Chapter 3 - Luxuria (2/2)

Her gaze was hot. They resembled those of the Demon Lord of Lust who embraced her passions, and Deije, who hald his Demon Blade out front.

But these eyes were more sinful. I could only feel repulsed.

As Zebul governs Gluttony, the emotion she’s feeling is naturally…

“Two of them… a little small, but they look quite tasty.”

… Her Appetite.

She holds a strong desire to eat us, of the same race. Fear runs up my body, and my arm goes stiff.

There are plenty of demons that govern Gluttony out there, but within them, there are few who readily practice cannibalism.

The Devourer, Zebul Glaucus.

The land itself, other demons, and even Demon Lords are on her plate. One whose hunger was great enough to lead her to becoming a Demon Lord.

A tentacle goes through my back and left breast… it pierces my Soul Core. My magic, the organization of my body being stripped away.

“Fumu… a light taste… an illusion…this taste, so you’re a Lust-kun…”

The last of my doubles finally vanishes. Phantom Aliquot Dance comes to an end.

With this, I’ve been reduced to but a single person.

But I’ve done enough.

“Ki ki ki, not bad, girly!”

In the moment I occupied her attention, Deije launched his attack.

He swung down Celeste at her unoccupied back… in front of the Demon Blade said to destroy even angels, Zebul merely turned her head, and opened her mouth wide.

Nicely lined up fangs, garnished the mouth that spread all across her face. By what order I do not know, but a completely calm response came from the back of her throat.

“A Demon Blade… never eaten one before. It may be a delicacy.”

“What!?”

The sword swung down by his strong arms were stopped by her mouth. The red steel is pierced by her fangs.

Flames try to mow down her teeth, but since most of its power had already been devoured, Zebul doesn’t show any anguish on her face. Her teeth make a grinding sound as she begins to chew up the sword.

Deije tries to pull it back, but there are no signs of it escaping her mouth.

However, the fact that she was eating the sword meant her main body could no longer move.

Deije lowered another sword with his upper left hand.

Zebul blocked it with her own sword, and locked it down.

Chance!

I lower my body, and sprint towards her before stabbing my sword at her now-defenseless back.

But then, I heard a voice from an unexpected plase/

“Your main body… that magic looks quite delicious.”

The back tears open, and a viscous black liquid stains the overcoat.

It was a large mouth. Each and every one of her lined up fangs was about the length of my dagger.

I frantically withdrew my blade, but the long tongue that shot out followed me.

With impossible anatomy, it wound itself around the sword. The cold atmosphere around it freezes the tongue, but without paying any mind, she continues pulling it with amazing force.

“Fufufu, the texture isn’t bad…”

Her voice is in high spirits.

She shows no sway in her emotions even when up against demons swinging swords at her.

Her desire is so incomprehensibly deep that I’m not sure it can even be summed up as appetite.

“Ku, monster!”

Deije brings out another sword, and swings it with his left-center arm, and Zebul caught it with her unoccupied hand.

No, that’s no hand. In the palm of it… another mouth sprung up.

Those fangs easily bit through the sword’s body. Even though it was supposed to be a Demon Blade, a single bite caused countless fragments of metal to scatter.

The tongue from her hand mouth circled to make sure no fragment was lost, before wrapping around the broken blade.

With that timing, without even paying heed to Deije’s hand.

“… You have something nice here. It’s Tasty. The consistence, and the taste… Not bad at all.”

The handle he let go of disappeared into the mouth.

To savor the taste, the hand mouth leisurely started chewing.

Her eyes are colored with supreme bliss.

“This one… my collection…”

“Fufufu, so you’re a Greed-kun. I feel my stomach will be satisfied for the first time in a while.”

The power of the tongue I was fighting with finally plucked my sword off of me.

I feel bad for Deije, but I back stepped to create distance.

The mouth crunches the sword to pieces. The grinding sound released was as if the sword itself was crying out.

Noticing that, Deije released an exasperated scream.

“O-oy, girly! Don’t just let her eat it! That’s mine, you know!”

“T-there was no helping it!”

Zebul’s tongue continues to float in the air as it searches for new prey.

Rather than me, it goes for the closer Deije.

Before I could call out to warn him, the tongue was knocked down by a large sword.

“… What are you?”

“…”

A giant skeleton… Leigie-sama’s Slaughter Doll swung its arms that were now the width of iron poles.

A sword much larger than Zebul dug into the ground.

The earth rends below it, but the skeletons hands don’t stop. Those were movements that were definitely impossible for a normal Demon. The sword drew a strange line in the air as it cut forward.

The tongue and Tentacles tried to entwine it, but the sheer momentum of the hunk of iron brushed them off as it came at her face.

The skeleton didn’t exude a prescence, and its attacks didn’t give off a hint of life.

“Good job!”

Deije reached his hands into the air, and pulled out more swords from his special space.

The Skeleton’s physical strength is terrifying. Its arms probably exceed the trained mercenary Deije’s in might.

Zebul’s expression is colored by panic, and she releases Celeste as she takes some distance.

Celeste is covered in something like mucus, and fine cracks extend along its surface.

“… What could that be… it’s not a Demon, it has no presence.”

“Ki ki ki, it’s just a candlestick holder, you know! Boss’s just put a little spell on it!”

The skeleton answers Deije’s will, and pushes the sole of its foot into the ground.

Its explosive power rockets it forward, and Zebul blocked it with a perfect stance.

The bastard sword and the Demon Lord’s blade locked.

The swings from a body twice the size of Zebul’s were as swift as a storm, and with chaotic motions, it continued to try and mow her down.

But Zebul’s blade accurately repels it, and her eyes show she’s trying to aim for its neck.

“… Doesn’t look very tasty. Though I look like this, I’m quite a gourmet.”

“…”

Like hell, Devourer!

She lightly dodges the bastard sword, and slashes forward with her ivory-white sabre.

It took the attack with the upper part of its left arm. The joint area snapped, and the rest of the arm flew into the sky.

But the Doll didn’t seem to mind that at all, as it continued to swing the sword in its right. It swiped at Zebul horizontally.

Zebul dodged the attack by lowering her body to the ground.

Even if it doesn’t have a sense of pain, it’s just a Doll. It’s lacking in power to take on a Demon Lord.

It was enough to create an opportunity. The amount of arms and enemies Zebul had to concentrate on increased, and she was left with more openings.

But that’s all. None of our attacks even work on her, and our weapons were indiscriminately eaten up.

The situation is still as bad as it had been. The fact that we’re all alive is close to a miracle.

What’s more, up until now, Zebul hasn’t even used any direct skills.

Her magic power is sky high, and she hasn’t used any skill with a high output.

Zebul took a deep sigh as she jumped backwards.

“My, my, what an annoying ingredient… Well, meals tend to taste better if you have to put in the time and effort.”

Countless tentacles erupt out of her body. Please cut us some slack already.

Their number and thickness is incomparable to what she displayed before.

I’m starting to doubt whether that small body or the tentacles are this one’s real body with how buried she is in them.

Of her body itself, only a single mouth could be seen in the center. This is getting quite grotesque, and her voice hasn’t changed in the slightest.

“Demons of Greed… you can get a greater depth of taste if you eat their collections first.”

Her words came abruptly.

Her slim figure was overflowing with power. The vague Mana that had been hanging in the air suddenly became concentrated.

“Strangely, Demons of Lust give off an extremely sweet taste. Fufufu, I’ll teach you the greatest of pleasure. It’s fine, you all are splendid ingredients, so I won’t eat you like those other Demons. I’ll eat you in the proper way.”

That… doesn’t actually make me happy at all.

To violate as you eat. To be violated as you’re eaten.

Imagining it sends shivers down my spine.

Even as a fellow Devil, I cannot understand it in the slightest.

This is bad. I’m not exactly sure what’s bad, but if keep wasting time, something bad’s going to happen.

However, my feet won’t move. Immense pressure binds my body.

It’s a Demon Lord Series skill. While its user cannot move while using it, it can bind the movements of others. It can only bind beings lesser than the caster, but it’s more than useful enough to create preparations to use a large skill.

Perhaps Deije is the same. His face is stiff as he opens his mouth.

“This is no joke. Just what is your goal…?”

“Goal…? Let’s see, if I had to say… I’m hungry.”

The casual words she leaked out made me doubt my ears.

But that line had a meaning much deeper than that.

Endless hunger… I’m glad. Glad that I wasn’t born under Gluttony. No, perhaps this one is just abnormal.

“I’m a bit of a heavy eater… At some point, I realized I had finished eating all of my own portion. So there’s no helping it. In order to live, I have to eat, and I had an obligation to let my people eat.”

“… What about those people?”

“I’ve already eaten them.”

The people lent to him by the Great Demon King were… eaten?

Zebul speaks as if she’s giving a simple explanation.

“Well, they were low quality goods, but they did manage to fill my stomach somewhat. Fufufu, it seems my subordinates were satisfied with them, but for me the taste was just terrible… honestly, that Greed-kun’s sword was much tastier.”

“…”

Even Deije didn’t expect that one. He remains silent.

There’s no words to return after being told his sword tasted good.

No, the personality that girl has… it’ll forever be beyond my comprehension. I mean, even the Second Brigade has some Gluttony Demons, but they’re just slightly big eaters, and they haven’t leapt this far over the edge.

“Well, I would like to give you peace of mind. You all will… continue to live on within me!”

Countless Tentacles flew at me with a speed incomparable to the attacks she used before.

Something is coming.

That vigilance was the only thing that kept my life attached. The moment the Tentacles came, I instinctively kicked with my feet, which had regained movement, and rolled to the side.

Each and every tentacle drips with a purple fluid, which glittered as it caught the light.

Deije also determined he was screwed, and instead of confronting it, he jumped backwards.

Only the one-armed doll swung its sword to meet the tentacles.

It cut them down as they rained on it from all directions.

But the sword ‘slipped’.

The giant blade made a loud sound as it fell.

The tentacle that had successfully knocked away its obstacle wrapped itself around the skeleton, and the silver body that was supposed to be strengthened by Leigie-sama’s magic quite literally began to fall to pieces.

“Wha…”

Its ending was so abrupt that Deije had no choice but to raise his voice.

The feelers grabbed the skeletal parts as-is and brought them to a hole that opened in the dark mass.

“… As I thought, it’s just normal metal. It isn’t even a maic tool or anything… was it controlled by some skill? It isn’t very appetizing, but it’s not inedible or anything.”

“Dammit, in order to get that, do you know just how much trouble I went through? How many Demons I killed…!?”

“Fufufu, it looks like I did something inexcusable. Don’t worry, you’ll meet up in my stomach soon enough.”

He cuts down the purple tentacles coming at him with Celeste, and gives tears of grief as he barely dodges them.

One of the Third Brigade Members was caught by one, and easily torn to pieces. A shower of blood disperses into the air, before he was swiftly absorbed into the tentacle.

He was eaten… each and every one of those tentacles… they’re mouths!?

“Even if it isn’t the leader, aren’t they all quite tasty? Nice and powerful.”

“…”

The racing tentacles go out in all directions, and I was unable to perceive them.

My cloak was barely pierced, but the hole made in it gradually began to grow. I immediately cast it away, and exerted myself to dodge the rest.

She isn’t serious. If she was, we’de have died long ago.

The tentacles I dodge either hit the ground, or pierce some other Demon and absorb them. Each and every time that happens, Zebul raises a cry of ecstasy.

Why won’t she get serious?

No, that’s wrong… she’s…

Unable to dodge, my belt was grazed next.

It began to erode my body, so I discarded it.

Again. She isn’t going for me when I’m wide open. She’s…

They extend at me from all sides. I have no time to even counterattack.

This time, my metal breastplate is grazed. Again.

The feeler’s liquid even melts the metal easily. It was probably an item imbued with magic, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

I take off the mail, and take some distance.

With attacks from all directions, where each blow would be fatal, as well as the pressure exerted by the Demon Lord, my stamina is at its limit.

Her attack range is wide, and each time she melts down a Brigade Member, Zebul’s magic is restored.

But above all else, this Demon Lord is definitely going easy on me.

“What are you planning…”

“Fufufu, do you go as far as to crunch the shell when eating?”

Part 4: But I am satisfied

Looking back, from the moment I received life as a devil, this is the complete worst battle I’ve ever gone into.

Even if you count the time I was powerless, huddled in a corner of the slums, I’d never experienced humiliation to this degree.

It’s been one hour since her Tentacles turned purple.

Death lingers all around. The number of Third Brigade members left is easily countable. You could even call it our complete annihilation.

The Demon Lord’s power is tremendous, and I’ll bet there’s no real difference to her whether she’s facing a General or any ordinary Demon.

There weren’t many soldiers that tried to flee, but the portion that did was instantly shot down by tentacles from behind, and dissolved.

Putting aside Deije, who still has Demon Blades on him that allow him to attack the tentacles, the only reason I’m still alive is that Zebul doesn’t seem to have intentions to kill me yet.

Because the Food Preparations for me are taking her time.

She licks her lips. Perhaps because our numbers have decreased, the number of tentacles surrounding her has decreased, and her human form has become visible again, but that doesn’t really hold any meaning.

They’re too fast for me to dodge.

“Fufufu, as expected of Lust… what pretty skin you have there. You may be lacking in physique, but you look like you’ll taste splendid. What fun.”

The hunger that floated in her eyes made the inside of my head burn bright red.

The clothing on my body had all been melted, and had disappeared into her stomach.

In the desert land, with nothing to cover myself, and no chance to even conceal with my hands as I ran away; the sight could only be looked on as humorous.

My body feels heavy as lead, and from my first extensive exercise in a long time, I’m getting light headed.

But I cannot give up.

“But this is strange… for a Lust Demon, the scent of Lust on you is too weak… you, Closet Pervert?”

She threw out those words in a joking tone. How rude.

“Ki ki ki, Exactly my sentiment. I’d have liked to see you like that on the bed and not in a place like this!”

He lets out some impudent words as he tries attacking again after tens of failures.

The only thing he has left is Celeste. But his sword still had powers in it beyond a normal one. Its divine flames manifest a violent maelstrom of fire, and send it at Zebul.

“Well, well, you don’t know when to give up… honestly, the flames are tasty, but they won’t settle down in my stomach. I guess I don’t really like them.”

But even that doesn’t work. In a motion I’ve seen countless times by now, Zebul opens her mouth.

As if it were being sucked in, the flames are drawn to that small hole, where they dissapear.

“… Damn, no matter how you look at it, that’s cheating…”

“Fufufu, don’t mind it, you guys are… much stronger than that Demon Lord I ate the day before last. That’s truly a frightening sword.”

“Ki ki ki, so it’s just the sword!”

“Fufufu, in ten thousand years, perhaps you may be able to reach at least the footholds of my desire, I guess.”

“… So do you have any intentions of letting us off?”

“I’m too hungry for that!”

Wrapped by the tentacles, yet another Demon was sucked in.

The ground the purple liquid touches desolve, and many holes open up.

“Oy, Medea…”

“… What?”

“Just one, there’s still something we can try.”

Deije speaks with an expression overcome by fatigue. His treasured swords were eaten, and his eyes are filled with hostility towards the Demon Lord in front of him.

“You… give me your 『Phantom Aliquot Dance』.”

“…Ha? What are you talking about?”

Deije glares at the Lord with stern eyes. Is the fact she’s not launching an attack right now due to her leisure?

“That skill… it’s one that births illusions with physical form, right?”

“… Yeah, to put it more specifically, it creates illusions, and the real body can freely swap to any one of them if within range.”

When you’re killed, it’s a skill that can make your real body the illusion. Such is the power of the skill you have to climb up quite high on the Luxuria Skill Tree to obtain, 『Phantom Aliquot Dance』. It’s a powerful skill where, until one of them is attacked, all of them can be classified as the real body. That’s why any resistance to Mental Corruption cannot see through it.

“Close enough. Girly, listen close. Right now, we have no means of beating Zebul. Just barely, if a chance is ever to come, our hope lies on this sword.”

He holds up the cracked and torn Demon Blade.

Truly, attacks from Celeste are the only ones she takes the time to defend against. No, she’s still eating them, but there’s no doubt she has to take some sort of action. Since she does that every time, if she doesn’t she should take some damage.

But I doubt we’ll be able to take her out in a single strike.

“I’ll take your 『Phantom Aliquot Dance』 with my 『Skill Ruler』, and using it, I’ll fry that bastard with Celeste from all directions.”

Those words were something I could not believe.

I unintentionally raised my free hand to cover my breasts. Deije’s eyes were serious.

“That can’t be… 『Phantom Aliquot Dance』 is an SS Class Skill, you know? Using that on top of invoking Celeste’s power is… impossible.”

“Ki ki ki, so all it means is… it’s a problem of Magical Power… even so, if we don’t do something now, we’ll just get eaten. We’ll be turned into some strange fancy dish.”

He’s… correct.

Even if we nedlessly waste time here, defeat is inevitable. Then it’s not bad to make a bet.

I give a small nod.

“Fufufu, have you finished your discussion? My hunger is just about at its limit, guys.”

“Yeah… Ki ki ki, we’ll roast you whole.”

I take the hand Deije offered to me.

The second I touched it, a skill from the Greed Tree, 『Skill Ruler』 was activated.

『Skill Ruler』 is, as the name sounds, a Greed Skill that steals the Skills of others. It’s the most famous skill on the tree.

There are various complex conditions that have to be met, so you can’t fulfill them on the battlefield to take an enemy’s skills, but you can still manipulate stolen skills freely, and you can even strengthen them. A powerful Skilll.

This especially goes for Class Skills that can only be unlocked by fulfilling Original Sin.

Skill Ruler can ignore the prerequisites, and unlock limitless merits. Because the harder they are to unlock, the more powerful a Demon’s skills are.

I felt an uncomfortable sensation as if my entire body was searched over. I somehow stomached that disgusting feeling by gritting my teeth.

But Deije’s face soon warped, and he muttered in amazement.

“This can’t be… the Skill 『Phantom Aliquot Dance』… isn’t there… what the hell!?”

“Eh!?”

He put in more power, and gripped my hand with force that made me question whether or not it would break.

My existence was probed left and right.

“Gone… dammit… this can’t be. I should have fulfilled the conditions already!! Even if it’s an SS Class Skill, it can’t be that I can’t find it… impossible!!”

“… Could it be that you’re not proficient enough to use it or something?”

My words were quickly denied.

With eyes as if he was looking down at a monster.

“Nonononono, Skill Ruler isn’t… that sort of skill. Girly, are you really capable of using that skill?

“… Didn’t you just see me using it back then?””

“… Still… dammit, there’s no time. No helping it, I’ll lend you Celeste. You do it!”

Impossible. That’s definitely impossible.

There’s a clear difference in swordsmanship level between me and Deije. It’s not just a manner of skill; muscle mass, the way we carry ourselves, and even our daily habits, the way we’ve lived our lives up until now, the small differences in movement outside of our perception.

I cannot handle Celeste. Even if it’s just letting out flames, a Demon Blade of this level depends greatly on the wielder, and in the first place, I don’t have the magic left in me to use 『Phantom Aliquot Dance』.

“No good… I don’t have enough Magical Energy in me to use the 『Phantom Aliquot Dance』 skill.”

“Ku, then I guess it’s finally time… for us to be praying for a miracle.”

His sharp eyes turned to the aloof Demon Lord.

Miracle?

That word made a light flash in my mind.

… No, not like that, but just one… there’s just one way this’ll work.

It isn’t something grand enough to usher in our victory, but there was still one way I could use to recover magic.

Still, if I did use it, my true nature would leak out. No, I’ve already used it once before.

Being found out is only a matter of time…

I looked at Deije’s face. It’s not one I like at all.

He’s a man who’s built up more distinguished service than me.

But we’re not at a level where I can care about like or hate.

I prepared myself, and opened my mouth.

“Deije… um, I’m…”

“… What? … What sort of miracle is this?”

His expression turned to one in a trance. It was the same expression as when he had scortched the desert, only to find Zebul still alive and well.

A face that came when something outside the realm of common sense had happened.

He overlooks me with eyes as if he doubted whether or not he was dreaming.

“Girly, can you feel that?”

Eh? …Ah! …Eh!?“

A few seconds late, I noticed as well.

The meaning of his words.

The wind was blown away. The unstagnating black wind that seemed to carry everything away.

I looked at the palm of my own hand, dumbfound. A slight bit of power returns to my exhausted body, and some magic returns to my empty tank.

The sticky feeling Zebul gave off was washed away.

“Leigie-sama’s 『Abyss Zone』 was… revived!?”

“… Why… at this point, why is Boss’s Zone…”

Right, after all this time.

『Abyss Zone』 wasn’t a skill that could be readily manipulated. Sure, if a Demon Lord had considerable power, the scope and output would rise, but that’s based on their base abilities, and it isn’t something they can consciously control.

Zebul noticed as well. She looks bewildered.

It seems her power isn’t impacted in itself, but she’s probably questioning how the territory she was able to construct without problem was suddenly broken without warning.

“… Oy, oy, what did you guys do? Is this part of your plan?”

As if.

『Abyss Zone』 is only reserved for Demon Lords. Neither me nor Deije are going awaken to it all of a sudden.

That in itself would take more than a miracle.

But the real miracle was yet to come.

Deije suddenly opened his eyes wide.

His lip trembles, and his arms lose power as Celeste falls to the ground.

An obvious gap in defense. If that Lord over there were to attack now, we would have been bitten to death.

“How… why, at this time… no, in the first place… that’s impossible.”

But I have no time to pay him any mind.

Because I had noticed what was in the direction he was looking.

Elegant black hair, well cared for (by the maids). Unhealthy pale skin without a single blemish. The jet-black overcoat he wore, befitting of one who reigned over the night, was said to be something handed down by the Great Demon King, but no one knows the truth of the matter.

Of course without a blade, or a weapon of any kind. Not even a crown to honor his title. He wasn’t wearing a single ornament.

From inside his black clothing, that looked to be woven with high class silk, a sloven plain shirt was visible. Since he wasn’t wearing a belt, he wasn’t going to be doing any extreme movement, but even now, his pants looked like they were about to slip off.

In all sense of the word, that visage wasn’t one that should be appearing on the battlefield. No, there’s no way it could have appeared.

Even a random spear falling from the sky and accidentally killing the Demon Lord would be more believable.

“Medea… is that your illusion?”

“… Of course not.”

I don’t have the time, and there would be no meaning.

Making an illusion of my own master? He’s too awe-inspiring for me to be able to do such a thing.

“… I see, so it’s Zebul’s illusion… Ah, that was surprising. I mean, there’s no way Boss would appear in a place like this.”

“… So that’s it… if it’s that, then I can believe it.”

My frozen thoughts were thawed by Deije bringing up a situation that was actually plausible.

I see… just how vile is this Demon Lord? Even if we were on the brink of death, to show us an image of Leigie-sama… is this a part of her cooking?

Using the carrot and stick raises the flavor?

Regardless, don’t scare me like that. I thought my heart was going to stop even before she killed me.

My heart is still going off like an alarm due to the impact.

Even so, that’s really well made.

It’s been quite a while since I last looked upon Leigie-sama’s form. And seeing him walking around outside, just how many years has it been? Even if I look through all of my memory, the first time I met him was the first and last I ever saw him out here, and it probably won’t happen any time soon.

The reason his hair is so glossy despite its messiness is because the maids are hard-put keeping it in order while trying not to wake him, and his pale skin is likely a result of him not going out three hundred and sixty five days a year. His nature and each and every detail was completely reproduced.

Even his expression was the sleepy one he made when in his room, and his swaying stance was one where I wanted to rush to him this instant to support his body.

“That’s quite something… it really is identical. If the Boss ever actually stood up, he’d probably look like that.”

“… Right …Ah!!”

At that moment, I noticed something important.

I’m… not wearing anything right now!

I hurriedly sit down to hide myself. Even if it may be an illusion, standing before my lord with not a cloth on my back is something that should never come to be. Even if Leigie-same isn’t interested in me in the slightest.

The inside of my head is burning red, as if it had been painted with embarrassment itself, and noticing there were things I couldn’t hide even in this position, I turned to Deije.

“Deije… mantle.”

“… Sure.”

He casts off his tattered mantle, and I somehow use it to cover my body. Like this, I won’t be able to move well, but this isn’t the time to be worried about that.

Deije keeps his eyes locked, on the illusion’s actions.

“… Oy, oy, that boss has already started sleeping. In front of Zebul.”

“They really are identical.”

Still with a bewildered expression, Zebul raised her voice to the illusion of Leigie-sama that had suddenly appeared.

“… You. Who are you?”

“… I see.”

The illusion, with an expression indicating he wasn’t listening at all, let out some words completely irrelevant to the flow of the conversation.