TRIUMPHANT REDGRAVE CHAMPION RETURNS
Many of you beloved readers remember the duel that took place prior to the start of winter break at the City's central arena where in now Former Crown Prince Julius Challenged his now Ex-Fiance Angelica Rapha Redgrave to a duel over the fate of his Lover Marie Fou Lafan. With the end of Winter Break the Redgrave Heiress will be returning from her vacation to the Blackmore County alongside her champion who owns the territory. Reports from within the palace say that Young Redgrave's Champion has been formally promoted to Viscount following the events of the duel in question, and not only that but he is also the head of the Blackmore Coffee company that has been making waves in recent weeks.
According to sources within the Prime Ministers office lucrative deals have already been secured with the Blackmore company from both the Army and the Adventurers guild, Sharp eyed readers may also remember that Blackmore was the Adventurer reported on a few months ago who found a uncharted sky island and fended off a pirate attack in one go. One wonders what the next power move of Blackmore will ultimately be.
Excerpt from the Daily Adventurer Newspaper
Nick blinked awake bleary eyed, looking at the ceiling within one of the rooms of the Umbra. Nick didn't recall exactly how he was convinced to come to the capital exactly. And then he attempted to roll to his side and found a glasses-less Jilian on one side sleeping peacefully in the nude bar the blanket they were sharing. Right. Rolling to his left this time Nick ran into Sarah, also in the nude and holding his arm with his hand being held in a very suggestive place. Letting out a sigh Nick prepared to sit up only to run into a third individual holding him down with her arms around his waist, Clarice.
"Umbra." Nick commanded with little regard for the three using him as a pillow. "What happened last night?"
"I believe it started with the three using you as a pillow approaching you about all the technology you had in your workshop." Umbra started with the explanation. "Miss Clarice attempted to use you as a convenient outlet for her own pent up frustrations, Sarah decided to get you drunk in order to enable her. You, much to my frustration, wanted to avoid the complications of a pregnancy, thus you 'introduced them to the world of Anal.'"
"With the fancy Alzeran lubricant with the built in muscle relaxer and pain killer I assume?" Nick was already getting a headache.
"Correct. Naturally Sarah decided to join in."
"And where does the little mousy one come into play?" Nick felt distinctly like there were some important details that were being left out.
"She was drunk too." Umbra replied bluntly.
"I understand that you haven't seen much action clock-"
"My 'action' is not nearly as important as continuing the Umbran Chieftan line, for which I would be immensely grateful if you could man up and knock at least one or two of them up."
"-but if you don't want to contend with mass produced demon kings in the future could you please keep situations like these from spiralling out of control?" Right now Nick was caught between extricating himself and not waking up his bed mates.
Among the tales of Inferno perhaps the most feared are the Demon Lords or Demonic Gods as some choose to interpret them. Inferno is a land of conflict and war built on negative emotions. Desire, Greed, Gluttony, Jealousy, Pride, all of these things demand that they rule over those beneath them, those clever and powerful enough to attain dominion over part of Inferno are called 'Demon Lords' or 'Demonic Gods.' There are many famous examples of this, Sheba who is said to be the chief god of all Demon Kind, Madama Khepri is the one most worshipped by the Umbra, it is through her contracts that we learned the art of manipulating time. Others cite Sparda, a demonic general whom it is said sided with humanity in a war against inferno and who taught the Umbran their many arts of combat though it has been a long time since he has answered summons, some say he was killed after using his great power to separate Inferno from the mortal realm. Other Famous examples include Mundus, Argosax and Abigail though they too were said to have been slayed, their souls sealed away and left to rot. The Proverbial New Kid on the block calls himself Urizen, heir to Sparda though his domain has yet to be properly defined it is believed that he encompasses War.
There are many methods to raise a Demon Lord, some such as Madama Khepri are said to be so old, have had so much time to accumulate and learn to manipulate power that they could never be anything else. Others like Mundus through massed sacrifice, the ritual slaughter of countless lives to pool their life blood together into a singular mass of unprecedented power. Others such as Sparda claim that it is through humanity, that one who is capable of learning what humanity is and acquiring it for themselves will gain a unprecedented ability to manipulate their innate demonic power, though many demons refuse to believe in such fanciful thinking.
The last though is perhaps the simplest and most widely recognised: Breeding. The desire for powerful offspring is universal, there are countless tribes of animals, humans, even objects that retain the power to mate with others and produce more of their own kind after becoming demons, and Inferno is a ever virile land where survival of the fittest rules all.
Introductory Lecture on Inferno History by Jeanne Blackmore
"Mmm~! Ahhh~!" Angelica and Olivia were sharing a large semi-open air bath inside of the ship. The commoner was wondering about how that worked exactly, the stone tub and the Bamboo walls she could see working easily enough, but she wondered where the clear blue sky inside of the heavily armed warship had come from. Angelica was too busy to be curious, as she was getting a massage from Olivia. "Olivia your fingers are magic!" To Angelica's compliment Olivia looked down at her hands, shrugged her shoulders and went back to work. She wasn't wrong. Olivia had discovered a text that covered Biomancy extensively, among them was texts that covered the use of medicinal Biomancy and after seeing the page on the tension relieving massage naturally thought of Angie who was so stressed out she nearly turned into a demon. Olivia also imagined that all the hot water was helping Angie to relax too, it was working for her. "So you and Leon?" Angelica asked as she slipped into the sudsy hot water.
"Me and Leon?" Olivia parroted as she slipped into the water.
"You have slept together Olivia." Angelica replied as if she was talking about something obvious, Olivia just blushed profusely in return.
"We didn't even share the same bed!" The Young commoner shouted embarrassed. Angelica simply shrugged her shoulders in response. "It's not like someone like me can-"
"I'm going to stop you right there Olivia." Angelica had a dead serious look on her face as she spoke. "You were, and for that matter remain, the number 1 saintess candidate. In terms of sheer status you are highest in the entire kingdom. In terms of raw ability you are probably the most powerful I've seen since Leon himself. On top of that: you're beautiful!"
"You think so?" Olivia looked unsure about what Angelica was talking about.
"To the point that I'll take it as an insult if you weren't." Angelica replied bluntly as she stretched.
"I'm nothing next to you Angie!" Olivia replied deprecatingly.
"I appreciate the compliment, though not the spirit it was given." Angelica looked happy with the praise none the less.
"What about you?" Olivia asked fully intending to get some payback. "Leon must be in love with you to have fought the crown prince like that!" Olivia knew Leon didn't actually fight the crown Prince, but he was going to before the Queen ended the fight, and it's the spirit that counts.
"I have every intention of pursuing him." Angelica stated and Olivia felt something twang against her heart as she spoke. "If you are wondering if I am over the Crown Prince or not?" Angelica mused the implications. "His actions have left a scar on me that may never heal." The Duke's daughter let out a sigh at that. "I wasted so much time on him, and not only him either. Through his actions it has come to my attention that basically every friend I've ever had has been little more than rats stowing away on what they thought to be a mighty ship. The moment that ship looked like it was going to sink they abandoned it, and by extension me. If you ask if Leon is someone to whom I believe I can spend the rest of my life with?" Angelica smirked at that. "The answer is most assuredly so." Angelica put up her feet at that. "If that is the criteria you're looking for then I can say with equal assurance that you'd make just as good a life partner." Olivia turned beat red, and it wasn't just the heat. If little Livia keeps giving reactions like these from just this level of teasing then Angelica will never be able to stop.
Leon was one of the most hideously powerful people Angelica had ever met, if the Kingdom doesn't have the good sense to 'arrange' for more promotions for the young Viscount until at least the point that he can marry her by Holfort's laws then they're, frankly speaking, damned fools. On a normal Day Leon is already someone capable of tearing through the kinds of monsters that give people nightmares, and it has become apparent that a normal day for him is holding back if the extended training session against the Black Knight is any indication. That said nothing about little Livia's potential, so all Angelica can really say to that is two birds for one stone.
"Now then shall we discuss-" it occurred to Angelica that she might've teased Olivia too much, because while they were on the subject of birds Olivia looked the part of the cooked goose. "Maybe another time. We do after-all have to get dressed for the ceremony."
Leon once again looked the part of the knight in shiny neon armour, complete with a pitch black cloak draped over his body. Looking at himself in the mirror Leon just let out a sigh.
"How did I even end up in this situation again?" Leon asked looking up at the sky in lament.
"Blame your own success." Umbra snapped off to the side. "Do we need to go over the ceremony again?"
Leon just let out a sigh of defeat.
"Can I at least get this damned thing off? I feel like I'm going to fall asleep!" Leon complained indicating the bracelet of purple beads that was on his arm.
For anyone else, the carriage ride over would be something that they'd never forget. A Huge Demonic Pale green horse pulling a heavily armoured carriage through the streets of the city is not the kind of thing easily forgotten, for Leon it was Tuesday. Well actually he didn't know what day of the week it was but right now he was just struggling to stay awake.
"I know you don't exactly think highly of the royal Family Leon." Angelica of course looked radiant as usual in her dress, Olivia wouldn't be joining them today, for now it was Angelica playing the role of date for Leon. "But try not to fall asleep during the ceremony." Leon replied with a grunt of acknowledgement.
A few moments later Rodin playing the role of coachman opened the door for the pair and led them away into the palace. Various nobles were dressed in fanciful suits and dresses, it occurred to Leon that these people were probably among the parents of the Brats that were recruited to lynch Angie, and those same brats lost all their savings gambling against him. Serves them right. For now Leon's priority was on staying awake as he walked towards the countries two rulers and kneeled before them, drawing the electric blue blade with the hilt and guard of a dragon biting down on the blade, which the king graciously accepted.
Among the many rulers of the Kingdom of Holfort, perhaps it's most controversial is also the most recent.
Throughout his childhood Roland Rapha Holfort displayed nothing short of peak level competence in everything he did. Under the personal tutelage of his uncle Lucas Roland became a master of the blade, of armour, politics, and governing to the point that Lucas himself, a prodigy in ruler-ship, abdicated his right to the throne in favour of his nephew. After Graduating the royal Academy Roland was married to his wife Mylene Rapha Holfort Nee Repard, one of the princesses of the neighbouring Repard Kingdom thus securing a strong and long lasting alliance between the two Kingdoms.
Then within months of their Marriage Roland appeared to turn all responsibility for running the Kingdom over to his new wife, seemingly spending all of his time with a endless parade of women, experts currently estimate that the total number of the King's children number well into the triple digits, as of writing this article 153 in total the oldest of which is his son with his wife Mylene. One has to wonder as the years go on at the academy exactly how many of the children in attendance at the academy will be the King's illegitimate offspring.
Excerpt on the Notable Figures of the Holfort Kingdom.
Roland unsheathed the blade and analysed it briefly before turning his attention to the man who gave it to him. Tall, absurdly tall in fact, the King briefly wondered if that was a reflection of his physical power, from what he heard he also dealt with Julius's idiocy in a timely fashion too, for which he should be rewarded at the very least.
"I Knight you, Viscount of Holfort, Sir Leon Fou Blackmore." Leon handing his blade to Roland was a symbolic handing of power, followed by Roland tapping the blade on either of his shoulders a gesture stating that Roland could crush him at any time he wanted to, and now handing the sheathed blade back to Leon stating his expectations of his service. "Rise Viscount Blackmore. After your display in the arena we have high expectations of you." And Kept handing, and kept handing it back some more. Eventually an annoyed Roland used the blade tip to push Leon over who fell over sprawled out, lightly snoring. The entire audience chamber stared ahead stupefied, Angelica face palmed herself. Roland on the other hand just handed the blade to Angelica instead before retaking his throne and clapping his hands twice. Wordlessly a guard walked over and grabbed Leon by his arm before pulling on him, after a moment of frustrated groans three more men came over and each grabbed a limb before picking him up and taking him away. "Is this really what outwitted my son?"
The students soon began to return to the academy proper, though there was the notable scent of change in the air, there were fewer demi-human servants for instance, which was natural since most of the girls who employed them were now dirt broke after losing their savings during the duel, others looked to be severely exhausted having basically camped out inside of the dungeons during the entire winter break trying to recoup their losses. Then a military airship arrived in the dockyard, a large crowd gathered outside of it.
It was well known that the Five Heir's punishment included a stint in military training. The crowd gathered outside were mixed lot, some anticipating when the five fools would inevitably regain their status and thus hoping to leave a good impression while they were down, others looking to kick the fools while they were down. Either way the crowd parted with the dropping of the gang plank, and soon five shrivelled zombies walked out. Brad, Greg, Chris, Jilk and Julius look like they haven't slept, bathed, or gotten a decent meal since the break started, they looked Malnourished, exhausted and just plain filthy all around.
"Finally..." One of the zombies said something quietly, before the five of them collapsed to their knees. """""FINALLY! WE'RE FREEEEEE!""""" Before abruptly raising their fists to the sky and screaming in joy, if you looked closely there were some not so manly tears of joy coming down the sides of their faces.
"See yah's again in a few months!" The men who were still onboard the ship were looking at the five fools with blatant malice on their features.
"""""NOOO!""""" And at once the Five Fools gripped the sides of their heads and shouted in despair.
Seeing the five heirs curled on to the ground trembling as if they were small children and a monster just broke into their bedroom in the middle of the night some thoughts and feelings went through the crowd which basically boiled down to 'was I really going to try and court this loser?' as well as 'I know I wanted to kick them while they were down but is there honestly anything worse that I can do to them than what has already been done?' either way they decided they had no more business left here and left.
Another notable ship that docked at the docks was one that bore the crest of the church. A lone girl walked down from the ship's gang plank, a sceptre tucked into the rucksack on her back, despite the large heavy bag the girl herself was rail thin, her features sunken in, as if someone had taken her to a taffy stretcher and pulled. Marie Fou Lafan has had a helish time while she was with the church, first was the magic rammed through her body to forcibly grow her bones and expand her muscle tissues, whenever she wasn't doing that she was casting magic until she puked practising earth and water styled healing magic until she puked, at which point time time she would be pumped full of mana potion through the hole that was still in her stomach and went straight back to casting again.
She didn't even have to work this hard when she was trying to pay off her debts to her family, and they treated her like a slave! Already Marie could feel the malicious eyes aimed her way. Most of these people lost money on the duel, lots of money, and it was safe to say that they blamed her since Julius and the other fools instigated the matter trying to 'free' her. They wouldn't do anything in front of the church, but once she left the docks on the other hand? Indeed it would even be convenient for the church if she had a 'accident' on the way to the school, that way they could claim their 'real' protagonist instead of having to settle for the latest in a long line of fakes. Let's see who's real and who's fake after she gets the bracelet from the bottom of the Dungeon!
Leon was more annoyed than anything else. After his promotion the School felt a strong compulsion to move him to a new room that apparently reflected his new status as a Viscount, he wished they'd get him one that he actually fits into while they were at it. The twins had to dismantle the old room and set a new one up here, and they had only finished now. Well it wasn't like he was the only one getting new room arrangements, Angelica reportedly had Olivia share the princess suite in the girls dorm with her, while the five fools were moved into the cramp little corner of the hallway on the first floor that they use to have him in.
"""""NOOO!"""""
"What is it now?" Leon went down to the first floor where he saw a familiar group of zombies on their knees staring ahead jaws open, before them was a familiar sight. Profanities were scrawled on the walls of the corner, the carpet had been stained brown with manure and garbage had been piled up so high you could no longer see the door leading to Leon's old room.
"H-How!?" Julius stammered as he looked ahead at the scene of carnage before him. "This place was spotless the last time we were here!"
"My Cleaning magic was impeccable." Brad seemed more irritated that his magic had been foiled than anything else.
"This is impossible!" Chris snapped with a glare.
"It's deplorable is what it is!" From behind a familiar figure walked up to the five fools, Dan and Clarice's other followers were hauling cleaning supplies over.
"You five were supposed to have this place spotless before you left for winter break!" The supplies were thrown at their feet.
"Now CLEAN IT UP!" After Dan's outburst Left leaned into Leon's ear and started to whisper.
"Waka, this place was clean when we fixed the door." The demonesses explanation gave a look of enlightenment to Leon.
"Ah. Well let's just let them have their fun." Leon had to finish getting his room ready before the meeting with Angie, he was bringing the coffee.
No one dared to raise their heads as Angelica glared ahead of them, just remained curled into a kowtow less they face her wrath.
"So you had the entire winter break to discuss how you were going to make up for your betrayals to me, and the best that you could come up with was to beg and grovel?" Angelica quirked a brow into the air. "Very well, once again I must cover for you all, report back here at the start of the school festival. Now get out of my sight!" And thus the cowards fled for their lives as Angie let out a sigh.
"Is it really necessary to be so harsh on them?" Olivia asked as she turned to face the duchess.
"They only want to sit on the sidelines and wait for food to drop into their mouths." Angelica stated bluntly. "Baby birds only learn to grow up when you push them out of the nest, and this is long overdue."
"...just try not to over do it please Angie?" It was one of Olivia's stronger suits that she worries about others like this, even when they don't deserve it.
Soon the members of the student council entered the meeting room, along side Leon who was playing the role of coffee brewer. Technically Julius use to be part of the council but he basically never showed up, as the highest ranked student in the entire school Angelica was basically the new student council president and as such she was now examining the contents of the documents before her.
"The top concern that we need to discuss is the school festival." Angelica snapped her fingers and Left came in pushing a cart full of documents.
"These are the applications for various students stalls and other activities to be done." The school festival was not only a festival, for the students of the school they had two priorities that needed to be met at this time, that being to make money and pick up girls, the fact that doing well meant extra credit for their classes was only a bonus. "Left. Right?"
"As asked Ojou." The two demonic maids dropped various documents of different sizes onto Angelica's desk. "We've arranged the documents by content." When did these two start calling Angie Ojou? Angelica picked up the top most document on the largest stack and let out a sigh, un-surprised.
"'Cafe.'" The Natural culmination of 'get girls,' 'get grades' and 'get Dia.'
"Just fold all the low ranking noblemen into my coffee house." Leon piped up as if his logic was infallible. "I already promised them that I was going to help them get girls during the festival." Leon had a malicious smile on his face as he spoke.
"Leon! You shouldn't do bad things!" Olivia chided as in the meantime Angelica rolled her eyes.
"I'll leave it to you then." Left picked up the largest stack and dropped it in front of Leon.
Other topics included food stalls and carnival games. At Angelica's request though six individuals were singled out, naturally the six most hated people in the entire school. Now the question was how to make the most use out of each of them. Leon was the one to propose the winning solution, they even had Nick still in the capital so the equipment wouldn't even be a problem. That was day one covered, now for day two.
"As you all should know, starting from the second day forward various competitions will be in play. Air Bike Racing, Adventuring, a Melee Tournament, Sharp Shooting and a Magic Competition." Angelica listed off the various competitions that would be taking place over the five days following the opening day.
"And I intend to participate in all of them." Leon stated without shame.
Various companies within Holfort would be giving out sponsorships to individuals that they've already prepared, probably the sons and daughters of their families. What else is Leon to do when faced with the chance to show off the Blackmore company? After that was a filtration of various students who were deemed unfit for competition, five names again came up.
"I say we let the five fools participate in whatever competitions that they want." Leon stated as he crossed his arms. "What's the point in that?" One of the other council members asked making their suspicions known.
"If you don't let them compete then it'll just make Angie look petty." Leon stated in a tone that made his logic infallible as he spoke.
"What about the first day?" Another council member said bringing up Leon's proposal for the Six.
"That's business, they're the biggest hate sinks in the entire school and this is the best way to use them." Leon stated bluntly as he once more indicated the tournament sheets. "There's nothing to gain from blocking them from participating."
"Motion carried." Angelica conceded to Leon's point. Of course that doesn't mean that they couldn't make the five fools'lives absolutely miserable in the mean time. "Then that just leaves the final day of the festival and the other matter of importance that needs to be discussed." Angelica stated as she let out a sigh. "For the final day, a large fireworks show will be held. There shouldn't be too many problems but extra security will be necessary." As for the other matter. "The Queen will be visiting for the first day of the festival, probably more. Not in any official capacity so some casualness is required, that said everyone will be on their best behaviour."
"Incognito eh?" Leon asked smirking in amusement. "Should we assume that the Queen will be needing a disguise, so that nobody immediately recognises her?"
A good question. To Angelica's knowledge Leon's knighting ceremony was the first time the Queen has had the luxury of a public appearance in years, it was entirely possible that no one at the school even knew what she looked like anyway, and it wasn't like most of the school would pay attention to such things anyway, to Angelica's knowledge there would be a fair number of parents that come to see their kids at the festival, though most should be busy running their various territories.
"What do you have in Mind?" Angelica asked and Leon indicated the various female students present as if it was obvious. "...Yes she should enjoy that a great deal." If you asked the opinion of anyone but the King, then Mylene had aged like fine wine, given the appropriate clothing she would easily pass as a student. "That should cover everything I needed to talk about then. Right would you mind contacting the Five fools and the Saintess so that we might discuss their plans for the festival?" Right gave a salute before she disappeared into the floor with the appropriate documents and took off.
"HHHYYYAAAHHH!" Marie screamed as she swung down the saint's staff like a bludgeon down onto the head of her enemy. Another one was coming up from behind, and remembering the brutal early days of her saintess training Marie swung a fist forward filled with, earth/water/bio mana, under her influence bones snapped of their own accord and fluids like blood went riot, not enough to kill but more than enough to hurt. Unlike dungeon Monsters Marie would get in trouble from killing a bunch of demi-humans. "PISS OFF!" Marie gave a feral scream as she waved around her staff like a mace, already ready to give the girls and their demi-human attack dogs another taste of her special brand of 'healing magic.' The girls screamed in terror as they ran away, leaving their minions to bleed out on the floor. Letting out a tired sigh Marie bent over and healed the poor saps. "You understand what will happen to you if you attack me again correct?" The cat man nodded his head fearfully as he was held down by someone half his size and a quarter his weight. "Good~!" Marie gave the individual in question a playful slap on his face as she stood up. "Spread word around to the other whores about what happened here for me okay~?" The Demi-human attempted to run away but Mare's grip on his head stopped him. "Okaaay~!?" The servant nodded before Marie let him run away at last.
A few more like that and she should have a nice peaceful life secured. Speaking of sex slaves a black mass rose out from the floor into the form of one of Blackmore's maids.
"What do you want?" Marie questioned her makeshift bludgeon bouncing in her hand.
"I've come to inform you that your Cafe proposal has been rejected." The cat eared maid replied. "The festival is already at risk of over saturation with Cafes as it is." Yeah that figures. "Alternatively though." The maid held up a second proposal. "The student council has prepared an alternate proposal for you and your group."
"You mean 'Lets torture Marie and her boyfriends for the whole day?'" Marie countered in a knowing tone. "I'm not falling for that!" She's already been scammed into becoming the Church's slave after all, the only reason they let her go for school was because they can't constantly keep forcing her body to grow non-stop until she became something acceptable.
"It involves your boy toys wearing these for an entire day." The maid held up a speedo and pulled it tight.
"We're in!" It's not like those five are good for anything else.
Review Section:
RonaldM40196867: They're mostly there to help give context to the bullshit video game mechanics that somehow actually exists in this world. I shop in person. More notes will explore the game mechanics in the future of the story.
RedRat8: I would say that she's trying to keep the planet from self destructing but the world's already in chunks.
m6102032: I have plenty of plans in place to address that even without a Omake. In fact considering the size of some of the Reviews I've gotten It should be entirely possible for people to write Omakes in the Review Section. Thank you very much for your praise. I got a lot more than Two weeks believe me, and soon I'll be back to work again.
desropter: Thank you very much. Erica's knowledge is limited to: what she knows about the world prior to its destruction, what was covered in the games, and what she knows as the princess. Anything that isn't covered in those three things, like say the fate of the original Saintess, is not something she's aware of. But yes, the Butterfly is flapping hard.
Guest: That's because Erica doesn't know either. She has no idea why Leon or his family is in Holfort nor does she have any idea of how to make them leave. If she had her way then he would've never stepped foot in the academy.
guest: Yeah. Disappointing Male lead.