Lept’s Devil Army

Now then, regardless of what conclusion Annie and Lenis reached, what I needed was to expand our fighting strength.

Naturally, my tried-and-true method for doing that was summoning Bella the Cerberus, along with the Pixie Summoning Stone as, well, more of a bonus.

To go into a little more detail, the level of sorcery in this world was quite high, but there probably wasn’t anyone capable of commanding a high-ranking devil.

As far as I knew, Garmon-san had been one of the finest sorcerers in this world, yet even a sorcerer of his caliber had kept a mid-ranking devil as his trump card.

Of course, mid-ranking devils varied enormously in strength, but there was an extremely high wall separating the mid-ranking and high-ranking tiers.

I was truly grateful to Devil King Grazen for arranging so many dispatched summons for me until I was able to become a high-ranking devil.

However, while ranks such as mid-ranking and high-ranking indicated a devil’s overall capabilities, they did not necessarily translate directly into combat strength.

A devil’s rank reflected attributes such as offensive power, defensive power, magical power, and vitality, but it did not account for combat instincts, skill, or special abilities.

In other words, there were devils with impressive specs who were nevertheless terrible at actually fighting.

Yes—in other words, me.

That said, it wasn’t as though I was hopeless at everything.

If we were simply hurling magic at each other from long range, I was probably fairly strong even compared with other high-ranking devils.

There were no attributes I was particularly bad at handling, and I was highly skilled at manipulating spiritual particles, magical essence, and Magic.

On the other hand, my close-quarters combat ability, my ability to control the flow of battle, and my combat instincts were severely lacking.

If an ordinary devil was the equivalent of a magic swordsman capable of fighting at both close and long range, then I was completely the rear-line mage type.

Because, you know, punching each other was scary.

Therefore, even if my opponents were only mid-ranking devils, if several of them coordinated to disrupt me and forced me into close combat, I would probably lose rather easily.

And that wasn’t limited to devils—the same would apply against angels or high-ranking spirits.

Conversely, if my opponents were merely lesser devils, I was confident I could sweep away hundreds of them even if they attacked as a swarm.

Depending on their numbers and circumstances, lesser devils could potentially defeat a mid-ranking devil, and similarly, mid-ranking devils might be able to overcome a high-ranking one.

However, there was an absolute gap in power that meant lesser devils could never reach the level of a high-ranking devil no matter what they did—that was simply how devils worked.

Well, returning to the point, what I was saying was that I was by no means invincible in this world.

I had no idea how many top-class sorcerers comparable to Garmon-san—sorcerers capable of commanding something around the level of a mid-ranking devil—currently existed in the Sorcerers’ Association, but surely there couldn’t be none at all.

That mana-detection barrier capable of analyzing even the destination reached through Gate Sorcery was extraordinarily sophisticated even by my standards.

If that was the case, then depending on how the enemy acted, there was every possibility I could lose if I were caught off guard or forced onto the defensive.

To prevent a situation like that, I absolutely needed Bella on the front line.

Bella had probably grown close to the natural upper limit of the Cerberus species, so even against a mid-ranking devil, while she likely couldn’t win, she could at least put up a fight.

Bella’s senses and combat instincts were extraordinarily sharp, but because she was still a Cerberus, the limited means she possessed to damage a mid-ranking devil were what prevented her from actually securing victory.

However, if she agreed to become my dependent, transformed into a devil, and learned to manipulate spiritual particles and magical essence, then Bella, armed with effective methods of attack, could potentially defeat a mid-ranking devil.

…Even if that never happened, though, there was no question that Bella was still the partner I trusted more than anyone else.

I steadied my breathing and held out my hand.

“Come forth, guardian of the Underworld, spirit of the bottomless abyss, three-headed beast. Follow the bond that connects us and appear before me, Bella!”

Answering my call, Bella—the majestic and powerfully built, though female, Cerberus—appeared in this world from within the raging torrent of mana.

For a moment, the summoned Bella stared blankly at the seven moons shining in the sky, but the instant she noticed me, she dashed straight toward me.

I opened both arms, intending to catch Bella as she charged over.

But when Bella saw that, she suddenly accelerated and slammed into me with a heavy thud, sending me flying.

…Apparently Bella was a little angry that I hadn’t summoned her for such a long time.

She was repeatedly smacking me with her front paws as I lay on the ground.

The gesture was so adorable that I couldn’t help smiling, but that apparently only fueled Bella’s anger, and the force behind her smacks increased.

Since I was a devil, it didn’t hurt, but I pretended to be weakened and begged for forgiveness anyway.

If I had to make an excuse, I had been busy with dispatched summons to increase my strength, and while I was away on those summons, I hadn’t had any opportunities to summon Bella.

But those were merely my own circumstances, so I genuinely felt terrible for leaving Bella lonely for so long.

Bella’s anger gradually seemed to subside, so while giving her my explanation and stroking her, I said,

“Come to think of it, I was told that if you become a devil and accept becoming my dependent, you can live in my Demon Realm. What do you want to do?”

I asked her.

The instant Bella heard my words, she froze completely, but then she once again began furiously pounding me with her front paws.

This time, however, what those blows carried was joy rather than anger, so… basically, she was telling me that if this had been possible, I should have done it much sooner.

Yeah. You’re absolutely right. I’m sorry.

While Bella continued smacking me, I sank my teeth into my own wrist and tore it open with a ripping motion.

Even if my devil body was cut or pierced, it normally wouldn’t bleed, but from a wound I inflicted on myself, a black liquid slowly began to seep out.

Well, rather than coming out naturally, it felt more like I was deliberately forcing the contents of my body outward.

Bella’s three heads took turns licking up what emerged from inside me.

That completed her transformation into a devil. All that remained was for Bella to sleep, and when she awakened, she would have surpassed the limits of a Cerberus and become my dependent.

Of course, becoming a devil wouldn’t make her dramatically stronger overnight, but with Bella, there was every possibility she could eventually grow into a devil stronger than I was.

I stroked each of Bella’s heads in turn as she lay down and closed her eyes.

Now then, the main event was finished.

To be honest, I wanted to rest a little myself, but I might as well take care of this too while I was at it.

Holding the Summoning Stone I had taken out, I thought back.

In the world where I had previously been summoned, the trio I fought while serving as the boss of their exam had, if I remembered correctly, struck poses like this and readied themselves before shouting,

“Call (Summon)!”

Just like that.

…Ugh, wow. This was really… yes, embarrassing.

Overcome with embarrassment, I instinctively crouched down, but the Summoning Stone still responded to the words of power and released the Pixie sealed inside it.

What appeared was a winged fairy in the form of an adorable girl, about the same size as my hand with my fingers extended.

However, the Pixie wore the fiercest expression of anger her adorable little face could manage and shouted,

“You’re late! Late, late, laaaate! Normally, if you get a rare item like a Summoning Stone with a summoned beast inside, you’d try it right away! Why did you leave me sitting around for so long?! I was so lonely I almost started crying!!!”

Then she began pounding my head with her tiny fists.

Yeah, even if this was my fault, hadn’t I literally just gone through this exact exchange with Bella?

So it had been a rare item, huh?

Since Michelle had casually given it to me as an extra reward, I’d assumed it wasn’t anything particularly valuable.

Since it neither hurt nor even bothered me, I let the Pixie do as she pleased and said,

“Yeah, well, sorry? But if I’d summoned you inside my Demon Realm, I wasn’t sure you’d even survive.”

I offered my excuse.

The reason I was treating her more casually than Bella certainly wasn’t because I thought less of the Pixie; I was simply tired of going through essentially the same exchange twice.

Even so, the Pixie stopped hitting me after hearing my rather halfhearted excuse and sat down on the palm I offered her.

“…That’s true. You’re right. I could see things from inside the stone, and that place looked dangerous, didn’t it? Sorry for hitting you.”

The Pixie looked incredibly adorable as she apologized so honestly, especially because of how tiny she was.

For some reason, small things just naturally looked cute, didn’t they? Except insects.

“No, it was my fault for leaving you alone, and it doesn’t hurt even if you hit me, so don’t worry about it. Anyway, what do you want to do? Make a contract with me? Or should I release you in a world you like?”

At my question, the Pixie hummed thoughtfully, then gave a single nod.

Standing up on my palm and proudly puffing out her chest, the Pixie said,

“I want the same thing you did for that doggy just now.”

That was not what I had expected her to say.

Calling Bella a “doggy” was pretty fearless of this girl.

I wondered what would have happened if Bella hadn’t been asleep in the middle of her devil transformation.

I used to think of Bella as a dog too, but even I had never actually said it out loud.

“Uh, I don’t mind, but… are you sure? Was there really anything I’d done that made you trust me enough to agree to become my dependent?”

I asked because I genuinely couldn’t understand it.

Apparently she had been able to see outside from within the stone, so perhaps something she had witnessed had struck a chord with her.

“I already know from watching you that you’re a good person… or a good devil, I guess? But more importantly, it’d be such a waste to throw away a chance to rise all the way up into an immortal existence!”

Ah. Right.

So that was it.

Well, I was a devil, after all.

Being called a “good devil” felt a little strange, but more importantly, it seemed this girl was extremely ambitious.

If she ever grew so powerful that I couldn’t handle her anymore and looked ready to overthrow me, I’d just send her on assignment to Grazen.

Hopefully, though, we could build enough trust that it never came to that.

“I see. Then that’s fine. Do you have a name? If not, I’ll give you one. You probably already know, but I’m Lept. Nice to meet you. Okay, I’ll bring some out again, so just lick a little. Don’t get greedy and drink as much as Bella did, because at your size, you’d explode from the inside and be annihilated. Just a little, okay?”

And so, on that day, I gained two dependents.

Bella, formerly a Cerberus, had become a beast-type devil.

Pisca, formerly a Pixie, had become an imp.

At the time, all I really felt was happiness that my home had become a little livelier, but perhaps this was also the first step I had taken toward becoming a Devil King.