Arriving at the Castle
Mere months after humankind desecrated the land, there were blades of grass and twin trails of flattened grass thanks to carriages’ wheels. It was most likely left behind when humanity’s army passed through the place.
Despite the Demon King already being dead, there was still an eerie vibe permeating around the surrounding forest. The sunlight barely managed to get through the slanted green canopies. If my guess was correct, humanity must’ve used them for their camp. There was no life in the forest. Apparently, only demons lived there in the past, yet even they had evacuated or perished.
Had I had not Leah and Veirya with me, I wouldn’t ever be near this place. Veirya wasn’t tense in the slightest these days, yet even she was absolutely tense. Her hand instinctively crept down to her waist, but she didn’t bring her sword with her. Angelina was the only one who brought her sword this time and, therefore, had disembarked to assume guard duty outside. Though we figured the place should’ve been safe, everyone was still tense.
I wasn’t certain if it was the surroundings that made me unwilling to speak. Veirya was quite similar to her expressionless self in the past. If she still wore the same clothes and had her sword, she’d be the exact same as her past self. As opposed to saying we were returning to the castle, we could say that we were returning to our pasts.
“Leah, is there any dangerous auras or smells out there?” I finally asked after no long being able to bear with the pressure.
Leah meticulously screened the surroundings and shook her head: “No, there’s nothing dangerous here. Rather, there isn’t a single sound.”
“That is precisely why. It’s extremely dangerous,” opined Veirya. “After we killed the Demon King. The demons around all vanished. Just all of a sudden. So. We never found out the reason. For their disappearance. Neither do I know why. Now that. We’re back here. I feel. It’s dangerous.”
I wanted to ask Leah, who I constantly monitored, why the demons abruptly vanished, but I figured she wouldn’t know. She wasn’t the Demon King’s favoured daughter. If she was always in her room, there’d be no way she’d know what happened; asking would be asking for nothing. Besides, I didn’t want to poke her where it hurt.
What demons saw at the place must’ve been different to what we saw. What we saw was a dark forest and scorched land. To the demons, however, inside was the army that could conquer the world. Or perhaps I should say, “To the Demon King…”
***
Sophia silently dangled her tobacco pipe from her mouth and feasted her eyes on everything she created. They had free food that even delivered itself to their door, not to mention even paying them to be eaten. Idiots no doubt. Furthermore, they protected her and the succubi, which was her dream.
Succubi didn’t dislike humans. Technically, they just considered humans to be livestock. They were vehemently against killing humans because, without them, who would the succubi seduce? Rotten flesh? They merely wanted to rear livestock. But alas, they had begun to feel irritated. They even planned to leave the place and return north as Leah was calling for them.
Leah ruled over the succubi. It was a fact that she was a succubus who had yet to awaken, but she had the Demon King’s blood flowing through her. All of his descendants died at the hands of humans and elves. All except for Leah. She was the Demon King’s only surviving descendant. As long as she returned to the throne in the Demon King’s castle, all demons would answer her calls.
Leah wanted to pull off something big. Well, it was just a small matter in her opinion. She just wanted one person. She wanted to tie him down with the entire world.
As Leah got closer and closer to the castle, the signal sent to the succubi intensified. Perhaps one should say that it was the throne that was calling for Leah, while Leah called for them. They had no choice because demons were bound by their loyalty. Nevertheless, Sophia was reluctant to accept the command. She didn’t want to leave the place that met all of their needs. Leah didn’t need humans. The other succubi, to the contrary, needed them.
Sophia didn’t want to give up. She hoped the succubi could remain there. If they killed all of the influential humans, humanity’s retaliation would be weakened. As for the elves, how would Lucilia face her lover’s daughters? Dwarves? They were never challenging opponents to begin with. Leah was planning a world war as a real demon king would. The war she wanted to wage, though, was for one man. The succubi didn’t stand to gain anything.
There had never been a demon who betrayed a demon king in history… until this moment in history.
***
Leah poked her head outside to gaze at the castle before her. The grass resembled soldiers holding their heads high. Perhaps it wasn’t blood that fed the grass but the souls of the soldiers that fed them.
“This is the place. I entered. Through here.”
Judging from the section of the wall that had collapsed, I decided I was wrong. They didn’t infiltrate the castle back then; they killed all of the witnesses.
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