Chapter 21 [Mushoku Tensei]

POV: Michael Abbot (Clone)

These past couple of months as an adventurer have really shown me the thrills of travelling and immersing myself in the admittedly fantastic world of Mushoku Tensei. Yeah, it was still fucked up with all the slavery, societally accepted low age of consent (compared to my old world), and lack of modern-day plumbing, but two of those weren't much of an issue for me due to my occupation unless the individuals doing said slavery and soliciting sex from those of younger age were needlessly cruel.

The latter was slowly getting developed as news of a proper plumbing system from the Sharia Kingdom was beginning to spread out to the other kingdoms on the Central Continent. Jeez, I wonder who came up with the idea…

I was being sarcastic by the way.

Anyways, the [Banner of the Crimson Wyrms] had gotten quite the boost in notoriety after we eliminated Saikon the Dreadnaught and dealt with an alarming pack of Red Dragons that were "conveniently" swept off their course from the Red Dragon Mountain range. The whole mishap would have been a tragedy since it was already rare for one Red Dragon to be blown off its course to the lower lands of the Continent.

So, it really was a weird coincidence that a whole pack of 10 Red Dragons were taken off course and making a ruckus in the Fittoa region just after my party had finished a mission against Saikon, the boogeyman of the Northern lands.

Shitogami was obviously scheming something and even though I have my Information and Trace Defense to directly protect me, he still had more influence over this world than I did. Under certain circumstances, he can pretty much manipulate ANY living creature in this world due to possessing the old Human God's body which has the power to earn immediate and unquestioned trust.

But how he can view my actions and act against them was still a mystery to me.

So, I had to remain vigilant for the following next months as our party grew in renown, finance, and numbers.

Our first new recruit was Elinalise Dragonroad, who now proudly went by Elinalise Abbot after getting captured as my newest wife. Her inclusion into the party was pretty much a godsend for me since there was now someone around who I could cuddle and have sex with. The elf wasn't looking for much in terms of our current relationship. All that she craved was sex and romance and that was a desire I could happily fill for her.

Although, the romance and sex that she described was quite debauched even after the worse effects of her curse were now dispelled thanks to the Shroud binding. Dealing with a two centuries old curse that pushed you to become a constant lewd elven sow would have negative connotations for your personality in the long run. However, I could handle her ravenous sex drive with my own and Sticky Fingers to aid the effort.

The act of sex became super casual between us that she even suggested that we spice things up by including another to the bedroom. She had suggested we tried swinging with Paul and Rey, but I put a hard pass on that since I didn't find it suitable to even go after Paul's lady like that and also because Paul didn't seem comfortable with it.

And once she found out about my interests with femboys, she was dead set on watching me pound any cute pretty boy that she could find that fit my tastes. The few that she found were nice to warm our bed, but some of her enthusiasm did get a bit much after a while.

But other than that, Elinalise fit the party's mold by being a competent combatant, big sister to the other party members, and advisor as a veteran adventurer who has been working for countless decades.

Sure, she was a little hesitant to talk about us having kids when she wasn't using it as a bargaining chip for me to fuck a harem of femboys in front of her (which I would do regardless), but that was a personal conversation that we promised to have later.

She became even more closed off about when we had came across a blonde, red-eyed female elf who requested a job at the Millishion Adventurer's Guild. The elf wouldn't even speak with us until Elinalise was out of the room, and putting two and two together, I realized that it will be a while before I can lower her barriers around that topic.

Still though, she was nice to have around as we included more party members because of…ugh…Paul.

Look, the kid was becoming a thespian with the sword. What teachings I siphoned from the original me's time at the Sword Sanctum had gone toward teaching Paul the advanced techniques from the Sword God style. If I had to give an estimate, I'd have to say that he's an unofficial Sword King after all the crap I threw him at just to make him grow.

So far, his talent was taking him far, and should he start to plateau, I'll get Talent Sharing and apply Martial Talent to him.

But no, I didn't mention Paul just to glaze his swordsmanship. He was a big contributor as to why our party grew from four (Me, Paul, Rey, & Elinalise) to seven.

And those extra three members included:

-A Hobbit

-A Mage

-A Demon Tribe Bandit

To provide context, I pretty much beat some maturity into Paul with my non-stop lessons for the guy. Having been put through back breaking training and life-shortening dangers, he's pretty much mellowed out with his arrogance a bit. Plus, Rey was doing a good job of curtailing his rampant Greyrat libido, but…unfortunately, I figured out that by making Paul a bit more decent, he then transformed him into…

…ugh, into a Shonen Harem Protagonist.

Just follow me on this one, okay, so first the Hobbit. She was a thief that had pickpocketed Paul and that led to him chasing her down all throughout the Citadel of Roa until he managed to catch her then get her money. Then BAM, he's pulled along to help said thief clear her debt to a group of adventurers hockying money off of weaker, lower ranked adventurers.

Then cue the rest of the party coming in to help him, and then suddenly, Rita, our new Hobbit thief joined the group, and Paul bagged himself a Shorstack Hobbit Wife.

Fast forward a bit into our career as adventurers, and Paul managed to snag himself a Gloomy Mage Wife after just inviting her into our party for one job, which I had to suddenly made up on the spot was a recruitment for her to join us.

So, basically, the reason why the girl was so gloomy was because of her green hair. You might find it strange, but in Mushoku Tensei after the Laplace Wars, the Superd Tribe were heavily demonized after the atrocities they committed while cursed by Laplace to be all destroying berserkers. So their green hair stigmatized and put fear/anger in the hearts of many around the globe save for few places.

And basically, our Gloomy Mage, Endora, was born with green hair despite neither of her parents having said hair color. Then cue the discrimination by her family, village, and strangers. Honestly, Paul being attracted by her large tits turned out to do her some good since he brought her along our way.

Finally, the Crimson Bandit, Krest. She was a leader of bandit troupe who smuggled themselves over from the Demon Continent to the Milis Continent and has been terrorizing the surrounding villages and towns for a full five years.

We took the job to eliminate her and her troop like we did to Saikon, but instead of killing her like the ogre, Paul had managed to deal the winning blow and earn the right to claim her as he proved himself the strongest. I did remind Paul that there was a bounty on her head and it was preferred that she was brought in dead, but the moment he saw her tits was the moment my reasoning flew over his head.

Yeah, we didn't get paid that day and had to actually skip town (by town, I mean every Milis affiliated town and settlement) because having a town-raiding, chaotic, demon in our party wouldn't sit right in a continent that was heavily religious and discriminatory against those from the Demon Continent.

So, with all of that, Paul got himself a busty shortstack, a busty gloomy mage, and a busty demon berserker. Of course, Paul was all for the chance to have himself a harem that can sate his needs, but it was just too freaking ridiculous by this point that my only warning to him was that if any of them ended pregnant, he would have to take responsibility.

He waved me off by saying that he'll do it. Not trusting his lackadaisical response, I threatened that if he didn't, he'll have to deal with me enforcing permanent abstinence upon him through his binding. That day, he turned as white as a ghost and gave me a firmer promise that he'll seriously keep.

Good, I don't want him besmirching our party's name by leaving a trail of bastards for the women he would have left behind for not keeping up with us.

Which was a close call since I had us move to the Demon Continent for another stage of my plan in this world: Recruiting Ruijerd Superdia.

Capturing that guy and letting him into our party would help me better the reputation of the disgraced Superd tribe and eventually earn the trust of the dying tribe in the Biheiril continent. Plus, the Demon Continent was swarming with high class monsters that would surely boost our party's rank from A to S.

So, after travelling up the Holy Sword Highway to Saint Port, we paid an exorbitant travel fee of 10 gold coins due to Endora's green hair and Krest being an actual demon/former criminal. Endora, the poor sweet girl kept profusely apologizing while Krest proudly proclaimed her infamy for the entire port to hear, which later bit us in the ass once no inn would accept once word got around.

Rita hissed about wasting so much money and that using her connections, she could get us a smuggler to transport the two across to the Demon Continent's Wind Port. I denied the idea before it could even be entertained because of how well that turned out in canon for Rudeus while Paul objected that he didn't want his women to be roughly handled by dirty old men.

So, I coughed up the dough and we set off for Wind Port, which took us about 2-3 days. Apart from Krest's sea sickness, it was a mundane trip across the high seas. After we set foot on the port, we went straight for business and began taking any jobs we could. Then we spent the next 2 months making our way through a significant portion of the Demon Continent, doing as many monster extermination jobs as available to give us that final push to S rank.

We were all overjoyed at our promotion that I had even given everyone an allowance to go out and spend as much as they want in the city that we chose to stay in for our last job, the city of Rikarisu. The next day would set out in search of the Superd, but I kept that a secret from most of the group who were still frightened at the prospect of meeting an infamous figure from the Laplace War.

That's why I warned everyone (while looking directly at Paul) not to stir the pot while we're there, and for once, I actually believed that we could pull off a seamless transition from here to Ruijerd.

But no.

I just couldn't have something go my way today all because of fucking Paul.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What's taking so long you six? Best me to claim the title of hero or…do you lot crave to become a champion, or perhaps the power of a Demon Lord?" Atoferate Ryback loudly proclaimed as a wave of hostile intent washed over us all. I was fine but the likes of everyone else in my party was frozen stiff.

"Y-You've gotta be shitting me…HER!?" For the first time since Paul has defeated her, I detected a heavy dose of fear in Krest's voice.

"Darling, are we certain that we want Paul back with us?" Elinalise worriedly kept her eyes on the Immortal Demon Lord. Yeah, figures that the eld would harbor some fear for Atofe, considering that she was around during Laplace's war.

"Hey!"

"Shut up, Paul!" I hissed out.

"S-Sorry."

Then I whipped back to Elinalise. "No one gets left behind…not even fuck ups who should have stayed low like I said!" I ignored more of Paul's blustering and set my full attention on Atofe. She still kept that devil may care grin on her face, but her body kept twitching in anticipation for our response to her challenge.

"L-Look, we don't want any trouble." Rita, the Halfling in our party, stepped forward with her pouch of gold asura coins in her hand. "Whatever our party member did to you, we'll happily pay off any damages done. Got it?"

"Hm? Oh, an offering. Sure, I'll take it." Atofe grinned.

I had to grab Rita's wrist and shake my head before she could throw it on over to one of the black armored knights that circled all around us.

"B-Boss?" Rita blinked in surprise and was conflicted with my act. She was a scrooge with our party's funds so this must definitely hurt her on the inside, but as his lover, she valued Paul's safety above all else.

Looking to Atofe, I asked, "Were we to give you all of our funds would you have let us off without a fight?"

"Huh? What does getting an offering have to do with us not fighting to see if you're worthy of being heroes or part of my guard?" Atofe's face scrunched up in confusion and tilted her head.

Rita's jaw quickly fell at the admission.

"B-B-Because we don't want to fight, Miss Demon Lord." Endora timidly squeaked while tightly clutching her staff from the back of our group.

"Hoh? Then that means you lot want the power of a Demon Lord? Hm! Hm!" Atofe nodded in a "as expected" manner. "Then if you don't wanna fight, all you gotta do is say "yes" and it'll be yours!"

"Everyone please do NOT respond, it is a trap!" Elinalise screamed to the party as the only one who even considered to open her mouth was Krest.

"Wha-?" Rita blinked at the elf.

"Pardon me," Emerging from the batallion of black knights was a bearded middle aged man donning the same black armor like Atofe. "But you have nothing to fear, Lord Atofe is one who fulfills her promises to the mark."

Atofe laughed. "Lies are for the weak, and I have no time or patience for them!"

"See? A trap would be the less likely thing she'd pull considering we already have you all outnumbered."

"He is speaking the truth…" Rey muttered.

"Then tell us. What would happen if we agreed to getting your power?" Elinalise questioned.

"Huh? What are you talking about, you get stronger." Atofe tilted her head, annoyance laced in her tone.

"Yes, but what kind of power?"

"You get power like mine. Isn't that obvious?"

"No, I understand, but-!"

"AHEM!" The middle aged man coughed. "Lord Atofe means that you would benefit with sharing her immortality and be bestowed the magic, swordsmanship, and resources that Fort Necross has to offer."

"Yeah, like I said. Wasn't that simple?" Atofe breathed out her nose while stubbornly glaring at us.

"No…it wasn't. Just lead off with that…" Rita grumbled quietly.

"I-It doesn't sound too bad."

"GUYS DON'T! IF YOU AGREE, THEN SHE'LL-HURCK!" Paul got punched in the face by one of the knights who brutally hissed "Silence!". Huh, guess they made the pitch to him. Good on you Paul for at least being smart enough to say no.

"Okay, guys, we're not getting out of this without a fight…" Groaning, I decided that all of this back-and-forth chatter would get us nowhere or make Atofe impatient enough to send her whole battalion at us.

"But what about the-?" Krest sent a frightened glance at Atofe in regard to the beneficial offer given to us.

"That guy over there…ugh…your name?" I gestured to the middle-aged male demon.

"Moore." He answered.

I snapped my fingers at him. "Yes, Moore. He wasn't lying when he said it wasn't a trap but agreeing to Atofe's offer would just put you under a binding contract that would force you to serve her until her death."

Everyone save for Elinalise and Rey visibly reeled back in horror. Krest took a while to piece two and two together before her red skin began to turn a palish pink color. Yup, you would have been an eternal servant to a demon lord who CAN'T die.

"Hm, you seemed quite informed, young man." Moore grunted.

"Apparently, I'm not the only one…" I turned to Elinalise. "I thought you said that you didn't participate in the Laplace Wars, so how come you know about anything to deal with Laplace's old general?"

Elinalise narrowed her eyes at the crowd of black knights and bit her lip. "I just do…" Following her line of sight, I detected amidst the group of knights an elf. One with blonde hair and a familiar pair of ruby red eyes, who was staring daggers at my elven lover.

"Elina, we really need to have a chat about your kids because this is starting to become a concerning pattern." All my lover could do was click her tongue and begrudgingly nod as she kept her eyes on her offspring who refused to look away from her.

"ENOUGH!"

Plunging her large blade into the ground, Atofe sent a tremor throughout the city of Rikarisu that had knocked many off their feet, a few of my party members included.

"My patience is running thin! Are you lot prepared to challenge me for the title of Hero or do you come for the honor of being bestowed my power?" Welp, she's mad now.

Anything said now would just trigger her to act either way, so I chose to take the initiative.

I walked ahead of my group and approached her until she was face to chest with me. Huh, for someone so feared here, she was quite short.

"Oho? So I take it that you're my first challenger, beastkin?" Atofe's grin grew.

"And your only challenger, Immortal Demon Lord because if I lose to you, then me and my entire party will enter as one of your knights." I ignored the panicked screams and curses from my party to keep eye contact with Atofe, who had the audacity to laugh in my face.

"How foolish or confident of you to wager the lives of your companions like that, beastkin. I know how tightly knit you lot get with your family and ilk. One of the reasons why you cowards betrayed Laplace after Perugius, and his companions kidnapped your children." Atofe's killing intent bolstered itself at the mention of the Armored Dragon. "So, lets test whether this bravado of yours is enough to declare yourself the title of Hero."

"Hero? Nah, I'm not facing you for that title."

"Hoh, then you seek to make yourself a champion that vanquished the Immortal Demon Lord, eh? Then lets-!"

"Nah, not here for that either."

"…" Atofe's killing intent petered out as her vicious grin fell to become a clueless grimace. "Eh? Then what…I don't understand. Why are you stepping up to face me, beastkin?" Yeah, to her I must not be ticking any of her boxes.

The story of Mushoku Tensei did make Atofe out to be a complete meathead who surpassed the likes of Eris, or more like Eris was pretty much Atofe 2.0, who could at least emotionally understand others once you've hit her over the head just enough.

"If I may interject, Lord Atofe." Moore came up to the Demon Lord's side. "I believe he's gambling everything for the sake of his comrade that we have in custody."

"Oh! The one who Kishirikia yelled was her subordinate?" Atofe blinked upon as she had a light bulb moment, ignoring Paul's desperate cries of "I am not her subordinate!", before nodding her head. "Yes, it all makes sense now. A heroic reason for someone who wishes to be dubbed a hero…wait…"

She turned to me and frowned. "You don't want the title of Hero but are still acting like a hero? I don't understand."

"Actually, Lord Atofe, he doesn't have to be heroic just to-."

*BAAAAM!* *THUD!*

Like an irate child, Atofe sent her subordinate flying with a punch. "Shut up! I still don't understand and its hot out here so don't speak so close to me!" She glared back at me with her teeth bared. "You make me understand or I'll kill you!"

We were already going to fight but fine. "Okay, to be clear, I don't want to be a hero. I want to become sole ruler of the Demon Continent as its High Demon Emperor and take you as one of my wives."

There, simple.

"…"

Everyone who heard my declaration became dead silent. I could just imagine the horror and sheer surprise that were expressed from my party and the black knights. They all expected anything but that to be my prime motivator for facing their unbeatable Demon Lord.

Even Atofe was visibly shocked to hear my motivation…for all of five seconds before she let out an even more obnoxiously loud laugh that just reverberated against every corner of Rikarisu. Her laugh just kept growing as her upper body kept leaning back until the point to where she swung her head back up just to headbutt against my own.

"Interesting. That's a pretty lofty dream you got there, beastkin. Being a hero is at least possible, but do you really believe that you can be the next Laplace and get every Demon Lord under your foot?"

I grinned back at her. "Next Laplace? Bitch please, I'm going to be so much better than him and Kishirika combined. Don't drag me down to their level…"

"Pretty big talk for a beastkin who won't even live long enough to matter." Atofe snarled back.

"Pretty big talk for someone who is about to lose to said beastkin, carry his name, and bear his children."

"…"

"…"

"…Good. At least you have some of the same drive that Laplace did." Atofe , what did I say about putting me on their level? "So, how's this?" She swung her greatsword over her shoulder and pointed at me. "If I win, I'll claim you and your companions for my own. I'm sure that my knights would love to relieve themselves with your women while I make you, my toy."

I could just hear a seething Paul grinding his teeth at the mention of his own harem being used by the knights pinning him down.

As for me, I wasn't the least bit scared of that eventuality occurring as she then pointed to herself. "And if you were to win, I'll gladly concede everything I have. My title, my magic, my men, my castle, my secrets, and my hand! All yours for the taking, if you can make me submit!"

"I accept the terms." I crossed my arms.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Good, then let's get started! OI!" She then snarled at the crowd of black knights. "Make some room already!" Everyone, even my own party, complied with the Immortal Demon's order. Now Atofe and I were given a huge kilometer of desert to do battle, and to keep it straight, I wasn't even going to indulge in holding back in the slightest.

I did that with Childe just to lure out Scaramouche and his reinforcement since the Fatui are a bunch of unfair bastards.

Atofe on the other hand was straight and to the point, her own men were trained and conditioned to follow her commands thanks to the contract and many centuries of being her slaves/knights. So, I could comfortably just go all out and end this from the start.

"Come at me then, Beastkin. If your desire is to bed me, then prove that you can even approach my Kalman's level in battle!" Carelessly, Atofe raised her arms to the air, her years of being an Immortal Demon who can survive through anything coming to the forefront.

Her stance was sloppy, her greatsword's blade was dull, and her technique was pretty nonexistent.

For an immortal like her, she must have coasted along with her racial ability to regenerate from anything. A true threat for nearly anyone save the Great Powers of this world, but jokes on her, she's facing a guy with 4-times Immortality out of Sun Wukong's 8-times Immortality who actually possesses technique and power to back it up.

"Before we begin, tell me Atoferatofe Ryback…how long has it been since you felt fear!" I bellowed across the distance as the harsh rays of the sun beat against us.

"Huh, fear? What is tha-? Oh! Yeah, I remember! It's just been so long, but the only man who made me feel fear was Laplace!" Wow, she was nonchalant about it that it was almost downright funny.

"Then lets add to that list, shall we?" I breathed out and concentrated on rising my Ki until I hit that familiar threshold within myself that gave of a spark that kickstarted my ascendance into a Super Saiyan. The desert sand quaked and expunged itself under my feet as our spectators were shook upon witnessing my form.

In this form, it was pretty much impossible not to out myself to the greater powers in this world who could detect it, but I needed to make a statement and doing this was a simple way to get my point across to the immortal demon and her rank of black knights.

Even Atofe's smile looked more apprehensive as one moment she was cockily standing in place while the next moment, she blurred across the distance to aim her greatsword for my neck.

I flew straight up into the air just as her attack was a mere second from grazing me. Her weapon leaving a small monsoon of fierce winds in it wake while I concentrated on her Ki. Ascending through the sky, I cupped my hands together and began gathering my energy into a central and fine point.

"KA-ME-!" I began pouring as much of my power into the attack as a blue sphere of Ki began to grow from it barely being a twinkle in my hand until it could fill both of my palms. "HA-ME-!" But I didn't stop there, I just kept on letting grow to the point to where the massive sphere of Ki began to dwarf my form and the eclipse over the entirety of Rikarisu settlement in its entirety.

Everyone on the ground was in awe, including Atofe, who's grin only grew as she prepared for the oncoming attack with unrestrained zeal. She no doubt expected to survive this blast, but I had a little surprise for her.

Sure, I didn't want to kill her, but I did want to humble her. I had no clue whether she could feel pain each time she regenerates, but I'll be sure to put that query of mine to bed. I still needed to test out the second element I received by purchasing Double Dragon.

After all, this world's inhabitants may have deemed it impossible to truly injure an Immortal Demon if you weren't apart of the Dragon Tribe, but…

Fuck that!

Kick logic out and fucking do the Impossible!

If I can't even do this much, then why did I even waste 200 credits just to gain this power!?

My grin grew manic as I kept my senses locked on Atofe's energy signature. In just a second, I released a Kamehameha that would have destroyed the entire world of Mushoku Tensei while simultaneously teleporting behind Atofe. The Demon Lord twitched and had an impressive reaction time to swing her blade back at me, but she was too late.

"HAAAAAAAA!"

*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

I angled my blast just high enough to obliterate the top half of Atofe's torso as my wave of energy just kept traveling through the sky with no end in sight. Fierce winds picked up as the settlement and its people were toppled and blown away by the sheer force of the Kamehameha.

But when it was over, I remained the only one standing in the desert. The knights, my party, the citizens brave enough to witness the match, and the torso-less body of Atoferatofe Ryback were either knocked out or on their knees.

I stood over my foe's legs, waiting patiently for her to regenerate. 5 minutes was all it took for her legs to twitch and kick about in a panic before the flesh of her legs began to dwindle and curl in towards her missing upper half. Her regeneration was slow and steady and eventually the Demon Lord was good as new albeit with a smaller body and now nude in her upper body.

On the ground, Atofe in a panic pushed herself onto her feet and heavily breathed. Her head hung low as sweat poured off of her body.

"I-I…That was…"

"Yes?" She went rigid as I spoke.

"…I…" She gulped, her voice stuttering as she balled up sand into her hands. "I thought…I was going to…d-die."

"…" I nodded and waited for her to continue.

"The pain, it felt different than any other spell, blade, or technique used on me. I blacked out from it and…everything was so dark that…" Atofe deeply breathed out and for a moment paused. "It was terrifying."

"Good." I grinned. "So you can feel fear after all."

"That amount of power…it's not like Touki, and definitely not magic either. J-Just what are you? Someone from the Dragon tribe?" Atofe haggardly breathed out.

"Yes, no, its complicated, but all you have to worry about is me…now being your new Emperor." I crossed my arms with pride. "Unless, you want a rematch." I flared out my Ki to its peak and just as quickly, Atofe quickly shook her head.

"No, you've proven more than just your strength to me. I doubt even the other Demon Lords will put up much of a fight if any who didn't sense your presence had heard that you bested me." Deeply bowing her head into the ground, Atofe dredged up whatever was left of her shattered pride just to bellow loud enough through the sand. "May I ask for your name?" Huh, she's quite placid right now.

"Michael Abbot."

"A fine name, then. That is why, I, Atoferatofe Ryback will concede defeat to you…Michael Abbot. Everything that I am and own are yours to utilize as you see fit until the day of your death." The sounds of metal clanking soon followed as every black knight who pulled themselves out of the sand were now deeply bowing their heads to me like their leader. "Your hand, give it to me…master."

She was still a little rough, but I complied and allowed her to engrave an ominously glowing black magic circle upon my palm that quickly camouflaged itself soon after. None of my defenses kicked in so that meant that it wasn't anything meant to harm me, rig-?

[Atoferatofe Ryback (T7) Captured – 120 credits]

[Moore (T6) Captured – 60 credits]

[Carina (T6) Captured – 60 credits]

[Peridot (T6) Captured – 60 credits]

[Arkantos (T6) Captured – 60 credits]

[BeneBene (T6) Captured – 60 credits]

[Everice (T6) Captured – 60 credits]

…

What the hell!? Why did I just suddenly get over 40 captures including Atofe?

"With that, I've transferred all rights and ownership of my established contracts over to you, including myself. If you wanna know more about 'em, then ask and I'll tell ya." Atofe grunted.

Huh, so now I've got the unconditional loyalty of Atofe and all of her men…

Score!

Now I'm up 2,520 credits, bringing my total to 3,102!

"Blegh! Ugh, does anyone have sand in there-?" Paul coughed out as he managed to free himself from the chaos of my attack to join the others who were just as covered in sand as he was.

"YES!" Everyone exclaimed with Endora pitifully whining, "Everywhere!"

"Well, darling…I didn't expect you to pull that out of your pocket, but who am I to be surprised after you've gotten THE Atoferatofe to submit to you." Elinalise sidled up to me and took my arm. "With a whole army of her finest under your lead, then I suppose that whatever your original plans for coming here are now dashed since now you apparently wish to become a Demon Emperor?"

There was a hint of accusation in her teasing tone. She didn't seem against it, but she certainly wanted to be in the loop about it.

Letting out a deep sigh, I nodded. "Pretty much, but not entirely." I looked around the entirety of the area and sucked my lips in at the amount of damage I did to the settlement. Whole freaking buildings were turned up side and demolished from the aftershock of my Kamehameha. "But before we talk about my plans to reunite the Demon Continent and make it a proper kingdom for me…I should take care of some business first." I turned to the prostrating demon. "Atofe."

"Yep, understood." Atofe nodded and stood up. Huh, wow is there some sort of magic in the contract that allowed those under my thrall to sense my intentions?

Atofe proved my guess dead wrong once she began to tear what was left of her armor to appear stark naked in front of me. Proudly unveiling her nude and admittedly beautiful body for everyone to see.

"Oh my…" Elinalise, like the pure maiden she wasn't, covered her mouth and averted(?) her eyes from Atofe.

"Hey, Paul, where are you looking?" Rey commented with a cheeky smile to her paramour, which attracted the attention of Paul's other lovers.

"Tch! Look over here, dumbass!" Rita angrily elbowed the brunette.

"Yeah, Boss, aren't we good enough for you!" Krest roughly smacked the back of the young man's head.

"W-We have big breasts too!" Endora whimpered and beat her fists into Paul's chest.

"I-I'm sorry, I won't look! I promise! So stop hitting me!" Hm, I'll get the full story about how he got caught later. Now I had to focus on the nude demon woman in front of me.

"As promised, my body is yours to do as you please. Hey, try to go for a kid with me! Its been ages since I last had one!" Aaaaaaaaaaand, she was off doing as she pleased off the bat. What happened to being completely afraid of me?

"That can wait! I meant that you should get your men to help restore Rikarisu!" I exclaimed.

"Huh? They can put it together later, and besides, master, I don't mind an audience! Kalman loved to do it in public when my guards were around!" Atofe proudly puffed her chest out.

I did NOT need to know what kind of freaky shit that North God Kalman I got up to. "Not important, that comes after the restoration of the city. Tell your men to get on it."

"Eh? Are you dumb, master?" Seriously, what the fuck happened to all that fear in your voice just a bit earlier? "They're your men now, so you command them."

"I-!" I raised a finger to refute that before scratching my head in frustration. "Good point." I ignored the demon's prideful grin and side comment about "not being a complete idiot" as I turned to the legion of black knights still prostrated. "Hey, everyone! Get to work on cleaning my mess!"

"As you wish, Lord Michael!" The all exclaimed and rushed with mad efficiency despite their large armor. Huh, looks like being Atofe's servants have made them super proficient in following orders to the letter without back talk…unlike their former leader who kept expectantly looking at me while buck naked.

"Now? There's no audience, so do you want to-?"

"Not now!" I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Look, just…take us to your castle after this and I'll give you my own handcrafted spirits when we begin the banquet." That had Atofe's eyes shining as I used my metaknowledge to take advantage of one of her weak points: Alcohol.

Now with a Party of S-rank Adventurers along with an Immortal Demon Lord with her highly trained black knights of varying races and origin under my command, I've amassed myself quite force. Now once I've gotten every Demon Lord under my control, conquering the Continent will be child's play.

I can only hope that Ruijerd won't deny joining a Demon Emperor than a simple adventurer who wishes to clear his tribe's bad name.

…He probably will…

I can't just go up to him and promise to not be ANOTHER Laplace after conquering and unifying the demons like the old Demon God did. Ugh, I'll just come up with a plan to bring the hidden Superd tribe on the Biheiril Continent over here and see if that lures him over to my side.

Also, I have to be prepared for any oncoming threats who are connected to Shitogami, who no doubt felt my little light show.

POV: Demon Lord of Wisdom

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Usually, he wouldn't find any enjoyment from fulfilling an old debt for that damned trickster god, but just for this occasion, he couldn't find it within himself to NOT be impressed with the spectacle of watching his own older sister get flattened.

Atofe had always been the strongest between the two, even more so after she was influenced by that strong human who was actually crazy enough to ask for her hand.
Now watching another fool do the same was downright hysterical!

But-!

His amusement aside, he did swim to the Demon Continent from the Biheiril Continent for a reason, and that was to fulfill a promise to the very god that afforded him the chance to protect his beloved from the likes of the Demon-Dragon God himself. He was only fortunate enough to cross his target facing his sister to know that he was heavily outmatched.

Which meant, he needed to reclaim the forbidden armor that helped him surpass the strength of it's creator, the Demon-Dragon God itself.

And so, with nary a thought, Badigadi slunk away from the eyes of the victorious adventuring party and made his descent for the depths of the Ringus Sea. Hoping that upon his return, he could finally pay off his debt to the untrustworthy Human God and resume his joyful travels across the world as he awaits the day his reborn Fiancé was mature enough to consummate their love for one another.

POV: The Third

To be a hero.

That has been his main goal in his long life.

That was why he pushed hard and became an adventurer like his no-good father had been. Except unlike his father, he never did find that one foe, that one adventure that would mark him down the annals of history as a hero.

His grand achievement of being the first adventurer to create and become an SS-ranked adventurer wasn't enough.

Not even slaying a Behemoth on his lonesome yielded him the recognition that he deserved compared to his father's grand tale of vanquishing the Red Dragon King Kajakut.

So desperate for a challenge that would finally make him recognized as the best befitting of his bloodline and talent with the blade did he get swayed by a silver-tongue adventurer from a demon clan. It wasn't one he was familiar with, but like his father before him, he carried the blood of demon within himself, and so could tell the difference between a beastkin and a demon.

He was told about rumors of a great threat that was scouring their world, gathering skills and magic to one day destroy everything AND everyone. The Second Coming of Laplace!

Finally, it would be time to define their current era.

An era where could slay the rising demon king and surpass the likes of his father, his grandfather, and dare he even say the Seven Heroes!

And so, Kalman III set forth from the Biheiril Continent with his faithful companion Geese Nukadia to the Northern Continent where Geese had gleaned that a vile magician under the thrall of the reincarnated Laplace was beginning to spread their influence amongst the citizens of the Kingdom of Ranoa.

He dared not share this news with Peruguis or his own grandmother. He didn't even bother to search for his absent father.

Why?

Because this was going to be his story, and he would not allow himself to be swayed by the machinations of others, who would dare try to control his fate.

AN: Hoped that you guys enjoyed this chapter! I played with NovelAI a little too much and made the following images for the following characters. Hope that you all like them and the direction where the story is going right now.

Things are picking up like I promised.

Anyways, I'm Out so Peace Out and have a lovely day!