Lysandra nodded slowly, her blue eyes flashing with a cold, analytical brilliance as she began to sketch a vision of their future power - one that didn't rely on the System's charity, but on brutal conquest.
"The best path for us would be to subjugate another Demon King," Lysandra stated, crossing her arms over her chest, a gesture that looked exceptionally elegant in her human form. "By doing so, we can seize their surviving units and forcibly relocate them to our territory, incorporating them into our domain."
Lilith's eyes went wide, her heart hammering at the thought of such a direct solution. "Wait... we can just steal other people's armies?" she asked, feeling a shiver of excitement run down her human spine.
"Yes," Lysandra replied with absolute calm. "If we defeat a Demon King without slaughtering all their servants, we can pull them to our side. We don't just need warriors, Lilith. We need masses of ordinary laborers to clear this dark forest, quarry stone from these ruins, and fell trees. Building a kingdom requires a monstrous amount of resources, and the four of us certainly aren't going to be swinging pickaxes."
Lilith felt her perspective shift violently; this was no longer just a struggle for survival. It was a complex management puzzle where every unit had its price. Lysandra smiled faintly, seeing the focus on her Monarch's face, and added more quietly:
"Furthermore... you are the PRIMORDIAL MONARCH. This means that in the future, once you unlock the proper powers, you will be able to transform other beings into Succubi, even if they weren't before. Don't worry, Lilith, we won't stay as a group of four forever. Our road to greatness simply leads through quality and assimilation, not through the mass production of goblins."
Lilith nodded, a surge of determination rising within her. So I can build an army by turning my enemies into loyal sisters... that sounds incredible. Wanting to see how others were faring, she briefly opened the chat window again, but what she saw was a symphony of lamentation over maintenance costs:
"Fuck, where am I supposed to get 500 gold for a single ogre?! I'm barely out here picking berries!"
"The System is a scam! Summoning ten skeletons cost me my entire starting savings, and they fell apart in the first stiff breeze!"
"Please, someone tell me how to get gold! My goblins are on strike because they have nothing to eat, and the altar is glowing red!"
"Found a nest of giant rats, they give 2 coins a head... I'll afford an army in about ten years..."
"Does anyone know if you can sell your own kidneys in the trade menu? I need gold for an altar upgrade!"
Lilith closed the chat with a grimace and looked at Lysandra, narrowing her crimson eyes. "Where exactly does this gold come from? The other players are losing their minds trying to scrape together a few coins."
Lysandra mused for a moment, stroking her chin with a delicate finger.
"I suppose the easiest way is from killing monsters? In this world, every powerful beast accumulates essence that the System converts into currency, or they simply carry valuables. But..." Lysandra trailed off, glancing at the altar.
"Right," Lilith interrupted, furrowing her brow. "Why didn't I have to use a single piece of gold to summon you three? On the chat, they're saying it costs a fortune, but for us... the beams just shot out and that was it."
Lysandra nodded, her face reflecting deep thought. "I don't know exactly; every Demon Lord has different racial traits and unique starting conditions. Most likely, the fact that your race limits the number of summons to just a few units meant the first call was free - or paid for by your rare essence. The System gave us strength but took away our numbers. Others have cheap cannon fodder; we have each other... and an empty treasury."
Lilith let out a long, hissing breath, the weight of responsibility for these three unpredictable beings starting to press heavily on her chest. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to organize the remnants of her human logic, before asking with genuine curiosity how she was supposed to earn more skill points to unlock her sealed powers and finally reach that mythical Level 2.
Lysandra didn't hesitate; her voice became suddenly dispassionate and hard as ice.
"Currently, the only effective way for us, Lilith, will be to hunt the Heroes of this world and consume their souls," she announced, without so much as a blink. "Their essence is the purest fuel for your development."
A sour smile flickered across Lilith's face - a mix of irony and rising dread as she realized this game was programmed as a bloodbath with no exit. "So it looks like I and all those 'holy avengers' are going to be natural enemies from here on out, whether I like it or not," she muttered, crossing her arms.
Lysandra nodded slowly, her silver hair fluttering in a wind that had begun to howl through the ruins.
"Exactly. By killing Heroes, we grow stronger, seizing their life's work. By killing us, they gain powerful artifacts, fame, and power directly from the System. You could say this world was constructed as a gargantuan arena for us to slaughter one another and ascend over each other's corpses. It's a system of vessels connected by blood."
Lilith sighed heavily. The brutal truth stripped away her desire for jokes. For now, they had no gold to build with and no Heroes on hand to farm for stats. Their only advantage was the seven-day safety period before their exact position lit up on every bounty hunter's map like a lighthouse in the dead of night.
Suddenly, her posture shifted - she straightened up, and in her crimson eyes, something new sparked: cold, predatory calculation.
I guess it's time to get to work, she thought, clenching her fist so hard her nails dug into her skin. If I want to survive this madness, I have to make the most of the hand I've been dealt instead of just standing here complaining about my subordinates' bust sizes.
She glanced sideways at Kala and Mina, who were still "playing" together, ignoring the fact that they were in a land of barbarism and chaos. She turned to Lysandra with a sharp, decisive tone:
"Come with me. We need to see what we actually own."
In that same second, Lilith let her Human Mask shatter. A violet aura struck the floor, and her body underwent a violent transformation in a fraction of a second - gigantic purple wings erupted from her back, powerful horns sprouted at her temples, and dragon scales once again covered her limbs, restoring her to the full, demonic majesty of the Primordial Monarch.
Without waiting for an answer, she kicked off the ground, feeling the stone beneath her feet crumble from the force of the leap.
She snapped her wings once, then twice, the powerful gust of wind kicking up clouds of dust from the ruins. Within moments, she soared high above the altar, feeling the rush of freezing air on her face and the incredible, primal sensation of taking to the sky - something she could only dream of as a human.
Damn... this is amazing... she thought with a predatory grin, spreading her wings and stabilizing her flight over the black forest of the Valley of Chaos.
Lysandra, seeing Lilith ascend, didn't wait another second. Her human skin flared white as her own wings tore through the air, and with a grace befitting a high-class demon, she followed her Monarch, leaving the bickering pair and the violet altar below.
Lilith hovered high above the jagged edges of the ancient ruins, her powerful purple wings kicking up dust with every rhythmic beat. She took in the sight of her new domain with bated breath.
Lysandra appeared beside her almost soundlessly, gliding on white wings with such grace she resembled a fallen angel. However, as her gaze rested on Lilith's back - the line of her horns and her predatory, yet incredibly alluring silhouette - Lysandra's blue eyes suddenly clouded over, a burning, intense desire blooming in their depths that she couldn't entirely hide.
Only Lilith's low, velvety voice cut through the thick tension, snapping Lysandra out of her temporary daze.
"I have the Analysis skill, Lysandra... Apparently, the System decided being a virgin earned me the right to look under the world's hood," Lilith remarked with a hint of mockery, her eyes never leaving the horizon.
Lysandra blinked rapidly, regaining her cold professionalism, though her cheeks still betrayed a faint blush. She nodded quickly, shifting her gaze to where Lilith's talon pointed. Transparent windows began to bloom before the Monarch's eyes, shedding light on the secrets of the Valley of Eternal Darkness:
[NORMAL CAVE]
Low exploration value.
Resources: Stone.
[NORMAL FOREST]
Low exploration value.
Resources: Wood.
[NORMAL SWAMP]
Level 1, Normal area.
Threats: High number of venomous lizards and snakes.
Medium exploration value.
Resources: Materials from venomous reptiles, small amounts of herbs and drinking water.
This means I won't waste hours searching every rock... it increases our efficiency and lets us avoid stupid traps, Lilith thought, her confidence growing.
Suddenly, her eyes were drawn to a dense, dark green patch at the edge of the valley.
[DARKNESS WOODS]
Level 1, Normal area. The largest forest in the Valley of Darkness.
Characteristics: Abundance of high-quality wood, wild fruits, and herbs.
Fauna: Big-foot birds, Unicorn-deer, Forest wolves.
Relatively high exploration value.
Resources: Meat, Wood, Herbs, Fruit.
"There. The Darkness Woods are our main supply source," Lilith said, folding her wings and diving toward the dense wall of trees.
Lysandra threw herself after her, and a moment later, both landed on the soft, mossy floor where the scent of dampness and decaying leaves mingled with the sweet aroma of unknown plants. Lilith began to look around, and Analysis poured out more data:
[TRICOLOR FRUIT]
Quality: Gray.
Effect: Restores 3 MP.
[MOON GRASS]
Quality: White.
Effect: Can restore 10 HP.
Gray quality and white quality? I'm guessing gray is the lowest, and white actually means something... or maybe the other way around? Lilith wondered, seeing that the forest was practically carpeted with these resources.
"This is a rich source indeed, Lysandra. At least we won't starve to death here."
Lilith extended her right, scaled hand and, with one precise movement of a sharp talon, sliced a tricolor fruit roughly the size of a human fist.
Holding it in her claws, she inspected it for a moment - it shimmered with intense colors, resembling a gargantuan, exotic cherry from her previous world. Without hesitation, she popped it into her mouth and began to chew.
Her blood-red eyes went wide as an explosion of flavor flooded her palate. The fruit was incredibly juicy, sweet, and simply delicious.
"This is... delish-shous," she mumbled with her mouth full, juice trickling down the corner of her lips. "Lysandra, try this. If everything in this world tastes like this, being a Demon King might not be so bad after all..."