Chapter 22: Irregular Rule

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TL;DR note: Humans are also transferred at the start of a war. Read below for more.


 

 

The [Steel] Demon Lord Zagan was discussing with me his alliance with two other Demon Lords.

One of his offers involved him betraying his two allies and teaming up with me to then defeat the other two.

I of course turned down that offer. Zagan trembled and stood, separating himself from his earlier image of an aristocrat calmly enjoying his fine coffee.

 

“Are you a fool? Did you not understand anything I’ve said? Don’t you get it? This is the best option for you!”

“It certainly is not a bad deal.”

 

If I fully cooperated with him and did everything as we discussed, victory was all but certain.

At the very least, it would be far easier than fighting three at once.

 

“Then, why!?”

 

It seemed strange he even had to ask but then again, it was strange for him to think I would accept such a deal to begin with.

 

“It’s simple: how can I trust and cooperate with someone who has betrayed his own allies? How can I believe you won’t stab me in the back just like you discarded them? No, at this point, you will undoubtedly do so. There’s even the chance this is all just part of an elaborate plan you cooked up to trap me.”

“How can I even be capable of such?”

“It’s not so inconceivable. After all, you’re doing it already.”

 

His calm demeanor from his confidence that I would go along with his plans was now nowhere to be seen.

His plan definitely gave more chances of success but I wasn’t so gullible that I would believe someone that would easily betray his allies. And besides, that wasn’t my only reason for refusing.

 

“Another thing, isn’t it more profitable to fight three Demon Lords at once?”

“What the heck are you talking about?”

“I mean, by doing so, don’t I have a chance to gain three original medals? Oh how can I ever pass this chance up?”

 

I intentionally flashed him a smug smile and said so as if to suggest they were prey I would naturally hunt.

He visibly trembled. I would guess that he assumed I would have been afraid of the notion of a three on one [War].

 

“Such arrogance, [Creation] Demon Lord Procell. You will come to regret that decision.”

“Am I now? I think I’ll regret it more to trust someone like you to guard my back.”

 

He trembled once more and then raised his right hand and voiced the next words out loud:

 

“Come! Ronove! Morax!”

 

When he said so, a transfer array appeared on the ground. That transfer array must have been concealed with some kind of power.

 

And what appeared out of the array were two Demon Lords.

Ronove was a bipedal frog. He was an extremely unattractive man who stood nearly two meters tall and had boils all over his body.

Morax would have passed for a human man on the prime of his life except he looked fiendish, what with his demonic horns and wings.

 

The two looked ready and even excited to announce their declaration of [War] against me. It would seem what Zagan said about summoning these two after I refused his proposal for my surrender was true.

Zagan was just about to speak but I decided to cut in and put a damper on things.

 

“You two, [Steel] Demon Lord Zagan here just tried to sell the both of you out. He requested something like an alliance between the two of us and then fight the two of you together. He said that it will be easier for me to defeat two small fries rather than the three of you all together. Not to mention, he will certainly clear the one [War] quota if we allied.”

 

Upon saying so, the two looked at Zagan and then at me.

A great alliance crumbling so easily.

But then, Zagan clicked his tongue and spoke.

 

“Don’t be fooled! It’s a trick to confuse us! I will never say those things! If we can’t trust each other, our alliance would be meaningless and he will get exactly want he wants!”

 

Zagan shouted at the two but they only grew even more confused. I expected he would say something like that but my purpose for speaking was more about planting seeds of doubt so it didn’t really matter if they believed me or not. In times I would need it most, I just had to drive a small wedge into their already fragile alliance.

 

“B-but t-that–”

“What are you mumbling about, Ronove? You’re acting like a half-wit. But then again, you can’t do anything without me, now can you? So just shut up and listen to me.”

Hii! Okay, okay, I get it.”

 

The two-legged frog curled his body down as if to hide.

Evidently that was the power balance between the two.

 

“You too, Morax, do not be fooled by such tricks. We are allies!”

“……I guess you’re right. Yes, I’m sure it’s as you say, Zagan.”

 

Hmm, this fiendish-looking demon is actually timid, huh.

Zagan was a small fry but strangely enough, he was of the crafty kind. And he chose Demon Lords he could easily manipulate as his allies.

 

“Ronove, Morax, quickly! Let’s declare war on him. I’ll go first!”

 

Zagan forcibly pushed the idea, leaving them unable to fall back. It wasn’t such a bad move.

 

“I, [Steel] Demon Lord Zagan, do hereby challenge [Creation] Demon Lord Procell to a [War]!”

“I-I, [Viscosity] Demon Lord Ronove, do hereby challenge [Creation] Demon Lord Procell to a [War]!”

“I, [Evil] Demon Lord Morax, would like to issue a challenge to [Creation] Demon Lord Procell to a [War]. Yes.”

 

Zagan started it off and the declarations of war came one after another.

Right after so, I heard a sound within my mind. That sound was the Creator’s voice. It was strange but I felt like I missed it.

 

<<I acknowledge the declarations of [War]. I approve of the [War] of [Steel], [Viscosity], and [Evil] against [Creation]. The [War] may start in as soon as four days after [Steel]’s utterance of his request. This grace period is given so that each of you may prepare. One hour before the start of the [War], all of the participating Demon Lords’ dungeons will be connected.>>

 

So this is what happens when war is declared, I thought.

According to the rules, a war could be started in as short as 48 hours after declaration and Demon Lords that were declared [War] on must participate.

I still felt the connection with the Creator and thought it the right time to ask one thing.

 

“What are the victory conditions for a three on one? I get that I lose if I get killed or my crystal is broken but will I have to break all their crystals to win?”

 

I wanted to make sure.

If I could win by breaking just one crystal, that would make things a lot easier for me.

But then I heard the Creator’s laughter within my head. That doesn’t bode well.

 

<<The victory conditions for the team of [Steel], [Viscosity], and [Evil] will be: killing [Creation], breaking his crystal, or forcing him to surrender. The victory conditions for [Creation] will be: killing each one of [Steel], [Viscosity], and [Evil]; breaking each of their crystal; or making them all surrender. Also, a twenty-four time limit will be implemented. If by the end of this time limit the war is still ongoing, the team with the most crystals remaining shall win.>>

 

Wait a minute, did I hear that right?

 

“A time limit!? And the winner will be the team with most crystals? This is the first time I’ve heard of this rule.”

<<That’s because this is the first time—for new Demon Lords—to have a [War] with this many participants. You see, this many dungeons can’t be linked all at once for a long period of time. It’s unfortunate but that made me impose a time limit. With this, this conversation is thus concluded. I pray each of you do your best.>>

 

It was an inevitable conclusion. Still, it wasn’t what I anticipated.

I had to come up with a counter-measure but more importantly than that, I had to gather information.

I got hold of the fading presence of the Creator and asked him one more question.

 

“I would like to ask one more thing. When you ordered us to go to [War] within a year, was the purpose for us to really go to [War] or for us to break another new Demon Lord’s crystal?”

 

“It’s the latter. You can break crystals even when not involved in a [War].”

 

Those words were the last words the Creator said before I could no longer feel his presence within my mind.

I had confirmed what I wanted to confirm. This information shall undoubtedly serve as a weapon.

 

Nonetheless though, this rule was almost too much.

 

“Fuhahaha, I could have never imagined there was this kind of trap for you, [Creation] Demon Lord.”

 

[Steel] Demon Lord looked and laughed at me mockingly.

It was only natural he would, given that this rule put his side in a great advantage.

The fact that there was a time limit of 24 hours and the fact that after said time limit, the side with the most number of crystals remaining would be victor meant that even if their side devoted themselves to defense and ignore offense altogether for 24 hours, they could still win.

 

They had three crystals to begin with so even if I had been able to break one, they would still win.

Defending a dungeon was easier than assaulting one. And I was outnumbered so the best thing for me to do was to lure them into my dungeon wherein I would have prepared an advantageous battlefield for my forces but, due to the time limit, that option was as good as sealed.

 

Thus I must take the risk and assault at least two dungeons.

However, if I were to mobilize enough troops for two dungeon conquests, I would not have enough to defend my own and will then be attacked by the third Demon Lord in the blink of an eye.

 

“Well, do make sure you do your best. While repenting for your arrogance, that is.”

 

The three Demon Lords activated a transfer array and vanished.

Kuina who was beside me held my hand tightly.

 

“Oto-san, this rule is quite awful.”

“It is, isn’t it? Indeed, it’s unexpected.”

 

In the span of 24 hours, I not only would have to endure the fierce attacks of three Demon Lords but would also have to break at least two of their crystals that could only be found in the innermost part of their dungeons.

As I was pondering on my circumstance, Kuina looked at me and replacing the worry on her face was a forced but cheering smile, an effort perhaps to encourage me.

 

“Don’t worry, we will absolutely win. We will protect Oto-san and Avalon!”

 

Such powerful words were spoken by Kuina. I was pleased and brushed her head.

Her soft hair and fox ears felt great to touch.

 

“I’ll be relying on you then, Kuina. Also, it seems you’ve got the wrong idea about something. I have no ounce of doubt about winning. It’s just that with this rule, we might have to fight a little harder that what I thought.”

“Wow, Oto-san, that’s amazing!”

 

I expected total and complete victory but now, we had to take a little risk to win.

But then again, this might be a good opportunity for my monsters to experience things. It was better for them to feel tense once in a while.

 

Now then, time to modify my plans a little as I think up a strategy.

 

 

I returned to the dungeon and began to earnestly prepare for [War].

 

The city’s population had increased and the DP I could gain in a day was now close to 1,000 DP.

We were able to entrust most of the jobs to the humans so our own workload had lightened and we were able to go and hunt in the [Crimson Cavern]. We could gain as much as 1,000 DP this way.

 

Thanks to all that, I currently had 21,500 DP.

With this much, I should be able to do almost everything I was planning and the first on the list was…

 

“I have to make the third room on the underground dungeon.”

 

The first floor was for the city and anything that could help it while the floors underneath it was a dungeon dedicated to protecting the crystal.

 

The first room of the dungeon proper was the same two-kilometer-long room that I used against [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas and that had Mithril Golems equipped with heavy-machine guns guarding it.

 

The second room was the graveyard zone that housed the Undead army. It was a nightmarish labyrinth that was not only littered with countless traps but was also bombarded by the aerial units led by the Griffon.

 

And then, there was the third room that would be the last line of our defense.

 

With the rule in mind, I would have to mobilize Kuina, Rorono, and Ancient Elf as part of attacking forces so that our side could win.

 

And that left only the remaining units for defense. To make the defense successful, I began making the third room. I had to borrow Rorono the Elder Dwarf’s help to figure out the room’s specifics.

 

And then, I pondered about the insurance that I could depend on when things got dire.

My enemies were under a wrong assumption for there was a loophole that allowed a Demon Lord to have fighting forces beside himself and his monsters.

To arrive at this loophole, consider these three points:

 

  1. If the rule that states every creature inside the dungeon except Demon Lords and monsters are transferred to a different place at the start of war is put in another way, it can also mean that only Demon Lords and monsters remain within the dungeon at the start of the war.
  2. As soon as the [War] has begun, wounding other new Demon Lords and their monsters is allowed. Nowhere does it state that this applies only to the parties involved in the [War].
  3. Even if it wasn’t their [War], if one broke a crystal, it could fulfill the requirement of going to [War] within a year’s time.

 

Given these three points, I was of the thought that the Creator intentionally made this loophole. If so, I was going to make use of it immediately.

 

We could win by ourselves but it was better to be prepared.

Owing that fellow wasn’t didn’t sit well with me but for the sake of my city and my beloved monsters, I didn’t have such luxury.

 

“If they made an alliance of their own, why do they foolishly think I won’t do the same?”

 

Thus, I wrote a letter with a certain friend in mind.


 

 

Note:

Sorry, I’ve misread one of the rules of war stated in Chapter 7: Building a City. Instead of “all creatures except for humans and monsters…”, it is in fact “every human and every creature that is not a monster within the dungeon will be moved to a place where time is stopped”.

 

 


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59 thoughts on “Chapter 22: Irregular Rule”

  1. I guess I am a bit late commenting this but why even bother doing anything when the inhabitants of his dungeon are high-rank adventurers that come and go to the dungeon of one of the top three demon lords.

    Like, just post a notice that beginner dungeons will appear near the town, since the town is his dungeon’s first room, and the Creator said the dungeons will be connected to each other, the adventurers will know anyways.

    It’ll probably be childplay for high-rank adventurers to tackle a new dungeon.

    Like that he’ll just have to explain how he knows that they’ll come and he can just say it was premonition magic or something.

    Like

  2. “I expected total and complete victory but now, we had to take a little risk to win.

    But then again, this might be a good opportunity for my monsters to experience things. It was better for them to feel tense once in a while.”

    What bout you? You useless sack of shit, beside diddling little girls when they sleep what are you good for?

    These ‘rules’ that get added every new fight MC goes through are fucking awful, now Stolas join.. what fucking bullshit is this man? The awful gameyfied shit with wars was already awful but now they are even breaking those rules, what’s even the point if other demon lords can join without even declaring war? IT DOESN’T HAVE A SINGLE SHRED OF SENSE MAN, NONE.
    If you want to play mind games just let them fight it out normally, let them gather their forces and invade, don’t fucking magically connect their dungeons like some cheap mobile game.. how fucking awful. This whole mobile game war sthick ruined the whole novel for me.

    Like

  3. Hope Bestman said:

    I still didnt read the chapter but your note as “DL:DR” was so good, i couldnt help but laugh. Thanks dude, for the heads up.

    Like

  4. Meh, not a fan of these super random new rules, there are clearly just there, to make it hard for him. Is that going to be the rest of this novel as well? Random rules appearing, just to make it hard for the MC? Can’t we get some more organic difficulty? For example a smart antagonist?

    Like

  5. I’m surprised that he didn’t think of using his greatest advantage, that is ‘creation’. Imagine that, in a world where there isn’t any concept of recording devices, he could have easily created a spy camera and sound recording device to use against the demon lord/s, to create discord.
    Manipulating information is a far greater tool than the biggest of armies, in any war.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. I thought so. Immediately when I heard the rules of the creator, I thought Stolas was gonna get involved. Actually, I had a thought that before he went to meet Zagan he should of had Stolas with him but I suppose this assassination works better.

    The time limit is vexing since naturally all they have to do is heavily defend two out of the three dungeons and they win (as long as Procell can’t break through). It would be natural to assume that due to this rule they will exploit it and defend rather than attack. If they do something predictable like that then if Procell takes a gamble and moves some defence units to the attack it’ll be really good for him.

    But he needs to be careful since not only does this rule of “other demon lords can attack even if not at war” apply to him, it can be done by others against him.

    Like

  7. Dlonelyman said:

    Serve u right lol u should agree with steel and let him summon his friends then shot him right after he declared war against them and said “would u surrender in front of your Savior” well he is not that kind of clever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    Like

  8. What the fuck are these stupid ass rules?!? After the time limit the side with the most crystals wins? That sounds arbitrary as fuck. Like why wouldn’t the defending side win? They’re the ones who got attacked and managed to survive the war. Demon Lords just get to declare war and just chill in their base and if they have more people they automatically win by default? Since when does the attacking side win by defending? It’s just a dumb rule the author made off the top of his mind so he can add some fake tension to the plot.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Well, I guess that works too. Actually, that’s the option I would prefer. I just thought that the mc was the type to do things as safely as possible with the least amount of fights and wanted to wring out some better conditions and deals from that steel demon lord because the mc is in a superior position and needs to get more profits compared to a leecher like that guy. But fighting all three at once is what I really would prefer because it’s obvious that’s the better choice, they have no chance whatsoever to win, the mc has greatly expanded his forces and attack power now and he never even used his trump card at the fight with the wind demon lord, so these guys pretty much just came to give him some gifts like experience(levels) and medals.

    Like

  10. Gin Wolfstein said:

    I wonder if they thought something like “As expected from Lolicell, he refused to ally himself with a Demon Lord man, but allied himself with a female Demon Lord who looks like a black elf loli…” lolol!
    Thanks for the chapter

    Like

  11. vanhelsang said:

    loli + viscosity + evil = H

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Thanks for the chapter !!!

    Like

  13. thediabolicalgenius said:

    Thanks for the chapter noob.
    War is finally here. Stolas is obviously going to be invited to blindside one of the enemy demon lords while they’re focused on Procell and break his crystal.
    Now I’m just wondering if he’ll be making his new monster with the medals he’s been saving before the war starts. He’s got Time, Water and Dragon, but he needs to use Creation to make it S class, so he can only use two of them. What will he go with I wonder?

    Like

    • Seems reasonable to just use one of the original runes along with one of his imitation runes. While the story will surely give him original runes as needed, ignoring plot armor they aren’t exactly common.

      Like

    • metazoxan said:

      Well he could juse use each of those with a human medal and get 3 more loli ….. I mean humanoid …. servants.

      Since he can already make S class with just one other A medal and human medals give smarter monsters it doesn’t seem practical to use 2 A with just one.

      Like

      • thediabolicalgenius said:

        Yeah, but I recall that there are different levels of power even within S class and he’s mentioned before that Kuina is the most powerful since she was made with 2 A-class medals, though Rorono’s and Elf-chan’s abilities have more practical use outside combat. He also mentioned before that he wanted to focus on battle power with this one since those two have the town development covered so he wants to raise defensive power next. So Creation plus two of the A-class medals seemed like something he’d try.
        Of course, three monsters made with an A class plus Human imitation might be more powerful than two monsters with one being more powerful than those three would. But he’ll have to wait months to have two more Creation medals so he can’t have three right now and he needs combat power for the imminent war, so there’s a good chance he’ll use two of those medals.

        Like

  14. GG for the other 3 Demon Lords

    Thanks for the Chapter

    Like

  15. Whelp, I’m excited. Looking forward to him crushing all 3 crystals and the utter looks of despair on the trio’s faces as they’re ravaged by his armies.

    Like

  16. Thank you for your work!

    Like

  17. So Steel, Evil, and Viscosity. Curious to see was Viscosity is, slimes maybe?

    Anyways he made it sound like he was interested in obtaining a b ranked medal. What benefit would that be to him when his is a ranked and soon to get the a ranked fire medal? Would they not be a waste of his monthly original medal?

    Like

  18. Reaper Phoenix said:

    Thanks 4 the chapter!

    The Creator sound like some @$$hole gods in other stories. The rules seems unfair and full of loopholes, that it seems using those loopholes is what the Creator wanted. And these wars seems more for the Creator’s entertainment than anything else.

    Like

  19. Random Internet User (tm) said:

    Thank you kindly for the chapter!

    Like

  20. did he forgot try to make a new monster with Time Medal and or even his other medal the dragon medal ?

    the past 2 chapter, he want to create it, but a letter come and his not continue this plan, i am really curious what kind of new monster he will create 😀

    thx for the chapter ^^

    Like

  21. Those rules are fairly complex. Do you reveal everyone in your alliance for extra crystal s or keep them hidden as an ambush?

    Like

    • What do you mean by reveal? But lolicell’s plan might be more on the ambush

      Like

      • This is a war between2 factions. Th e steel faction revealed every participating member, gaining 3 crystal, allowing for strategy to be abled to planed against them. They reveal their disposition in their names, after all. The creation faction has 2 members, but chose to not reveal wind, even though doing so would have gained them another crystal.doing this automatically keeps one of the dungeons safe, so they only have to defend 1 base using2 armies. And they gain the ambush perk, since steel faction doesn’t know about winds army and hasn’t had a chance to prepare strategy against it.

        It is also a strategy you can’t use if you are unsure about being able to relocate troops fast since wind will temporary have fewer troops to protect against adventures.

        Like

      • Hmm. Technically, Wind or any other demon lord is not registered in this war. Nor do they have to be, thanks to the loophole lolicell thought up: new demon lords can attack each other when there is an ongoing war(well, it seems to imply even totally unconcerned new demon lords can attack each other).

        Tldr I guess, wind can get involved in the war but her crystal doesn’t have to. By this I mean, even if her crystal gets broken by some unknown reason, it doesn’t help or hurt procell’s score in this war. I hope I didn’t confuse you further.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Pretty much. Wind can participate in a war without risking anything against an unprepared opponent. And it would count.

        Although she could technically also dubelcross creation when everyone is weakened and claim all 4 crystal for herself…

        Liked by 1 person

      • Yup! I doubt she’ll do that but that’ll definitely shake thing up

        Like

      • If she was more nefarious she would approach the steel faction to hide her army in their dungeon for the dubble cross… but that is abit over their newborn level when it comes to evil strategy, even for [Evil]

        Like

  22. Thanks for the chapter

    Like

  23. So there’s a Holy attribute and an Evil attribute? What kind of monster do you think you would get synthesizing original medals with those two attributes?

    Like

  24. Thanks for the new chapter!

    Like

  25. I feel like i saw this trio of demon lords (cores) on LDM.

    Like

  26. sdarkpaladin said:

    Lolicell from the front and Stolas from the back. Even better if they can lure one of the fighting demon lords to defect. Sinister plan indeed.

    Like

  27. KuRuuRuu said:

    It’s surely going to be an epic battle!
    Go lolicell! Show them you loli power!!
    Thank you for the chapter ^^

    Like

  28. SightlierGravy said:

    So this chapter was cool but I got confused as to when the war starts. So, first we have the Creator saying it’ll start in 4 days at the earliest, “The [War] may start in as soon as four days after [Steel]’s utterance of his request. This grace period is given so that each of you may prepare.”

    Then lolicell says it’ll start in 48 hours, “The war could be started in as short as 48 hours after declaration and Demon Lords that were declared [War] on must participate.”

    And finally lolicell says it begins in 24 hours, “In just 24 hours, I would have to endure the fierce attacks of three Demon Lords while also having to break at least two of their crystals that could only be found in the innermost part of their dungeons.”

    I mean what? I didn’t misinterpret that right? We got three different times for when the war will start after Steel’s declaration.

    Like

    • Poor choice of words on my part. This war will start in 4 days. A war can have as short as 48hours grace period. The 24 hours is the time limit of this war, and for how long lolicell has to endure.

      Liked by 1 person

      • SightlierGravy said:

        Ohhhh, I gotcha now. Thanks for the explanation. I thought that’s what you meant concerning the 48 hours, but I completely whiffed on the 1 day part.

        Liked by 1 person

  29. The owner of the wind medal?
    Thank you very much

    Like

  30. Well, well… Stolas is in the play, then. this gonna be fun~

    Like

  31. Looking forward on how the war start. Thanks for the chapter.

    Like

  32. Having read ahead using google translate (yes it hurt my eyes, but i seriously couldn’t wait) I am extremely stoked for finally figuring out what half of what they are saying was!!! But all i know, is that it will be epic… absolutely epic…also, the name of the next volume is really foreboding ._.

    Liked by 1 person

  33. machinaforce said:

    thank for the chapter and the note thing make sense now.

    Like

  34. Ooh, here comes Stolas! He’s probably not going to ask for the berserk dragon in his dungeon, but just having that angel’s buffing ability on top of Wight’s Undead command is going to massively level up the Skeleton army. Not to mention Stolas’ own doppelganger powers.

    Liked by 3 people

    • I’m thinking, One Loli will be assigned per enemy demon lord as well as the defenders in the last room would be dopplegangers of those same 3 lolis XD

      Cant wait for the “war” as well as other wars procell will help Stolas with~ [i hope there is, nice to have a bit more action… but i came here for the city building~]

      Like

      • 2 lolis per enemy dungeon, you mean. Wind is great at support.

        Like

      • how many doppels can stolas’s group make?

        I was thinking that the dopels stayed behind and the 3 main bodies went to 3 dungeons. hahaha

        how many lolis did stolas have? i can think only of the angel-like one

        Like

      • she can make a single doublet. or she would have sent in even more meatshields against Lolicell.

        and you don’t want to spare your expendable clones for defence, those are the once you send in first wave.

        Like

  35. Thanks

    Like

  36. What that note means is that Lolicell won’t have to worry about fooling the humans within his dungeon.

    Also, even if some of you have thought of this already, I’m calling the Creator as the final boss!

    Liked by 3 people

  37. ∧_∧  
    (=’.’=)  Thanks!!
    (“”)_(“”) Nepu!!! 

    Like

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