27 Queen of the Harpy Country

While a number of my bodies worked alongside Benimaru to finalize the conquest of the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania, I had also been doing other things. Some of my bodies were going on mini-dates with Albedo before she left again for Estonia, others were doing the ever-increasing paperwork. One body, though, was going to show off my personal power by 'meeting' the Demon Lord Frey.

I had already proved my personal strength by defeating Charybdis, but the greater outside world wouldn't know about that until a few weeks from now and I couldn't wait around idle for now. I would once again prove my personal strength by subjugating Frey and her entire country by myself while proving my subordinate's strength when Benimaru defeats Carrion. It would also prove just how effective and terrifying my military would be by capturing a demon lord's country during a campaign over the course of a week.

Celestina Lacross had just finished blessing the Kuroinu mercenary group and they were going to head off to defeat Olga in Celestine's name. Of course, they were planning to betray Celestine by allying with the monsters. Enri's village was also going to be raided and day now and the plot of Overlord was about to begin, so I had to move fast to capitalize on the Kingdom's weakness.

After skipping the time-consuming ritual of Super Tier Magic thanks to [Solomon], I jumped on top of Charybdis' head and we flew off for the Harpy Country of Fulbrosia.

Canonically, Frey submitted to Milim when she found out the difference in power between them, so she should submit to me as well, even if I'm not recognized as a demon lord. Plus, I had a little tidbit of information about the harpies that I could have only gotten thanks to Akasha's Omniscience.

The Harpies are an all-female species. (You don't say!)

Yes, yes, I know that's obvious, but the main problem is their birthrates. Because they are an all-female species, they have to rely on males of other species to mate. Additionally, the average Harpy has a higher sex drive than even the horniest of men, so they often drain their partners to death during mating season.

Because of this, Human countries in the area have their male citizens remain indoors during this time, which is fine since it's not a harvesting season, but this is leading to a quick drop in harpy birthrates.

Thankfully, Jura is now home to the second and third most perpetually horny and sexually active male species to be the harpies partners. High Orcs/Orks and Hobgoblins. The first are incubi/succubi, but they are surprisingly infertile (not completely infertile, just hard to get pregnant).

That's another thing. Because daemons can change their genders at will, succubi and incubi are the same daemons, just swapping genders depending on their summoner's sexual preferences.

The more you know.

Anyway, while I was giving exposition to myself, Charybdis finally arrived at the border to Fulbrosia. Below me were legions of harpies standing on the ground looking up at us with dread. The only reason they probably haven't attacked yet is due to them having the [Telescopic Vision] Intrinsic Skill which allows them to see me sitting on Charybdis' head. They know that he is following my orders and they don't want to antagonize me, I suppose.

I halt Charybdis and walk over to the ledge that is his forehead. Seriously, this dude is like the size of Central Park in New York, he's huge. I simply wave my hand and watch as some of the harpies hesitantly fly up to me.

These ones have stronger magical auras, probably around the level of A+ to Special A in terms of ranking, which isn't bad. Additionally, keeping with the 'all-female monster' motif, they all look like beautiful maidens.

"Y-You there! Charybdis's Master! Why have you come to Lady Frey's country?" One of them asks while trying to sound imposing. It doesn't really work when she is trembling in her... she isn't wearing boots because of her talons, so the metaphor doesn't work here...

"I am here for an audience with your Queen," I say simply.

"T-That can be arranged!" One of the others say. I don't know if these harpies actually have the authority to make that decision, but something tells me they don't want to say no to the guy riding a demon lord-level threat around as a mount.

"That won't be necessary," says a female voice from above.

I look up and see Frey floating above us. She slowly glides downward while keeping her eyes fixed on me. A small sweatdrop forms on her forehead and she looks like she is trying to keep calm but her aura shows just how much she is on guard.

"Ah! Demon Lord Frey, it is a pleasure to meet you, milady!" I say as I grab her arm by the fingers and kiss the back of her hand.

'Now I feel like I've reached peak Redditor! No wait, I'm not wearing a Fedora!' I think while smiling at the slightly less tense 'Demon Lord'

"What are you doing?" She asks extremely confused.

"Don't worry about it. Just checking off 'greet a beautiful lady like a loser' off my bucket list"

"Pfft!" Frey nearly bursts out laughing but catches herself and covers her mouth with her hand.

[Told you Frey loved corny jokes] Akasha quips.

'Yup. My Akasha is always right after all!' I say in my mind.

After a moment, Frey recomposes herself with slightly red cheeks. 'My handsome face, powerful aura, and wit have surely impressed her.' I boast to myself.

[No she is just embarrassed losing her composure in front of her subordinates] Akasha says. I look at the harpy guards who arrived to greet me originally, and I see them with the greatest sh*t-eating grin on their faces.

[Please stop simp-ing and get to the point. This is getting uncomfortable]

"Truthfully, I have come for several reasons," I say as Frey's eyes regain their sharpness.

"I have come to make you my subordinate," I say as I feel all the harpies in the area tense. Even some of the ones farther back seem to have heard me, so it seems that Harpies also have some sort of super-hearing Skill as well.

"You dare!" One of the harpies yells ash she raises a spear towards me to attack but before she does, a loud roar from Charybdis makes her freeze.

"It's fine, Char!" I say, patting Charybdis on her back.

Yup, Charybdis is a girl. I mean, she was in the Greek legend, but you never would have guessed from her current form.

Frey stares at me for a long time while I sit on Char's head and continue to pat her. Eventually, she raises her hand and dismisses our audience. The other harpies all disperse hesitantly.

"What makes you think that you can make a Demon Lord your subordinate? What makes you think that I won't kill you right now!" Frey says putting up a tough front and trying to appear to be angry.

"The fact that I defeated and then tamed Charybdis. The fact that I'm significantly stronger than you and have enough power to wipe you and your country out in one attack. The fact that without me, your race will continue to slowly decline in population without enough men around. The fact that you know I am waging a winning war against your college Carrion and will take him over in less than a week from now." I say watching Frey try not to flinch.

'I'm not sure how she managed to make it into the demon lord's council without being ripped to shreds by the others, because her acting sucks.' I think to myself.

[Master, it is possible that she is simply acting to have you lower your guard. Due to the effect of Charybdis' [Magic Jamming], my analysis of her behavior is inconclusive]

'I see...'

"You seem to talk big, master of Charybdis..."

"The name's Rimuru. Rimuru Tempest and I don't just talk big, I mean every word I said. Many of the male citizens of my country are single. Normally, this wouldn't be something I'd tell you about, except the fact that they are Hobgoblins and High Orcs as well as Orks"

"I don't mind taking some of the High Orcs, since they are of the same rank as the average civilian harpy, but regular orcs and hobgoblins? You insult me!"

"Ah but that is where you are wrong, Lady Frey! Every monster in Tempest is a minimum of Rank B- with many being ranked B. Besides, you are mistaking Orcs for Orks."

"What do you mean?" Frey asked, narrowing her eyes.

"You are aware of the phenomenon known as Divine Protections no?"

"You mean Blessings?" Frey asked while raising her eyebrow.

"Call it what you will, but I have the ability to name and provide my Blessing to monsters without a permanent loss of strength due to a Unique Skill of mine. Due to this, I have created a way for every person named by me to be a minimum of B- Rankes while many become B ranked as adults."

"I see. You certainly are a... powerful individual then" Frey says as her guard goes up once again.

It's a good thing that monsters very rarely lie and due to this, most people take the words as trustworthy sources. The overriding anime logic of the universe also makes people far more likely to believe anything they hear. It's not like most anime have their characters questioning their sources of information or verifying its authenticity unless it's extremely absurd.

I am the master of an S Ranked (in terms of magicule count) creature and Unique Skills are exceptionally varied, so me having that skill isn't something out of the question.

"I am an incredibly powerful individual and hopefully, I am someone you would work under in the near future," I say with a mirthful smirk.

"And if I refuse?"

"You won't. I know your character. You care a lot about your people and you don't want to die. You're also careful and quiet cunning, as demonstrated by your acting earlier, so you know what it would mean to refuse me."

"Ara. It seems I've been exposed." Frey said gaining a more lazy posture. "Unfortunately, I will not have my people live as slaves." She said as her mood hardened and her eyes looked cold.

"And that, my dear, is why I have brought you this!" I say as I pull out a copy of the Tempest Consitution and the Bill of Rights. I hand her the stack of paper and allow her to quickly scan it over.

One of the perks of living in a world where Analysis skills are common among the top of society is that deals can be hashed out quickly due to them understanding completely all the pros and cons of contracts, mandates, laws, and other legal documents by analyzing the paper. It also made paperwork faster, though this was usually only for monsters.

After a few minutes, Frey sighs to herself and looks back at me. "I will consider your proposal. In the meantime, why don't you come to my castle? You will be shown all the hospitality that Fulbrosia has to offer."

"Well then, I accept," I say, patting Charybdis's forehead by my side in an attempt to get her to sit next to me.

"No thanks, I'm good," Frey says as she turns around and begins flying towards her castles slowly so that I can follow her.

"Hey, Char! I'll shrink you down into a more manageable size," I say while having Akasha do all of the work.

Charybdis simply blinks before her whole body glows a golden light and she slowly transforms into a more humanoid shape. After which, Char simply looks at me with a tilted head for a few seconds before smiling brightly and grabbing my arm like a little imouto character. She drags me along after Frey while I ponder the laws of the universe which determine why all of the powerful and destructive entities in anime/manga become cute girls once tamed.

(A/N: If anyone has an image of a humanoid female Charybdis then post a comment here. Maybe I'll use it whenever I update the NPCs aux chapter into a subordinate chapter)

...

While my other body enjoys living the life with Frey and Char, the body I left with Benimaru is currently prepping the battlefield for Benimaru's dual with Carrion. I decided to break down [Beautiful Prison] into its base components and transform the skill into a pseudo-reality marble where they can fight in without causing any environmental damage. The fight will be viewable from the outside but the inside will look similar to Thanos' homeworld from Infinity War, with debris everywhere and a barren sandy wasteland being their stage.

The Three Beastkeepers are standing next to me, watching my work. I had them vow on the name of Carrion that they wouldn't interfere and would honor their roles as prisoners in exchange for them not being tied/chained up.

When Carrion becomes my subordinate, they will come as a packaged deal, so I wanted to treat them nicely. They were at first, very rebellious and annoying, but they eventually mellowed out when they began eating food better than what Carrion eats, sleeping on beds better than what they slept on in the royal palace, and they saw me reviving the dead soldiers from both sides of the conflict. They weren't even being treated differently to the other prisoners, since they shared living conditions. When the average POW is treated with more respect and to a better quality of life than even their king has, they really couldn't complain anymore. Needless to say, since they were comfortable, well-fed, and relaxed, they stopped their tantrums.

They did become slightly more annoying when they found out I was going to make Carrion my subordinate, but since I was way stronger than him and they realized that Eurazania was getting a very sweet deal by falling under my rule, all they could do was mumble curses at me under their tongue and hope their lord could prevail in the dual and somehow turn the tables on me, taking all the benefits for themselves.

"Alright, looks like it's done," I say, wiping the non-existent sweat off my brow.

"What are you on about?" Suphia asked while looking at the small golden ripple that appeared to be like the Gate of Babylon.

"This, my dear Pantherian, is a separate space where the dual will take place. In here, no one will have to worry about environmental damage to the city. Carrion wanted to fight in front of the cities gate after all, but something tells me both Carrion wouldn't be able to use his full strength if he has to worry about his surroundings."

Suphia was shocked but before she could say anything, Albis appeared. "You seem confident that your subordinate will be victorious. Lord Carrion isn't a demon lord for no reason you know."

"Yeah, but Benimaru is also no slouch. If I were to ever die, somehow, Benimaru would probably be in my top 5 subordinates to become a new Demon Lord." I said while walking into the portal. Albis, Suphia, and Phobio followed me.

Once we arrived, the Beastkeepers were shocked beyond belief. Albis looked to the sky, lit in perpetual twilight, and tried to recognize the constellations.

"I don't recognize any of these stars. It's like we are on another world!" She exclaimed to Phobio and Suphia who were busy checking out the set-piece.

"Yeah. If it's here, Lord Carrion wouldn't have to worry about holding back" Phobio added.

"I'm looking forward to Lord Carrion's dual now!" Suphia said with excitement evident in her voice.

"I'm glad you like it. You three and I shall be the witnesses of the battle from the inside while the others can view from the outside."

"Yeah, that's fine," Phobio said.

He had become far more humble after his ass-kicking by me and the embarrassing loss to Gabiru. He was also sporting a new scar over his left eye where Carrion probably punched him so hard he looked like Rigurd from the OG. It was his fault for the war after all.

After exiting the place, I am met by Benimaru who has just woken up from his sleep. Dawn is peaking over the horizon and the morning sun is threatening to spill out over the world. Benimaru is armed in Madara Style Samarai armor. He is wearing a red kimono with dark marron metl plates and his favored magisteel sword with an Etherite crystal embedded into the base of the blade and surrounded by runes.

I don't admire Benimaru's form for long, (no homo) as a presence of equal strength but more intensity suddenly lands in front of the city's gate. It's Carrion in his [Royal Beast] form. He radiates a golden aura that outputs a constant amount of golden flaming sparks. He stares angrily at Benimaru and me, but when he sees his Beastkeepers alive and well behind me, the look on his face softens for a moment and he appears to relax for a second before being replaced once again, with a look of hardened resolve.

Benimaru stares at Carrion as well and small bits of red lightning crackly from Benimaru's dark red aura.

"I don't want to have to draw his out. I have two people to defeat today to win this war." Carrion says as he equips his Halberd.

"Indeed. I don't want to keep Rimuru-sama's plans waiting on my incompetence." Benimaru said as he unsheathed his long katana.

"Alright! It's time for the dual. The winner of which will take the country of Eurazania." I say, getting various "ohhh!'s' and 'ahhhh!'s' from the crowd. I simply shake my head and wave to Carrion and Benimaru who I lead into the new pocket dimension.

'And so it begins!' I thought.