Volume 1: [Creation] Demon Lord Procell

Table of content
Volume 1: [Creation] Demon Lord Procell
Table of content
Prologue: The 500th Demon Lord
Chapter 1: The work of a Demon Lord
Chapter 2: Making a monster for the first time
Chapter 3: Tenko!
Chapter 4: Imitation Medals
Chapter 5: The Power of [Creation]
Chapter 6: Assault Rifle
Chapter 7: Dungeons without a Demon Lord
Chapter 8: Shotgun
Chapter 9: Skeleton Squad
Chapter 10: [Crimson Cavern]
Chapter 11: The Skeletons’ weakpoints
Chapter 12: Tenko’s little sister
Chapter 13: Elder Dwarf
Chapter 14: Elder Dwarf’s true merit
Chapter 15: Power up!
Chapter 16: [Monsters of the Covenant]
Chapter 17: [War]
Chapter 18: Building a Dungeon for the first time
Chapter 19: Undead noble
Chapter 20: Mithril Golems
Chapter 21: What lies beyond despair…
Chapter 22: Dungeon Conquest
Chapter 23: [Creation] Demon Lord Lolicell
Chapter 24: Wind Dragon dyed in madness
Chapter 25: The greatest firepower an infantry can have
Chapter 26: Your name is…
Epilogue: The Demon Lord’s Urban Development!
Illustrations
 Prologue: The 500th Demon Lord
I woke up and found myself in a gloomy stone room illuminated by
candles.
When I looked on the ground, a magic formation shone a pallid light.
“Where am I? What is this place?”
I stood up and restlessly looked around.
There wasn’t anything of note in the room that I could see.
Why am I in such a place…?
No, first of all,
“Who the heck am I?”
I muttered so. I couldn’t remember anything.
I didn’t even know my own name.
Greatly perplexed, I desperately searched my memories for clues but
nothing came up.
It was worrisome and I couldn’t help but worry.
As I was thinking so, *clunk*, a high-pitched clunking noise resounded.
When I looked in the direction it came from, a woman was there.
An extraordinarily beautiful woman with brown skin and white hair. And
also, a wolf’s ears and tail.
She wasn’t just beautiful, she also had this certain sense of
dreadfulness. An overwhelming presence enough to freeze the soul of
anyone that dared look at her.
“Finally, you’re born. I was tired of waiting.”
Her words were short but in it, there was joy. There was resignation.
There was envy.
Each and every emotion there is, squeezed into those words.
Although I was fascinated by her, I spoke.
“Tell me, who are you? Where is this place? Who the heck am I?”
The beautiful wolf-girl listened to my questions and then smiled a thin
smile.
She then opened her mouth.
“I am the [Beast] Demon Lord, Marchosias. Since you’re someone
special, I’ll let you call me Marcho.”
“Marcho… Marcho, do you know who I am?”
“Of course, I know who you are. You’re the newly born Demon Lord. A
Demon Lord just like me.”
Marcho’s shadow stretched. And from it, a blue wolf appeared.
With the same force it had when it jumped out from the shadow, it
plunged towards me.
“The rank D monster, Garm. It’s a vicious monster that devours normal
human beings in an instant. Well then, I wonder what’ll happen to you.”
My eyes opened wide.
So did the wolf with his mouth. Naturally, I backed away.
I wanted to run away but my legs were shivering, unable to take a single
step.
The distance with the blue wolf rapidly shortened.
“Hiii!”
It was almost upon me. I rolled to avoid the blue wolf’s charge.
Just before it passed through, a high-pitched clinking sound was made.
It was the sound of teeth striking teeth. Had I not been able to avoid it,
those sharp teeth would have most probably sunk deep in my body.
The blue wolf once again faced me, preparing to rush in my direction.
I fell down and couldn’t get up.
Like that, I would have certainly got hurt.
As the wolf was drooling towards me, it dove in.
I’m going to be killed.
No, I don’t want to die.
Am I just to grit my teeth and die?
Isn’t there something, anything that I could do?
Certain words popped up in my mind. In order to hang on, I uttered
those words.
“[Creation]”
I uttered almost unconsciously.
I, my power was used.
Particles of light gathered in my hand. And what appeared was a pistol…
A Quartz 19.
A best-selling automatic pistol developed by an Austrian weapon maker.
Although small, it had a great clip size and was highly reliable.
It felt like it fitted nicely into my hands. I shouldn’t have any memories
but I thought it was something I missed using.
The moment I held the gun, I calmed down. The world moved slower.
My heart was on fire but my mind was cold to the touch.
It was as usual. It was the same practiced movement, the elimination of
the threat before me.
The blue wolf came, leaping. I stared at it and placed it under my sights.
I then fire three consecutive shots. In order for the bullets to better
penetrate the wolf, I fired between the wolf’s brows. That sent the wolf
flying and raising a shriek. And then, it slammed into the ground.
“Yelp, yelp, yelp”
That surprised me. The wolf received bullets to the head and yet it lives.
In spite of the bullets in its head and all the bleeding, the blue wolf was
still glaring at me.
I stood up and approached it with care. While towering over the blue
wolf, I fired at it continuously. I shot all the bullets into its head.
A Quartz 19 has a clip size of 15 and when I fired all of it, the wolf no
longer moved, not even a twitch. The wolf turned into blue particles
and disappeared.
“Haa, haa, haa.”
After the threat passed away, the dread immediately returned to me.
My teeth chattered.
What the heck? What I did, how was that possible?
The answer to that floated in my mind.
『Unique Skill: [Creation] was demonstrated. It materializes certain
things from your memories. However, things having a trace of magical
power as well as living things can’t be materialized. The consumption of
MP is a tenth of the weight of the materialized object in grams.』
Unique Skill, what the heck is that?

“First, congratulations for passing. You were able to draw out your own
power. I welcome the birth of a new Demon Lord.”

“Demon Lord?”

“Yes, a Demon Lord. You are someone who creates and governs over
monsters and demons; someone who builds and reigns over a malicious
labyrinth; someone chosen that has an overwhelmingly powerful
Unique Skill. You’re the 500th to be born in this world, the newest
Demon Lord.”
A Demon Lord. That’s what I am now.
I don’t know what to truly feel about all this.

“Can you not make a worrying face like that? Until you stand on your
own a year later, I will be your ‘Parent’. I will teach you what a Demon
Lord truly is.”
The woman before me smiles. With my memories forgotten, my new
life has begun.
 Chapter 1: The work of a Demon Lord
“I see, you’re still confused. I guess just by calling you a Demon Lord
won’t make you get what it means all of the sudden. It can’t be helped,
I’ll show you what kind of being a Demon Lord is.”
She smiled bitterly and then turned her back towards me. I followed
after the [Beast] Demon Lord Marchosias or as I call her Marcho.
Despite her appearance of being a simple white-haired beauty (with
wolf ears and tail), there was something in her that made me believe
she’s truly a Demon Lord.
She led me into a small room.
When I looked at the mirror leaning against the wall, there was a good
looking boy halfway through his teens. Was that really me?
I felt strangely out of place.
And, lying in the center of the room was a white pedestal with a round
crystal on it.
As I tried to secretly reach for the crystal, Marcho grabbed my hand.
“Will you please not touch this? If ever this crystal breaks, all my powers
as a Demon Lord will be lost. It is my very life.”
“You’ll die?”
“No, I don’t mean it like that. I won’t be able to create monsters
anymore while all the monsters I’ve created so far will disappear as well
as the dungeon, all on top of losing my Unique Skill. I’ll still have my life,
but for a Demon Lord, it’s the same as dying.”
I felt a little relieved hearing that.
But at the same time, it also brought me worries.
If I were perhaps a so called Demon Lord as she said, then my own
crystal existed somewhere out there.
Should my crystal break and I, in turn, lose my powers as a Demon Lord
without even knowing its location, then I wouldn’t be able to remain
calm about it.
“Hee, so you’re aware of the danger in what I said. You have a good
head on you. But, don’t worry. That crystal will appear only after you
have built a dungeon. Conversely, if you don’t build a Dungeon, there
will be no crystal… [I Shall Compose].”
A massive book made of parchments appeared on her hands.
Marcho slowly opened it.
“I think you’ve already noticed but we are in the innermost part of my
Dungeon. I wonder if it looks like this.”
As she said so, a hologram was being displayed above the crystal.
It was a splendid but eerie castle.
“Although I say Dungeon, its appearance depends on the Demon Lord.
If there are the orthodox cave dungeons, then it’s also fine to have a
castle like mine. It can even be the very forest itself. You too will build
your own Dungeon once you’re independent, so you better start
thinking about what kind of Dungeon you’ll build.”
“I don’t fully understand what you just talked about. What do you mean
by being independent?”
“Ah, yes, I haven’t said anything about it, have I? Newly born Demon
Lords will study for a year under a senior Demon Lord. Afterwards, they
will be on their own and build a Dungeon. In other words, I am your
guardian for a year. Therefore, it means that I will be gently teaching
you.”
The blue wolf she suddenly set on me said enough on her gentleness.
“Well then, let’s try to prepare you for your lessons on how to build a
Dungeon. Try saying this: [I shall compose].”
“Okay. Err, [I shall compose].”
A book appeared on my hand.
I naturally opened it.
Upon doing so, there was a page with Dungeon Construction written on
it.
“From the catalogue in there, chose the ones you like and combine
them up. First is the exterior. It is the scenery seen from outside. I
wonder if those will suit your preferences perfectly. Next, the interior.
The space-time in the Dungeon’s interior is distorted. So actually, my
dungeon is much wider than what you see from the outside. It has vast
levels.”
I flipped through the pages.
Just as she said, various dungeon designs were available. In all of the
pages though, DP was written.
“What does this DP mean?”
“Dungeon Points. We Demon Lords are always collecting them,
desperately so. And in exchange for them, we can obtain the things
written on the book. The elaborate exteriors costs more DP even
though there is no change in its performance. It’s purely for aesthetics.
For the interior, however, its price is directly related to its performance,
I guess you could say.”
“Interior?”
“It’s faster if you saw it, right?”
As soon as she said so, the scenery on the hologram being displayed by
the crystal changed.
“My Dungeon is divided by floors, and is the type where you progress
the higher you go. A floor is subsequently divided into three rooms, and
these rooms are purchased individually. So for the first floor of my
Dungeon, I’ve made it with cheap stone hallways.”
As she said, all of the twists and turns were made of stones.
“On the top levels, I’ve bought expensive rooms that has traps and all
sorts of things which the first few floors don’t have.”
As I looked at the hologram, I saw that a human male was fighting with
a Kobold. A Kobold was a bipedal dog monster.
The blue wolf that I fought… When compared to the Garm I fought, the
Kobold would look like a puppy.
The man defeated the Kobold and took a victory pose.
The scene changed once more. The new one was of a human finding a
chest, with greed all over his face.
“You’re not using monsters like the blue wolf I fought earlier? If that guy
was having such a hard time fighting with something like a Kobold, then
a Garm would kill him easily.”
I just didn’t get it.
If you intended to drive away intruders, you should definitely deploy
powerful monsters from the get go.
“I can’t do that. DP, you see, is the life force of humans. Strong
emotions like fear, despair and lust are particularly tasty. The more
humans I gather in this Dungeon, the more DP I can obtain. A lot of DP
is obtained when they’re killed off but if too many powerful monsters
were on the beginning floors, then the humans won’t come here
anymore. So, I have to deploy moderately easy to defeat monsters.”
“The treasure chest earlier, could they perhaps be used as lures to
gather the humans?”
“Bingo, it’s exactly like that. By the way, the humans come in here to get
stronger. When humans defeat monsters, it raises their levels. They
become stronger, obtain treasures, and then go back home, satisfied.
On the other hand, the Demon Lord gets the DP and everyone’s happy.
Also, stronger monsters give out higher experience, so the more
powerful monsters are placed on the top floors. The Demon Lord gains
more DP the stronger the human is so it’s also a profit for us. If we set
up the monsters to get progressively stronger, then both the weak and
strong humans could be lured in and then, a lot of DP is gathered. ”
I see, so the plan’s like that.
For Demon Lords to gather DP, they open their doors to human beings.
“So then, you should give out impressive treasure chests and instruct
the powerful monsters to lose on purpose.”
“Nope, not really. I mean, the treasures placed in the dungeon cost DP,
you know. Even the monsters aren’t for free. So, while it will make a lot
of people come to the dungeon, if I don’t make a profit, it wouldn’t be
much use, right? …moreover, letting my powerful monsters be killed like
that will make it much easier for the humans to arrive at the innermost
part of my dungeon, right? If they do and break the crystal, or kill me,
then it all ends there. We have to balance giving the humans incentive
and defending ourselves. Being a Demon Lord’s surprisingly hard work,
you know. Most Demon Lords remain in the final room of their
Dungeon. A room filled with expensive traps and where they have
prepared a field covered with improvements to help them.”
I gulped down.
I understood both the joy and the hardship of the work a Demon Lord
does.
However, I had just one concern.
“Demon Lords eat human emotions, don’t they? And then you say that
we use monsters and treasures as lure to gather the humans, but why
do such an inefficient thing?”
To my words, Marcho tilted her head.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, won’t it be faster to gather people and make them live on the
Dungeon. Rather, it won’t be a Dungeon anymore and will be a town
instead. That way, you should be able to earn DP 24 hours non-stop.”
When I said so, Marcho laughed out loud.
“Certainly, it’s plausible. But it’s troublesome. The efficiency of
obtaining DP increases when humans are in situations where powerful
emotions comes out; the rush of adrenaline when they risk their life in
combat or when they find treasure. Though fighting gives out the best
efficiency.”
“Really? But then that’s if you examine it individually. If the number of
humans that reside in the Dungeon were by the hundreds, it can
reverse what you said and gather more DP, right?”
For some reason, I had a thought that I didn’t really want to kill other
people.
Could this be related to my forgotten memories?
But I’m also a man who feels calmer when he’s holding a pistol; it’s
contradicting.
“I guess. Then, perhaps you could be that kind of Demon Lord. There
are as much Demon Lords as there are ways to being one. It’s better to
go your own way.”
“That’s right, I’ll do that. But before I do, I want to properly learn all I
can. As of now, that’s nothing but a pipe dream.”
“Great dedication. I showed you Dungeon building so next I’ll show you
monster making. In a sense, it’s the best part of being a Demon Lord.”
Monster making.
What kind of monster will I create? My curiosity has been piqued.
 Chapter 2: Making a monster for the first time
Make a monster, the [Beast] Demon Lord Marchosias declared.
“Building a Dungeon is important but making monsters is just as
important. Monsters protect us Demon Lords and they also become
bait to bring in humans.”
Yeah, it’s probably like that. Basically, humans come to Dungeons to
improve their levels. If there were no monsters, then there was no
sense in coming.
“So long story short, there are roughly two ways to obtain monsters.
The first is to use DP. However, monsters have eight ranks of strength,
from S rank to G rank, and the monsters that you can buy with DP are
only those of ranks F and G.”
“Does that mean that I can only buy weak monsters?”
“There’s an exception. When you have created a powerful monster
without exchanging DP for it, monsters that are of same lineage but are
below two ranks of that monster can be bought. For example, I have
created the A ranked Cerberus, so then, I can buy the C rank monster
Orthros with DP.”
I got it. In other words, if I wanted to have powerful monsters, then I
would have to create them with means other than using DP.
“I’ll now show you the way to make monsters that doesn’t use DP. It’s
done using the Demon Lord’s own medals. Watch, [Discharge]”
Upon saying the word, a medal that depicted a golden wolf appeared.
The medal seemed to hide an intense power, a strong magic power.
Marcho passed that Medal onto me.
The moment I held it, information about it flowed into my mind.
『[Beast] Medal. A rank. It can grant the characteristics of a Beast to
the monster about to be created. Greatly improves constitution and
vitality.』

“Once each month, every Demon Lord may create a medal engraved
with their own symbol in it. In my case, it’s a [Beast] Medal. When you
fuse two medals together, a monster is born. Why don’t you try
shouting out [Discharge] yourself?”

“Interesting. I’ll try it. [Discharge]”

A medal appeared on my hand.

A picture of two helices intertwining was drawn in the medal.
I then verified the details of the medal.
『[Creation] medal. A rank. Enables the synthesis of monsters using the
[Creation] medal and two other medals (an original medal is required).
It’s possible to transform the attribute of this medal to one that the
maker desires and to then synthesize it. Additionally, the outcome is
chosen from all the possible outcomes. ※An attribute that has once
been transformed into can never again be selected.』
What did it mean?
Generally, a Demon Lord would use two medals to create a monster but
if I didn’t use three medals, then I wouldn’t be able to create a monster.
Something like that would be terribly inconvenient, wouldn’t it?

“Now, try making a new monster by using our original medals. The
monster you’ll make should be an outrageously powerful one.”
Marcho stared at me with eyes full of anticipation.
Regrettably however, I couldn’t create one with my medal.
“Sorry, I can’t. Here, take a look at my medal.”

I gave her the medal.

Just like how I came to know of the details of the [Beast] medal,
perhaps she’d also realize the details of my [Creation] medal.
The look on her face changed.

“What an absurd medal……… It’s undeniably too powerful.”

Her face steeped in surprise, she shortly murmured, it can’t be.

“Really?”

“You see, the power of the monster that’s going to be born is

proportional to the total power of the medals used. You would normally
only be able to use two medals but the moment you can use three,
that’s just cheating. Moreover, [Creation] is an A rank medal. To add the
power of an A rank medal into the mix just like that… On top of all that
unfairness, you can also give the medal whatever attribute you wish?
And choose from all the possible outcomes!?”
Marcho was excited.

“It’s that amazing?”

“Amazing doesn’t even cover it. In order to make all kinds of monsters,
you see, a Demon Lord goes through the hardship of collecting the
medals that have the symbols of other Demon Lords. However, by
having [Creation] and the ability to choose whatever attribute you wish,
you can make any monster!”
I realized that it really was amazing. If I were to take it at face value, the
ability to choose the attribute I want would probably make it
tremendously versatile.

“What’s more, the monster that’ll appear may sometimes change even
if the same Demon Lord recreates it with the same medals. Take my
[Beast] medal as an example, a lion may sometimes appear or a wolf or
a hamster or whatever. Anything can appear as long as it’s a [Beast].
However, using [Creation] medals, you can choose from among those
possibilities whatever you wish. None of that non-sense.”
I gulped down.
No matter how I heard it, the performance of this medal was so high,
it’s broken.

“It’s better to not say anything about that medal’s abilities to other
Demon Lords because if you do, they’ll be jealous and you’ll be killed.”

“How about you, Marcho? Are we good?”

“Hey, I’m your parent. Besides, I’m already… but still, it’s a pain. With
just my [Beast] and your [Creation] medals, you won’t be able to make a
monster, huh. No other way then, I’ll do you a service. I’ll give this to
you. It’s a medal I got from a particular Demon Lord. Furthermore, it’s
not an imitation but rather an original medal. There, three A rank
medals. I can’t stop my trembling, wondering what kind of monster will
be born.”
Marcho placed the [Flame] medal on my hand, in addition to the
[Beast] and [Creation] medals.
『Flame medal. A rank. Bestows the [Flame] attribute to the created
monster. Vitality, Constitution, and Magic Offense are greatly improved.
』
Another A rank. Based on what she hinted at earlier, A rank medals
were probably quite rare.

“Next, tightly grasp the medals. All you have to do is recite [Synthesis].”

The beating of my heart became faster, full of anticipation.

I nodded and, with a prayer, opened my mouth.

“[Synthesis]”

Light leaked from the palm of my hand.

A dazzling light. A raging heat.
I slowly opened my hand and the light began to leak, creating shadows
in the air.
A scene where the [Beast] and [Flame] medals were becoming one,
came to my mind.
Next, each and every possible outcome flowed into my head and I
selected one of them.
Additionally, by using the power of the [Creation] medal, I added in one
final piece to my yet to be seen monster.
What do I want?
What do I wish for in my new life?
The answer was decided.
I’d like my first created monster to be my friend. Like someone to be
together with me all the time, someone to talk and laugh with.
So, I changed [Creation] to [Person].
I added [Person] to [Beast] and [Flame].
And so, a new life was complete.
(Note: I left it weird like that so that it could mean that both his new life
and the monster’s life were complete)
The light stopped.
And there she was.
She had beautiful golden hair that almost looked like real gold.
Her erect ears was that of fox’s. It was golden with black at the tips.
She also had fox tail which was soft and fluffy.
Beautiful beyond compare.
She was in the early years of her teens. Her immaturity made her body
full of risky charm.

“It can’t be, a celestial fox. This is no mere monster, it’s almost
comparable to a Demon lord… It’s the first time for even me to see an S
rank.”
Marcho was looking at her with eyes mixed with fear and excitement.
Even I can’t stop from trembling at her hidden power.

“……”

The girl opened her eyes, her pupils red.

Those eyes were looking straight at me. I lost my voice due to her
overwhelming beauty.
The girl parted her healthy looking lips.
“Oto-san!”

(NOTE: SHE SAYS OTO-SAN INSTEAD OF OTOU-SAN. THINK OF IT AS

SAYING DADDY INSTEAD OF DAD)
She then jumped at me.
In her appearance, she didn’t have even the slightest hint of the
mysterious atmosphere she had just a while ago.
 Chapter 3: Tenko!
“OTO-SAN, OTO-SAN!”
(NOTE: SHE SAYS OTO-SAN INSTEAD OF OTOU-SAN. THINK OF IT AS
SAYING DADDY INSTEAD OF DAD)
As the fox-eared girl of around twelve years of age was calling me Oto-
san, she has embraced me and pressed her cheek to my chest.
She’s so warm and tender and cute that it’s driving me nuts.
“Okay, nice to meet you. I am the one that has created you. My name
is…”
Wait, what was my name?
Come to think of it, I still couldn’t remember my own name.
She has separated from me and then looked at me with a face full of
wonder.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Creation Demon Lord Procell. That is your
name.”
Marcho kindly told me my name.
Procell. As I muttered so, it had a nice ring to it.
The Creation Demon Lord Procell… That’s my name.
“Since you know my name that even I had no idea of, does that mean
that you also know of my past?”
“No, I don’t. I have only been asked by my superior to take care of you
because you are the newly born Creation Demon Lord, Procell. I don’t
know anything more than that about you.”
“You said born, you said that I was just born so does that mean that any
sort of past I think I have before meeting Marcho doesn’t really exist?”
If I were to believe Marcho’s words, that would make me a less than a
day old baby.
“Exactly. You’re a newly born baby. Well, Demon Lords are born with
some amount of culture and knowledge so it’s easy to make that kind of
mistake but yeah, you don’t have anything like a past.”
That’s not true.
Even if I didn’t have any memory, I knew that that couldn’t be true.
I knew because when I fought with the blue wolf, I summoned and used
an automatic pistol, a Quartz 19 by using [Creation].
And [Creation] was…
“[Creation]: Materializes certain things from your memory. However,
things having a trace of magical power as well as living things can’t be
materialized. The consumption of MP is a tenth of the weight of the
materialized object.”
In other words, I had remembered what a Quartz 19 is.
That made the argument that I have no past impossible to be true.
But it seemed that even if I were to ask her about it, it would be futile.
“Geez, Oto-san. You were talking with me and yet you keep talking to
other people. You’re so mean.”
The fox-eared girl before me puffed her cheeks.
When I stroked her head almost unconsciously, she narrowed her eyes
as if she enjoyed it.
What, such a cute creature this is.
“Sorry, let’s introduce ourselves once more. I am the Creation Demon
Lord Procell. Just call me Procell.”
“Understood! Procell-sama! But… Oto-san sounds better. Can I call you
that instead?”
She stared at me with upturned eyes.
Oto-san. I repeated that sweet word within my mind over and over
again.
“Of course, you can. I am your Oto-san after all.”
“Yay! ♪”
She wrapped her hands around my neck, embracing me even tighter,
with her fluffy fox tail swinging.
“I love Oto-san! Uhm, next I’ll introduce myself. I am from the Celestial
Fox race! So I’m amazingly strong! My name is, see… as yet, I have no
name.”
Natsume Souseki, is that you!?
(Note: Natsume Souseki was the author of I am a cat. As yet, I have no
name.)
I almost retorted so. Huh? Who was Natsume Souseki again?
Could that probably be connected to my forgotten memories?
First of all, what the heck could I have been before I became a Demon
Lord?
“Oto-san, give me a name. I want a name given by Oto-san!”
She broke from our embrace and looked at me with pleading eyes.
I have decided to say yes of course.
I have to think of a cute name for her.
“Alright, I’ve thought of a good name. Your name will be…”
Just as I was about to tell her her name, Marcho told me to shut up.
“Stop. Demon Lords shouldn’t thoughtlessly name their subordinates.
Especially your first three. As one would expect from a Celestial Fox;
they’re sly.”
Seeing me a little confused, Marcho informed me so.
The fox-eared girl separated from me and slightly averted her eyes.
“Listen, just by receiving a name, it will turn even the weakest of
monsters from an ordinary race into a unique monster. The monster’s
soul will be tied to that of the Demon Lord’s; the Demon Lord will give
while the monster will receive some of the Demon Lord’s power.
Especially the first three or the so called [Monsters of the Covenant],
they are vastly stronger than other named monsters. All of these can’t
be undone so unless you’re prepared to be together with it your whole
life, don’t give it a name.”
My mind that had become drunk on the fox-eared girl’s cuteness was
suddenly doused with cold water.
“The Celestial Fox is a monster belonging to the highest rank of both the
Flame and Beast Attribute. It’s a monster that possesses an
overwhelming strength, an amazing mind, and also superior special
abilities. However, it’s not just about what it can do; you also have to
examine its character and its compatibility with you before you name it.
You were just about to lose your privilege to make [Monsters of the
Covenant], you know, which you can only have three of without any
difficulties.”
Marcho glared at the fox-eared girl.
When she did so, the girl looked away and indiscreetly whistled.
Actually, this girl probably was a schemer.
“The monsters that you’ve created will be absolutely loyal to you.
They’re also incapable of harming you. But that doesn’t mean that they
don’t have any self-interest. You should be wary of monsters that have
intelligence. Am I right, Celestial Fox?”
The fox-eared girl couldn’t endure Marcho’s question anymore, for
some reason, did a somersault.
Her appearance changed from that of a little girl into a fox cub.
She was fluffy and had black fore paws. She possessed a different kind
of cuteness than when she appeared to be a little girl.
“I’m just a cub so I can’t understand difficult stuff!”
She said so in a cheerful tone.
She was obviously trying to deceive us. But even so… it’s too cute!
Instead of resisting it, I hugged the fox cub.
She’s so fluffy and smooth, it was the best feeling as far as hugging
goes.
“You’re a fox cub so you can’t help it, right? All you wanted was just a
name, right?”
“It’s as Oto-san says, I just want a name.”
My heart skipped a beat.
But still, I couldn’t do it.
I gently put her down.
“I want to give you a name… But I’ll only do so after I’ve confirmed your
strength and character. Once I’ve had the thought that we could always
be together, I’ll formally name you. Until then, I shall refer to you by
your race’s name, Tenko.”
(Note: He isn’t giving her a new nickname. He’s still using 天狐. I’ve just
opted to use Tenko instead of Celestial Fox for ease in typing which is
probably nullified by the effort I’ve put in typing down this note. I’ll still
use Celestial Fox to refer to her race.)

“Understood! I’ll put my best foot forward so that I can be of help to

Oto-san. And then, I’ll have a name.”
For a moment there, I clearly saw the fox cub making an uninterested
face. How calculating was she?
But such impishness was also cute.

“Phew, that was close. Generally, Demon Lords tend to avoid monsters
that possess high intelligence as well as those that can speak but for
your first monster to be both, you sure have some luck.”
I tilted my head in confusion.

“Why? If the monster can converse then giving it’ll be easy to give it an
order. So, having smart monsters should be better.”
To my words, Marcho shook her head.

“You’ll probably get tricked just like now. And above all, you will be
attached to the monster. Monsters are shields for us Demon Lords,
expendable bait to lure in humans. So when push comes to shove and
you’re attached, monster will be “useless”.”
What, for such a thing?
There was no need for worry.

“It’s alright. I won’t overwork this child. She’s my first monster after all.
When I created her, I wished that she’ll be someone that can always be
with me. To battle together, to survive together. So it’s alright… And it
may sound a bit cold but I’ll also make monsters to be overworked
along with the corresponding abilities so that they actually can keep
being overworked.”

“…I’m a little bit relieved. Moreover, you frightened me. In a way, you’re
probably more coldhearted than any other Demon Lord.”
Marcho smiled bitterly.
And then, pop, clapped her hands.

“I have one other thing to teach you. It’s about the creatures of this
world. If you keep looking closely at another being, you’ll see its level. If
Demon Lords do so on monsters that they themselves have created,
they will also be able to know other details about its status. …Well if
their skill is like mine then they will also be able to see the details of
another person’s monsters. Why don’t you try having a look at Tenko’s
status?”

“Understood. Tenko. I’ll look.”

“Yay! ♪”

Tenko in her fox cub form barked her consent so I looked at her status.
Race: Celestial Fox S Rank
Name: Unnamed
Level: 1
Physical Strength S
Endurance B+
Agility S
Magic Power S+
Luck S
Special EX
Skills:
Transform
Ruler of Flame
All Magic Nullification
Godspeed
Ultra-rapid Reaction
Precognition
I see. So that’s her status.

“It seems that the stats are graded by rank.”

“Yes. The most important one of all is the Rank of the monster’s race.
For example, let’s look at its effect on the monster’s stats. The value of
a stat will be different depending on the rank of its race. An A rank stat
of an S rank race will be as strong as an A+ rank stat of an A rank race,
and the S rank stat of a B rank race. Also, as a monster levels up, so too
will the effect of its abilities in accordance with the rank of its stats.”
Her explanation was easy to understand.
Based on that, I gave Tenko’s status a look.
Her race was an S rank and yet all her status were very high end.

“Hey, about Tenko’s status… No matter how I look at it, it’s broken, isn’t
it?”

“Utterly so. It’s the power of your [Creation] medal. In the first place, S
rank monsters aren’t created by Demon Lords. They’re sometimes
rewarded by those from up above.”
Generally, one would only use two medals and not three. Adding in the
fact that I used A rank medals for all three, the monster born out of
them would most probably be an absurd one.

“Ahem. Tenko’s strong!”

I don’t know if she understood the mood or not but the lovely fox cub
proudly puffed her chest.

…Who would ever believe that this cute cub was someone that
possessed an overwhelming power?”

“I’ve understood the ways to make a monster so without losing a beat,

I’ll make some monsters.”
Battles are about numbers.
No matter how strong a monster is, there’s nothing it could do when
surrounded by several others.
And then, I suddenly remembered.

“Demon Lords can make a medal only once each month… I’ll have to
wait.”
The interval was too long.
“Well, once a month is the limit when you use original medals for
making monsters. Moreover, it’s not good for a Demon Lord to use his
own medal each time. So, exchanging medals with other Demon Lords
is also an important strategy.”
That’s certainly true.
Especially for me since I would need two other medals besides mine.
This time, Marcho was kind enough to give me a medal but that won’t
always be the case.
I need to obtain the other Demon Lord’s medals by my own.

“I get it now. There are three ways to make monsters. Buying F and G
rank weak monsters with DP. Monsters that are in the same lineage but
are two ranks lower of a monster that’s been made once could also be
bought with DP. Finally, by synthesizing my own medals and the medals
obtained by exchanging with other Demon Lords.”
Those were the three methods.
I would probably use the second method the most. F and G ranks were
so weak, they’re useless. And the third method was limited to once a
month.
Then, the second method that can make moderate strength monsters in
great numbers shall be my main method of making them.
Let’s take my case for example. I had made an S rank Celestial Fox so I
could now buy B rank monsters of the same lineage as her. That’s a
great thing.
However, in order to increase the variety of the monsters I could buy
with the second method, I would still have to continue doing the third
method’s medal synthesis.
“Let me follow up, there is actually a loophole on the medal synthesis
method. Since a while ago, I’ve said there are original medals but that
also means there are imitation medals. I’ll teach you why it’s called that
and its valid applications. The mostly used ones are the imitation
medals after all.”
And so, Marcho-sensei’s monster lessons continue.
Imitation… If I were to rephrase it, they’re fake. Now that I think of it,
my Creation medal requires that I use it in combination with other
genuine medals.
What kind of things could imitation medals be?
 Chapter 4: Imitation Medals
“I think you’re already aware but it’s rather awfully difficult to make a
huge number of strong monsters with the methods I’ve taught you so
far.”
I nodded.
The Demon Lord medals that could only be used once a month would
definitely be the bottleneck.
“But first, let us make ready. Summon the Demon Lord’s book.”
“[I shall compose]”
In response to my words, a massive book made of parchments
appeared in my hands.
“While thinking about medals, turn the page.”
As I did so, a page that had medals written on it appeared.
“[Beast], [Flame], and [Creation], these three should definitely be
written in there.”
I looked at the page to affirm but…
“Not exactly, Marcho. Written here are [Beast], [Flame], and [Person].”
“Eh? No way.”
Marcho peered at my page.
“I see. So that’s how it is. Essentially, you see, we Demon Lords are able
to exchange DP for medals that we’ve once used in synthesis.”
“That’s convenient. We can use medals as much as we want, can’t we?”
The removal of the once a month limit was very helpful.
It was written that the DP exchange rate was 500pts.
If I think of making use of at least two medals, 1000pts would be
needed to create one monster.
“Well, it can never be the same as the real thing. You see, the medals
we create are original medals and the medals we exchange for DP are
called imitation medals. The rank of imitation medals are one rank
lower compared to that of the genuine medals.”
“Is dropping down a rank something bad?”
I do think there’s a connection to the rank of the monster that’s going
to be born but I asked just to make sure.
“I suppose we should talk about that first before we tackle why [Person]
is the one registered and not [Creation].”
*Ahem*. Upon clearing her throat, she began her explanation.
“Let’s use my [Beast] medal which has an A rank as an example, while
its imitation will drop down to B rank. The rank of the medals used will
have a direct relationship to the rank of the created monster. Say we
use two A rank medals, there is a 2/3 chance that it’ll be an A rank
monster but also has 1/3 chance to be a B rank monster. If we then use
A and B rank medals, it will be an A rank monster 1/3 of the time and a
B rank monster on the other times.”
As to be expected, the drawbacks were huge.
It would be impossible to create an S rank monster by using imitation
medals. The strongest it would be was an A rank monster.
“However, imitation medals used on synthesis won’t make the attribute
available for DP exchange. That’s why Demon Lords are so desperate for
other Demon Lords’ original medals, and conversely why they don’t
want to give their own medals to others. And although the rank falls
down a level, they would still want to use their own original medals. So,
you see, original medals are a scarce resource when trading. Demon
Lords will give out imitation medals instead though that is better than
nothing. After all, one can still synthesize with the attribute they didn’t
have before.”
Indeed, it was as she said.
The attribute that Demon Lords used the most in synthesis was their
own.
And if they let others freely use it, then the capabilities of their own
monsters would be exposed.
“You better remember that Demon Lords will always be aiming for other
Demon Lords’ medals… And now, we’ve found out that the brokenness
of your medal has increased yet again. Let’s now talk about why
[Person] was registered instead of [Creation].”
Doing a full 180, from a tensed tone to an excited one, Marcho
muttered.
“As the result of changing the form of the medal during synthesis to
whatever you wish, you’ve become able to make and use imitation
medals of the altered form instead of [Creation] itself. It means that
while Demon Lords will trouble, deal, and commit theft with each other
to obtain original medals and progressively increase their repertoire,
you are rapidly and conveniently increasing yours by just doing each
synthesis.”
“Surely, I made the [Creation] medal change into [Person] when I
created Tenko. I see. It seems that I can deal with the medal’s restriction
which makes it only able to transform into an attribute once.”
My [Creation] medal was like this:
『[Creation] medal. A rank. Enables the synthesis of monsters using the
[Creation] medal and two other medals (an original medal is required).
It’s possible to transform the attribute of this medal to one that the
maker desires and to then synthesize it. Additionally, the outcome is
chosen from all the possible outcomes. ※An attribute that the maker
has once chosen to transform the medal into can never again be
selected.』

“Just remember that the other Demon Lords will be so jealous of your
medal, they’ll go as far as to kill you. Have you ever wondered how
much hardships a Demon Lord is willing to go through just to obtain
another’s medal?”
Marcho’s eyes weren’t laughing.

“Fufufu. My Oto-san’s amazing!”

I didn’t know why but Tenko was feeling proud about something.
However, on that same moment, I recognized my medal’s weak point.

“It’s not all that great though. You see, other Demon Lords are able to
create powerful monsters just by combining their own medal and an
imitation medal. However, the same doesn’t work for me.”

“Well, that is certainly so. In my case, I can make monsters with only my
own [Beast] medal and an imitation. It’ll mostly be a B rank monster
and if I lucked out, an A rank. As for you however, unless you have
another Demon Lord’s original medal, you can’t make anything.”
The downside of [Creation], which is the need to have at least one
genuine medal in the synthesis, was quite a considerable one.
It was a power based on the presence of another Demon Lord’s original
medal.
Therefore, it’s brokenness was probably only this much.
I have to think of various ways to obtain other Demon Lords’ original
medals. Moreover, it has to be a way that provides a stable supply of it.
It’s too much of a waste too let [Creation] go unused while the other
Demon Lords’ A rank monsters were steadily increasing.
Trading [Creation] was the easy way out but in order to hide its secrets,
I just couldn’t do so.

“Marcho, I’ve thought of something. Imitation medals may be useful to

me. I could just use two imitation medals and make B rank monsters
without [Creation]. Realizing it alone is great boon.”
I could make monsters as long as I had DP.
And when I looked at the book, the monster of the same lineage but
two ranks lower than the Celestial Fox, the Mythological Fox, was
unlocked for purchase since I’ve made a Celestial fox just then. The
Mythological Fox was a B rank monster so it should be reliable.
The Celestial Fox’s lineage include: the Celestial Fox itself at S rank, the
Nine-tails at A rank, and the Mythological Fox at B rank.
By the way, the exchange rate was 1200pts. Slightly more expensive
than two imitation medals.

“Following that line of thought, I know I’ll be able to create monsters all
the time but if those monsters are always going to be created at level
one and consequently need to be trained each time, it seems quite a
hassle.”
I sneakily glanced at Tenko. She had lost her interest in my conversation
with Marcho. She then rolled into a ball while in her fox cub form and
slept.
Her being level 1 means that every monster I would create thereafter
should also be at level 1.
Expectedly, even a high-ranking monster would be of no use at level 1.

“Huh? What an odd thing to say. You’re supposed to be able to choose

when synthesizing the monster, you know? You could choose for the
monster to be created at a level dictated by its race but in exchange,
have its level be fixed, or have the monster be created at level 1 and in
return, its maximum level is increased compared to that of the previous
option. Unless you’re greatly attached and intend to make it an officer
though, choose the one where the level is fixed.”
Really, I didn’t notice anything. I’ll try to be more aware the next time.
It’s just a guess but maybe when I created Tenko, since all I wanted was
someone to be together with me all the time, I unconsciously chose a
monster that would grow.
I was thinking of creating monsters with fixed levels somewhere down
the line but before that, I wanted to assemble my three [Monsters of
the Covenant] first.
The three would be the strongest companions whom I could believe in
until the very end.
Outside of synthesis, there was no other way to have a monster that
could grow to a high level and with great abilities.
More than that however, there was something else on mind.

“I now know what I can do with DP but just how will I earn some?”
That was my biggest concern.
By the way, when I looked at my book, I saw that the current DP I had
was only 50pts.
An imitation medal was 500pts. Considering that, 50pts was an
insignificant amount.

“You’ll obtain DP automatically from the humans that are inside your
Dungeon but you don’t have one yet so that one’s out. For the time
being, you can kill monsters or humans to consume their soul and
obtain DP. In fact, you’ve already obtained DP from my Garm.”
I see, so that’s why I had 50pts.
I have to seriously examine the latter method.
In the period of a year, she said she’ll be teaching me things regarding
being a Demon Lord but conversely, that’s as if saying that I only had a
year to prepare to stand on my own.
I want to at least have my three [Monsters of the Covenant] have high
levels to act as bodyguards by then.

“And then, something to cover your expenses. It’s the duty of the senior
Demon Lord to give their juniors an allowance of three original medals
and 2000 DP. However, that can also be interpreted as that’s all that I’m
going to give you and nothing more. I’ve already given you two medals,
the [Beast] and [Flame] medals, so all that’s left is one: the [Earth]
medal. And then, the DP… here.”
Marcho touched my Demon Lord book.
When she did so, the amount I had increased to 2050 DP.
“Unless you kill some monsters and humans, you’ll only have 2050 DP
for a year, so think carefully on how you’ll use it. The same goes for the
medals. For now, I’ll prepare a hunting ground for you in this dungeon.
And after you’ve gained some levels, you can also hunt on dangerous
yet effective areas outside of my Dungeon.”
I nodded.
As I nodded, I thought of ways on how to use 2000 DP.
If I spent it on imitation medals, I’d be able to make four of it. And then,
I’ll have two monsters that couldn’t exceed B rank.
I’ll probably make use of this method.
 Chapter 5: The Power of [Creation]
Marcho and I parted ways after I made a monster.
She told me of the ability that Demon Lords possess which lets them
store their monsters in another dimension.
During the monsters’ stay within the other dimension, time stops for
them and their current condition doesn’t change. I also heard that
whenever I wanted to, they can always be summoned.
However, only ten monsters could reside in the other dimension. It
seemed like the Demon Lord had to prepare a residence in his own
Dungeon for every monster exceeding this limit.
But it seems like this storage, rather than to make the management of
monsters easier to do, it was more for being able to summon, at any
time, the monsters that the Demon Lord was keeping as his fighting
force.
It certainly looked like it.
It’s reassuring to know that you could summon your strongest trump
card anytime.
Couple that with the chance for surprise attacks and its value will
probably go higher.
For example, one could do something like march into the center of a
town, then summon vile monsters and let them run loose.
“So for those reason, Tenko, won’t you go into my storage?”
“Uuuh, don’t want to. I wanna be together with Oto-san!”
She vigorously shook her head.
At the moment, she wasn’t in her fox cub form but rather in her twelve
year old, fox-eared girl form.
“But we only have one bed.”
Marcho brought us to a residential area on the 32nd floor of her
Dungeon and introduced us to a succubus, the boss of that level.
It looked like the monsters that populated this area were mostly
humanoid monsters. They were all so busy.
This being the 32nd floor would mean that there were 31 other floors
aside from this one and those floors should have monsters stationed in
them. What the heck, could Marcho possibly be followed by hundreds
of monsters?
And since the place we’ve been brought to was a residential area, a
great number of houses were lined up. We were given one of those
houses to be used as we wished.
The house was filled with a complete set of common furniture and had
everything one would need taken care of. However, the house was
probably built for someone living alone and thus only had one bed.
“Then, I’ll sleep together with Oto-san! Tenko wants to sleep with Oto-
san!”
Her eyes lit up as she said those words as if the plan she thought of was
a brilliant one.
“Although we are a Demon Lord and his monster, we’re also a boy and a
girl.”
“Even so, Oto-san is Oto-san. You won’t do weird things to me, right?”
She inclined her head and looked at my face.
To the question of this pure and innocent little girl, there was but one
reply.
“Of course I won’t. I’m your Oto-san so I won’t ever do weird things to
you.”
“Then, can we sleep together?”
“Of course.”
“Yay!♪”
Tenko smiled and embraced me.
There was one thing I noticed. This child, whenever she was happy, she
says Yay. I found her peculiar intonation which rises at the end of it to
be pleasant.
“Shall we eat first before going to sleep?”
“Eat?”
She tilted her head in bewilderment.
Well, I guess it was because of one of the common knowledge Demon
Lords and monsters were born with which would dictate we have no
need of food.
We could eat but it would only be for the taste and nothing more.
“Want to do an experiment?”
I brought her to the dining room.
I set the table with dishes as well as forks and knives.
She was puzzled as she took a seat.
“[Creation]”
I used my own unique skill.
『Unique Skill: [Creation] has been demonstrated. It materializes
certain things from your memories. However, things having a trace of
magical power as well as living things can’t be materialized. The
consumption of MP is a tenth of the weight of the materialized object in
grams.』
I couldn’t remember anything about myself but when I thought about
food, numerous menu items came flowing into my mind.
First, I poured some corn soup to a dish followed by steaks into another.
I also lined up some French bread on the dining table.

“Woah, so amazing. Oto-san can also make something like this. It’s
delicious.”
Her being a Fox monster, meat was her favorite kind of food so her eyes
were glued on the steak.
Not to mention, this was a steak that had a pound (450g) of thick juices
dripping from it. She’ll probably be quite full with this.

“Can I eat it?”

“Yes, you can but before that, join your hands together and say
itadakimasu.”

“Oto-san, what’s that? It’s my first time to hear a ceremony like that.”

Ceremony?
Thinking about, it looked like one.
There was no meaning behind it but I felt that it was only natural to do
so.
“I don’t remember why but it feels weird if I don’t do it. Will you not put
your hands together for me?”

“I understand, Oto-san.”

I first showed her how and when she learned it, she also joined her
hands together.

““ITADAKIMASU””

And so, the two of us began our meal.

Tenko ate her meal by skillfully using her fork and knife.
Then again, she was a highly intelligent monster after all.
And then, in a blink of an eye, the steak was gone.
Tenko looked at her emptied plate and a look of dissatisfaction was
visible on her face so I used [Creation] to make her another serving.
When I did so, she flashed a smile like a flower in bloom.

“Oto-san, thank you!”

She said so as she wagged her fox tail.

By the time I finished eating, she was also done with her seconds.

“It was delicious. Oto-san’s so amazing for making a feast like that with
magic.”

“I didn’t think that I can also make food with it so even I was surprised.”

My unique skill was quite useful.

I remembered about my status and checked my MP.
MP: 1750/2000
My MP had decreased by about 250. One tenth of the weight in grams.
The cuisine I had created then was exactly 2.5Kg.
If continued until I’ve exhausted all of my MP, I can make anything I
wished until it all weighed a total of 20Kg.

“Oto-san, what will we do after this?”

“I’m thinking on whether I should create some weapons.”

MP will recover with the passage of time.

If my physical condition isn’t good, the recovery will be less but under
normal conditions, I would recover about 50MP in an hour.
But one can’t recover more than what their maximum MP will allow.
So for me who can create useful tools with my MP, letting it stay at its
maximum value and not do anything with it is an awful waste.

“Are you gonna make weapons with the magic you’ve used to create
the feast?”

“Yeah, I can make anything in my memory except for living things as

well as the things that have magic power running inside of it.”
If ever I could make things that contained magic power, I would have
mass produced medals.
The fact that I couldn’t was disappointing.
And then, I thought of something.
It was about F and G rank monsters. If I let those guys carry murderous
weapons, wouldn’t I then be able to create a powerful army at a low
cost?
G ranks monsters were extremely cheap, with a Skeleton costing only 20
DP.

“[Creation]”

I activated the sorcery of [Creation].

What I was making was a weapon referred to as an assault rifle.
M&K MK416
Length: 560mm. Weight: 3.09Kg. Clip size: 30 rounds. Rate of fire: 850
rounds per minute. Effective firing range: 400 meters.
The M&K MK416 is, even among a great many assault rifles, considered
an excellent machine for its overwhelming durability and reliability. It
can even be shot after it had been drenched in muddy water.
If the monsters, who were novices when it came to guns, were to use
them within the Dungeon, it was better to put more importance on the
gun’s durability and reliability rather than its performance.
My MP decreased.
MP: 1450/2000
Given the amount of MP I recover per hour, it was possible to make an
M&K MK416 within six hours. And four of it in a day.
Furthermore, 120 in a month.
Having around a hundred skeletons that carried and mastered firing
assault rifles would be interesting.
I’ll diligently make that happen.
“Oto-san, are those weird iron rods weapons? They don’t look all that
powerful to me.”

“It’s an unbelievably strong weapon. It far surpasses anything like a

great sword.”
The 5.56mmx45 caliber may be small but that just meant it was easy to
handle.
This thing that can fire 850 rounds per minute with each one having a
speed of 890m/s was by no means weak.
However, Tenko was looking at me with eyes full of doubt.
I guess it can’t be helped.

“Then, I’ll show you its power. Let’s go to the Maelstrom that Marcho
told us about.”
From what Marcho had said, one would have to hunt monsters in order
to gain some levels.
Marcho had given us permission to freely use Maelstroms; one from
which C rank monsters come out and two of which that produces D rank
monsters. She said that if the ones that I hunted were the monsters that
regularly come out of the Maelstroms, then it wouldn’t hurt her pockets
since it looks like that by paying for a hundred times the amount of a
monster when buying them with DP, it’s possible to purchase a
Maelstrom which gushes out that kind of monster once a day.
Beyond that, she also said that she would tell me of better hunting
grounds outside of her Dungeon after we’ve gained some levels.
Before all of that though, I’ll go use these Maelstroms and show Tenko
the power of an assault rifle.
I’m looking forward to what kind of reaction she’ll have.
 Chapter 6: Assault Rifle
We headed towards the house of the Succubus living in this area.
This Succubus was the one in charge of this residential area.
Furthermore, it seems like this residential area is the only safe one on
this floor.
Each floor of a Dungeon is divided into three rooms and each of these
rooms could be set up individually. I heard that if one were to take a
single step outside of the residential area, they’d be attacked by the
blood-thirsty monsters.
For us to reach our goal, the Maelstroms that gushes out monsters, we
needed the guidance of the Succubus.
We finally arrived at the Succubus’ house and so we knocked.
“Ara, ara. Maa, maa. Welcome [Creation] Demon Lord Procell-sama. I
didn’t expect you to pay me a visit on the very first day.”
A calmed toned woman appeared.
But of course, this was no ordinary woman.
She had pink hair, a voluptuous figure, and most noticeably, bat-like
wings and a slick, hairless tail.
Such was the B rank monster Succubus.
She had a special effect on her that anyone that looked at her would be
attracted to her.
I then felt a pain in my hand. It was Tenko pinching me.
“Muu, Oto-san, what a loose face.”
I must have had a pretty dirty look on my face when I was looking at the
Succubus.
Tenko pouted.
It was horrible. With that, I wouldn’t have had any dignity left as both a
Demon Lord and as a father.
So I cleared my throat and calmed my mind.
“Succubus. We came here for a task. We want to raise our levels right
away, you see, so we wish to use the D rank Maelstrom.”
By the way, it seemed like the D rank monster that comes out of the
Maelstrom was the monster I fought when I had just woken up, the
blue wolf Garm.
If I could defeat it with just an automatic handgun, I saw no reason to
lose to it now that I carried the M&K MK416, an assault rifle.
Their capabilities were worlds apart.
“Is that so? I understand. I’ll guide you. Well then, I hope we can be
friends.”
“Thanks, you’re helping us out a lot.”
The Succubus beckoned.
When Tenko and I came close enough, the Succubus closed her eyes
and began concentrating.
A magic formation appeared under our feet.
She had the ability to transfer to any room or level she wished to within
this Dungeon.
It seems it was for this reason that she was in charge of the residential
area. As long as she had the strength, she could send the monsters
living in the residential area to wherever they were needed. One
doesn’t need to think hard to know the advantages such an ability
would create.
And then, light rose and the transfer magic was activated.
◇
There were dead trees and huge tumbling rocks in the wasteland we
were transferred to and not long after we walked, we caught sight of a
swirl of black and purple.
That swirl was the Maelstrom, the thing one could buy by paying for a
hundred fold the price of a monster. Once each day, that monster would
spring forth from the Maelstrom. And for this Maelstrom, the monster
coming out of it was the D rank monster Garm.
“Ara, how lucky. A monster will come out anytime now. I’m glad we
didn’t have to wait.”
“Somehow, I just knew.”
Although I wasn’t told of anything, I had sensed the power rising from
the swirl.
When monsters of the D rank were created with fixed levels, it would
typically be created at around level 30 to 40.
Generally, it looked like those monsters would be on par with Demon
Lords and S rank monsters at level 1.
I had heard that under the assumption that my basic abilities were on
par with a Garm, it was then expected that I would certainly win over it
by having a unique skill under my belt. And so, the Garm was set on me
in my first fight.
I distanced myself about 200 meters away from the swirl.
“Ara, ara. Is it fine to be that far away? Weren’t you here to hunt the
Garm and level up?”
The Succubus asked the question in her calm as ever voice.
“It’s alright. I’ll reach it just fine.”
The maximum effective range of the M&K MK416 was 400 meters.
It’s easy to misunderstand but this assault rifle wasn’t a gun for rapid-
fire shooting. Surely, with a rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute, it was
capable of it but this was a rifle that can aim and shoot steadily. It was
very much capable of extremely accurate long-range sniping.
Considering how automatic pistols have, at most, a 10 meter range,
you’ll know full well just how much a powerful weapon this is.
“Are you sure? At that range, even magic won’t reach.”
“Just watch.”
I couldn’t remember anything but this world’s general knowledge has
been firmly engraved into my mind. The maximum range of magic was a
hundred meters and I was waiting somewhere twice of that distance so
I understood her concerns.
When I looked at Tenko’s direction, she looked at me with eyes that
trembled, wondering whether or not something interesting would
happen. It was probably because she had trust in me that she made
that kind of expression. And I just refuse to betray her expectations.
“Well then, it’s been a few minutes, hasn’t it?”
The swirl then began flowing faster. It was the sign that a monster was
going to be created.
I readied the M&K MK416. My mind calmed down and my fear of
confronting a monster had vanished. My hand was glued to the gun and
I felt the sensation I had when I held the automatic pistol before. It was
pleasant. I felt I could do anything within this moment.
Before I lost my memories, I probably liked using guns at the same time
I got greatly familiar with it.
And then, the time finally came for the Garm to be created.
Blue particles rose and took the form of a wolf. It was completely
materialized.
I then pulled the trigger. At that moment, three dry sounds
reverberated.
The bullets flew as I pictured it in my mind, a perfect headshot. The
MK416 had excellent accuracy so it was possible to accurately shoot at
this range.
“*Yelp*!?”
The Garm was blown away, knocked down and then completely ceased
all movement, not even a twitch.
By almost the same time it raised a shriek from receiving the first bullet,
I fired the third shot. The last two shots claimed its life.
The M&K MK416 boasted a rate of fire of 850 rounds per minute. Had I
kept pulling the trigger, even more bullets would have been sprayed.
But I intentionally fired only three and stopped. This is what’s called a
three-round burst.
When full automatic firing is done, the gun would be harder to control,
worsening the spread of the bullets and increasing the number of
wasted bullets. Moreover, overheating the gun’s barrel would cause it
to bend.
On the other hand, single-shot guns couldn’t be relied upon on securing
the kill. And so, the three-round burst was developed.
Trials have revealed that the shots were accurate up to the third shot.
So by firing a set of three shots, the accuracy would be improved and
ammo, conserved. Furthermore, while letting the gun barrel rest, one
could then take the time to adjust his aim.
However, if ever there was a need to keep on raining bullets, then the
gun’s rapid-fire capabilities could be displayed as much as one wants by
selecting the full-auto mode.
“Amazing. As expected of [Creation] Demon Lord-sama, a one-sided
battle from twice the maximum range of magic. Melee opponents
won’t be able to get near and not to mention the ability to snipe magic
users from outside of their range. By just having this having this
weapon, one will be able to keep a wide range strategic magic spells in
check, won’t they?”
“Yeah, it can, can’t it? Keeping it in check within the reach of the
enemy’s attacks sure is hard.”
There were strategic magic spells in this world that possess powerful
effects in exchange for taking a very long time to chant.
One would generally use these magic spells from around a hundred
meters away the enemy while being protected by their vanguards.
However, for this assault rifle, a distance of a hundred meters is
nothing. The enemy would need to be lucky just to be able to shoot
these strategic magic spells.
But I was a little surprised by the Succubus’s words.
Her words held a great amount of strategy within them.
“That’s Oto-san for you. Oto-san and his weapon are amazing!”
In contrast, Tenko’s words held pure innocence. She had ran up this way
and looked at my assault rifle with great interest.
“Do you want one?”
“I do! But, I don’t want something that shoots from faraway. I want
something that can shoot up close and with a BOOM!”
Up close and with a boom.
Then I have just the thing.
Luckily, I still had some magic power left. I’ll take out another weapon
instead of an assault rifle for Tenko. Surely, she’ll be pleased with it.
“Understood. Then, I’ll prepare a gun for close-range and with great
firepower. Just watch as I make it.”
And so, I used [Creation] to summon a weapon that can shoot up close
and with a big boom as Tenko wished for.
 Chapter 7: Dungeons without a Demon Lord
I gave Tenko the gun she wished for and immediately taught her how to
use it.
It seemed like she was very pleased with the gun when she tried to test
fire it. She went on about how she wanted to use it in live combat right
away.
So Succubus transferred us once again. This time, to the 68th floor. The
D rank monsters looked like they weren’t enough for us so we headed
for the Maelstrom that produced C rank monsters.
“What the heck, just how many floors are there?”
“All in all, a hundred and one.”
“Wha-!?”
It was beyond what I imagined.
I didn’t expect it to go over a hundred floors.
“That’s because [Beast] Demon Lord Marchosias is one of the great old
Demon Lords and has reigned for nearly 300 years. What’s more, she’s
also a very hard-working person. She also has around 1500 monsters,
by the way.”
“That’s way more than what I imagined. I shiver at the thought of us
clashing.”
It’s obvious but the forces I command at the moment were nothing
compared to hers.
Marcho would probably beat me senseless without even sweating.
“Oto-san, don’t worry! I’m here after all. I’ll protect you!”
Tenko clung to my arms and raised an energetic voice.
She was saying so but 1500 was just too much even for her.
“Fufufu, what a good energetic child. As expected of an S rank monster,
even after being told of such things. But rest assured, [Creation] Demon
Lord Procell-sama, she doesn’t have any ill will towards you. Your
training is, after all, her final main task.”
“Final?”
I caught notice of those words.
“Oh, you haven’t heard of it?”
The Succubus looked at me with shock all over her face.
“Nope, I haven’t heard anything.”
“Is that so… then, I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you.
Apologies but it’s a secret.”
The Succubus quickly bowed her head.
I showed her that I understood but Tenko looked like she was
unsatisfied with it.
Tell us, tell us, Tenko pestered.
The Succubus was smiling bitterly but then, it looked like she finally
gave in a little.
“Just a little, okay?”
When she said those words, the voice of a girl that shouldn’t have been
there was heard.
“There’s no need for that.”
The space in front of me distorted and then, Marcho was there.
“Really now, it was a good thing I checked up on your group. Succubus, I
can’t say I approve of talking as you wish about important and private
matters.”
“I-I have no excuse, Marchosias-sama.”
“Well, it’s fine. It’s not like I forbade you to talk about it. I’ll let it go in
consideration of your general performance.”
The Succubus quietly lowered her head and Marcho smiled wryly.
“Can you also use transfer magic?”
“No, I can’t use high ranking magic like Succubus. I’m kind of a muscle-
brained Demon Lord after all. It’s more of like using my authority as a
Demon Lord. I can jump to any place I want as long as it’s within my
Dungeon.”
That was a convenient ability.
I’ll take note of it for when I make my Dungeon in the future.
“But peeping is a distasteful hobby, you know.”
“I was worried so I checked. It was through Succubus, by the way. You
better remember this but Demon Lords are able to share senses with up
to a hundred monsters. I have done so with almost all the leaders of
each floor.”
“Then, I have to be restrain myself from bad mouthing Marcho in front
of Succubus.”
“Not just in front of her. You can never be sure where my eyes and ears
are so be careful. Being in a Dungeon is like being inside the Demon
Lord himself.”
Yeah, it’s most probably like that.
Sharing of senses…… It seemed like I better to try it out once with
Tenko. Could we share all of our five senses? If we could, then……
“Oto-san, are you thinking of something weird?”
“Nope, nothing of the sort.”
Tenko was as sharp as ever but I somehow deceived her.
I then turned towards Marcho and she began talking to me.
“I’m telling you this since this is important information for you too.
Succubus has already started talking about it but, you see, we Demon
Lords have a life span.”
“Life span?”
“Yeah, a life span. Three hundred years to be exact. If that much time
has passed after one has become a Demon Lord, then that Demon Lord
will cease to exist. By the way, I am 299 years old.”
I was breathless.
She looked so healthy and yet she didn’t even have a full year left.
“Hey, don’t make that face. I’ve already done all the things I wanted to
do; I have no regrets. And I have raising you as my final task. The
training of newly born Demon Lords is, you see, a task given to Demon
Lords that are near the end of their life span. Once in ten years, all in
the same day, ten Demon Lords are born which also means there are
children other than you. Perhaps it’s kindness that this task is assigned
to old Demon Lords because if a young one did it, then they will see the
newly born Demon Lord as a rival and thus won’t be able to honestly
teach them things.”
Her words about not regretting anything didn’t seem to be a lie.
Marcho’s face was refreshing.
And then, if the thing about there being ten of us being born at the
same time was true, then there were nine others in the same batch as I
am in.
“I understand the thing about our life span but if you’re going to die,
what will then happen to the monsters you’ve left behind?”
I asked the question as I held Tenko’s hand.
I had been taught in the beginning that if my crystal was destroyed, my
monsters as well as the Dungeon would vanish. Then what about when
the Demon Lord himself disappears?
“Nothing will happen to them. The Demon Lord disappearing has no
connection to the Dungeon and its monsters. They will continue to exist
as long as the crystal does. Rather, the crystal will mimic the Demon
Lord’s behavior when he was still alive and will haphazardly and
unreservedly create monsters using DP. The crystal will continue to
irresponsibly do so over and over again, so the new monsters would
end up fighting with the monsters that were created before. Well, pre-
existing monsters would also fight one another. No longer under
anyone’s command, they will do whatever they wish. It’s utter chaos.”
Monsters being free of command is nothing but an ominous
premonition.
“The monsters that have no intelligence are especially bad. The
monsters that have some will probably establish order with their fellow
thinking monsters but should the monsters that can’t think have the
greater numbers, then it’s all for naught.”
A Dungeon no longer having a Demon Lord is probably a very difficult
place to live in for all its monsters.
“Well, after I’m gone, my [Monsters of the Covenant] will be entrusted
to someone else. The monsters are going to be free. They can establish
a new order in the Dungeon, rage as much as they want, or even go
outside. Until the crystal is broken, all they have to do is live to the
fullest.”
“What happens to the monsters that went outside?”
“Many of those children are subdued by humans. And sometimes, that
act is connected to the end of the Dungeon. The humans will turn
serious and a full-blown Dungeon subjugation will begin. Humans have
great numbers as well as beings called Heroes, beings on the same level
as a Demon Lord. If the humans got serious, no one will be able to win
against them, especially a Dungeon that doesn’t have Demon Lord.”
It was the natural conclusion.
The monsters that went outside and hurt the humans would incur their
wrath. And then, the humans also probably knew the fact that those
monsters would be wiped off as well if the crystal was broken. One
should always try to cut evil at its roots.
In the absence of a Demon Lord, the Dungeon’s defenses would
considerably go down, and in the end, the crystal would be broken and
the Dungeon and its monsters would be no more.
“By the way, do you remember that I told you about teaching you better
hunting grounds than using the Maelstroms?”
“Of course.”
In fact, I was quite looking forward to it.
Maelstrom would create monsters only once each day. On top of that, I
was only permitted to hunt the monsters from two D rank Maelstroms
and from one C rank Maelstroms.
It was for the sake of increasing our levels as well as the DP I possessed
that I wished for a splendid hunting ground.
“It’s what I just taught you. A Dungeon that longer has a Demon Lord
and has fallen to chaos. You can freely hunt the monsters there. After
I’m gone, you may do the same in this Dungeon.”
I shook my head.
As expected, even when I’m told that I could do anything I want with
the monsters in here, I would hesitate.
I don’t mind doing so with the monsters that don’t have any intelligence
like the Garm but for those that do, like the Succubus, I can’t say the
same.
And then, the person in question opened her mouth.
“Marchosias-sama, we won’t allow that. Even after you’re gone, we will
still continue our primary purpose and isn’t it the protection of this
[Demonic Beast Castle]? We will continue doing protecting the Dungeon
that the great Demon Lord Marchosias-sama has built while punishing
any misbehaving children! We won’t bring disgrace to you nor let
anybody do so.”
There was passion in her words.
I was a little envious and wished I had subordinates like her.
“Is that so? Is that… Geez, you children are wasted on me.”
Marcho displayed a smile.
Her popularity, which she had surely gained on her own, made the
succubus say such things.
“I’m blessed to have subordinates like them but not everyone is as
fortunate. The [Crimson Cavern] I’m planning to show you is a Dungeon
where the all the monsters that possessed intelligence have either died
or abandoned it. All that’s left are the mindless monsters rampaging to
their heart’s content. The only reason it hasn’t been destroyed yet is
because it’s far enough away from the human settlements.”
[Crimson Cavern].
Hearing that name reminded me of [Flame].
Could it perhaps be that the [Flame] medal I received was from the
Demon Lord that used to rule in that Dungeon?
“I certainly won’t mind hunting those mindless monsters.”
It would surely be tough if the enemy was a monster that possessed
intelligence and reason like the Succubus but when they’re mindless
monsters like that, I wouldn’t need to hesitate.
“You better not go unprepared. There may not be any high ranking
monsters that the Demon Lord himself has created anymore but still,
among the monsters the crystal is continually creating, C rank monsters
are all over the place.”
“Then, it seems I’ll somehow manage.”
The monsters as high as two ranks lower of the ones that had been
created in synthesis before could be bought using DP.
And unless one has the ability of the [Creation] medal, they could
create only up to A rank monsters. So that means that the crystals could
create monsters only up to the C rank.
However, Marcho groaned.
“But Tenko’s incompatible with that place. Her specialty’s using Flame
attacks but the almost all the monsters over there have high Flame
resistance and many are physically durable. If none of you can use
water magic then you need to dish out an overwhelmingly powerful
attack without any Flame attribute in it but at your levels, that’s pretty
difficult.”
“What, there’s that kind of thing, huh? You don’t have to worry though,
we don’t have any shortage on the attack department. Tenko, show
Marcho the power of the weapon I made a while ago.”
“Yay! ♪”
Tenko readied the weapon.
It was the weapon I had just made a little while back using [Creation]. It
was a weapon according to my interpretation of Tenko’s request that
she wanted a close-range weapon with a big bang.
Its form was that of a shotgun’s.
The Remilton M870P
Length: 1060mm
Weight: 3.6Kg
Caliber: 12 gauge
Magazine size: 5+1 rounds
The strongest gun for close-range battles.
Note: For the magazine size, the +1 means that the sixth one is in the
gun’s barrel.
 Chapter 8: Shotgun
What I made for Tenko was…
The Remilton M870P
Length: 1060mm
Weight: 3.6Kg
Caliber: 12 gauge
Magazine size: 6 rounds
A pump-action masterpiece.
The Remilton 870 was favored all over the world as the standard
shotgun for its great durability and sturdiness. This model features a
magazine capacity more than others.
In the meanwhile, Tenko placed her finger on the trigger guard and
skillfully whirled the gun around.
“What is that iron stick? By the looks of it, there doesn’t seem to be any
magic power running through it but that doesn’t outright mean that it’s
an ordinary weapon, now does it?”
“Look forward to seeing it in action.”
A little while earlier, Tenko did some test firing and she ended up
completely pleased with the Remilton M870P.
Even the dangerous gun may be nothing but an amusing toy for her.
So, the four of us headed for where the Maelstrom was.
A monster was already created and it was sleeping somewhere near the
swirl.
Its distance was around 50 meters away from us.
It was a demonic dog that had a red mane, the C rank Orthros.
“If a C rank Orthros is going to be created in a level that’s fixed, it’ll be
at around level 40 to 50. Considering the difference of their rank and
stats, I’d say Tenko-chan’s at a considerable disadvantage. But I guess
her special abilities would make it so that she’s just at a slight
disadvantage.”
Conversely, for Tenko to have that much fighting power at level 1 was
abnormal.
Such was a being called an S rank.
Had she been created to be at a fixed level, just how outside the norm
could she had probably been?
“If, by any chance, you can defeat the Orthros without any magic, then
you’ll also be able to hunt at the [Crimson Cavern].”
As Tenko heard those words, her eyes lit up and she made a clenched
fist.
“Yay ♪! I’ll level up quickly and be more useful to Oto-san!”
She said such a wonderful thing to me.
Tenko then immediately took a deep breath.
Additionally, she loaded the gun by means of a pump-action. A stiff clink
sound was heard.
And then, she gave her enemy a stern look and charged at it.
The red maned demonic dog, having the ability to perceive incoming
danger, was aware of Tenko.
Originally, a Celestial fox had Flame magic as its specialty. It was then
able to do one-sided battles from afar. This time, however, under the
assumption that the enemy possessed a high resistance to Flame, Tenko
couldn’t use any Flame magic.
The first to attack was the Orthros.
It opened its mouth wide but Tenko did a quick sidestep. The rock that
had been behind her exploded and its pieces scattered.
It was the Orthros’ offensive magic, [Acoustic Destruction].
As its name suggests, a cluster of high frequency waves are directed
towards the target. It travels at the speed of sound and it’s invisible so
dodging it is awfully hard. But Tenko, she just did.
“Tenko won’t be hit. Five more steps.”
Tenko easily avoided the [Acoustic Destruction] fired in quick
succession.
But then, the Orthros closed its mouth. Did it stop its magic attacks?
The moment I thought so, Tenko did another step, and a [Acoustic
Destruction] passed to the place she had just been.
The act of the Orthros opening its mouth was probably nothing but a
sham.
A viscous trap for ensuring the kill by making its target think that it has
to open its mouth for an attack to come flying in that direction.
But then, Tenko reacted the first time it shot with its mouth closed.
The secret to that lied within her skills. With [Precognition], Tenko was
able to sense the world one second ahead. And, with the use of another
one of her skills, [Ultra Rapid Reaction], she was able to respond to any
threat a second before it could happen.
Harming Tenko who uses these two skills was an extremely difficult
thing to accomplish. To do so, one had no choice but to use attacks that
she wouldn’t be able to respond to even if she saw them beforehand.
It was, after all, but a second. However, if one had Tenko’s absurd agility
and [Ultra Rapid Reaction], it was more than enough.
“One more step!”
It was when she was only 10 meters away from the Orthros that Tenko
stopped her steps and prepared her Remilton M870P.
The gun’s long barrel looked unbalanced for the small Tenko.
“Oto-san, I’m gonna use your weapon now.”
And so, Tenko pulled the trigger.
The distance between them was around 10 meters but that much was
well within the gun’s effective range. Shotguns had the image of being
only usable at close range but 50 meters was more than enough for its
bullets to reach and kill its targets.
In fact, it was unnecessary for Tenko to shorten their distance and could
have instead attacked from her initial position. However, she had
probably thought that by going closer, a fatal blow would be dealt.
Then, the shotgun shell exploded into many tiny pieces and these tiny
pieces poured down as if it was rain.
By instinct alone, the Orthros leaped to the side but avoiding all of the
shotgun’s shrapnel was impossible. The Orthros received many
projectiles and became covered in blood. It then tumbled with a thud.
“What the heck is that?”
Wearing a surprised expression on her face, Marcho was staring at
Tenko who fired the shotgun.
“A weapon I made using my Unique Skill.”
“I can’t sense any magic power at all from it but that power, it’s
astounding.”
“Rather than magic power, it’s because of the power of science.”
Tenko shortened her distance from the blown away Orthros and then
moved the lower part of the gun’s barrel.
It clicked and loaded the next shell.
At almost a point blank range, she pulled the trigger once more.
This time however, the shell didn’t explode. The shell flew straight into
the head of the Orthros, blowing off everything from the neck up. The
Orthros turned into blue particles and then vanished.
The round she used this time was a slug shell. In a nutshell, slugs were
large caliber, single projectile bullets. It was powerful beyond words. It
even rivaled a blow from an anti-materiel rifle which were developed
for use against armored vehicles. (Note: not a typo, it’s really anti-
materiel rifle)
Tenko’s shotgun had been loaded with alternating charges of shot and
slug shells, employing a basic strategy of using shot shells to stop the
enemy’s movements and the slug shell to finish it off.
“Oto-san, I killed it!”
Tenko proudly waved her hand.
When I looked at her status, I saw that her level went up to three.
Considering that she just killed a level 50 Orthros, it was
understandable that her level grew in a single leap.
“Well done, Tenko. Come over here so that I can praise you.”
“Yay! ♪”
After she hanged the shotgun to her shoulder using the strap attached
to it, she then embraced me. Her tail was swinging and as I stroked her
head, her tail’s movement sped up.
Marcho had an amazed look on her face when she opened her mouth.
“I see. Certainly, if you had this, such things as flame resistance
wouldn’t matter. This weapon’s attack correction’s quite impressive,
isn’t it?”
In this world, there existed the concept of attack power. It’s equal to the
sum of one’s own status and their weapon’s.
In other words, weapons, even guns, would not deliver the same effect
no matter who uses it.
However, a gun’s attack power was very high so unless a monster with a
very high status showed up, the equipment wearer’s stats would be
compensated for.
For this reason, I would create a skeleton army. If they were to use a
gun, then there would be no difference between fighting a C rank or G
rank monster.
“You’re blessed not only with your medal but in your Unique Skill too.”
I honestly thought so too.
It was possible to put this skill in practical use.
“With this, it seems you’re capable of going to the [Crimson Cavern],
even by tomorrow. Just to be safe though, go there after you and Tenko
have become level 10. The way you guys are right now, you’ll surely win
but against enemies stronger than C rank, if you’re hit just once, it’s all
over. Better give yourselves some leeway, especially if you’re going with
just the two of you.”
As she said, it was scary to be ambushed. Although we might be able to
defeat them, hunting wherein we could die from a single blow was
nothing but suicidal.
“We’ll do just that. Tenko, until we’ve hit level 10, we’re going to fight
the monsters that come from the Maelstrom every day.”
“Boo. I wanna get stronger quickly.”
She puffed her face as though she was dissatisfied.
Upon smiling wryly, I used [Creation] to produce a caramel, and threw it
into her mouth.
For a moment, she was surprised but she immediately broke into a
smile, held her cheeks, and chew on the caramel. She looked like she
had already forgotten about her dissatisfaction earlier and instead, had
become fully engrossed with the caramel.
“Your [Creation] medal alone was astonishing but now, you can even
make weapons. It’s a useful ability to bolster not just your own fighting
strength but also your monsters’. You really are fit to be a Demon Lord.”
“I think so, too. By the way, how about you? What’s your ability? You
know mine so is it alright if I knew yours?”
Marcho heard my question and pondered for a while. And after that
while passed, she spoke.
“My ability is white wolf transformation. It’s exceedingly simple; it
raises my constitution as well as my recovery rate. Just that.”
“It’s precisely because it’s simple that it is a good ability.”
“Well, yeah, I guess. It’s thanks to this ability that I have never been
defeated, neither against any human nor any Demon Lord.”
I listened to her words about Demon Lords and I slightly readied myself.
Although I had expected it, it looked like Demon Lords really did fight
with their fellow Demon Lords sometimes.
“The [Crimson Cavern] though, if you can muster up a sizeable fighting
force, then it may be a good idea to conquer that dungeon and break
the crystal.”
“Why would I want to do that? It’s like ruining a convenient hunting
ground.”
After all, by defeating monsters, I could level up. And it could also be an
indirect supply of DP.
It was better to have a Dungeon I could use at my will.
“When one breaks a crystal, you see, it allows them to create the crystal
owner’s medal. So with that as their objective, some Demons Lords
would break another’s crystal.”
“…If what you’re saying is true, then I’m extremely at risk. It seems like
I’ll be targeted instantly.”
“That’s why you should keep your [Creation] a firm secret.”
I nodded my head.
Although I would still live after my crystal was broken, my powers as a
Demon Lord wouldn’t be as fortunate.
Besides…
“Oto-san, that was sweet and delicious! May I have another?”
“Yes, of course. Here.”
“Thanks! I love you, Oto-san!”
When a crystal was broken, all the monsters it had created would
vanish.
I didn’t want to part ways with this girl.
“I understand. For the moment, I’ll try to sincerely think about
conquering [Crimson Cavern]. But I’ve been wondering: how has the
[Crimson Cavern] remained intact until now? Isn’t it strange that it
hasn’t been destroyed by humans and other Demon Lords?”
Marcho smiled.
She looked towards the sky as if she was remembering something.
“Once upon a time, monsters had guarded the Demon Lord-less
[Crimson Cavern]. But at present, the aides of various Demon Lords
guarding the place have either abandoned, been killed or just simply
died. And so, after they were gone, I was the one to guard it. In order to
protect the crystal, I’ve deployed some of my A rank monsters. To other
Demon Lords, I use that place to farm and increase my levels but if ever
they make a move on it, I threaten them with war.”
“Having a hunting ground you can use at any time is important after
all.”
No one really likes the idea of letting their own monsters prey on one
another.
“Officially, sure, I protect it for a place to let my darling monsters
increase their levels. But that’s only half of the reason why I do it. The
other is because of sentiment. The Demon Lord of that place and I were
on good terms. I just couldn’t let the proof that an important friend of
mine lived vanish… That’s how things are supposed to be but for some
reason, I don’t seem mind if you were the one to break that crystal.”
“You’re a good person, aren’t you?”
“How so? Well, anyway, you should get some sleep. For some reason,
only sleep is a must for Demon Lords and monsters. Together with
Tenko, when you guys have become level 10, contact me via Succubus,
okay? It’s so that I can bring you to the [Crimson Cavern].”
Right after she said those words, Marcho was gone.
She probably returned to her own room by transferring.
This time was about the usefulness of shotguns and the circumstances
of Demon Lords. I learned many kinds of things.
 Chapter 9: Skeleton Squad
About a week passed since I heard the story about the [Crimson
Cavern] from Marcho.
During the past week, I have made a stock of weapons using [Creation].
All while focusing on leveling up.
And so, even at this moment, Tenko was engaging in battle.
Free of any danger, Tenko dodged an attack from the C rank monster
Orthros and proceeded to close in on it. She defeated it in a blow using
her shotgun, the Remilton M870P.
The Orthros turned into blue particles and vanished. At the same time,
Tenko’s body shined palely.
“Oto-san, I’ve become level 10!”
“Great job.”
“With this, we can now go to the [Crimson Cavern]!”
At last, Tenko reached level 10. I guess it’s because of her great delight
but her eyes were sparkling while her fluffy fox tail was swinging.
I had already reached level 10 ahead of her so that meant Tenko and I
had then cleared the requirement given to us by Marcho in order for us
to be taken to the [Crimson Cavern].
“Oto-san, let’s go right away. Hurry, let’s go to where Marchosias-sama
is!”
Tenko lead me by the hand as if to say she couldn’t wait anymore.
We were only able to fight three times a day so we had begun to
accumulate a fair amount of stress.
“No, not today. Let’s go tomorrow.”
“Muuuu. Why?”
“I want to give the Skeletons one last tuning.”
Each passing day, I diligently made M&K MK 416 assault rifles. In the
same span of that time, I had also purchased nine skeletons.
I was able to afford the Skeletons due to the 660 DP I earned by doing
the daily monster hunt.
The storing away of monsters, which was a Demon Lord skill, allowed
one to bring up to 10 of their monsters. If that was the case, I thought it
would be a waste for the number of my monsters to be far below the
limit. And so, I bought the Skeletons.
Each one was a cheap monster that costed only 20 DP. When created to
be at a fixed level, they would randomly be at level 1 to 10. Because of
that, it didn’t really matter if they were created to be at a fixed level or
not and if so, somehow the better option was to let them be able to
grow because, in their case, they were able to level up up to level 20.
By the way, in the case of a Celestial Fox, they would randomly be born
at around level 70 to 80. If they could level up, they could go as high as
level 90.
“Skeletons are, like, weak monsters, aren’t they?”
Tenko had a dislike towards Skeletons. Well, she is a girl so it’s
understandable.
“Well, yeah, they sure are weak. I won’t deny that.”
The Skeleton’s status was terrible.
Race: Skeleton G rank
Name: Unnamed
Level: 1
Physical Strength: E+
Endurance: E
Agility: F
Magic Power: F
Luck: G
Special: G
Skill: The Deceased
The act itself of comparing it with Tenko was presumptuous. From the
start, the Skeleton had nothing of note except for its cost to
performance efficiency.
“I can fight all by myself.”
“Maybe but even if they were to only guard our backs, I’ll appreciate it.
They’ll also provide us with additional firepower which we need. So,
they’ll be fighting alongside us. Let me show you that they aren’t just
things to cast aside.”
Total attack power in this world was calculated by means of an addition.
Even if the attacker’s own offensive ability was low, the gun’s firepower
would compensate for it. The attack power of Skeletons equipped with
M&K MK416 assault rifles could be compared to B rank monsters.
Tenko had a dislike towards the Skeletons so she wasn’t there to
witness their training but this looked like the right opportunity to show
her their abilities.
“[Release] Skeletons”
I summoned the nine Skeletons I stored away in a different dimension.
Each of them carried an assault rifle in their hands.
“Skeletons, you are now able to put up quite a fight due to my training.
Today will be your last day of training.”
“…”
The Skeletons looked at me with eye sockets that didn’t have any light.
They were but just bones so they didn’t understand things like
emotions. For the time being, they held only enough intelligence to
hear my orders. Issuing a response was something they were not
capable of.
Teaching monsters with low intelligence was a difficult task; I almost
gave up half-way through.
Nonetheless, after all my hardship, I was able to teach them three
commands.
“All members, ready!”
The Skeletons readied their guns to the target I pointed at.
Before they shoot, they must first aim at the target. For this instance,
the target was a wooden pole dressed in armor.
“All members, fire!”
As I uttered those words, the Skeletons started firing.
The tatatatata sounds were like music to my ears.
The MK416 the Skeletons were holding were not on full-auto mode but
was instead set to semi-automatic mode.
The full auto mode was a system wherein there was an automatic
operation between the reloading and firing of the bullets. In other
words, as long as the trigger was pulled, the gun would continue to fire
in quick succession.
In contrast, the semi-automatic mode was a system wherein only the
reloading of the bullets was done automatically. The amount of bullets
fired would be the same as the amount of times the trigger was pulled.
If the full auto mode was selected, the Skeletons would just exhaust
through their ammunition without even giving a thought.
Ideally speaking, I wanted it to be set on full auto mode and just make
them do burst fires by lifting their finger from the trigger. However, I
was not able to make them remember such a complicated action and so
I instead just gave up on it.
“All members, stop.”
The Skeletons released the trigger and stopped firing.
The commands I was able to make them remember were these three:
ready, fire, and stop.
I guess they’d be able to fight somehow.
It took a while for them to reach this point. In the beginning, they not
only regarded the gun as a blunt weapon but they also had trouble
pulling the trigger.
It took four days but they had finally learned it. Well, even to this point,
they were still unable to change magazines so I have to be mindful of it
in each battle.
But it was worth it. The sight of the nine Skeletons firing all at once was
a magnificent one. When I have my own Dungeon in the future, I will
increase their number and also build an even more vicious unit.
“How is it? It’s amazing, isn’t it?”
“But Oto-san, if you’re going to have trouble teaching them such things,
wouldn’t it be much better to just make a smarter monster? The
Mythological Fox, a monster in the same lineage as Tenko, is smart and
strong, you know? ”
“I know but they’re expensive.”
The Mythological Fox was a B rank monster. Their basic abilities were
high as well as their intelligence. Learning how to use a gun was
probably an easy thing to do for them.
However, each one would cost 1200 pts. I would be able to buy 60
Skeletons with that amount.
“I know… But the Skeletons seem quite inefficient to me. When they
die, which they do in an instant, all the time it took to train them would
then become a waste. In that case, right from the start, strong and
hard-to-kill monsters should be bought, right?”
I had thought about that.
The Skeletons were cheap and I would still have the weapons anyway.
Unfortunately however, the time it took to train them could never be
gotten back.
No, wait.
“Wait. What if I made a monster that will train the Skeletons and then
afterwards let that guy take care of the Skeletons?”
It’s simple if you think about it.
There were a lot of monsters like the Lich that made use of the undead.
Those kind of monsters were extremely intelligent as well as being
capable of understanding speech. They might even be able to do a
much better job than I did at training the Skeletons.
I’ll think about making an undead the next time I obtained an original
medal.
“Thanks, Tenko. I’ve decided. I’ll think about making a ruler of the
undead as soon as I obtain a medal related to the undead.”
Moreover, if I’m not mistaken, there should be a fellow among the
undead that does something like using corpses and making further
undead. If it used the corpses of powerful humans and monsters, then
it was able to create powerful monsters at no cost.
My dream just kept on getting bigger.
“Uggggghhh. Tenko doesn’t like the undead but for Oto-san, Tenko will
endure!”
“You’re admirable, Tenko.”
“Yay! ♪”
And so, the training of the Skeletons ended.
Afterwards, we reported to Marcho that we have already reached level
10. It was decided that tomorrow, Tenko and the undead, equipped
with the guns, will towards the [Crimson Cavern].
 Chapter 10: [Crimson Cavern]
“Are those your subordinate monsters?”
Marcho, with a stiff smile on her face, said so to me.
“Aren’t they precious?”
Tenko and I had raised our levels until the recommended level of 10.
Succubus then transferred us and we met with Marcho.
Naturally, it was for the sake of being guided to the [Crimson Cavern].
The Skeleton squad would also be taken along. Each of them carried an
M&K MK416 assault rifle and it was a spectacle.
The combination of the emotionless Skeletons and their boorish guns
gave quite the atmosphere.
“This is the first time for me to see a Demon Lord really make use of
something like a Skeleton.”
“If it’s me that uses them, even Skeletons would be a splendid force in
battle.”
“That’s certainly true. It may not even matter who uses that weapon.
You’ve thought about it well.”
In an instant, Marcho had seen through my plans. As expected of a
skilled Demon Lord.
“Procell, one Tenko, and nine Skeletons. Well, somehow you’ve
managed to have ten monsters, a full party. For a newly born Demon
Lord, that’s a considerable battle potential. Like this, I’ll have some
peace of mind and be able to send you out. However, I’ll say it again, do
not get careless out there.”
“But of course.”
I had no intention to venture deep this time. I did want to someday
break the crystal and have the ability to create its owner’s original
medal but as one would expect with my still incomplete fighting force, I
wasn’t able to do so yet.
Only after I had three [Monsters of the Covenant] and get them to level
50 would I plan to conduct a full-scale conquest of that place. Until
then, I shall focus on leveling up and earning DP on the early floors
which I could always return to at any time.
“Well, you are prudent and smart, so you probably won’t do anything
rash. Just to be safe though, I’ll lend you Succubus. Succubus, I ask that
you look after him.”
“Is that alright? If I’m not around, the monsters from the residential
area won’t be able to transfer anywhere.”
“It’s fine. Rama has to be put to work once in a while.”
“I’ll be relieved if Rama-sama did work.”
It’s likely that Rama isn’t a race’s name but rather a given name. If
Marcho went so far as to name it, it was probably a very powerful
monster.
“Well then Succubus, look after him. And although I asked you to help
him out, if ever there came a situation that you are forced to choose
between your life and his, choose to protect your own. To create a
situation wherein he’s driven to a corner like that, Procell has nothing
else to blame but his own foolishness. You need not hesitate about it.”
She said some severe things but they were reasonable.
To start with, just lending Succubus was very generous of her. A B rank
monster was a valuable asset.
“Certainly, Marchosias-sama! Well then, we’ll be heading out.”
“Yeah, take care.”
The conversation between the master and her follower concluded.
Succubus then deployed a magic array.
“Wait a moment. Succubus’s magic can be used to transfer us even
outside the Dungeon?”
Succubus was concentrating on deploying the magic so instead of her,
Marcho opened her mouth to answer my question.
“If there’s a magic array prepared beforehand, then yes. Transferring
from one array to another is an application of the magic of a Succubus,
a monster that slips in into dreams. However, she can only bring along
with her a maximum of two people.”
What a convenient ability.
In the future, if ever I got ahold of a medal that can make a Succubus, I
would definitely want to make one.
The Lich that controls the undead and the Succubus that could use
transfer magic. The monsters that I wanted to make were rapidly
increasing.
“[Creation] Demon Lord Procell-sama, the preparations are complete.
We may leave at any time.”
“Understood. Let’s go immediately.”
I stored away the Skeletons and the two of us, Tenko and I, moved close
to Succubus.
And then, blue light filled the magic array that Succubus had called
forth.
“Ah! Procell, I forgot to tell you something important. Very soon, all the
Demon Lords will assemble………”
Marcho spoke halfway through the transfer magic. While I worried
about her news, my body was wrapped around in light. And so, for the
first time since I was born, I went outside of Marcho’s Dungeon.
◇
“So hot.”
Such were the first words I uttered upon arrival.
This place was humid. As one would imagine from its name, the
[Crimson Cavern] featured pretty high temperatures. Rather than being
in a cave, one would have the impression as though they were inside a
volcano. All around us was earth and stones, illuminated by the
brightness of the flames. The path ahead was wide, probably more than
three meters wide.
I immediately deployed the Skeletons. They made clattering sounds as
they formed a line.
“Oto-san, do you feel hot?”
“How about you? Do you feel alright?”
“Tenko feels fiiiinne.”
For Tenko who ruled over fire, this much heat seemed like it was no
trouble at all.
“It’s hot for me too so I don’t really like going here.”
The Succubus similarly felt hot.
And although she was always lightly dressed even under normal
circumstances, her eye catching way of pulling the hem of her clothes
allowed me to see various things I shouldn’t have.
Incidentally, the Skeleton squad did nothing but rattle their bones. I had
no idea what exactly they were thinking about.
“If you both feel hot, then Tenko will cool it down.”
Just as she said, the temperature of our surrounding dropped.
“Is this Tenko’s magic?”
“It is! Does Oto-san feel better?”
“Yeah. It’s cooler and feels much better now. It helps a lot.”
Tenko had the skill called Ruler of the Flame.
Its effects were that it gave the flame attributed magic spells maximum
power ups while also decreasing its consumption of magic power. Not
to mention that it also allowed its user to control all flames within their
vicinity.
The true nature of Flame magic was that it manipulated of the amount
of heat of its target and thus it was also very much capable to lower the
amount of heat it had.
If things went on to be this pleasant, we would then be able to hunt in
good spirits.
“This is to express my gratitude.”
I used Creation to make a caramel.
Upon doing so, Tenko opened up her mouth wide so I threw it in there.
“Yay! ♪”
Tenko who had been getting addicted to caramel lately looked happy as
she tasted it.
“There’s one thing prior I’d like to tell you.”
Succubus halted our departure. And then, she pointed under our feet.
“My transfer magic, when used outside of Marchosias-sama’s Dungeon,
only allows me to jump from one array to the next. In others words, if
we wished to return to Marchosias-sama’s Dungeon right away, we
have to go all the way back to the array which is engraved in this place.
So I hope you take note of our exact path.”
“I understand. I’ll pay attention to it.”
It probably was possible to exit the Dungeon normally but not using
transfer and instead walking all the way back to Marcho’s Dungeon was
a thought I didn’t want to entertain.
So I used [Creation] and created a transmitter. Furthermore, I also used
[Creation] to make a receiver and a smartphone. I then installed the
receiver on the smartphone.
There wasn’t any GPS so producing a map was impossible but if I were
to use an app, I would at least know the directions.
For the moment, I tucked the smartphone in my breast pocket. The
record function was turned on. It might come in handy in the worst case
scenario.
I remembered each and every kind of gun there was and was even able
to prepare this kind of thing but just what the heck kind of person was
I?
The mystery only deepened.
I probably wasn’t a decent guy.
“Succubus, is there anything else?”
“Nothing more from me.”
“Well then, let’s go.”
“Yay ♪! Let’s kill lots!”
All our preparations were complete. We headed out for real this time.
 Chapter 11: The Skeletons’ weakpoints
At last, my first Dungeon exploration.
I’m here not only to hunt down monsters but also because I wanted to
properly examine the construction of this Dungeon which was created
by another Demon Lord. I will use this as reference for when I build my
own Dungeon in the future.
My current thoughts were to place the very first floor above ground and
build a wealthy town on it. And then, the second floor onwards would
spread below the ground, to which I would deploy a great number of
monsters and traps so that my crystal would not be broken.
Since DP would be gained from the humans gathered on the town on
the first floor, the underground floors wouldn’t be built for attracting
adventurers. It would instead be a ruthless place whose only purpose
was to kill any intruder.
As I thinking that this will be an exploration full of tension, Tenko
yawned.
“Oto-san. There’s nothing to do.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
We were walking in the Dungeon which seemed like the inside of a
volcano.
Dirt and rocks surrounded the cave and the red magma in the distance
illuminated it.
I was tensed and anxious about what kind of exploration this would
turn out to be but it seemed like it was completely unnecessary. The
reason for that was………
“GYAAAAAA!”
The enormous salamander that could and would swallow humans
whole roared forward and the air burned. I knew of this from
experience, it was the strength equal to a C rank.
However, tatatatata, like music to my ears.
The moment the enormous lizard with fire escaping from its mouth
appeared, the Skeletons fired simultaneously, their bullets like a swarm
of bees.
By no means were the enemy monster weak, the stats of a C rank
monster was nothing to scoff at. However, the offensive capabilities of
the Skeletons were just too high.
The Skeletons, of course, showed no reaction.
“……”
Devoid of any boasting, the Skeletons lowered their guns and began
walking.
They were unfeeling precision machines that completed their task in full
composure. They were pure professionals.
I estimated the number of the bullets left based from the number they
fired. I concluded that there was no need yet to reload. No matter how
much training they did, the Skeletons couldn’t be made to remember
how to change magazines by themselves so the task of managing the
amount of bullets was left to me.
Looking at those Skeletons, Tenko suddenly puffed her cheeks.
“The Skeletons got to it first again!”
Tenko stamped her foot in the ground in frustration.
“Well, they can’t help it. Their range is different than yours.”
The Skeletons were under the command of both Ready and Fire so if
they found something, they’ll immediately fire at it.
Moreover, I divided them into two groups, the front and the back
group, and had them keep watch on all directions.
The Skeletons performed better than expected, dealing instant death to
any monster the moment they encountered it. The 400 meters effective
range of the rifle wasn’t just for show.
On the other hand, Tenko’s shotgun only had 50 meters of effective
range. Before Tenko had the chance to be near the monster, the
Skeletons would have already shot it down.
“Oto-san. Tenko wants to fight too!!”
“I’m going to keep you on reserve for when a monster that the
Skeletons can’t handle appears.”
The monsters that the Skeletons couldn’t handle were the ones whose
movements were too fast to which the Skeletons couldn’t land any
decent hit and the ones whose defenses were too tough that the
5.56mm bullet couldn’t penetrate.
In such occasions, it would be Tenko’s turn to shine.
No matter how agile the opponent was, it would be easy for Tenko to
catch up to them.
And she was equipped with a shotgun, a Remilton M870P which was
equal to the power of a large caliber rifle. Almost all of our enemies
would agree to its power.
Tenko didn’t seem convinced but for the moment, she had calmed
down.
“But being in a party really helps out a lot.”
It was thanks to Succubus that I knew of the existence of parties. She
taught me everything I knew regarding parties.
The maximum possible members of a party was ten and the experience
obtained by them was distributed equally among the members.
Additionally, all the DP went to the Demon Lord.
There was no reason not to make use it.
In fact, the Skeletons had already raised their levels earlier and as for
Tenko, she had gained the proportional amount of experience.
Making the Skeletons able to grow in levels was the right decision. At
this rate, it would seem that they would be over level 10 in an instant.
When I felt someone’s gaze on me and turned around in response, I
saw that Succubus was shifting her gaze between me and the Skeletons.
“You truly are the [Creation] Demon Lord. I would have never imagined
the Skeletons to become this strong.”
The Skeletons who were normally easily defeated even by C ranks
monsters were gazed upon by Succubus in awe.
“Only their attack power is on par to a B rank. Their defense, however,
remains the same. They’ll still die from a single blow.”
“But if they’re attacking that far away, wouldn’t receiving an attack
themselves be something impossible?”
“We can never tell. A surprise attack may happen. Well, even if they
were to die, it’s no big loss. Their cheapness was their selling point
anyway.”
Even if a Skeleton died, only 20 DP would be lost so it won’t hurt my
finances.
Such were the advantage offered by the Skeletons…… Just don’t think
about the time it takes to train them.
As I pondered that, the ground shook. It was quite near.
“KyuWa!”
A high pitched cry rose and then the enemy jumped out of the ground,
right in the center of our formation. It was a fire snake. As I stared on it,
its name and rank popped into my mind. It would seem my level ups
had enhanced my Demon Lord abilities and now, I could see not only
the enemy’s level but also its name, rank as well as its abilities.
Unfortunately, at my current level, it was only applicable up to monsters
of D rank and the details of their parameters weren’t visible.
Race: Flame Viper, D rank
Name: Unnamed
Level: 38
Skills:
Underground movement
Blaze
The Skeletons were completely defenseless against the fire snake that
appeared from the ground. The snake wrapped its torso around the
Skeleton that was closest to the place the snake popped up. The
Skeleton had the paper-thin defense of a G rank monsters so of course
it was crushed in an instant.
I clicked my tongue at what was transpiring. The enemy was right in the
center of our formation thus ordering the Skeletons fire their guns was
out of the question.
“Skeletons, stop!”
I issued an order to stop firing to the Skeletons who were told before to
shoot any enemy as soon as they discovered it. Otherwise, they would
have fallen due to friendly fire.
I grinded my teeth at the fact that aside from the Skeleton’s lack of
defensive capabilities, situations like these were also their weakness.
However, if the Skeletons stopped shooting, it only meant that the
snake was allowed to do whatever it pleased. And so, the fire snake
sprang upon the next Skeleton.
“Won’t let you!”
As Tenko said so, she sprinted forward. She couldn’t use her shotgun
while her allies were gathered together so she drew the large military
grade knife hanging from her back.
Rather than a knife, it was more of a machete (鉈). It was a jet-black
heavy blade with a length of 50 cm.
Tenko didn’t hesitate to put a firm grip on the fire snake’s head. She
then raised the large military knife over her head and a moment later,
lopped off the snake’s head.
The snake’s headless body twitched and shook. There was nothing else
the snake, even with all its strong vitality, could do once it lost its head.

“Oto-san, I did it!”

Tenko turned towards me and while her hands held the lopped off head
of the snake, her face held innocence.

“Great job, Tenko.”

It truly was. Had she not defeated the fire snake right away, two or
maybe even three Skeletons may have suffered damage.
As usual, the snake turned into particles of light. The Skeleton which I
went to the trouble of teaching it on how to use a gun also changed into
particles of light.

“What’s this?”

The snake’s corpse didn’t completely vanish. In its place was a hard
fang.
When I picked it up and tapped on it, a sound like it was almost metal
rung.

“Ara, an item drop.”

Succubus told me so in a slightly cheerful tone.

“An item drop?”

“Yes, if one’s lucky, a part of the monster where magic power was
concentrated will remain after the monster’s death. Monsters that have
already lived a long life are more likely to give an item drop. There are
some among the humans that challenge Dungeons for these item
drops.”
I see. That must be why I almost wouldn’t see an item drop in Marcho’s
Dungeon. After all, I only fought the monsters coming from the
Maelstroms which were just newly born monsters.

“Thanks for telling me. And then, I think I’m going to hold off on using
the Skeletons for a while.”
While one-sidedly barraging our enemies far from their range was
great, should an unforeseen situation like this one, wherein the enemy
had managed to shorten the distance, once again occur, their fragility
won’t go unpunished.
As I thought before, I want a commander. A commander that could
move the Skeletons as though they were its own limbs.

“Oto-san, I have a great idea! Stop using these Skeletons and make a
Mythological Fox instead. They’re strong, they can talk, they’re smart,
and rather than having these bones, you’ll have lots of cute foxes!”

“……Well, maybe someday.”

I wouldn’t have enough DP. Besides, I want to create an army of not ten
nor twenty but hundreds of monsters right away. The Mythological Fox
was too pricy for that. However, I’m not saying I’m not interested in
having a lot of foxes. Maybe someday when I have a bit of extra DP.
And so, while the Skeletons may have almost owned their enemies, this
shall mark the end of their first level up session.
Losing one Skeleton which has finished its training was painful but it
shall serve as a lesson and I had thought of how to make best use of this
learned lesson.
 Chapter 12: Tenko’s little sister
We have been back and forth to the [Crimson Cavern] for about three
weeks now ever since our first visit there.
Today was no exception.
Tenko was sprinting inside the cave. She found an enemy.
The target this time was a red falcon gliding in the sky.
Of course, it was no ordinary falcon. It was a C rank monster, the Fire-
eater bird.
It was going to swoop in from high above, using its sharp beak and
talons to attack.
Although it’s what one might call a narrow cave, the falcon flew while it
skillfully maneuvered itself.
Catching the Fire-eater bird would have probably been a difficult task.
But not for Tenko.
“Give up!”
She fired her shotgun, a Remilton M870P.
She was properly making use of the two kinds of bullets. The one she
fired this time was a shotshell.
It was a kind of bullet that bursts out after it was fired from the boorish
gun.
And so, the shotshell scattered in a wide arc and the red falcon flying at
a high speed in the air was easily hit. The red falcon was hit in the wing
and came crashing down.
Following it up, Tenko charged. She slid the pump along the gun’s
barrel, agilely loading the next bullet. Her shotgun was loaded with
alternating rounds of shotshells and slugs and the next to be fired was,
of course, the ultra-high powered slug shell.
She hit the enemy in the torso and made the red falcon’s body scatter.
“How was it, Oto-san? Did you see!?”
She turned around in glee.
“Yeah, I saw it clearly. You were amazing, Tenko.”
“Yay! ♪”
Her fox tail was swinging.
She liked hunting and goes into a good mood whenever she moved her
body.
As of late, I had deployed just a few Skeletons whose duty was only to
guard our backs. I then left all the enemies ahead to Tenko. I have done
so because it was a waste to share experience points to the Skeletons
who have already reached their maximum level. Their maximum level if
made to be able to grow, by the way, was 20.
Besides all that, I just wanted to let Tenko do whatever pleased her.
“Let’s head back little by little.”
“Alright, Oto-san.”
Fatigue would hinder our judgment so it was better to not to exhaust
ourselves and save some strength for the way back.
Hunting each day made Tenko’s level rise to 30 while I was a bit behind
at 29.
From around the time she reached level 30, her level up progression
was almost unmoving. According to Succubus, high ranking monsters
had a harder time to go up in levels. Our levels would probably not
move much after this if we only fought C rank monsters as our enemies.
“Oto-san, may we eat something delicious after we got back?”
“Leave it to me.”
My level has increased and so did my MP. It rose to 3450 so I had some
leeway on my MP usage. That leeway mostly consisted of fulfilling
Tenko’s wishes though.
Today, I’ll fully restore her spirits.
“It’s finally tomorrow, huh.”
“What is it, Oto-san? Why are you grinning?”
“Tenko will soon have a little brother or sister.”
Medals could only be made once a month and the privilege to make
one would finally return to me tomorrow.
“Tenko’s… little brother or sister?”
“Yes. I’ll create it using my [Creation] medal, the [Earth] medal I got
from Marcho, and then an imitation medal. The new monster will be
another S rank monster like Tenko.”
“……S rank.”
I recalled what Marcho told me. If both the medals used were A rank
medals, there was a 1/3 chance to have a B rank monster and a 2/3
chance to have an A rank monster.
And if A rank and B rank medals were used, there was a 2/3 chance to
create a B rank monster and a 1/3 chance to have an A rank monster.
Now, if my A rank Creation medal was then added, it’s alright to think
that the results would go up by an entire rank.
In other words, if I used my medal with the A rank [Earth] original
medal and a B rank imitation of either [Beast], [Person], or [Flame],
there was a possibility that an S rank monster would be born.
And a possibility was all I needed.
My [Creation] medal states that: 『It allows the maker to choose the
desired outcome out of the myriads of possible outcomes』.
In short, an S rank was pretty much guaranteed.
Although, if the imitation medal wasn’t an imitation of an A rank medal,
the possibility of creating an S rank monster wouldn’t exist in the first
place.

……But this was something I only knew by intuition.

S rank was the highest rank. All the monsters that can no longer be
sorted as an A rank were all together at S rank. By that definition, each S
rank monster would not be the same as the others in terms of their
capabilities.
S rank monsters as high-end as Tenko probably couldn’t be made if even
a single imitation medal was mixed in during fusion.

“Aren’t you happy about having a little brother or sister?”

Tenko looked depressed.

“Oto-san.”

She tightly gripped my sleeve.

“What’s wrong, Tenko?”

“If the new monster is stronger than Tenko, will Oto-san not need Tenko
anymore?”
Tenko had anxiety all over face and looked at my own with her
upturned eyes.
Some tears were threatening to fall.
How silly, there was no need for such worries.

“I promise. I absolutely won’t do that. I love Tenko, after all. Even if the
new monster is stronger than you, I will always need you.”
I embraced her and patted her head. And as I did so, she leaned over
me.
Tenko might be a cunning, clever, and calculating child but she was also
a lonely one.
And an extraordinarily spoilt child too.

“Yay ♪! It’s a promise, Oto-san!”

She raised her head up and called for attention.

“Yeah, I know, I promise.”

Just like that, Tenko kissed my cheek.

“Tenko!?”

“It’s a promise kiss. Oto-san has to absolutely, definitely keep his

promise.”
Maybe it’s because she herself was embarrassed but her face reddened
and separated away from me. She then trotted towards the transfer
array that Succubus was preparing.
◇
After we returned to our house in Marcho’s Dungeon, the two of us,
Tenko and I, had a meal.
The Skeletons were stored away. There wasn’t enough space for them
here.
It was a little bit awkward. She was still feeling shy about the kiss earlier.
I used [Creation] to make her favorite food, the steak, but she still ate
her meal slowly.
While I thought that, she opened her mouth.

“Oto-san, what kind of monster will you make this time?”

Her voice trembled for a bit.

It was probably her desperate attempt to break the ice.

“Oh, yeah. I initially thought of making a higher ranking undead type

monster.”
Training the Skeletons consumed a lot of effort.
If I was able to call forth a high-ranking monster with high intelligence
and could also command the Skeletons at will, I would then be able to
train the Skeletons in an easier and not to mention more efficient
manner than what I was doing currently.

“You talk like you’re not going to anymore.”

“Yeah. After all, the [Earth] medal is the only original medal I have right
now. I won’t seem to have great options if we factor in the attributes
that imitation medals and my [Creation] would add.”
[Earth] and the undead didn’t have a poor compatibility but that didn’t
mean they were perfectly compatible neither.
If that was the case, I thought it would then be better for me to wait for
a more compatible medal.

“I see but then, what will you make? It’s going to be Tenko’s little sister
or brother so it should be cute.”
Tenko chimed in.
Her awkwardness was gradually going away. It was great.

“I think I’ll make a dwarf that can do some smithing. [Earth] and
dwarves have excellent compatibility. Also, I’ll use an imitation of
[Person]. Finally, I’ll transform [Creation] to [Alchemy].”
I had heard of the existence of [Alchemy] from Marcho. She was
teaching me as much as she could about medals that seemed useful.
Her lessons would certainly be used as guidelines on what kind of
monster I’ll make.
I intended to summon the highest-ranking dwarf using [Earth], [Person],
and [Alchemy].

“Why a dwarf? They’re not that strong.”

“Well, they’re not really for battle. I plan to use them for their smithing
abilities.”

“But aren’t Oto-san’s weapons strong enough?”

“Yeah, they are but don’t you want to see them be even more
powerful? Let’s take your shotgun, the Remilton M870P, as an example.
If we increase the amount of powder and also increase the size of the
bullets, its attack power will jump up.”

“Woah, that’s fantastic! Tenko wants that shotgun!”

Tenko’s eyes sparkled as she imagined it as a new toy to play with.

I smiled wryly at that.

“For a shotgun like Tenko’s, the size of the bullet is measured by gauge.
The smaller the number of the gauge, the larger the caliber becomes.
The power of the gun will increase too. The standard for the Remilton
M870P is a 12 gauge shell. However, shells range from 4 gauge up to 24
gauge. The power of a 4 gauge and a 12 gauge differ by about three
times. But, regrettably, the Remilton M870 only uses 12 gauge and
there aren’t any shotguns in my memory that uses the 4 gauge shells.”
4 gauge shells were considerably unique shells. A 12 gauge was 18.1mm
in diameters but a 4 gauge shell measured 25.2mm, roughly 1.5 times
larger in size.
Even bears and sea lions were not a match for 10 gauge shells and 4
gauges were really only used when going against something like a tank.

“That’s disappointing. I want to shoot the triple powered 4 gauge.”

“Tenko might be disappointed but it’s only natural for something like
that to not exist in my memory. Their recoils were too strong that they
were not practical. No person could use it.”

“It’s no problem for Tenko. Tenko’s strong!”

What Tenko said was true.

The physical strength of monsters might just be able to handle a 4
gauge shotgun.

“It might not be a problem for Tenko but the gun itself may not be able
to bear it.”
4 gauge shotguns were used in an era when black powder was the main
component whereas modern day shotguns employed smokeless
powder.
Smokeless powder delivered more power than black powder so a gun
that could endure being used with 4 gauge shells made of smokeless
powder probably didn’t exist.

“Guns have no guts at all. I wish they’d work harder.”

She puffed her cheeks and uttered such absurd things.

I couldn’t understand what she’s feeling.

“Another thing, there aren’t any 4 gauge shells in my memory to begin

with so I can’t make any with my [Creation].”
I can’t make any so of course there wasn’t any of it.

“Oto-san’s mean. Now I’m not excited anymore.”

“Don’t give up so quickly… I only said that I can’t make any using
[Creation]. If by chance we have a remarkable blacksmith, they will be
able to disassemble the gun I made using [Creation], examine its
construction, make a 4 gauge shell, and reconstruct a shotgun which
can use the said 4 gauge shells. Furthermore, there are magic metals in
this world. If a bullet was made using these magic metals, the bullet
alone would increase the weapon’s power. And if we made the gun
using magic metals, it just might be able to endure firing 4gauge shells.”
That much was my goal; to improve our weapons.
Moreover, if I may be so greedy, I wished for a mass production of
weapons that didn’t rely on my [Creation].
I was aware of the performance of the Skeletons through our daily level
up battles and I aim to push them beyond that.

“I get it. A dwarf really was most suited! They’ll make Tenko’s shotgun
even more amazing!!”
Tenko was hyped up, suddenly straightening her fluffy fox tail.
It looked like someone excited about her new favorite toy.
Well, I was the same.
My thoughts went from our new companion, the dwarf, to the new
weapons it would create.
 Chapter 13: Elder Dwarf
The following morning.
Tenko clung to my arm as she slept. It seemed to me that ever since
yesterday’s promise, she was clinging to me even more.
She wore pajamas like those of a child’s. The pajamas were something I
made using [Creation]. It suited her well and made her look very cute.
“Oto-san. I love you.”
Tenko said such an adorable thing in her sleep.
I poke her cheek with my finger and it was squishy and springy. It also
felt good. Next, I lightly pinched her fox ears. The sensation of her ears,
both the inner part and the outer part with soft fur, was irresistible.
Such was my daily routine.
After I’ve had enough Tenko, I got up. When I did, so did Tenko. Still half
asleep, she rubbed her eyes and floated a smile on her face……
“Good morning. Oto-san.”
She said it in such a casual manner that it was so irresistibly cute.
I came closer to her and proceeded to rub her fluffy tail.
“Good morning. Tenko.”
As I replied, I secretly wished for the new monster to be as fantastic as
Tenko.
◇
“So, what is Marcho doing here?”
Whenever a new monster was going to be created, it was possible that
some kind of blunder would occur. Such blunders included creating a
gigantic a monster or one which was dangerous. And so, we went out to
an open area to be ready for such blunders but Marcho and Succubus
were also there.
Additionally, an unusually splendid table along with some chairs was set
up. They were fully enjoying an elegant tea time.
“I heard you were about to make a new monster.”
“While what you heard may be true, surely, that’s not all the reason
you’ve come here.”
“But it is. Witnessing the birth of an S rank monster is one of the best
form of entertainment there is. The great Demon Lord Marchosias-
sama who is by now unimpressed with most things will surely not miss
such an event.”
That is called being an onlooker.
As a Demon Lord, the correct response would be to not show any
information about one’s own monsters in order to conceal one’s true
might.
However, I didn’t mind showing this secret to Marcho who had given
me assistance in the past.
“Do as you like then.”
“Yeah, we will. In a month, the [Evening Party] will be held so I support
your making of another executive.”
I sensed my expression go stiff.
“What evening party?”
Now that I thought about it, I remembered that Marcho had something
to say on the day we first went to the [Crimson Cavern].
“It’s the gathering of the Demon Lords. All the Demon Lords will
assemble on that occasion. The stars this time would be you, the ten
new Demon Lords who will be making a debut.”
It was as I thought.
A chance for all Demon Lords to gather under one roof. Such a
“delicious” story. I absolutely cannot waste it. This was a great chance
to obtain original medals. And the means of obtaining original medals
were things that were always on my mind.
For example, wouldn’t the other Demon Lords want something from
the things I made using [Creation] in exchange for their original medal?
Also, I don’t know about the Demon Lords whose medals were of A
rank but for Demon Lords whose medals were just B rank, the strongest
monster they could make were B rank monsters. So if it was those guys,
wouldn’t they be open to an exchange for my imitation medal at B
rank?
I had many ideas like these.
After all, all my original medals were about to be used up now that I’m
planning to do a synthesis to get a dwarf. I want to get at least another
original medal in order to have my three [Monsters of the Covenant].
“I wish you’d inform me of things like these a bit earlier.”
“Yeah, sorry, I forgot. Hey, I did once try to tell you though. It was when
you first went to the [Crimson Cavern].”
It was harsh of me to say that. I should also listen properly next time.
“I got it. Let’s move on.”
“You sure are understanding.”
“It’s because you’re my friend.”
Macho listened to my words and then floated a smile on her face.
It was as though she has seen through my heart.
“Let’s end the chit chat. I’ll start making the new monster now.”
I strongly declared so and proceeded to focus.
Both Marcho and Tenko looked my way and while both were excited,
Tenko’s eyes showed a bit of worry. This worry of me being stolen away
by the new monster probably wouldn’t disappear any time soon.
As I smiled wryly at such, I began the process.
The first step in making a monster was:
“[Discharge]”
Upon uttering that incantation, the [Creation] medal was made and
enclosed within my hand. It was the symbol of my power.
Next.
I got the [Person] imitation medal by using some of my DP. The rank of
the original medal of [Person] was an A rank but upon being manifested
as an imitation medal, it dropped down to B rank.
And then, I took out the [Earth] medal I received from Marcho.
All in all, the medals in my hand were [Person], [Earth], and [Creation].
I held on to them tightly.
And now, to begin.
“[Synthesis]”
Light rose up from my tightly clenched fist.
As I opened my hand, the light leaked out and within that light, a
silhouette was formed.
The [Earth] original medal and the [Person] imitation medal merged and
settled down.
And then, the power of [Creation] took effect and I chose [Alchemy].
To know the truth of this world and goes towards it.
To walk alongside with Earth and Flame.
(NOTE:I PERSONALLY THINK FLAME SHOULD BE PERSON INSTEAD)
To have profound knowledge and intelligence that [Earth] and [Person]
alone couldn’t give.
I guided it towards that path.
Unlike the time I made Tenko in which I only used A rank medals, it was
possible for this child I was going to make to not only be an S rank
monster but also an A rank monster.
But of course, I chose for it to be an S rank.
Furthermore, I chose it to not have a static level. Instead I willed it to
have the ability to grow. Its maximum level would increase thus making
it stronger by the time it reached that level.
Alright, it’s complete.
All that’s left was to wait for the monster to be born.
The silhouette within the light grew denser.
And then, the beating of the monster’s heart could be heard.
Alright, it’s finished.
The light stopped shining and the new monster was then born.
“Master. Nice to meet you.”
The monster talked in a robotic voice.
Her appearance was that of a beautiful girl’s.
She had silver hair, a height that didn’t even reach 140cm which suited
her rather flat figure. However, I sensed from her icy blue eyes
unmistakable intelligence.
“Nice to meet you. I’m the Demon Lord that created you. I am the
[Creation] Demon Lord Procell. Sorry but would you please immediately
tell me your race.”
“Yes. Master. I am an Elder Dwarf. The pinnacle of the dwarves. One
which possesses stellar wisdom, has mastery over all things, and creator
of supreme arms.”
The Elder Dwarf indifferently connected her words together.
Her voice and way of talking didn’t discourage her cool appearance.
I then looked at her status.
Race: Elder Dwarf
S rank
Name: Unnamed
Level: 1
Physical Strength: A+
Endurance: S
Agility: C
Magic power: A
Luck: B
Special: S
Skills:
Wisdom of the Stars
Overseer of All Things
Platinum Alchemist
Unparalleled herculean strength
Eye of truth
When compared to Tenko’s, her status were indeed inferior but they
were still very much high-end.
Most especially were her skills.
She had all the necessary things to be a blacksmith.
One might say her Stellar Wisdom and Overseer of All Things were
particularly outside of the norm. But above all, she had the highest
compatibility to my [Creation].
It was exactly like the monster I wished for. No, she was better.
“I’ll be expecting much from you, Elder Dwarf.”
“Please do, Master. As long as master entrusts to me the materials, I will
keep on producing arms of the highest quality.”
We firmly shook hands.
From now on and as long as I have her, the weapons I had made using
[Creation] would only get stronger at a rapid rate.
“Another cute little girl. I guess, rather than being the [Creation] Demon
Lord, Procell’s more of like the [Loli] Demon Lord, right?”
I thought I heard some rather terribly rude words coming from my back
but that must have been just my imagination.
 Chapter 14: Elder Dwarf’s true merit
The new monster was born.
It was an Elder Dwarf, an S rank and the pinnacle of the dwarven race.
Of course she was a candidate to be one of my only three [Monsters of
the Covenant].
As for her appearance, she was a short, a little bit flat chested, silver
haired beautiful girl.
“Master, I am issuing a request for a workshop and some metals. I hope
the workshop has a quiet environment for I wish to immerse myself in
research.”
She was just born and yet she was making some requests.
But rather than saying she had a forceful personality, it was more of like
she’s one of those types that were so engrossed on something, they
couldn’t pay any attention to their surroundings.
“Let’s talk for a moment. Why would you want a workshop?”
“To produce swords of the highest quality in accordance to my role as
an expert blacksmith.”
Indifferently, Elder Dwarf informed me so.
Her clear icy blue eyes and silver hair only enforced her cold image.
Even though she was a dwarf, she was just short and her appearance
almost didn’t differ from that of a human’s.
Put crudely, her almost pitiful flat-chestedness was her distinctive
feature.
“Muu, stop. Forget about making swords, make Tenko’s shotgun
stronger!!”
Tenko butted in.
In her hand was her Remilton M870P. She expected that her toy would
be made even stronger.
“I don’t have the time to be concerned about that stick. ……No, wait.
That. Interesting.”
The color of Elder Dwarf’s eye changed.
In the blink of an eye, she swiped off from Tenko the shotgun.
Elder Dwarf had the skill called [Eye of truth]. It was the eye of the
divine that saw through every single thing’s abilities and construction.
And thus, she had seen through the Remiltion M870P’s hidden power.
And even though Tenko was caught off-guard, she still managed to take
the gun off of Tenko’s hand. With a stunt like that, one could easily
guess just how high her specs were.
“Ah! Give back Tenko’s shotgun!”
Ignoring Tenko who had become teary eyed, Elder Dwarf moved the
pump and loaded the gun.
She then pointed the shotgun towards the sky and afterwards fired it.
“This weapon, it’s interesting. It will be worthwhile to research it.”
And then, an exceedingly great smile floated on her face.
I was convinced, yes, this fellow was up to no good.
“Hey, you, give it back! Don’t do anything terrible to Tenko’s shotgun!”
“Terrible? You’re the one doing something terrible to it. Your
maintenance of it is sloppy and it’s damaging the weapon. Left as it is, it
will be broken.”
“Ugh.”
Tenko was at a loss for words.
I did teach Tenko at one point how to maintain the gun but it looked like
it her maintenance was sloppy. From time to time, I took a look at it but
recently, I had entrusted all of it onto Tenko.
“I will heal this child. Just watch.”
The Elder Dwarf somehow took the gun apart piece by piece with her
bare hands.
Her dwarven skill [Platinum Alchemist] allowed her to process and
manipulate every kind of metal.
She cleaned the parts one by one. And then, she thrusted her had hand
into Tenko’s pocket and procured maintenance oil. She then thoroughly
applied the oil. Afterwards, she instantly reassembled all the parts back
together.
She managed to do all those chain of events in about 10 seconds.
As expected of the highest in the lineage of dwarves.
“It’s all healed up now. I’ve also understood its construction; I have no
need of it now. I’m giving it back.”
The Elder Dwarf returned the shotgun to Tenko.
She wore her same as ever expressionless face but somehow she
looked flushed and ecstatic.
“Thanks.”
Tenko, having received the cleaned shotgun, meekly expressed words of
gratitude.
“Your gratitude is not necessary. I merely did some maintenance while I
studied its construction. By the way, who are you?”
After all this time of interaction, Elder Dwarf asked Tenko the question.
“Tenko, I’m Tenko! I’m Oto-san’s daughter and I’m the next greatest
after Oto-san!”
With an ahem, Tenko puffed out her chest.
“Understood. I sense a dreadful power from you. I will accept that you
are the head monster.”
“Tenko is Elder Dwarf’s onee-chan. As the little sister, you have to listen
to whatever your older sister tells you!”
“I understand. I will obey your, the head monster’s, orders. However, if
you ever get in the way of my research, I will eliminate you.”
“You have great resolve!”
The carried away Tenko who assumed the role of onee-chan, and Elder
Dwarf who although looked to be obedient, said such a frightening
thing.
I got a bit of a headache.
“Nee, Procell. Your monsters, they’re terrible, aren’t they?”
“Please don’t say that.”
Marcho laughed as we talked.
Without knowing the feelings of us Demon Lords, my monsters got
excited.
“El-chan really shows some promise.”
“El-chan?”
“Elder Dwarf’s too long! Until Oto-san decides to give you a name, I’ll
call you El-chan! I won’t teach you but I’ll let you watch me using the
shotgun. It’s amazing!”
“The ability of my skill, [Overseer of All Things], gives me mastery of
every single tool and weapon.”
Quite a useful ability. Her ability to use all of the things I made using
[Creation] makes it great.
She should be able to use bikes, cars, and many other things.
“So, make a strong weapon for Tenko!”
“Your weapon is almost at its ideal form. To make it any stronger, I will
need a powerful metal. Mithril, if possible.”
She had declared that if she only had the materials, she would be able
to immediately make the shotgun she just saw stronger.
Her personality aside, her abilities were first rate.
“Oto-san, use your magic to make some mithril!”
Tenko came over my way, her eyes sparkling.
However, I couldn’t meet her expectations.
“Sorry. I can’t make things which has magic power flowing in it.”
Mithril had magic power flowing in it.
And in the first place, I had never seen one.
“That’s too bad.”
“Ah! You can use my mining area then. The ores one may obtain from a
mine inside a Dungeon is proportional to the power of the Dungeon’s
Demon Lord. And my Dungeon has the strongest Demon Lord there is.
Mithril, adamantite, and if you’re lucky, orihalcum can be mined. It’s
supposed to attract adventurers but it proved to be unpopular so don’t
hold back on mining.”
A helping hand was extended to me.
“You even have a room like that in your Dungeon?”
“I have most things, you know? You too, now that you have a monster
like the Elder Dwarf, should prepare a mine for when you build your
own Dungeon.”
I shall seriously consider it.
Elder Dwarf’s weapon production was essential.
When I looked at the Demon Lord book to confirm it, I saw that it costs
5000 DP. Almost the price of five B rank monsters.
Although I guess it was worth the investment.
“Well then, shall we go digging? I also want to see Elder Dwarf’s
abilities.”
I turned around and uttered so.
“I command you. Respond, earth. [Humanoid vessel creation].”
Fully motivated, the Elder Dwarf place her hand on the ground and
activated her magic.
The earth swelled up, and a figure of a man… No, what was created was
a Golem which was about two meters high and had a tough build.
Furthermore, after she put together her hands, a red gemstone
appeared on the palm of her hands.
The red gemstone was inserted within the Golem.
The Golem’s eyes shone and the Golem itself started to move.
The Golem carefully held a pickaxe made of stone. Was it saying it
wanted to dig some ore?
“Elder Dwarf. What is that?”
“My Magic. [Humanoid vessel creation] creates Golems. Depending on
the material used, the Golem can be created with strength ranging from
F rank to B rank. This child here is only made of stone so its strength is
only around F rank.”
I gulped down.
“Can you make those as long as you have the magic power? For how
long will it move?”
“Yes I can, but the magic stone at its core can only be made once a day.
It draws mana from its surroundings so it can move indefinitely.”
Listening to her words, I raised my assessment of Elder Dwarf by
roughly two ranks.
It could possibly increase my military might more than the Skeletons.
“How much intelligence can the Golems have?”
“As much as I give them. They move according to my programming.”
“The weapon Tenko wields is called a gun. Can they use it?”
“The size will make it impossible.”
Guns were originally made to be used by humans so, as expected, the
Golem’s large finger wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger.
“I see. Too bad.”
I said so… only Elder Dwarf wasn’t finished speaking yet.
“I just lack the materials to be able to remodel the guns in accordance
to the size of the Golems.”
It’s embarrassing but I trembled a little.
If the assault rifles were in such a size and were combined with the
Golems’ power, it would be like heavy machine guns.
However, those would weigh close to 40 kilograms so I would need to
first raise my level and MP to be able to create those guns. Just a little
bit more, I guess.
“Anyway, let’s go to the mine first. We have to gather some materials.
Elder Dwarf, sorry but I want to ask of you two things. First, I want to
you give the highest priority regarding the gathered materials on
strengthening Tenko’s shotgun. Second, I want you to make a Golem
each and every single day.”
“Understood, Master.”
Elder Dwarf nodded.
She didn’t display any emotion but I knew that she was pleased. I guess
weapon enhancement’s a hobby of hers.
“Master, I will need some pen and paper for various calculations and for
creating blueprints.”
Making some pen and paper using [Creation] was easy but I had
something in my memory which was a lot better.
“You have [Overseer of All Things] so you should be able to use this,
right?”
What I made using my [Creation] was a notebook PC.
Elder Dwarf’s [Overseer of All Things] was a skill that allowed her to use
every single tool.
I expected that to remain true for electronics.
By the way, I also summoned a gasoline-based power generator.
With terrifying might, she leaped towards the notebook PC and started
up a drawing software and a calculation software. And so, she began
designing for the improvements of the gun.
As I thought, she was able to use it perfectly.
“This tool is great, immensely so. If I have this, the quality of my designs
as well as its performance will jump up. Master, you’re the best
Master.”
Elder Dwarf was already absorbed in the notebook PC.
The thought of going to the mine was wiped off from her mind.
“Very well. Elder Dwarf, I’ll be borrowing the Golems. We’ll go mining so
you just focus on the designs.”
“Thank you, Master. I have so much work before me, there’s no way I
can leave any of it behind.”
Thus, Elder Dwarf was left behind on our house. We mined day and
night and thanks to the Skeletons and Golems which didn’t know the
concept of fatigue, we had gathered a substantial amount of mithril.
With this, Tenko’s Remilton M870P would soon be reborn.
 Chapter 15: Power up!
Finally, it was the day before the [Evening Party] wherein Demon Lords
would gather.
Almost a month had passed since Elder Dwarf joined us. During that
time we had managed to: mass produce Golems, develop weapons,
build up a reserve of metals from the mine, and level up. We had been
extremely busy.
Elder Dwarf, Tenko, and I all went into the [Crimson Cavern] while the
Golems and Skeletons were assigned to do nothing but mine.
I had a new [Creation] medal in hand. A month had already passed
since the last one so I was able to make another.
However, due to the restriction on [Creation], there was nothing I could
do with it unless I had an original medal made by another Demon Lord.
“What a sight.”
“As per Master’s instruction, I made as much as I could every day.”
Elder Dwarf, the silver-haired prepubescent beautiful girl, emotionlessly
uttered so.
In the backside of the house reserved for us, the Golems were placed.
There were 30 of them.
Five F rank equivalent Stone Golems.
Ten E rank equivalent Iron Golems.
Ten D rank equivalent Silver Golems.
Five C rank equivalent Mithril Golems.
They were balanced like so. No matter how much Mithril we had to
make powerful weapons, it wouldn’t be enough for making all the
Golems so most of the Golems were instead made of iron and silver.
Thus, the Iron Golems and Silver Golems.
“These will make things easier. I’ll equip these guys with heavy weapons
and then they’ll be a great addition to my fighting force.”
The Golems had a large build, towering at over 3 meters, and it had the
power to match. So, I equipped them with heavy weapons remodeled
according to their specifications and done by the Elder Dwarf.
The Browling D2 .50 caliber (custom).
Over-all length: 1560 mm
Weight: 38.0 Kg.
Caliber: 12.7 mm x 99
Belt-fed system; 110 rounds each belt
Rate of fire: 650 rounds per minute
Effective range: 2,000 meters
A historical masterpiece of a machine gun. Eighty years had passed
since it was designed and yet it still was one of the most excellent guns.
It boasted overwhelming firepower and reliability.
It weighed close to 40 Kg. so I was only able to just barely make it after I
had leveled up and increased my MP.
I was only able to do so recently so there was only five of the gun as of
yet.
It used a caliber of 12.7 mm so that meant it used a caliber more than
twice as large as that of an assault rifle.
The power it possessed was beyond words. Not only would a bullet go
right through and leave a hole to any human shot with it, it would turn
them into minced meat.
Just imagine these bullets of such ludicrous power was incessantly
raining down upon the battlefield.
Originally, the gun was meant to be installed on a vehicle and never was
it meant to be carried by foot soldiers. However, the Golems were able
to easily make use of such a beast.
“Master. These Golems will be suited for a defensive battle but not an
offensive one.”
However, that didn’t mean it didn’t have any weaknesses.
The Golems weren’t monsters created by me so I couldn’t store them
away. In other words, the Golems would have to move until their
destination point all by themselves. Their movement was by no means
fast and that would therefore hinder their offensive. Their movement
speed even loses to the Skeletons’.
However, in occasions where a location was to be defended, there was
no monster more convenient than them.
“I know. These guys will be our strongest line of defense.”
I was thinking that basically, in my Dungeon, the ones in charge of
attack would be the Undead corps while the Golem corps would be in
charge of defense.
“Leaving all that aside… How’s Tenko’s weapon? Is it complete
already?”
“It’s perfect, the best one I’ve made. I’ve finished it using: my analysis
on the construction of the shotgun, the information Master gave me
regarding the M&K MK417, my intuition as a dwarf, and Tenko’s
demands. It’s my most superb prized item.”
The assault rifle I had prepared for Elder Dwarf was:
M&K MK417 MR762A1
Over-all length: 905 mm.
Weight: 4.25 Kg.
Magazine size: 20 rounds
Caliber: 7.62 mm x 51
Rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute
Effective range: 400 meters
It’s a version of the Skeletons’ MK416 but instead uses 7.62 mm bullets.
The Skeletons would have had a hard time firing anything that used
more than the 5.56 mm bullets which had little recoil. Not to mention
the need to put importance on the magazine size when it came to the
Skeletons; the 5.56 mm bullets were smaller and therefore would allow
more bullets on the magazine.
However, the MK 417 and its 7.62 mm bullets would not be an issue for
Elder Dwarf, all things considered.
I handed her the high-powered gun in hopes that she might acquire any
engineering techniques from it and use it for enhancing Tenko’ shotgun.
“Oto-san, my new shotgun’s really amazing! It so powerful, and it can
even rapid-fire; it’s the best! El-chan, thank you!”
Tenko who test fired the gun in a separate location had returned.
She was in a considerably good mood and hugged Elder Dwarf.
Her weapon underwent an extreme power up so of course she was
delighted.
“Elder Dwarf. May you please tell me what kind of improvements you
have made on the Remilton M870P?”
“Yes, Master. First, due to the properties of the Mithril alloy, the gun
was made lightweight while also having an increase in its strength. The
strength of the material aside, I have also fully applied dwarven
enchantments on it.”
It looked as though dwarves used some kind of magic to enhance
materials.
The Mithril used was no ordinary Mithril either. It was a Mithril alloy
wherein the Mithril was mixed with various kinds of metal. It resulted in
an increase of its strength and viscosity.
“Next, I increased the firepower by changing the shell from a 12 gauge
to 4 gauge one. I have also mixed in Mithril powder to the shell’s
powder. Mithril powders have the property to store magic power so if
Tenko put in some of her magic power, the weapon’s power will further
increase. A 4 gauge Mithril shell is about 5 times more powerful than an
ordinary 12 gauge shell…… I’ve also added in a feature which will reduce
the recoil but only so much that Tenko will be able to handle this
beast.”
I was delighted to know that the power of the shells had skyrocketed.
However, not all of it was good news. The shells now employed magic
power and I was therefore no longer able to make them using my
[Creation].
But Elder dwarf had also made 4 gauge shells which used ordinary
powder. These didn’t have any magic power flowing in them so I had
them properly memorized so that I could make them using [Creation].
“In addition, using the MK417 as reference, I have implemented a semi-
auto mechanism. It makes use of the recoil and loads in the next bullet.
Also, it’s now possible to change magazines.”
The Remilton M870P was a pump-action shotgun. Each shell needed to
be pumped-in but because of the semi-auto mechanism, the next bullet
would now be reloaded into the chamber automatically.
In other words, rapid-fire was possible.
Furthermore, shells were loaded into a Remilton one at a time but
thanks to the modifications done so that a magazine was detachable,
the user was now able to replenish all the bullets in one go just by
changing the magazine.
“It’s amazing. But, isn’t this a size bigger than before?”
“That can’t be helped. We increased the size of the bullet, made it use
magazines, and added a semi-auto mechanism. All of which would lead
to it getting bigger.”
“I guess. The handling of the gun suffers a tad but, all in all, great
modding. You did great, Elder Dwarf.”
I stroked her head.
She might have had an unconcerned face but the edge of her mouth
had risen ever so little.
In fact, this child was just as spoiled as Tenko; pleased whenever her
head was stroked.
I was the praising type of Demon Lord so whenever there was a chance,
I will assert myself by stroking their heads.
What’s amusing about this child was, although she usually referred to
me as Master, she would occasionally call me father.Her face would
then turn red and sometimes even lose her cool.
Some time ago, Marcho looked at the Demon Lord who was spoiling
Tenko and Elder Dwarf, and uttered [Loli] Demon Lord but this was
highly vexing. I just wanted nothing but to make the girls happy.
“Tomorrow will at last be the [Evening Party] wherein all the Demon
Lords will gather. I’m glad that Tenko’s weapon is ready.”
I whispered so.
Marcho had given me the advice that as much as possible and until the
[Evening Party], I should prepare my fighting force.
Actually, I didn’t know anything more than that because it looked like
that telling me what would happen on that night was against the rules.
“No matter what happens, Tenko will protect Oto-san!”
“I, too, shall protect Master. My research can’t move forward if Master
was gone, after all.”
These two daughters of mine were really motivated.
Tenko was level 33 and Elder Dwarf was level 28.
Going by levels alone, they were in the range of a D rank monster but
since they were S rank monsters to begin with, they had the power to
rival a B rank monster.
If their weapons and superior special abilities were to be factored in, it
could even be argued that they might be able to hold their own against
an A rank monster.
“I’ll be relying on you. Also, we have to seriously think about our
Dungeon soon. I plan to take your requests into consideration so please
think what kind of Dungeon you think is good.”
“Oto-san is going to make his Dungeon?”
“Not yet but soon enough.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it!”
Tenko didn’t feel anxious, instead her eyes sparkled full of hope for the
future.
“Master, a mine is essential. You absolutely have to buy one right from
the start.”
A dwarf is a dwarf and so, she conveyed to me her foremost wish.
I looked at them and felt a little bit at ease.
I must have looked like a fool to be the only one feeling worried.
“Tenko, Elder Dwarf, we’ll show them our might tomorrow.”
“Yay! ♪”
“We’ll make them realize the power of my weapons.”
Today, we did maintenance on our weapons in preparation for
tomorrow, and talked about the Dungeon I would eventually make. We
were very excited.
 Chapter 16: [Monsters of the Covenant]
The next day, we went over to Marcho’s room in order to attend the
[Evening Party] wherein the Demon Lords would gathered.
“Marcho, what do I have to do to participate in the [Evening Party]?”
I asked Marcho a question I had asked her several times before. She
didn’t give me any answer except her evasive reply that I’ll know when
the time came.
“Nothing. You should just wait for it; it’ll come soon enough.”
Marcho laughed lightly.
By her side were three monsters standing guard.
Without even looking at their status, I knew they held tremendous
powers deep within.
The fur on Tenko’s fox tail stood on end. She was affected by their
presence but still readied for battle.
“Those three, are they your [Monsters of the Covenant]?”
“Yeah, precisely. These three are the top amongst the 1500 monsters
following me.”
Most likely, all of them were A rank monsters. In addition, they held
outstanding power even among other A rank monsters.
“Marcho, you often said something like monsters are generally created
with a static level.”
“You’ve realized? All of them are monsters who are A rank, have been
created to be able to grow, and have also reached their maximum level.
They’re comparable to even an S rank.”
Monsters who were able to grow have their maximum level raised. They
were also much more superior to a static level monster when both were
on the same level. And when such monsters reach their maximum
possible level, they were comparable to a monster one rank above
them.
Tenko might be able to take them on in the future but right now, she
wouldn’t stand a chance even if she used the shotgun Elder Dwarf had
made.
Modified shotgun: Remilton (custom) ED01S
Over-all length: 1160mm
Weight: 3.1 Kg.
Caliber: 4 gauge
Magazine size: 4 shells
Compared to the basic Remilton, it was slightly longer and bigger but
due to the change of materials to Mithril, it had become lighter. In
accordance to the larger caliber, the number of bullets loaded into the
gun had gone from six shells down to four but because changing the
magazine was now possible, this version was technically better.
In passing, it looked like the naming convention used was that ED was
for Elder Dwarf, 01 for being the first in a series, and S to mean shotgun.
By that token, an assault rifle made by Elder Dwarf would probably be
called ED01A.
“I guess I should say as to be expected of a Great Demon Lord’s aide-de-
camps.”
“Now imagine my surprise when I saw your monsters; it was at least ten
times yours right now. Well then, everyone, introduce yourselves…… ‘As
flashy as possible.’”
One of the three monsters accompanying Marcho was about to open its
mouth.
It was a monster that had the head of a golden maned lion, the wings of
a huge falcon, and the tail of a white serpent.
“I am a Lion Gryphon. Bestowed upon me by the Great Demon Lord
Marchosias-sama, I am Golguna. Celestial Fox, the power within you is
considerable but you are still too green and unreliable.”
Tenko was offended after she heard the other person talk. She took a
step forward and readied her modified shotgun.
“You wanna know how unreliable Tenko is?”
“Ka-ka-kah. You lost your temper as soon as I said you were green and
unreliable… Come on, look closely.”
When Tenko squinted her eyes, there were almost invisible fine threads
on her neck.
Her head might have been lopped off had she rushed in.
She stiffened in surprise and in that moment, her whole body was
bound by multiple spider threads. She was bound to the point that only
her face from the nose up wasn’t covered.
“Nn, nn, nnUgh.”
The female monster next to the Lion Gryphon looked at Tenko as she
groaned and wriggled like a caterpillar, unable to stand up. The female
monster then giggled and laughed.
Four spider legs broke through its clothes so in combination with its
four humanoid limbs, it totaled to eight. It was most probably this
spider monster that bound Tenko.
Tenko’s magic power then swelled. She was trying to burn the threads
that bound her using her specialty: fire magic. However, no matter how
much time passed, her magic was never activated.
The spider-limbed woman then spoke to Tenko.
“It’s futile; my thread disperses magic power away. And so, [Creation]
Demon Lord, Procell-sama, it is my pleasure to meet you. I am an
Arachne. The name bestowed upon me by my lord is Ammolite.”
The spider monster informed me of her name. But just then, a gunshot
resounded. Elder Dwarf had fired her assault rifle.
However, the bullet was caught by threads.
Considering how much power the bullet exerted, could it really be
stopped by just threads?
“For the judgement to attack without any hesitation, not bad.”
“What are you acting like you have the upper hand for? My [Eye] have
seen through the strength of your threads. It may be able to stop a
single bullet but if I rapid-fired, it won’t be able to endure. If you don’t
want to get hurt, release Tenko. If you do anything wrong, I will not
hesitate to fire.”
Elder Dwarf aligned the sights of her gun towards Ammolite as she
vigilantly stared at her enemy. She had the skill called [Eye of truth]
which allowed her to analyze every single thing in this world.
“Quite the serious blow. I agree my thread wouldn’t be able to stand a
rapid-fire attack from you but Dwarf-ojouchan, haven’t you forgotten
something? …There are three of us.”
Before she even finished her sentence, I felt an intense bloodlust
coming from the back.
A monster was born from my shadow and a claw was then pressed to
my neck.
I didn’t know when but the third monster had vanished from my sight
and used that timing to creep in on my shadow.
“I am a Tartaros. The name bestowed upon me by lord is Kurayami. And
Dwarf, should you dare take even a single step, I will slit his throat.”
(Note: Kurayami means darkness.)
The third monster to appear was a black werewolf. It wasn’t really large,
standing at around under two meters, but its body suggested it was a
seasoned warrior.
Instead of freeing Tenko, Elder Dwarf seemed vexed by the fact that I
was taken hostage. She grinded her teeth and then spoke.
“I understand. I will not resist. But remember this: once you no longer
have a hostage, I will tear you apart limb from limb.”
If Marcho was truly serious, we would have been utterly checkmated.
In meantime, the Lion Gryphon triumphantly talked to Tenko.
“Celestial Fox, do you see now why I called you green and unreliable?
You’re your Demon Lord’s closest companions, his strongest hands?
This is the result of losing your calm and giving in on your emotions; you
easily fell into a trap and are powerless to do anything about it.”
Tenko grinded her teeth and glared at Marcho’s monsters.
“Dwarf-jouchan, you have failed as well. If you were convinced your
attack will go through my defenses by rapid-firing your weapon, you
should have done so before you made any threats. Like that, you have
given your enemies time, lost your attention from your most important
Demon Lord, and then allowed him to receive a surprise attack……
There is no place for such foolishness, right?”
Elder Dwarf bowed her head and clenched her fists.
It was vexing but Marcho’s monsters were strong, on top of being sly.
However, it was already enough.
“So, Marcho, for how long must we continue this farce? If in case you
were serious about this, we would have no other option but to use our
trump card, wouldn’t you agree?”
I smiled at Marcho while the claw was still pressed against my neck.
I knew what her general intentions were.
“I’m surprised you could talk like that in such a situation. But it’s as
Procell says, enough.”
Marcho’s monsters returned to her side.
And the threads around Tenko was unfastened.
“Oto-san!”
Tenko came back to me. She then stood in front of me and vigilantly
glared at Marcho.
“It’s alright, Tenko. Marcho was just…”
Just as I began to talk, Marcho did too.
“I’ll speak for myself. The performance just now was to make you all
aware of just how naïve you guys were. If I truly wanted to, I could have
all of you annihilated. You were unprepared. Would you say something
like that was cowardly? Other Demon Lords wouldn’t think so. Procell,
you say you had a trump card; but even if that was true, it probably
wouldn’t go as you planned.”
“Well, who knows?”
I did have a trump card.
It’s a secret I made with the help of Elder Dwarf. It was made in
preparation for when Marcho would turn hostile against us.
It depended on the way it was used but it was certainly able to turn the
tide.
“I wanted you to know the dread of going against a Demon Lord before
you met another. Particularly, old Demon Lords. And you managed to
face off against me in a calm manner. You better remember that
calmness because if you don’t, they will swallow you whole.”
“I’ll surely take it to heart. It’s too painful to not remember, after all.”
Without the necessary experience, Tenko and Elder Dwarf both couldn’t
make full use of their abilities.
And never mind a head-on battle; in a fight like this time, they would be
toyed on.
I, as well, am ashamed at my inability to respond to the monster that
attacked from my shadow. There were countless points on which we
should reflect on.
“Lesson’s over. Ah, just on time. It’s gonna come soon. Alright, time for
the [Evening Party].”
At the same time as those words, a voice spoke in my mind.
『Children of the stars. The time is now. Assemble, shine, and flaunt thy
existence.』
I think I knew that voice.
Children of the stars, the sound of it was oddly familiar.
My consciousness was drifting away.
Tenko tightly grabbed my hand and when I gripped back, she smiled.
And then, my consciousness was gone.
◇
I woke up.
The sky was blue. But it was not the familiar blue of the sky, it was the
deep blue of the sea.
The stars twinkled. But those stars were literally of varying colors.
When I looked at my surroundings, there was a garden but it somehow
felt unnatural.
There was no way this place was somewhere in the natural world. It
was a world that somebody had created.
I looked ahead and was dumbfounded at the too large, too impressive
and too beautiful snow-white palace.
I didn’t know when but Marcho was next to me and spoke.

“Over there is the place where the Creator, the one who created us
Demon Lords, is. The Demon Lord Palace. ”
The [Evening Party] where all the Demon Lords gather now begins.
 Chapter 17: [War]
The inside of the Demon Lord Palace was as splendid as one might
judge by its exterior.
Its ceilings were high. It was also complete with all sorts of first-class
furnishings.
When we went inside, we were greeted by maids.
These girls weren’t human, they were Succubi.
I wondered why there were Succubi here but then guessed that they
were maybe being employed here to make use of their transfer magic.
“Woah, Oto-san. That vase’s really awesome!”
“I’m bored. There’s nothing here worth researching.”
The fox-eared girl, Tenko, was excited to look at every single thing in
here while the silver-haired prepubescent girl, Elder Dwarf, was
suppressing a yawn.
They may act like so but they never, not for an instant, dropped down
their guard nor have they forgotten to be wary of their surroundings.
Marcho’s scolding was effective.
After we’ve walked a while, a remarkably splendid and huge gate stood
before us.
We went over to the reception desk in front of the gate and in there, we
were given some explanation; I could only take along up to three of my
monsters. And so, I summoned a Skeleton from my [Storage].
It was the smartest among the Skeletons; the top Skeleton I’ve been
secretly referring to as Ske-san.
The Succubi were round-eyed.
Well, it was only natural. And so, with that in mind, I could predict the
way things would develop after this.
We were allowed to bring in three monsters, and naturally, it was to be
assumed that those three would be the Demon Lord’s [Monsters of the
Covenant].
In other words, this was the chance to show off one’s most trusted and
most powerful allies.
So if one were to bring along in there a Skeleton which anybody could
buy for a mere 20 DP, they would be laughed at.
But that was perfectly fine to me.
“Tenko, Elder Dwarf, I want everyone in there to drop their guard
around us so please bear with being made fun of.”
I requested such to the two.
Tenko gave me a yeah and then cheerfully nodded while Elder dwarf
bobbed her head.
And so, we entered the room.
◇
The room was filled by passionate and beautiful music played by some
humanoid monsters.
Food and drinks of the highest quality were served in abundance, each
one to be relished.
The only ones in here were the Demon Lords and their subordinate
monsters.
By the reactions of those around them, I generally knew whether they
were a Demon Lord or a monster.
The Demon lords were very varied, ranging from those looking just like
me to those who were beastmen and dragonewts.
However, what the Demon Lords all had in common was that they were
all able to walk on two legs and could also use their hands for precise
movements. In short, they were all humanoids.
I wondered, was this intended?
As I was thinking about it, all the Demon Lords shifted their focus onto
me as soon as I took a step in.
After all, they could guess at the attribute the newcomer might have by
looking at the monsters the newcomer had brought along.
They had to think of the approach they would take in trading for the
newcomer’s medal depending on his attribute.
“Gyahahahahaha. That guy, he brought along something like a
Skeleton.”
“His other monsters are around level 30 too; must be low rank
monsters.”
“A Night fox and a Dwarf? Did he only have B rank medals when he
created them? And on top of that, he flopped.”
Half of the Demon Lords laughed at me.
The Night Fox and the Dwarf were both C rank monsters. The Demon
Lords probably assumed I used two B rank medals on my [Synthesis],
and then failed and only got C rank monsters.
These fellows were the small fries.
Demon Lords had the ability to see through a monster’s level. Rising in
level would allow them to read an additional piece of information about
the monster.
However, the higher the rank of the monster, the higher the level a
Demon Lord had to be in order to be able to read any further
information.
In other words, without being able to see through Tenko and Elder
Dwarf’s powers, they have fallen for my bait which was the Skeleton.
And if they looked down on me, they proved they were third-rate
Demon Lords.
What I was afraid of were…
“Ohh, interesting.”
“What kind of trick could this be?”
“Things are going to get amusing from now on.”
…the Demon Lords who could properly appraise Tenko and Elder Dwarf
but chose to be cautious.
If those guys wouldn’t make contact with me, I would be outdone.
Casually, I looked around and saw that Marcho was deep in
conversation with other Demon Lords.
She gave me a mean look and instantly returned to her conversation. I
guess I wouldn’t receive any help from her and must strive on my own.
◇
I talked to various Demon Lords in the dance hall.
The small-fry Demon Lords who were looking down on me proposed
deals between their imitation medals and my original medals.
They seemed to have decided that my medals were of lower value.
Although they took me lightly, I had also obtained some information.
On the other hand, while all the Demon Lords who were able to see
through Tenko and Elder Dwarf’s powers were interested in me, they
kept each other in check and wouldn’t readily come talk with me.
Just as when I thought it was getting irritating, an extraordinary kind of
fool came.
“You, are you the one who brought along weak monsters? I pity you so
this future great Demon Lord, Stolas-sama of the [Wind], shall give you
some charity.”
She was a green haired young lady.
The moment she said [Wind], our surroundings riled up.
I recalled Marcho’s story about it. Among the four great elements,
[Earth], [Fire], [Wind], and [Water]; only a Demon Lord having the
[Wind] medal hasn’t appeared all this time.
On top of being powerful, the versatility of the four great elements was
extremely high. And without any exception, they were all medals of A
rank, making the owners of these medals the target of envy by many
others.
That’s why it wasn’t amusing if even the girl born with the [Wind]
attribute herself thought she was some kind of chosen individual.
“Charity?”
“Yes. I’ll give you my [Wind]. It’s only an imitation but it’s a B rank. So,
make a slightly better monster.”
The girl threw her [Wind] imitation medal in the air and I caught it.
Although it was an imitation, I was thankful for the [Wind] medal I now
held but my pride wouldn’t allow me to simply take it.
I was fine with strategically making them let their guard down but
receiving charity was another issue.
“Thank you. Then, I’ll give you this.”
I threw to her the [Flame] imitation medal I had prepared for trading.
Considering [Flame], [Person], [Earth], and [Creation], all of which were
A rank, would certainly be in demand, I had prepared imitations of
them beforehand.
“What’s this?”
“An exchange. I’m also a Demon Lord born just this year so we’re rivals.
Just me receiving things doesn’t sit well to me. These medals are of the
same rank, right?”
Something I said got on the green-haired Demon Lord’s nerves and she
went mad.
“Rivals? Someone like you who can make nothing but monsters of that
quality dares to consider me, a Demon Lord having an A rank medal, to
be his rival? Don’t make me laugh.”
“That quality? I should be asking you that instead. How could someone
who brought along monsters “of that quality” make fun of mine? If they
fought, yours wouldn’t last a minute.”
Stolas brought along three monsters.
A wind weasel, a winged horse, and an angel-like monster.
I could only see detailed information of D rank monsters and below so
for these three, their levels were all I could determine.
However, one of them was just level 69. The others were around the
60s. It was impossible for a monster that could grow to level up this
much in this short amount of time. Then, supposing that was the case,
one of them would be an A rank monster and the other two would be B
ranks. (Note: Procell here made a little jump in his explanation but
remember that static level monsters are born with a level according to
their rank.)
“I-I won’t allow anyone to make fun of my [Monsters of the Covernant]!
You, what’s your name?”
“I am the [Creation] Demon Lord Procell.”
“As for me, I am the [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas. I’ll soon make you
regret picking a fight with me.”
Our surroundings were noisy.
The small-fry Demon Lords looked at me and began spouting things like
go die or you’ll regret this.
On the other hand, the powerful Demon Lords looked at us with great
interest.
Well, I guess our fighting force were equal to each other.
Tenko and Elder Dwarf were S rank monsters but they were still at a low
level. We were at a disadvantage to the A rank monster born with a
static level on the other party when judged solely by their status. But
due to our side’s superior special abilities and overwhelming weapons,
both sides were almost equal to each other.
However, after 10 or so more levels, our side would most likely overtake
them and further down the line, just simply overpower them.
◇
Some time had passed.
During that interval, I had exchanged a few of my imitation medals for
the other party’s but was still yet to obtain an original medal.
I have to obtain some with the time left.
If I exchanged [Creation] to the powerful Demon Lords, perhaps then I
could obtain some but unless it was a Demon Lord that could keep a
secret and not have any ill intentions towards me, it would only do me
more harm than good.
As I was thinking so, my consciousness suddenly drifted away.
When I came to, I was on a stage.
There were nine others with me. And one of them was Stolas who I got
into a quarrel earlier.
All the other Demon Lords’ gaze were focused on the ten of us.
“Children of the stars. These are the newly born children to join the
ranks. ”
A voice was heard when we were brought here.
“Now then, let us celebrate our new found radiance.”
The Demon Lords raised their cups.
And before I realized it, there was also a cup in my hands.
“Cheers!”
I, almost unconsciously, drank from the cup in my hand.
It was delicious, so very delicious. What was this alcohol and the
strange heat it boils up within me? I felt as though a new power had
sprouted.
“And now, I shall convey to everyone what I have decided upon.
Normally, new Demon Lords are prohibited to construct their own
Dungeon until they can stand on their own.”
I had heard of something similar.
After a year of studying, I heard we were to move out and make our
own Dungeon.
“However, I have decided that that is such a long time spent idling.
Therefore, on this occasion, I am giving them the privilege to build their
own Dungeon.”
All of the Demon Lords erupted with chatter.
And from among them, Marcho raised her hand.
“[Beast] Demon Lord Marchosias? I permit you to speak.”
“Yes, Creator. I am against this. They are still much too young and don’t
yet fully comprehend the world. Their crystals will be broken in the
blink of an eye, losing their powers in the process.”
That would definitely happen.
After all, our military might were still far from being satisfactory. Our DP
was the same.
The one year time period we were given was supposedly for gaining
knowledge, earning DP, and building up our military might.
As were right now, the Dungeon we would build would do nothing but
entice humans and the other Demon Lords to attack us.
“You are a kind child, Marchosias. But your worry is a needless one. Up
until a year after their independence, I am prohibiting the other Demon
Lords in attacking the new Demon Lords’ Dungeons.”
That was a great help.
I might be able to defend myself but that was only against a fellow new
Demon Lord.
The problem now, however, were the beings called Heroes but it
seemed like unless there was a threat against mankind, they would not
bare their fangs against me.
“In addition, should they lose their Dungeon before gaining their
independence, I shall give them a new crystal a year later when they’re
on their own.”
The new Demon Lords became excited.
That was a wonderful fallback.
However, it by no means meant that losing one’s crystal was alright.
After all, the DP one could earn would decrease during the time the
Dungeon was down.
Also, a gap with the other Demon Lords would be made.
What’s more was what Marcho had said; if the crystal was broken, the
Demon Lord would lose all of his powers.
Medal [Discharge], monster creation, and exchanging things for DP, all
of these couldn’t be done until a new crystal was given.
Also…… there was a chance wherein all the monsters the Demon Lord
had created thus far would all be gone, never to return even after
getting hold of a new crystal.
“However, giving you too much and not having any tension left is also
troubling. New Demon Lords, fight with each other and obtain the
other’s power. Conquer another’s Dungeon and snatch away their
powers. In fact, I am requiring you to fight one war before being
independent.”
So that’s how things were.
This god seemed like he really wanted us to fight each other.
Either way, since we were going to get a new crystal by the time we
were independent, I should not hesitate at breaking another Demon
Lord’s crystal and gaining their power.
The others were thinking the same. This had become a gruesome
meeting, hadn’t it?
“New Demon Lords, I hope you’ll borrow from the older Demon Lords
their knowledge and make a labyrinth of your own. That is all… no,
actually, let’s do a show.”
The new Demon Lords let out a voice of surprise.
Something hot was in our hands. In mine was a [Creation] medal.
Ignoring the once a month limit, there it was.
“This medal is my gift to you, free of charge. And only to the first ones
to volunteer, I offer them the chance to take part in a simplified [War]
right here, right now. They will be tasked to build an instant Dungeon
and shatter the other’s [Pseudo-crystal]! Win and get the other’s medal;
or lose and have your own medal be taken away!”
The new Demon Lords were confused.
If one won, they would be able to get the other Demon Lord’s medal
which was huge.
However, this being a show and all, the scope of their own power would
be exposed to everybody in this place. And on top of that, they had to
hand over their original medal should they lose.
But on the other hand, not participating would allow them to bring
home a free medal.
So, was it necessary to take the risk?
I understood these but I would not waver. I had no choice but to fight
here.
The question now was whom do I fight? At a certain point in the party, I
had collected information regarding what kind of medal the new
Demon Lords possessed.
But I didn’t have much time to dwell on it; the chance was only offered
to the first ones to volunteer.
From the group, there was someone to make the first move.
It was the [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas.
She was definitely glaring my way, trying to open her mouth.
I see, was this revenge for the embarrassment I did to her?
My little mischievious heart was excited.
“[Creation]”
“[Wind] Demon Lord Stolas, I challenge you to a war!”
“And so, this is our show. [Creation] Demon Lord Procell and [Wind]
Demon Lord Stolas, these two shall go to war!”
I interrupted her and declared war myself.
She planned to look cool but having her honor suddenly crushed, Stolas
shook and trembled.
I flashed a grin, adding more fuel to the fire.
She flared up right away. It looked like she was an enemy who was easy
to deal with.
If I won against her, I would be able to obtain an A rank original medal
and I would then be able make another [Monster of the Covenant]
candidate.
Now then, time for my first confrontation against a fellow Demon Lord.
What kind of battle would unfold, I wonder?
 Chapter 18: Building a Dungeon for the first time
It was decided that I would participate in a simplified war against
[Wind] Demon Lord Stolas as part of a show.
We were given a private room right now so that we could prepare.
Although it was called a private room, it was ridiculously vast to the
point that it ranged in the thousands of meters, without any sky or
walls. We were in a white dimension separated from the world.
In here were myself; the subordinates I rely upon, Tenko, Elder Dwarf,
and Ske-san; and as my parent, one of the strongest Demon Lords,
[Beast] Demon Lord Marchosias.
“Ok, let’s build a Dungeon, shall we? Being able to build one for free
isn’t so bad, is it?”
“I thought you’d be tensed, Procell, but it seems like that’s not the case;
I’m relieved. You should just try out all sorts of things and see what they
do.”
Since this was but a show, both of us had little to lose.
The rules were simple.
Within an hour, we were to construct our Dungeon and deploy our
monsters.
And after both of us were transferred to the entrance of the other’s
Dungeon, the fighting will commence.
One side would be declared the winner if they were the first to destroy
the enemy’s crystal found in the innermost part of the Dungeon.
However, we were limited to the provided 10,000 DP. One’s own DP
pool was not accessible for the moment.
But the rules also said that it was possible to bring in other properties
of ours other than DP. These meant we could bring our monsters.
We were allowed to spend the DP supplied to us as we saw fit but any
excess DP as well as the Dungeon we had made would be returned after
the [War].
Furthermore, it seemed like any monsters to fall in this fight would be
revived afterwards.
“The [Time] Demon Lord, Dantallian, huh.”
By the Creator’s command, the Demon Lord called Dantalian took part
in this [War].
He had the ability to make time rewind up to three hours ago for
everything within his barrier.
And so, the battle phase’s time limit was two hours.
In short, time was rewound by the end so any monster death shall be
reversed.
Moreover, things like our memory of the battle, and the DP and
experience obtained by killing monsters would be left intact.
I had no doubt that [Time], in terms of both the abilities it gave to its
Demon Lord as well as the abilities of its medals, was of the strongest
class.
I wanted to somehow get ahold of one.
“Alright, what kind of Dungeon do you plan on making?”
Marcho was here to support me who had no experience in making a
Dungeon.
“I already have an idea. [I shall compose]”
I recited the words of power and the Demon Lord book appeared.
I then opened it and looked at the page containing entries about
Dungeon making.
“First of all, the Dungeon will be of the cave-type.”
For the exterior, I chose it to be some kind of mundane cave.
I selected so for one reason only; it was cheap.
I filled the white room with a mountain’s worth of soil and thus
completed the cave.
The hole of the cave was dark, as if it was saying it went on forever.
A Demon Lord’s Dungeon was on another dimension so how it
appeared outside had nothing to do with how vast it was inside.
“Yeah, you gotta save up wherever you can. You can pay attention to a
Dungeon’s exterior once you’ve saved up some DP.”
“I wonder about that. What about for attracting adventurers?”
“…Are you really a beginner?”
What I was talking about was the part where the Dungeon attracts in
some humans.
Like, for example, a certain castle-type Dungeon where humans believe
they could get things like treasures while also being able defeat some
monsters.
So one had to also pay attention to the Dungeon’s exterior especially
for a new and unknown Dungeon.
“Well, this Dungeon will only be used for this [War] so I guess it doesn’t
really matter. Now, let’s make a vicious Dungeon!”
It was a disposable Dungeon so it’s only purpose was to murder the
enemy.
Originally, my plan was to make a Dungeon where humans would have
a fair amount of happiness and income but I didn’t have to worry about
such things right now.
I only had to worry about annihilating my enemies. That and only that.
“Fufu. That’s the right attitude. All the Demon Lords are watching this
show, you know. Take this opportunity to show them your might,
[Creation] Demon Lord Lolicell!”
Marcho grinned and giggled.
“………Marcho, what the heck did you just call me?”
“Yeah, huh, what’s the matter Procell? Hey, there’s not much time left.
Next on the list is the interior. You’re limited to only a floor for this
[War]. It’s going to be a simple Dungeon but that just makes it all the
more difficult to build. So, use your head!”
This girl… she definitely said that on purpose.
Later on, I’ll make a monster that wasn’t a loli and make her realize how
wrong she is.
But when I turned my head, casually, at my cute monsters, I looked at
their eyes full of expectation on whether the Dungeon would be fun.
They were so cute. I wanted to hug them. Fine, I guess don’t mind being
Lolicell.
“Ahem, let’s build the Dungeon, shall we?”
A Demon Lord’s Dungeon was composed of three rooms per level.
Each time 10,000 DP was paid, the number of levels the Dungeon had
increases but the crystal room would always be in the very last room of
the deepest level.
Considering an imitation medal was 500 DP, this was relatively much
more expensive.
“Procell, when buying rooms found in your book, remember that the
more complex the terrain and the more traps it has, the more expensive
it becomes. Adding in magical components will have the tendency of
making it even more expensive.”
I flipped the pages as I listened on Marcho’s tips.
It was exactly as she said.
The cheapest was an empty field. It was exactly as it sounded, a terrain
with nothing on it. It could be bought for 500 DP.
The next cheapest was a stone room. A room whose floor, walls, and
ceiling was made with nothing but stone. For 1000 DP.
Next, stone corridors. It was like the one above but this one was a
complex labyrinth which looked like it would be suitable for buying
time. For 2000 DP.
The novelty, Lava room, for 3000 DP. An enchanted room was for 6000
DP. And many more but the more elaborate it got, the higher the price.
“Now, Procell, with your limited budget in mind, you better make the
best choices.”
Well, I had nothing to worry about. I’ve made up my mind.
I bought three stone rooms.
Upon buying a room, one was able to choose what its general shape
and size would be.
In the case of the stone room, one couldn’t build walls within it but they
would be able to choose the shape of the stone room itself, whether it
be rectangular, triangular or any sort of shape.
Furthermore, one could freely change the size of its dimensions. Its
length and width ranged from 3m to 10Km while its height ranged from
3m to 20m.
The greater the size of the room, the more time it would stall the
enemies but then that also meant the wider the area one’s monsters
had to guard and the easier it was for the enemy to pass through.
Well, there was no other choice for me.
The rooms’ width was 4m; its length was 2Km; and its height was 3m. I
had built three extremely oblong rooms.
“Alright, it’s complete!”
I did a good job.
It was a rather good Dungeon.
“Wai-wait a minute. Why is it a pointlessly long straight-forward path!?
The enemies won’t be lost at all. It doesn’t have any traps either. If the
enemies just march forward, they’ll get to the deepest part of your
Dungeon really quickly, you know!? I mean, what did you save the 7000
DP for!?”
Without understanding what I was planning for, Marcho panicked.
“It’s going to be fine. The room’s height is low, it’s a completely straight
path with nothing as cover, and the ground can’t be dug. And, it has
exactly two kilometers end to end…… there’s no more ideal field than
this.”
These were the three rooms. Plainly speaking, losing hadn’t crossed my
mind.
“That confidence… do you have something planned?”
“Yes, rest assured, I have absolute confidence in my defense.”
At that timing, the space warped.
“[Creation] Demon Lord Procell-sama. We have the things you had
requested for.”
“Thanks. You may place them there.”
The Succubi working at the Demon Lord Palace came using their
transfer magic. They transported the large quantities of weapons as
well as the Golems made by Elder Dwarf, both of which were left
behind at Marcho’s Dungeon.
The Elder-Dwarf-made Golems weren’t mine so I was unable to put
them into my storage and bring them along.
If I didn’t have the Golems with me on this fight, it would then most
likely turn into a fierce battle.
The weapons were assault rifles; five Golem-specific more-than-forty-
kilograms heavy machineguns, the Browling D2 .50 caliber guns; and a
large supply of ammunitions.
And then the “sleep by mustard”. Each room in the Dungeon was
perfectly sealed so the “mustard” would be really effective.
“Oto-san, what should Tenko do in this fight?”
“Master, my instructions as well”
Tenko and Elder Dwarf voiced out so.
They held no doubt, not even a fragment of it, about my Dungeon.
They trusted me and perhaps also understood why I made this kind of
Dungeon.
“The defense shall all be entrusted to the Golems. And Tenko, Elder
Dwarf and the Skeleton squad will focus on the offense! At the start of
the [War], we will go deep into the enemy’s Dungeon.”
Basically, it was the stupidest of the stupidest ideas to leave the defense
to only the Golems which weren’t even monsters.
After all, the enemy had a number of A and B rank monsters at her
command.
However, within my Dungeon and with their equipment, they were
impregnable walls.
“Yay, okay! We definitely won’t forgive those guys that looked down on
Oto-san!”
“I concur with Tenko. We will make them regret their slight against
Master.”
“I’m relying on the both of you.”
I stroked the heads of my reliable daughters.
Tenko smiled, laughed and said Yay! ♪ . As for Elder Dwarf, she was
silent but the area near her mouth relaxed.
Marcho looked at me with lukewarm eyes.
My chances of ridding myself of my notoriety as Lolicell got further
away.
“Well then, Procell, what will you do with your remaining DP?”
“Use it, of course.”
I had obtained 10,000 precious DP so I had to make effective use of it.
Although the Creator had said that any excess points as well as the
Dungeon made for this fight would be retrieved from us.
Put differently, it was fine not to return things other than those.
And so I began making large amounts of imitation medals.
“You’re surprisingly stingy.”
“I prefer being called strategic. Making monsters is a fair strategy in
making the Dungeon stronger, right?”
I had received several imitation medals at tonight’s [Evening Party] but
was still yet to receive an original one.
I will use these medals and make some monsters. My expectations were
particularly high for [Wind] and [Death] due to them being imitations of
originally A rank medals. If I fused together the B rank medals I had in
possession, it would most probably result in the creation of B rank
monsters.
I wasn’t planning on making any of them members of my [Monsters of
the Covenant] so they’ll be born with static levels.
Now then, which monsters shall I make? For now, I’ll try combining
[Wind] with [Beast] and [Death] with [Person].
I hope [Death] would help give birth to a smart B rank monster.
As I hoped for such, I began the [Synthesis].
There was still plenty of time left. I’ll increase my chances of winning a
little bit more.
 Chapter 19: Undead noble
Around forty minutes left to prepare.
First off, I had asked Elder Dwarf to optimize the Golems’ programming
for this [War].
Golems were only able to do the things they were programmed to do,
so it was necessary to configure their behavior and routines
beforehand.
Their orders this time was exceedingly simple so it didn’t take too much
time.
“Master, I’m off.”
“I’m relying on you, Elder Dwarf.”
Just like that, Elder Dwarf who had already finished the program
vanished into the Dungeon together with the Golems.
She was going to deploy the Golems, install the guns and the traps, and
many other tasks but with her at the command, there was no doubt she
would handle it easily.
“Is it alright for Tenko to not help?”
“Yeah, it is. This is Elder Dwarf’s forte, anyway.”
Elder Dwarf was, in a sense, much more proficient than I was in regards
to modern day weaponry while the Golems were much better at
manual labor so there was little help we could really offer.
I’d rather use that time at focusing on my own tasks.
I bought a [Person] imitation medal and placed it together with [Death]
on my hand.
About [Death], I only just got it at the [Evening Party]. There was a
Demon Lord who wanted a [Flame] imitation so we agreed to exchange
imitation medals.
The [Flame] imitation was in high demand, and it was only natural
considering it was originally an A rank medal. Also, its owner was a
perished Demon Lord so it was on even higher demand.
“Tenko, I’ll now make a monster with [Death] and [Person].”
“Tenko’s friends will grow again!”
“You say that but this monster will be much weaker than Tenko and
Elder Dwarf.”
[Death] was the undead monsters’ attribute, and [Person] was so that
the monster would be humanoid as well as giving some intelligence to
the monster.
If I were able to make a high-ranking undead right now, I would then
have an easier time at making use of the Skeleton squad than before.
As I prayed for such, I gripped the medals tightly.
“[Synthesis]”
Furious light stemmed from within my hand.
[Death] and [Person] was combining.
If it was as always, this was the part where I would select the things I
wanted from the myriad of possibilities using the power of [Creation].
But I couldn’t do so this time since this was just a normal [Synthesis].
I was awfully anxious; I didn’t know what monster would be created.
I was now realizing how truly a blessing [Creation] was.
The light ceased and a humanoid monster was born. Its size was close
to a human’s at more than one and a half a meters tall.
It was a skeletal monster but it couldn’t be compared with a regular
Skeleton for it was clad in deep darkness as it wore a high quality robe
over its body.
“I am the [Creation] Demon Lord Procell. Tell me of your race.”
Expecting it could understand my words, I asked the skeletal monster
so.
It didn’t answer.
Was it as I feared? Was even this not a highly intelligent monster?
As I was thinking so, the skeletal monster spoke.
“My lord, I am a Wight. I am also a marquis in the land of the dead. I’m
pleased to make your acquaintance.”
The skeletal monster gave an elegant bow like those of a noble.
I was now convinced I hit the jackpot.
“I’ll be counting on you, Wight. I see you could speak with me but can
you do the same with them?”
It wasn’t only Ske-san that was out right now, I had summoned all of the
Skeletons from my storage.
Each of them had received training and thus were able to use guns.
They were my prized Skeleton squad.
Its bones clattering, Ske-san approached Wight.
“But of course, my lord. Ooh, how pretty and beautiful you are.”
Wight knelt before Ske-san and kissed the back of its hand.
Two skeletons kissing was widely surreal.
“That Ske-san was a girl……?”
I was in a great shock.
“My lord, no matter how you look at her, she can’t be anything but a
fair maiden.”
Wight and Ske-san made clattering noises together.
And then, Wight acted as though he was thinking of something.
Wight was all bones so there was no way to see any expression on his
face but each of his actions were so exaggerated, it was actually easy to
tell what he was thinking about.
When Ske-san was no longer making any clattering noises, Wight turned
my way.
“My lord, I have something I want to show you by all means.”
“Show it.”
“Yes.”
As I looked at Wight, using the magazine that was in her pouch, Ske-san
changed the one on the assault rifle which hanged from her shoulder.
The Skeletons had never learned to do that no matter how much I
taught them but here it was, put into practice. I was deeply moved.
“Wight, did you teach her that?”
“Yes, in a way. I have the ability to read the memories of the lower
ranking undead as well as the ability to control them. So, I read their
memories and made them perform the action which frustrated them
because they were unable to live up to your expectations.”
Wight received an assault rifle from a Skeleton. He then smoothly
loaded a bullet in it and shot it towards the sky.
“In addition, by reading their memories, I’m able to do the things they
could as though I was the one to have experienced it.”
Those words were comforting.
After all, I didn’t have the time to teach him how to use a gun.
He respectfully received the spare assault rifle as well as the pouch
containing magazines and ammunitions that I handed over to him.
“…Thus, my lord, let me once more swear my fealty to you not because
you’re my creator but because my own little heart has acknowledge you
as my one and true lord.”
Wight knelt down.
In that form, he exuded his elegance and resolve.
“I am certain of this because of the Skeletons. You’ve cherished them
despite being the weakest of monsters; you’ve made them feel
important. And, if permitted, all they desire is for them to serve you
further and become your strength. You are deeply loved, my lord. I
thank god for being born under the rule of someone like you.”
“Raise your head, Wight. I will be relying on you from now on.”
“I shall be by your side until I can no longer move.”
Thus, the exchanging of oaths between master and servant concluded.
Wight immediately taught all the Skeletons how to change their
magazines.
When I looked closely, the squads’ movement had gotten smoother in
this short passage of time.
Just what one should expect of a marquis of hell, they excel at leading
people.
I confirmed Wight’s status.
Race: Wight
B rank
Name: Unnamed
Level: 56
Physical Strength: D
Endurance: D
Agility: C
Magic Power: B
Luck: E
Special B+
Skills:
Commander of the dead
Average Undead creation
Invigorate the dead
Undead
His stats were quite low but his special abilities were top-notched.
Leader of the dead was a skill that allowed him to read the memories of
the undead. It also allowed him control them. Thus, he had the ability
to lead the Skeletons well.
Average Undead creation, meanwhile, would use corpses as its
materials to make Undead up to C rank thus allowing me to save up on
some DP.
Worthy of special mention was Invigorate the Dead. It would strengthen
any C rank and below Undead under one’s control.
I would have him take command of the Skeleton squad. I hope he would
make them more clever and stronger.
He had every ability that I wished him to have.
If I could have, I would have wanted to make him an S rank using
[Creation]. If that was only so, he would even have had the ability to
create high ranking Undead.
Afterwards, I fused [Wind] and [Beast] together and got a B rank
Gryphon. Its head was of an eagle’s while its body was that of a horse’s.
Its intelligence was just average but being able to ride on its large body
was great.
Perhaps, such may even come in handy for this fight.
Right after I made the Gryphon, Elder Dwarf returned having completed
all of her tasks.
“Master, I have returned.”
There was just five minutes left.
It would be rather boring to spend all of the remaining DP only for
imitation medals.
On that note, I remembered that Elder Dwarf was saying she wanted to
have an assistant.
“Thanks, Elder Dwarf.”
“I have deployed the Golems as master has instructed. Their
programming, too, is complete.”
“Excellent. I’ll give you a reward. You said you wanted an assistant so I’ll
buy you B rank Dwarf Smiths.”
“Thanks, Master! With them, my research will progress further! I can
leave a fair amount of work to them as I concentrate on the thinking
aspects of it.”
I bought two Dwarf Smiths which was the monster two ranks below
Elder Dwarf in their lineage. Each of them was worth 1200 DP so if it
was not a situation such as this, I wouldn’t have been able to afford
them.
The Dwarf Smiths were tanned, black-haired, short, mid-teens girls.
They weren’t like Tenko and Elder Dwarf who were transcendentally
beautiful girls but they were cute nonetheless.
Elder Dwarf immediately taught them all sorts of things.
The gathering of cute girls was simply eye-catching.
The Dwarf Smiths looked at Elder Dwarf who was the much higher-
ranking species with eyes of admiration. This would make them listen
properly to what Elder Dwarf says and help her on what she really
needs.
In the back, Marcho nodded in approval and spoke.
“When you created the Wight and the Gryphon, I was like that Procell,
making monsters that weren’t lolis!? but I see that you’re still who you
are. I’m relieved.”
She gave a pose where her thumbs were pushed out.
I reckoned no matter what I said wouldn’t matter so I decided to just
concentrate on the battle.
It was a bit rushed but somehow we had properly done all our
preparations within the time limit.
~From the perspective of [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas~
“So how is it? What do you think of my Dungeon, [Dragon] Demon Lord
Astaroth-sama!?”
I confidently showed my prized Dungeon to my parent, Astaroth-sama.
The Dungeon I thought of over and over again.
Many of my monsters had the ability to fly.
So, a valley where footing was unstable and where my flying monsters
had an overwhelming advantage.
A labyrinth where countless traps were prepared.
And, a lava zone where footing was difficult.
Such were the three rooms I had prepared.
Considering my monsters had excellent mobility, each room was as
wide as possible.
I was sure, [Creation] Demon Lord Procell wouldn’t even be able to
break through a single room.
I only had a few points remaining so I’ve decided to reserve them until
the last moment.
“Fumu. Your Dungeon’s quite good. You did a good job, Stolas.”
Astaroth-sama appeared like a kind old man but, as befitting of my
parent, he was one of the strongest Demon Lords.
[Beast] Demon Lord Marchosias, [Dragon] Demon Lord Astaroth, and
[Time] Demon Lord Dantalian were said to be the current strongest
Demon Lords.
“Naturally.”
“Stolas, you are excellent. You have an A rank, highly versatile medal
that’s with an element. You also have the strongest Unique Skill. To add
to all that, you’re smart and highly proficient in combat. There is no
mistake, you will be one of the most talented Demon Lords even
amongst further generations.”
Somehow, Astartoth-sama looked at me as though he was pitying me.
“Why are you saying that now? I already know I’m a genius. But that
fellow that challenged me, not knowing his own place, I’ll crush him in
the blink of an eye!”
The incompent guy that could make nothing but C rank monsters.
That shameless guy that was accompanied by something like a Skeleton.
But despite all that, that guy was arrogant and intolerable.
In front of the other Demon Lords watching, I shall thoroughly make a
laughing stock out of him.
“You are still young. Defeat shall be a good lesson for you. It’s better to
taste it as early as possible in a battlefield as small as possible. This
[War] is a rare opportunity to experience some amount of pain. It’s not
very often you get the convenient chance to recover from a setback. I
hope you learn a lot from this.”
Astaroth-sama’s words sounded as though he was convinced I was
going to lose.
I violently flared up and turned my back on him.
“I’ll make you see!”
And so, I activated my Unique Skill.
The Unique Skill of [Wind] was a collection of various derived magic.
The strongest ability from among them was [Omnipresence]. That
power applies to all of my monsters at the same time.
Such would effectively double my fighting force. The strongest power as
befits myself.
Everyone had this all wrong; this wasn’t a battle but a one-sided
onslaught.
I let out a laugh for I, the future great Demon Lord, [Wind] Stolas, shall
show all the Demon Lord my might!
 Chapter 20: Mithril Golems
The time limit for building a Dungeon has ended.
Right at that moment, my consciousness drifted away.
I was summoned by the Creator.
For a time now, I was on a separate white space, the cave dungeon I had
just created at my back.
And at the front was the green-haired conceited girl, [Wind] Demon
Lord Stolas. By her back were a lot of monsters. The defending monsters
were deployed in the Dungeon so these must be the monsters she
would bring to attack my Dungeon.
I was the same. I had Tenko, Elder Dwarf, Wight, and the Skeleton squad
by my back. The Gryphon, too. All of my monsters aside from the
Golems were here.
However, by no means were Stolas’s monsters, numbering close to a
hundred, too many. Given that she was born around the same time as I
was, she should have around the same amount of monsters that I could
create. Was she bringing all of her monsters to attack? No, that’s not it.
Could there be a trick at play here?
At Stolas’s back was also a cave-type Dungeon.
However, compared to my shabby-looking cave, hers was as splendid as
her budget allowed. Her vainness was showing through.
“Good, you didn’t run away. I’ll praise you that much.”
“There’s no way I’ll let the chance to get your hard-to-get medal slip
away.”
Following my cheap shot, Stolas popped a vein.
I wanted to get her as angry as possible to increase my chances of
winning.
A gigantic screen was suspended in the sky of the white space.
Projected on the screen were the figures of the exhilarated Demon
Lords. Our own figures were probably being projected on their side as
well.
Stolas was visibly anxious. And why wouldn’t she be? For her, winning
against a run of the mill Demon Lord like me was all but certain.
Trampling over me was even a given.
“…I won’t even need the full two hours to crush you; I’ll end you right
away!”
“You wish. But I doubt you’d even be able to conquer my Dungeon at all
so, I, on the other hand, will be taking it nice and slow.”
Being told this much, she would have little choice but to go at it with
full force right from the start.
She would have to hurry thus her options at how she should tackle
things would severely dwindle.
“Now then, let us move on to the main event of tonight’s [Evening
Party]. Taking part and putting their medals and pride on the line are
[Creation] Demon Lord Procell and [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas. Don’t
take your eyes off from their fight.”
The Creator’s voice was heard.
Finally.
“Before the match, I’ll show you something interesting. As usual, we
shall bet on our participants. These are the current rates. For [Creation],
1.3 times. For [Wind], the rate is 3 times. Rumor has it that [Creation]
holds an overwhelming advantage but will [Wind] be able to overturn
this rumor, I wonder?”
The amount of DP the viewing Demon Lords had wagered were being
displayed on the monitor along with the going rate.
It was heavily on my favor.
I guess it was logical. The Demon Lords who saw through my true
capabilities, who knew I was being followed by S rank monsters, and
who held influence over others, all had vast amounts of DP to wager.
Although our fighting force appeared to be equal, they probably saw
something about me who could make S rank monsters.
If that was so, it was understandable they would pool their wagers on
me.
But Stolas who couldn’t comprehend any of it was in great shock.
“Bah, don’t make me laugh! You see me as someone inferior to this
man!? I’ll show you all my powers, the powers of a future Great Demon
Lord!”
Stolas was completely beside herself.
“Well then, time to start the [War]. The rules are simple. Both of you
are given two hours. Achieve victory by either breaking the enemy
crystal or killing the enemy Demon Lord itself before the time limit
expires. Use this white space to invade the enemy’s Dungeon but any
disturbance on this white space itself is forbidden. Now, are your
preparations complete?”
Stolas and I both nodded.
These rules were reasonable. After all, if one were allowed to make any
disturbance at this place, they would be employing an extremely
effective tactic of not letting the enemy force enter your Dungeon.
“Now, let the [War] begin!”
~From the perspective of [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas~
I grinded my teeth and endured my vexations.
The betting rates shocked me.
They’ve placed my value less than that man? The chosen me who had
one of the four great elements? Impossible. Impossible. Impossible.
As I entered my Dungeon, I flew to the innermost room where the
crystal was via [Transfer].
It was a privilege a Demon Lord has; to be able to jump to any room
they wanted to as long as it was within their own Dungeon. And being
where it was safest was a normal play considering everything would be
lost should the Demon Lord fall.
There was no need for me to unreasonably go out to the frontlines
neither.
It was all because my Unique Skill was the strongest.
[Wind] Unique Skill was as follows: first, of course, was the ability to
blow wind; the ability to generate wind blades; the highly versatile
ability to fly; and most of all, the ability to use [Omnipresence].
Note: [Uneven Distribution] to [Omnipresence]
Put plainly, it’s a skill that would make temporary copies of my
monsters.
Each instance of use would produce up to a hundred monsters at a rank
lower than they were originally before. However, it could only be used
once a day and the copies would only last an hour before they vanish.
Its effects had already been activated all this time. All of the copies
would be deployed outside to conquer the enemy’s Dungeon.
“There’s no way I’d lose.”
Yeah, no way.
Ever since I was born, I had been desperately earning DP and making
monsters. My forces numbered 98. Not to mention, even the weakest
among them were still D rank monsters.
So I, obviously, was far different from that man who only had troops so
weak, he had to walk alongside a Skeleton.
Even normally, I already overwhelm him in terms of both the quality
and quantity of our fighting forces but what more if I doubled it via
[Omnipresence]?
All my monsters would be put on the defense as the monsters created
by [Omnipresence] shall be focused on attacking.
No, rather, I’ll send half of my original monsters to go attack. That way,
I’ll be able to overwhelm him much sooner than initially planned.
And thus, I issued out an order to sortie to the half of the monsters that
were initially supposed to remain.
Now, let the trampling begin.
I, using my [Wind] skill, will leave behind my real body here as I go to
the frontlines in a spiritual body as my avatar.
On the white space that adjoined the two Dungeon.
That man was just standing there with his subordinates, neither
defending his Dungeon nor attacking mine.
How deplorable. Well, it’s fine too if he stood there for the rest of his
life.
My avatar could only be seen by monsters that could see spirits.
In fact, that man didn’t notice a thing.
The fox girl, however, had her ears twitching but maybe I was just
imagining things.
Still, for them to not move at all, what could they be planning? Were
they waiting to see what our play would be?
“Rozelitte, let’s get started.”
I ordered so to one of my [Monsters of the Covenant].
It was an angel-type monster; the strongest combination born from the
combination of my [Wind] medal and the [Holy] medal given by
Astaroth-sama. A Rathgrith.
(Note: ラーゼグリフ. Phonetically Razegurifu. I have no idea what kind
of monster it really is. Please comment any alternatives)
The A rank monsters had a lot of powerful special abilities but this one
had a particularly excellent ability which made her an outstanding
monster not just in terms of stats.
Although the copies made by [Omnipresence] were of a lower rank than
the original, [Crusaders], Rozelitte’s skill, would compensate for it by
strengthening everyone under her command.
That man’s monsters would be beaten senseless in an instant.
◇
The angel-type monster, Rozelitte, issued out a command to attack to
the monsters in the white space.
The monsters in the white space numbered 98, with 50 monsters as
reinforcements on standby. Most of them were C and D rank monsters
with some B rank monsters mixed in.
The entrance to that man’s Dungeon was narrow.
The most amount of monsters that could enter all at once were around
ten.
Some monsters made a formation and entered the Dungeon.
The inside of the Dungeon itself was located in another dimension so
someone on this side wouldn’t be able to see nor hear what was
happening within. That didn’t apply to Rozelitte, however, as she could
communicate with all the monsters her command via telepathy. She
really was a monster that specialized in commanding an army.

“It sure is weird, right?”

“Yes, they should have contacted us by now…”

I was as puzzled as her. There hadn’t been any message from the ones
that went within.
If it was safe, they would have instructed us to follow; and if there was
some sort of danger, they would have asked for reinforcements. No
matter what, they should have contacted us by now.
That should have been the case but there was no contact from them at
all.

“Rozalitte?”
“I’ve called out to them but, still, no response.”

“No, it can’t be… were they killed?”

Impossible. The first squad was mostly C ranks.

Although they were weakened by [Omnipresence], the adjustments
done by [Crusaders] made them more powerful than D ranks.
It was then, therefore, impossible for them to vanish within a few
seconds.

“Just to be sure, let’s send in a second group.”

I assented to her proposal.

And so, a second group went in.
Several seconds later, and as what was expected, no message came
from them neither even after Rozelitte contacted them through
telepathy.

“Now that it has become like this, I’ll go in myself.”

“Are you sure, Stolas-sama?”

“Most definitely.”

This was a spiritual body made by [Wind] so it was impossible to be

destroyed and should it be destroyed, it won’t be a problem at all.
This option was the most definite way to investigate the inside of this
Dungeon.
◇
The inside of the Dungeon.
“Huh, what is this? Is he an idiot?”

The interior was a stone room.

It had a width of just 4 meters and a length of 2 kilometers. However,
there was nothing else but the long road ahead.
Anyone would be able to conquer this room by just running through it.
I can’t understand the reason behind this skimping to the extreme.
But it was troubling that the ceiling was just 3 meters from the floor; a
height wherein flying monsters wouldn’t be able to display their full
potential.
I then looked around.

“Hii!?”

What was there were the corpses of my own monsters.

And they weren’t simple corpses neither; they were completely torn to
bits.
Just what the hell could have happened here to make them like this?
After a short while, they turned into blue particles and then vanished.
After seeing such, I was convinced that somehow, the monsters that
went in here were killed instantly.
But then, just how, exactly?
When I strained my eyes, I saw two Mithril Golems standing in the far
end of the room. And for some reason, there were these huge iron
pipes installed.
Mithril Golems, when translated into monster terms, were of B rank.
But they were dimwitted and slow to react, and their great physical
strength and stamina were their only redeeming features. A so-called
good-for-nothing. They were no threat at all.
But then, what the hell happened to my monsters?

“Rozelitte, send in another group.”

I wouldn’t know if I just stood here like this.

I had no choice but to experiment.
The Golems couldn’t see spirits so they couldn’t see me but, perhaps, if
an enemy were to come into their view, they were going to do some
kind of action.
Rozelitte dispatched the monsters I asked for.
The ten monsters that came in were a mix of Pseudo-elves and Lesser
Gryphons.
And then…
A storm blew.
Something terribly quick passed through the side of my face.
And then, an explosion happened in the back. The Pseudo-elves, the
Lesser Gryphons, all of them, were just blown away and turned into
minced meat.
Afterwards, many sounds of explosions were heard.
What, what was that?

“What the hellllllllllllllll!? What’s thaaaaaat!?”

Not understanding anything, I screamed.

When I turned to face the front, there were smoke coming out of the
metal pipes installed besides the Golem on the far end of the room.
It was that that attacked.
An attack so nightmarish, the sound lagged behind.
Furthermore, it was dealt from two kilometers away.
In other words, its range was this whole room. There was nowhere to
escape to.
I wanted to call bullshit for the furthest an attack from any of my
monsters went was only about two hundred meters and yet, this one
flew a full two kilometers? On top of that, it had an absurd amount of
power to turn my monsters into minced meat in an instant to the point
that its sound was left far behind?
This, this was impossible.

“No, I have to calm down. I’m a future Great Demon Lord.”

It was possible. It was possible since it had already happened.

I will approve of his Dungeon. And upon approving, I will conquer it.
This was probably due to that man’s Unique Skill. It perhaps granted
overwhelming range and attack power to even Golems.
Then, my next play was simple.
There was no way such an ultra-high-ranged and ultra-high-powered
magic could be used without limits.
Even a Demon Lord’s Unique Skill had limits.
A magic of this magnitude probably couldn’t be used continuously and
should have a usage limit overall. Its magic consumption should also be
great.
But exactly how much? Thinking pessimistically, the most it could be
used should be two more times. I could breakthrough through sheer
numbers.
Now, it had put a little wrinkle in my plans but I shall now conquer this
Dungeon immediately.
Thus, I had relayed my new plan to Rozelitte.
 Chapter 21: What lies beyond despair…
“Rozelitte, assemble them into squads and send them in one after the
other!”
I issued instructions via telepathy to my most trusted monster, the
angelic monster, Rozelitte.
Everything was for the conquest of this Dungeon.
“At once, Stolas-sama.”
The attack that instantly killed its foe the moment the foe entered the
Dungeon was certainly astonishing.
But I was also certain that such an ultra-high powered and ultra-high-
ranged magic couldn’t be used often.
Even the Unique Skills of us Demon Lords had limitations, after all.
A magic of this magnitude probably couldn’t be used continuously and
should have a usage limit overall. Its magic consumption should also be
great.
Pessimistically speaking, the most it could be used again should only be
two more times.
If that was really so, then my plan would be to make my monsters rush
the enemy one after another and in the instant that the attack stopped,
they would shorten the distance and kill!
The only enemy monsters here were just two Mithril Golems after all.
“Stolas-sama, we’re ready. At your command.”
“Rozelitte, give them defensive enhancements as much as possible. The
monsters that have defensive skills, use them all without reserve! All
troops, charge!”
“Certainly, Stolas-sama.”
With this plan, we should be able to break through this nightmare!
I was sure of it.
◇
Twenty minutes later, I laughed a dry laugh.
Due to my foolish assumptions, I lost nearly a hundred important
monsters.
I thought of stopping halfway through but the thought of letting
everyone die in vain made it impossible to do so. Soon, the attacks will
soon reach its limits. The more the casualties there were, the harder it
got to pull back, and thus this mess.
There was one child that managed to push through the halfway mark,
using the corpses of its fallen allies as its shield but the moment that
that one stepped on something in the ground, it exploded and lost its
life. Instantly.
I suspected there would be more of those things as we approach the
Golems.
We’ve sacrificed 80 monsters and yet we’ve only made it halfway.
The 2Km distance of the Golems seemed endless.
“AHA, AHAhaHAhaHA”
The enemy never stopped its attacks.
No, not really. It did pause but several seconds later, it resumed.
Whenever a strange belt was attached to the iron pipes, it was then
able to attack again.
Sending in more monsters to assault would only increase the casualties.
When I calmly examined it, I realized that the attack didn’t have any
magic power in it. It wasn’t a magic attack. But then, what the hell was
it?
It was baffling.
But there were some things I did get after seeing my monsters die one
after the other.
Such were that it was an attack that had the same destructive power as
a full-power attack from someone higher than A rank; that it traveled at
three times the speed of sound; and that it fired 10 times in a second.
It could continue such an onslaught for a straight ten or so seconds…
after which it takes a 20-second rest, only to resume the onslaught all
over again.
Breaking through was impossible. The Golems were just too far. The
whole room was within its range. There was nothing inside to neither
hide in nor use as cover. Just what the heck should we do?
No, actually, there was one thing we could do.
But that was…
As I thought of such, voices spoke in my mind.
<We’ll do it, Stolas-sama. There’s no way we’ll let things end like this.>
<We can do it.>
<We’ll show them!>
They were my [Monsters of the Covenant] whom I have a deep
connection with. My thoughts must have flowed into them because of
that connection.
“Stop. I just thought that the copies from [Omnipresence] alone
wouldn’t be able to do it but that plan will put your real selves at risk.
No, death won’t even be just a probability, it will be a certainty.”
<We understand that, Stolas-sama.>
<But we have to do it, Stolas-sama. Rozelitte, we’ll be borrowing your
copy. But your real self should stay behind. Our defense will fall apart
without you there.>
<Understood. Fortunes of war be upon you.>
And so, two of my original [Monsters of the Covenant] left my Dungeon
and headed here.
My children knew their chances were awfully slim but for the sake of
my honor, they were willing to challenge this impregnable Dungeon.
Such children were really to be loved.
This was the first of his three rooms.
But there’s no mistaking it, this is that man’s trump card.
He must have had used up all his resources to be able to make
something like this.
If we managed to break through here, victory would be certain.
Then, wouldn’t it be worth it to bet it all on my beloved [Monsters of
the Covenant]?
We’ll risk it all to clear this room, and then, achieve absolute victory!
◇
I went outside for a moment to meet my prized [Monsters of the
Covenant].
A Rathgrith which was an A rank Angel-type monster… Rozelitte.
A Scissor Wind which was a B rank Kamaitachi-type monster…
Masamune.
A Pegasus which was a B rank Flying Horse-type monster… Phobos
Each one of them were strong, reliable, and kind children that I could be
proud of.
In terms of just pure combat performance, there was one other child
that was better but in terms of overall abilities, these children were the
best.
“Stolas-sama, all of your [Monsters of the Covenant] are here. Only I am
a copy.”
The angel-type monster Rozelitte smiled lightly.
“Let’s tear the place down quickly.”
“Yeah, so much of their fighting force are concentrated on that first
room, we’ll be able to do take it easy after we’ve cleared it.”
Masamune the Kamaitachi expressed such confidently while Phobos the
Pegasus was calm.
Until a while ago, I had even considered giving up but now, I felt lighter.
I was truly glad I made them.
These children were so positive. Just how could I face them with such a
gloomy face?!
“My [Monsters of the Covenant]! From here on, we will be breaking
through the foul traps that lies ahead! I believe you can do this! I
believe in you!”
“““Yes, Stolas-sama!”””
There was no way they couldn’t do it.
And thus, the monsters I believed in dove into the Dungeon.
◇
The deaths of the several monsters thus far weren’t in vain.
Thanks to them, we were able to notice some of the enemies’ weak
points.
That Golem’s attacks, once it veered upwards, its accuracy would drop
considerably.
In other words, if we flew close to the ceiling and at a really high speed,
the danger we faced would drop quickly.
We would be safer but by no means were we truly safe.
Therefore, we formed rows.
[Omnipresence] Kamaitachi, Kamaitachi, [Omnipresence] Pegasus,
Pegasus, and Rathgrith formed a line.
Rathgrith raised everyone’s overall capabilities and Kamaitachi,
excelling at wind defensive barriers, deployed a protective wall. We
should be able to endure any enemy attacks until the end.
And then, after we were through with all the enemy’s defenses,
Pegasus, the fastest, would dash forward.
Such was our plan. We could only try this once.
I, still in a spiritual body, clung onto the original Pegasus.
The time of reckoning was drawing near. Our first and last suicide
mission have now begun.
◇
We were flying in the air at a high speed.
We were making monsters from outside rush at the enemy to serve as
decoys to buy us some time.
The monsters made by [Omnipresence] were already almost annihilated
so we were now also deploying the monsters that were originally
supposed to be on defense in my Dungeon.
Several seconds later, the monsters were turned into slabs of meat but
we had progressed only a quarter of the way.
The Golems, finished with the monsters on the ground, aimed their iron
pipes upwards.
To the best of his abilities, Kamaitachi erected a wall of wind.
The iron projectiles rapidly drew closer and closer.
And then, finally, it hit.
With only one of those iron projectiles, the wall of wind was
penetrated.
However, precisely because of that wall, the impact was dampened and
thanks to Rathgrith’s enhancements as well, it didn’t deal any fatal
wound.
The Kamaitachi copy withstood two projectiles but by the third one, it
turned into blue particles and then vanished.
There was still half of the distance left.
The closer we got, the more accurate the attacks became. The real
Kamaitachi, stronger than its copy, held on and endured.
But, he soon reached his limits.
Without anyone to maintain a protective wall, the other monsters took
on direct hits and died instantly.
But, there was just a third of the distance left now!
Dash!
I regained some hope.
The [Omnipresence] Pegasus, in the lead after Kamaitachi’s demise, was
suddenly and violently in pain.
No! Was it poison!?
The air near the Golems was engulfed in poison. How underhanded.
However, the Pegasus born from [Omnipresence], even as he was
suffering from the poison, smiled and, using the last of his energy, blew
a gust of wind that dispersed the poison.
Only the original Pegasus and the [Omnipresence] Rathgrith remained.
The Mithril Golems then aimed at the Pegasus. My experience thus far
told me so. We wouldn’t be able to avoid it. To have come this far…
As I was losing all hope, Rathgrith smiled.
She overtook Pegasus and stood in front of him. She then opened her
arms wide open and took several iron projectiles.
Blue particles were rising up; the sign of death.
“Rozelitte!”
“I’m leaving it all up to you now. May the fortunes of war be upon you,
Stolas-sama.”
She had decided her role in this conquest and thus used herself as a
shield in her last moments.
In fear she might disappear at any time now, she pushed Pegasus’s
back, *pon*, and used her last remaining strength to blow a gust of
wind.
Pegasus rode the wind and accelerated further. He was now over the
heads of the Mithril Golems.
I looked back and saw Rathgrith smiling in one moment and gone in the
next.
I held back my tears.
I had come this far thanks to the sacrifice everyone had made. I won’t
let it go to waste, no matter what.
Pegasus felt the same but still flapped his wings.
And then, at last….
“We got out!”
We got out of that nightmarish room!
After so much, we’ve reached the second room. Those Golems’ attacks
won’t reach us anymore.
“We did it! We did it, Phobos!”
I spoke the Pegasus’s name and then hugged his head.
Pegasus proudly neighed.
The price we paid for was a lot but, at last, we had cleared that foul
trap.
The courage of my [Monsters of the Covenant] had surpassed that
man’s wickedness! My monsters were the best!
Now, onward!
Although we had cleared the hardest part, we still couldn’t afford to let
our guards down.
He might had concentrated his fighting force here but the fact that
there were still two rooms left remained.
Pegasus was a monster I was proud of he was but one. Getting to the
last room would probably be hard but I was sure we could do it.
Pegasus and I looked on ahead.
What lied there was…
“…This… this… this cannot be. This is absolutely outrageous!”
…only despair.
It was almost two kilometers long; a straight path.
In the far end was a Mithril Golem. And before it was the iron pipe of
nightmares.
It was set up exactly the same as the one we just cleared.
We had only made here by stepping on the corpses of our fallen allies.
I thought that what lied ahead of despair was hope but, in truth, what
lied beyond it was only more despair.
Tears fell on my face and a dry laugh was swelling up from within.
I had no allies left. For what happened before to also happen here…
“Just what the hell. Just for what was everyone’s sacrifice for!?”
My shout was heard by no one.
The iron pipe installed in front of the Golem fired and in the next
moment, Pegasus was turned into minced meat.
As my tears fell, I listened to the sound of my heart breaking apart.
 Chapter 22: Dungeon Conquest
~Back to Procell’s point of view~
“Let’s get started soon.”
I stretched and then decided to begin our conquest of [Wind] Demon
Lord Stolas’s Dungeon in earnest.
Until now, I was just watching the situation in the white room that
adjoined the both of our Dungeons.
“Oto-san, it was boring—”
Tenko puffed her cheeks.
“Yeah, sorry. I just thought it was better to attack after their numbers
have been reduced. Plus, if there was someone the Golems couldn’t
handle, we would be able to provide backup sooner if we were here.”
[Wind] Demon Lord Stolas was angry. Furthermore, she had the kind of
personality that didn’t want to lose. If things were left as they were, she
would charge her army one after the other… piling up sacrifices in the
process.
I wasn’t really keen on attacking her Dungeon while providing support
on my own so it was better to invade after she had used up some of her
fighting force.
I didn’t have to worry much about her conquering my Dungeon either
since I had seen her army as I stood in this white room and she didn’t
have any monsters that were resistant to physical attacks like the slimes
and ghost-type monsters that I worried about. She also didn’t have any
monsters that could be used as shields.
In the first place, [Wind] was an attribute geared towards stealth and
mobility.
[Wind] monsters would tend to be highly mobile yet have low stamina.
To be frank, they who couldn’t make full use of their speed in my
dungeon were easy pickings.
The Browling D2 .50 caliber.
Overall length: 1560mm
Weight: 38.0 Kg.
Caliber: 12.7mm x 99
Rate of fire: 650 rounds per minute
Effective range: 2,000 meters
Armed with the heavy machine guns, the Mithril Golems were capable
of doing a barrage of 12.7mm bullets all from two kilometers away.
In other words, the 2-kilometer straightforward rooms in the dungeon I
made meant that the moment the enemy stepped foot on the room, it
had also entered the range of the heavy machine guns. Furthermore,
the lack of cover and hiding spots have made my dungeon a
nightmarish one.
The Mithril Golems possessed stamina and physical strength higher
than a regular A rank monster but they were slow and their overall
fighting capabilities were low.
However, if they were to wield heavy machine guns, none of those
weak points would matter and they could, instead, make full use of
their high offensive capabilities.
The normal firepower of an aircraft armament .50 caliber, the great
physical strength of the Golems, and enchantments of the Dwarf
Smiths, all of it combined would result in a firepower would exceed
even that of a superior A rank’s.
The enemy would have to be an S rank monster to be able to withstand
that kind of firepower fired ten times in a second.
“Oto-san’s dungeon is really simple but it’s so strong. It’s amazing!”
“It’s actually more complicated than it looks.”
It might have looked like a straightforward cave but there were nuances
to it, even if only a little.
The floor was subtly inclined with the slope getting steeper the closer it
was to the entrance. It looked leveled but an inclination of even 1°
would produce a height difference of 3m between the entrance and
exit.
Even if a rifle’s bullet could travel at three times the speed of sound and
at a mostly straight trajectory, it would still be pulled down by gravity
and therefore fall 20-30m lower before it could reach two kilometers.
The inclination of but a few degrees would provide that height.
The Golems would be shooting downhill so it would be easier for them
but for any attack coming from the entrance, that elevation would work
against it. And even if trajectory was to be employed by aiming
upwards, the ceiling with a height of only 3m would hinder such plans.
Any attacks bound by the laws of nature and gravity could never reach
the Mithril Golems.
That’s even if the heavy machine guns the Golems were using were
stolen and then used against them.
And by deploying two Golems, any downtime would be eliminated and
thus giving the guns ample time to cool down.
Furthermore, a huge amount of land mines were planted some distance
away from the Golems and near them were full of neurotoxic gas traps.
“Master, the first room has been cleared.”
Elder Dwarf who could share senses with the Golems whispered so.
I was a little bit surprised, I never expected them to reach the second
room.
“Hee. And afterwards?”
“They died immediately on the next room. Clearing a room and then
letting their guards down, how foolish.”
“Great.”
Even if they were able to clear the first room, the second room was set
up exactly the same.
The third room as well although it was the most difficult one. It was the
last room so all the Golems, armed with special weapons unique to
them, were deployed.
According to Elder Dwarf’s story, Stolas used her considerably powerful
monsters as shields and then forcibly cleared the first room but it would
seem the same move couldn’t be played again. If so, then, clearing the
rest of the dungeon would be impossible.
“But Master, the [Dragon] monster we’ve been worrying about still
hasn’t made its appearance. Maybe it’s been tasked to be on the
defense.”
Marcho taught such to us.
Stolas’s parent was the [Dragon] Demon Lord Astaroth, arguably the
strongest Demon Lord.
She had also taught me that like my [Creation] medal, his [Dragon] was
a special medal able to do special [Synthesis].
Marcho then said “It’s really hard to handle but in terms of just its
fighting capabilities, it was the strongest. Saying anything more than
that would be cheating so I’m gonna stop now”.
It was hard to imagine that that medal wasn’t given to Stolas.
Was she conserving her strength? Or was there a reason she couldn’t
use it? Was it too big and couldn’t fit into my narrow dungeon?
Any which way, I had to remain vigilant.
“Then, let’s go!”
“Yay! ♪”
“Understood, Master.”
“My lord, let us show them the might of your Undead legion!”
And so, at last, we began our conquest of the [Wind] Demon Lord’s
castle.
The [Wind] Demon Lord had tasked a considerable amount of her
fighting force to attack my dungeon.
Her defense was now sparse.
There was an hour and a half left. That much should be enough to
complete this conquest.
◇
“Fuhahaha, how is it, my lord? The power of the undead legion!”
The skeletal monster that wore an elegant robe like those of a noble’s,
Wight, laughed out loudly.
He commanded the twenty Undead monsters and exterminated the
enemies.
I heard that his skill allowed him to instantly train the Undead so I
bought a Skeleton for each spare assault rifle I had.
The first room was a valley.
One wrong step and we’d fall down to the bottom.
Within the valley, Stolas’s winged monsters circled in the skies.
The lack of footing was not an issue for them.
The problem for us was that they were diving in from our blind spots.
Furthermore, they refused to come anywhere near us aside from when
they attacked. An ordinary monster would probably be at its wit’s end
figuring out how it could beat them.
“My lord, there are no blind spots for the Undead legion. Let me show
you that our 42 eyes sees all.”
That was if their enemy was ordinary.
Wight was connected to all the twenty Skeletons and saw what they
saw.
He had instructed the Skeletons to look at all directions and thus,
eliminated the blind spots.
And then, by Wight’s command, the Skeletons displayed their terrific
coordination.
On his signal, the Skeletons immediately opened fire and gunned the
bird monsters down.
“You’re doing great, Wight.”
“I’m honored to have received your praise, my lord.”
He, in his elegant as ever movements, thanked me.
Though his stats were low, his performance was excellent.
Even as he thanked me, he remained wary of the surroundings.
“Tenko-sama, may we borrow your strength?”
Wight suddenly raised his head and then faced Tenko.
“Yeah—!”
Tenko nodded her head in assent.
“Tenko-sama, in 60° south of east, in 3… 2… 1… now!”
“Here I go.”
In time with Wight’s signal, Tenko drew the trigger of her gun.
Tenko’s remodeled large caliber shotgun was fired. The shell split into
countless pieces and hit the fast-flying enormous green eagle-type
monster.
The formidable enemy was a B rank. It had endured the 5.56mm bullets
of the Skeletons. Additionally, it was able to avoid the bullets after
seeing them.
Wight splendidly assessed the situation: he had determined the
Skeletons wouldn’t able to hit the quick enemy nor would they be able
to take it down with their firepower, and thus asked Tenko who wielded
a high caliber shotgun to lend them a hand.
This showed that I could rely on him.
“As expected of Tenko-sama, to fell that formidable foe in one blow!”
“Just leave it to Tenko!”
She took it down without any problems whatsoever. She was in a good
mood.
The truly excellent one though was Wight. How I wished he was born an
S rank.
Did she want to be praised? She, in a very obvious manner, went near
my right arm so of course I stroked her head.
Her soft and smooth hair and fox ears felt pleasant.
“Yay ♪! Oto-san’s hand’s so big!”
Elder dwarf looked envious as she restlessly looked around. I guess she
wanted to perform a feat and be praised as well. But it also seemed that
she couldn’t make herself to just ask for it.
Well now, we should go push on as we were doing thus far.
We could see the exit for the first room.
It might not go as smoothly as before, we must brace ourselves.
 Chapter 23: [Creation] Demon Lord Lolicell
After the valley was the maze area.
Of course it wasn’t just a simple maze but one teeming with pitfalls.
Moreover, its ceiling was awfully high.
Looking at it more carefully, the walls didn’t even touch the ceiling but
that was most probably deliberate. The flying monsters would be able
to move unobstructed by the walls while we, the ones who could only
move by land, had to worry not only about the maze made by the walls
but the pitfalls as well.
“Master, a pitfall three steps ahead. Also, an enemy is waiting in
ambush in the corner ahead. It looks like it’s planning a pincer attack
together with the enemy flying in the sky.”
However, as far as Elder Dwarf was concerned, such a maze was nothing
but a boring distraction.
For the blessed-by-the-earth Elder Dwarf, finding the pitfalls was
simple.
On the other hand, even if the ground was stepped on, she would just
immediately reinforce it enough for it to be safe.
Even making a map was possible for her by sending out waves to the
ground, a few kilometers in diameter, and receiving their echoes. Every
maze would be rendered useless before her.
(TL note: I’m just guessing here but I guess Elder Dwarf can do all this
because of her skill Silver Alchemist which hasn’t been explained even
now.)
Actually, even the monsters in the sky were also easy to deal with.
After all, by swooping down our way, they were confining themselves to
the walls of the labyrinth.
So in truth, the previous floor offered us a greater challenge.
Thanks to Elder Dwarf’s information, we were able to ambush the
enemy that tried to ensnare us. We then exited the maze without
incident.
“Thanks, Elder Dwarf. We were able to take it easy thanks to you.”
“Nn.”
She nodded and leaned on my left arm.
She was kind of fidgeting.
Such actions suited the silver-haired beautiful prepubescent girl.
“What’s the matter, Elder Dwarf?”
“…nothing.”
Despite saying so, her upturned eyes suggested she wanted something
but when our eyes met, she just looked away, only to glance back and
forth at me immediately afterwards.
Until finally, she tugged on my sleeves.
Ahh, she really did want her head to be stroked.
As amusing as it was to see her like this, I knew I should stop teasing her
soon.
“You did a great job, Elder Dwarf!”
I said so as I stroked her head.
Albeit for a different reason compared to Tenko’s, the sensation of her
silky silver hair was enjoyable.
“………no, stop it, Father. You’re embarrassing me.”
She said so as her face turned red.
I stroked her head plenty. If she found this to be pleasant, so did I.
With a grin on her face, Tenko approached us.
“Ah, El-chan! You’ve only been calling Oto-san as Master but just now,
you called him Father!”
Tenko giggled.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Elder dwarf hid her face and quietly murmured so.
Her ears turned bright red.
“What are you embarrassed of? If El-chan wants to call Oto-san Father
instead of Master, she should just do so.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“But you did! You absolutely called Oto-san Father!”
“No, I didn’t!”
The red-faced Elder dwarf insisted on Tenko.
Perhaps it was because she was about to explode, the tone of her voice
became strange.
“Kya—♪”
Tenko, on the other, squealed in what seemed like joy as she ran away.
Tenko was then caught. It was perhaps on purpose since if Tenko really
wanted to escape, with the difference of their agility in mind, Elder
Dwarf wouldn’t ever be able to catch her.
My face loosened as I saw my two daughters joyfully playing around.
They were so cute.
“Hey, hold it, you two. Stop fighting. Come here.”
Tenko and Elder Dwarf came, their heads down.
“Sorry, Oto-san.”
“We were distracted, Master…… we have no excuse.”
“Yeah, as long as you understand. Here.”
I hugged the both of them.
They smelled nice. They were soft and just felt nice to hug. Just the right
warmth too.
“Yay! ♪”
“Nn.”
The both of them hugged me back.
How I wanted to stay like this forever.
All this while, the excellent Wight made his Skeleton legion keep watch,
shooting down the occasional enemy. That guy was exceedingly skilled
at reading the mood.
We were able to do such a thing in enemy territory only because Wight
was there.
From then on, we cleared the second floor in no time.
However, I wasn’t aware of it at that time, that this scene was being
viewed by all the Demon Lords in real time…
~Demon Lord Palace dance hall~
“It’s quite interesting, that dungeon that the [Creation] Demon Lord
built.”
A snake humanoid aristocrat, with a wine glass in one hand, murmured
so.
“It looks like it’s going to be quite hard to conquer it. Those iron pipes
are concerning. What kind of magic trick is it… the most noteworthy
thing though is that that thing can be prepared in large numbers. The
dungeon’s iron pipes and the things his monsters are essentially the
same, right? Oh my, how ominous.”
The one that spoke this time was a tiger beastman gentleman that
smiled as he bit into a piece of meat.
“What’s concerning for me is the [Wind] skill. It’s more than what I
expected. It hasn’t been in use lately but it’s almost like breaking the
rules. To top it all off, she’s loved by her subordinates, isn’t she? I could
see her becoming a good Demon Lord.”
“Yeah, right? I mean, I still can’t tell who’ll win. [Wind] is the child of
[Dragon] so she’ll definitely have that.”
The conversation of the Demon Lords at the Demon Lord Palace during
the [Evening Party] were getting more and more excited. They held a
glass of fine wine on one hand as they enjoyed the [War].
Suspended on the sky was two holograms. One was displaying Procell’s
dungeon while the other was showing Stolas’s.
Just until a while ago, the Demon Lords were intently watching Procell’s
dungeon but due to the fact that Stolas had given up on her conquest
and had subsequently pulled out all of her surviving monsters, the
Demon Lords were now focused on Procell’s own assault on his
enemy’s dungeon.
“His dungeon conquest is quite impressive. [Creation]’s monsters are
low leveled but they’re awfully strong. That equipment’s quite good
too. I wonder if I could somehow trade for it.”
“Seeing as that’s the foundation of [Creation]’s strategy, I don’t think
it’ll be easy to make him hand it over.”
At the same time as they were assessing their new found rival, they
thought of ways on how they could interest him in a fair trade.
“Even so, his monsters are amazing. They’re strong for their levels.
They’re probably born with the ability to grow. They should at least be A
ranks so we haven’t seen their full potential yet………. Plus, they’re
cute.”
“They sure are cute. I wonder if he’ll at least share with us the
combination of medals to make them… that, I meant that in the way
that I want it to be part of my fighting force and not just to be my lovely
granddaughter.”
The Demon Lords were getting noisier about how cute Tenko and Elder
Dwarf were.
Surely, even Demon Lords would recognize beautiful girls when they
saw one. Not to mention their spoiled behavior around Procell was
awfully cute.
And then, it happened. Being displayed on the hologram was the image
of Procell hugging both Tenko and Elder Dwarf.
Normally, that kind of behavior on the battlefield would only be thought
of as insane. Even the Demon Lords weren’t able to hide their surprise.
“Just who exactly is that guy?”
“Now that you mention it, those girls have been calling him Oto-san and
Father since a while ago. He’s also been stroking their heads now and
then. Is he making them call him those things?”
“What a dangerous Demon Lord. I have never seen such a dangerous
fellow. On that subject, if I remember correctly, the [Creation] Demon
Lord’s name was Pro-something.”
Unexpectedly, the Demon Lords gathered at that place had forgotten
Procell’s name.
In such a time, a brown skinned, white-haired beautiful woman with
wolf ears and tail emerged.
“Ahh, that man’s name is Lolicell. [Creation] Demon Lord Lolicell.”
That woman who had a great deal of influence over the surrounding
Demon Lords was looked on by eyes full of both fear and respect.
Every Demon Lord bowed their heads to her.
“Ah, Nee-san. It’s been a while. Yeah, yeah, that’s right, it’s Lolicell!
That’s definitely his name. They say a person’s name and nature often
match but that’s…”
“Well, it’s easy to remember isn’t it? [Creation] Demon Lord Lolicell.
Watch out for him, in more ways than one.”
“A person just like his name suggests, huh. I’ve already memorized his
name. Lolicell……. I have to make sure he won’t lay a hand on my
children.”
Just like that, with frightening vigor, the Demon Lords spread among
themselves the name of [Creation] Demon Lord Lolicell.
As they did so, the screen displayed [Creation] Demon Lord Procell’s
group as they entered the third and last room.
This [War] was about to enter its climax soon.
Procell might had overwhelmingly dominated the competition but the
conclusion to the [War] was still yet to be determined.
If Procell could beat the last floor, it would instantly mean his victory…
but in there was [Wind]’s trump card. The [Dragon] that hasn’t yet
appeared……..
 Chapter 24: Wind Dragon dyed in madness
Due to the efforts done by Tenko, Elder Dwarf, and the Skeletons led by
Wight, we have finally reached the last room.
Griffon was helpful as well. Particularly on a cliff we otherwise wouldn’t
be able to jump over. After I temporarily stored my monster and rode
on its back, we leapt over. I then took my monsters out and proceeded
on our way.
Tenko and Elder Dwarf disliked being put in the [Storage] but thankfully,
Gryphon was easily able to carry me and at least two young girls.
In a sense, by giving me an imitation of her [Wind] medal, Stolas had
dug her own grave.
“Nevertheless, they’re quite impressive now.”
“My lord, this is my ability to create undead.”
Wight used the corpses of the fallen as materials to make undead
monsters.
Such monsters could only be born at a static level and at a rank lower
than when they were still living but, in exchange, our troops had
increased further at no cost. What a highly efficient skill.
The gigantic bird monster that turned all bones, the decaying Griffon
and many others trailed behind us. According to what Wight had said, it
would seem he could only use this ability ten times in a day.
“Good, they’ll be our shield.”
As expected, they weren’t able to use firearms but C and D rank
monsters were considerable by themselves.
“Oto-san, I’ve leveled up a lot!”
“I as well, Master.”
Tenko and Elder Dwarf, who until now has defeated a number of
monsters, leveled up.
Tenko was now level 43 while Elder Dwarf was level 40.
They were already S rank monsters to begin with but upon reaching this
level, they should be able to go toe to toe with ordinary A rank
monsters born with a static level.
And outright win considering their weapons and special abilities.
We’ve overhunted the monsters at the [Crimson Cavern] causing our
hunting efficiency to drop so this was helpful.
By the way, the Dwarf Smiths who had the skill to strengthen the
Golems were left behind on my dungeon. Since they could level up and
Elder Dwarf had transferred the control of the Golems over to them,
any experience from the monsters defeated by the Golems would all be
shared with them. Upon our reunion, their levels might have already
risen to frightening heights.
◇
The last room was a lava area.
Monsters that were coming our way were mainly the same C and D rank
ones.
However, there were also many B rank monsters mixed in.
Maybe it was precisely because it was the last floor that that the
defenses have been hardened further.
However……
“Too slow!”
By jumping upwards, Tenko avoided the gigantic falcon monster that
dove from the sky. She then somersaulted in the air and landed on the
enemy. And just like that, she pointed her shotgun downwards and
fired.
The falcon monster died instantly.
Right at the moment she set foot on the ground, another monster
jumped at her from her blind spot. It was an ape that had green fur. It
was extremely fast.
Tenko couldn’t move just yet and an attack unleashed from that gigantic
arm wasn’t something to sneeze at…
However!
Three gunshots were heard.
It was from an M&K MK417 in burst mode which would only fire three
bullets at a time. It was a weapon of a larger caliber than the Skeletons’
guns. All three shots hit the side of the head of the ape.
“Tenko, don’t let your guard down.”
“I’m not. I was perfectly aware of it but I trusted El-chan to take care of
it so I focused on killing the other enemy instead.”
“Alright, I understand.”
Tenko and Elder Dwarf high fived.
She wasn’t in any danger at all.
Not only was this war their chance to raise their levels, this was also the
chance for them to obtain their much needed battle experience. Both of
which would help make them grow stronger.
Halfway through, Wight was able to read my intentions and tried to not
interfere with their battle so that they could stockpile on as much
experience of fighting together as was possible. I was really thankful to
him.
“Elder Dwarf, is this the way?”
“Certainly.”
The earth attribute expert Elder Dwarf was able to send out waves to
the ground and receive the waves reflected back, all in order to
instantly create a map.
Such was the reason why we were able traversing through this dungeon
using the shortest path. We also generally knew where the enemies
were likely to hide in.
However, in the end, the only things she knew about were those that
were connected to the ground so we were unprepared for any enemy
up in the air.
“Tenko, do you have enough bullets?”
“I dooo! I still have three magazines left!”
The bullets Tenko was using were 4 gauge bullets. Those bullets also
used specially made Mithril powder.
I couldn’t risk to produce any additional bullets via [Creation] while we
were in battle so I was mindful of their remaining stocks.
Of course, it was also hard for Elder Dwarf to hastily make them mid-
battle so our ammunitions really were limited.
“Master, I have plenty of bullets left as well.”
“Okay. Then, let’s go!”
I was of the thought that completing this dungeon couldn’t be as easy
as the way it had been so far.
There’s definitely something.
Much like I had [Creation], the enemy Demon Lord should definitely
have her own special ability.
◇
We were nearing the end of the third room.
We have arrived at an open space. Just a little bit more and we would
have then reached the crystal’s room.
In the open space, however, was a determined green-haired girl. By her
side was an angel-type monster.
It was the [Wind] Demon Lord’s closest aide. An A rank monster. Her
trump card.
“Good. You’ve made it this far.”
“Of course, my monsters are strong after all.”
Stolas gave a bitter smile as I replied such.
“Yeah. Your monsters are outrageously excellent. And you as well for
controlling them.”
I was a little surprised. I didn’t expect this fellow to say such things.
Upon looking at her closely, her facial expression was stiff and her legs
shivered a few times. It was as if she was afraid.
“You’ve gotten surprisingly docile, haven’t you?”
“Isn’t it to be expected? I had just very barely been able to break
through the first room of your dungeon but you, on the other hand, just
casually strolled into mine. I’ve got no choice but to accept it. Accept
that you are strong. Stronger than me.”
Stolas showed a somewhat tired smile.
“Then, does that mean you’re giving up? Upon closer inspection, I see
that there’s only one [Monster of the Covenant] at your side, did the
others perhaps challenged my dungeon but fell to it instead? You can’t
stop my monsters with ordinary monsters.”
Stolas should have understood that by now.
“Yeah, I know, I’ve watched your battles thus far. Ordinary monsters
won’t even stand a chance.”
Stolas laughed lightly.
The light in her eyes haven’t died yet. She wasn’t just trying to act brave
either, she had something under her sleeves.
“To express my respect to you, I will even use my [Trump Card]… No, let
me put it in another way. I have already stepped down from my high
horse and acknowledged that I couldn’t defeat you in a direct
confrontation so I will instead use your arrogance and naivety in
marching into enemy territory, and turn it against you to snatch away
victory!”
My skin tingled.
Something appeared from a different dimension.
What she used was the Demon Lord’s ability [Storage] which would
house one’s monsters in a different dimension.
“Say, did you know? Some medals exhibit special abilities upon
[Synthesis].”
“Of course.”
My [Creation] was the most apt example.
“As my parent, the strongest Demon Lord, [Dragon] Demon Lord
Astaroth-sama gave me a [Dragon] medal. It allows the creation of
monsters that go [Berserk]. The monster’s intelligence and reasoning is
lost and will hardly be able to hear its Demon Lord’s commands…… but
in exchange, all of its capabilities undergo an explosive rank up. For
example, if a first-rate A rank monster went [Berserk], just how much
strength do you think it’ll have?”
And then, it appeared.
The gigantic dragon covered in tightly packed jade green scales. Its
length was nearly ten meters long.
It was a western dragon that stood on two legs and had gigantic wings
at its back.
Sharp claws and fangs, and a body clad in storm.
It was devoid of reason as shown by its bloodshot murderous eyes.
And then, it roared.
The fur on Tenko’s tail stood on end while Elder Dwarf’s entire body
stiffened.
It was a monster that these two instinctively feared. Without a doubt, it
was a dreadfully formidable enemy.
“The [Wind] Tyrant, Emerald Dragon. A monstrosity beyond A rank. This
child here is my ultimate trump card. Now come, let’s have a match,
[Creation] Demon Lord Procell!”
And so, the biggest battle began at the end of this [War].
 Chapter 25: The greatest firepower an infantry can
have
The final battle broke out.
The angel monster by Stolas’s side began chanting. She was probably
trying to strengthen her side via support magic.
Should her spell succeed, the already troublesome Emerald Dragon
would be strengthened further and there probably won’t be anything
we could do against it.
However…
“Nn. I won’t let you.”
Elder Dwarf opened fire with her M&K MK417 assault rifle on full auto.
Her magazine contained 20 bullets but it didn’t even take a second to
empty it, with each one of them flying at twice the speed of sound.
(Note: its rate of fire is 600rounds per minute so it should take more
than a second to empty it all out. It’s fast, but not that fast.)
The MK417 used the larger 7.62mm caliber bullet.
Even at the best of times, firing at full auto would cause the gun to
shake further off the mark the longer it was fired. Normally, emptying
the magazine at full auto would just be a plain waste of bullets.
However, the same couldn’t be said for Elder Dwarf. She forcibly
stabilized the shaking gun barrel with her mineral magic, thus raising
the gun’s bullet efficiency.
The enemy received all the bullets in the magazine while it was
defenseless as it chanted its spell. No matter how much of an A rank
monster it was, if it was to receive an attack while it was defenseless, it
would be like butter under a hot knife.
“I’m… sorry… Stolas… sama…”
The angel monster was by no means weak.
It was just that it was incompatible with our attack. For those that
focused on magic as their main arsenal, the gun was their natural
predator.
After leaving those words behind, the angel turned into particles of light
and vanished.
Stolas then grinded her teeth.
But she didn’t have any time for such grief. My ace was upon her.
By ace, I meant Tenko. Right at the start of the fight, Tenko, much like a
fox, moved swiftly and stealthily.
She moved to attack Stolas from her back all while avoiding the Emerald
Dragon. Stolas hasn’t noticed Tenko yet.
Oh yeah, I issued out three commands.
Elder Dwarf was to hinder the angel monster on its casting of support
magic.
Tenko was to launch a surprise attack on Stolas.
While Wight was to draw the attention of the Emerald Dragon.
There was no way they could directly confront a monstrosity like the
Emerald Dragon. Elder Dwarf wasn’t ordered to prioritize it since I was
convinced she couldn’t bring it down in one fell swoop due to a lack of
firepower. Neither could we afford to do a half-hearted hit and run.
“Everyone, it’s time to fight!”
“I’ll back you up.”
The Skeleton legion led by Wight, and Elder Dwarf who just finished
changing her magazine, focused fire on the dragon.
I then let out a voice of surprise.
The dragon’s scales repelled not only the Skeletons’ 5.56mm bullets but
even Elder Dwarf’s 7.62mm bullets.
But even though it didn’t receive any damage, it looked irritated. It
closed in on the Skeletons and then turned around.
It probably intended to mow down its surrounding using its tail full of
centrifugal force.
Wight and Elder Dwarf quickly jumped back but the Skeletons were
slow and thus half of them didn’t make it in time. Their bodies broke
and smashed apart.
Wight looked sad and mourned for their deaths.
Their deaths were not meaningless though.
Wight’s group had obtained the Emerald Dragon’s undivided attention.
Meanwhile, Tenko got close enough to strike Stolas from her blind spot.
“It ends now!”
Tenko held her silver shotgun… the Remilton (Custom) ED-01S.
It was equipped with a semi-automatic mechanism. Its shells was
changed from 12 gauge to the larger caliber 4 gauge. Magic Power also
added further to the shells’ explosiveness via the Mithril Powder it
used.
The four times more powerful demonic gun was then fired.
Stolas was caught completely unaware and received a direct hit from
the fired slug shell. Even a Demon Lord shouldn’t be able to endure
that.
And so, her body was torn apart.
With this, this [War] was over.
Or so it should have.
“Sorry to disappoint you but that one there was just an imitation of
myself that I made using [Wind].”
A voice resounded somewhere and I grinded my teeth.
Calmly thinking about it, wasn’t it only natural? For her to summon
such a monstrosity at close range, she got to have had some form of
insurance.
Most probably, at the same time as she had summoned the Emerald
Dragon from her [Storage], she created that copy and used [Transfer] to
relocate her real body.
“My lord, we can’t hold it any longer.”
Wight whose group drew the attention of the dragon raised his voice,
almost like a scream.
Ever since a while ago, the Skeletons have been continuously firing but
it really had no effect on the Emerald Dragon.
The dragon then roared and plunged head first.
A Skeleton came in contact with the dragon’s head and was smashed to
pieces the moment after. The dragon then twisted its head, felling
another Skeleton.
Another two Skeletons have fallen.
“Tenko, I’m counting on you.”
“Understood, Oto-san.”
Due to the dragon plunging in head first, it stopped moving for a few
moments.
And in those moments, Tenko dashed forward with all her might.
The Emerald Dragon then turned towards Tenko.
It must have instinctively realized that Tenko was going to be a threat so
it made wind twirl and coil around it, forming an armor of wind.
Tenko got close enough to shoot at point blank range in order to
penetrate the dragon’s wind armor and tough scales.
“Eat this!”
She said so and fired.
The silver shotgun let loose a thunderous roar and spitted out sparks.
Of course, what came out was a power-focused slug shell.
Infused with her own offensive abilities, her shotgun had more
firepower than the heavy machine guns fired by the Mithril Golems.
However…
“Wha—!? No way!”
…the slug’s firepower was greatly diminished by the wind. The slug was
then deflected by the dragon’s tough scales.
Aside from the few scales that repelled the slug, the Emerald Dragon
was mostly unhurt.
Tenko crossed both of her arms in disbelief. But then, the dragon threw
its claws at her.
“Kyaa!”
Blood gushed from both of her arms. Unfortunately, that wasn’t all. She
was then thrown to ground and bounced over and over, much like a
temari ball.
“Tenko!”
I called out to her.
She rolled and tumbled for about twenty meters.
“I messed up a bit.”
She said so as blood flowed from both her arms and mouth. She then
tried to stand up but only failed.
The Emerald Dragon glared at the injured Tenko.
It then extended its neck forward and opened its mouth.
Wind magic power gathered within its mouth frighteningly fast.
Without a doubt, that was a wind breath.
Crap. Tenko has taken too much damage and won’t be able to move.
“Tenko-sama won’t make it. Go, my minions!”
The bird monsters that turned to all bones and were under Wight’s
command jumped into the Emerald Dragon’s mouth all at once. The
wind magic power within rose to critical levels and then exploded.
The Emerald Dragon was greatly surprised.
“Good job, Wight.”
“It’s a one-time-only surprise attack. The real fight starts now.”
The Emerald Dragon turned our way.
It was must have been pretty pissed off for the attack just then.
Elder Dwarf readied her gun.
Looking closely, her gun wasn’t on full auto anymore but rather on
single fire mode.
“Now that its wind protection’s gone… I’ll snipe it.”
After shortly saying so, she carefully shot at the enemy.
Due to the use of the high-powered breath attack, the armor of wind
was no more.
Aside from those covered in scales, its vital spots could be pierced.
And so, that bullet directly hit the Emerald Dragon’s right eye.
Despite bleeding from its right eye, however, it didn’t stop moving.
“The bullet only gave it a shallow wound!? What a monster.”
“GYUAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Elder Dwarf then placed her hands on the ground. And when she did so,
a wall made of stone was built.
Not giving a care about it, the dragon slapped the wall with its right
hand. As though it was made of paper, the stone wall crumbled.
And then, something under my feet rose.
“Master, that was dangerous.”
“You’ve saved me, Elder Dwarf-sama.”
Yes, Elder Dwarf built the stone wall as a distraction, carried Wight, and
then went under the ground.
“Master, we won’t be able to damage it with our current equipment. I
ask for more firepower.”
“Understood.”
I activated my [Creation].
“I’ve given this to you before for your research so you should know how
to use it.”
“I do. Leave it up to me.”
I had given this weapon to Elder Dwarf back when she was just born.
The weapon I made was the most in-demand anti-tank rocket.
USSL RRG-7
Overall length: 950mm
Weight: 6.3Kg
Caliber: 85mm
Magazine size: 1
Muzzle velocity: 115m/s
It was a weapon that arguably gave the highest firepower a foot soldier
could have.
Its appearance was that of a simple iron rod and only becomes
aerodynamic in shape at the tip.
The mechanism called rocket booster that launches the Highly Explosive
Anti-Tank (HEAT) rounds was, at the time, ground-breaking.
The HEAT rounds could penetrate even armored vehicles.
It was disposable so I made three of it via [Creation].
The Emerald Dragon looked our way.
It had already put on its armor of wind again.
Elder Dwarf placed the USSL RRG-7 on her shoulder and fired it.
I don’t know if it was carelessness but the Emerald Dragon didn’t even
try to avoid it.
The HEAT warhead accelerated by its rocket motor continued to fly in
the air.
It flew on a perfectly direct course as if it was sucked into the center of
the dragon’s belly.
But I grinded my teeth instead.
The HEAT warhead then hit the dragon. The fuze activated and a
directional explosion happened.
The overwhelming energy that could pierce even through tanks
assaulted the dragon.
Such was the Munroe/Neumann effect. A HEAT warhead would
converge the blast energy into a single point and then punch a deep
hole into that point by means of the ultra-hot and ultra-fast jet of metal
particles.
“GYUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
The Emerald Dragon screamed.
Around a third of its right arm was ripped off.
However, conversely, it could be said that the damage it received was
only that much.
“How!? That power should have pierced right through it!”
Elder Dwarf raised a voice of surprise.
“Two reasons. First, the warhead deviated from the target because of
the wind. So instead of the center of its body which we aimed at, it hit
its right arm. Second, that guy’s wind armor is just too thick. The fuze
activated way before it hit the body and caused the blast energy to
dissipate.”
Yes, those were why I grinded my teeth.
With those reasons, no matter how much we fired at it, we wouldn’t be
able to inflict any fatal wounds.
Elder Dwarf quickly shot another warhead.
However, this time, it didn’t even hit the dragon. Despite its large build,
the dragon managed to avoid the warhead.
Such was the second weakness of the rocket: the slowness of its
projectile due to its construction.
Its muzzle or initial velocity was roughly just a third of the speed of
sound and less than a sixth of an assault rifle’s bullets.
As long as there was that much of a difference in their performance, the
warhead could be avoided by the dragon.
That guy has known the power of our rockets, we wouldn’t ever be able
land one on him again.
“GYUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
The Emerald Dragon roared.
The already strong winds blew harder and its thickness grew.
Now, we really won’t be able to hit it.
The wind around the Emerald Dragon grew stronger and stronger, its
area of effect expanding further.
Perhaps the dragon was planning to stay in there as the winds grew
even stronger and take us all out with it.
In truth, those winds were now like blades, easily cutting the
surrounding rocks as though those were butter.
“What should we do, Master?”
“Use our trump card, I guess.”
I didn’t have any other choice anymore.
I had determined beforehand how much of my fighting force I was
willing to reveal in this [War].
The Mithril Golems and the heavy machineguns.
Tenko’s shotgun and Elder Dwarf’s assault rifle. The RRG7 too.
I was willing to show this much.
Showing more beyond this, however, was troubling.
“We seem to no longer have the time to hesitate.”
Our chance of escaping the whirlwind of blades was more and more
slipping away.
Upon thinking so, Tenko approached.
Her wounds haven’t recovered yet. Her steps were heavy.
“Leave it to Tenko. It might ruin the gun El-chan made but I’ll do it.”
“Tenko, you’ll really use that?”
“Yeah, I can pierce through the dragon as long as I use the true power
of the shotgun, El-chan’s ED-01S.”
Tenko smiled.
But her smile was stiff and lasted for only a little while.
…this might just turn out to be a pretty bad gamble.
“Tenko, are you sure you can do it?”
“Leave it to Tenko, Oto-san’s number one monster. I also have sweet El-
chan’s weapon so, there’s no way Tenko’s gonna lose.”
Tenko’s words were unwavering.
I then took a deep breath.
And then, I decided.
“Alright, we’re counting on you, Tenko.”
“Okay, Oto-san. I’m off.”
Tenko took out a different kind of magazine from her pouch and loaded
it in her shotgun. It was a size larger than usual. She then switched the
lever on her shotgun from S to F. (Semi-auto to Full auto)
And so, the assault full of resolve began.
 Chapter 26: Your name is…
Tenko who interrupted my usage of my trump card smiled and then
spoke.
“Then, I’m off. El-chan, please do some repairs for me afterwards. And
Oto-san, praise me lots later, okay?”
Tenko assumed a hip firing stance with her shotgun. She then set ablaze
her surroundings.
It was a barrier made of flames. It was most probably deployed to
counter the blades of wind.
She then ran with all her might towards the Emerald dragon within the
tornado, her fox tail trailing after her.
And when she passed us, I saw there were traces of blood on her. Her
bleeding still hasn’t stopped.
“I’ll back you up, no matter how little.”
Elder Dwarf placed her hands on the ground.
Upon doing so, thick walls that ran along with Tenko on both of her
sides appeared.
A protection against the wind.
However, the walls were being scraped off as each second passed. The
scraped off pieces of the wall were sucked into the tornado and
assaulted Tenko.
Despite that though, the moment those pieces of the wall touched her
barrier, they immediately burned.
I guess by some kind of trick, the walls were made to be flammable.
Elder Dwarf was quite a considerate fellow.
“Elder Dwarf, what’s Tenko planning to do?”
“My modified shotgun, the ED-01S, is also capable of firing fully
automatically. She intends to make use of that. She has switched the
lever from S to F so there is no doubt in my mind about that.”
“It’s built with a full-automatic feature? First time I’ve heard of it.”
“It’s still on the experimental stage so I haven’t said anything to Master
yet. All it can do at the moment is break when fired like that. I’m
embarrassed of such an incomplete creation.”
If that much firepower was fired in quick succession, it might just be
able to penetrate through that dragon’s tough defenses.
“Will it be safe? Will there be no accidental discharge?”
“If it’s just going to be on fully automatic mode once, for just one
magazine, it’ll be able withstand it to the end. The magazine that Tenko
has attached, it’s been reverse engineered with ED-01S’s power in
mind. If it was going to break anyway, I have modified the shells to have
the maximum amount of powder a magazine could have and still be
able to endure one round of fully automatic firing.”
“Thanks for telling me. But still, pushing through that wind and then
firing fully automatically at point-blank range is no ordinary feat.”
What was troublesome about the Emerald Dragon was that the power
of the bullets were being reduced by the tornado around its body. In
addition, its scales would then deflect and change the direction the
bullets were on.
But a shotgun with that much firepower and firing fully automatically
should be able to rectify that.
The first shell would clear away the wind and then the path made by it
would be followed right away by the second and third shells.
If it was a normal rapid-fire, the path made by the first shell would
already be blocked before the second shell was even fired.
A fully automatic rapid-fire would not have that problem though getting
as close as point-blank range was necessary.
“It’s something I can’t do. But if anyone can do it, it’s gotta be Tenko.”
“It certainly seems so.”
“I’m vexed by my inability to do anything.”
Elder Dwarf tightened her fists.
Tenko advanced straight ahead, keeping her body close to the ground.
Her small body that looked like it’ll be blown away at any moment
desperately endured as the blades of wind, unaffected by her flame
barrier, cut her body little by little. Ever onward.
Hang in there, I cheered within my mind.
Just a little more, just a little bit more and you’re there.
And then, the Emerald Dragon slammed its tail to the ground.
From its jade green tail, countless sharp scales scattered.
Those scales then flew and swirled around with the tornado.
“Kyaaaaaaa!”
Tenko screamed.
The wind blades looked like nothing compared to the scales that turned
into superfast sharp knives that flew within the tornado.
Tenko’s barrier made of flames was easily penetrated.
Unable to hold on anymore, Tenko was blown away. The distance she
had shortened until her body was cut all over had once again widened.
“Tenko!”
I shouted so and saw Tenko bloodied all over as she tried to stand.
“It’s alright, I can still, I can still go on. I’ll win. I’m Oto-san’s number one
monster so I won’t ever lose to another Demon Lord’s monster.”
No matter how I looked at it, she was battered.
And yet, Tenko still thought of diving in.
“Stop it, Tenko. It’s enough already.”
“No! Tenko won’t betray Oto-san’s trust on her.”
Tenko, injured and all, once again plunged in.
If I used my Demon Lord’s [Command], then maybe I would be able to
stop her but that would only trample her resolve.
As I hesitated, Elder Dwarf shouted something.
“Master. Please give a name to Tenko. We grow stronger by just having
a name. As she is right now, Tenko will die.”
“El-chan, stop it!”
“Why!?”
“It’s alright, a name is, still…”
Tenko, as she was glaring at the Emerald Dragon in front of her, spoke
without turning her head away.
“But Tenko, I thought you’ve always wanted a name.”
“I do, just not like this. I want to get it properly. I want Oto-son to love
Tenko from the bottom of his heart. Tenko wants a name full of that
love…. So a name just because of necessity, I don’t want it.”
That must have been Tenko’s true heart’s desire being voiced out.
I remembered the first day I met her. Back then, she tried to trick me to
give her a name just so she could get stronger.
But now, that same girl was saying such things.
She must have grown up during our time together.
And for that, I was eternally happy.
I loved Tenko even under normal circumstances but this made me love
her even more.
My overflowing emotions could no longer be suppressed.
Tenko was facing a dilemma so I…
“Don’t lose, Quina!”
I called out her name and yelled.
The moment I said her name, some thumping sound echoed in my head
and we were connected.
Tenko’s, no, Quina’s power flowed into me and my power flowed into
her.
It felt good. And warm.
“Oto-san”
Tenko turned around, surprise in her face.
“Quina. That is your name. You’re my first [Monster of the Covenant].”
“But a name, I didn’t want it like this.”
But Tenko swelled her face and pouted instead.
“That’s not how you should feel. The name that I have given you was
something I had thought of ever since we met. A name I’ve thought and
thought about. A name I’ve decided to pour my heart and soul in just to
make my most beloved daughter happy.”
“…that’s not true.”
“It is. I know of your strengths, of your kindness, and of how much you
love me. Therefore, I’ve decided that we should be together for the rest
of our lives. It’s not because we are being driven into a corner but
simply it’s because it’s Quina. I love you, Quina! I am giving you this
name, Quina. So, let us prove to them that my [Monsters of the
Covenant] are the strongest in the whole world.”
Tenko… no, Quina cried. As she did, she smiled and nodded her head.
“Okay, Oto-san. Quina is going. Oto-san has given me strength. This
feeling, it’s warm, no, it’s burning me up. I feel like I can do anything!”
The second wave.
However, this time, it wasn’t just about enduring, this was now a heroic
march full of hope.
◇
[Monsters of the Covenant].
A Demon Lord’s greatest assets.
By giving a monster a name, the Demon Lord was also giving power to
the monster.
Especially so to the first three, the ones called the [Monsters of the
Covenant]. They shared a much deeper connection with the Demon
Lord.
Information about Quina flowed into me. I wasn’t aware of it before,
due to her overwhelmingly high status, but originally, the Celestial Fox
was a late blooming monster. We were seeing but a small portion of her
true stats and special abilities.
If I had made her to be on a static level, I might not have gone through
this much trouble.
But at the same time, it became fun to see how strong she would
become by the time I’ve raised her to her maximum level.
It wasn’t just information that flowed into me, her thoughts as well.
I knew the things Quina was thinking about.
And my thoughts flowed into her too.
A newly born power. We decided on the form it would take.
“[Transform]!!”
Quina shouted so.
Originally, it was a power that only changed one’s appearance.
No more than a mere deception.
However, it combined with my [Creation] to reach a greater height.
“Oto-san, a young Quina won’t be able to beat that storm so, I’ll
become a stronger Quina to do so.”
Her body was then enveloped in light.
All her injuries vanished. Not just that either. She grew up.
From a young girl of about twelve years of age to girl on the latter half
of her teens.
Her height increased and her figure grew more feminine. Her face was
prettier while her tail was fluffier.
“This, if I’m like this, I can do it.”
It wasn’t just her appearance that changed.
Her steps were heavy enough to shake the ground each time she took a
step forward.
She moved at a speed that left everything following after her.
Her flame barrier even burned any and all scales that came into contact
with it to ashes.
“GYUAAAAAAAAAA!”
The Emerald Dragon held fear to the suddenly stronger Quina.
It increased the thickness of the wind surrounding him.
But she just brushed away that storm.
Flames of gold and red then flared up. It was so beautiful, I was
captivated.
And then, she was finally in range.
“El-chan, thanks and sorry for this.”
She then readied her shotgun.
“Eat this!”
It was fired. With her finger still on the trigger, the large caliber shotgun
fired fully automatically.
The four 4-gauge shells in the magazine she switched into were
instantly spewed out.
Even after Quina had her stats increased, she was still pressed back due
to the excessive recoil.
The four gunshots were so fast, their sounds overlapped each other.
The first shot pushed aside the wind, the second then destroyed the
scales as the third gouged the dragon’s flesh. Finally, the fourth pierced
through.
The ED-01S shotgun which has already done its job could no longer
endure and thus broke down.
“GUGYAAAA. GAAA”
The Emerald Dragon suffered a fatal wound. The wind surrounding it
dispersed.
No, that’s not it. The dragon gathered all its remaining strength into one
point and readied to fire a resuscitating breath.
Quina glared and dashed toward it.
She then thrusted her arm towards the spot the shotgun shell had
penetrated, and, with all her might, poured flames into it.
“It all ends with this!! [Golden Crimson Wild Dance]!”
“GA, GA, GA”
(Note: 【朱金乱舞】)
I guess even an Emerald dragon would be powerless when burned from
the inside out.
The dragon issued out its death throes and fell down. It then turned
into blue particles and shortly thereafter, vanished.
Quina returned to her twelve-year-old form and hobbled towards us,
only to fall forward.
I hurriedly supported her.

“Are you alright, Quina?”

“I’m al~right. I’m just incredibly tired. That [Transform] is so tiring. I

can’t keep my eyes open anymore.”

“You did well, Quina. We’ll handle things from now on so just rest.”

“Yeah, okay. But hey, Oto-san, I have request: stroke my head please.”

“But of course.”

And thus I gently stroked her head.

She looked happy as she smiled.

“Tenko, no, Quina loves Oto-san.”

When I wrapped my arm around the back of her head, just like that, she
fell asleep.
Quina has done more than what was expected of her. The rest was up
to us now.
This was the third and final room.
All that was left was to break the crystal.
But when I was thinking so…
<This marks the end of this [War]. Due to the forfeiture of [Wind]
Demon Lord Stolas, [Creation] Demon Lord Procell is the victor! [Wind]
and [Creation], both did a marvelous display of their powers. It was
truly a good battle!>
A screen in the sky was being displayed.
Clapping sounds echoed from the screen.
The other Demon Lords were celebrating my victory.
I then waved my hand to them.
Blue particles began to rise around us. The fallen monsters were being
resurrected by the [Time] Demon Lord’s ability.
The smashed Skeletons were coming back. How great.
While being delighted at the return of my fallen comrades, I thought up
of ways to express my thanks to everyone that did their best.
 Epilogue: The Demon Lord’s Urban Development!
Due largely to the efforts done by Tenko, now named as Kuina, we
somehow were able to defeat the Emerald Dragon and achieve victory.
The Emerald Dragon’s strength was completely out of our expectations.
An A rank monster under the influence of [Berserk] rivaled even an S
rank so I was proud of my companions that defeated it.
Together with the end of the [War], we were transferred to the white
room wherein our dungeons, mine and Stolas’s, once faced each
another.
I then requested to the Succubi to transfer all my monsters aside from
Kuina, Elder Dwarf and Wight back to Marchosias’s dungeon along with
the Golems and guns.
After the clean-up was over with, we were transferred to the room
adjacent of the dancing hall.
Stolas and her [Monsters of the Covenant] who had finished their clean-
up ahead of us were already in the room.
Conversing with her were two other Demon Lords.
One was an old man past his prime. The other was a brown skinned
beauty with a wolf’s tail and ears… or in other words, Marcho.
I don’t know if their talk has finished but the old man and Marcho
started to leave.
Both of them waved their hand at me and said their congratulations.
I looked at the girls and I felt warm again.
For some time now, Tenko who had completely recovered from her
wounds thanks to the powers of the Demon Lord of [Time] was sticking
close to my left hand.
“Ehehe, Oto-san! Kuina is Kuina!”
“Yeah, that’s right. You’re Kuina.”
I was finally able to give her a name.
Had I known she would be this happy, I would had given her a name
much sooner.
“Kuina…… what a lovely name. How envious.”
Elder Dwarf gazed at Kuina with eyes full of envy.
Kuina, meanwhile, was shaking her fluffy fox tail.
“Elder Dwarf too will have one sooner or later.”
“I’ll do my best and be recognized by Master. I won’t lose to Kuina!”
Elder Dwarf’s eyes were now full of motivation.
I haven’t given her a name not because I haven’t approved of her, but
only because I haven’t thought up of good name for her. Though I
probably shouldn’t say such right now.
Wight watched us, seemingly pleased.
This guy was an adult. His mental age might just be more than mine.
I’ll be sure to assign him to more important tasks from now on.
With us behaving so, Stolas approached and suddenly lowered her
head.
“I’m sorry. I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart for
looking down on you.”
I was taken aback. I honestly never expected her to meekly apologize to
me like this.
“No, don’t worry about it. I mean, in the first place, I purposefully
brought along the Skeleton to make you put your guard down.”
“Even so, I’m sorry. Also, this is my medal. Please treat it with care.”
After she once more lowered her head, Stolas handed over a medal.
<<[Wind] medal. A rank. Bestows the ability to manipulate the wind to
the created monster. Greatly enhances Agility. Grants minor
enhancements to all other stats besides Endurance.>>
It was a pretty good medal. It was strong even if it only gave the ability
manipulate the wind but then on top that, it further gave not only a
major boost to Agility but also enhancements to all stats other than
Endurance.
“I gratefully accept. With this, my [Monsters of the Covenant] will be
complete.”
As a matter of fact, I had already determined what monster I’ll make
with [Wind].
“……if it’s at all possible, can we be friends? You’re the only one from
our generation that I can approve of so I’d like us to cooperate with
each another from here on.”
Stolas said such a little awkwardly while her face reddened.
Friends, huh.
Stolas would surely become an influential Demon Lord someday.
Moreover, although she had too much confidence on herself, the fact
that she could honestly apologize like that meant her personality wasn’t
all that bad.
“I’d also like to ask you of the same. Let us persist so that we can both
become good Demon Lords.”
“Yes. Please take care of me.”
I shook hands with Stolas.
I was glad I was able to make my first Demon Lord friend.
“And then, this is from [Dragon] Demon Lord Astaroth-sama.”
She said so and slipped something into my hand.
It was…….
“A [Dragon] medal?”
<<[Dragon] medal. A rank. Grants the ability to create dragons. Greatly
enhances Physical Strength, Endurance, and Magic Power. It can grant
the characteristics of a Dragon to the monster about to be created. It is
possible to create a monster with the [Berserk] status if and only if an
original Dragon medal is used during synthesis. Monsters born with the
[Berserk] status are robbed of their intelligence and reason but in
exchange, all of their stats except for their luck are given the maximum
enhancements.>>
[Dragon], huh. The one that had driven us into a corner back then.
I understood now that [Berserk] was optional.
Even if [Dragon] was used normally to create a monster, it was still easy
for the medal to produce a strong monster.
But then, a small temptation was born within me.
If, for example, a monster born from [Creation] and two other A rank
medals had the [Berserk] status, just how strong would it be…?
Stolas coughed and I calmed back down.
“Thank you but is it really alright for me to receive such a strong
medal?”
“Yeah. Astaroth-sama himself told me to do so. Besides, I have also
received a [Beast] medal myself. [Dragon] Demon Lord Astaroth-sama
and [Beast] Demon Lord Marchosias-sama are close ever since, you
know, and it seems they want their children to be the same. Also, a
message from Astaroth-sama: Thank you for teaching my daughter
defeat. My child could now grow even stronger thanks to you. Please
take this medal as a token of my gratitude.”
The [Dragon] Demon Lord Astaroth, huh? His appearance suggested he
was a kind old man but he was in truth, purely a gentleman.
I’ll ask Stolas to let us meet next time.
“Also, take this child.”
“Child?”
It was a small blue bird that looked like a dove. It was a D rank monster.
“This child can deliver letters for us. It has already memorized my magic
power so just attach your message to its foot and then send it off. I will
do the same.”
She took out another dove monster.
That one perched on my shoulder.
And then, after jerking its head once or twice, it returned to Stolas.
“This child has memorized your magic power so I can now also send you
letters. Let’s write to each other lots, okay?”
Stolas said so somewhat happily.
To which, I smiled back in return.
But then, both my arm felt heavy.
“Uuuu”
“Nn”
Kuina held my left arm as Elder Dwarf held my right.
I guess they were afraid of their father being taken away.
But such fears were groundless. Really, how adorable these children
were.
“Ahh, one other thing. There was also a message from Marchosias-
sama.”
“From Marcho?”
“Yes. Yeah, no, you see, you were attracting too much attention to
yourself and talks of analyzing your abilities, counter-measures against
them, and many other things like that were all over the place so you can
see, right, why I tried to divert their attention. Just that, they got more
fired up than what I expected, so yeah, I didn’t mean ill by it. That’s all I
have to say, okay. Also, congratulations!”
I didn’t fully understand her message but, for the meantime, I took it as
her congratulating me.
Stolas and I talked with each other for a little more and then parted.
A Succubus working for the estate then came and instructed us on what
to do.
Several minutes later, we would be commended on the dance hall, and
it would seem that due to the fact that the war this time was a step
more impressive, Stolas and myself were to receive an additional
reward from the Creator himself.
Kuina then opened her mouth.
“Oto-san, now that you have the [Wind] and [Dragon] medals, you’ll be
making a little brother or sister for us, right?”
“Yeah, I will. But I’ll only be using [Wind], though. I’d like to think some
more on the [Dragon] medal.”
The [Dragon] medal was a double-edged sword. I’ll have to think
carefully before I use it.
“Is that so? What kind of child will you make with [Wind], then?”
“I was thinking something that wasn’t only strong but will also be able
to help me accomplish my dream.”
“Dream?”
“Yeah. It may not sound convincing but I, you see, don’t really like
fighting all that much.”
It was undoubtedly my true objective.
But if I wasn’t strong then, the Heroes and all the other Demon Lords
would prey on me.
And thus, I strived to be strong but in all honesty, I wanted to avoid any
fight if it could be avoided.
“But if that’s so, then you won’t have any food to eat and you won’t
survive.”
The food she was referring to were the emotions of the human beings.
A Demon Lord lives on by dining on a person’s emotions. So other than
to obtain DP, a Demon Lord attracts people into his dungeon in order to
live.
“I understand that and that’s why I’m gonna build a town. A town
wherein each of its citizens were fully happy. Of course, in order for the
crystal to not be broken, I’ll also build a highly difficult dungeon but on
top of that dungeon, I want to build a big happy town.”
I had been continuously thinking up of ways to accomplish such.
And the first thing I should do was to create an environment that the
humans could live in.
A fertile land, a reliable water source, an easy access to other towns,
and many other issues.
And in order to resolve those issues, I made monsters.
“That sounds fun.”
“Yeah, it sure is. By the way, for the new monster I’m gonna create, I’m
gonna use [Wind], [Person], and… [Planet].”
“I’m looking forward to what our little sister will be.”
“I still don’t know if it’s going to be a girl.”
“Well, if it’s truly a monster created by Oto-san, it gotta be, without fail,
a little girl.”
What an awful and damaging comment.
Though I couldn’t answer back due to results thus far.
While we were doing so, we were called into the celebration party.
We entered the dance hall and thunderous applause greeted us.
Words of admiration for us echoed.
Among those, however, I heard the word Lolicell.
…No doubt the culprit was Marcho. So that was what those words
meant.
I’ll be sure to question her later.
And then, the stage rose, and the rewards were given. We feasted so
much we might just die.
My first [Evening Party] thus concluded.
From tomorrow onwards I would be: building my dungeon and town,
use [Synthesis] to create a new candidate to be my [Monster of the
Covenant], think up of ways to make full use of the reward I’ve gotten
from the Creator.
There were countless things I had to do.
But even so…
“Oto-san”
“Master”
“My lord”
With great followers by my side, my Demon Lord life was the happiest.
Illustrations