Sunlight flooded the insides of the luxurious carriage, shining off of the blood-red seats that made up much of the insides. Sitting alone in the carriage was a young girl with blonde hair and pink eyes, casually staring out the window uncaring of the sights going by.

 

The ride was boring, and in truth, she had taken countless trips similar and had seen much better sights before. Though this was the case, she took a slight satisfaction in knowing that it would all be hers one day. Her greed had gotten her this far already; if she played her cards right, it would take her all the way.

 

It was because of this greed that Mariabell had gotten the skill of the same name, ‘Greed’. It was this skill that facilitated her growth in power across the world. There were plenty of regions where her influence was limited if not outright non-existent, but that was soon to change, she simply needed more time.

 

But now a new opportunity had presented itself; a new target had appeared for her to take advantage of. At first, it seemed to be just some ambitious and intelligent merchant growing an economic empire. That alone was enough to catch her attention, but it was what came after that truly caught her eye.

 

This ‘Tanya Degurechaff’ had continued to expand their business and influence, creating an ideology consisting of ideas completely foreign to this world and with a business model that mimicked what Mariabell had seen before. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that this Tanya was an otherworlder.

 

Otherworlders were brilliant assets for her skill to control. Not only did they often have grand ambitions that made them easy for her skill to control, but they also came with power or knowledge that surpassed most in this world. 

 

Mariabell knew firsthand the world that otherworlders came from, after all, she was an otherworlder herself. Getting yet another otherworlder as a puppet would do her ambitions well, and with the sphere this otherworlder had so quickly built, there was no doubt that Tanya would be among the most important assets she would ever obtain.

 

That is where the tricky part came in. For her Greed skill to take control over Degurechaff, Mariabell needed to be present herself. It was an unfortunate restriction, but not one she truly cared much about.

 

She rode without guards, believing that there was nobody that could hurt her, and fewer that would even dare to try. She would be going in alone. Someone of her influence would no doubt have little issue getting a meeting with Degurechaff, and from there all it would take was a simple conversation and the economic empire this newcomer was building up would be under her control.

 

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Mia stepped inside Tanya’s office as she noticed the demon sitting at her desk in silence, fidgeting with some spherical contraption on her desk. The object gave off a faint purplish-blue glow and radiated a light magical aura. The thing was no doubt mechanical in nature, but Mia could hardly tell just what Tanya was messing with.

 

Seeing Tanya tinker with some object was a fairly common sight already, but only more so in the days following Tanya making a second body. Mia had learned from Gabiru that Tanya originally was unfamiliar with such engineering, learning it alongside her subordinates in order to create new contraptions.

 

Having received the ‘Sage’ skill from Tanya, Mia knew full well Sage’s capabilities, understanding clearly how Tanya may have picked up such a hobby so easily. Still, that didn’t mean Mia herself had any grasp on what Tanya was doing with the contraption in her hands.

 

Walking up next to her, she tilted her head, asking, “What are you working on, Miss Tanya?”

 

Tanya, still focused on her contraption, muttered without moving her gaze, “It's a mechanical core I’m working on. I’m using Charybdis’ core as inspiration. I’m hoping to create a vessel for souls, specifically demons to inhabit while granting them control over a mechanical body.”

 

“Are you going to put your soul into a robot?” Mia asked, confused.

 

Tanya shook her head, “No, I’m putting another demon into a robot. A soldier who only loses their mechanical body upon death would be a vital military asset. Plenty of demons would kill for a chance to have a permanent physical body, and there’s plenty who would gladly take up a military position to get one.”

 

Mia sighed, “So it's another weapon, I see. Have you considered starting to sell some of the tech this TRI produces? It would rapidly accelerate our growth. Heck if we expanded into arms dealings we could easily come to influence the militaries of most nations.”

 

Tanya shook her head yet again, “While I do agree that would be a good idea in theory, in execution that puts tech in potential enemies' hands. Right now I want Tempest to hold a monopoly on modern technology. When the time is right, Tempest will begin to open up to the western nations more. At that point, we’ll start the early selling of tech, but for now, this tech is solely Tempestian.”

 

Mia nodded, realizing in hindsight that it made a lot more sense to go about it that way. Sure, they could hold significant influence in most militaries if they went that route, but until they could properly move the business to Tempest, there would be little stopping Tempest’s enemies from using said tech against them. After all, for all the rest of the world knows, this company was based in Blumund, not Tempest.

 

“Anyways, Miss Tanya, I’ve gotten into contact with a few merchants with ties to Ingrassia. I’ll organize a meeting with one of them later if you wish. One is planning on heading to his holdings in Ingrassia soon, so I could arrange for you to meet him there.”

 

Tanya nodded, “Yes, do that. We need to get a good foundation in Ingrassia, best to not delay too long.”

 

Without further delay, Mia hurried out of the room to make the final arrangements, once more leaving Tanya in the silence of her own mind to advance her tech further.

 

Leaving Tanya’s room, Mia headed downstairs into the central lobby. The building itself was quite big, having gradually expanded over the past year into a fairly large complex for business. It had plenty of employees, most of whom knew Tanya’s secret identity as a demon, but all had demonic contracts tying them to her. With Mental Influence Resistance or outright Nullification on all of them, the chance of Tanya’s secret being leaked was slim to none.

 

Nevertheless, it was all of these people that Mia was in charge of managing. Tanya was the official head of the company, but up until recently, Tanya had been unable to devote all of her time to it due to being the Chancellor of Tempest. While Tanya’s second body had provided a means for her to start taking a more direct role in its operations, her focus had again switched over to using her new body to study tech while her main one focused on Tempest.

 

Mia didn’t mind at all, of course, management was something she excelled at, and she enjoyed doing it. Managing a large corporation that functioned as the center of a growing network of influences across the western nations turned out to be surprisingly similar to managing a criminal network, at least from a fundamental standpoint. Sure, it was on a whole different scale than the more localized crime gangs she dealt with, but once she got used to that adjustment she became quite good at it.

 

This building then served as the central core of all their operations. Every decision, expansion, and order came in one way or another from this building. As such seeing it busy was a normal sight. Few of the visitors ever met with Tanya directly, but plenty had smaller issues or affairs they needed handled. This was a functioning bank as well, after all.

 

Yet returning to the lobby she noticed what appeared to be a young woman entering the building. This wasn’t really of note on its own, however, the appearance of the girl caught her eye. Even ignoring the luxurious clothes that one would expect of any noble or merchant that often did business with them, the girl had blonde hair and pink eyes with a face that Mia instantly recognized.

 

‘Mariabell Rosso. I’ve only seen a few descriptions of her, after all, she prefers to work from the background. But still, what is she doing here directly? Is it a homunculus? A body double? If she came here with aggressive intent surely she would’ve come better guarded.’

 

Mariabell Rosso had been on her radar for a while. From the earliest days of the company, Mia and Tanya had taken notice of some group or family working in the shadows of the western nations. It took some time, but they eventually pin-pointed this family to be the Rosso family, seemingly with Mariabell and Granbell Rosso at the head.

 

They currently had two rivals in the west; the Church and the Rossos. The former could be ignored and dealt with later, but the latter would almost certainly hope to stop their growing influence. It was no surprise then that the Rossos had learned of them, the surprise was seeing what seemed to be the heir to the Rossos right there in front of her.

 

There was no use in hesitation. If she was there for an alliance, she would need to be treated with kindness. The practicality of an alliance was debatable, but it could prove beneficial, if at least for a little while.

 

Mia approached the young girl with a smile on her face, faked of course as she hid her true expression well as anyone in her business should. Holding her hands together she said, “Greetings, my name is Mia Degurechaff, how may I be of assistance to you?”

 

‘A friendly face is key. Even if they’re an enemy, let them think they have you off-guard.’ Mia mused to herself as she tilted her head slightly downward to look at her.

 

Mariabell looked at Mia with curious eyes. It was obvious she had detected a tie between Mia and Tanya. Officially, they were relatives, though in reality that couldn’t have been further from the truth. In the end, it didn’t matter, as Mia had a direct connection to Tanya and Mia knew that it was what Mariabell was going for.

 

“Why hello.” Mariabell began with a smile, “My name is Mariabell Rosso. I was hoping to arrange a meeting with Tanya Degurechaff if that is alright.” Maria smiled up at Mia with a face that made her words feel more like a demand than a request. Whatever the case, Mia had no reason to refuse.

 

“I’ll see if Miss Tanya is free now, please excuse me.” Mia made a polite bow before hastily making her way back to Tanya’s office. The final decision was ultimately up to Tanya, and knowing her, Mia knew a few ways this could end. Out of all of them, Mia knew few that would end beneficially for the Rossos.

 

Entering Tanya’s office she closed the door behind her, Tanya looking up confused as her focus shifted from her own project. “What is it? Didn’t you just leave?”

 

“We have a situation.” Mia explained, “Mariabell Rosso has come for a visit with you.”

 

“That Rosso? Right now? Here? Is she by herself? Is it a homunculus? Decoy? Body double?” Tanya seemed equally confused as Mia had been when she first saw her. Nobody enters a rival’s home territory unguarded without a reason to feel safe, not in this world at least.

 

Shaking her head, Mia continued, “She’s alone, and I didn’t detect it to be a body double or anything of the sort. I believe it is truly her.”

 

Tanya leaned back in her chair, storing away her research project into her desk as she placed a hand on her chin, “She’s either cocky, overconfident, stupid, or has something up her sleeve.”

 

“Or a combination of multiple of those,” Mia added.

 

“I suppose we don’t have a reason to refuse. Bring out the wine, I’ll talk with them in the proper meeting room. The least we can do is show hospitality.” Tanya ordered, standing up.

 

“Understood. Do you want me to fetch Gabir-I mean Kazuma?” Mia asked.

 

“He won’t be necessary. Mariabell is coming without guards and so shall I. Besides, Gabiru was never really my guard.”

 

Mia nodded but asked, “If I may, what's your plan with her?”

 

Tanya stopped and thought for a moment before clarifying “It depends on what she tries. If she is simply our enemy economically, then I’ll fight her economically until force is needed. If she tries some magic or skill bullshit, then she could be a bigger threat and I won’t let her leave here easily.”

 

Mia smiled with a nod, “I’d expect nothing less. I’ll prepare everything immediately.”

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

‘No idiot comes in alone without a plan. Even under the assumption that I’m just some regular person without any skills or magic, they’re still entering my property where I have armed guards and heavy influence. There’re only two possibilities here; the first is that she’s come here with friendly intent to create some sort of alliance or deal. The other is that she’s come here with hostile intent and has some skill or magic up her sleeve. In either case, I must keep my guard up.’

 

Tanya’s thoughts whirled as she sat patiently on a couch sitting across from another. At any moment Mia would return with Mariabell in tow. This meeting would determine her course going forward. If Mariabell could be aligned, then the issue of the Rossos could be pushed back a few months at least. If Mariabell tried to be hostile, then it would mean a prolonged economic fight with them over the next few years. There was also the chance that she’d try something with any skills she may have. In such a case, she would have no reason to leave her alive to build up strength. Any attempt against her life would be met with equal attempts against theirs.

 

It was now a political game, and she had no intention to lose.

 

As expected, Mia returned moments later with Mariabell behind her. The woman looked just as much like the entitled noble daughter that Tanya expected her to be. Nonetheless, she knew well that Mariabell was among the heads of the Rosso family. While Granbell seemed to be above her technically, Mariabell was easily the most active in influencing the family's ties, so considering her a mere child would cost her. Fortunately, Tanya knew better than to assume a child is childish considering her past.

 

Mariabell sat comfortably across from Tanya with a friendly smile. Tanya couldn’t tell how truthful it was, but Tanya matched hers with the same, hiding well her more speculative thoughts.

 

With a friendly expression, Mariabell introduced herself, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Tanya Degurechaff. My name is Mariabell Rosso, though I’m sure you’ve heard of me. Someone of your influence surely has put two and two together, after all.”

 

Tanya nodded, maintaining her smile as she hid her own annoyance, “Of course, given my reach, it was inevitable that I took notice. Though I am curious why you came here today, let alone by yourself. Surely it must be important business if you didn’t send some sort of envoy.”

 

Mariabell smiled as she phased out her mind, continuing the conversation, “Yes, as I’m sure you’ve noticed the Rosso family has quite a few economic interests, ones which have recently come to interact with your company.”

 

Mariabell’s focus was instead on how she wanted to go about securing her hold on this girl. [Greed] provided two main methods, and while she had ample opportunity to do the safer first option, she didn’t want an ally out of Tanya, she wanted a puppet. Even an ally might not give her all the power she wanted, after all.

 

“How so? What is it you want?” Tanya’s tone turned more serious, though she maintained her friendlier exterior regardless.

 

“Well, I mostly want to ensure that your sphere doesn’t clash with ours. There’s no reason for us to clash, after all.” She made a grin of satisfaction as she let her skill do its work, activating its ability to turn the otherworlder into nothing more than a walking puppet.

 

Tanya’s silence only caused her to smile wider, satisfied with her victory in obtaining yet another asset. As soon as she prepared to say something she felt herself rise instantly several feet above the ground, a tight pressure around her neck.

 

She looked down to see two red eyes staring deep into hers. It only took a second for her to realize the eyes were Tanya’s. Where there was once white, there was now black. What was once glimmering blue eyes had turned a crimson red.

 

Tanya was no longer hiding her emotions, and it became obvious just what emotion was in her eyes: anger. With no emotion in her voice, she muttered “So that’s how you want to play, huh?”

 

Mariabell gasped as she was hurled across the room into the wall, cracking it behind her as she fell onto the floor. She was paralyzed in shock, confused at why her skill hadn’t worked, considering all possibilities and coming up short.

 

As Tanya’s hair shifted from blonde to black she realized fully that she was truly a demon, but even that shouldn’t have meant anything to her skill. She contemplated her options, but she was no longer dealing with just some human, nor was it some otherworlder. This was a demon and a powerful one at that. Each step the demon took forward caused her aura to intensify more and more alongside the rage in her eyes.

 

She was out of options, there was only one thing left she could do. She jumped forward, sacrificing much of her soul as she launched forth toward the demon, swinging her fist rapidly upon her as she heard the sound of a crack. She looked up, nauseated, only to see a large transparent sphere glowing around Tanya, a massive crack along it.

 

“Impressive, really, but I wouldn’t say the cost was worth it.” Tanya commented, lifting her foot and impacting it right into the girl’s stomach, launching her across the room and back into the wall.

 

“Do you want to know why I built this economic empire? Why I’ve begun to spread the ideals of capitalism and democracy to the west? Why I threaten the very balance of the world around me? Well, it's not because I desire to conquer it or anything like that.” Tanya walked closer to the trembling girl, a large chunk of her soul now missing from that failed attack as she looked up in visible pain.

 

Continuing, Tanya looked down with an angered stare, “It was in spite of someone like you. Someone who so desperately thought he could control me. In his failure, he brought the whole world against me and despite it all, I ended up here.” Tanya walked up closer, lifting her up by her neck as her face showed more annoyance than anger now, “So forgive my sudden burst of anger, but your blatant and failed attempt to control me reminded me a little too much of him.”

 

She tossed her across the room, causing her to tumble around before landing face down with a groan. Tanya continued despite her pain, “I’ve begun shaping this world to rebuild the one he took me from. I refuse to live in some medieval backwater world when I should’ve continued living in my own. He ripped me from my old life, so I will rebuild it, simple as that.”

 

Tanya’s gaze turned over to a nearby window, gazing out as the daytime sun shone through the curtains, “I don’t care the price that must be paid to turn this world into the modern one I no longer have. I understand the consequences these ideas and technology had on my own world, and I understand what may happen by trying to accelerate their introduction. Hundreds, thousands, even millions may die in countless ways. All of this to spite one person. One self-proclaimed god that exists in a world I can no longer access.”

 

Tanya turned back to the groaning girl on the ground, unimpressed by her pathetic effort to try and get up to continue fighting, “Whenever I’m done rebuilding this world, I will get stronger. Eventually, I will leave this world. Eventually, I will find him. And eventually, I will kill him. Of course, this doesn’t matter to you, but you remind me of him, perhaps this is just my way of destressing.”

 

Tanya once more lifted her up by her neck, slowly choking her as she watched the girl struggle for breath, “You know with that skill of yours, it’s ironic how you’re meeting your end. Your greed wasn’t enough to trump mine, because until that bastard is dead, I will be as greedy as I need to be, and I’ll be damned if I’ll be controlled by some little girl!”

 

«Sacrifice the Unique Skill [Merciless] to usurp the Unique Skill [Greed]?»

 

‘Fascinating…’ Tanya’s face was now met with a wicked grin as the girl simply looked on with fear.

 

«Successful – Unique Skill [Greed] has been acquired»

 

Tanya let go of Mariabell as she gasped for air on the ground, “It seems she may be more useful than I anticipated,” Tanya muttered as she looked down at the struggling girl.

 

“You’re not going to kill her?” Mia asked, surprisingly unphased by all that she had just witnessed.

 

“I was going to before, but without her Greed skill, she’s of no threat. I can control her and, through her, use Rosso's sphere of influence. All that is left to handle would be Granbell.” Tanya muttered, looking down, “You know, I’ve always been curious about soul manipulation… With how much of her soul she sacrificed trying to kill me…”

 

Tanya’s wicked smile only grew as Mia just shook her head, “What are you planning this time, Miss Tanya?”

 

Tanya let out a light chuckle, “You know, Mia, I’ve recently discovered that memories and personality are stored within the soul…”

 

Picking up Mariabell who quickly passed out with some magic in her weakened state, Tanya carried her over into her office with a wide smile, Mia looking on with a shake of her head, “Don’t forget I have you planned for some meetings with merchants soon, don’t miss them.”

 

Mia couldn’t hear Tanya’s response but simply trusted she would get onto it eventually. She knew better than to interrupt Miss Tanya’s experiments, after all.

 

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Mjollmile returned to his manor after a long and eventful day. Had fate not been in his favor, he surely would’ve died that day, but yet he had survived, though he had every intent to repay his newfound debt.

 

In his journeys that day he had come into the path of a sky dragon, a terrifying beast that Ingrassia was ill-prepared to stop before it could cause excessive damage and countless casualties, himself likely having become among them. Yet in that moment of desperation came a hero, a man or woman of long silver-blue hair who devoured the draconic threat before flying away without a word.

 

It was an amazing sight to witness, and as such he was ever-grateful to this mysterious blue-haired figure for saving him. He wanted to repay the kindness somehow, as a successful merchant in Ingrassia and Blumund he had countless ways of doing so. The problem arose that he didn’t know who this person was. He had yet to seek out many of his contacts, but those he had spoken to knew little of this mysterious figure.

 

The search to find out who they were would take some time, but he had no reason to stop. If it wasn’t for them, he surely wouldn’t have been alive anyway.

 

He sat down on his couch, wiping sweat off his forehead as he leaned against the couch, exhausted from a long day. His servant, a tall and well-endowed blonde-haired woman, quietly poured him a small glass of wine of which he quickly took a sip. It was nice to wind down after such a stressful day, though he knew the next day would be just as busy, though he hoped it would be less threatening to his life.

 

He looked up at the servant as he took a sip of wine, “I want you to find some of my contacts; See if they know anything about a powerful blue-haired figure.”

 

“May I ask why, Sir Mjollmile? And do you perhaps have more details?” The servant asked, looking a bit confused.

 

“A figure like that saved my life today. Unfortunately, I don’t have many details, their gender was unclear and I didn’t get a good look at their clothes. But they devoured an entire Sky Dragon in seconds with some sort of purple mist! It was a beautiful sight, considering I would’ve died otherwise.”

 

“I see. I’ll see what I can gather from your connections. Speaking of your contacts though…”

 

Mjollmile looked up as the servant trailed off. He could tell immediately from the glowing red eyes in the shadow of his upper floor just who this was. With a sigh, he muttered, “You always have to make an entrance…”

 

The person sat on the railings on the second floor, looking down onto the lower floor and Mjollmile below. Though the shadows blocked most of the details, Mjollmile’s instincts told him it was smiling, “A blue-haired being that specializes in devouring things in a purple mist, huh? I believe I may know someone who fits that description…”

 

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Guy arrived once more within the deep void of nothingness where this ‘Argent’ resided. By this point, it had become a regular habit, and the being seemed to be enjoying dragging it out. It was somewhat annoying to have to come back over and over, but it was a nice break from his normal routine.

 

If nothing else, the information was teaching him more than he knew before. He had never sought knowledge like Noir did, but such information about this ‘Argent’ and about the new Demon Lord Tanya Tempest could prove useful to him.

 

Having taken a seat at the same small circular table as before, Argent made a gentle smile as she asked, “Shall we get started?”

 

“I don’t see any use in stalling,” Guy responded.

 

With a nod, she quickly began, “Now with a growing nation of demons which only increased in size and power as time went on, she inevitably caught the eye of the Storm Dragon which laid claim to the forest she built her nation within. The Storm Dragon, even back then, was a mighty foe for the Argent and her subordinates. Though the weakest of the True Dragons, his mere existence as a True Dragon placed him far above Argent's personal capabilities.

 

The following fight was hectic, a hurricane raging overhead as the full strength of an army of demons struggled to hold back the Storm Dragon. The fight lasted for an entire week of back and forth, much of the nation being destroyed in the carnage. Eventually, the demons had fought with enough vigor to annoy the Storm Dragon, who found fighting dozens to hundreds of demons more annoying than fun.

 

Argent had won their first battle, but the Storm Dragon would return, of this she was certain. Yet the casualties could not be ignored. As demons, none were dead permanently, but the loss of the physical forms she made for them were expensive casualties nonetheless. The capital too was also in ruin, limiting their capacity to expand.

 

With how heavy the casualties were, Argent devised a plan. She wouldn’t need to worry about casualties if she could fend off the Storm Dragon all on her own. It was an ambitious plan, but the more she limited the amount of forces in the fight, the fewer losses she would take.

 

Looking for more strength for herself and her subordinates, she began to use her Creator skill to make more. Eventually, she created the Unique Skill ‘Oberst’, granting her the ability to share power, strength, and skills with her direct subordinates. It was through this skill that she began to make numerous more, some she gave to herself, and others she gave to her allies. Before long she created another skill she would use to aid herself: Mathematician.

 

With all these skills at her and her subordinates’ disposal, they stood far more ready when the Storm Dragon again attacked. This time the casualties were lessened as the Storm Dragon was again forced off, annoyed at their fly-like tactics.

 

While this was a victory compared to the immense losses of their prior encounter, they were not completely without them. The Storm Dragon had grown frustrated now, and he would not relent. In search to fend off the Storm Dragon completely on her own, she would soon find something much, much stronger…”

 

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Thanks to various editors and helpers on the Discord who helped with things like plot decisions, grammatical errors, and other aspects of the chapter:

 

Dragon1008, Terraman60

 

To join the discord for chatting, discussion, updates, or to apply to be one of the credited helpers, join the link below:

 

https://discord.gg/xcCvpSxmA7