The Devouring Dragon

Chapter 61 - Progress

"How many direwolves are there now?" I asked, reclining back casually in my throne. In front of me, a group of figures were kneeling as they gave their reports.

I wasn't arrogant enough to force them to kneel, especially since I was rather close with all of them, but I also wasn't humble enough to order them to stand when they instinctively fell to their knees.

At the moment, I wasn't a friend, lover, or comrade. I was their King.

"Almost fifty thousand, Valon," Raya answered my question as the only non-kneeling member of the group, a slightly prideful tone in her voice, "The succubus population is growing quickly as well. The energy-sharing policy I've implemented has been seeing great success."

The 'energy-sharing policy' in question was how Raya was navigating the growth of my armies. The succubi's huge population was largely unusable a couple of months ago, as the majority of the numbers consisted of unevolved succubi.

Now, Raya had been working with Velrissa and the Succubus Princesses to utilize the evolved succubi population to create more evolved succubi. When an evolved succubus transferred some of their power to an unevolved one, they would gain more power and intelligence as they evolved.

Unfortunately, the process was draining to the initial evolved succubus, so I couldn't just order Velrissa to go around evolving all the unevolved ones. As a result, Raya had set up a system for the evolved succubi to donate some of their power every week.

"How's Ragnat?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at Raya, "Will he be able to lead them all on his own?"

After the death of his brothers, Ragnat had taken my rather harsh words to heart. He had been, frankly, training his ass off over the past few months.

He'd also come to me with a request prior to me making my presence in the Underworld known: Allow him to be the sole general of the direwolf soldiers.

It was a big ask, and I didn't have enough time in the day to constantly monitor him and see if he was ready for such a task. Well, I probably actually did have enough time, but that meant I'd have to greatly cut down on my sex time.

I was willing to make sacrifices for my goals, but that was asking a bit too much. So, I'd left it, along with the handling of the direwolves overall, to Raya.

"I believe he's ready," Raya nodded at my words, a slightly proud tone in her voice, "He's become not only much stronger, but much more of a leader in the past months. He's taken the absence of Ragno and Ragnot seriously, and he's ingrained himself as a figurehead for our race."

That was good. While I could be the overarching ruler of my subordinates, I couldn't act as a general to all of them. It would be best if each race had a strong figurehead to lead them and keep them united.

"How are your people recovering, Vargan?" I turned to the kneeling form of Vargan next.

"My kind doesn't... replenish, nearly as quickly as ta direwolves, Your Highness," Vargan said, pausing before 'replenish' as he couldn't just say 'breed like rabbits,' "We lost many soldiers during the war, but ta recruitment efforts have gone well. Many of the non-soldiers have taken up arms. We're not even close to our initial strength, but there are enough numbers ta be useful, I assure ya."

I just nodded at his words. The dwarves and cyclopses had been hit the hardest from our war with the Meadow of Love, as they didn't have the ability to regrow their numbers quickly like the direwolves and succubi did.

"Velrissa," I turned to the final kneeling figure, "How is the integration plan going?"

"Very well, Your Highness," Velrissa glanced up at me, a small smirk on her face, "The average devil can't tell a succubus apart, especially when they're disguised. We have spies deeply embedded in direct bloodline families of twelve pillars already, and seven more are slowly working their way in."

I nodded approvingly at her words. The succubi, and their ability to use [Appearance Disguise], were some of my most useful soldiers at the moment, and not for their battle capabilities.

While the Maou were the overarching rulers of devil society, each of the remaining thirty-two pillars still held a lot of power and sway. They had their own territories, armies, allies, and even laws.

To describe it simply, it was as if devil society was one large country with thirty-two states or provinces scattered throughout it. While the country had more power than all the lesser states or provinces individually, it was the support of those families that allowed for the Maou and devil government as a whole to exist.

So, what was the easiest way to take down the government? Turn their people against them.

In my quest to take the Underworld for myself, I didn't have to kill every pillar, Maou, or creature that stood in my way. I was sure I'd have to kill a lot, as the greedy devils wouldn't go down without a fight, but not all of them.

By ordering Velrissa to send succubi to each of the pillar families, using their [Charm] and insane looks to seduce their way into a position of power, I could take down entire pillars without lifting a finger.

This, combined with sending Katerea out to both spy and gather supporters for me, was all to eventually sweep the rug out from Ajuka Beelzebub's feet.

Honestly, at this point, I had gathered enough strength, powerful soldiers - including Tiamat as my familiar, and Serafall being bent to the will of our contract - and skills to feel confident. To feel arrogant, even.

I didn't think Sirzechs and Ajuka, nor the rest of the devil army, could stop me if I continued to increase my numbers and eventually launch an all-out attack. They couldn't prevent me from continuing to increase my forces either, as they would assure the destruction of their entire species by throwing everything at me.

As a result, my main concern at this point was two men: Ajuka Beelzebub and Zekram Bael.

Ajuka was a literal supergenius, and while I thought I was pretty smart, I knew he would run circles around me in a battle of generals. So, what was I supposed to do against an opposing leader who could outsmart me at every turn?

I take away their resources. If Ajuka and Sirzechs didn't have the support of the pillars, then no matter how much intelligence or power they had, they wouldn't be able to stop me. Even the greatest general in history was useless if he had no army to lead.

There were already many families that didn't like the New Satans, as evident by the Old Satan Faction existing, and they'd jump at a chance to take them down. Once one of the pillars of the Old Satan Faction, Katerea Leviathan, started opening the conversation of working with me to make that happen, they would jump at the bait.

Of course, the Old Satan Faction wasn't nearly competent or powerful enough to truly oppose Sirzechs and Ajuka. But if I wrangled in many of the other pillars with the succubi, then my 'allies' would become too numerous for them to handle.

This strategy also doubled in its usefulness, as it also dealt with the Zekram Bael issue. The man considered the 'Secret King' of the devils got his power from his connections, but those connections would fade away as my succubi charmed his allies.

I'd turn the devil population on my side, then slaughter those who didn't submit to my rule.

The 'turning devil population' had already partially started, albeit unintentionally, on my own part as well. I wasn't dull enough to not realize the growing attraction I was gaining from Rias, and to a much lesser extent Sona.

Whether it was because women in this world were naturally drawn to power, or because I was more charming than I thought, it didn't matter. If I could seduce Rias to the point that she would fight for me against her brother, then I just needed to be a little bit reasonable to drag Sirzechs over the line.

It'd be optimal to keep the majority of the powerful devils alive to assist in the conquering of the rest of the Underworld, and then the human world as well.

Of course, there was always the threat that Ajuka knew about the succubi and was countering my strategy already. If plan A failed, there was always plan B - grow my army and strength until I was too powerful to oppose, and then slaughter any devils that didn't bend the knee.

"However, there are a few problems," Velrissa frowned, pulling my thoughts back to the present.

Ah, things never go smoothly, do they?

"What problems?" I pried.

"Some of the succubi were exposed," Velrissa explained, "It's not as if the Maou have put out an order to execute any succubi found or anything, but it's definitely slowing down the process. Some of the family heads have become aware of the underlying purpose of the seduction attempts, and are becoming more difficult to charm."

I knew that would happen eventually, but it wasn't the end of the world. Even if they knew succubi were lurking within their ranks, it wasn't as if they could just reverse the charms.

Well, there definitely was a way to break the charm, but that involved knowing you were charmed, or knowing someone else was charmed to help them. It wasn't that simple, and the signs weren't obvious unless the succubus in charge was careless.

I trusted Velrissa was teaching them better than Momo and Kyon had done, as if clan heads were walking about talking about their 'Mistress' like their charmed Phenex and dragons had been, then the plan would crumble pretty quickly.

"Have the ones already connected to family heads be more cautious. They should lie low and ensure that the clan is operating as usual to avoid suspicion," I simply ordered. "As for the others, just have them be careful but persistent. Even if the clans know the threat is there, they won't be able to stop everyone."

It just took one succubi leaking through the cracks to put an entire family under my control, and no one could remain vigilant forever. Especially not devils, a sinful race that loved indulging in lust more than anything else.

All it took was a clan's heir or head to let his guard down for a moment, welcoming the bar's waitress, or perhaps a stripper, into their bedroom. The succubi weren't just throwing themselves at the heads and hoping it worked - no, they were slowly becoming part of devil society, becoming indistinguishable from a normal devil and then taking any opportunities they got.

Luckily, devil society didn't have anything like IDs or certificates. With how many bastards the noble families had and wanted to keep hidden, not to mention the large number of reincarnated devils flooding the Underworld, there was no way they could keep track of everyone.

"Yes, Your Highness," Velrissa nodded at my words. I opened my mouth to ask for more specifics about the clans already being controlled, but the door to my throne room flung open before I had the chance.

Well, more specifically, it didn't fling open but was instead blasted open. Literally - the door flew off its hinges, lying flat on the ground as Tiamat stomped in.

"What'd the door do to you?" I deadpanned as Tiamat hurried into the room.

"There's a problem," Tiamat said quickly, and for possibly the first time, I saw Tiamat looking a bit worried.

"A problem?" I raised my eyebrow at her. For Tiamat to actually look concerned about something, I figured it was probably something serious.

"The anti-teleportation barrier I set up," Tiamat continued, her brow creasing, "Something's... happening to it."

"Something?" I asked, standing up from my throne as Vargan and Velrissa also stood up, "What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain," Tiamat huffed out, "It's... I can feel it connected to me, since it's my magic, and it's like something is cutting into it."

"Cutting into it?" I asked, starting to become concerned, "Like, someone's trying to break it?"

"Not break it," Tiamat shook her head, "It's even more impressive than that. Instead of overpowering or reversing what I did, it's as if someone is trying to rearrange it. I don't even know who - I can't track the energy signature anywhere."

I wasn't the most knowledgeable person in terms of magic, but even I could tell when something was a bad sign.

"So, it's someone powerful?" I assumed, and Tiamat nodded.

"Even that Leviathan girl wouldn't have a clue about breaking the barrier," Tiamat explained, "Whoever's doing this is trying something much more complex. They could probably break the barrier now if they wanted, but..."

"What's going to happen if they succeed?" I asked the important question, "Can you just set up the barrier again?"

A lot of my 'hole up in my territory and accumulate power' strategy relied on no one being able to easily get in or out. If Tiamat's barrier were gone, then it would actually be a pretty big setback.

"No, they're not trying to break it," Tiamat shook her head, "It's more like... someone's trying to break in."

I blinked at her words, "Like, teleport in here?"

What crazy bastard was trying to teleport themselves into my territory? Did they have a death wish?

As if the world had heard my thoughts, a magic circle suddenly appeared on the floor in front of me.

I tensed my body, reaching down and placing my hand on the hilt of my sword as Tiamat, Vargan, and Velrissa readied themselves as well.

A familiar green symbol formed within the circle, resembling a cursive 'a.' My eyes widened.

"Astaroth?"

My words were quickly answered as a figure rose out of the circle. He had green slicked-back hair, and a handsome face with a friendly smile on his face.

In front of me, within my own palace, stood the form of Ajuka Beelzebub.

What the fuck?

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AN: Thank you for reading! The next Chapter will be out tomorrow!

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