The palace was riddled with holes…
As night fell and the humans slept, the demoness Zofi and her subordinates, Al and El, easily infiltrated the Royal Palace. The moment of disbelief was fleeting, quickly replaced by the thought, “Is this the limit of pathetic and frail humans?”
Her objective was Marius Tubaan. While it was common to eliminate anyone who might pose an obstacle to their goals, individuals with power comparable to Marius’s could sometimes be recruited as subordinates.
Though patrols of two soldiers occasionally passed by, they were easily evaded. Even without stars or the moon, Zofi and her companions could see as clearly as in daylight and possessed superior sensory abilities. Though concealed at a level imperceptible to humans, Zofi could clearly detect the presence of someone with immense power. This must be Marius.
“Gerik’s fears don’t seem entirely unfounded… However, if I can turn him into my servant, he will be a valuable pawn,” Zofi purred, a foxy smile gracing her lips. She relished nothing more than to torment and subjugate strong men. Her secret ambition was to conquer high-ranking demons like Rubens, Albert, and Franklin.
“Hmm? There’s another presence nearby…” Zofi was unaware that it was Barra. However, upon sensing that the presence belonged to a woman, her interest immediately waned. Women, in her experience, only trusted those of their own kind and did not make good subordinates.
Zofi and her two companions silently slipped into Marius’s room and unleashed their abilities. Zofi herself was a Lilim, a top-tier type among those known as Succubi, and Al and El were also Lilim. If Zofi wished, she could invade the dreams of everyone sleeping in the palace, showing them endless pleasurable dreams to drain their life force and lead them to a desiccated death. However, Al and El lacked such power, and their only target was Marius. Therefore, it would be more efficient to finish him off within the room.
Marius was breathing deeply in his sleep. He wasn’t wearing his robe, carrying his staff, or adorned with any accessories, nor had he erected any barriers. It seemed an easy kill, but to be absolutely sure, she used her skill. The Lilim skill “Pleasure” induces dreams of ecstasy in sleeping individuals, draining their life force. It was a vicious combo, accompanied by a forced charm effect, and since it was a dream, there was no way to escape on one’s own.
First, Zofi entered Marius’s dream world, followed by Al and El. They intended to leave him weak and enslaved after a storm of nocturnal emissions. In the past, she had controlled countless males, sometimes draining them to death. She had no doubt of her success this time.
Marius’s detection and crisis-awareness abilities were high, but he did not awaken simply because a demon and her subordinates, who bore no intent to physically harm him, had infiltrated his room. Thus, he was completely taken in and his dream world was invaded.
When he realized what was happening, he found himself in a world of flower fields, with three unprecedentedly beautiful women before him. All three were stunning, and they were all wearing matching black bikinis. In his original world, they could have been top-tier gravure idols, with their glamorous figures.
“Nice to meet you, Marius-sama,” Zofi greeted him in a syrupy voice designed to stir a man’s desires. With a casual gesture, she emphasized her cleavage, and Al and El followed suit. Marius couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
*Huh? Seeing a dream like this… have I been holding back too much?* He remembered that he hadn’t had any outlet for his desires since arriving in this world. A young, healthy man would naturally… that was the talk. Still, a dream featuring multiple exceptionally busty beauties with unfamiliar faces – how sexually frustrated was he?
“We will serve you with all our might.”
Zofi and the others, mistaking Marius’s confusion for the first step in being enchanted, began their seduction. As the three women drew close, a familiar instinctive warning prickled at the back of his neck, and he finally realized he was under attack.
*Ah. An attack from the Succubi?*
The reason he hadn’t noticed sooner was a benefit of his Sage-class status: complete immunity to charm. The strength difference was too great, and the effect was nullified before Marius himself could perceive it. However, this was reality, not a game, and the invasion of his dream world could not be erased.
*No, but even if I noticed, they were incapacitated… that means they’re too weak.* It was almost laughable how little cause for panic there was. The three pressed themselves against him, and though he readied himself to cast magic, there was no sign of it happening. It seemed they intended to attack him solely from below. In that case, perhaps it would be more advantageous to pretend to be charmed and play along. As he began to yield to them, he suddenly realized. *If this is a dream world, then upon waking, I’ll have had nocturnal emissions?* That thought bothered him greatly. Even if he blamed it on the Succubi, having them at his age would be quite embarrassing.
“On second thought, I’ll stop this.” Marius firmly grabbed the arm of the beautiful, nameless woman, Zofi.
“W-What…?” Zofi couldn’t comprehend this sudden turn of events. Al and El also froze.
“【Wake】.” He used a spell that awakens allies who have been put to sleep by spells like “Sleep.” His judgment that a simple spell would suffice, given the overwhelming difference in power that made caution seem foolish, had been correct.
Like shattering glass, his vision cracked and broke. Then, in the next moment, Marius was awake. In the corner of the room, the three women glared at him with frustrated expressions.
“Damn it, I didn’t expect him to have the ‘Nightmare Breaker’ skill…” Zofi spat out resentfully. Marius hadn’t the faintest idea what she was talking about. He had never heard of such a skill, but he understood that they were indeed his enemies.
“Is all you can do is invade dreams?” he taunted, rising from the bed and casually equipping the Necklace of the Archangel and the Ring of Divine Words.
“We accept your taunt. Al, El, let’s go.”
“Y-Yes.”
Zofi, seeking to regain her pride as a Succubus, challenged Marius to a fight. Marius cast the soundproofing spell “Silent.” Then, he unleashed everything he had accumulated.
“Marius-sama, what is happening!?” Barra, sensing the disturbance, burst into Marius’s room with her escorts. On the bed, they found three women with flushed faces and weakened legs. Marius was at a loss for how to explain, and an awkward silence fell. Those who rushed in were startled, but as Barra looked closer, she noticed the women’s pointed ears and tails.
“Um… you were attacked by Succubi, and you repelled them?”
“You figured that out so quickly.”
Marius let out a sigh of relief, realizing he had avoided a misunderstanding. Barra and her group’s attention quickly shifted to the Succubi, but they were completely stunned and unresponsive even when confronted. Then, Barra frowned. The central woman had an exceptionally strong presence, even stronger than Samuel from the Demonplay.
*Could she be a Demon Lord…?* Her face was slack, as if her very soul had been melted. Yet, the power she contained clearly surpassed the realm of monsters.
“Um, Marius-sama…?” She addressed him, intending to confirm if he was aware of the situation. Marius, looking refreshed, nodded meaningfully.
“A Demon Lord and her subordinates. I repelled them,” he told Barra in a low voice. This was because the others, it seemed, had not realized she was a Demon Lord. It was impressive that only someone with Barra’s skill level could discern it. Just then, Filat’s Royal Guards, along with Lucas, the Commander of the Royal Knights Josef, and Bernhard III, arrived.
Bernhard III, Lucas, Josef, and Barra, along with Marius, were ordered to remain in the room. Although Barra should have been asked to leave, as the first discoverer, it was difficult to expel a princess from another country. Marius briefly explained the situation after casting “Silent.”
“Succubi, a Demon Lord and her subordinates attacked, so I repelled them all…” The King summarized it in a single sentence. He did not ask why the Succubi were incapacitated, showing consideration for Barra, a young woman. Marius, who had resolved a tremendous situation with the casual air of someone who had “driven off a stray dog,” was astonishing, but the problem lay in the future. Demon Lords and their subordinates, beings of extreme danger, should be destroyed immediately. However, both Barra and Marius objected passively. They argued for extracting information about Demon Lords from them.
Bernhard III agreed that there was a point to their reasoning. If Marius said so, it was likely possible. If they could understand the intentions of the mysterious Demon Lords, it would be all the better. When the King agreed, Marius approached the unnervingly still trio, pretending to interrogate them, intending to use “Psychometry.” Seeing this, Barra grinned and declared, “Marius-sama, you’re amazing. You even managed to summon the Demon Lord as a Familiar.” Her words shocked everyone around her. Barra was unaware that Marius could use “Psychometry.” Therefore, she believed that in order to extract information, the only way was to make her a Familiar and establish a master-subordinate relationship. Unable to retract her earlier statement, she looked at Marius, silently asking for his understanding. He nodded slightly.
*I’m glad I learned summoning magic…* Otherwise, he would have had to use the memory-erasing magic, which was classified as a Forbidden Spell. In fact, Marius didn’t find it particularly unusual to make a Demon Lord his Familiar. Samuel had simply been too weak for him to bother. Approaching the dazed Zofi, he uttered the “Contract Spell.”
“I shall become your master and your hands and feet. If you accept this pact, then answer.”
“I acknowledge you as my master and shall become your hands and feet. Hereby, the pact is made.”
With vacant eyes, Zofi accepted the contract. Al and El did the same. Making a Demon Lord a Familiar is a feat second only to Melinda Guilford in human history, but no one considered this.
“By the way, what are your names?”
Looking at Marius’s demeanor, it felt like yielding to him would be a “loss.” Barra, though inexperienced, was busy worrying about the future.
*Marius-sama is truly potent. I might not be able to handle it alone…* She contemplated asking the Succubi for help.
The morning arrived in the Royal Palace of Filat as if nothing had happened. The disturbance had spread among everyone, but they were satisfied with the explanation that “Marius-sama instantly defeated them.” The fact that Marius had made the Demon Lords his Familiars was kept a secret by a select few. No one probed further because there were other matters of greater interest. Of course, there was Princess Barra, the goodwill ambassador from Ranleo. Barra’s official mission was to foster goodwill with Filat and to propagate Ranleo’s magical technology. As a young and beautiful woman, she could be subject to impure speculation, but this was the official explanation.
While Ranleo was considered inferior to Filat in terms of national strength, it was regarded as several steps above in magic. Consequently, when invitations were sent out for “Princess Barra’s lectures” after the welcome party, nearly all the court mages expressed their desire to participate, causing concern that it would disrupt their work. Marius was taken aback to see that even heavyweights like Lucas and Nilson had raised their hands.
“The curiosity of mages is their very lifeblood,” Lucas stated gravely, but his eyes darted about, betraying a lack of dignity. Questions were posed to Marius with hopeful eyes, wondering what he would do and if he perhaps had something to teach them from Ranleo. However, he declined. He lacked the confidence to teach anything of substance to those who had trained as mages since childhood. The few things he taught in Filat were all based on unconventional thinking; if they could conceive of it, those magic elites could achieve it with practice. There were no instances of mastering a weakness or blossoming a new talent.
Lucas and the others had an inkling of this and would ask Marius for his unique insights, but they did not seek instruction from him. However, those below them did, leading Marius to decline each time, stating, “I don’t have the ability to train successors.” It was not uncommon for those with great skill to be poor at nurturing the next generation. Yet, Marius was often treated as “humble.” It would be more comforting to be called “stingy,” Marius mused, when the maid Aina, chuckling, quietly told him, “Many people consider you a saint.” The reason, she explained, was his bloodless recapture of Balderra Fortress and the “rescue” of tens of thousands of slave soldiers from the “Mad King.” Even though it was a perfectly valid reason to be called a coward for simply disliking killing, those around him perceived it as “the strong and kind-hearted saving the weak.” It was apparently quite popular among the younger women, with comments like, “It’s wonderful that someone so strong possesses such compassion for the weak!” He had only been considered a mere hero before the Demonplay, so surely his performance there had boosted his reputation.
Marius couldn’t hide his bewilderment, but he also realized he couldn’t remain unsettled forever. If Asteria was correct, the conflict with Demon Lords would intensify. It would be endless if he kept getting flustered by the praise of those around him. He thought this all at once and then realized he hadn’t yet responded regarding the lecture.
“What will the lecture cover?” he asked, slightly anxious about whether he could keep up, given that Lucas and Nilson were so interested, implying it would be advanced.
“It appears to be a basic lecture.” Marius’s eyes widened. He was grateful for having adopted the habit of wearing a hood, he thought later. Since it was basic, Marius decided he should attend as well, which surprised those around him.
“You intend to review the fundamentals again!”
“What aspiration!”
“That must be why he achieved such strength!”
Many voices seemed to be operating under a grand misunderstanding, but he chose to ignore them. Lucas, thinking, “He might actually have some gaps in his fundamentals,” found it convincing. However, Barra, who had also recognized Marius’s lack of fundamental mastery, was astonished.
*No way! Marius-sama should be able to handle it even through self-study!?* Given his growth rate shown in the third competition’s finals, she felt he shouldn’t need to seek instruction from anyone at this point. Yet, he was coming to listen to her lecture, disregarding appearances.
*What a greedy and cautious person! To not care about pride or face!* Barra was greatly surprised by this unexpected turn of events, then overjoyed by the unforeseen good fortune, and finally, eager to seize this opportunity. Her twenty or so painstakingly devised “Methods for Natural Conversation with Marius-sama” felt wasted due to the intrusion of the demons, but that was of no consequence. She decided to focus on topics that Marius would likely engage with, avoiding anything too complex so as not to inconvenience others who might also attend. Barra was an unyielding girl.
