Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

“What about when she was wandering around the Academy that day? There are too many witnesses to deny it now.”

“Focus on the fact that it wasn’t the Crown Prince and divert as much attention as possible to that bastard. There’s nothing we can do right now. Later, we’ll manipulate some testimonies.”

“Yes, sir!”

Astaroth, holed up in her mansion, had been racking her brains for days, even going so far as to move herself around.

Normally, Astaroth would sit regally and let her subordinates do the work, as befitting a Succubus Queen. She believed that was the role and duty of a queen.

But now, the situation had changed.

After the failed Academy invasion, she had fled the Demon World in a panic, and to return, she desperately needed to produce results. She had invaded the human world on her own accord, defied the Demon King’s orders, and was even suspected of treason. If she returned empty-handed, she would be purged, regardless of whether the treason charges were true or not.

‘That damn bastard…’

Astaroth thought about Mira Crate hundreds of times a day, gritting her teeth in anger. She fantasized about tearing him limb from limb and feeding him to her subordinates countless times.

She had been accused of conspiring with humans to betray the Demon King, killing Maker, and fleeing to the human world. It was all nonsense, but the circumstances had aligned too perfectly, and now she found herself in this predicament.

All because of that bastard.

“No, it’s fine. I just need to destroy the Empire and return. If I destroy the Empire, the Demon King will surely forgive me, and my treason charges will be dropped…”

Astaroth, constantly biting her nails and muttering to herself, reached for the next document.

She was so close now. She had carefully fabricated evidence to obscure the ambiguous parts of the chain of events, and all she needed to do now was bring it all together. Then, she would have the Empire in the palm of her hand.

The Starlight Church had played a significant role. Their wealth and influence made it easy to discreetly kill or dispose of people. The Church was corrupt, and humans couldn’t do anything about it.

Or so they thought.

“The Magic Towers have issued a statement condemning Igor, the Crown Prince, and the Starlight Church!”

“What?!”

Astaroth’s ears pricked up at the startling news. She hastily examined the documents her subordinates had brought. Her eyes darted across the words, trembling with rage.

“The Starlight Church, under the influence of Succubi, betrayed humanity, became tainted by magic, and lost its light… The same goes for Crown Prince Igor… Our Magic Tower, represented by Grand Magician Valera, will unite to expel all demons from human territory… What the hell is this?! How can the Magic Towers unite?!”

“I, I don’t know either…”

“It’s that bastard, Mira Crate! It has to be him! Isn’t it?!”

Astaroth threw the documents and overturned the entire desk, hysterical, her hair disheveled. The Succubus who had brought the documents was trembling, afraid that the blame would fall on her.

Astaroth was a Succubus Queen who had lived for a long time by demon standards.

She prided herself on her knowledge of human history, but this was a first for her. Even going back to the early days of the Magic Towers, she had never heard of all the Magic Towers uniting.

“No, it’s fine. We still have time to erase the evidence. Somehow, we need to get to them before…”

“Your Majesty! It’s an emergency!”

“What now?!”

“One of the Church branches is under attack!”

However, the statements distributed throughout the Empire were just the beginning.

To trace the origins of the Magic Towers, one would have to go back hundreds of years in the Empire’s history. But, excluding the very early days, there had been little interaction between the Magic Towers.

Each Magic Tower had valued keeping their knowledge to themselves and boasting about their superiority over others more than sharing with others.

However, the situation changed drastically with the emergence of healing magic.

The magicians from the Magician’s Association, having witnessed the miracle of healing magic, were eager to achieve results as quickly as possible to experience this miracle themselves.

“Send our research materials to the Red Tower. They’re working on magic formulas, so they’ll sort it out and use what they need.”

“Take this to the Black Tower. It will aid in managing the flow of mana.”

“Send it to the Green Tower. They said they’ve improved the magic they received.”

“The Blue Tower sent a prototype. Test it as soon as possible and report the results.”

As a result, interaction between the Magic Towers became inevitable. The tower masters, having witnessed the miracle of healing magic, freely shared their accumulated magical knowledge to fulfill Mira Crate’s request.

“What? You want me to create a magic spell to identify humans under the influence of Succubi within the next two hours? That’s impossible!”

“Shut up and do it! If you don’t, you’re fired!”

Throughout history, there had never been a way to identify humans under the influence of Succubi. No one felt the need because it was common knowledge that demon society was based on strength and the survival of the fittest.

It was believed that Succubi, with their pride, would never stoop so low as to hide in the human world and operate in secret.

There had been no such cases, until now.

Now that it was revealed that Succubi had infiltrated the Empire, it was only right to uproot them, regardless of whether it was because of healing magic or not.

“Yes, we did it! It’s done!”

The result was the Succubus Detection Magic, created in just two hours. It was a magic spell that even its creators couldn’t fully understand how it worked, with a slight chance of false positives.

However, this wasn’t a problem since the primary goal was to detain and imprison those identified. The Magic Towers had promised significant compensation to any falsely accused, so there were no issues.

“There are Succubi hiding in the Empire… Is this true?”

“Hmph. Would I lie about something like this? I need your help.”

“As it should be. Speak your wishes.”

The Emperor of the Empire also learned the truth of the matter soon after. Thanks to Valera, who had the authority to meet the Emperor without following the usual protocol, the Emperor was able to bypass the usual procedures and have a private audience.

As soon as the Emperor grasped the situation, he issued a decree to uproot the Succubi. With the Emperor’s decree on their side, the magicians confidently entered the homes of the nobility and used the detection magic.

“Ugh! Let go of me! I’m destined to be Emperor!”

Igor and his gang couldn’t escape the detection magic. They were all identified as being under the influence of Succubi and were tied up and thrown into the deepest part of the Imperial Palace’s underground prison.

“Now is the time to execute the next operation.”

“I agree. Prepare quickly.”

The magicians, having completed the inspections of the nobility across the Empire in just three hours, proceeded to the next step after imprisoning those identified.

They attacked the Starlight Church.

“Now is the time to show those filthy creatures what we’re capable of! Rise, magicians!”

The Church had caused trouble for the Magic Towers as well, though they had mostly ignored it due to necessity.

Sometimes, injuries were inflicted that were difficult to heal with potions, and the help of a priest or nun with Holy Treatment was required.

But now, things were different. With magicians able to take on the roles of priests and nuns, there was no reason to tolerate the Church’s misdeeds any longer.

“Take the Royal Guard with you.”

“I was going to do that anyway.”

The Emperor granted permission to mobilize the Royal Guard and knights from across the Empire, and the Sword Saint, who usually didn’t even hold a wooden sword, took the lead. It showed their determination.

The magicians also exerted themselves to the limit. All the Grand Magicians volunteered for the attack, and all the tower masters personally joined the battle as well.

The assault on the Starlight Church, mobilizing all the Empire’s resources, took place under a sky covered in a crimson sunset.

The Starlight Church had made some preparations, expecting the Magic Towers to take action, but they couldn’t stand against the full might of the Empire.

The eternal starlight faded away.

.

.

.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

In the no-man’s land, scarred by war, Astaroth let out a scream of madness.

Six hours.

That was all it took for Astaroth to lose everything she had built over the past century.

Igor was imprisoned, his gang expelled, the nobility under the influence of Succubi captured, and the Astriere family exterminated. The Starlight Church was also paying for its past sins.

Astaroth had nothing left.

If she had openly used the Succubi in a direct confrontation, the battle might not have been so one-sided, but that would have only played into the humans’ hands, who already had a perfect excuse.

The Succubi remaining in the Demon World couldn’t help anyway, as they were too busy trying to stay alive, implicated in the treason charges. This was the last piece of information brought by the last Succubus to escape.

“Haha… Hahahaha… Hahahahahaha…”

Astaroth laughed hysterically, realizing that she truly had nothing left. She laughed as if she had gone mad.

Now, she had nowhere to turn.

If she returned to the Demon World, she would be executed for treason, if she was lucky, and she couldn’t escape punishment for defying the Demon King’s orders. All that was left was to hide like a rat and survive on human energy.

But her pride wouldn’t allow it.

“Hahaha… Huh?”

As Astaroth started to entertain the foolish fantasy that all of this was just a dream, a crimson portal appeared nearby. An overwhelmingly powerful aura emanated from within.

Astaroth flinched and instinctively knelt on the ground, bowing her head.

“Your Majesty, the Demon King…”

The Demon King stepped out of the portal, her left hand holding a magic sword that vibrated more violently than usual, her face filled with rage as she looked down at Astaroth.

“Your Majesty! I, I can explain…”

Astaroth tried to make excuses, her eyes wide.

But she froze when she saw Mira Crate, the one responsible for her current state, standing next to the Demon King, smiling.

“It’s him! Your Majesty! The culprit! The one you were looking for! ”

“I know.”

“Huh?!”

Astaroth was stunned by the unexpected response.

Mira Crate wrapped his arms around the Demon King’s shoulders and pulled her closer, a mocking smile on his face.

“It means your superior was the traitor.”