ForestDweller

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*CRASH*

The fortress landed, waking me up from my stupor.

Still, what happened next felt like a blur, with my mind still dizzy from… whatever just happened.

Victoria woke up, right as the fortress landed. She too couldn't quite recall what had happened, save for the feeling that her fairy mother, Titania, had made an appearance.

Only once Theo, Tira, and Tama arrived, along with Myrilla, my foggy mind cleared up.

They came down from the same staircase I arrived in. And thankfully, none of them were harmed. Although Tira somehow had grown considerably from the loli elf she once was. I quickly put two and two together though and realized that she had undergrown her race's transformative growth spurt. Really, right now, in the middle of all this? I thought you had to be sleeping for it to occur!

And that outfit of hers… it's far too small for her now! I can clearly see her panties from here!

As Sherry put on a fresh set of clothes—her wardrobe was stored inside Felicia's Dimensional Storage—Tira explained what had occurred to them while we were separated. And apparently, they were up against one of the Demon Lord's wives, and they would've lost if not for Theo's bravery and Tira's transformation into her adult form.

"I… I wasn't strong enough… I wasn't strong enough to protect everyone!" Theo yelled, tears swimming in his eyes.

Tira pulled him into a hug. "Shh, it's alright… You tried your best after all…" Tama looked at him with glossy eyes as well before giving him a hug from behind.

Seeing him like that, it reminded me of my own self, back at that snowy mountain.

And I, in my foolishness, nearly made him suffer the same tragedy as I did.

I walked up to them and gave the deepest bow I could produce.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have brought you guys along!"

Silence. They were no doubt taken aback by my sudden apology.

"It's not your fault, you dummy! It's us for being too weak! Even after all that training, we still can't keep up with you or Sherry!"

I looked up. It was Tama who answered.

"She's right, Sir Hugo." Tira spoke with a concerned look. "It is not your fault. If we had known we were up against such strong opponents, and we had to fight them with your help, we would've taken your suggestion and stayed behind in this war."

"T-that's right, Master Hugo!" Theo quickly wiped his tears. "Please don't apologize! It was our own choice to go with you!"

I straightened myself, looking each of them in the eye.

"No." I shook my head. "It's my fault. If you guys have been hurt in any way, it'd be just another to the list of people I failed to save." I gave them a bitter smile.

"Oh, don't be so overdramatic, Milord. Everyone's fine! We won! So cheer up! Don't we have a celebration to do?" Felicia interrupted, patting me on my shoulder from behind.

"You know the war is still going on outside, right?" Myrilla narrowed her eyes as she glared at her. "This is no time to celebrate. Unless, of course, you're suggesting we abandon Orluk and his ogre friends. After all, the prize Hugo wants is already in our hands." She glanced at Victoria.

"Hmph, without their Demon Lord, those guys outside would surrender for sure," Sherry replied with crossed arms. "As for you, Hugo, how many times must I tell you not to take everyone's burdens for yourselves? Theo, Tira, and Tama all fought out of their own wills. If they die from that, they die as warriors. It's not a death that you should blame yourselves for. In fact, you would insult them by not allowing them to fight by your side." She glared at my direction.

Sheesh, where did she get this warrior philosophy from? Her grandmother?

Yeah, I can imagine that. Izurds would die for their partners after all, being really loyal and all. Her fighting by my side, protecting me like this—it's the highest honor and joy an Izurd can achieve.

She then switched her gaze towards Theo and the others. "As for being weak, that's nothing more training can't fix."

"Hmph, easy for you to say!" Tama placed her hands on her hips. "You're part of a legendary warrior demon race while Hugo and Felicia are geniuses in magic! Myrilla has hundreds of years of experience being an adventurer! Us? We're just nobodies compared to you all! We can never compete no matter how hard we train!" She pointed at her.

Silence. Sherry was taken aback by her outburst.

Just as I did.

It's just like my old self. Oh how badly I hated my siblings for being far more successful than me. I blamed fate for not making me as talented as them.

And now, that same sense of worthlessness is gripping her heart.

"Tama." I walked up to her, looking her in the eye with a concerned look. "There's no need for you to be so harsh on yourself. You've trained every day to be stronger. Even if that doesn't make you as strong as me or the others, that effort alone is worthy of praise." I gave her a smile.

"I don't want your praise!" She snapped back. "I want to keep Theo safe! Not being able to do that, as his wife, makes me despise myself!" Tears were now streaming down from her green eyes as she looked at me with anger.

As I struggled to find the words I wanted to say next, Theo came to the rescue, giving her a tight hug.

"Oh Tama, please don't cry! You don't have to blame yourself for me being weak!"

It was all it took to calm herself down.

"I-I'm sorry, everyone!"

My eyes turned to look at Victoria, who was now bowing in our direction.

"It's all because of me that you have to fight! So please, don't blame Sir Hugo! Blame me instead!"

Just like Tama, tears dripped down her eyelids as well.

"Enough. This is not the time nor the place to talk about such things." Myrilla spoke with a stern gaze, glancing at Tama and Victoria. "For now, we should go out and see how the ogres are doing."

I nodded. True. We can talk about this later. For now, we should see whether they need our help in defeating the remaining Demon Lord's army or not.

ᅠ

Outside, however, instead of a grueling scene of demons fighting against one another, we were greeted by a rain of cheers and yells instead.

"Lord Hugo! Lord Hugo won!"

"The Demon Lord of Wisdom is no more! Balthazar is no more! We are victorious!"

"Lord Hugo! Lord Hugo! Lord Hugo!"

A smile formed on my face. Heh, it seems our help wasn't needed in the slightest.

It seemed that in our absence, the ogre tribes had managed to overpower the army of the Demon Lord. They were now sitting on the grounds in front of the city, tied and bound with their weapons thrown away in a large pile to the side. Around them were tents of the ogres, just recently erected, judging by how many of them were still in the works.

No. Too many are still alive. Did they just surrender knowing their lord is defeated?

Still, I'm glad they didn't decide to ransack the city once they won. Maybe that's the agreement they achieved with the defending army.

Walking to the middle of the camp, we were quickly greeted by Orluk and Fia, who were beaming ear to ear.

"Lord Hugo! Welcome back!"

"Welcome back, Sir Hugo! Oh how I'm glad you're safe!"

Fia ran up to me and gave me a tight hug. Her breasts were pressing on my chest and her sensual scent entered my nostrils.

Naturally, this led to a glare from Sherry and the others.

She released me soon after though her face was still uncomfortably close to mine as she put her hands on my shoulder. She was actually around the same height as me, which meant our eyes could gaze at each other without her tipping on her toes like with Sherry and Felicia.

"The thought of you being up there all alone facing Balthazar—if it weren't for Orluk, I would've rushed to your rescue for sure. I owe you my life after all!" She smiled, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Don't be silly, Fia!" Orluk grinned, patting my shoulder with his large hand. "You think Lord Hugo is going to lose to the likes of Balthazar? Impossible! You know how strong he is! If he wanted to become a Demon Lord, he could very well be one already!" He laughed.

I gave him a wry laugh in response. Yeah, not interested. Being a Demon Lord might be cool and all but that means you have to defend your territory from the other Demon Lords, no? I'd rather have a peaceful life instead with Sherry and the others.

And besides, I still have Marina and Erika I need to meet with…

His eyes then landed at Myrilla, who, may I remind you, was still wearing the skimpy dress we got from the archfey's wardrobe. Unlike Sherry, she didn't have the opportunity to change to a proper set of clothes.

"Uh, what happened? Her robes…"

"Oh, it got ruined in her fight," I cheerfully replied. "So she's stuck wearing the clothes we found in the place. Those are the lingeries of one of the Demon Lord's wives. Oh, and speaking of that, we didn't kill all of them. Some of them still live inside the fortress." I gestured towards the building with my thumb. "It's up to you to decide what you want to do with them."

"I see." He scratched his chin, still glancing towards the Nerthusian. "Though," He looked back at me. "I prefer you to be the one to decide, Lord Hugo. You're technically the new Demon Lord of Wisdom after all."

"...Huh? What do you mean?"

"You defeated Balthazar. Which means you now take his place, ruling this region of the Demon Continent. It's now your authority to do as you see fit, not us. In fact, we're all now under your rule, Lord Hugo."

I scratched the back of my head,  giving him a sheepish smile. I guess it does work that way in this continent, where the strong rule over the weak…

"Then, I choose you to make all the decisions necessary in my stead."

He shook his head. "No. You have to communicate that properly with all the chiefs of the tribes. And the mayor of the city who also led Balthazar's army in his absence."

"But that could come later, dearie!" Fia interrupted, huffing at her husband while hugging my left arm and dragging me with her. "For now, you have an address to make, Milord!"

"Huh? An address?"

"Yes! You're the new ruler of the place, Lord Hugo!" She giggled. "You have to make an address so both our people and theirs, especially theirs, can be at peace! They'd want to hear what will happen to them and the city for sure!"

I gulped. I was never good at addresses.

"Well, I guess a few words couldn't hurt…"

Releasing my arm from her grip, I flew up to the sky, right to that sweet spot where both the people of the city and the people camping outside could see me. And then, using my wind magic, I amplified my voice so it could reach everyone's ears.

"Greetings, citizens of Ixon! My name is Hugo Greenwood and I speak to you as your conqueror! Your Demon Lord is dead, slain by my own hands! From this day forth, you shall be ruled under me instead!"

"But rejoice! No harm shall befall you, as long as you obey me and my stewards, the ogre clans of Menet, Luthar, Merkeo, and Notu! Do as they say and you shall live as you've always lived!"

Those are their names, right? If I get it wrong, that will be really bad! They may think I'm placing their clan in a lower position over the others!

Descending back to the ground, I was showered with cheers and yells from the ogres.

"Lord Hugo! Lord Hugo! Lord Hugo!"

"Lord Hugo! Add me to your harem please!"

Heh, being cheered like this… it's not bad in the slightest…

ᅠ

ᅠ

And thus, the Lecher Demon Lord was officially born.

The young man didn't know it at the time but whether he wished for it or not, he was already considered a Demon Lord by the inhabitants of the Demon Continent. He defeated Balthazar Bethel Naturia, the Wisdom Demon Lord. And not only that, he wiped out an entire orc army of his own, including their leader who was supposedly a Demon Lord candidate as well. And, much later, after the word that the Izurd Tribe still lived spread throughout the continent, they also knew him to win against the Demon Lord of Blades as well, snatching her granddaughter to be his wife in the process.

Indeed. Thanks to a certain elven bard's imaginative storytelling, he was quickly dubbed The Lecher Demon Lord. After all, his attendants were mostly female, with the only male that looked suspiciously feminine. Not to mention that the story of him having an orgy out in the open was quickly popularized by the ogres, who were impressed by his prowess. Add the fact that he destroyed Balthazar and the Demon Lord of Blades so he could make their relatives his wives and it didn't take much to imagine him being a sex-crazed perverted man who would grab any women that fancied his flight. Even if it wasn't uncommon for demons to have multiple wives, his actions already went above and beyond any normal demons. He even beat Balthazar himself with his ten wives as everyone knew the man for not expressing any signs of love or desire towards his wives.

He wasn't just a beast driven by libido however. The stories also told of his ruthlessness in settling the difference between the ogre tribes and the other demon tribes still loyal to the ex-Demon Lord of Wisdom, for at their diplomatic meeting, he disposed of the leader of the dullahan tribe, which happened to be the main enforcers of the Balthazar's regime. And he didn't even lift a single finger. The only thing he did was receive a whisper by one of his harem, the dark-skinned Nerthusian woman. Everyone knew her race could read minds and it seemed that whatever idea the armored man had, it displeased him enough to kill him on the spot. A necessary act, considering that he would leave the governance of the city to his right-hand man, Orluk of the Menet Clan.

It wasn't only him who received his wrath that day. Three more prominent clan leaders were executed at the spot.

It was all it took for the remaining ones to pledge their fealty to him, promising never to cross him or the ogres. And, since he didn't blow up their bodies as well, his mind-reading wife must have read their sincerity.

And then, just another day later, he left the city. He didn't even stay for the celebrations of his ascension to the throne.

ᅠ

ᅠ

Haah, what a mess that was…

I threw myself on the bed, not even bothering to take off my boots beforehand.

It had been a day since our victory over Balthazar. After resting for the night at the Demon Lord's castle (which I was really thankful for, since I was getting sick of sleeping in tents), I attended the conference to settle the peace between the ogre clans and the other demon clans that were loyal to the Demon Lord of Wisdom.

Yes, that meant I was supposed to play politics, something I was woefully inept with. And I couldn't very much refuse. Orluk begged me to do it, saying that without me, the conflict wouldn't end, as they wouldn't accept the authority of the ogres, only my authority, as the one who defeated their Lord.

Thankfully, I had an idea. Politics is ultimately a game of lies and deceit and who would be better to fight against it than the ability to perceive the truth?

Myrilla. I have to ask her to come with me.

At first, she was reluctant to do it, saying that reading the minds of politicians and nobles made her want to puke. But, after some good application of my puppy eyes, she relented.

It didn't take long until her ability proved to be useful.

"That dullahan over there… he's thinking of killing you in your sleep."

"And not only that, he wants to violate Sherry as well."

The first sentence was bad enough.

The second was enough for me to kill him with Thanatos.

As the clan leaders looked in horror at his corpse that bled from every orifice, I stood up and addressed them with a simple speech.

"I know most of you here hate my guts for killing your beloved Demon Lord. But rest assured, I don't hate you in return. All I wanted was for him to give Victoria but he refused. And so, I killed him."

I paused, taking in on their reaction.

"But, if any of you has designs against me and my companions, I will not hesitate to make your organs explode from the inside like I did to that man. As such, please, know your place. I'd hate it if I'm forced to dirty this beautiful table any further," I added with a smile, referring to the round table we were currently at. That's how a classy villain speaks, right?

Myrilla then whispered again, pointing out the other clans that were in cahoots with the dullahan clan.

"You guys don't expect I'll bring her along? A mind-reader is really good at the negotiating table, you know. And if you think you can hide anything from her, think again. Especially you, you and you—Clan Fisi, Clan Redyarn, and Clan Karan." I pointed at them one by one. The first was a blue fishman, part of a seafolk clan who chose to leave the ocean. The second looked like a humanoid hybrid between a beetle and an ant—he belonged to a demon race named Torlu. As for the third, she was a Nyarla, which looked like your common catgirl except her tail split into two at the end.

Immediately the two men (and one woman) turned pale. Heh, perhaps in their arrogance, they thought they could escape Myrilla's all-seeing mind.

Without hesitation, the three stood up and bowed down in my direction, until their heads touched the floor.

"Please! Forgive us!" They all said in unison.

Myrilla leaned closer once more, whispering the reason why they thought they could hide their plot from me.

"Really? Charms that could block mind-reading?"

"Yes. But unfortunately, the one they wore is quite sloppily made. I still could slip through. Whoever made it couldn't have been a Nerthusian."

"I see…"

"Also, they thought of you as a mere human whelp who could only have beaten Balthazar by the help of Sherry, an Izurd. They too had a plan to send incubus assassins on her, violating her so she lost her strength before capturing her to be their weapon."

It was all I needed to hear to blow up their organs as well.

Afterwards, the remaining clan leaders quickly swore their fealty to me, including the son of the Demon Lord, who was the mayor of the city. He was the one who persuaded the clan leaders to surrender the moment the sky fortress descended as he knew very well it would never descend unless the Demon Lord himself was defeated. It was the mark of his power and authority, and lowering it would be akin to lowering your flag in front of the enemy.

To my surprise, according to Myrilla, he was actually relieved that his father died. It turned out that he never got along well with him, thanks to him lacking in his combat ability. Being born to Astra Naturia, the harpy woman, he didn't inherit her ability to bewitch men to death. In fact, the only harpy-ish thing on him was a small pair of wings on his back that he couldn't even use to fly.

And of course, he was extremely grateful that I spared his mother as well. He didn't care about the other wives, not even seeing them as his stepmothers.

Oh, and speaking of the harpy, she and the other surviving wives of the Demon Lord were to be placed in house arrest for the time being, until the ogres could sort out the new government they would have to make. It would be bad if they tried to worm their way into a ruling position after all.

ᅠ

Politics really is dirty… I can't believe they'd do that to Sherry…

Heh, they think she's doing all the work. Can't blame 'em. She's the "part of legendary demon warrior race" girl after all". I'm just a human.

If Fiora were here, she'd probably do the same…

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door.

It was Myrilla.

"Hugo, we need to talk."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Or rather, I have to talk. To your wives. I haven't told them about our little… thing back at the fortress." She averted her eyes, her cheeks reddening lightly.

"Oh… right…" The thing where I had sex with her… Or rather, I was forced to by her delirious self, who thought I was Alan instead…

"We should do it now. They deserve to know," she said with a serious yet guilty expression.

"Right… Of course…"

I sighed. I had promised to be an honest man and husband. I had to tell them. Even if it meant not sleeping with them for a year.

"Well," I smiled. "I'll bring them in. Here is fine, right?"

She nodded.

Well, here goes nothing.