When you hear "detention center," you'd usually think of a dark and gloomy place.
But the prison of the Holy Land was nothing of the sort.
Blinding, unpleasantly bright lights.
The floor was just as white, radiating the light outward.
"P-people!"
"But it's not even mealtime yet?"
"Y-you idiot! It's the Saintess!"
Naturally, my appearance was revealed in full to the prisoners.
"Saintess! Please, have mercy…!"
"I've done nothing wrong! Please get me out of here!"
Utter nonsense.
This wasn't the western region where ordinary criminals were kept.
To be imprisoned here meant one of two things:
Either they had blasphemed in the name of the Nepisa Faith,
or they had committed crimes so vile that even the Holy Land had no choice but to contain them.
'Well, if I intended to carry out a terror attack on the Holy Land, freeing them wouldn't be a bad option. But…'
That wasn't the reason I had come here.
Using their clamoring as background noise,
I slowly moved deeper inside.
Three stairways down.
Finally, I came face-to-face with the most heinously treated criminal in this prison.
"..."
Chains bound her entire body, including her long blue hair.
Her horns and other parts were plastered with Holy Crosses and eastern talismans.
It almost seemed excessive, the way she was strung up in the air like that.
"Hey, can you hear me?"
"..."
"Ah, right. I should remove the gag first."
The cell door had multiple locks, reinforced with magic.
–Tick!
–Creak…
But none of that posed an obstacle to me.
I immediately tore off the gag on her mouth.
"Pwah! Thank you, my unknown benefactor. How about taking off this blindfold too, so I can at least see your face?"
"You ask for a lot."
"Please… I haven't seen the light in years. Just once, I want to look at the world again."
Well, if that's all she wanted, I could oblige.
"Don't try anything foolish, or you won't like what happens."
"Fine, fine, I promise…"
I undid the blindfold tied behind her head.
"Haah… thank you. A pretty lady, a bit rough-mannered, but I like you."
"You flatter me. I'm just here on business."
"Then… how about taking off these crosses and talismans? They suppress my power so much I can barely talk."
Her red eyes turned violet.
[You are exposed to the Succubus's Evil Eye.]
A unique racial skill of succubi, making the target into an absolute thrall.
"Fufu, good girl, aren't you? Next, undo the chains. Do that, and I'll gladly hold you in my arms."
With those eyes, she winked at me.
And I…
"What nonsense are you spouting, you lunatic."
–Bang!
I kicked the chains she was dangling from.
"Kyaaak! Dizzy, dizzy! Stop it!"
"Who do you think you're trying to seduce, harlot?"
In my heart, there is only my dearest Luciana!
"H-how? How does a human know about the Evil Eye? And more than that—why aren't you enthralled?!"
There must have been some backstory to her shock.
"Why? Because even though you are the Queen herself and used the Evil Eye, it didn't work?"
As I thought. This pitiful woman, bound helplessly here, was in fact the Succubus Queen.
"You…! A human knowing too much… just what are y—kyaaak!"
–Smack!
Before she could dye her eyes violet again, I slapped her across the face.
That's the Evil Eye's weakness.
Yes, once it hits, it clouds a person's reason.
But as long as you avoid direct eye contact, its power is drastically weakened.
And with her head turned away from my slap, she couldn't even look me in the eyes now.
–…Couldn't you have just closed your eyes? Or better yet, not taken off her blindfold at all? Why complicate things?
Batory's telepathic voice from below made me shake my head.
–No. How could I tame her otherwise?
–…Tame her?
–Of course. She's a succubus, their Queen no less. Surely I can find some use for her.
Succubi were one of the marginalized races of demon society.
Yes, she had been caught on purpose, planning to topple the Holy Kingdom from within.
But surely, she must be dissatisfied with living as a submissive pawn of the Demon King.
In that case, I could put her to use.
"Ugh…"
"Please, stop showing such disgrace. Could you not preserve a bit of regal dignity, as befits a queen?"
Looking at her pathetic state, I honestly wondered if she truly was the queen of her kind.
"As a fellow monarch, it pains me to watch."
"…A fellow monarch?"
"Oh, pardon me. I forgot my introduction."
I discarded the disguise mask.
Besides, speaking in Rene's soprano voice strained my throat.
"Forgive my discourtesy in not showing my true face. But as a doppelgänger, surely you understand. A mask is enough."
Wearing the golden mask low over my face,
I bowed toward the woman bound in chains.
"Greetings. I am Hans Byron, known as Frost Mane, who rules over the doppelgängers."
"…The king of doppelgängers?"
Her eyes widened.
"…Ha! So we're comrades. Of course, of course—our kind always ends up this way."
She actually looked pleased, color returning to her face.
"Enough games. Won't you release me now?"
"That depends on what you can offer me."
"Come on, don't be like that. Aren't we both servants of the great Demon King?"
I shrugged.
"Excuse me, but who exactly is this 'great Demon King'?"
"…Why, Tyron Disaster, of course."
"What an unfunny joke. Defending the perpetrator in front of his victims? How heartless can you be?"
No sooner had I sneered than a shadow rose at my feet.
"Indeed. To bow your head to that tyrant—have you no pride as a queen?"
"You are…?"
"Batory Erzebet. A vampire whose lands were ravaged by that wretch."
At Batory's words, the Queen's face immediately darkened.
"Batory Erzebet…? The Blood Witch, who tyrannized all with her thirst regardless of race—why are you here?"
"…Quite the epithet."
"Kh-hm. It was merely necessary measures to stabilize my domain. I didn't know others called me that."
A few coughs to cover her embarrassment,
and then Batory plucked off one of the talismans from the chains.
"Frost Mane, it should be fine to release her, yes? After all, she's a fellow outcast."
"No. Let's wait. At the very least, we should have her swear an oath, don't you think?"
"Ah, a contract, then."
"W-wait! What are you trying to do?!"
The Queen shrieked as the discussion moved forward without her.
"What else? To do what's right—deal with that false Demon King."
"You lunatics! This is treason! And a hopeless one at that! Don't drag me into this!"
The chains rattled violently as she swung.
–Frost Mane, contract magic requires sincerity. If she isn't genuine, it won't bind.
–A problem indeed. I didn't expect her to resist so strongly.
–Quickly! Persuasion through trickery is your specialty, is it not?
–…Sigh. Very well.
But I had no personal info on her.
Yes, I knew her role as a boss of the Saleranto Holy Land arc—I knew her mechanics inside out.
But about her as a person? Nothing.
And persuasion relied on piercing someone's weaknesses,
then offering to fill what they lacked.
Push too far, and you'd provoke resentment instead.
"Think carefully. Why must we revere him at all?"
With no other option, I fell back on the most standard line of argument.
Succubi were a minor race with no great power in war. That was the angle.
"The reason is obvious—Tyron is the strongest of all. What's wrong with him ruling Eveldun?"
She parried with common demonfolk logic.
Though a queen, she was still a succubus, used to obedience.
"Ha! Foolishness. How shortsighted of a queen to ignore the future. Suppose he does become Demon King, ruling the world—will the order truly change?"
I immediately pointed at Batory.
"Of course, his own race, the Revine, will be honored. Gargoyles, vampires—war assets like them will thrive."
Then I pointed to the Queen.
And myself.
"But what of us?"
"You mean the minority races…"
"Exactly! I admit it's self-deprecating, but our powers are almost useless in direct combat. Under a ruler of conquest and destruction, do you really believe our lives will improve?"
In fact, things might become worse—our races tossed into the gutter.
"And yet you'd still remain his servant?"
"..."
"Well, it's your choice. But remember, the fate of your people depends on it."
That was some top-tier persuasion, if I said so myself.
–Says the man who abandons his kin, toys with the descendants of warriors, then dares to speak of the future of races.
–Ahem. She doesn't know that.
–If this isn't fraud, what is?
Fraud? I merely added some polish.
"So, what will it be?"
I waved the contract paper in front of her.
It basically said: form a joint front, and don't betray us.
"…Hurry! The one inside is a fake!"
"Saintess, her crimes must be—"
"Silence! Lead the way! God will forgive her sins later—just move!"
And then I heard a familiar voice from afar.
Of course.
Rene must have come here too, hoping to profit from the Succubus Queen.
'So that's what she was after.'
I glanced at the Queen's horns.
Used in forging weapons, they granted the Demonic attribute—top-tier material.
As the Queen's horns, they'd surely outclass Lecton's.
"No time. The humans are closing in."
"Kh…"
But it wasn't all bad.
By sheer timing, her impatience had been stoked.
"If you want to escape, sign the contract now."
Once she did, I'd enslave her for life.
"…I don't know. How do you even think you'll oppose him?"
But instead of agreement, she threw an unexpected question.
"Why else? As a king, for the sake of my kin's future—"
"No. I… I don't have such a mission anymore. Maybe once, but not after facing the Demon King myself. Since then… my mission doesn't matter."
A tear of blood fell from her red eyes.
"You…"
The feeling she exuded—
sticky, suffocating fear.
The terror of rebelling against Tyron Disaster,
and the unknown horrors that would follow.
"Then prove your words. If you can't defeat me, defeating him is impossible."
"You insane—! Batory, persuasion failed! Take her down—"
But before I could finish—
[Warning]
[Dungeon Manifestation]
With a siren-like alarm from the system,
the white lights of the prison turned purple.