Combat Maid Harem

Lawrend stood up.

The moment he did so, the forest behind him rustled. His maids came out in unison together with what was left of the Twelve Heavenly Demons.

Each and every one of them had a look of reverence in their eyes. The way they looked at Lawrend was not for a fair ruler or a dictator but for a god. In their eyes, he might as well be a god.

The man who defeated the legendary protector of the demon world, or rather, the man who defeated the vermin that stole the natural laws of the demon world. It was crystal clear that no matter what they think, they owed Lawrend a favor.

"The demon world has lost its initial glory for more than ten thousand years under the iron fist of West. He may be unknown to most of you, but he was the husband of my now-deceased woman, Valentina."

As Lawrend spoke, his voice grew louder. They soon reached the end of the world. Every demon that could think was able to process what he was uttering. It was a magic that originated from his understanding of the soul.

"He was lacking in talent, but his wife continued to support him, and he became a Heaven Mage, just like she was. But the greed in West's heart does not end there. To achieve more power, West killed his wife, who tried to stop him from stealing the laws of the Spirit World. Without any hesitation, he killed her and stripped the natural laws.

"You demons, who strive to appear human, did you ever wonder why you could mate with them?"

Lawrend paused and gave them a few seconds to mull over his words.

"You were all the result of a tragedy I shan't mention. After an act of successful revenge, I, Lawrend Horiel Ignis, return the core of this world's laws."

The world shook. The skies, the land, and the oceans rippled.

An enormous power seemed to awaken. A sigh could be heard coming from everywhere.

A gigantic eye that spanned the horizon appeared. It had a gash on its pupil that leaked an enormous amount of mana.

A thought flowed into Lawrend's head.

[Ye' who hold thy pupil, what is thee wish?]

Lawrend's soul shook. The enormity of this energy was something even he could not compare against.

"I want answers. What are you? What happened to the civilization here before?" Lawrend asked with bated breath.

He was excited to know the answers to his questions. The chance to know them was before him. He wouldn't be sure if the Goddess would really answer him.

The gigantic eye widened its pupils and focused on Lawrend. It stared for a long time. Under its influence, Lawrend saw his whole life flash before his eyes.

"Wha-!?"

Lawrend jumped in shock as he realized what happened. The eye read his whole soul.

[Thy is the Spirit World. Thy grants the power to all of Astraea's beings. Thee comes from Gaia. Thee is not from this part of the eternal cosmos.]

The thoughts Lawrend received overwhelmed his mind. There was suddenly new information that he wasn't aware of being fed to him.

"How did you know about the name of my origin?" Lawrend asked with fear.

It was too strong. He still couldn't see through it. It was the same situation he got with the Goddess when he was still so weak.

But it didn't make sense to him as he was already a Divine Mage. He should be able to at least pick up some clues.

[Thy is about to condense thy Shattered God avatar. Thee shan't try unveiling thy.]

Lawrend froze in place. He was like a little kid caught stealing cookies he wasn't supposed to eat. He sweated profusely as he didn't even seem to do anything, but the being could already tell what he was doing.

[Thee origin is written in thee soul. A copy but a supreme copy except for thee soul material origin.]

Lawrend understood a bit. The being was telling him that his soul was copied so well from the original Lawrend that it was almost indistinguishable except for what made his soul up.

That information was something Lawrend didn't know. Once again, he realized the difference between him and the being.

The whole Demon World was watching Lawrend's interaction with the eye, but they couldn't seem to move. They could only keep their eyes open as they watched them.

"Who is Astraea?"

[Astraea is thee soul's origin.]

"So she is the Human World. Do you know about the Goddess then?"

[Goddess? Thee mean Astraea's Lady?]

"Lady? I guess, so..?"

Lawrend thought he would get an answer but the reply only made him severely confused. So many new things were being introduced to him he didn't get the time to process all of them together.

"I get it! Yes!"

True to his intelligence, Lawrend pieced everything together. He was overwhelmed by the eye's power which made his mind slower than it normally was.

Astraea should be the name of the Human World and the Goddess was the Lady of the Human World. In other words, the Goddess controls Astraea.

[Thee finally understands. Thy wants to hear ye' wish.]

Lawrend took a deep breath. The Spirit World didn't take that his questions were his wish, so he thought of one.

"I want to bring someone back from the dead," Lawrend said.

[Death…]

The eye suddenly closed. A powerful but ethereal wave of energy washed over the whole Demon World. After a few seconds, the eyes opened again.

[She is not here. Thee can ask Astraea when she wakes. Thee can still wish.]

The eye was extremely benevolent at Lawrend.

"You still didn't understand my earlier question. I want to know the history of this world."

[Is thee certain to desire thy answer?]

The eye squinted at Lawrend.

He was sure that he wanted the answer, but it made Lawrend doubt. The eye was that powerful where its thoughts influenced Lawrend without it intending to.

It may have well been the reason why everyone was frozen in place.

Lawrend took a long and deep breath before saying, "Yes. I want to know."