Let's briefly take a look at how the hierarchy of Dantalion's Demon Lord army works.
It's been over three years since my dungeon began construction. The first floor, B1, B2, and B3 have all been completed. The rest are being built piece by piece. Even now, countless goblins and dwarves are shouldering their tools and bustling through the dungeon nonstop.
Among all the floors, B10 alone was built clean and ready ahead of schedule — and that is where I, along with the key figures of Dantalion's Demon Lord army, reside.
In other words, whoever has taken up residence on B10 is essentially an officer of our Demon Lord army.
The one who holds the number-one rank in Dantalion's Demon Lord army is, of course, yours truly — Dantalion.
"Father. I've brewed some black tea."
The office on B10. As I sat there leisurely going through documents, Daisy approached. The girl set down a cup of tea. Steam curled up from the teacup.
"Thank you."
I nodded.
"So, what poison did you slip in today?"
"I mixed in a poison that, when taken consistently over two hundred years, dissolves your bones."
Daisy answered flatly, as if it were nothing.
"I satisfied all three conditions Jeremy taught me — colorless, odorless, and tasteless. It's my masterpiece."
"Good work. Now go brew it again."
"Yes, Father."
Daisy took the tea back.
Daisy turned fourteen last month. Even at ten, she was already an unsettling child who radiated a strange allure far beyond her years. By fourteen, she had grown into a girl who was both youthful and intoxicating — in other words, a poisonous apple brimming with transgressive charm.
"You're not going to punish her?"
Lapis Lazuli, who had been sitting across from me reviewing documents, spoke up.
"He attempted to poison Lord Dantalion. He deserves to be punished with the rod."
"No need. That little brat has already tried to poison me seventy-four times."
Because of the Slave Brand carved into his heart, he could only use poisons that were utterly useless unless administered consistently for two hundred years. Honestly, calling it a poisoning attempt was generous. Poor guy.
"That's just the kind of fate he's stuck with for life, so just ignore him."
"Understood."
Lapis nodded without expression.
She raised no objections to my words and returned to her paperwork. As usual, she was dressed in a business suit, her pink hair tied in two braids that gently covered the front of her jacket.
Lapis Lazuli was the second highest-ranking officer in Dantalion's Demon Lord's army.
She served as the Minister of Internal Affairs. In our Demon Lord's army, the Internal Affairs Ministry held power that was almost excessive—it oversaw the security of the Demon Lord's Castle and territories, was responsible for prisons, and managed all territorial administration.
It was a monster of a department combining the executive branch, police, and intelligence agencies.
And Lapis Lazuli, who topped that department... well, she was roughly equivalent to a Prime Minister who also served as the Chief of Police and, for good measure, the Director of National Intelligence. Thinking about it that way, it really was an astounding position.
Oh, and Lapis was also the Minister of Revenue and Public Works. So she was also the Minister of the Treasury and the Ministry of Construction. If you just added Minister of Finance and Minister of Land and Infrastructure to that dazzling list of titles, you'd have it all. The day she rebelled would be the day Dantalion's Demon Lord's army perished.
Ha.
"Lord Dantalion. I require your seal on these documents."
"Okay, got it. But even if paperwork is piled up, do we really need to share a desk just to work on it together?"
"We do."
Lapis answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Lord Dantalion, you spent all your time playing around with Miss Laura, causing this massive backlog. It would be troublesome if you don't process it quickly."
"But the weekend is still..."
"I've heard you have a scheduled meeting with Lord Barbatos over the weekend."
Whether it was just my imagination, but Lapis's gaze had turned cold.
"If you go at that point, you'll just make the same excuse — 'Lord Dantalion couldn't work because Lord Barbatos came to visit, what a shame, but there's nothing I can do.' It's so predictable it's almost boring."
"My perfect scheme has been seen through...!?"
A shiver ran through me. That same tingling sensation I'd felt during climax traced its way down my spine. It was absurd. I was someone who could say with confidence that, in matters of cunning alone, he wouldn't lose to anyone across the entire continent — and yet a mere low-ranking Succubus had seen right through me.
"How many years do you think it's been since I started working alongside Lord Dantalion? You won't be able to escape this time. Please accept it."
"It's only been three days since Heidelberg fell... *sniff*... I just want to have fun..."
I read through the documents with tears welling in my eyes.
Well, Lapis was practically the founding hero of this entire operation. You could say she was the one person I couldn't push back against. The Black Herb windfall, the success of Operation Minerva — none of it would have been possible without her.
When Laura got cheeky, I could just spend two days and nights putting her in her place. When Daisy got cheeky, I could spend the whole night breaking her in nice and slow. But when Lapis got angry, it was simply game over. All I could do was prostrate myself and beg for forgiveness, swearing I'd do better.
"Phew."
A sigh drifted up from beneath the desk.
"My Lord. That's already the fourth time now."
It was Laura. She was crouched under the desk, orally pleasuring my manhood. The reason I'd felt that same shiver as when I'd climaxed earlier was because I had, in fact, actually climaxed. Laura had swallowed every drop of my seed before letting out a small sigh.
"I'd quite like to return to my room and read the philosophy book by Antoine Arnauld that was just acquired, if you don't mind..."
"You can't. If Laura leaves, I'll be stuck doing nothing but paperwork all alone. At the very least, keep at it until I've finished all the documents."
"...Lapis, how much longer will it take for all of my Lord's documents to be finished?"
"I'd say..." Lapis replied.
"At least five more hours."
"You're telling me to perform fellatio nonstop for five hours right now?!"
Laura pulled a face.
"I wouldn't know, My Lord, but this is murder on the jaw! You just happen to be ridiculously huge down there, which makes it impossible to wrap my mouth around it."
"Ah—ah. Hold on, stop flicking with your fingers. I'm hypersensitive right after climaxing."
Third in the hierarchy of the Dantalion Demon Lord's army: Laura de Farnese.
She was in charge of the military affairs division. You could compare her to a Defense Minister, but in truth her authority ran even deeper — she oversaw military administration, military command, and military operations all in one.
Every monster living in the dungeon was bound to obey Laura's commands without exception. If they didn't, Laura held the right to punish them on the spot, regardless of my wishes.
In truth, Laura was rather dim in everyday matters, but once military business came into play, she showed no mercy. Every month, two or three monsters were executed for the crime of defying military orders. I'd wager that every monster in my dungeon feared Laura far more than they feared me.
"It was I who conquered Heidelberg, not My Lord! I'm the one who deserves a vacation, so why on earth should I have to serve My Lord for five whole hours… This is absurd!"
"Now you see it? The world is inherently absurd. If you don't like it, you be the Demon Lord, Laura."
"Nnnngh…!"
Laura's eyes brimming with tears, she took my member into her mouth once more. Mmm — a pleasant warmth enveloped my lower half. I hummed a little tune and continued reading through the documents.
That about wraps up the top brass of the Dantalion Demon Lord's army.
Next came Parsi at fourth in the hierarchy. He was responsible for the domain's affairs outside of the Demon Lord's Castle itself. He managed the domain's administrative and tax authority. Among monsters, Laura was the most feared; among humans, it was Parsi.
After him came Jeremy at fifth in the hierarchy. He served as the captain of the militia under the Internal Affairs Ministry. In place of Lapis, he practically managed law enforcement and the prison. When I say he managed the prison, what that means is Jeremy had the right to sear prisoners with fire or slice their bellies open.
And Daisy came in sixth in the hierarchy. She was my personal secretary and head maid.
A great many monsters served as attendants in the Demon Lord's Castle, including my lovely elemental spirits. Daisy oversaw them all. Moreover, Daisy was the one who conveyed my will to the domain. She was the closest of the close confidants.
"I've brewed the tea again."
"Oh? And what poison did you slip in this time?"
"A toxin that rots your insides if you take it steadily for three hundred years."
"Brew another pot."
"Yes, Father."
Even though it's absurd that my closest aide keeps trying to assassinate me every chance she gets.
The rest of the hierarchy doesn't need to be listed one by one. The village chiefs and the senior monsters lurking in the boss rooms on each dungeon floor would rank around seventh. There are more than a couple of them.
For reference, Luke, Daisy's older brother, is the vice-captain of the militia. He's training hard in martial arts under Jeremy. If I had to pin a rank on him, it'd be somewhere around fifteenth. I wonder how it feels to be outdone in the race for success by a younger sister.
To summarize briefly:
Dantalion > Lapis > Laura >>> Parsi > Jeremy > Daisy >>> Village chiefs, senior monsters.
That would be the official hierarchy.
But if you dig a little deeper, things get complicated.
"Dantalion!"
Someone kicked the office door wide open. When I raised my head to look, Barbatos was standing there huffing and puffing, his white hair whipping about. At the appearance of the Supreme Demon Lord, Lapis immediately rose from her seat and prostrated herself on the floor.
I furrowed my brow.
"Hey. Is this your living room? If you're coming, at least send a servant ahead to announce yourself. What do you think you're doing?"
"You son of a bitch. You set up a meeting with me this morning at Windbona, and now you're talking about servants? Is the thing hanging on your neck a bucket or a head?"
"Oh."
I was genuinely surprised.
"Was today the day we agreed on? Wasn't it tomorrow?"
"You bastard!"
Barbatos bared his teeth. From how heavy his breathing was, he was clearly furious.
"I was waiting for you to show up, and you dare stand me up all the way until evening?"
"H-Hold on. I really thought it was tomorrow! My maid definitely told me the day you two agreed on was tomorrow!"
I turned pale and looked at Daisy.
"I don't understand what you're saying, Father. I simply wrote down in my notebook exactly what you told me."
Daisy replied coolly.
But I saw it. The corner of her mouth had risen ever so slightly—about three millimeters. Daisy's eyes sparkled like a strategist whose plan had just succeeded.
"You little brat?!"
"I'm already furious enough about being toyed around by Paimon, and now you're going to stand me up? Dantalion, you bastard, your guts must have grown so big they burst out of your belly and rolled three thousand li across the land."
Barbatos's right hand glowed with dark mana. A whip materialized. He gripped the whip and came striding toward me. My body trembled with fear.
There was a bitter truth here. No matter how much people endlessly debated the Demon Lord's Army's rankings—Barbatos outranked all of it. Just look at the raw power balance: "Barbatos >>>>>> Dantalion." What could I do about that?
I desperately looked around at my subordinates. Somebody help me!
"......"
"......"
Nobody would meet my eyes. Unbelievable. Every last loyal subject in the world had dropped dead, then? Not a single soul willing to lay down their life for their lord when he was on the brink of death?
"Oh my. Big Sister Barbatos has arrived."
That was when Laura crawled out from beneath the prayer desk.
Barbatos froze when she saw Laura.
"......Laura? What were you doing down there?"
"My lord asked me to administer fellatio, so I was occupied for a bit. But more importantly, Big Sister Barbatos. You promised we'd be together the next day too, yet why did you disappear that morning?"
"Uh. That, well, you see..."
Barbatos stammered. The bluster had evaporated completely, and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.
"Something came up in Vindobona all of a sudden, and I had to deal with it no matter what."
"So a promise to me is worth only that much. I was all excited thinking I'd get to spend the morning with you, Big Sister... but I suppose you weren't all that happy about it."
"No, no! Absolutely not!"
Barbatos quickly unsummoned the whip and lunged toward Laura.
That's right.
Surprisingly, even though the hierarchy of 'Barbatos >>>>>> Dantalion' had been firmly established...
There existed an even higher hierarchy of 'Laura > Barbatos.'