Caeldaemos finished establishing the last domain over Mari. “All done.” He sighed.

He had gotten concerned when he heard that Gabriel would be stopping by Dunluun on his way back to the imperial capital, so he prepared an idea he had discussed with Geon.

“Okay. Let’s try on Lia.” Caeldaemos focused on her.

Liara

Class: War Priestess Rank 22

Caeldaemos smiled. “Yup. It worked, thanks Geon.”

“You’re very welcome!” The dungeon core replied.

“That is good to hear the ‘Cloaking’ domain worked,” Liara commented.

With Geon’s help, Caeldaemos established Domains over each of them that hid most of their status, leaving only the name and class he programmed into it.

Lily and Mari were rogues, Orelia, a priestess, and Rana was a service manager. He also established one over Thomas, Yuna, and even Arthur to hide the new Demon-Lord Follower that appeared in their Specials.

Caeldaemos also teleported back to Flower to do the same with Lady Temerilla and the others.

It was then that Rana’s Go-Link began to ring.

“Hmm? Hello? Huh?! Uh… One second…” Rana held it out to Caeldaemos. “It’s for you.” She sounded worried.

Caeldaemos took the device. “Hello?”

“Hello, Demon-Lord. This is the priestess of Hallibrush.” The woman spoke.

“Uh!” Caeldaemos tensed. It was the one person he nearly forgot about. “Yes?” He nervously asked.

“I just recently performed a status reading with a young lady, and she had a peculiar addition to her status.” The priestess replied.

Caeldaemos was sweating. He knew he had to stop by Hallibrush to explain things at some point, but this was a shock.

“Mayor Toto also checked his status and saw that even he had the addition. He is currently keeping things quiet and has recalled everyone who was in the town during the assault, at my discretion, since I knew who you were. I need you to come back and give an explanation to the town. Immediately.” The priestess spoke with a tone that would not forgive anything but what she needed.

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” Caeldaemos responded.

“Thank you. May Io bless you.” The priestess hung up.

“Cael?” Rana looked at him with concern.

“We, uh, need to return to Hallibrush immediately.” He responded, handing the Go-Link back to her.

“But I want to play with Arthur more!” Lily whined.

“People in Hallibrush have the Demon-Lord Follower designation to their status. Bad things will happen to them if I don’t apply the cloaking domain to them. Not to mention I need to explain it to them.” His shoulders sagged. The usual worry of being rejected by people he liked weighed him down.

Rana placed a comforting hand on his cheek. “I am sure everyone will accept you. You are their savior.” She smiled.

He leaned his cheek into her warm hand. “I sure hope so. Sorry Thomas, but we need to get going now.”

“No worries. You take care of yourselves. I’ll be sure to let Yuna know tonight.” Thomas shook his friend’s hand.

Before long, Caeldaemos moved them quickly toward Hallibrush using Lord of Darkness.

It took them a few days, even with the transition speed of Lord of Darkness. Using normal modes of transportation would have taken a couple of weeks.

Caeldaemos stared at the gateway to Hallibrush. When it was being assaulted, he barely hesitated to jump into the fray and save them, but now, the walls seemed intimidating.

A demi-human in the watch tower saw the approach of a large carriage.

Caeldaemos was driving the carriage, and Rana was with him since it was her turn.

“Trust me, Cael, you don’t need to be nervous.” Rana rested her head on his arm.

He didn’t reply and drove to the gate.

“Welcome to Hallibrush… Master Caeldaemos!” The guard recognized him.

“H-Hey.” He awkwardly replied.

“It is good to see you! Did you get taller? You look a bit different.” The guard commented.

“Y-Yeah. Some things happened.” Caeldaemos answered.

“Well, go on in! I’m sure everyone would be happy to see you!” The guard smiled brightly. It hurt the Demon-Lord’s heart. He felt like he betrayed them.

Driving into the town, many people recognized him, and word spread through Hallibrush quickly of his return.

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It pained him so greatly to see their smiling faces.

Rana’s Go-Link rang. “Hello? Oh. Uh, yes. We will bring him.”

She hung up and turned to him. “It was the priestess. She asked that we bring Mayor Toto with us to the temple.”

Caeldaemos nodded and pulled up to Town Hall. Rana hopped out and went inside to bring Mayor Toto with them.

The mayor smiled as he climbed inside the carriage. “Good to see you, Master Caeldaemos. What brings you back?”

“Some… Issues…” Caeldaemos sighed.

“I see.” The mayor took his seat, and they headed to the temple.

They entered the temple.

“Welcome, your lordship.” The priestess said to Caeldaemos.

He frowned. “Is this punishment for what I did?”

She shook her head. “Ah. I forgot to introduce myself last time you were here. I am Sophia, a priestess of Io.”

“Sorry about the trouble. I am Caeldaemos.” He hesitated to say his title.

“I see. Mayor Toto, I was the one who requested your presence here for this. Io understood your concern and decided that it would be best for you to see it yourself. Lord Caeldaemos, if you would please, use the Blessed Tablet.” She motioned toward the tablet.

Caeldaemos raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t the gods frown upon me using one?” He half-joked.

“Io has permitted it. She is curious about you.” Sophia replied.

“She has spoken to you?” He asked, standing before the tablet.

“She has. If you checked around the back, you would see that I have still not replaced the idol of Sylfaerune at her request.” Sophia said with a small smile.

“What?” Caeldaemos was in shock. He wondered if the sisters were not getting along and what it meant.

“Sophia, I am baffled about this.” Mayor Toto stated.

“Your worries will be answered in one go. Please, your lordship.” She motioned for Caeldaemos to proceed.

Caeldaemos the Benevolent

Class: Reverent True Demon-Lord (Rank 65) (+20)

Str: Rank 56 (+45) Dex: Rank 56 (+45) Int: Rank 58 (+45)

Status:

Physical: Normal (Maximum) Magic: Normal (Maximum) Mental State: Anxious

Injuries:

Special: Will of the Demon-Lords, Divine Reverence, Master Class, Ruler of Darkness, Bringer of Light

Skills:

Melee Weaponry: Rank 23 (+50) Martial Combat: Rank 22 (+50)

Ruler of Darkness: Rank Max Survivalist: Rank 20 (+45)

Elemental Mastery: Rank 37 (+70) Mana Mastery: Rank 44 (+70)

Bringer of Light: Rank Max Master of Travel: Rank 48 (+20)

Create Item: Rank 23 (+70)

Abilities:

Infinite Flight Deathly Snipe Instant Regeneration (Passive)

All Seeing Eye True Demon-Lord’s Call Domain

Lord of Slaughter (Passive) Lord of Debauchery (Passive) Lord of Elements (Passive)

True Lord of War (Passive) Lord of Curses (Passive) Lord of Pestilence (Passive)

Lord of Madness (Passive) Lord of Benevolence (Passive) Lord of Darkness

Caeldaemos stared at the status that was being displayed for all to see. He awaited Mayor Toto’s judgment.

“I see.” The old canine said. “Seems like my suspicion was correct.”

Caeldaemos’ heart was beating quickly. He didn’t want to turn to face the kind mayor.

“The town is going to be surprised to hear about this.” The mayor laughed.

Caeldaemos turned to see a brightly smiling mayor. “B-But, I put you all in danger!”

“Yes, but thanks to Sophia, we were able to find out the truth for ourselves before things got out of hand. A few people who went to neighboring towns should return in the next few days. We shall wait until then to tell everyone. In the meantime, please enjoy resting in our town, Caeldaemos the Benevolent.” Mayor Toto turned and headed toward the exit.

Caeldaemos was blown away. Could this be the true beginning of him finding peace in the world? A world he was thrown into and cursed by a goddess.

He turned and looked up at the giant statue of Io. “Is there any way I could speak to her too?” He asked Sophia.

“Perhaps. Why not stay in the temple tonight?” Sophia looked at the girls with him. “It would be best that your harem stays at the inn. I would not want my lady’s temple being dirtied.”

“We are not that bad!” Liara replied, blushing a bit.

“You would, Liara,” Rana commented.

Caeldaemos laughed and asked them to head to the inn. It was already late in the day, so he would stay.

After enjoying a simple dinner with Sophia, she showed him to a large room with a few beds.

“You can take the large one there.” Sophia pointed.

“Okay.” He headed over to the bed and noticed Sophia going behind a screen to change.

“Uh, Miss Sophia?”

“Yes?”

“Are we sleeping in the same room?”

She laughed. “We are sleeping in the same bed. Being in close proximity to me will increase the chances of connection.”

“Uh, you remember I’m a Demon-Lord, right? I know you saw the Lord of Debauchery ability too.”

“I did see it. I can guess what it pertains to.” She stepped out from behind the screen in a simple one-piece gown. Her illustrious silver hair shimmered in the magic lighting. The gown showed that her customary robes hid her curves well for her blessings.

Caeldaemos swallowed hard. He found her quite beautiful.

Sophia giggled. “Do you plan to defile a priestess of Io? Oh, mighty Demon-Lord?” She joked.

“N-No! I wouldn’t do anything like that to you!” He replied in a panic.

“Really? A pity.” She teased.

He frowned. “You are just as bad as Liara.”

Sophia laughed and got under the covers.

He usually slept in his boxers, but he felt that would be wrong to do, so he put on a thin shirt and some shorts.

Sophia tapped one of his horns as he lay down. “I see you have a new set of horns.”

“Kind of came with my evolution.” He replied.

She snuggled up next to him.

“I-I-I thought you said close proximity!” He exclaimed.

“What is closer than this? Other than carnal activities.” She teased.

He was trying his best to keep Daemos at bay. The warm, softness of her body and the sweet scent of her hair intoxicated him.

“You are the first man to resist my charm so well,” Sophia commented.

“What?” Caeldaemos looked down into her face.

She smiled at him. “I have a blessing that is like a curse. One of my descendants was a follower of Eevicaln the Lustful and received a powerful blessing called Charm of the Succubus. It is a passive skill that makes any female of my bloodline alluring and gives us well proportions bodies. Most of my family succumbs to the temptation of abusing the ability, but I chose salvation through Io. The robes I normally wear suppress the charm completely.”

Caeldaemos remembered the feelings that Listamati had to go through for her abilities. “I understand. One of my companions went through something similar. Her ability was like a curse to her. Do you have any regrets?”

“Hmm. If I had a regret, it would be that I cannot go about town in anything but my robes. I see other ladies wearing cute dresses and sometimes wish I could wear them too.” Sophia replied.

Caeldaemos held up a hand. “Create item.” A simple plain pendant formed in his hand. “Domain.”

Through his lessons and experiments with Geon, he learned that he could use Domains to make pseudo enchantments on items. If he fused the domain with the thing, it would be permanent. He held the pendant out to her.

“Try this on,” Caeldaemos asked.

“Hmm? Okay.” Sophia put the pendant on, and Caeldaemos could immediately tell the difference.

“Looks like it worked.” He smiled.

“What is it?”

“If you wear that pendant, it will suppress your ability. This way, you can wear those cute dresses every so often.” He replied.

“Really? Thank you!” She hugged him, pressing her chest against his face.

Daemos has awoken.

She looked down at the pitched tent. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She apologized, a blush on her face.

“It’s fine. Just ignore it. It will go back to sleep in a bit.” He was covering his face in embarrassment.

“Are you sure you don’t want to ravage a priestess of Io?” She teased.

“You are seriously as bad as Liara! You two would get along great!” He shouted.