Ch 245: Sakura doesn’t do evil half-way.

Asuka stepped to the side with a bored expression as the giant panda swung its front pawns from above, trying to crush her to the ground, and she nonchalantly poked its flank with her spear at the location where the heart would be in a real animal. The half-full HP bar above its head was emptied, and the monster died.

She was starting to get some unsavory nicknames such as "Executioner Asuka" or "Kill-steal Asuka", because few monsters withstood more than two of her attacks before dying due to her absurd strength for her level, and that was a problem.

So far, she had managed to hide this anomaly by pretending she was stupidly putting most of her points in strength and refusing reasonable advice, and attacked only when the monsters were half-dead already, so the overkill damage wouldn't be noticed. But her party members were grumbling about her not being a proper team player, and she had to be extra-nice to get them to forgive her.

It was only during the night, like now, that she could vent her frustration and use the monsters as punching balls.

She spotted a small white rabbit and walked to it. Those were newbie traps, and Asuka smiled as she remembered Ririko trying to pet the first she saw, only for it to reveal sharp fangs and jump and bit her forearm.

It was a good thing the game had a pain dampening feature set to 95%.

Since then, Ririko made a beeline to every white rabbit she spotted and shouted with satisfaction whenever she skewered them with her sword.

This girl could hold a grudge.

This particular white rabbit jumped at Asuka, and she used the shaft of her spear like a baseball bat, hitting the rabbit and sending it flying far away with its HP bar gone.

Then she heard the sound of some shrubbery being brushed away, and she turned as she saw a female figure, covered in ominous black armor and holding a trident, coming from behind a large tree. A red bar above her head marked her as an enemy, 'Dark Knight Anna'.

Asuka was wondering if she was a hidden boss or something when the Dark Knight removed her helmet, revealing a smiling Medusa.

"Long time no see, Asuka. You look… stressed."

"I am." admitted Asuka, walking closer and checking they were truly alone. "It's not easy playing the role of a normal low-level player when your strength starts at a ridiculous value, courtesy of a certain someone and my own System. I have gained a reputation as a lousy party member as a result of trying to hide it."

"I sympathize. But if they ever reject you, I know someone who is recruiting. I think I could vouch for you." smiled Medusa.

"I'm sure." snorted Asuka. "What happened on your side? Are you and Sakura okay?"

"We are. We reached the fortress of the demon king on our first day, overpowered the four Hellzectors guarding it, and Sakura, who took on the name of Demon Lord Rin, emphasis on Lord, established herself as the temporary ruler in the Demon King's absence."

"Ah! I want to see Rin's face when she hears about it." laughed Asuka, and Medusa grinned.

"The four Hellzectors are obeying her orders, but they still are more loyal to Demon King Hell Shaft. Subverting their loyalty is a work in progress. It's going to take some time."

"Are the Hellzectors strong?"

"Mildly strong. They are essentially one trick ponies. You would probably be able to face two or three of them with your current attributes, but the other Heroes aren't ready to fight them, from the little I saw. I was looking at Akira's group from a distance this afternoon."

"I am fairly fond of the Hellzectors, even the two men. Their hardcore loyalty to Hell Shaft is endearing. It makes them cute in a goofy sort of way. Like dogs wagging their tails every time their Master is mentioned." smiled Medusa.

"Did you have a hard time finding us?" asked Asuka.

"We sent a bunch of vampires to infiltrate cities as eyes and ears, and I set out as soon as one returned with rumors about your location."

"Hum, smart." nodded Asuka. "Have you heard about any other group of heroes? There were only twelve of us who appeared in Calvart."

"Not yet." said Medusa. "The scouts who haven't heard rumors about you had no reason to return just yet, so maybe I will have more news about that when I return to Infermia. That's the name of the Demon King's castle, and his kingdom is named Hellandia by the way."

"I saw that name on a map, yes. Wait, what level are Sakura and you, if you defeated those Hellzectors?"

"I am level 80, Sakura is level 90."

"Lucky. You could show off from the start."

"We could, and Sakura enjoyed herself trashing the Hellzectors around. We found important information about our mission, Asuka?"

"Oh?"

"One recently captured human slave in the castle is actually an employee from NNT. She's stuck in the game just like us, but she can't gain levels or send messages to the outside. She did, however, receive one from NNT's support staff, and they told her do to everything in her power to stop the Heroes from accessing the Hell Gate in the castle's basement.

"Did they explain why?"

"Yes." nodded Medusa as she pointed to herself with her thumb. "If the Heroes reach the gate, the game will end, and our data, which means, our consciousness, will be sent back to our bodies outside, then purged from the server. The issue is that the software to perform the return part doesn't exist, and it will take them months, up to a year, to have it ready. Or more likely, it has been erased. That employee is convinced that someone has engineered this incident to kill her, and I am inclined to believe it."

"…That's more plausible that just a freak accident, I guess... She's pretty?"

"Very. Sakura had started training her, but she is deliberately taking it slow."

"I'm sure she's having a lot of fun being a demon lord."

"She does enjoy it a lot, talking about 'This Demon Lord's dignity' or 'Rising up to her expectations' and such."

"Eh! Too bad you can't record her. I would love to tease her by replaying those tidbits years later." laughed Asuka.

Medusa chuckled at the thought, and the two fell into a companionable silence for a little while.

"So, the game ends, and we're all just erased, huh?" asked Asuka with a roll of her eyes, and Medusa nodded.

"It's utter nonsense, Medusa. A simple VR game can't steal our consciousnesses from our bodies. In the real world, we will just wake up if we're kicked from the server."

"Indeed. But the locals believe it, and who are we to spoil the Gods' fun?"

"I'm not going to rock the boat, don't worry about it." nodded Asuka. "Does Sakura have a plan to stop us Heroes, or are we just going to improvise?"

"She has one. It will probably start soon after I report back. The Succubi are going to have a field day." smiled Medusa.

Medusa explained Sakura's plan to Asuka, and she nodded. It should work, as long as Sakura was cautious about it and didn't relax her guard.

…

Her mission over, Medusa walked in the wood until she reached a small clearing, where most of the ground was occupied by an old stone, whose flat top had been engraved with an array. The stone was old, partially covered with lichen and other creepers partially hiding it from view. But it didn't matter.

She stepped into the stone's center and used her interface to select a similar array deep in Hellandia territory, not very far from Infermia. The world has many of those secret portal formations, although players could only teleport to the portal stones they had previously visited the hard way. It was Shuuko who had revealed their existence, as well as their locations.

Medusa jogged to the Demon king Castle and entered, waving at the sentinels, then climbed up the tower. She opened the doors of Demon Lord Rin's room quietly, finding her sleeping, using Shuuko as a body pillow.

They both stirred as she entered the bed.

"Welcome back, Medusa. How did it go?"

"Mmphuipha." moaned Shuuko, her mouth filled with a purple ball gag. She had her hands cuffed behind her back and was naked, aside from the gang and leather cuffs and the collar-chest harness combo, and Sakura smiled, patting her head as Medusa snuggled on the other side of the captive young woman.

Shuuko sighed and decided to try hard to fall asleep to escape the humiliation.

"It went well, Master." muttered Medusa. "Asuka is doing well, although her acting in a way that underplayed her strength has caused some friction with her party members. We can go ahead with your plan. Asuka suggested we start with Ichinon Shizuki, sorcerer class. She is the smartest and most likely to compromise Asuka, and the most likely to read the books in human cities and find lore that would be inconvenient for them to know. Like the existence of the portal stones."

"I agree. I like Nonnon as well." smiled Sakura, adopting the nickname Ririko had found for her. "Let's sleep for now, and tell me more this morning during breakfast."

"Yes, Good night, Master, Shuuko."

"Good night, Medusa."

"Mmpha."

…

After breakfast was over, Sakura, one hand holding a chain connected to the ring on Shuuko's chest harness, walked into the throne room, where the four Hellzectors were already waiting. Shuuko was blushing heavily due to the humiliation of being paraded around at the end of a chain, but she knew this meeting was crucial, and she didn't protest.

When Sakura reached the beautifully decorated, leather padded wooden throne placed near Hell Shaft's massive stone throne, she handed the chain over to Medusa and sat down, Medusa stood quietly at her side, and Shuuko knelt beside the throne, her gaze lowered.

Sakura looked at the four Hellzectors standing in front of the throne and smiled. "As usual, you are punctual. Your dedication to your duty does honor to Infermia."

As always, they reacted well to even the slightest praise.

"Thank you, Rin-Sama. If I may ask, why did you bring this human slave here?" asked Adora.

"This slave Shuuko is the personal slave of the Demon Lord. She is ranked lower than any of you, but higher than the other slaves. I want for her to learn the art of ruling, so that she will not besmirch my honor as a Demon Lord by acting submissively when interacting with other slaves."

Shuuko bit her lips but kept her gaze lowered. Sakura could feel that she was fuming inside.

The four Hellzectors were staring at Sakura as if they just had a revelation.

"I see." smiled Satanachia, smiling fondly at Shuuko. "Indeed, Rin-sama's slave is several cuts above kitchen or labor slaves, and she should not let them forget it. She should learn how to keep them in line when her Mistress is busy."

"This slave strives to improve herself to better please her Master." said Shuuko with almost no gritted teeth.

Sakura smiled and leaned to the side to pat Shuuko's head, and the young woman shivered.

"I am going to teach my slave how to perform a few minor tasks around the castle. Maybe you Hellzectors can entrust to her some of the easy chores that take up some of your more valuable time."

"It is a great idea, Rin-sama." nodded Adora, eyeing Shuuko with an evaluating gaze.

Sakura was certain that after this, Shuuko would start venting out in the privacy of their room, and she would punish her again for it. But for now, she had something far more important to do.

"I have read your report, Satanachia, and I am pleased. The trade inside Infermia is in good shape, and I have not spotted any significant point of improvement, aside from the iron supply being a little low for our needs."

"Thank you very much, Rin-sama." smiled Satanachia. "I will command the merchants to procure more iron for the smiths."

"Yes. keep doing a good job, and I will give you a reward soon. Forneus, did you reach the target numbers I asked?"

"Forneus did, Rin-sama!" beamed Forneus. "Forneus toured all the cemeteries in the surroundings and even collected undead from all over the valley! The undead army section is packed full!

"So you exceeded your objectives." smiled Sakura. "As expected of one of the Hellzectors. Come see me in an hour and I will reward you."

"Hehe. Forneus is looking forward to it." grinned the angel, her heart-shaped ahoge wiggling.

"Grasha, how are the troops adapting to the new training?"

"With difficulty, Rin-sama, but they are making progress. Those square formations are too different from what we are used to, and many of the demon race are too small or too large to use the shields."

"…I will do an inspection later today. Maybe not all demons are suited to become like Spartans. Maybe I should assign a more suited role to some of them. Still, keep at it, Grasha. Do not give up. Real strength comes from overcoming adversity!"

"Yes, Rin-sama!" shouted Grasha, a smile on his face.

"Adora, did more spies report?"

"Yes, Rin-sama. It seems another batch of heroes was found in the human town of Lostas, near the forbidden area on the North-West of the continent. An adventuring party made of one boy and five girls."

Adora took a paper from his pocket and unfolded it.

"The boy's name is Keisuke Oohara. The girls' names are Itsumi Mitsubori, Shiho Kishitani, Mimori Minechi, Fumiko Yumeno, and Eina Kawashima."

"What's with this harem protagonist situation…" muttered Shuuko, too quietly to be heard by the Hellzectors.

"Good job, Adora. You have nurtured good subordinates, and their achievements reflect well on you." nodded Sakura. "Please convey my thanks to that spy for his prompt delivery and the accuracy of his information, and double his salary for this month."

"I will, Rin-sama." said Adora with a smile. As the most managerial-oriented of the Hellzectors, he understood well the value of acknowledgment of one's efforts and financial gratification, and he deeply respected the Demon Lord for making use of it so naturally.

He pictured in his head a future where Hell Shaft-sama would be ruling a thriving Infermia from his throne, Demon Lord Rin-sama sitting by his side, managing affairs unworthy of the Demon King's notice and distributing tasks, praises and rewards to the Hellzectors, and almost fainted from happiness.

"Now, everyone." said Sakura with a serious tone. "My Knight Anna just returned with her evaluation of the largest group of Heroes, and the news she brought are, interesting."

"I have made contact with our informant, and she told me about her Hero companions." said Medusa, her voice modified by the helmet she wore.

"They are currently weak. Even ten of them together would have difficulty dealing with a single Hellzector."

"Of course! We are the Hellzectors! Hell Shaft-sama's strongest subordinates aside from Rin-sama and you!" exclaimed Grasha, pumping a fist in the air. The three other Hellzectors were nodding in agreement and pride.

"But, they are currently weak." repeated Medusa, stressing the word, and the Hellzectors frowned. "They all have a blessing allowing them to grow stronger the more monsters or Demon Race citizens they kill. If left alone, eventually, they will become strong enough to fight you one on one, or maybe become even stronger. And their blessing will stop them from dying permanently. If we kill them, they will just wake up in a fortified human city and go back to training themselves, or back to trying to invade Infermia!"

"Forneus cannot kill them?" asked Forneus, confused.

"No. They will just come back. You can't turn them into undead either." confirmed Medusa.

"That is a troublesome matter." frowned Adora, his previous happiness forgotten.

"Then we only need to become stronger as well!" declared Grasha confidently.

"I intend for you all to train and become as strong as you can, yes." nodded Sakura. "However, that isn't enough. They will grow faster than you due to their Hero blessing. And they do not even need to become as strong as you. There are about twenty-five of them, and when the gap between you and them become small enough that three or four of them can gang up on one of you and win, This Demon Lord and her Knight will have to intervene. And wouldn't it be a shame for Infermia if invaders pushed us to this extent?"

"You are correct, Rin-sama." admitted Satanachia with aggrieved expression. "It would be an absolute shame if us Hellzectors were to be defeated. A stain on our name and on Hell Shaft-sama's name! Intolerable!"

"Rin-sama, am I correct in assuming that you already have a plan to deal with the Heroes?" asked Adora, adjusting his glasses with his index.

"I have." smiled Sakura. "Those Heroes might by impossible to kill permanently with brute force. But there are more ways to defeat an opponent than to break their bodies. You can break their will to fight. And you can turn them. My plan is to capture the Heroes, one after another, while they are still weak."

"Ohhh! As expected of Rin-sama." exclaimed Satanachia, looking at Sakura in awe as she understood what she intended to do.

"Those we capture, we will train in our service, and they will become our subordinates, several ranks under you, and one rank under my personal slave Shuuko. We will convince them to serve and sing praises to their Masters. After all, wouldn't it be a waste even if we could kill them? Wouldn't it be better for Infermia to have capable pawns, ready to assist in conquering the world or fighting other Heroes?"

"And those who see their comrades disappearing, will gradually fall into despair. Wondering what we are doing to them. Wondering when we will come for them. Each day will become a slow torture for them, sapping their will to fight, knowing their turn will eventually come."

"Yosh! That's a great idea!" laughed Grasha.

"How cunning and sadistic, and yet, such a great concept to recycle the trash who oppose us into useful pawns." said Adora breathlessly. "Rin-sama, I am in awe of your great intellect! I support you wholeheartedly!"

"Forneus approves of Rin-sama's idea, but Forneus doesn't know how to train human slaves. Will Rin-sama teach us?"

"I will give you advice on how to do it properly, yes, but you will mostly deal with the male Heroes. The female ones, I want to train myself. I find it amusing." said Sakura.

As she said this, Sakura observed their reactions. Satanachia seemed just a little disappointed, Forneus still looked adorably confused, while Adora looked indifferent, and Grasha was nodding happily, without a doubt thinking about male slaves being better because they had more muscles or some other nonsense only muscle-brained idiots could fathom.

"The human males should be rather easy to control." shrugged Sakura. "Their heads are filled with sex. Just arrange for the Succubi to visit them every night if they behave, give them decent food and comfort, and most of them will give up on trying to escape. Girls are more difficult to convince, but that is also what makes them more interesting to this Demon Lord."

"Forneus understands." nodded Forneus.

"When do we start collecting them, Rin-sama?" asked Satanachia.

"Tomorrow. And this Demon Lord will participate. Seeing me in person will increase their despair. And that is all for today. Forneus, come see me in an hour for your reward. You are dismissed." said Sakura, and the Hellzectors saluted, their morale sky-high, as Sakura took the chain from Medusa's hand and walked out, Shuuko and Anna following without a word.

Once in the safety of her room, Shuuko exploded.

"You're really going through with this." she said as if she still couldn't quite believe it.

"I gave you days to suggest a better plan. You didn't. And I will make certain the captured students get a chance to speak with you privately. If you can convince them, that's less chances of them managing to kill us all. I might even arrange for one of them to escape to spread the word."

"I understand the rationale, I'm not an idiot!" retorted Shuuko. "It's what happens after that worries me. When we're back in the real world, what they will have experienced here won't be forgotten."

"So?" asked Medusa.

" 'So?'. What do you mean, 'So'? Do you not see how months of being slaves in the demon army will damage them? They might end up with submissive personalities!"

"That is sort of part of the plan, Shuuko." shrugged Sakura. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of them. The girls will be happy to belong to me, and making them like something is not 'damaging' them. It's broadening their horizons."

Shuuko stared at Sakura, her expression showing more fear than she had been since the first day, after she realized that Sakura and Medusa weren't her enemies. "…I had hoped that you were joking, when you told me that you would make me your slave in the real world as well."

"It's not a joke. And do not pretend that you are wholly opposed to it, my little reluctant slave. Your body is already starting to crave my touch, and you feel good when I put you in bondage. You won't be able to ignore those feelings forever."

Shuuko shook her head desperately to deny her words.

But deep inside, she knew Sakura was right. That little by little, she was approaching the point of no return. The point where she would stop pretending and stop wanting to escape. The point where she would not simply stop trying to fight her descent into slavery, but embrace it fully.