"Wait, hold on a second. I can't make sense of what you're saying."
"There's nothing to make sense of. Everything I've told you is the honest truth."
I spoke with complete sincerity. And it truly was sincere. Someone powerful who wouldn't betray my side—could there be anyone more suited to have as an ally? The fact that a strange character like Paimon harbored such talent was nothing short of astonishing.
"I've fallen for your character, Lady Sitri."
"Wha—hah? My character?"
"Yes. The passion that drives you to throw your entire being into saving the person you've given your heart to. The unwavering commitment to keep every word you've ever spoken. With just those two qualities alone, Lady Sitri, you surely possess the most beautiful personality among all the Demon Lords combined."
Perhaps it was the barrage of compliments, but Sitri began furiously fanning her face with her hand fan. Now it wasn't just her cheeks—her entire face had turned red. Ah, so it seemed Sitri was extraordinarily weak against praise. Maybe it was because she was so pure that praise hit her even harder… Yeah, that made sense.
I decided this was the perfect opportunity to push Sitri's Affinity sky-high.
"Of course, it's not just your character. Lady Sitri, you're attractive in many other ways as well."
"Guh…!?"
"Your luscious hair, your figure that Barbatos can't even begin to compare to—haha. Honestly, even I couldn't help but feel moved as a man!"
Though there was a certain cannon hanging below, so to speak.
"Standing alongside someone as beautiful as Lady Sitri would put steel in my spine."
Right around that moment, a chime rang out.
[Demou Lord Sitri's Affinity increases by 6.]
Sitri ducked her head low.
She murmured as if speaking to herself.
"Since when… since when did you start feeling that way?"
"From the very first moment I laid eyes on you, of course."
The time Paimon burst naked into my tent, begging me to forgive her. Turns out later that the idiot had stripped off all her clothes and sprinted straight through the center of the Crescent Alliance Army's camp to reach me. No dignity, no shame—she just charged right in.
I have a peculiar weakness. Whether you'd call it naivety or purity, when I see that kind of person, my heart goes soft. I could squeeze them dry without breaking a sweat, but I hold back. I'd rather befriend them, if I can. It was the same with Jack Orland.
Probably because they're so different from me. Like insects drawn to light, I find myself yearning for pure-hearted people, even though I know it's foolish.
The type I hate most is the ones who pretend to be pure while pulling every dirty trick behind the scenes. Paimon is the prime example. She claims to love humanity with a pure heart, but she's a political animal through and through. What is she hiding, exactly? I'm the same type myself, truth be told. My dislike of Paimon carries a tinge of loathing my own kind.
"Nnhh… um, this is my first time doing something like this…"
Sitri fidgeted restlessly, her fingers squirming. With her head bowed, her expression was hidden from view.
"My reputation is terrible, you know? …I've slept with monsters, I've been called disgusting more times than I can count… I've never really been called attractive… If it were Paimon, maybe, but saying that I'm attractive? That's ridiculous."
"Pfft. Paimon?"
That woman, attractive? Yeah, right.
Ever since my days as a <Dungeon Attack> player, Paimon has been neck and neck for the top spot on my list of least-liked female characters. I'll grant that she helped me out in the final stretch of that last debate, but Paimon still sits in my heart as a source of pure distaste. Compared to her, Sitri is an angel.
Below the waist, anyway.
"I know you hold Paimon in the highest regard. Please forgive me for speaking ill of her. To me, you are ten times, a hundred times more wonderful than she is."
"Hwaaah?"
"If someone asked me whether I'd want to spend my life with Paimon or Sitri, I would answer the same way ten times out of ten, a hundred times out of a hundred—Sitri, you, and no one else. There is absolutely no room for debate!"
She's the woman who stabbed her own kind—the Crescent Alliance Army—in the back in the name of humanity. Like I'd ever take her as a comrade. Honestly, even if it weren't me, the vast majority of Demon Lords would choose Sitri.
Sitri spoke in a voice as small as a mosquito. Her voice had drowned so deep in embarrassment it had practically sunk without a trace.
"But… I've already given my body and heart to Paimon. A-AND besides, you have Barbatos too!"
Hmm. Fair point.
Paimon may be an unknown quantity going forward, but for now she is the head of the Mountain Faction. I, on the other hand, am one of the key power players in the Plains Faction. Getting friendly with someone like me would be quite a political burden for Sitri, who belongs to the Mountain Faction. At the very least, her relationship with Paimon could deteriorate. No—there's a nine in ten chance it already would.
Sitri would suffer for it. She'd be tormented by the worry that she was betraying her own side.
But I'm not exactly trying to recruit Sitri into the Plains Faction. From the start, I have no reason to go above and beyond for the Plains Faction. If someone can keep pace with me, I'll recruit them regardless of whether they're Plains or Mountain. I need to make that clear.
"Don't misunderstand. Barbatos has nothing to do with this. Before I'm anyone's associate, I am a Demon Lord in my own right. I want to get close to whoever I take a liking to, without any reservations."
Going forward, factions probably won't matter as much as they used to. They'll degenerate into nothing more than a label, a pretext.
The Habsburg Empire is finished. At the very least, the central and northern territories will fall into the hands of the Crescent Alliance Army. Demon Lords will each carve out baronies and counties for themselves and settle in the Human Realm. Power will be fragmented down to individual domains.
Until now, the Demon Lords had cooperated—at least on the surface—while crying out for the destruction of humanity, whether they liked it or not. That was because the forces of the Demon Lords and the forces of humanity were cleanly and clearly divided. But what happens once they settle into the central and northern regions of the Habsburg Empire?
For starters, the Mountain Faction will take a friendly approach toward the humans living in their territories. The Mountain Faction Demon Lords will be grinning from ear to ear, thinking, "The war is over! We've carved out territory in the Human Realm—time to start living happily!"
Once Demon Lord territory keeps expanding, the power that could keep the high-ranking Demon Lords in check—namely, humanity—will vanish. Swallowing the Habsburg Empire is the perfect amount. It restrains the high-ranking Demon Lords just enough, lets them establish themselves in a prosperous Human Realm, and for the Mountain Faction, it's the best-case scenario made real.
The Plains Faction, on the other hand? They oppress the humans in their territories.
The Plains Faction ultimately aims to conquer the entire continent. They regard humanity as an annoying obstacle—nothing more. In Plains Faction territories, the Demon Lords will become nobles, the Demonkin will become commoners, and the humans will become slaves. Naturally, all manner of trouble will follow.
Humanity, too, will gradually come to realize that the Demon Lords can no longer be bundled under the single name of "Demon Lord." They'll cooperate with some and fight others. Yesterday's enemy becomes today's ally. An exceedingly chaotic political landscape will descend…
If that state persists, each Demon Lord will have no choice but to walk their own path in order to survive. Take, for instance, a single Demon Lord belonging to the Mountain Faction. What if their territory borders right next to a Plains Faction domain? Would they remain loyal to the Mountain Faction to the bitter end? Not a chance. To survive, they'd have to compromise.
And once you compromise once, you compromise again, and again, and again… Once that cycle repeats, what truly matters becomes individual survival. Some Mountain Faction Demon Lords and some Plains Faction Demon Lords might join forces to create an entirely new faction. Depending on the region, anything is possible.
It would be a true age of chaos.
An era reminiscent of Europe's Thirty Years' War was approaching.
"For now, please forget about Paimon. I've forgotten about Barbatos as well. Look at me simply as a single Demon Lord—judge whether this individual is someone worth trusting or not. I ask you to see me with clear, unclouded eyes."
"Ah, um… umm?"
"Lady Sitri."
To prepare for that future, I needed to win over the twelfth-ranked Demon Lord to my side.
[Demon Lord Sitri's Affinity increases by 11.]
Another notification window popped up. Smooth sailing.
I squeezed Sitri's hand once more. At that, she cautiously raised her head. Her cheeks were flushed red as an apple, with a hint of tears glistening at the corners of her eyes. Our gazes met. Startled, Sitri turned her head away, but it was plainly obvious she was still stealing glances at me from the corner of her eye.
"I'm not saying I intend to abandon Barbatos at all. Sitri, you don't need to turn your back on Paimon, either. Barbatos is Barbatos. Paimon is Paimon. And..."
"A-And...?"
"You are Sitri, and I am me."
She stared at me blankly, having forgotten all about her embarrassment, her eyes fixed intently on mine. I realized this was the final hurdle. I had to show her my sincerity here. Without a word, I simply reflected my eyes in hers, hoping she would understand just how earnest I was.
A triumphant fanfare blared in my ears.
[Demon Lord Sitri's Affinity increases by 8! The other party trusts you.]
[Affinity has reached 50. If you persuade the other party, you can recruit them as an ally.]
Sitri murmured in a daze for some reason.
"From now on... please take care of me..."
I broke into a bright smile.
"Yes. I hope this will be the beginning of a long partnership."
After that, when her time was up, Sitri left. It had already been an hour since she arrived at the Demon Lord's Castle. The situation on the battlefield was still urgent.
Sitri seemed quite saddened by the fact that she had to leave. Even though only a few minutes had passed since becoming companions, she looked that way. My eye for people truly wasn't wrong. She was undoubtedly the Demon Lord farthest removed from the word "betrayal."
"I'll end this war as quickly as I can!"
Clenching a teleportation scroll tightly in her hand, Sitri said.
"I'll make sure Paimon doesn't misunderstand. Don't worry. Once the war is over, I'll send money, come visit often... No, maybe I'll just move here altogether..."
"Haha. For now, I'll gratefully accept your good intentions. When time permits, let's have a proper, in-depth conversation."
"Y-Yeah. Got it."
Sitri nodded earnestly. A Demon Lord with an adorable side, after all.
But there was still a bigger fish to fry.
"You need to stay healthy too, Master, don't you?"
"Please call me Dantalion, Sitri."
Sitri's eyes widened slightly.
She broke into a bright smile, clearly delighted,
"Okay! Dantalion!"
and flashed her white teeth with a grin.
The magic circle activated. A golden light enveloped Sitri's body, filling the entire Demon Lord's room. After a moment the light faded, and no one was there. Sitri was probably standing in her bleak tent by now. I wished her good luck in my heart.
"Whew."
I let out a satisfied sigh and sank into my chair. That was one more… a person secured as an ally. An alliance, I supposed. If I ended up in danger, Sitri would help; if Sitri ended up in danger, I would ride to her rescue. It was mutually beneficial.
"……"
I felt someone's gaze and turned my head. Lapis was standing in the corner of the Demon Lord's room. Since following my orders to bring Sitri in, she had been standing there quietly without saying a single word. This had been a private conversation between Demon Lords. As a mere Succubus, she naturally had no choice but to keep her mouth shut.
"Ah, Lapis. Good work. Thanks to you, everything went smoothly."
"……Your way with words is remarkably eloquent. I was impressed."
Huh? Since when did Lapis go around handing out compliments?
She too must have thought I'd persuaded Sitri brilliantly. For some reason, I felt a swell of pride. Being recognized by Lapis somehow felt good.
I flashed a grin.
"Well, it's not like this is the first time I've pulled something like this off."
"……Is that so. Not the first time, then."
"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, you know."
If we're talking about having a silver tongue, I'd rank among the top tier of Demon Lords. He was confident about that.
"I had no idea. I've gained a new respect for you, Dantalion."
But despite the compliment, Lapis's expression was cold.
That day, Lapis was particularly aloof.
...No, wait — why exactly?