you call a high-ranking demon? Just a fancy name with no substance, what garbage!”

The Manmata clan was like that.

Like other high-ranking noble families, they had built up generations and history, but they weren’t strong.

They were just slightly better than other demons at caring for their family.

But because of that, they could survive despite being weak.

“Hey! That bastard over there hit my kid! Are you just going to watch?!”

“You’re dead! You bastard!”

“I’ll skin you alive!”

Yes, they might be weak alone, but they’re strong when united. Even the strongest high-ranking demon can’t stand against the violence of numbers.

The Manmata clan was famous for skinning and burning a vampire who had beaten and insulted a young man from their clan.

A clan that showed unity and solidarity comparable to the Demon Lord’s army, even among demons who lacked unity.

In another sense, that was terrifying.

“Auntie.”

“Huh?”

“Why don’t you work?”

“…I will. Wait, did that woman tell you to ask me that?”

“Yes, she said she’d buy me candy.”

“Hey! That damn candy… that damn candy, I can also…”

“Can you buy me some?”

“Can’t you share some with me?”

And the unemployed member of the Manmata clan.

Belphegor sighed at the sight of her niece, Lilith, looking at her with innocent eyes.

People always nag her for not working.

Now they’re even using a child to pressure her, and even the great Belphegor couldn’t refuse to work.

“Sigh… But even if they tell me to work, what kind of work should I do…”

“Since you’re strong, how about carrying rocks?”

“I hate repetitive work that requires diligence.”

“Hmm… Then how about becoming a Demon Lord and ordering others around? You can make others do all the work you don’t want to do.”

“Ohhh… My niece is so smart. When I become a Demon Lord later, I’ll make you my aide.”

“Okay. So go work now.”

“…Alright.”

Belphegor was thus pushed by her young niece.

The mutant of the Manmata clan.

Born with extraordinary strength, as if to compensate for the Manmata clan’s weakness until now, exactly five years later…

“Ahem! Niece, I’m working hard like this, but I heard you’re just lazing around. Come and work.”

“Arghhhh! Auntie!”

“From now on, you should call me Demon Lord. Or Your Majesty. Right? Commander Lilith. Kuhahaha!”

Belphegor defeated Leviathan and ascended to the position of Demon Lord.

***

Although Lilith became a commander through nepotism, it didn’t mean she lacked ability. In fact, when Belphegor called her in, the system of the Demon Lord’s army was already shattered.

What kind of country allows someone to become the next ruler just by killing the current one, ignoring all procedures?

Surprisingly, the demon realm was like that.

Qualification was solely based on strength. Of course, even that was essentially just for show.

To challenge the Demon Lord, one had to either rise to a high enough position or forcibly attach oneself by destroying the entire Demon Lord’s army.

And surprisingly, Belphegor did just that. She boldly invaded the Demon Lord’s castle, brought all the commanders there to their knees, and even dragged Leviathan out by the hair.

In this unprecedented situation, the Demon Lord’s army naturally fell into chaos.

And Lilith was the one who cleaned up the mess.

‘Phew, it’s okay.’

Yes, in a sense, Lilith saved the Demon Lord’s army.

With her excellent wisdom and intuition, she brought the army that was on the verge of collapse back to its normal orbit.

Yes, she is a genius.

That’s what she decided to think.

So this kind of situation…

“Yes, this is my fiancé.”

“F-fiancé.”

She shouldn’t panic just because the situation turned out a little different than expected.

‘Why?! Why did he say fiancé? Doesn’t that make the acting more difficult? Was there a reason he had to do that?!’

But such determination and feelings couldn’t align.

Lilith was pretending to be calm, but inside she was confused.

Why on earth would he do this? Lilith decided to go along with the situation for now, hoping that Lug had a plan.

No, before that, she would die if she didn’t go along. Her chances of surviving against the hero party that had already defeated the 12th Legion Commander Twelve (formerly Haona) were extremely low.

She hadn’t even brought her personal equipment for perfect disguise, so if it came to a fight, she would die.

‘He must have a plan.’

Lilith decided to trust Lug.

‘Ah, not yet? I forgot. But isn’t this better? I can be more sincere in my acting too. Yes, this is much better.’

Unfortunately, Lug had merely blurted out nonsense, unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality.

This was because Lug had been moved by Lilith’s kindness several times and was even thinking of proposing to her.

So when Lilith appeared before him, he half thought this moment was a dream.

Honestly, it was understandable given how frequently he had been fainting recently.

And the snowball that started rolling this way began to roll at an unstoppable speed.

“Fiancé… fiancée…”

First, Tina, who knew nothing about Lug, started muttering to herself as if she had received a shock.

Although he had never been hers to begin with, she felt like something had been taken from her.

And as if in sympathy with her emotions, wings, horns, and a tail began to sprout at that point.

“Hey.”

Click!

“Get a hold of yourself, Tina. If you do that in the middle of the street, it’ll be a big problem.”

“Arghhhh!”

Esmeralda broke Tina’s horn with a cold sweat, bringing her back to her senses.

She couldn’t let her guard down.

Seeing Tina, who had been relatively normal, showing signs of going berserk like Millia, Esmeralda felt dizzy.

“Wow, since you say you’re Lug’s fiancée, I should give you my blessing.”

And in that fleeting moment.

Eirene immediately gently took Lilith’s hand as if in prayer. The action was truly natural.

‘As expected… she knows, right?’

And Esmeralda, who belatedly noticed this series of moments, nodded as if trusting Eirene.

Eirene would know.

Of course she would.

She’s the one with the best mind in the hero party.

From the moment Lug mentioned a fiancée, she would have realized that the person was the demon Lug had been in contact with all along.

She’s someone who can find answers with just a little bit of information.

“Would that be alright?”

Eirene smiled more like a saint than ever before.

And holy power befitting that smile poured down onto Lilith’s hand, emitting a brilliant light.

“Ah, thank you. You must be a priestess? I’m grateful that you’re blessing our relationship like this.”

“…?!”

But Lilith is also a demon similar to Eirene.

She was surprised that Lug introduced her as his fiancée, but apart from that, she was thoroughly prepared.

Lilith, who had even deliberately referred to Eirene as “priestess” to avoid revealing the hero party’s identity even by mistake, smiled as if she was just grateful.

‘Holy power doesn’t work on me.’

Not just her.

Most high-ranking demons aren’t greatly affected by holy power.

And she is also a high-ranking demon.

There’s no problem unless it’s an outright offensive holy magic.

“…No need for thanks. I just did what was natural.”

Eirene accepted Lilith’s gratitude without changing her expression.

[Note: She’s thinking, ‘You filthy insect.’]

[Note: She’s thinking, ‘You disgusting human.’]

Esmeralda felt like she was going to cry at the contrasting inner thoughts of the two women exchanging smiles and pleasantries.

“Hmm… Now I understand.”

But there was something that no one present had anticipated.

“It was you.”

“Eek?!”

The madwoman of the hero party who cares neither for public attention nor the importance of evidence.

“You were the problem.”

Millia Asrin’s tentacle magic bound Lilith.

An action committed before it was even revealed that Lilith was a demon.

“W-what is that!”

“A monster!”

“Is it black magic?! Run away!”

The surroundings instantly fell into chaos.

The peaceful scenery of the big city turned into a hellish scene in an instant.

Eirene froze at the sight of the tentacles, and Lilith stiffened as if her mind had gone blank the moment she was wrapped in tentacles and lifted into the air.

“Ah…”

Esmeralda wore an expression like a tragic girl whose hometown had burned down.

“Millia! Stop!”

She belatedly drew her holy sword and moved to save Lilith.

Even she didn’t know what she was doing right now.

It felt even cursed to be saving a demon in order to resolve the situation.

“Haap!”

Slash!

But she is the leader of this party.

The one who must coordinate and lead all sorts of time bombs of party members.

Esmeralda immediately cut down Millia’s magic tentacles that were holding Lilith.

While Tina admired, people watching from afar applauded, and Eirene smiled coldly.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah…”

Lug, who for once coolly caught Lilith who was freed from the tentacle magic, and…

“I-I’m fine.”

Lilith, who was looking up at Lug and blushing like a girl in love…

“Fuck…”

Esmeralda, who witnessed all of this, cursed her life.