Shinka no Mi

Chapter 41

Referred to as the devil‘s territory, Hell is spread beyond the dark forest and the devastated earth.

In the centre of that Hell exists a mega-city: Gran Boige. In that place, there live many demons, and the Demon Castle is located in its centre.

Surrounded by fortress walls, the Maou’s castle intimidates the viewer.

That Castles whose appearance is truly the symbol of fear is where the Maou lives is very fitting.

In the conference room of the Maou’s castle, a discussion between the 58th Maou corps was about to begin.

I… Reiya Farza, after helping with the revival of the Black Dragon-sama, am headed to the Maou Castle.

The reason is for the maou’s Army conference. However, I still do not know the contents.

Due to helping the Black Dragon-sama’s revival, I have been delayed slightly and am heading to the conference room at a fast pace.

While walking down the long marble floor covered in a red carpet, I arrive at the destined conference room.

The door of the conference room is made of heavy wood, and it makes a weird sound every time its opened.

I adjust my breath, knock on the door and then announce my name.

“Maou′s army 3rd corps, captain Reiya Farza has arrived.”

After speaking my name, the door automatically opened.

Inside, as expected, there are the other captains beside me.

All of them are sitting around one big table.

At the farthest point of the table, there is an intimidating crimson door.

Because I can’t keep standing in front of the door, I sit in a vacant set.

Although it doesn’t matter, everytime I sit in this chair I feel like taking it to my room.

As I thinking such a thing, another demon spoke to me.

“Oi, Reiya! What are you doing, being late for such an important congress!”

“So noisy….. I had errands to do.”

“As if there are errands more important than this conference! Take the time into account!”

“Seriously, you’re such a pain in the ass. I did come properly, what’s the problem with being slightly late?”

“What did you say!!?”

The demon telling me about every single thing is the 5th corps captain, Urs Banyu.

He wears perfectly the black uniform of the Maou’s army with a blue cloak on top.

His muscles bulged up, enough so that you could tell even through the military uniform.

…I constantly felt it might be more irritating than hot.

Dark skin and huge horns sprouting from his temples are his proof of being a demon.

Urs’ species is one that is common among demons, he is one of the oni races.

But, not any normal oni race, but the leader of the King Oni race of all Oni races.

Ignoring Urs’s words, the demon woman sitting next to him opened her mouth.

“Its no good, Reiya. You have to be on time properly. And more, Urs don’t get too heated, ok?”

“Nu.nuuuu…… if Riareta says so……”

“I understand…”

The woman who stopped both Urs and me is the 4th Corps captain Riaretta Barheim.

She has cream coloured wavy hair and kind looking brown eyes.

With her slightly dropped eyes and a mole below her right eye, she somehow gives a sexy feeling. It’s bad to say it myself, but she is a beauty that doesn’t lose to me.

That’s a given as her tribe is succubus, and she is the most beautiful one at that – the succubus queen.

That girl to me, as the only women executives, we get along well. I call that woman Ria.

Since Ria’s skin colour isn’t dark or anything of the sort like Urs’, her appearance is almost like that of a human’s.

But Ria’s bat-like wings that grow from her back make her identifiable as a demon.

“Next time be careful, ok?”

With a troubled smile, Ria says so. I, and Urs as well, somehow feel bad.

It’s strange, isn’t it. Even though Ria and I should be the same age…….

When I’m with Ria, I can’t help but feel like she’s like an elder sister to me.

But, despite Ria being a succubus, after seeing things like how a long time ago I lent her a slightly extreme romance novel and she came to give it back to me with her face beet-red, she seems to actually be really innocent.

And despite that, her breasts are huge. Even now, they threaten to burst out from the females’ black uniform.

I too, don’t think I have small breasts, but I lose to Ria.

Ku-……! If I had those breasts right now I would have hot nights with a boyfriend….!

“Hey, Reiya? Why are you looking at my breast like wanting revenge from your parents killer?”

“That, put your hand in your heart and think about it.”

Ria put her hand on her chest seriously and tilted her breast (lit. neck).

And her hand couldn’t hold her breast at all. ……What’s with this feeling of defeat?

While was thinking of such foolish things, a listless man sitting a bit away started talking.

“Hey, when are we gonna start? If nothing’s gonna happen, I wanna hurry up and get home to sleep.”

Saying so, the man took one huge yawn.

—-the demon Corps second captain Zorua Wartor.

That is the name of one of the true strongest of the demon army, unlike Black Dragon-sama and White Dragon-sama.

Although he wears the same uniform as Urs’, he doesn’t wear the cloak and dresses completely sloppily.

He has tied-back long silver hair, and his red eyes hold no spirit at all.

Unlike Urs and Ria, it would be difficult to find how he is any different to a human with his appearance alone.

However, if you look properly, you will find that the canines that poke out from his mouth are longer than a human’s.

Zorua is a vampire. Moreover, surpassing his own ancestors, the True Vampires, he overcame all his weaknesses as a vampire and is now a perfect vampire.

Because he is such an existence, even Urs, who warned me about my tardiness, couldn’t reprimand Zorua. The burly coward.

As I stared coldly at Urs, he noticed and averted his gaze awkwardly.

Well, Zorua is so powerful even Lia was reluctant to warn him.

So powerful he is called ‘The Black Crimson King’.

……Although, there are two other monsters of a similar calibre.

“- Do not complain, Zorua.”

“Ah?”

A quiet voice…… yet one intimidating enough to make all that hear it shrink away unintentionally.

That voice, was directed at Zorua, was emitted again.

“Wait in silence.”

The one who, despite being taciturn, spoke up is one of the few people here that can rebuke Zorua.

Demon Corps first corps captain, Zelos Albana.

The leader of the first division, called the strongest among all the demon corps, named [Annihilator (Deleter)], one of absolute strength.

Wild blue hair, and sharp gold eyes like a dragon’s. Expressionless, but virile features.

He was wearing the black uniform. But, unlike with Urs muscle packed uniform, he gives more of a smart vibe.

Unlike earlier, Zorua glares at Zelos with strong willed eyes.

“Shuuut up… don’t give me orders.”

“Do you plan on causing trouble for the one who called us here, Rutia-sama, just because of your selfishness?”

“That’s got nothing to do with this. I just hate these kinds of troublesome things.”

Zelos directed a sharp gaze to Zorua, who just explained that as if even having to explain it is truly bothersome.

“I see—- then, do you want to disappear here? Bat”

Zelos, while releasing an ominous magic from his body, quietly said.

Looking at that situation, Urs told me in a small voice.

“is, isn’t this bad? As expected if Zelos goes berserk, I won’t be able to stop it.”

“You know, even if only Zorua went berserk you wouldn’t be able to stop him, would you?”

“Th, that’s not true!!”

For goodness, not convincing at all.

More important, if Zelos really go berserk, this Maou castle no…… the entirety of Gran Boige will be annihilated.

“Ze, Zelos! Calm down!”

Riaretta tries to appease desperately, but Zelos ignores her completely.

At that time, from the body of Zorua that are opposed to the Zelos, a jet-black darkness oozes out of him.

He was called ‘bat’, a word that is absolutely taboo as a scornful-like word to vampires. It would be more strange if he didn’t snap.

Zorua, with his body dressed in darkness, returned the words to Zelos.

“—- I’ll crush you, lizard”

Why are you declaring something that will make your opponent even angrier.

I involuntarily thought so.

Although I’m not really one to talk since I also like making a fool of the enemy and harassing them.

Incidentally, it’s not known what Zelos’ species is.

Like Zorua said, his eyes are like that of a dragon’s, but by no means is he a dragon.

q Thats because Zelos’ parents are from the normal Oni races.

And so, Zelos, born from such parents, and without the sign of one of the Oni races, the horn, was able to surpass Uls of the King Oni, and born with such overwhelming power, would be a so-called mutant.

[The Black Crimson King] and [Annihilator]…..if these two clash, us close by will be erased.

As I was casually thinking of those kinds of things, Ria said to me as if yelling.

“Hey Reiya! You help as well!”

“Impossible, after all they are both in a completely different dimension of strength”

“That why I am saying help me!”

By the way, without Ria having to say it, I had planned to use the “space magic”, which is my own unique magic, to stop these two.

But, Zorua crushed my magic with his darkness,and Zelos blasted the magic itself away. I think any more resistance will be in vain.

So, I give up, and began to eat the sweets which is put on the table.

“Ahhhh mou! Urs! You help as well!”

“Eh!? I, I am, that…… ye,yes! Stomach! My stomach is hurting a bit so helping is impossible! Iya, what a pity!”

“Hey! You’re joking, right!?”

Urs, on the outside he seems like a intimidating guy, but inside he’s not worth anyone’s time.

Well anyway, you could truly say that the atmosphere between Zorua and Zelos has become explosive.

And aside from Zorua and Zelos…… the last of the strongest finally made his move.

“Zolua-chan, Zelos-chan, fighting is no good ok?”

Like that, that man with an elder-sisterly tone of voice, slapped both their heads.

Zudo~o~o~o~o~ooooooon!

Only, he just hit them in the head yet they were both slammed down onto the conference room table.

Or rather, that’s not the sound of someone getting slapped on the head is it?

Despite having undergone such an …impactful method of stopping them, they both, uninjured, showed somewhat embarrased expressions.

“….Sorry, I got too hot-blooded”

“……tch, my bad”

—-Demon army Disciplinary corps captain, Jade Lowen.

His race is incubus, and as you would probably guess from his race, he is quite the ikemen as well, but….uu

Un, he is not interested in us females,and he is always chasing men. More than me.

un, he has a terrible obsesion with men.

But, its seriously a pity.

Beautiful blonde hair, and purple eyes. His face and expression is the perfect example of a ‘gentleman’ and lady-killer, yet he’s actually a man-eater.

If it wasnt for that, he would’ve been so popular with the girls by now.

FROM HERE ON ITS JAPANESE UP AND TL DOWN.

Well, even without that being the case, he often gets into girls’(?) talk with Ria and I, and he talks with people now the same way an actual woman would.

When Zorua started scratching the back of his head, and Zeros stood aside with an emotionless look on his face, Jade shot a flirtatious glance at the two people.。

「Good kids. I’ll reward you with a kiss later」

「「I don’t need it」」

Oo, Jade’s pretty amazing.

Zorua and Zerosu, who are normally at odds with each other, rejected him in perfect harmony.

Various problems seem to pop up in the Demon King’s Army, but I feel like it will somehow turn out okay.

After that little scene and spending a bit of time settling down, the crimson doors further inside the room opened.

We all stood up in the moment it took for the door to open.

From behind the door, two humanoid figures appeared.

One of them had indigo colored hair, with eyes as dark as the night sky.

She was expressionless, with features like that of a doll. It was a person who truly carried the timeless and perfect beauty that dolls often had.

Adorned with a deep black dress, and wearing on top of that, a similarly coloured furlong coat.

She was walking towards us with an intimidating aura, truly like that of a Ruler’s (or King’s)

And her identity was —- The Demon King’s daughter, Rutia Byuto.

Rutia calmly enters the meeting room, before coming to a stop at the head of the table.

And so, taking a look around at us, she began to speak.

「 —- Everyone, for attending this meeting, I thank you. 」

Just that one sentence.

The moment we heard her words, we placed our weapons, the embodiment of our pride and souls, down and knelt with our heads bowed.

This salute is the highest form of respect for us Demons.

To pledge one’s body and soul to Hell, to give one’s everything for the sake of this land … … That is the meaning of this action.

I was worried whether Zorua would not be willing to salute, but it seems that it was an unnecessary worry, and even Zorua was firmly expressing his loyalty.

As we saluted her, the other person who entered the room with her started to speak.

「Fumu. umu umu, Keep up the good work」

However, when he spoke it only served to stir us up.

Kurai… That was the name of the man who entered the room with Rutia, and it was the man I hated the most.

He had a greasy face and fat body. His breathing was rough, almost as if snorting, and he had a small body. To top it off, his disappointingly tiny horn upon his head was a clear giveaway that he was from an onithe Demon race.

But I didn’t particularly dislike him for his appearance.

What I hated about him was his condescending attitude, as he was always looking down on us just because he was Rutia’s Father’s (The Demon King’s) Aide.

Even now, we were only assembled by Rutia’s will, as we would never listen to that trash of person called Kurai.

Unlike us, that person did not hold any significant position in the Demon King’s Army … … Instead, he was only appointed the Demon King’s aide for his Clairvoyance.(Author uses Fortune Telling)

Unfortunately, his fortune telling ability has always been accurate, and he was able to predict every attack by the Humans.

That’s why he always stays close to the Demon King so he can foresee any dangers that might occur.

But I can’t help but feel this guy is too suspicious.

His normal behaviour also makes it questionable whether he’s really loyal to the Demon King.

It’s likely that I’m not the only one who thinks that way, and the other Generals seem to feel so too.

Kurai continues to prattle on as if he couldn’t read the atmosphere.

「 Nifu. It’s only natural all of your to gather for my sake … … would be about right to say! Nihi Nihi Nihi!」

What a weird way to laugh. It’s the first time I’ve heard any thing like it.

Well, it didn’t really matter that much, but as I thought that Rutia began speaking.

「…… Kurai. Silence yourself.」

「…… Nufu. My sincerest apologies.」

I wonder if he truly feels so … …

Having reprimanded Kurais, Rutia told us to lift our heads up, and signalled for us to take a proper seat.

When we had taken our seat, Kurais started to talk again.

「Nufu. And? Rutia, what is the meaning for calling all of us to gather today?」

Because Kurai came out from the door with Rutia, i assumed that he knew the contents of today’s meeting, but it seems that he’s somehow clueless about it.

「… … Un. The reason why everyone is gathered here today … … is because I wanted to talk about an alliance with the Winberg Kingdom.」

Our eyes shot wide open at Rutia’s words.

That’s because, to be bound in an alliance with the Winberg Kingdom … … would mean to be bound in an alliance with Humans.

Those very same humans who sealed away the Demon King, and have long abused our kind.

To form an alliance with these humans…….

Moreover, why is it the Winberg Kingdom of all things?! Where my unreliable subordiante Bell had, without permission, scattered Teleportation magic formations around it’s imperial capital Terveil.

…… What should I do if they really establish an alliance?

I-It’s alright right? There’s only about a 100 of them, and there’s a chance that Demons might be teleported instead of the humans.

Tha- That’s right! The most important thing is to think positively!

「 ? Reiya, you seem somewhat pale though … …」

「 Eh?! T-t-t-t-t-there no way my face is pale ! Mou, stop saying such strange things Ria!」

「… … Are you really alright?」

Ria looks really worried about me, but i can’t obediently just tell the truth here.

…… When those guys return, I’ll be thoroughly punishing them.

While i smile wickedly in my heart, Kurai suddenly shouts out in distress.

「 Na, What are you saying ! Humans and Demons bound by an alliance? What nonsense are you spouting … … !」

「… … Uun, I’m being serious here」

At the Rutia who seriously is thinking of an alliance between Humans and Demons, Kurai is at a loss for words.

「Certainly, Humans have always been a destested existence for us. That’s because they’ve always treated as like animals, something that has continued for generations untold. Even my father … … The Demon King, was seal by them」

「The- Then … … !」

「… … But that … … that’s why it’s necessary for us to reach a compromise」

「 I don’t understand you ! Are you out of your mind ?!」

「… … I’m serious. If we continue to be held back by grudges of the past, we will never have a tomorrow where we can smile. In order to get back the smiles we’ve lost …. … in order to overcome our past, I feel that we must learn to co-exist with the Humans」

Rutia declared, with eyes filled with determination.

Those eyes that seem to entrance any onlooker … … Almost as if she was the Demon King

「 … … In addition, among my friends, there’s a child who works as an adventurer there. According to her, the King of the Winberg Kingdom is trying to establish friendly relations with the Demons there」

「Tha-That story is definitely a l—–」

The moment Kurai tried to say that, he was immediately scared off by the bloodthirst Rutia was emitting.

「… … Those who speak ill of my friends … … will not be forgiven」

「Nufu, Nufu – … … 」

Hit by the wave of bloodthirst, Kurai’s snorting became rougher than usual, and his face turned pale. Serves him right.

But Kurai, who doesn’t know when to give up, started to shout.

「Nufu … … Th-That’s right! Rutia ! My … … My clairvoyance! When I looked into the future before, it showed me that if Demons were to concern ourselves with the Humans, we will meet with disaster! That’s why, we should stop the alliance with the Humans! 」

「… … If, at that time your clairvoyance was right … … then at that time I will take responsibility and offer my life as compensation.」

「Tha-That kind of thing, the citizens would nev—-」

DON!

Suddenly, before Kurai could finish, he was interrupted by the sound of someone forcefully hitting the table.

I scowled at Kurai, and even Zorua, who would normally hide his irritation, openly glared at him in disaproval.

「Oi, Pig. Nonsense is all I’ve heard from you for a while now. Just shut up and obey Rutia. Unless —- You wanna get trashed?」

… … Is Zorua the so-called “tsundere” type of person?

Well, after all, he has sworn fealty to Rutia and the Demon King.

While I was thinking of such a trivial thing, Zerosu, who is normally at odds with Zorua, also stood up to speak his mind.

「Although I don’t like having the same opinion as Zorua … … Kurai. If you want I could make you vanish off the face of this planet right now you know?」

Faced with the bloodlust emitted by the 2 strongest members, Kurai could only revert to his former panicked attitude.

And just to drive the point further in, Jade added,

「 Nnn~ Don’t you think you’ve been a little too selfish Kurai? If you insist on maintaining that attitude of yours … Then tonight, i’ll have to put you through some hot, hot punishment, won’t I?」

「 Hi-Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!」

In Jade’s case, Kurai’s face turning pale was for a different reason, but when faced by all 3 of the strongest members of the Demon Army together, Kurai’s face had already gone beyond pale, to the point where it was almost ghostly white.

As expected, Kurai couldn’t endure it for long and rushed to the crimson door from which he entered … ….

「Re-remember this! You talk of an alliance with the Humans now, but you’ll soon realise it’s impossible!」

Dropping a line akin to what small fry would say, he ran off.

…… What did that fellow intend to achieve with that?

When the atmosphere of the room finally returned to normal with Kurai gone, Ryutia started to speak again.

「… … Everyone, thank you. Indeed, like the Kaizer empire, there are still many countries that want to see us defeated. In the midst of all this, to form an alliance with the Humans, definitely has many risks … … and I know that. But still, we have no choice but to move forwards. That’s why … … everyone, please lend me your strength」

Towards the end, Rutia’s voice gradually softened.

Mou, it’s obvious what our answer would be.

As one, we rose from our seat to offer our finest salute to her in response.

『Our hearts are one with the Demon King’s—-』

In the darkness, a single man muttered hatefully to himself.

「Shit Shit Shit … … ! If that happens then my plan will … … !」

He stopped himself there, taking a deep breath to calm himself down, before continuing.

「Well, my plan may have deviated a little, but it’s at a stage where it can still be set straight. There is no one who could ever stop my plans. Nihi Nihi Nihi!」

In the darkness, the sound of one man’s disgusting laughter echoed … …