Ch.94The Final Stratagem – 7

Faced with my shameless attitude, Astaroth seemed to have lost her words as she lowered both her arm and head.

From my perspective, while I was granting her request, I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly I was doing. But seeing Astaroth’s devastated expression and Elysier’s gleeful smile, I decided to just go with it.

She must have accumulated a lot of stress from playing the role of a Demon Lord that wasn’t meant for her.

“Can I let go now?”

“Too short. Can’t we stay like this a little longer?”

“I don’t really mind…”

As soon as my ambiguous permission was given, Elysier pressed even closer. The arm that had been resting on my shoulder naturally slid forward. If her hand moved just a bit lower, it would touch my chest.

As I was wondering where to put my awkward left hand, Elysier suddenly grabbed my wrist and placed it firmly on her chest. The thick coat prevented me from feeling much, but the visual effect was undeniable.

“What are you doing?”

“Now I understand why Priscilla is so obsessed with your warmth. This is the first time I’ve felt something so comforting since arriving here.”

Elysier smiled softly. When she put it that way, it felt awkward for me to pull away.

“…Betrayer? What do you mean by that, my lord? Why are you being so intimate with that person?”

Astaroth, who had been slumped over, muttered those words. Elysier snorted and looked down at the succubus queen sprawled on the ground.

“Has your intelligence deteriorated to the point where you can’t understand even this simple statement? This means I have sided with the humans, as a betrayer.”

“W-why…?”

“Because I am not your Demon Lord. I am clearly human. I have been in the past, I am now, and I will continue to be. Though that’s probably a concept you creatures couldn’t understand even if I explained it.”

Of course it was. How could she possibly guess that the Demon Lord was actually possessed by a human from another world? Unless we told her directly, Astaroth would never understand this, not even if she died and came back to life.

Perhaps due to her sense of betrayal, Astaroth, who had been trembling throughout her body, slowly raised her head. Intense hatred burned in her pink eyes.

“…Since when?”

Her speech toward the Demon Lord changed from honorifics to informal language. It meant she would no longer serve Elysier. Elysier responded with a sneer.

“Since this person beside me destroyed the outpost you had established in the human world.”

It was true that we officially got to know each other when she suddenly appeared while I was fighting the 6th Legion Commander, destroyed the commander in my place, and left after spouting nonsense.

“Hehe… hehehe… huh… hehehehehehe…”

After hearing the answer, Astaroth began to laugh while her body shook.

Suddenly, powerful demonic energy erupted from Astaroth’s body as she laughed—or perhaps cried—in a low, rapid manner, dark enough to stain the surrounding ground black.

“I’ll kill you! Elysier!!!!!!”

Madness filled her eyes as she glared at us, and her pink hair floated up on its own.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you both! You and that meat dildo beside you! I’ll suck out every last drop of your energy and kill you! Just you wait! No matter what, I’ll tell the demon realm—”

At that moment, a wind swept through.

“…”

Astaroth, who had been venting her rage, stopped mid-sentence. Sensing something was wrong, her eyes slowly turned downward.

With a thud, a horn that had been severed from her head rolled onto the ground.

Simultaneously, her wings were also cut off from her back, spraying blood. After alternately staring at the horn on the ground and her severed wings, Astaroth let out a delayed scream.

“Aaaaargh!”

Her voluptuous body writhed on the ground in pain.

The cause was obviously me. I had drawn Eternity and cut off her horns and wings before she could attack.

“Why didn’t you leave her be? I had already blocked all possible communication channels she could use. It would have been quite entertaining to watch her realize that and despair.”

“I’ll consider that next time.”

During our brief exchange, Astaroth had already finished regenerating her horns and wings. Though her body had recovered, the pain seemed to linger as she was still touching the areas that had been severed.

Originally, I had planned to kill her immediately to prevent any trouble, but since Elysier seemed to want to torment her a bit more, I decided to drag things out.

“Why do you think we came here? To mock an old succubus queen who’s lost her plan, been exiled from the demon realm, and has nothing left—no power, no authority?”

Elysier seemed to enjoy the expression “old succubus queen,” chuckling loudly enough for everyone to hear. Astaroth’s expression turned grim, but it was just that—an expression. She didn’t act on it.

“You came to kill me, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. We need to eliminate the root cause. We’ve been entangled since you had Roxanna spray me with pheromones. I have no intention of letting you live.”

Though she had already lost her role as a Legion Commander and virtually all her forces, a Succubus Queen was threatening by her very existence. It was right to deal with her here.

“Roxanna… Yes, Roxanna. Since when did you know she was a half-succubus?”

“From the beginning. I told you, didn’t I? That the Demon Lord is a betrayer. Did you think I wouldn’t know who was at the Academy?”

In truth, I first encountered Roxanna before I had even met Elysier, and I learned about her from Priscilla, but I slightly altered the facts because it seemed like it would anger Astaroth more.

Elysier, seeming to understand my intention, wore an expression as close to mockery as possible. She appeared quite sincere about tormenting Astaroth.

“I see… You were deceiving me from the start… It was all planned… And I, like a fool…”

“It’s too late for regrets now. You’re going to die here anyway.”

“Die…? Me, die…? To mere humans who don’t even live a hundred years?!”

Astaroth sprang to her feet. Demonic energy, a mix of pink and red, began to swirl like a whirlwind. Her eyes, fixed on me, were stained with hatred.

Of course, I had no intention of just watching her gather power. I moved first. Stepping forward with my left foot to shift my weight, I extended my right elbow as far back as possible, taking a one-armed thrusting stance.

Then I thrust my arm forward.

—Slash!

A single blade path grazed Astaroth’s neck.

The swirling whirlwind dissipated, losing its direction. The space where the blade path had passed temporarily split and then sealed itself, but the Succubus Queen wasn’t so fortunate. Astaroth touched her neck with bewildered eyes.

“Huh…? What, what’s happening…?”

Those were her last words.

A red line appeared on her neck, and her head, still wearing an expression of incomprehension, rolled to the ground. It was the same end as Roxanna, whom she had so meticulously created.

I used healing magic on my throbbing shoulder. As green light enveloped my right shoulder, the pain subsided a bit.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

Elysier, who had been watching with admiration, suddenly turned serious.

“About what?”

“At first, I was going to say that for someone who was a demon Legion Commander, she died too easily. But…”

Elysier stroked my right shoulder where the healing magic had been cast, with a concerned expression. Her fingers very slowly traced over my clothes.

“Seeing you like this, it seems it wasn’t so easy after all. You’ve done well.”

I had deliberately used a larger technique to kill her quickly because I didn’t want to waste time in a drawn-out fight. With a mountain of tasks ahead, I couldn’t afford to get caught in a back-and-forth battle.

I explained this to her, but Elysier remained stubborn.

“You even had to use healing magic.”

“It would have healed in 10 minutes without it.”

“That’s a whole 10 minutes. Change your perspective.”

Elysier continued stroking my shoulder as she spoke. Leaving her to do as she pleased, I turned my attention to the headless corpse. Red liquid was gushing from the severed surface.

“Are you sure she’s dead?”

“We’ll know if we burn her. If she burns away, she’s dead. If she reacts somehow, she’s still alive.”

I swept my hand down, sending a large fire onto the corpse. The flames purified both the headless body and the severed head with light and heat. Elysier smiled with relief.

“Finally, that vermin is gone. She was the most vicious among the Legion Commanders. If not for that strange power that forced my actions, I would have vomited several times.”

I thought the Maker or Elder Lich should be considered worse, but since Elysier said so, I decided to believe her.

“But it’s a pity. I forgot to tell her that I had found a succubus who would be immediately promoted to the new Queen after her death.”

“You mean Nika?”

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t seriously planning to promote her to Queen. I just thought saying that would make her angrier. Wasn’t she the one who, obsessed with power, refused succession and lived for over a thousand years alone?”

“…You’ve built up a lot of resentment, haven’t you?”

Each word was extremely vicious. It seemed she wanted to torment Astaroth as much as possible, no matter what.

“You have no idea.”

Elysier raised the corners of her mouth. I wondered what she had gone through as the Demon Lord, but it didn’t seem appropriate to ask, so I decided to leave it as an unknown territory.

“By the way, what happened to the succubi left in the demon realm?”

“They’ve all been detained. Astaroth is accused of defying my orders, fleeing, and even committing treason. Some who served as the Queen’s limbs are being interrogated by the Legion Commanders themselves… though progress is apparently slow.”

It didn’t take long for the corpse to burn completely, leaving only ashes. Elysier used her demon sword to create a storm that scattered even the remaining ashes before asking a question.

“What do you plan to do now?”

“Since the cult has been exposed, I need to handle the aftermath, find Nika, wait for Laura to wake up, tell the kids I’m okay… There’s a lot to do. And after all the cleanup is done, I’ll teach them healing magic. That was our deal.”

I sighed quietly to myself.

“Honestly, I don’t think they’ll use it only for good purposes… but what can I do? I can’t break my promise after coming this far.”

They might even use it for human experimentation.

I would certainly mention that they shouldn’t use it for such purposes, but I doubted those who were willing to tear out hearts to get healing magic first would listen to me.

As I was pondering how to control these maniacs—

—Woooong…

“Ah.”

The communication magic tool vibrated. It was something the Sword Saint had given me, saying I should always carry it when I mentioned I had somewhere to visit. Elysier nodded at my gesture and erased her presence, blending into the scenery.

“Yes, Sword Saint. What is it?”

“I’ve received news that Laura has awakened.”

“Really?”

I was relieved to hear this. She had been unconscious for more than half a day, and I was worried something was wrong.

“However, it seems it will take some time before you can meet her directly. She has locked herself in her room and shows no sign of coming out. I don’t know the reason, but she probably needs some time.”

I wondered if there was something written in that notebook. What she saw there remained a mystery.

“…I understand. Is there anything else?”

“Could you return as soon as possible? I don’t want to decide on the treatment of the deposed prince without the child present, but I also don’t want to leave him alive as he is.”

After acknowledging this, I ended the communication. Come to think of it, the Sword Saint seemed to despise Igor from the first time they met. It wasn’t just his actions she disliked; she seemed to hate him as a person.

“I should go back.”

“I heard. You have much to attend to, so it can’t be helped.”

Elysier wore a resigned expression.

“I will also return to the demon realm. I’ll officially announce that woman Astaroth’s death.”

“Do that.”

As Elysier was about to leave after a brief farewell, she hesitated, then approached and embraced me face-to-face. Since we were almost the same height, our cheeks brushed against each other.

“Indeed.”

Her arms tightened around my neck.

“I understand Priscilla’s feelings now.”

—

“Hmm… Dead in one hit. Stupid Astaroth.”

After Mira and Elysier had departed to their respective worlds, someone visited the site. The place where Astaroth’s corpse had been was now barely distinguishable from the surrounding environment.

But whoever came here could identify it precisely.

“You fool who thought everything fell into place because you were so great. Who do you think helped things go so smoothly?”

While verbally cursing Astaroth, this mysterious figure extended a hand toward where the corpse had been. Black energy began to seep from their fingertips.

“Well, this way will be more entertaining anyway… I’ll give you another chance. Don’t disappoint me this time, okay?”

The black energy penetrated the place where the ashes had been. An enormous amount of demonic energy flowed into it.

“Now, what do they call it when someone you thought was dead comes back for more… Hmm… I’m sure there’s a term for it…”

A giggling sound emerged from what appeared to be a mouth.

“Ah, yes. They call it ‘Phase 2,’ don’t they?”