○
"Then, I'll be going."
"Wait. Take these."
It was when Elena, mounted on her horse, was about to leave with her report.
Yuran stopped her and took out two talismans from her bosom. It was a delicate movement that didn't match her armor attire suited for the battlefield.
"「Hundred Battles Victory. May the power of the divine general dwell. Spirit of the Noble Dragon.」"
"「Guardian Formation. Protect from undetectable threats. Black Tortoise Shield.」"
Whoosh!
As the two talismans activated, two purple flames in the shape of foxes that arose from Yuran's fingertips passed through the talismans.
Turning golden after receiving the power of the spell, they enveloped Elena's body. The golden power naturally fused with the black power she possessed, creating a beautiful halo around her.
"Thank you. I feel empowered."
To Elena's greeting, Yuran spoke while covering her mouth with a fan made of black feathers.
"Don't get hurt. I would lose face if someone receiving that person's support got hurt in a place like this."
"Of course."
Smiling once at those words and bowing her head deeply, Elena raised her spear.
Her black armor sparkled red in the evening sunlight.
"Then. Let's go-!!!"
Elena's battle cry cuts across the battlefield.
All allies on the battlefield heard her words.
"Men of Heisen-!!"
-Neigh-!!
Her horse reared up with a roar.
The sight of the black horse, raised on demon blood, perfectly responding to its master's will was itself nothing short of a symbol of the battlefield.
-Waaaa-!!
The warriors' war cries burst out.
Numerous knights and soldiers began to follow her.
Wooo...!
Black magical power flutters through the spear blade, enveloping the battlefield.
It absorbed the fear and terror remaining in the soldiers' hearts and became Elena's power.
The spear that converted emotions into magical power took on an even deeper black light.
Thud thud-
The sight of the black knight piercing through the battlefield, horse and knight becoming one.
It was overwhelmingly impressive, and became the symbol of Ironheart that would have to break if it couldn't be bent.
"Stop the witch of Heisen-!!"
Naturally, the gazes of the Xenota knights gathered.
The knights of the United Kingdom urged their horses and charged towards her.
"Stop me if you can-!!"
The black spear tip aimed at their hearts.
-Neigh-!!
Swish, bang!!
At the very front was a heavily armored knight riding an iron horse, holding a shield and axe.
However, the hardness and heaviness of that armor were merely prey for Elena.
Elena's spear shook the shield with powerful force, and the knight's head was pierced by the spear tip that dug through the gap.
"The Rock Knight..."
"Fight! Fight!!"
At that sight, the surrounding momentum broke instantly.
Wooo-!!
The fear of soldiers falling into despair gathered into the spear once again.
It soon became Elena's new power.
"Follow me! Warriors!!"
There was something in Elena's appearance, always leading the fight at the forefront of the battlefield, that stirred the hearts of all warriors.
It was the true spirit of a warrior that went beyond simple strength or technique.
○
Around the time Elena returned from the battlefield after the battle on the plains ended, she heard a deep sigh escaping from Yuran's lips.
"Haa..."
'Marriage...'
It was an involuntary sigh that came out as she recalled what had happened in the dungeon.
Seeing this unusual appearance for her, Elena watching beside her immediately realized the reason.
'Seems she has some worries.'
Yuran's eyes were very distant.
Looking from the side, one could only think she was a woman harboring a tragedy.
But if one knew her actual thoughts, Elena would probably have no choice but to laugh wryly.
'I just want to forget everything and do this and that with my lord all night...'
This was what she was thinking now.
However, while this was the conclusion, even the thought process wasn't simple.
'To think that Dungeon Lord with just a small outward appearance made the first move...!'
The invitation from Marquis Baritra's family.
In her memory, this was an event that didn't exist at this time.
As a demon of the dungeon and a returnee, she could be certain as someone who remembered most of the timelines she had experienced.
The forgotten events were all trivial things.
There was no way she wouldn't know about such an important matter.
'Contact with nobles would have only happened after a year had passed...'
But now, a considerable number of demon realm nobles were already reaching out to Libertas.
The Baritra family was the only one with a rank of marquis or higher to extend an invitation, but it was a change that showed at a glance that the current Libertas's status was completely different from before the return.
'Confronting and defeating three Dungeon Lords at once must have been that significant.'
And they weren't just any Dungeon Lords. They were Dungeon Lords receiving subtle support from the Archduke of the surface demon realm.
It means they were individuals with their own skills and substance.
It was something worth the attention of the seasoned nobles of the demon realm, who simultaneously sent envious and jealous glances to the young 'Archdukes' of the surface and their sponsors.
'There wouldn't be a noble who doesn't want to become a sponsor of the Demon King.'
The dungeon nobles above the rank of marquis on the surface all had relationships of varying degrees with the nobles of the demon realm.
Most were limited to marriage alliances or blood oaths, but some even had blood relations.
Typically, two examples would be Dantalion, who had the daughters of five demon realm counts as concubines, and Andras, who was Leviathan's cousin's grandson.
'To borrow my lord's metaphor, they're the 'diamond spoon' ones. There are many silver spoons and gold spoons too...'
As the influence of demon realm nobles was not small even in the succession struggles on the surface, promising Dungeon Lords were also attracting attention as excellent investment targets for nobles who couldn't form such relationships.
They invest in advance in 'young people' who seem likely to grow into excellent demons, if not necessarily Demon Kings.
It was obvious how appetizing Libertas would look to their eyes, how attractive she would appear as a 'blue chip' stock, as she herself would say.
'So a blood alliance is really possible.'
Of course, compared to the Marquis Baritra family, the current Libertas was far behind. No, extremely far behind.
After all, the other party is a demon realm marquis who can command dozens of high-ranking ability users with just a gesture, and at the same time a direct subordinate of 'Satan', the most famous Archduke of the demon realm even on the surface.
'So, if she really gets married...'
Regardless of Serica's position as a maid or whatever, she would certainly become a power holder in the dungeon as the legal wife.
This was inevitably troubling for Yuran.
While she acknowledged the need for an alliance, she could never accept this method.
'I should discuss with Lady Echidna. As moderately as possible, an assassination that doesn't leave traces of poisoning...'
It was when Yuran was considering such extreme measures.
"Do you have any worries?"
Elena opened her mouth and asked her.
It was a question that interrupted Yuran's sinister thoughts of 'Since killing is too much, let's put a long-term hypnosis to make her a useless person and then shove her in a corner of the dungeon...'
"Lady Serica has invited my lord to the mansion. More precisely, the head of the family, Marquis Baritra."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"It seems the reason is to discuss marriage."
"Ah."
Elena, who was puzzled at first, nodded as if she understood now.
She too knew well how specially the dungeon's core personnel thought of Libertas.
"This is serious."
As such, she too took the situation somewhat seriously.
While Libertas and her dungeon prospering was certainly good for her too, if the atmosphere within the dungeon was completely ruined instead, it could be a disadvantage for the time being.
'Support that should be there gets cut off, or the master gets distracted by affairs of other nobles or outsiders and is slow to respond to the surface...'
Honestly, these things are hard to imagine, but still, can't say they're impossible, right?
Nevertheless, curiosity couldn't be killed.
"Does that marquis family have a son? How handsome and excellent must he be to be pushed towards our master?"
Elena had folded her affection for her master the moment she herself became a woman, but it was inevitable that interest arose in someone who could be a match for that master who was such a beautiful person.
Therefore, she couldn't help but be surprised at this answer.
"No. It's probably a marriage talk with Lady Serica."
"...What?"
"Same-sex marriages are common among demos. The laws regarding marriage only consider the most basic things and class differences, leaving it entirely to individual feelings... Ah, you were human."
Yuran glanced at Elena, who was making a dumbfounded expression, as if saying 'What's so strange about that?'
Then suddenly she opened her eyes wide and nodded.
She was confused for a moment.
In her memory, Elena was a demon 'from the beginning'.
'She said she was originally human.'
Elena, or rather Elias Ironfield, was destined to become a female-type demon in the original timeline too.
And just like the 'fake story' created in her current life, by being cursed and turned into a woman.
Although she was a succubus rather than a banshee like now, a demon was a demon.
Not only the fact that she became a woman like now, but also that she became a demon - rumors about all of this spread, causing her to be driven out of her family, and Elena and Libertas's first meeting was when she took in the outcast.
'That's right...'
Realizing this anew, something naturally came to mind.
'My lord has already changed.'
The current Libertas was different from the Libertas of the past.
She was no longer that cruel yet beautiful being who had no hesitation in revealing all the cruelty inside as a result of leaving the pain and distortion she originally harbored as they were.
She was someone who had built a tower of self-esteem on top of that pain, with love for someone and love for herself.
She was closer to her later self than her initial self.
'Then... we need to change too.'
This didn't mean anything else.
'One of us should take the position of legal wife, but if it's the position of concubine, well...'
If Libertas knew now what she was thinking, she would have patted her head many times saying how admirable it was.
The Yuran she had grasped was the incarnation of possessiveness, and was a demon that only included a small number of allies in the range of that possession.
Of course, whether this was really good for Libertas was still unknown.
'Somehow, first...!'
This thought also became the reason for Yuran to reaffirm this resolution.
'Marriage between women...'
Meanwhile, Elena was deeply immersed in that topic thrown by Yuran.
There were some cases of same-sex marriage among human nobles too.
But there were a few conditions for that.
One was that one side must be at the pinnacle of power, and the other was that the other side must have achieved merits commensurate with that power.
It meant they had to be the king and his very special partner.
'They have to become the king's special companion... Then...'
Elena nodded inwardly.
Isn't the master of a dungeon no different from a king? Anyone would suit being by Libertas's side.
Whether she's the leading side or the accepting side.
'Then... do I still have a chance?'
For a moment, Elena felt a spark reignite in the heart she had put aside.
But that feeling was extinguished again the moment she saw Yuran beside her.
Not just Yuran, but the images of Evangeline and others also came to mind one after another.
'It's impossible to surpass them...'
Elena nodded unconsciously.
But her thoughts didn't stop there, and before she knew it, another imagination naturally arose.
The image of her sister, Adelaide, in a pure white dress beside herself in a suit.
'Wait, why am I thinking this?'
She quickly shook her head trying to erase that thought, but once the imagination had bloomed, it wouldn't disappear according to her will.
Rather, the more she tried to forget, the more it left only a strange heat in one corner of her heart.
'I must... my lord...!'
'My sister... me?'
As the two women's complicated thoughts intertwined messily, the night on the battlefield only deepened.
…
"Seems someone is talking about me."
"With high probability, it would be Xue or Yuran."
"I wonder...? It could be Sonia too."
"There are so many suspects, it's hard to guess."
This was the conversation between Libertas and Evangeline just as they arrived in Guiles County and were passing through the city.