Succubus Secretary Lusteria (1)
The barren lands of Hemonigent were a harsh environment where ordinary living beings struggled to survive.
This was a phenomenon brought about by the Luina that the Demon Lord and her subordinates required.
Yet the current state of the world was by no means the result of Luina.
It was a clear case of pollution so severe that not only ordinary creatures sustained by Vitana, the mana of life, but even those tied to Luina found it difficult to endure.
The air was so contaminated that breathing itself felt burdensome, and a foul stench of decay rose from the sea.
The sea near Hemonigent had once been called the Red Ocean because of the abundant metal deposits that oxidized and tinted the water red. The deep crimson it now displayed, however, had nothing to do with metal.
An overwhelming red tide blanketed the entire region, and the waves moved with such viscosity that they seemed more like thick sludge than water.
The rotting stench that made every breath painful did not come solely from the corpses of the Humians.
The continent's environmental collapse was ultimately a matter of the land alone.
While the harsh conditions created by Luina poisoned Hemonigent, they had no bearing on the lofty skies above.
Therefore the heavens, which should have been clear and bright, were instead shrouded in a pitch-black veil so dense that even the faintest ray of light struggled to pierce through.
The sky was so dark it might as well have been evening, filled with what looked like black smoke—clouds far larger and darker than any storm-bearing rain clouds.
Their shape resembled not water vapor but the massive sandstorms one might see in the Vast Sand, the sprawling desert at the center of the Astaris continent.
Yet because the phenomenon covered every visible stretch of sky, it was clearly on a scale far beyond any ordinary sandstorm.
The acrid smell carried on the wind only confirmed how dire the situation had become.
Dust laced with artificially created toxins had blanketed the world's skies.
Neromeltia di Isis stared up at Barkus Volcano in stunned disbelief at the apocalyptic devastation.
Barkus Volcano, home of Barkus, the guardian dragon of Hemonigent.
Its master appeared to be absent, and worry began to creep in regarding the Demon Lord Castle beyond it.
At that moment, a familiar and welcome voice called out from behind her.
A voice she had not forgotten even after a thousand years.
“D-Demon Lord?!”
Though the voice was faint, Neromeltia di Isis recognized its owner instantly.
When she turned, she saw a beautiful woman standing there, fidgeting nervously.
She wore a neat, formal black suit paired with a dainty red bow tie.
Though the outfit was old-fashioned and devoid of any sensuality, the voluptuous figure it failed to conceal drew the eye.
Especially her chest and hips, which strained against the fabric; even though the clothes had been tailored to her measurements, the buttons of her white dress shirt were pulled taut.
Her violet eyes bore hexagram magic circles, and within those pupils shimmered a mysterious light reminiscent of a galaxy.
Her long violet hair gleamed with a smooth, radiant luster that made its beauty obvious at a glance, yet she had it neatly coiled and pinned at the nape of her neck so it would not get in the way.
And then there were her most distinctive racial traits.
She possessed horns curled like a sheep's, a tail tipped with a sharp heart shape, and black, bat-like membranous wings.
Her name was Lusteria servie Avenoah.
A succubus born in hell and summoned to the present world through a contract.
She was the sole secretary of the Demon Lord, Neromeltia di Isis.
“Lust!!!”
“D-Demon Lord!!!”
Their dramatic reunion after a thousand years unfolded with Neromeltia di Isis looking flustered while Lusteria servie Avenoah burst into tears and came running—only to trip and fall flat on the ground.
She had caught her foot on a single pebble.
“Uwaaaah…”
“Why are you so small?!”
Lusteria servie Avenoah had originally been only slightly shorter than Neromeltia di Isis.
Considering that Neromeltia di Isis herself was tall for a woman, Lusteria servie Avenoah had never been particularly petite either.
Yet her current form was not merely smaller—it was fundamentally different.
The succubus, now no larger than a finger, had been dashing across the ground only to trip over an insignificant pebble.
“Sniff… Because my contractor, the Demon Lord, disappeared, I could no longer receive mana… Without enough mana to maintain my body, I started shrinking… Even though I tried to conserve as much mana as possible, I ended up this small……”
“Why didn’t you return to Lilith? You waited like this for a thousand years?”
“I’ve spent my entire life at the Demon Lord’s side. How could I possibly return to my mother…? I only lived with her until I was ten. After that, I spent twelve hundred years with you. Even if it took more than a thousand years, I would have waited until the moment my body vanished.”
Neromeltia di Isis could not help but be moved by the beautiful secretary’s profound affection and loyalty.
She immediately extended her hand and poured a vast amount of mana into Lusteria servie Avenoah.
In an instant, amid a swirling vortex of black mana, Lusteria servie Avenoah’s body rapidly grew until she regained her original, complete form from a thousand years ago.
Now standing at a height similar to Neromeltia di Isis, Lusteria servie Avenoah was quite tall for a woman.
Moreover, her body radiated sensuality and possessed the dense allure of a voluptuous beauty capable of stirring desire in anyone.
Yet in stark contrast to that seductive, mature charm were her brightly shining eyes, small and cute nose, and vividly red, lively lips.
Combined with her soft, plump cheeks that looked wonderfully pleasant to touch, the overall impression was that of an adorable girl whose very appearance inspired affection.
It was a strange image in which two opposing qualities coexisted, but one thing was certain: Lusteria servie Avenoah herself was an exceptionally attractive and beautiful woman.
Looking at Lusteria servie Avenoah restored to her original form, Neromeltia di Isis felt a desire she had suppressed for a thousand years begin to boil over.
Was the day she could freely toy with this beautiful secretary truly upon her again?
Almost unconsciously, Neromeltia di Isis reached out with mischievous hands toward Lusteria servie Avenoah, who was still marveling at her own body.
Her fingers, brimming with the Demon Lord’s lust, moved in a vulgar and lascivious manner.
“Demon Lord!!!”
“Hrk…!!”
Overjoyed at finally regaining her original form and reuniting with her master after a thousand years, Lusteria servie Avenoah threw herself into Neromeltia di Isis’s arms.
She charged so violently that the air was knocked from Neromeltia di Isis’s lungs.
“Hwaaaah… I missed you so, so much…!!! Hwaaaah!!”
Tears streamed endlessly from her glistening eyes.
Lusteria servie Avenoah’s tears traced paths down Neromeltia di Isis’s chest.
Neromeltia di Isis ultimately abandoned her original intent. For this moment, at least, she decided to simply hold the succubus close.
She was not so selfish as to ruin the atmosphere in front of her adorable secretary who was crying at their thousand-year reunion.
Neromeltia di Isis quietly embraced Lusteria servie Avenoah, gently stroking her trembling back and head.
The tears of the secretary, whose face was buried in her master’s chest, did not stop for a long while.
“You were the one who dealt with those Humians?”
“Yes. Unlike before, not many Humians came, so I thought I could handle them somehow. After all, once they were eliminated, there would be no one left to stop the Demon Lord’s resurrection.”
With the rest of the Demon Lord’s army and the residents of Hemonigent having all evacuated, Lusteria servie Avenoah had remained alone near the Resurrection Temple.
She had stayed in the area without leaving, constantly observing the situation in hopes of witnessing Neromeltia di Isis’s resurrection.
Other high-ranking members of the Demon Lord’s forces had also wanted the role, but because they had soldiers and citizens to protect, the responsibility had fallen to Lusteria servie Avenoah, who had no one else to look after.
Furthermore, during this tenth resurrection, the usual Humian army had not been dispatched—only fifteen soldiers had appeared—so she had judged that she could fight them.
“My body was already small, and after squeezing out every last drop of mana to annihilate the enemy, I shrank even further……”
If she had made even the slightest mistake or run even slightly short on mana, Lusteria servie Avenoah would have died.
Even if she succeeded in eliminating the enemy, she might have been forcibly returned to hell due to mana depletion.
It was clear that Lusteria servie Avenoah had truly risked everything to protect Neromeltia di Isis.
Neromeltia di Isis affectionately stroked the succubus’s head.
Her hand was filled with warm affection as she petted her adorable secretary.
“Thank you, Lust. Thanks to you, I was able to return to Terraris like this.”
“Sniff! Demon Lord!!”
Lusteria servie Avenoah’s eyes grew moist again, glistening with tears.
While she basked in the joy of Neromeltia di Isis’s gentle touch, the Demon Lord saw hope.
According to Lusteria servie Avenoah, surviving members of the Demon Lord’s army and citizens still remained.
Regardless of the current situation, they had to be rescued, gathered, and used to rebuild the Demon Lord Castle and Hemonigent.
After all, power was necessary for survival and safety.
Recalling the overwhelming size of the Humian army she had seen at the time of her first death, as well as the existence of the dragon Kerdihak, Neromeltia di Isis had even considered the worst-case scenario in which all the ordinary soldiers and citizens had been lost, even if the powerful executives survived.
Yet Lusteria servie Avenoah’s words confirmed that a considerable number of survivors existed, revealing just how desperately the Demon Lord’s forces and their officers had fought to protect them.
She felt grateful to those who had risked their lives to safeguard the people.
After savoring her master’s touch for a while, Lusteria servie Avenoah suddenly grasped the hand that had been stroking her and looked up at Neromeltia di Isis with sparkling eyes.
“If we go a little farther, we’ll reach the hideout of the Black Knights and the survivors!!”