Chapter 49: Betrayal

Wait, a story from the past.

500 years ago.

I tried to capture a large number of humans.

Why capture humans?

To use them as food for the demons?

Humans must not be killed.

Humans must not be killed indiscriminately.

Human warriors or royalty who block the path may be dealt with, but the entire population below them must not be killed.

Although there were some demons who used humans as food, humans were beings that should never be destroyed.

The demons become stronger because of humans, so why would I kill humans?

The reason is simple.

Not only do I not particularly want to kill humans, but because humans are alive, my power and that of the demon army can become even stronger.

There are too many examples to list, so let me summarize in one sentence….

Weakening of divine power.

Whether it’s the Red Moon Goddess or the Blue Moon Goddess, the divine power varies depending on how much humans believe in the goddess.

Faith is the power of the cult.

The cult is the greatest enemy of the demon army.

If you kill too many humans…

You kill too many humans.

In order to survive the Demon King’s army, humans believe in and follow the Goddess, the Demon King’s greatest enemy.

Then, the Goddess grants divine power to those who have full faith in the Goddess, perhaps to restrain the Demon King’s army’s rise.

Holy Death Beam!!

The Demon King’s army is completely destroyed.

Such a future is planned.

We have to make them believe in the Demon King’s army, not the Goddess.

Saving humans instead of killing them will ultimately weaken the power of the Goddess Cult, and further, the heavens.

Then, our Demon King’s army will be able to completely rule over the human world, and the heavens will not even dare approach the human world.

This is truly the beginning of the Dark Ages.

How can we reduce the divine power by reducing the faith in the Goddess?

When I thought about the best way to take away the faith of humans, the best thing would be to change what they believe in.

Believe in the Demon King.

Wow, how can we trust the Demon King?

I’ll give you a house.

There’s a fallen noble family’s estate nearby.

I’ll give you land.

There’s a wide expanse of wasteland nearby.

The sandworms are reclaiming the land, so if we sow seeds now, we’ll have a good harvest next year.

No, but still….

The tax is 5%.

It’s exempt for the first year, and from the second year onwards, it’ll only be 5%.

Not 50%, but 5%?

Yeah.

Why? Is that too much?

Oh, no! You’ll spare my life, right?

Yeah.

If you become a citizen of our Demon King’s army.

I’ll give you a house, I’ll give you land, and I’ll reduce your taxes a lot.

Long live the Demon King–

What the hell is the Goddess Cult?! If you trust the Demon King, you’ll get a house and land!

Marry that damn dark elf girl…? Sigh… Long live the Demon King’s army!!

Ah, humans fall for the Demon King’s tricks too easily.

I tried to incorporate humans into the Demon King’s Army by using all sorts of means and methods, and thanks to gently stimulating their desires, I was able to include quite a few humans in the Demon King’s Army.

So where did I get the houses and land for the humans?

I took what a small number of humans had in abundance.

Nobles.

Royalty.

Wealthy people.

All humans want to be strong.

So they create their own status, and they want to live together laughing and laughing equally, but everyone wants to rise to a higher place than others.

The Demon King’s Army will defeat them.

Subjects of the Demon King’s Army, you must take what is theirs.

I ordered the serfs with bamboo spears to plunder.

Those who were always being robbed, with the Demon King’s Army on their backs, aimed their bamboo spears at the nobles and royalty, and took everything.

Of course, there were problems.

Objectively speaking, there was no reason to exterminate the humans.

If there are no humans, everyone dies.

Orcs, elves, goblins, lycanthropes, vampires.

In the lives of all other races, humans have influenced them in various ways.

Without humans, many races would have difficulty surviving even in the Demon King’s army, and if all humans were killed, it would be very difficult to dispose of their corpses.

Nevertheless, many demons insisted on the extermination of humans.

All humans must be killed!

As a demon, it’s best not to kill humans.

You’re so arrogant.

Are you the Demon King?

I’m the Demon King.

If you want to bother me, go find another Demon King.

If you say that after killing me…. And Demon King, my dissatisfaction with the idea of creating a human village is skyrocketing.

Don’t worry.

I have an idea.

What…?

You’ll know as time goes by.

The majority of the Demons don’t know about my grand plan.

I will make humans slaves. -Kihihi, you plan to make us slaves and use us!

You will capture humans and create a separate area for them.

Kihihi, you plan to create a ranch with humans!

You will create an area for humans, make them live there, and create goods for our Demon King’s army.

Kihihi, you plan to make a huge amount of goods for our Demon King’s army from the human s*ave ranch and offer them up?

You are going to include humans in the Demon King’s army now?

Uh…. Humans are the ones who opposed the Demon King’s army.

Of course, the demons under me, especially those who suffered at the hands of the humans, expressed their discontent.

However.

Destroy the nobles!

To the Demon King’s army’s property!

For the Demon King’s army!

Raise the beacon of revolution!!

Citizens of the Demon King’s army, unite!

Take away the property from the royal family and nobles, and make it the property of our Demon King’s army!!

For the Demon King’s army.

The one running away over there is a noble!

That bastard took 50% of our taxes!!

The Demon King only takes 59% !!

Trickle-down effectaaa…

We will collect those who die without relatives.

We will resurrect them as skeletons and ask them whether they want to be cremated or fight in the Demon King’s army.

Those who want to donate their bodies, come here.

The black magicians will pay a high price for their services.

Bring the blood donation cart.

We will offer gold coins as payment for blood to those who volunteer to give blood to vampires.

You don’t have to give up your head.

Huh?

You want me to bite your head off even if it’s on purpose?

Oh my… Sigh.

Bring the nightmare cart.

Those who volunteer to give their energy to succubi and incubi… Now, wait.

Calm down.

Take my regular!

The demons, who could only survive by getting something from humans, began to ‘deal’ with the humans of the Demon King’s Army.

The demons gave up parts of their bodies to survive, and the humans began to blend in with the demons.

Thus.

The Demon King’s Army transcended races and became a national group that only considered the Goddess Cult as its enemy.

And when the war with the Human Union was in full swing.

Um, do we have to participate in the war too…?

Yes. But don’t worry.

You just have to live in the Demon King’s territory that we occupied and pay your taxes regularly.

Is that all? Yes.

When the Demon King’s power reached its peak, the Demon King’s subjects in the rear territories occupied by the Demon King’s Army diligently supplied wheat and meat, vegetables, etc. from the rear.

If you want to join the army, sign a contract.

It is a contract that states that you will become a Death Knight after death and join the Demon King’s Army.

Except for the Demon King’s orders and the fact that you are a soldier, everything else is free…

After living out their entire lifespan as a human, extending their lifespan as a death knight…?

Even if there were those who wanted to fight for the Demon King’s army, instead of sending them to the battlefield, I made them fight after becoming undead.

Long live the Demon King!!

Praise the Demon King!

Glory be to the Great Demon King Bel Phegor!

That’s how I made all the praise directed at the Goddess Cult mine.

As more and more humans joined the Demon King’s army, the Goddess Cult gradually became weaker.

Ugh…!

What can we do without divine power…!

Oh, the divine power is disappearing! Advance like this!

Our victory is before us!!

Ugh…!

My strength, my strength is fading…!

Why?!

Goddess, are you abandoning us?!

Why!

Why!!

The more humans we made our subjects, the easier it was for us to win battles.

That’s why I wanted to capture humans, and that’s why I didn’t want to kill them.

There’s no need to kill humans.

We should capture as many humans as possible.

Clearly, the Demon King’s Army had to have such thoughts.

Rather than killing humans to increase their devotion to the goddess, it was more effective to persuade humans and take away their devotion and divine power.

So. Kassang―――

“Yes, that’s it. Acedia. As a giant sandworm appeared and ran while swallowing all the humans into its stomach, I shed tears when I realized that my legacy was still alive on this land.”

Conquering the human world is not about killing humans, but ruling them.

Humanity must not be eliminated.

How much trouble did I have to go through to make the demons understand that?

In order to rule over humans, we capture humans.

Judging from the way she uses my capture tactics, Acedia is definitely a descendant of the Demon King’s Army. Look, the shape of that sandworm.

It knocks on the north gate, drives humans south, and puts them in its mouth like a hunting party. But. Crunch, crunch, crunch.

“….. What?”

In front of my eyes.

“Ah, no…!”

My anticipation, which had been recalling the scene from 500 years ago, was shattered.

“T-stop it….”

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The more humans you kill, the stronger the goddess becomes, you idiots!!

The giant sandworm was chewing on the humans it had swallowed.

“Lucius –!!”

The gale kicked off the wall and ran outside.