I Was Nearly Killed by My Fellow A-Rank Party, but Now I Fed a Nine-Tailed Fox Deep in the Dungeon. ~ “My Master, I Shall Never Leave Your Side for All Eternity,” the Legendary Monsters Said While Doting on Me. Before I Knew It, I Had Become the World’s Strongest Lord of the Demon Realm~ - Chapter 9 & 10

Even If They Grovel…

“Okay then…”

There was me, Tamamo still disguised as me, Liliana all beat up and covered in wounds, and the yuki-onna.

At that moment, Liliana pointed straight at Tamamo and yelled.

“Kuon—there’s two of you!? What the hell are you!? You’re not really Kuon, are you!? Who even are you!?”

“Shut up, brat. I’m kinda attached to this look, but… it’s getting messy, so guess I’ll drop back to my real form.”

Right after she said that, Tamamo changed in a flash into a beautiful girl wearing traditional Japanese clothes.

She kept her nine tails and fox ears out, swaying them gently back and forth.

The second the yuki-onna saw her, she dropped to her knees and started crying.

“It really is you, Nine-Tails-sama! I’ve… I’ve been waiting for you all this time!”

“Yeah, yuki-onna. You’re the one who’s been guarding my sealed shrine, right? You did well.”

“It’s too great an honor! Everything I did was for Nine-Tails-sama!”

The yuki-onna looked totally devoted—like she worshiped Tamamo for real.

Tamamo stood there all dignified, but kept sneaking little glances my way.

“Ahem, uh… Kuon. I went ahead and punished the people who did awful stuff to you, y’know? Just a little for now, though. I mean, it’s not really a big deal or anything, right?”

While saying that super casually, she kinda tilted her head toward me like she was offering it up.

(This is… exactly the way Fokko used to push her head at me when she wanted pets…!)

Is this okay? But man, those eyes are definitely expecting it…

I slowly reached out to put my hand on top of Tamamo’s head, but right then the yuki-onna smacked my hand away.

“—Ow!”

“Hey, human. What do you think you’re doing trying to touch Nine-Tails-sama? Someone as low and filthy as you has no right to—”

But in that exact second, this insane pressure hit the whole area.

The yuki-onna broke out in a full-body sweat and hung her head low.

When I looked at Tamamo, her face looked calm, but there was this clear burning anger behind it.

“Yuki-onna, I’m grateful you protected my shrine… but.”

Little flames started flickering at the tips of Tamamo’s tails.

“The way you just acted toward my Kuon—I can’t let that slide. Don’t forget I could melt your whole body to nothing in a heartbeat if I wanted.”

“Y-yes…! I’m so sorry!”

“Wanna test it? Maybe just one arm to start—”

“Whoa! Tamamo, I’ll pet you properly! Let her off, please!”

It felt kinda mean to let the yuki-onna—who didn’t know any better—get punished like that.

I hurried and started stroking Tamamo’s head.

She narrowed her eyes and melted into this blissful look, totally leaning into my hand.

“Wh-what the heck is going on…? How does a total weakling adventurer like Kuon have a monster this crazy strong tamed…?”

Hearing Liliana’s shaky voice, Tamamo’s eyes snapped wide open.

“Oh yeah… I still haven’t finished getting revenge on this girl.”

With that, Tamamo yanked the magic arrows out of Liliana’s legs super rough.

“Kyaaaaah!”

Blood sprayed everywhere. Liliana screamed in pain and thrashed around.

“Here ya go, Kuon. Stab her wherever you want.”

Tamamo said that and handed me the blood-dripping magic arrow.

“…Huh? Me…?”

“No way…! I-I’ll die! Stop!”

“Relax, don’t worry. If it looks like you’re about to die, I’ll heal you right up. Actually, you’ll probably end up begging me to just kill you already.”

Tamamo laughed like she was having the time of her life, and Liliana’s face kept getting paler and paler.

“Please! I’ll do anything! Forgive me! I don’t wanna die, and I can’t take any more pain…!”

Liliana dropped into a desperate dogeza right in front of me—still holding the magic arrow—and started sobbing and begging.

—

Going All Out with the “Serves You Right”

With Tamamo shoving the arrow into my hand, I looked over at Liliana.

“Stop! I-I’ll do anything you say! Even stuff I couldn’t tell anyone…!”

Her eyes were shaking with pure terror, and I bet my own eyes looked exactly like that back when Liliana and the others were about to kill me.

I handed the arrow right back to Tamamo.

“Tamamo… I can’t do it. I don’t wanna turn into the same kind of person they are.”

When I said that, Tamamo gave me this soft, gentle smile.

“…Got it. Honestly, I didn’t want you getting your hands dirty either, Kuon.”

Liliana let out a huge sigh of relief when she saw how I was acting.

But right after that, an arrow slammed straight through her chest.

Tamamo was the one who stabbed her.

“Kyaaaa! Wh-why…!?”

“It’s enough for me to get my hands dirty for Kuon’s sake. I’ll turn into a demon or a raging monster if that’s what it takes.”

“Kuon, make her stop! She’ll listen if it’s your order, right!?”

Liliana begged me through tears.

(Tamamo’s got Fokko inside her body. So… maybe this revenge is something Fokko herself wants too. If that’s the case…)

“Tamamo, go ahead and do whatever you want till you’re satisfied.”

“Got it♪”

“Nooooo! Why!? How could—kyaaaaah!”

Tamamo yanked the arrow out of Liliana and stabbed her over and over again.

“Hey, your filthy blood got on my kimono now. What am I supposed to do if Kuon ends up hating me because of you?”

“Ugh… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

No matter how unfair or mean the words were, all Liliana could do was desperately apologize over and over.

I didn’t feel sorry for her at all—’cause I’m pretty sure Liliana would’ve done the exact same crap to me or Fokko without blinking.

“Oh wait, I almost forgot.”

Tamamo said that and pulled a paper talisman out from her kimono sleeve.

She wrote something on it with a brush, then slapped the talisman right onto Liliana’s forehead.

“Say this: ‘No matter what happens, I will always value my own life. I will never take it myself.’”

“…Haa… haa… I-I… cough cough…”

Liliana’s throat was wrecked from all the screaming, but Tamamo forced her to choke out the words somehow.

The talisman glowed, the characters lifted off the paper, and they sank right into Liliana’s body.

“There. Contract sealed. Now you can’t kill yourself anymore. Take good care of your life.”

It was basically a contract declaring she’d go through stuff way worse than death—but right now Liliana didn’t even have the brainpower left to think about that.

“You can even make contracts like that, Tamamo?”

“Yep. Among the great youkai, I’m the all-rounder type. I can use nine different kinds: magic, youjutsu, curses, onmyodo, sennin arts, kidou, miko arts, reijutsu, and gehō.”

“Th-that’s insane… No wonder you’re the nine-tailed fox…”

“Right? You could show a little more appreciation with your attitude, y’know…?”

She tilted her head toward me again, so I gently stroked her head some more.

Every single time I pet Tamamo, the yuki-onna shoots me these crazy jealous glares though…