The longest Day VIII

15:00

Beatrice

"YAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNN!"

I stifled a ladylike yawn.

That’s not good. I’m getting tired. Preserving my mental fitness is priority number one. Why aren’t these incompetent maids bringing me treats when I’m hungry?

Taking a glance at the clock it was now three in the afternoon.

Nine more hours, huh?

It will be about a year for that blithering idiot but if he thinks that will save him from my wrath he will soon come to regret his naivete.

Indeed. My first step towards my rightful retribution against Mari and Femto will be to ensure their victory tomorrow.

Then I will find a way to break the contract devised by these treacherous traitors.

And finally they can look forward to spending the rest of their miserable lives as my personal footrest in my throne room, their tedium only interrupted by regular spankings from Cass. If I feel nice, I may even allow them to wear clothes after a few years. I will have to order something appropriate for them. Perhaps a schoolgirl swimsuit with cat ears for Mari?"

I spend the last few hours pouring over the research material Punchy brought back. For all the good that did me. It was all dreadfully basic stuff. Nothing I wasn’t aware of in the first place.

As it happens, Ithere was one of the weaker known Dark Lords. Of course calling a Dark Lord weak was an oxymoron by itself. The Lord of Shadows was capable of going toe to toe against Asmo after all.

But compared to his peers he really wasn’t all that impressive.

Ithere originated from an Upy of all creatures. A small, amphibious slug. Technically not even a monster but an insect. Upy’s are general found alongside riverbeds and other bodies of waters since they require a lot of moisture and are used quite often to draw carriages.

His main source of attack is his shadow magic. Fairly cliché as things go, but he is also apparently adept at hypnosis. Aside from that, shadow teleportation allows Ithere to quickly move from place to place without expending large amounts of mana, provided there is shade available.

Luckily for us, mastery of these techniques takes months, if not years. Even someone as skilled as Minerva should have no way of being truly adept at them in the span of a few days.

No, I shouldn’t assume this. Minerva has already shown a frightening proficiency against Valkyrie. Her control over the shadow magic was near flawless.

Perhaps that is because a Dark Lords inherent strength depends on its base. And it goes without saying, that Minerva provides a much stronger base then an Upy. I should assume that this is her without any training and that she only gets stronger from here on out.

If there was no time limit I’d say Femto would ultimately emerge victorious after a long battle of attrition but an hour is dreadfully short. They should be about evenly matched for that time.

Naturally, there are the inherent abilities of all Dark Lords. Chiefly their Invincibility field and their immortality. Dark Lords are immortal in the sense that they do not age and even if killed turn only into a blood soul, which allows the Dark Lord to be revived.

Consuming a blood soul usually results in the Dark Lord taking over the body of the host. It is possible, albeit unlikely, to resist. From the looks of it Minerva gambled on that small chance.

So what about actually defeating a Dark Lord? It is common knowledge that there are two methods, holy weapons and devils but technically speaking there are five more. However, there’s a good reason no one talks about the other five. Still, for completion’s sake, let’s go over them all.

-via devil

self explanatory

-via holy weapon

self explanatory

-via another Dark Lord/suicide

Dark Lord’s can penetrate each other’s invincibility field but since they all serve the Demon King they don’t usually fight against each other. Suicide falls into the same category. Too bad Minerva doesn’t strike me as depressed.

-via sealing

In the past there have been a number of successful sealing attempts on Dark Lords, most notably would be the sealing of Dark Lord Xavier by the Tenshi sect. But these require an intricate set up with numerous artifacts and a high level holy magic user. Neither Mari nor Femto are capable of such.

Femto’s void is an inferior example of what sealing would be like. It’s great for weaklings like Cass or Mari but you can’t hold a Dark Lord with it.

-via the Lexington method

The Lexington method is named after Dark Lord Lexington who had the misfortune of getting himself trapped under a large pile of debris. While the debris itself didn’t harm him, he perished from starvation. Very amusing but utterly useless in an arena fight.

-via the Demon King

Demon King Gi is not only able to penetrate a Dark Lord’s invincibility field, he has also complete control over all of them. Not unlike the spell of Obedience. Furthermore, the Demon King is also the only known being capable of destroying a Blood Soul. Unless...

-via the Goddess

I feel stupid to even write this down, but according to some holy scripture mumbo jumbo the Goddess Alice is capable of not only destroy a Dark Lord but the Demon King himself with the snap of a finger. If the church is to be believed all the holy weapons were bestowed to humanity by the Goddess. Superstitious rubbish. There hasn’t been a single record of a Dark Lord ever be destroyed by divine intervention.

...

So all we have to do is infiltrate the Monster Realm, go to the Demon’s King castle and ask Demon King Gi nicely to please stop Minerva from enslaving us all. Or maybe if we just pray very hard Goddess Alice will come down from the sky and save us.

What a load of hokum! Sexy will sooner find Nikkou before any of that happens!

I glared at my notes as if that would suddenly make them more accommodating. My eyes inevitable draw to the one topic that has occupied my mind ever since Minerva’s fight against the Valkyrie.

Why didn’t she transform?

Yes, that was the biggest question.

Upon becoming a Dark Lord one’s base form transform’s drastically.

Any Dark Lord does so. There is not a single exception in the history of the continent. One can simply look at examples such as Dark Lords Kayblis, Medusa or, well, Ithere, to see the massive before and after difference.

Knock. Knock.

So why does this muscle hag still look the same?

Is she using some sort of glamour to keep her form intact?

Or perchance some transform item?

Could the fact that a human overpowered Ithere’s will have something to do with it?

A side effect of the spell of Obedience?

Did Ithere tell her some obscure Dark Lord trick nobody is aware of?

Or perhaps Minerva is some until now undiscovered freak of nature that possesses a never before seen skill.

“Ugggghhhhhh!!!!!”

This was so annoying! If I only had my magic it would be so much simpler to deduce this!

Knock. Knock.

But my intuition tells me it’s not some trickery. I’m missing something. Something huge is staring me in the face but I can’t put my finger on it. It’s on the tip of my tongue. And it drives me crazy!

Knock. Kno…

“WHAT?”, I roared towards the door. There was a small yelp, then the maid entered. Not Maria, the one Sylphid dragged along. The boy one. C-section or something.

I cast strip and sticky ground on him. Maybe 24 hours spend as a nude garden ornament will teach him not to disturb the witch of miracles while she was scheming.

Well, at least that’s what I would have done if I still had my magic!

Which I don’t!

Instead the maid was allowed to timidly approach, pushing a cart in front of him.“Lady Beatrice?”, he squeaked. “I-I brought you, your afternoon coffee and cookies.”

I was not impressed by the offerings. “I would have preferred tea. Aren’t you in charge of Mari’s provisions? Don’t waste time on this frivolous nonsense.”

Ugh, now that I have lost my magic I won’t be able to use weight loss spells, so I need to watch my figure. But I also need to consume sugar to make sure my brain stays in top shape. Curse you, Mari Beta. You dare **** the future sovereign of the continent to exercise? Once I have my magic back I transform you into my personal treadmill!

The frightful look on the maid’s face made my sigh. I’m getting way too agitated here. My prefrontal cortex requires stimulation. I motioned him to serve me the treats who better be tasty.

“M-my apologies”, C squealed as he shakily handed me the snacks. Honestly, he looked even paler then usual.

I grabbed a cookie and munched on it. Lemon flavored, bleh. I tossed it back. Then I glanced up at the maid who was currently filling me a cup of, admittedly nice smelling, coffee. With how he was shaking I was worried he might spill it. “Isn’t it tiresome to be constantly so afraid?”

The maid eeped and let a sugar cube plummet into my coffee. “M-my apologies, Lady B-Beatrice! I-it’s just...how can you not be? We might all end up enslaved to that horrible Minerva.”

I took a small sip of the caffeinated beverage. Hmm...bleh. Not enough sugar. I dumped three more pieces in. “That horrible Minerva?” Granted, she’s a Dark Lord, so the maids reaction certainly was warranted. Still...something about his wording niggled at my mind. “What makes you call her that?”

He stuttered. “Oh! I mean...j-just you know, she’s a Dark Lord and…”

I took another cookie. This one was strawberry flavored, very nice. “Calm down. During the semi finals you soiled your panties long before she turned Dark Lord. Tell me what’s going on.”

For some reason this made him tense up even more. “I...I am a-afraid I have no idea w-what you are talking about.”

The maid fidgeted and averted his eyes. For someone that good at crossdressing he sure sucks at lying. Under any other circumstance I might be inclined to call his performance cute. Unfortunately for him, my patience was stretched very thin right now.

“Listen well, you sniveling sissy. You can either tell me the truth now, or I have Sylphid squeeze it out of you later. What will it be?”

C-maid gulped once more, probably regretting to be so hospitable towards me. Taking one more breath, he finally spilled the beans. “Minerva, well, she used to be the heir.”

That means absolutely nothing to me, you cowardly cretin. “The heir? What heir?”

The boy maid was now so pale his body could be used as a whiteboard. “A-Are you aware about Mistress Ojou-sama’s...circumstances?”

“A bit?” I angrily chomped down on another cookie. This was getting more tedious by the minute. And the ratio of strawberry to lemon cookies is dreadful. “What has your former master to do with this?”

Apparently this information required some more mental fortification from C. He took a deep breath to resolve himself. “Don-sama, the previous head of the Sama-syndicate. Minerva, she...she used to be his daughter and h-heir.”

…

“Hold on.” I massaged my temple. “Minerva Margaret is a citizen of Helman. Last time I checked we are in the Free Cities.”

The maid gave a grave nod. “Indeed, she was expelled from the Free Cities when Don-sama began favoring Mistress Ojou-sama instead.”

And of course clammy Cass did not deign it necessary to share that information with us. I sighed, loudly. But from here I can mostly piece together where C was going with this.

“This was over twelve years ago. I was only a small child back when it happened”, C continued. “T-That’s why I was spared the worst. Lady Cassandra was not so lucky. Minerva was brutal on her. She used Lady Cassandra as her personal plaything. It was horrible...”

That would explain the scars.

Well, sad backstory and all but I don’t really see how that information could be of much use. Guess I can’t punish Cass too much for not sharing it.

“T-the things that happened. That Minerva did to Cassandra a-and the rest. I...I can’t even describe them...”

Good Goddess, he is still going? I don’t care!

“Master. Beta..h-he..he should have listened to Lady Cassandra.”C continued, now shaking like a leaf “Minerva...we can’t, nobody can oppose her.”

Uggggghhh!

Wah! Wah! I am a scared little baby! Wah! Wah! I peed my diapers! Wah! Wah!

That’s what you sound like.

Oh, if only I had my magic, I would age regress you back to an infant so your body at least matches your whiny voice!

Annoyed, I sipped on my coffee.

…

Wait.

Waaaaaaaaaaait.

I slammed my coffee cup down so hard that the maid flinched.

Then I grabbed C by the collar and pulled him so close that our noses touched.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?”

A bit more blubbering stammering followed. “T-That w-we should have listened to C-Cassandra?”

I squeezed his mouth, so that useless oral cavity may spill forth something of substance. “AFTER”, I roared.

I made a mental note to have Maria clean my sheets later. No matter.

Finally, the otiose diminutive boytoy managed to mumble some words out.“T-That...n-nobody can o-oppose M-Mi-Minerva?”

Oppose.

Oppose.

Oppose Oppose Oppose

OpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOpposeOppose

OPPOSE!

Nobody can oppose Minerva. Not even a Dark Lord. Especially not with the spell of obedience.

So when she gobbled him down, did she tell him to not oppose her? An order via the obedience spell?

Would that work as a Blood Soul? It should right? Dark Lord’s are still there, just condensed to their very core. While they can’t move as a marble they are still conscious.

What does that mean?

I tossed the contemptible craven away and poured over my notes again.

Think, Beatrice, think!

I grabbed a punch of sugar cubes and gobbled them down raw.

All the information says the same thing.

Once a Blood Soul is gobbled down the procedure gets initialized.

Nobody bothered themselves with that explanation. It seemed self evident.

But what if that assumption is wrong? Or rather then wrong, inaccurate?

What if the Blood Soul itself needs to activate the process?

First, Minerva squeezed Ithere for information.

Then she told him to not oppose her.

She killed him.

And gobbled the Blood Soul down.

And because of that she had an easy way of turning into a Dark Lord.

But she didn’t transform.

If the Dark Lord transformation process never got initialized that means...

It means...It means…

“L-Lady Beatrice..?”

“This is why Minerva never...! Of course! It’s so obvious! It’s still there! And if it’s still there it means...it means...it means...!!!”

I cackled loudly and rolled around on the bed “Yes! Yes! YesYesYesYesYES!”

Boymaid tried to make an escape but I grabbed him and tugged him towards me again.

The clumsy simpleton actually stumbled on top of me and grabbed my chest, a crime usually punishable by discombobulation but fortunately for the femboy I didn’t care right now. “Where is that niggardly nitwit? That boneheaded baboon? That mindless moron?”

“W-Who?”, he squealed out.

Does his incompetency know no bounds? A clever paper weight would be more useful! “Where’s Cass!”

If the maid still had any ounce of courage left in his body it must have left him by now. Eventually he managed to control his clattering teeths long enough to stammer out that Cass was soaking in the hot springs. Probably boozing it up again like the work-shy hedonist she is.

I tossed C to the side like a parfait plucked off all strawberries and ran out of the bedroom cackling.

It was a glorious, ingenious cackle.

A cackle of triumph.

For I, the magnificent, glorious, beautiful, and most brilliant,

For I, the future sovereign of the continent and ruler of everything.

For I, the great witch of Miracles, Beatrice,

For I had just devised our strategy for absolute victory!

And I shall call it…

---

Femto’s estimate on victory over Minerva

steel dirks (0.4%/0.2%)

Devil of time(1 hour) (13.6%/6.8%)

Sylphid is doing something (1%/0.5%)

Sanakia is doing something (-2%/-1%)

Bea is researching (+8%/+4%)

Hebi-san’s hypnosis (+4%/+2%)

Amber Dominator Mari Beta invigorated (+5%/+2.5%)

Bea with a plan (+12%/+6%)

chances of victory by kill: 34.0%

chances of victory via surrender: 17.0%