Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe

Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe

EP.71 Conditions for Peace

“…Ugh!”

“You’re back.”

Hero Rain emerged from Yad-Thaddag’s space.
He collapsed immediately due to the intense headache and dizziness he felt just moments ago upon seeing Yad-Thaddag’s true form.

“Huh?”

But he suddenly realized that the overwhelming headache and dizziness that had been pressing down on him were gone.

“Th-This place… I see. I’m back.”

The flow of air, the movement of Demon Lord Tureglo’s hand and muscles as he held out the crystal orb.
Even the flow of magical power emanating from him.
It was exactly the same as just before being swallowed by the darkness that burst forth from the crystal orb.

‘So it was true that time doesn’t pass.’

No time had passed at all.
He had returned to that exact moment.
If someone had been watching from the side, it would have looked like he suddenly grabbed his head and collapsed right as the Demon Lord held out the crystal orb.

“How was it?”

However, the Demon Lord looked down at Rain and asked, as if knowing he had already seen and heard everything.
He was probably asking about meeting the outside entity, the being called Yad-Thaddag.

“It’s absurd. But… I had no choice but to believe it.”

An unbelievable being that exuded an overwhelming presence just by appearing.
Even the holy sword that shines and creates a barrier when it senses its master’s crisis couldn’t defend against it.
In other words, it far surpassed the level of danger that the holy sword could protect against.
Just revealing its true form was enough to cause that much impact.

‘Was I able to endure that much thanks to the holy sword’s protection?’

Rain thought as he fiddled with the hilt of the holy sword.

“That’s good. It seems you had a good conversation. But judging by your appearance… I guess you asked to see its true form and power, like I did.”

“……”

Rain frowned and stood up, his pride slightly hurt by the fact that he had the same thoughts and actions as the Demon Lord.

“Hmph, I just wanted to know my limits.”

“Hahaha, I felt the same way. I wanted to test how far I could reach. You and I might be more compatible than we thought.”

As he said this with a grin, Rain felt goosebumps all over his body.

“Ugh, don’t say things like that, you bastard. We can always continue what we were doing before.”

Rain grabbed the hilt of his holy sword.

Seeing this, the Demon Lord tilted his head in confusion.

“Hm? Bastard? Ah.”

Then, as if realizing something, he nodded and said,

“I suppose you could misunderstand with this appearance. I guess I made it look too dignified… I’m sorry for causing the misunderstanding.”

Swoosh─

As he said this, Demon Lord Tureglo dispelled the transformation magic cast on himself.

And then.

“Wh-What?”

There appeared an incredibly beautiful girl with two brown horns protruding from long, shiny black hair that was like black silk.
Round, dark eyes filled with melancholy as if hiding some story, a straight nose, and lips as red as cherries.
It felt like a masterpiece meticulously crafted by the god of beauty.

And below, enormous breasts several times larger than those of an average woman, a slender waist, and smooth, well-shaped arms and legs.
Even her clothes were quite revealing, like a swimsuit, which emphasized her voluptuous figure.
Her skin was so fair, it looked as if milk had been poured over it.

“I am a female demon, hero. Don’t misunderstand.”

The most beautiful woman Hero Rain had ever met.
The woman who was practically his ideal type that he’d only dreamed of, Demon Lord Tureglo, said with a slight smile.

“S-S…”

And upon seeing this, Hero Rain.

“Shit, no way!!”

“Oh?! Hero, where are you going?!”

With a bright red face, he spat out curses and ran towards the exit of the Demon Lord’s castle.

#

“You surprised me by suddenly running off. Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“…No, I’m fine.”

Rain shook his head and answered Tureglo’s question.

Earlier, he was so flustered that he tried to run out of the Demon Lord’s castle, but then he came to his senses and eventually returned to face the Demon Lord again.

He… no, she still had a lot to discuss with him.

“Let’s go for now. It’s not ideal to keep talking in such a gloomy place.”

“…Alright.”

With that, the two moved to the Demon Lord’s office.

The office was surprisingly ordinary.

Seeing the menacing appearance of the Demon Lord’s castle and throne, he had thought the Demon Lord’s office would be equally gloomy.

But it wasn’t like that at all.

“Don’t look at me like that. Surprisingly, my aesthetic sense is quite normal. The castle’s design and the throne were arbitrarily made by my subordinates who insisted they should look dignified.”

Tureglo said this with a slightly embarrassed expression.

Rain thought that look was quite cute.

‘Ugh?! What, what am I thinking? About the Demon Lord of all people….’

But as he hastily tried to shake off that thought, realizing his counterpart was the Demon Lord.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

‘But if we’re going to live in harmony from now on… is it okay to treat her like a normal woman?’

Of course, as the ruler of a race and the king of demons, she couldn’t be treated completely normally.

But isn’t it unnecessary to get hung up on labels like Demon Lord or demon race anymore?

From now on, they’re going to work towards peace in harmony, right?

‘Th-Then… normal dating or marriage might even be….’

While he was having such outrageous thoughts.

“Hey, hero.”

“Eek?! Y-Yes, what?!”

Hero Rain was startled by Demon Lord Tureglo’s call.

He looked quite silly.

“Hehe, I always thought heroes were tough and rough. But you have some unexpectedly cute sides too.”

Seeing this, Demon Lord Tureglo seemed quite pleased, slightly blushing as she smiled gently.

“…Uh, um.”

“……”

The hero froze at the sight.

An awkward atmosphere began to flow between the two.

It was a soft and sweet atmosphere that made it hard to believe they were trying to kill each other with swords just moments ago.

“Ahem! Let’s sit down. We should discuss how demons and humans can live in harmony from now on.”

“Y-Yes, let’s do that!”

Hastily breaking the strange atmosphere, the Demon Lord took her seat.

Rain sat on the sofa in the office.

“First of all, there’s no problem with the demon race. There might be some resistance, but basically, they’ll follow my words for the most part.”

Tureglo was the first to speak up.

As she said, the demon race isn’t really a problem.

They strictly follow the law of the jungle, and are loyal and devoted to the Demon Lord, the most powerful absolute ruler.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any resistance at all.

There will probably be some rebels who go against the Demon Lord’s will to live peacefully with humans, or even try to overthrow the Demon Lord outright.

“I can sweep away those elements myself. If there are too many rebels, I could even get help from the hero.”

“…Help, you say.”

Never having imagined the day would come when the Demon Lord would ask for help.

Hero Rain felt somewhat conflicted.

“Hehehe, getting help from the hero… what a strange thing to say.”

Of course, it was the same for Demon Lord Tureglo.

But it didn’t feel so bad.

Anyway, for these reasons, the demon side isn’t a big problem.

Even if problems arise, they can be resolved by force anyway.

So the real problem is…

“The human side.”

Hero Rain said seriously.

Indeed, the human side is the biggest problem.

They are not fundamentally unified.

Right now, they’re working together because there’s a common enemy for all of humanity – the Demon Lord.

But as soon as this situation ends, they’ll split up again and be at each other’s throats.

It’s basically unreasonable to ask such people to reconcile with demons with a unified opinion.

No, to begin with, would there even be any human countries willing to sign a peace treaty with demons if proposed?

Demons are inherently stronger than humans.

That’s why they can invade even with small numbers, and why all of humanity has to join forces to face the demon army.

But how many would readily agree if told to live in harmony with a powerful race that might attack them at any time?

And the war.

In reality, apart from the frontlines against demons, there’s little sense of being at war.

Rather, through the war, demons, and the magical beasts that emerged due to demonic influence, humans engage in more active economic activities.

Adventurers make money by subjugating magical beasts, and various items are made from the byproducts and magic stones obtained from these beasts.

And once you move away from the frontlines, the outskirts of various countries become more peaceful due to the absence of small-scale battles between nations.

Thanks to this, the production of various crops and resources has increased enormously.

One might think this only disadvantages the countries on the frontlines, but.

‘That’s not exactly the case.’

The demons’ invasion point is in the north.

The frontline countries are the northern nations.

Northern countries basically depend on imports for most of their crops because their land is barren.

But under the pretext of being on the frontlines in the war against the Demon Lord, they can receive various supplies, including crops, from neighboring countries for free or at low prices.

From the perspective of neighboring countries, the peace in their outskirts has significantly increased the production of various crops and resources, so supporting some northern countries doesn’t have a big impact.

In this way, the northern countries are exposed to the frontlines of the war against demons, but in return, they’re solving their food shortages almost for free.

“All of this is possible because of the war with demons. But the moment peace is established with demons and the war ends, everything will go back to how it was before.”

Small-scale battles will constantly occur in border regions.

Northern countries will have to buy food at high prices.

And the human world will be filled with dirty fights among their own kind.

For their own safety and from the perspective of national interests, peace with demons was unnecessary.