Deep into the night after having indulged in all their desires, Haruki as well as Margarette and Riley, were taking a small stroll through the forest trying to hunt down something to eat. Ever so often a frost deer with a chilling gaze would catch their eyes, but as fickle as the wind it swept away every time Haruki tried to shoot an icicle toward it.
"Shit!" Despite finally hitting the damned thing, Haruki's shot was deflected by the coating of thick ice protecting the creature. "Riley, can you not get it with your knives?"
Turning to the only person capable of close combat, Haruki expected a quick response, but shying away with her hands escaping between her thighs, Riley appeared quite a bit disoriented.
"I-I'm sorry, I can't!" Clinging onto Margarette, she glanced up at Haruki from behind her. "My legs…they're a bit numb."
Coughing out loud to divert everyone's attention, Margarette scratched the back of her head with a somewhat worried look on her face.
"I can get it, I mean I can use a fire spell to soften up the ice and then maybe you can use a dark magic-infused icicle to bring that frost deer down?" Offered a sound plan, Haruki didn't question what was happening with Riley and just moved on.
"Alright, just let me know when you're shooting the spell so I can bring it down before it runs off," deciding on their new strategy they continued their hunt.
Upon following the deer further, they came up to a hill looking down onto a river stream. Standing with their herd, numerous red-eyed frost deers were drinking from the icy waters. At first, Haruki thought about simply striking one of them down with a shower of fire and ice, however, following the gaze of one such creature, he noticed a strange longing lingering in their eyes.
'They've lost their habitat, I doubt they can survive here much longer.' Watching the full moon reflected in their blood-red eyes, Haruki was willing to draw back from the hunt.
"Fire arrow!" Shooting from a quiver of flame, Margarette hit one of the deers, making it stumble for a moment. "Master, shoot it!"
Realizing the threat the others left it behind and ran back into the safety of the dense forest. With the deer already shot, Haruki brushed off his doubts and quickly readied a magic circle. Embedding ice spears with dark magic, he gave them immense speed as well as energy-draining power.
"There!" He uttered, shooting the deer down right as it was about to run off to join the others.
Cracking through the glinting ice armor, the spears stabbed the creature deep into its flesh and quickly drained it of all life. Watching the thing whimper and die, Haruki just stood where he was for a moment while the other two made their way to their prize from the hunt.
'Does it matter? I can't even count how many humans have died because of me or by my own hands.' His emotions dumbed down by the effect of sadism only reminded him of the reaper as well as the now-gone passive ability of tyrant's heart. 'If I keep going like this then I might just end up accepting her offer to be a demon lord.'
While sharing the abyss with the mistress of darkness, Haruki never would've thought that there would come a time when he has to question his refusal to be a demon lord. And yet with how things were going, the possibility of him accepting that offer from sheer cruelty and greed wasn't too far off from the realm of possibility.
"We should take it back quick, Asuka and Moriyana must be tired of waiting already," flying down the cliff, Haruki transferred the deer into his dungeon portal.
Wasting not a minute, the three of them quickly took flight in their demon forms to avoid going through the forest. Then as Haruki flew behind them on purpose, he finally had a chance to get a good look at their demonic bodies. Adorning her head with red upwards pointing horns, Margarette's body was a pure marvel of lust, and a look alone even through her tattoo-like clothes was enough to woo a man and turn him into her servant.
Riley, being as frail as always, appeared more like Haruki's own demonic form. Her face having an androgynous look and her body carved with light striking muscle, made her easy target for underestimation, despite her murderous inclinations.
"Master?" Noticing Haruki's gaze, Riley flipped around to talk to him. "Is something wrong?"
Her keen intuition, which served Haruki well in numerous cases was also at times a bit of a problem.
"I..." Although he wanted to brush things off, he decided not to in the end. "I have something to discuss when we get back to camp."
On their way back to the camp, Haruki couldn't get Asmodia's offer out of his head, and even though he knew he wouldn't take it, the very fact that Asmodia was presenting that choice to him raised numerous concerns in his mind.
'So far she's treated me like her puppet, then why would she give me the option to choose when she can easily force me to do what she wants?' Wondering whether she was conniving, Haruki landed back on his feet right by the campsite.
Dropping off the deer carcass from the portal, he made his way to the campsite before sitting down on a log facing the fire. Sensing something was wrong Asuka, and Moriyana dropped their preparation for the meal and slowly made their way toward him.
"Haruki, what's going on?" Moriyana asked, concern resting heavily on her face.
"Yeah master, you seem a bit…stressed?" Unsure what to make of his stern expression, Asuka stared at him with her hand clutched by her chest.
"He wants to talk about something apparently," Margarette added, walking up to him with Riley following right behind.
Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he huffed out a sigh before briefly glancing at each one of them.
"I've had enough of waiting, I want my revenge, I wanna see the cities burn, and if that leads me to be demon lord one day, then I ask you all, will you still be standing by my side?" Creating a clone of himself in front of everyone around him, he held their hands stretched towards them as an offer. "Be done with mercy, and let me invite carnage and indulgence to the masses."
Surprised by the sudden offer, they all had their doubts about what was going on inside Haruki's head. However, as Moriyana hardly cared anything but herself, she offered her hand to the clone with a demand of her own.
"As long as you bring me riches and influence I do not care where this path leads us," letting out a giggle she turned her gaze to Asuka.
Feeling pressured by Moriyana's gaze, she shook the clone's hand but had something to say as well.
"I already promised Master that I'll be with you forever, so please don't make me choose again, just ask me to follow and I will!" Her answer urged the other two to shake their hands with the clones as well, however, like the others they had nuances of their own.
"As long as you keep Riley safe, and eventually grant her an appropriate title, I'll forever be indebted to you," bowing her head, Margarette, glanced sideways at Riley to do the same.
Following her mother's example, Riley too bowed her head before offering her own demands.
"You've helped me fight the demons inside my head, the least I can do is repay in blood," although she knew Margarette wouldn't be too pleased by the ways she phrased her words, Riley wanted to convey what she truly felt in her heart.
"It's decided then…" smacking his knees, Haruki got off the log. "In one month's time, I want to be done with Laria and move on to corrupting other duchies, other kingdoms, until eventually, I can have my revenge at the very root of the problem, the emperor."
"Where do we start this conquest master?" Raising her head, Riley waited for her orders.
Hearing that question, a huge smile crept up on Haruki's face.
"We start with Marquis Gorgan, the ruler of our kingdom…" Walking up closer to Riley, Haruki whispered. "And the man who signed off my death."
When he'd first learned that the man who signed off his death had become the ruler of a kingdom that encompassed even the duchy he ruled, he had been fuming in rage, but with no real way of getting to the king, the only thing he was able to do was stall for time as he tried to get stronger. And now with nothing in his way to stop him, he hoped to rain hell upon that monster of a human.
"As you say master," watching Riley kneel down to Haruki's command, the rest of his servants followed.
'This…can surely be addictive.' He thought, finding great joy in the authoritative power.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺