~From [Creation] Demon Lord Procell"s point of view~
"Everyone, we will be taking a break soon. Aura and the High Elves, set up a barrier. Mythological Foxes, patrol in turns, please."
We had just reached a place where it was likely we could take a break so I issued out the necessary commands. We still had a lot of ground to cover so it was better to take breaks whenever we could.
Half a day had pa.s.sed since we entered Marcho"s dungeon.
This whole while, our focus was on getting as deep into the dungeon as we could.
More than half of the Avalon-Ritters were destroyed after using [Burst Drive] and [Anti-magic Sh.e.l.l].
The Mithril Golems too had suffer casualties and only three of them were left.
Thanks to the golems acting as shields though, there haven"t been any casualties to my monsters. That said, many were wounded.
Despite having many S rank monsters, my opponents this time were veteran Demon Lords and attacks from such opponents were truly severe.
Those that had quickly recovered from their injuries by consuming a potion were made to return to the frontlines immediately while those that would take some time to recover were made to retreat via the crow monster"s Transfer.
"Master, the barrier"s ready!"
"Thank you, Aura. You guys take a rest now."
Aura and the High Elves had finished setting up a barrier in our surroundings. With that, we were gladly able to take a rest without worry.
Potions for magic power and fatigue had been distributed to my monsters in the hopes it would enable them to return to the frontlines again.
I then closed my eyes and a.n.a.lyzed the current situation.
At a certain point, the enemy a.s.saults had clearly weakened. I had thought that perhaps it was due to Marcho"s monsters receiving the potions and then returning to action.
After all, with Marcho"s monsters being capable of battle once again, the enemies would have less resources to send to intercept us.
However, it was still too much of a change even with that explanation. My next guess then was that this situation was also an effect of [Dragon] Demon Lord Astaroth performing more than what I had expected.
Also…
"It seems [Time] Demon Lord Dantalian has successfully defended Avalon."
I had entrusted my empty dungeon to [Time].
Half a day had pa.s.sed and if he, for some reason, had broken our agreement, Avalon would have been destroyed already… along with my precious monsters.
As I was thinking of such things, the monster that the [Time] Demon Lord lent to me, the Celestial Wolf Felsias or Fel for short, slowly walked to where I was.
She was a young girl that looked exactly like Kuina except for her wolf ears and tail.
"[Creation] Demon Lord, why did you trust my father? After all, no sane Demon Lord would trust another to guard his empty dungeon."
What an interesting question. I wonder what kind of intention she has in asking such a question.
"Why I trusted him? …well, when I personally met him, I got the feeling that he seriously loved Marcho. And because of that, I don"t think he"ll do something that"ll sabotage my efforts to help her."
"You"re naïve, [Creation] Demon Lord. Protecting your dungeon from enemies and not doing anything untoward it are different. Have you never considered that my father might do something outrageous to your empty dungeon?"
I would be lying if I said I hadn"t thought of such.
For example, he could steal the apples borne by the [First Tree] raised by Aura. Or he could push his way in into Rorono"s workshop and then steal the weapons and blueprints stored there.
By doing any of that, he would have been able to s.n.a.t.c.h away the predominance that Avalon had.
However…
"He is not such a petty Demon Lord to do that. Besides, he has given me proof that I could trust him and that is plenty enough of a reason for me to entrust my back to him without worry."
"A proof that you could trust him?"
"Yeah, you. He has entrusted me with you, his precious Fel. Anyone that sees you would know how much love he has for you. So there"s no way he could do anything strange while you are by my side."
Fel was a monster made with Marcho"s [Beast] medal, Dantalian"s [Time], and my [Creation].
Because three A rank medals were used for her, she was stronger than even most S rank monsters.
What her being under my care meant was that, for the moment at least, [Time] and I were allies working toward the same goal.
"Hmm, you"ve realized how my father felt. I commend you for that."
She had turned her head away but upon the mention of how much her father loved her, perhaps due to great happiness, her wolf tail energetically swung back and forth.
It was so cute.
So much so that I unconsciously grabbed her tail. The smooth and soft fur on her tail offered a different kind of sensation from Kuina"s fluffy tail.
It feels great.
"Higyaa"
After her whole body—from the tip of ears to the tip of her tail—trembled, Fel jumped away. She then glared at me with obvious vigilance.
"W-what do you think you"re doing!? You can"t just grab a girl"s tail without warning, you pervert! As I thought, you really are a lolicon Demon Lord! I was a fool to think for a second that you were otherwise!"
Just like that, she vanished immediately.
I didn"t know what she was talking about; grabbing her tail made me a perverted lolicon?
Is it just my imagination or are my subordinate monsters looking at me with cold eyes?
Kuina the Celestial Fox then came into my view. She was humming unconcernedly while eating an apple. All of the golden apples were turned into potions so what she was eating was just a regular apple. Perhaps just something to snack on.
This is perfect, I"ll try it.
"Kuina, come here for a moment."
"Yay ♪! Coming over right away."
Kuina rushed over to my direction with a smile on her face.
Upon arrival, she gave me a tight hug.
When I patted her head, she squinted her eyes. As always, she was a pampered child.
I then firmly grasped Kuina"s fluffy tail.
The soft fur wrapped gently around my hand and when I grasped tighter, I felt the flesh of her tail as it gave a pleasing reaction. My hand felt the warmth of her tail.
Ahh, it feels so good. So soft, oh, so soft.
Caressing her tail gave me so much satisfaction.
"Kuina, do you dislike it when I hold your tail like this?"
I asked to confirm.
Kuina, with a blushing face and intoxicated eyes, leaned onto my body. Her breathing was rough.
"Oto-san, it feels good when you hold my tail like that. More, hold on to it more tightly."
As she requested, I tightened my grip and it resulted to Kuina liking it more. It didn"t seem she could stand so I supported her for the time being.
"Oto-san, like that, it"s amazing, Kuina"s tail, feels so hot"
Hmm, it seems that, as I thought, grabbing the tail itself wasn"t the issue. Maybe it"s because that for Celestial Wolves, grabbing the tail is considered a taboo?
Just in case though, I decided to apologize later on and say that I didn"t mean to give offense.
But then, suddenly, I felt a stare fixed on me. I turned around and saw that Fel was hiding as she watched Kuina and me.
Her face was bright red and her eyes were wide open. Furthermore, she was holding her own tail while it was between her legs.
She was moving her mouth so I decided to use wind magic to hear her voice. I became able to use wind magic when Aura became my Covenant Monster.
"Hawawa, for parent and child to do such perverted things. But Kuina looks like she feels really good. I wonder, if Father… Uuu, my tail feels so itchy."
Yup, as I thought, I should properly apologize later.
I was certainly a good-for-nothing.
Even so, Fel"s tail felt quite nice. If they would permit it, I would someday like to hold Fel"s tail with my right hand while I held Kuina"s tail with my left. I"m sure, that will feel the best.
◇
A short while after, our break ended.
My forces a.s.sembled and then, after the barrier was cancelled, moved out.
Thanks to the break and the potions, my monsters were in tiptop form.
Like so, we pushed forward to meet with Marcho.
Nevertheless, we couldn"t afford to be careless.
Each of the three strongest Demon Lords—[Beast], [Time], and [Dragon]—could crush me easily no matter how ingenious I tried to be or how many traps I prepared. So for Marcho to be cornered like this—even though it was by multiple Demon Lords—carelessness was fatal.
I then glanced at two of the remaining Mithril Golems. The golems carried the thing as it was covered by a white cloth.
Yeah, we are definitely going to need to use that.
As I thought of such, I wondered whether R"lyeh Diva and her troops were alright. It was about time she sent a scheduled report. Just then, I heard her voice from the water within the earrings I wore.
Despite her laughter, she properly conveyed the trouble she was in.
"I give you permission to retreat. Prioritize your and your subordinates" lives. We"re just going to have to advance from hereon under the a.s.sumption that the enemies know of our every action."
Monsters that could control dimensions were able to peek into this world from another dimension. Moreover, depending on the circ.u.mstances, higher ranking monsters of such type could also launch sneak attacks from that other dimension.
Not having any control of the other dimension was truly undesirable, to say the least.
That being said, unlike my regular troops, I didn"t have a trump card for R"lyeh Diva and her subordinates so I couldn"t push them needlessly.
It can"t be, is this girl…
"Don"t push yourself too hard. Come back at all cost."
Either way, I commanded her to make sure she could come back.
Like that, our communication was cut off.
Aside from praying for her sake, there was nothing I could do. And so, I moved forward and did my part.
Besides, I believed that as long as it was R"lyeh Diva, she could overcome whatever trouble that came her way.