Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Hobgoblin Bastards #9
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"General Kartiya!"
"Yeah. Report."
A demon realm knight, seething with rage, bellowed his report ferociously.
The contents were just as expected. The Great Heaven had revealed its ambition to invade the Middle Realm. And it was preparing to deploy angels there by conducting a descent ritual.
"That's all!"
"Thanks. Get back to work."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The demon realm knight finished his report and withdrew. Kartiya let out a sigh.
"Haa."
As expected, this was bad news.
The longstanding feud between the Great Heaven, which sought the extermination of all demons, and the Demon Realm wasn't some recent development. Up until now, their powers had been evenly matched, resulting in an endless cycle of pushing and pulling. But if the Great Heaven swallowed up the Middle Realm and bolstered its forces there, the Demon Realm would be defenseless.
The Demon Realm was fractured, unlike the unified Great Heaven. Worse, most demon nobles would gladly ally with the Great Heaven if it meant eliminating a rival.
There was no way to win in that scenario.
"The summit fell apart too. Kartiya's saaaad."
"We're screwed! Screwed!"
"Quiet down."
Kartiya gestured with her hand, but the familiar didn't pipe down.
"Useless bastaaaards! Useless bastaaaards!"
"Tch."
Noisy as it was, the familiar was absolutely right.
Gathering everyone for a summit under the pretext of the descent ritual had been fine, but no productive discussion took place. True to form for demons, it was nothing but mockery, snide remarks, finger-pointing, and blame-shifting.
Uniting the demons seemed utterly impossible.
"The Great Heaven's descent ritual... we can't stop it."
The intelligent beings of the Middle Realm would welcome the angels...
"Oh, right."
As that thought crossed her mind, something suddenly popped into her head.
"Is Brother Qlus still alive?"
After the descent ritual wrapped up, she'd made a ton of preparations. Given the tense situation, she'd set up all sorts of surveillance measures on the Middle Realm. Naturally, she'd pulled some strings on Qlus too. Not that she'd expected much.
>—Zzzt.
It was about time, right? With that in mind, Kartiya left her office and headed back to her room.
>—...
A space that looked just like a princess's chamber.
The room, adorned with countless frills and ribbons, was lined with machines and artifacts that looked utterly alien and ominous in contrast.
"Alright, let's check it out."
She activated them.
>—Whirr.
Black magic unfurled, powering up the devices. Kartiya focused her mind, manipulating them to track Qlus's location. It wasn't hard since she'd implanted a tracking magic circle under his skin.
If he was alive, it'd track him. If dead, nothing.
And then.
"Ah. Connected."
It linked.
>—Crackle.
A screen flickered to life before her eyes. Noisy. Blurry vision. But actively moving. A sign he was alive and well.
"Brother Qlus is really alive?"
She'd assumed he was dead for sure. What a shock. Kartiya tweaked the settings a bit more, finally getting a relatively clear image.
>—Fuck!
A voice came through.
"Heh heh heh, Brother Qlus looks like a total bum."
Qlus looked like a hobo. The sight made her laugh. That kid brother of hers had a cute side despite being a demon.
And so, Kartiya's observation began.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ At first, she was just surprised he was alive and observed out of idle curiosity.
General Kartiya had a mountain of work. Being a general and all. Sure, Qlus was an intriguing demon, but in these critical times, she didn't have time to focus on him.
He wasn't key personnel anyway. He was bound to die soon. Observing him wouldn't yield anything useful.
So her interest stayed superficial, limited to quick peeks during breaks.
But then.
"Hmm, Brother Qlus is doing better than I thought?"
Watching him, she had to admit he was decent.
Shockingly, Qlus was deeply cherishing and loving mere goblins—pitiful creatures not worth a damn—and surviving through cooperation with them. Kartiya couldn't have imagined it. It didn't even make sense. She'd never dreamed such a demon existed.
"Brother Qlus is such a psycho."
Her mild curiosity turned into major astonishment.
This wasn't a normal demon. He was genuinely caring for worthless goblins, laughing and crying with them, chattering away. No such being existed in the Demon Realm.
>—Buril!
>—Keruk!
The two built a foundation for survival through teamwork... Their lives gradually improved. The guy she'd thought would die for sure was thriving.
>—Zzzt.
The screen suddenly cut out.
"Ah! Time's up!"
The feed died as the time limit hit.
"Kartiya wants to see more! Show me!"
The next day.
And the day after.
Kartiya kept observing.
She couldn't stop.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Observing Qlus had become a crucial routine.
Environmental factors limited the observation window, and missing it meant waiting until next time.
She never missed a live session.
It was too damn exciting not to tune in religiously. Astonishingly, Qlus even conquered a kobold den and claimed it.
"As expected of a demon trained by this Kartiya! If I trained him and he failed, that would be weird!"
"Weird! Weeird!!!"
Not only that, he even recruited a dryad as a companion.
And then.
He dominated the goblins, training them like soldiers, built a dungeon, and went to war against a hobgoblin horde.
>—Graaak! Grak!
>—Attack!!
"You're doing great! Great job! Go, Brother Qlus!"
His personally trained goblin army waged a cute little war against a ragtag band of wild monsters.
As a general of the duchy and the duchess's trusted aide who'd crossed countless battlefields, this playground tribal skirmish would normally be a joke to Kartiya. But the tension was off the charts.
When he finally felled the chieftain.
"Woooooooo!!!"
Kartiya jumped up cheering.
>—Whoosh! Her bag of snacks flew, spilling everywhere, but she didn't care. Someone else would clean it.
"He won! He won he won he won! Brother Qlus won!"
"He wonnnn!! He wonnnn!!"
Kartiya sang out her joy with the familiar.
"Whew! Awesome! Now, if he extracts that chieftain's power... Ah! Aah! Again! Time's up again!!"
The screen went dark, so she couldn't see what happened next.
"What happened next?!"
>—Thud thud!
She pounded her chest, but the screen stayed off. She'd have to wait for next time.
Whatever happened.
Kartiya now held a sliver of hope for Qlus.
He'd come this far.
Really.
If he pushed just a bit more.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Ooh...!"
Such an intense impulse?
>—Thump.
>—Thump.
This was a sensation I barely recognized. Was this instinct? The primal urge a demon feels, not a human? It pulled me so fiercely that I instinctively unleashed the demonic power extraction technique.
>—Gooo...
Black magic flames erupted from my right hand.
"Shaa?"
"Sharan, hold on a sec."
I stroked Sharan's head with my left hand as she clung to me, then slipped out of her embrace.
"..."
The chieftain.
He lay there, eyes rolled back, completely dead. Looking at him stirred an even fiercer impulse. Hurry up and extract that power!
So.
"Hraaaaaah!"
I spread my palm wide and slammed it down on his chest!
>—Squelch!
No impact. It was like plunging my hand into mud—it passed right through his chest. The moment I gripped the heart inside...
>—Shlrp.
The chieftain's corpse melted away in an instant.
"Sh, shaa...!"
Sharan gasped in surprise.
The body vanished.
"..."
In my hand.
A glowing purple demonic power crystal remained.
"It's shining?"
The one from the kobold before was, charitably, just scraps. Dull and lifeless. But this one from the chieftain?
>—Twinkle.
Radiant.
Its light mesmerized me. For a moment, it felt like sweet chocolate. On pure impulse, I ate the crystal.
"Nom."
>—Crunch.
>—Crunch.
The chewing sensation was fun. Like munching on a snack. I ground the crystal to powder.
>—Gulp.
And swallowed.
Then.
"Hm?!"
Something hot raced down my throat...! It hit hard!
"O, ooooooh!"
My inner demonic power surged wildly! It thrashed around inside me like mad!
>—Zzzt!
At the same time, a demonic power aura flared up from my feet!
"Ooooooh!"
It felt like agony...!
But I could sense it.
My demonic power was growing.
And not just that!
>—Crack!
I felt my horns grow about a millimeter!
"Stronger! I'm stronger! I grew!"
Absorbing the chieftain's power had boosted my demonic power!
"This is demon power!"
Realizing that, wild joy flooded my brain!
"Ke, keruk...!"
"Kerurruk!"
The goblins stared wide-eyed, trembling as they shoved their fists into their mouths!
"Shaa...!"
Sharan covered her mouth with both hands, gazing at me.
"That's right! Behold! Witness the power of this Demon King!"