3 bar menu

Chapter 282 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (4) / Standing Before Everyone I Admire

282 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (4) / Standing Before Everyone I Admire

『A shocking guest has appeared, but the participants of this side have yet to come out! 』

The voice of the live broadcaster could be clearly heard.

That’s right. The Monsters… the participants who could be said to be the elite among the former Demon King’s Army have yet to appear.

『Even after passing his armor and spear onto his daughter, he still won’t give up the position of the strongest ogre… The Reaper Knight, the participant Furcus!!』

In the first place, “Furcus” is a Dungeon name, not a real name.

The swordmaster I know as Furcus is the second generation.

And the brown-skinned, white-haired giant that appeared before us now is the first-generation Furcus.

His huge body, which you have to raise your head in order to look at, has a mysteriously intimidating and sacred feel to it, like you’re looking at an enormous tree with its huge roots digging deep into the earth.

As explained by the commentator, he gave his daughter the equipment he used to use back when he used to be a Floor Boss, so it’s quite likely that the armor and spear he’s wearing now isn’t the one from those days.

The former Floor Boss of the Impregnable Demon King’s Castle’s 8th Floor – Martial Arts Area.

A demon who has mastered martial arts.

『Very much like The Reaper Knight who stands next to him, he’s the strongest Draconian there is… The Dragon King, the participant Valac!!!』

He was also the first generation.

His daughter is the second-generation Valac, who fought in the qualifying round of the All-Heaven Festival Contest.

Although his daughter looked more like a human woman, the first-generation Valac was a true draconian through and through. His body was covered in scales and his head looked like that of an actual dragon.

Both of the fathers were superiors and subordinates at work, so perhaps the daughters were on good terms with each other as well.

In fact, I heard that they’re actually childhood friends. Valac – that is, the second-generation one – calls the Furcus I know “Fuu”, so they must be rather close to each other. Though it seems that they’ve recently had a fight for some reason.

The fathers also seem to trust each other. It might be only natural, since they both left the Impregnable Demon King’s Castle in the same way.

The former lieutenant Monster of the Impregnable Demon King’s Castle’s 8th Floor – Martial Arts Area.

A draconian who has mastered martial arts.

『A perfect vampire with no weaknesses, completely immortal! …The True Vampire, the participant Bifrons!!!』

A middle-aged man with long silvery-white hair and red eyes. He has an amazingly beautiful face. He’s dressed like an aristocrat, and seems to have a penchant for fixing his long hair behind his ears in an exaggerated manner.

Though his way of speaking is rather theatrical, he is without a doubt the strongest vampire in the world.

Anyone who takes enough damage for it to mean the equivalent of death would be forced to leave the stage. That’s how an Avatar battle works.

But he has never been forced to leave a match, no matter how much damage he would take.

Therefore, he was completely immortal.

Since it was impossible to force him to leave in normal ways, the only way to clear the Floor he’s in is to render him incapable of fighting.

It might be a crude idea, but for example, you can lock him in ice so that he can’t move.

Of course, he wouldn’t fall for a plan as simple as that…

He seems to be a very proud man and apparently left the Demon King’s Castle with no intention of working under anyone other than his master.

The former Floor Boss of the Impregnable Demon King’s Castle’s 3rd Floor – Vampire Realm, as well as a former member of the Demon King Army’s Big Four.

An immortal vampire.

『A member of the strongest species, which can disguise herself as anyone and does not have a specific form of her own! …The Formless All-Faced, the participant Dantalion!!!』

Back when I first encountered monsters of that race in the Original Dungeon, I thought that they would be troublesome.

They have a spherical nucleus surrounded by a mucus-like body.

Physical attacks have little effect on them, and cannot be defeated unless their core is crushed.

What’s more, depending on the species, there are many of them whose mucus-like body itself is harmful to humans.

For example, some of them can digest any creature they manage to cover with their bodies.

Slimes are just that scary.

But it doesn’t stop there for this Slime in particular.

Her light blue, slimy, liquid body resembles that of a woman.

Not only that, but she can also use the Magic of Mimicry.

It’s similar to the special ability that The Demon of Love Sitri displayed during the raid.

However, unlike Sitri, who was originally not very good at fighting, Dantalion was very proficient at it… and on top of that, she has a huge amount of Magical Energy.

In the past, a special Slime like her was simply called a Humanoid, but according to what Sitri told me once, it seems that she has recently started to be referred to as a Slime Girl.

The former Floor Boss of the Impregnable Demon King’s Castle’s 6th Floor – Aquatic Monsters’ Realm, as well as a former member of the Demon King Army’s Big Four.

A shapeless Slime Girl.

These were the four people Master had summoned this time around.

They would probably match the composition of an adventurer party of five people.

For what reason did Master choose to form a group of five people including himself?

『…』

Though he feels like he has to say something, his body is shaking and his words are failing him. The commentator’s mouth can only manage to produce a gasp-like sound due to such feelings.

Ah, it’s quiet.

Those in the audience, who had been so noisy up until recently, are now unable to raise their voices.

I’m sure there are a lot of people who don’t know that this person is the strongest, and how much of an absolute existence this person is for Adventurers and Monsters alike.

But their gut will surely understand…

We are in the presence of the king.

Doing any sort of unacceptable behavior is nothing short of disrespectful.

The only sounds in the area are the footsteps that echo across the large hall.

An old man. He’s an old man, as he should be.

His crimson hair is long, his crimson eyes are calm, and his body exudes a vigor so strong that it makes you want to kneel down as soon as you see him.

A person who could bring the audience to his knees just by walking, but there was no reflection in his eyes.

…You’re not even looking at me, are you?

That is really something very typical of him.

Before he accepted my apprenticeship, I couldn’t even approach his house. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he actually had used Black Magic to prevent me from reaching his house.

But now I understand.

You’re a nice old man who kindly watches over someone, aren’t you?

I’ll make you see me, Master.

『From now on, I will be the one doing the commentary. I am Fellow, the organizer of this event.』

The voice of the demon Fellow, father of the current Demon King, resounded in the hall.

Taking this opportunity, the audience suddenly came to their senses, and sound soon returned to the world.

『There is no need for an explanation, but he is the strongest being alive… The Demon King Lucifer』

The reason why Fellow didn’t use the word “participant” is probably because of his feelings for him as his father.

In fact, I feel that the image of a competitive athlete doesn’t suit that person at all.

At the appearance of the master, the former members of the Demon King’s Castle bowed in reverence.

「…Dantalion.」

One word. Master only calls his subordinate’s name.

「Right away.」

Dantalion seemed to have sensed the intent from his voice, and wasted no time creating something with her Earth Magic.

It was an extravagantly decorated throne.

「…There’s no need for it to be so fancy.」

In response to Master’s voice, Dantalion shook her head.

「No, no, my king. It’s important that it looks this way. I can’t allow myself to trivialize your authority. If the strongest Demon King was sitting in a cheap-looking chair, it would look as miserable as if the king of a country were to be eating lunch at some cheap diner.」

「Nonsense.」

「Oh, it really is silly, isn’t it? I understand… But, please forgive me, forgive this stupid and cute loyal servant Dantalion, for caring about such silly things…」

Master eventually gave up and sat down on the throne without saying anything else.

「Furcus, Valac, Bifrons, Dantalion.」

「Yes!」

「Wake me up once you’re done.」

Saying that, Master laid his elbow on the armrest, rested his head on his hand, and then… closed his eyes.

「Let us clean up everything nice and quietly so as not to disturb our king’s sleep.」

The first-generation Furcus said that, and the first-generation Valac nodded.

「…Well, that’s an order he thought we would be able to fulfill, isn’t it? And we will do it, of course.」said Bifrons as he placed his hand on his chest and smiled.

「Huh, the strongest in the world truly is something else.」said Dantalion jokingly.

『…Apparently, the strongest Demon King doesn’t even see any enemies here.』

Fellow seems to be perplexed as well.

「Hahahaha! …Hey, Lord Lucifer! Don’t you think that’s a bit rude?」

After laughing out loud, the Unyielding Hero Altreed quickly did away with his smile and glared at Master.

At that very moment, the four of Master’s subordinates seethed with anger.

For the Demon King’s subordinates, the king’s orders are absolute.

That much loyalty was earned by my Master.

Therefore, I guess even I can’t forgive Altreed for speaking like that about the king’s words.

「Enough.」

With a single word from Master, the four’s murderous intent dissipated instantly.

The four of them are really only participating here today because Master had summoned them.

Their loyalty to Master’s overwhelming charisma alone was what had brought them to this place.

「And here I was thinking I would get a chance to fight with you.」

「Nonsense.」

「What on earth?」

Master didn’t answer, and instead quietly said this with his eyes closed:

「If there is someone among you who actually manages to get this far, then I will deal with them.」

…Somehow, it was similar to the line I once said to Fenix.

Altreed smiled bitterly at those words.

「I see, I understand. Even though you’re already here, you’ve established yourself as the final boss of this Dungeon, right? I can’t fight you unless I defeat everyone else.」

Altreed seemed to have interpreted it as favorably as possible.

I’m not saying that it’s not like that, in fact, that’s exactly how it is.

We’re just not interesting enough at the moment.

That’s probably the only reason why Master isn’t participating in this battle.

There is no doubt that it is rude to all of us here, but that’s just how Master is.

I’m used to Master’s personality, so instead of becoming angry, I was able to understand where he was coming from, but…

The same couldn’t be said for the rest of us gathered here.

The heroes are burning with fighting spirit, and I heard our king mutter something similar to “that damned old man…”

But at the same time, I could understand them. This kind of reaction is something you see quite a lot of in the Adventurer business.

No matter how hard you try, there will always be people who show no interest in you, people who don’t even look at you, people who just don’t care about who you are.

To such people, going out to clear Dungeons is just something they do for fun, and even if you ask them to look at you, it won’t be very effective.

If you want to capture an indifferent person’s attention, you have no choice but to generate enough charm to lure them in.

For example, having a good-looking party member would make things easier. People that are cool, or cute, or beautiful do quite a lot towards getting people’s attention.

When it comes to Adventurers, one way to attract interest is to make videos of things other than Dungeon Clear videos. If people don’t know who you are, they won’t look at you with sincere interest.

Right now, Master doesn’t even see us, let alone recognize us as enemies worth fighting.

He’s simply not interested.

Therefore, what we should do is neither be amazed nor angry at Master’s actions.

All we have to do is show him how we fight in order to get him off of that chair.

Knowing that, everyone finally calmed down quickly without making a fuss.

If he really had thought that there was no possibility of us fighting him, he wouldn’t have even come to this place.

So there is a possibility.

And all we have to do is take it.

The Hero who showed me my dreams, the White Sorcerer who was such great moral support to me, and the Demon King who guided me…

Everyone I admire.

Today, I have to defeat them all..

『Well then, the Final Stage of the All-Heaven Festival Contest “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” will now commence.』