131. An Unwelcome Reunion
131. An Unwelcome Reunion
Demons.
A plundering race from another dimension, who flooded into this world by piercing the dimensional wall with the Demon Lord's immense power.
Capable of limitless growth as long as their desire is permitted, they are becoming a greater threat to humanity as time goes on.
And among the members of that Demon Lord Army, if one were to name the strongest demons excluding the Demon Lord, everyone would unanimously mention the 'Four Heavenly Kings'.
"Me, Me, Me......."
That Mephisto, ranked 2nd among them, had appeared before her.
As Yui, the young saint of the Mether Order, realized that, astonishment began to burst from her lips.
"Why is Lady Mephisto here!?"
"Shh."
Marilyn reached out and clamped her hand over the young saint's mouth.
The young saint, startled by the force, trembled like a leaf, but Marilyn paid no heed and simply observed the surrounding atmosphere quietly.
This place was the saint's private chamber, connected to the Mether Order's prayer room.
The reason Marilyn had come here was that, while wandering the city to dig up some information that had been bothering her lately, she had received a commission from the Mether Order to play a piece for a holy choir.
Aside from the Imperial faith of Priga, Mether was the most influential religious body these days.
She had accepted and come here, thinking she could gather much information, but what she faced was none other than the spectacle of a fellow demon playing the role of a saint within the Order.
Clergymen, who would normally consider a demon worthy of being beaten to death, were instead venerating a demon as a saint. As a fellow demon, how could she not be concerned?
"O merciful saint of Mether, this wretched bard is mortified to lay a hand upon your noble person, yet I must nonetheless say something to you, unavoidably."
"Mmph, mmph."
The young saint's eyes were brimming with tears, her mouth still covered by Marilyn's hand.
Soon, Marilyn narrowed her eyes and began to glare at her.
"You are aware that this is currently human territory?"
"M-Mmph. Mmph."
"The fact that you've risen to the important position of saint implies some human influence, but it seems you are hiding your identity from the public at large....... Shouldn't we do our best to avoid revealing each other's identities?"
"...Mmph."
With her mouth covered, the girl's head nodded with difficulty.
Only after seeing that her trembling had subsided did Marilyn gradually release the strength in her grip on the girl's mouth.
"Good. Then let's quietly...... reveal our identities to each other, and have a little chat."
"Y-Yes. P-Please speak, Lady Mephisto......."
Saint Yui had finally gotten her breath back and opened her mouth.......
No, at least in front of her, there was no need to hide her own identity.
"What is your name?"
"I am Yuinoi, a low-ranking member of the Demon Lord Army."
A young Dream Demon, who looked barely ten years old.
This young girl, who hadn't even learned how to drain energy, would have likely been limited to trivial chores in the Demon Lord Army.
"You don't seem to have infiltrated human society under the orders of the Demon Lord Army....... Why is a small, young being like you acting as a saint in a religious order?"
"Th-That's what I want to know! The humans here are all insane!"
Yuinoi began to ramble incoherently, answering her query.
From what she could gather from the rough explanation, some lunatic hero had venerated her as a saint, and afterward, a massive influx of crazed followers had swarmed the Order, swelling its size enormously to its current state.
"Ugh, sob. Humans are scary.... I-I'll definitely be devoured if I don't get out of here soon."
"...I wonder about that. From what I saw just now, they seemed to cherish you quite a bit."
"Ch-Cherish me! Don't say such nonsense! You saw it too, Lady Mephisto! Calling that a choir is lunacy I've never seen even in the Demon Lord Army......!"
-Thud!
Her mouth clamped shut as a sensation of her heart sinking washed over her.
The chill that followed was surely due to the killing intent emanating from the demon before her.
"Did you just say 'nonsense'? To me?"
"Hikk!"
Yuinoi's breath caught in her throat at the distorted voice.
Afterwards, Marilyn straightened up and leaned her head forward, closing the distance between herself and Yuinoi.
"Miss Yuinoi. Do you not know who stands before you right now?"
"I-I know. You are Mephisto Rage, 2nd in command of the Demon Lord Army......."
"So you knew full well, and yet you answered me so insolently—to me, a top executive of the Demon Lord Army, a mere insignificant foot soldier like you."
It was only natural she felt displeasure.
In the first place, demons had no sense of kinship. To them, a fellow demon toyed with by humans was not a subject of salvation but merely an object of ridicule.
Furthermore, if such an existence posed a risk of exposing the army, it was standard procedure to consider them a target for elimination first and foremost.
"Being toyed with by humans isn't a good look either.... Should I just nip this in the bud now, before it becomes a nuisance?"
"Uwaaaaaah! I'm sorry! Please spare meeeee!"
Reaching the limit of her fear, the young Dream Demon collapsed and burst into tears.
Marilyn, who had been looking down at her with cold eyes, soon smiled bitterly and quietly stroked Yuinoi's head.
"Fufu, it was a joke. Don't cry."
"Huh? Eh?"
"Coincidentally, I've currently quit the Demon Lord Army, so I have no need to dispose of turncoats or abide by the army's common sense."
Blink, blink.
Yuinoi stared blankly at Marilyn with tear-soaked eyes.
The killing intent that had surged earlier had long since vanished as if it were all a lie, but the fact that what she just said was true came as no small shock to Yuinoi.
"Q-Quit the Demon Lord Army? Who did?"
"Who else? I'm talking about myself."
"Wh-What!? Wh-Why would Lady Mephisto? Why would the second-in-command of the Demon Lord Army!?"
"If you're curious, find out for yourself. Using your position as a saint, you should be able to dig up whatever information the humans have gathered without much trouble."
But Marilyn simply brushed off Yuinoi's questions as if they were nothing.
It seemed even that was too shocking for the young Dream Demon to handle, but Marilyn's purpose in meeting her was only to confirm if the young Dream Demon's activity as a saint was influenced by someone else.
At least, if no such connection was found, she had no obligation to involve herself further in the girl's circumstances.
"Well, anyway, as I am now, I'm neither hostile to humanity nor serving the Demon Lord Army, so I won't interfere with your situation any further. So, if we happen to meet again, please treat me casually."
"Ah, Aah! Just wait a moment! Lady Mephisto! Mephi......."
-Twang!
"Eeek!"
A lute string twanged, and a sharp rebuke shot through the air at the girl who tried to follow her as she was about to leave the room.
As the young Dream Demon, exposed to a special noise audible only to demons, collapsed, the believers near the entrance, belatedly realizing the commotion, began to approach Marilyn.
"We heard a scream from the Saint just now. What happened?"
"It seems the Saint, who was seeing me out, stumbled and fell. Could you tend to her wounds for a moment?"
"Ah, yes, understood!"
The believers entered the room hastily, without any particular suspicion.
She had worried that a believer might have eavesdropped, but fortunately, since she had laid a sound-blocking spell upon entering the room, it seemed unlikely to cause any problems.
'If that child prioritizes her own life, she won't go spreading rumors either.'
Of course, she was a demon who prioritized survival above all else—even over desire—so fear would keep her silent.
She would likely spend her days in tears after Marilyn left, but that wasn't even worth Marilyn's concern.
What was most important to her now was how to steer her relationship with the person she loved.......
And, to the extent she could, to eliminate everything that might pose a danger to him.
"Would you like to buy a newspaper?"
"...Keep the change as a tip."
Marilyn tossed a coin to a young paperboy selling newspapers nearby.
After leaving the cheering boy behind, Marilyn focused her attention on the newspaper in her hand.
'So all the things I've been investigating lately were true, then?'
The war that had recently occurred at the Dragon's Tomb.
Around the time that war broke out, the two remaining knights of the Undead Legion, along with the Corpse Lord, had engaged in a direct, full-scale battle with the Demon Lord Army.
And in that process, the information revealed to humanity was that a new member had joined the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Lord Army, and through that, it was indirectly revealed that the existing Four Heavenly Kings had been stripped of their titles or killed.......
'The ones speculated to be new executives of the Demon Lord Army are a demi-human orc, not a demon, and the Demon of Gluttony....... Well, I'll skip those.'
Other than that, she considered that while some renowned demons had taken a seat each, they were youngsters who were not even pure-blooded demons like the previous Four Heavenly Kings, and thus not worth her attention.
What needed her attention was whether the Demon Lord Army posed a full-scale risk of invading human territory, and whether there were any signs of her former lord making a direct move.
[Even on the battlefield where the Corpse Lord personally appeared, the Demon Lord remains unseen. With his whereabouts unknown for over ten years now, some experts offer the hopeful speculation that the Demon Lord's condition has weakened and he is in seclusion.......]
'Weakened? The Demon Lord?'
What utter nonsense.
He is an absolute being, so overwhelmed by his own power that he spends every moment in emptiness. How little do humans think of her former lord?
If he were to make a move, not just humanity, but the Undead Legion, the beastkin, and even the Vampires could all be annihilated overnight.
How could humans dare to try and gauge an absolute being who could personally wield power akin to the 'gods' worshipped by the Order?
'......Demon Lord.'
While the fact that he still hadn't moved brought her relief, she felt a bitterness wash over a corner of her heart.
Before she met the person who awakened love within her, she had sworn lifelong fealty to him. Yet those years now felt meaningless, because she was in a position where she considered him a danger and remained wary of his existence every moment.
'When the day comes that I meet you again, what kind of heart will I face you with?'
But the current hiatus likely wouldn't last much longer.
Because once the limit comes and even soothing his present emptiness is no longer possible, he will eventually lose his reason and move to destroy everything in this world.
So, she too had to devise some kind of plan in preparation for that time.
-Flutch.
With that resolve, as she was about to resume her investigation into the Demon Lord Army's movements, Marilyn suddenly sensed something suspicious nearby and her footsteps came to a halt.
'...That man, is not human.'
Yes, a disguised demi-human, just like herself, was strutting around town.
A noble, gentlemanly figure in a black suit and cloak. The reason he didn't seem entirely unfamiliar was because she had seen him once before.
It was definitely that Vampire bastard who, when she had reunited and shared a meal with the person she adored, had shown interest in the relationship between her and him and given them a ticket they could use for the theater.
'No, he's not just some young punk.'
Just as unmixed demons like herself were called pure-bloods, among Vampires, those who had cultivated their power for the longest time were called 'True Ancestors'.
The one before her was a being one could call a True Ancestor. The mere fact that he was strutting the streets in broad daylight despite his vulnerability to sunlight told her that instantly.
But even so, it's only something he can endure, not something he should be comfortable with.
'......Suspicious.'
Of course, a mere Vampire didn't matter to her, but knowing he was keeping an eye on her love, she couldn't just let it slide.
Thinking she should tail him just in case, Marilyn concealed her presence and quietly began to follow him.
Weaving through the crowd, and gradually into a deserted alleyway.......
-Thump, thump.
Just as she thought she was getting close, her heart started to pound fiercely.
It was because she sensed what one might call a sense of crisis.
But it wasn't coming from the Vampire advancing further into the alley; it was flowing from the vicinity of the path he was heading toward.
'Why.'
Does that Vampire not sense the energy and just walk past this street? Or is he simply retreating because he has no interest in it?
Either way, it was a power Marilyn could never overlook.
Because she realized that something incomparable to a mere True Ancestor was about to start some devious business in this vicinity, right at this moment.
-Riiip.
Marilyn dashed toward the place thick with that power and immediately tore through the barrier cast over the street with her bare body.
The barrier, which invaded the minds of those who entered to deter intrusion, was even now digging deep into her psyche, trying to turn her footsteps away from this place.
Yes, a demon with such immense power that it could interfere with the mind of a pure-blooded demon like herself was casting a barrier and pulling tricks here.
"...Oh my?"
As if to show she wasn't the only one to recognize the other party, the red-haired demon—who had been reaching out a hand toward the man collapsed on the floor—soon made a delighted expression toward her.
"Oh my, who do we have here~ Isn't that our Mephi~?"
"Our Mephi, it's been way too long~♥ How have you been? You didn't forget your unnie, did you?"
"...Yasumo."
The demon of lust—Yasmo Deus.
She was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Lord Army who, like Marilyn herself, had survived the massacre orchestrated by the Demon Lord.
"Aing~ It's been so long since we met, why are you so stiff? Let's be friendly and call me by my nickname 'Yas Deus' like you used to~♡"
What this woman showed her could, at first glance, be called one-sided courtship, but Marilyn knew well that the reason she took interest in anyone was due to her 'twisted lust'.
When they had met before, she had considered it merely annoying and disgusting.
"What exactly...... are you doing right now?"
However, at this moment, what Marilyn felt upon barging into this scene and witnessing the trickery of the one before her was an emotion that could only be called rage.
Because the man who was the very source of her own desire was reflected in her eyes, collapsed helplessly, drunk on that woman's magical power.
"Aha, you mean this guy?"
As if failing to grasp her emotions, Yasumo sneered flippantly at the man lying on the floor as if dead.
"Actually, I came here to see Mephi, but I thought this bastard might get in our way. So I was just about to turn him into a mummy so he couldn't get up again, but for some reason, it's not working well......."
-Kwaaang!!
Marilyn's fist, launched as she lost all reason, crushed Yasumo's face mercilessly.