Episode 659. Final Battle (4)

After Liliana fell under the seal, her forces instantly collapsed.

Liliana, their master, had disappeared, and it wasn’t difficult for Isabella to exert the power of the Succubus Queen.

After that, Isabella erased Liliana’s traces remaining in the Underworld as much as possible.

Since Liliana was known as a crazy Succubus, there was a lot to do, but strong figures in the Underworld originally appear in an instant and disappear just as quickly.

Other strong figures or lunatics kept popping up, and as time passed, Liliana was gradually forgotten in the Underworld.

The seal is a secret art passed down to the Succubus clan.

The seal used by the Succubus Queen was particularly powerful, and because it was a seal that forcibly sealed the memories and power of opponents stronger than oneself, the backlash was immense.

Indeed, Isabella had become much weaker as the Succubus Queen.

But it’s okay.

If it meant saving Liliana’s life, Isabella could sacrifice anything.

“Mom~. I wanna eat meat.”

“Sure, sure. But you have to go on the blind date today, right?”

“… Ah, come to think of it, I had a raid tonight. I’ll skip dinner.”

Opening the door confidently, Liliana naturally went back into the room as if time were flowing backward.

Seeing that, Isabella laughed incredulously before starting to prepare dinner.

“I wish Liliana would live a normal life now.”

The Succubus species is naturally multi-talented.

Various talents were necessary to seduce the opposite sex.

Even in the Underworld, they aren’t a species that has trouble finding employment… Liliana strangely had no talent for anything else.

For over 10 years now, seeing as she’s been holed up in her room, it seems she has no talent other than fighting.

Still, thanks to inheriting the blood of a Succubus Queen, she possessed outstanding looks, so finding a partner should be easy.

Every time a blind date was arranged, she rejected them harshly, causing the other party to complain, so the conditions gradually lowered, which was a problem, but… it’s okay.

If all else fails, she could just keep her around for life.

Isabella protected Liliana like this.

Until the Underworld’s Scoundrel Contract took her daughter away.

“… Liliana?”

That day too was like any other day.

Liliana rejected the arranged blind date, and Isabella was scolding Liliana, who was engrossed in her game.

Now, even the places that arranged blind dates were finding it hard to find men, so she was determined to get Liliana married this time. But this time too, as soon as she saw the man’s face, she ran out.

Because of that incident, Isabella was angry… when suddenly, Liliana disappeared right before her eyes.

Thump-

What was left on the floor was a single sheet of paper.

Isabella quickly picked up the paper.

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We offer employment opportunities to the Underworld’s burdens.

Those scoundrels who do not wish for employment are requested to come forward in person to voice their complaints. We would be grateful.

[Underworld Scoundrel Summoning Contract]

Contractor Lee Hoyeon and Summoned Beast Liliana hereby enter into the following contract:

Article 1. The Contractor may issue weak commands to the Summoned Beast, and the Summoned Beast must comply. However, as the bond with the Summoned Beast deepens, the Contractor gains stronger command authority.

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“The Underworld Scoundrel Contract…?”

To survive in the Underworld, one must make numerous contracts, and the Underworld Scoundrel Contract is one of them.

Isabella knew about it roughly.

In the Underworld, incorrigible scoundrels exist in large numbers.

In a world where strength is everything, the weak and incompetent inevitably become cut off from the world.

Or, confident in their own strength, demons causing trouble everywhere are also classified as scoundrels.

Fitting the term ‘scoundrel’, most of them are children from good families who become the targets.

Simply existing is harmful to the Underworld.

Such labor is utilized without fail by the Underworld’s Scoundrel Contract.

It forcibly conscripts them, and although it states to come in person if dissatisfied, it doesn’t specify where to come-a contract that is the Underworld itself.

That contract was in Isabella’s hand.

“Why is this with Liliana…? Ah.”

Isabella thought back on the past decade or so.

By anyone’s standards, her daughter was a being harmful to the Underworld.

This contract operates on Liliana’s own magic, not the Demon King’s, so even Liliana, who resisted the magic of the Demon King’s castle, couldn’t prevent the summoning.

“The human world? Why was Liliana summoned to the human world?”

Moreover, the place Liliana was summoned to was the human world.

Cases of forced conscription to remote or shunned areas of the Underworld were common, but being summoned to another world was something she had never heard of.

With things like this, Isabella couldn’t go rescue her herself.

“… I have to go see the Demon King.”

Regarding Liliana, Isabella had hidden as much as possible from the Demon King.

He thought Isabella had taken measures out of fear that her daughter would usurp the Succubus Queen title.

Therefore, telling him about Liliana was a risky move, but she had no choice now.

Only the Demon King could help her with something like this.

“I’m sorry, Queen Isabella-nim. The Demon King has entered a period of rest.”

But what Isabella heard upon visiting the Demon King’s castle was the sudden news of the Demon King’s rest period.

Isabella frowned and asked the guard.

“… A rest period?”

“To be precise, he said he is preparing to invade the human world. Visits inside the Demon King’s castle are prohibited, and no exceptions were mentioned regarding the Succubus Queen-nim.”

After Liliana was summoned, around the same time, the Demon King began preparing for a sudden invasion of the human world.

Except for Lucifer, who was eccentric even in the Underworld, there were hardly any who researched interdimensional travel, yet the Demon King’s attitude changed overnight.

Isabella found that point concerning.

“Still, I’ll go see him myself.”

“But the Demon King…”

“You don’t know who I am?”

“… Understood. I will report that the Succubus Queen-nim has visited.”

Defying the Demon King was not something Isabella wanted, but Liliana was that important to her.

Isabella forced her way into the Demon King’s castle and obtained a chance for a private audience with the Demon King.

“Succubus Queen. Isabella.”

The Demon King, wearing a bored expression, sat on the throne of the Demon King’s castle and looked down at her.

Isabella felt intimidated by his gaze, but kneeling down, she continued speaking.

“Yes, Demon King-nim. I have a request.”

“I clearly prohibited entry into the Demon King’s castle? I am busy right now, so come back later.”

Swoosh-

A heavy magical pressure enveloped her entire body.

For any creature of the Underworld, it was an irresistible force.

Faced with the undeniable expulsion order, Isabella trembled slightly and turned away forcefully.

In the end, without being able to say a word about Liliana, Isabella, kicked out of the Demon King’s castle, replayed the scene she had just witnessed.

On the surface, nothing seemed different.

The Demon King’s attitude had always been cold like that, from the past until now.

‘Who is that…?’

But the eyes of a Succubus Queen cannot be deceived.

No, Isabella felt it. He wasn’t even trying to deceive her.

The Demon King, while showing a cold attitude, was actually harboring some favor towards her.

But the Demon King now openly showed hostility and annoyance.

The emotion she felt was one of looking down on her.

Like the gaze one gives to a passing ant.

“… I can’t receive help from that guy.”

The thought of receiving help from the Demon King must be abandoned.

However, the current Demon King is trying to invade the human world, and Liliana was summoned to the human world.

Isabella’s reason for trying to marry Liliana off to the countryside was to keep her as far away from the Demon King as possible.

If the Demon King invades the human world where Liliana is, she’ll obviously be discovered by him.

The seal placed on Liliana is the Succubus Queen’s magic.

Just touching the magic of the Demon King’s castle would break it.

“I must find Liliana before the Demon King does.”

While she wasn’t aware, something in the world had twisted.

Nevertheless, there was one thing she had to do.

Protect her daughter.

She had to save Liliana from the human world that the Demon King would trample.

*

Her hazy mind gradually cleared, and forgotten memories one by one found their rightful place.

At the same time, Isabella’s feelings flowed into Liliana’s mind.

After Liliana disappeared, her mother acted every day to get her back.

She searched all over the Underworld, took control of subordinates the Demon King overlooked, and seized the position of second-in-command.

Then, suppressing the demons that appeared on Earth, after arriving in the human world, she spent all her time searching for Liliana.

That desperate feeling was conveyed directly to Liliana.

“…”

Liliana slowly lowered her head.

Even though all her memories had returned, the awkwardness didn’t disappear.

With a sliver of hope, she gently extended her hand and drew up her magic.

Swishhh-

Like black roses, flowers of magic bloomed.

Reacting to it, the surrounding corpses twitched.

“Nngh…”

Liliana, shrugging her shoulders, extinguished her magic and clenched her fist.

Every time she used her magic directly, her memories were vividly etched into her mind.

Forgotten senses returned, and emotions deep within her heart revived.

Laughing like a madwoman, she killed demons without hesitation.

She sliced off the heads of demons who dared attack her.

Riding a skull carriage, she left behind burning territories.

Even though she knew these were her memories, it was hard to adapt to them.

Amidst her confusion, her mother’s voice was heard.

“I had to protect you.”

Liliana’s body, which the Demon King’s magic couldn’t affect, was the Demon King’s natural enemy.

However, since you cannot accept the Demon King’s magic, you cannot become the Demon King. If you don’t become the Demon King, the demons of the Underworld will keep attacking you, the strongest being in the Underworld, until you die.

She had to prevent the fate of dying while fighting all demons and monsters.

And right now, while the Demon King is focused on invading the human world,

she planned to take Liliana back to the Underworld.

“While the Demon King is distracted by the human world, we’re escaping. The gate to the Underworld is still open.”

In this world, Liliana’s existence and power are already known.

Even demons and monsters, having directly observed Liliana, won’t have trouble remembering her.

This place is dangerous.

While invading the human world, we must hide in the Underworld, where surveillance has weakened.

That was Isabella’s plan.

“The Demon King is the center of the Underworld, no, the world. After Earth is conquered by the Underworld, there will be no time to hide.”

Liliana’s eyes trembled slightly.

Her body hadn’t properly adapted to the memories yet.

The memories that surged like waves made her feel as if she were drowning.

But who she truly was, whether in the past or present, the important thing remained unchanged.

What filled Liliana’s mind now was the thought that she couldn’t leave like this.

“Why… why do I have to hide? I can ignore the Demon King’s magic. I can fight.”

“I told you, Liliana. You cannot accept the Demon King’s magic. If you can’t become the Demon King in the end, the demons of the Underworld will keep attacking you, the strongest being in the Underworld, until you die. If now, we can go back…”

“I’m not going back to the Underworld.”

“… What?”

Liliana clenched her fists and turned her body.

She understood her mother’s heart in applying the seal to stop her past self.

She knew her mother was worried about her, and she knew how terrifying the Demon King was.

But, ultimately, Liliana’s body faced the vast darkness spread across the field.

“If humans win and save this world, we’ll drive them all out, whether demons or monsters. Then, without returning to the Underworld, I can live here.”

“Liliana. You… knowing everything, are you really planning to go? Because of that guy?”

“Mom.”

Liliana unconsciously smiled.

When she stopped thinking, her mind cooled.

Objectively, she could accept all her memories.

Liliana Calliope.

Known as the Succubus of Slaughter, she caused numerous storms in the Underworld, the strongest Succubus.

Even now that all those memories have returned, Liliana’s desire remained unchanged.

“I don’t let go of what I want.”

Even with all her past memories returned, the one she cherished was still that guy.

Liliana naturally bloomed pitch-black flowers.

She could overcome the Demon King’s magic.

As soon as she recognized that fact, Liliana’s senses sharpened acutely.

The darkness was so thick it felt overwhelming.

Within it, she felt the man’s magic.

The contract between Succubus and Master.

That line of magic was still connected.