Hans watched the fog slowly creeping out of the cave with suspicion.
The sun was beginning to set but the air was quite dry, so there was no reason for the surrounding to produce such a scene, on top of that, only the cave showed such changes.
'It's quite dense as well, what could possibly cause...'
Hans assumed something strange was occurring deeper in the cave.
'Should I just go check on the young miss?'
Before he could make a decision, the two star devil also noticed the fog. The edges of the fog that hovered just above the ground had already seeped past the caravan's ankles.
His brow furrowed.
"What the fuck is happening in that cave?" The devil muttered.
He shook his head, no matter. His God's mark had activated in this vicinity, so a devil had been born here. His only job was to find and capture it.
He was a slaver. He had been the closest in the area due to hunting demons to sell, he stumbled upon a small village of charm demons and ransacked it.
He captured the best ones and slaughtered the rest. His profits would be good this time around.
'Three charm demons and a devil! What a haul!!'
He grinned. Charm demons were almost as valuable as devils. The reason? Continuously violating and abusing charm demons will corrupt their innate charm laws, making them no different from succubi.
The two star devil knew the humans loved succubi. But the ones found in the wild were no different from magical beasts. They were dumb and couldn't even talk!
But them..
He glanced at the cages behind him. They would be his beginning to a meteoric rise! In a good mood he commanded.
"Let's go, the devil is somewhere inside there." With that, he and his band moved further toward the cave entrance.
Hans, witnessing this, made his decision.
'I'll slay the rest and capture the devil if possible. The young miss will most likely be fine until…'
But before he could move, his ears picked up the sound of tiny steps and jingling anklets coming from the mouth of the cave.
The slavers, being closer, also noticed the sound of someone approaching.They raised their guards, unsure of who could be here at such an abandoned place.
From the dense fog a small figure emerged.
"Hm?"
Her short pink hair shown in the setting sun, her small black horns slightly curved to the sky. Her big, flower shaped irises looked at the group in front of her curiously.
Her plump, cherry lips arched into an innocent smile.
She stopped and stood there. The black, elegant robe that wrapped around her petite body, slightly blew from the evening wind.
Her soft delicate hands rested at her sides, her palms facing the ground and her fingers pointing outward, made her appear especially doll-like.
She was Hannya. The Heart devil.
The slavers couldn't help but gawk. All the demons had one phrase flash across their minds.
'J-Jade beauty!'
Only the two star devil had a different thought.
'I'm gonna be rich!'
Hans, hidden to the side, was shaken. Even amongst devils, this little devil's appearance was elite. But unlike the demons staring at the little one, all of his senses were still working at maximum capacity. Specifically his sense of smell.
And his sense of smell told another story behind the little devil's innocent smile.
Even a hint of this scent would not sneak past this old demon.
The scent of blood.
Hans' eyes regained his sharpness. Then, he chuckled to himself.
'When was the last time I fell for someone's charm spell?'
A small smile could be seen on the old butler's face.
'I'll watch a bit longer, if the young miss faces any troubles, I'll intervene.'
Hannya tilted her head, observing the group a bit longer. They were dazed. Her smile widened.
"Hello." she spoke. "Who might you be?" she asked 'innocently'. Though she had guessed who they were already.
With the cages trailing behind them and the Quantifier's vision showing the leaders greed lineage, Hannya surmised that they were the slavers in the greed faction that capture as sold demons, and young devils to humans to be used as cauldrons and ingredients.
In the novel, this was the origin story of '6th Envy'.
'Hm, maybe I should save him now?...nah.'
Why free the goose before he starts laying golden eggs?
Hannya laughed in her heart, she would help in his tragedy, but only when it benefited her. A consideration the old her might have felt guilty about…. Maybe.
But for Hannya? She thought it was a little funny. That emo demon brooding as a miner for years.
'Oh yeah, he has a Ironwoman scene in the story when he frees himself. One of the only cool things he does.'
She internally shook her head, that hero's perspective was catered more to the tragedy loving readers, something she really disliked. He gets taken advantage of constantly.
Hannya snapped out of her thoughts as she heard an embarrassed cough.
"Cough…erm yeah." The Two star devil began. "We are followers of the Devil God Greed, little sister, are you familiar with his radiants?" The devil asked, his tone soft.
???
The demons behind him stared at their boss incredulously.
Isn't the head slavers tone a little too accommodating here?
The Two star devil also caught this and gritted his teeth. What was he doing? He just needs to nab her and sell her off! But for some reason, he just didn't have his heart in it today!
"Devil god? Is there such a thing?" Little Hannya questioned, her smiling face transformed to one of 'awe'.
"Y-yes, if you'd like, we could take you to the temple in our territory, we have a cart here, haha."
Seeing this, the two star devil averted his gaze, he felt guilty trying to fool the young devil into his slave cage this way. It felt dirty to him.
'Maybe there is another way, if she could join the factio-'
But upon taking away his gaze to look at the cage behind him, the reluctance in his mind vanished.
He felt relieved. He would be rich soon, what was he thinking? Who cared about jade beauties!
Then he froze, and his hair stood on end.
Three instinctive thoughts flashed through the devil's mind almost simultaneously.
'Why were he and his subordinates looking at her like doting uncles?'
They weren't lustful or even malicious! Just caring and gentle. They were slavers for Greed sake!
'What is this thick smell of blood?'
Earlier no such smell tripped his senses, but now it was abundant. And it was everywhere.
'Where did the sky go?'
They had exchanged only a few words, yet how did all this fog surround them? He could only see his front 5 subordinates, the rest were mere silhouettes. Yet none moved. They just stared at the girl with amiable smiles.
"Aww, it seems your [Pioneer's Greed] keeps your mind wandering to benefits during my [Charming Smile]. Shame, you could have left this world peacefully. Hehe."
The eye's of the two star devil trembled slightly. He slowly turned back towards the little devil in front of him.
His pupils constricted. The girl was still smiling, yes. But it was no longer one of innocence and purity.
But one of undisguised malice.
'[Vicious strike]'
PUCHI
"Ugh!"
The two star devil fell to the ground as he felt a dull pain in his left leg, followed by searing agony.
He looked down at his leg, and his mind was flooded with horror.
His knee cap was missing, and a bit further away from his body was the rest of his leg, mangled above the shin.
"A-AAAARGH!" the devil let out a painful scream.
His mind was in chaos, he didn't see her move at all! No. She hadn't moved! His mind worked rapidly as he crawled frantically towards his subordinates. They needed to regroup!
'The-the fog!'
He roared desperately. "Snap out of it! It's a trap! There's something in the fog!"
He wasn't a fighter, he was a businessman! He had so many underlings for instances like these, yet they were nowhere to be seen!
The fog had become so dense he couldn't see a foot in front of himself. But regardless, he crawled hysterically away from that maniac!
As he crawled he noticed he didn't hear any of his subordinates answer him.
'Where are these idiots!'
"Hehe."
The devil heard a small giggle from behind him. Cold sweat poured down his back, his scalp became numb. Then, his mind was stricken with an idea!
'M-magic!'
He swiftly flipped over and pointed his palm to the direction of the laugh.
"Wind Magic: [Wind gale]!"
SHOOO
He let out over half of his mana in that attack. The wind from his palm burst forth, dispersing the fog in the surrounding area. Despite having no battle experience the attack was indeed devastating.
The fog Hannya had slowly produced and spread in the area was blown away in an instant.
However, what the devil saw next only filled him with despair.
His subordinates were all strewn across the ground, each one with a small fist sized hole in each of their heads.
Dead.
Across the field of bodies stood a petite devil, smiling at him. She waved.
"You're the last one." she grinned, then to his horror she dissolved into mist and vanished.
That was the last straw for the Devil businessman. "F-fuck this! [Wish magic:] get me to safety!"
At those words, the world seemed to answer. A sigil made of black chaos energy formed under the devil and slowly began to light up.
The world had granted a teleportation spell. one of the devil's two stars vanished, leaving only one. A costly retreat indeed.
But before the sigil could activate a figure appeared behind the devil. She looked similar to the little devil the two star devil was conversing with earlier, but this little devil looked much more…. feral.
Her hair was dirty, her clothes seemed to be made of freshly flayed beast skins and she held a long makeshift spear made out of bone.
"The real little devil finally reveals herself." Hans, who had witnessed everything from his hiding spot couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.
'Did they really believe such an innocent and pristine girl would easily waltz out of that cave?'
He was thoroughly entertained by the girl's cunning.
'Preemptively cast illusion magic, cloud the enemies mind with charm magic, obscure their vision with a fog spell, and finally pick them off with hit and run tactics.'
A perfect tactic for a one against many situation.
The old butler nodded in approval. The child has learned a lot in the past 6 days.
But then he noticed something peculiar. The skins she was wearing were not from any magical beasts he recognized. In fact, he had seen this pattern before, but his initial instincts didn't want to believe it.
'Dread spider skins…' His queens cave temple seemed to be infested with demonic beasts rather than the fodder of magical beasts that usually invade abandoned places like this.
The amount of respect he had for his young miss tripled immediately. How formidable!
"Hahaha! Trying to escape? Leave your life behind!"
Hannya laughed unscrupulously. She lifted her chin, head raised high, her small nose practically looking down on him as she pointed at the devil.
"[Wish magic:] Your bastard ass will stay right the fuck here!" she stated haughtily.
Hans nearly choked hearing the little devil speak like a seasoned sellsword.
'...It seems the young miss needs ladyship training...'
A strange gleam flashed past the old demon's eyes.
Then, a cracking sound could be heard, and then the sound of what seemed like shattering glass. The two wishes had failed. Since the two wishes conflicted with one another, and were cast in the same instance. Neither wish would be granted, and no stars would be lost.
Wish magic is useless in a fight between devils…Usually.
Leaving the bleeding devil to his fate, and Hannya, standing over him arrogantly looking down on him with her nose.
The two star devil just lay there. The battle had crushed his will, on top of the fact the feeling in his limbs were now growing numb, he was poisoned. And now that he couldn't escape he just waited for death.
He was sure of one thing. The devil before him was at least a 4 star devil. Her innate abilities were devastating, and her physical capabilities were already well past his.
He only had [wind gale], which would essentially push her away a few hundred feet with the mana he had left.
But then what? Crawl a couple more feet before she's upon him again?
"Any last words lil bro?" Hannya grinned.
A clean victory. Honestly, Hannya was slightly nervous about whether her tactics would work as well on demons compared to demonic beasts. But it seems her charm is, across the board, overwhelming.
Hannya, ironically, felt no discomfort killing the demons before, but felt a little reluctant to kill the devil before her. The feeling felt instinctual. As if a devil killing a devil was a sort of taboo. But she pushed that feeling down.
'Don't falter here, Hannya! The moon to my sun is awaiting my arrival!'
She lifted her bone spear.
"....just... just end it." The devil said with resignation.
Hannya shrugged.
"Okey dokey!"
But before she could strike down.
Clap Clap Clap Clap
The sound of a one man applause resounded.
"An excellent display young miss."
Startled, Hannya shifted her gaze to the place of the voice, and her eyes sharpened.
She hadn't sensed this demon's presence, and now her danger sense was roaring crazily. A boss maybe!?
Standing now 10 feet away, Hans stood before the two, his hands now clasped behind his back with an amiable smile on his face.
Hannya stared at the newcomer with caution. "And you are?" she spoke.
Hans appreciated his new young miss' caution and perception. With his trained eyes, he could see the little ones' muscles tensed for action. Not to attack at any moment, but to flee.
'It's clear she recognizes the difference in strength.'
Devil's, especially young ones, tend to look down on demons.Though, their arrogance is understood.
The species difference tends to make them overwhelmingly more powerful even with demons with experienced combat records.
The Battle earlier was proof of that.
But Hans was different, and she recognized that.
'Understanding one's strength so young is the marking of an excellent future.'
The old demon chuckled appreciatively, with one hand over his chest, he gave a formal bow.
"Greetings young miss, you may call me Hans, I am the head butler of the Sweet Oasis grand temple, and servant of 1st Gula, Queen of feasts. In other words, your sister's subordinate."
Hearing those words, the two star devil's eyes opened wide and he shivered involuntarily.
"W-what is the war demon doing here!" He couldn't help but shout.
The War Demon. An old demon who rampaged through Hellnia and the rest of Nell thousands of years ago, one of the few high demons capable of crushing higher species races easily.
In the past, he made a name for himself by slaying the 10th hero party along with a mid level angel despite the world restriction handicapping the battle.
It's said he chased the angel all the way to the gate of Upper skies, only for the angel to die pitifully a few steps away. This led to angels' political outrage towards the demon race.
But they were helpless to do anything about it. What could they do? Wiping the demon race off the map would lead to war. War with who? The savage devils of course!
So with bitter hearts, they could only swallow their anger and ban angels from participating in assisting Hero parties in hunting demon lords.
"Hans huh?" Hannya spoke, a gleam of recognition passing her eyes. "Nice to meet you Hans. My name is Hannya, Hannya 6th Luxuria." She revealed a devilish smile.