Chapter 390
Chapter 390
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 390
Chapter Title: Succubus (2)
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In an instant, the surrounding air completely transformed.
"......"
"...Huh."
A heavy atmosphere where it felt like you shouldn't dare open your mouth.
But even in the midst of it, an irresistible pull that held everyone's gaze captive.
Gulp.
While those present unconsciously swallowed hard, her footsteps showed no sign of stopping.
Steps that seemed light and dainty, yet carried a bold presence that stamped down on space itself with every stride.
The subtle tension hanging in the air finally dissipated only when she reached the one with the highest status in the room.
Thanks to the radiant smile blooming on her face.
"Hehe, it's so nice to meet you like this. My name is Hella. Let's get along well from now on?"
She merely smiled and uttered a few words.
Yet that sight was destined to etch itself deeply into the minds of everyone present—but in a whole different way than before.
...No, actually, it was far more profoundly carved into their hearts than their heads.
'Truly bewitching, just as they say.'
The Matriarch of Dream Walker pressed a hand to her chest and let out a quiet sigh of admiration inwardly.
As someone who prided herself on being the realm's foremost expert in such matters, her ironclad resistance meant ordinary temptations never fazed her. Yet now, her heart was pounding twice its normal speed.
If she felt this way, the others must be even worse off.
"Ohoho, the pleasure is mine. I am Liriana, the one currently leading Dream Walker. I offer my deepest gratitude for taking the trouble to come all this way."
But she betrayed none of it on the surface, responding with calm composure.
In stark contrast to her counterpart's casual informality from the outset, she carried herself with the refined poise of a noblewoman.
"That said, this hardly seems a suitable place for conversation. Shall we move inside? We've prepared some delightful refreshments to welcome our esteemed guest."
With a quick glance at the still-chaotic surroundings, she guided Hella toward the interior.
This was a critical facility, no different from the nerve center for troop transport.
It was a place that demanded constant vigilance—not one where distractions like this were acceptable.
'That aside...'
As they relocated, she stole a glance at Hella exchanging reunion greetings with Siana.
Having attained perfect transcendence, she could glean vast amounts of information from that alone.
The opponent's stride length and weight distribution, the rhythm and depth of her breathing, the subtle shifts in expression and eye movement when speaking, unconscious habits and gestures she herself might not even notice.
Synthesizing it all led to one inescapable conclusion.
'...Hah, just as I thought—no trace of Relleil.'
It had all been her own misconception.
There was no need to dissect the minutiae.
To begin with, everything from appearance and build to the very nature of her mana differed markedly from the Demon King she remembered.
'But the resemblance is uncanny.'
That much, even she couldn't deny.
Above all, hadn't the name leaped to mind the instant they locked eyes?
She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but the enigmatic aura enveloping her opponent bore an astonishing similarity to the sovereign Liriana had long admired.
'And those eyes and horns... It's certain. She's Relleil's...'
Her gaze drifted to Hella's face.
Reverse eyes with crimson pupils set against an inky black sclera, and tall black horns curving gracefully upward.
Everything else could be coincidence, but those? Undeniably symbols of the previous Demon King!
As the Matriarch lost herself in contemplation, her eyes suddenly met those mystical reverse pupils head-on.
A minor slip, her gaze not fully reined in amid the whirlwind of thoughts.
"Hehe, you look like you've got a ton of questions?"
An expression that said she knew exactly what was coming.
But Hella said no more on the matter.
She simply opened the door to the newly arrived parlor, extended one arm invitingly inward, and flashed a bright smile.
"Conversation is the most efficient bridge to understanding one another. You don't seem to have time to spare, so why waste it? Let's cut straight to the chase."
With that, she glided inside with effortless grace.
As if she were the true mistress of the place.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'So this is Dream Walker's stronghold? As expected of the famed lineage that produced a former Demon King. Worlds apart from the rabble I've encountered so far.'
Hella inwardly marveled, giving a subtle nod.
She kept her satisfaction hidden, but she was thrilled with how things were unfolding.
'This will be a huge boon to my plans. As the newcomer here, the sturdier my foundation, the better.'
The greater her influence over the Demon Realm, the faster her abilities would expand her faction.
With Dream Walker's aid in her current endeavors, she could assemble a formidable force in short order.
And wasn't Liriana, the Succubus Matriarch, the finest talent she'd seen in the Demon Realm thus far?
'Of course, demonic powers get amplified within the Demon Realm itself... If a Marquis-level is this formidable, just how monstrous are the Dukes?'
She was confident in taking any one of them in single combat as she was now, but factoring in their subordinates made it premature.
What she needed was total control over Dream Walker.
'Their charm resistance makes outright forcible subjugation tricky, unlike before.'
Then again, such extremes weren't necessary here.
They were already bound to her by a connection tighter than any other.
In the parlor, Hella sat facing Liriana and Siana.
With no time for leisure on either side, the discussion progressed swiftly.
From formal matters to more personal ones.
"...'Who knows'? What does that even mean?"
Liriana furrowed her brow in disbelief amid the back-and-forth.
Her frustration was plain—no satisfying answer to the question burning in her mind.
Hella merely shrugged it off with breezy nonchalance.
"Sure, there's some connection to the previous Demon King. No way a being like me just springs up naturally. But my consciousness only awakened recently, and this is my first proper time in the Demon Realm..."
On questions about her origins, she stuck to feigned ignorance.
How could she possibly spill the full truth here?
That she was one of countless avatars crafted using the remains of the former Demon King as a medium.
She danced around firm affirmations without resorting to outright lies.
A demon of that caliber would sniff out deception in words with ease.
'Not sure it'd work on me, but better to play it safe for now.'
Though fully acclimated of late, Hella was still a fledgling entity.
Contingency planning was only prudent.
And by keeping things deliberately vague, leaving all possibilities open...
"...Did they lay some groundwork in advance? Preparations for after their deaths...? Hmm, possessing the Queen's essence too. Those two might really have..."
...they'd weave their own narrative to make it fit.
No headaches required on her end.
"Speaking of which, I've got a question too. What's your relationship with the 14th Demon King and the Succubus Queen, Matriarch Liriana? You speak like you knew them well."
Hella tossed out the query lightly, and the Matriarch—still frowning in thought—froze for a beat.
A momentary hush.
But she soon spoke as if it were nothing, her gaze lingering on Hella with subtle intensity.
"...Sisters and mother."
A gentle explanation followed in her wake.
Like recounting old tales to long-lost family, or confiding past secrets to a niece after years apart.
Relleil and Liriana—both daughters of the same Succubus Queen.
Yet Relleil had been exceptionally unique among them.
Unlike Liriana, born a standard succubus, Relleil's paternal genes had overmanifested, birthing a mutant known as a 'Succubus Hybrid.'
For succubi, males were mere prey or tools for exploitation—such a thing was unheard of under normal circumstances. But considering her father's power, it wasn't entirely impossible.
He was the 13th Demon King—the strongest of his era.
'Father a 13th Demon King, mother the Succubus Queen.'
An even more illustrious lineage than expected.
No wonder she'd clawed her way to Demon King status in the monster-ridden Demon Realm.
"Those eyes and horns you inherited? Straight from the 13th Demon King. Relleil hated how flashy they were, though. She never realized how jealous the rest of us were—me included."
Liriana sighed, fiddling with her own stubby horns, about an inch long.
Siana, sitting quietly beside her, did the same.
And her abbreviated tale soon flowed into the 14th Demon King Relleil and her lieutenant the Queen's continental invasion.
Dream Walker had flourished spectacularly—producing a Demon King and elevating the Queen to Duke rank through her ties to the predecessor. Yet they couldn't afford to rest on their laurels.
Part of it was the desire to escape this barren wasteland and plunder abundant resources. But more crucially, they bore one sacred mission that demanded fulfillment.
"...The will of the Demon God?"
"A duty passed down since the birth of the first Demon King, they say. Though honestly, it wouldn't have mattered either way. To us, that fertile continent might as well have been a banquet laid out on a silver platter."
Periodic invasions to blunt humanity's momentum—and enact certain measures upon the land.
The moment she heard it, a hypothesis flashed through Hella's mind.
'So the Demon God has been periodically thwarting the Human God's revival!'
She had no idea why the Demon God—sealed away in the notoriously inaccessible Demon Realm, of all places—had taken on such a role.
Perhaps bad blood between them, or some cosmic law she yet grasped.
What mattered was that it had manifested as these invasions.
Until it abruptly ceased after the 14th Demon King.
Paving the way for the Human God's contingencies—like the Immortal King—to begin awakening one by one.
'Wow... talk about tenacity. Shackled in the abyss for millennia, never giving up, challenging relentlessly until success—and even striking back at the Demon God that hounded him all along for revenge?'
His power before the seal? Utterly unfathomable.
Small wonder the Main God himself had intervened.
"Mother insisted on accompanying Relleil to lend support. The other Dukes were checking her far too aggressively."
Relleil's power of bewitchment had been that dire a threat.
A bit more time, and she could have crushed every high demon underfoot, forging absolute dominion.
Of course, that was water under the bridge. In the end, both Demon King Relleil and the Succubus Queen perished mid-invasion.
What exactly had transpired—meddling from rival Dukes or the Human God's machinations? Unclear...
"...But it seems we've been granted another chance."
A strange fervor began to color Liriana's voice, hitherto as serene as a fairy tale.
Fresh flames now blazed in her eyes.
"I acknowledge you as my sister—and daughter of the 14th Demon King, Relleil. Blood or no, your power and will have carried on true."
She rose slowly and tapped the side of the central table.
At that light gesture, the heavy table laden with treats slid smoothly to the wall. Yet no one spared it a glance.
"I, Liriana, Matriarch of Dream Walker—"
"—and her daughter, Siana."
Siana, silent until now, picked up seamlessly after her mother.
Before anyone could react to that revelation, the pair stood side by side and slowly knelt before Hella.
""We pledge our loyalty to Lady Hella.""
Their words resonated as one, mana-infused waves surging heavily outward.
In that instant, a dual contract formed—not just with Liriana, but with Siana, kin to the Immortal King as well.
Evidently, for Demon Realm demons entering a superior's service, such pacts were treated apart from external ones.
"We desire only one thing."
Forehead pressed to the floor, Liriana pressed on in a voice thick with passion.
She recognized Hella as kin, yet prioritized her as the sovereign to realize their ambitions—her deferential tone unwavering.
"—To slaughter those vile Dukes and see Lady Hella ascend to the pinnacle of the Demon Realm!"
As she lifted her head from prostration, her gaze met Hella's.
Even through the weariness etched on her face, the blaze of rage and thirst for vengeance shone undimmed.
Hella gazed into it quietly, a soft smile curving her lips.
Of course, her answer was long decided.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "...Th-this is."
Miyamoto Ken swallowed hard.
[Grrrrk! Grk!]
[Aah...! This refreshing blood! More! More!]
Before his eyes writhed things no sane mind could call living beings.
Eyes, nose, mouth—of course, and limbs and heads too.
Pale monstrosities with parts slapped on haphazardly, like a child's botched assembly—positions and numbers all askew. The mere sight triggered primal revulsion.
"Hmm, quite the shock, eh?"
"Y-yes, a little..."
The owner of that kindly voice approached slowly from behind Ken.
Then patted his shoulder a few times, surveying the scene ahead with evident delight.
"What do you think? Impressive, aren't they?"
A viscous hunger that no veneer of benevolence could mask.
Before Ken could muster a reply, the voice spoke again.
"These are the ones who'll lead us to victory—"
His abyss-dark eyes curving like a crescent moon.
"the soldiers of God."