Your lives are truly extraordinary…
A cold wind swept through.
Qiweiya stood by the edge of the sinkhole, while the demon army could only watch from the sidelines, their eyes wide with helpless urgency.
Qiweiya spoke languidly. “How long do you intend to play dead, O Emperor of Demons?”
A ‘thump’ echoed.
From the very center of the sinkhole, an arm clad in a shattered armguard burst forth from the ground. Then, a demon, covered in dust and grime and riddled with scars, clambered out.
“Goddess, you truly show no mercy. You nearly beat me to death~”
Qiweiya stared with dead-fish eyes. “If the Demon Royalty, renowned throughout the world for their unparalleled physical fortitude and self-healing abilities, could still perish from such an attack, then the races of this continent wouldn’t be so tormented as to pray to me daily…”
The Demon Emperor’s face darkened. “Pray to you daily? These cowardly tortoises just look for help like that!”
Qiweiya cast a glance at him, then proceeded towards the Demon Imperial City. “You needn’t worry. We Origin Gods will not unduly interfere with the affairs of the lower realms!”
“As long as you don’t blow up the continent or turn the six major races completely upside down, we won’t bother with you.”
The Demon Emperor rolled his eyes. ‘The demon race is currently dispatching vast armies to invade the borders of various races across the continent. And this *doesn’t* count as turning things upside down?’
‘Just how broad-minded are these Origin Gods?’
“So what are you doing now? That direction appears to be our Demon Imperial City, doesn’t it?”
Qiweiya turned, her gaze fixed intently upon him. The Demon Emperor felt a prickle of unease under her stare. “Why are you looking at me like that? I truly don’t taste good.”
Qiweiya nodded with a serious expression. “I’m checking if you demons have any common sense. After a fight, isn’t it customary to go to your opponent’s home for a meal?”
The Demon Emperor’s emotions were in turmoil. ‘God-damned mooching after a fight! God-damned common sense!’
‘Which idiot taught you your common sense? I must smash open their head and let the lunatics at the research institute examine what substance it’s made of!’
Seeing Qiweiya continue onward, the Demon Emperor did not stop her. Instead, with an utterly bewildered expression, he led his tattered remnants of an army and followed.
Upon arriving beneath the Demon Imperial City, Qiweiya’s face was filled with lament. “This architectural style is truly deranged, an affront to culture! It’s utterly indecent! What a sin, what a sin!”
As she spoke, she walked over to the Demon Emperor and patted his waist. She wore an expression of profound sorrow. “Oh, my children, I have failed you! The legacy I bestowed upon you was so magnificent, yet you’ve stunted its growth…”
“It is my fault for not teaching you well~ Alas.”
The Demon Emperor wore a pained expression, as if suffering from a toothache. “I don’t understand what exactly about our civilization’s architecture displeases your eye?”
“Personally, I find it quite normal…”
Qiweiya’s face registered surprise. “Ha! You still haven’t noticed?”
The Demon Emperor looked at the architecture, still utterly bewildered, clearly clueless as to what peculiar whim had seized this goddess.
Qiweiya nodded, her expression earnest. “Is it truly that I’m too… *improper*?”
“This building with its two suggestive shapes at the bottom and a single towering column in the center – am I the only one who finds it amiss? And that flat, gelatinous structure that looks rather… *crude*…”
“Never mind, I should get to the main point!”
Qiweiya pulled out a megaphone and cleared her throat twice. “Ahem, ahem! Listen up, everyone inside!”
“Your Master has already been thoroughly ‘trained’ by this great goddess! If you want them back, quickly bring out your princesses, imperial consorts, or whatever else you have for exchange!”
“This is your last chance! Don’t wait too long!”
The Demon Emperor instantly snatched the megaphone from Qiweiya. “I now feel that being defeated by you is truly the greatest blunder of my demonic life…”
Qiweiya tilted her head and scratched it. “Oh, come on, don’t say that. Give me a little face~ After all, it was my legacy that allowed you to save so many years in your development.”
The Demon Emperor spoke with profound regret. “I pity our ancestors for receiving their legacy from a god like you, and I find it lamentable that this world is stuck with such an unreliable Supreme God as yourself~”
Qiweiya stomped her foot in anger. “Hey! What do you mean by that? If you’re so great, then you create a legacy! It’s easy for you to say; now show me six different styles of legacies right now!”
“You uncultured idiot who pretends to understand what they don’t!”
The Demon Emperor remained expressionless. “While I don’t know what ‘baga’ means, my intuition tells me it’s not a pleasant word. Furthermore, I suspect you gave us the legacy to prepare for the divine edicts you’d issue later, didn’t you?”
Qiweiya, her face slightly flushed, turned her head away. “How could that be~ How could a god as upright as I have such impure motives? Really, what nonsense are you spouting!”
The Demon Emperor looked at her face, then nodded gravely. “I’ve decided. Once I return to the city, I’ll cancel that ‘sporting event’ you decreed.”
Qiweiya instantly grew anxious. “I’m telling you! If you do that, I’ll immediately unleash a judgment and wipe out your entire race~ Then you won’t even have the chance to regret it!”
Without a backward glance, the Demon Emperor led his army into the city. Qiweiya hastily followed.
“Hey! Do you have a daughter or anything?”
“What if I do, what if I don’t? Is it important?”
“Why are you speaking so vaguely! Just say yes or no, don’t waste words!”
The Demon Emperor turned, staring at her for a long moment. “I have one.”
Then he turned back and continued walking.
****
An hour later, at the banquet…
Qiweiya watched with revulsion as she gazed at the table. There were wriggling tentacles, the still-twitching brain of an unknown demonic beast, and strange, slug-like creatures swimming in the hot soup…
With a pang of stomachache, Qiweiya asked the Demon Emperor seated on the throne – no, he should now be called Kazhan IV. “Kazhan, is this truly what you demons eat?”
Kazhan nodded, then asked curiously. “Why aren’t you eating? These are all made from precious demonic creatures of the Demon Realm; they’re delicious, tender, and juicy!”
“Only high-ranking demon nobles get to taste such delicacies.”
Qiweiya watched, her face deathly pale, as a handsome demon fished out one of the strange worms from the soup. He placed it in his mouth, bit it open with a ‘squelch,’ and a foul, yellowish pus splattered out.
At that moment, she felt an overwhelming urge to vomit everything she had ever eaten in both her lives…
Qiweiya hastily declared with a serious expression. “I’ve just remembered that today is a day of fasting for me, so I cannot eat! Please, continue your meal; I’ll refrain!”
Kazhan paid her no mind, continuing to eat by himself. The entire banquet proceeded amidst the various strange sounds of the peculiar food.
“Princess Ailei of the Demon Clan has arrived!”
Qiweiya instantly choked. ‘God-damned Akizuki Ailei!’ she thought, a name that struck her with bizarre familiarity. ‘Which depraved father’s world had she stumbled into?’
Her gaze towards Kazhan became distinctly unsettling.
A silver-haired, purple-eyed maiden, exquisitely beautiful and possessing a charming allure, entered. She cast a curious glance at Qiweiya, then bowed before Kazhan. “Your daughter Ailei greets her father, the King.”
Kazhan smiled with satisfaction. “Go sit beside the Goddess. She is quite bored; keep her company and chat with her.”
Ailei obediently replied, “Yes, Father.”