The half-woman, half-snake monster who called herself Viera was extremely beautiful. Her upper body was that of an extremely beautiful woman, but the lower half was that of a snake, whose sparkling scales fit strangely with her upper body.
Although Brad doesnāt have a special fondness for nonhuman species, he is still struck by the divine atmosphere that makes him think she was some kind of goddess.
In the meantime, Vieira was glaring at us with a sharp look in her eyes.
āYouāre Brad von Pistel, am I right? Even the heroes have their eyes on you.ā
āYeah, thatās me. No doubt about that.ā
Brad responded with a shrug
Itās not surprising, since theyāre enemies, that thereās a tense atmosphere between them.
Brad tried to soften the atmosphere.
āAnyway, itās an honor to meet you, Vieira. I didnāt expect a beauty like you to be the head of the unit. I guess that means youāre a woman of many talents.ā
He said the line easily and made a polite noblemanās bow to show his respect.
Vieiraās eyes fluttered for a moment as if she didnāt understand how such words had come from her adversary Brad.
āWow, you think Iām beautiful? You really are different from the rest of them. Arenāt you?ā
āI donāt know what the general consensus is, but Iām just giving my opinion.ā
Brad shrugged, and Vieira held her faintly flushed cheeks.
āIāmā¦ beautiful?ā
Brad extended his hand and Vieira looks at it in a confused manner, eventually holding it in her hands.
The two shook hands again as if to confirm that there was no hostility between them.
(She doesnāt seem to be trying to do anything suspicious.)
He calmly observes Vieiraās response as he comes to that conclusion.
Iām almost certain.
Speaking of the Lamia, it is one of the nasty monsters that excels at abnormal attacks such as paralysis and curses even in āFinal Questā.
If she had any hostile intentions, there was no reason not to take advantage of the opportunity of shaking Bradās hand and make direct contact.
(Well, the chances of success are probably low, butā¦)
The level of this monster, Lamia, is less than 40.
Itās strong enough to overwhelm the average warrior in this world, but it is no match for the current Brad, whoās over level 50.
If thereās that much of a difference in level, itās possible to detect when Vieira is about to make a preliminary attack and move to evade. This is the reason why he was able to use himself as bait in this way.
āā¦ā¦?ā
Brad tries to undo the handshake while thinking about it, but Vieira doesnāt notice this attempt as she is thinking of something else and without loosening the grip of the handshake, she said with a soft voice that Brad couldnāt hear.
āI seeā¦ Brad von Pistel, heās much younger than I imagined. But that also means that he has a lot of room to grow. His magic power is also far beyond what one would expect from his age. And even in the face of so many monsters, he is unfazed. It may come from confidence, but at the same time, he also has the capacity to be polite even to his opponents, who are lower in rank. He is definitely a gem. I knew it when I met him. After all, this is the one who will eventually stand at the top of the world. I should use this opportunity wisely.ā
And he also said that I was beautiful.
When Brad was looking at her with a curious expression, she finally noticed and hurriedly let go of his hands and said.
āIām sorry.ā
(What was she mumbling about? ā¦ā¦?)
Brad thought, but time is limited anyway.
Thereās a lot of work to be done, so we should get it over with.
āNow, what to do with you guys?ā
But the moment I started to talk about it.
āI ā No, I mean, we want to be your subordinates!ā
Vieira said loudly.
And then she bows her head deeply.
It was so sudden that it took Brad a while to digest her words.
āWhat do you mean?ā
āI talked to the Great Sage about some things. You may be using monsters in Sky Mountain to organize an army. The āGreat Sageā predicted that you were planning to include us in that. I admire the size of your capacity to use even monsters! I hope youāll include us in your army. We can be of some use. Iām sure you can be a force for good in this world!ā
Vieira leaned forward, snorting and wagging her snake tail like an excited dog.
(No, why am I supposed to rule this world in the first place ā¦ā¦?)
(Why am I supposed to be ruling this world in the first place?)
On the other hand, Brad was impressed with Merlin.
He was sure he didnāt tell anyone about the monsters in Sky Mountain, but it seems that the wise man knows everything about them.
If thatās the case, then itās likely that he knows where Alberto is, but whateverā¦
āā¦ā¦ Now you say we, but is it the consensus of your battalion here that you want to be included in my crew?ā
āWe were helpless against the overwhelming power of the two heroes at that time. If you hadnāt stopped them, We would have died. In other words, we owe you our lives. And when I met you, I knew that your power and capacity would eventually surpass even the High King of Darkness. You are the Lord we should follow! I think most of the demons here have understood that!ā
Vieira explained with exaggerated hand gestures in an extremely excited manner.
Brad has seen a lot of people in the royal palace, so to some extent, he has nurtured the eyes to see through people. Vieira, perhaps, really did seem to approve of him.
(But what about the other monsters?)
Monsters and humans are basically incompatible.
It was hard to believe that so many monsters had all accepted being placed under the control of a human. Itās normal for some of them to be stubborn in their opposition, but the fact that they werenāt refusing made it seem like there were none.
āI was originally going to recruit you guys. But if itās because you want to save your lives, you might want to reconsider. I have no intention of taking your life even if you donāt join my ranks.ā
It seemed as though Brad hit a solid point and Vieira exclaims in astonishment.
āYou saw through that much!?ā
(Yapari (just as I thought))
In the first place, the monsters here are in a position where they can be killed by Merlin or Glace if they behave in an unsuitable manner. This is probably the main reason why none of them had any objection to becoming one of Bradās subordinates.
In other words, itās better to be under the command of a human than to be killed.
āBut what do you mean when you say we wonāt be killed? You canāt just let a monster that has bared its fangs at people go, can you?ā
āOf course not. It is very likely that they will turn on humans again. But I canāt stand the idea of slaughtering you people. Iāll let you all go if you sign a magic contract to never attack humans again.ā
As long as they donāt attack humans, monsters arenāt that harmful. Therefore, it was decided that if they sign a magic contract, there wouldnāt be a problem even if they were released.
I see. Vieira nods.
āSince thatās the case, I have no intention of forcing you under my control. Iām not going to take your lives just because you refuse.ā
In the first place, the ring of āThe Demon Masterā has great powers, but it cannot force monsters to submit to you. Itās a necessary condition that the monsters must accept Brad of their own free will and it doesnāt work well when there are unpleasant feelings.
āIām sure you understand now, so Iām going to ask everyone here again. You can be my subordinates or you can go back to the wild and live in peace?ā
When Brad asked this, a loud buzz spread through the monsters.
Itās hard to tell what theyāre talking about since almost all of them are speaking in the ancient monster language, but thereās no doubt that theyāre confused.
While letting them speak freely, Brad instructed the monsters to divide into two groups: those who would be under his command to the north and those who would not to the south.
Although there were hesitations at first, they eventually ended up splitting into two sides.
(There are more than I thought there would be.)
I thought it would be better if even a third of them remained, but it seems that two thirds of the demons chose to join the Brad Corps (tentative).
āAre you sure you want to do this?ā
Brad looks around at the monsters that have chosen to join his army and asks them again.
Vieira steps out from among them.
āIād always intended to do this, whether I was able to leave alive or not.ā
āWe follow Vieira, so we follow you.ā
Vieira responded quickly and Pazuzu who was nearby, said in a broken human language.
(I see. ā¦ā¦ So thereās a relationship of trust.)
The social life of monsters is often a mystery, but it seems that some intelligent monsters develop deep relationships that transcend their species. I thought there were just a lot of monsters living in the desert area, but I guess it was an army of monsters that originally had a connection.
āI understand your feelings. Then letās make a contract.ā
Brad covered his entire body with magic power in order to immediately start preparing for the taming.
In order to tame a monster, you need to connect with it and create a ābondā between you and it. Normally, this would be very difficult, and even more difficult when taming higher-ranking monsters or multiple monsters, but thanks to the Demon Masterās Ring, Brad was able to perform this difficult task with surprising ease.
āEase your mind and accept my magic.ā
He smiled gently at the anxious monsters, trying to reassure them.
And the next momentā¦
āTame.ā
He unleashed his magic power.
A huge amount of magical power overflowed from Bradās entire body, enveloping all the monsters at once. And the magic power became like a translucent conductor ā or an electric current ā connecting each of the monsters to him.
At that moment, the vast consciousness of the monsters poured into Brad.
It was similar to the feeling he got when his memory returned.
(Thereās almost no resistance at all.)
If the demons were not ready to accept the contract with Brad, they would have resisted at this point and the contract wouldnāt have gone smoothly, but because they had already spoken, there was little resistance from the demons.
After a few moments, the magic lines penetrated the bodies of the monsters as if they had been absorbed by them, creating a strong bond in their minds, a ābondā that appeared.
In total, there were less than 700 monsters and all of the demons had been tamed completely.
(It is always tiring no matter how many times I try.)
Brad finished his work and took a deep breath to regulate his breathing.
Itās not so much the accomplishment as the exhaustion that comes first.
Although it was controlled by the ring of the āDemon Masterā, fatigue was unavoidable because the consciousness of this many monsters had flooded into him.
However, he has already become the leader of the monsters. He could not show them a pathetic state right at the onset.
āEveryone, thank you.ā
The moment Brad called out to them
āāHa!āā along with Vieiraās voice, the 700 monsters screamed like an army being commanded all at once and when they all knelt in front of Brad, and bowed their heads.
(I donāt want to be like a manager.)
Bewildered by the actions of the powerful monsters in front of him, that was Bradās first thought.
In his previous life, he was employed as a manager at a very young age, and as his position increased, so did his income. But he also had more work and responsibilities to do than before and was exhausted both mentally and physically. Thatās why he doesnāt have a good grip on leading people.
(But thatās probably what it means to acquire power.)
This is also to save my life and the life of those I want to save. Even if there are inconveniences, it will be considered as a necessary sacrifice.
In addition to the 100 monsters who are left unattended in Sky Mountain, 700 more have been added to the Brad Corps (Provisional). The Undead lord at sky mountain said they had subdued some of the wild monsters when they gained full control of the place. So adding them all in total, there should be a large army of nearly 1000 monsters.
(At this scale, they might do something strange. I have to connect to all the demons minds and share my thoughts)
Iād like to know the current strength and status of all the monsters to some extent.
While Brad thinks about this, he takes a deep breath.
āI didnāt really think heād tame all these monsters all at once.ā
āBra-chan is amazing!ā
Voices can be heard from above.
When he looked up, there were two figures floating in the air using natural magic manipulation.
It was the Elven boy āGreat Sageā, Merlin who is famous as the worldās greatest wizard, and the āSaintess of Salvationā Celie who had a goddess-like beauty.