Elsewhere, far away from human civilization

I uncovered the man's eyes, revealing his expression of pure terror. It was almost amusing how frightened he was of me.

His outfit, which at first was a dignified, elegant uniform with an armband that represented a falling star, was all tattered and dirty.

It seems that the rose has prevailed over the star.

With a smile, I spoke to him. "So, do you regret attacking my domain now?"

I watched as he frantically nodded, unable to form coherent words. I removed the cloth from his mouth, enjoying his desperation.

He hastily nodded with a certain panic, while trying to say something.

“Oh, right.” I grinned as I removed the cloth from his mouth.

“Don’t do anything you may regret here..!” He pleaded.

Laughter bubbled up from within me, unable to be contained.

The demon crowd of three thousand silently listened to the conversation between the two people before them.

“You had the opportunity to surrender before.”

“...Yes, you’re right.”

“Three times, to be exact.”

His eyes moved downward, away from my face.

“The first time, I urged you to sign a white peace, yet you rejected it. For the second time, I dispatched an envoy towards your war camp, and you know what happened towards them, right?” I nonchalantly asked.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

After a pause, the man before me muttered something.

“What?” I said, “You’ll have to speak up?”

“...I killed him...”

“Ah, right, right. And what did you do with his head, if I may ask?”

“I sent it to your palace.”

“Tch, tch, tch.” I shrugged.

“That was a bad decision now, wasn’t it?”

“...”

“I might’ve forgiven you if it stopped there, but doing the same to my second envoy? Now that’s where I personally draw the line.”

The nobleman could only gulp. The responsibility to protect the lives of the citizens was resting on his shoulders.

“... For such a normal-looking man to give off such an intimidating force.”

The corners of my mouth tugged upwards, unwilling to suppress the smirk that was taking over my face.

“You know...” I reached out and wrapped my fingers tightly around a handful of his hair, yanking his head upward until our eyes met.

“What would these people think if I did the same to your head?”

Demon lord Minos of the Western Demon Continent. He was a fierce fighter and a cunning ruler, and the person responsible for the ambush against me.

“Sir Ar-”

“Adress me as “Your Highness’.”

“...Your highness Ariuka, please let me state two reasons to spare my life.”

Ho?

I took a rose out of my pocket and began plucking its petals.

“State away.”

A second’s silence passed.

“...First, you will experience unrest and rebellion in my domain once I’m killed. To avoid this, you may simply make me a subordinate of yours.”

I nodded.

“That is true. I’ve been thinking about how to handle that problem after you attacked.”

“Right. As for the second, I have deep diplomatic ties with the rulers of other realms, which means that your ambitions to unify-”

“Times up.” I said as my eyes shot back towards Minos, with the rose having had all its petals ripped off.

“But-”

“No.”

“...”

“Do you really believe I’d spare you after the dishonor you gave me?”

My grip tightened around the hilt of my sword as I stepped closer to the demon lord Minos. I swung my sword in a wide arc, the blade connecting with his neck and slicing through flesh and bone.

I calmly put my sword back towards my scabbard and grabbed Minos’ head by its large horns, and raised it towards the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your ruler.”

The head sailed through the air, propelled by the force of my throw, and disappeared into the sea of people in the crowd.

I turned towards my right-hand woman.

“Echidna.”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Return to the grounds and kill the prisoners. Set them as an example towards the citizenry.”

She nodded and walked off stage.

I sighed as I sat back on my makeshift throne, looking up towards the blue sky.

I deserve a break... I thought to myself.

“How did it turn out like this...” I could only ask myself.

My rebirth into this new world as one of the 55 demon lords certainly didn’t help.

Why was I the one to possess this body, anyways?

Truth be told, I didn’t want to work anymore.