The Plague Demon's Submission
Heple spewed plague from his mouth, trying to break the chains. The plague didn't spread—it clung to his own body instead. His form began to swell.
Kiiiiiik, kiiik!
The shadow chains screamed. They stretched taut, pulled past their limits until they could give no more.
"I am the plague itself! Death that can snatch away tens of thousands of lives in a single instant!"
Heple roared. Cracks spiderwebbed across the chains. Cold sweat ran down my face. The atmosphere reeked of danger, and more than a few people were visibly shaken by the demon's presence. Elves and humans alike collapsed to the ground. Those with weak mental fortitude fainted, wet themselves, or retched violently.
"Yes. I understand perfectly well that your rank is high."
Yuria didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow. She faced the superior-class demon with perfect composure.
"But this is not the Demon World—your world. And I am stronger than you are right now."
Clang!
The shadow chains binding Heple tore free. He unfolded the body he'd been forced to crouch in. Like wings unfurling, his massive frame expanded—an enormous size reaching five meters. Something that could have been wings or hands, impossible to tell, lashed out at Yuria.
Yuria's dagger moved. From top to bottom. That simple motion sliced through space itself, and Heple's lower half dropped away with a wet thud.
"GRAAAAAAAAH!"
Heple screamed. The plague that had filled his body vanished, and his size shrank again. Astonishingly, the severed half regenerated at a visible rate.
Clink-clink-clink.
Shadow chains reappeared and bound Heple once more. He thrashed, but this time he couldn't break free as he had before.
Heple had been careless. From the moment he faced Yuria, he should have fought with everything he had. Had he done so, the outcome might have been different. Though for a superior-class demon, being wary of a mere human would have been strange in its own right.
"Lady Elena."
"...Yes. I know. So this is a demon of this world? I've never seen one before, but it's revolting. Looking at it makes my stomach churn and a headache come on."
"That's because a superior-class demon's rank is so high. The fact that you can face it without collapsing already speaks to your exceptional mental strength."
"That's hardly comforting. ...How are you completely fine?"
"That's a secret."
Yuria said it with an easy smile.
I knew the answer. The trait I'd shared with Yuria was Absolute Mind. No mental attack of any kind could affect her. For reference, the skill I'd shared with Elena was Complete Recovery. Even if a mental attack got through, using Complete Recovery would restore her instantly.
"What... do you intend to do?"
The restrained Heple asked.
"I have no intention of killing you immediately. There are several things I need to learn through you, and you hold value simply by being a superior-class demon."
"But leaving you as you are presents various risks. Even a rotten herring is still a herring. You are a superior-class demon, after all. This is a safety measure. Whether it will succeed is fifty-fifty, but..."
Blue butterflies appeared around Elena. More than ten of them fluttered through the air before settling gently onto Heple's body.
"...How dare you! How dare you! A mere human, meddling with my mind...! This is disgusting! Get away!"
Seven butterflies crumbled and vanished in an instant.
Elena grimaced and spat the blood that had welled up in her mouth onto the ground.
"Are you all right? You don't need to push yourself."
"...I'll say this in advance. Completely brainwashing him into a slave is impossible."
"So incomplete brainwashing is possible, then."
"Yes. Changing his perception to a certain degree is doable. But even that is temporary. It probably won't last five days."
"That's more than enough."
"......"
The blue butterflies seeped into Heple's thrashing body. His pupils went momentarily vacant, then returned to normal. Heple no longer struggled.
Elena's eyes lost their light and she toppled sideways. Yuria quickly caught her by the shoulder. Elena's eyes returned to normal, and she stood upright with a refreshed expression. I knew she had died once and come back via Complete Recovery.
"I used up every last bit of my remaining lifespan. Let's see if it worked properly. Kneel."
Heple dropped to his knees on the ground and bowed his head. The puppet demon beside him was horrified. Elena's lips curled upward.
"Good. For the time being, this demon will recognize me, Yujin, and you as higher beings. That is an order, demon. Withdraw the plague from the elves."
"Yes. Understood. But please loosen these chains a bit. The restraints are so strong that it's difficult to use my authority."
A trick?
That was my immediate thought, and Yuria was hardly going to miss it. For all we knew, he might not have fallen under Elena's illusion at all and was only pretending.
Yuria hesitated for a few seconds, then loosened the shadow chains binding Heple. The demon's power surged. I glared at him, then turned my head. The complexions of the elves who'd been standing like zombies gradually improved. The black spots that had appeared on their skin vanished rapidly as well.
They were still gaunt from suffering under the plague, but that was a problem rest would solve.
So he really did fall under Elena's illusion properly. Even if it's temporary, if she keeps reapplying it while she's summoned... no. Before that, Yuria will do everything that needs doing, so I can stop worrying about this bastard.
I turned toward Bella. Now that the plague demon she'd trusted had ended up like this, I was curious how she'd react.
Bella's mouth hung open in shock. She couldn't tear her eyes from Heple, as if staring at something impossible. Despair filled her face. Her pupils trembled constantly. Demitera watched Bella with gleaming eyes.
"What a shame. The demon you believed in has become my loyal dog."
"......"
I'd mocked her thoroughly, but there was no response. The psychological shock must have been so severe she couldn't even hear my voice. I decided to cut her some slack. From the looks of it, Bella had trusted the demon more than her own younger brother.
Elena approached.
"The elves' plague is dealt with. What's left is the Vitrase army. What do you plan to do?"
I looked at the Vitrase forces. The soldiers had already lost their will to fight. Most were infected with the plague and would die by the end of the day.
"I need achievements and renown."
"Credit for capturing a demon? I don't know much about this world, but... the achievement of capturing a superior-class demon would probably be enormous."
"No. I want that kept quiet. If word spreads, the demons hiding in this world might come storming into my territory. We repelled the Vitrase army and saved the elves. Credit on that level is enough."
The soldiers before us could be called the last army of the Vitrase Kingdom. Crushing this force meant I'd dealt a fatal blow to the kingdom. With the elves as living proof, no one would be able to deny my accomplishments.
"It's already been seen, so... in other words, I'll need to manipulate their memories."
"How many can you handle? Doesn't have to be life-threatening levels."
"...It's simple memory manipulation. The demon only appeared less than thirty minutes ago, so these aren't old memories.... About three thousand should be possible."
I narrowed my eyes, gauging the Vitrase army. The ground was ruptured, and soldiers were still dying rapidly from the plague. Roughly five thousand were still alive.
If Elena uses Complete Recovery tomorrow, she could manipulate all five thousand memories, but... that's inefficient time-wise. And having about three thousand survivors would actually help my achievements more.
Kill them all and people would start questioning my accomplishments. Three thousand were witnesses.
"Elena, let's kill two thousand more."
"...So you've decided. Using the plague demon's power should do it."
I raised a hand toward Yuria. She must have already been listening, because she nodded. Then the plague demon used his authority. The plague drifting among the soldiers intensified. They began dying rapidly.
"Please, spare us!"
"Aaaagh! My stomach hurts! My stomach...!!"
"I-I have to get back. I can't die in a place like this... Uwaaaagh!"
Soldiers died at a staggering rate. Heple's claim that he could snatch away tens of thousands of lives at once had been true. It took less than three minutes for two thousand to die. In exchange, Heple collapsed on the ground, gasping.
"......"
I felt fearful gazes from behind—the elves'. Not bad. If they feared me, they wouldn't rebel.
Elena manipulated the memories of three thousand. The three thousand soldiers knelt on the ground. The plague vanished from their bodies. Yuria took the demons into a house. After grabbing one soldier for interrogation, the illusion had worked perfectly. The soldiers knew nothing about the demon.
"I've won this war. As a special mercy, I'll spare you three thousand soldiers. The general, however, is the exception."
I dragged the general from the very rear and beheaded him in front of the soldiers. I tossed the head to a man who appeared to be an adjutant, and he trembled in terror.
"Get out of the forest."
"Th-thank you for your mercy!"
The surviving soldiers withdrew without looking back. Some even abandoned their weapons and armor as they fled. I had the elves collect the equipment. Combined with what came off the corpses, my pockets were getting nicely full.
Steel prices keep rising as the war continues. Absolute jackpot.
It felt like a little bonus.
"Yujin. Is it all right to leave the elves' memories alone?"
"It's fine."
I'd take the elves to my territory and manage them thoroughly. With their fear of me, they wouldn't try anything stupid.
"The elves can handle the rest of the cleanup... so that wraps up this whole affair. About four thousand elves survived, so Elnoa should be happy. Elena, come with me..."
"I'm sorry, but I feel terrible. I need rest. Without being able to use Complete Recovery, this is agony."
Elena spat ungracefully. The spit was red. I gave up on grabbing her.
I glanced at the house Yuria had entered. She'd taken the demons with her. On the wind came the demons' screams.
"Yuria's busy too. Give it up."
"Haa. Guess so. The urgent thing is extracting information from those demon bastards."
Well, the information would come easily enough thanks to Elena's illusion. The demons' screams probably meant Yuria was running various tests.
"Can't be helped. Today... shall I play with the elves?"
I grinned and looked back. Beautiful elf women filled my vision. And every one of them was my slave.
Elena let out a deep sigh. Looking thoroughly irritated, she pressed down on my head for no particular reason. It didn't hurt. It didn't even feel bad. If anything, it felt like a caress.
"I won't stop you. I know I have no right to. But I can't just let it slide either—it sits poorly with me. ...Keep it moderate. Moderate."
With that, Elena left for the lodging where we'd been staying to rest. Elnoa was running around managing the elves hard enough to work up a sweat.
As for Bella, Demitera would handle her training.
"You, and you. Those women over there too. All of you, follow me."
I took ten beautiful elves into a reasonably large house.
I brought four thousand elves to my territory through the Mirror Tunnel. If anyone later asked how I'd transported the elves, I'd just claim I'd escorted them in secret without anyone knowing. With the war on, verification would be difficult anyway. More importantly, my authority now exceeded that of most nobles.