Demon Lord: Erotic Adventure in Another World

Empress Aurelia knelt on the damp group stained with blood, her eyes no longer blurred. She seemed to have awakened from the control of Mephisto the moment Pope Johan perished. However, this didn't end her feelings of grief and guilt.

"W-What have I done?!"

A bitter voice, like the cry of a child breaking a precious item. Aurelia gazed at the wounded knights beside her, most of them unable to fight ever again. Then she saw the opposite side, her hands clawing at the sticky, cold mud bubbling in her hands.

'A grave mistake...'

'I failed once again, how can I be called an empress?'

This hunt was originally a place for her to hand over the title with a bloodless and peaceful method.

However, her eyes looked at her wounded hands, the knights she once fought and trained within the castle training grounds.

Now, only silence surrounded her, along with the quiet breaths of those she failed.

"Empress Aurelia, today was a tragic loss for the empire." Yuina's face, marred with dirt and blood, narrowed her eyes while gazing at the defeated empress. Although she felt a sense of sympathy, Yuina also felt angry inside her.

An anger nothing like before.

"I..."

"Be silent, I am speaking."

Yuina interrupted the grovelling empress—the teary eyes and filthy face with trembling lips meant nothing. "Because of you, we lost five knights, and fifteen spear maidens."

No matter how strong the regeneration ability of demon knights was, they reached their limits and could no longer borrow the inherited regeneration from Asmodeus. "Now I cannot kill you here, because we need to finish this stupid hunt."

A low voice tinged with sadness as Yuina rubbed her throat. "Yet, I do not blame you fully. That darkness wasn't something you could resist."

"However, I cannot forgive those who have caused my people such losses."

Aki stood in silence behind the princess of the Inukami, her hand hanging loose, with a grimace each time she tried to move it.

'Although you aren't to blame, I am no longer that kind and naive fox.'

'You must be punished and dealt with.'

"Princess Inukami.."

"I understand what you seek and need from me..." A low, hoarse voice echoed through the eerie and quiet forest. The defeated tone of Aurelia caused many nobles and knights to drop to their knees in frustration and confusion.

"Her majesty lost..."

"Everything is over."

"What will happen from now on?"

Voices of defeat, concern and worry.

Yet Yuina didn't allow this to deter her from the punishment. Her eyes softened yet remained fixated on the empress. Yuina's lips tightened, almost turning white from the pressure, and Yuina bit her lower lip while clenching her fists.

She turned her attention to the crowd of people gathered around them.

"You will abdicate your position." Yuina spoke out, her words filled with solemnity and finality as the princess of Inukami and future Demon King consort faced Empress Aurelia. "Your Majesty, please prepare for a peaceful transition of power." She continued.

Aurelia slowly raised her head, a look of surprise and sadness on her face. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she locked gazes with Yuina, realising the seriousness and weight behind those words. "If this can save my people, and bring a path of glory to the empire. I swear to follow you, Yuina Inukami."

A strange murmur echoed around them. Yuina's eyes widened—she gasped at the mere offer and touched her chin, thinking to herself.

'Should I accept the former empress?'

'Can I trust her...?'

"Do you mean..." Her voice trembled, a feeling of excitement and expectation as her eyes narrowed, forming crescent moons, hiding her shining blue iris. "To swear a covenant of fealty to me?"

An ancient method used by the clans when this system first became introduced was to stop the empress or emperor from being greedy for power. It was something that would bind the former empress to the new empress, and she could do nothing but bend her knee and accept the future that Yuina sought.

It was unbreakable.

Nor would it ever end until both parties died.

Even the kinsmen and blood relatives of the former empress couldn't disobey the covenant!

"Oh..."

"My goddess..."

"Is this really happening?"

The loyal knights of Aurelia, nobles who felt a sense of change, spoke with a tinge of excitement in their voices.

They began discussing a new future while the empress looked up at Yuina. Her eyes were bright and focused and showed no sign of deceit.

"Promise me, you will accept even the Fenrir and their wolf brethren in your empire. They won't become slaves... and I will dedicate my knowledge, my power... my everything to you. Yuina Inukami!"

The sound of thunder crackled in the distant skies, and a brilliant display of divine energy burst forth from the heavens.

And so it began...

Aurelia raised her head and smiled with relief, hope and joy. The tension in the air disappeared, replaced by a sense of awe and reverence.

However, in reality, this was not the reaction to their oath; it was a more sinister and deadly event.

***

Meanwhile, Asmodeus stood face to face with a bizarre entity clad in a divine aura, black mist dancing around his limbs. Although not beautiful, there was a charm that kept one's gaze fixed upon him.

In front of this alluring creature, Asmodeus felt a sense of hostility; his muscles tightened, the hairs on the back of his neck stood tall, and he couldn't help but bite down his teeth.

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Jet-black hair cascaded down like an obsidian waterfall, framing the features of his mysterious face. Eyes that gleamed like pools of molten lava that captured and held the attention of those who gazed into them.

Asmodeus felt rejection; he tried to close his eyes, yet struggled to breathe as dark light descended upon him from the heavens.

"Hello, demon king. I am Mephisto."

His voice sent shivers through the air—a deep, gravelly tone laced with malice and amusement—accompanied by a bone-chilling echo in its wake.

"What do you want?"

Asmodeus snorted coldly as his ocean-blue eyes narrowed, fixing on the entity before him.

Danger!

His chest and mind told him this existence could smite him with a mere batting of his eyelids. Yet, it did not attack—instead; it observed Asmodeus with those lifeless yet encompassing eyes. One wrong move, and it would kill him without hesitation.

Mephisto's eyes flashed with an eerie darkness that seemed to swallow all light in his vicinity.

"Hmm." He tilted his head thoughtfully.

Then, slowly, an unsettling grin stretched across Mephisto's pale and thin lips, revealing rows of sharp, jagged teeth. It was a smile that could curdle blood and send shivers down anyone's spine.

"Oh?"

"You've grown much stronger since I last visited this realm..."

A low murmur escaped from between those razor-like fangs, the words sending shockwaves through the atmosphere.

"Asmodeus... Ah! Asmodeus... you still refuse to accept me, even though it's inevitable."

"What?"

"I'll admit defeat today."

Mephisto's hand clenched tightly, and he closed his eyes, lifting his ethereal hand over the corpse of Johan; then, a black mist began to float from the pope's nose and mouth...

'Even the pope was being manipulated?' For some reason, Asmodeus felt a sense of irritation that even a high-level holy existence could be influenced so easily. 'How is it possible to take over someone's will without them noticing?'

'No... that guy probably believed it was a true god taking his body and offering it up. Though a crazy bastard, if it was Serena he believed, wouldn't he have made a great pope?'

Asmodeus felt sick.

"Now... Asmodeus... it seems you have become a little too arrogant!"

His head snapped toward Mephisto with sudden alertness as a black aura began to flow from Mephisto.

A sudden weight pressed on Asmodeus, pushing his body into the ground. But he stayed defiant and upright, forcing his hands to the ground, preventing the force from making him bow or kneel to this bastard.

'The pressure...'

"It's strong... just what are you...?" Asmodeus breathed hard, struggling to remain upright as if a colossal boulder were resting atop his shoulders. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest.

His knees quivered violently, threatening to buckle under the oppressive weight, which intensified, squeezing the breath out of him. With tremendous effort, Asmodeus forced his hands against the ground, pushing back against the invisible force crushing him from above.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, each droplet reflecting the strain and exertion etched across his face. The veins on his arms bulged, a rather disgusting sight as they writhed under the tremendous pressure.

'Argh...'

'I cannot stop...'

"Hmph... mere mortal. How dare you resist me!" The man's voice resounded again, mocking Asmodeus' struggle and taunting the fallen demon king. "Fine, fine..."

'Shit...' A momentary break allowed Asmodeus to stand up straight once more; his body felt heavier than any weight he had ever lifted.

Yet the biggest pain was to his ego, his confidence seeing the smiling Mephisto who waved his hand with a crude and twisted smile upon his red lips. "I'll let you off for now; there is still time for my vessel to ripen, after all. Your beloved Serena will be coming into your arms soon, so focus on keeping her safe."

'What...?'

"My... Serena...?"

Mephisto laughed with glee, disappearing from the area as quickly as he arrived.

A low voice echoed through the air.

"No, she was never yours. Asmodeus."

"Serena will be mine!"

"For that, I shall give you a present, and we shall meet again in the elven forest!"

Asmodeus stood speechless before Mephisto, unable to form a coherent response as the mysterious individual vanished.

With Mephisto gone, the oppressive aura lifted from Asmodeus' weary body, causing his legs to give up as he fell into the dirt covered in mud, rain and blood.

He rolled onto his back and gazed into the sky, the sky rumbling before rain started pouring down, fine droplets cascading onto his face.

'I lost...'

He hadn't lost against Mephisto yet, but the feeling of dread and powerlessness remained inside his chest, unable to ignore the ominous words. Even the divine spark hidden inside his demonic heart stirred restlessly.

"W-Where..."

"What happened?"

Voices cried out from afar.

Asmodeus could hear the voices of Alice and Sariel... but his eyes seemed to blur. Maybe the rainwater pooled, blurring his vision, or he as they dripped down his cheeks while he clenched his fists and shouted in frustration.

However, despite this weakness, one thing prevailed.

'Serena...'

"I don't want to lose..."

A desire was born, the desire to never lose to that man again.

'Even if I lose all sense of humanity, no matter the cost!'

The sky rumbled, lighting and thunder crashing together at the same time as if to celebrate and honour Asmodeus and his determination and choice.