Why Did You Mess With Him? He’s the Evil God’s Lackey! Chapter 162

Chapter 162: Stop Staring at My Title for No Reason

The towering jet-black torrents kept flinging droplets down from the sky, gradually dyeing the entire earth black.

The gushing black liquid began flowing along the patterns of the Magic Formation, spreading outward from the edges of the Formation in all directions.

The Demi-humans felt the sky growing dark. They couldn't help but raise their heads, gazing up at it.

The enormous eye seed capable of seeing through all things.

Phantom star-points swirled and turned, drifting toward an infinite, ink-black void.

A drawn-out, heavy voice—carrying within it a faint, labored rasping—descended slowly from the depths of that dark pupil.

That mysterious voice was like a carving knife, ceaselessly working upon their minds.

"Ha—bi—ka—"

Jet-black tentacles thrashed wildly in the sky, drawing close to the earth along the reverse-flowing torrents.

Their identical color made it possible to identify them only by their faint, indistinct outlines.

The mysterious jet-black tentacles climbed up the bodies of the Demi-humans one by one—from their hands to their feet—binding them completely.

Not a single person could resist those mysterious constructs.

They were swallowed entirely by the darkness, unable to make out one another's faces.

They could only let the tentacles begin to burrow into their bodies.

Wrapped in that darkness, they felt their very selves being stripped away layer by layer, their souls left with nowhere to hide beneath that all-seeing eye.

Their limbs lost all strength, growing increasingly limp.

Sothing like a mysterious brand seed to be seared into their bodies, a scorching sensation rising from deep within their hearts.

The tentacles gradually withdrew from their bodies. Without willing it, their bodies dropped flat against the ground.

Their posture—it was as if they were prostrating before sothing in the sky.

The enormously jet-black vertical eye swept its gaze around in all directions, then contracted its pupil sharply.

No one could say how much ti had passed before that power surged like a tide from the blackness beneath their feet, seeping in through the soles and palms of their hands, slowly feeding back into their limbs.

They felt control gradually returning to their bodies and slowly raised their heads.

The vast, mysterious giant eye in the sky had vanished at so point, leaving no trace.

In its place, a bright full moon hung high in the heavens.

Its pure white light pierced through the dark clouds, spilling down over the dim earth below, falling upon their dazed faces.

They ca back to themselves completely, consciousness returning to reality.

They raised their heads, slowly looking forward.

Viktor stood before them.

The terrifying, twisted Crow still perched upon his shoulder.

As if nothing had happened at all.

But the scenes they had witnessed monts ago were deeply etched into their minds.

Even the re act of recalling it made their bodies shiver uncontrollably.

As if those jet-black tentacles were once again running all over their bodies.

"Now. Answer ."

That cool, detached voice—belonging solely to the man before them—rang out beside the ear of every Demi-human present.

They looked at the indifferent Viktor, and couldn't help but give a start.

A sense of reverence surged suddenly from the depths of their hearts, spreading through their entire bodies.

Several Cat-girls gently shifted their bodies.

Clank~

The sound of battle armor scraping against itself traveled through their bodies.

By instinct they raised their arms—and those red sword blades, seemingly warm to the touch, were held in their hands before they had even realized when they had taken them.

A staggering force slowly emanated from their forearms, bolstering them.

The Demi-humans fell silent.

They looked at their kin all around them—nearly all of them clad in the sa battle armor, holding the sa weapons.

At last, they turned their gaze to Viktor and made their response.

1 Cat-girl dropped to one knee before Viktor.

Then, the remaining Shadow Guards followed her in unison behind her, lowering their bodies.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Demi-humans dropped to one knee before Viktor in perfect unison, one hand placed over their chests, the other wrapped around behind their bodies.

This was a loyalty that belonged to them alone.

Viktor smiled with satisfaction.

Beneath the moonlight, his shadow stretched out very long, very far.

That mass of jet-black, mysterious shadow seed to curl up the corners of its mouth, appearing utterly enigmatic and sinister.

***

"How on earth did you do it?"

After the conversion ritual ended, Leah sought Viktor out with boundless confusion, asking the question that had been weighing on her mind.

Leah had not been among the targets of the conversion, so she had no idea what those Demi-humans had actually experienced.

At this mont, Viktor was standing at the very center of the Training Ground.

The area all around him was already empty of people.

The manor couldn't accommodate that many Demi-humans for the ti being, so Leon had no choice but to lead the newly pledged Demi-humans away to other lodgings for now.

Once the new compound was built, a place capable of housing a great many Demi-humans would be constructed.

When Leah first learned that Viktor wanted her to summon a group of Demi-humans, she could hardly believe it herself.

Viktor—was actually going to use a group of Demi-humans to form his own personal guard unit.

A Count was entitled to recruit Private Soldiers to reasonably protect his own Territory. For the average Count, they would cultivate Knights of their own. That was the origin of the Family Knights.

A Mage Corps like Duke Livi's was comparatively rare, since it required a large number of Mage-soldiers to assemble.

In truth, Leah had initially assud Viktor would recruit so Mages and form a Mage Corps of his own.

But Viktor had not done that.

Instead, he had chosen a group of Demi-humans who were notoriously difficult to ta.

Although Demi-humans were a great deal like humans, they were wild by nature.

That, too, was a major reason why humans could not treat them the way they treated ordinary people.

Even after training, most of their wild instincts would not be suppressed.

Retaining these instincts actually made group action more convenient for social Demi-humans.

This resulted in Demi-humans having poor discipline and being exceptionally difficult to manage.

For the most part, they would only obey Leah's orders.

After all, Demi-humans understood gratitude better than humans did.

Leah had originally assud it would take Viktor quite a while to fully ta these Demi-humans.

But she had never expected...

In a single night, every last one of them had pledged their loyalty to Viktor.

Leah was deeply curious as to exactly what Viktor had done.

Viktor, however, offered only a casual explanation:

"Personal charisma."

"???"

Leah shot Viktor a disdainful glance and said sharply:

"You think you have the right to use that word?"

In Leah's eyes, the labels that could be applied to Viktor amounted to, at most, 2 things that earned him any points: being handso, and being skilled and powerful in magic.

As for the change in her attitude toward him that ca later—that was because Viktor had gradually started behaving more like a proper person.

Though, looking at him now, he was admittedly quite remarkable.

Alright, she'd admit it. The Viktor of today was pretty good.

At the very least, she didn't dislike him.

But Demi-humans were not creatures who would willingly submit themselves based on sothing like that alone.

Viktor glanced at her and spoke again:

"Beasts have a drive to fight one another."

"If their strength is equal, or the gap is only small, they'll battle each other."

"But if there is a clear, overwhelming difference in power."

"Like this."

As the words fell, Viktor extended one hand.

Around his wrist, a red glow gradually began to rise from his palm.

2 flas burst forth in an instant.

Crimson tongues of fire leapt and danced ceaselessly in the air.

One of them fluttered for a mont, then transford into a vicious hound, its entire body flickering with orange-yellow fla.

The hound kept furiously barking at the other fla.

But then, the other raw fla began spreading outward in all directions, as if channeling through ridians.

Crimson patterns gradually took shape, forming the outline of an extraordinarily powerful tiger.

That fearso tiger simply stood where it was, head raised high, gazing down upon the hound before it with imperious disdain, not even deigning to exhale a breath.

The fla-wreathed hound tucked its tail between its legs, lowered its head, and lay flat on the ground, not daring to move a muscle.

Leah watched the states of the tiger and the hound, and understood, saying:

"So you compared yourself to the tiger."

"No."

Viktor said flatly.

"It's more than that."

All at once, Magic Power was poured into the hound that had been there before, and its flas grew several degrees more ferocious.

The hound's form gradually grew larger—until it reached a height that even 2 tigers stacked atop one another could not match.

The flas burned with fury.

Everything around them seed to be completely illuminated, and the temperature began to surge sharply.

Leah felt the scorching heat on all sides, until even breathing beca slightly difficult.

She narrowed her eyes and saw 2 ferocious heads growing from the shoulders of the fla hound.

The abyssal maws dripped with flickering fire, which fell in a constant stream, charring the earth beneath them until it cracked.

Flas surged ceaselessly from within, as if voicing an inexhaustible, boundless rage.

The skyward blaze lit up the dark night in a brilliant blaze of light, until even the moon itself grew dim.

The tiger beside it, upon seeing the hound transform into this form, lowered its head in fear, its tail no longer swaying.

Yet perhaps out of the dignity of a king of the forest, it still let out 2 low growls at the three-headed hound.

The three-headed hound—its entire body ablaze—rely glanced at it.

In an instant, it transford into a boundless, torrential inferno and swallowed the tiger whole.

And in doing so, it grew itself even larger.

The flas surged, burning fiercer.

The three-headed hound threw open all 3 of its enormous jaws, tilted them toward the sky, and let out a wild howl.

"Awoooo—!!"

The shrieking cry, accompanied by searing heat, resounded throughout the entire manor.

Leah stared at the fla three-headed hound in a daze.

"This...what kind of creature is this?"

"The guardian hound of Hell—Cerberus."

Viktor gave a casual flick of his wrist. The flas gradually scattered.

Only red-black embers remained, drifting slowly apart in the air.

He turned his body and gave Leah a light pat on the shoulder.

"If the chance cos, I'll get you a real one."

"?"

Leah stood there blankly, staring in a daze at Viktor's retreating figure.

Slowly walking away toward the manor.

***

The sky had only just begun to lighten when the Delin manor humd to life like a machine set in motion.

Gwen stood in the Training Ground, longsword in hand, preparing for her training.

But she had been feeling a persistent lack of energy throughout.

As if her mind were elsewhere.

Ever since she returned from the Northern Frontier and was received in an audience by Emperor Aubrey.

She had been in this inexplicably unsettled state ever since.

Even the grip on the longsword in her hand had beco sowhat unsteady.

It was likely because lately, she had been feeling that her own strength had reached a bottleneck.

Moves she had practiced and drilled countless tis were now riddled with mistakes.

"...Viktor."

She tightened her grip on the longsword, gazing at the open ground ahead.

This morning, Viktor still hadn't co.

Viktor hadn't co to spar with her in a very long ti.

She could understand that—the Clavena household hadn't exactly been peaceful lately, after all.

She closed her eyes, straining to recall the feeling of sparring with Viktor.

It was only at those tis that she could feel every muscle in her body fully engaged and working together.

While Gwen continued her sword-swinging drills, a Maidservant ca hurrying to her side.

Head bowed, she addressed Gwen with utmost deference:

"My Lady."

Ever since she had inherited her father's title, the Servants around her had changed the way they addressed her.

Though she had emphasized that they need only call her as they always had.

These Servants felt, however, that only the address of My Lady could properly convey her standing.

Could remind her at all tis.

She was no longer that ordinary Knight.

She was now Gwen Delin—Countess.

A Knight Countess who held dominion over a vast expanse of territory in the north.

She stopped her sword swing, wiped off her sweat, and turned to look at the Maidservant.

The Maidservant, still bowing her head respectfully, held out a letter with both hands.

Gwen was a little puzzled. The Maidservant spoke:

"This is an invitation letter delivered from the Clavena household."

"Count Viktor wishes to dine with you this evening."