The President's office was a complete mess.
"Hmm."
Hubert, who had been slumped in the luxurious chair, let out a soft groan.
His head, which had been facing the floor, lifted, and his eyes slowly opened.
He blinked a few times and looked around, then casually got up and stretched to loosen up.
"Hmm, I feel stiff. Even if I was sitting in the wrong posture, I wasn't there for that long..."
It was probably the aftereffect of the evil magic that had infiltrated to manipulate his mind.
Although the attempt itself was successfully blocked, the aftereffects of the high-density energy infiltration could not be completely eliminated.
Moreover, since Hubert hadn't specifically trained in mystical arts, he was somewhat vulnerable in this area.
'A lesser opponent would have found this much preparation sufficient.'
Assassination attempts were a daily occurrence for a merchant operating on a continental scale like himself.
Thorough security throughout the headquarters building and other areas of operation, powerful security personnel who could stop even an army or special forces from invading, and personal skills that went beyond simple self-defense.
But even those measures were bypassed in this case.
'Tsk, given who the opponent was, it couldn't be helped.'
Hubert clicked his tongue lightly and slowly looked around.
Diana, who was unconscious, had been carefully laid on the sofa by the reception table, her even breathing suggesting that she was merely asleep with no other abnormalities.
After gazing at her briefly, his eyes shifted toward the head seat at the table.
Toward the demons gathered so obediently that one might doubt they were the same beings who had caused such a commotion just moments ago.
Miyamoto Ken, a Count-level demon, a young man with black hair and black eyes with an ordinary impression.
Frances, a Viscount-level demon, an old gentleman in a pure white outfit with a quaint cane.
And—
Hela, a Demon King-level Archdemon, sitting alone on the sofa with her legs crossed, with the two demons standing politely behind her.
The Demon King, who had just descended on this land, crossed her legs, rested her arm on them, and propped up her chin, listening to the two demons talking behind her and nodding lightly.
'...It's quite the atmosphere when I see it like this.'
Beautiful features that were not obscured by the horns that soared high between the long black hair that was roughly tied up, the black wings on her back, and the black and red inverse eyes, which were foreign elements.
In addition, her figure, which made even the clothes she was wearing look like works of art, was exuding a charm and overwhelming charisma that made it difficult to even speak, let alone look down.
Hubert, who was inwardly admiring the sight, looked at his new avatar with a new eye.
Since this was his first female avatar, it was only natural that he, who had handled so many entities, was still unfamiliar with it.
Entity Name: Hela
Race: Demon King
Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Persona」, 「Xenoglossy」, 「Subspace Storage」, 「Limit Break」, 「Mimicry」
Entity Traits: 「Demon King」, 「Annihilator」, 「World of Demonic Heavens」, 「Magic Domination」, 「Eyes of Dominance」, 「Unparalleled Beauty」, 「Monarch of Enchantment」
Special Notes: Han Sung-hyun's twelfth avatar. The horn containing the essence of the 14th Demon King Leraje, the right arm, and the eyeball were used as media. The influence of the media is very strong, and some of the characteristics of the previous life have been inherited. Not only does it possess enormous energy, but it also has strong resistance to divine power.
Not only did she achieve the rank of transcendence immediately upon birth, but she also had seven innate entity traits.
And all of them were upper-level traits that combined multiple skills and had overlapping effects, so Hela was a being that could be said to have been born as a complete form from the beginning.
The 「Demon King」, which was a racial trait and the basis of all abilities, the 「Annihilator」, which was related to aggression and combat in general, and the 「World of Demonic Heavens」, which brought her unique domain to the world.
'「Magic Domination」 is also something Hans has. And the other three are...'
「Eyes of Dominance」, 「Unparalleled Beauty」, and 「Monarch of Enchantment」.
These abilities, which were based on bewitching and dominating the target and reigning over them, were very closely related to the bloodline of the 14th Demon King, Leraje.
'To think the Demon King was a succubus hybrid. I was so focused on the performance of the material that I overlooked it.'
That must have had a significant influence on why the entity's gender couldn't be changed.
It would have been strange if it had become a male with so many media possessing such power.
'Well, it's a useless issue to consider now. It's a type I haven't had before, so it'll have its own uses.'
Having organized his thoughts, Hubert looked at Hela with a subtle expression.
A beautiful appearance that was different from the beauties he had seen so far.
But his gaze at such a beauty was filled only with a lukewarm feeling.
...No matter how pretty she was, she was still himself.
The foundation of existence, soul, and ego were one, so he couldn't perceive it differently.
It was like looking at himself perfectly dressed as a woman in a mirror.
Unless he was a narcissist, it was just uncomfortable for someone who claimed to have extremely normal tastes.
'I can give it high marks in terms of artistry.'
Of course, objectively speaking, there wouldn't be many people who could even be compared to Hela.
To be considered a candidate, they would have to be at least Saintess Liesta, Jin Sorin, the vampires including Brik, or Princess Riley, the elf Shapiron, the archmage Misty, Zhuge Hyemi, Namgung Sorin, the dragons of Golden Island, and the pure-blood succubus Siana...
'...Huh? There are more than I thought?'
He paused in the middle of his thoughts.
He suddenly realized a new fact that he hadn't been aware of.
'Did I have this many women around me?'
And all of them were beauties with their own unique charms.
Realizing that, a topic naturally came to mind.
'...Was I a legendary alpha male?'
A fact that no one knew... not even the person himself!
But that groundless confidence soon disappeared like bubbles.
He had never even had a proper fling, let alone a relationship, so what kind of alpha male was he?
'Tsk, I knew it.'
A sense of regret welled up for some reason.
So he stopped the idle thoughts and decided to proceed with the story.
"Hubert? If you're done grasping the situation, come over here. I've scolded these guys, so don't worry."
At the enchanting voice that tickled his ears, Hubert slowly walked towards the demons.
And he sat down on the sofa opposite where Diana was sleeping, glancing at Hela, who was sitting in the head seat.
'The pressure is even greater when I face her up close. Even though she's hiding her energy as much as possible.'
The two demons standing on either side of the back of the chair glared at Hubert with fierce eyes.
As if they would immediately break his neck the moment he committed any disrespect.
Hubert, who avoided their gaze with an inner chuckle.
'There seems to be no problem with her dominance.'
Originally, it was almost impossible to brainwash a strong person of that level, even for a high-ranking succubus, but this case was different.
They were demons rooted in the Demon Realm, and Hela was the legitimate new ruler of the Demon Realm—the Demon King.
"I've explained the situation to these children, so they won't harm you in the future. Now, you should apologize properly, right?"
"Ahem, if you had revealed that you were Hela-nim's servant from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened."
"Hohoho, I almost made a big mistake. As those who serve the same master, let's forget the past mistakes and get along well."
As expected of demons, they tried to gloss over the apology and move on vaguely.
Of course, Hela didn't let that trick slide.
"Tsk."
"...I'm sorry, please forgive me."
"Ahem, I will also formally apologize. I will definitely repay this debt."
The Demon King's stooge planted on the continent.
That was the new setting given to Hubert.
This would explain why she protected him.
And there was one more very large issue entangled in this setting...
'There's only one thing I can call a merchant's connection.'
It was to expand the business to the Demon Realm, backed by the Demon King.
Of course, it wouldn't be easy because there was a dimensional barrier that couldn't be easily crossed, but didn't he have capable slaves... no, subordinates who could be used in various ways?
'Hehehe, if the Hubert Company can take over the market in the Demon Realm...'
It didn't matter if that land didn't follow a normal market economy.
Anyway, what he really wanted was the enormous karma that would be generated by exerting influence.
"There's nothing to forgive when we're in the same boat. Let's get along well in the future."
"Oh! You're very generous. I knew it..."
"That's why I'm saying this."
The illusion of karma pouring down from the sky filled his retinas.
He licked his lips slightly and swallowed, his eyes sparkling as he continued.
"...I have a business in mind, but it's not easy to proceed with it? Could I get some help from you guys?"
The moment when the dark merchant, who would sell goods even to the devil if he gave money (karma), opened his eyes.
***
"Hmm."
Hela, armed with demon realm weapons taken from Horus's 'Golden Treasury', slowly clenched and unclenched her fists and nodded in satisfaction.
Her awkward body had become quite accustomed to it.
Wasn't she the one who had handled the bodies of the undead, who had only bones, the stocky dwarves, and even the body of a dragon that didn't even resemble a human?
It would be ridiculous to be flustered by a woman's body now.
Of course, there was still a lot of resistance as she had lived as a man all her life, but 'Persona', which adjusted the emotions and tendencies of the avatar, allowed her to naturally operate 'Hela' regardless of the main body's feelings.
Just like the other avatars had done so far.
However, it was inevitable that she was still concerned about the entity's tendencies...
The problem was that Hela's demeanor, while a bit rough and easygoing, could not be seen as a man no matter how you looked at it.
'Is this the femininity that was latent in my inner self, or something?'
Femininity in her, a manly man?
It was inevitable that she felt uncomfortable when she realized that.
'Ugh! Harley... I need Harley...! Harley who chews and swallows undercooked meat!'
It felt like the damage to her caused by Hans's middle-school-like behavior in the early days of obtaining 'Persona' was recurring.
But she tried to think positively, looking at Harley, who was roaring wildly and inhaling meat.
Anyway, since she had scraped the very tiny femininity remaining in her inner self and put it all in one place, if she controlled this well, the main body would literally become the incarnation of a manly man, right?
'Yeah, it's not bad if I think of it that way.'
In the process of calming her mind, some of Drakal's citizens complained about the noise pollution caused by Harley's roar, which was wildly showing off his wildness, but this was something she couldn't help.
'...Well, I can hold a meat festival at my own expense. More importantly, it's important to grasp the situation in the Demon Realm.'
Hubert, faithful to his role as a merchant, immediately began preparations to open a trade route in the Demon Realm, but what was really urgent was the problem that had occurred in the Demon Realm.
After all, the reason he had become interested in the Demon Realm was because of his anxiety about that matter.
The most important thing in solving the problem was, of course, gathering information, and in that sense, the two demons who had just left the Demon Realm were very good sources of information.
...It should have been.
"Hmm, to be honest, I'm not very interested in the political situation, so what I told Hubert is all I know. If that's okay with you..."
"Hoho, I'm sorry. It's been over five years since I left the Demon Realm, so I'm a bit... lacking in the latest information. I'll tell you what I know for now."
It was a little unreliable, but to put it simply, it could be seen as a 'struggle between factions for the next Demon King position'.
It had been going on for hundreds of years, so it was nothing special now.
The reason why the Demon Realm was quiet during the period when the Immortal King was rampaging after the 14th Demon King Leraje led the Demon King's army to invade the continent a thousand years ago was also because of that.
'...Come to think of it, there was also the essence of a Succubus Queen, a Demon King's army executive, in the 'Golden Treasury'.'
I had excluded it because I was worried that it would have a negative effect if I added a material that was lower in rank than the Demon King's remains, but...
'A succubus hybrid Demon King and a Succubus Queen executive. Now that I think about it, their relationship was likely more than just a monarch and a vassal.'
Anyway, the important thing now was that she had another point of contact with the Demon Realm besides those two demons.
And it was a special connection that was presumed to be closely related to the former Demon King.
'Siana.'
The succubus under Hans, belonging to the Immortal Legion.
The lifespan of demons was also quite long, so maybe she knew about them, who had died a thousand years ago.
Even if not, the faction she belonged to in the Demon Realm wouldn't be that small, since it had produced the former Demon King and a high-ranking executive.
'If I swallow that whole...'
It would be easier to proceed with things in the Demon Realm.
Hela, who nodded slowly, immediately took action.
And the Immortal King Hans also began to move in accordance with her.
It was the beginning of a terrible collaboration that would make everyone scream if they knew about it.
But no one knew that fact yet.