162 Reason

After racing back to Fort Necross like a blue meteor streaking across the sky, Atofe spontaneously arrested her momentum above the courtyard, a shockwave emanating from her petite frame as she scrutinized the scene below.

Though it looked as though a massive explosion had been set off, leaving bodies strewn all over the place, Atofe could sense that most, if not all of her men, were still alive.

Clicking her tongue, Atofe grumbled, "What a pain..." before plummeting to the ground and impacting next to Regas.

"How long do you intend to keep sleeping!?"

Without waiting for a response, Atofe kicked Regas with enough force to send him barreling across the courtyard and into the keep's outer wall. He immediately woke up but was unable to rise as Atofe made her way over to him and asked, "Which one of them did this to you? Was it that monster with the purple hair...?"

Though he nodded his head, Regas adopted a solemn expression as he admitted, "I was initially fighting against two women, one with gold and another with blue hair. I was unable to contend against their combined might, so I attempted to stall by questioning their leader, Paul Greyrat..."

Raising one of her brows, a curious smile developed across Atofe's face as she asked, "Oh? And what did he have to say...?"

Gritting his teeth, Regas didn't immediately respond to Atofe's words. He could still visibly recall the judgemental expression on Paul's face as the latter lectured him. It was slightly different, but it reminded him of the other human Heroes he had encountered in the past, self-righteous fools who believed their view of the world was the only one that mattered...

Instead of providing a detailed explanation, Regas ultimately answered, "He has the temperament of a Hero..." with a visibly disgusted expression marring his beaten and bloodied face.

Understanding what Regas meant, Atofe began laughing as she left the grim-faced Drow slumped against the keep's wall and made her way into the interior. She didn't need to ask to know that Paul and his Party were waiting for her, so, instead of charging in like she originally intended, she made her way to the larder to grab something to eat before taking her sweet time to reach the throne room...

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"Oh? You're just standing around? I half-expected you to make yourself comfortable by sitting on the throne. You're pretty cautious, huh...?"

Entering the throne room with a peculiar black apple in hand, Atofe took a loud, crunching bite as she looked around to see if anything was damaged or missing.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Paul shook his head and said, "It's not my throne to sit upon. Besides, I have no desire to rule. I would rather be free to travel around and do as I please."

Shrugging her shoulders, Atofe took another bite out of her apple as she replied, "Fair enough." before chomping down the apple core and asking, "Now then, what do you want from me? You mentioned something about us welcoming you as guests within the fortress. So, what, you want to live here or something...?"

Expecting Atofe to attack the moment she arrived, Paul found himself at a momentary loss for words. However, as she was God-ranked in the North God Style, he made sure to keep his guard up as he answered, "You seem like a straightforward person, so I'll be honest with you. I desire strength, and I wish to make you my ally. I-"

Interrupting Paul's response, a high-pitched voice loudly appended, "He wants to have sex with you~!"

Following the outburst, a black sphere resembling a black hole appeared nearby before Kishirika, wearing a strange form-fitting bodysuit, emerged from within. It had a dark-purple base with sections of violet that nearly matched Kishirika's hair. It resembled an anime-style plugsuit, but it was missing the fabric for the legs, left Kishirika's back exposed, and proudly showed off her nearly non-existent cleavage.

Suppressing his other questions, Paul incredulously inquired, "Kishirika?Since when can you teleport?"

Crossing her arms, Kishirika puffed out her non-existent chest even further as she shamelessly replied, "I can't! At least, not under normal circumstances!"

Before Paul could ask his follow-up questions, Atofe tilted her head to the side and asked, "Kishirika? You're telling me this brat is the former Demon Empress...?"

Snorting through her nose, Kishirika asked, "Who the hell are you calling a brat!? We're older than you are...!"

In response to Kishirika's outburst, Atofe muttered, "It certainly sounds like her..." before redirecting her attention to Paul and asking, "What's this about wanting to have sex? Did you really come here for such a reason...?"

Instead of refuting Kishirika's claim, Paul made a so-so gesture with his right hand as he replied, "Yes and no. I have certainly considered it, but it isn't the main reason I came here. Like I-"

Interrupting Paul a second time, Kishirika stated, "Don't listen to him. This brat is still trying to form his resolve and figure things out. The only thing that matters, at least right this instant, is that he has the power to restore the Demon Continent to its former glory."

As she had yet to reconcile that Kishrika was who she purported to be, Atofe furrowed her brows, crossed her arms, and retorted, "Since when did you care about such things? You've barely done anything these past four thousand years, and now you're telling me some human brat has the power to solve our problems and restore our glory? It's a little late to start playing Empress again, don't you think...?"

Though she once respected Kishirika more than any other, Atofe had lost faith in the former's ability to lead their people. Besides, while the Demon Continent wasn't exactly prosperous, their society had become a lot more 'honest.' There were still a few corrupt individuals roaming about, but their limited resources and functional isolation had led to most Demons simply living their lives to the fullest.

Instead of refuting Atofe's words, Kishirika exaggeratedly shrugged her shoulders and said, "Time marches on, and circumstances change. With this brat's unreasonable ability, we once again have a chance to make our shared dream a reality. Don't tell me you've forgotten even that...?"

Missing the implication in Kishirika's words, Atofe hung her head and exhaled a tired sigh as she muttered, "You have no right to question my convictions...even when you and Badi abandoned our people and started doing whatever you wanted, I never stopped fulfilling the duty entrusted to me by my father. No one desires prosperity for Demonkind more than I do..."

Raising her head, Atofe opened her eyes before narrowing them as she added, "It's for that reason I've allowed our society to crumble as far as it has. When Demons prosper too much, some among us grow increasingly ambitious. At the same time, humanity begins to feel threatened..."

Looking down at her left hand, Atofe balled it into a fist as she went on to explain, "After marrying a human myself, I've come to realize that the only way humans and demons can coexist indefinitely is by not interfering with one another. Not even the unification of a Demon Lord and a human Hero was able to make a lasting difference. Instead, the nations we helped to rebuild have become the central breeding grounds for resentment against our kind. We conceded nearly everything we had obtained during the war in the hopes of laying the foundation for a lasting peace, but humanity has already forgotten that..."

After exhaling a sigh of her own, Kishirika asked, "What did you expect? Even if they possess incredible magic power, humans can only live for a hundred years or so at the maximum. Even amongst Demons, children have a habit of rebelling against their parents, so why would subsequent generations care about the promises of their forebears...?"

Shaking her head, Kishirika didn't wait for Atofe to respond, stating, "As leaders of Demonkind, we have an obligation to at least try and improve the conditions of our homeland and its people. You said it yourself; there isn't a single person who desires prosperity for Demonkind more than you do. This boy shares our dream, the same dream your father dedicated his life to achieving. To that it, it doesn't matter if we fail. The important thing is that we never stop trying."

Not expecting such a serious response from Kishirika, Paul, his Party, and even Atofe were left completely dumbfounded. Kishirika usually gave off an aura as if she didn't care about anything, not even the preservation of her own life. Hearing her speak such idealistic words was like hearing a gruff, middle-aged man opening his mouth to sing in a perfect soprano...

Recovering from her stupor, Atofe reached up to massage her forehead and the base of her horn as she remarked, "For someone who has spent the last four thousand years playing around, you sure know how to talk..."

Dropping her hand from her forehead, Atofe shifted her gaze back to Paul, asking, "How did you get this lazy imp to stop pissing about? What makes you so special...?"

Answering in Paul's stead, Kishirika glossed over the detailed explanation by plainly stating, "He grows more powerful by having sex. Not only that, the girls you see around him are like those annoying spirits summoned by your favorite Armored Dragon. He might appear weak at a glance, but his Mana capacity is nearly a third the size of Laplace's."

Though her brow twitched at the mention of Perugius, Atofe's expression morphed into one of disbelief when Kishirika mentioned Paul's aggregate Mana. After all, the only other beings with a Mana capacity even close to Laplace were True Dragons and Primordial Spirits.

Directing a slightly mortified gaze at Paul, Atofe asked, "Just who the hell are you...?"

As Paula adopted a wry smile, Kishirika once again interjected to answer, "He is our benefactor, the man that will allow Demonkind to thrive without attempting to rule over us. What else matters?"

Instead of pressing the matter further, Atofe shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Fair point." before reaching up to release the clasp of her gorget, the piece of armor that protected her neck.

Realizing where things were headed, Paul's smile became even wrier as he said, "There's no need to rush things. We should see to your men and discuss-"

While continuing to remove her armor, Atofe stared directly at Paul as she interjected, declaring, "We're either doing this now or not at all. I'm still a little annoyed due to the 'baptism' that purple-haired monster gave me, so if you're serious about receiving my support, you're gonna help me relieve some stress."

Pulling off her breastplate, Atofe revealed two modest yet perky mounds. Her nipples were a darker shade of blue than the rest of her body, but the thing Paul was immediately drawn to was the massive scar running across her abdomen.

Unperturbed by Paul's gaze, Atofe traced her finger over her scar as she said, "Powerful enough Holy Magic functions a lot like a curse, especially against members of the Immortal Demon Race. This wound was given to me by that stuck-up brat that went on to establish the Milis Religion. She 'really' didn't know how to take a joke."

Unsurprised to hear that Atofe had clashed against such a legendary figure, Paul responded with a curt, "Sounds about right..." before shifting his attention to Ei, Jean, Eula, Xinyan, and Venti to ask, "What do you girls want to do?"

Interpreting Paul's words as an invitation, Venti raised her hand high and replied, "I'm joining in~!" without hesitation. Before the other could reply, however, Atofe inserted herself back into the conversation, saying, "As if. By the time I'm done with him, he won't even be able to walk, much less go at it with others. Instead of getting in the way, you all should look for a place to stay. There are rooms on the fourth and fifth floors."

Punctuating her words, Atofe allowed her tassets to clatter to the ground with a loud metallic sound. The only thing she was wearing underneath was a pair of simple black panties, so, even without removing the rest of her armor, she was ready and raring to go...

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