“Damon?”

As a form of reprimand for the chaos she caused, Athanasia was assigned to investigate Damon—the one Beatrice had brought back.

“You’re one of the Four Generals, right? How are you still alive?”

No sooner had Damon regained consciousness than he found himself being interrogated, sitting cross-legged on the floor of an empty room.

“I don’t die.”

“What, are you some kind of ancient god?”

“More accurately, I’m already dead. So death means nothing to me.”

Athanasia tilted her head at that.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She turned slightly, her gaze falling on Selimia nearby.

“You asking me right now?”

“Yeah.”

“How would I know?”

Selimia just frowned as if this whole situation didn’t sit well with her.

“I don’t understand why Clay only took that woman with him. He clearly had impure intentions.”

“Isn’t that rich coming from you? Honestly, if you hadn’t caused such a fuss, Clay probably wouldn’t have stopped me from going with him too.”

Zap.

Selimia’s sharp glare stabbed toward Athanasia, who clicked her tongue and turned back to Damon.

“Hey, Day-ron or whatever.”

“It’s Damon.”

“Whatever. Clay said to find a successor for the Four Generals, but you’re from the previous generation, right? Where’s your successor?”

“Dead.” Damon answered in a low voice, “No one but me is free from death.”

“Hmph.”

So he didn’t have a successor after all.

“Guess you’ll have to keep serving as one of the Four Generals, then. Where are you from? The South? The East?”

Barungenia sat to the west of the Demon Territory’s center. Excluding Beatrice’s central origin and Geshkafor’s activity in the north, that left only the south and east.

“I came from a graveyard in the South.”

“Just say the South.”

Already offended by his cadaverous stench, Athanasia wrinkled her nose at the word “graveyard.”

“And raising an army of the dead is my job. Find yourself something else to do.”

“...So this is where first come, first served rules apply?”

Damon scoffed, stretching out fingers as thin as twigs. Athanasia stared down at him with eyes glowing with power.

“Not first come, first served. It’s my divine authority by nature. You’re just a knockoff.”

As her oppressive power thickened the air, Selimia sighed and interjected irritably.

“Didn’t Clay say that if there’s no successor, he’d just keep the previous General? Enough with the corpse talk. Do your job if you want to go back to him.”

“How insolent.”

Athanasia turned toward her with an annoyed look, then exhaled and closed her eyes.

“Still, if we fight, Clay will scold me again.”

Keeping her composure, she reached for Damon.

“Get up.”

“?”

Damon blinked in confusion as Athanasia gave him a few shakes.

“You’re practically a sheet of paper.”

Feeling the feathery weight of his frame—flesh barely clinging to bone. Athanasia couldn’t hide her disbelief.

“Well, either way, we still have to interrogate you.”

“Interrogate? With what?”

Damon looked puzzled—what interrogation could possibly follow after such pointless conversation?

And then—

Clunk!

“We’re here~!”

A small-framed woman with her hair tied in a side braid burst into the room with her arms raised. Behind her came a grotesque, monstrous figure.

“Lin? And Goltche…?!”

Damon, who’d shown no reaction until now, instantly went pale.

“What? You know them?”

Athanasia smirked. She’d learned firsthand how eccentric Lin and Goltche were while staying here.

No—eccentric was putting it mildly. These two were mad scientists obsessed with experimentation. As long as they had a test subject, they would rip flesh, break bones, and sew them back together without pause, day or night.

No Four General could be unaware of their notoriety.

And indeed—

“They were supposed to have been exiled!”

They had conducted so many unapproved experiments that even the former Demon King had banished them to remote posts.

Athanasia, who had heard the story from the two themselves, couldn’t help laughing at Damon’s reaction.

‘Looks like a lot of strange people popped up while I was asleep.’

It was amusing, yes—but more than that, Lin and Goltche possessed a peculiar ability they themselves weren’t even fully aware of.

That ability was interrogation.

“Lin. Goltche.”

Athanasia addressed the two she had grown close to since arriving in the castle.

“This guy calls himself a Four General, caught hiding in a graveyard. See if he’s actually willing to work.”

“That’s easy~.”

Lin murmured as she looked over Damon, still held in Athanasia’s grasp.

“He’s even skinnier than before. If he wants to function properly, we’ll need to restructure his physiology.”

“Agreed.”

Goltche stepped in to second the opinion, prompting Damon to start thrashing in panic.

“W-Wait! You need the Demon King’s permission to touch a General’s body!”

“Already got it.”

“What?”

“We got permission.”

Lin smiled faintly.

“This Demon King is surprisingly lenient with us.”

“Y-You’ve gotta be kidding…”

Boom!

Just then—

A towering demon in crimson armor strode into the room. His massive horns jutted up threateningly.

Damon’s eyes widened in shock.

“Th-That’s?!”

It wasn’t armor—it only looked that way. The massive demon had undergone such extreme body modification that his body resembled a suit of armor.

“Ah…”

The giant demon, Geshkafor, spotted Lin and Goltche and let out a groan.

“Why are you here…?”

“Geshkafor. Are you looking to be improved again?”

At Lin’s question, Geshkafor violently shook his head.

“N-No! I was just looking for a place to rest! Somewhere you two weren’t…!”

“Hold on a sec. We’ve got a fresh test subject in now.”

“I-I’m leaving!”

Geshkafor bolted from the room. Damon flailed wildly at the sight, but couldn’t escape Athanasia’s grip.

“Lin.” Athanasia flashed her a mischievous grin. “I’ll leave him to you. Make sure he’s compatible with Clay.”

“Don’t worry.”

Lin nodded with those clear, unclouded eyes. “Once we make a few adjustments, people are usually happy to open up. They even end up grateful, you know?”

“No, they don’t!”

“Let’s start by restraining him.”

As Goltche brought out rattling restraints, Damon shouted incoherently.

Watching it all, Selimia sighed and leaned her chin on one hand.

“That marshmallow she gave to Clay… What exactly was it? I need to find out…”

And just like that, the empty room was buried in chaotic noise.

♧

“So all this happened while I was gone?”

In the Demon King’s office.

Beatrice sat across from Clay, narrowing her eyes.

“Ancient gods, northern calamity… I only sent Geshkafor.”

Her gaze then shifted toward the demon sword resting in the corner of the office.

“Didn’t Syltanaro say anything?”

Clink.

The sword shuddered slightly, as if caught off guard.

“Not really… nothing at all.”

“I figured.”

Beatrice sighed at Clay’s reply.

“Even Syltanaro probably hasn’t seen many beings like that. Safer to stay quietly by your side than to risk danger.”

“…Hmm.”

“So, have you sorted things out?”

At her question, Clay looked puzzled.

“Sorted what?”

“Who’s your number one.”

Clay flinched slightly.

“Number one? I haven’t really thought about that…”

“I’m disappointed.” Beatrice shrugged, “You say that after accepting my marshmallow?”

“I don’t see how the two are connected.”

“So you became Demon King and already forgot?” She tapped her legs softly, “Where’s the man who once laid his head in my lap, saying he was lonely?”

“Beatrice…” Clay gave an awkward smile. “If there’s something bothering you, just say so. I’ll make it right.”

“You’re asking me to say it out loud?” Beatrice stared at him for a moment before letting out a small laugh, “You’ve grown into a good-looking man.”

She exhaled deeply at the sight of Clay’s embarrassed face.

“I understand the weight of being the Demon King. But you don’t have to live as if all emotion has been erased. Maybe not like before… but I hope you’ll still show your true expressions now and then.”

“…Alright.”

Relaxing slightly, Clay nodded slowly.

“But let’s put that aside for now. I’ll tell you about the one I brought.”

Beatrice explained that the one she had retrieved was Damon, a former Four General—ranked third among the previous generation.

“He can raise the undead and is quite skilled in poison as well.”

“He’ll be useful for building up the army.”

While Athanasia could also raise the dead, doing so consumed her power, limiting the practicality of her ability.

But true undead, created in full, could accumulate their own energy and act independently—making them a viable part of the regular army.

“You’ve done something great.”

“Your order was to find a successor. I didn’t do that. All I did was bring back one of the old Four Generals.”

“Even so, he’ll be of help.”

At Clay’s words, Beatrice fell silent for a moment, then spoke again.

“Clay.”

She brought up the plan she’d learned about after returning to Barungenia.

“You’re planning to strike Yaphenon, aren’t you?”

That was tantamount to declaring war on the Holy Alliance.

“You haven’t even unified the Demon Territory yet. Are you sure it’s wise to attack Yaphenon?”

“If we focus on unification first, we’ll lose too much time.”

Clay emphasized that by creating an external enemy, he could unify the realm far more quickly.

“I intend to show the demons who their true center is.”

“But plenty of enemies might discover Barungenia and strike during that time.”

“I’ve prepared for that. Selimia will fortify our defenses.”

With Selimia’s power, Clay planned to encircle Barungenia in a fortress of ice—creating a wintry barrier and icy moat.

“You’re the acting commander here.”

Clay pointed to Beatrice.

“While I’m away, I’m trusting you to defend this place.”

“Back already, and now we part again?”

“There’s no one else I can trust to this extent.”

At present, only Beatrice was capable of handling it all.

“I’ll find a proper administrator soon and appoint them as Barungenia’s chief overseer.”

“Don’t expect me to take that role too.”

Seeing her puffed-up cheeks, Clay extended a hand to her.

“Beatrice. This is trust.”

Something he valued above all else.

“You really don’t fight fair.”

Beatrice took his hand.

“Do well out there.”

It was finally time for the Demon King to venture beyond the castle walls.

(End of Chapter)

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