There are many channels on this land to stably obtain magic resources, all kinds of methods.
Just as Lilia knew, there were “Magic Crystal Hunting”, “Magic Stone Mining”, “Artificial Charging”, “Congregational Prayer”, “Maginet Mining”, and so on.
No need to explain magic crystals—just hunting magic beasts.
Simple and unadorned, but also efficient.
Lilia decided to make it the focus of the next stage of her Pupu Clan revival work.
Magic Stone Mining, PASS.
Magic stone mines were already scarce, and all controlled by the Empire.
Lilia didn’t want to provoke that giant beast just yet.
Congregational Prayer…
“Oh great Goddess of Light, I am a devout believer of the Light, truly! Extremely devout! I watched Tiga Ultraman since I was a child!”
Lilia tried to pray to the goddess.
No response.
Damn! Discriminating against us Pupu!
You hypocritical Goddess of Light!
Lilia felt it was a great pity in her heart.
Obviously, the path of “Congregational Prayer” was blocked by the goddess’s racial discrimination.
Otherwise, if tens of billions of Pupu prayed together, the efficiency… tsk~
It might even nag the Goddess of Light into an idiot.
The remaining one, Maginet Mining, was the main method for magisters.
It was said to be highly efficient, but unfortunately, Lilia didn’t know how.
She could only pass with tears.
Artificial Charging…
“Hehehehehehe~~~”
Lilia couldn’t help but let out a wicked, villainess-like laugh.
Actually, this was also a highly efficient method, just very inhumane.
The magic power painstakingly cultivated by an individual would be forcibly taken and crammed into a reusable magic storage medium by some means.
This was the human method.
The demon method was much simpler and cruder.
They generally just ate it raw.
Besides that, demons had another kind of “reserve battery”—the succubus.
Because succubi stored magic power in some bodily fluids, and their seductive acts could generate magic out of thin air.
So for captured succubi, demons usually treated them as both husbands and infants, breeding while absorbing energy, all for maximum efficiency.
When Lilia was Demon King, for the sake of uniting all demonkind and maintaining internal order, she strictly prohibited this behavior.
Succubi once enjoyed unprecedentedly high status.
Earning foreign exchange, living like rich women, having the Demon Tribunal seek justice if bullied, and the Demon Public Security Corps to rescue them if captured.
As the physically weakest race, they held the most administrative posts.
To connect with humans and handle intelligence work, the Seventh Demon Realm also invested the most in their education budget.
…Of course, mainly because this group of traitors, succubi, were among the few in the demon world willing to use their brains.
Lilia had no choice.
Those who seek victory have no smile on their face.
Just like that Duke Constantine of the Empire, Lilia discarded all personal feelings, all love and hate, becoming an emotionless political machine, even investing almost all her industry’s income into developing the demon world.
All of this, just to contend with the so-called “invincible” Empire, by gathering the strength of the seven demon realms to stand against them.
And then…
That was how it ended.
“Pa-ji.”
Lilia collapsed powerlessly into her pink Pupu body, like falling onto a soft, round waterbed.
This failure hit her hard.
After her first defeat by the hero, the front collapsed entirely, the defeat was overwhelming, and hiding in her last sanctuary, she once doubted whether she was just a self-important failure.
Fallen brothers, betrayed wives and concubines, a broken alliance, “allied forces” immovable as mountains… and the succubi obsessed with flirting with the Holy Church army, always wanting to side with whichever side won.
Whenever she remembered all this, it stuck in her throat, resentment and anger roiling in her chest.
Perhaps because she finally glimpsed a hopeful path to revenge, the more Lilia thought, the angrier she got.
She pointed at the sky and cursed, finally venting all the emotions she had bottled up.
“Damn you all! A bunch of bastards! I’m not some pious saint! What you owe me, I’ll make you pay back in full!”
“Don’t want to be loyal subjects? Then all of you become my batteries!”
“Especially the succubi!”
“Let’s see you make Demon King jokes now!”
“Keep making them! Keep going! Even publish books! Show the whole world the Demon King’s misery!”
“Are you insane? How have I wronged you all?!”
The more Lilia cursed, the more her composure shattered, and tears even welled up.
The pain of betrayal was a hundred times worse than defeat.
“Rumble——”
Thunder rumbled appropriately.
But it sounded more like a bored belch.
The thunder was weak, and the rain grew heavier.
The crackling of raindrops echoed like a drum in the dim tent.
“Hoo… hoo… hoo…”
Jon lay sprawled on the table, his snores overpowering the thunder.
“Hero-sama.”
Beside him, little Liliana smiled wryly, poking Jon’s arm, her voice careful and unsure.
“Are you alright? How did you fall asleep while writing?”
Jon woke with a start, eyes hazy.
“Huh? Ah? Did I fall asleep?”
“Yes…”
“Sorry, I don’t know why, but writing makes me sleepy.”
Jon rubbed his eyes, looking apologetic.
“Shall we continue dictation?”
“Mm.”
Jon forced himself to concentrate.
Though learning was tough, with focus and perseverance, he soon memorized all the words in the introduction to “The Complete Collection of Demon King Jokes”.
“Hero-sama, don’t be discouraged. You’re learning quickly.”
Anna praised sincerely.
“Are you comforting me?”
Jon looked a bit embarrassed.
“Absolutely not!”
Anna shook her head quickly.
Jon felt a bit better.
But soon.
The confidence he’d just built was shattered by Lilia’s fist.
The returning Lilia also joined Jon in the “study group”.
At first, Jon smiled and said, “Lili, it’s fine if you can’t keep up. Don’t be discouraged. I’m ahead, so I can tutor you at night.”
But not long after…
“What do you mean ‘she memorized four pages of words in half a quarter-hour’?”
Jon was completely confused.
A few hours later…
“What’s she doing? Copying?”
Jon watched as Lilia’s pen flew across the parchment, unable to comprehend the magic of the scene.
Anna was shocked.
“H-Hero-sama, she just composed a new Demon King joke herself!”
“???”
The sun set.
Jon gave up entirely, silently watching Lilia standing on the table, showing off her flowers.
In just one afternoon, his Pupu had advanced enough to write poetry.
“I feel like a moron next to her.”
Jon sighed sincerely.
Anna smiled bitterly.
“To be honest, Hero-sama, I feel the same… Compared to her, I also feel like a moron.”
“Oh! Friend! Don’t be discouraged! You should call yourself: a handsome moron!”
Lilia mimicked a succubus’s tone, teasing mischievously.
Jon couldn’t hold back.
“Why does she talk like a succubus?”
“Oh no!”
Anna gasped, slamming the book shut, instantly regretful.
“Hero-sama, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have trained her with Demon King jokes! I’ve raised your Pupu with a succubus accent!”
“Can it still be fixed?”
Jon laughed and cried.
“I… I’ll try my best…”
Anna’s tone was a bit guilty.
The succubus accent cannot be stopped!
Bratty slime girl….
What a nice chapter a succubus slime girl first time seeing for me