Conquering The Novel

Irethiel approached Zargoth, who was now trembling on his knees.

"...So you were also one of them that betrayed me, huh? I'm guessing you were never discarded by that Asmodeus bastard, but were instead operating as a spy for him all along," Irethiel remarked keeping a blank expression.

'What secret does she know that has compelled every demon lord to pursue her?' I pondered.

"Aghh— N-No, master, Y-You got everything wrong!" Zargoth said while still struggling to breathe under Irethiel's skill.

"You know what, If it was previous me, I would have naively believed what you said unknowing of your petty schemes, unfortunately for you that I have met a little devil that utilizes these types of ploys on the regular basis.

I hate to admit it, but I am learning a lot from him," Irethiel said as she smiled at me.

"...Should I consider that as a compliment?" I inquired as I handed her my sword.

Irethiel took my weapon after a brief moment of hesitation.

"If you believe it's a compliment, then suit yourself," she said, returning her gaze to Zargoth.

"...M-Master...p-please don't do something you'll regret later. I am still your loyal servant!" Zargoth kept pleading.

"This reminds me of when you begged me to take you in, Zargoth. I recall you were still a human slave back then!" Irethiel commented, casually smiling.

"M-Master, I-" Zargoth was going to say something but couldn't complete his sentence.

Swash!—

In one swing of a sword, Irethiel decapitated Zargoth, who was on his knees pleading.

—Splurtttt

His decapitated body tumbled backward, his head rolling on the ground, as blood splattered like a waterfall.

"...."

"...And don't worry, I am not mad at you for betraying me, I am just disappointed in my naive self to easily trust everyone," She muttered and merely stood there motionless after that, and when I approached her, she handed back my sword.

"Here it is...thank you for lending it to me. It felt better to behead him with a sword. Now I see why you go around beheading people. Haha, it's quite addictive, isn't it?" She remarked, weirdly laughing.

"...Yeah, and using this to finish off betrayer is much more satisfying," I replied.

Irethiel simply nodded her head in response to my statement.

"...Are you okay?" I inquired.

"Yeah, I am good... I just don't really know who to trust anymore, and more significantly, now I have no idea how many of my former servants were faithful to me and who was merely by my side waiting for a perfect opportunity to betray me.

Hahaha—I'm beginning to wonder if you were correct about not trusting a demon!" Irethiel said, laughing, but I could see that she was trying to hide her sorrow.

"...."

And when I heard her, I was left speechless for a moment, not because I saw her sorrowful expression, and I still stand by my words of not trusting a demon,...but because she had already forgotten that Zargoth was a human when he betrayed her.

"...You do realize you're also a demon, don't you? And, of course, I am always right," I said, coming out of my thoughts, and I didn't bother to correct her, instead handing her a mana portion without her requesting.

Without saying anything, she took the potion from me and began chugging it like an alcoholic.

...

...

After a moment she spoke calming herself, "Oh, what happened to that mind-reading brat?" She asked.

"...He lost consciousness, as did every other demon in this room, as a result of your skill," I explained, before continuing, "What were those skills anyway?" I was curious.

"Hmm? Oh, The one I used on the guards outside was my Fear tempest skill, and what I just used was my Eye of Terror skill," she described.

"...Do you mean your Fear inducing and Evil eye skills?" I inquired since I remembered seeing those skills while I was choosing one of her skills.

"...."

"I didn't like their boring names, so I gave them a new one," Irethiel informed.

"...What anime did you get those names from?" I inquired, intrigued.

"Ahem, How do we deal with the remaining demons here?" She questioned, changing the topic.

"First, let us go check out those potions," I said.

"Of course, but I want to know what are your plans for the remaining demons. Do we just depart after taking those potions and not bothering with them?" Irethiel inquired, her voice interested.

"No, we shall inform the demons that you will be in control of this area from now on.

And after that, you will assemble all the demons in one area so that we may deal with them all at once," I stated.

!?

"...There are hundreds of demons here; how are we going to deal with them all at once? As I don't think I can use my skills again for the time being," She remarked.

"Don't worry, I already have a strategy for dealing with them, but first let us go check out those potions because we don't have much time until the sun rises," I answered.

Hearing me, Irethiel nodded and proceeded toward one of the unconscious demons.

"Hey you, Wake up before I put you to sleep for the rest of your life," Irethiel said, while kicking the demon who guided us here.

"Ahk— where am I?" The demon grumbled as he got up, holding his head, but when he sensed a glare on him, he gently lifted his head and was greeted by Irethiel, who grinned broadly.

He cautiously examined his surroundings to discover where his previous master was, but when he saw Zargoth's decapitated body withering away, he gulped aloud while sweating profusely.

—Gulp

"If you want to live, do as I say!" Irethiel stated with a huge evil grin.

***

[Attention all Demons! This is a command to immediately assemble outside the Leader's mansion. Our new colony leader has been selected, and it is essential that we all come together to show our support and hear directly from Her Majesty.

Failure to comply will result in repercussions. Let us get together and make this a historic event for our community.]

Beep!—

"W-Will this be enough?" After making an announcement with an antique phone-like speaker, the demon turned to Irethiel and inquired.

When Irethiel heard him, she looked to me as if to ask whether that worked.

'Yup, it will be the most historic time for your colony, all right,' I thought with a smirk and gently nodded at Irethiel, and seeing me she nodded back before speaking.

"That will suffice for the time being; now direct me to where Zargoth keeps the disguise potions," Irethiel said.

!?

"W-What? W-Why do you want to know where the disguise potions are kept?" With a worried expression, the demon inquired.

Swish!—

But then, as soon as he finished speaking, a shuriken appeared from nowhere and struck him in the right shoulder.

"Aghhh"

"Who permitted you to ask me anything? Keep your mouth shut and just do as you were told, so you can make your life easy, OK?" Irethiel remarked, smirking.

"...."

"Y-Yes!" The demon responded quickly, recognizing Irethiel's sinister smirk, and began guiding us.

And as we moved down the corridors toward the potion room, a few old demons approached the demon who was directing us and began questioning him.

"Sir Samael, what does that announcement mean? Who is the newly appointed leader?" While rushing toward him, one of the older demons inquired.

"Yes, but why weren't we informed?" Another demon asked.

"What happened to Master Zargoth?"

...

But as they moved closer to him and observed Irethiel slowly approaching behind him, accompanied by a human, they came to a halt.

"T-That is our new leader. She is very nice and easygoing, so I believe you should all inform her of your previous positions in this colony," The demon who was guiding us and whose name seems to be Samael spoke to them in a hushed tone.

"Oh, Is that her?" One of the devils inquired eagerly.

"She is also very attractive and exudes a royal aura," the old demon next to him muttered as he stroked his beard.

'Hehe, why should only I get a thrashing? Get wrecked, you old bastards,' the demon Samael thought inwardly with an evil grin.

"...But what happened to Master Zargoth, and why are you bleeding from your shoulder?" The third demon was curious.

"...."

"...D-Don't worry about my wounds; I was injured during my training, and M-Master Zargoth is no longer in this world," The demon Samael stated.

"Oh, so he returned to the demon world?" They assumed.

"Hey you, why did you come to a halt? And who are these old geezers?" As she neared him, Irethiel inquired, furrowing her brows.

"They are-" the demon Samael was about to explain but one of the geezer demons interrupted him.

"I am in charge of selling the potions to demons for money," the geezer remarked, caressing his beard.

"Wow, really?" Irethiel asked, her face radiant.

When another demon saw Irethiels smile, he stepped up and said, "I am in charge of managing the money."

"I am in charge of security," the third demon said, following suit.

Hearing them Irethiel just maintained her smile.

—Swash—Swash—Swash

"Eh?"

However, Ares' Atomic Slash skill, chopped the three of them into many pieces all at once.

"...."

As their flesh pieces dropped to the ground, Irethiel questioned, "And what should I do with that information again?"

Gulp—

"What are you waiting for? Let's get a move on," Irethiel said to the demon Samael.

"Y-Yes, I will do what the lady wishes!" He responded swiftly and resumed directing us.

***