24 Hearts

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Poga looked at Asmodeus on top of him, all at a loss for words. With her large, bent horns and the wings protruding behind her back, she resembled a bat. He saw her tail slithering at the back. Typical devil. However, she did not appear to be as dangerous as the Great Devil. But the demons pride themselves on their names and never impersonated others. The act of borrowing the prestige of others was the most contempt and shame of demons. In other words, this demon in front of his eyes was really one of the seven deadly sins.

“It doesn’t make any sense…”

“What? How? Does it matter?”

She laughed. She didn’t know what didn’t make sense, but she had no plans on listening to him anyway. In the dark sea of her eyes, her golden eyes stared straight through Poga’s eyes. Then, the magic power radiating from her body wrapped around him.

“Ahhh!”

He groaned. Not pain or anything like that. His heart tingled, and he felt like he could do anything for her. Asmodeus caressed his cheek, and the light touch of her finger made his body shudder. A feeling of ecstasy shot from her fingertips to his cheek. His focus began to blur, and his head went into a haze.

“Woohoohoo.”

Now, the man was her prisoner. If she asked him to give her his hand like a dog, he would; and if she asked him to sacrifice himself, he will.

“It’s easy to play with the human mind. You have a great mentality and have endured my temptation, but that’s only against a part of my strength. Poga, right?”

He nodded his head. Asmodeus had a lot of questions. She glanced at Count Jinmu’s dead body as her new pet followed her gaze. She needed information as to why he died and how he failed his plan.

“Tell me everything you know.”

Everything she wanted would come from the man’s mouth. He was a more capable man than she thought. After finding out all the information, when there was no longer any useful detail, Asmodeus stood away from above his body and stabbed his forehead with the tip of her finger. Then, red energy flowed from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, going straight into her fingertips. The man dried up instantly and twisted. When she stood up, the man fell and then disintegrated into powder. All he left was his clothes, sword, and other belongings.

“…Was Count Jinmu a weak man? No matter how weak he was, if they were much younger, there would have been no way the opponent would win.”

It would not be easy to deal with him unless they were a Wielder of the Sword. Hearing the story, there were two adventurers, and the thought of them made her excited. She muttered the name the man had spoken.

“Judah and Jeanne…?”

Of course, this was the first time she had heard their names. She also learned that Judah was an adventurer who had just ascended to a silver plate.

It would have been much better if she had seen it in person, but unfortunately, she didn’t have the magic to see into the past. With this, she looked around.

The significant magic circle completely lost its power, and there was no trace of where the blood and soul that would have been used as a sacrifice had gone. Some powerful magical power completely destroyed the altar for the ritual.

“Whew. I can’t use it.”

If only a few blood and souls remained enough to activate the magic circle, it would have been possible to create a connection passage to the demon world by modifying it a little. It was possible to reactivate this magic circle by pouring in a great amount of magical power. However, since her body was sealed in a labyrinth, there was a risk that her body would collapse if she did such work with her current body, which was like a fragment.

“What on earth did you do to destroy the magic circle so neatly? I can’t help it.”

She exhaled before exiting the basement, filled with the smell of blood. When she left the mansion, it was very nice to see the sun shining down at her. Looking at the open sky made her feel relieved. She liked this world because it was different from the sky of the demon world.

Well then…

What should she do now?

Originally, she was working to recruit members of a group called -Collector of Fragments- created by her monarch Artemia. Count Jinmu was just one of them. However, as the Count criticized her and said that he didn’t want to join, things ended up like this when her eyes left him for a moment.

Finding a new one was difficult. The Count was a great candidate, and yet there he was, dead in his mansion. And all those who had already qualified to be recruited were sent off to search for other candidates.

A feeling grew in her heart. There was a great desire to spend a relaxing night drinking somewhere pleasurable.

“Ah~ I want to have sex. Sex!”

She looked at the sky and rambled, then sighed once more, thinking of all the other work she had to do.

“Shall I recruit those… Judah and Jeanne?”

That might be better. Since they killed Count Jinmu, their skills must be guaranteed, and if they were adventurers at a young age, it would be easy to make them prisoner with her magical power. With her arms folded, she thought for a moment and then lifted her head.

Something fell before her eyes, screeching. It was her gargoyle in the form of a man like it was a gift from her god to comfort her, who had just mumbled about wanting to have sex.

She sat down to face it as it froze like a stone statue. The gargoyle hurriedly crossed his legs at Asmodeus’s gaze.

“I have no intention of doing anything with you. You can cover it…”

-…

“So. Did you find the person I asked you to search for?”

-Yes, we found the human who owned the fifth fragment you mentioned, Valentine.

Her expression grew a little brighter.

“Oh! Where? Didn’t you say he wasn’t in Urun?”

-He is in the capital of Aslan. We are constantly checking his current location, and maybe because of this festival called the Flagstaff, he doesn’t seem to have noticed us yet. What should I do? Do you want this opportunity and deal with it?

At the words of her loyal gargoyle, Asmodeus tilted her head and thought. The gargoyle’s body was made of minerals and had high resistance to physical attacks and magic. Most humans had a hard time dealing with these guys. She could send him off for a battle, but it didn’t feel like a good idea.

“Wait. Aslan… Isn’t that the country of knights?”

-Yes.

“Some of the Wielder of the Spirit Sword would be there, and some with magical powers too. It will be difficult for you. There is no good in underestimating the owner of the fragment. I don’t know about anything else, but that is made out of the heart of a monarch. The owner may not be so weak.”

-Then what would you do?

Asmodeus said to wait for her order, and Asmodeus pondered for a moment. She was already very cautious about dealing with fragments after she, herself, was once badly damned by another fragment. She wouldn’t have hesitated like this if he had been in Urun instead. She was not interested in the other fragments, but to unravel her seal on her own; she needed the fifth fragment or great skill.

When she was first sealed, she asked Artemia’s help. But Artemia said it was difficult to help her as she was sealed by the fragments. It would be harder if Pernen didn’t die, because if the monarch were alive and could intervene, it would be impossible to predict what he would do…

It was difficult to do things quickly because the other seven deadly sins or equivalent demons have not yet found a gap to pass over into this world, and the lower demons cannot break her seal nor risk doing useless things. Even the fierce devil guarding her place like a watchman said he would kill all her human subjects in her sealed labyrinth.

“Ha, this hurts.”

However, her hesitation did not last long.

“I have to go myself. Let’s go. It’s a little dangerous, and it’ll be difficult if I fail, but what can I do?”

-Okay. Then, I will convene my people around Aslan.

“Yeah. You shouldn’t be caught, so meet discretely.”

The moment her gargoyle was about to fly, she reached out and called him.

“Hold on.”

-Yes?

“How many will be there?”

-100 or so… It’s possible.

“Then, do not gather them all in one place, but have them meet in all different directions. The rest of you and I will go and collect the fragments together.”

-Okay.

She fluttered her finger at the gargoyle who tried to fly again, gestured for him to come, and then climbed on his solid back. The gargoyle’s height was close to 2m, but it was enough to climb onto him because they crouched.

“What are you doing? Move.”

-Are you going to ride me?

“Yes. Flying is annoying. It’s a place I’ve never been to. Come on, let’s go.”

With a rigid heave, the gargoyle flew carefully. On cue, twenty gargoyles emerged from the forest at once and soon blended into the clouds and disappeared. Watching them go, she straddled into a better position while humming, admiring the view of the land below.