Schemes from the Eastern Empire

'So, what's the prognosis?' I asked Velzard as Evelyn sat beside me, leaning on my shoulder, smiling and humming happily.

<<It seems to be some sort of Mental Domination.>> Velzard said, curiously.

'That doesn't make much sense. Evelyn has a Ultimate Skill, so she should be immune to that sort of thing.' I asked.

<<Well Evelyn is much more reserved than what she's now showing, so it is some kind of change in her ego.>> Velzard commented.

'Is it [sandalphon]?' I asked.

<<More than likely. She WAS hit earlier, so it might have been that the domination had started working but you interrupted him before it was complete.>> She speculated.

'So something like-' I started.

<<Yup, like Shalltear from Overlord... good series by the way. Too bad you never read the light novel series and only watched the anime.>> Velzard commented somewhat somberly.

'Haha... well in fairness I wasn't exactly planning on dying anytime soon and thought I'd have more time. I never finished One Piece either.' I continued, slightly complaining.

<<You stopped just at the good part where Luffy got Nikka too!>> Velzard complained.

I smiled wryly. 'Anyway, I think we should deal with this...' I said, sneaking a look at Evelyn who was planning our marriage ceremony while muttering. 'Before she embarrasses herself. besides, there was an attack on her castle and she went missing. I'm sure everyone is worried about her.'

<<I suppose you're right. I don't want to share you just because I was too busy weebing out on your memories, after all.>> Velzard said with a mental sight.

<<Alright, looks like she was hit by a [Domination Bullet], so I can fix it right now, but since she has an Ultimate Skill, I can't do it remotely.>> Velzard said.

'So... what should I do?' I asked. 'I doubt you'd be ok with the method Ramiris uses.'

<<You are NOT kissing her. No, you need to use [Abhoth]>> Velzard explained.

'Ah.. the [Reality Manipulation]?' I asked.

<<Yup. I really wanted to test it out beforehand, but f something goes wrong, we can always fix it later, after we master its use completely.>> Velzard explained.

I nodded my head at that and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and reached deep into my soul, grasping the new Ultimate Skill by its roots. I felt a tug as I grasped it and made my wish.

'[Abhoth], I command you. Remove the effect of the [Domination Bullet] on Evelyn.' I though.

<<I don't think that was necessary but ok.>> Velzard chirped.

'Hey! I'm reaching into a deep and powerful primordial power here. Allow me to be a bit dramatic!' I complained as I felt an enormous amount of magicules leave my body and flow into Evelyn.

"You already had Yumina and adopted Lilith and Milim, so we should have three children as well. Perhaps two girls and a bo-" Evelyn stopped mid-sentence, seemingly frozen in place.

I opened my eyes and looked down at her, only to see a massive blush race up her face. "What was I..." She turned to look up at me, who was smiling smugly while looking down at her.

"Three children? You are rather bold." I said teasingly

"Awawawawa!!!" Evelyn seemed to short-circuit in embarrassment.

Velzard and I had a good laugh at Evelyn's expense before I decided it was fine to comfort her and informed her of the situation. She was shocked, of course, that she'd been dominated so easily, but after thinking about it for a while, she came to understand better. She admitted that while under the effect of Domination, the fact she and I were lovers was just something that simply 'was'. It was like dream logic, where it made sense while in the dream but outside of it, obviously didn't. She also told me about how she was going to sell her country to the Empire, simply 'because she wanted to' and that the justification for this was that she was going to be getting married to me, so she needed a competent force to manage it.

The more I listened to it, the more sinister the technique sounded. Evelyn was entirely convinced that everything she was doing and was about to do was her own choice and was in the process of creating excuses that seemed reasonable in her mind while under domination as to why she'd do the things she was going to do.

One of those was that she was going to support the Empire's invasion of a small Monster Country called Evergreen which sat on the border with Amrita and the Eastern Empire. She'd also publically declareMilim as a Demon Lord and call for her extermination, allowing the Empire's troops to be stationed in her country for the crusade.

Never mind the fact Evelyn knew full well that if she had actually done that, I'd personally take action against her and hate her for it, which contradicted the logic that I'd somehow fall for her despite her calling for my beloved daughter's head to be on a pike.

I inhaled angrily and exhaled again, allowing myself to calm down when I heard that information. I'd known Rudra was expansionistic for a while and was planning on attacking the western nations for a while, so the fact he'd plot an invasion wasn't new, but the fact he'd go after my friend to draw me in as bait was odd.

I'd known Rudra for the better part of 2,000 years. I knew he was way too proud to assassinate me like this. If he wanted me out of the way, he'd have either gone himself or sent Velgrynd, and even then, he'd try to get me to remain neutral or join his side, not eliminate me. I was also clearly the neutral party in his game with guy and didn't interfere with it, which is why I allowed Granbell, his apprentice, to build up the Rosso family influence in the shadows, so long as he didn't do anything too rash, like sacrificing an entire country to gain human souls to awaken Demon Lord Seeds like I caught a few daemons doing and had to purge.

Rudra was the kind of guy who'd first ask you to become his subordinate, then if you said no, and you weren't a direct threat, he'd leave you be. If you were a threat, he'd handle you straightforwardly by fighting you himself, and when he wins, he'd use his charm to get you on his side. He'd also never go after Milim, period. She was the only child of his favorite person in the world, Veldanava, and his blood sister.

He'd never have someone slander her as a part of his plans, even if it was the easiest path to victory.

<<It is odd. I know we haven't seen him in forever, but he had an Ultimate Skill and soul-bound Unique Skill, so his core personality shouldn't have shifted so much that he'd be ok with what happened here.>> Velzard chimed in.

"I don't think the Emperor had anything to do with this attack, even though the Eastern Empire was responsible," I told Evelyn.

"So it's some kind of conspiracy?" she asked seriously.

"I can't deny that," I admitted. "And unless it was specifically Amrita, I'd never interfere with an invasion of the human realm by other humans. That's Guy's job, so the fact that the attack was here means..." I trailed off.

"They were specifically trying to target you. If they couldn't assassinate you with that Ultimate Skill, then they'd try to get you to turn against me, someone you are very publically close to, which would tank your reputation." She explained.

"I'm not so sure about that. I think it was to destroy YOUR reputation." I commented.

Evelyn's eyes widened as she seemingly began to understand. "I see! Milim isn't considered a Demon Lord by the masses due to her previous Adventurer Reputation and the fact she keeps the Dragons of the South from rampaging. She is also your daughter, so it would make sense why you'd turn against me, and with you against me, no nation would come to Amrita's defense when we were overrun by the Empire's crusaders who'd 'occupy' us." She said, putting the pieces together.

"And if, by some miracle, you did woo me to your side, then Milim being declared a Demon Lord would hold a lot more weight and they could invade her territory without causing the Entire West to rally," I explained. "If they also conquered the Jura Forest at that time then..."

"They'd have a direct path into the Central Nations while the Central and Western nations were unprepared for the attack!" Evelyn muttered.

"I don't know if it was just good timing and they were capitalizing on it or if they were sponsoring it, but recently Orbic had gone through a severe drought which led to the rise of an Orc Lord who ravaged Jura before being subdued," I mentioned.

"The Orc Lord was subdued?" Evelyn asked.

"Yeah, by a slime friend of mine named Rimuru, though he probably has plans to spread the news differently, so please keep the information to yourself," I asked.

"I see." Evelyn nodded. "So you think what's going on is that the Empire is preparing to invade but is weakening the defenses of the Central and Western Nations by causing chaos and discord among the nations here? And that the assassination attempt on you was done by a faction within their country but not under the Emperor's orders directly?" She guessed.

"Yeah, and that faction has to have someone rather powerful at its head, as the Ultimate Skill user was taking commands from someone else. One doesn't simply acquire an Ultimate Skill of the Angelic Series or the capability to use [Parallel Existance] and then follow someone else who is weaker than them." I commented.

Evelyn sighed and sat back, looking up at the sky. "Why can't it ever be easy with you?" She asked exasperated.

I laughed heartily. "Sorry! Sorry! But don't worry. I'm always keeping an eye on you, so if you're ever in need of help, don't hesitate to call out to me." I said with a confident smile. "This country is the country of a precious person to me, so I won't let it fall so easily."

Evelyn looked at me surprised after I said that with a small blush on her face. "Really... this is why I can't quit you, when you say things like that." She muttered.

'Ah! I didn't mean it that way but-' I thought before I felt a painful pinch on my ear.

I looked over and saw Velzard's Parallel Body looking down at me angrily before she pouted a bit and began pulling me away by the earlobe. "I swear! How can my husband be both a natural flirt and a total dork at the same time!?!" She muttered as I was dragged away.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! I should have Pain Nullification, how are you hurting me like that?" I asked as I was dragged.

<<I'm your Manas now, I can turn off your tolerances if I want to!>> She replied grumpily.

...

The day after the attack happened, Evelyn decided to make use of my declaration and sent me on a mission to check out the Evergreen Kingdom. While technically called a 'kingdom' it was actually a small county on the border, swearing fealty to Evelyn in exchange for significant autonomy. Apparently, it was ruled over by a nameless Ninehead monster who was a friend of Evelyn's, however, as I came closer to the entrance, I noticed the sounds of a battle going on and a weird crackling noise.

I began to sprint as my senses picked up the sight of a large battle ongoing at the entrance.

As I reached there, I witnessed dozens of humans in strange steam-punk-esk equipment carrying muskets battling against a force fo several hundred monsters of various kinds. The monsters were putting up a good fight, but as evidenced by the dozens of bodies below, they were still on the losing side.

I narrowed my eyes and increased the sensitivity of my perception, noticing the black Ninehead whom Evelyn told me about, fighting against a number of Lesser Dragons which were seemingly being puppeteered by a man in uniform from the human side. The Ninehead was agile and powerful, but by the looks of it, she'd already been severely injured and was making her last stand.

I glanced at the human army again, noticing the muskets were actually firing magic bullet rounds which were useful at tearing through the flesh and defenses of the monsters. While not a threat to someone like me, to anyone below a B Rank, they'd be devastating, especially to monsters.

<<They seem to be using a type of magic not dissimilar to Holy Magic to fire their shots. No wonder they're so effective against monsters.>> Velzard chimed in.

'Yeah, and they've also got an {Anti-Magic Area} Legion Spell going to suppress the power of the monsters, though I'm curious about how their muskets work then.' I thought.

<<Just finished the Analysis. it looks like {Magic Bullets} they are firing, but it's not. It's {Magic Plasma}. They ground up magic stones into dust and excite small amounts of it with a Weak Elemental Magic Spell, like {Ignite}, which causes the magic power to ignite and be forced forward through the barrel. At the end of the barrel is a weak barrier magic circle that encases the dust in a weak barrier that is launched forward at the speed of sound.>>

'I see, so its closer to a Magic Bolt filled with Magic Powered than a bullet. That method would also mean it would bypass [Physical Attack Resisatnce].' I thought.

<<Indeed. So, what are you going to do?>>

I gave a tired sigh. 'I can't believe a True Hero is saying this, but... Lets go save the monsters from the humans...' I moaned to myself in irony.

<<Hey... At least you'll win points with Evelyn.>> Velzard commented mockingly.

'Yeah, but I can't exactly redeem those 'points' can I?' I rebuked.

<<At least you know that.>> Velzard said smuggly.