Volume 1, Chapter 60 – My Struggle

However, Stella clearly sensed that the atmosphere below the stage had suddenly changed. It seemed the Demon Realm’s defeat was some kind of shared humiliation among demons.

Pairs of eyes and faces turned toward Stella. Under the weight of those gazes, Stella felt as though invisible threads of magical power had wrapped around her. If she said something like “let go of your hatred” right now, she would absolutely be torn apart on the spot.

Heaven knew why the random well-behaved student she had picked had thrown out such a heavyweight topic.

Stella had once memorized the relevant material about the human-demon war a century ago backward and forward while preparing for the Saintess examination.

In General History of Continental Warfare, Volume Seven, compiled by the Holy See, human scholars had reached a definitive conclusion regarding humanity’s victory in that brutal war.

Humanity did not win through strength. It won through order.

Although the demons of that era possessed formidable individual combat strength, they were nothing more than a scattered heap of sand.

Ever since the previous Queen of Eternal Night had fallen, the Demon Realm had descended into leaderless chaos.

The Electors who symbolized the Seven Sins not only failed to unite against the human armies pressing upon their borders, but instead stabbed one another in the back while fighting over the vacant throne. Greed schemed against Gluttony, Envy stabbed Pride in the back…

Even today, the Demon Realm remained trapped in this terrible state.

The Electors spent year after year exhausting themselves in internal struggles over so-called bloodline purity and territorial disputes. They were like a pack of stupid dogs who forgot to guard the gate because they were too busy fighting over a bone.

A flash of inspiration struck Stella.

Since the succubi were dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, why not simply borrow the criticisms of human scholars and use them here?

All she needed to do was package an objective statement mocking the demons for their infighting into an impassioned speech born from frustrated disappointment…

‘I know how to answer this one. This is free points!’

There was no helping it. She could only follow the topic and atmosphere and say whatever came to mind.

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Hopefully, she could bluff her way through.

Stella closed her eyes and tried hard to enter her preaching state.

She remembered her days at the rural convent.

Back then, she had not merely been a Saintess candidate who liked sneaking bites of offerings. She had also been a famous gold-medal preacher throughout the surrounding hundred miles.

Whether it was an irritable farmer who had just lost his wallet or a noblewoman who had fallen into despair over life because of menopause, as long as they sat beneath Stella’s pulpit for ten minutes, they would end up weeping bitterly in repentance before willingly emptying their pockets and donating their last copper coin to the Church.

She understood this kind of atmosphere far too well.

Human or succubus, whenever a flock of lost lambs gathered together trembling in confusion, what they needed was never some actual solution.

What they needed was an outlet.

Then all she had to do was echo everyone’s expectations and present the version of reality everyone wanted to believe in.

Do not underestimate her specialty.

Even if the ones sitting beneath the podium now were not devout believers but a group of bizarre demons, even if what she had to praise was not the Lord’s radiance but the revival of the Abyss…

The principle was universal.

All she had to do was replace “the Lord” with “us,” replace “Heaven” with “victory,” and replace “prayer” with “struggle”…

All she had to do was awaken the supreme art of hoodwinking that had been carved into her bones and preach in the most suitable manner.

She did not even need logic.

She only needed momentum!

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To fool others, she first had to fool herself!

None of this was acting. This was truly what she believed. If she could successfully deceive even herself, deceiving everyone else would merely be the natural result.

“That’s right.” Her voice was not loud. “You’re right. We lost.”

“I’ve asked myself the same thing. Why? Why did we lose? Was it because our claws and fangs weren’t sharp enough? Was it because our magic wasn’t powerful enough?”

Stella’s voice suddenly rose, and her left hand slammed heavily onto the lectern.

“No!”

A tremendous bang rang out, shocking the students in the front row into silence.

“It was absolutely not because we were weak!”

Stella began pacing across the stage, speaking faster and faster, her words growing increasingly urgent.

“Look at yourselves. Look at the lions in your eyes. I see no weaklings. I see only a pride of lions bound in shackles! No one can drive a lion off a cliff! Such a proud and dignified beast would never permit itself to die a humble death. At the edge of the cliff, it would turn back in fury, even if that meant throwing itself upon the enemy’s blade!”

“We lost, not because humanity was too strong, but because we… forgot!”

Stella swung her arm through the air.

She herself had absolutely no idea what words would come out next, yet her tongue seemed to have been oiled, automatically filling those impassioned blanks.

“We forgot how to desire! We drowned ourselves in base pleasures! We became satisfied with merely clinging to life in this darkness! We even began to believe… that this is what we deserve!”

“Is this what troubles you? Because of a single defeat, you deny our nobility? Because of one fall, you willingly spend the rest of your lives lying in the mud?!”

“No… I refuse. I absolutely refuse to accept such a fate.”

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Stella lowered her voice again. She spoke slowly, but each word carried weight, like chewing through beef tendon and forcing the audience to slowly savor and contemplate it. Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.

“Self-respect is a weapon. It is a sword used against the enemy. But do not misunderstand. Our enemy is extremely powerful, even more powerful than we are. And I am not talking about humanity or the Holy See.”

“It is the Electors!”

“We remain fallen to this day only because the Electors refuse to strive forward. I can smell lust, greed, and tyranny. Combined, these things have a name.”

“Degeneracy.”

“It is precisely their degeneracy that has kept us from stepping beyond the Land of Eternal Night even now.”

“We need a leader. A far-sighted demon. A great demon with courage, one capable of striking down and annihilating our enemies!”

Without even needing to think, a phrase emerged naturally.

“A new Queen of Eternal Night!”

“And one day, she will appear and lead all demons toward victory!”

Stella felt as though she was about to faint from all the talking.

Even she had no idea what nonsense she was spouting anymore. None of it seemed to connect properly.

“Resenting the lowliness of one’s birth, degenerating into useless pleasures, refusing to accept the humiliation of defeat, compromising before the shackles of reality. All I want is the recognition and respect of the entire world. All I want is to live free from the persecution of these four tragedies.”

“My friends, listen to me. The situation is about to change. We will defeat humanity and become the victors.”

“Our words will soon be forgotten, but the actions we take in the future will surely be remembered for centuries!”

A brief silence.

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Then came thunderous applause like mountains roaring and seas surging.

Patolize stood in the corner, gazing at the figure on the stage. Stella’s face was pale and she looked as though she might collapse at any moment, yet somehow, she seemed to be carrying the future fate of the entire Demon Realm upon her shoulders.

“…Incredible.”

Patolize murmured.

“So this is President’s philosophy for the club?”

“I never imagined it would reach such heights, such magnificent ambition. So intense, so radiant…”

“A revolution, Stella. Is this what you truly want?”

Amid the deafening cheers, Stella supported herself against the lectern, seeing stars flashing before her eyes.

‘It’s over.’

‘What the hell had I just said…’

Translator Note

That moment when you speak without thinking first HAHAHAH XD