This, this is wrong!

The demon army I raised is apparently set up against some kind of medieval army consisting of humans.

I can't slaughter humans!

How the heck am I supposed to deal with this?

There's no way I'm going to tell my demons to go all-out on innocent people.

Even if I found Chiaki afterward, she would never approve that I went so far just to save her.

Goddamnit!

I need to come up with a plan.

Could I just bind them?

But this would reduce my capability to deal with this kind of army.

If there’s another, and there surely will be, each successive one will tie up more of my resources.

In any case, what I really need to do now is to capture one of them.

Huh?

This thought was, even for my rather complicated relationship with my dark self, totally alien.

Even though I know how she usually is, I really should now catch one of those humans to figure out its inner workings.

By every dimension's hell!

Can you stop this and just talk normally with me?!

I'm still not sure if I truly want to merge this part of mine with my persona fully or rather accept this sense of disparity and how it sets my thoughts apart.

On the one hand, I have an innate aversion to this portion of me.

Not only because I fear its way of handling things in a rather ruthless manner, but also because it's hella confusing that I often can't differentiate which of those thoughts are my own and therefore can't really assess this persona of mine or how much my other self actually is influencing my thinking.

On the other hand, this kind of thinking might be wrong in the first place.

It could be detrimental for me to differentiate those thoughts, as they are basically my own, coming forth from a dark sense of pragmatism that became ever so much stronger since Chiaki got abducted and I couldn't do a thing about it.

Those thoughts aren't foreign, but rather an understandable response to this dire situation.

As such, they’re not the work of some foreign entity, but instead an intimate part of what I feel, as both parts of me are, of course, me, without a distinction to another being.

Yet if that were to be the case, then why do I not possess the same insight for some reason?

Is it so that I can ignore the information on behalf of not wanting to be confronted with disturbing stuff?

But how do I then make the distinction to be sure of my own thoughts in order to...

Would I stop already!?

Now is not the time!

Can I please get a hang of myself!

Erm, okay?

Alright, if it gets me to focus, I'll share some insight.

I want me to capture a 'human' because I suspect something to be up with them.

If I am right, this may very much decide our next course of action.

But, capturing a human, even more so forcefully, could cause huge issues.

Something like this certainly won’t improve my relationship with the locals here.

I wouldn't suggest so if I wouldn't deem it the right course of action.

Are you sure?

I am you!

I can't lie to myself!

Yeah, convincing argument.

But how would I go about doing something like this?

At this, my mind is telling me that my flying gargoyles might very well be utilized as abductors.

Thus, I really don't see any other way to proceed but like this.

My forces move in and start a half-assed attack, because I made very sure to ingrain into them that any killing, as well as maiming, is forbidden.

Because I'm linked to each of my creations, even with this strange glitch going on, I experience the contact from the first row.

Of course, I partake as well.

As nothing can beat my world-shifting powers, I can control the battlefield.

Nonetheless, my created demons are still those who get closest into contact with the enemy.

For this reason, I hear through their ears how the humans in the enemy army speak, in eerie contrast to my mostly silent demons, who would at most give off some guttural noises.

"The demon king's army!"

"Defend yourself, fellow humans!"

"Soldiers of light, fight on!"

Okay, they seem oddly informed about the situation.

I don't really know what's behind this, but if my opponent wants to make me appear like the bad guy, they apparently have quite the success.

However, shortly before my flying units can grab one of them, I hear something that makes me lose track of everything else.

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"War mages! Channel and take those things out!"

At this, a bunch of men and women in robes raises their staffs, and a cacophony of fire, lightning, earth, and ice shoots from them.

Even some projectiles I can only quantify as magic missiles.

I don't really know how to take this!

Magic is a thing?

Like, real magic and not just the kind of lifeforce manipulation Chiaki is usually doing, for example??

How can humans bend the laws of physics like this?

I contemplate in this manner, till I notice that those humans mow quite harshly through my forces.

Even the non-mages clearly perform at a much higher level in terms of strength, dexterity, and speed.

This odd happenstance reminds me again of my goal in this fight.

While their attacks were a literal hard blow to my units, it's not like I don't have an endless supply of them.

Even if the first line got a bit thinned out, my flyers manage to cross the distance and snatch a few mages as well as normal soldiers.

The moment we can detach the slightest bit, I use my powers to raise a massive flesh wall in between our forces.

My own already sustained heavy losses, due to the fact that they couldn't fight earnestly and injure anyone, and there's no point in taking more hits than necessary.

Fortunately, the enemy doesn't follow but seems intent on defending their territory from their fortifications out.

Thus, my retreat isn't hindered and I can transport my haul into the palace.

All the humans will be brought into my dungeon, which apparently is something I have.

An action that will very likely trigger a quest for someone to solve.

Yet now that it's over, I can at least inspect this subject.

Damn, was that now actually my thought or my dark side's?

See?

This isn't good!

It was just what it should be.

A mix of mine and yours.

You have a pragmatic side yourself, you know?

That one is capable of making smart decisions at times too.

However, do I really have the time right now for an existential crisis?

Unfortunately, the answer is "no".

Even though, I would very much like to sort this out.

Yet now we need to get started with the vivisection... Damn!

It was just a joke!

Of course, we're going to do this in a non-invasive way.

I really hope that's the case and my mind isn't just trying to protect me here.

So I head to the first solo cell.

All the time, a part of my attention is focused outward, to where the enemy is still standing.

Both observation eyes and the connection to my demon army allow for a permanent survey.

Through this, I find that the enemy isn't moving at all.

The human army in particular seems content with sticking to their position.

I also sent out some gargoyles as scouts, which are supposed to gather more information for me about the surrounding area and in the best case may find Chiaki for me.

Yet all of this is currently only happening in the back of my mind.

My main focus now has to be this guy I have to examine.

He's restrained by tentacles, so he can't lash out at me.

Which is very much necessary, as that's just what he's trying, even with the bindings on him.

"Demon king! You won't win!" (human soldier)

"Hey, you seriously got something wrong! I'm neither some demon king nor do I even try to win." (I)

"You won't fool me, demon king!" (human soldier)

"This is all just a big misunderstanding! Listen, there's this entity who's trying to play us against each other!" (I)

"I won't be deceived! Spare your breath, demon king! There's no way I'll betray all that is good!" (human soldier)

"You're not betraying anything or anyone! I only want to find someone, and then I'll be gone." (I)

"I may die here, but you will be defeated!" (human soldier)

"Hey, are you even listening?!" (I)

No matter what I say, this guy isn't interacting the slightest bit with me.

He may give some general responses, but nothing concrete.

That's it.

I need to get started!

Before I can even contemplate this input, a black tendril shoots out from my chest and lodges right in this man's head, growing around the nose bridge through the eye sockets.

Hey, what am I doing there!?!

Maybe what is necessary?

Something I would've known if I actually paid attention to my own thoughts.

But why?

This, this is wrong!

First, I have a suspicion that is going to relativize all of my concerns.

Second, I'm being gentle.

Aside from analysis, there isn't anything happening to this soldier.

What do I mean?

Damn, I truly should've paid more attention to my plan.

In any case, my tendrils form a clear picture of this man's inner workings.

Then, on an instinctual level, I receive an epiphany.

I got it!

Did I?

Yeah.

It's now all so obvious.

But first, one last confirmation.

"Hey, you! I, I slept with your mum!" (I)

"You won't win, demon king!" (human soldier)

Yep, it's confirmed.

There's no way he wouldn't have pointed out my bad acting.

This man isn't real.

Well, as real as a body can be, but there's basically no soul.

He has no emotions, agenda, or even wishes.

He's basically an empty husk!

But, but why?

Not sure what their angle with this is, but these are not sentient beings.

Just programmed to give the intended responses at suitable times.

A mere different form of a hull.

It could just as well be a demon, beast, plant, or just a stone.

I'd say to make us feel bad about taking action against them or to suit the setting of this "game" better.

Sounds reasonable enough.

Not like I'm much of a fan of this tactic.

However, I'm kinda glad I didn't have to fight real people.

Even the in-depth tentacle screening doesn't uncover a real soul.

Only a bunch of basically hardwired instructions that make it act like it does.

At most, there's something like super basic soul soup to make them move at all.

But even this is extremely reduced.

They're, so to say, more like zombies.

Just the bare minimum to move, but no consciousness.

Which means I can just slaughter my way through them!

Ehm...