novel
| ← Ch.023 | Ch.025 → |
After the valley was the maze area.
Of course it wasn't just a simple maze but one teeming with pitfalls.
Moreover, its ceiling was awfully high.
Looking at it more carefully, the walls didn't even touch the ceiling but that was most probably deliberate. The flying monsters would be able to move unobstructed by the walls while we, the ones who could only move by land, had to worry not only about the maze made by the walls but the pitfalls as well.
"Master, a pitfall three steps ahead. Also, an enemy is waiting in ambush in the corner ahead. It looks like it's planning a pincer attack together with the enemy flying in the sky."
However, as far as Elder Dwarf was concerned, such a maze was nothing but a boring distraction.
For the blessed-by-the-earth Elder Dwarf, finding the pitfalls was simple.
On the other hand, even if the ground was stepped on, she would just immediately reinforce it enough for it to be safe.
Even making a map was possible for her by sending out waves to the ground, a few kilometers in diameter, and receiving their echoes. Every maze would be rendered useless before her.
(TL note: I'm just guessing here but I guess Elder Dwarf can do all this because of her skill Silver Alchemist which hasn't been explained even now. )
Actually, even the monsters in the sky were also easy to deal with.
After all, by swooping down our way, they were confining themselves to the walls of the labyrinth.
So in truth, the previous floor offered us a greater challenge.
Thanks to Elder Dwarf's information, we were able to ambush the enemy that tried to ensnare us. We then exited the maze without incident.
"Thanks, Elder Dwarf. We were able to take it easy thanks to you."
"Nn."
She nodded and leaned on my left arm.
She was kind of fidgeting.
Such actions suited the silver-haired beautiful prepubescent girl.
"What's the matter, Elder Dwarf?"
"... nothing."
Despite saying so, her upturned eyes suggested she wanted something but when our eyes met, she just looked away, only to glance back and forth at me immediately afterwards.
Until finally, she tugged on my sleeves.
Ahh, she really did want her head to be stroked.
As amusing as it was to see her like this, I should stop teasing her soon.
"You did a great job, Elder Dwarf!"
I said so as I stroked her head.
Albeit for a different reason compared to Tenko's, the sensation of her silky silver hair was enjoyable.
"......... no, stop it, Father. You're embarrassing me."
She said so as her face turned red.
I stroked her head plenty. If she found this to be pleasant, so did I.
With a grin on her face, Tenko approached us.
"Ah, El-chan! You've only been calling Oto-san as Master but just now, you called him Father!"
Tenko giggled.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Elder dwarf hid her face and quietly murmured so.
Her ears turned bright red.
"What are you embarrassed of? If El-chan wants to call Oto-san Father instead of Master, she should just do so."
"I didn't say anything."
"But you did! You absolutely called Oto-san Father!"
"No, I didn't!"
The red-faced Elder dwarf insisted on Tenko.
Perhaps it was because she was about to explode, the tone of her voice became strange.
"Kya—♪"
Tenko, on the other, squealed in what seemed like joy as she ran away.
Tenko was then caught. It was perhaps on purpose since if Tenko really wanted to escape, with the difference of their agility in mind, Elder Dwarf wouldn't ever be able to catch her.
My face loosened as I saw my two daughters joyfully playing around.
They were so cute.
"Hey, hold it, you two. Stop fighting. Come here."
Tenko and Elder Dwarf came, their heads down.
"Sorry, Oto-san."
"We were distracted, Master...... we have no excuse."
"Yeah, as long as you understand. Here."
I hugged the both of them.
They smelled nice. They were soft and just felt nice to hug. Just the right warmth too.
"Yay! ♪"
"Nn."
The both of them hugged me back.
How I wanted to stay like this forever.
All this while, the excellent Wight made his Skeleton legion keep watch, shooting down the occasional enemy. That guy was exceedingly skilled at reading the mood.
We were able to do such a thing in enemy territory only because Wight was there.
From then on, we cleared the second floor in no time.
However, I wasn't aware of it at that time, that this scene was being viewed by all the Demon Lords in real time...
~Demon Lord Palace dance hall~
"It's quite interesting, that dungeon that the [Creation] Demon Lord built."
A snake humanoid aristocrat, with a wine glass in one hand, murmured so.
"It looks like it's going to be quite hard to conquer it. Those iron pipes are concerning. What kind of magic trick is it... the most noteworthy thing though is that that thing can be prepared in large numbers. The dungeon's iron pipes and the things his monsters are essentially the same, right? Oh my, how ominous."
The one that spoke this time was a tiger beastman gentleman that smiled as he bit into a piece of meat.
"What's concerning for me is the [Wind] skill. It's more than what I expected. It hasn't been in use lately but it's almost like breaking the rules. To top it all off, she's loved by her subordinates, isn't she? I could see her becoming a good Demon Lord."
"Yeah, right? I mean, I still can't tell who'll win. [Wind] is the child of [Dragon] so she'll definitely have that. "
The conversation of the Demon Lords at the Demon Lord Palace during the [Evening Party] were getting more and more excited. They held a glass of fine wine on one hand as they enjoyed the [War].
Suspended on the sky was two holograms. One was displaying Procell's dungeon while the other was showing Stolas's.
Just until a while ago, the Demon Lords were intently watching Procell's dungeon but due to the fact that Stolas had given up on her conquest and had subsequently pulled out all of her surviving monsters, the Demon Lords were now focused on Procell's own assault on his enemy's dungeon.
"His dungeon conquest is quite impressive. [Creation]'s monsters are low leveled but they're awfully strong. That equipment's quite good too. I wonder if I could somehow trade for it."
"Seeing as that's the foundation of [Creation]'s strategy, I don't think it'll be easy to make him hand it over."
At the same time as they were assessing their new found rival, they thought of ways on how they could interest him in a fair trade.
"Even so, his monsters are amazing. They're strong for their levels. They're probably born with the ability to grow. They should at least be A ranks so we haven't seen their full potential yet.......... Plus, they're cute."
"They sure are cute. I wonder if he'll at least share with us the combination of medals to make them... that, I meant that in the way that I want it to be part of my fighting force and not just to be my lovely granddaughter."
The Demon Lords were getting noisier about how cute Tenko and Elder Dwarf were.
Surely, even Demon Lords would recognize beautiful girls when they saw one. Not to mention their spoiled behavior around Procell was awfully cute.
And then, it happened. Being displayed on the hologram was the image of Procell hugging both Tenko and Elder Dwarf.
Normally, that kind of behavior on the battlefield would only be thought of as insane. Even the Demon Lords weren't able to hide their surprise.
"Just who exactly is that guy?"
"Now that you mention it, those girls have been calling him Oto-san and Father since a while ago. He's also been stroking their heads now and then. Is he making them call him those things?"
"What a dangerous Demon Lord. I have never seen such a dangerous fellow. On that subject, if I remember correctly, the [Creation] Demon Lord's name was Pro-something."
Unexpectedly, the Demon Lords gathered at that place had forgotten Procell's name.
In such a time, a brown skinned, white-haired beautiful woman with wolf ears and tail emerged.
"Ahh, that man's name is Lolicell. [Creation] Demon Lord Lolicell."
That woman who had a great deal of influence over the surrounding Demon Lords was looked on by eyes full of both fear and respect.
Every Demon Lord bowed their heads to her.
"Ah, Nee-san. It's been a while. Yeah, yeah, that's right, it's Lolicell! That's definitely his name. They say a person's name and nature often match but that's..."
"Well, it's easy to remember isn't it? [Creation] Demon Lord Lolicell. Watch out for him, in more ways than one."
"A person just like his name suggests, huh. I've already memorized his name. Lolicell....... I have to make sure he won't lay a hand on my children."
Just like that, with frightening vigor, the Demon Lords spread among themselves the name of [Creation] Demon Lord Lolicell.
As they did so, the screen displayed [Creation] Demon Lord Procell's group as they entered the third and last room.
This [War] was about to enter its climax soon.
Procell might had overwhelmingly dominated the competition but the conclusion to the [War] was still yet to be determined.
If Procell could beat the last floor, it would instantly mean his victory... but in there was [Wind]'s trump card. The [Dragon] that hasn't yet appeared....... .
| ← Ch. 023 | Ch. 025 → |