Half a year has passed since the Battle of Erbilan. The war against humanity has ended. The Old Humans are scattered and weakened. Chaos took to the throne and ushered in a new era of darkness.

Or at least that's what a fantasy book would say. But this world is neither a fantasy, nor does it take place in a book. I'm Chaos, not a bringer of darkness, but a purveyor of love and happiness!

At least in the bedroom, that is. Not that I have a lot of time on my hands with all the administrative duties that come with being the queen of the Dominion. I wonder how Maou-mama did it, but I'm slowly learning.

Fortunately, I have capable people around me in Oquachit and Markor who are versed in matters outside of war as well. Other advisors have been supporting me in all this time as well, and we're well on our way to rebuild the Dominion from Erbilan all the way to Pontis Daemonis.

I've received little news from the human nations, but it seems that the Alliance has been officially dissolved. The Kingdom of Lares wasn't a member during the last war, so we weren't even officially enemies. Still, they haven't come forward to vie for peace with the Dominion yet.

I believe it's only a matter of time. Corruption has disappeared around the world since I didn't undergo the demon lord ritual. Without the threat of corruption or demon invasions, the humans no longer have a reason to sail halfway across the world to attack us.

Since many demons rely on it to grow older than the natural lifespans that Alverost gave them, Exla and I worked on making a contained version of the corruption that only extends slightly beyond the Ceogath continent, which doesn't rely on a single demon to generate but rather a collective imagination of the entire species. That way, demons who want to live long lives need to stay in the Dominion and the surrounding lands.

Without the looming threat of corruption or a demon invasion, Thorvadis and Arcelia's jobs are made easier. They're using their influence and names to spread the word that the gods they worshipped all this time were humans from a forgotten era who were playing a strategy game using entire nations as their toys.

It's going to be a long and hard road, but as a member of a species that can practically live forever, I'll see all of this to the end. For now, I only need to concentrate on rebuilding and keeping an eye on Zenlith, who's locked in the vaults of Arkaim. I'm sure the Old Humans will try something to get him out of there in time.

"Where does the story go from here?" Senka suddenly asks when the meeting finishes, and the ministers leave the room. I turn to look at her in surprise but find her looking up at me rather than into space as she usually does when saying something that sounds meta.

"Well, I doubt it's over yet." I look out the window to let my gaze sweep across the nightscape of Arkaim, which has grown busier again in recent months after the rebuilding has been completed and families returned to their homes. "Alverost and Shelnir are still out there. And we haven't heard from Sintress, who went to the moon to check on the fake Juzual."

Exla returned a few days after leaving with Aorutihaua to inform me that she has brought them to the Dark Continent after all. She then left again to be with the little meteorite god, and I haven't heard from her since either. I'm sure if something happened to her, Zenlith would have broken out of containment already, so that's a good indicator of her continued safety.

I just feel like something is brewing in the background of the period of peace we're having now.

"No, it's definitely not over yet." I glance at Flann, who stands beside Rewera. The blonde androgynous girl with the unfathomable green eyes has only been observing, rarely ever speaking in all the time she has been staying by my side. She's more of a doll than the actual cursed doll girl I'm talking to right now.

"Mataku." Senka mutters. We had plenty of time to catch up on everything that happened on both our sides, so she knows what kind of existence this Primordial Terror is.

I left the Adanak Kingdom to its own devices under Mereana since I had to take care of my people, but maybe it's time I take a look there to see how it's doing. After all, Mataku disappeared with Mithra after apparently succeeding in some kind of experiment, but I doubt he left the Armeria continent for good.

Nobody there can deal with him. I'm not even sure I could fight a Crawling Chaos that had thousands of years to experiment with the Imagination Engine. We come from the same species, and he most likely has plenty more mass than I do, as well as more knowledge about what is and isn't possible using imagination.

I never got to learn what machine Zenlith used to disintegrate my split bodies instantly since Exla destroyed it, but that might be the only way to kill Mataku. I'll have to speak to the cloud girl about that.

"Tell me when I'll be free to hop over to Armeria for a while." I address Rewera while picking up Senka. The doll girl could easily walk on her own, but I've been spoiling her recently. It seems she has become quite attached to me despite her snarky attitude.

The maid leader exchanges a glance with Flann then lowers her head apologetically. I can only laugh wryly at this, and I'm sure she's well aware of the fact that she just made a silent joke. She's implying that as the leader of a nation, I don't have any free time.

Of course, that's not entirely true. I could always appoint a prime minister and just drop everything on them, but I feel that at that point, a monarch has no more reason to exist. In other words, what I need now is somebody temporary I can trust to make decisions in my absence. Somebody who knows what they're doing, with experience in politics.