Over the course of a week, Geon worked on regaining her mana to teleport them to her friend. During that time, she would occasionally spawn monsters Liara requested for training.

With Caeldaemos’ assistance, Mari changed her class to a Demonic Ninja. The class gave her quite a few spying and information-gathering abilities. She also gained a demon’s natural regeneration passive, which got upgraded to Rapid Regeneration for being a Faithful of the Demon-Lord.

Lily and her mother continued to work on their classes, getting considerably stronger.

During this time, Caeldaemos worked on ranking up his Create Item skill. The skill would condense his mana to form the item he was imagining. It required quite a bit of concentration and focus but would become easier the more familiar with the object he was. He studied the girls’ tools and equipment and practiced making them. His evolution made his mana level massive, so he constantly manufactured items. Geon helped clean up the things he created by absorbing them, preventing the group from being crushed by a mountain of weapons and tools. It did help her recharge her own mana a bit faster.

Caeldaemos sighed at his latest failure. Tossing the gun aside, it was absorbed by Geon.

“Sorry, Lista, but guns are beyond me right now.” Caeldaemos apologized to her.

“It is fine. I know a lot about them, but regarding the mana circuits, I know little.” She replied.

Caeldaemos noticed her looking toward the empty throne Yuteralis sat upon.

Liara had mentioned that Listamati was carrying a heavy weight on her heart. So he decided to ask.

“Lista. Is something wrong?” Caeldaemos asked.

Listamati looked at him. Guilt came to her expression at his concern for her.

“I… can’t. I’m guessing Liara told you something.” She looked to where Liara was helping some of the others train with a lesser salamander.

“Why don’t you try talking to me. Or maybe explain why you were….”

“Obsessed with you?” She finished for him.

“Yeah.”

Listamati sighed heavily. “You were the first man I ever met who could resist Entrance, my hereditary ability. It is a stronger version of Captivate. Since then, I became obsessed because you were strong and could… I thought I could use you for my revenge.” She looked away, feeling more guilty.

“Continue if you want. I’m here.” Caeldaemos rubbed her back.

“You are too damn kind!” She shouted and stood, staring down at him angrily, her cheeks red. “Do you have any idea how guilty I feel at trying to use you like a tool!? Then… after I heard about what the goddess had done to you… How could I not feel disgusted with myself?”

The others finished off the salamander and turned to see what was happening.

“I abandoned so much back in the kingdom! My home, friends, my dignity… All just so that I could survive! I stupidly let everything be stolen from me by that bitch! I blamed her and hated myself for my weakness!” Listamati was trembling with anger.

Caeldaemos could feel the darkness in her heart consuming her. Standing and expanding his wings, he wrapped her entirely with himself.

“STOP! LET GO OF ME! HATE ME, DAMMIT!” Listamati struggled against his hold of her.

Ruler of Darkness... Bringer of Light. Caeldaemos used his ability.

Memories of Listamati’s life flashed before him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listamati was the daughter of a prominent noble family of the demon nation. Her childhood was a happy one. She was raised to be dignified, proper, and well-educated. Listamati was a bright child who loved her parents with all her heart.

Sadly, when she was seven, her mother passed away due to a dragon attack. Her mother was a fighter who specialized in using dual magic pistols. Both of her parents fought in the battle, but only her father returned alive.

A year after her mother’s death, shortly after she turned eight, Listamati’s father got remarried. Not long after, she had a half-sister, Aqualaria.

Listamati’s sister also inherited her father’s hereditary abilities of Entrance and Hypnotize.

When Listamati turned fourteen and got her status read, her father fell ill. Listamati tried to get a cure for her father, but no one seemed to want to help her. It baffled her why the people she had been so close to would turn their backs on her.

Her father passed away on her fifteenth birthday, something that no one even helped to celebrate. Listamati could not understand why everything was happening. No one would talk to her.

It was not until she turned eighteen, struggling to maintain her family’s household by herself, she collapsed from overwork.

Listamati awoke tied to a chair in a small shack, and her younger sister stood before her with many of the retainers of her household.

“Dear sister,” Aqualaria spoke.

“What is this?” Listamati asked, struggling to break free.

“This is your end. The Succubus family belongs to me now.” Aqualina answered.

“What?” Listamati looked at the retainers. She could now see clearly what had happened, why she was alone. “You entranced them! We cannot do such a thing!” She shouted.

Aqualina giggled. “Why can we not? It is a power to rule. It is your own fault for not capitalizing on it.” She grinned widely.

Listamati had not used it much, but she activated her Entrance on the retainers, and… nothing.

Aqualina laughed haughtily. “It turns out that the more you use it on a person, the stronger the hold. You who never used it, Are. Too. Weak.”

Aqualina wrenched Listamati’s head up to look into each other’s eyes. With a flash from her grinning eyes, Listamati found herself holding a pen and her sister taking a paper.

“What?” Listamati could not remember what she had done.

“Dear sister. I promise I will take good care of my household. Thank you for signing away your rights and title.”

She was hypnotized. Just how powerful had her sister become to be able to hypnotize her older sister? Listamati screamed, yelled, and thrashed about.

“Oh. When you get to the afterlife, tell Father, ‘I’m sorry.’” Aqualina left the shack with the retainers, leaving only one man left.

“You… Took my father…?” Listamati screamed. Her anger boiled over.

Hate. Hate, hate, hate, hatehatehatehateHATEHATEHATE! Listamati hated her! Something primal stirred within the depths of her heart.

The demi-human approached her with a knife bared. “Sorry, love. Tis just business.”

Strength, she had no idea she had exploded within her, and she broke her bindings.

“Dammit!” The killer shouted as he lunged toward her.

Listamati then used her Entrance and Hypnotize on the man. He lulled and fell to his knees, his cheeks red and drool trickling from his open mouth.

“Stay still,” Listamati ordered as she picked up the knife.

She plunged the knife into the man’s throat, and his face turned ecstatic as his warm sticky blood flowed over her hands.

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He fell over dead, a euphoric expression on his face. Listamati was disgusted, trembling with revulsion.

She hated the sticky feeling of blood and the rusty smell in the air. Why? WHY? Why did Aqualaria do this to her?!

The next scene was Listamati stalking through the capital city of Forteria, the center of the demon nation. She had been keeping herself hidden for days, barely surviving off of the decent amount of Tress that was on the killer. Listamati quickly investigated and found that her sister’s influence was much further than she could have imagined. Other than the retainers and people of the household, Aqualaria had several people under her influence. Listamati had no one she could rely on.

Listamati searched and searched for any way she could use to regain control of her house, but there was no one she could trust. She attempted approaching more prominent noble houses, but each chose not to assist her or attempted to force her into a marriage. The demon nobles greatly desired her hereditary abilities, so she had to run from several.

Her sister learned that she was alive and attempted to assassinate Listamati multiple times, but each failed. Before long, too many people were after her, and she had to do something to survive. She had to make herself undesirable and seem like she would never be a problem. So, Listamati began using her Entrance to draw men into bedrooms, then used Hypnotize to make them think they had a long night of passion. She followed up by changing the proper way of dressing she had followed for so long to wearing tight-fitting and exposing clothing. Changing the way she acted to traits that demons frowned upon, drinking, being boisterous, vulgarity, she did it all. Listamati was treated as a debased letch and fool. Nobles quickly distanced themselves from her, refusing to associate. It hurt.

Aqualaria would laugh at Listamati whenever they came across one another. She no longer saw her elder sister as a threat and abandoned her. She cried.

Pain. Disgust. Loneliness. Despair. Longing. Abandonment. Hate. It all consumed Listamati to the depths of her soul. She broke.

Listamati fully embraced what she was now. Using the abilities she was taught to not abuse with wild abandon. She cheated, stole, and betrayed but surprisingly held onto her chastity. Why waste something so precious on some random person?

No. She would save it. She would use it. The oracle said the Demon-Lord would return and, with it, Heroes. Listamati would enslave a hero, make them her tool, and kill her sister. Or perhaps… Maybe help the Demon-Lord destroy all the disgusting demons! Crush them! Rip them! Drive them to the depths of despair she was driven to!

Time moved forward. She was scraping by in the town of Venture. A demi-human woman showed up with multiple kids in an armored carriage that seemed to be of a human nation. She brought news of an attack on Hallibrush. Listamati felt like she should volunteer this time. She had been bored in a frontier town like this for a while.

A disgrace of a demon? Listamati had only known herself to be addressed as such. It piqued her interest. She heard he fled from a demi-canine that got tipsy and went into heat. After looking around for a bit, she found him hiding in a watch tower. Their eyes met, and she could tell he was not used to women. Climbing up the tower, she did her usual song and dance, getting the man off balance. He was cute in an oafish way. She might even give him her first time. He was strong enough to take on a large force singlehandedly, but she had dealt with demons like that before. This man would fall to her charm like all the rest.

It didn’t work? There is no way it didn’t work? He resisted her Entrance! No demon had been able to do it! How? HOW?

Hold on…. She began piecing together what she had heard of how he defeated the humans. His power was overwhelming. She even felt instinctive that he was a man who would rule. Then his ability to resist her power… it was him. He was the one she had been waiting for!

She got down from the tower. A shiver ran through her body like lightning. “Ahh… my lord!”

Angry! She lost him! Before she could find him again, she lost him! She forced an answer from someone to learn that he took the airship back to Galgalake, where she would go. She cannot lose him!

It took some time, but Listamati made her way to the capital. But DAMMIT! NOTHING! Everyone in Hallibrush knew his name, but no one knew him in Galgalake. How could no one know the damn DEMON-LORD!? Was he hiding? She could understand him hiding until he had the strength to destroy the world, but nothing? She would check the various guilds next. A man had to eat, and that meant they needed Tress.

Her first big break! He joined the Mercenary Guild, but luck would have it, he was gone. She would continue to gather information on him while waiting for him to return.

Who is this woman?! She knows, my lord?! A challenge? HAH! I will beat his location out of you, and I will be with my lord!

How… How did I lose? And his wife? Was she his wife? A Demon-Lord taking a wife!? Lies, it had to be a lie!

A demi-bear man came to find me. He said he had information on my lord. I’m desperate! If it works, it works.

FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! It was a trap! Before I could escape the gas, I lost consciousness. I woke up to a burning pain around my neck, and now I am cursed to be enslaved by this pathetic tiny dick bird bitch!

This nasty bird laid hands on me! Thankfully I quickly realized he was a coward. Acting like a psychopath was enough to keep him from doing anything more to me… But… Orelia…

This idiot dragged us into a dungeon. Thankfully I got my pistols back. Damn, sick bastard! Leave Orelia alone!

He’s here! My lord is here! Please find us, my lord… please…

Orelia! Mari! They did not deserve this! Damn this collar! I would gladly sacrifice myself to let this boss eat that chicken!

I thought I had died… I am alive. My lord is right in front of me… But seeing that he saved Orelia and comforted her… I… What have I done? What have I been doing? What have I… become…? It hurts… IT HURTS!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the dungeon, Listamati felt so exhausted, but a massive weight had been lifted off of her. All the pain and suffering she had built up melted away. Her eyes felt so heavy, but she was warm. Caeldaemos held her so tightly. She was finally safe.

Listamati collapsed against his body, but Caeldaemos held her, tears flowing down his stoic face. Picking her into his arms, he gently carried her to one of the beds he had made for them and laid her down.

“Sleep well, Lista.” Caeldaemos sighed heavily.

“Cael.” Liara got his attention to pull him away from the sleeping Listamati.

He moved over to them.

“What was that, Cael? That light was intense.” Liara asked.

“A combination of Lord of Darkness and Bringer of Light. She… Lista... had a lot of darkness in her heart. She suffered greatly at the hands of others. She should feel much better after waking up with what I did.” Caeldaemos answered as she lovingly dabbed his face of his tears.

“You saw it all?” Liara asked.

“More like... felt. Honestly, what she experienced was far worse than what I went through.” He looked over to the peacefully sleeping woman.

“You want to help her?” Rana asked.

He nodded. “Yes. Not with revenge, but perhaps to gain her some closure. But that half-sister sounds like trouble. If left to her devices, it might lead to many people getting hurt.”

They supported helping Listamati after they helped Geon’s friend.

Caeldaemos went to take a nap. His heart and mind were completely drained.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listamati dreamed of her mother and father. It was just the three of them in their home. She was an adult, and her parents were proud of her achievement of graduating from the capital university. Listamati’s fiancé entered the room, wearing a fine suit he looked awkward in. Her parents looked happy to see him but chuckling at his expense.

She smiled warmly at her big oaf. “Cael.”

Listamati woke up, her cheeks felt hot, and she was surrounded by the comforting warmth of the bed and blankets. Sitting up, she looked around the room to see the others were asleep in their beds, all except Caeldaemos.

He sat near the core, making item after item, practicing his Create Item skill.

She got out of bed quietly and headed toward him.

“No, no, no, not like that! Your mana condensing is all wrong!” Geon playfully complained.

“You know I am new at using this skill, right? I have been practicing it non-stop for over a week now.” Caeldaemos looked up at the core, annoyed.

Geon giggled playfully, swimming around in her core.

“Hmm? Oh, Lista.” Caeldaemos noticed she was awake.

“H-Hey.”

Awkward! How could she be so uncomfortable now!? She felt like a little girl again. She felt… at peace?

“Cael. What did you do to me?” She asked, sitting before him.

Caeldaemos inhaled deeply, the muscles of his chest rippling with power… WHAT!? WHAT AM I THINKING!?

Listamati felt her face turn fiery hot. It had to be red. He had to have seen it!

He sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, Lista. I could see a great darkness in your heart. I saw all of it.”

Her muscles tensed, and she curled in upon herself. “You saw my past?”

He nodded.

“Pretty bad, huh? I’m a terr-.”

“You’re not.” He cut her off, starting on his next practice item.

“But-!”

“You. Are. Not.” He clearly stated, staring right into her eyes.

Listamati teared up. “Why?”

“Since I experienced what you did, I understand. What you went through is more than enough to drive anyone mad. I mean, what the hell was up with those nobles? Is that really what they are like?” He asked.

She nodded. “Yes. Demon nobles covet two things above all else. Their ‘nobility,’ and hereditary abilities.”

“Why is that?” Caeldaemos finished his latest failure and tossed it near the core, where a giggling Geon absorbed it.

“Hereditary abilities are not only convenient, but they stack. Take, for instance, my Entrance ability. A couple generations ago, it was only Captivate. But when another holder of the same hereditary ability mixed in, it evolved into Entrance. Not to mention that said person had the Hypnotize ability as well, giving my family a powerful ability with one that could support it.” She explained.

“I’m surprised humans don’t have a lot of overpowered abilities, then,” Caeldaemos commented.

Listamati chuckled. “It is different between races. It is hard for demons to get pregnant since we live so long. For us, the ability is guaranteed to be passed onto the next generation, and chances of them improving go up.”

Caeldaemos bobbed his head in understanding. “So, humans don’t always pass on the ability.”

She smiled. “Correct. The human nobles tend to have seven to eight children and multiple wives. All for keeping their abilities. I think I have even heard of some families practicing incest to empower their abilities.”

Caeldaemos grimaced and shook his head in disgust. “That’s nasty! That leads to genetic defects.”

Listamati scooted over to him and leaned onto the oafish side. “Thank you, Cael, for clearing my darkness.”

He lightly smiled and began the next creation. “Happy to help.”

Hot. She felt so hot. Her body was on fire. She wanted him. She wanted him to hold her as he did earlier.

She took hold of his arm, squeezing it against her chest.

“Lista?!” He looked down at her in surprise but blushed when he noticed her heated expression.

How cute.

“Please, Cael. Embrace me. Make me your woman. I cannot imagine a life without you….” Listamati could not stop herself. She wanted him with everything she was and could be.

Sliding up his body, she kissed him. He was hesitant. She knew it was because of the two ladies sleeping. Listamati didn’t care if she was third to them or last if he got more ladies. All she wanted was for him to embrace her.

“Please….” She whispered.

“Are you sure?” He asked.

She could feel his warmth.

“Yes.” She kissed him again.