The Demon King sits on his throne. A morbid and dark thing made of blackened iron and skulls from various races and species. He sits bored now almost regretting his decisions on how he will take over the world.

When he had first come to this new world, thanks to the help of the great demon god, things were exciting. He was piecing together a shattered empire, where all the different races of demonkind had split into hundreds of factions of varied strength. Thanks to his patron he had come to this world as an adult, but in a new body. A body of one of the many races of demons. He is still rather human-looking aside from the big horns, fangs, and spade tail, but the internal upgrades are notable.

Even before training in this new body he already could easily rip the arms from a grown man, had enough magical potential to level a mountain, and he has an aura of authority that all demons instinctually either fear or feel some manner of respect towards. It was a pretty good deal. Either conquering or befriending the heads of all the races, unifying an entire continent. With this task done in under a decade, his god had appeared once more to him to give him a final order.

That order was to conquer the rest of the world, and he is more than happy to do so.

Unfortunately, the Demon King picked the smarter option rather than the fun one. He decided to send spies into the other three continents, the nearest of which is across an ocean the size of the Indian back on Earth, so news and progress are slow. Fortunately, most have integrated into their chosen nation and have switched from simply observing to subverting in some manner. To varied success to say the least. As the Demon King is about to stand up to go find some sort of entertainment the throneroom doors open wide. He perks up and tries his best to look disinterested and almost regal, but his glimmering eyes tell he is absolutely interested.

It's two of his spies. They had come to give a report, as well as get some needed relaxation. Pretending to be human, elvish, or any other race is probably difficult, especially for demons that require specialized food sources.

These two are succubi, the easiest kind to have infiltrate as sex sells. The two women approach with their wings on full display. One of them looks quite rough, her hair is matted, her eyes dark and baggy, and her wings are even tattered. The Demon King sits forward as the two drop to a knee in veneration for their leader. He then speaks in a booming voice,

"What is it that you bring to me, my faithful servants?"

The battered one answers first,

"Your most humble servant, Killasha Oggoth, knight of the Burning Heart Order reports that her duty can no longer be fulfilled."

The Demon King asks,

"Why is this?"

She sighs and shakes her head answering,

"The kingdom that I had infiltrated and had reached the position of prime minister in has fallen into a complete civil war. A massive slave rebellion after the royals and all remaining nobility were purged in a single night. This paired with the military having been decimated in a pitched battle."

The Demon King gives her a wide smile and responds,

"I assume you did not cause this? It doesn't matter, the kingdom has fallen. That's one less to focus on."

She nods and continues,

"Yes, but unfortunately I have some dire news.

As it turns out. All kingdoms, at least on the Central continent have their own hero, and each has a patron god."

This makes the Demon King frown as this thought races through his mind. He knew there would be some hero with a god behind them to antagonize his world conquest, but if there are so many it could be bothersome, but this kingdom just fell, so that means that possibly one hero is dead, and they aren't like the main characters from media. He then asks,

"What has happened to the hero of this fallen kingdom?"

The succubus laughs, almost hysterically, and responds,

"Dead! Killed by a non-hero, because the conquering kingdom's hero is completely useless!"

The Demon King laughs at this revelation and then asks a pressing question,

"What is the name of both of these kingdoms and what are the heroes?"

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She catches herself and responds,

"The fallen one is the Kingdom of Lusthardia, under the protection of the god Bullhard. They were the greatest regional power prior to this action. The hero, now dead was named Sakura Lusthardia, the princess.

The victor is the Kingdom of Alrius, its hero is named Blake. That is all I have on that subject."

The Demon King nods and tells her,

"You are dismissed from your duties."

The woman stands up with a respectful bow and quickly leaves to get some much-needed rest, and probably a good meal too. The Demon King looks at the remaining one who is in good shape, but her eyes reveal a deep depression. The look of a broken person.

The Demon King asks,

"Which are you and why have you returned? Has your duty over as well?"

The woman shakes her head and with a sigh responds in a flat and dead voice,

"I am Mekare Soulsheat, second princess of the Succubus tribe... I am in charge of the Alrius Kingdom..."

The Demon King leans forward and asks,

"How has your time been there? What is your progress? Are there any concerns?"

She stares at him for a moment, clearly formulating an answer that she herself doesn't know. Then she explains,

"My duty is completely impossible. While I have infiltrated the most powerful noble faction in the kingdom, I have direct ties to the crown princess, and have the hero himself nearly completely under my thumb... or at least easily controllable... my task has been made impossible thanks to some unforeseen issues..."

The Demon King is now thoroughly intrigued and asks,

"You seem to be doing very well... how is your task impossible."

She sighs and asks,

"May I have something really stiff to drink first?"

The Demon King almost howls with laughter as a servant quickly brings her a bottle of something that could probably peel paint. She takes a long drink before starting her tale,

"So I infiltrate the Hasslreouge household, one of the four main noble houses... I do reveal myself to the Duke who is an arrogant and very ambitious bastard. He makes a deal with me thinking demons are bound by it for some reason. I don't argue. He wants me to follow around his adoptive son to make sure that kid is following his orders. Basically babysitting, with a mix of some spy work. In reality, I was supposed to get him addicted to me.

So there I am, with a fucking eighteen-year-old who is a kissless virgin at this point... he turns me down. Not only that, but he sees through my purpose in an instant, and quickly after that figures out I'm a succubus, and this bastard prior to being brought to the Alrius Kingdom... as a fucking slave... had never seen magic. He had no clue us demons existed... he just... sorta did that shit."

She takes another swig and continues,

"So with the jig up I expect to be killed but he decides to keep me around for some reason... well I do know... he's fucked in the head, like really bad. He had some fucked shit happen to him during his time as a slave and I sorta held him one time and he kinda trusts me, but at like an arm's length. I've tried charming him and reading his mind, but every time I do, I get hit with one of the strongest psychic attacks I've ever felt, and he doesn't even do it purposefully. It's just a part of him! If I wasn't who I am I easily could've died.

Anyway, he commits some horrible acts...all of which were orchestrated by me, through the Duke in a way. I sorta help him by letting him get some revenge on his tormentor... whatever. Then he proceeds to become one of the most influential people in the kingdom through a series of nearly entirely luck-based events mixed with what I assume is either genius or insanity.

Thanks to him I am close to the royals, and thanks to him the other noble houses have been greatly weakened, but then he goes and becomes nearly untouchable! Weapons I've never seen before! Airships made of steel! An information network that is impossible to infiltrate, I've tried... and then he has some loyal followers and friends who I can't even begin to try and corrupt...That's about it...."

The Demon King is highly concerned with this information. This outlier clearly is from another world too, but isn't a hero. Maybe he is simply a mistake... or just a side effect of a different hero's transportation to this world. The Demon King decides he wants more information if one of the kingdoms has figured out how to produce ironclad airships and firearms that will immediately bridge the power difference between the demon races and everyone else. He asks Mekare,

"Is there any recourse? Can you simply assassinate him or something? Maybe get someone else to do it?"

She thinks for a moment, having finished the booze she had been given, the gears turn loosely but freely. She then responds,

"There is one thing I do see as an advantage for him being in the seat of power he is in, that mixed with who he is.

This problem... he has very conditional loyalty to the kingdom. Remember, he was once a slave and was badly treated. He has some natural resentment toward the nobility of the kingdom he is from. While he has a friendship with the crown princess and I believe she most likely has feelings for him, he has kept her almost distant. Friendly, but something inside of him keeps him distant.

I could seed division in their relationship, but if I do it even slightly incorrectly he will kill me without mercy or hesitation, and there is nothing I could do about it.

What might be the best for our goals is to further divide the kingdom, and turn the hero against him... which I already have seen is happening at the orders of his diety. If I manage to do things correctly, he will burn the kingdom for us and may be an ally. His loyalty is conditional, even if we save his life or do him a favor, it will be conditional and he will continue to work his way out of our debt. He will always succeed, so I think it's best to go for a business-like relationship with him.

Of course, this should come after we begin the true invasion of the world. "

The Demon King smiles at his servant before telling her,

"That was a very good explanation and a great plan.

Do as you see fit so that we may harness this man's knowledge and capability."

With her role done here, Mekare leaves the throne room and takes flight, heading toward the Alrius Kingdom, flying in a wobbly manner. Her heart is heavy and sinks into her stomach. She feels something a Succubus has never felt before, and should never feel. Fear of a man. Someone who cannot be seduced, someone who is immune to their charms, both physical and magical. It's not fear of his capability, but fear of his unpredictability, much like the Demon King.

Someone who will never be ruled...