Level 1 Strongest Sage ~

Book 8: Chapter 31

It appeared suddenly one day.

A Bakemon with the figure of a human, that is.

* * *

I came to the Human Realm in order to do the preliminary work in preparation for the day I would be crowned as the Demon King. 

On that day, I was in the midst of negotiating with the head of the ogre tribe, the monster that I wanted to appoint as one of the upper echelons of the demon kings army.

So, we agree that Ill recruit ten ogres from this tribe to become part of the demon kings armys military strength, am I right?

Yes. We couldnt offer too many, however, please rest assured that every single one of them possessed a tenacious body. They will definitely become Sitri-samas strength.

Ten is more than enough. I could see just how trained their bodies are based on the one that you showed me earlier. They will surely perform magnificently for the sake of Evil God-sama.

Such kind words.

By the way, Chief.

Yes. What might it be?

Youare strong. So how about this, do you want to become one of the top brass of the Demon Kings Army?

Hahaha. Sitri-sama, you jest. What can a senile fool such I can possibly do. Please pardon me with the stronger youngsters of our tribe.

Hmpf. Are you saying Im not worthy of having you serve me, is it

N-no! Such a thing

I understand. I will raise a Demon Kings Army that will be worthy of your leadership! Time is the thing that I dont have any shortage of, after all.

At this time, I thought that I still had a century, at the very least, before ascending as the Demon King. 

In the event that I manage to raise the strongest Demon Kings Army of all time, I will definitely prepare a seat for you among the upper echelons of this army. When the time comes, please do not refuse my invitation, alright?

I stared at him right in the eye.

The tribal chief seemed to discern my determination, so he believed in me.

This humble one understands. You have already said your piece, and as such, please allow this one to occupy the lowest seat of the Demon Kings Armys leadership. However, the condition is that you must raise the strongest Demon Kings Army of all time am I right?

!! I-I understand!!

I was on cloud nine at this time.

Thats because I finally fulfilled my goal. This legendary, long-lived Ogre who survived after fighting and repelling three generations of heroes in the past finally agreed to become a leader of the Demon Kings Army.

Well then first, allow me to introduce the ten youngsters who will be joining Sitri-samas subordinates.

Please do.

I left the ogre chiefs den with him, when

That thing stood before us.

Oh! Saw a powerful looking ogre over here!! Hes looks awesome, and I guess hell be perfect as the 18th floor boss, right?

It was something that had the appearance of a human.

A colossal lump of mana. 

It was moving like a human, and was cheerfully yammering on like a child who just discovered a toy.

W-what are you? Who are you?

Sitri-sama, please step back. This guy is strong.

The ogre chief stepped before me as if to protect me.

The aura that he emitted was totally different from the one he was wrapped in during our discussion.

The legendary ogre was seriously guarding against it.

Then, that thing before us must be anything but ordinary.

You, how did you come here? There should be ogres on the lookout.

I already annihilated all of them.

Wha!?

I see.

It was unbelievable. 

We didnt even feel the faintest trace of a battle.

However, I tried searching for mana in our surroundings, but not a single ogre was moving now.

Then by all, he was not only referring to the ogre guards, but the one hundred plus ogres living in this village.

The chief apparently realized this, too.

Sitri-sama, please run.Eh

The chief muttered under his breath without tearing his gaze of that thing.

This thing massacred my entire tribe without us none the wiser. We didnt feel any trace of the battle. You do understand what this means, do you?

The chiefs tone was grave.

Even I probably wont win against that. However, if its buying time for Sitri-samas escape, I could still give it my all!

The chief rushed towards the humanoid thing while uttering those words.

A huge cater formed on the ground when he kicked it to gain momentum. I could see that he flew at an unbelievable speed towards that thing.

And yet

Ugh, so fast! If I knew theres a guy this strong I would have brought a weapon at least.

That thing calmly stopped the chiefs assault using a black, narrowish, long piece of wood.

Sitri-sama! Go at once!!

I finally returned to my senses when I heard chiefs words.

I tried to hastily withdraw to the Demon Realm, when

N-no waythe teleportation portal is Sitri-sama, hurry!!The chief was furiously punching the humanoid lump of mana, but I could sense his panic from his voice.

However, I couldnt return to the Demon Realm.

T-the teleportation portal wont open!

what!?

The teleportation portal that led to the Demon Realm wouldnt open no matter how many times I attempted to.

Thats a no-no. Theres no way well let you escape.

!? (Ogre Chief and Sitri)

Another Bakemono appeared.

It was a different body from the humanoid Bakemono currently fighting against the chief.

I didnt want to believe it, but it was probably the thing that prevented me from teleporting.

[email protected]$#^!!!!Whoaa!?

The chief enlarged his right arm and punched the humanoid thing and sent him flying away, and at that same instant, he grabbed my body and rushed away from that place.

The humanoid in front of me didnt seem to be in the mood for combat, and it was so startled by the ogres actions that it slowed down, allowing us to escape from there somehow.

The ogre chieftain sprinted through the woods while still carrying me.

Sitri-sama, hurry and fly away from here! Those guys probably interfered with the teleportation portal because of their unbelievably dense mana. As long as we shake them off, you can definitely return to the Magic Realm.

I-I understand.

The chief threw me in the air.

Chief, come with me to the Demon Realm!

I will remain here and hold them back. Even if its just a little bit of time !? Sitri-sama!!! Behind you!!

Eh

I turned around when I heard the chiefs voice, and there

Flying isnt allowed, too.

The demon stood there.

No, I was the demon here, though.

But, the title of demon fits that thing perfectly well.

It chopped off my wings with his hand.

Sitri-sama!!!

I spiraled towards the ground, and the chief caught me.

That was close. Theres no teleportation marking on you, so if you escape to the Demon Realm, we wont be able to follow, you know? Thatll be too bad, we discovered high quality goods after all.

Sorry. I didnt anticipate that move.

So ogres can also make their hands big, huh.

The Bakemono increased to three.

The one who fought against the chief, the one who disrupted my teleportation, and the one who chopped off my wings right in front of my eyes.

Nah, its not just hands, they can make their entire bodies huge.

Yep, yep. There are also some who can turn into giants, it seems.

The embodiment of hopelessness emerged from the depths of the forest.

Two more Bakemono had followed us.

I could probably take two of them down if I released the power of the demon king.

Butfive would be impossible.

Wait a sec, why is there a difference in the things we know, huh?

Who knows? Were created for battle, so maybe that part isnt taken seriously?

Hmmm so were not perfect copies of each other, huh.

Individual personalities might emerge to cope up with the different situations thats what the Original said.

Heh~, so thats how it is. (all the rest of Halt clones)

The five Bakemon started talking among themselves while surrounding the chief and me.

I felt like their attention had drifted away from us.

In that case, if we managed to take down one of them, we could escape that was that I thought, but

Its too early.

The chieftain stopped me when he noticed that I was about to release my power.

Indeed.

I was too hasty.

These humanoids didnt know the extent of my power yet.

Our chance for escape would surely come.

This was a misjudgement on our part.

Actually, this timing had been our one true chance.

These twos impossible to tame with just us guys, right?

Yep, theyre way too strong.

Yeah, especially that sister over there.

Demonic Class?

Nah, isnt she a majin?

Anyway, lets just call the Original, alright.

Oka~y! (the rest of Halts clones)T/N: Just a tiny note reminding you that warlock = majin ? thanks guys!