Hello everyone, Astaroth here. You've probably heard of the concept of a creation myth before. It's a way in which a religion explains how the world was created, and they tend to involve that religion's gods as creators. This world is no different, and has a creation myth of its own, in which Lady Luciel first created the other Goddesses, Undine of Water, Gnome of Earth, Sylph of Wind and Salamander of Fire. These five Goddesses, together, created the world, and after coming to a decision, they decided to gather all the world's malice in one place for easy containment, leading to Lady Entropy's creation.

Of course, not a word of that is true. Somehow, in its own way, that's kind of impressive.

"""Welcome back, Master, Five Demon Generals""", a platoon of Ghost Maids greeted us in unison the moment we arrived at the castle.

"Wel, Welcome back", Evyna stuttered with a happy voice and a slightly nervous expression.

"... I'm happy you're safe", Lady Entropy's flat voice sounded near my ears. Of course, she was invisible.

"We have naturally returned without problems", I said, prompting the Demon Generals to speak up.

"Master's acting was wonderful, and I was able to confirm my makeup skills", Charlotte said, nodding to herself.

"I managed to obtain some good data", Tempest commented, though I was already pretty sure she'd blow something up.

"I got to hunt, I got to hunt~", Davna happily broadcasted, causing Evyna to draw back slightly.

"Navillus is happy!", Navillus shouted, not bothering with an explanation. Her gelatinous jiggling didn't exactly explain much, either.

"I got to see a great side of Master...", Lilith let leak out, drooling and probably fantasizing. I vowed once again not to use [True Demon Form] on my whole body around Devils if I could help it.

After everyone had given their commentary, we entered the castle, and were met with an army of Monsters- mostly Demons- some with happy, some with anxious and some with impatient expressions.

"""Welcome back, Master!""", they shouted in a cacophony of voices, far from the orderly platoon of Ghost Maids earlier. Deciding the ringing in my ears would go away if I didn't pay attention to it, I put on my characteristic sneer and confidently exclaimed: "We have returned, my Monsters!" Afterwards, the Monsters cheered loudly and separated into several groups around the Generals: Devils mostly gathered around Lilith, who would no doubt share unsavoury accounts of my [True Demon Form], Witches, various Magi and other intellectual types gathered around Tempest to share research notes, Davna was a hotspot for ogres, orcs and various other musclebrains so she could share stories of the battle while Navillus was a gathering place for some of the less intelligent, including most non-Demon Monsters and finally, Charlotte was like a magnet for the few female monsters who wanted to learn her makeup techniques, including even some Succubi.

"Evyna, feel free to explore the castle if you like", I said. "If anyone asks where I've gone, tell them I'm speaking to Lady Entropy."

"The, the Goddess of, of Darkness? Al, Alright", she said, her expression a mix of astonishment, amazement and fear.

After knocking on the door of the empty room and receiving approval in the form of a "... The door is open." near my ears, I opened the door to Lady Entropy's room and walked inside, shutting the door behind me after I was sure she had entered as well. Moments later, like a mirror, cracks appeared in the air above the bed, and lady Entropy appeared, sitting down, her long white hair spread across the bed like flowing water, perhaps, or like a net, and her hands behind her, allowing her to comfortably lean back. Almost instinctively, I approached her, sat at her side and placed my hand on her head, gently stroking her.

"... I'm happy you're safe", she repeated, though her voice was intonationless as ever.

"I promised, didn't I? That I'd come back", I responded, not stopping my hand.

Her response was silence, but I could tell she was happy and comfortable.

"Then, Lady Entropy, I'd like to ask you some questions", I began.

"... Questions?"

"Yes. For example, why did the Aspect of Heavenly Protection revert to simply the Aspect of Protection when I obtained it?"

"... The power of light corrupted it, and my darkness purified it?", she answered, tilting her head. Despite having no intonation or expression, it felt like she was saying, 'isn't that obvious?'.

"Then, what's this about a Demon King, and divinity?"

"... You can become a true Demon King if you have seven Aspects on you and I recognise you. And now that you have that, I do."

[You have taken [two] step(s) towards becoming a Demon King.]

"And you can become a god if you gather all an existing Goddess's Aspects for yourself and then obtain a divine soul, replacing the existing Goddess."

"Then, how did you know I obtained the Aspect so quickly?"

"... Secret", she responded, turning away as if pouting or blushing. Of course, her face would never actually perform such an expressive action.

"Finally, why did you give me this Aspect so readily?"

"... I trust you with it, and you can become stronger with it. And..."

She turned back towards me, looking into my eyes with that deep, rainbow-coloured gaze which felt like it was going to take my heart away.

"I didn't give it to you for free."

"Oh my, how sly of you, lady Entropy. As expected of a Goddess of Darkness."

"... Hearing that doesn't make me happy at all", she responded, turning away again.

"Sorry, sorry", I said, gently rubbing her head. "So... What do you want in exchange?"

"... For the Aspect, and for the information.,. spoil me."

"Very well, lady Entropy. Then, how about tomorrow, I spend the entire day by your side, spoiling and praising you as much as you'd like?"

"... That'd make me happy."

After deciding on Entropy's reward in this fashion and giving her a final pat on the head, I left her- quite white and rather frilly- room to go make arrangements to make the reward possible- inform several areas of the castle I would be unavailable the following day, for example- before heading to the dining hall for dinner. We had skipped lunch, so dinner was big, and it was mostly similar to breakfast- Davna got a bowl of raw flesh, Charlotte had high-class pieces of practically raw meat from various sources, mine was like a high-class human noble's, et cetera.

"Uh, mister, mister Astaroth?", Evyna called out to me once we had finished.

"What is it?", I responded curtly, leaning back into my throne and crossing my legs.

"I, uh... You, uh... You mentioned you wanted me to, to become an, an ally, right?", she asked, averting her gaze from me.

"So I did", I answered. "I assume you have an answer then?"

"I, uh, I'd like to, uh, become your ally! Please turn me into, into a Monsh-", she shouted out enthusiastically before biting her tongue.

"Very well. It shall be done. I shall ask Lady Entropy to turn you into a Demon." I moved my hand in an elaborate gesture, calling forth a Ghost Maid, and told her "Get the ritual room ready by the day after tomorrow."

"The... The day after, after tomorrow? Does it take that long to, to get the room ready? That only took a few hours in the Holy Capital...", Evyna said, tilting her head.

"If I wished for it, I could perform the ritual in a few minutes", I said. "However, I'm confident that if I perform it two days from now, the effects will be far better than if I did it now", I finished, a sly smile on my face.

The following day, I woke up in my four-poster bed, as I did every morning. However, today, one thing was different. After all, the moment I opened my eyes, I met the gaze of Lady Entropy's doll-like face, right in front of me. It seemed she was floating above me, about a metre up.

Wiping a strand of her hair from my face, I said "Good morning, Lady Entropy" with a wry smile.

"... Good morning", she responded as expected.

"I can understand you're looking forward to this, Lady Entropy, but please at least give me time to change. Of course, I need to eat as well."

"... You promised. Just have the food delivered to my room", she said, slightly turning her head away. After a few seconds of silence, she appended "... And some for me, too."

Nodding, I used [Telepathy]- a skill used by many Monsters of high intelligence, the most notable being Davna- and contacted the chef, a Lycanthrope Chief, telling him "Deliver my food to the shrine today, and add sweet things as offerings while you're at it" before closing the connection and raising my upper body out of the bed. "Please await me in your room, Lady Entropy", I said, before quickly stroking her head a little, getting off the bed entirely and walking to my closet, changing into my regular clothing, before taking my crown and leaving my room.

Knock, knock.

The sound resounded through the hallway as I knocked on the elaborately decorated door.

"... Come in", Lady Entropy's quiet voice sounded after at least ten seconds. Opening the door, I stepped through a veil of darkness and into her room, decorated with extravagant amounts of frills and ribbons. In the middle, on her canopy bed, sat Lady Entropy, her hair like snow spread across it, her dress like darkness draped around her. Though she was as emotionless as usual, only her eyes sparkled with expectation.

"I apologise for keeping you waiting, Lady Entropy", I said, placing my hand over my chest and bowing.

"... Just get over here. You promised", she said in her characteristic toneless voice, patting the bed next to her.

Sitting down next to her, I looked her in the eyes and asked: "What would you like me to do, Lady Entropy?"

"... Until the food gets here, brush my hair", she said, pushing a hairbrush into my hands and turning her back to me.

"As you wish, Lady Entropy", I said after accepting the brush. Placing it on the bed for now, I decided I'd first run my hands through her hair, getting rid of any tangles along the way. The sensation that assaulted my hands was quite comforting, given her hair was smooth as silk, and judging from the general aura Lady Entropy emitted, she too quite enjoyed it. After a while, I finally relinquished the feeling of directly running my hands through her hair and picked the brush back up, running that through her hair instead. With gentle movements, I brushed her hair thoroughly, and just as I finished, I heard a knocking from the door.

"Master Astaroth, I shall leave your meal and the offerings outside", the Ghost Maid who had brought them reported, before I heard the sound of a tray being placed on the ground.

"Please excuse me for a second", I said, handing the brush back to Lady Entropy and walking over to the door. Once I opened the door and took a step outside, I locked eyes with the Ghost Maid, who was curiously peering into the room behind me.

"Even if you look inside, you won't see anything", I commented. "After all, Lady Entropy's Aspect of Concealment obscures vision into the shrine."

"Ah, I see", she said, nodding in understanding. "Ah- My apologies for my misconduct. I shall be taking my leave, if you would allow me."

"Yes, you are permitted. Arrange similarly for lunch and dinner", I said before taking the tray and turning around, returning to the room. Passing through the veil of darkness again, I found Lady Entropy was fixedly staring at the tray. After sitting back down next to her, I gestured towards the tray and asked, "Would you like some pudding?"

"... If you want me to eat it, feed me", she said, still fixedly staring at the bowl of what was undeniably a dessert and not suitable for breakfast. Of course, she was a goddess, so it didn't particularly matter.

"As you wish, lady Entropy", I said, taking one of many spoons off the tray- the castle's staff enjoyed preparing far more cutlery than necessary, for any meal whatsoever- and taking a scoop of the pudding. After I raised the spoon to her mouth and spoke the cliché "Say ahh", she emotionlessly opened her mouth and obediently let herself be fed. As always, the pudding did not affect her expression, but I could still tell she was enjoying this time immensely.

Like this, feeding her, petting her, playing games with her, following her every order, I spent the entire day with Lady Entropy.

After the ruler had left, the white girl clad in darkness once again fell into her habit of talking to herself.

"Why was I even worried...? If it's him, then surely, he can... After all, he's already recovered one. Definitely, he will bring back to me one more... And maybe, just maybe, the rest, too? If I could take that accursed shard's divinity, and then give it to him... Maybe we could...?"

While silently wishing she had the ability to talk this much uninhibited around other people, the despairing girl was once again slowly learning the meaning of the word 'hope'...