I was alone when I exited the city head"s house and looked up in the sky. The moon made the night beautiful.
The city was different tonight than what it usually was.
The peace-keeping golems that were usually scattered all over the city were nowhere to be found.
It wasn"t just the golems within the city, even the golems digging 24 hours a day were relieved of their duties. All of them were now a.s.signed to defensive duties in the dungeon.
Even though it was currently the night, the adventurers within the city were still strolling about.
Bars, brothels and other such entertainment facilities were now in abundance within Avalon. It was not uncommon for the adventurers—still having enough strength after a hard day"s work—to visit these facilities one after another all night long.
Interestingly enough, upon the building of such facilities, there was an increase to my DP income which seemed as though the humans became more emotional. If it really was so, I wanted us to someday build some of these facilities and thus be able to directly influence the emotions of the human beings ourselves.
"Tomorrow"s finally the day, huh."
The grace period given for the war was over right away.
Thankfully, before it ended, we were able to complete the third floor of the dungeon proper.
Regarding the [Creation] original medal I would be able to make in the midst of war, I had decided which monster I wanted to create with it. However, if I were to make it be able to grow, I wouldn"t have enough time to level up it up. On the other hand, if the monster had a static level, it would have a lower maximum level and also lower stats over-all.
Setting a hard-to-obtain S rank monster to have a static level would be wasteful.
As a solution to that dilemma, I had decided to just be prepared to synthesize at any moment. I would wait until the end of the war to create a monster that was able to level up unless we were driven into a corner, in which case the monster would have to be a static-leveled S rank monster.
"I have to win"
I uttered to no one but myself.
My chances of winning were good but my calculations were based only on the information I was able to gather; I couldn"t help but feel there was some kind of trick I failed see.
"So you also make a face like that, huh, Procell."
With green hair swaying in the wind, the determined young lady appeared.
She was my friend and rival, the [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas.
She was in my city because she was willing to lend me aid. To prepare for the war tomorrow, I asked her to stay the night in the inn. She probably was feeling as I did and went out to calm herself too.
"Yeah, well, given the circ.u.mstances, anybody would be worried. There"s so much at stake for me."
There was no use bluffing so I told her what I truly felt.
Whenever I thought of losing Kuina and everybody else, I shook in fear.
As their Demon Lord, I couldn"t allow myself to show such weakness in front of my subordinate monsters but I felt that with Stolas, I could reveal a little of that weakness.
"I"m a little relieved, actually."
"Relieved?"
"Yes, because I thought even Procell has a face like that. You"re just like me; just like any other Demon Lord."
I found her words amusing so I smiled wryly at her.
"Procell, there is no need to worry because I shall be your insurance. I"ll be your guarantee that your crystal will not be broken, no matter what. So be at ease and rampage on the enemies" dungeons."
"That"s rea.s.suring but if at all possible, I would like to win without ever borrowing Stolas"s power."
It was arranged that she would lie in wait within my crystal room and only come into action after our plan on the third room had failed. This arrangement was born out of my obstinacy and my faith on my monsters" strength.
"I like it when you say things like that. You really are my rival."
"I"m just doing my best not to disappoint."
"So, care to escort me there?"
"Yes, of course."
She had to be in the crystal room beforehand. I guided her there and with my privilege as the dungeon"s Demon Lord, left the room.
I had a lot of things that needed to be done.
◇
The second room of the underground floor normally was the graveyard area that normally served as the residence of the Undead corps and the location of the bread and ordnance factories.
At the moment, all my monsters were lined up there.
First of all, there was the aforementioned Undead corps led by Wight. The Undead corps was composed of the Skeletons and the monsters reanimated by Wight when we fought against [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas and when he hunted in the [Crimson Cavern].
They were a large force exceeding a count of 100.
Considering their abilities as monsters, the Skeletons were awfully weak. However, by equipping the MK416, the a.s.sault rifles I made using [Creation], their offensive capabilities were improved.
Next was the Golem corps which were composed of the golems made by Rorono and the Dwarf Smiths.
At a count of 80, they were second only to the Undead corps in terms of quant.i.ty.
Worthy of mention among them were the 12 Mithril Golems.
Each of them possessed strength that would rival a B rank monster. On top of that, they were equipped nicely for they wielded the Browling D2 Caliber .50, a beast capable of spewing out multiple rounds within a second, rounds usually used by anti-tank rifles. For a human, it was totally inconceivable to wield the heavy machinegun as though it was but an a.s.sault rifle and yet the Mithril Golems effortlessly did.
The other golems were given equipment that made best use of their overwhelming power. It was a slow but powerful corps.
And then, there was the aerial bombing corps that restlessly continued training ever since the founding of the city. This corps was led by the B rank Griffon. In addition to it, the corps was composed of mixed monsters like the D rank Hippogriff.
Their role was to drop down bombs—a.s.sembled by the Skeletons from the chemicals produced using my [Creation]—from up in the sky.
Unless our enemies had some kind of countermeasure against aerial a.s.saults prepared, this war could very well be a one-sided onslaught.
This corps was originally formed under the a.s.sumption that they would be used against human cities but they should still shine in this war.
Finally, there was the mixed units corps. It was an ensemble of B and C rank monsters born to have static levels. They were created using the imitation medals I ma.s.s produced using the excess points from my exhibition war with Stolas. B rank monsters were what most ordinary Demon Lords synthesize and they were by no means weak.
These monsters were my main force. After them were the elite corps:
The two Mythological Foxes excelling in stealth, mobility, and even direct confrontations. They possessed the ability to control fire and to use [Transform].
The four Dwarf Smiths that look up to Rorono, the Elder Dwarf. They excelled at supporting the army through their earth magic as well as through their work at the workshop.
The four High Elves who admired Ancient Elf as their elder sister. They had the ability to manipulate the wind as well as the ability to easily search for enemies. In conjunction with that, they could perform long-distance, high-impact shots using their anti-materiel rifles.
And, of course, the ones that I trust in most: my girls, Kuina, Rorono, and Ancient Elf.
An overwhelming army, such were my trusted monsters.
I now faced all of them as I stood atop a stage prepared beforehand.
"My beloved monsters, the time for war has finally come!"
Tension engulfed the area.
"This is unlike the war we had before, this is a true [War]. Should anyone fall, they won"t come back this time. And if we lose the war, we lose everything."
In the war against Stolas, all of our fallen monsters were brought back by the [Time] Demon Lord"s ability. This time however, there was no fail-safe. If my crystal was broken, everyone would vanish. And even if I win, everyone that perished would never come back.
"I don"t want to lose any single one of you so don"t die. I have prepared a strategy so that that goal may be fulfilled. Fully use your powers and grab victory, those are my orders!"
I looked at each one of them and saw not dread but the determination in their eyes.
Telling them not to die probably disqualified me as a Demon Lord. Originally, a Demon Lord used monsters to lure humans in or work them hard for whatever purpose he sees fit, not to empathize with them. But such notions didn"t sit well with me. The girls who I thought of as my daughters were of course important to me. But it wasn"t just them, Wight whom I trusted and relied on as well as the Mythological Foxes, Dwarf Smiths, and High Elves whom I talked and laughed with many times were important to me too.
I was thankful to the bread-making Skeletons. While the Griffon made me feel safe each time I rode on its back.
Everyone gathered here was an important companion of mine.
"I will now relay to each of you our strategy to survive and win this war. You will be divided into three main groups. The first group will be composed of Kuina, Rorono, two of the High Elves, and the highly mobile monsters from the mixed corps. Kuina will head this group. The group"s goal will be to destroy the crystal of the [Viscosity] Demon Lord. You will immediately launch an a.s.sault against his dungeon right from the start of the war. Once you have broken his crystal, immediately return to our dungeon and aid in its defense."
This group was very likely to succeed. Kuina and Rorono were both S rank monsters; the High Elves were excellent scouts; and the B and C rank monsters were comparable to the elites of the enemies" forces.
"Understood, Oto-san. We"ll crush the small fries and return right away!"
"Yes, please do. Once you break his crystal, we will have one less enemy so how quickly you do it will be a very important factor in this war."
After the time limit for this war had expired, the victor would be decided by the number of remaining crystals.
Our enemies could win by just focusing on defense. This leaves us no other choice but to be on the offensive. And if we were doing so, we were going to do it with our strongest and fastest units.
This would also serve as part of our defense. [Viscosity] seemed weak-kneed to me so if we attacked his dungeon, he might recall the troops he sent to attack and repurpose them for his own defense. Not to mention, once the first group had broken his crystal, all of his monsters would vanish.
"As for the second group, I will lead it. Our goal will be breaking the [Evil] Demon Lord"s crystal. Joining me will be Ancient Elf, the Mythological Foxes, two of the Dwarf smiths and half of the Griffon corps. Also, I will be putting the slow moving monsters of the mixed corps into my [Storage]."
Ancient Elf would provide us with firepower and reconnaissance while the Mythological Foxes would be her back up. I was also going to take along some of the Griffon corps that could bombard the enemies from the sky while the slow-moving monsters were to be transported via my [Storage] to counter-act against their slowness.
Unless our enemies could make A rank medals, I reckoned our chances of victory were pretty high.
"Ancient Elf, you winning against the enemy"s elites is the key to our operation. I will be relying on you."
"Leave it to me, my master. I won"t lose to anyone."
She replied so, matter-of-factly.
It was no exaggeration either for she was a highly mobile fortress: flying swiftly in the air and shooting high-impact rounds from great distances. Even Kuina would have a hard fight against her.
"I believe you. Show me your true might, Ancient Elf."
I said so and smiled at her. I had decided that if she managed to defeat the enemy"s elites and break his crystal, I was going to name her.
"Finally, for the third group, I think you might have already guessed but your role will be to defend the city. Wight, I will leave you in charge of everything. You will command all of the remaining monsters and defend Avalon. You will be fiercely attacked by three Demon Lords but their aces shouldn"t be among those troops. I can only leave this task on you, my staff officer. Can you do it?"
Upon hearing my question, Wight respectfully nodded.
"My lord, with the Undead corps I"m proud of; the resilient golem corps; the two Dwarf smiths that would direct the golems as though the golems were their own limbs; the two High Elves that would serve as our eyes and also give us countermeasures against air units; and the rest of the griffon corps; if we had this much, defending against third rate Demon Lords will be easy. We will show you that we can repel their forces without even using the trump card you"ve set up on the last room."
Geez, he"s really reliable, I thought.
As he said, the forces I had prepared were more than enough but to be able to make full strategic use of it was up to the commander"s ability which Wight certainly had.
I did not tell my monsters about the Stolas"s partic.i.p.ation; I did not want them to feel too secure. All except for Wight, that is. The moment his group could no longer win with their strength alone and defeat was imminent, all of them were to retreat to the third room, make use of the contraption prepared there, and seek for Stolas"s help.
This bitter decision was for Wight to make. His and his alone.
"To everyone that will stay here, upon my absence, Wight will have full authority. Treat his orders as though it was mine."
To that, my monsters nodded.
Wight shook with delight as he spoke.
"My lord, we will defend Avalon with our own strength even at the cost of our lives!"
What he said made me happy but he got something wrong.
"Wight, I am happy with your resolve but you are mistaken about something. I don"t want to lose any single one of you. Win and live, that is my command!"
A win without any sacrifice.
"Yes, as my lord wills!"
With that, our strategy meeting was over so there was only one thing left for me to say:
"Let"s start the [War]. Our goal is to attain complete victory; for everyone to return and laugh again. Now, to your positions!"
My beloved monsters hurriedly began to mobilize.
Now, let"s go win this war.
This marks the end of the second volume. The light novel version of this volume will come out on 15th April. This will feature new chapters that I won’t translate (not right away, anyway) so please support the Tsukiyo Rui-sensei and purchase a copy once it comes out. I will post link once it’s out.![Ancient Elf.jpg]()