Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Eyes wide because of his aggressive response, Luna bit her lips as she watched him take wrathful steps that echoed ominously under the fiery vortex's glow.

No matter how she thought about their desperate situation, the only option was to flee and restart somewhere hidden from the god's and demon king's eyes.

Yet, that lord chose to fight despite their unavoidable defeat. Why? Was it defiance? Was he reluctant to abandon the citizens hiding in his demon lord's hut?

She gritted her teeth, unable to come up with a rational answer for an irrational choice.

"We're not ready to face a demon of the third tier! I won't follow you into this madness and die without accomplishing my revenge!"

What did he think? She was determined, too.

She turned, leaving the demon's formation and walked through the forest bushes without gazing back.

"Without your strongest fighter, you have no choice but to flee."

She nodded at her quick but effective plan, believing he would rush back.

However, her determined steps grew hesitant after ten seconds, but no sound echoed from behind.

Still, she persisted despite her hastening heart, reaching the territory and heading to the warehouse to scavenge as many resources as possible to make their relocation easier.

"Tsk! He should grovel on my feet for all the help and advice I'm giving him."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes and convinced he would soon appear with Bart, Garduck, Ondine, the six rascals and the others.

Yet, once she turned, she saw nothing but the empty logs they used to sit on to eat and absorb demonic energy.

Her jaws bulged, and her fists tightened as she realised he wouldn't come back. The others wouldn't either. They were too loyal and would rather die with him than return to their demonic habits.
Find your adventure at m-vl-em,py-r

"Why did you have to compete in the tenth wave? Everything was going so well for us! You just had to keep your promise, and I would have joined you. So, why?"

She held her forehead, roaring her anger, feelings of loss and grief as she tried to understand his choice and... her contradictory feelings.

"What an irony."

Lips quivering, she snickered at herself as tears of regret pooled in her green eyes.

"I became attached to him? Me?"

She placed her hand over her heart, feeling it ready to burst out of her chest in protest because...

"I don't want to continue suspecting everybody. I don't want to be alone anymore!"

The roar her heart desperately tried to convey for the past week finally escaped from her lips, liberating her from a burden that had crushed her since that horrible day. And with her newfound understanding of her genuine desires, a steely glint flashed in her eyes.

"For better or for worse, we'll fight together. We'll fight as one!"

HAHAHAHA

However, another roar drowned her valiant declaration, overwhelming it with pure and unadulterated rage.

"No! He's already descending!"

Her body shuddered as she gazed at the vortex, almost fainting when she glimpsed at the figure standing at its edges.

"He's an elite Greater demon!"

Unlike the towering demonic beast she had expected, the demon kings shattered all the rules. The human-sized nightmare peering down in eagerness sent an icy shiver down her spine.

"A greater demon, one at the sergeant level in their demonic legions!"

Urgency and terror fueling her movements, she rushed to her hut, gripped her armor set, and put it on as she charged through the forest.

Her chest tightened, and sweat dripped from her forehead as sounds of battle and desperate cries grew louder in her ears with each passing second.

"Please don't die before I return!"

Adam's short yet somewhat cute figure and the territory demons' eager and smiling faces as they worked, cooked, and fought under their lord's commands flashed before her eyes.

A wave of distress crashed over her, and her lips quivered.

"Even if we didn't speak much, I-I enjoyed everyone's dedication and manners. So, please, hold on until I reach you!"

Like a black chitinous arrow, she pierced through the forest, digging holes into the ground with each step.

The smell of charred wood filled her nostrils, and a devastated area barren of any living organism registered in her enlarging eyes.

Her hands uncontrollably moved to cover her mouth, and her legs grew weak. Unable to support her own weight, she collapsed and cried.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

She covered her eyes not to see it: the vision of all the individuals she had finally accepted as friends littering the ground.

Their shattered, scorched, and eviscerated bodies were just too painful to watch and broke her heart.

"Humph. It's indeed your fault, you traitor! We considered you our big sister. We trusted you! Yet, you fled the moment we needed you the most! Don't make us laugh with your lessons about trust when you're the less trustworthy person in the territory!"

Sarah, Victoria, and Morwen stepped from behind a tree. Their features distorted into wrathful grimaces, they pointed accusing fingers at her before Sarah continued.

"We don't have time to waste with this deserter. Ignore her and execute the lord's commands before it's too late!"

Morwen's shout pierced the area as the three succubi moved to the almost-dead yet barely still-breathing demons.

Before her regretful eyes, they retrieved ten vials from their armors before forcing the wounded to gulp their red content.

Sizzling sounds echoed throughout the forest, and white smoke rose from the demon's wounds. Their open skin squirmed to mend itself, and the charred parts recovered just enough to keep them out of the critical zone under the minor health potion effects.

"SHIT! That bastard got us so easily."

She sighed in relief as Ifrit roared when he recovered enough to sit, realising Adam had prepared for the worst-case situation.

"Instead of asking them to survive, he thought of a method to do so! But where is he?"

"Tsk! Why do you care? Just leave, Luna. You embody everything we rejected. You're self-centered, entitled, and selfish."

Bart's voice thundered in her ears as she saw the proud and muscular oni holding his empty right shoulder in dread.

Her fingers trembled next as someone else roared his frustration into her face, making her understand how much damage she had left in their hearts.

"You kept criticising our lord. But look at you! Even when we fell, he defended us to ensure a sliver of life remained in our bodies. BUT YOU FUCKING RAN AWAY! COUGH!"

"Shut up and recover!"

Victoria slapped Garduck's head and forced him to lie down before his condition worsened.

But even without stating it, they all shared the same emotion. They wouldn't accept Luna's desertion, and because of it, Adam was...