Chapter 160: The Man's and the Woman's Situation (1)

There was something I’ve been contemplating for a very long time now.

……I’m a Demon Lord, but aren’t I lacking a lot in terms of dignity?

This was a serious matter. Even my strength and charm stats were lacking. A type of charisma that all rulers should have that was capable of making people cower before them was basically non-existent within me. If I didn’t have a horn on the back of my head, then I doubt anyone would think that I was a Demon Lord.

I do have more dignity compared to how I was as a rookie a year ago. I also got used to seeing humans die in large numbers and I have a decent understanding of this world’s politics, and yet, I didn’t gain any sort of charisma.

“So this is a rather big problem. Don’t you think so as well?”

I audibly hummed to myself as I continued in a serious tone.

“This will create a group of people who either forget that I’m a Demon Lord or flat out disregard this fact entirely. Hah. I didn’t understand why rulers would create such needlessly extravagant palaces, but now I do. If you sit on a golden throne in a palace made of marble, then you would naturally appear dignified. All things in the world have a deeper meaning behind them even if they appear useless on the outside. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes……. Yes, Your Highness!”

A middle-aged man was bowing under my feet. He was prostrating. There were dust and blood smeared all over his red, silken attire.

“I-I think so as well!”

“I am glad that you understand.”

I grinned.

“Sadly, I do not plan to build a needlessly fancy palace. I already have a lot of things I have to spend money on, after all. Hm, this really is a big problem. A big problem indeed. I do not possess any innate dignity. Therefore, I have no other choice but to acquire it manually. What should I do to acquire this grandeur?”

“Your Highness……i-is already overflowing with grandeur.”

“Oh. Thank you for the compliment.”

I raised my right foot and gently patted the man’s head with it. I moved my foot slowly as if it were my hand. The man’s body was trembling.

“But I truly do not have any dignity. If I did, then would I have received such a dastardly attack? I was attacked even though they should have clearly known that they would be killed if they failed. Therefore, I must have looked like a pushover to them.”

“Your……Highness.”

The man’s voice was shaking uncontrollably. I stepped down on his head. I could feel his body tremble through my foot. The other party was currently consumed by absolute fear. It wasn’t a bad feeling.

The man cried out with his nose pushed against the ground.

“Spare me……. P-Please spare me!”

“So I have decided to make my own symbol.”

I removed my foot and glanced at the death knight who was waiting on the side. Once I did, the knight raised the man up by his waist.

“H-Hiiik!”

The man dangled in the air like a child. A murky liquid flowed down the side of his pant leg. It emitted a terrible smell.

I raised my left hand and showed it to him.

“Look carefully. Do you see that I am missing two fingers?”

“Yes! Yes! Hkk, I see it…….”

“You see, your loyal subordinates had cut them off. They were quite dexterous. I did not even have the chance to feel any pain. Haha.”

The man’s face became deathly pale.

“Y-Your Highness……Please……have m-mercy……”

I laughed.

“Well, the past is the past and the present is the present. I am quite a benevolent person. I would not kill you abruptly or do something brutish simply because your subordinate made a mistake or two.”

“Thank you……hggh, Your Highness……thank you very much!”

The man rubbed his hands together as he bowed over and over again. This was my first time seeing someone apologize while rubbing their hands together. It looked more pathetic than I thought it would. Well, it might be because all 10 of the man’s fingers were broken.

“By the way, what is that ring on your middle finger?”

“Huh? A-Ah, yes. It is a ring that signifies my position as an archduke.”

“Remove it and give it to me.”

The man hiccuped.

“T-This is a ring that can never be removed.”

“Cut it.”

The death knight immediately twisted the man’s finger once I gave the order.

“Guaaaaah!”

His scream rang out. The man’s middle finger on his right hand was pulled out like a white radish being pulled out from the earth. The death knight removed the ring and presented it to me. I gave him a satisfied nod.

The man was busy screaming and groaning. I continued speaking to him.

“This is no longer necessary for you, don’t you think?”

“Yes……hggghk.”

I got up and patted his cheek. The man had been drooling so my hand ended up getting wet. It was a bit gross, but I didn’t mind it.

“I do not plan to go out of my way to have this injury healed. Think about it. I am leaving an injury that can be treated at any time alone. An injury that also sticks out this much. Every person I meet will most likely see this injury. They will then remember the fate that befell those who went against me.”

“Pardon……?”

“Repent in the afterlife, you fool.”

I pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into his throat. The sharp blade of my dagger slid into the area where his neck met his jaw.

His body trembled as he let out a death throe. Red blood splattered onto my face. I kept my eyes open as I silently watched the man’s final moments. He convulsed for a moment before the strength in his body gradually faded away.

I pulled out my dagger and cleaned it with a piece of cloth. It was a dagger that Barbatos had gifted to me. I have to treat it with care. Weapons last longer if you clean off foreign substances like blood promptly after being used. She gave this to me so I could commit suicide with it if necessary, but that wasn’t the first time Barbatos had been so crude, so I disregarded that advice.

I spoke in a calm tone.

“Hang his head up on the top of the palace.”

The death knights nodded.

On this day, among the 26 archdukes who rule the demon world, the Archduke of Atata died.

The palace the Archduke resided in was thoroughly demolished and the 200 people who lived within the palace were mercilessly slaughtered. The Archduke and his servants’ heads were hung from the top of the palace’s spire. I wrote a single special line near the heads.

– Know thyself.

* * *

I dragged my tired body back to my Demon Lord castle.

I was originally supposed to be meeting a few more archdukes right now; however, the need to do so had disappeared. I had already made an example of someone, so the rest of the archdukes should naturally start to offer me tributes as long as they have brains.

Most importantly, there was a need for me to adjust my strategy entirely.

It was revealed to me that Paimon was a republican and that republicans were hiding in various places throughout the continent. I had become their accomplice. I have to devise a new plan that is able to utilize this.

I took a moment to relax in the underground pool. However, I was given shocking news before I could even finish taking my break.

“Barbatos was defeated?”

Sitri nodded to me from within the magic sphere.

– Yeah. Although she didn’t suffer that many losses even though she was defeated.

What was she talking about? I asked her back in confusion.

“No, how did the girl who doesn’t seem like she’d die even if you killed her lose?”

– Well, about that…….

Sitri’s explanation went as follows: they advanced to the capital of Habsburg to put an end to the empire, but when they got there, the capital was already empty. The imperial people had abandoned the capital and ran away.

Barbatos suggested that they should quickly pursue the imperial soldiers and wipe them out. The other factions didn’t want to cooperate, so the motion was turned down. Thus, Barbatos pursued the imperial soldiers by herself.

However, the empire had been waiting for the Demon Lord army to pursue them.

The pursuing troops were met with an ambush as they passed a canyon. They were pincered. According to Sitri, twenty swordmasters had rushed at them. It wasn’t only the swordmasters from Habsburg, but the swordmasters that were dispatched from the other human nations as well.

Barbatos had commenced the pursuit on short notice, so she wasn’t able to mobilize a large number of soldiers. To make matters worse, these soldiers were exhausted since they weren’t able to get much rest after reaching the capital as they had to immediately start marching again. It was only natural that they would get done in by the human army that had been waiting vigilantly for them.

Barbatos was defeated. She barely managed to get out of the canyon alive. Barbatos ended up losing her left arm because five swordmasters kept attacking her persistently.

A Demon Lord like Barbatos could easily regenerate an arm or two, but if you look at it from another angle, this meant that a Demon Lord as great as her had lost an arm. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this was an utter defeat.

– Haah. She’s an unsightly girl, but seeing her come back with a missing arm and without her subordinates was, how should I say it? I felt bad for her.

Sitri let out a sigh.

– If I knew that was going to happen, then I should’ve gone with her. She fought the hardest during this expedition. I don’t like seeing the person who fought the hardest also lose the most. But this doesn’t mean I can apologize to her! Uuuugh.

What should I do? Sitri kept muttering to herself. It seems she was genuinely concerned about this.

Only a single thought went through my head after I listened to Sitri’s explanation.

‘……What is she plotting now?’

Sitri probably wasn’t aware of this, but there were times where Barbatos’ inner thoughts and actions didn’t align.

This was the case if you looked at her sexuality as well. Anyone would think that she was a sadist, but whenever she had sex with me, she would often become a masochist.

Every single archduke was shocked when they saw the memoria video of Barbatos squealing like a pig while buried in my crotch. It was just that surprising to them.

She has a crude tongue, so the people around her would often think that she has a bad personality, but……. I’m not sure. She was also unexpectedly soft. When she fell for Paimon’s scheme and got surrounded by enemies on all sides, Barbatos cried like a child in front of her subordinates.

In other words, she was a treacherous person.

If you only look at her way of speech and the faces she made, then there was no one as hot-tempered as her. However, Barbatos, the person who cherishes her subordinates more than anyone else, intentionally dove into the enemy’s trap? Things didn’t line up. I was certain that there was something very sinister hiding underneath.

I thought for a moment before asking Sitri a question.

“Sitri. How many people were in Barbatos’ pursuit group?”

– Hm?

Sitri furrowed her brow and tilted her head from within the magic sphere.

– Mmm…… probably about 1,500? There were at least over a thousand.

Barbatos had approximately 5,000 soldiers. If you take the entire Plains Faction into account, then she had 15,000 soldiers. And yet, she only took a thousand of them to pursue the enemy……. There was something suspicious about this. It reeked. 

“Were there death knights among them?”

– Yeah. Hundreds of them were lined up.

Aha.

Sitri asked back.

– Why do you ask?

“No, I was just curious.”

I could vaguely see Barbatos’ intentions.

Before feeling pleased about seeing through her actions, I couldn’t help but think that she was absurd. She really was a wicked fellow. She should learn a thing or two from Sitri who was genuinely feeling sorry for her right now.

‘That girl, she lied to them, huh?’

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Posting chapters as soon as I wake up is a real struggle. Why do I post in the morning? Because that’s when most of you guys are active. Doing this in the morning while I’m still like half asleep makes me worry that I might mess up something and post the wrong chapter. Thankfully that hasn’t happened yet. I’m definitely going back to sleep after I post this.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.