Astaroth stood stiffly in front of his towering bedroom door. His hand trembled slightly as he touched the skull-engraved handle.
[Please, no corpses. Please, let there be no hostages being tortured,] he prayed silently.
He took a deep breath, then pushed the door open slowly.
In the center of the lavishly decorated room, atop a vast mahogany desk, lay a giant parchment map. It was pinned down by a dozen small daggers, marking various points of grain supplies and human trade routes.
Astaroth let out a long sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping. No corpses.
"Do you like it, Your Majesty?"
Lilith emerged from behind the heavy window curtains. She crossed her arms proudly, her small wings fluttering slightly.
"I have just finished infiltrating the human capital's grand library. I stole their secret economic route map. With this, you can plan the most lethal logistical strike points."
Astaroth stared at the map. His eyes twitched.
Red lines, supply graphs, and tables of figures. All of it reminded him of the sales graphs and marketing targets that had literally killed him in his previous life.
"Just leave it there," Astaroth said coldly, turning his gaze away.
He walked past the desk without sparing the map a single glance. He had only one goal: the dragon-down bed that looked incredibly soft in the corner of the room.
"I will... 'study' it later. Now, leave."
Lilith gasped softly. Her eyes widened in utter admiration.
"You... you don't even need to look at it?" Lilith murmured in awe. Her cheeks suddenly flushed.
"Ah, of course! You must have already memorized the entire topography of this continent by heart. This lowly map must look like a child's scribble to your infinite intelligence!"
Astaroth had already flopped onto the bed, pulling a thick blanket over his head.
"Yeah, yeah. Close the door."
"As you command, my great King." Lilith bowed deeply with a gaze bordering on fanatical worship before vanishing into the shadows.
Three days later.
Astaroth was sitting by the magma river behind the castle. He held a magic fishing rod, trying to catch a three-eyed fish just to kill time.
Suddenly, heavy iron footsteps thundered toward him. Arga (Astaroth) froze.
[Three days? Why are they back already? Was my army slaughtered by humans?!]
He turned slowly, maintaining his mask of cold indifference. Malphas and Goliath were already kneeling on the dusty ground behind him.
"Report, Your Majesty!" Malphas prostrated until his forehead touched the gravel. The flames in his eyes danced wildly. "Your plan worked too perfectly!"
Astaroth raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"For three full days, our 50,000 troops stood perfectly still, staring at their city walls in total silence," Malphas reported with a proud, hysterical tone.
"The anxiety killed them! The human soldiers began to hallucinate. They didn't dare sleep, fearing we would strike the moment they closed their eyes!"
Goliath let out a hoarse laugh. "This morning, their mayor hung himself from the stress! The gatekeepers finally opened the doors, weeping and begging for mercy just so we would stop staring at them!"
Astaroth's jaw almost dropped. He won? Just by telling his troops to stand still like statues?
Ding!
[System Notification: Daily KPI Achieved!]
[Status: Conquered enemy city (Efficiency 100%, Casualty 0%).]
[Executive Bonus: Reputation 'The Silent Tyrant' obtained.]
Astaroth let out a long sigh. Not a sigh of relief, but one of mental exhaustion.
The blue System screen flickered again. New text appeared in the crimson color he loathed.
[Quarterly Target Updated.]
[Next Mission: Collapse the economies of the 3 Allied Eastern Kingdoms simultaneously.]
[Deadline: 14 Days.]
Astaroth gripped his fishing rod until it cracked. He stared at the dark Gehenna sky with a hollow expression.
[Damn it. I really hate this job.]
(Author's Note: Congratulations to Astaroth on his first successful project! Unfortunately, the System immediately assigned more overtime work. See you in the Economic War Arc in the next chapter! Don't forget the Power Stones!)