༺ I Don’t Need a Guillotine for My Revolution ༻
Written by – 카르카손
Translated by – Mara Sov
༺ Revolutionary Period – The Discord ༻
Abyss Corporation.
Enshrouded in a dense, black smog where not a single ray of light shone from the heavens, stood the city of Pandemonium.
Once, this name belonged to the nation ruled by the Demon King centuries ago, but now, this name has been allocated to the Capital of Abyss Corporation.
Under the black smog resembling the Abyss, closely packed buildings shone not by the sun’s grace, but with magic engineering, and beneath those bright lights, mummy-like humans – or more commonly known as ‘Drones’ – bustled around the cityscape.
When the clock tower at the center of the city rang, Paimon, the CEO of ‘Sloth Corps’ yawned as they sat at a conference table.
“Very well. Let’s begin the regular meeting of Abyss Corporation. All CEOs shall present their reports.”
Said an imposing demon, clad in armor adorned with the split halves of the Demon King’s crown with twin swords hoisted on his back.
No sooner had Baal, the CEO of ‘Pride Corps’ declared, a beautiful demon, twirling a pistol in hand wearing a fancy admiral’s hat, spoke up.
“Wrath has no issues! Ah, but in the southern part of the Easter Continent, there’s some trouble brewing with the Elves! Requesting permission to crush them!”
“Denied, Barbatos. If I’m not mistaken, during our last meeting it was concluded that our costs were higher than the expected profit margin. And……It seems that Belphegor is absent again.”
“Booo- Booo- The entire Wrath Corp craves for violence!”
Barbatos’s protests were completely ignored by Baal.
Then, another demon – Saleos – who blew a wine bottle as if it were a trumpet spoke.
“Tsk- I still think it would be better for me to be out there, making money, than be here, wasting my time. But that’s just my thought anyway. ‘Gluttony’ has no issues as well. Those snooty Elves from the Eastern Empire act all high and mighty, but they hunger for opium all the same.”
“Fufu- ‘Lust’ has a biiiiit of a problem~ Why! With the demand for humans our dear ‘Sloth’ has~ their appetite is truly…insatiable, fufu~ But our supply of cute little humans is decreasing~ We need to do something about that sooooon~.”
With such a statement from ‘Lust’ CEO Gremory, Baal furrowed his brow.
“We shall devise a solution then.”
Until then, the CEO of ‘Sloth’, Paimon, who had been half-lying on the table stood up.
Crossing their beautiful legs and stretching their white robe, Paimon smiled sweetly.
“Oh, dear~ As the CEO of ‘Lust’ I’d like to complain about our Paimon here! Their behavior has been so naughty lately~ Don’t you know such things are reserved for ‘Lust’ only~?”
“Sigh- I trust that our beautiful CEO of Lust here will understand the reasons for our shortage. Oh right, I almost forgot…Sigh-. As the CEO of ‘Sloth’ I’d like to lodge a complaint against Pride.”
“A complaint against Pride, you say.”
Baal’s eyebrows rose, but Paimon maintained an aloof expression, running their hands through its blood-red hair.
And with such a relaxed posture, they continued.
“While Pride is in charge of overseeing internal affairs of Abyss Corporation as well as handling foreign threats…How should I say this…sigh- Sooo troublesome. Well….The recent performance of Pride……Has been…Below expectations.”
“There have been many unforeseen variables in Francia. Aside from that, our performance has been respectable.”
Baal quipped with a stern face, but Paimon snorted,
“The plan to deal with the Marquis of Lafayette failed. The Revolution happened sooner than we wanted, and there was that whole mess with King Louis. Needless to say, Sloth had opposed those foolish decisions…Yawl-. But since one listened, we lost almost all our assets in Francia.”
This time, Baal didn’t open his mouth.
“Your spy, Halphas who got into Aquitaine went missing. And surprise! Sometime later, he appears as one of the Pope’s stuffed toys……The attempts to create internal strife in Francia, as well as the assassination of the Countess of Aquitaine all failed. What this all managed to achieve, however, was the strengthening of the positions of both the Marquis as well as the Countess.”
After saying this, Paimon paused for a second, and smiled once more.
“If we consider such failure that caused severe losses to both Sloth and Lust, as well diminishing our human resources……One can’t help but question if Pride is indeed capable of handling the foreign matters of Abyss Corporation-“
As Baal’s hand reached for one of his swords, Paimon’s mouth closed, as a moment of tense silence grated the meeting.
“Awnn we fighting?! You guys should’va included lil old me!”
Barbatos, the CEO of Wrath laughed heartily as she twirled her revolver around. Seeing this, Baal slowly removed his hand from one of his swords.
After a couple more seconds of tense silence, Baal spoke.
“Abyss Corporation’s Statute, Section 1, Clause 3. All forms of disputes between members of the council are prohibited……Except in cases that pose a direct or indirect threat to Abyss Corporation. Therefore, Any fight is prohibited, Barbatos.”
“Booooooo-.”
Baal ignored Barbatos’s childish tantrums as he glared at Paimon.
“As the CEO of Pride, I take responsibility for the losses both Sloth and Lust are facing. A solution for such problems shall be presented shortly. That is all. This meeting is adjourned.”
With those words, Baal rose and the meeting came to an end.
Leaving the conference room, Paimon returned to their room through the use of a teleportation device, as they slumped into a chair.
“Ahhh-. This chill…”
The moment Baal grasped his sword, a shiver raced through their body.
For the first time in hundreds of years, the sheer terror and tension they felt at that moment were no different than an explosive orgasm.
Indeed, as expected from the demon who personally slaughtered their King and seized control of Abyss Corporation.
Even after centuries, it was clear that not even a speck of fragility tarnished both the body and the soul of such a demon.
Lost in ecstasy, Paimon shifted their gaze to the newspaper from Francia that stood on top of their desk.
It was a newspaper with a drawing from the Marquis.
Seeing this, a faint smile graced Paimon’s face.
This was the individual – A mere human – who rejected their invitation and sabotaged all their plans for Francia.
Paimon lifted the newspaper and kissed the man’s image.
It was pure bliss. Adorable. Lovely. Indeed, Paimon could only wonder how the real thing would taste……
Abyss Corporation. An organization established from the ashes of the Demon King’s realm – Pandemonium – and an organization that fundamentally prohibited any sort of disputes between its seven companies.
Even interference or competition within each other’s business and territories was forbidden. As a result, Paimon, the CEO of Sloth, spent hundreds of years unable to touch any other domain than Sloth.
It was unclear how the other felt about this, but Paimon felt quite discontent with such a rule.
Their wish was to incite, to provoke wars, to indulge in lustful luxuries, to encourage all sorts of wicked deeds……The demon no longer wished to hide their desires or their cardinal sins.
Above all, Paimon wished to savor the pleasure of looking down at others from the highest seat of Abyss Corporation. They wanted to dominate it all.
From the start, it was absurd that demons formed corporations ruled by order.
Demons were, after all, beings of chaos.
That is why Paimon couldn’t help but love the Marquis.
Ever since its creation, everything has gone smoothly for the Abyss Corporation. Until that man appeared and shook the very foundations of their government.
A man cursed as a disgrace for all nobles, a man doomed to live and die in a crumbling regime. But he was also a man who saved one Christine Aquitaine, targeted by the lesser ‘Envy’ Corps. A man who instead of being drowned by the revolution, joined them, and now stood as their hero, spoiling so many plans of the Abyss Corporation.
How much more could this man achieve?
How long would it take for him to fall?
“Brace yourself, my beloved Marquis.”
Paimon laughed deeply as they whispered honey-laced words to a man not present.
“Create more. Change more. Destroy more. Bring this detestable order to ruins~”
–
After spending a brief, but warm time with me, Christine returned to Lumiere.
I remained here in Reims to lead the remaining troops, including some of the wounded soldiers who could still fight as well as Eris and Sir Gaston…And Damien towards Vauquois.
“General Lafayette!”
“It’s an honor to see you, General, Sir!”
Everywhere I went, soldiers saluted me with bright faces, and I returned their greetings somewhat awkwardly.
When I first set foot on this path, I never imagined I would gain such status.
It’s…Nice.
“Ohh! The Saint is here!”
“Where?!”
“My honorable lady! I only survived thanks to you!”
But, Eris was far more popular than me.
Though she still used a full robe to hide from the sun, her appearance and kind deeds had spread towards the entire land.
“Ugh-. I’ll never get used to this.”
Eris leaned closer to me as she whispered, prompting a chuckle from me.
“A beautiful saint who protected the army with her divine powers, and then healed countless soldiers after the combat. It would be strange if you weren’t popular with the men.”
“Blegh-! Hearing this from you makes it worse!”
Eris visibly recoiled.
I glanced aside to see Sir Gaston following us, as well as Damien De Millbeau who seemed to be envious about something.
Sir Gaston had played a key role in the previous battle, but it seems he didn’t receive much recognition.
One day, I will make sure to reward Sir Gaston for all the loyalty he has given me.
……As for Damien,
Well,
He could die in a ditch for all I care.
As we approached our destination, we were greeted by a welcoming party.
“Welcome, Marquis Lafayette! Thanks to your swift decisions we were able to take hold of Vauquois without a single drop of blood spilled!”
Raphael Valliant’s face beamed, perhaps because he regained control of the city he once occupied.
Speaking of which, they started calling me a Marquis instead of a General…
What could this mean?
Hiding my thoughts, I smiled back at him.
“It must be thanks to General Valliant’s quick maneuvers. Well done. Ah, and you too, Monsieur Desaix.”
“Ha ha, thank you. I’m glad to see you healthy once again.”
Louis Desaix answered me with a faint smile.
Honestly, this man is a heaven-sent gift for me. Without him, I would only have Damien!
I must guarantee that at least Sir Gaston and Desaix get promoted.
“Now that the armies of Germania and the Northern Alliance have withdrawn, we must deal with King Louis.”
Finally, the moment had come. It was time to put an end to this corrupt and decaying Kingdom.
How much blood had been spilled because of that incompetent King?
“Ah…Well…How to say this…”
Valliant shrugged and came closer to me, whispering in my ear.
“Actually, we received a messenger from them.”
“A messenger?”
“Yes. He claims to be the Count of Belfort, but……”
The Count of Belfort was a vassal to the Duke of Lorenne.
“Oh, and what does he say?”
“Ha, he insists on speaking with the Marquis himself. We’ve accommodated him for now, but should we dispose of him?”
Valliant’s eyes sparkled as he casually suggested something rather ominous.
Honestly, it might be fine to just dispose of him…
“Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’ll meet with him.”
Who knows? Given their significant loss and current crisis, they might have come to their senses and brought a reasonable proposal.
–
I had to suppress a snort when I saw the Count dressed in elegant clothes, drinking tea a servant had prepared as if he was only visiting another Lord before the Revolution took place.
“It’s been a while, Marquis Lafayette. Why it seems only yesterday that we fought under the same flag. Time waits for no one, I see. Regardless, His Grace, the Duke of Lorenne could not help but admire your incredible tales of valor.”
“I see…I didn’t have the opportunity to listen to those ‘tales of valor’ people were singing. And if I remember, Count, it hasn’t been a while at all, considering we fought as enemies on the same battlefield.”
The Count’s eyebrows twitched.
These fools……They still haven’t come to their senses.
I could hear all my expectations of hearing something reasonable for once shatter like glass as I pondered on how to deal with the man before me.
“Marquis. His grace, the Duke trusts that the honorable Marquis, who once fought alongside him, sees the necessity of making a decisive move to save our lands.”
Yet, the Count’s statement surpassed my expectations.
“A decisive move to save our lands?”
“Indeed. Hasn’t there been too much bloodshed already? Our paths may have diverged, but His Grace still believes that you, Marquis, continue to be a proud patriot of this land and-“
“Stop wasting my time and get to the point, Count Belfort.”
After the Count regained his bearings, he finally spoke.
“The Duke of Lorenne is willing to hand over his lands and King Louis to the Republic, on the conditions that his vassals and their families are granted safe passage into their exile, and have the permission to take their wealth with them.”
Hah-.
……The more things change
The more they stay the same.
These people,
Are truly the offspring of this rotten Kingdom.
TL Note:
The Abyss Corps that we know of are as follows.
- Sloth Corp with ‘Paimon’ as the CEO. Sloth takes care of technology advancements
- Pride Corp with ‘Baal’ as the CEO. Pride is intern affairs and external affairs.
- Wrath Corp with ‘Barbatos’ as the CEO. Security? It’s something to do with their legendary ‘Las’ fleets.
- Gluttony Corp with ‘Saleos’as the CEO. Drugs?
- Lust Corp with ‘Gremory’ as the CEO. I mean, I think this one is self-explanatory.
And there’s Envy that deals with poisons and assassinations. But I’ll have to double-check if the author didn’t do an ‘upsie’ and rebranded Envy as Gluttony. Since Envy was never mentioned again after the initial 10 chapters.
We have the Illustrations for the Abyss Corporation on Discord! Just join and see!
