Claire was at first reluctant when she saw the propositions made by Samantha and Ashley to make the village into a haunted castle fit for beings who ruled with strength and terror, however she eventually came to agreement after Ashley had made a convincing argument.

"Don't you want to help as many people as you can? How are we supposed to help anyone if we live in some pampered up lovey dovey city that warms peoples hearts?"

"What do you mean? If the city looks lovely wouldn't it attract people and encourage them to come under our protection? Why would you purposely make everything look... creepy and scary?"

"Because we are not saviors. We aren't here to save everyone. We are here to do what we can with what we have. Say that we build a nice little city and dress all nice like we are human leaders... heroes even. Perhaps we would use illusion spells to go around as humans even. Say we go and give speeches about justice and love and peace, and uniting all monsters and humans alike under one banner. What do you think would happen?"

Claire's face twinged.

She was not so naive as to think that everyone would follow such heroic figures.

There would be corrupted people who would try to use those figures for their own benefit. There would be others in opposition to them as a whole if it were to be discovered that their identities were of monsters. They would have to lie to keep the peace, and even that would be shaky at best.

But alternatively, what if a group of demons showed up who seemed to threaten the current society, and used force to rule as absolute dictators?

The people would unite against these demons- look for a hero, and wish for the common enemy to be defeated.

People would always be selfish, and always look for a way to continue benefiting themselves.

The antiheroes wanted to become the villains of this world so that the selfishness of people would result in a protection and assisting of others. Not only this, but if they united people under their rule- even if they were united against them, they would at least cease fighting among themselves. While that required much planning and power to pull off, given that they had to ensure that no revolts occurred against them, it was a viable solution, and the path which the antiheroes had decided to take.

If a greedy slavemaster was threatened by a demon, he would first throw his slaves at the demon in order to protect his own life and his estate. However, even these slaves had a worth to him. In a best case scenario, a hero would rise up and defeat the demon before the slaves could be touched. This would unite people to support the hero, because it would be in their self interest to do so.

The antiheroes wanted a situation where the selfishness of men and beast alike was turned against them- only for the combined strength of the heroes, the people, and the monsters alike to fall far short of their power and create a temporary slot of chaos.

That was when they would switch gears and take over in the chaos, uniting all under their own selfishness, and creating a scenario where even if one was selfish- that this very self interest would be turned towards helping one another.

Not only this, but putting on the images of heroes put many limitations on the antiheroes.

They would not be allowed to make the logical decisions and cut their losses- it would be expected for them to save anyone and everyone, even when it was impossible, or even when a person was so far gone that they were unsalvageable as a human being.

Trevor wanted nothing to do with that.

He wanted to help people, but only within his limits. The second things became troublesome for the antiheroes, it was time to pull out. It was actually much safer to make everyone out to be enemies than to pretend like he could help everyone. They would be able to do as they wished, use any underhanded tactics in order to get their way, and not have to worry for a second about public opinion. Particularly so if they ruled as dictators who silenced all who opposed them.

Too many problems arise from being loved by all in order to keep that love instilled. It requires hours, days, even years to build up relationships.

It only takes a second for them to crumble.

So why not just allow these malicious and tremendous images to become their true image?

It would lead to an image which is not so easily shaken by a single action, however there was also one more thing to consider. This was of course, what if an evil overlord was to perform a good action for the sake of the people?

This might have rippling effects, however the terror would remain. People would likely be stunned and awestruck, however they would also be suspicious and wonder if it was too good to be true.

This was exactly the aim of the antiheroes.

To present a situation to people which seemed hopeless, and then present a solution which seems too good to be true.

This is the power of lowering the expectations of people.

Claire understood their logic well, but even so... she wanted this group to become heroes and save people.

Was it impossible to become heroes and just help people out of kindness after all? Was that simply too problematic, and too unrealistic of a goal to pursue? Most importantly, would presenting themselves as demon lords actually prove to help people more than it hindered them?

Claire did not know.

She decided that she would do what she could with what she had, and she would let the antiheroes do what they could with what they had. Even if she didn't agree with their logic, with their actions, with their demeanor... she still believed that they wanted to do what was right. To an extent...

"I will do my best to assist you all."

The construction then went on for two weeks, and Claire had helped manage it. She even put in some suggestions at making the scenery look even more creepy.

Now, the antiheroes had approached her and explained to her that they were going to leave the domain and let her take over.

She vowed to manage the country well and continue spreading the message of terror- even if she truly wanted to assist others in her heart.

----

The antiheroes, though disguised as elves, were easily recognized by the inhabitants of their village. How could they forget the regal bearings of their absolute rulers?

They eventually reached the edge of the dictatorship, and looked on into the forest which had been largely cleared out due to the massive use of wood in the construction. Of course, new trees had been planted to replace the used ones.

"Heh heh.... Elves huh... I guess I know how you feel in one of these bodies now, eh Theo?", Garett laughed.

"Well, they are not too different from human bodies. A little slimmer and longer ears, but nothing too crazy. I am more curious about what it feel like to be in the body of a demon, Gary."

"Ya'll don't understand how weird it is to be a ghost."

"Hahaha!"

"Indeed."

The antiheroes set off into the forest, towards the Vythguard empire.

----

Side story:

Turning back time a bit... back to when Samantha had first obtained the ability to read minds.

[Intelligence: MAX]

[Maximizing Trait: Mind Reading]

"EHH!!! Get out of my mind!!!", Ashley screamed upon seeing Samantha's new ability.

'Ah shit... shit... I can't allow that woman to see what I have going on in my mind... she'll find out too much... these odd feelings and thoughts that I sometimes get about her... the fact that I am actually always freaking out on the inside, when I try to put on my negotiations while keeping a poker face... shit! This might be the end for my ego...', Trevor thought.

'If you can hear me right now... please just ignore everything I just thought. Ok? OK!?! Get out!!!!'

Trevor was having a mental breakdown at the thought of his mind being read.

'divided by five thirds... times eight sixths... carry the one... bingo! If she can hear my thoughts then there is exactly a 23% chance that her opinion of me will either stay the same or increase, and a 77% chance that her opinion of me will decrease... now lets see what the chances of a significant decrease in opinion are... if we assume significant to be defined as 2/3 of the previous opinion rating...'

Garett was running some numbers in his head like a madman as he saw this.

Samantha merely tilted her head as she saw the three all fretting over something, however...

She could not hear any voices.

They were currently at their home, all doing paperwork at the table, when they had suddenly leveled up. It was late night, and none of the subjects were nearby, so Samantha did not hear anything. No voices at all.

Silence.

Ashley was looking at her with a worried face.

"I said get out of my mind!!! I don't want anyone seeing what I have up here!!!"

"Just a minu-"

"Yep. Well. I suppose it has been good working with you up to this point, but you likely don't want anything to do with me after hearing those thoughts... I suppose I can apologize or something, but there is no getting around this. Things are certainly going to be real awkward real quick if we are bound together and you know exactly what we all are thinking.", Trevor said, clearly flustered and stuttering.

This was the first time Samantha had ever seen Trevor so nervous.

"I said wait just a minute!!! I-"

"Ahh... It seems that the chance of you having a significant opinion change on me is pretty low... I suppose it's because you've already seen too much? Heh heh... I suppose acting like a demon and lowering your standards was the right decision...", Garett chuckled.

"I CANT HEAR ANYTHING YOU RETARDS!!!"

"Ah."

"Ah."

"Ah."

The three all stared at each other before letting out a breath of relief and then laughing their asses off.

"I see... so that's how it is.", Trevor stated.

"She has no reason to lie. If you are lying I will personally see to it that you get punished for it.", Ashley said with a sadistic grin.

"Damn. All those calculations based on an incorrect assumption... what a waste of time....", Garett muttered, disappointed.

"Well, at least we can continue things as they were before. I admit that I would be a little freaked out as well if any of you could read my mind... even if we are comrades who have been through thick and thin together... the depths of ones mind are something that shouldn't be so easily shown...", Samantha whispered.

As she said this, she was reminded of her feelings towards Trevor.

He was an arrogant, egotistic maniac who seemed to enjoy the faces of despair as he struck an unfavorable deal with an unsuspecting party, however...

She had come to admit that she loved him, and that she was even somewhat jealous that Ashley and Garett had progressed their relationship before she- an idol- was able to progress hers.

She knew very well that she didn't want anyone to be able to see into her mind, so she was glad that she couldn't see into the minds of her comrades. Even if speaking with other people became tainted due to overhearing of their thoughts, she had at least her comrades who she could be herself around and not worry about.

"Now then... mmm! This vegetable soup is delicious... It really is a shame that Red is the only one who can cook around here.", Trevor said.

"I.. yeah... it is good.", Samantha quietly whispered.

"But... cough cough... I am sure that if we were back in the real world that your cooking would have been just as good.", Trevor said with a slightly uncomfortable face, while stuttering.

Samantha looked at him with a light smile.

"Thank you."

Ashley and Garett were slowly scooting away from the two and had turned their seats around and began conspicuously whistling.

"Nothing to see here..."

"Nope. Nothing at all."

Trevor let out a laugh.

"Haha... how stupid we are... are we not supposed to be a group of monsters and demons?", Samantha asked.

Trevor responded to her kindly.

"We are only demons to those who look at us as demons. To me, you are nothing short of an angel."