Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 34: A Season Spent in Hell (6)

“Your Highness Andromalius! You are going too far with your words!”

Vuffoet uttered. Andromalius’ reaction was apathetic. He hastily pulled his hand away and shook it as if he were flicking off some dirt.

“How is it too far? Rank 71st? No wonder I don’t remember your name. Hey, friend, what did you intend to see by coming to such a rural area like this? Hurry up and fuck off.”

“His Highness Dantalian is the Keuncuska Firm’s guest.”

Vuffoet stood between me and Andromalius.

“Our firm will not sit idly if Your Highness Andromalius insults our guest any further.”

“If you aren’t going to sit idly, then what are you going to do, huh? Are you going to capture me and flog me? The other Demon Lords would be quite pleased if they hear rumors that your firm captures and tortures Demon Lords with no justification. That why I’m calling you arrogant, you bat bastard.”

Andromalius glared at Vuffoet out of the corner of his eyes.

“Even if you’re able to escape our commands through trickery, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re still someone’s slave. That’s right. What did you say your name was? Hm? You probably have a name, right? Do you not feel embarrassed when you go around referring to yourself with that name?”

“…….”

“You poor slave bastards. You’re like a bunch of lowly insects. In the end, you’re the slave of us Demon Lords. Remember that.”

Vuffoet became silent. He was gnashing his teeth greatly in his mind.

It seems that Vuffoet had utilized some method that allowed him to resist against Demon Lords. And he was being ridiculed because it wasn’t a method that could be boasted about. The fact that there was a method to resist against Demon Lords was incredibly interesting, but I pushed that thought to the corner of my head for now. I could infer the rough truth from the talks about being a slave.

“Ptooey.”

Andromalius spat. As he did so, he looked at me one more time before walking back to the pub. His back looked very small.

Vuffoet gave me a bow.

“I showed you something unsightly. I apologize.”

“I do not mind. All you did was state your view.”

I asked out of curiosity.

“There is a couple of things I wish to ask. Are there any laws between Demon Lords?”

“There are none. Although Demon Lords hand down laws, they are only applied in their territories. There is nothing that reigns over Demon Lords.”

“Do you know how to use magic?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect.”

I made my decision.

I took out a magic scroll from my pocket. This was one of the three I had purchased from Lapis previously. I used one in the slave market and still had 2 left. I handed one of the scrolls to Vuffoet. Vuffoet received the magic scroll me in the confusion of the moment.

“This is……?”

“A scroll that has a medium-scale teleportation spell on it. Activate it here.”

“Y-Your Highness.”

Vuffoet’s tone was serious.

“I apologize, but I cannot do that. Summoning magic is prohibited within Niflheim’s stern policies. Furthermore, what Your Highness intends to do right now is…….”

“There are no laws above Demon Lords.”

I looked straight at him. I didn’t feel the need to go out of my way to use my acting skill. I had a strange sense of certainty that if I urged him a little strongly, then he would listen to me.

“You are the one who said this. Did I hear wrong?”

“……No. You are right.”

“I will not accept any more questions. Activate it.”

My eyes reflected perfectly off of Vuffoet’s pupils. A short distance away from us, we could hear Andromalius causing a ruckus. The old cat man kept apologizing over and over again like a broken cassette tape. I wasn’t looking at them, but I could tell. I could feel all of the frustration, anger, and hostility from some of the demons that had gathered in the plaza.

“……Understood.”

Vuffoet rolled open the scroll.

I turned my head and looked at the bar. Andromalius, a Demon Lord that is used to teach the players of <Dungeon Attack> how to play. As to how all hostile mobs in tutorials are like, they all die in an instant to the main character. When asked by the hero why he had wiped out his village, Andromalius responded like this,

⎯⎯⎯Do I need a reason to step on bugs?

It was an immense statement which was the source behind the hero’s hostility towards Demon Lords. It’s because of Andromalius that the hero becomes determined to chase out the very existence of Demon Lords from the surface world.

“Arcessitus.”

Vuffoet muttered. Immediately after, a red magic circle appeared in the center of the plaza. The color of magic circles changed according to the race that activates them. Red most likely represents vampires.

People’s attention became focused on it. They were all confused. Vuffoet was feeling anxious. Only I was observing the magic circle with leisure, but with a slightly beating chest. Soon after, a squadron of golems and a squadron of fairies were summoned in a shower of light.

“It’s summoning magic!”

“The hell, what crazy bastard is using that kind of magic!?”

“That Keuncuska Firm guy used it. I saw him tear a scroll.”

The pedestrians quickly gathered in a corner of the plaza. A variety of races got into their respective positions. They got into formation promptly. The sight of them pulling out their knives made it apparent that they were very used to getting into fights.

‘Wow.’

I was a little moved.

‘Even if you hit them with a surprise attack, it wouldn’t really be effective, huh?’

If you compared these people to the humans at the slave auction, then these people looked like skilled warriors. If my target were them this time, then this would have undoubtedly been more troublesome.

Andromalius was all by himself as he looked this way with a blank look on his face. It seems he had absolutely no idea what was happening. Oh dear, even his mouth was hanging open. A fly is going to fly into his mouth at this rate.

I wonder if it was because this was their second time being summoned. The monsters remained calm despite the sudden summoning. The golems and fairies were waiting with fierce demeanors in case I ordered them to rampage freely again. An inpatient group of 3 or 4 fairies had already started to flap their wings and fly into the sky. What cuties.

“Wind cutter.”

With a smile on my lips, I raised my right hand. I then pointed towards a specific direction with my index finger.

“Fire.”

Andromalius was standing in the spot I was pointing at. The fairies promptly shot a shower of wind blades. Being shot at by 10 fairies was no different from overkill for Andromalius.

The base attack stat of lowest-tier fairies is 3. Adding to this, the average level of my fairies is 3, so their attack stats average approximately around 4. Andromalius has 3 defense. If you take 3 away from 4, then only 1 attack point would remain. Therefore, from this single assault, Andromalius will be hit by roughly 10 points of damage. As Andromalius only has 5 health points, he wouldn’t be able to endure even a single assault.

It would be troubling if he died immediately. I ordered my adorable fairies to aim for his limbs so that his wounds wouldn’t be lethal.

“H-Hiiik!?”

Andromalius was terrified. He quickly turned around and ran; however, there was no way he could run faster than wind. The Wind Cutter struck his thighs and back. He fell over and screamed.

“Guaaaack! Fuuuuuuck!”

It seems Andromalius still had some guts as he crawled into the bar. I casually entered the bar with my fairies. My fairies were flying around me in an arch. The golems were too big to enter the building, so I ordered them to wait outside.

“Uu, uuu. What is this, huh? What are you!?”

Andromalius had crawled to a corner of the bar and was trembling. He must have lost a lot of blood as he crawled since there was a lot of blood all over the floor. He swore as he saw me approach him.

“Fuck! You bastard, what are you!?”

“I fail to understand the reason behind your question.”

I felt a little delighted, so I answered him in a pleasant tone.

“For starters, I wish to tell you that that is an incredibly foolish question. If you ask me what I am, then I can only tell you that I am a Demon Lord in response.”

“Guuh! Why is a damn Demon Lord trying to kill me!?”

“That is also a foolish question. Do I need a reason to step on a bug? Mm, you should fix that crude manner of speech before we converse any further. Well, don’t worry. I will automatically fix your speech mannerism.”

I snapped my fingers.

“W-What are⎯⎯⎯Guuuaaaaaaack!”

My fairies aimed their Wind Cutters directly at the other party’s forearm. Blood splattered. Andromalius grabbed his injured arm with his other hand and rolled on the floor. Tears soon filled his face.

“Now then, stop screaming and listen to me.”

“Guuh, guuuuu…….”

“I’ve been pretty tired lately. I decided to go on a vacation to the demon world and spend my time in a city in order to ease my body and mind. So I was having a pleasant time roaming around the city, but, out of nowhere, some vagrant appeared and tried to pick a fight with me. Now, allow me to ask you a question, how would you feel if this happened to you as well?”

“I’m sorry, guh! I-I’m sorry…….”

It appears that he finally understood what sort of situation he was in as he began to apologize. The fact that he only started to apologize after his arms and legs became a mess was beyond late. I decided to give him the exact same line he gave to the old cat man.

“Don’t apologize with only your words, show your sincerity as well. Your sincerity.”

“I-I’ll give you money! Kuh!”

With trembling hands, Andromalius took out a pouch and tried to place it by my feet. I stepped on the back of his hand ruthlessly. The money pouch fell from his hand.

“Ghuuuu!”

“Are you treating me like some thug right now? How disappointing. If this is all the sincerity you can show me, then I cannot guarantee your life.”

“I’ll, I’ll give you whatever you want! Please, at least spare my life……my life…….”

He was now muttering with his forehead pressed against the ground. It seems the pain kept making him salivate, as his enunciation was being impeded by his saliva.

This was strange. When I did this exact same thing to Jack, I felt depressed and guilty, but I didn’t feel anything like that right now. If anything, I felt refreshed. Well, Jack may have been a young pushover, but in the end, he was never a piece of trash. This guy was a piece of trash.

“There is one thing I wish to know from you.”

“Anything, ask me anything…….”

“If you answer me honestly, then I will ensure your safety. How about it? Does this not make you want to answer me?”

Andromalius nodded his head fervently. Rather than nod his head, it would be more appropriate to say that he had flailed. This gesture was enough to satisfy me.

“Andromalius, where is your Demon Lord castle?”

“Frank, guu……it’s in the Frankish Empire. Lorraine providence……Raelleria mountainside.”

“Excellent.”

I grinned in satisfaction.

“What are the names of the villages near your castle?”

“Pometra and Kampanyl……the rest have no names…….”

Very good. This was what I wanted.

There was a new thing I had been deliberating about recently. It was the issue regarding how I was going to deal with the hero, the main character of <Dungeon Attack> who was going to go around wiping out Demon Lords 10 years from now. If we go according to the scenario, then I’m going to be subjugated after Andromalius. In order to prevent that future, I need to have some sort of advanced preparation against the hero.

‘The issue is that I don’t know where the hero lives.’

In the game, only the hero’s home country was displayed. Any additional information like what province and village he was born in were not disclosed. Honestly, I had given up on trying to hold the hero back directly, but once I saw Andromalius, I came up with a good idea.

According to the tutorial, the hero’s village was near Andromalius’ Demon Lord castle. If this is the case, then wouldn’t I be able to find the hero’s village if I focus my search around the villages near Andromalius’ Demon Lord castle?

‘If I take care of the hero who should be nothing more than a kid right now……my chances of survival in this world will increase immensely.’

I’ll cut the root before the enemy can genuinely start growing. Although this seemed a bit cheap, there was no reason for me to back down simply because it’s a little cheap. To a Demon Lord like me, a hero is a terrifying existence.

“Ghuaaaack!”

I put my strength in my right foot that was stepping on Andromalius’ hand. Another scream erupted. As I thought, he had a pleasant-sounding scream. I could feel my stress being relieved on the spot. It was to the point that I was worried that, at this rate, I might become a pervert who relieves his stress by tormenting others.

***

TL note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I still got another week of exams left. Really hard to think of something new when it comes to these relatively short chapters, so I’ll just see you guys in the next release. May I still be alive by then.