The Legion Commander's Ambush
The Demon Legion Commander's surprise attack? A demon woman stood before me, staring with a clearly displeased expression. The moment I realized she was Elisa's mother—the one I'd worked with before—and Ilios, the demon general who'd clashed fiercely with the Hero Party in the original story, I couldn't help feeling an incredibly complicated mix of emotions.
In the original, she was just portrayed as an extremely competent demon legion commander…
To be honest, after dying to Ilios so many times in YOUDIE, I'd automatically assumed the figure clad head-to-toe in that red armor was some burly, intimidating male demon—or at the very least, one with an ice-cold demeanor. After all, even her voice had been modulated to sound masculine. The descriptions of Ilios in the story contained almost no feminine traits whatsoever.
The terrifying majesty of her riding a blood-red horse while swinging a massive axe that felt more like a spear, with overwhelming force. Her desperate last stand, and even that coincidental escape triggered by the ground collapsing—she had vanished while vowing revenge. Though she was an enemy I had to defeat, that striking image of the red knight had strongly stirred what people call a man's romantic ideals. Setting aside how difficult her strategy had been, I too had felt a shiver of excitement at the sight of her.
But… to learn that the very being who had given me such manly inspiration was actually a woman—and not just any woman, but a mother with a child—delivered a heavy shock to me in more ways than one.
Wait, first the Demon King, and now Ilios too? Why does this damn world have so many characters with these kinds of twists?
Thanks to that unexpected revelation, I found myself in a rather dazed state. And then the mama—no, Ilios—spoke to me in a voice laced with clear hostility.
“By the way, what business does a hero like you have showing up here? No matter how much you’ve submitted to Her Majesty the Demon King, you’re still unmistakably human, aren’t you?”
Thanks to Elisa’s mediation, her hostility had softened a little, but she was still clearly on edge. Faced with that, I felt a deep sense of confusion, but I suppressed the incredibly awkward feeling, quickly gathered my thoughts, and answered.
“I’m here for the same reason. I was summoned by Her Majesty the Demon King and came to attend this meeting. There’s no suspicious motive like you’re imagining, so you can rest easy.”
In all honesty, I wanted to ask if she really was Ilios, and if Elisa really was her daughter, but I knew this wasn’t the time. What mattered right now was clearing the suspicions of this legion commander—who had once fought me as both a ‘gamer’ in the past and now as the ‘hero’—and creating as peaceful an atmosphere as possible. So that no unnecessary incidents would occur.
“…Her Majesty the Demon King, you say.”
“…”
Ilios turned her head slightly toward Elisa with an expression that said she couldn’t believe it. In response, Elisa simply nodded, confirming that my words were true.
“If Her Majesty has said so, then it can’t be helped. But keep this in mind. No matter how much Her Majesty trusts you, I will continue to watch you closely.”
With those final words, Ilios walked past me and disappeared down the corridor. Watching her leave, I turned my gaze to Elisa, who stood beside me with a look of regret as she stared after her ‘mama.’
Come to think of it, when we first went on a mission together, Elisa said something similar, didn’t she? In that sense… like mother, like daughter?
She was a bit more friendly now, but when we first met, Elisa had been constantly wary of me. From that perspective, I began to think that Ilios, who was currently growling at me, might one day build a more comfortable relationship with me as well.
However… another thought occurred to me just a little too late. Setting that aside for the moment, I turned to Elisa beside me and spoke.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Hm? What for?”
Elisa looked puzzled by my sudden apology. Looking at her, I continued with genuine sincerity.
“No matter how you look at it, I nearly killed your mother in the past. Even though we were enemies back then, now that we’re allies, I wanted to apologize for that.”
“Ah…”
Only then did Elisa seem to fully grasp the meaning behind my words. But contrary to what I expected, she gave a small, light smile and replied.
“There’s no need for an apology like that.”
“Uh… why not?”
Her answer was far calmer than I had anticipated, and I felt more bewildered than if she had gotten angry. Elisa looked at me with a serious yet not at all uncomfortable tone and continued.
“At that time, you as the hero were our enemy. You bore the duty of achieving victory against us. From your position, my mama was someone who had to be defeated, and you simply did your best to accomplish that.”
“Well… that’s true, but…”
Despite her youthful, girl-like appearance, Elisa spoke with a sharp, articulate tone. Finding it somewhat cute, I continued to listen attentively.
“Of course, now that you’ve suddenly become an ally, both mama and I can’t help but feel suspicious. But that’s only because we’re now allies and must build a relationship of trust. There’s no need to hold any resentment or grudges over your actions when we were enemies. That’s what I believe.”
“Hmm…”
Despite her looks, Elisa’s words were remarkably mature. And befitting her high position in the Royal Guard, they carried a sense of detachment and nobility. I found myself nodding automatically. With that, our gazes turned once more toward the conference room.
“Then let’s end this conversation here and hurry along. We shouldn’t keep Her Majesty the Demon King and the others waiting.”
“Understood.”
Deep within the Demon King’s Castle lay the grand conference hall. In that space, centered around a massive oval table, I, the Demon King, four members of the Royal Guard, and three of the five legion commanders had gathered.
“Then, by Her Majesty the Demon King’s command, we shall now begin the strategy meeting. The main topic is how to drive out the Coalition of Races currently inside our Demon Kingdom.”
At Chancellor Belzebeuty’s words, the high-ranking officials of the Demon Kingdom focused their attention. Her following explanation contained details I already knew to some extent—the loss of supply bases and the weakening of the Coalition due to internal strife—along with more specific information.
And right after she finished speaking, a voice so powerful it felt like it could shake the room reached our ears.
“If it’s such a good opportunity, shouldn’t we launch an immediate offensive?”
A male demon occupying a rather large area on one side of the conference room. Standing nearly three meters tall, his entire body covered in thick muscle, with a face full of wild beard—he was the very picture of a macho warrior. He spoke with burning aggression.
“This humble one, Samson, will take the vanguard! Your Majesty, please give the order right now so that we may sweep away those filthy Coalition bastards!”
“This humble one shares the same opinion. They are exhausted and thrown into chaos by hunger and internal conflict. I believe now is the perfect time to drive out the enemy!”
The two legion commanders urged immediate battle with aggressive, passionate declarations. As their fiery words filled the air, the atmosphere gradually began to heat up with battle fervor.
At that moment…
“This humble one would like to offer a word.”
A calm yet clear voice cut through the two men’s words. As if cold water had been poured over the room, everyone’s eyes turned in that direction—toward Ilios. She continued in a composed tone.
“I too agree that we must act as quickly as possible. However, no matter how exhausted and starving the enemy may be, they are not fools. They must have prepared some kind of countermeasure. I believe we should allow a little time and devise a more meticulous plan.”
Ilios presented a cautious stance. In response, Samson, who looked ready to charge out on horseback at any second, shouted in a frustrated voice.
“Ilios! Don’t you know that hesitating like that could cause us to miss our chance? There’s no way our Demon Kingdom’s valiant warriors would lose to weakened enemies!”
“Even a cornered rat will bite a cat. If we lose our caution until the very end, we may end up drinking the bitter cup of defeat.”
“Hah! So is that why someone as great as you suffered such a pathetic defeat and couldn’t stop the Hero Party? Even though Her Majesty has forgiven you, you haven’t forgotten that you’re a defeated general, have you?”
“I’d like to say that the situation then and now is different, but…?”
At Samson’s words, veins bulged slightly on Ilios’s forehead. However, as someone who was essentially another party involved, I knew very well that Samson was speaking out of ignorance.
In the original story, Ilios hadn’t simply been strong. She had used clever schemes to scatter the Hero Party, set up various traps, and attempted to defeat them one by one with meticulous planning. If the individual members of the Hero Party had been even slightly weaker, or if the hero’s combat power hadn’t been so overwhelmingly dominant, they might have fallen victim to Ilios’s schemes instead.
Still, there are always people who talk without knowing anything—especially those who are all strength and no brains…
Even while thinking that, as the only human present and essentially a newcomer, I quietly kept my silence.
But then…
“Since the hero himself is here, I’d like to ask him directly. Hero, what is your opinion? In the current situation, do you see any reason we would lose against those weakened humans?”
Huh?
Samson suddenly turned his arrow toward me. I felt as if I’d been ambushed, and I could sense everyone in the conference room shifting their gazes onto me.