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Chapter 290 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (12) / Who Will Show Up Next? (Part 2)

290 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (12) / Who Will Show Up Next? (Part 2)

「I see, I see…」

While fighting Carmilla, Bifrons nods as if the pieces had finally fallen into place.

「By preparing a “summoner”, the princess can delegate part of her work. You must think you can focus only on fighting the king, right?」

Until a little while ago, the Demon King Lucifa had to take care of both having enough Magical Energy to defeat her grandfather and having enough Magical Energy to summon her subordinates. But by summoning me, I was able to shoulder the burden of the latter of her concerns.

From now on, she can leave the summoning to me, build up her Magical Energy once again, and face her grandfather Lucifer in battle.

So he’s certainly right about that assumption.

Following where Bifrons had left off, Dantalion raised her voice.

「I’ve seen the raid, so I know what your lineup is~. The only troublesome ones are Kimakima and Veparin, as well as that bizarrely strong flame user Bennu, who I don’t know where you guys picked him up from. Ah, and Glassy’s abilities are good too. That Hero girl is also quite intriguing, but she’s not one of your subordinates, right? I mean, she doesn’t seem to be following orders…」

The Boss of the 2nd Floor, “Spirit Commanding General” Kimaris is not only an excellent swordsman himself, but also an adventurer who can control the Avatars of defeated opponents as his own pawns.

His threat level can be seen from the fact that he once used the Avatar of “Frost Hero” Bella. Soulless bodies don’t have the protection of Spirits, but their physical qualities are the same as the real deal.

The Boss of the 6th Floor, “Ruler of the Water Area” Vepar is not only a user of the Water Magic of a high-level Water Spirit, but also possesses a Magic Tool that allows him to “summon a fleet”.

If he gets serious, he can potentially submerge this whole stage in water.

The “Immortal Demon” Bennu contains the “Flame Hero” Fenix within, so it’s natural that he’s strong, but since Fenix is still standing on the field as an adventurer, he cannot be summoned right now. Or should I say, there’s no point in doing so.

The “Invisible Slaughterer” Glasya-Labolas, who can make even his friends invisible, transparent, and the “Undefeated Hero” Ellie, who has a contract with a high-level Wind Spirit, can also be included on this list.

Dantalion is speaking according to her standards. To be more precise, she probably just listed those who are the best members of the Demon King Castle in her opinion.

Even knowing that I can’t help but feel displeased with her remarks, which made light of the comrades who have fought so many battles alongside me.

However, I will not counter that with words.

All we have to do is win this thing.

Besides, she’s terribly mistaken about us.

「Don’t let your guard down, both of you. As far as that Chief of Staff is concerned, just buying time is enough.」said the predecessor Valac so as to warn both Bifrons and Dantalion.

「I understand. If we let our guard down even a little, that butler over there will carry the princess through Spatial Transference, right?」

Bifrons grows bat wings from his back and flies straight up. The dragon heads controlled by Carmilla attack the place where he was standing until a few seconds ago, crushing the earth.

Truth is, the fact that the four members of the former Demon King’s army are paying attention to the people I summoned is more than enough for me.

During that time, our Demon King will regenerate her Magical Energy, and once she’s gathered enough, Agares’ magic will take her to Master in one fell swoop.

And it’s even more important that the former Demon King’s army understands that.

The four of them, who didn’t want to make any more mistakes in front of their master, had no choice but to respect the fact that our Demon King could be teleported right next to him during the battle.

It may only have the effect of reducing the awareness of seasoned fighters such as them by just a tiny bit.

However, if we can hamper the enemy’s abilities without using any magic at all, it’s way better than trying to do so as a Black Sorcerer.

「By nature, a contract with a ring is a very heavy thing. It has the unreasonable condition of allowing its user to summon their target on a whim without allowing them to refuse the call, and it is impossible to establish a link between the summoner and their target without a great deal of trust. Gathering capable contractors is more of a problem than having the Magical Energy required for doing the actual summoning.」

Dantalion refers to the ring while repeating the same things over and over with only slight variations each time.

Sitri also seems to be struggling with the fact that her ability to transform and copy other peoples’ special traits, as well as the cuteness she displayed during the raid, were being completely disregarded.

That’s right, Sitri is undoubtedly someone powerful enough to be able to serve as one of the Big Four. Her ability to transform is not limited to just her appearance, and she knows her target well enough, she can even replicate their unique magic and skills.

She can also take on another form while copying the special traits from someone else entirely at the same time.

This ability to mix and match different forms and sets of special traits allows her to do things such as transforming her right arm to that of a werewolf while at the same time having assumed the form of Lemegeton, and retaining the ability to use a Succubus’ “Charm” while transformed into an insect.

Back in the raid, she fully demonstrated her ability and turned the challengers into her playthings.

However, her enemy this time is Dantalion, who possesses the same traits as her while being superior in Magical Energy capacity, endurance, and experience.

Offensive and defensive capabilities that make it hard for any outsider to tell which of them is higher… No, it’s her ability to transform over and over again.

「In that sense, it’s wonderful that you’ve gathered so many contractors in such a short period of time after making a display of your activities as a Chief of Staff. To think that there are so many people out there that don’t mind being summoned by you…」

That is certainly true.

I think I am blessed with the people I’ve met.

「However, considering the fact that most Contractors are monsters from the “Impregnable Demon King Castle”, it is unthinkable that their numbers will increase explosively after that. People like that Hero girl are an exception, so those won’t keep appearing one after another either.」

That’s right too.

Since we’re basically all colleagues at the same workplace, we have the same aspirations, which is why they accepted the ring’s contract.

Even with those at the “Elementary Level・Beginner’s Dungeon” which cooperated with us in the raid, there seems to be a connection between the dungeons before I started working at Demon King’s Castle, and the people of the former Demon King’s Castle’s perspective, there would be no sense of discomfort even if they cooperated with me.

With the exception of Fenix disguised as Bennu, Lily disguised as Stolas, Nicola disguised as Berith, and Ellie – who appeared as herself -, expecting further appearances of such beings is like wishing for a miracle.

That’s why the assumption that my number of Contractors couldn’t have increased all that much after the raid was not incorrect.

Though that’s all that assumption is. “Not incorrect.”

「– Isn’t that so?」, said Dantalion, turning to the monster that I had just summoned.

「Ahahaha. Then, as the first of the new “exceptions”, how about a flashy greeting?!」

「– You…」

Today, instead of using her bare hands, she has a huge club-like stick in her hand. It’s not exactly a club, but rather a weapon with a fixed thickness used for stick-fighting.

「Yo, father!」

The blow she delivered at that moment was immediately repelled by the predecessor Valac’s sword.

After being repelled, she spins around in the air and then lands gracefully.

Her jet-black hair sways as if it’s dancing, her dragon tail brushes gently against the floor, and her beautiful, strong thighs can be peeked at through the deep slits in her foreign-style clothes.

Unlike her father, her appearance is very close to that of a human. Aside from her tail and horns, and that only some parts of her skin had scales, she is otherwise a beautiful human woman.

At the same time as being the world champion of the True・Mixed Martial Arts Competition taking the ring name of “Dragon Killer・Dragon”, she is also one of the Big Four at the “Western Demon King Castle”

The present “Dragon King” Valac.

She is the biological daughter of the predecessor Valac, and a childhood friend of the present Furcus.

And for the adventurer Lem, she was one of his opponents in this All-Heaven Festival Contest.

Her appearance surprised not only the audience but also the predecessor Valac and Dantalion.

「…How, you…?」

「What’s wrong, father? Are you heartbroken that your daughter signed a contract with a man without your knowledge? Don’t worry, there’s nothing for you to worry about.」

Having taken up the traits of a Wizard, Sitri fired a Wind Blade at Dantalion, who was instantly cut in half by it and collapsed onto the ground into a sticky mess, but she then regenerated as if nothing had happened.

It’s not that she couldn’t avoid it, but she just didn’t.

「…Vally’s daughter? You’re affiliated with the “Western Demon King Castle”, right?」

「That’s right, “Tally”. My boss is Lord Astaroth, so what?」

「…Then you can’t just side with the “Impregnable Demon King Castle”, can you?」

It may be better to have a Dungeon Boss cooperating with us such as with the “Elementary Level・Beginner’s Dungeon”, but it’s still a good thing to be able to lend and borrow talented resources between those dungeons among the Five Great Demon King Castles.

In sports, this would be like being part of two competing teams at the same time.

But Valac herself acts as if nothing happened.

「What are you talking about? I’m just going to places I find interesting. This is the most interesting place in the world today, isn’t it? Mr. Lem…egeton here just so happened to be the one to bring me here, so I simply hopped right in, and here I am. It has nothing to do with which Demon King Castle we belong to.」

For these four, who pledge their absolute loyalty to their master, this kind of action might be very incomprehensible.

To serve under one Demon King, and answer the call of a Chief of Staff of a different Demon King’s army.

And that is not all.

Valac’s appearance showed the possibility of overturning Dantalion’s earlier assumption.

Lemegeton has a new contract with a person who was not summoned at the time of the raid.

And he also has the ability to summon one of the Big Four from another Demon King’s army.

…As a matter of fact, this was only possible because I was able to get acquainted with her as the adventurer Lem.

But from the standpoint of the former Demon King’s army, now they have no way of knowing the limits of Lemegeton’s personal connections.

If even people from the Five Great Demon King Castles can show up in this stage, it wouldn’t be strange for pretty much anyone to appear on our side.

They don’t know what kind of powerful person that lives in this world would be summoned next, or when they would be summoned.

An enormous Magical Energy and a summoning ring have added infinite possibilities to this match.

For the four of them, who don’t want any of us reaching their master’s side, there’s nothing more troublesome than this.

Being the seasoned fighters that they are, they won’t be frightened by the appearance of any enemy.

However, now that they have imposed the condition of blocking the path to their master, the four must be wary of being somehow broken through, rather than winning or losing.

Just summoning the present Valac now is like using the best Black Magic to limit their actions.

「Come on! I haven’t had a good fight in some time! Let’s have some fun!」

Valac speaks cheerfully to Furcus, her childhood friend.

「…」

「Don’t ignore me!」

Valac was very concerned about Furcus, but Furcus was still giving her the cold shoulder.

「…Your appearance made the king open his eyes, the princess has bestowed you a ring, and you seem to have an immeasurable number of cards in your hand… I wonder just who you are, Lemegeton.」

Judging from the conversation so far, it seems that Dantalion has a strong obsession with the “Impregnable Demon King Castle”. Or perhaps should I say that she cherishes the Demon King’s Castle as it was during the time when Master was there?

That’s why she looks at us with scrutinizing eyes, trying to determine whether or not we are worthy of such a castle.

Despite her outwardly bright girlish demeanor with a peculiar feeling about her, there was a glimpse of some passionate feelings being quietly hidden within.

「Didn’t you hear what my king said?」

「Huh?」

「It seems that the Demon King wanted to call me first, but… as a Chief of Staff.」

「…Haha, so that’s what happened. Supporting the Demon King and preparing strategies as well as soldiers in order to win… That’s certainly true. You are very much a Chief of Staff now.」

Adventurers fight like adventurers, and monsters fight like monsters.

Heroes have their roles to fulfill as such, and the same is for a Chief of Staff.

I will fulfill my current role, gather the power of all our companions, and reach Master.

Only then can I say what I want to say to him.

And for that reason, first of all, I have to take the “Great Saint” Panacea out.