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I was given time to think.

I was also offered a room where I could do my thinking, but I politely refused. After all, Demon Lords could see everything going on in their dungeon thanks to their crystals.

So instead, we exited the city. Ciel then built a simple hut.

Once it was ready, we held a strategy meeting.

 

“…no matter how much I think about it, Eligor’s offer is just too good to be true.”

 

Her offer was a dungeon for my medal.

Because we couldn’t lie to each other for a whole day due to the [Pact] we made, her statement that she was willing to do whatever it takes to obtain an S rank monster was true enough. However, that didn’t automatically mean she was going to be selfless.

 

“Ciel, what kind of scheme do you think she has?”

 

During times like these, I usually consulted either with Duke or Marcho. Sometimes both. If they were here, I was liable to ask them for their thoughts.

 

“I think her plan is most likely to let you use [Dominate] on a crystal and then break that so that she could make [Creation] medals herself. I mean, she wouldn’t be able to do that even if she kills you, right?”

“That makes plenty of sense.”

 

[Dominate], the rule present in this world but wasn’t in mine.

According to [Desire] Demon Lord Eligor, as soon as one was successful in using [Dominate] on a crystal, the dungeon would be reset. And if that was a Demon Lord’s last crystal, all the monsters would vanish as well.

That made it the best time to break my crystal because then I wouldn’t have yet made any defenses or trained any monsters. Realistically, all that I would have would be the ten monsters in my [Storage] to protect the crystal.

If our side was on the offence, we might have a chance to win. However, if we were forced to be on the defense, no amount of planning would be enough to fight their overwhelming numbers.

 

Being outnumbered while also being on the defense was nothing new to me, but in the past, I had Rorono’s weapons to rely on at least.

 

“But wouldn’t it be easy to avoid that, my Demon Lord? I mean, you can just make Eligor promise to not attack your new dungeon.”

“There’s at least one loophole in that: she can ask somebody to attack us for her. Having a dungeon is vital in order for us to return, but setting it up and protecting it adds a new set of problems.”

“Hmm, what a headache.”

 

All that being said, I already made a decision.

Like Eligor said, without the proper backup, even an S rank monster’s powers might not be enough for me to return to my original world.

Moreover, the only real danger with accepting was letting another Demon Lord have access to the [Creation] medal. My life was in no real danger thanks to the ten monsters in my [Storage]; defending the spare dungeon might be out of the question for them, but escaping the place definitely wasn’t.

So, if success meant being able to go back home and failure only meant going back to square one, this was a risk definitely worth taking.

 

“We should stay cautious of Eligor, but as of now, I think accepting is our best course of action. The thing we should figure out now is how to make it harder for her to attack us.”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go plan!”

 

Like that, we spent the half of a day given to us thinking up of all sorts of plans.

 

◇

 

I once again set foot on the city of [Desire].

It was already well into the night, but the city was more bustling than it was during the day.

For their safety, we left the fox sisters in the provisional base Ciel built. In case anything happens, we also left a Ciel-splinter to act as a guard.

 

“Like I thought, night’s the busiest time for this city.”

 

Carriages were coming and going nonstop.

…which raises the question: why go all this way? Sure, they can do all sorts of cruel things to the women here, but is that enough to warrant a long trip here? Who knows, maybe the reason why these hedonistic nobles and merchants come here can lead to finding out Eligor’s weak point.

 

“Welcome back, Procell-sama.”

 

Azazel, the gentleman demon, came to greet me.

 

“Sorry to make you welcome me twice.”

“Please don’t worry about it. I believe it is only natural for a Demon Lord to exercise prudence when negotiating with another Demon Lord. At any rate, if you don’t mind, please follow me this way.”

 

And so, Ciel and I were again invited to see Eligor.

 

◇

 

Eligor had a change of clothes.

She was now wearing an alluring deep-cut nightgown that exposed much of her cleavage and thighs.

 

“How is it? Does it suit me?”

“It does.”

“Thanks. Say, Procell, after we’re done with this, what do you say to hanging around in my city? I’m sure you’ll have plenty of fun. …I think you’re cute, so if you’re game, I don’t mind being the one to pleasure you.”

 

Eligor leaned into me, whispered so to my ears, and then licked my earlobe.

I trembled.

…and is this the power of charm I feel?

 

“I appreciate the offer, but I prefer more mature women.”

“What a shame; my body feels really good, you know. Anyway, have you come to a decision?”

“Yeah. I’ll give you a [Creation] medal in exchange for a spare dungeon.”

“Now we’re talking”

“However, I have an additional condition. I want you to promise via a [Pact] that you and your monsters can’t enter [Creation] dungeons without my explicit approval.”

“…ehh, are you still suspicious of me? But fine, I get it; everyone’s after your delicious medal, so you have to be always on guard. I accept your terms.”

 

My permission being required to enter the dungeon was an important point.

Whether she would use her own forces or get some other Demon Lord to do it for her, she would still need to enter my dungeon to break the crystal herself. And if she couldn’t break my crystal, she wouldn’t gain the ability to make [Creation] medals.

Sure, she could let another Demon Lord break the crystal and thus indirectly have access to my medal, but it was almost impossible for a Demon Lord to trust another that much. As such, the chances of Eligor liking this option any better than letting me keep the dungeon was quite low.

 

“Alright, now that that’s out of the way, let’s go right away to my spare dungeon, shall we? I already have Transfer arrays prepared, so we can get there quickly.”

“Yeah, let’s go. I’m excited to get a dungeon too. Before that though, here, my payment.”

“And I gladly accept. So, this is [Creation], huh… woah, it really is amazing!”

 

Just by touching a medal, we Demon Lords could comprehend the power it held.

 

“Fufu, yes, finally, my dream can come true.”

 

Eligor was smiling from ear to ear before breaking into a maniacal laugh.

 

“Procell, as thanks, here’s a freebie”

 

She then leaned into me and pressed her lips into mine. She didn’t stop there though; she proceeded to intertwine her tongue with mine.

As for me, my mind as well as my whole body went numb and unable to function.

 

“Alright, I think that’s enough. Although, if you want to do more of this before we go, all you have to do is say it.”

 

When the kiss was over, I looked down at her. I saw her watery eyes… and also her cleavage. Her fair and glossy skin only made it more scrumptious.

 

“There’s no need for that. Sorry to be frank, but like I’ve mentioned, you really aren’t my type.”

“Yeah, yeah, you like grannies. You’re weird, you know, but so be it. Alright, let’s leave!”

 

Thankfully, Eligor didn’t make another advance. If that continued, sooner or later, I might have succumbed. The Demon Lord of [Desire] indeed.

 

◇

 

The dungeon we were guided to was empty.

Unnaturally so.

It was as if the dungeon was left untouched after it was reset.

 

“Isn’t it a waste? To not use this dungeon to earn DP, I mean.”

“Maybe, but I’m focusing all my efforts on my city, you see. I guess I can entrust the general management of it to a human…but truth be told, there’s no human I trust that much. So, until you came, this being an emergency shelter was more than good enough.”

“Alright, but why leave it this empty? Why not add a few defenses? I mean, what if someone wants to break the crystal here?”

“Oh. Well, there’s really no danger of that. You see, this dungeon is almost impossible to reach without Transfer. To be specific, the entrance to this dungeon is around two kilometers below sea level, plus it’s several kilometers away from the shores of the continent. Even just finding this place should be impossible.”

“Yeah, if it’s only purpose is to be an emergency shelter anyway, the best defense is not having to defend at all I suppose.”

 

By simply placing it so far and so deep in the sea, finding it should be impossible, much less reaching it.

 

“…however, wouldn’t its location be problematic to me who wants to invite humans in? Actually, why did the former owner of this dungeon even place it here? Or, don’t tell me, you can relocate a dungeon once you’ve used [Dominate]…?”

“It’s the latter.”

 

Demon Lords had to lure humans into their dungeons so that they could feed on the humans’ emotions and thus not die of starvation.

So, while this dungeon had a great defense, it was doomed from the start unless some other means to bring the humans inside the dungeon was made.

 

After only five minutes of walking in this dungeon devoid of life other than ours, we reached the crystal room.

 

“Alright, try to [Dominate] this crystal. How to do it is actually quite simple. Touch the crystal, summon your [Demon Lord Book], and then pour magic power and intent into the crystal. Do that and this crystal should become yours.”

 

It was indeed simple.

The only question was whether I capable of using [Dominate] at all.

Won’t know until I try!

And so, I touched the crystal and took out my Demon Lord Book.

 

“[Dominate]”

 

I then imagined myself taking over the crystal.

Meanwhile, the Demon Lord Book opened and flipped through its pages. It did so until it reached its very last page. This page was blank, but suddenly, some parts of it glowed. When the glowing stopped, I realized that characters were now written on the page. It gave the details for [Domination].

I had always been curious what the blank page in the book was for, but I didn’t expect it to be filled like this.

 

The more magic power I poured into the crystal, the brighter it got. I could also feel the crystal becoming more and more a part of me. And then, through some feeling, I knew it became completely mine.

 

“Congratulations, you have now obtained a crystal.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

 

Now that I had a crystal, the first order of business was to build a well-functioning dungeon…or rather, a city. Either way, because I gave away my only [Creation] medal I had at hand, the soonest I could make an S rank monster that had the ability to use Transfer would next month.

 

Afterwards, I opened my Demon Lord Book to confirm something I saw while the pages were turning earlier. I didn’t notice it before because I hadn’t opened my Demon Lord Book for a while, but I really did have the option to use a [Transference] Demon Lord’s unique skill now.

Without a doubt, I got this because of Kuina and the others. In order for me to be able to use the [Transference] Demon Lord’s ability myself and thus get back home, they broke his crystal. The thought that my monsters were doing everything they could to bring me back brought joy to my heart.

Along with that Demon Lord ability, I also now had the option to make a [Transference] medal each month. If I combined that with my [Creation] medal, the monster I would need to come back home would surely be among the possible results.

All that would be needed was to back it up sufficiently. That would be where my new city would come in.

 

While thinking about that, I heard a voice in my mind.

 

<<[Domination] confirmed. This [Desire] dungeon will now be modified to being a [Creation] Dungeon. A query to the [Creation] Demon Lord: Do you wish to reset the dungeon completely? If no reply is given within one minute, a normal reset will be done.>>

 

“Eligor, I’m being asked whether I want a complete reset or a normal one. What’s the difference?”

“Oh, yeah, that. Basically, a normal reset means erasing the monsters as well as the dungeon rooms that the previous Demon Lord added. A complete reset means the dungeon will revert to its very first state: being only a crystal. Because of the current location, I suggest you choose to reset the dungeon completely.”

“There’s not much of a choice, is there?”

 

To be able to change the location of the dungeon, I had to revert it to being a crystal.

 

“Alright, I choose to reset completely.”

<<Choice confirmed. Beginning initialization. Caution: use the crystal to construct a dungeon within 48 hours. Failure to do so will result in the crystal vanishing.>>

 

…within 48 hours?

Finding the optimal place to build my new dungeon within that timeframe was quite hard. There were just too many considerations like how much human guests a location could give me.

 

Suddenly though, the ground began to shake.

 

“Procell, that’s our cue to run. I think we have about just 5 minutes before this dungeon vanishes.”

“Wait, that soon?”

“Yup. So, if we don’t get out of here soon, the pressure of the water will crush us”

 

Once a dungeon vanishes, those within would be thrown to where dungeon was built. In this case, we would be sent two kilometers below sea level.

I didn’t even want to imagine such a fate.

And so, we hurried to where the Transfer arrays were.

 

Finally, I was beginning to see a path to returning home.

Moreover, Eligor hasn’t shown any signs she would attack me. Not yet, at least.

So, if this went peacefully and as planned, I should be back in Avalon soon.

…yeah, like that’s ever going to happen.

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