Chapter 1485: New Minions
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"Y-You…! I won't simply obey what you say- Come here right now, you lot! …EH?! OH NOOOO!!!"
While grabbing his head in horror of what had happened to him, roughly forty Lesser Nightmare Demons walked to their general, looking at me with confused expressions.
"Stand right there, you cuties."
With a wink, I waved my hands, my Aura quickly connecting to their souls.
"{Spirit Contract}"
FLAAASH!
The powerful darkness overcame all the Nightmare Demons in front of me, as they screamed in agony, their forms and shapes were mostly either made of volcanic stone, flames, lava, or all of those combined.
They were truly "volcanic" and "fire-type" in here, and it fascinated me to see how Nightmare Demons adapted to these Layers on their own ways.
"W-What's going?!"
"Aaarrggghh!"
"M-My soul!"
"Lord Magnus, help us!"
"Gryyaaaaggghh!"
As they screamed in agony, Magnus glared at me while gritting his teeth, swinging his hammer against me constantly, trying to stop me.
"LET ME GO, YOU MONSTER! STOP THAT! STOP IT! DON'T YOU DARE ENSLAVE MY PEOPLE!!!"
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
However, he ended hitting the empty air, unable to harm me in any way or capacity, I sighed, shrugging.
"I am not enslaving them, I am simply going to make them pay for the shit they've done," I said. "First of all, you came here trying to kill us, so don't act like you're innocent good natured and kind people. Second, you intended to eat us and also eat people on the surface, so you're also not saints. And third, if I make a contract with you, you'll be able to feed from my Mana, so you won't feel the necessity to eat human dream hearts anymore."
As I explained these things to him, I held his blazing hammer and crushed it with my bare hands, making it disappear instantly.
BOOOM!
As the flames dissipated, I glanced at the demons, who looked even more revitalized than before. Looks like they were pretty weak even before they fought me.
"Uggh… Why… My body is stronger?"
"I don't feel hungry anymore…"
"What's happening?"
"Aaggh… My head…"
"Lord Magnus, was this your plan all along? Is this woman… she's definitely not human! Is she a nightmare too?"
"What's going on, Lord Magnus?!"
The Lesser Fire Nightmare Demons constantly asked questions to Magnus, who was sweating small fireballs off his blazing body, unable to answer without sounding like he had surrendered to me.
"Yes, he has decided to betray the Nightmare Demon King for keeping you starving for so long and has allied with me," I explained. "As long as you have a contract with me, I can provide you with food easily, now you aren't hungry and feel even more revitalized, right?"
"T-That's…!"
"What?!"
"Betray our King?!"
"But…!"
"Well, it's not like we've ever talked with that bastard! I was born and raised in these volcanic lands, always fantasizing about eating humans…"
"It's true that he has kept us starving! They get all the humans, and we get nothing!"
"T-That's… that's right! H-Hahahaha! She's… correct! We've allied her, we're going to… to… over… overtake the Demon King… Uhh…"
It was as if he knew that what he was saying was completely wrong, but he had already gone too far and could no longer step back or run away either.
"Well! It is either this, or you all die," I said. "Isn't it better if you keep your lives, get stronger, healthier, never have hunger again, and so on, instead of dying for someone you've never met?"
The Nightmare Demons looked at one another, although they were a bit confused, they knew I was telling the truth.
Nightmare Demons are the highest evolved form of a Nightmare, they have intelligence like humans and also emotions and personalities.
Although more often than not, their personalities and emotions are twisted due to their origins, they aren't dumb… I think.
"Yes…!"
"W-We greet our new master…!"
"We will work hard!"
"As long as we don't feel weak or hungry, we'll do anything!"
"Y-You guys are so quick to betray our King…! …I mean, well done!"
Magnus seemed slightly disappointed with what remained of his army, but right now, they had no other option either way.
"Hmm! Good, good!"
I felt pleased, as I waved a fan I was carrying for the heat.
Honestly, I never imagined I could contract this many, but it makes sense.
Unlike a normal person with a normal soul, my soul is gigantic, monstrous, and spectral.
So the amount of spirit contracts I can make are just… thousands of times what a normal spirit magician can, like Emeraldine.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have successfully created a Spirit Familiar Contract with [Lesser Volcanic Nightmare Demons (Affection: 0/100)] x42!]
[Due to your side being much stronger, you've forced the contract, and now all forty-two Lesser Volcanic Nightmare Demons belongs to you as your Familiars.]
[You've shared your Mana with all forty-two Lesser Volcanic Nightmare Demons, healing their injuries in the process and recovering their lost strength.]
[All forty-two Lesser Volcanic Nightmare Demons can be named! Do you wish to give them names? This could potentially strengthen them even further or produce evolutions.]
So Magnus can't be named, he already had a name, but these guys don't?
Huh, well, 42 names is way too much, no thanks.
Let's go for another approach.
"Put all these Nightmare Demons in the same position as a single Spirit. And I'll name them all as "Legion"!"
Ding!
[Success! You have named the group of 42 Lesser Volcanic Nightmare Demons into a single [Spirit Contract], creating the [Volcanic Nightmare Demon Army: Legion (Affection: 70/100)]!]
[Through the power of their new combined contract, Legion cannot easily die, if a Nightmare Demon perishes, they can revive after some time as long as you provide Mana and Nightmare Power.]
[You have gained the Title Skill: [Nightmare Demon Master: Lv1]!]
[You learned the Skill: [Nightmare Demon Spirit Manipulation: Lv1]!]
[Your Nightmare Power has increased by +5.000.000!]
FLUOSH!
In that moment, blazing threads connected all of this army's souls, making them a whole entity, although to them, it didn't feel that different from before.
"Alright, we're done here, let's quickly move forward, we have to get to the Swamps before the end of the day! Magnus, lead us with your army."
As I said that, I quickly raised the rest of the Volcanic Nightmare Beasts as Undead.
"W-What? You want me to lead you to…?! …Yes, master- ACK! Why did I say that?! Wait, why am I walking and guiding her?! OH NOOOO!!!"
While complaining, he did as I asked him, what a nice guy.
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