Chapter 403 366 – I’m Not Some Demon Either [BONUS]

"I forgot to hold back. Kagali and the others are all down on their knees, so now there's no one left to run the empire."

After eating breakfast with Shizue and Chloe, Takumi suddenly slapped his forehead as he finally realized this important problem.

"…"

Shizue was speechless as she looked at his perfectly serious expression.

Why are you getting so worked up over that?!

After thinking for a moment, she quietly asked, "In that case, are you planning to get some work done today?"

"No. Making me work sounds far less comfortable than lying around for another day. The empire isn't going to collapse just because no one manages it for a day or two."

Takumi immediately returned to his usual unconcerned attitude.

There was not actually much government work to handle in the country at present. Most of what Kagali had been busy with was planning for the future.

Her Mastermind skill really was useful. It suited secretarial work perfectly.

Thinking of that reminded Takumi that he had forgotten to check the attributes he had obtained from them.

He opened the panel and looked down, where three lines of information appeared.

[Ding! Kagali's affection has reached the required level. Defeat reward copied: Mastermind (Blue)]

[Ding! Shuna's affection has reached the required level. Defeat reward copied: Master Tailor (Green)]

[Ding! Shion's affection has reached the required level. Defeat reward copied: Combat Instinct (Blue)]

"Shuna and Shion haven't fully developed yet. It'll be better to farm them again later. As for Kagali…"

Many of Kagali's attributes had originally been granted by Takumi.

Attributes such as False Immortality (Purple) depended entirely on Takumi remaining alive, so he could not obtain them as defeat rewards.

They were more like extensions of his own abilities operating through Kagali, much like Divine Envoy (Gold).

While Takumi was considering this, a message suddenly arrived through the Demon Shadow Army's network.

"A group of Lizardmen envoys wants to see me?"

Confused, Takumi turned his attention toward them and immediately saw a group of several dozen Lizardmen.

Mounted on giant lizards, they stood arrogantly at the imperial border in a pose so self-important that Takumi could barely keep a straight face.

They clearly had no idea what kind of colossal power they were facing. He could even hear them muttering things like, "This village is rather large."

The monster settlements around the empire's outskirts, combined with the absence of erected walls, had probably caused them to misunderstand the scale of the kingdom.

Holding Chloe in his arms, Takumi did not bother asking why the Lizardmen had come. Instead, he directly activated a new skill he had created not long ago.

"A skill created through the King of Creation and Raphael, Lord of Wisdom, with Future Sight as its core."

"Past Sight!"

In an instant, the river of time seemed to flow before Takumi's eyes.

The future possessed countless possible branches, so even Takumi could currently glimpse only fragments of it for brief periods.

The past, however, was different.

What had already happened was fixed. With Takumi's abilities, he could see events from decades or even centuries ago.

As his field of vision expanded, the images rapidly rewound.

Less than half a second passed in the outside world before Takumi understood the entire sequence of events.

Put simply, a named Lizardman called Gabiru had appeared among the tribe.

Gabiru was the captain of the Lizardmen warriors and the son of their chieftain.

After receiving a name and becoming stronger, his ego had begun to swell.

When the Lizardmen chieftain learned that Takumi had founded a kingdom nearby, he wanted to send representatives to establish friendly contact and propose an alliance against the Orc army.

Privately, however, Gabiru wanted to use the opportunity to overthrow his father and seize control of the Lizardmen himself.

He then began pretending to obey while acting against his father's orders, sending his subordinates out to command low-ranking monsters to join his forces.

One thing led to another, and now a Lizardman envoy had arrived at Takumi's imperial border.

"He plans to build an army of ten thousand through his own strength, then defeat an Orc army of two hundred thousand?"

"Among the Lizardmen, only their chieftain seems to possess a functioning brain. Age really does have its advantages."

Takumi could not even be bothered to call Gabiru an idiot. He simply decided to go there personally.

"Shizue, Chloe, something amusing has come up."

He stood, held Chloe in his arms, and called Shizue over. With Amenotejikara, the three of them instantly appeared at the imperial border.

Under the cold gazes of the Amazon guards, the Lizardman envoy had already begun stamping the ground loudly with their mounts.

The instant they sensed Takumi's arrival, the Amazon guards immediately assumed respectful postures.

"Lord Chief God, you have arrived. These lowly demi-humans appear to be seeking an audience with you…"

"An audience? They don't look like they came here to request one."

"My apologies, Lord Chief God. I merely did not wish for these lowly creatures to offend your eyes."

The Amazon guard lowered her head and explained anxiously.

Takumi understood their thinking and had no intention of blaming them.

"Chief God? That's an unusual title."

Shizue looked slightly puzzled when she heard how the Amazon guards addressed him.

Her attention, however, was quickly drawn to the arrogant Lizardman envoys before them.

When the envoy saw Takumi's group appear, one Lizardman immediately rode forward.

Its attitude was even more arrogant than Takumi's as it remained seated atop its mount and declared,

"You must be the leader of this place. You've done well coming out to greet us. I'll grant you the opportunity to serve under me. Consider it an honor!"

The Lizardman continued speaking as though refusing had never been an option.

Even the normally mild-tempered Shizue felt irritated upon hearing that.

The same thought appeared in her mind and everyone else's.

[Where did you get the nerve?!]

Faced with this scene, Takumi could not help curling his lips into a sunny smile.

"Haha~"

The next instant, incomparable gravity crashed downward like a ten-thousand-ton hammer smashing onto the Lizardman's head.

Boom!!!

Splat.

A flattened sheet of unrecognizable Lizardman skin mixed with foul-smelling flesh appeared before everyone.

It had been crushed so completely flat that it had blended into the dirt.

Had Chloe not witnessed it happen, she probably would not even have recognized it as a corpse.

It looked more like someone had thrown a pile of garbage onto the ground.

[Ding! Random attribute plundered: Regeneration (Green)]

Ignoring the attribute, Takumi reached out through the air and seized the Lizardman's soul in his hand.

"I'm not some demon either. Go enjoy a few tens of thousands of years in Pseudo-Hell."

With that quiet remark, Takumi tossed the soul into Pseudo-Hell.

He had modeled Pseudo-Hell after the concept of the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

The punishments within were absolutely delightful.

After finishing, Takumi turned his gaze toward the remaining Lizardmen, all of whom had been frightened senseless.