Expanding Conspiracy #3
The Doctor had finally gotten what she wanted. She had forged treaties with the World Coalition regarding open airspace access and victim compensation. The official name of the pact was the Earth Defense Treaty. She had installed Evelion gauges across every nation, allowing her and me to traverse any country’s airspace without issue to battle the monsters. It was all thanks to the pathetic creatures I had dispatched worldwide not long ago, along with the Sword Fang Tiger I sent to Japan.
A few countries had coveted the Doctor’s technology and demanded she reveal the manufacturing process, but she firmly refused. She warned that misuse could lead to catastrophic incidents. When executives from the World Coalition asked about the identity of that female hero, she simply answered, “Leona.” Beast Slayer, Leona. Nothing more. According to the Doctor’s recollection, she hadn’t anticipated such questions. The name suddenly popped into her head while I was humming a tune, and in a fit of irritation she had blurted it out. She had slapped the back of my head, grumbling that “Leona” was an unbearably tacky, country-bumpkin name. She must have been mortified. What a wretched woman. If it weren’t for me, she would have named her Leona herself.
Anyway, the news spread across the globe. As the great era of monster outbreaks truly began, Leona’s fame skyrocketed. Her name flooded every form of media. Fan club memberships exploded, and companies even began lining up to produce figurines of her. While the world buzzed with excitement, the laboratory remained quiet. The Doctor and I had thrown ourselves into full-scale research and development. Sehwa attended school and occasionally dropped by the lab, brightening the atmosphere. At the moment, only the Doctor and I were present, debating various theories before taking a short break.
With my hair greasy and dark circles under my eyes, I sipped at my coffee. The Doctor, apparently impressed that I hadn’t gone to school or even washed while immersing myself in research, had recently started calling me by a different name.
She was emphasizing my current surname, Song.
“Pffft!”
I spat the coffee in my mouth all over the whiteboard covered in dense physics equations. The Doctor clicked her tongue.
“Cough! Hack! Why the hell would you say something like that out of nowhere?!”
“I only learned about it five days ago! We were getting along fine in silence, so why bring it up now…”
How was it? You crazy bitch. It was so good I thought I’d die from pleasure every single day. I completely ignored the Doctor and began wiping down the whiteboard.
Her nonsense drifted from behind me. Family my ass—she treated me like a damn dog. Wait… maybe I should try knocking her down a peg too? If I could make her my subordinate, conquering the Beast Slayers would become incredibly easy… I had only planned to use the woman who had humiliated me multiple times and then kill her off, but now that I thought about it, the Doctor had quite the figure and face.
The problem is that I don’t know much about her.
I knew every detail about the other Beast Slayers. But information on the Doctor was limited. A foul-tempered genius scientist. A woman carrying on her husband’s will after receiving his dying wish. That was about it. It seemed like a decent idea… Fine. I’d add her to the list for now.
“Because it’s the truth. By the way, will Leona have to handle the humanoid monsters that appeared in the world last time as well?”
In that case, I would provide some guidelines. I’d release a few more monsters to build up samples, then upgrade the detectors so humans could classify them on their own. Monsters below a certain rank could be handled by the military. Anything higher would require a Beast Slayer. Hang in there just a little longer, Sehwa. I’m thinking up all sorts of plans for your welfare, so bear with it.
“Your Majesty! I am different from the likes of Amducias and Aktoa! If you would only dispatch me, I will accomplish every single thing Your Majesty desires!”
A thunderous declaration of intent that shook the secret base. I raised the corners of my lips and gazed at the humanoid monster trapped inside a special iron cage. It possessed a human body but a bull’s head—an utterly bizarre appearance. Its name was Parax. He was one of my loyal subordinates who appeared near the end of the first act. He also possessed intelligence on par with a human. A truly vicious monster that fed on the emotion of despair, he would launch surprise attacks, massacre humans, absorb their despair, and unleash overwhelming power. In the end, he was crushed and erased by Leona’s ultimate skill.
In any case, this guy had given me quite a hard time when I played the game. I had barely managed to defeat him after using nearly half of the consumables I had saved up. If I sent him out now, Leona would struggle immensely and would very likely have her transformation forcibly canceled.
The bull’s face broke into a wide, sloppy grin. A face so grotesque it made me want to lose my mind. I barely suppressed the urge to vomit and continued.
THUD!
Parax slammed his head—no, his snout—into the floor.
At least until the day Leona kills you.
I turned and left the room, then settled into the throne. A cold yet cozy, contradictory sensation. Sitting here made me feel as if I were rediscovering my true identity. Demon King Tyrat, supreme ruler of Erandel. As I sat upon the throne with a dignified posture, Marcela approached, her eyes sparkling.
“Hmm…”
I had simply let out a worried sigh. Why was she apologizing like a lunatic? Did she think I was displeased? Honestly, there was no need to rush. I had already built enough trust to freely tinker with Sehwa’s device whenever I wanted. I’d just let her misunderstand. She had been glaring at me sharply from time to time lately. This was a good chance to give her some proper education.
“You…”
I swallowed my words. I had been about to say that I understood how pressed for time she must feel while handling so many tasks… but I was the Demon King, and she was my subordinate. It was only natural that she devote her body and soul to working for me.
Inside the laboratory, news broadcasts poured from multiple monitors. The Doctor, who had been silently watching, patted Sehwa on the shoulder.
CRASH! CLATTER!
My chair tipped over and I rolled onto the floor, cutting off their conversation. Sehwa rushed over and helped me up.
Too excited to respond to her concern, I shouted at the top of my lungs.
My cry echoed throughout the lab. With my hair matted and a dark beard covering my chin, I jumped around like a madman. To anyone watching, I looked exactly like an overworked inventor who had finally succeeded. The Doctor approached with a startled expression.
The Doctor looked like she might faint from shock. Heh heh… Watch this. I’ll make you even more surprised.
I picked up two palm-sized circular devices that the Doctor and I had created together and threw one to each end of the lab. They clattered against the floor, then expanded to the size of a person and anchored themselves firmly to the ground. I set up a motion camera to capture the entire lab, then stepped onto one of the devices and pressed the button in my hand.
The Doctor tried to stop me in a panic, but it was too late. A pure white light began to bloom from beneath the portal, already enveloping my entire body. And then…
WHOOSH!
I instantly appeared at the portal installed on the opposite side, my face twisted in nausea. I frantically searched for a trash can and vomited everything I had eaten that day into it.
“Ugh…! Bleeegh!”
It was the dizziness. The portal was still too harsh for an ordinary human body like mine, enough to make me retch. But Leona, with her immense power, should be able to endure it just fine.
Sehwa rushed over to me as I continued to heave. I raised one hand to signal that I was fine. After throwing up once, I felt better. I wiped my mouth with one of the oil-stained towels scattered around. The Doctor was already reviewing the warp process recorded by the motion camera.
“You… you are…”
The Doctor stuttered, which was very unlike her. Her body trembling, she approached me and said,
That was an incredibly high compliment. I wasn’t particularly grateful, though.
I couldn’t finish my sentence. Sehwa had sprinted toward me and thrown herself into my arms. I had casually mentioned that I made it for her, and she hugged me without caring that the Doctor was right there. I smiled warmly and patted her back, then asked the Doctor,
My sigh, which dismissed all the suffering I had endured, made the Doctor chuckle.
Of course I have. That’s why I made the portal in the first place. My sinister schemes are gaining momentum. Everything is going perfectly. Smoothly, so smoothly.
Once the Doctor installs the portals across the world, the next step will be modifying the device’s capacity. Until the research on the mysterious power known as Aether is complete, I’ll only be able to tweak some functions. Things like changing the design or adding equipment attachment points… For now, that’s enough. Once Aether research is finished, I’ll be able to add all sorts of sexual effects. All kinds of lewd schemes filled my head.
For the time being, while I tinker with Leona’s device and develop new devices for the Beast Slayers who will join later, I’ll redesign their appearances to suit my tastes. Of course, the Doctor must not notice. For now, I’ll hide the extra functions. I’ll reveal them at the perfect moment—when the Beast Slayers have completely surrendered both body and soul, and when the world places absolute faith in them. That will be the moment I strike.