Volume 3 Chapter 17 (1/2)

By the Creator's will, we four Demon Lords gathered in one place and was seated on large, round table.

Shortly afterwards, the Creator himself showed up. This was actually my first time to see what the Creator looked like.

”Now, before we engage in our lovely talk, I will give you all some free time. I'll just stay quiet and watch you Children of the Planet.”

The Creator informed us so. But even then, there was no way we could speak thoughtlessly while he watched us on. As I thought that silence grabbed hold of my surroundings…

”Zagan, you're horrible! You said this'll be an easy win and the most reliable way to fulfill our quota so I cooperated! But you liar; I didn't hear anything about this! Return them, return my monsters!”

[Viscosity] Demon Lord Ronove fired the first shot.

He looked tattered and was missing an arm. Even though the wound had closed with his capacity as a Demon Lord to recuperate, it was not enough to regrow his arm. A monster with a high-ranking healing ability might be able to do so but with his crystal broken, all of his monsters were gone as well.

”Shut up! If you were just a little more helpful, I would have won! But because you were defeated so early, I was attacked by that fox monster and that dwarf in strange armor! If only that didn't happen, I would have been able to catch up to Byakko and supported him. And if that happened, I would have surely won! So as you see, I lost because of you, you incompetent fool!”

Zagan returned fire.

I doubted though that him supporting the Byakko would have been enough to turn things around.

To begin with, we still had the third dungeon room—an absolute defense area. If that wasn't enough, Stolas was also on standby farther in.

”You're the incompetent one so shut up. You're the incompetent fool that dragged me and Morax into this stupid war! [Creation] sortied all his monsters out and yet you still failed to conquer that empty dungeon! You're the most inept, good-for-nothing, pathetic, incompetent fool there is! You should go and change your name to [Incompetent] Demon Lord Muzan(pathetic)!”

”I let you speak and this is what you say, you dullard!? If I hadn't taken you in­-”

”If I didn't team up with you, [Incompetent] Demon Lord Muzan, at the very least, I could have better protected my crystal!”

It was a terribly ugly fight. It seemed that at any moment Zagan would lash out and attack Ronove but a force compelled him to sit and stay where he was.

This force affected me too. Out of the worry that Zagan and Ronove would act due to their resentment, I tried to ready myself in various ways but to no avail; it seemed that aside from preventing me to move away, the force had also sealed every single skill and magic I had.

Perhaps this was to protect the Creator himself.

Speaking of the Creator, he was grinning as he watched Zagan and Ronove. He probably considered even their bickering as entertainment.

”Stolas, right when I thought you simply rejected my offer, here you are as [Creation]'s dog, his bitch! Even though I would have taken better care of you!!”

His ugly argument with Ronove finally over, Zagan bared his fangs toward Stolas.

Originally, he had offered Stolas to join the alliance that was founded to defeat me but was rejected. He must have been aggravated to see her helping me out instead.

Through all of it, Stolas kept an unconcerned face.

”I am no dog and certainly no one's. I only came here as a friend helping out a friend in need… But then, you were so weak, that proved unnecessary.”

Those words must have sorely wounded his pride.

”I am not weak; if [Viscosity] and [Evil] hadn't dragged me down, I would have won!”

”Is that so? Tell yourself what you must but can you please stop talking to me already? I have no interest in someone like you.”

”I really, really could and should have won, I tell you! It wasn't my fault I lost!”

”Don't make me say the same thing again. It is a waste of time to associate myself with a loser like you.”

”Did, did you just call me a loser!?”

Zagan screamed but Stolas didn't even deign to give him a glance; he was completely ignored.

But then, Stolas probably felt that even if she said anything to him, whatever it was, it would have been useless.

And so, Zagan screamed and screamed until he looked anemic and about to cry. He then cursed and pounded his hands on the table.

After a short while of silence, Ronove murmured something

”Morax… Where's Morax?”

There should have been another Demon Lord present here. In search for that Demon lord, Ronove repeatedly shook his head left and right but in the end failed to find the said Demon Lord.

No one answered his query. I could have but it was a little unpleasant so I decided not to as well.

After a while, the Creator opened his mouth.

”[Evil] is dead and has already returned to me. For the war among new Demon Lords, as a means of relief, I was willing to give a new crystal by the time they got independent to the Demon Lords that got their crystals broken. There is nothing that could be done about deaths though.”

[Viscosity] held his breath.

The other Demon Lords had predicted as much so they weren't as surprised.

Even though there was a means of relief offered, it didn't mean it would extend to everything.

”Morax died? But that guy, that guy was the only one kind to me.”

Tears dropped from his frog-like, round eyes.

It was only a little but I did feel guilty. That said, this war was either kill or be killed so I didn't regret this outcome.

Ronove reproachfully glared at me but that was all he did. He probably understood that voicing any complaints was misplaced.

And so, the surrounding once again began to fall into silence. After that happened, the Creator nodded in satisfaction.

”Children of the Planet, it seems you have deepened your friendship with one another so shall we get into the task at hand?”

We all looked at the Creator.

As I did so, a doubt welled up within me. I wouldn't have thought the Creator was this unreliable-looking old man.

To begin with, for the Creator to even age was strange. I couldn't believe a transcendent being that gives life to Demon Lords to have aged this much.

”[Creation], is my appearance so strange?”

”No, nothing like that.”

I was convinced my facial expression didn't show what I was thinking but even so, he read through it instantly. Such sharpness.

”You don't have to hide it. But that's weird, hmm… My appearance should have been what everyone here wanted me look like… Then, is this form any better? How about this?”

The Creator then became a young man, then a baby, then a boy, then an old woman, then a beast, then a spirit, and then even a dragon. In the end, the Creator returned to his initial form.

”In the first place, I have no fixed form and I only prepare a body when I need to. I am a being not as bound and limited as you Children of the Planet.”

Unearthly. That word flashed through my mind.

He was something I should never think of opposing. That realization made me see him in a new light.

”Hmmmm. As I thought, [Creation] is wise. I hope you illuminate the world with your radiance as a Child of the Planet and accomplish your role.”

”I thank you for your praise.”

I didn't even have anymore the willpower to retort on having my mind read.

”[Creation], you have always surprised me. Aside from the reward for this [War], I am going to grant you one additional reward. Ask me what you would like to know about and I will try to answer it whatever it is. This is your chance to get close to the world's truths.”

What I would like to know about? There were myriads of them.

For example, was there any kind of trap behind the [Rebirth] I used on Wight?

What was the as-of-yet unrevealed role of a Child of the Planet? For that matter, why are Demon Lords called Children of the Planet in the first place?

Was there a way to be free from our 300-year lifespan?

But most of all…

”Just who am I?”

That was my greatest question.

Why do I know such things as guns? That was not all either. I also knew of way too advanced tools and of things that didn't exist.

I was of the thought that I was a reincarnation of someone. If my [Creation] allowed me to make certain things in my memory, then I was convinced I had interacted with those certain things at some point in my previous life.

”That's a rather philosophical question, [Creation]. To which, there is only one answer: [Creation] Demon Lord Procell is none other than [Creation] Demon Lord Procell.”

”That's not the kind of thing I want to hear. Just who was I before I became [Creation] Demon Lord Procell? I want to know of the memories I've lost. Who the hell am I!?”

I unintentionally became emotional. I was always afraid to have a part of myself that I didn't know.

I was afraid that I would change into something else because of that part of myself.

In order to quell these worries, I asked this question.

”You have not lost any memories. You had no past life. Those are the answers. To start, I will address a misunderstanding. Whatever is needed to form a Demon Lord's personality and knowledge are carefully selected from the Planet's memoryAkashic Records. It's just that in your case, [Creation] Demon Lord Procell, due to your ability, the span of knowledge needed is vast. So as you see, it doesn't mean that a specific person's memory and soul is given to a Demon Lord upon birth. This is also the reason why Demon Lords are called Children of the Planet.”

It clicked within me upon hearing that explanation but I still had some doubts left.