Looming Shadows
--On their way to the Holy City of Holylight.
(So this is what a bath is...!)
From the moment the Demon Lord and Aku had settled at their lodging for the night, Aku was greeted by one pleasant surprise after another. Aku’s first impression of the place was that it was very sturdy, in complete contrast to the houses back at the village. Aku could easily imagine the building withstanding a charging bear or boar. In fact, the child felt confident that not even a powerful monster could breach this structure. The lodge even held cots and a kitchen. Aku couldn’t help but feel like a respectable member of society, somehow. Back home, the child’s bed was made by laying a cheap piece of fabric on a pile of straw. Compared to that, this was heavenly.
(But best of all, this bath...!)
The Demon Lord had called it an ‘oil drum bath.’ Imagine Aku’s shock upon finding hot water in such a place! This was an unbelievable height of luxury for the child. Even as Aku bathed in it, the child’s trembling didn’t stop.
(I don’t get why Master Demon Lord was apologizing, though...)
His exact words were ‘Sorry. This lodge is the best I can do right now.’ Aku didn’t really understand what he was saying, to be honest. Of course this was the best he could do, Aku thought. The child could not begin to imagine any more luxury than this.
(I wonder where Master Demon Lord came from? I thought it was the Dark Realm or something, but...)
Aku recalled him mentioning ‘the Empire’ after a few drinks. As the child was pondering such things, the Demon Lord called from the other side of the door.
“Sorry it’s so cramped in here. But just you watch... One day, I’ll set up a hot springs resort.”
The Demon Lord walked away. Some of what the Demon Lord said was difficult for Aku to comprehend. The child wished for a smarter mind to understand him better, but soon realized that the wish might have been futile.
(What’s a “hot springs resort”, anyway?)
Curious, Aku continued to enjoy the bath... It was a peaceful sight, indeed.
Meanwhile, the Demon Lord was laying on his bed, looking up at the night sky through the window.
(There’s a moon in this world, too...)
He could feel himself gradually sobering up. Some time had passed since the Demon Lord came to this world, but it didn’t seem like he would naturally hop back to his own world any time soon.
(Will unlocking all the Administrator commands really do the trick...?)
The Administrator commands, of course, were related to the game. As such, there was no ‘return to the real world’ command or the like. If he really was summoned by that false-god-looking statue, finding a similar entity and wishing to it seemed like the Demon Lord’s only hope.
(The big problem, though, is whether or not I can return to the same day.)
As far as the Demon Lord was concerned, if he could eventually return to the real world on the same day he had left it, there was no problem. However, if time in the real world flowed the same as it did here, that would cause some issues. If he returned to the real world even just a month later... well, a person missing for a month would be a big deal. ‘Oops, just spent a month in another world’ wouldn’t cut it. The truth would only get him into a padded room.
(For now, I guess I just have to try and unlock more commands...)
But he had no idea what to do next. Keep farming SP? Make some money? Find specific items? In any case, not doing anything wouldn’t help. It could even be constructive if he just treated it like a vacation and enjoyed himself.
(What’s waiting for me back there, anyway...? Day after day of the same old job.)
“Master Demon Lord! The Oil-Drum is amazing!”
The Demon Lord let out a laugh. He didn’t know what to say to Aku, who found so much joy in that sorry excuse for a bath. Although, if the Demon Lord had lived through post-WWII Japan, he might have shared the sentiment. Now that they were travelling together, the Demon Lord imagined what kind of reaction he could get out of her with his other Administrator commands unlocked. Considering Aku’s upbringing, the Demon Lord couldn’t help but try to fill the role of a parent.
(A hot springs resort, maybe...? I might as well recreate the Sleepless Castle.)
The Sleepless Castle was the final area of the game, where Hakuto Kunai and all of his close subjects resided. The backstory of the place was that a select few of the world’s wealthiest were invited there to watch the Game live. In addition to the Demon Lord’s subjects, the impenetrable fortress was guarded with 2000 soldiers. The Demon Lord wondered how Aku would react if he showed her this ultimate showcase of the Empire’s technology. While it was a blood-soaked battleground, where countless players were taken down over the course of a decade and a half, the Sleepless Castle would also guarantee them safety from all. It had only been conquered once during its existence, after all. Besides, if the Demon Lord could summon his subjects, that would allow for many more options going forward.
“Master Demon Lord, I washed myself with bubbles again!”
“Hm...? Yeah, you smell good.”
“Really? Hee hee hee...”
Aku giggled with joy and climbed into the bed the Demon Lord was laying on. Her blond hair made it seem like a well-groomed kitten had curled up next to him.
“Woah, you’re going to sleep in my bed?”
“May I?”
“Look, I know you think I’m some old guy who could be your dad, but I need to tell you something. I... The real me, is not a dad. I’m not that old. Got it?”
“I don’t know what you’re saying, Master Demon Lord.”
As the Demon Lord continued to try, futilely, to get his point across, the night thickened.
——A few days later... On a mountain, somewhere in Holylight.
Forty or so bandits were swarming on the foothills. They had heard the news that a Holy Maiden was about to pass here on a carriage. Naturally, they couldn’t let such a perfect opportunity slide. They were poised to attack. The bandits, known as the Mole, were infamous around these parts for not being picky about their targets. No matter how weak or strong, they would attack without discrimination. Naturally, that led to some painful defeats, but their numbers only grew. Perhaps that was an indication of how unstable this country was.
The leader of the reckless bunch was calmly sitting on a stump, gazing towards the foot of the mountain. He had been in the highway robbery business since his teens, and now was a rather infamous leader of the gang. While he was now over fifty years in age, he was as built as ever. As he calmly tilted his bottle, a silhouette appeared at the foot of the mountain. The leader immediately determined that it wasn’t their target. But another thought crossed his mind while watching two people walking through a land so remote that it could be classified as a wasteland. Could it be a trap? More than once, they had jumped on a small group of seemingly ideal prey only to be surrounded by the hidden, much larger team, and they were forced to flee in bitter defeat. Then, it clicked. The leader caught on to the Holy Maiden’s tactic. She was baiting them out in the open, where she could easily take them down, he thought.
“...Heh. It’s not going to be that easy, miss Holy Maiden.”
“Boss, what should we do with those two?”
“Kill ’em... We’ll retreat before the rest of them show up from behind us.”
Thanks to his experience, the leader always made decisions fast. In the middle of action, there was no time for indecision. Stasis led directly to death. The leader recalled his many comrades who died of indecision in a critical moment. One of his henchmen loaded his bow without a sound and loosed it in a single breath. There was no hesitation in snuffing out a life here.
On the other hand, the Demon Lord noticed the attack, and let out a yawn.
(What a joke...)
He nearly sighed watching the arrow whizzing towards him. The attacker didn’t seem to make any effort to conceal their presence, and the arrow
itself was nothing special. No effects on it at all. In the Game, this would have been a Rain of Arrows, an equipped skill that loosens two dozen insta-kill arrows. To the Demon Lord, this arrow seemed like it was loosed carelessly at some random pedestrian.
(Should I just take it...?)
The Demon Lord braced himself to take the hit. He wanted to test how much damage it would do. Since he hadn’t encountered any enemies since that one devil, he never had the opportunity to perform any experiments in combat. Just in case, he had already turned off the automatic Retaliation and automatic Countering features. It was difficult to trust them, since the Demon Lord couldn’t gauge what the criteria were to activate those features. Worst case scenario, he could inadvertently retaliate to a harmless action with lethal force. Against a bizarre monster, that wouldn’t be a problem, but against a human? That didn’t sit right with the Demon Lord.
“Aku, step back.”
“...What?”
The whizzing arrow seemed almost stationary to the Demon Lord. Which wasn’t a surprise. In the game, the Demon Lord dodged machine gun fire and even shotgun scatter shots. When the arrow finally arrived in front of the Demon Lord, a small ping was heard before the arrow could hit him. Countless black octagonal shields surrounded the Demon Lord. Intercepted by one of them, the arrow fell to the ground, having lost all of its momentum.
“Under level 30, huh...? What a noob.”
Only players who had reached level 30 (the maximum in the game) could damage the final boss. Players below that level didn’t even deserve a battle against the Demon Lord. Of course, even players with maxed-out stats couldn’t keep up against him. Just like the final boss of an RPG, it was nearly impossible to damage the Demon Lord without burning through all sorts of items. Worst of all, his HP was astronomical.
“Why are you trying to get the kill from the nosebleeds up there?”
The Demon Lord called out, and the bandits finally showed themselves. Each of them wore shock and dismay on their expression.
“What the hell did you do...!? You gotta be a mage!”
“You think you’re invincible, huh? Once your Stamina runs out, you’re just a punching bag!”
“Punching bag, huh...? Good to know.”
A grin grew across the Demon Lord’s face. Aku had mentioned magic to him, but she didn’t know much about it, leaving him more curious about the subject than he preferred.
“Any mages over there? Hit me with your best shot.”
The bandits stirred. This was beyond cocky. The Demon Lord was acting as if he were performing experiments on mere insects. With his patience run thin, the leader walked up, his beard swaying.
“You talk pretty big game, old man.”
“Who’re you calling an old man!?”
The Demon Lord couldn’t help but shout. Stunned, the leader fell speechless as awkward silence filled the mountain.
“I’m the leader of the Mole, Wo Wungol. You’re...”
“Own Goal?”
“Wo Wungol! Why are you saying it like that!?”
“...So what do you want, Safety Man?”
“Safety...! You got mud in your ears!?”
This petty argument between two middle-aged men was not pretty to watch.
(Hey... I recognized his face... I think.)
The Demon Lord stared at the leader, who was puffing his chest, arms crossed. He tried in vain to recall where he had seen this man, but he didn’t know anyone with such a wild beard. In fact, he imagined not many men in the entirety of Japan would look like such a stereotypical bandit.
“You’re pretty filthy, huh...? You got a neckbeard going. You look like you haven’t bathed in a year.”
“Huh! Like I haven’t bathed? I don’t know what kind of money you’ve got, but you’re pissing me off!”
Reacting to their leader’s rage, the bandits ran down the mountain, surrounding the pair.
“M-Master Demon Lord! We’re in trouble... Let’s make a run for it!”
Aku yelled, her skin glowing from the past few nights spent taking an oil-drum bath. A glow that really made her look out of place among the dusty, middle-aged men around her.
“Demon Lord...? You make this kid kiss your ass like that, huh, old man?”
One of the bandits burst out laughing, causing a roar of laughter and knee-slapping among the rest. A vein popped up on the Demon Lord’s forehead, but who could blame the bandits for laughing? They could only imagine a man well into his middle-age playing pretend as the Demon Lord. The problem was, of course, that this man was the real deal.
“Alright... Let’s play a game, then...”
With that, the Demon Lord flicked the forehead of the man who first laughed, with his finger. He was blown away, as if by a gust of wind, and skipped across the ground a few times before rolling to a halt like a tumbleweed. By the time he had stopped, the bandit was twitching here and there, knocked out cold.
“Now, it’s your turn... Oh, you can’t get up? This one goes to me, then.”
With a grimace, the Demon Lord looked at the bandits. They had all been speechless, but eventually went into a tizzy. Watching them, the Demon Lord cackled:
“Own goal, indeed. I suppose that’s your goal over there, where he went tumbling.”
“Shut up! What the hell did you do!?”
“He’s got some sort of spell on his finger!”
...A spell, you say?
Suddenly, a voice was heard from the distance, drawing the bandits’ attention. In an instant, screams and wails echoed through the mountain. A golden light sparked out of the source of the voice, reducing the bandits to shreds.
You Unlocked Some Information!
Equipped Skills
These can be activated at will, upon the first attack against an enemy. A hellish chain attack that combos from a player’s First to Second to Third skills. With Kunai’s Attack stat, the thought of chaining this off until the Third skill would terrify any enemy. In the game, while it was powerful, it used up most of the user’s weapon stock, making it a double-edged sword. If the weapon was a gun, it would empty the magazine. In a heated battlefield, it wasn’t uncommon to die while trying to reload. Kunai’s weapon was unique, though, and had infinite stock.
Holy Maiden
“I didn’t expect to find filthy bandits on my way to take down the Demon Lord.”
The Holy Maiden, Luna, was smiling. In spite of her very cute face, her actions were ruthless. The golden light she emitted had just torn five of the bandits to pieces.
“Damn it... We’re out of here, boys!”
“Ugh, idiots. You don’t really think you can get away from me, can you?”
Luna raised her staff adorned with small wings, and began her incantation. Immediately, golden light began to gather around it. She was controlling one of the elements of this world, and a very rare one to control, at that.
“Rip with gold... ‘Golden Blade’!”
The next moment, countless golden blades shot out of Luna’s staff, tearing six of the bandits to shreds. Watching this, the Demon Lord felt a drop of cold sweat trickle down his forehead.
(You gotta be kidding me...!)
True, the Demon Lord was taken by surprise at his first encounter with magic. It was also true that the power of the spell scared him. But what shocked him the most was that such a young girl just killed all of those people without a second thought.
(Can we make a run for it...?)
He thought for a second, but immediately vetoed the idea. The girl hadn’t come alone, but with an army. As soon as the Demon Lord saw them, his mind was made up. He whipped out the Base, and threw Aku into it.
“Wha- Mas-!?”
“Stay down in the corner. Got it?”
The girl who cast the spell was now staring at the Demon Lord, which was only natural after he materialized a building out of thin air.
“What’s this...? Are you a mage? Or is it just a magical item?”
Without answering, the
Demon Lord lit a cigarette he took out from his coat pocket. Truth be told, he didn’t think he could keep his cool without a smoke or two. Could he withstand that attack? The thought terrified him. That being said, showing the girl any sign of weakness was out of the question. Desperately, the Demon Lord kept face.
While she looked no older than a child, the girl had killed those men without any hesitation. The girl, in the meantime, seemed interested in the Base. She walked up to it, touching it here and there, peering inside. Her display of curiosity was the first age-appropriate demeanor she had shown so far. Even her innocent demeanor, though, scared the Demon Lord.
“I’ve never seen this kind of material before... You. Make this a gift to me. I just might let you live.”
“Is that a deal, mademoiselle? Any assurance that your promise will be kept?”
“Huh...!? Who do you think you’re talking to, peasant?”
“The thing is, you’ve failed to introduce yourself so far.”
He answered, blowing out smoke with a veil of nonchalance. On the inside, his heart was pounding. Still, the Demon Lord tried his best to maintain a calm, confident air about him. Since he didn’t know the extent of her powers, he figured the best course of action was to resolve this peacefully, if possible.
“What a hick... I can’t expect more from a filthy bandit, I guess.”
The Demon Lord wasn’t too happy about being seen as one of the bandits. Out of all people, why would he work for a man named Own Goal? That was the kind of name that practically guaranteed a knife in your back.
“Miss Holy Maiden... He ain’t one of us, just so you know,” Own Goal said with a grimace.
(Yeah, you tell her! Don’t drag me into your murder fest!)
Demon Lord, Retry! Volume 1 Page 5
