Chapter 2042: Bitter Reality

Seizing the opportunity to praise herself, Seraphina puffed out her chest, hand raised to her mouth as she performed her characteristic, "Oh-hohohohohoho~!" laugh before proceeding on to explain, "It's common knowledge that all Overlords possess the ability to examine their potential underlings' status. How else would we know if someone was useful or not~?"

Rubbing his nonexistent chin, Vahn muttered, "I see..." with a thoughtful glimmer in his eyes. If what Seraphina said was true, it meant he would obtain a similar ability so long as he obtained the title of Overlord. He had already gained a number of skills since his arrival on Blood Parch so it made sense that the ability to view status could be obtained in a similar manner.

As that thought crossed his mind, Vahn startled Seraphina by promptly asking, "How does one go about becoming an Overlord? I'm guessing the most common method is to steal the title from an existing Overlord, correct...?"

Somehow misinterpreting his words, Seraphina used her hands to cover both her breasts and the front of her skirt as she averted her blushing face to the side and nervously asked, "W-W-What are you thinking about doing?"

Deadpanning in response to Seraphina's words and behavior, Vahn shifted his attention to the Law of Identity. She had manifested out of thin air the moment he started thinking about her, and, after transforming into Seraphina, she gladly revealed, "She believes you won't kill her so the only way to take her Overlord title is to conquer her heart or force her to submit. She might not look like it, but her mother was a Succubus and her father was an Orc Lord. In other words, she is suuuuuper horny, like, all the time."

"Well, that would explain why she behaves like she has a few screws loose..."

Though she was currently having all kinds of lewd thoughts, Seraphina's pointed ears perked up the moment she heard Vahn's words. She wasn't quite sure what he said but her women's intuition told her it wasn't very polite. Thus, despite his previous warning, she brandished her dual pistols out of thin air before rapid-firing them as she shouted, "What did you say, you...you Prinny...!?"

Since she didn't really know any insults more sophisticated than comparing a person to a Prinny, Seraphina ended up calling out Vahn's race. This left the latter with the same deadpan expression as he easily evaded more than twenty shots before getting clipped in the wing.

Seeing a *43* appear above Vahn's head, Seraphina ended up freezing in place as a sudden and intense foreboding welled from within her chest. Despite this, a ruddy hue began to spread through her cheeks as she promptly put away her weapons and offered a cutesy, "Teehee~" before sending a tiny pink heart his way with a wink.

Exhaling a sigh, Vahn resisted the urge to smack Seraphina's backside, explaining, "I have no intention of stealing your title as an Overlord. I was merely asking about the method to obtain one on my own. If you're not going to tell me, I'll figure it out on my own later on. Now, move aside. I'm going to enter the Dark Assembly."

Hearing Vahn mention entering the Dark Assembly, Seraphina attempted to block his path a second time, stating, "Didn't you hear me the first time!? The Dark Assembly isn't a place you can just come and go as you please! If you offend the wrong person, there'll invade this place and kill us all...!"

Though he could understand Seraphina's concerns, Vahn maintained a relaxed expression as he said, "You're attempting to oppose Void Dark, a demon with the power to topple countless Netherworlds. How can you be confident in your ability to defeat him when even the notion of visiting the Dark Assembly terrifies you? Does your Overload Ability not work on politicians or something...?"

Puffing her cheeks in an admittedly adorable manner, Seraphina appeared as though she was on the verge of tears as she frustratedly explained, "This and that are two separate issues! The Dark Assembly is a place that has its own rules! Some of the Senators there have lived for tens of thousands of years while others have managed to surpass Level 1000! The only reason they don't wipe out the Netherworld is that it would hurt their bottom line! Do you seriously intend to face off against monsters like that when you're only a Level 4...!?"

Seeing the fear and panic visible in Seraphina's eyes, an inaudible sigh escaped Vahn's beak as he looked towards the blue-haired Mascot girl staring at him with unblinking red eyes. His instincts told him that visiting the Dark Assembly was the fastest way to get stronger while also increasing the amount of Authority he had in the Netherworld. Seraphina's words all but confirmed this, but, at the same time, they helped to remind him that he had given up his power prior to reincarnating.

Since there was nothing standing in the way of him gaining functionally unlimited power whenever he needed it, Vahn ultimately decided to abide by Seraphina's request, saying, "Very well, then. For the time being, I will just continue to observe. Still, I am curious. How do people in the Netherworld increase their Level? You claim to be more than seventeen-hundred-years-old but your power isn't all that dissimilar to a Prinny's."

Though his words hadn't done any actual damage, a massive *Critical!* appeared atop Seraphina's head as she stumbled back a few steps. At the same time, the group of Prinnies she had summoned began to snicker, ostensibly amused by the fact their Master, a proud Overlord, had been compared to the weakest class of demons.

Unfortunately, even if she wanted to refute Vahn's words, Seraphina knew better than anyone just how weak she was. She actually used to take pride in it because she could solve all of her problems using her phenomenal wealth...

With genuine tears building near the corners of her eyes, Seraphina shouted, "You jerk! Waaaaaah-" while bolting off as fast as her feet could carry her. This left Vahn feeling speechless, beak slightly ajar as the group of Prinnies gathered around him, one saying, "That was awesome, dood! From now on, you'll be our Boss! We'll follow you to the ends of Hell, dood...!"

Furrowing his nonexistent brows, Vahn passed his gaze over the group of Prinnies before shaking his head and body, saying, "I'm afraid I must refuse. I'll lend you a hand if the situation calls for it, but I have no intention of gathering Prinnies and leading a rebellion. You ended up in this situation because of the mistakes you made in your previous lives. I won't stop you from attempting to seek vengeance against a system you disagree with, but I have no intention of empowering you to do so. Instead of thinking about how best to take advantage of the current situation, you should be doing what you can to repent and absolve yourself of sin. The decisions you make now will influence your next and future incarnations. Your current situation should have made that transparently clear..."

While most deflated like balloons the moment they heard Vahn's words, one of the Prinnies actually attempted to shove him, an indignant expression on his face as he exclaimed, "What do you know!? I never did anything wrong, dood! Why should I have to suffer just because someone else decided I lived a meaningless life!? This isn't fair at all, dood...!"

Swatting the Prinny's flipper aside, Vahn maintained a relaxed expression on his face as he calmly replied, "Your circumstances have nothing to do with myself or the current situation. You're free to blame the people who decided your fate, but you have no right to lash out at others because of it. In fact, that type of mentality shows why you ended up here. You most likely lived your life selfishly, never accepting responsibility for your own actions. Saying you've never hurt anyone doesn't make it true. If you're behaving this way just because I refused to make life easier for you, it isn't difficult to imagine you blaming others for not doing the same."

Though he was a little curious to know the Prinny's circumstances, Vahn shook his head when the Law of Identity appeared as a Prinny. Then, as the Prinny from before attempted to tackle him, he gave the aggressive fellow a chop that was more a push downward than a strike. A Level 1 Prinny only had 20 HP when purchased at a discount and he didn't want to kill the fellow just because he got a little upset. He was most likely someone who had recently incarnated as a Prinny so it wasn't too surprising that he would be indignant...

Unable to resist Vahn's power, the aggressive Prinny ended up crashing face-first into the ground. This caused a layer of moisture to build in his eyes, snot flowing from the nose holes in his beak as he whined, "This isn't fair...I got to reincarnate after death...I'm supposed to be the main character. I even had a bunch of cute demon girls as my Masters but I don't even have a dick, dood..."

Hearing the Prinny's words, Vahn raised his non-existent brows before asking, "Why would you be the main character? Did you do something heroic in your past life or something...?"

With even more rage and anguish than before, the Prinny pinned to the ground began to thrash about angrily as he shouted, "Everyone knows you're supposed to get some kind of overpowered cheat or a system when you reincarnate, dood! I was also an Otaku and a virgin in my previous life so I'm supposed to get to build a massive harem filled with busty onee-sans and cute lolis! I didn't even get to meet a cute Goddess when I died, dood! Instead, I had some old geezer lecturing me about living a meaningless life and contributing to the stagnation of human morals! What kind of bullshit is that, dood!?"

Though the other Prinnies had been silent, several began tearing up when they heard their fellow Prinny's words. One even plopped to the ground and began bawling while another gazed off into the distance and muttered, "I remember, dood...I was once an Otaku as well...I even had a massive collection of figurines. My purchases helped to directly support the artists and creators, so how was it determined that I lived a meaningless life...?"

Hearing the Prinny's remark, another Prinny turned to him and asked, "What kind of figurines did you purchase, dood?"

Turning to his fellow Prinny, the former collector unhesitantly answered, "I purchased more than three-hundred figurines of my favorite waifus. I even spent hours a day undressing and cleaning them to make sure they were always in pristine condition. When I reincarnated, I thought I would get to build a massive harem from all the waifus I collected but now I'm lucky to get a demon girl to sit on my head once every few years...it's really unfair, dood..."

With several other Prinnies going on to recount their own experiences, Vahn's expression gradually morphed into an emotionless deadpan as he internally mused, ("Don't tell me...are all these Prinnies former Otaku...?")

(*So it would seem...*)

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After running all the way back to her room, Seraphina's first instinct was to curl up in bed and hug her Prinny-shaped plushy. Instead, she grabbed said plushy and began shaking it violently before punching it a few times in its squishy face. She hadn't felt this frustrated since the time her father informed her of the arranged marriage with Void Dark.

Back then, Seraphina had been so pissed off that she immediately set out to get 'revenge'. It never even occurred to her that there were people who could resist her Overload Ability. There had even been a time when she considered conquering the entire Universe by forcing every man in existence to obey her will. Now, however, she had encountered someone who was completely immune to her Balor Gaze. To make matters even worse, the person in question was a Prinny...largely considered to be the weakest demon in existence...

"I'm weaker than a Prinny..."

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The byproduct of an Orc and a Succubus...dear god...','Vahn breaking out the secret techniques o_o...','Bruh...')

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