In novels, I’ve read that there’s nothing more troublesome than an incompetent yet hard worker, but if you’ll let me state my personal opinion, in this world, there is nothing more aggravating than a ridiculously competent slacker.
The Demon Lord I’ve been dispatched to keep an eye on – The King of Sloth, Leigie of the Slaughterdolls- is perhaps the best fitting for that phrase in the world. One of these guys is more than enough.
Of the ones who ally to the Great Demon King『Kanon Iralaude』, a total of 19 have reached Demon Lord Class, but of Demon Lords selected by the Original Sin of Sloth, there is only one.
Compared to a normal Demon’s skills, a Demon Lord’s are exceedingly powerful, and while it changes based on the Skill Tree, all of them are extremely useful. Therefore, the Demon Lord who advanced his Sloth Skills to the limit was, quite annoyingly, classified as a precious existence, and that formed a sort of buffer zone where no one could really say anything against his behavior.
I must follow my orders, and produce results. But he doesn’t seem to want cause any insurrections, and all he does is just lie around. How annoying.
The current Great Demon King, Kanon-sama is a Demon Lord that is connoted with Ira. The Ira attribute specializes in offensive power, and its single targeting power far surpasses the Gula series, which is also said to boast high offense. However, the Acedia Series, annoyingly enough, is said to be the only Skill Tree out of all of them that excels in pure stamina. All demons have some Defensive skill or another, but the Sloth Tree far surpasses common sense in that regard.
Pointless VIT that seems to have been thrown in for no real reason, on top of a presumptuously enormous amount of HP. What’s more, they have specialized resistances to attacks of every attribute, and status abnormalities. With their explosive VIT, they rarely ever feel pain.
On the other hand, they’re lacking in Dexterity, and Offensive power, but I doubt such a thing is necessary.
Without any meaning, like stones on the ground, like shellfish in the sea, those guys just exist there without doing anything.
Why must we waste our own power to try and chip at those existences that resemble inorganic matter? The Great Demon Kings of old probably thought along those lines.
From my point of view, taking in a King of Sloth as a subordinate was one of the greatest mistakes ever committed by the first Great Demon Lord.
They are without a doubt detrimental existences. That’s why my stress against that indestructible wimp just continues to build up without end. I’ve collected an indescribable amount of Wrath, and while it’s been almost a thousand years since my birth, I’ve never felt this much anger against a specific something ever before.
Those were the contents of the regular report I submitted to Kanon with the resolve that I was going to get killed. She burst into laughter. It was the first time I ever saw the Great Demon King of Wrath laugh to this extent.
The Great Demon King’s hand-picked corps that acts as her eyes and ears, the『Order of Black』.
The Demons that make it up have been filtered through by various processes, making it a prestigious and elite brigade. It’s not an exaggeration to say they’re the ones leading the Great Demon King’s Army, and that they’re the king’s personal royal guard.
In reality, about one fifth of the world’s Demon Kings were once part of the Order, and when you think about how the current Great Demon King Kanon originated from it as well, it’s easy to understand just how refined of a history this Order has.
The members that make it up are sent out in different squadrons to look over the actions of the Demon Lords allied to the Great Demon King- by the desire they held, was it likely for them to quietly obey another or not. We observe their conduct in great detail, at times delivering decrees from the King, at times, offering warnings, at times fighting alongside them, and at times searching for signs of rebellion before they can carry anything out.
But as we are dispatches, it’s an exceedingly dangerous mission where we have to serve another Demon Lord, and by its nature, it’s a crucial one where negligence isn’t permitted.
Even so, after receiving top-class reports for my military service, I, Lize Bloodcross, was unable to understand why I was sent alone to do the mission that usually required teams of three, and even though I governed Wrath, just as Kanon did, I couldn’t understand the meaning behind me being sent to watch over Sloth, the complete opposite nature. It was unbearable.
Originally, inspections were to be carried out by Demons of the same attribute, or at least by ones of similar nature. While it may be the decision of the Great Demon King, I am completely unable to comprehend his divine will. I’m at my wits end. Thus, I cannot avoid issuing a protest. Even if that is to end in my death.
On a giant throne of obsidian, Great Demon King Kanon Iralaude had laughed so much that tears were coming out of her eyes, as she propped herself up with her staff.
Kanon-sama is a female Demon. Her height was close to a man’s, and the personification of her Wrath, her crimson hair the color of the flames of hell boiled and let off fumes like lava. The tips of it tickled the armrests of the throne
Even with a few meters between us, the exalted atmosphere I sensed was proof of the unfathomable power she commanded as the Great Demon King.
But her authority is quite wasted. In various ways. And as I may add, todays Demon King-sama is in a rare good mood.
She clears her throat, and stares at me with her red hot eyes.
“And, Lize Bloodcross. If that be the case, then what exactly is it that you want?”
“Yes, it is my suggestion that we just kill Leigie-sama already, divide up his territory, and assign it to the other Demon Lords loyal to you.”
I stated what was on my mind directly to the Great Demon King.
Perhaps she had expected my objection. She immediately threw out a reply.
My objection was in opposition to the Great Demon King’s will, so it wouldn’t be strange for my head to fly off at any moment, but there wasn’t even a fragment of anger in her eyes.
“I see… then who will kill him? As the sole Demon Lord that governs Sloth, he merely wastes his eternity on naught. How shall we kill a Demon Lord like that?”
“That is…”
That in itself was the reason I spent several months bearing my anger and serving him.
I do possess General level power, and my attribute is the one most suited for offense, but while he was taking such attacks, of all things… that Demon Lord started sleeping.
As if he was saying that there was no need to pay any mind to attacks of my measly level.
Just remembering it pisses me off.
Hot blood circulated through my body with my Soul Core as the center, and my vision was dyed red. I took deep breathes to try and calm myself, but it didn’t have any effect.
“Ku ku ku, by the look of it, you’ve already tried it yourself…”
“… Yes, I understand that I have overstepped my authority, but I was unable to hold back my Wrath…”
Kanon-sama received those words with eyes filled with pleasure.
“I’ll permit it. Ku ku ku, Lize… you resemble… the me of the past.”
“!? Yes… ‘tis an honor.”
Just what does she mean?
I cannot understand Kanon-sama’s thoughts. I cannot comprehend. It’s not like I’m angry. My thought come together again, and I instantly kneel before her.
With an expression completely unfitting of her moniker, Kanon of Ruin, she looked at me with soothing eyes.
“Anyways, Lize. That man won’t die… of course, if you find a way to kill him, I mind not if you carry it out, but… Lize, I’m counting on you.”
“… Yes. I will put in my utmost effort in order to answer your expectations, my liege.”
On her sudden words, I hurriedly corrected my posture, and from her sudden expectations, I hid my face.
Will I ever be able to live up to such hopes?
The Demon Lord of Sloth has peerless powers, and in his speech, loyalty to the Great Demon King, and his treatment of me, a direct emissary of her… towards all of it, he has not a fragment of interest.
Against that Demon who’s shut himself in his own closed world, what is it that I can do?
Is there anything I can change in the slightest? No matter the time, I’ve always cut open my own path with my own will, but I have no confidence for myself on this trial.
Our affinity is… just too bad.
“Good… I understand your plea. But there is a reason you were appointed Leigie’s observer. Find it out for yourself.”
That was something I did not expect from the King’s mouth. The weight I feel on the back of my head. An invisible pressure is holding me down. Lifting my head isn’t permitted.
It may be obvious, but on her statement, me questioning further would be foolish.
“Yes. Please excuse me, Lize Bloodcross. All is as Kanon-sama wishes it.”
“Good. Then march onwards. You have the makings of a ruler. So learn. Study it, understand it. The meaning of being a Demon.”
“Yes… without fail.”
There was no playfulness in the Great Demon King’s words.
Her each of her direct, passing words were engraved in my Soul Core.
But I cannot understand what she means in the slightest.
Something to learn from that Lazy King…?
From that Demon Lord… from the Demon Lord whose sin was so strong it caused my predecessor, a Demon of Sloth, to abandon his responsibility. As someone with the polar opposite nature, just what am I supposed to learn?
Perhaps by the time I learn that, I will have answered to the Great Demon King’s expectations.
I lower my head greatly, and the moment I had stepped through the door, Kanon-sama spoke.
Another voice unbefitting the Demon King of Ruin. A tired voice.
“Lize, once you return to the Castle of Shadows, go tell Leigie-Niisama… at least drop by now and again.”
“… Eh!? Niisama!?”
I definitely did not have to hear that.
I turned around in a panic. It seems Kanon realized what it was she had just said, as she was clicking her tongue. With a grim expression, she pointed her staff at me.
The sin of Wrath, said to return everything in the world to ash.
The glint in her eyes was like a raging fire, as if to block any objection from me.
With this pressure, I was able to get out but a few words before my heart gave in.
“Kanon, just now…”
“Onwards, Lize Bloodcross! Don’t… trouble me any further!”
“Y-yes!”
As if she was driving me away, she slammed the doors.
Angry words from the Demon Lord of Wrath were definitely nothing rare. The two guards standing in front of the Great Demon King’s room remain unmoving, but they turn eyes filled with sympathy at me. I nod to them before going forward.
I see… Even if he’s a rare Sloth Demon Lord Specimen, so this is why Kanon, who governs Wrath leaves him be…
Wrath’s direct attack ability is second to none, but on the other hand, it’s hard to keep followers unharmed.
I get the feeling I just caught a glimpse of some of the Great Demon King’s black history. It’s a bit dejecting.
Part 2: Go to Hell!
Today, once again, the Demon Lord I was charged with observing was at peace.
Even though the morning sun had risen, the bed remained stuffed with the thick lump that was Leigie, and he isn’t moving in the slightest. At this point, I’m even beginning to question whether he’s still alive.
Ever since the Great Demon King gave me some words of encouragement, I’ve been carefully watching him, but no matter how you look at it, this Demon Lord is just way too much of a Sloth.
There are times when a Wrath like me isn’t angry, but Leigie-sama has never slacked on his duty.
Is that supposed to be the difference between a normal Demon and a Demon Lord? No, that’s probably wrong. According to the others of the Order of Black sent to watch Demon Lords, they’re just a bit further out than normal Demons, and it seems that they’ve never run into any others stoically continuing to pursue their own attributes as much as Leigie. Really, he should just drop dead.
In an irritated state, I started writing in my Demon Lord Observation Diary.
I unintentionally opened my eyes wide. This is surprising. This is quite severe.
There… isn’t a single thing to report.
He doesn’t train his skills, and without any training, I doubt he’ll go step into a battle. He doesn’t establish communication with his retainers, and he doesn’t participate in the war councils. Everything revolves around the people working outside of his watch. I am here witnessing the perfected form of a single type of monarchy. But it’s definitely something different from the phrase『The King Reigns, but Does not Govern』.
(TL: This is apparently a line from the political doctrine of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations)
No, it’s just that he isn’t thinking about anything at all.
Are you even conscious of what your role in all this is, De~ Mon~ Lord~ Sa~ Ma~?
How does this army hold itself together? No, seriously.
It was just too pitiful that my stress is building up, and that gets converted to anger. As a result, for me who had never really had too much to anger me in life, My Wrath Skill Tree experienced sudden extreme growth. I’m not happy about it at all.
I sat irritated in my usual chair as I glared scornfully at the bed.
Even when I’m releasing this much bloodlust, why is it that he isn’t waking in the slightest…!?
And while that was happening, the clock hit a certain time, and the source of all evil appeared cart-in-hand.
She open the door without making a single sound, and quietly entered with elegant bearing. In a soft voice, she alerted him of that time.
It was the closest connection Leigie’s army had to their Demon Lord. It was…
“…Leigie-sama, it’s time for your meal…”
The maid.
She wore dated office worker clothing, and was a prim and proper beautiful Demon. I don’t know her Attribute, but she doesn’t look suited for battle, so I guess she might not have one.
In the categorization system decided by the Human Race, the category of Demons known as Wraiths, has many born with nothing but the innate instinct to cause harm to others, but occasionally, a Demon without such desires is born of them.
In that case, what comes out is a Demon that doesn’t reign over any Original Sin. There are also child Demons whose spirits are too immature for them to embrace any cravings, but for them to continue to grow up in that state is rare. I’ve heard that it can happen, though.
If that girl actually embraced some sin, then there’s no way she would be this devoted to Leigie-sama. Because this Demon Lord is trash.
Her name is Lorna. She doesn’t have a last. Since I was dispatched here, she’s the one I’ve had to interact with the most.
Her wide pretty blue eyes, and the golden hair that was evenly cut at her shoulders were her most notable characteristics. She’s probably my age, if not a little younger.
At the same time, she’s the source of all of this. Because this girl spoils that Demon Lord in every sense of the term, Leigie-sama will never work no matter how much time passes.
I’ve protested time and again, but there are no signs of her stopping her work. For a girl like this to be wasted on a demon that does not but covet indolence, ‘tis the end of the world. If it turned out that this girl was actually the one pulling all the strings, I don’t think I would actually be surprised.
I honestly think this world would be a better place without her. But she doesn’t die. There’s no worry of her falling in battle. Because she doesn’t go out in the battles.
On Lorna’s whisper of food, the Demon Lord’s head slowly began to project out of the covers. His eyes are half-closed, and he’s still lying face-down. This is the only time of day I can regularly see that man’s deplorable face. Even though he’s unarmed, if you launch an attack, Leigie-sama doesn’t take a single point of damage. I know because I’ve tried it a few times.
Just what sort of Skills does Sloth have?
Within all the Skill Trees held by the Demon Class, the one with the least information about it known is without a doubt the Sloth Skill Tree.
Demons of Sloth don’t usually use skills by choice. If you ask why, it’s precisely becausethey are Sloth. And so, a majority of Sloth’s skills aren’t widely known. Of course, among them, there isn’t anyone diligent enough to painstakingly record down their skills either. It’s no real mystery why it’s a mystery. Don’t. Screw. With. Me!
Just what thoughts are going through their heads as they continue to pursue that laziness?
Just what are they trying to do by cultivating a set of skills that they’ll never use?
Every time I think about that, it feels like I’m observing some sort of foreign animal. And I feel my entire body get engulfed by a feeling of weakness. Just die already.
The scarce information that’s been passed around denotes that Sloth skills excel in endurance, and that they have skills that allow them to slow down others’ movements. There’s also the Slaughter Dolls Leigie-sama is so known for: a skill for giving life to dolls. But that’s about it.
That may be all, but I also think that’s more than enough information in a sense. I mean, it’s not like that lump over there’s going to use a skill anyways.
With his eyes closed, Leigie-sama opened his mouth.
Lorna accepted that action with a beaming smile, scooped up some food with a spoon, and inserted it in his mouth. It was like watching a mother bird feed its young.
One surprising thing was that this Demon Lord didn’t even lift a finger to eat!
Just quit it already! Like Hell this thing is a Demon Lord! Apologize to all those Demons diligently working out there!
Even if you’re successfully fulfilling your cravings, APOLOGIZE TO ALL THOSE DEMONS WHO COULDN’T BECOME LORDS!
I grit my teeth, and screamed only within my heart. My mental sanity was in danger. In various ways.
And Lorna, you need to stop too!
It’s that. The more I learn of his slovenly lifestyle, my evaluation of Leigie, as well as those of the other Demons who couldn’t become Demon Lords, even though this thing somehow accomplished it is dropping. I’m included. And that makes me pissed off all the more.
As I stood up by reflex, Lorna turns her eyes to me.
As I sigh, she gently sets the spoon on the plate, and puts her hand on her hip, as if worn out.
“Day, by day, by day. Just what is it that you’re so dissatisfied with?”
With that gesture, I heard something snap somewhere in my head.
Leigie yawned.
“What? Me, dissatisfied? There should be a limit to making fun of me!!”
Just because he’s a Demon Lord, he’s underestimating me…
I lose my rationality for a moment, and my Wrath blazes up. It rushes around my body along with my blood.
Just how much must I bear with? Why must I live like this… If Kanon-sama won’t dispose of him, then I’ll settle this in her place…
However, even when I’ve reached a stage like this… he won’t pay me any mind.
With his eyes still closed, he sways his head back and forth. I’m getting a sudden impulse to go kick that head like a soccer ball.
Dammit… I’ve already tried that one long ago. It didn’t give him a single scratch.
Then to give him a scratch, all that’s left is my『Ira』 Skills.
I take deep breaths, and try to manage the violent emotions running about my head.
It creates too much of an opening, so I can’t use it in battle, but let’s take some sweet time, and gather up power.
With my rage as the fuel, I’ll obliterate my enemy. That is the basis of『Ira』 skills.
“Looking down on me… in Kanon-sama’s place… I’ll beat you to death…”
The『Ira』 skill I have with the highest output.
Fire born from a Demon’s heart, my Soul Core, well up from my feet, and rise into the heavens as a pillar of flames.
On the Skill Tree, it’s an upper class skill ranked S. Of the skills I can use, it’s the most powerful.
『Rage Flame』
Lorna winced as she was buffeted with the high temperature with that came as a side effect.
The blast sends the tableware flying, and it crashes into the wall before shattering into small pieces.
While it may just be an aftereffect, it’s a heat beyond what a normal Demon can stand. The skin on Lorna’s arms instantly begins to burn, and the room is filled with the unpleasant scent of roasting meat. She scowls, steps back, and covers her skin, but this isn’t a heat that can be avoided by something of that extent.
“… Lorna, move. It’s not my problem if you’re caught up in this.”
“… It’s useless. With『Wrath』 of that level… you won’t be able to breach Leigie-sama’s『Sloth』.”
… Looking down on me.
I suppress the feeling of the flames burning myself, and raise it to a heat I’d never attained before. The barrier protecting the ceiling shatters, and the stone above melts before dripping to the floor.
Words are taken as fuel, and the inside of my head gets redder and redder. The flame wrapped around my arms change to a shade of crimson mixed with black.
The cuff of Lorna’s clothes ignite, and the flame starts to spread.
But without even trying to put it out, she continued to pat Leigie’s head. He hadn’t even opened his eyes. Her mouth approached his ear.
And she voiced some unbelievable words.
“Leigie-sama… I have a younger sister. If I’m ever to dissapear, it’s set that she will be the one to take care you you in my place.”
“I see.”
Lorna doesn’t seem to be giving any care to her own life.
And the Lord of Sloth doesn’t have a hint of interest towards that fact. Leigie doesn’t even open his eyes… He doesn’t even look at Lorna’s face.
“Idiotic… you plan to die here?”
“Ku… I do not have anything to block what you’ve over there, Lize. No matter what I do, it will kill me in the end. That is all.”
While withstanding the pain, her words came out in a level tone, adding more fuel to my flames of wrath.
The flame spreads up the fabric, and the king sized bed is engulfed in it. Lorna doesn’t try to cover herself. With her body alight, she continues to gaze at the closed-eyed Leigie.
The flames were my anger in itself. Their nature was different than simple physical fire. They had powers fitting for them to be called flames of hell, the ability to turn all matter to ash. In this wide world, they’re perhaps what has the greatest destructive capability. They even surpass the magic fire used by the Spirit Race.
Information about the target of my flames enters my head.
Lorna’s body constructed of Soul only has a slight fire resistance from the basic Demon Tree. She’s easily burned through as she becomes food for the flames.
The reason she’s still alive is that this is only a secondary effect with not even a fraction of the skill’s power.
If I released the skill, then even if I didn’t aim for her, she would easily…even easier than a scrap of paper, her soul and all else would turn to ash.
“Ask your lord to save you.”
“You’re making… a mistake. Lize Bloodcross.”
Her entire body burns away bit by bit, and her head dressed in charcoal made me find it amazing she was still alive. With those burnt eye sockets, she looked at me.
What was in her eyes was nothingness. Her entire body disappearing, she lets out not a single scream of pain, as if she were merely waiting to greet an inevitable demise. It was more repulsing than anything I had ever seen before.
And like that, Lorna smiled.
“… Sloth is… without thinking anything… without creating anything… without saving anything… without letting your feelings be moved… just existing as you wish it.”
“!?”
The all-important Leigie was, even with the flames of hell said to destroy any and everything surrounding him, not stirring at all.
Not a single hair on his head, or a single patch of skin was burned. Even though there’s no sign of him using any sort of skill!
In front of his eyes… even when the loyal Demon who’s served him faithfully up until now is burning!
Even when everything in his world is being reduced to cinders!
That fact made my mind leave me.
It felt like my head would split, that even burning everything in this world wasn’t enough. That sort of anger penetrated my head. The heat of the flames increases even further.
At that moment, Leigie opened his eyes for the first time, and murmured.
For the first time, his eyes turn towards me. His expression seems troubled.
“… It’s hot.”
What the hell is he saying… this one…
I can see that his face is stiff. Words I cannot understand. A way of life I cannot understand.
Without an iota of hesitation, I activated the skill.
“… Go to hell! Leigie!”
“… I see.”
With an unpleasant expression, Leigie sighed.
He turned the palm of his hand to me… in the face of the black flames, he said a single word.
“Iyo.”
That was the first moment I had understood that the Demon Lord had activated a skill. Even without saying the Skill name.
Right before it hit him, with a speed much faster than my own skill.
What was supposed to protect my soul, the Mental Pollution Resistance skill was instantly breached without being able to offer any resistance in the slightest. My instincts told me.
The impact was great enough to shake my Soul Core. My Field of vision was in chaos, and my thoughts went all over the place.
The heat inside of my head was instantly cut off.
As if those feelings had been a lie, a hole was pierced through my heart. What should have been there was the mental hell of Wrath, but the driving force that was my anger turned off, and died out. The flames that had been raging in the surroundings, the flames that had been burning Lorna, as if any and everything had been a dream.
“What… did you…”
I look at my palm, from which the black flame had disappeared.
I should… have been angry. I definitely had been embracing anger and hatred great enough to burn everything to the ground.
My memory still remains. Until a few seconds ago, I should have been in a rage, but… now I don’t really care.
The disparity between my emotions and my memory become a cold wind, sending shivers down my spine. Something must have happened to create the empty gap within my mind.
My knees give out on me, and I kneeled on the ground that had rapidly cooled after losing its heat.
I don’t understand. I don’t understand anything. I don’t understand my emotions of anger. How. Why was I angry? How did I get so angry? My memory won’t provide me with those answers.
Without paying any mind to my worries, within the ashes, and with a troubled expression, in his tattered bedding, Leigie rolled over.
There is only one theory that could possibly explain this abnormal situation.
… This is… a Skill of Sloth.
Lying on his back, Leigie’s eyes turned in my direction.
“…”
But without saying anything, he closed them.
His impudent behavior lit another spark within me.
Say something already…
Part 3: Who the Hell Does He Think He’s Supposed to Be?
“Are you not going to kill me for opposing you?”
“… If you want to die, then go do that by yourself. Ah, but first, go tell them that they should send a Sloth next time.”
Hah.
Leigie let out a troubled sigh.
With those words, I became certain that my own actions had absolutely no effect on this Demon Lord.
He really is a man with no hopes of salvation. Kanon’s tired words float in my mind.
A skill to overwrite one’s cravings with Sloth.
That’s my conjecture as to the skill this Demon Lord used only once. I don’t even know its name.
At that moment, the hell within my heart was completely buried up.
And if that’s truly the case, then that is… the strongest skill for a Demon. I mean, a Demon’s battle ability rises in proportion to the extent of their longings. Just as my『Wrath Flames』 scaled off my anger, to rapidly increase its output.
It’s not something limited to Wrath, the others are the same. Without a thirst for material possessions, Greed Skills are unusable, and without hunger, Gluttony Skills won’t have any decent firepower.
His skill is bullshit. Normally, a skill of this type would be blocked by the Mental Corruption Resistance on the Basic Demon Tree, but this Demon Lord somehow breached it in an instant. That means that skill can’t be blocked by standard means, and that skills that can’t be withstood by it truly do exist.
I’m not sure if it’ll work even on a Demon Lord, but if it does, then even Demon Lords would be played with like children. And I don’t want to think about it, but perhaps the one who holds the seat of Great Demon Lord, Kanon-sama, is the same.
No, more than that, a large majority of Wrath Skills scale directly off of anger, so his power would be even more affective against her.
When I think of the anger smoldering within me, it isn’t something that will burn for eternity, but if I think about what would happen if it were suddenly extinguished in battle, I cannot help but feel fear.
Its effect? Its range? Its scope? Its conditions?
Challenging this Demon Lord without knowing any of that is… too dangerous. What’s more, he only showed me a single power. When you think about how I have dozens of Wrath Skills, while there’s a difference in trees, I can’t help but assume this Demon Lord has much more than that.
Leigie-sama is… dangerous. Not because his irritating behavior is poison to my sanity, his power itself is dangerous.
It’s likely that Kanon-sama knows this as well. That’s why I was dispatched. This Demon Lord won’t do anything troublesome like start a rebellion, but in the million to one chance…
If I cannot obliterate him with Wrath Skills… the other Skill Series which fall behind in pure offensive power won’t be able to break his defense.
He said it was hot. That means for a split second, my power definitely had some effect on this Demon Lord. It’s impossible for the current me, but if I continue to mature, perhaps I will gain the power to inflict damage on him.
I need to sharpen my blade.
While looking at this man, who possesses unfathomable power, I’ll refine myself. That is likely Kanon-sama’s… intent.
And at the same, time, make good use of this man’s resources, to benefit the Great Demon Lord’s army. He’s scary as an enemy, but having these Sloth Skills on our side is more than reliable.
Taking on these two challenges simultaneously is my mission, and my trial.
Once I’ve overcome that, there is no doubt I’d have gained powers incomparable to what I’ve used up until now.
We were moved to another room, and on top of a bed of the same make, Leigie turned over in his sleep.
In my eyes his form was now that of someone I couldn’t underestimate.
It seems that the bedroom I burnt up is in the middle of reconstruction. None of the Demons in Leigie’s army said a word about it. Say something already.
At that time, the door made a loud sound as it opened, and a single Demon came in.
It was a girl wearing a maid uniform. Her atmosphere was a bit similar to Lorna, but she was just a little bit younger.
She looked at Leigie-sama, who refused to pop his face out of the covers, took a quick glance at me, and approached the bed. With a face identical to Lorna’s, she smiled.
“Leigie-sama! Please~ Wake~ Up~!”
Of all things, she began recklessly shaking the cover the Demon Lord had burrowed under.
The smile and atmosphere are definitely similar. The girl who was probably the sister she was talking about only carried a similar air, and her actions were completely different. This is a fraud.
That’s no way to treat that guy, I mean, isn’t he supposed to be some sort of king?
At her violent treatment, I unintentionally tried to restrain her when I was supposed to be on the other side.
What the hell is this.
“!? Wai… can’t you be a little quieter!?”
“? Ah! You muct be the Lize-san oneechan told me about! I’m called Hiero. I’m the little sister of Lorna, who used to take care of Leigie-sama!”
“Eh, ah, yes.”
Without stopping her hand, the girl called Hiero turned only her head to look at me.
She’s not displaying the appropriate attitude to the one who burnt her sister to death. No, more so, she’s giving a smile reminiscent of a blooming flower.
Even if she’s a Demon, she should have at least a bit of affection for her family. Just like I have a sort of loyalty to the Great Demon King.
Of all things, she started speaking in an innocent voice.
“Thank you very much! For killing Oneechan! Because of that, it’s finally come around to my turn! Oneechan would never stop working, so I was getting worried!”
Her feelings were just too twisted. Her lack of visible malice made it all the more menacing.
From the time I served directly under the Great Demon King, to when I was assigned here, I’ve never seen emotions like these.
“Y-you… are those the sort of words you’re supposed to direct to your sister’s killer!?”
“Eh? Well…”
On my words, Hiero put her index finger to her mouth, and began to think.
And the answer came soon enough. It was an answer I wasn’t expecting at all.
“Lize-san, you’re too soft. If you’re going to try killing her, you have to do it properly…”
“Eh…?”
Her skirt fluttered as she sat on the edge of the bed. From under her skirt that was much shorter than Lorna’s, I saw healthy, tanned skin.
As if something was tickling her, she raised a laugh befitting her age.
How does that modest Older Sister get a younger one like this?
(TL: This kusu is laughter. Not sobbing.)
“Kusu kusu kusu, she was still alive… Good grief, oneechan doesn’t know when to give up… her luck sure was great. Even if it wasn’t a direct hit, for her not to die instantly after taking the『Ira』 of a General Class Demon. Even when I thought my turn had finally come, I was going to have to contain myself even longer!”
What shocking news. She was burnt black, but lived!?
No, that’s not it. That isn’t it. This Demon… what did she just say?
“… Contain yourself even longer… could it be, that you…”
“Nonono, don’t misunderstand! Oneechan’s still alive, you know? Though she’s quite burnt. I mean, killing my own sister is a bit… If I did something like that, kusu kusu kusu, I would become『Invidia』, wouldn’t I? Holding onto two sins would be a pain.”
An unsettling cheerful voice.
This one is… different. She has no beauty like Lorna. No matter how close their faces, no matter how close their forms, this child is without a doubt one who spreads ill will just by staying alive, an orthodox devil. One with the personality most fit to pursue desire, a『Pure Demon』.
I’m not sure whether she’s looking at my expression or not, she lies down face up on top of Leigie, and stares at the decorations on the canopy.
“Oneechan was pretty, wasn’t she? She should’ve been of the same make as me, but she was nice and slim, and tall, and her eyes were wide and clear, her skin was white, and she always did the housework, but she never got a scratch on her, and her hair was glossy without any damage. Her voice wasn’t too high or too low, it was just the right level to comfort the ear, and her breasts were twice the size of mine… a beauty no male Demon would be able to leave alone, and despite her lewdness, she didn’t let a single finger touch her body, as she served Leigie-sama in chastity… Her heart was strong, and she didn’t draw back a step against『Ira』… Kusu kusu kusu, she really was the ideal woman.”
“Le…wd?”
“Oh? Didn’t you know? Even like that, Oneecchan’s a『Luxuria』 demon, you know? What’s more, she’s pursued desire enough to get A Class skill, quite powerful. If you look at Demon Ranks, perhaps the rank just before General… she had about as much power as a Knight, I guess.”
That’s something I cannot believe.
『Luxelia』
Of the 7 Sins that Demons can possess, it’s known as the one most unsuited for direct combat.
And among all of them, it’s said to be the weakest in resisting attacks as well.
They are weak. Uselessly frail. Especially against Demons with Mental Corruption resistance, a majority of their powers don’t work.
But if so, they why…
“Why…”
“I don’t know if Oneechan told you, but my household… has ALWAYS served the Demon King of Sloth, Leigie of the Slaughterdolls. Probably from around ten generations ago. Within the house, there’s a rule that the strongest Demon would be the one to serve, and in this generation, that was… Lorna oneechan. Until Yesterday, that is.”
Yesterday, I burned Lorna in the flames of Wrath. If Hiero’s words are to be trusted, she survived, but has lost her power.
And so the generation shifted. To this arrogant sister.
“I’ve always had a complex against Oneechan. Especially that figure. Oneechan had my ideal form, so… that’s why I was always weaker than her.”
“Eh? Fi… gure?”
“With『Luxuria』, no matter how high level of a Demon you are, with only A Class skills, you can’t… be strong at all. I should have been much stronger. But even so, I couldn’t win. I’m thankful to you, Lize-san. Thank you for burning up oneechan’s beautiful face.”
The tone of her voice dropped for a moment.
And the Demon said…
“Because of that, I was able to…『Overrule』 her…”
All the puzzle pieces were in place.
Hiero forcefully opened up the covers, and shamelessly clung onto Leigie-sama’s arm as he looked at her with empty eyes.
“Leigie-sama, nice to meet you. I think you were listening, but I’ll be taking care of you in oneechan’s place! I’m called Hiero! I’ll be whole-heartedly devoting my time to you, so I hope we get along!”
“… I see.”
“The Original Sin I carry is…『Pride』. I’m Hiero of『Superbia』! Please remember it!”
As I thought… a Pride Demon!
『Superbia』
A Demon that governs arrogance and superiority complexes.
Within this army, it’s also the attribute of Supreme Commander Heard Lauder.
Its tree… holds some exceedingly troublesome skills. Its affinity with Gula and Ira, that were made to inflict direct damage, is particularly bad.
On her first conversation with the Lord, her eyes sparkled greatly.
But at the same time, I felt it. This girl is in no way suitable for Leigie-sama.
The Demon Lord wasn’t really thinking about anything. With eyes devoid of emotion, he uttered two words.
“… Yeah. Iyo.”
“? What’s 『Iyo』?”
On those words, Leigie’s expression turned stale.
His face spoke for itself. That explaining was a pain. He turned his eyes to me, but I decided to ignore him.
At first, I wondered what it was as well. I asked. But Leigie-sama never told me. In the end, I had to find it out by asking the other Demons. It truly was a waste of time.
Leigie-sama let out a deep sigh. As if he was saying this was all my fault.
And along with that sigh, Hiero’s expression clouded.
With a heavy voice, Leigie-sama spoke. From my point of view, it was the same as normal, but for Hiero who was having her first conversation with him, it was probably different. His voice is always full of something that could be called despair.
“… What happened to the last one?”
“… Eh? Y-you mean oneechan?”
“… Yeah.”
Yeah, he definitely doesn’t know it.
Leigie-sama has no interest in the maid’s name and origins. He probably found it a pain, so he answered as such.
Hiero’s pride is stimulated, and she answers in a shaking voice.
“Oneechan was… burnt black by that Lize-san over there. That’s why I’m…”
Demon Lord, you were there, weren’t you! And isn’t this your fault!?
Even though he was completely ignoring it, he can’t even remember what happened just yesterday.
Are you sure there isn’t any fungus growing inside of that head?
“I see… bring her here.”
“… he? Leigie-sama, j-just now, what are…”
Leigie-sama frowned.
He’s probably thinking, ‘God, this is a pain,’ but from someone who doesn’t know him, he definitely looks displeased.
By the way, if Kanon-sama makes a face like that, it’s a sign that the entire area will soon be reduced to cinders. There’s no escape.
This Demon Lord is a wimp, so nothing like that ever happens here. I’ll even bet my life on it. Ah, dammit. This is pissing me off.
Leigie-sama repeated himself.
“… Bring her.”
“… Y-yes… ahaha, but she’s just charcoal, right? … y-yes, I understand. I’ll carry Oneechan here.”
Hiero’s eyes are teary, but she immediately leaves the room, making loud footsteps.
As if to shout out, ‘I’m in a bad mood.’
But Leigie-sama probably doesn’t notice that at all.
The Demon Lord under the covers, who usually never moved had taken such a large action, so I tried asking.
“What do you plan on doing?”
“… That one’s no good.”
“… Hiero, you mean?”
“Yeah…”
Without stating a specific reason, he just painstakingly said that one word.
… It seems that Lorna spoiling the heck out of him up until now has had a slight effect. It seems you guys really are the best under the heavens at deceiving people, Luxuria.
It’s because she carried out each and every conceivable services for him… though that was also the reason I snapped.
With loud footsteps, Hiero slams open the door.
She violently throws something onto Leigie-sama’s bed.
“… It’s oneechan.”
What Hiero brought was a Soul Core that could fit into the palm of your hand.
About half of it had burned away, and been destroyed. Looking at it, I myself cannot call that living. It’s because I don’t have the necessary tools to determine whether or not there’s any life in that.
As long as a Demon’s Soul Core is safe, they can take up long years to regenerate themselves. But with this much damage, it’ll probably decay before any regeneration can happen.
I’m actually surprised Hiero was able to find this small fragment inside the ashes. Could it be she actually had soft feelings towards her sister?
Leigie-sama can’t seem to contain his unhappiness as he takes the core in his hands.
He gave a sigh of resignation, and gave a word in Hiero’s direction… once more, that word.
“… Iyo.”
“… Eh? U-um… I deeply apologize. I am… s-still inexperienced, but I will do my best… would you be as kind as to tell me the meaning of『Iyo』?”
Having been pressed with an impossible trial, as if her smile before had been a lie, Hiero’s tears fell all over the place.
Getting a pride to say they’re inexperienced, what a frightening man. He probably isn’t thinking about anything, though. But to one who governs Pride, that is a disgrace akin to death.
They are just masses of pride, and they think they’re the centers of the world, so hurting their pride enough to get them to put themselves below others makes them absurdly weak.
“… Hah…”
“!? D-demon Lord…”
Who the hell does he think he’s supposed to be?
With a sigh, Leigie-sama closed his eyes.
In the first place, ‘I’ll leave it to you’, and ‘I’m satisfied with your work’ aren’t specific instructions in the slightest, aren’t they?
Right now, the Demon Lord doesn’t really wish for anything. Can’t he just tell her that?
Hiero nervously looks around the room. Her eyes met mine, but I hated her, so I ignored her.
Trying to regain her standing, she musters up her courage to talk again. I doubt any evaluation of her has risen or fallen in the first place. In the first place, there’s no meaning in getting evaluated by that Leigie-sama.
I’m starting to think this, but don’t Pride and Sloth have the worst compatibility?
One strives to be superior and worshipped by others, the other really doesn’t care. You can’t fulfill a superiority complex with the Lazy King.
Even if there were rules, I think Lorna’s made a complete mistake when choosing her successor. Is this supposed to be some form of harassment?
“U-um… I specialize in housework! Cooking, and cleaning, and laundry… I’m confident in it. If you wish for it… e-even sexual favors…”
“I see.”
Her face is red, and she’s definitely pushing herself, but Leigie simply gives his usual answer.
No, he’s not being cold. That’s just how he is!
But Hiero doesn’t know that. You can’t try and communicate with this Demon Lord.
Unless you know what he is from the start… that’s why I’m so troubled.
And having been pushed into a corner, Hiero continued to speak.
“Um… if it pleases you, please give me an order.”
Having heard that, for the first time, Leigie-sama voiced his will.
“……………… Damn, this is a pain.”
“… Eh!?”
Seriously, who is he supposed to be?
Leigie-sama let out the deepest sigh he’d ever made.
Hiero looked at the Demon Lord with a blank expression. She hasn’t said anything wrong. She hasn’t made any reckless remarks, and she hasn’t asserted her selfishness.
Having seen this scene, a hundred out of a hundred would side with her on the matter. Even I would.
Don’t expect the maid that was just hired today to be able to figure everything out.
The Demon Lord casually lifted the broken Soul Core up to the light.
I wonder what’s going through his mind.
And the moment came.
The presence that sprung forth all of a sudden made me choke for air.
Having sensed that, the face Hiero had finally put in order was suddenly overcome with fear, and after some convulsions, she took a large step back.
Pride forgot her pride, and wrath forgot her wrath. It was an amount of magic great enough to make my『Rage Flame』 seem like child’s play, enough magic to warp the world.
It was. Without a doubt, a wave of the strongest power I’d ever seen in my life.
Nothing seemed to matter anymore, and power seemed to seep out of my body due to the concentration of Acedia.
With a face on the brink of death, the Demon Lord chanted. It was definitely some sort of Spell.
“『Ir Ir Rul Arcadia. Everything, degradation and depravity. Hah… Law of money, the black cornerstone that holds together all creation, just gather for a bit in my name. 『Sloth Minugrosz』』 Ah, I misspelled it…”
“Wai…”
The overflowing magic abides the Demon Lord’s chant, and takes form.
In general, Skills can be activated by incantation, or skill name. Without the incantation, the difficulty increases, and the output drops.
This Demon Lord’s never chanted, or even said the skill name before, so with an aria that long, of the skills I’ve seen before… It’ll most definitely be the highest ranking one.
I haven’t the slightest idea what’s going to happen, but an unpleasant feeling comes over my body. An alarm clock goes off in my head.
The skill activation that’s usually impossible to sense is crystal clear.
At the feeling of the world’s order being warped, Hiero let out a scream.
But a spelling error… it was definitely that sigh he threw into it, wasn’t it!?
He can’t even recite a Skill properly, this Demon Lord!
The thoughts racing around my head were just my attempt to escape reality.
Even if the chant was a failure, the skill definitely activated.
All apart. Though nothing had changed, I felt something breaking.
The Soul Core the Demon King was holding began to change shape at the half that had been burned.
With the crystal at the center, a mysterious black haze started to gather, and take form. Its color changes.
Hiero mutters in a daze.
“O nee… chan?”
“… Haa.”
His sigh was filled with annoyance while, as if a clip was being played in reverse, the charcoal regains its color, and a completely scorched face is dyed white and regains its gloss. In the wide open eyesockets, large orbs take shape.
In just a few seconds, a completely unharmed Lorna was created. Of course, her body, but even the clothes she had been wearing are reborn without a scratch.
In a situation that had long transcended expectations, Hiero’s eyes are dilated as she raises a scream. Her back hits the bedside table, and her hips are shaking, but she retreats further.
And Lorna slowly opens her eyes.
… She’s alive.
The hell… just what is that skill?
Regeneration? Like hell… as if regeneration can restore clothing. In the first place, Lorna should have been completely terminated. From a half-destroyed Soul Core, there’s no way she’d be brought back this perfectly!
“Onee… chan?”
“Hie… ro?”
Hiero unsteadily walks towards Lorna, as if she had seen a ghost.
Lorna’s eyes bink multiple times as she looks at her sister. She doesn’t seem to know what’s going on either.
Well, that can’t be helped. Even I, who’s seen this start to finish, can’t understand what just happened.
At that moment, the color of Hiero’s face changed. From ghastly pale, to red panic.
She tilts her head as she looks over Lorna’s body.
I also noticed it. The regeneration… wasn’t over yet. No, the wounds were already gone, but still, her time was turning back.
The skill hadn’t ended yet!
The feeling that something was broken persisted, and even though she had returned to normal, there’s no sign of it ending.
Lorna’s height ever-so-slightly reduced, and her breasts withered in a similar manner. The look on her face gets slightly more childish.
Her clothing changes from a pure-white maid uniform to a smaller one with black as the base. Her long skirt changes to the shorter one Hiero was wearing.
By misspell, could he possibly…
My heart beats faster, as I see her body gradually shrink, the fifteen centimeter height difference between her and Hiero became ten, then five. Compared to that, the bulge in her breasts doesn’t change all that much, but her facial features slowly regress from mature to innocent.
For a different reason, Hiero blinked her eyes as she turned to Leigie-sama.
“…Leigie-sama, this is…”
“… Turned her too far back.”
With a face that showed he wasn’t repenting at all, Leigie-sama rubbed his head into the pillow. Even though it was his mistake, he still has absolutely no motivation.
Turned her… too far back?
Lorna’s transformation ends.
By that time, there was pretty much no gap between her and Hiero. Of course, there’s personality, and Lorna’s face looks just a little more adult-like, but the appearance differences they had before, if you exclude the fact that Lorna’s a very slight bit taller, and her breasts much larger, as if they were twins, they looked identical. The difference left was that of Lust and Pride… the difference caused by attribute.
Lorna’s perplexed eyes looked over her shorter arms and legs.
Perhaps Hiero didn’t know how to respond, but she looked around as if to throw responsibility off of herself. I want someone to help me.
Only Leigie-same is without confusion, without ill will. He looks at the much-compacted, reconstructed Lorna.
“Do you have… memories? Today’s date?”
On Leigie-sama’s question, Lorna casts away her hesitation, and corrects her posture. As if concerned about her now-shorter skirt, she fidgets as she gives a clear reply.
“Eh? Ah… yes. Today is Divine Year 271C8A, Kanon Year 310 November 11th, Leigie-sama.”
As his question was answered with a full-on smile, Leigie-sama turned to me.
Could it be that even though he asked, he doesn’t even know the date himself?
Having regained composure, Hiero answers instead.
“Oneechan, it’s the 12th.”
“Heh? No, today should be the 11th… Hmm? Hiero, did you get taller?”
No, you shrunk.
Leigie-sama addressed Lorna, who was tilting her head, and still without a grasp on the situation, with a care-free tone.
“I see. Got it. Iyo.”
“??? Y-yes! Understood, my liege…”
Her head remains tilted as she answers. She looks at her wristwatch, and compares it to the one on the wall. In a panic, she lowers her head deeply to Leigie-sama.
“Leigie-sama, I deeply apologize. A little… your meal time will be delayed by about an hour.”
“Iyo.”
“Thank you. I am deeply grateful for your kindness.”
She instantly returned to her daily cycle, and made quiet steps as she exited the room. Behind her, she pulled the hand of her sister, who still didn’t have a grasp on anything.
As I looked upon it, I was so taken aback that I couldn’t say anything.
What’s with that pointless loyalty? More than her own body, that had disintegrated, she worries for the mealtime of the Demon Lord that can go centuries without food or drink?
I look towards Leigie, the culprit in all of this, but there’s no sign of him feeling satisfaction, or a sense of achievement, or even remorse.
This Demon Lord, who is he, really…
With all that’s happened, I’ve lost confidence in my own『Wrath』 that I’m supposed to govern.
Part 4: Quit. Screwing. With. Me!
Give me a break already.
Every time he shows one of his Sloth skills, my stress build up.
What I understand is that this Demon Lord has advanced enough to be appropriate for Rank Three. That’s about it.
And while I originally would be happy upon learning such a fact, every time I’m reminded of it, I lose confidence in myself as a Demon.
Just how much do I have to satisfy my Sin to get some bullshit skill like the ability to rewind time? To be more specific, it seems it separates stored up experience, and rewinds the body, but that doesn’t really matter.
Compared to Wrath, which is all direct attacks, Sloth is too free, and the effects are indeterminate, or how should I put it… they’re really annoying.
He rarely uses them, so the damage when he does is horrendous. He’s definitely trying to piss me off. It’s a conspiracy.
This workplace is dangerous… my stomach hurts.
I can now understand why my Sloth predecessor abandoned all responsibility. When a Sloth Demon gave up on this, there’s no way a Wrath like me can endure it.
No matter how much I try venting my anger on him, he remains peaceful, so my stress isn’t going anywhere at all.
Kanon-sama’s expectations, and the environment itself have me stuck between a rock and a hard place.
But if I just let him be, then there’s no workplace more peaceful than this one.
I mean, even if I don’t observe him, in the end, he definitely won’t do something as troublesome as a revolt, and even if we don’t lend him power, it’ll work out one way or another.
Is what I thought, but just look at this!
I hold my aching stomach as I turn to Leigie-sama who was slouching deeply into a chair.
“What? What did you just say?”
“… Nothing.”
He’s quite clearly making a face that says repeating would be a pain, as he averts his eyes. For me to almost completely understand this mostly expressionless King, is that some sort of growth on my part? I don’t need this sort of growth…
It’s no good… there’s nothing we can do about this one.
I take deep breathes to control my anger. My control has greatly increased compared to when I first came here. Without a doubt.
I need to control my anger… even shouting at this man is more than he deserves.
“… Do you remember that Imperial decree?”
“…”
Don’t… don’t close your eyes. I’m begging you, listen…
It’s… it’s fine… calm down… if I get angry, it’s my loss…
I take deep breathes, and leisurely lower my voice to make it easier for Leigie-sama to hear.
“I said it, didn’t I? This time… the enemy’s a Demon Lord.”
“… No?”
Ku… this man…
I firmly clench my fist. I squeeze so hard my nails break through the skin, and a hot pain runs up my arm.
Is he making fun of me? No. Without even playing dumb, the memory’s already completely gone.
I… said it! I definitely said it! I was the one who brought the order from Kanon, I was the one who painstakingly explained it to Leigie-sama, and the one who said that the opponent was a powerful Demon Lord so if he didn’t go out himself, he would be sending his Generals to die a pointless death was also me!
It’s because if I didn’t warn him, I was sure he would never go out!
Anger splits my head, and as I felt that I was about to destroy the area, I somehow kept it contained with repeated abdominal breathing.
“Hey, hey, oneechan. Lize-san sure has become quiet lately.”
“Don’t mind her, just hold the end properly!”
AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
Next to Leigie-sama, the annoying sisters spoke as if it were someone else’s problem.
Hiero’s master later learned of her unsightly display, and sent her in for maid training. Recently, those two have taken to coming here together.
The prideful younger sister, who intentionally raised her voice so I could hear, and the older one, who despite being one-sidedly killed by me, continued to show absolutely no interest towards me. By that devastating combo, my stress is swelling up twice as fast as before. This really is the worst.
Pride’s Skiltree’s nature lies in bestowing absolute adjustments to opponents they’ve Overruled.
To put it simply, to them, to those weaker than them, they display absolute strength, and to those that excel even a little bit more than them, they display complete weakness… that sort of skill.
And so, now that the older sister Lorna’s revived, it seems that Hiero was once more forced to occupy second place. Normally, once someone’s been Overruled, it’s difficult to overturn that, but now that Lorna’s been reduced to around the same age, the clear disparity in their appearances (mainly in the chest area) beat down Hiero once more, and while she’s still a bit afraid of Leigie-sama, she obediently follows her sister’s words.
Well, for now, that doesn’t really matter.
The problem is that Hiero is taking mischievous glances at me as if she had set up a prank while she practices making the bed.
She speaks in my direction as she makes an annoying smile.
“Lize-san, you’re not getting angry anymore… could it be you’ve finally given up after witnessing Leigie-sama’s power?”
“An inevitable result. No matter the case, laying hands on a Demon Lord… it was her previous behavior that was the stranger one!”
AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!
Rage so large I felt my head would explode at any moment swelled up, fueling my power.
Blood flows from the palm of my hand, and it trickles onto the ground.
I unintentionally put in too much power, and cracks are spreading across it.
I use up all of my mental fortitude fighting my own emotions.
Calm… calm down. Lize Bloodcross.
In the end, this is the nonsense of a child…
Compared to this man, who never moves by himself, despite being a Lord…
Smile. Make a smile.
“D-Dem on Lord? I-I said it, right? The opponent is… the Devouring Demon Lord.”
“… Who’s that?”
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH
Someone do something about this maaaaaaaaaaan!
Among Kanon-sama’s subordinates, there isn’t one who doesn’t know of Zebul Glaucus, the Devourer.
But this Demon Lord probably, in all honesty, doesn’t know. Hooray.
That’s why. I. Explained it. Because I thought he didn’t know, I explained it! I definitely did!
AAAAAAAH, please save me, Kanon-samaaaaaaaaaa!
I hit my head against the bed post in an attempt to forget my anger, and Lorna looked at me with repulsed eyes.
This is all your Lord’s fauuuuulllt!
“… Fifth… The Fifth Rank, a Demon that governs Gula, my liege. He subjugated the Fifteenth Rank, and the Sixteenth rank Demon Lords in a matter of three days. An atrocious… Demon Lord.”
“… Is that supposed to be amazing?”
“Gu… Yes, it’s amazing! Listen here, Rank Five means that among the Demon Lords loyal to Kanon-sama, he’s the fifth strongest!”
“… Is he stronger than you?”
Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
General class… and a Demon Lord. Don’t compare them!
I shed tears of restraint as I answer. Damn, why must I go through something like this?
“W-well… that’s right…”
“… I see.”
His uninterested line finally made me snap.
IF YOU DON’T EVEN CARE, THEN DON’T ASK!
AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!
“Wow, that’s amazing… Lize-san. After going through this much, you can still keep quiet…”
“Naturally. In the first place, what was strange was the way Lize has been treating our Demon Lord up until now.”
In my head, how many hundreds of thousands of times have I killed him so far!?
AAAAAAAAAAHHHH. This is bad… I’ll die.
Even within my rage, tears started flowing out. Why am I…
“Uku… and. So. It. Would. Be. Bad. If You. Don’t. Go. Out. Demon Lord! In. The. Worst. Case. They’ll. Be. Annihilated!”
In the first place, having a Demon Lord confront a Demon Lord is common sense in battles between Demons.
This time, we even know beforehand that Zebul is personally leading his army.
A normal Demon Lord should know the meaning of this without me having to spell it out. But I thought Leigie-sama didn’t know, so I already explained it to him!
Give me back all of my hard work!
Having listened to the drawn out conversation, Leigie-sama yawned with sleepy eyes.
“… Iyo.”
“If the army the Great Demon King sent you is annihilated, you’ll definitely be punished, you know!? Do you understand that!?”
But seeing her behavior, I’m not sure about other Lords, but perhaps Kanon-sama will let this man off.
But of course, I won’t say that. If I did, he definitely wouldn’t go out.
Why is it that the man in question isn’t even thinking anything, when I, who was merely sent to watch over him, have so much on my mind!!
“…”
Are. You. A Child!!?
I pull at his arm as he silently closes his eyes.
From Lorna, I heard that Deije and Medea had launched an attack, and it’s been a few hours since we informed Leigie-sama.
If we don’t hurry, they’ll all die. No, it’s not strange it they’ve already perished.
And wait, normally, shouldn’t he at least say something!? That he wanted to join them or something!?
With Leigie-sama showing no signs of movement, and I was just about to give up, my savior popped up from an unexpected place.
With eyes full of curiosity, Hiero pulled at Leigie-sama.
“Leigie-sama, I want to see it! The place where they’re fighting!”
Nono, that wasn’t my intent, you know?
Hiero has even less restraint than me when dealing with this Demon Lord. Of all things, she climbed onto his knee, and started shaking his shoulders back and forth.
Due to the younger sister’s sudden recklessness, the elder one quickly tried to apprehend her. Unfortunately, due to her years of training being blown away, she lacks the physical ability to pull her away.
“Hey, stop that! What do you think you’re doing to Leigie-sama…”
“Eh? No, but even oneechan wants to see the form of a Demon Lord fighting once in your life, right?”
“Yes, well…”
On the younger’s direct question, Lorna hesitated for a second.
Despite this and that, Lorna who serves a Demon Lord who doesn’t do anything must harbor those feelings. That’s a bit of a relief.
As if he had noticed a change in the behavior of the faithful maid he had rewound the time of, Leigie-sama opened his eyes, and said a word.
It really was just a word. It seems he’s finally started to remember the name lately.
“Lorna.”
“Hiero, look! Leigie-sama is tired. Stop troubling him, and come back here so we can be doing what we should!”
Lorna spilled out her opinion without restraint. She grabs Hiero’s body firmly with both arms, and pulls her off of Leigie-sama.
Even while pulling her off, she continues to direct a charming smile at Leigie-sama before deeply lowering her head.
But without a hint of interest towards her smile, he closed his eyes.
Inside of Lorna’s arms, Hiero resists, and shouts out.
“B-but oneechan! Every night, to Leigie-sama, don’t you mastur…!”
… What?
Upon hearing that, with movements unbefitting of Lust, Lorna locked Hiero’s face in an iron claw with speed that made me question whether she had used a skill or not.
She looks over her sister expressionlessly. Her eyes definitely aren’t laughing. That’s the expression of someone considering how to cook up the live fish sitting on the cutting board.
Just what would happen if you break her usual calm temperament? It feels as if a sleeping beast had been awoken.
“Hiero… if you say any more, fufu… you may earn some of my resentment…”
“Hii!? Ha… hahi!!”
And suddenly, there was a girl directing serious killing intent at her younger sister.
Hiero noticed she had stepped onto the beast’s tail, and nods obediently with a pale face.
Lorna’s face slowly turns red, as she turns to her lord, but as he’s already taken up a sleeping position, there’s no way he was listening. In the first place, even if he was, I doubt he would even stop to think about it.
But… I see. So that’s it… Luxuria. A Lewd elder sister… that’s what Hiero was trying to say.
Seeing Leigie-sama’s behavior, Lorna put her hand to her chest in relief.
For once in a long time, I smiled from the bottom of my heart.
… But don’t forget that Leigie-sama isn’t the only one here. Don’t forget me.
I lightly tap Lorna’s shoulder.
She turns around, and noticing my smile, she turns pale.
Inside of her hand, Hiero’s frothing at the mouth as she loses consciousness.
“Li… Lize?”
I completely ignore Lorna’s pleading eyes, and casually bring up some idle chatter.
“So that’s it… to think that under that diligent face, you were… should I say, as expected of Luxeria?”
“Wha…!?”
“I did find it odd when I first heard you governed Lust, but I never thought that of all things, you would use the lord you served to…”
“Wait, wait, wait, time out!”
With an expression I’ve never seen on her before, she grabs my collar, and pulls me closer.
Even if she looks a bit more innocent, being exposed to her beautiful face point blank, even though I’m of the same gender, I can’t stop the beating of my heart.
Ku ku ku Lust… lust… is it?
With teary eyes, she turns her face away.
What should I do. I’m having a lot of fun.
“Even if you may be a Demon of Lust, are you not a little too sinful? Did you wanted to look stoic, while you advanced your Luxuria class inside your heart… as expected of the girl her own sister called lewd. What’s more, every day… aren’t you going to become a Demon Lord of Lust sometime soon?”
“Wait, that’s wrong! Lize! It’s not like that! Right, it’s Hiero’s misunderstanding!”
She shakes me violently.
Just what sort of persuasive power do you think you have when your face is that red, and your eyes so teary?
In the first place, whether that be fantasy or reality, it doesn’t really matter to me.
“And I doubt you even have to be so secretive about it, like Hiero, why don’t you just tell Leigie? To instruct you to do sexual favors or something, that you’d happily accept. Ku ku ku, I think even Leigie-sama’ll be surprised. That the Lorna that always did the cooking and cleaning was actually thinking such things deep down.”
“…!!”
She raises a scream without any words as I thrust the final blow.
You won’t get any pity. I put my hand to her face that’s become as red as an apple.
“Ah, if it’s hard to say, then do you want me to tell him for you? As an apology for killing you that one time? Fufu, Leigie-sama sure is a happy Demon Lord. For a Luxeria Demon to think of him to that extent, and even give her first to him.”
“Huu… Uu… wrong, it’s not like… I’m…”
She’s lost and confused as she falls to the ground.
By the way, despite all the noise we’re making, Leigie-sama isn’t stirring in the slightest.
As she made a face as if the world was going to end, I lightly tapped her shoulder. At this rate, I’m really going to awaken to something besides Wrath.
“Hey, Lorna. How about a trade?”
“A… Trade…?”
With eyes like an abandoned puppy, she spoke as she looked up at me.
I have things I have to do, and Lorna has things she has to do. In order to fulfill both, why don’t we help each other a bit? Ku ku ku, this is mutual aid, isn’t it?
“Yes… Lorna. I want… to see Leigie-sama’s form in battle. Maybe if I saw the moment Leigie took down Zebul, I would completely forget everything that came to pass here.”
“Gu… uu.. you Demon.”
What are you saying, this late in the game.
Even when I gave her hope at the last moment, Lorna continues to hesitate. She’s a perfect image of loyalty. Though she is a lewd woman who does this and that with her Lord’s image every night.
“Ah, if it’s that, we can record his fighting form on a memory crystal, you know? Ku ku ku, won’t it make for some good… material?”
“I-I get it! I get it, so p-please stop it!”
She raises the white flag.
As I thought, it’s nice to win. I didn’t even use my Wrath, but it’s a refreshing feeling after so long.
Now the problem is whether or not Lorna can persuade that guy…
Could it be that’s the greatest problem?
Lorna gently pulls the cuff of the sleeping Leigie-sama with restraint.
“Leigie-sama…”
“…”
Perhaps because that was the voice that always rung out for his meal time, amazingly, after only one call, Leigie-sama opened his eyes.
Lorna began negotiations with her face dyed a deep red.
“This may be presumptuous, but I have a small request…”
“Don’t want to.”
… He shows no mercy, even to the maid.
I guess that’s right. Even when he had a revival spell, he’s a man who didn’t even use it until Hiero got to be a pain. There’s no way the presence of Lorna will do anything.
But perhaps because she’s even more used to dealing with Leigie, she doesn’t pay any mind to his denial.
“Together with Lize… won’t you bring ruin to the opposing Demon Lord, Zebul?”
“… Why?”
Why?
Why, you ask? Because it’s an order from the Great Demon King!
I try to approach, but Lorna stops me.
She continued on with a kind look in her eyes.
“Leigie-sama, is there anything special you want to eat tonight?”
“… Curry rice.”
“Then we’ll have Curry Rice tonight. Leigie-sama, I’ll put all my skill into making it. It will taste better if you excersize a bit first.”
“… Unnecessary.”
“Leigie-sama, how about dessert?”
“… Apple pie.”
Are you a child?
“Then I’ll bake Apple Pie. Leigie-sama, it will take a little bit of time, so how about you move your body a bit?”
“I hate it.”
“Fighting, you mean?”
“I’m a pacifist.”
And what the hell’s with a pacifistic Demon Lord?
“That’s quite amazing, Leigie-sama.”
“Especially if the opponent’s strong, I hate it even more. It’s a pain.”
“… Compared to you, my liege, their power amounts to nothing.”
Nono, that isn’t the case, right?
The opponent is Rank Five. Compared to that, Leigie-sama’s become Rank Three quite recently.
It’s undoubtable that he’s above Zebul, but I have to say that it’ll be difficult to win that easily. There’s a problem of affinity, and I don’t know the details of Sloth Skills.
Leigie-sama has a troubled face as he locks eyes with Lorna.
“… I see. Lorna… you want me to fight that badly?”
“… Yes.”
“For whose sake?”
“… For my sake. Later… I’ll bear witness. I’ll have Lize… take pictures, so…”
“Bu…!”
I unintentionally laughed.
Lorna’s face is the shade of a boiled octopus as she glares at me. Her eyes are telling me that she doesn’t mean it like that, but from my point of view, it can be for nothing else.
I get it. I get it. I’ll take them! Use them as material however you like.
“… I see…”
“… I’m very sorry.”
“… Hah…”
“… I’m very sorry.”
“… For some reason, my stomach hurts…”
With a face devoid of any pain, the Demon Lord spoke.
That much!? You don’t want to fight that much!? Leigie of the Slaughterdolls!
If you’re going to fake illness, at least give a pained face!
“… I truly am sorry, Leigie-sama.”
In response, Lorna gave a truly apologetic face as she lowered her head.
Even after seeing that, he doesn’t seem to think anything. He turned away, and curled up into a ball.
This is definitely impossible…
“… Now, Lize. Leigie-sama has given affirmation.”
“… Eh!? Fo realz!?”
With that? That was enough?
Is that really fine? No matter how you look at it, he was refusing, but…
Within the chair, the Demon Lord tried to shrink his body. I was right to try asking in the time his bed was being made. If he was on the bed, he would have burrowed under the covers without a doubt.
Lorna continued to say some unbelievable things.
“… Lize, please take Leigie-sama. Even if you can do nothing else, then at the very least, you can do that, right?”
… Even if I can’t do anything? That’s quite rude. Just how much trouble do you think I’m going through…
But that’s fine. That’s still fine. The problem is… will he even go?
“… Eh? Should I take him on my back?”
“… You will be moving my liege. That much is obvious.”
What’s obvious? … Move already!
In the first place, the Castle of Shadows is the center of the large mass of land given to him. I understand the general distance to its borders, but I’m going to have to carry him that far…?
I don’t want to think about it. Even if I have enough strength, is the Demon Lord’s pride really intact after being carried by a woman shorter than him?
… It probably is.
I swallow the rage that began to boil up. I don’t really understand why I have to do so much, but it’ll take time. Flying dragons are the main forms of transport within the Demon World.
So this time as well, even if I’m carrying him, it’ll only be to the Dragon Stables.
“… I get it… I’ll carry him, so…”
“That’s fine. Now, Leigie-sama… I’m sorry, but…”
“… The truth is, if I’m away from the bed for more than an hour, I’ll die.”
At this point in time, he still knows not when to give up. He has not a scrap of pride.
And wait, don’t lie with a straight face! There’s no way this thing is a Demon Lord!
In the first place, it’ll take longer than an hour to get there, even by Dragon.
“… Even if we use a flying dragon, it’ll take more than an hour just to get there…”
“What? More than an hour… you say? You, are you trying to kill me!!?”
That was the most motivated voice I had heard from him from the moment I was stationed here.
Does he really hate it that much… this man.
A grinding pain comes from my stomach.
“Don’t’ screw with me! I’ll give in and fight… that much is fine. Because it’ll be over after I randomly use some skill or another. But if you want me to fight, then bring that something something Demon Lord to my room, or it ain’t happening!”
“T-there’s no way that’s happening! Now let’s go!”
I pull at the whining Demon Lord’s arm with all my might.
“… Don’t~ Want~ To~! I definitely won’t work!”
“Don’t be selfish! It’s an order from the Great Demon King!”
“Damn, why must I go through this… Being a Demon Lord… I quit!”
This man… he’s serious. He doesn’t want to move that badly.
You’re not even working in the first place!
And in a time like this, this Demon Lord still hasn’t worked up any interest towards his enemy.
“… Now then, stop screwing around! You can sleep on the way there!”
With Wrath being my attribute, the only one who’s made me make so many concessions is this man.
“… Can I sleep in battle too?”
Is his head screwed on right?
And wait, you’ll die! No matter who you think you are, you’ll die! Your enemy isn’t General Class, he’s a Demon Lord like you!
Does this man understand that!?
“… It’s no good. Go tell Kanon. Go fight for yourself.”
With eyes full of needless self-confidence, this man shows no fear even towards the Great Demon Lord.
If one of the Great Demon Lord’s direct subordinates saw him now, it wouldn’t be strange for him to get convicted for treason.
“There’s no way I could say something like that! And it’s not like it has to be dragons. I just thought that would be fastest. Now warp, or do some instantaneous movement, or whatever it is you want! You’re still fighting, you know! That’s your responsibility!
“…Hah…”
Leigie-sama lets out a sigh.
He really is useless.
And this conversation is a pain.
Is what his eyes are telling me.
When I thought he was about to return some more complaints, I felt a weightless feeling as if my body had been tossed into the air.
My field of vision instantly changed.
“He…?”
Having been thrown into the air himself, as well, Leigie-sama doesn’t try to roll or even raise his voice as he flops onto the ground.
I quickly correct my body, and land on my feet.
A desert of darkness without a single place to take cover extended to the horizon. The pale blue moon illuminated the desolate earth without a single blade of vegetation.
“Heh? Wai… wah… eh?”
Am I seeing an illusion?
I was definitely inside the castle so how did we…
in comparison to me at the height of confusion, the Demon Lord who had been thrown on the ground isn’t panicking at all.
The pitch black dirt that seemed to personify darkness itself, a sign that it was soaked in the Mana of death.
“… Zone… more, that way…”
“What? Wait…”
I heard an ominous voice.
My vision shifted once more.
From an empty plain, to a plain drenched in the scent of blood and flesh and ash.
Leigie-sama rolls on the ground in an unsightly manner.
When I hit the ground, my instincts perceived it.
Much different from Leigie-sama’s existence…but something as great as him. And wait, the object releasing it is right before my eyes.
As if a hole had been cut in space, an overcoat that seemed to suck in all light draped over a small shadow.
The small face covered in green hair looked over with an expression of bewilderment. But if you were to compare, I was the more confused of the two of us.
Zebul Glaucus.
The Devouring King. Her appearance and figure match the one I had heard about.
How can this be… am I dreaming!?
The Demon Lord ignores me, and turns to Leigie, who unsteadily lifts himself.”
In front of Zebul, with shaking steps like that of a baby fawn, he fell onto his back, and sighed.
Without letting his voice out, and moving only his mouth, he began to complain.
“… Really… impossible… no good. This one’s strong… don’t want to…I can’t hear anything lalalalala.”
The first thoughts that were born in my mind were retorts.
Wait, so that was you!
I definitely said you could teleport or something, and I’ll admit that.
Is this also a Sloth Skill? No, it’s perfect for Sloth, isn’t it!
Even so, he gives up quickly!
Leigie-sama takes a glance at Zebul, and swings his head from side to side.
My stomach instantly goes into ominous spasms of pain. Perhaps I’ll burn through my gut.
Anyways, Quit. Screwing. With. Me!
In novels, I’ve read that there’s nothing more troublesome than an incompetent yet hard worker, but if you’ll let me state my personal opinion, in this world, there is nothing more aggravating than a ridiculously competent slacker.
The Demon Lord I’ve been dispatched to keep an eye on – The King of Sloth, Leigie of the Slaughterdolls- is perhaps the best fitting for that phrase in the world. One of these guys is more than enough.
Of the ones who ally to the Great Demon King『Kanon Iralaude』, a total of 19 have reached Demon Lord Class, but of Demon Lords selected by the Original Sin of Sloth, there is only one.
Compared to a normal Demon’s skills, a Demon Lord’s are exceedingly powerful, and while it changes based on the Skill Tree, all of them are extremely useful. Therefore, the Demon Lord who advanced his Sloth Skills to the limit was, quite annoyingly, classified as a precious existence, and that formed a sort of buffer zone where no one could really say anything against his behavior.
I must follow my orders, and produce results. But he doesn’t seem to want cause any insurrections, and all he does is just lie around. How annoying.
The current Great Demon King, Kanon-sama is a Demon Lord that is connoted with Ira. The Ira attribute specializes in offensive power, and its single targeting power far surpasses the Gula series, which is also said to boast high offense. However, the Acedia Series, annoyingly enough, is said to be the only Skill Tree out of all of them that excels in pure stamina. All demons have some Defensive skill or another, but the Sloth Tree far surpasses common sense in that regard.
Pointless VIT that seems to have been thrown in for no real reason, on top of a presumptuously enormous amount of HP. What’s more, they have specialized resistances to attacks of every attribute, and status abnormalities. With their explosive VIT, they rarely ever feel pain.
On the other hand, they’re lacking in Dexterity, and Offensive power, but I doubt such a thing is necessary.
Without any meaning, like stones on the ground, like shellfish in the sea, those guys just exist there without doing anything.
Why must we waste our own power to try and chip at those existences that resemble inorganic matter? The Great Demon Kings of old probably thought along those lines.
From my point of view, taking in a King of Sloth as a subordinate was one of the greatest mistakes ever committed by the first Great Demon Lord.
They are without a doubt detrimental existences. That’s why my stress against that indestructible wimp just continues to build up without end. I’ve collected an indescribable amount of Wrath, and while it’s been almost a thousand years since my birth, I’ve never felt this much anger against a specific something ever before.
Those were the contents of the regular report I submitted to Kanon with the resolve that I was going to get killed. She burst into laughter. It was the first time I ever saw the Great Demon King of Wrath laugh to this extent.
The Great Demon King’s hand-picked corps that acts as her eyes and ears, the『Order of Black』.
The Demons that make it up have been filtered through by various processes, making it a prestigious and elite brigade. It’s not an exaggeration to say they’re the ones leading the Great Demon King’s Army, and that they’re the king’s personal royal guard.
In reality, about one fifth of the world’s Demon Kings were once part of the Order, and when you think about how the current Great Demon King Kanon originated from it as well, it’s easy to understand just how refined of a history this Order has.
The members that make it up are sent out in different squadrons to look over the actions of the Demon Lords allied to the Great Demon King- by the desire they held, was it likely for them to quietly obey another or not. We observe their conduct in great detail, at times delivering decrees from the King, at times, offering warnings, at times fighting alongside them, and at times searching for signs of rebellion before they can carry anything out.
But as we are dispatches, it’s an exceedingly dangerous mission where we have to serve another Demon Lord, and by its nature, it’s a crucial one where negligence isn’t permitted.
Even so, after receiving top-class reports for my military service, I, Lize Bloodcross, was unable to understand why I was sent alone to do the mission that usually required teams of three, and even though I governed Wrath, just as Kanon did, I couldn’t understand the meaning behind me being sent to watch over Sloth, the complete opposite nature. It was unbearable.
Originally, inspections were to be carried out by Demons of the same attribute, or at least by ones of similar nature. While it may be the decision of the Great Demon King, I am completely unable to comprehend his divine will. I’m at my wits end. Thus, I cannot avoid issuing a protest. Even if that is to end in my death.
On a giant throne of obsidian, Great Demon King Kanon Iralaude had laughed so much that tears were coming out of her eyes, as she propped herself up with her staff.
Kanon-sama is a female Demon. Her height was close to a man’s, and the personification of her Wrath, her crimson hair the color of the flames of hell boiled and let off fumes like lava. The tips of it tickled the armrests of the throne
Even with a few meters between us, the exalted atmosphere I sensed was proof of the unfathomable power she commanded as the Great Demon King.
But her authority is quite wasted. In various ways. And as I may add, todays Demon King-sama is in a rare good mood.
She clears her throat, and stares at me with her red hot eyes.
“And, Lize Bloodcross. If that be the case, then what exactly is it that you want?”
“Yes, it is my suggestion that we just kill Leigie-sama already, divide up his territory, and assign it to the other Demon Lords loyal to you.”
I stated what was on my mind directly to the Great Demon King.
Perhaps she had expected my objection. She immediately threw out a reply.
My objection was in opposition to the Great Demon King’s will, so it wouldn’t be strange for my head to fly off at any moment, but there wasn’t even a fragment of anger in her eyes.
“I see… then who will kill him? As the sole Demon Lord that governs Sloth, he merely wastes his eternity on naught. How shall we kill a Demon Lord like that?”
“That is…”
That in itself was the reason I spent several months bearing my anger and serving him.
I do possess General level power, and my attribute is the one most suited for offense, but while he was taking such attacks, of all things… that Demon Lord started sleeping.
As if he was saying that there was no need to pay any mind to attacks of my measly level.
Just remembering it pisses me off.
Hot blood circulated through my body with my Soul Core as the center, and my vision was dyed red. I took deep breathes to try and calm myself, but it didn’t have any effect.
“Ku ku ku, by the look of it, you’ve already tried it yourself…”
“… Yes, I understand that I have overstepped my authority, but I was unable to hold back my Wrath…”
Kanon-sama received those words with eyes filled with pleasure.
“I’ll permit it. Ku ku ku, Lize… you resemble… the me of the past.”
“!? Yes… ‘tis an honor.”
Just what does she mean?
I cannot understand Kanon-sama’s thoughts. I cannot comprehend. It’s not like I’m angry. My thought come together again, and I instantly kneel before her.
With an expression completely unfitting of her moniker, Kanon of Ruin, she looked at me with soothing eyes.
“Anyways, Lize. That man won’t die… of course, if you find a way to kill him, I mind not if you carry it out, but… Lize, I’m counting on you.”
“… Yes. I will put in my utmost effort in order to answer your expectations, my liege.”
On her sudden words, I hurriedly corrected my posture, and from her sudden expectations, I hid my face.
Will I ever be able to live up to such hopes?
The Demon Lord of Sloth has peerless powers, and in his speech, loyalty to the Great Demon King, and his treatment of me, a direct emissary of her… towards all of it, he has not a fragment of interest.
Against that Demon who’s shut himself in his own closed world, what is it that I can do?
Is there anything I can change in the slightest? No matter the time, I’ve always cut open my own path with my own will, but I have no confidence for myself on this trial.
Our affinity is… just too bad.
“Good… I understand your plea. But there is a reason you were appointed Leigie’s observer. Find it out for yourself.”
That was something I did not expect from the King’s mouth. The weight I feel on the back of my head. An invisible pressure is holding me down. Lifting my head isn’t permitted.
It may be obvious, but on her statement, me questioning further would be foolish.
“Yes. Please excuse me, Lize Bloodcross. All is as Kanon-sama wishes it.”
“Good. Then march onwards. You have the makings of a ruler. So learn. Study it, understand it. The meaning of being a Demon.”
“Yes… without fail.”
There was no playfulness in the Great Demon King’s words.
Her each of her direct, passing words were engraved in my Soul Core.
But I cannot understand what she means in the slightest.
Something to learn from that Lazy King…?
From that Demon Lord… from the Demon Lord whose sin was so strong it caused my predecessor, a Demon of Sloth, to abandon his responsibility. As someone with the polar opposite nature, just what am I supposed to learn?
Perhaps by the time I learn that, I will have answered to the Great Demon King’s expectations.
I lower my head greatly, and the moment I had stepped through the door, Kanon-sama spoke.
Another voice unbefitting the Demon King of Ruin. A tired voice.
“Lize, once you return to the Castle of Shadows, go tell Leigie-Niisama… at least drop by now and again.”
“… Eh!? Niisama!?”
I definitely did not have to hear that.
I turned around in a panic. It seems Kanon realized what it was she had just said, as she was clicking her tongue. With a grim expression, she pointed her staff at me.
The sin of Wrath, said to return everything in the world to ash.
The glint in her eyes was like a raging fire, as if to block any objection from me.
With this pressure, I was able to get out but a few words before my heart gave in.
“Kanon, just now…”
“Onwards, Lize Bloodcross! Don’t… trouble me any further!”
“Y-yes!”
As if she was driving me away, she slammed the doors.
Angry words from the Demon Lord of Wrath were definitely nothing rare. The two guards standing in front of the Great Demon King’s room remain unmoving, but they turn eyes filled with sympathy at me. I nod to them before going forward.
I see… Even if he’s a rare Sloth Demon Lord Specimen, so this is why Kanon, who governs Wrath leaves him be…
Wrath’s direct attack ability is second to none, but on the other hand, it’s hard to keep followers unharmed.
I get the feeling I just caught a glimpse of some of the Great Demon King’s black history. It’s a bit dejecting.
Part 2: Go to Hell!
Today, once again, the Demon Lord I was charged with observing was at peace.
Even though the morning sun had risen, the bed remained stuffed with the thick lump that was Leigie, and he isn’t moving in the slightest. At this point, I’m even beginning to question whether he’s still alive.
Ever since the Great Demon King gave me some words of encouragement, I’ve been carefully watching him, but no matter how you look at it, this Demon Lord is just way too much of a Sloth.
There are times when a Wrath like me isn’t angry, but Leigie-sama has never slacked on his duty.
Is that supposed to be the difference between a normal Demon and a Demon Lord? No, that’s probably wrong. According to the others of the Order of Black sent to watch Demon Lords, they’re just a bit further out than normal Demons, and it seems that they’ve never run into any others stoically continuing to pursue their own attributes as much as Leigie. Really, he should just drop dead.
In an irritated state, I started writing in my Demon Lord Observation Diary.
I unintentionally opened my eyes wide. This is surprising. This is quite severe.
There… isn’t a single thing to report.
He doesn’t train his skills, and without any training, I doubt he’ll go step into a battle. He doesn’t establish communication with his retainers, and he doesn’t participate in the war councils. Everything revolves around the people working outside of his watch. I am here witnessing the perfected form of a single type of monarchy. But it’s definitely something different from the phrase『The King Reigns, but Does not Govern』.
(TL: This is apparently a line from the political doctrine of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations)
No, it’s just that he isn’t thinking about anything at all.
Are you even conscious of what your role in all this is, De~ Mon~ Lord~ Sa~ Ma~?
How does this army hold itself together? No, seriously.
It was just too pitiful that my stress is building up, and that gets converted to anger. As a result, for me who had never really had too much to anger me in life, My Wrath Skill Tree experienced sudden extreme growth. I’m not happy about it at all.
I sat irritated in my usual chair as I glared scornfully at the bed.
Even when I’m releasing this much bloodlust, why is it that he isn’t waking in the slightest…!?
And while that was happening, the clock hit a certain time, and the source of all evil appeared cart-in-hand.
She open the door without making a single sound, and quietly entered with elegant bearing. In a soft voice, she alerted him of that time.
It was the closest connection Leigie’s army had to their Demon Lord. It was…
“…Leigie-sama, it’s time for your meal…”
The maid.
She wore dated office worker clothing, and was a prim and proper beautiful Demon. I don’t know her Attribute, but she doesn’t look suited for battle, so I guess she might not have one.
In the categorization system decided by the Human Race, the category of Demons known as Wraiths, has many born with nothing but the innate instinct to cause harm to others, but occasionally, a Demon without such desires is born of them.
In that case, what comes out is a Demon that doesn’t reign over any Original Sin. There are also child Demons whose spirits are too immature for them to embrace any cravings, but for them to continue to grow up in that state is rare. I’ve heard that it can happen, though.
If that girl actually embraced some sin, then there’s no way she would be this devoted to Leigie-sama. Because this Demon Lord is trash.
Her name is Lorna. She doesn’t have a last. Since I was dispatched here, she’s the one I’ve had to interact with the most.
Her wide pretty blue eyes, and the golden hair that was evenly cut at her shoulders were her most notable characteristics. She’s probably my age, if not a little younger.
At the same time, she’s the source of all of this. Because this girl spoils that Demon Lord in every sense of the term, Leigie-sama will never work no matter how much time passes.
I’ve protested time and again, but there are no signs of her stopping her work. For a girl like this to be wasted on a demon that does not but covet indolence, ‘tis the end of the world. If it turned out that this girl was actually the one pulling all the strings, I don’t think I would actually be surprised.
I honestly think this world would be a better place without her. But she doesn’t die. There’s no worry of her falling in battle. Because she doesn’t go out in the battles.
On Lorna’s whisper of food, the Demon Lord’s head slowly began to project out of the covers. His eyes are half-closed, and he’s still lying face-down. This is the only time of day I can regularly see that man’s deplorable face. Even though he’s unarmed, if you launch an attack, Leigie-sama doesn’t take a single point of damage. I know because I’ve tried it a few times.
Just what sort of Skills does Sloth have?
Within all the Skill Trees held by the Demon Class, the one with the least information about it known is without a doubt the Sloth Skill Tree.
Demons of Sloth don’t usually use skills by choice. If you ask why, it’s precisely becausethey are Sloth. And so, a majority of Sloth’s skills aren’t widely known. Of course, among them, there isn’t anyone diligent enough to painstakingly record down their skills either. It’s no real mystery why it’s a mystery. Don’t. Screw. With. Me!
Just what thoughts are going through their heads as they continue to pursue that laziness?
Just what are they trying to do by cultivating a set of skills that they’ll never use?
Every time I think about that, it feels like I’m observing some sort of foreign animal. And I feel my entire body get engulfed by a feeling of weakness. Just die already.
The scarce information that’s been passed around denotes that Sloth skills excel in endurance, and that they have skills that allow them to slow down others’ movements. There’s also the Slaughter Dolls Leigie-sama is so known for: a skill for giving life to dolls. But that’s about it.
That may be all, but I also think that’s more than enough information in a sense. I mean, it’s not like that lump over there’s going to use a skill anyways.
With his eyes closed, Leigie-sama opened his mouth.
Lorna accepted that action with a beaming smile, scooped up some food with a spoon, and inserted it in his mouth. It was like watching a mother bird feed its young.
One surprising thing was that this Demon Lord didn’t even lift a finger to eat!
Just quit it already! Like Hell this thing is a Demon Lord! Apologize to all those Demons diligently working out there!
Even if you’re successfully fulfilling your cravings, APOLOGIZE TO ALL THOSE DEMONS WHO COULDN’T BECOME LORDS!
I grit my teeth, and screamed only within my heart. My mental sanity was in danger. In various ways.
And Lorna, you need to stop too!
It’s that. The more I learn of his slovenly lifestyle, my evaluation of Leigie, as well as those of the other Demons who couldn’t become Demon Lords, even though this thing somehow accomplished it is dropping. I’m included. And that makes me pissed off all the more.
As I stood up by reflex, Lorna turns her eyes to me.
As I sigh, she gently sets the spoon on the plate, and puts her hand on her hip, as if worn out.
“Day, by day, by day. Just what is it that you’re so dissatisfied with?”
With that gesture, I heard something snap somewhere in my head.
Leigie yawned.
“What? Me, dissatisfied? There should be a limit to making fun of me!!”
Just because he’s a Demon Lord, he’s underestimating me…
I lose my rationality for a moment, and my Wrath blazes up. It rushes around my body along with my blood.
Just how much must I bear with? Why must I live like this… If Kanon-sama won’t dispose of him, then I’ll settle this in her place…
However, even when I’ve reached a stage like this… he won’t pay me any mind.
With his eyes still closed, he sways his head back and forth. I’m getting a sudden impulse to go kick that head like a soccer ball.
Dammit… I’ve already tried that one long ago. It didn’t give him a single scratch.
Then to give him a scratch, all that’s left is my『Ira』 Skills.
I take deep breaths, and try to manage the violent emotions running about my head.
It creates too much of an opening, so I can’t use it in battle, but let’s take some sweet time, and gather up power.
With my rage as the fuel, I’ll obliterate my enemy. That is the basis of『Ira』 skills.
“Looking down on me… in Kanon-sama’s place… I’ll beat you to death…”
The『Ira』 skill I have with the highest output.
Fire born from a Demon’s heart, my Soul Core, well up from my feet, and rise into the heavens as a pillar of flames.
On the Skill Tree, it’s an upper class skill ranked S. Of the skills I can use, it’s the most powerful.
『Rage Flame』
Lorna winced as she was buffeted with the high temperature with that came as a side effect.
The blast sends the tableware flying, and it crashes into the wall before shattering into small pieces.
While it may just be an aftereffect, it’s a heat beyond what a normal Demon can stand. The skin on Lorna’s arms instantly begins to burn, and the room is filled with the unpleasant scent of roasting meat. She scowls, steps back, and covers her skin, but this isn’t a heat that can be avoided by something of that extent.
“… Lorna, move. It’s not my problem if you’re caught up in this.”
“… It’s useless. With『Wrath』 of that level… you won’t be able to breach Leigie-sama’s『Sloth』.”
… Looking down on me.
I suppress the feeling of the flames burning myself, and raise it to a heat I’d never attained before. The barrier protecting the ceiling shatters, and the stone above melts before dripping to the floor.
Words are taken as fuel, and the inside of my head gets redder and redder. The flame wrapped around my arms change to a shade of crimson mixed with black.
The cuff of Lorna’s clothes ignite, and the flame starts to spread.
But without even trying to put it out, she continued to pat Leigie’s head. He hadn’t even opened his eyes. Her mouth approached his ear.
And she voiced some unbelievable words.
“Leigie-sama… I have a younger sister. If I’m ever to dissapear, it’s set that she will be the one to take care you you in my place.”
“I see.”
Lorna doesn’t seem to be giving any care to her own life.
And the Lord of Sloth doesn’t have a hint of interest towards that fact. Leigie doesn’t even open his eyes… He doesn’t even look at Lorna’s face.
“Idiotic… you plan to die here?”
“Ku… I do not have anything to block what you’ve over there, Lize. No matter what I do, it will kill me in the end. That is all.”
While withstanding the pain, her words came out in a level tone, adding more fuel to my flames of wrath.
The flame spreads up the fabric, and the king sized bed is engulfed in it. Lorna doesn’t try to cover herself. With her body alight, she continues to gaze at the closed-eyed Leigie.
The flames were my anger in itself. Their nature was different than simple physical fire. They had powers fitting for them to be called flames of hell, the ability to turn all matter to ash. In this wide world, they’re perhaps what has the greatest destructive capability. They even surpass the magic fire used by the Spirit Race.
Information about the target of my flames enters my head.
Lorna’s body constructed of Soul only has a slight fire resistance from the basic Demon Tree. She’s easily burned through as she becomes food for the flames.
The reason she’s still alive is that this is only a secondary effect with not even a fraction of the skill’s power.
If I released the skill, then even if I didn’t aim for her, she would easily…even easier than a scrap of paper, her soul and all else would turn to ash.
“Ask your lord to save you.”
“You’re making… a mistake. Lize Bloodcross.”
Her entire body burns away bit by bit, and her head dressed in charcoal made me find it amazing she was still alive. With those burnt eye sockets, she looked at me.
What was in her eyes was nothingness. Her entire body disappearing, she lets out not a single scream of pain, as if she were merely waiting to greet an inevitable demise. It was more repulsing than anything I had ever seen before.
And like that, Lorna smiled.
“… Sloth is… without thinking anything… without creating anything… without saving anything… without letting your feelings be moved… just existing as you wish it.”
“!?”
The all-important Leigie was, even with the flames of hell said to destroy any and everything surrounding him, not stirring at all.
Not a single hair on his head, or a single patch of skin was burned. Even though there’s no sign of him using any sort of skill!
In front of his eyes… even when the loyal Demon who’s served him faithfully up until now is burning!
Even when everything in his world is being reduced to cinders!
That fact made my mind leave me.
It felt like my head would split, that even burning everything in this world wasn’t enough. That sort of anger penetrated my head. The heat of the flames increases even further.
At that moment, Leigie opened his eyes for the first time, and murmured.
For the first time, his eyes turn towards me. His expression seems troubled.
“… It’s hot.”
What the hell is he saying… this one…
I can see that his face is stiff. Words I cannot understand. A way of life I cannot understand.
Without an iota of hesitation, I activated the skill.
“… Go to hell! Leigie!”
“… I see.”
With an unpleasant expression, Leigie sighed.
He turned the palm of his hand to me… in the face of the black flames, he said a single word.
“Iyo.”
That was the first moment I had understood that the Demon Lord had activated a skill. Even without saying the Skill name.
Right before it hit him, with a speed much faster than my own skill.
What was supposed to protect my soul, the Mental Pollution Resistance skill was instantly breached without being able to offer any resistance in the slightest. My instincts told me.
The impact was great enough to shake my Soul Core. My Field of vision was in chaos, and my thoughts went all over the place.
The heat inside of my head was instantly cut off.
As if those feelings had been a lie, a hole was pierced through my heart. What should have been there was the mental hell of Wrath, but the driving force that was my anger turned off, and died out. The flames that had been raging in the surroundings, the flames that had been burning Lorna, as if any and everything had been a dream.
“What… did you…”
I look at my palm, from which the black flame had disappeared.
I should… have been angry. I definitely had been embracing anger and hatred great enough to burn everything to the ground.
My memory still remains. Until a few seconds ago, I should have been in a rage, but… now I don’t really care.
The disparity between my emotions and my memory become a cold wind, sending shivers down my spine. Something must have happened to create the empty gap within my mind.
My knees give out on me, and I kneeled on the ground that had rapidly cooled after losing its heat.
I don’t understand. I don’t understand anything. I don’t understand my emotions of anger. How. Why was I angry? How did I get so angry? My memory won’t provide me with those answers.
Without paying any mind to my worries, within the ashes, and with a troubled expression, in his tattered bedding, Leigie rolled over.
There is only one theory that could possibly explain this abnormal situation.
… This is… a Skill of Sloth.
Lying on his back, Leigie’s eyes turned in my direction.
“…”
But without saying anything, he closed them.
His impudent behavior lit another spark within me.
Say something already…
Part 3: Who the Hell Does He Think He’s Supposed to Be?
“Are you not going to kill me for opposing you?”
“… If you want to die, then go do that by yourself. Ah, but first, go tell them that they should send a Sloth next time.”
Hah.
Leigie let out a troubled sigh.
With those words, I became certain that my own actions had absolutely no effect on this Demon Lord.
He really is a man with no hopes of salvation. Kanon’s tired words float in my mind.
A skill to overwrite one’s cravings with Sloth.
That’s my conjecture as to the skill this Demon Lord used only once. I don’t even know its name.
At that moment, the hell within my heart was completely buried up.
And if that’s truly the case, then that is… the strongest skill for a Demon. I mean, a Demon’s battle ability rises in proportion to the extent of their longings. Just as my『Wrath Flames』 scaled off my anger, to rapidly increase its output.
It’s not something limited to Wrath, the others are the same. Without a thirst for material possessions, Greed Skills are unusable, and without hunger, Gluttony Skills won’t have any decent firepower.
His skill is bullshit. Normally, a skill of this type would be blocked by the Mental Corruption Resistance on the Basic Demon Tree, but this Demon Lord somehow breached it in an instant. That means that skill can’t be blocked by standard means, and that skills that can’t be withstood by it truly do exist.
I’m not sure if it’ll work even on a Demon Lord, but if it does, then even Demon Lords would be played with like children. And I don’t want to think about it, but perhaps the one who holds the seat of Great Demon Lord, Kanon-sama, is the same.
No, more than that, a large majority of Wrath Skills scale directly off of anger, so his power would be even more affective against her.
When I think of the anger smoldering within me, it isn’t something that will burn for eternity, but if I think about what would happen if it were suddenly extinguished in battle, I cannot help but feel fear.
Its effect? Its range? Its scope? Its conditions?
Challenging this Demon Lord without knowing any of that is… too dangerous. What’s more, he only showed me a single power. When you think about how I have dozens of Wrath Skills, while there’s a difference in trees, I can’t help but assume this Demon Lord has much more than that.
Leigie-sama is… dangerous. Not because his irritating behavior is poison to my sanity, his power itself is dangerous.
It’s likely that Kanon-sama knows this as well. That’s why I was dispatched. This Demon Lord won’t do anything troublesome like start a rebellion, but in the million to one chance…
If I cannot obliterate him with Wrath Skills… the other Skill Series which fall behind in pure offensive power won’t be able to break his defense.
He said it was hot. That means for a split second, my power definitely had some effect on this Demon Lord. It’s impossible for the current me, but if I continue to mature, perhaps I will gain the power to inflict damage on him.
I need to sharpen my blade.
While looking at this man, who possesses unfathomable power, I’ll refine myself. That is likely Kanon-sama’s… intent.
And at the same, time, make good use of this man’s resources, to benefit the Great Demon Lord’s army. He’s scary as an enemy, but having these Sloth Skills on our side is more than reliable.
Taking on these two challenges simultaneously is my mission, and my trial.
Once I’ve overcome that, there is no doubt I’d have gained powers incomparable to what I’ve used up until now.
We were moved to another room, and on top of a bed of the same make, Leigie turned over in his sleep.
In my eyes his form was now that of someone I couldn’t underestimate.
It seems that the bedroom I burnt up is in the middle of reconstruction. None of the Demons in Leigie’s army said a word about it. Say something already.
At that time, the door made a loud sound as it opened, and a single Demon came in.
It was a girl wearing a maid uniform. Her atmosphere was a bit similar to Lorna, but she was just a little bit younger.
She looked at Leigie-sama, who refused to pop his face out of the covers, took a quick glance at me, and approached the bed. With a face identical to Lorna’s, she smiled.
“Leigie-sama! Please~ Wake~ Up~!”
Of all things, she began recklessly shaking the cover the Demon Lord had burrowed under.
The smile and atmosphere are definitely similar. The girl who was probably the sister she was talking about only carried a similar air, and her actions were completely different. This is a fraud.
That’s no way to treat that guy, I mean, isn’t he supposed to be some sort of king?
At her violent treatment, I unintentionally tried to restrain her when I was supposed to be on the other side.
What the hell is this.
“!? Wai… can’t you be a little quieter!?”
“? Ah! You muct be the Lize-san oneechan told me about! I’m called Hiero. I’m the little sister of Lorna, who used to take care of Leigie-sama!”
“Eh, ah, yes.”
Without stopping her hand, the girl called Hiero turned only her head to look at me.
She’s not displaying the appropriate attitude to the one who burnt her sister to death. No, more so, she’s giving a smile reminiscent of a blooming flower.
Even if she’s a Demon, she should have at least a bit of affection for her family. Just like I have a sort of loyalty to the Great Demon King.
Of all things, she started speaking in an innocent voice.
“Thank you very much! For killing Oneechan! Because of that, it’s finally come around to my turn! Oneechan would never stop working, so I was getting worried!”
Her feelings were just too twisted. Her lack of visible malice made it all the more menacing.
From the time I served directly under the Great Demon King, to when I was assigned here, I’ve never seen emotions like these.
“Y-you… are those the sort of words you’re supposed to direct to your sister’s killer!?”
“Eh? Well…”
On my words, Hiero put her index finger to her mouth, and began to think.
And the answer came soon enough. It was an answer I wasn’t expecting at all.
“Lize-san, you’re too soft. If you’re going to try killing her, you have to do it properly…”
“Eh…?”
Her skirt fluttered as she sat on the edge of the bed. From under her skirt that was much shorter than Lorna’s, I saw healthy, tanned skin.
As if something was tickling her, she raised a laugh befitting her age.
How does that modest Older Sister get a younger one like this?
(TL: This kusu is laughter. Not sobbing.)
“Kusu kusu kusu, she was still alive… Good grief, oneechan doesn’t know when to give up… her luck sure was great. Even if it wasn’t a direct hit, for her not to die instantly after taking the『Ira』 of a General Class Demon. Even when I thought my turn had finally come, I was going to have to contain myself even longer!”
What shocking news. She was burnt black, but lived!?
No, that’s not it. That isn’t it. This Demon… what did she just say?
“… Contain yourself even longer… could it be, that you…”
“Nonono, don’t misunderstand! Oneechan’s still alive, you know? Though she’s quite burnt. I mean, killing my own sister is a bit… If I did something like that, kusu kusu kusu, I would become『Invidia』, wouldn’t I? Holding onto two sins would be a pain.”
An unsettling cheerful voice.
This one is… different. She has no beauty like Lorna. No matter how close their faces, no matter how close their forms, this child is without a doubt one who spreads ill will just by staying alive, an orthodox devil. One with the personality most fit to pursue desire, a『Pure Demon』.
I’m not sure whether she’s looking at my expression or not, she lies down face up on top of Leigie, and stares at the decorations on the canopy.
“Oneechan was pretty, wasn’t she? She should’ve been of the same make as me, but she was nice and slim, and tall, and her eyes were wide and clear, her skin was white, and she always did the housework, but she never got a scratch on her, and her hair was glossy without any damage. Her voice wasn’t too high or too low, it was just the right level to comfort the ear, and her breasts were twice the size of mine… a beauty no male Demon would be able to leave alone, and despite her lewdness, she didn’t let a single finger touch her body, as she served Leigie-sama in chastity… Her heart was strong, and she didn’t draw back a step against『Ira』… Kusu kusu kusu, she really was the ideal woman.”
“Le…wd?”
“Oh? Didn’t you know? Even like that, Oneecchan’s a『Luxuria』 demon, you know? What’s more, she’s pursued desire enough to get A Class skill, quite powerful. If you look at Demon Ranks, perhaps the rank just before General… she had about as much power as a Knight, I guess.”
That’s something I cannot believe.
『Luxelia』
Of the 7 Sins that Demons can possess, it’s known as the one most unsuited for direct combat.
And among all of them, it’s said to be the weakest in resisting attacks as well.
They are weak. Uselessly frail. Especially against Demons with Mental Corruption resistance, a majority of their powers don’t work.
But if so, they why…
“Why…”
“I don’t know if Oneechan told you, but my household… has ALWAYS served the Demon King of Sloth, Leigie of the Slaughterdolls. Probably from around ten generations ago. Within the house, there’s a rule that the strongest Demon would be the one to serve, and in this generation, that was… Lorna oneechan. Until Yesterday, that is.”
Yesterday, I burned Lorna in the flames of Wrath. If Hiero’s words are to be trusted, she survived, but has lost her power.
And so the generation shifted. To this arrogant sister.
“I’ve always had a complex against Oneechan. Especially that figure. Oneechan had my ideal form, so… that’s why I was always weaker than her.”
“Eh? Fi… gure?”
“With『Luxuria』, no matter how high level of a Demon you are, with only A Class skills, you can’t… be strong at all. I should have been much stronger. But even so, I couldn’t win. I’m thankful to you, Lize-san. Thank you for burning up oneechan’s beautiful face.”
The tone of her voice dropped for a moment.
And the Demon said…
“Because of that, I was able to…『Overrule』 her…”
All the puzzle pieces were in place.
Hiero forcefully opened up the covers, and shamelessly clung onto Leigie-sama’s arm as he looked at her with empty eyes.
“Leigie-sama, nice to meet you. I think you were listening, but I’ll be taking care of you in oneechan’s place! I’m called Hiero! I’ll be whole-heartedly devoting my time to you, so I hope we get along!”
“… I see.”
“The Original Sin I carry is…『Pride』. I’m Hiero of『Superbia』! Please remember it!”
As I thought… a Pride Demon!
『Superbia』
A Demon that governs arrogance and superiority complexes.
Within this army, it’s also the attribute of Supreme Commander Heard Lauder.
Its tree… holds some exceedingly troublesome skills. Its affinity with Gula and Ira, that were made to inflict direct damage, is particularly bad.
On her first conversation with the Lord, her eyes sparkled greatly.
But at the same time, I felt it. This girl is in no way suitable for Leigie-sama.
The Demon Lord wasn’t really thinking about anything. With eyes devoid of emotion, he uttered two words.
“… Yeah. Iyo.”
“? What’s 『Iyo』?”
On those words, Leigie’s expression turned stale.
His face spoke for itself. That explaining was a pain. He turned his eyes to me, but I decided to ignore him.
At first, I wondered what it was as well. I asked. But Leigie-sama never told me. In the end, I had to find it out by asking the other Demons. It truly was a waste of time.
Leigie-sama let out a deep sigh. As if he was saying this was all my fault.
And along with that sigh, Hiero’s expression clouded.
With a heavy voice, Leigie-sama spoke. From my point of view, it was the same as normal, but for Hiero who was having her first conversation with him, it was probably different. His voice is always full of something that could be called despair.
“… What happened to the last one?”
“… Eh? Y-you mean oneechan?”
“… Yeah.”
Yeah, he definitely doesn’t know it.
Leigie-sama has no interest in the maid’s name and origins. He probably found it a pain, so he answered as such.
Hiero’s pride is stimulated, and she answers in a shaking voice.
“Oneechan was… burnt black by that Lize-san over there. That’s why I’m…”
Demon Lord, you were there, weren’t you! And isn’t this your fault!?
Even though he was completely ignoring it, he can’t even remember what happened just yesterday.
Are you sure there isn’t any fungus growing inside of that head?
“I see… bring her here.”
“… he? Leigie-sama, j-just now, what are…”
Leigie-sama frowned.
He’s probably thinking, ‘God, this is a pain,’ but from someone who doesn’t know him, he definitely looks displeased.
By the way, if Kanon-sama makes a face like that, it’s a sign that the entire area will soon be reduced to cinders. There’s no escape.
This Demon Lord is a wimp, so nothing like that ever happens here. I’ll even bet my life on it. Ah, dammit. This is pissing me off.
Leigie-sama repeated himself.
“… Bring her.”
“… Y-yes… ahaha, but she’s just charcoal, right? … y-yes, I understand. I’ll carry Oneechan here.”
Hiero’s eyes are teary, but she immediately leaves the room, making loud footsteps.
As if to shout out, ‘I’m in a bad mood.’
But Leigie-sama probably doesn’t notice that at all.
The Demon Lord under the covers, who usually never moved had taken such a large action, so I tried asking.
“What do you plan on doing?”
“… That one’s no good.”
“… Hiero, you mean?”
“Yeah…”
Without stating a specific reason, he just painstakingly said that one word.
… It seems that Lorna spoiling the heck out of him up until now has had a slight effect. It seems you guys really are the best under the heavens at deceiving people, Luxuria.
It’s because she carried out each and every conceivable services for him… though that was also the reason I snapped.
With loud footsteps, Hiero slams open the door.
She violently throws something onto Leigie-sama’s bed.
“… It’s oneechan.”
What Hiero brought was a Soul Core that could fit into the palm of your hand.
About half of it had burned away, and been destroyed. Looking at it, I myself cannot call that living. It’s because I don’t have the necessary tools to determine whether or not there’s any life in that.
As long as a Demon’s Soul Core is safe, they can take up long years to regenerate themselves. But with this much damage, it’ll probably decay before any regeneration can happen.
I’m actually surprised Hiero was able to find this small fragment inside the ashes. Could it be she actually had soft feelings towards her sister?
Leigie-sama can’t seem to contain his unhappiness as he takes the core in his hands.
He gave a sigh of resignation, and gave a word in Hiero’s direction… once more, that word.
“… Iyo.”
“… Eh? U-um… I deeply apologize. I am… s-still inexperienced, but I will do my best… would you be as kind as to tell me the meaning of『Iyo』?”
Having been pressed with an impossible trial, as if her smile before had been a lie, Hiero’s tears fell all over the place.
Getting a pride to say they’re inexperienced, what a frightening man. He probably isn’t thinking about anything, though. But to one who governs Pride, that is a disgrace akin to death.
They are just masses of pride, and they think they’re the centers of the world, so hurting their pride enough to get them to put themselves below others makes them absurdly weak.
“… Hah…”
“!? D-demon Lord…”
Who the hell does he think he’s supposed to be?
With a sigh, Leigie-sama closed his eyes.
In the first place, ‘I’ll leave it to you’, and ‘I’m satisfied with your work’ aren’t specific instructions in the slightest, aren’t they?
Right now, the Demon Lord doesn’t really wish for anything. Can’t he just tell her that?
Hiero nervously looks around the room. Her eyes met mine, but I hated her, so I ignored her.
Trying to regain her standing, she musters up her courage to talk again. I doubt any evaluation of her has risen or fallen in the first place. In the first place, there’s no meaning in getting evaluated by that Leigie-sama.
I’m starting to think this, but don’t Pride and Sloth have the worst compatibility?
One strives to be superior and worshipped by others, the other really doesn’t care. You can’t fulfill a superiority complex with the Lazy King.
Even if there were rules, I think Lorna’s made a complete mistake when choosing her successor. Is this supposed to be some form of harassment?
“U-um… I specialize in housework! Cooking, and cleaning, and laundry… I’m confident in it. If you wish for it… e-even sexual favors…”
“I see.”
Her face is red, and she’s definitely pushing herself, but Leigie simply gives his usual answer.
No, he’s not being cold. That’s just how he is!
But Hiero doesn’t know that. You can’t try and communicate with this Demon Lord.
Unless you know what he is from the start… that’s why I’m so troubled.
And having been pushed into a corner, Hiero continued to speak.
“Um… if it pleases you, please give me an order.”
Having heard that, for the first time, Leigie-sama voiced his will.
“……………… Damn, this is a pain.”
“… Eh!?”
Seriously, who is he supposed to be?
Leigie-sama let out the deepest sigh he’d ever made.
Hiero looked at the Demon Lord with a blank expression. She hasn’t said anything wrong. She hasn’t made any reckless remarks, and she hasn’t asserted her selfishness.
Having seen this scene, a hundred out of a hundred would side with her on the matter. Even I would.
Don’t expect the maid that was just hired today to be able to figure everything out.
The Demon Lord casually lifted the broken Soul Core up to the light.
I wonder what’s going through his mind.
And the moment came.
The presence that sprung forth all of a sudden made me choke for air.
Having sensed that, the face Hiero had finally put in order was suddenly overcome with fear, and after some convulsions, she took a large step back.
Pride forgot her pride, and wrath forgot her wrath. It was an amount of magic great enough to make my『Rage Flame』 seem like child’s play, enough magic to warp the world.
It was. Without a doubt, a wave of the strongest power I’d ever seen in my life.
Nothing seemed to matter anymore, and power seemed to seep out of my body due to the concentration of Acedia.
With a face on the brink of death, the Demon Lord chanted. It was definitely some sort of Spell.
“『Ir Ir Rul Arcadia. Everything, degradation and depravity. Hah… Law of money, the black cornerstone that holds together all creation, just gather for a bit in my name. 『Sloth Minugrosz』』 Ah, I misspelled it…”
“Wai…”
The overflowing magic abides the Demon Lord’s chant, and takes form.
In general, Skills can be activated by incantation, or skill name. Without the incantation, the difficulty increases, and the output drops.
This Demon Lord’s never chanted, or even said the skill name before, so with an aria that long, of the skills I’ve seen before… It’ll most definitely be the highest ranking one.
I haven’t the slightest idea what’s going to happen, but an unpleasant feeling comes over my body. An alarm clock goes off in my head.
The skill activation that’s usually impossible to sense is crystal clear.
At the feeling of the world’s order being warped, Hiero let out a scream.
But a spelling error… it was definitely that sigh he threw into it, wasn’t it!?
He can’t even recite a Skill properly, this Demon Lord!
The thoughts racing around my head were just my attempt to escape reality.
Even if the chant was a failure, the skill definitely activated.
All apart. Though nothing had changed, I felt something breaking.
The Soul Core the Demon King was holding began to change shape at the half that had been burned.
With the crystal at the center, a mysterious black haze started to gather, and take form. Its color changes.
Hiero mutters in a daze.
“O nee… chan?”
“… Haa.”
His sigh was filled with annoyance while, as if a clip was being played in reverse, the charcoal regains its color, and a completely scorched face is dyed white and regains its gloss. In the wide open eyesockets, large orbs take shape.
In just a few seconds, a completely unharmed Lorna was created. Of course, her body, but even the clothes she had been wearing are reborn without a scratch.
In a situation that had long transcended expectations, Hiero’s eyes are dilated as she raises a scream. Her back hits the bedside table, and her hips are shaking, but she retreats further.
And Lorna slowly opens her eyes.
… She’s alive.
The hell… just what is that skill?
Regeneration? Like hell… as if regeneration can restore clothing. In the first place, Lorna should have been completely terminated. From a half-destroyed Soul Core, there’s no way she’d be brought back this perfectly!
“Onee… chan?”
“Hie… ro?”
Hiero unsteadily walks towards Lorna, as if she had seen a ghost.
Lorna’s eyes bink multiple times as she looks at her sister. She doesn’t seem to know what’s going on either.
Well, that can’t be helped. Even I, who’s seen this start to finish, can’t understand what just happened.
At that moment, the color of Hiero’s face changed. From ghastly pale, to red panic.
She tilts her head as she looks over Lorna’s body.
I also noticed it. The regeneration… wasn’t over yet. No, the wounds were already gone, but still, her time was turning back.
The skill hadn’t ended yet!
The feeling that something was broken persisted, and even though she had returned to normal, there’s no sign of it ending.
Lorna’s height ever-so-slightly reduced, and her breasts withered in a similar manner. The look on her face gets slightly more childish.
Her clothing changes from a pure-white maid uniform to a smaller one with black as the base. Her long skirt changes to the shorter one Hiero was wearing.
By misspell, could he possibly…
My heart beats faster, as I see her body gradually shrink, the fifteen centimeter height difference between her and Hiero became ten, then five. Compared to that, the bulge in her breasts doesn’t change all that much, but her facial features slowly regress from mature to innocent.
For a different reason, Hiero blinked her eyes as she turned to Leigie-sama.
“…Leigie-sama, this is…”
“… Turned her too far back.”
With a face that showed he wasn’t repenting at all, Leigie-sama rubbed his head into the pillow. Even though it was his mistake, he still has absolutely no motivation.
Turned her… too far back?
Lorna’s transformation ends.
By that time, there was pretty much no gap between her and Hiero. Of course, there’s personality, and Lorna’s face looks just a little more adult-like, but the appearance differences they had before, if you exclude the fact that Lorna’s a very slight bit taller, and her breasts much larger, as if they were twins, they looked identical. The difference left was that of Lust and Pride… the difference caused by attribute.
Lorna’s perplexed eyes looked over her shorter arms and legs.
Perhaps Hiero didn’t know how to respond, but she looked around as if to throw responsibility off of herself. I want someone to help me.
Only Leigie-same is without confusion, without ill will. He looks at the much-compacted, reconstructed Lorna.
“Do you have… memories? Today’s date?”
On Leigie-sama’s question, Lorna casts away her hesitation, and corrects her posture. As if concerned about her now-shorter skirt, she fidgets as she gives a clear reply.
“Eh? Ah… yes. Today is Divine Year 271C8A, Kanon Year 310 November 11th, Leigie-sama.”
As his question was answered with a full-on smile, Leigie-sama turned to me.
Could it be that even though he asked, he doesn’t even know the date himself?
Having regained composure, Hiero answers instead.
“Oneechan, it’s the 12th.”
“Heh? No, today should be the 11th… Hmm? Hiero, did you get taller?”
No, you shrunk.
Leigie-sama addressed Lorna, who was tilting her head, and still without a grasp on the situation, with a care-free tone.
“I see. Got it. Iyo.”
“??? Y-yes! Understood, my liege…”
Her head remains tilted as she answers. She looks at her wristwatch, and compares it to the one on the wall. In a panic, she lowers her head deeply to Leigie-sama.
“Leigie-sama, I deeply apologize. A little… your meal time will be delayed by about an hour.”
“Iyo.”
“Thank you. I am deeply grateful for your kindness.”
She instantly returned to her daily cycle, and made quiet steps as she exited the room. Behind her, she pulled the hand of her sister, who still didn’t have a grasp on anything.
As I looked upon it, I was so taken aback that I couldn’t say anything.
What’s with that pointless loyalty? More than her own body, that had disintegrated, she worries for the mealtime of the Demon Lord that can go centuries without food or drink?
I look towards Leigie, the culprit in all of this, but there’s no sign of him feeling satisfaction, or a sense of achievement, or even remorse.
This Demon Lord, who is he, really…
With all that’s happened, I’ve lost confidence in my own『Wrath』 that I’m supposed to govern.
Part 4: Quit. Screwing. With. Me!
Give me a break already.
Every time he shows one of his Sloth skills, my stress build up.
What I understand is that this Demon Lord has advanced enough to be appropriate for Rank Three. That’s about it.
And while I originally would be happy upon learning such a fact, every time I’m reminded of it, I lose confidence in myself as a Demon.
Just how much do I have to satisfy my Sin to get some bullshit skill like the ability to rewind time? To be more specific, it seems it separates stored up experience, and rewinds the body, but that doesn’t really matter.
Compared to Wrath, which is all direct attacks, Sloth is too free, and the effects are indeterminate, or how should I put it… they’re really annoying.
He rarely uses them, so the damage when he does is horrendous. He’s definitely trying to piss me off. It’s a conspiracy.
This workplace is dangerous… my stomach hurts.
I can now understand why my Sloth predecessor abandoned all responsibility. When a Sloth Demon gave up on this, there’s no way a Wrath like me can endure it.
No matter how much I try venting my anger on him, he remains peaceful, so my stress isn’t going anywhere at all.
Kanon-sama’s expectations, and the environment itself have me stuck between a rock and a hard place.
But if I just let him be, then there’s no workplace more peaceful than this one.
I mean, even if I don’t observe him, in the end, he definitely won’t do something as troublesome as a revolt, and even if we don’t lend him power, it’ll work out one way or another.
Is what I thought, but just look at this!
I hold my aching stomach as I turn to Leigie-sama who was slouching deeply into a chair.
“What? What did you just say?”
“… Nothing.”
He’s quite clearly making a face that says repeating would be a pain, as he averts his eyes. For me to almost completely understand this mostly expressionless King, is that some sort of growth on my part? I don’t need this sort of growth…
It’s no good… there’s nothing we can do about this one.
I take deep breathes to control my anger. My control has greatly increased compared to when I first came here. Without a doubt.
I need to control my anger… even shouting at this man is more than he deserves.
“… Do you remember that Imperial decree?”
“…”
Don’t… don’t close your eyes. I’m begging you, listen…
It’s… it’s fine… calm down… if I get angry, it’s my loss…
I take deep breathes, and leisurely lower my voice to make it easier for Leigie-sama to hear.
“I said it, didn’t I? This time… the enemy’s a Demon Lord.”
“… No?”
Ku… this man…
I firmly clench my fist. I squeeze so hard my nails break through the skin, and a hot pain runs up my arm.
Is he making fun of me? No. Without even playing dumb, the memory’s already completely gone.
I… said it! I definitely said it! I was the one who brought the order from Kanon, I was the one who painstakingly explained it to Leigie-sama, and the one who said that the opponent was a powerful Demon Lord so if he didn’t go out himself, he would be sending his Generals to die a pointless death was also me!
It’s because if I didn’t warn him, I was sure he would never go out!
Anger splits my head, and as I felt that I was about to destroy the area, I somehow kept it contained with repeated abdominal breathing.
“Hey, hey, oneechan. Lize-san sure has become quiet lately.”
“Don’t mind her, just hold the end properly!”
AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
Next to Leigie-sama, the annoying sisters spoke as if it were someone else’s problem.
Hiero’s master later learned of her unsightly display, and sent her in for maid training. Recently, those two have taken to coming here together.
The prideful younger sister, who intentionally raised her voice so I could hear, and the older one, who despite being one-sidedly killed by me, continued to show absolutely no interest towards me. By that devastating combo, my stress is swelling up twice as fast as before. This really is the worst.
Pride’s Skiltree’s nature lies in bestowing absolute adjustments to opponents they’ve Overruled.
To put it simply, to them, to those weaker than them, they display absolute strength, and to those that excel even a little bit more than them, they display complete weakness… that sort of skill.
And so, now that the older sister Lorna’s revived, it seems that Hiero was once more forced to occupy second place. Normally, once someone’s been Overruled, it’s difficult to overturn that, but now that Lorna’s been reduced to around the same age, the clear disparity in their appearances (mainly in the chest area) beat down Hiero once more, and while she’s still a bit afraid of Leigie-sama, she obediently follows her sister’s words.
Well, for now, that doesn’t really matter.
The problem is that Hiero is taking mischievous glances at me as if she had set up a prank while she practices making the bed.
She speaks in my direction as she makes an annoying smile.
“Lize-san, you’re not getting angry anymore… could it be you’ve finally given up after witnessing Leigie-sama’s power?”
“An inevitable result. No matter the case, laying hands on a Demon Lord… it was her previous behavior that was the stranger one!”
AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!
Rage so large I felt my head would explode at any moment swelled up, fueling my power.
Blood flows from the palm of my hand, and it trickles onto the ground.
I unintentionally put in too much power, and cracks are spreading across it.
I use up all of my mental fortitude fighting my own emotions.
Calm… calm down. Lize Bloodcross.
In the end, this is the nonsense of a child…
Compared to this man, who never moves by himself, despite being a Lord…
Smile. Make a smile.
“D-Dem on Lord? I-I said it, right? The opponent is… the Devouring Demon Lord.”
“… Who’s that?”
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH
Someone do something about this maaaaaaaaaaan!
Among Kanon-sama’s subordinates, there isn’t one who doesn’t know of Zebul Glaucus, the Devourer.
But this Demon Lord probably, in all honesty, doesn’t know. Hooray.
That’s why. I. Explained it. Because I thought he didn’t know, I explained it! I definitely did!
AAAAAAAH, please save me, Kanon-samaaaaaaaaaa!
I hit my head against the bed post in an attempt to forget my anger, and Lorna looked at me with repulsed eyes.
This is all your Lord’s fauuuuulllt!
“… Fifth… The Fifth Rank, a Demon that governs Gula, my liege. He subjugated the Fifteenth Rank, and the Sixteenth rank Demon Lords in a matter of three days. An atrocious… Demon Lord.”
“… Is that supposed to be amazing?”
“Gu… Yes, it’s amazing! Listen here, Rank Five means that among the Demon Lords loyal to Kanon-sama, he’s the fifth strongest!”
“… Is he stronger than you?”
Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
General class… and a Demon Lord. Don’t compare them!
I shed tears of restraint as I answer. Damn, why must I go through something like this?
“W-well… that’s right…”
“… I see.”
His uninterested line finally made me snap.
IF YOU DON’T EVEN CARE, THEN DON’T ASK!
AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!
“Wow, that’s amazing… Lize-san. After going through this much, you can still keep quiet…”
“Naturally. In the first place, what was strange was the way Lize has been treating our Demon Lord up until now.”
In my head, how many hundreds of thousands of times have I killed him so far!?
AAAAAAAAAAHHHH. This is bad… I’ll die.
Even within my rage, tears started flowing out. Why am I…
“Uku… and. So. It. Would. Be. Bad. If You. Don’t. Go. Out. Demon Lord! In. The. Worst. Case. They’ll. Be. Annihilated!”
In the first place, having a Demon Lord confront a Demon Lord is common sense in battles between Demons.
This time, we even know beforehand that Zebul is personally leading his army.
A normal Demon Lord should know the meaning of this without me having to spell it out. But I thought Leigie-sama didn’t know, so I already explained it to him!
Give me back all of my hard work!
Having listened to the drawn out conversation, Leigie-sama yawned with sleepy eyes.
“… Iyo.”
“If the army the Great Demon King sent you is annihilated, you’ll definitely be punished, you know!? Do you understand that!?”
But seeing her behavior, I’m not sure about other Lords, but perhaps Kanon-sama will let this man off.
But of course, I won’t say that. If I did, he definitely wouldn’t go out.
Why is it that the man in question isn’t even thinking anything, when I, who was merely sent to watch over him, have so much on my mind!!
“…”
Are. You. A Child!!?
I pull at his arm as he silently closes his eyes.
From Lorna, I heard that Deije and Medea had launched an attack, and it’s been a few hours since we informed Leigie-sama.
If we don’t hurry, they’ll all die. No, it’s not strange it they’ve already perished.
And wait, normally, shouldn’t he at least say something!? That he wanted to join them or something!?
With Leigie-sama showing no signs of movement, and I was just about to give up, my savior popped up from an unexpected place.
With eyes full of curiosity, Hiero pulled at Leigie-sama.
“Leigie-sama, I want to see it! The place where they’re fighting!”
Nono, that wasn’t my intent, you know?
Hiero has even less restraint than me when dealing with this Demon Lord. Of all things, she climbed onto his knee, and started shaking his shoulders back and forth.
Due to the younger sister’s sudden recklessness, the elder one quickly tried to apprehend her. Unfortunately, due to her years of training being blown away, she lacks the physical ability to pull her away.
“Hey, stop that! What do you think you’re doing to Leigie-sama…”
“Eh? No, but even oneechan wants to see the form of a Demon Lord fighting once in your life, right?”
“Yes, well…”
On the younger’s direct question, Lorna hesitated for a second.
Despite this and that, Lorna who serves a Demon Lord who doesn’t do anything must harbor those feelings. That’s a bit of a relief.
As if he had noticed a change in the behavior of the faithful maid he had rewound the time of, Leigie-sama opened his eyes, and said a word.
It really was just a word. It seems he’s finally started to remember the name lately.
“Lorna.”
“Hiero, look! Leigie-sama is tired. Stop troubling him, and come back here so we can be doing what we should!”
Lorna spilled out her opinion without restraint. She grabs Hiero’s body firmly with both arms, and pulls her off of Leigie-sama.
Even while pulling her off, she continues to direct a charming smile at Leigie-sama before deeply lowering her head.
But without a hint of interest towards her smile, he closed his eyes.
Inside of Lorna’s arms, Hiero resists, and shouts out.
“B-but oneechan! Every night, to Leigie-sama, don’t you mastur…!”
… What?
Upon hearing that, with movements unbefitting of Lust, Lorna locked Hiero’s face in an iron claw with speed that made me question whether she had used a skill or not.
She looks over her sister expressionlessly. Her eyes definitely aren’t laughing. That’s the expression of someone considering how to cook up the live fish sitting on the cutting board.
Just what would happen if you break her usual calm temperament? It feels as if a sleeping beast had been awoken.
“Hiero… if you say any more, fufu… you may earn some of my resentment…”
“Hii!? Ha… hahi!!”
And suddenly, there was a girl directing serious killing intent at her younger sister.
Hiero noticed she had stepped onto the beast’s tail, and nods obediently with a pale face.
Lorna’s face slowly turns red, as she turns to her lord, but as he’s already taken up a sleeping position, there’s no way he was listening. In the first place, even if he was, I doubt he would even stop to think about it.
But… I see. So that’s it… Luxuria. A Lewd elder sister… that’s what Hiero was trying to say.
Seeing Leigie-sama’s behavior, Lorna put her hand to her chest in relief.
For once in a long time, I smiled from the bottom of my heart.
… But don’t forget that Leigie-sama isn’t the only one here. Don’t forget me.
I lightly tap Lorna’s shoulder.
She turns around, and noticing my smile, she turns pale.
Inside of her hand, Hiero’s frothing at the mouth as she loses consciousness.
“Li… Lize?”
I completely ignore Lorna’s pleading eyes, and casually bring up some idle chatter.
“So that’s it… to think that under that diligent face, you were… should I say, as expected of Luxeria?”
“Wha…!?”
“I did find it odd when I first heard you governed Lust, but I never thought that of all things, you would use the lord you served to…”
“Wait, wait, wait, time out!”
With an expression I’ve never seen on her before, she grabs my collar, and pulls me closer.
Even if she looks a bit more innocent, being exposed to her beautiful face point blank, even though I’m of the same gender, I can’t stop the beating of my heart.
Ku ku ku Lust… lust… is it?
With teary eyes, she turns her face away.
What should I do. I’m having a lot of fun.
“Even if you may be a Demon of Lust, are you not a little too sinful? Did you wanted to look stoic, while you advanced your Luxuria class inside your heart… as expected of the girl her own sister called lewd. What’s more, every day… aren’t you going to become a Demon Lord of Lust sometime soon?”
“Wait, that’s wrong! Lize! It’s not like that! Right, it’s Hiero’s misunderstanding!”
She shakes me violently.
Just what sort of persuasive power do you think you have when your face is that red, and your eyes so teary?
In the first place, whether that be fantasy or reality, it doesn’t really matter to me.
“And I doubt you even have to be so secretive about it, like Hiero, why don’t you just tell Leigie? To instruct you to do sexual favors or something, that you’d happily accept. Ku ku ku, I think even Leigie-sama’ll be surprised. That the Lorna that always did the cooking and cleaning was actually thinking such things deep down.”
“…!!”
She raises a scream without any words as I thrust the final blow.
You won’t get any pity. I put my hand to her face that’s become as red as an apple.
“Ah, if it’s hard to say, then do you want me to tell him for you? As an apology for killing you that one time? Fufu, Leigie-sama sure is a happy Demon Lord. For a Luxeria Demon to think of him to that extent, and even give her first to him.”
“Huu… Uu… wrong, it’s not like… I’m…”
She’s lost and confused as she falls to the ground.
By the way, despite all the noise we’re making, Leigie-sama isn’t stirring in the slightest.
As she made a face as if the world was going to end, I lightly tapped her shoulder. At this rate, I’m really going to awaken to something besides Wrath.
“Hey, Lorna. How about a trade?”
“A… Trade…?”
With eyes like an abandoned puppy, she spoke as she looked up at me.
I have things I have to do, and Lorna has things she has to do. In order to fulfill both, why don’t we help each other a bit? Ku ku ku, this is mutual aid, isn’t it?
“Yes… Lorna. I want… to see Leigie-sama’s form in battle. Maybe if I saw the moment Leigie took down Zebul, I would completely forget everything that came to pass here.”
“Gu… uu.. you Demon.”
What are you saying, this late in the game.
Even when I gave her hope at the last moment, Lorna continues to hesitate. She’s a perfect image of loyalty. Though she is a lewd woman who does this and that with her Lord’s image every night.
“Ah, if it’s that, we can record his fighting form on a memory crystal, you know? Ku ku ku, won’t it make for some good… material?”
“I-I get it! I get it, so p-please stop it!”
She raises the white flag.
As I thought, it’s nice to win. I didn’t even use my Wrath, but it’s a refreshing feeling after so long.
Now the problem is whether or not Lorna can persuade that guy…
Could it be that’s the greatest problem?
Lorna gently pulls the cuff of the sleeping Leigie-sama with restraint.
“Leigie-sama…”
“…”
Perhaps because that was the voice that always rung out for his meal time, amazingly, after only one call, Leigie-sama opened his eyes.
Lorna began negotiations with her face dyed a deep red.
“This may be presumptuous, but I have a small request…”
“Don’t want to.”
… He shows no mercy, even to the maid.
I guess that’s right. Even when he had a revival spell, he’s a man who didn’t even use it until Hiero got to be a pain. There’s no way the presence of Lorna will do anything.
But perhaps because she’s even more used to dealing with Leigie, she doesn’t pay any mind to his denial.
“Together with Lize… won’t you bring ruin to the opposing Demon Lord, Zebul?”
“… Why?”
Why?
Why, you ask? Because it’s an order from the Great Demon King!
I try to approach, but Lorna stops me.
She continued on with a kind look in her eyes.
“Leigie-sama, is there anything special you want to eat tonight?”
“… Curry rice.”
“Then we’ll have Curry Rice tonight. Leigie-sama, I’ll put all my skill into making it. It will taste better if you excersize a bit first.”
“… Unnecessary.”
“Leigie-sama, how about dessert?”
“… Apple pie.”
Are you a child?
“Then I’ll bake Apple Pie. Leigie-sama, it will take a little bit of time, so how about you move your body a bit?”
“I hate it.”
“Fighting, you mean?”
“I’m a pacifist.”
And what the hell’s with a pacifistic Demon Lord?
“That’s quite amazing, Leigie-sama.”
“Especially if the opponent’s strong, I hate it even more. It’s a pain.”
“… Compared to you, my liege, their power amounts to nothing.”
Nono, that isn’t the case, right?
The opponent is Rank Five. Compared to that, Leigie-sama’s become Rank Three quite recently.
It’s undoubtable that he’s above Zebul, but I have to say that it’ll be difficult to win that easily. There’s a problem of affinity, and I don’t know the details of Sloth Skills.
Leigie-sama has a troubled face as he locks eyes with Lorna.
“… I see. Lorna… you want me to fight that badly?”
“… Yes.”
“For whose sake?”
“… For my sake. Later… I’ll bear witness. I’ll have Lize… take pictures, so…”
“Bu…!”
I unintentionally laughed.
Lorna’s face is the shade of a boiled octopus as she glares at me. Her eyes are telling me that she doesn’t mean it like that, but from my point of view, it can be for nothing else.
I get it. I get it. I’ll take them! Use them as material however you like.
“… I see…”
“… I’m very sorry.”
“… Hah…”
“… I’m very sorry.”
“… For some reason, my stomach hurts…”
With a face devoid of any pain, the Demon Lord spoke.
That much!? You don’t want to fight that much!? Leigie of the Slaughterdolls!
If you’re going to fake illness, at least give a pained face!
“… I truly am sorry, Leigie-sama.”
In response, Lorna gave a truly apologetic face as she lowered her head.
Even after seeing that, he doesn’t seem to think anything. He turned away, and curled up into a ball.
This is definitely impossible…
“… Now, Lize. Leigie-sama has given affirmation.”
“… Eh!? Fo realz!?”
With that? That was enough?
Is that really fine? No matter how you look at it, he was refusing, but…
Within the chair, the Demon Lord tried to shrink his body. I was right to try asking in the time his bed was being made. If he was on the bed, he would have burrowed under the covers without a doubt.
Lorna continued to say some unbelievable things.
“… Lize, please take Leigie-sama. Even if you can do nothing else, then at the very least, you can do that, right?”
… Even if I can’t do anything? That’s quite rude. Just how much trouble do you think I’m going through…
But that’s fine. That’s still fine. The problem is… will he even go?
“… Eh? Should I take him on my back?”
“… You will be moving my liege. That much is obvious.”
What’s obvious? … Move already!
In the first place, the Castle of Shadows is the center of the large mass of land given to him. I understand the general distance to its borders, but I’m going to have to carry him that far…?
I don’t want to think about it. Even if I have enough strength, is the Demon Lord’s pride really intact after being carried by a woman shorter than him?
… It probably is.
I swallow the rage that began to boil up. I don’t really understand why I have to do so much, but it’ll take time. Flying dragons are the main forms of transport within the Demon World.
So this time as well, even if I’m carrying him, it’ll only be to the Dragon Stables.
“… I get it… I’ll carry him, so…”
“That’s fine. Now, Leigie-sama… I’m sorry, but…”
“… The truth is, if I’m away from the bed for more than an hour, I’ll die.”
At this point in time, he still knows not when to give up. He has not a scrap of pride.
And wait, don’t lie with a straight face! There’s no way this thing is a Demon Lord!
In the first place, it’ll take longer than an hour to get there, even by Dragon.
“… Even if we use a flying dragon, it’ll take more than an hour just to get there…”
“What? More than an hour… you say? You, are you trying to kill me!!?”
That was the most motivated voice I had heard from him from the moment I was stationed here.
Does he really hate it that much… this man.
A grinding pain comes from my stomach.
“Don’t’ screw with me! I’ll give in and fight… that much is fine. Because it’ll be over after I randomly use some skill or another. But if you want me to fight, then bring that something something Demon Lord to my room, or it ain’t happening!”
“T-there’s no way that’s happening! Now let’s go!”
I pull at the whining Demon Lord’s arm with all my might.
“… Don’t~ Want~ To~! I definitely won’t work!”
“Don’t be selfish! It’s an order from the Great Demon King!”
“Damn, why must I go through this… Being a Demon Lord… I quit!”
This man… he’s serious. He doesn’t want to move that badly.
You’re not even working in the first place!
And in a time like this, this Demon Lord still hasn’t worked up any interest towards his enemy.
“… Now then, stop screwing around! You can sleep on the way there!”
With Wrath being my attribute, the only one who’s made me make so many concessions is this man.
“… Can I sleep in battle too?”
Is his head screwed on right?
And wait, you’ll die! No matter who you think you are, you’ll die! Your enemy isn’t General Class, he’s a Demon Lord like you!
Does this man understand that!?
“… It’s no good. Go tell Kanon. Go fight for yourself.”
With eyes full of needless self-confidence, this man shows no fear even towards the Great Demon Lord.
If one of the Great Demon Lord’s direct subordinates saw him now, it wouldn’t be strange for him to get convicted for treason.
“There’s no way I could say something like that! And it’s not like it has to be dragons. I just thought that would be fastest. Now warp, or do some instantaneous movement, or whatever it is you want! You’re still fighting, you know! That’s your responsibility!
“…Hah…”
Leigie-sama lets out a sigh.
He really is useless.
And this conversation is a pain.
Is what his eyes are telling me.
When I thought he was about to return some more complaints, I felt a weightless feeling as if my body had been tossed into the air.
My field of vision instantly changed.
“He…?”
Having been thrown into the air himself, as well, Leigie-sama doesn’t try to roll or even raise his voice as he flops onto the ground.
I quickly correct my body, and land on my feet.
A desert of darkness without a single place to take cover extended to the horizon. The pale blue moon illuminated the desolate earth without a single blade of vegetation.
“Heh? Wai… wah… eh?”
Am I seeing an illusion?
I was definitely inside the castle so how did we…
in comparison to me at the height of confusion, the Demon Lord who had been thrown on the ground isn’t panicking at all.
The pitch black dirt that seemed to personify darkness itself, a sign that it was soaked in the Mana of death.
“… Zone… more, that way…”
“What? Wait…”
I heard an ominous voice.
My vision shifted once more.
From an empty plain, to a plain drenched in the scent of blood and flesh and ash.
Leigie-sama rolls on the ground in an unsightly manner.
When I hit the ground, my instincts perceived it.
Much different from Leigie-sama’s existence…but something as great as him. And wait, the object releasing it is right before my eyes.
As if a hole had been cut in space, an overcoat that seemed to suck in all light draped over a small shadow.
The small face covered in green hair looked over with an expression of bewilderment. But if you were to compare, I was the more confused of the two of us.
Zebul Glaucus.
The Devouring King. Her appearance and figure match the one I had heard about.
How can this be… am I dreaming!?
The Demon Lord ignores me, and turns to Leigie, who unsteadily lifts himself.”
In front of Zebul, with shaking steps like that of a baby fawn, he fell onto his back, and sighed.
Without letting his voice out, and moving only his mouth, he began to complain.
“… Really… impossible… no good. This one’s strong… don’t want to…I can’t hear anything lalalalala.”
The first thoughts that were born in my mind were retorts.
Wait, so that was you!
I definitely said you could teleport or something, and I’ll admit that.
Is this also a Sloth Skill? No, it’s perfect for Sloth, isn’t it!
Even so, he gives up quickly!
Leigie-sama takes a glance at Zebul, and swings his head from side to side.
My stomach instantly goes into ominous spasms of pain. Perhaps I’ll burn through my gut.
Anyways, Quit. Screwing. With. Me!
