Chapter 391

Chapter 391
## Chapter 391

Succubus (3)

“Mother… Matriarch.”

“You may call me Mother, Siana. There is no need for such formality when it is just the two of us.”

“…Understood, Mother. But… are you absolutely certain this is wise? I know that whatever you decree becomes the path of the Dream Walkers, and I do not mean to question you… but does this not feel somewhat… rushed?”

They were inside a secluded chamber, adorned with a level of opulence that Siana had never witnessed anywhere else in the entire Demon World.

Liliana, who held the mantle of the Succubus Matriarch, stroked her jawline thoughtfully as she listened to the hesitant doubts raised by her daughter.

She could perfectly comprehend the source of Siana’s apprehension.

Even though she had recognized Hella’s true heritage as the offspring of the 14th Demon King and acknowledged the girl as her biological niece, the reality was that they had only just crossed paths, sharing nothing more than a brief exchange.

It was only natural that Siana would view this instantaneous declaration of absolute fealty as… bizarre.

“Hehehe, you still possess such innocence, my child.”

“Pardon?”

Yet Liliana harbored no doubts whatsoever.

She knew with absolute certainty that her path was correct.

To an outsider, it might have appeared to be a reckless impulse, but in truth, it was a cold, calculated judgment—a perfectly logical deduction born from a careful reading of the current landscape.

“She is far beyond a mere high-ranking demon. She is a genuine Demon King.”

“…A Demon King? But surely that is…”

The distinction between a standard demon and a Demon King was profound.

It was not a simple matter of hierarchy or military standing.

It could be compared to… the gulf separating a common elf from a majestic High Elf… or perhaps an even wider chasm. A Demon King represented an entirely separate category of existence.

“Hehehe— A true Demon King, brought into existence completely outside the boundaries of the Demon World… I never imagined such a phenomenon could take place. This can only be described as… destiny. The grand design of the Demon God.”

As one of the most formidable entities residing in the Demon World, Liliana could feel it instinctively.

The very instant her eyes fell upon Hella, an inescapable spiritual gravity had taken hold of her; her ancient lineage and her fundamental essence were pulled inexorably toward the girl.

This sensation transcended Hella’s innate allure. There was an underlying… majesty.

“Ah! Which means that is why…!”

Siana, who possessed the strength of an Earl-level demon, let out a sharp breath as understanding finally dawned on her. She realized why she had felt utterly paralyzed in Hella’s presence, and why even the legendary Immortal King had treated her as an absolute peer.

Every single figure who had previously claimed the title of Demon King had been… manufactured.

They fought their way to the apex through raw muscle, political intrigue, or widespread dominion, validating their supremacy until they finally earned the sacred endorsement of the Demon God, thus transforming into a Demon King.

In that regard, their ascension mirrored that of the Saintess within the human Church… though they wielded a terrifying level of personal might and metaphysical sovereignty that made them infinitely more formidable.

Furthermore, demons, by their very nature, were hardly celebrated for their… religious devotion.

‘…Naturally, because she lacks official confirmation from the realm itself, she has not yet unlocked the full scope of a Demon King’s dominion.’

A Demon King functioned essentially as a… lesser divinity within the ecosystem of the Demon World.

Merely possessing the required physical vessel was insufficient.

It did not demand prayers or standard worship; widespread terror or absolute malice would serve the purpose just as well.

The moment she formally declared her existence and carved her name into the consciousness of the Demon World’s populaces, she would ascend to the status of an absolute Demon King.

“Even in this… unawakened state, her fundamental nature remains that of a Demon King. Furthermore, she commands the inherited legacy of L’rei’e’s power. We cannot afford to let this chance slip through our fingers.”

It was a profound, instinctual realization—a piece of cosmic insight.

Aligning their fates with Hella would inevitably deliver them to the future they desired.

She was destined to ascend to the absolute apex of the Demon World.

“Moreover, there is a pressing reality. Our window of opportunity is narrow.”

“Ah!”

The grand conflict consuming the Demon World was rapidly approaching its conclusion, with the formidable faction known as the Dark Nest, commanded by the Dragon Marquis, securing an overwhelming supremacy.

The armies of the Fighting Demon Duke had already been utterly shattered and integrated into their ranks, while the remaining two Dukes were clinging to survival by a thread, their diminished legions desperately trying to halt a wave of mass desertions.

“The luxury of remaining neutral is gone. If we attempt to play both sides any longer, we will be obliterated. But now, an unpredicted force has materialized—a variable capable of completely upturning the balance of this conflict… and she carries the very essence of the Queen…”

Liliana offered a subtle shrug, signaling that any further explanation would be redundant.

Siana gave a firm nod, her mother’s logic shifting clearly into focus.

She harbored a genuine… warmth and fondness toward Hella… though such personal sentiments were secondary to the survival of their entire collective.

“With that said, Siana, why are you standing idle?”

“What?”

Liliana questioned her, turning a peculiar, probing gaze upon her daughter.

Before Siana could formulate a reply, the Matriarch spoke once more.

“As I just stated, our time is severely limited.”

“That is true, but…”

“In that case, should you not be… rendering assistance? Do you truly intend to rest peacefully while your mother carries the entirety of this burden?”

Resting within Liliana’s grasp was the precious ‘Succubus Queen’s Essence’, which Hella had graciously returned to her after accepting their oath of devotion.

It was the sacred inheritance of her matriarchal line.

Wooong—

…Yet at this exact moment, it was functioning as raw capital, undergoing a meticulous process of refinement to unlock its concentrated reserves of power.

It was all for the continued endurance of the Dream Walkers, the ancient bloodline that she and her forebears had protected across eras.

“Ah! My apologies! I shall attend to it immediately, Mother!”

Liliana let out a quiet, amused sound as Siana sprinted out of the chamber, her gaze dropping back down to the artifact cradled in her palm.

It was a perfectly balanced, multi-faceted jewel whose dark exterior flashed with hints of vibrant magenta, casting a subtle luminescence as it adjusted to the rhythm of her internal mana.

It felt remarkably like a mother’s protective touch, radiating a gentle, reassuring warmth.

It felt like a wordless blessing for the Matriarch who had preserved the lineage through countless trials.

—

The martial capabilities of the Dream Walkers expanded at a staggering pace following their unification with Hella.

On paper, they remained a modest political entity trapped between the territories of far grander powers… yet they carried the legacy of an ancient family that had once birthed a Demon King, and their reigning matriarch possessed the martial prowess of a Marquis-level combatant.

They possessed the leverage to integrate into any major alliance with profound reverence… yet they had staked their future on Hella, throwing their entire apparatus into broadening her geopolitical reach by organizing secret summits with powerful entities who had previously ignored their existence.

‘…Excellent. I have planted a subterranean network within every single coalition.’

The dominant force was the Dark Nest of the Dragon Marquis, an absolute titan that had completely devoured the remnants of the Fighting Demon Duke’s ‘Burning Inferno’.

Standing against them in a fragile, uneasy partnership were the Dark Duke’s ‘Demonic’ and the Strange Duke’s ‘Abnormal’, both desperately attempting to preserve their autonomy alongside a handful of minor warlords…

Unbeknownst to the world, high-ranking assets within these groups were covertly executing her directives, presenting an unchanged front to their comrades while their true loyalties had shifted entirely in the shadows.

However, as the scale of their network expanded, maintaining absolute operational security became an impossible feat.

Their clandestine movements were bound to cross the enemy’s radar eventually.

“Our communications with Parma have been entirely severed. Internal intelligence indicates that a specialized strike team from the Dark Nest executed a swift assault on their command post, taking their entire leadership cadre alive…”

“The theater in Killaun is deteriorating rapidly as well. By a stroke of fortune, our operatives detected the surveillance early enough to dissolve into hiding, leaving no actionable proof behind… but they are actively hunted.”

Even after binding the high-ranking officers and decision-makers of the various coalitions to her will, maintaining absolute operational control was a grueling endeavor.

The reigning Demon Lords were naturally hypersensitive to any signs of internal treason among their officers, particularly amidst a total war, meaning her agents had performed exceptionally well simply by remaining undetected for this duration.

“Hmm, what an unfortunate turn of events. I had anticipated bringing more assets under our banner.”

Hella expressed her dissatisfaction, a note of irritation lacing her words as she reviewed the intelligence briefings.

Siana, occupying the space beside her like an efficient, steadfast adjutant, immediately offered perspective.

“Our adversaries are far from ignorant. Nevertheless, our gains remain substantial. We possess the leverage required to dismantle the coalitions of the remaining Dukes, even if confronting the Dark Nest directly remains unfeasible for now.”

Yet, considering the stark reality that the combined might of those two remaining Dukes was insufficient to halt the advance of the Dark Nest… this could hardly be classified as an ideal scenario.

Furthermore, that calculation relied on those coalitions operating at peak capacity, entirely unmarred by her own… covert sabotage.

If they proceeded at this current pace, achieving absolute dominance across the realm would consume far too much time.

“…Hmm, it appears we have reached a bottleneck.”

Hella, resting her chin upon her propped hand as she evaluated the grand strategy, ultimately gave a slow, deliberate nod.

Her features hardened into a mask of unyielding determination, signaling that her choice had been made.

Siana watched her, an expression of deep anxiety coloring her face.

“Forgive me… Hella-nim? Might I inquire as to what course of action you intend to take…?”

“Hehehe, when a situation reaches this crossroad, only a single path remains viable.”

Hella flashed an incredibly radiant smile, her sheer presence brightening the dim environment.

However, the declaration that slipped past her lips, delivered in an incredibly soft cadence, carried an entirely… ruthless weight.

“…An absolute display of overwhelming might.”

It was a freezing proclamation, an open declaration of impending devastation.

She pushed back from her seat and strode past Siana, who swallowed hard against the rising panic, her frame quivering imperceptibly.

The perfect strategy would have involved biding their time to strike at the absolute moment of maximum vulnerability… but now that their hidden hand had been exposed, remaining in the shadows was no longer a viable option.

They had been revealed as an unaccounted-for variable—a sudden, terrifying complication on the grand chessboard.

Neither the dominant Dark Nest nor the desperate remnants of the rival factions would allow an unknown player to exist on their flanks.

‘The optimal move is to strike decisively before they can organize a proper defense. A concealed weapon delivers its maximum lethality when it catches the enemy completely unawares.’

A significant portion of her subverted assets remained completely hidden from public view.

If she could draw the entire realm’s focus onto her own person, it would grant her covert network the room necessary to operate.

And that window of time would serve as the foundation of their ultimate triumph.

‘…Besides, the military assets currently under my direct command are more than sufficient. I have no desire to drag this clandestine game out indefinitely.’

A dark, dangerous smile curved her lips as she walked, waves of obsidian mana curling around her ankles like obsidian flora in full bloom.

A legion of elite demonic warriors, assembled for immediate mobilization, marched in her wake.

They constituted a specialized vanguard, entirely separate from the internal networks she had seeded throughout the rival territories.

“Hmm~ Which of our targets resides the closest?”

The specific faction whose borders pressed directly against the ancestral lands of the Dream Walkers.

The very entity that had acted as their primary antagonist across countless conflicts.

“…That would be Abnormal, Hella-nim.”

“Ah, precisely that group. The domain overseen by that peculiar… Strange Duke.”

“That is correct, but… are you entirely certain that launching a direct assault against them is the correct opening move?”

In contrast to human military doctrine, physical distance meant very little to demons who possessed access to long-range translocation arrays and complex spatial magic… yet geographical proximity still dictated logistical realities.

Abnormal had historically functioned as the primary existential threat to the Dream Walkers, relentlessly bleeding their resources and suppressing their growth, though they had adopted a more defensive posture recently due to the overwhelming pressure exerted by the Dark Nest.

‘…In truth, their past grievances mean very little to me… yet wiping them out serves as an excellent method to… repay the loyalty of my current followers.’

From a purely analytical standpoint, the standard maneuver would involve forging an alliance with the remaining two Dukes to present a unified front against the Dark Nest…

…but her grand design followed an entirely different trajectory.

This presented a flawless opening.

‘The advantage of complete tactical surprise is an expiring asset. It is infinitely more efficient to decapitate a reigning Duke and claim his entire empire than to waste valuable resources skirmishing with the vanguard of the Dark Nest!’

Hella’s brisk, authoritative stride came to a halt as she entered the staging area.

It was a massive tactical hub, dominated by sprawling spatial transportation circles designed for rapid army deployment.

As if they had been anticipating her arrival, an immense host of seasoned combatants stood assembled in flawless tactical order, their focus locking onto her figure, their expressions burning with absolute devotion and ferocious battle-lust.

Her lips parted into a wide grin, her voice carrying across the cavernous space with absolute clarity as she commanded her army.

“The hour has arrived! Advance with me, my warriors! We shall bring this conflict to a swift and brutal end!”

“Wooo—!”

“Hella! Hella! Hella!”

The sovereign known as Hella was officially declaring her arrival to the wider world.

—

Among the select circle of four… no, the three surviving Dukes governing the domains of the Demon World, stood the master of Abnormal, the Strange Duke Sipar.

[“What did you say? The Dream Walkers?”]

He shifted his massive upper body, his terrifying countenance—a feral, beast-like head marked by a thick scar cutting across one eye socket—contorting into an expression of pure disdain as his thick mane bristled.

[“Grrr— Have those creatures lost their minds entirely?”]

A second head, armored in thick, obsidian scales with massive, protruding tusks jutting from its lower jaw line, let out a low, vibrating snarl.

[“I foresaw this! We should have put an end to their line eons ago!”]

A third head, its flesh horribly warped by ancient burns and covered in thick, jagged scar tissue, unleashed an absolute roar of unbridled fury.

Rumble—

Sipar, the colossal three-headed canine entity echoing the legend of Cerberus, rose to his full height, his staggering ten-meter frame causing the atmospheric pressure in the room to plummet.

His elongated, serpentine tail, composed of an undulating mass of living vipers, hissed in unison.

Yet the display lasted only a brief moment.

He swiftly assigned the task of crushing the Dream Walkers to his command officers, turning his primary focus back toward the singular crisis that mattered.

The sole reason Abnormal had allowed the Dream Walkers to persist was not due to any lack of martial supremacy.

They possessed the means to wipe them from the map at any moment, had it not been for the constant geopolitical interference of rival factions.

At this current juncture, the Dark Nest represented an infinitely more dangerous threat to their survival.

“Your Grace! The stronghold of Talab has shattered!”

“We are overwhelmed on every perimeter! Logistics cannot process reinforcement requests; our primary legions are completely locked down by the main forces of the Dark Nest…!”

“Gallak, the overseer of the central threshold, has turned traitor! The vanguard of the Dream Walkers is breaching our internal sectors with terrifying speed, Your Grace!”

Yet the defensive strategy was coming undone at the seams.
A relentless cascade of catastrophic updates flooded the command center, each successive transmission worse than the last.

Even with the vast majority of their standing legions deployed to the primary front lines to halt the Dark Nest, this sudden collapse was… incomprehensible.

‘What manner of sorcery is this? Liliana, that manipulative succubus… her bloodline has never commanded a fraction of this military output…’

He was well aware that they had been covertly pulling deserters and mercenaries from various organizations…

He had even commissioned an espionage report on the matter, ultimately writing it off as a pathetic, desperate attempt to shore up their defenses…

‘…But this level of destruction cannot be achieved through simple superiority of numbers.’

The defenders garrisoning his strongholds were far too formidable to be swept aside by a mere rabble of mercenaries.
There was an unaccounted-for element at play.
An absolute blind spot in his intelligence network.

As his four distinct minds, including the analytical consciousness of his serpentine tail, wrestled with the problem in a desperate attempt to salvage the defense,

“Your Grace! They have breached the…!”

Kaboom—!

…a cataclysmic detonation, accompanied by a violent shockwave that rocked the foundations of the fortress, shattered the air.

The distinct, metallic aroma of fresh slaughter washed over his hyper-acute olfactory senses.

The strike force of the Dream Walkers had somehow bypassed every outer defensive ring to reach the heart of his personal domain.

[“How can this be…?!”]

All four heads let out a simultaneous gasp of pure shock, their eyes wide with absolute bewilderment.

The tactical reality was undeniable.

Their entire operation had been explicitly designed to assassinate him from the very beginning.

Within the defensive doctrine of the Demon World, to neutralize the threat of hostile spatial infiltration, every sovereign territory was ringed by unidirectional transport thresholds that restricted spatial travel to highly monitored channels.

Yet this invading force… their advance had been far too explosive, far too surgical, as though they possessed the keys to bypass every single defensive threshold to materialize directly on his doorstep.

It was an undeniable display of tactical brilliance, however—.

[“Hehehe… This is absolute… lunacy.”]

[“Grrr— They have gravely miscalculated our personal strength.”]

[“Extermination! Khahaha! Let the ground be painted in their lifeblood!”]

Kaboom—!

Sipar transformed into a mountain of muscle and speed, tearing through the corridors toward the epicenter of the breach.

He had not been lingering within his keep out of a desire for safety.

He had been holding his position, preserving his immense reserves of power to act as the ultimate response unit against any catastrophic shifts in the war, such as a direct intervention by another Duke. He was, without question, the absolute apex predator of Abnormal, their final insurance policy.

[“They truly possessed the audacity to seek me out?!”]

He materialized on the main battleground within a fraction of a second.

The central plaza of Abnormal’s stronghold had dissolved into a theater of absolute butchery and madness, with demons of conflicting allegiances tearing into one another in a frantic, unyielding melee.

[“………!”]

Yet the very moment he stepped into the fray,

…his massive form ground to a sudden, violent halt, his towering frame locking up completely mid-motion.

The unshakeable arrogance that had defined his existence up to this exact moment dissolved into nothingness, replaced by an icy sensation of impending doom that caused his thick fur to stand on end as his gaze locked onto a singular presence.

An entity… was positioned there.

An entity that caused every survival instinct in his body to scream in terror.

And that presence belonged to—.

“A Cerberus? Hold on a moment, is that not fundamentally a canine? Why in the world does its title refer to a ‘Strange Wolf’ instead of a ‘Strange Dog’?”

…a young woman, her tone carrying an incredibly casual disrespect that utterly trampled upon his ancient majesty,

“Khahahaha!”

…and a monstrous, four-legged beast that unleashed a bizarre, terrifying bellow as it carried her proudly upon its back.