Plugged In: I got Isekai'd into a Sexbot (Now I Must Save The World)-Chapter 74: The Greed That Lives Again

Vexena leans back in her throne, head resting against her curled fingers, a long, irritated groan slipping from her lips.

"I am not in the mood for demon-land politics," she mutters. "Keeping this place from tearing itself apart is stressful enough."

Eris, standing tall and calm beside the throne, bows slightly. "Forgive me, my Queen, but there are new reports. Lady Sylareth has returned."

Maribelle blinks from her nearby velvet chair. "Returned? As in, she’s not dead anymore?"

Eris nods grimly. "Not only alive, but active. She’s calling her old retainers and contracting infamous mercenaries from across the Demon Lands."

Maribelle tilts her head. "A revolt?"

"No," Eris says firmly. "She wouldn’t dare. Even Sylareth knows revolt against the Queen is suicide. You could crush the Demon Lands in a day if you wanted."

"I could," Vexena sighs, brushing invisible dust from her gown. "But then I’d have to rule a smoking crater. What’s she after this time?"

"She hasn’t said. But she’s gathering power. Rapidly."

Virelle peeks over the edge of the throne from her perch beside her mother. "Ooooh. Are the nobles being naughty again? I’d love to go punch them until they behave."

Vexena chuckles, gently petting her daughter’s pink curls. "Maybe. If there’s fighting, I’ll make sure you get your moment to shine."

"But Mamaaa," Virelle groans, "you always say that and then tell me to stay home."

"That’s because sometimes war isn’t the answer, little terror." Vexena gently tweaks her daughter’s nose. "A queen must know how to resolve conflict with diplomacy too."

Virelle folds her arms and pouts. "But punching is faster."

Maribelle laughs, her tension easing for a moment. "Does this happen often? Conflict between nobles?"

Vexena exhales. "More often than I’d like. But not usually among the higher barons. The Demon Lands are held together by a code... laws every noble, general, and even myself must follow. It keeps the bloodshed tolerable."

She then frowns, her crimson eyes sharpening. "But Sylareth... she’s different. Powerful. Cunning. Greedy."

Maribelle leans forward, eyes narrowing. "Vuvi told me about her. The one they fought in Market Town?"

Vexena grins. "That’s her. Baroness of Greed. I figured she was dust after that, but it seems I underestimated her. Again."

"Why Pip?" Maribelle asks. "Is he a threat to her?"

"No," Vexena says, sitting up straighter. "She’s not afraid of him. Sylareth is a greed demon. She gains power by hoarding and obsessing... objects, power, people. If she wants something, she’ll burn the world for it. Pip’s become her obsession."

"She’s going after him again, then."

"Without a doubt."

Maribelle stands suddenly, fists clenched. "Then let me deal with her. I can’t sit idly while my daughter and Pip are hunted by one of your barons."

Vexena’s eyes darken. She lifts a finger and flicks it. Maribelle flies backward, slamming into a pillar with a grunt.

"Know your place," Vexena snaps. "Veena made her choice to leave. I respect it... even if it shreds my soul. But I’ve always watched her. Protected her. My generals have kept her safe since the moment she left."

Maribelle kneels, breathing hard. "Forgive me. But Vuvi’s my daughter."

"And Veena mine," Vexena growls. "Don’t think I’ve let them wander the world unguarded."

Just then, a crimson portal splits the air. Bilial, the well-dressed, hulking demonkin general steps through, followed by the sleeker, sharper Krysil and Eris.

The two men kneel immediately.

"You’re late," Vexena says, already annoyed.

Bilial bows lower. "Apologies, my Queen."

"Report."

Bilial straightens. "They just recently left a cursed mountain. Their party now includes a divine dragon and an ancient lich. They also acquired a treasure hoard the size of a kingdom."

The silence that follows is heavy.

Vexena stares.

Then she vanishes in a puff of smoke and reappears in front of Bilial, grabbing his collar and lifting him clean off the ground.

"Say that again."

"A divine dragon, Queen. Young. But with the blood of the ancients. She hasn’t awakened her divine flame yet... but she will."

Vexena drops him. "I’ve searched for twenty years. Twenty. And my daughter finds one while traveling for fun?"

Maribelle, brushing herself off from the pillar, chuckles. "Told you. Pip and Vuvi attract powerful women like moths to a forge."

"And the lich?" Vexena snaps.

"We don’t know his origin yet," Bilial says. "But his power could rival Eris."

Eris raises a brow. "That strong?"

"His presence nearly cracked our surveillance runes."

"Keep watching them," Vexena orders. "But no interference. Especially not with the dragon."

Bilial hesitates. "There... is one other thing."

She groans. "What now?"

Bilial rubs the back of his neck. "Would it... be possible to get just a moment alone with the divine construct? For scientific purposes, of course. I seek merely to understand he’s construction."

Everyone freezes.

Krysil gasps. Eris’s brow twitches. Maribelle bursts out laughing.

Vexena turns slowly. Her gaze could melt mountains.

"If you so much as graze his chassis," she says sweetly, "I will peel the flesh from your bones. Slowly. Every day. For a thousand years."

Bilial whimpers.

Krysil slaps him upside the head.

Eris chuckles.

Maribelle snorts. "Like moths to a flame..."

Vexena scowls. "Enough. I need order in the Demon Lands. And I will have it."

She spins toward Krysil. "Find Sylareth. Deliver my summons. She will answer to her Queen."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Krysil bows, vanishing through a portal of purple flame.

"Bilial," Vexena snaps, "resume surveillance. Ensure no one interferes with their journey. Especially Sylareth."

He nods and vanishes.

Vexena breathes deeply, then turns to Maribelle.

"You laugh now," she says, "but you’ll be screaming soon enough."

Maribelle blinks. "I beg your pardon?"

"Training," Vexena says.

Virelle gasps. "You mean—?!"

"No," Vexena grins. "Not me. She’s going to survive Eris."

Eris smiles...

Far too widely.

----------------

Far from Vexena’s throne, in a blackened stretch of the Demon Wastes, the ground cracks open with a hiss.

Smoke and sulfur pour from the fissure. A dozen figures kneel before the growing chasm... retainers, cultists, and soldiers bearing the silver crest of the House of Greed.

They chant.

The smoke swirls, taking shape.

First, a foot.

Slender, elegant, armored in crimson and black.

Then a long leg, then a flowing cape of silver silk, stitched with the names of hundreds of debts unpaid.

Finally, a woman steps from the smoke. Her horns curl elegantly behind her head, her black-and-gold crown glittering in the firelight.

Lady Sylareth. Reborn.

Her body is flawless. Her eyes burn with crimson hunger. Her lips curl in a sneer of triumph as she takes in the ruined lands and the kneeling soldiers.

"You took your time," she says.

One brave soul lifts his head. "My lady. We have gathered your forces. The mercenaries await your word. The others fear your return, but they too will return to the fold."

"Good." She stretches her arms, then flings them wide. Power crackles from her fingertips. "Let them fear me. The Queen of Greed has returned."

She steps forward. A throne of coins rises from the cracked earth.

"I want every coin stamped with my crest," she growls. "Every city in the Wastes flying my banners. And I want him."

"Him, my lady?"

She clenches her fist.

"The Golden One. The divine pleasure-forge. The prize that slipped through my fingers. I have not forgotten the insult dealt to me in that pathetic market town."

She trembles, her voice rising with fury. "He was mine. A gift from the gods, sent to soothe my every ache. And those little nobodies dared take him away."

She exhales slowly. Her fury simmers into obsession.

"This time, I will not fail. I will have him. Mind, body... and soul."

She turns toward her commanders.

"Gather the Syndicate Blades. Summon the Flesh Carvers. Buy every cursed relic you can find. I don’t care what it costs. I will have The Prince of Pleasure."

A soldier hesitates. "And the Queen?"

Sylareth smiles sweetly. "Oh, I would never defy Her Majesty."

She lifts her hand.

A burning coin appears, etched with Pip’s silhouette.

"I’m not declaring war. I’m just reclaiming what’s mine."

---------------

Back in Vexena’s court, Maribelle stares at Eris, who stretches lazily, limbering up at the edge of the arena.

"Wait," Maribelle says, heart sinking. "You’re not serious."

Eris smiles. "Oh, I’m always serious."

"But you’re the strongest general in the Demon Lands."

Eris cracks her knuckles. "And you’re about to survive me. Try to, anyway."

Virelle hops up and down, clapping. "Go Auntie Maribelle!"

Vexena smirks. "Consider this your final test, Maribelle. Prove you’re worthy of more power. Or become fertilizer for my gardens."

Maribelle groans, muttering to herself.

"Should’ve just joined the tea parties..."

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