The Hero’s Mentor is a Demon (King) Witch

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Wait, a story from the past.

500 years ago.

I was trying to capture a large number of humans.

Why capture humans?

To use them as food for the Demon Race?

‘Humans must not be killed.’

We cannot just go around slaughtering humans.

We can deal with human heroes or royalty standing in our way, but we must not kill the entire populace below them.

Although there are some among the Demon Race who use humans as food, humans cannot be allowed to face extinction.

‘As long as humans exist, the Demon Race will grow stronger—why would I want to kill them?’

The reason is simple.

It’s not just that I don’t want to kill humans, but their existence allows me and the Demon King’s Army to grow even stronger.

There are too many examples to list one by one, so to summarize in one line…

‘Weakening of Divine Power.’

Whether it’s the Red Moon Goddess or the Moon Goddess, the power of the gods depends on how much humans believe in them.

Faith is the very strength of the Order.

The Order is the greatest enemy of the Demon King’s Army.

If too many humans are killed…

1. Too many humans will die.

2. The survivors will turn to the goddess—the Demon King’s greatest foe—to escape the clutches of the Demon King’s Army.

3. This will lead the goddess to bestow divine power upon those full of faith in her to curb the Demon King’s Army’s depravity.

4. Divine Death Beam——!!

5. Total annihilation of the Demon King’s Army.

Such a future lies ahead.

‘They must believe in the Demon King, not the goddess.’

Keeping humans alive without killing them ultimately weakens the Order and, by extension, the Celestial Realm.

Then, our Demon King’s Army will be able to completely dominate the Human World, and the Celestial Realm won’t even dare approach it.

Indeed, the true dawn of the Dark Ages approaches.

‘How can I reduce faith in the goddess and diminish divine power?’

The best way to rob humans of their faith is to change the object of their belief.

– Believe in the Demon Lord.

– H-how can we believe in the Demon Lord…?

– I’ll give you a house. There’s a ruined noble territory available.

-……?

– I’ll give you land. There’s vast wasteland nearby. With the Sand Worms tilling the soil, sowing seeds now will lead to a bountiful harvest next year.

– No, but still…

– The tax is 5%. The first year is tax-free; from the second year, it’ll only be 5%.

– …Not 50%, but 5%?

– Yes. Why? Is that too much?

– Ah, no! …Y-you will spare our lives, right?

– Yes. If you become citizens of our Demon King’s Army.

Giving houses, land, and greatly reduced taxes.

– Long live the Demon Lord——!!

– What is this Order of the Goddess! If we believe in the Demon Lord, we receive houses and land!

– Marry a refined Dark Elf maiden…? Um… long live the Demon King’s Army!!

Ah, humans fell for the Demon Lord’s enticement too easily.

With all sorts of means and methods, I attempted to incorporate humans into the Demon King’s Army, and thanks to stimulating their desires, I managed to enlist quite a number of them.

So where did I get those houses and lands for the humans?

‘I took it from the few humans who had much.’

Nobles.

Royals.

Wealthy individuals.

Humans aspire to be strong.

Thus, they create social classes, wanting to live equally while laughing together, yet everyone desires to rise above their peers.

– The Demon King’s Army will conquer them. Citizens of the Demon King’s Army, seize their possessions!

I commanded the peasants armed with pitchforks to raid.

These who have always been victimized raised their pitchforks against the nobles, against the royals, taking everything.

Of course, it wasn’t without issues.

Objectively speaking, there was no reason to exterminate humans.

‘If there are no humans, we all die.’

Orcs, elves, goblins, lycanthropes, vampires.

In various aspects of life for all other races, humans have a profound impact.

Without humans, many races within the Demon King’s Army would struggle to survive, and the idea of killing them all made it incredibly awkward to dispose of their corpses.

Yet still, many demons advocated for human extermination.

– We must kill all humans! Not killing humans is unworthy of being a demon, kekek!

– You, arrogant fool. Are you the Demon Lord? I am the Demon Lord. If you’re unhappy, go seek another Demon Lord.

– After slaughtering them, you dare speak like that… and Demon Lord, there’s great discontent regarding the creation of human villages.

– Don’t worry. I have a plan.

– What kind…?

– You’ll know in due time.

Most demons were unaware of my grand plan.

– I shall make them slaves.

– Kyahahaha, you plan to make them slaves!

– I will capture humans and create a separate area for them.

– Kyahahaha, so you plan to form a ranch of humans!

– I will create a district for humans to live in, where they will produce wealth for our Demon King’s Army.

– Kyahahaha, you intend for the human slave ranch to generate immense wealth for our Demon King’s Army?

– Humans will now be integrated into the Demon King’s Army.

– Ehh…

Humans were former adversaries of the Demon King’s Army.

Naturally, my subordinates, especially the demons who suffered under humans, expressed their discontent.

But.

– Crush the nobility! In the name of the Demon King’s Army!

– For the sake of the Demon King’s Army! Raise the banner of revolution!!!

– Citizens of the Demon King’s Army, unite! Seize the wealth from royalty and nobility, making it our own!!!

For the Demon King’s Army.

– That fleeing figure is a noble! That guy extorted 50% of our taxes!!

– The Demon Lord only takes 5%!!

– Trickle-down effect——!!

– What… is humanity? I don’t know, what is it? Scary.

Peasants and commoners showcased greater unity than the Demon King’s Army against the nobles.

Thus, after humans gradually gained some recognition as members of the Demon King’s Army, I rolled out strategies for complete integration.

– Bring forth the Undead Wagon.

– We will collect the dead without their remains. We’ll resurrect them as skeletons and ask whether they wish to be cremated or fight for the Demon King’s Army.

– Anyone willing to donate their corpse, come forward. Necromancers will pay a handsome sum to hire you.

– Blood donation wagon!

– For those willingly providing blood to vampires, we’ll offer gold coins as payment.

– No need to offer your neck. Huh? You want me to bite your neck on purpose? Goodness… gulp.

– Succubus Wagon!

– For those voluntarily offering their essence to succubi and incubi… wait, hold on. Calm down.

– TAKE MY ESSENCE!

Desperate demons needed to gain something from humans started ‘trading’ with the humans of the Demon King’s Army.

Demons trading their survival for parts of human bodies began merging with humans.

Thus.

The Demon King’s Army transcended races, making the Order of the Goddess their only enemy.

And when the war against Humanity’s Alliance truly broke out…

– D-Do we have to participate in the war…?

– Yes. But rest assured. You can simply live in the territory occupied by the Demon King’s Army and pay your taxes faithfully.

– Is that all…?

– Yes.

When the power of the Demon King’s Army peaked, the citizens occupied the rear territories, diligently delivering wheat, meat, and vegetables.

– If you wish to serve in the military, write a contract stating you will serve as a Death Knight after death, fighting for the Demon King’s Army. Aside from the Demon Lord’s orders and being a soldier, you have complete freedom.

– …So after living out my lifespan as a human, I’ll become a Knight of Death…?

Even those wishing to serve in the Demon King’s Army could fight after becoming Undead, rather than placing humans on the battlefield.

– Long live the Demon Lord!!

– Praise the Demon Lord!

– Glory be to the Great Demon King Bel Phegor!

Thus, I claimed the praises directed at the Order of the Goddess all to myself.

As more humans joined the Demon King’s Army, the power of the Order gradually weakened.

– Ugh…! What can we do without divine power?! Oh, divine power is fading away! Advance now! Victory is within our grasp!!

– Ugh…! My strength is fading…! Why?! Goddess, have you abandoned us?! Why! Why!!

As we turned more humans into our subjects, we found it easier to win battles.

That was the reason I sought to capture humans, and that was why I did not want to kill them.

– Humans do not need to be killed.

– Humans must be captured as much as possible.

Surely, the Demon King’s Army should hold such thoughts.

It was more effective to entice humans to eliminate their faith and divine power than to kill them, raising their faith in the goddess.

So.

Kraaaan——!!

‘Yes, that’s it. Asydia.’

As a giant Sand Worm appeared and swallowed all the humans, I felt tears welling up, knowing my will still lived on in this land.

‘Conquering the Human World means ruling over humans, not killing them.’

Humans must not be eradicated.

How much struggle was required to make the demons understand this?

To rule over humans, I capture them.

Looking at Asydia employing my capture tactics, there’s no doubt she is a descendant of the Demon King’s Army.

Behold, the Sand Worm’s form.

Knocking on the northern gate while driving humans south, as if in a grand hunt, gulping them down.

But.

Chomp, chomp, chomp.

“……What?”

Right before my eyes.

“Ah, no…!”

The hopes I had while recalling the events of 500 years ago shattered completely.

“St-stop…!”

Chomp, chomp, chomp.

‘The more humans are killed, the stronger the goddess becomes! You fools!!’

The giant Sand Worm was chewing the humans it had swallowed.

“Lucius——!!”

The storm surged, breaking through the castle walls and dashing outside.