"Rivale really does get things done efficiently."
Fíliya stood by the window, gazing out toward some distant point on the horizon.
Solitär heard the seemingly unprompted remark — and understood it immediately.
After all, the current Fíliya possessed the ability to pinpoint the location of every single member of the Demon Race. So she had undoubtedly witnessed it herself: the lower-ranked demons who had initially dismissed her orders were now converging on the Far North at a frantic pace.
"Though the population losses are a bit steep. Are the demons really so unruly that this many had to be killed just to set an example?"
Fíliya continued murmuring to herself — because within her perception, the Demon Race's already dwindling numbers had dropped by nearly a hundred in the span of just a few short days.
And every single one of those deaths was clearly Rivale's handiwork.
"So many demons have died? That's genuinely surprising. When a powerful demon moves against lower-ranked ones, the lower-ranked should immediately enter submission mode — the survival instinct is the most fundamental drive of the Demon Race."
"Mm... who knows. We can ask him about it when he gets back."
Fíliya said it offhandedly.
"Can't you communicate with demons directly, regardless of distance?"
Solitär pressed.
"Mm... since I've already decided to leave this matter in his hands, it's best not to interfere with his judgment. Losing nearly a hundred demons is still within an acceptable range for now. Let's leave it at that."
As she spoke, Fíliya's tone gradually settled into something languid and unhurried. She turned her head and looked over at Solitär.
"What about the human we resurrected — has she gotten a grasp on the situation?"
"Yes, she just managed to calm down from the initial shock... When I told her she was in the Demon King's Castle, the poor thing nearly frightened herself into trying to die all over again."
Solitär's tone carried zero warmth when speaking of the human Fíliya had unexpectedly brought back.
"Is that so. She's that timid... So what's her situation now? Is she planning to leave?"
"She said her name is Amy. She has no family and no friends in the human world — she died alone on the battlefield."
"Is that so? No ties, no roots, completely alone in the world — not bad at all. She sounds like exactly the sort of person suited to be reborn as a member of the Demon Race."
"On that point... she's asked for a little more time to think it over."
Solitär delivered the line without a trace of emotion, because from her perspective, this human was simply ungrateful — to have received such a grace from Fíliya, and to still have the audacity to say something like let me think about it. As if she had any standing to be picky.
"Time? That's fine. The one thing we have absolutely no shortage of right now is time, isn't it?"
Sensing Solitär's quiet irritation, Fíliya offered a small word of comfort.
"In any case — for now, have that girl help you with your work. Put her through her paces properly, all right?"
"You don't need to tell me that."
Solitär said it with mild exasperation — but then, as if something had just occurred to her, her gaze drifted back to Fíliya, carrying a faint shade of suspicion.
"Hm?"
Fíliya was puzzled by the sudden scrutiny.
"I just thought of something... Out of all those human corpses, why did you specifically choose that particular girl?"
"I mentioned it before — her body was the most intact. The others had all been blown to pieces."
"Is that so. No other reason? Something personal, perhaps?"
"Well — there is one thing. You see, that girl has green hair, just like us... That was actually the reason I noticed her in the first place."
"Tch... I knew it."
Solitär let out an audible click of her tongue.
"Aren't you going to push further?"
"Given that you were actually honest about it, I'll let it go this time."
"How gracious of you."
Fíliya smiled and gave a small nod, then turned to look toward the door.
Almost the very instant she turned, the door was being gently pushed open.
"My Lord Demon King — you called for me?"
There was currently only one person in this castle who would use that particular form of address.
"Yes, Tot — come here."
Fíliya beckoned her over. Tot obediently drew closer.
"Mm. In order to reform the Demon Race's habit of eating humans, I think I'll be needing your ability."
Fíliya came straight to the point — but Tot was clearly the slower type, and she didn't quite follow what Fíliya meant.
"Your magic is a spreading virus, isn't it... I think it has real potential. Beyond simply being used to kill, it seems like it could also be used to alter organisms... Solitär, do you remember those days by the sea when we used to talk about biology?"
As she spoke, Fíliya gestured for Solitär to join the conversation.
"Of course I remember... You mean... you want to use Tot's magic to artificially modify the behavioral instincts of living creatures? Is something like that even possible?"
Solitär had the mind of a scholar, and she quickly caught up with where Fíliya was going.
"I don't see how. My magic only does one thing — it kills."
Tot tilted her head in puzzlement, not understanding at all what the two of them were getting at.
"That's only what you think. What heights your magic can reach is not yours to decide."
Fíliya rebutted her with a light laugh, then continued.
"Now then — let me experience your magic firsthand."
"Hm?"
Tot blinked blankly and didn't move.
"I mean — apply the virus to me."
Fíliya could only add the clarification with a resigned sigh, privately thinking that having subordinates this dense was a remarkably draining experience.
Tot finally understood what Fíliya intended — but her expression still carried a trace of hesitation.
"My magic's effects are severe. If My Lord Demon King wishes to experience it, you should be prepared to endure considerable pain."
"That's nothing. Go ahead — you know I possess [Immortality]."
Fíliya's expression remained perfectly relaxed. After all — the current her was probably the single most pain-tolerant individual in the entire world.
"Understood."
Tot drew a slow breath, stepped forward half a pace, and pressed her palm flat against Fíliya's chest.
"Don't hold back for my sake. Put more in."
Fíliya reminded her once more.
"Mm."
This time, Tot said nothing further — she simply gave a quiet, obedient nod.
And then she channeled her Spreading Virus Magic directly into Fíliya's body.
"It seems... like I don't feel anything?"
In that first instant, Fíliya noticed nothing wrong whatsoever.
But on the second blink of her eyes, her entire body flooded with a deep crimson-violet — and then she pitched face-first to the floor.
"Wh — what is this?!"
Solitär went pale with shock, because she was already watching it happen: Fíliya's flesh was rotting at a terrifying speed, as though it were melting. In the span of a single breath, her hands and feet had come apart at the joints, her fingernails sloughed away, and even her hair — once smooth and lustrous — went brittle as dead straw in an instant.
Fíliya's eyes slid clean out of their sockets and shattered against the floor.
The presence of life vanished from her entirely — leaving behind nothing but a heap of rotting, formless decay.
____
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