novelMithril Golems
| ← Ch.020 | Ch.022 → |
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 [Cretion], 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 angelic kind of 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 angelic 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 in succession 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.
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