1. Owned up to the fact that the Demonkin Nation had no warriors or weapons that could take on the Wicked Witch, and that becoming a vassal state was an unavoidable fate.
2. Stated that if his nation was going to become a colony in this way, it would be more efficient if the leaders of both sides entered into a political betrothal. In other words, he would end up marrying the Wicked Witch of the Tower.
3. Admitted that he was perfectly willing to take accountability for the fall of his kingdom by marrying the Wicked Witch and running her new territory for her, similar to how the Elven Queendom was being run (as a reminder, we never actually took over the Elven Queendom). However, he reiterated that such treatment would never break his spirit.
4. Acknowledged that he was also resigned to the fact that, in the circumstances outlined, the witch would bear his children, though nobody should take the presence of offspring as a sign of love. While the witch might well be gorgeous and far more voluptuous than an inferior had any right to be, she would still never be any more than an inferior. Since he was part of the Demonkin Nation’s royal family, his emotions could never yield to someone from the lowliest race, and he would therefore never love the witch.
According to Voros’s declaration, these were all the reasons we could never enslave his soul, and that was how he intended to resist us. Of course, it was such an insanely nonsensical tangent, everyone in the arena including myself could only stare slack-jawed at the prince.
This is utterly incomprehensible, I thought, rubbing my temple. Judging by their faces, even Mei, Aoyuki, Ellie, and Suzu couldn’t believe anyone could be this dumb. Although, on a positive note, I’m glad I sent Nazuna back to the Abyss to guard it in Mei’s place. She definitely didn’t need to hear these absurd ramblings.
I always kept at least one Level 9999 warrior on standby in the Abyss to ensure the dungeon would be secure at all times, especially considering that people like Miki were there. Mei had been the person on standby previously, but I’d needed her with me to help capture the fake C if it came to that, so once Nazuna had come back from guarding Suzu, I’d sent her to swap with Mei. After hearing Voros prattle on like this, I couldn’t help giving myself a pat on the back for having made the right decision. But at that moment, I realized something.
Wait, is he trying to blow smoke up our backsides to buy himself time to escape? I wondered. Has he been saying all of this junk on purpose so that we’ll drop our guard? After all, we were dealing with a prince who was educated and had been trained from birth with a view to becoming an elite, so I couldn’t rule out the possibility that he was actually smart enough to play these kinds of mind games.
I shot Mei a glance, and picking up on the cue, she performed a lie detector scan on Voros. But she shook her head and gave me a look that told me he really was just a hopeless case. This also meant that he truly believed in his heart of hearts that we would never enslave his soul, no matter what we did to his body.
My head was starting to hurt from all the stupidity. The Demonkin Nation had someone this nuts as its leader? I mused. Wait, I guess he would have to be at least this nutty to even suggest launching raids against border villages in order to punish the Human Kingdom. Honestly, it was all starting to make sense, now that I’d seen the prince in the flesh. I wanted to ask him why he’d let Doc commit such barbarity against humans, to hear his reasons for it from his own mouth, since he was so closely involved with what had happened to my brother, even if his involvement was indirect. But I realized now that if I tried asking that question, I would just get a completely worthless, off-the-wall answer.
In fact, I feel sorry for the citizens of the Demonkin Nation because they’ve got this guy as their leader, I thought with utter sincerity. But Voros wasn’t paying any attention to our reactions and continued with his rant.
“You, witch!” Voros spat. “How long are you going to keep me in this seedy place? As a member of the royal family, I must insist you escort me somewhere more worthy of receiving me. I won’t wait another minute!”
I could feel the anger of everyone in the arena boiling over, including Lock. I was starting to get tired of Voros’s nonsense, and there was no point in listening to whatever else he had to grumble about, so I gave Ellie the order that would put an end to all of this.
“Ellie, once you’ve extracted all the info we need from him, take him to the pits in the Abyss,” I said. “Once there, put him through the most excruciating pain and misery imaginable, even if it’s only a small fraction of the suffering my brother went through.”
“As you wish, Your Blessedness,” Ellie chirped merrily.
Voros snorted at this. “Do you pinheads even hear what you’re saying? I’m royalty. Harming a member of the royal house is nothing short of unthinkable! This only proves that you inferiors are completely bereft of logic and understanding.” He shrugged theatrically. “If your undeveloped brains really do see fit to kill me, I’ll have you know that all the barons in my kingdom will revolt. Do you seriously think you can control my nation by spitting on the entire aristocracy? Your trifling threats will extract no further concessions out of me. In any event, do you know who you contemptible inferiors are speaking to? I am the crown prince of the Demonkin—”