The Youngest Archdemon

The gate opened at the back of the cave.

"Thank goodness we're out of their sight."

"Last time I was here, I marked the place in case we came back."

"I wonder what would have happened if it hadn't been for you, Beatrice."

Leon looked around the ravaged estate of the Slaughter Archduke with relief.

"It was well worth the destruction."

The last time they were here with the joint Japanese-Korean offensive, they raided the neighboring villages and took their demonic followers prisoner.

As a result, no new villages have been built or demons have taken up residence.

"Hmm?"

Just then, a group of demons loomed in Leon's vision. Even with his superhuman vision, they must be at least five to sixty kilometers away.

"It's not like there aren't any demons."

"Could they be the ones who came to take over the estate?"

"Possibly. Beatrice, look at this."

Leon pulled out a dagger from his belt.

"This is the dagger of Lord Vulcanus...."

The ceremonial dagger glowed a faint afterglow.

"It's a resonance of stardust and holy power. It is to be expected from a weapon with a long history, and that dagger has a very… special connection to Lord Vulcanus."

"Does that mean that Lord Vulcanus is nearby?"

Leon shook his head at that.

"A Holy Knight can make his presence felt across continents, and if it's Sir Vulcanus, it will resonate even if he's on the other side of the planet."

This was no guarantee that Vulcanus was nearby.

"But if he is, this dagger could be a signpost."

"I see, but it's not enough to find coordinates within the gate."

Beatrice was going to open the gate with the coordinates of Vulcanus' location in this demonic realm.

Just as she had done at the previous Lionheart Realm gate to escape the Lord of Wisdom and make a spatial leap with Sir Antoine.

"It'll be a while until I find the coordinates, so why don't you wait here as a base?"

"Sure. This king will take a look around. I have some things to check out."

"But first, Your Majesty, there's something I need to do."

"?"

There was a light touch.

The feel of fingers touching at a breath's distance.

The magic of the Queen's white fingers brushed against Leon's forehead.

"Veil of illusion, block the light."

The voice, whispering at close range, tickled Leon's ear.

Voices have power, especially for a magician, and every act has a special meaning.

For Leon, who is not a magician, it's just tickling time.

"That's it."

Beatrice smirked at the end of the rather wistful exchange.

"Your Majesty's holy power is hidden. It's a small enough camouflage that it would be unraveled if you took out a holy object or used a holy law."

"I see."

The corners of Beatrice's eyes lifted at Leon's terse question.

"Were you disappointed?"

At the provocative glint in her eyes, knowing her charms better than anyone, Leon smirks and raises his hands in surrender.

"A man who is not disappointed by the temptations of one as beautiful as you has no heart."

"Your Majesty is well versed in the art of pleasing a lady."

"Isn't that a virtue of courtly life?"

The words resonated with Beatrice's heart. After all, royalty is the center of social circles.

"I've warned you to be careful with what you wish to do. We are in the middle of an enemy territory. We can open the gates and retreat if we have to, but we'll have their attention."

"I understand. I will not use holy items or holy laws."

With that, Leon left the cave and scanned the area.

'There's no other movement around here.'

Even for a demonic estate, the surrounding area had been ruthlessly destroyed, and the land area was not normal.

I'm not sure about their situation, but given the nature of their species, they can't be very numerous.

At least the area around this cave is safe. Beatrice had chosen her coordinates very well.

'A wise woman.'

Leon himself had studied and gained knowledge from a young age, as the demon's nemesis, as the Goddess's attendant, and as the Chosen Lionheart, but his wisdom was nowhere near that of Yakt Spinner or Beatrice.

The position of Lionheart is more like that of a noble knight and the final weapon of the kingdom.

'Castile was a wise woman, too. She helped me a lot.'

────

The voice of the goddess whispered to Leon but Leon shook his head.

"Don't say that. It's not time yet."

"You always pass off your goddess's advice like that," the voice scolded.

It sounded more like something else than advice, Leon thought.

"Whoa...."

Leon looked all around the cave, then out into the ruined wilderness beyond.

Dozens of kilometers from this point, inside a ruined village, a group of people are doing something suspicious.

* * * *

The Archduke of Slaughter estate was in ruins, and Akasha died.

Her disappearance should be expected after being captured by them, but we need to clean up the mess.

But no one has stepped forward to restore the ruins of the Archduke's estate.

-Me? Why?

-Do you think I'm crazy to go there? What if they open the gates again?

-Ah, I'm busy with work....

The demons were shocked that they had been invaded for the first time in their history, and even more shocked that the invader was Leon Dragonia Lionheart, the Lionheart King.

-Crazy. What the hell is that asshole Lionheart doing here?

-What, he captured and killed the Archduke?

-When is he coming again?

-Ahhhhh! We're all dead!

These were the demons that invaded the Lionheart Kingdom.

Having barely escaped with their lives before the final Demon Gate was destroyed they were traumatized by Lionheart and the Holy Knights.

And it's not just the demons who invaded his world that have trauma.

-Even the Magician Queen? Beatrice, the witch bitch?

-Ah, it hurts… the hair, the body, the skin…! The teeth!

Beatrice Alighieri Spero.

A demon of depravity, possessed by the demons of pleasure and depravity. A creature of nature, born with an appetite for vice.

It has been two hundred years since the Demon Archduke Quay and the Archdemon Androzin corrupted the Magician Queen and wanted to awaken her as the next Corruption Lord.

Even before that, the Magician Queen was famous.

She was the one who came up with the idea of traumatizing the immortal demons to keep them from returning.

All demons feared the Magician Queen, as she tortured them to death with the sole purpose of causing them pain.

One was a destroyer of souls, the other a witch who sowed pain in the soul.

For demons who have faced many powerful opponents, these two are uniquely terrifying.

Anyway, back to the point.

'No one's taking this!'

No Archdemon has been entrusted with the task of repairing the ruined estate of the Slaughter Archduke Akasha.

The Archdemon of Wisdom and Exploration gritted his teeth as he watched the other Archdemons around him wring their hands at the meeting.

Ordinarily, they would have been eager to claim the Archduchy, where countless treasures would have remained even if it had been plundered but they were afraid of the return of the Lionheart King and the Magician Queen.

Isn't that ridiculous?

Logically, no.

The Earth Alliance raiding party opened the gate and entered the Slaughter Archduke's territory.

That means these coordinates have been compromised.

Anyone who lingers near these coordinates will be the first to be targeted.

Naturally, the demons didn't dare to enter the Archduke's territory, and even the demons in the surrounding territories chose to evacuate.

The Slaughtering Archduke's estate and its surroundings, once the most expensive in the Demon Realm, had been destroyed by a series of real estate crashes.

In such an atmosphere, someone must take over the Archduke's estate. At the very least, they needed a facility to send out a signal if they were to invade in earnest later.

[Hey youngest]

"Awww──

The senior Archdemon looked at himself during the magical communication. The jet-black wings fluttering from his shadow were the majesty of a Wisdom Archdemon.

However, despite his majesty, the 'youngest' Wisdom Archdemon was sweating profusely.

[Doing well?]

'──Damn!'

Wherever he goes, he is always in charge of the chores.

"Hurry up and move!"

Gob, the Wisdom Archdemon, urged the demon followers as he swung his whip at them.

"We must complete the restoration of this area by the end of the day!"

The Slaughter Archduke's estate was large and wealthy, but it was ravaged as if a swarm of locusts had passed through.

"Ugh, the pollution level is 85%, I can't stand it!"

"What a bunch of bastards…! They unleashed their holy power on the ground!"

For demons, holy power is the ultimate poison. The traces of holy power that Leon and the Knights had sown were still contaminating the demonic realm.

"Grass! Grass is growing!"

"Unbearable! What a horrible…!"

Demon followers are horrified as if they were looking at a deformed plant contaminated with radioactivity.

To them, the green vegetation is no different than humans facing radioactive contamination.

"Gather all the soil tainted with holy power in one place!"

"Lord, master… what are you going to do with all this horrible dirt...."

"It's all for nothing!"

Gob used his mystical powers to draw holy power from the dirt, and the condensed holy power rushed to his staff.

"Master, what is that staff?"

"Hot, hot, hot! This is the holy power I've been collecting for 250 years."

"Master, why would you do such a thing?"

Stupid things. They don't even realize how useful holy power is.

That's why he's a major demon and they're demon followers.

Gob set the slaves to work and headed for his office.

But why? I feel strangely nervous.

And it's not just because he's in a purified land that's radioactive to demons.

Strangely, his survival instincts were warning him.

'Something's wrong, something is wrong!'

It was an illogical thought for the Archdemon of wisdom and inquiry, but he had survived the Lionheart King.

Gob spent some time in his makeshift office, going over the data from the destroyed village.

'Oh, I forgot to check on the situation on Earth.'

The Wisdom Jewel is a demonic staging ground for dimensional invasions to summon Archdemons. However, Gob's predecessor in charge of the Wisdom Jewel had abandoned his duties and fled.

Thankfully, Gob, who has a lot of time on his hands, has taken over the job....

'That Reynald guy. No matter what I ask him to do, it always goes wrong!'

Gob was so nervous that he didn't even let Reynald near Korea. If the Wisdom Jewel were to be cut by the Lionheart King's sword, it would kill his spirit.

He hasn't been in touch lately due to the hustle and bustle of his work, but as soon as he returns, he will check the Lionheart's location in real time.

When the night came──

-Ugh!

A groan came from somewhere and Gob woke up, not knowing what it was.

"Hmm?"

He stepped out into the hallway, but there was no sign of life. Only the faint moonlight illuminates the corridors of the ruined building.

There, Gob searched for the slaves with a sense of wonder.

"Strange. Strange....'

-Siik

Gob realized that something was amiss, it was a movement so quiet that a lesser demon would have gone unnoticed.

But as a goblin with survival instincts at their peak, he felt a momentary sense of discomfort.

'Danger….'

Gob sensed that his survival alert had reached its peak. It was illogical, but it had always kept him alive.

'There's something behind me!'

A pair of eyes was staring at him.