Chapter 83 - Recruitment

[Rizretheen at your service, Master.] Rizretheen is aware that her life is now under Red's mercy, but strangely, she feels fine with it.

While her brain also knows that she was tricked into submitting her life and freedom, she feels fine with it too.

[Alright. You're one step away out of this hellhole – heh – out of this place.] Red jokes as he turns around to leave.

[W-where are you going, master?] Rizretheen is afraid of being abandoned.

[While I'm more than strong enough to break you out of here right now, I'd rather do it discreetly. Endure a few days more. I'll be back.] Red commands.

[I will wait for you, master.] Rizretheen accepts her situation for now, relying on the hope that Red brought her.

Red then proceeds to the room or cell next door and finds a demon of pride.

Unlike with Rizretheen, the demon of pride is a lot harder to talk to.

[Hah! Serve you?! YOU?! If I had the strength, I wouldn't be caught dead rubbing shoulders with a human!]

Red immediately knows that it is not worth his time so enslave the demon so he simply marks it with a one-sided soul contract, similar to what he has put on Gin, to prevent it from speaking about his visit.

While he can kill the demon, he spares it for now as it is the convenient thing to do. Each demon has metallic bands locked on their wrists that monitors their vital signs, and if any of them suddenly die, the security system will be alerted.

For the next few hours, he proceeds to talk to the rest of the demons in the floor and the next three ones below; talking to them, acquiring their history, assessing their character, pledging half-true promises, and finally subjugating them.

The ones he didn't find worthy to ensl*ve, he enforced a 'non-disclosure' soul contract on them.

After 'speaking' with 31 demons, he stops to count his harvest.

In total, he now has 9 demon sl*ves. 1 Scamp-rank one which is Rizretheen, and 8 Soldier-rank ones. He could have subjugated more, but these nine demons are who he likes the best.

Just as he suspected, the more powerful the demon is, the stronger their souls are. Therefore, the stronger the demon is, the less cordial he has to be in enslaving them.

*tap* Red steps to the third sublevel floor where the Knight-rank demons are imprisoned, and his excitement increases.

He steps into the first room of the floor to talk to the first Knight-rank demon he is meeting.

The facility's assessment of this demon in front of him is someone who has the strength of a bottom-feeder A-rank, if that is so,  then it is the strongest demon he has met aside from Ag'dramos who was equivalent to a mid-tier A-Class.

[Hello, buddy.] Red shows himself to the demon.

"Oh? You look new." Contrary to the other demons, the demon in front of Red seems too relaxed for its situation.

The demon is currently possessing a balding man in his late 40s, borderline obese with a big belly, looking like some middle manager of some company. It is also not chained up the wall unlike the others, and is simply lounging on a bed lazily.

It even has its own TV in its room. 

[I'm not. I'm trespassing. We can converse mentally.] Red comes clean, feeling the lack of care in the demon.

[Hm? Nice.] The demon's sleepy eyes become alert in interest immediately.

[Yeah.] Red nods.

[So. You seem to have made yourself at home here. You should see the others' rooms.] He says.

[Well, what can I say? They're not as cooperative as me.] The demon shrugs.

[Huh… Still. Being captured like this. I'd expect some signs of defiance in you at least.] Red shakes his head.

[Heh. When I was outside, I had to work in an office. Had to swallow the bosses' bullying just to afford food and house. Here? Free food and free housing.] The demon smirks.

[Uhuh… You don't seem stupid, but I just have to ask. You know that they're just fattening you up for slaughter, right?] Red asks.

[Yeah? So?] The demon asks dismissively.

[So?] Red, for the first time in this realm, is taken aback.

[Meh. I'm not eating the souls of the people they offer anyways.] The demon shrugs.

[Why?] Red asks.

[To make my stay here longer of course.] The demon says.

[Well, why? How so?] Red is getting more interested in the demon.

[The more I eat souls, the stronger I become. The stronger I become, the better my demon core becomes. And when I reach my limit, they harvest it. All I have to do is to do the opposite of that.] The demon says.

[Huh. They don't force it on you?] Red asks.

[Nah. Even if they will, they can't force me to digest it. My core will still be as shitty. Heh~] The demon chuckles smugly.

[I see. They won't be crazy enough to pump your 'stomach' full of souls to further force you to digest them… because that'll only be a waste.] Red nods.

[Heh. Precisely. I'll just enjoy my time here 'til they lose patience with me. If they decide to kill me, then, hey…] The demon shrugs.

[Huh… You don't want to live to see the day the hell ascends again?] Red asks.

[Yeah. I don't care. I've lived long enough. And if hell ascends, my Lord will force me to fight again, when all I want is to just sleep. And death… eternal sleep… ain't that the dream?] The demon starts daydreaming.

Red is amused at the odd demon.

[So, you must be a demon of sloth.] Red says.

[I am.] The demon confirms.

[Well, isn't wishing for death just so you can sleep a bit… too much? Even for a demon of sloth.] Red says.

[Well. Others from my species might agree with you.] The demon shrugs.

[I see. But why? Aren't you interested in doing other things? In fighting against angels?] Red asks.

[Nope. I know how it'll end up anyways. If demons win, then, yeah, sure, cool. If angels win, then, whatever, I don't care.] The demon yawns.

[Well, why not just put yourself to the eternal sleep you long for?] Red asks.

[I would if I could. I don't know why but no demon can commit suicide.] The demon says.

[Interesting.] Red nods.

[What if humans win?] He asks.

[Pfff] The demon scoffs.

[Well, what if it's possible?] Red asks.

[Yeah. Yeah. I'd exchange my sleep to see that.] The demon waves his hand dismissively.

[I mean. I'm not a superioris, but I'm as strong as an S-Class superioris.] Red reveals.

[What?] The demon is surprised, but soon, his contempt returns.

[Yeah. You heard about Ag'dramos's death?] Red asks.

[Uhuh. I've seen it on TV.] The demon nods.

Suddenly, its eyes widen in surprise as Red suddenly transforms to Mr. Fool.

[Whoah…] After the surprise, is awe.

[Well, who do we have here?] And after the awe, is interest.

Red nods in satisfaction at the absence of fear from the demon.

[But come on. Unless you're a demon or an angel, no way you're not a superioris.] The demon goes back to the subject of the conversation.

Red then pulls out a superioris detection talisman from his storage space and hands it to the demon.

[You know what that is?] Red asks.

[Uhuh.] The demon bites its finger, drawing blood, and smears the blood on the paper. The talisman lights up with a yellow light shortly, before the paper crumples.

[Huh. Your host is still alive?] Red asks. He was too absorbed in talking with the demon that he did not use his spirit sense.

[Yeah. But barely hanging in there. The guy didn't know I was sleeping inside him until he got caught by the Nagano. They tortured him and when he was almost dying, I was forced to wake up.] The demon recounts.

[Huh. Poor guy.] Red smirks.

[Meh.] The demon is indifferent as he tosses the crumpled talisman to the trashcan.

[So. What was the point of that?] It asks Red.

[I was the one who was supposed to use it.] Red shakes his head as he pulls out another talisman.

This time, he opens a wound on his hand and drops it on the talisman.

The two then wait, but after a few seconds, nothing is happening.

[What?] The demon then snatches the talisman away and smears its host's blood on it once again.

Then, the talisman lights up.

The demon is in shock as it looks at Red more closely.

[You're really not a superioris.] It asks.

[I'm not.] Red confirms.

[What are you then? A Cambion? A … Nephilim?] The demon asks, starting to get scared of Red's identity.

[Human!] Red scoffs, just thinking about a human giving birth to a hybrid of an abomination like a demon disgusts him.

[A Cambion? Nephilim? How does that even make sense?] He adds in hidden disdain.

The demon's head spins at Red's denial.

"It makes more sense than you being a NORMAL HUMAN!" The demon cannot help but yell out using his voice.

[Hey, hey. You'll alert them] Red calms the demon down by using his bloody aura.

[*Choke* *choke* Okay… Okay. Chill out.] The demon, being naturally calm in the first place, easily calms down.

Red retreats his bloody aura too.

[Okay. I felt you could have killed me. With your strength, it should be beneath you to mess with me… That means… You're really a normal human?] The demon asks.

[I really am.] Red nods.

[And I'm training more people just like me. They're growing stronger and maybe after a decade or two, the weakest of them can go toe to toe against the Generals, maybe even some Lords.]

[Damn… I have to see that.] The demon's eyes glimmer.

[That's something I really want to see.] And its body shakes in excitement.

[Yeah. I can break you out of here, and give you front-row seats to watch my project.] Red says.

[What's the catch?] The demon asks.

[Be my slave.] Red decides to be honest with the demon as he likes its attitude.

[Okay... Sure.] The demon scoffs with sarcasm.

[Really. Are you willing?] Red asks.

[I'm willing.] While the demon is skeptical, it still is hoping to work for Red.

Then, Red easily marks a sl*ve contract on the demon.

He finds it ironic that the strongest demon he has come across so far in the facility, was the easiest one to subjugate. He contributes it to the willingness of the demon, and the demon's old and strong soul that is less fragile than others'.

[Sorry for the late introduction, master. I'm Tezguniuth.] Tezguniuth, while still rudely sitting on his bed, introduces himself and nods to Red.

With his gut feeling and his rational thinking, he is pleased with the new arrangement.

[Nice to meet you, Tezguniuth.] Red nods in return.

[Okay. Can you tell me about the two other knights in this floor?] He proceeds to gather information.

[Okay. I don't know much about them really. They have put measures to prevent us from talking to each other.

[But I heard that one of them is a demon of envy that took over the body of politician. The other is a demon of wrath that possessed some a Superioris police officer. I don't know if that's gonna be helpful.]

[How about that one below this floor?] Red asks, referring to the demon that Kaoru fought.

[Oh. That guy. Even though he looks different because of his human host, I recognize him from his demeanor. It's General Xoz'gekal. A demon of wrath. Even though he had less notoriety than General Ag'dramos, I think he's stronger.] Tezguniuth recalls.

[I see. Well then. I'll go check them out. Please endure a few days more here. I'll come take you out.] Red promises.

[Take your time, master. All I have to do is to take a nap..] Tezguniuth bids Red farewell.