Became the Emperor of the Demon Realm Empire Chapter 6

Became the Emperor of the Demon Realm Empire

Chapter 6: The Demon’s Contract 

“Hah… Hah……”  

Having escaped the village, Trisha quickened her pace.  

Now she could admit it, the tales of the world’s strongest demon were no exaggeration. 

This was the real reason humanity feared the Demon Realm.  

‘Why doesn’t the Emperor invade the human kingdoms with that kind of power?’  

Just his presence had reduced a count-rank demon to dust. For a baron-rank like Trisha, merely breathing under that pressure had drained her mana to dangerous levels.  

‘Damn it, the blood loss is making my heart race.’  

This was no time to relax.  

She had exhausted too much power in too little time. Anemic and dizzy, the ground beneath her seemed to ripple like waves.  

Death was creeping closer.  

“I can’t… go on… Need… blood……”  

Trisha closed her eyes against the vertigo, then forced them open again.  

“……?”  

And then, she doubted her own vision.  

Through her wavering sight, a figure suddenly appeared.  

“Hello…? Is anyone there…?”  

It wasn’t a hallucination. Nor an illusion.  

A lone girl walked through the forest in the distance.  

Her golden, hawk-like eyes flickered as she peered into the darkness.  

“S-Strange… Lady Cecilia’s coordinates should’ve led me here… Eek…!”  

Startled by a sudden squirrel, the girl clutched her chest before cautiously continuing forward.  

She was perfect prey.  

Trisha’s pupils slit vertically as thirst clawed at her throat.  

“Hey, kid.”  

“……!!”  

Trisha’s lips curled from the shadows.  

The girl yelped and fell back onto her rear.  

“Are you a virgin?”  

“Wh-Who…?”  

“Hehe, doesn’t matter either way!!”  

“Eeek!”  

Trisha burned the last of her strength to lunge forward.  

Her hand stretched out to grab the girl’s hair—  

‘Huh?’  

The next moment, a massive tentacle erupted from the girl’s back.  

By the time Trisha blinked in shock, she was already flying through the air. 

The moonlight revealed the tentacle’s true form, a serpent.  

‘She’s not human?!’  

The snake, darker than the night itself, coiled around Trisha’s waist.  

Digestive acid dripped onto her face, melting flesh like wax.  

“P-Please… spare me!”  

Trisha looked up in horror.  

The serpent’s gaping maw descended toward her.  

‘Oh, fuck.’  

CRUNCH—!!  

A sickening sound echoed through the forest.  

The black serpent uncoiled, releasing its grip.  

Only Trisha’s lower half remained, crashing to the ground in a pool of blood.  

The girl hesitated, then took a step forward.  

“Um… a-are you okay…?”  

“……”  

“Sniff… Waaah……”  

Echidna rubbed her teary eyes and sniffled.  

Then she turned around and trudged back the way she came.  

‘I’m sorry, Lady Cecilia…’  

‘I think I did my best…’  

“The night is scary……”  

Echidna tore open a dimensional rift in the air.  

Garganta.  

A direct portal to the Demon Realm.  

“L-Lady Sitri can sniff out His Majesty’s scent anyway, so she doesn’t really need me……!”  

After a moment of hesitation, Echidna retracted her serpentine appendages and leaped into the rift.  

WHOOOOSH….. 

As the portal closed, peace returned to the forest.  

[ Lv.200 Serpent of the End ]  

……Where she had stood, a flickering hologram buzzed faintly.  

***  

“[…And so, the great hero Andy returned to his family after a long and arduous journey.]”  

– THE END –  

“……?”  

I flipped the pages back and forth, doubting my own eyes.  

What had been an exhilarating tale, masterfully paced by the author, concluded in a laughably anticlimactic ending within five minutes.  

……I felt betrayed.  

“Which kingdom is this author from?”  

For a brief moment, I considered doing something unpleasant, but let it go.  

Well, what could I do?  

The book I’d read was just a fairy tale based on true events.  

Still, one thing bothered me.  

The ending was a lie.  

The real great hero Andy never returned to his family.  

By the time he finished his journey and came home, his wife and daughter had already been murdered.  

Because the gods love tragic stories like that.  

Sometimes, I wonder—  

What will my story’s ending be?  

Am I just another NPC in the gods’ game, moving as they designed?  

“Mmm……”  

As I quietly returned the borrowed book to its shelf, Sonia stirred awake.  

She jolted upright like someone escaping a nightmare.  

As expected, this human woman recovered quickly.  

“Ghk…!”  

“Stay still. I lifted the curse, but your body is on the verge of collapse.”  

I had already undone Trisha’s branding using my authority as a Demon Lord.  

Naturally, the hypnosis had broken too. 

Sonia must’ve remembered everything—the past fortnight spent living among the dead.  

“You’re……”  

“Ron.”  

“Was it… not a dream?”  

When I nodded, Sonia slumped back weakly.  

Given her body’s advanced decay, that brief movement must’ve been her last burst of strength.  

“……Did everyone in the village die?”  

“Yes.”  

“Is that monster… dead?”  

“Probably.”  

“……Thank you.”  

Sonia closed her eyes, silent tears streaming down.  

Resigned to her tragedy, she drew what might be her last breath in this world.  

Of course, it didn’t have to end like this.  

“Am I going to die like this?”  

“……”  

“……I want to live.”  

Sonia muttered, as if speaking to herself.  

Even after losing her hometown her entire world she was still human. 

And humans cling to life, no matter what.  

I could understand that.  

I, too, had conquered the Demon Realm to survive.  

“Then pay the price.”  

“That sounds like something a demon would say.”  

“Correct.”  

Sonia’s eyes widened as she stared at me.  

She seemed unsure what to say next.  

“……Are all demons this kind?”  

“Your question is flawed. There’s only one demon left in this world.”  

“……”  

“This might sound sudden, but I’ll offer you a contract.”  

“A… contract?”  

“If you wish to live, abandon your humanity.”  

“……”  

“In return, you must pay me a price equal to your revival.”  

A race change, in other words. Or perhaps a debt to be repaid.  

“I… have nothing to offer.”  

“That’s for me to decide.”  

The country girl was ignorant.  

She didn’t realize her own innate talent.  

Had she been born to a noble family, her life’s genre might’ve been entirely different.  

“Why… go this far?”  

“I liked the food.”  

“……Huh?”  

“Come with me. The Empire does not discriminate. Anyone with ability can rise to nobility.”  

“……”  

“Hurry. You have… about 30 seconds left.”  

Honestly, even I doubted this would work.  

How would a human who’d lost everything to demons feel, hearing a demon ask her to become one?  

But one thing was certain—  

Facing death, Sonia would act on instinct, not calculation.  

It’d be a shame if she hesitated and lost her chance to choose.  

“……”  

Finally, Sonia whispered something.  

“I hope I won’t regret this.”  

With a weak nod, Sonia closed her eyes.  

Without delay, I granted her wish.  

“Witch of Embers. Welcome to the Empire.”  

Exhausted, Sonia lost consciousness before hearing my words.  

I lifted her into my arms and opened a Garganta.  

“The others will throw a fit over this.”  

Bringing a human into the ranks would draw protests, but I had no regrets.  

The fifth calamity of the Demon Realm—a being that existed only in Pandemonium Mode.  

[ Lv.47 Witch of Embers ]  

That would be Sonia’s new name.  

***  

“May they find peace in the arms of the gods…”  

When the hero’s party arrived with three paladins in tow, the village was already ablaze.  

No one knew who had set the fire.  

They could only pray that the slaughtered villagers would find solace in the divine paradise.  

Leticia was no exception.  

“Was this the work of demons?”  

“We can’t be sure. We searched the entire village, but all the bodies were burned beyond recognition.”  

“……”  

“If this was orchestrated, the perpetrator must be terrifyingly meticulous.”  

Leticia listened to the paladin’s report from atop her horse. Then, noticing what seemed to be the inn, she tilted her head in confusion.  

Unlike the other buildings—either reduced to embers or still smoldering—the inn was raging with flames, as if set alight much later.  

“Hero. We should move soon.”  

“……Understood.”  

Shaking off her thoughts, Leticia gripped the reins. 

As she rode ahead, the rest of the party mounted their horses and followed.  

All except one.  

‘This can’t be happening……’  

Lorian, the NTR Hero, despaired.  

For the next chapter to proceed smoothly, the player had to level up here.  

‘Damn it, I need at least 30 levels from this place…!’  

He’d braced himself, but he never imagined there’d be no monsters left.  

He searched desperately, but not even a single weak ghoul remained.  

The hunting grounds had been cleared.  

‘Is this… Pandemonium Mode?!’  

Lorian, stuck at a pitiful Level 13, slumped in defeat.