The ones dragged before Asura were a mother and her two children of the demon race.
Though trembling as she clutched her children tight, the mother glared up defiantly at Asura and his cohort.
A light of hope still flickered in her gaze; one could tell at a glance that she had not truly submitted.
To tear the bonds of love and affection between comrades and families to shreds, then trample them underfoot—that was the very pride and etiquette of evil. The lower lifeforms of the worlds Asura had crushed in the past would scream, beg for their lives, and readily betray their own kin after only a little torment. And yet, the demons of this world never lost their defiant spirit at their core. They genuinely believed that a lower creature like the Demon King would come to save them. Perhaps that was why, despite the meat of the Human Race normally having an exceptionally exquisite flavor, the flesh of this world's demons tasted like pure rot, completely unfit for consumption.
(Meat rich with negative emotions should taste delicious!)
One could easily say that negative emotions like despair and terror were the very lifeblood of evil wicked gods like Asura. Flesh suffused with such darkness was exquisite beyond compare. In contrast, meat packed with defiance and devoid of fear was invariably foul.
Lately, nothing tasted good to Asura, whether food or drink. That was why, deep down, he had held high hopes that he could gaze upon a comically pathetic weakling while savoring fine liquor and feasting on meat so delectable it would melt on his tongue. But when the time came, the meat had been too repulsive to swallow, utterly crushing his expectations. That was precisely why Asura had readily approved Medusa's proposal to quench this intolerable thirst of his.
When Asura gave a slight flick of his chin, Medusa bowed deeply to him before slithering toward the demon mother.
"Might makes right in this world! Powerless livestock like you have no value in living! But reejoice! To you who possess no more worth than maggots, our revered master shall bestow his mercy upon you this day!"
She declared this with her arms spread wide.
"Mercy...?"
The demon mother parroted the word, her face taut with intense vigilance.
"Depending on your choice, we shall grant you the right to survive."
Resting both hands on her slender waist, Medusa leaned down and whispered into the ear of the mother clutching her children.
"What... is that choice?"
To the mother who bravely yet tremblingly inquired while holding her children close, Medusa twisted her face in hideous delight.
"Kill one of those two brats. Naturallyyy, with your own two hands."
She thrust forward an unspeakably abhorrent ultimatum.
"Th-There's no way I could do that!"
Grabbing the hair of the mother as her voice cracked into a shriek, Medusa sneered.
"It's not about whether you can or can't. If you don't, we'll just slaughter those brats along with you, carve you into meat, and send you all to the kitchen."
She smirked and ran her long, slender tongue across her lips.
"Please! I don't care what happens to me! Just spare these children, I beg of you!"
Though the mother desperately pleaded through disheveled hair, Medusa wagged her right index finger in front of her face.
"No-ope. You only have two choices. One, kill one of those two brats and save the other. Or two, all of you become ingredients. Well? Isn't that quite enticing?"
Her face pale with sheer despair, the mother tightly embraced her children, pressing her face against them. Then, trembling, the family began to sob.
"Amazing!"
Watching the scene with an enraptured expression, Medusa hugged herself and let out a shrill squeal of delight.
Yes. This sight of Medusa was precisely how evil ought to be. The comical, unsightly display of these demons was the finest entertainment for those who governed Evil Wickedness, and the flesh of a family so richly steeped in negative emotions was bound to be delicious enough to melt on the tongue.
Especially this time, having stripped all defiance away from the lower lifeforms. This pathetic display of a mother drowned in pure despair should have made his heart dance with excitement just like Medusa's, and yet—
(Damn it!)
For some reason, he didn't find it the least bit enjoyable. Rather, tormenting weaklings so absurdly frail only brought him a hollow sense of emptiness.
"Tch! Makes my skin crawl!"
From behind and to his right came a disgusted scoff from the slender fierce god, Goki. Judging by the sneer on his face, he wasn't the least bit amused by these proceedings either.
When Asura looked through the wrathful eyes of his three faces, Zenki, another of his Subordinate Kings, was also scowling, appearing anything but pleased.
Indeed. Zenki and Goki were not mere subordinates to Asura; they were fierce gods with whom he had sworn brotherhood. There was no point in clinging to such a boring pastime if it meant earning his brothers' contempt.
"Enough—"
Just as he was about to order Medusa to end it, static crept into the mother's weeping.
"Sniff, sniff, kshhh, hic, sniff, kshhh, sniff, usha, usha, usha. Usha, ksha, ksha, ksha, ksha, ksha, ksha, ksha, ksha..."
The mother's cries ceased to sound like a demon's voice at all, devolving into grotesque onomatopoeic noises that sent a chill running down even Asura's spine.
"Wh-What is wrong with this woman?! Seriously gross!"
Medusa grimaced and backed away from her.
Sensing something bizarre, the Evil Army officers filling the room wiped the smirks from their faces, drew their weapons, and surrounded the mother and children as the sickening noises continued.
Suddenly, the mother sprang to her feet as though propelled by a mechanism.
"—?!"
While everyone dropped into combat stances, the two children also rose with eerie, inhuman movements. And then—
"Beelzebub-de-boo♪ Beelzebub-de-boo♪ Boo-boo, boo-boo, bub-bub♬"
The three of them began singing while performing a disturbing, writhing dance.
"Stay sharp! Something's wrong with them!"
One of the officers barked a warning. Even without being told, it was glaringly obvious.
To perform a sharp, flawlessly synchronized dance in such a hopeless situation—to say they weren't normal was an understatement.
"Beelzebub-de-boo♪ Beelzebub-de-boo♪ Boo-boo-de-bub-de-boo♩
Second only to the Supreme Great One in greatness in this world♬"
The young girl beside the mother sang with both hands pressed to her chest.
"Beelzebub-de-boo♪ Beelzebub-de-boo♪ Boo-boo-de-bub-de-boo♩
Second only to the Supreme Great One in cruelty in this world♬"
The young boy on the other side sang while arching backward so far the back of his head nearly grazed the floor.
"Beelzebub-de-boo♪ Beelzebub-de-boo♪ Boo-boo-de-bub-de-boo♩
And—second only to the Supreme Great One in stwooonnngness♬"
The mother's compound eyes swiveled wildly as she threw her arms up and shrieked.
"That is our father, the foulest fly among flies, the King of Flies, Beelzebubbbb!"
The voices of the mother and her two children harmonized with chilling perfection.
"Beelzebub? That ultimate calamity? You're kidding, right? He's trapped in that cursed dungeon—"
The mocking words of an officer were cut short. The girl's hands clamped onto his mouth from behind and tore it apart vertically.
"Gubebugyagyagyaaaahhh!"
A death scream rang out as blood sprayed through the air. As the headless officer collapsed, the girl covered her face with both hands, squirmed, and—
"The youngest child, Ujiko!"
Striking a bizarre pose, she raised a blood-soaked right hand and shouted. Her attire had transformed into a strange costume and mask.
"This is bad! This is seriously bad—bugeh?!"
The officer who tried to react immediately saw his entire body bubble, bloat, and burst with a sickening pop. Countless maggots gushed from the corpse, instantly hatching into gigantic fly monsters. Standing beside him, the boy wriggled his body, pressed both hands to his face, and—
"The second child, Būnbun!"
Raising his left hand in an odd pose, he cried out. Sure enough, he had transformed into a boy wearing a matching costume and mask.
"Wh-What are you things?! What is this?!"
Just as Medusa screamed at this madness, pure terror plastered across her face, the mother materialized right before her eyes.
"Hii?!"
A tiny squeal escaped Medusa's lips. The mother seized her face with a single hand.
"St-Sto—"
Desperately, she tried to beg, but—
"Gygigugugagaah!"
Medusa's beautiful head was crushed into pulp, morphing into the grotesque shape of a fly.
Releasing her grip on what used to be Medusa, the mother wriggled her whole body and covered her face with both hands.
"The eldest child, Princess Fly!!"
Resting her left hand on her unnaturally twisted hip, she struck a pose, pointing her right hand toward the heavens. Just like the boy and girl, she had transformed into a figure clad in a costume and mask.
"No way... Lady Medusa was..."
At Lieutenant General Medusa's shockingly abrupt demise, an evil god holding the rank of Major General stammered in disbelief.
It was only natural. A Lieutenant General of the Evil Army—one of the absolute pinnacles of power in this world—had died completely helpless. It was a reality none of them could fathom. And in a sense, it thrust an undeniable truth before Asura and his cohort.
"The strongest devil, Beelzebub..."
"That Beelzebub has attacked us?!"
"You're telling me the seal on that insane dungeon was broken?!"
Cries of despair, terror, panic, and chaotic dread erupted from the subordinates one after another.
"Lord Asura, fall back for now! This is an assault by Beelzebub! There is no need to reiterate his dreadfulness and strength! Our best course of action is to rendezvous with General Anra immediately to deal with this!"
The bearded, muscular fierce god on his left—Zenki—stepped forward to shield Asura, raising his kanabō.
"He's right. If Beelzebub is the mastermind behind this raid, he's more than worthy of our blades!"
The slender fierce god on his right—Goki—pointed the tip of his sword toward them, licking his lips with a fearless grin.
Indeed, Zenki and Goki were Subordinate Kings in their own right. Their raw might was exceptional even within the ranks of the Evil Army. Even if this were an attack by Beelzebub's kin, they could easily hold their own. And if their true opponent was Beelzebub himself, the cooperation of Anra, a fellow member of the Six Great Generals, was essential to guarantee victory. That was an undeniable fact.
However—give him a damn break!
"Hmph! Stop talking nonsense! Do you bastards think this great me would turn tail and run from some washed-up calamity?!"
Rising from his throne, Asura seized the greatsword leaning beside it. Glancing around at the pale-faced officers, he barked,
"Hey, you bastards! Is trembling in place and waiting for death how the warriors of the mighty Asura Faction carry themselves?! Show some damn backbone!"
He unleashed a battle cry that made the very air tremble. Light returned to the eyes of the officers who had nearly lost their will to fight, and—
"Yeahhh!"
Gripping their weapons tightly, they turned to face the monsters.
"That's our big bro! That's the man I follow! You've just been persistently bullying weaklings lately, so I was honestly disillusioned, but I knew you still had it in you!"
Goki shouted with genuine glee.
"War always carries risk. It cannot be helped."
Grimacing as if he had swallowed a bitter bug, Zenki nodded, his expression hardening into that of a demon of war.
"Hey, hey, hey, Big Sis, Big Bro, looks like these guys seriously want to fight us?"
Ujiko leaned forward with her clasped hands over her mouth, speaking mockingly.
"Weak as maggots, yet so admirable."
Būnbun chimed in with complete disinterest, lacing his fingers behind his neck.
"Both of you, this battle was commanded to our father by the Great One. It is a supreme plan that does not permit the slightest deviation. Do not let your guard down, and let us grant them the finest terror and despair."
At Princess Fly's solemn words, every trace of arrogance vanished from the eyes of Ujiko and Būnbun.
"The battle has begun. Devour them all."
At Princess Fly's ruthless command, the predation by the Fly God commenced.