novel
| ← Ch.056 | Ch.058 → |
Keeping watch on the situation in the dungeon from his crystal room was the [Viscosity] Demon Lord. After witnessing the Celestial Fox in action and being convinced it was an existence far out of the norm, he shook there, frightened.
With just one easy fell swoop, Kuina broke his will.
"Hii-Hii!! M-my monsters, my monsters gathered on the first floor, they-they're all gone with just one attack. This is absurd, this is impossible!"
Beside him was a demon which was a cross between a goat and a human. This monster made by [Evil] Demon Lord Morax had the capability to communicate via telepathy with its three twins. By making use of these monsters, the Demon Lords on [Steel]'s team were able to quickly share information with their fellow team members.
In their initial strategy, the one whose dungeon was attacked by Procell would focus on defense as the other two launch an assault on Procell's dungeon using the monsters they had prepared on the first room of each of their own dungeons.
If they did so, Procell who was outnumbered to begin with would be forced to recall back his attacking troops in hopes that it would prevent the fall of his dungeon.
In other words, they could shut him down with just their numbers. Or so they'd like to believe.
"With one attack, ONE ATTACK! They're fiends, FIENDS! This isn't what I was told about. And they're coming! I'm scared, so scared..."
[Viscosity] Demon Lord Ronove was keeping watch of his dungeon through the holograms projected by his crystal. Those fiends he talked about were [Creation]'s monsters—spearheaded by the fox-eared girl—that were easily traversing the second room of his dungeon despite the defenses and traps he had set up. Ronove could have never imagined that the invading monsters' feat of avoiding the traps time and time again were due to the abilities of the High Elves who had control over the wind as well as due to the Elder Dwarf who ruled over the earth.
Through the goat demon, Ronove spoke to someone that wasn't there.
"Zagan, it-it's me. [Creation] Demon Lord Procell's monsters came to attack me."
The half-human, half-goat demon open its mouth but [Steel] Demon Lord Zagan's voice was the one that came out.
"I see, so they came there? Then, Morax and I will be the ones to attack [Creation]'s dungeon. We'll defeat him quickly so hold on until then."
"Th-that's impossible. They're too strong. Already, my monsters... the monsters I put on standby near my dungeon's entrance were all killed with just one attack. I heard nothing of this; no one told me they were this strong! Zagan, you said we won't be in any danger whatsoever so I cooperated with you but that's evidently not the case here."
"I see, so he sent out his powerful monsters, huh. We'll proceed with the conquering of his dungeon as planned then."
Upon hearing those words, the despair Ronove was feeling grew even further.
"Zagan, I want the [Monster of Covenant] I lent to you guys back. As it is, I will be killed way before you break his crystal. So please, Zagan, I beg you, send me some reinforcements."
In his desperation, Ronove pleaded so. However, Zagan unconcernedly replied:
"I can't do that. To get past the Golems that overwhelmed Stolas, we will need your [Monster of the Covenant]. So, sorry but try not to die until we break his crystal."
"You-you're horrible! Do you intend to abandon your ally!?"
"It's just strategy, nothing personal. In order to win, we sometimes have to make cruel decisions. And hey, think about it, there's no way you'll lose to the few troops Procell sent out. So raise your chin up......... besides, we do have those aces up our sleeves."
After saying those words, the goat demon remained silent. No matter how much Ronove protested, Zagan's voice never again came out of the demon's mouth.
"Zagan, we're not done talking yet! I don't, I don't want to die. You told us we could win and flawlessly too so I cooperated with you. But as things stand, I, I'm going to die! This isn't what you promised! Answer me, answer me, Zagan!"
Again and again, Ronove kept talking to the goat demon but no reply ever came. After a while, he came to an unbelievable conclusion.
"... Could it be? Have I been used? Was I so stupid that I was tricked? No, no, no! Had I known that the enemies were these fiends, I would have never gotten involved in this alliance."
[Viscosity] Demon Lord Ronove was at his wit's end. As he was like that though, the enemy monsters were fast approaching. At the rate they were going, it wouldn't even take an hour for them to reach the crystal room.
"No, no, I don't want to die, I don't want to die. I have to use that, yes, yes, I will."
Staggering, he went out of his crystal room to meet with his barely-legal trump card that if possible, he didn't want to put into play. But even if this trump could drive those so-called fiends away, there was something it could not help with.
"Everyone will never return. Everyone that died, everyone I've lost, I'll never see them again."
The monsters on the first floor that were annihilated with just one attack would never come back to life.
For the first time in his life, Ronove cursed at his own stupidity.
He believed Zagan's assurances that they could win and he himself thought such would happen. The result though was the death of his important monsters.
If there was a next time, he decided that no matter how hard and painful things got, he would be thinking for himself and not rely on anyone else. Never again would he make this kind of mistake. And as such, he matured.
He called out his trump card that he received from a skilled Demon Lord. It was an A rank monster that could grow so it was the strongest kind of monster.
Looking at him with its cold eyes, its form really was vastly different from his own monsters.
Under normal circumstances, it was so strong that it should be impossible for it to lose to any kind of monster made by a Demon Lord that was just born.
He knew that and yet his unease never ceased.
As he still felt worried, Procell's monsters finally arrived at the depths of his dungeon.
Thus, with a prayer, he sent out his trump card.
"Please, please, I beg you, please."
At this point in the war, praying was all he could do.
| ← Ch. 056 | Ch. 058 → |