I was in my crystal room, the deepest part of the dungeon beneath Avalon. As I watched the holograms being projected, Rorono, the silver-haired Elder Dwarf, restlessly typed in environmental parameters.
To modify the dungeon, the Demon Lord book and the crystal were both needed. And the form of the interface to input the new information varied depending on the user’s perception of it. In her case, it was a computer’s keyboard.
“Master, I have completed the basic design. Making the third room itself was no problem but to accomplish master’s plan, we need more explosives.”
“I’ll make more materials via [Creation], then. The question now will be would we have enough by the due date?”
“Basing on the current rate of production… Mhm, we’ll somehow just have enough by then. But are you sure? It seems so short-termed.”
Elder Dwarf and I were discussing about the plans for the third room. To realize these plans, both of her knowledge and technical skills were needed.
I would make the materials using [Creation] and the Skeletons would untiringly assemble them into large amounts of explosives. Some of these explosives were to be used by the griffon’s bombarding unit while some were to be placed in the third room.
“It’s alright since we’re only concerned about efficiently annihilating the enemy.”
“Mhm. I understand. Also, it seems the traps are hard to detonate despite the window of opportunity to do so being quite short.”
“It requires some strength, huh. Let the golems detonate them. It’ll sacrifice the golems but they can be replaced. Such can’t be said about you guys.”
For this war, unlike the exhibition I participated in, one wrong step and any which one of my monsters I love would die, never to come back.
All of them, Kuina, Rorono, Ancient Elf, and of course Wight, Griffon, the Mythological Foxes, the Dwarf Smiths, and the High Elves, were important companions. Companions I’ve shared laughs and smiles with. I didn’t want to lose a single one of them.
“Understood. I am pleased with master’s feelings and as a [Monster of the Covenant], I will do my best so as to not disappoint Father.”
With new found determination, she examined the once finished plans for the third floor and searched for ways to improve it.
Ever the reliable child.
At any rate, I hated the time the war would start. It was because the soonest I could make my [Creation] medal for this month was while the war was ongoing, or 10 hours after its start to be exact.
If I made the new monster to be able to grow, I wouldn’t have enough time to level it up to the point it could serve as a part of my fighting force, even despite being an S rank.
On the other hand, making it to have a fixed level was wasteful.
Whatever it might be, I had to decide as soon as possible.
◇
While we were in the middle of work, a blue bird perched itself on my shoulder.
This bird was [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas’s monster. The one she uses to send letters to me.
“I’ll be there soon. Please prepare some tea as you wait.”
So it said.
I wondered if she even received the letter I sent her.
For her to come so soon, she really was a good person.
◇
Rorono had finished her work on the plan and we were chatting as we ate some sweets. But then, the outside grew noisy so I went out wondering what the cause could be.
As I stepped outside, I noticed the noisy adventurers looking up in the sky.
I looked at the sky myself and saw a gigantic Griffon approaching my house.
From the magic power I could sense to its size and color, I concluded it wasn’t any ordinary Griffon but one at the top of its lineage.
When the gigantic griffon landed, a determined green-haired beautiful girl jumped off of its back and rushed her way to my direction.
Needless to say, the adventurers were dumbfounded.
Humans that could tame monsters and travel using those monsters were rare but nonetheless existed. However, for a human to tame an A rank monster such as this superior griffon, they had to be in the same class as a hero. Thus, the adventurers’ surprise at her was justified.
“Here I am, Procell. Things have become really serious, haven’t they?”
“Thank you for coming so soon. We’ve got a lot to talk about so why don’t we so inside?”
All around us were the adventurers and I didn’t want any of them to hear our conversation where words like Demon Lord and War would undoubtedly come up a lot.
“Yeah, I guess so. Is this your house? It’s quite grand, isn’t it?”
“This is the house and city I boast. This way please.”
And like so, I invited Stolas inside and into a guest room.
◇
As I—seated in the guest room—was about to sip on the prepared black tea, Stolas voiced her many concerns.
“Procell, I’ve read your letter and knew of your [War]. And with three people, nonetheless.”
“Yes, that’s so. You’ve warned me beforehand of an alliance but I was still surprised to have three Demon Lords declare war on me.”
I had guessed as much as two but three was wholly unexpected. Moreover, I would have never fathomed it would become a war with such a disadvantageous rule.
Evidently, I was still so naïve.
“I’m glad you wrote to me. I was worried since the information about your war was transmitted to all Demon Lords, you know.”
I glanced up and kept my vision there. What she said sounded troublesome.
“Can it be that this war as well will be broadcasted?”
“It doesn’t look like it but I expect the results would be announced.”
“Okay, that’s good.”
After all, this war wasn’t one I could refrain from using my aces so exposing my hand to all the Demon Lords was something I would like to avoid if possible.
“Do you believe you can win this war?”
“Yes, I do.”
I fully believed so.
“Wow, you said that without a trace of hesitation though I guess that’s just like you. Ahem… do you want to raise your chances of winning?”
Truth be told, I’ve only written in the letter I had sent to her that I wanted to meet and talk about my present circumstances.
I intended to ask for her cooperation but I didn’t expect for her to bring it up herself.
“Wait, are you offering to help me?”
“Exactly so. At the same time as the start of the [War], any creatures within the dungeon that is not a Demon Lord or a monster will be transferred to a place where time is stopped. Conversely speaking, other Demon Lords and monsters not under the rule of a participating Demon Lord can stay within the dungeon during a [War].”
I had also found out that loophole.
Even if one couldn’t directly participate in a war, they could still help out.
Furthermore, at the start of the [War], new Demon Lords and their monsters could attack one another without worry of repercussions.
However, according to that wording, older Demon Lords—Demon Lords other than the NEW Demon Lords—were still forbidden from harming us during the [War].
“Thank you for your offer of help. I was thinking of asking for it myself. But what kind of compensation would you like in return?”
I frankly asked her so. I intended to give her something suitable for help.
“That will be unnecessary.”
But [Wind] Demon Lord matter-of-factly replied so.
“I’m thankful for that but will it not be a problem for you to gain nothing from risking your subordinates to danger?”
It was our responsibility as Demon Lords. Seeing as we were making our monsters sweat and bleed for us, getting some kind of reward out of a task was the least we could do.
“I’m going to assist you in this war out of my own ego. I’m going to be involved not as a Demon Lord who is in command of an army of monsters but as a friend helping out a friend in need. So under such circumstances, I can’t make my monsters go along with me. I will be the only one to help you this time.”
“I’m happy to hear that but—and don’t get me wrong—but what can you alone bring to table?”
“What are you saying? Have you already forgotten about my abilities? Besides, I have my own dungeon to defend so you can say the real reason for being alone is that I can’t take too much of my fighting force from my dungeon.”
I remembered the exhibition war we participated in before.
A skill unique to Stolas, her [Wind]. And that skill was composed of many varying skills.
Standing out among those skills were…
“Are you talking about your [Omnipresence]?”
“Yes, exactly. I’m an army even by myself.”
That was no exaggeration, only a statement of fact.
“Again, I’m thankful for the help but why help me so much?”
Stolas and I were competing rivals to be the strongest among the new Demon Lords and me being defeated should have been in her best interest.
“You are my rival. For you to be defeated by anyone else is out of the question! …Also, ahm, you’re the first friend I ever had so of course I’ll help.”
What, a tsundere!? I almost said so out loud but thankfully managed to gulp it down.
“Understood. But still, I have to repay the favor you’ll be doing; accepting charity, even from a friend, does not sit well with me. That’s it then, we’ll be dealing not as Demon Lords but as doing one another favors. First, let me welcome you to my city and provide to you the grandest accommodations possible. Furthermore, I swear to you that I will come to your aid whenever you need it.”
Upon hearing me, Stolas thinly smiled. Such a grown up expression suited her.
“You’re so stubborn. But I’m happy you said so. I’ll be looking forward to you paying me back, then. I’ll call on you if ever I got into trouble. I mean, we are friends, right? …anyway, I’m helping you out so you absolutely can’t lose, okay?”
Stolas gleefully yet awkwardly emphasized us being friends.
I found that way of talking amusing so I smiled.
“I have one request, though. I want my monsters to push themselves for this war. It might be dangerous but now is the perfect opportunity to try and find out about their hidden potentials so I have to do it like that. So that we may focus our efforts on that end, I ask you, [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas, to stay within my crystal room and guard my crystal until the war is over.”
I declared my request.
She was to be our last line of defense. If at all possible, I would like to win without ever borrowing her strength.
Even though she was here to help me, letting her into my crystal room was still dangerous but I had enough confidence to think she would never betray me.
“Alright. So you really plan to go all out on the three of them by yourself; as expected of my rival. That said, I won’t forgive you if you show such a pitiful performance. ”
“You can see everything going on within my dungeon if you stay at the crystal room so please evaluate my fight.”
I got help from someone unexpected.
But with this, my chances of winning went up further.
Now, all that I needed to do was to steadily hasten my preparations.
Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundere. There is no simple English equivalent so I suggest you get familiar with the term if you haven’t already.
“I have one request, though. I want my monsters to push themselves for this war. It might be dangerous but now is the perfect opportunity to try and find out about their hidden potentials so I have to do it like that. So that we may focus our efforts on that end, I ask you, [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas, to stay within my crystal room and guard my crystal until the war is over.”
My brain cells are crying, please stop. Even if you knew someone for 200 years you still wouldn’t do this.
“I got help from someone unexpected.”
..? She’s the only being that can help you outside your monsters, how is that unexpected? this writing is fucking SUBLIME!
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“I’ll make more materials via [Creation], then. The question now will be would we have enough by the due date?”
Well, if you don’t have enough mana to make it all then you can just soak your body in the hotspring 24/7 while munching on apples that were soaked in the water of life. Your mana regen would probably increase by quite a lot.
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No matter how good a friend, I do not like how he casually allowed her to stay in the crystal room. While it should undoubtedly show how much he trusts her but it’s still too risky. With her wind powers she’d probably have better served as a guard in the long stone corridor alongside the mithril golems. She could use strong wind to push the invading monsters back while the golems mow them down.
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Agreed. This dumbass mc or can this be considered a plothole? I mean it has to be physically impossible to be this stupid.
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“You are my rival. For you to be defeated by anyone else is out of the question! …Also, ahm, you’re the first friend I ever had so of course I’ll help.”
What, a tsundere!? I almost said so out loud but thankfully managed to gulp it down.
Ah, how great. The good kind of tsundere. Not that annoying type that is overly violent and way too tsun with no proper dere. This one is a milder version with about 50/50 tsun and dere and no violent behavior, just bashfulness. I like it.
I don’t approve of his idea to let her stay by the crystal though. No matter how much he trusts her, she’s a demon lord and he hasn’t got that deep of a relationship with her yet, just friends and they’ve hardly talked to each other. He’d better have some nice protection that she wouldn’t be able to break through around it, because otherwise I wonder if he lost his brain somewhere.
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Lolicell, you sure you’re going to leave your crystal alone with an enemy demon lord? Who knows when she will suddenly change.
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A mild tsundere, I have not seen one like this for some time… (y)
Thanks for the chapter
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friend? what is that? is it delicious? T__T
cheers for the chapter!
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Im lookig forward to the battle but Procell is just to greedy, you cant go to war and expect that you wont lose anyone. And he keeps on getting emotional attached to his monsters, he should get some expendable monsters as well or he will one day suffer some serious losses.
(Probably the lesser beins, i cant see the author taking the main heroines away anytime soon, Stolas however is at risk of getting killed, feels like a flag has been raised somewhere.. All these lovely (and lonely) little moments gets us emotionally attached to her, a perfect character to kill in order to stirr the drama in a story like this.)
(I hope im wrong..)
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I thought his skill to turn back demon to medal is only for his subordinate but actually works to other too… meh… that’s the biggest cheat ever.
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It’s a gift he received for winning the demo war against Stolas. He although he can use it on anyone, can only use it two times.
Thanks for the chapter
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I got the feeling he’ll win the war on his own with his own strength but Stolas saves him from one or two opportunistic Demon Lords who takes this chance and attacks him.
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Inb4 he conquers all 3 simultaneously. 1 for foxes, 1 for dwarfs, and 1 for elves.
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Thank you kindly for the chapter!
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Thanks for the new chapter!
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Where’s the C4?! Use it pike some salt on the field before the war. And then, boom!
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Like*
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Oooh can’t wait to see how his dungeon will turn out, and also how he’ll trample those 3~!
Thank you for the chapter !! ^^
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Thank you for the chapter, and eagerly looking forward to the next one.
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Thanks for the chapter !!!
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Cant she just destroy his crystal and not have to fight a war during the year?
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“What, a tsundere!? I almost said so out loud but thankfully managed to gulp it down.”
You’re only working this out now? She’s been your archetypical orthodox tsundere since the beginning you know? I called it ages ago desu yo?
Anyway, suprisingly she isn’t going to be called in to ambush one of the enemy demon lords, but is just providing backup personally in case Procell defense measures don’t hold all the enemy back huh? I suppose most of it will be showing off, with Stolas going more and more dere after seeing how cool he is.
Will she stay friends, or is she a future harem member too? I’d be very surprised if she doesn’t.
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Thanks for the chapter :3
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thank you very much
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“To modify the dungeon, the Demon Lord book and the crystal were both needed.”
Fk i forgot what the Demon Lor book was ;C
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It’s like a manual for demon lords. Some of its pages details how much particular rooms costs. It also registers the monsters one made and the ones that can be bought for dp
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Thanks for the chapter
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Thanks for the chapter
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Demon Lord Wife has come~!
:3
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Thanks for the chapter.
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Thanks for the chapter~
/\__/\
(=^w^)
~(,,,)-(,,,)
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Thanks 4 the chapter!
Mild tsundere is much better than spicy tsundere or bitter tsundere.
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∧_∧
(=’.’=) Thanks!!
(“”)_(“”) Nepu!!!
Can’t wait for moar!
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arigatou~
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Found A TSUNDERE one !!!!!!!!!
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It doesn’t match her character to backstab, and I doubt author-sama would kill off Procell’s Monsters of Covenant, so IF she does destroy his crystal then I’ll be mindblown.
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waku-waku~
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Thank you for the chapter~
He must really trust to put her next to his crystal~
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I hope this is a future sign of her becoming the Mother lol
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Omg I love Stolas! Please marry her already! Good character development lol
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He can’t marry her. He has to marry Marcho. Marcho is best girl, even if she has the second worst name.
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Marcho has less than a year to live.
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My assumption is Procell will use the Crystal he won in the “trial” dungeon fight with Stolas to “lengthen” Marcho’s life or whatever.
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I’m betting on a miracle, he will “summon” Marcho after she dies with some medal.
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Having read the raws and avoiding spoiling too much for a good novel….. you guys are not far off, though not exactly correct.
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Hoo? Im looking forward to the time we reach that part. 🙂
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Marcho becomes loli confirmed.
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Nah, marcho is the worst of the girls introduced thus far. She’s a nice girl, but not at a “girlfriend” level. I don’t find stolas to be that good either, but she’s way better than marcho. So my list goes 1: Rorono 2: Stolas 3: Ancient elf 4: Kuina and 5: Marcho.
Just because they’re introduced first they’re the “best girls”? don’t kid around man 😀
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thanks for the chapter!
I wish the fight not as one sided as the “trial” fight, but it’s interesting to see those 3 suffer though…
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Hype
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