Aijasyl: “This is bad; this is really, really bad!”

Karli: “Lotus! What are you doing?! This is no time to fight!”

Lotus: “They don’t look so tough…”

The enemy was the tribe of giant spider beasts. Each one had a humanoid upper body but the lower body of a ghastly insect.

With her ability to fly and use fire magic, Lotus thought that she was at an overwhelming advantage, burning down her enemies with rapid aerial attacks.

Few of the spider beasts perished from her attacks, but then, one of them shot out a web that stuck to her wings. With a single pull by the spider beast, Lotus was sent crushing downwards.

Lotus: “Ouch…Oh no…”

Her right wing was fine, but the left one was clearly broken.

Aijasyl: “Lotus! Let’s go!”

Aijasyl pulled Lotus towards her, helping her get up. Limping a little, Lotus ran along with Aijasyl.

To buy them some time, Karli created barriers made of ice, several layers of ice walls. But judging from the sounds, the spider beasts already broke several of the outer walls. The remaining walls would buy them a few minutes at most.

Karli: ‘Beast tribes…they don’t even use magic as proficiently as we do, but they can still do so much damage just with sheer physical strength. How frightening’

Running as fast as their feet could carry them, they ran as far away from spider beast territory as possible.

But then, Lotus stopped in her tracks.

Aijasyl: “Why have you stopped!?”

Lotus: “It is no use running. We are surrounded”

Karli: “Is it spiders again?”

Lotus: “No…they feel more like….birds?”

Their opponents started to come out of hiding one after another. They looked a little ridiculous. Some had upper bodies transformed into humanoid shape, but the ones in full animal form were most prominent.

Karli: “Are those….Ostriches?”

Lotus: “Don’t underestimate them. They may look ridiculous, but I can sense they possess far more power than the spider beasts”

Aijasyl: “They are all around us….What do we do?”

Lotus: “When there is no opening. We create one”

Karli: “Are you saying…”

Lotus: “We break through”

Karli: “I was afraid you were going to say that”

Lotus: “Use your most powerful offensive spells at the same time. On my mark….Now!!!”

Aijasyl:

Karli:

Lotus:

The blast managed to cleave them a way out. Unfortunately, the beasts were tough enough to not die from the combined power of spells; instead, they were merely thrown aside by the impact.

But it did give them enough time to escape.

* * *

“I don’t understand how this clan operates at all”

Rocco Draco could only shake his head in disbelief.

From the outside perspective, Tengu clan was a rising star, second only to the moon and the three suns.

With two demon lords, many strong members, and a powerful leader to boot, the clan managed to reach such heights within absurdly short amount of time.

For Draco clan, allying with another clan became necessary, for the sake of survival.

Out of all the clans, Tengu clan was the only ‘safe’ option.

Rocco thought that everything would be fine and dandy, but he couldn’t have guessed how wrong he was.

First of all, Ren Karatengu was the same demon that attacked them during the Second Trial and even killed Lodos Draco, his cousin, and now he was officially Mistress Lotus’s fiancé.

Even if they could let the bygones be bygones, there was still a lot of suppressed rage within Rocco’s heart.

Due to the contract, he could not harm Ren or the Tengu clan.

Instead, he chose to observe them; after all, what could have made the Tengu clan rise from the ashes while the Draco clan nearly perished?

Ren Karatengu, as far as he knew, aimed to become the Demon King, the one destined to lead the millions of demons to a brighter future.

Those who aimed to be the Demon King all had big ambitions. Having such a grand goal was not something Rocco could even begin to comprehend.

For all his life, he had been a servant, first to Rorin Draco, Lotus’s father, then to Lotus, and now, reluctantly, to Ren Karatengu. For once, he wanted to see the world from the other side of the coin.

Just what kind of a demon was this leader?

Rocco’s curiosity got the best of him.

But what he found shocked him to his very core.

Ren Karatengu was no great leader. He was not a leader at all.

He was a wannabe cook and a surprisingly professional gardener. But more than anything, he was an uncontrollable flirt and a party animal.

Greeting Lotus buck naked for their first meeting…now he heard the rumors that Ren spends many nights not only with Lotus, but another woman called Karli….

What Rocco couldn’t have known was that it was Lotus and Karli sneaking into Ren’s bedroom, with Ren desperately trying to keep them out, to no avail.

Rocco: ‘Just the other day, I saw him with a gardening hoe, wearing nothing but sandals and loincloth’

Rocco: ‘The two Demon Lords did nothing but wish him a fruitful harvest’

Rocco: ‘And then he offered me an entire bag’s worth of yak manure, saying that it was a great fertilizer!’

And then, there was Ren hosting a gigantic party that lasted an entire night, with him getting so drunk that he started to sing like a loon, all the while steadily stripping into his underwear.

Rocco: ‘HE IS A COMPLETE WACO! HALF-BRAINED MORON! MY CLAN IS DOOMED!’

If the fate of your clan is entrusted to someone like that, anyone would freak out. Rocco wouldn’t have been surprised if he had a heart attack.

After calming down, Rocco sighed.

Rocco: ‘At the very least, I ended up with him’

His current ally was none other than Akjan Tang, a white fox demon.

Rocco: ‘From what I have observed, this demon is that crow’s right hand man. There is no mistaking it’

Whenever a problem occurred, everyone would go to Akjan for guidance, who always managed to solve it right away. It didn’t matter what it was: vermin infestation, dried up well, defeating monsters and even soothing crying infants….Akjan was someone who could help out in nearly every situation.

Rocco: ‘He is extremely diligent, loyal, helpful, and most of all, responsible. The complete opposite of Ren Karatengu’

Rocco: ‘Objectively speaking, why is he not the leader? I would certainly feel much safer if he was in charge’