The surrounding atmosphere changed in an instant.
"······."
"…Huh."
A heavy atmosphere that made it seem as though one shouldn't speak carelessly.
But amidst it all, there was an attractive force that continued to draw attention.
Gulp.
Even as those present unconsciously swallowed dryly, the being's footsteps didn't stop. Footsteps that seemed light and graceful, yet with each step, carried a boldness that seemed to press down on the space itself.
The strangely tense air disappeared only when she reached the person of highest rank in this place. Dispelled by the bright smile on her face.
"Huhu, it's nice to meet you. My name is Hela. Please take care of me."
She simply smiled and spoke a few words.
However, that image would be deeply etched into the minds of those present, with a different meaning than before.
…No, in fact, it was engraved more in their hearts than in their heads.
'She is truly enchanting.'
The Dream Walker Matriarch, with one hand on her chest, let out a soft exclamation inwardly.
As someone who prided herself on being the best in this field across dimensions, her heart, which usually didn't flinch at any temptation thanks to her resistance, was beating twice as fast as usual.
If this was how she felt, how much more so the others?
"Ohoho, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Liliana, the current leader of the Dream Walkers. I sincerely thank you for coming all this way despite the inconvenience."
However, she calmly received the other's words without showing any outward signs. She maintained a dignified demeanor, like a noblewoman, in contrast to the other party, who spoke informally from the start.
"But this doesn't seem like a suitable place for a conversation. Shall we go inside? I've prepared delicious refreshments to welcome our esteemed guest."
Then, glancing around the still chaotic surroundings, she led Hela inside.
This was an important facility, the core of troop transport.
It was a place that should always be operated with tension, not a place where one could be distracted like this.
'By the way…'
As they moved, she glanced at Hela, who was exchanging greetings with Siana.
Having already reached the mature stage of transcendence, she could read a lot of information just from that.
The other party's stride and the weight it carried, the cycle and depth of their breathing, the change in their expression and the movement of their eyes when they spoke, the habits and gestures they weren't even aware of.
The conclusion she reached after synthesizing all these factors was one.
'…Huh, it's not Leraje after all.'
It was her own mistake.
There was no need to delve into the details.
From her appearance and physique to the nature of her magic power, she was different in many ways from the Demon King she knew.
'But she resembles her.'
Even she couldn't deny that.
After all, hadn't that name popped into her head the moment she saw her?
She couldn't pinpoint it, but the strange atmosphere surrounding the other party was remarkably similar to the lord she had admired long ago.
'And those eyes and horns. I'm sure. This person is Leraje's…'
Her gaze turned to Hela's face.
Inverse eyes with red pupils on a black background, and slightly curved black horns rising high.
Even if everything else was different, weren't those the symbols of the former Demon King!
As the Matriarch was lost in thought, her gaze suddenly met the mysterious inverse eyes.
It was a small mistake caused by the complicated thoughts swirling in her head, preventing her from properly managing her gaze.
"Huhut, it seems you have a lot you want to ask."
An expression that said she knew exactly what she wanted to say.
But Hela didn't say anything more about it.
She simply smiled, opened the door to the reception room they had just arrived at, and extended one arm towards the inside.
"Conversation is the most efficient means of communication for understanding each other. Seeing as you don't seem to have much time to spare, let's skip the small talk and get straight to the point."
And she gracefully walked inside.
As if she were the owner of this place.
***
'This is the Dream Walkers' headquarters? As expected of a prestigious family that produced the former Demon King. It's on a different level from the riffraff I've encountered so far.'
Hela nodded slightly, inwardly impressed.
Though she didn't show it outwardly, she was very satisfied with the current situation.
'This will be a great help to my work. Since I'm a latecomer, the stronger my foundation, the better.'
The stronger her influence in the Demon Realm, the faster the expansion of her power through her abilities.
If the Dream Walkers helped with the current work, she would be able to build a powerful force in no time.
Moreover, wasn't Liliana, the Succubus Matriarch, by far the best talent she had seen in the Demon Realm?
'I have to consider that the demons' power is amplified within the Demon Realm… If a Marquis-level demon is this strong, how strong are the Duke-level demons?'
Of course, even in her current state, she was confident in a one-on-one fight, but considering that their forces would also be involved, it was still premature to clash head-on.
That's why she needed to completely take control of the Dream Walkers.
'Perhaps because they have a strong resistance to charm, it seems difficult to subdue them by force like before.'
Of course, there was no need to do that with them.
They were already connected by a strong bond with her.
Hela, Liliana, and Siana sat facing each other in the reception room.
As neither side had time to spare, the conversation progressed quickly.
From official matters to somewhat personal matters.
"…'I don't know'? What do you mean by that?"
Liliana frowned as if she was dumbfounded.
She seemed clearly frustrated that she hadn't received a clear answer to the question she desperately wanted to ask.
But Hela simply shrugged.
"Of course, it must be related to the former Demon King. A being like me wouldn't have been born naturally. But I've only recently gained consciousness, and this is my first time in the Demon Realm…"
She simply feigned ignorance when asked about her origins.
How could she honestly reveal everything in this situation?
That she was one of the many avatars created using the remains of the former Demon King as a medium.
While beating around the bush and avoiding a definite answer, she didn't lie.
A demon of that level would easily see through any lies in her words.
'I don't know if it'll work on me, but it's best to be as careful as possible for now.'
Although she had recently fully adapted, Hela was a newly born entity.
Preparing for unforeseen circumstances was a matter of course.
And if she maintained this ambiguous attitude and left room for all possibilities…
"…Did you make arrangements in advance? In preparation for your death…? Hmm, considering she has the Queen's essence. Perhaps those two really did…"
…they would fill in the blanks and create a scenario that made sense.
There was no need for her to rack her brains.
"Come to think of it, I'm curious too. Matriarch Liliana, what's your relationship with the 14th Demon King and the Succubus Queen? You seem to know them well."
The Matriarch, who had been frowning and pondering Hela's casually thrown question, paused.
A moment of silence flowed.
But soon, she opened her mouth as if nothing had happened.
Gazing intently at Hela with a strange look in her eyes.
"…They're my younger sister and mother."
A gentle explanation followed.
As if telling an old story to a separated family member, confessing past family matters to a niece she hadn't seen in a long time.
Leraje and Liliana, who shared the same Succubus Queen as their mother.
Among them, Leraje was a very special being.
Unlike Liliana, who was born as an ordinary succubus, her father's genes were overly expressed, and she was born as a mutant, a 'succubus hybrid'.
Originally, males were nothing more than prey and objects of exploitation for the succubus race, so it was generally impossible, but considering the power of her father, it wasn't entirely impossible.
He was the 13th Demon King, the strongest of his time.
'Her father was the 13th Demon King, and her mother was the Succubus Queen.'
It was a more impressive lineage than she had thought.
Well, that's why she was able to rise to the position of Demon King in the Demon Realm, where all sorts of vicious monsters roamed.
"The eyes and horns you've inherited are also traits passed down from the 13th Demon King. Leraje didn't like them much because they stood out too much. Really, she had no idea how much I and the others envied her."
Liliana sighed and fiddled with her own horns, which were about a handspan long.
Siana, who was sitting quietly next to her, did the same.
And her brief story soon led to the invasion of the continent by the 14th Demon King Leraje and her executive, the Queen.
Thanks to the Queen, who had not only produced the Demon King but had also grown to Duke-level by having a relationship with the previous Demon King, the Dream Walker territory enjoyed great prosperity, but they couldn't just remain complacent.
They wanted to escape this barren land and plunder abundant resources, but more than that, they had a mission to fulfill.
"…The Demon God's will?"
"It's a duty passed down since the birth of the first Demon King. Well, even without it, it wouldn't have changed. That fertile land was like a well-set table for us."
To invade the continent periodically to curb the momentum of humans and take certain measures there.
The moment she heard those words, a hypothesis flashed through Hela's mind.
'The Demon God was periodically interfering with the God of Humans' resurrection!'
She didn't know why the Demon God, isolated in the Demon Realm, which was difficult to travel to and from, was assigned such a role. Perhaps it was simply because they didn't get along, or perhaps it was due to a law she didn't yet know.
The important thing was that the ritual had taken the form of a continental invasion.
It had been abruptly stopped with the 14th Demon King.
And as a result, the arrangements of the God of Humans, including the Immortal King, began to awaken one by one.
'Wow… He's truly persistent. To think he succeeded after continuing to try for over a thousand years without giving up, even after being thrown into the Abyss?'
And to even retaliate against the Demon God who had been hindering him all this time.
She couldn't even fathom how powerful he had been before being sealed in the Abyss.
Well, that's why the Main God, who usually didn't intervene, had personally taken action.
"Mother volunteered to accompany Leraje to help her. The other Dukes were desperately trying to check her power."
That's how threatening the power of charm possessed by the 14th Demon King was.
If she had a little more time, she could have suppressed all the high-ranking demons and achieved absolute power.
Of course, that was already in the past, and in the end, both Demon King Leraje and the Succubus Queen died during the invasion of the continent.
She didn't know what had happened during the process, or whether the other Dukes or the God of Humans had intervened, but…
"…But it seems we have another chance."
A strange fervor began to creep into Liliana's voice, which had been flowing calmly as if telling a fairy tale. An unprecedented fire was burning in her eyes.
"I will acknowledge you as my sister and the daughter of the 14th Demon King Leraje. Even if you weren't born directly from her, it seems that her power and will have been properly inherited."
And she slowly got up and tapped the side of the table in the center.
At her light touch, the heavy table with refreshments was pushed all the way to the wall, but no one here paid attention to it.
"I, Liliana, Matriarch of the Dream Walkers—"
"—and my daughter, Siana."
Siana, who had been quiet until now, opened her mouth after Liliana.
Before Hela could react to the fact that she was the Matriarch's daughter, the two of them slowly knelt before Hela.
""We pledge our loyalty to Hela-nim.""
The words resonated, and a wave of magical power overflowed heavily.
At the same time, a double contract was made not only with Liliana, but also with Siana, a subordinate of the Immortal King.
It seemed that becoming a subordinate of a higher rank as a demon of the Demon Realm was treated separately from contracts made outside.
"We desire only one thing."
Then, Liliana, with her forehead on the floor, spoke in a passionate voice.
Although she acknowledged Hela as her niece, she seemed to prioritize serving her as a lord who would fulfill their will, and her polite tone didn't waver in the slightest.
"—To eliminate all those despicable Dukes and for Hela-nim to ascend to the top of the Demon Realm!"
Her eyes, lifted from her bowed position, met Hela's gaze.
Eyes burning with anger and a thirst for revenge, not hidden even by her tired face.
A gentle smile formed on Hela's lips as she gazed at them.
Of course, the answer was already decided.
***
"…Th, this is."
Miyamoto Ken gulped.
[Gurgle! Gurgle!]
[Ah…! This refreshing blood! More! Give me more!]
In front of him, beings of bizarre shapes, impossible to consider normal living creatures, were wriggling.
Eyes, nose, mouth, limbs, and even heads.
They were pure white monsters, each with a different number and placement of parts, as if a child had haphazardly assembled them, evoking an instinctive revulsion at first glance.
"Hmm, you seem surprised."
"Yes, a little…"
The owner of the gentle voice approached slowly from behind Ken.
He patted Ken's shoulder a few times and looked at the scene ahead with a satisfied gaze.
"What do you think? Impressive, isn't it?"
A sticky desire that couldn't be hidden even by the pretense of gentleness.
Before Ken could answer, the owner of the voice spoke again.
"These are the ones who will lead us to victory—"
His eyes, like the abyss without a single point of light, curved into crescents.
"—God's soldiers."