I continued smiling at him like a magician who was about to reveal the secret behind his trick. “Remember the summit at the principality? I showed up dressed as an adventurer named Dark. I purposefully made sure to open the door in a way that went against the etiquette rules you taught me. I wanted to send you a message that, yes, I’m still alive and kicking.”
I went on to tell Diablo all of the other ways I had toyed with him lately, starting with how we had massacred all of the demons who had tried to raid the human border villages, save for those we sent back with letters suggesting that Diablo was in cahoots with the Wicked Witch. I told him how, after we’d figured out that he hired the world’s top assassins to kill me, we’d captured them and dumped them in a plaza, along with a message accusing Diablo of putting out a hit on Voros.
And last but not least, I hit him with the fact that we had captured Voros and forced him to write the proxy letter that allowed us to formally strip Diablo of the peerage he had dedicated his whole life to attaining. Everything I’d done, big or small, was in aid of getting revenge on Diablo, and I was speaking so passionately about it, I could have been mistaken for a guy reading aloud a love letter.
“I did all of that just so I could see you suffer and have my revenge,” I concluded. “So tell me, do you at least feel some of the pain, misery, and despair that I felt all those years ago when you betrayed me?”
I could feel myself smiling like crazy, with dark flames lighting up my eyeballs, and I was so very close to shuddering with delight as vengeful joy coursed through my entire body. And just to drive it home, I activated my stats screen for Diablo to see.
“In case you didn’t know, I leveled myself up all the way to 9999 just so I could take revenge on you with my own two hands,” I said.
“L-Level 9999?!” Diablo squeaked. All hope faded from his face, as if he were witnessing the end of the world itself. He began sweating from every pore and immediately shuffled onto his hands and knees to beg for my understanding.
“Th-There was nothing else I could do at the time!” Diablo wailed. “Drago was our enforcer, and my nation pressured me into doing it! There was no opportunity to allow you to escape! I didn’t have a choice, and it’s not like I could’ve fought back anyway! But ever since, I’ve deeply regretted taking part in that inhumane assassination attempt! So please...”
I glared at Diablo in silence, waiting for him to finish. He carefully lifted his head, and gave me one of those upward-glancing puppy dog looks to try to ingratiate himself to me.
“So please s-spare me. I beg you,” he continued. “I’d also like to retain my title as a viscount. And in return, I’ll be your servant for life. I offer all of my skills and talents in service to you as your right-hand man. If you’re taking control of this nation, I know I’ll be a valuable asset to you. I’m an accomplished leader of a territory and a capable commander who knows the proper way of dealing with this nation’s aristocrats. I offer you all of my knowledge and expertise in governance. I swear you will never regret making me your retainer!”
Ellie silently fumed all throughout Diablo’s speech. He thinks his meager talents make him worthy of being Blessed Lord Light’s right-hand man? He must think so very little of us! she probably thought. But Diablo was so desperate, he didn’t even notice he was basically signing his own death warrant with Ellie as the executioner, rather than succeeding in begging me for his life.
While he said he “regretted” what he did to me, it was clear he still thought demons were superior to humans, even if he was presently kneeling before people who were far more powerful than he could ever imagine. First of all, we had no intention of ruling the Demonkin Nation anyway, so he’d already gotten off on the wrong foot by offering to help us govern the nation. They’re right when they say people expose their true nature when backed into a corner, I thought.
Diablo started sweating again when he saw that we were unconvinced about having any use for his so-called talents, so he immediately switched tack and tried to gain sympathy by bringing up our days in the party.
“W-We mustn’t forget that we had many good times in the Concord of the Tribes,” he stammered. “We should go back to being friends, just like we were in the past. If you’d prefer, Light, I’m very willing to teach you everything I know about etiquette, just like I did back in the old days.”
“Just like in the old days...” I repeated. On finally glimpsing a faint ray of hope, a smile plastered itself across his face and he pressed on.
“Of course!” he said. “We can enjoy ourselves just like we did in the old days. We can drink through the night and be merry—”
I interrupted him by giggling uncontrollably at the suggestion. Diablo’s hope-filled face stiffened, and I full-on exploded into nonstop, unhinged laughter. Although I was unmistakably laughing, my voice was hoarse, and there wasn’t a shred of warmth in it. All that came out with it was intimidating energy as if I were cursed, but I still continued to throw my head back and laugh in that madcap, rasping manner. Even Ellie, my ever-faithful ally, had to take a step back after seeing me laughing half insane like that, and I knew I was scaring her, but frankly, I didn’t care.
“Oh, yes! We did have fun!” I said, my voice dripping with raw emotion. “You all invited me to join the Concord of the Tribes, and even threw me a huge welcoming party. You served me food I’d never eaten in my village, even during festivals! Oh, man. We really did stay up all night partying, didn’t we? At the time, I thought I couldn’t be any happier! Not if I lived for another hundred years!”
I paused and took a breath. “And after quests, we’d go out for drinks, and we’d sing and grab each other by the shoulders, and rejoice that we’d made it back in one piece, and pray we’d have the same luck in our next quest! I always, always, always hoped those happy days would last forever! But you guys ruined it! All of you! You all got together and conspired to kill me!”
I dragged that last syllable out until I eventually ran out of breath. Due to my raised power level, my angry yelling seemed to take on a life of its own, causing the very structure of the manor itself to start creaking. It was a good thing I’d discussed with Ellie beforehand about putting up an extra strong force field, or else my voice and my rage-filled energy would’ve spilled out far beyond the manor.
I smiled, knowing that I was on the verge of really losing it. “But don’t you worry. You’ll soon get to join everyone else in the old gang. You see, Garou, Sasha, Sionne, Naano, and Oboro aren’t just in the bottom of the Abyss, they’re even lower than that! They’re all suffering in ways that make them wish I’d just put them to death. But they won’t die, because I’m keeping them alive using high-grade magic and potions. All so they can keep on suffering.”
My smile didn’t let up for an instant. “And guess what, Diablo? I’m gonna have you join them, and we’re gonna have oh so much fun. Yup, a whole lotta fun. You must be feeling left out of all the good times we’re having now. But we’ll soon fix that. We’ll have a nice little reunion. I’ll take you there.”
I was smiling from the bottom of my heart. “Diablo, don’t you feel sad that you’re the only one left out?”
“No...” Diablo uttered softly before screeching. “N-No! Stay away! Don’t come near me!” His face was twitching with fear, and he turned to scramble deeper into his manor, but he was so weak at the knees, he could barely even stand upright as he ran (if what he was doing could even be counted as running). Even so, I didn’t lay a hand on him. At least, not just yet. This was his last gasp at resisting me anyway, so I figured I might as well let him squirm as much as he wanted. I watched him like a patient mother letting a kid tire itself out from its temper tantrum.
“It doesn’t matter how much you struggle against me, you know,” I said to him.
I walked slowly toward him, and this act elicited a long scream from Diablo. This manor probably has a bunch of secret passages and escape routes and such, I thought. But none of those will work because Ellie’s put up a force field. I carried on strolling toward Diablo with a smile plastered across my face.