Chapter 140: Welcome to the Kingdom: Humans and their Schemes
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Chapter 140: Welcome to the Kingdom: Humans and their Schemes
A Succubus sat on a throne in a large, bright audience hall. The Succubus, currently using its shapeshifting powers to take the place of the late King Koinkar, had been cut off in the middle of an argument with some idiotic Human named Asmo by a call from its superior. At first, it had assumed the call would be a short one with some basic commands, and then it could get back to putting Asmo in her place.
And then, its superior said, “We need to talk. Xhag is dead.”The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.
The Succubus blinked. “W...what? He is? So does that mean...”
“Yes. Arlan Nota will likely make it into the Barinruth Empire. We do not have more Demons to expend trying to reach him.”
The Succubus sat for a moment, shell-shocked by the revelation. Arlan Nota had...survived? How did a puny Human like that beat a Devil?!
“So we will move to long-term plans, then?” Asmo spoke calmly in its stead, and it barely noticed.
“Ah, Asmo, you are here?” The superior said. “Good. We can get this meeting done all at once. To answer your question, yes, we will be moving to the previously-made long-term plans. That means no more selling crops, disregarding citizen happiness, or over-drafting the populace. For now, you will have at your disposal the Infernals and Hellions that are still alive in the Overworld. No reinforcements will be available for some time. As such, Humans will be your main soldiers. Keep them alive and well, otherwise you will have no army to wage a war with.”
The Succubus was still reeling at the news that Arlan Nota had somehow survived. What was that Human doing to be able to beat Demons in a fair fight? He must have been using some sort of trick or cheat, even more than the Humans already seemed to love cheating. Maybe—
“Succubus. I am speaking to you. Acknowledge.”
“Y-yes,” the Succubus said. “Expression of apolo—formal, formal expression of apology, superior. I understand. But, er, we may be too low on resources to effectively wage a war, currently.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, food stores are currently extremely low. That is, er, we have none. I made the decision to sell the food and draft the farmers, as I believed the war would only last a couple more days. So—”
“Who told you to do that?”
“Well, er...” the Succubus had technically done that of its own volition, since its previous superior, Xhag’duulinithar’obaba’iidook, had effectively given it free reign, for the most part. So, if one looked at it in a certain way, wasn’t it technically that Devil’s fault? Yes, yes, clearly the Devil was incompetent if he allowed himself to be killed by some Human. So it wasn’t the Succubus’s fault. “It was the fault of Xhag’duulinithar’obaba’iidook, superior. He told me to do it.”
“Ugh. Even after dying, that cretin still seems to make problems.”
The Succubus’s eyes widened. “He is dead, then? I thought he was Projected into the Overworld like normal.”
“Oh, well yes, he’s technically not dead yet, but you know how getting killed as a Projection goes. He’s currently unconscious, and we’ve decided not to make any efforts to revive him. So he’ll either die unconscious without the medical attention, or he’ll wake up in an Underworld month or two, and then we’ll just throw him somewhere to keep him occupied.”
“Ah,” the Succubus nodded. “Well, I will do my best to rectify his mistakes, as he clearly made quite a few while in power. He was tyrannical, forcing me to do all kinds of things against my better judgment.”
“If I recall correctly,” Asmo began, “he only spoke to you once or twice in the time—”
“Well, you clearly didn’t hear all of the calls!” the Succubus interrupted. “Stupid Human. Go clean something somewhere, or whatever. We more intelligent beings are having a discussion.”
“No,” the superior said. “Stay here, Asmo. This conversation involves you. And Succubus, do keep in mind that Asmo is currently your equal. Do not speak to your coworkers that way. Sowing dissent in our ranks only harms our cause. Do not allow your own personal interests to harm our organization as a whole.”
The Succubus’s face whitened involuntarily, making its facade of King Koinkar look quite inhuman for a moment. “Y-yes, superior.”
Asmo wasn’t looking, though, as she spoke to their superior through the Crystal. “Also, superior, would it be at all possible for us to send out a rescue team for one other VIP? She is currently missing in action after a fight with the fugitive. However, I do suspect she is still alive. She may hold valuable information after interacting with him.”
“Hm. Seems like it could be useful. But your coworker here is the one who handles things like troop assignments. Speak to it about that.”
“Yes,” the Succubus smiled a poisoned grin. “We have already spoken about it, and I said I would get to it as soon as possible. It should not be an issue.”
“Great,” the superior said. “If that is all, I will leave you be. From here on out, you will each need to give daily reports to me so as to ensure everything is going smoothly. Call me when you have those ready. Do well, subordinates.”
“Yes, superior,” the two said in unison. With a chime, the Communication Crystal’s light faded, and the room went silent.
“Damn this shit!” The Succubus spiked the crystal into the marble floor and it bounced up with a high-pitched clang. It stood from its seat. “What is she thinking?”
“Something wrong?” Asmo asked, still calmly standing by the throne.
“Oh, of course the idiot Human can’t figure out what the issue is,” the Succubus rolled its eyes. “Get out of my sight.”
“Certainly,” Asmo said, a grin threatening to spread onto her face. “Before I leave, though, I do have a request of you.”
“What? I’m not sending out some squad to save that Human. She failed, she should die.”
“I’d like to be given some Message Papers,” Asmo said. “I will need to speak with my new subordinates often, and some Enchanted papers will do just fine in that endeavor. That way, we can write back and forth without needing to worry about long distances.”
“Message Papers? Aren’t those just like, worse, slower versions of Communication Crystals?”
“Yes, it is true that they take longer to send messages the further apart one is from another person, but that shouldn’t pose any issues. Besides, since Communication Crystals can only be made by Demons, I felt that the Message Papers should be easier to acquire.”
“Fine,” the Succubus rolled its eyes. “You have four new subordinates, right? I’ll just give you one for each.
“Hm. Well, yes, but it would do best to have some redundancy. Perhaps give me ten or fifteen, instead?”
“Yes, whatever. I’ll grab an Enchanter or something to make some. Just get out.”
Asmo smiled and turned to leave. “Great. Get them to me as soon as possible, please. Wouldn’t want word of your incompetence to spread to our superior.”
“You don’t even know her name, Human scum!” the Succubus screamed back as Asmo. But she was already walking away.
**********
As Asmo marched through the hallway leading out of the audience chamber, her face fought between a frown and a grin. That amateur Demon wanted to fight over power with her? So be it. But that thing had no idea how much of a world of hurt it was in for. After all, it’d already signed its own death warrant.
Fifteen Message Papers? Who would believe she’d need to use that many to talk with a few people? But the extra was exactly enough for what she was actually planning. And with the ability to work with some others in the criminal side of the kingdom, out of the knowledge of that Demon, it wouldn’t take long before she was done.
This whole kingdom would be hers, whether “Koinkar” willingly gave it up or not.
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Chapter 140: Welcome to the Kingdom: Humans and their Schemes
A Succubus sat on a throne in a large, bright audience hall. The Succubus, currently using its shapeshifting powers to take the place of the late King Koinkar, had been cut off in the middle of an argument with some idiotic Human named Asmo by a call from its superior. At first, it had assumed the call would be a short one with some basic commands, and then it could get back to putting Asmo in her place.
And then, its superior said, “We need to talk. Xhag is dead.”The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.
The Succubus blinked. “W...what? He is? So does that mean...”
“Yes. Arlan Nota will likely make it into the Barinruth Empire. We do not have more Demons to expend trying to reach him.”
The Succubus sat for a moment, shell-shocked by the revelation. Arlan Nota had...survived? How did a puny Human like that beat a Devil?!
“So we will move to long-term plans, then?” Asmo spoke calmly in its stead, and it barely noticed.
“Ah, Asmo, you are here?” The superior said. “Good. We can get this meeting done all at once. To answer your question, yes, we will be moving to the previously-made long-term plans. That means no more selling crops, disregarding citizen happiness, or over-drafting the populace. For now, you will have at your disposal the Infernals and Hellions that are still alive in the Overworld. No reinforcements will be available for some time. As such, Humans will be your main soldiers. Keep them alive and well, otherwise you will have no army to wage a war with.”
The Succubus was still reeling at the news that Arlan Nota had somehow survived. What was that Human doing to be able to beat Demons in a fair fight? He must have been using some sort of trick or cheat, even more than the Humans already seemed to love cheating. Maybe—
“Succubus. I am speaking to you. Acknowledge.”
“Y-yes,” the Succubus said. “Expression of apolo—formal, formal expression of apology, superior. I understand. But, er, we may be too low on resources to effectively wage a war, currently.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, food stores are currently extremely low. That is, er, we have none. I made the decision to sell the food and draft the farmers, as I believed the war would only last a couple more days. So—”
“Who told you to do that?”
“Well, er...” the Succubus had technically done that of its own volition, since its previous superior, Xhag’duulinithar’obaba’iidook, had effectively given it free reign, for the most part. So, if one looked at it in a certain way, wasn’t it technically that Devil’s fault? Yes, yes, clearly the Devil was incompetent if he allowed himself to be killed by some Human. So it wasn’t the Succubus’s fault. “It was the fault of Xhag’duulinithar’obaba’iidook, superior. He told me to do it.”
“Ugh. Even after dying, that cretin still seems to make problems.”
The Succubus’s eyes widened. “He is dead, then? I thought he was Projected into the Overworld like normal.”
“Oh, well yes, he’s technically not dead yet, but you know how getting killed as a Projection goes. He’s currently unconscious, and we’ve decided not to make any efforts to revive him. So he’ll either die unconscious without the medical attention, or he’ll wake up in an Underworld month or two, and then we’ll just throw him somewhere to keep him occupied.”
“Ah,” the Succubus nodded. “Well, I will do my best to rectify his mistakes, as he clearly made quite a few while in power. He was tyrannical, forcing me to do all kinds of things against my better judgment.”
“If I recall correctly,” Asmo began, “he only spoke to you once or twice in the time—”
“Well, you clearly didn’t hear all of the calls!” the Succubus interrupted. “Stupid Human. Go clean something somewhere, or whatever. We more intelligent beings are having a discussion.”
“No,” the superior said. “Stay here, Asmo. This conversation involves you. And Succubus, do keep in mind that Asmo is currently your equal. Do not speak to your coworkers that way. Sowing dissent in our ranks only harms our cause. Do not allow your own personal interests to harm our organization as a whole.”
The Succubus’s face whitened involuntarily, making its facade of King Koinkar look quite inhuman for a moment. “Y-yes, superior.”
Asmo wasn’t looking, though, as she spoke to their superior through the Crystal. “Also, superior, would it be at all possible for us to send out a rescue team for one other VIP? She is currently missing in action after a fight with the fugitive. However, I do suspect she is still alive. She may hold valuable information after interacting with him.”
“Hm. Seems like it could be useful. But your coworker here is the one who handles things like troop assignments. Speak to it about that.”
“Yes,” the Succubus smiled a poisoned grin. “We have already spoken about it, and I said I would get to it as soon as possible. It should not be an issue.”
“Great,” the superior said. “If that is all, I will leave you be. From here on out, you will each need to give daily reports to me so as to ensure everything is going smoothly. Call me when you have those ready. Do well, subordinates.”
“Yes, superior,” the two said in unison. With a chime, the Communication Crystal’s light faded, and the room went silent.
“Damn this shit!” The Succubus spiked the crystal into the marble floor and it bounced up with a high-pitched clang. It stood from its seat. “What is she thinking?”
“Something wrong?” Asmo asked, still calmly standing by the throne.
“Oh, of course the idiot Human can’t figure out what the issue is,” the Succubus rolled its eyes. “Get out of my sight.”
“Certainly,” Asmo said, a grin threatening to spread onto her face. “Before I leave, though, I do have a request of you.”
“What? I’m not sending out some squad to save that Human. She failed, she should die.”
“I’d like to be given some Message Papers,” Asmo said. “I will need to speak with my new subordinates often, and some Enchanted papers will do just fine in that endeavor. That way, we can write back and forth without needing to worry about long distances.”
“Message Papers? Aren’t those just like, worse, slower versions of Communication Crystals?”
“Yes, it is true that they take longer to send messages the further apart one is from another person, but that shouldn’t pose any issues. Besides, since Communication Crystals can only be made by Demons, I felt that the Message Papers should be easier to acquire.”
“Fine,” the Succubus rolled its eyes. “You have four new subordinates, right? I’ll just give you one for each.
“Hm. Well, yes, but it would do best to have some redundancy. Perhaps give me ten or fifteen, instead?”
“Yes, whatever. I’ll grab an Enchanter or something to make some. Just get out.”
Asmo smiled and turned to leave. “Great. Get them to me as soon as possible, please. Wouldn’t want word of your incompetence to spread to our superior.”
“You don’t even know her name, Human scum!” the Succubus screamed back as Asmo. But she was already walking away.
**********
As Asmo marched through the hallway leading out of the audience chamber, her face fought between a frown and a grin. That amateur Demon wanted to fight over power with her? So be it. But that thing had no idea how much of a world of hurt it was in for. After all, it’d already signed its own death warrant.
Fifteen Message Papers? Who would believe she’d need to use that many to talk with a few people? But the extra was exactly enough for what she was actually planning. And with the ability to work with some others in the criminal side of the kingdom, out of the knowledge of that Demon, it wouldn’t take long before she was done.
This whole kingdom would be hers, whether “Koinkar” willingly gave it up or not.
Chapter 140: Welcome to the Kingdom: Humans and their SchemesA Succubus sat on a throne in a large, bright audience hall. The Succubus, currently using its shapeshifting powers to take the place of the late King Koinkar, had been cut off in the middle of an argument with some idiotic Human named Asmo by a call from its superior. At first, it had assumed the call would be a short one with some basic commands, and then it could get back to putting Asmo in her place.And then, its superior said, We need to talk. Xhag is dead.The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.The Succubus blinked. W...what? He is? So does that mean...Yes. Arlan Nota will likely make it into the Barinruth Empire. We do not have more Demons to expend trying to reach him.The Succubus sat for a moment, shell-shocked by the revelation. Arlan Nota had...survived? How did a puny Human like that beat a Devil?!So we will move to long-term plans, then? Asmo spoke calmly in its stead, and it barely noticed.Ah, Asmo, you are here? The superior said. Good. We can get this meeting done all at once. To answer your question, yes, we will be moving to the previously-made long-term plans. That means no more selling crops, disregarding citizen happiness, or over-drafting the populace. For now, you will have at your disposal the Infernals and Hellions that are still alive in the Overworld. No reinforcements will be available for some time. As such, Humans will be your main soldiers. Keep them alive and well, otherwise you will have no army to wage a war with.The Succubus was still reeling at the news that Arlan Nota had somehow survived. What was that Human doing to be able to beat Demons in a fair fight? He must have been using some sort of trick or cheat, even more than the Humans already seemed to love cheating. MaybeSuccubus. I am speaking to you. Acknowledge.Y-yes, the Succubus said. Expression of apoloformal, formal expression of apology, superior. I understand. But, er, we may be too low on resources to effectively wage a war, currently.What? Why?Well, food stores are currently extremely low. That is, er, we have none. I made the decision to sell the food and draft the farmers, as I believed the war would only last a couple more days. SoWho told you to do that?Well, er... the Succubus had technically done that of its own volition, since its previous superior, Xhag'duulinithar'obaba'iidook, had effectively given it free reign, for the most part. So, if one looked at it in a certain way, wasn't it technically that Devil's fault? Yes, yes, clearly the Devil was incompetent if he allowed himself to be killed by some Human. So it wasn't the Succubus's fault. It was the fault of Xhag'duulinithar'obaba'iidook, superior. He told me to do it.Ugh. Even after dying, that cretin still seems to make problems.The Succubus's eyes widened. He is dead, then? I thought he was Projected into the Overworld like normal.Oh, well yes, he's technically not dead yet, but you know how getting killed as a Projection goes. He's currently unconscious, and we've decided not to make any efforts to revive him. So he'll either die unconscious without the medical attention, or he'll wake up in an Underworld month or two, and then we'll just throw him somewhere to keep him occupied.Ah, the Succubus nodded. Well, I will do my best to rectify his mistakes, as he clearly made quite a few while in power. He was tyrannical, forcing me to do all kinds of things against my better judgment.If I recall correctly, Asmo began, he only spoke to you once or twice in the timeWell, you clearly didn't hear all of the calls! the Succubus interrupted. Stupid Human. Go clean something somewhere, or whatever. We more intelligent beings are having a discussion.No, the superior said. Stay here, Asmo. This conversation involves you. And Succubus, do keep in mind that Asmo is currently your equal. Do not speak to your coworkers that way. Sowing dissent in our ranks only harms our cause. Do not allow your own personal interests to harm our organization as a whole.The Succubus's face whitened involuntarily, making its facade of King Koinkar look quite inhuman for a moment. Y-yes, superior.Asmo wasn't looking, though, as she spoke to their superior through the Crystal. Also, superior, would it be at all possible for us to send out a rescue team for one other VIP? She is currently missing in action after a fight with the fugitive. However, I do suspect she is still alive. She may hold valuable information after interacting with him.Hm. Seems like it could be useful. But your coworker here is the one who handles things like troop assignments. Speak to it about that.Yes, the Succubus smiled a poisoned grin. We have already spoken about it, and I said I would get to it as soon as possible. It should not be an issue.Great, the superior said. If that is all, I will leave you be. From here on out, you will each need to give daily reports to me so as to ensure everything is going smoothly. Call me when you have those ready. Do well, subordinates.Yes, superior, the two said in unison. With a chime, the Communication Crystal's light faded, and the room went silent.Damn this shit! The Succubus spiked the crystal into the marble floor and it bounced up with a high-pitched clang. It stood from its seat. What is she thinking?Something wrong? Asmo asked, still calmly standing by the throne.Oh, of course the idiot Human can't figure out what the issue is, the Succubus rolled its eyes. Get out of my sight.Certainly, Asmo said, a grin threatening to spread onto her face. Before I leave, though, I do have a request of you.What? I'm not sending out some squad to save that Human. She failed, she should die.I'd like to be given some Message Papers, Asmo said. I will need to speak with my new subordinates often, and some Enchanted papers will do just fine in that endeavor. That way, we can write back and forth without needing to worry about long distances.Message Papers? Aren't those just like, worse, slower versions of Communication Crystals?Yes, it is true that they take longer to send messages the further apart one is from another person, but that shouldn't pose any issues. Besides, since Communication Crystals can only be made by Demons, I felt that the Message Papers should be easier to acquire.Fine, the Succubus rolled its eyes. You have four new subordinates, right? I'll just give you one for each.Hm. Well, yes, but it would do best to have some redundancy. Perhaps give me ten or fifteen, instead?Yes, whatever. I'll grab an Enchanter or something to make some. Just get out.Asmo smiled and turned to leave. Great. Get them to me as soon as possible, please. Wouldn't want word of your incompetence to spread to our superior.You don't even know her name, Human scum! the Succubus screamed back as Asmo. But she was already walking away.**********As Asmo marched through the hallway leading out of the audience chamber, her face fought between a frown and a grin. That amateur Demon wanted to fight over power with her? So be it. But that thing had no idea how much of a world of hurt it was in for. After all, it'd already signed its own death warrant. Fifteen Message Papers? Who would believe she'd need to use that many to talk with a few people? But the extra was exactly enough for what she was actually planning. And with the ability to work with some others in the criminal side of the kingdom, out of the knowledge of that Demon, it wouldn't take long before she was done. This whole kingdom would be hers, whether Koinkar willingly gave it up or not.
