Volume 10 Chapter 21 (1/2)

I went to [Despair] Demon Lord Belial's dungeon.

I had expressed to him that I wanted the two of us to talk about something. He then replied that he would love us to meet in his dungeon. Within his crystal room, to be more specific.

I, who wanted to retrieve the listening device, found his proposal convenient. At the same time though, I couldn't help but think that there must be a reason he proposed to use his crystal room.

”We've been going on a lot of trips lately and that's made Kuina quite happy! Kuina will make sure Oto-san'll be safe this time as well.”

”Yes, I have nothing to worry about as long as you're by my side.”

It was unkind to Kuina, but I wasn't going to rely on her protection this time. For the events ahead, I prepared some other things.

Furthermore, because Kuina was so easy to ready, I decided to keep her in the dark. It was just so much safer for her to know nothing than to make her act like she knew nothing.

I'm so sorry, Kuina.

”Alright, let's head off to Belial's dungeon”

”'Kay!”

I instructed a Darkness Dragon to descend and rode it.

Hopefully, we would have a confirmation at last.

◇

We arrived at Belial's dungeon and was then uneventfully guided to his crystal room.

”Welcome, Procell-sama. I've heard of your settlement agreement. As always, a complete victory! To think you could make all those Demon Lords agree to your terms. A feat some, I daresay most, Demon Lords can never hope to accomplish!”

”I didn't make them agree to anything. They offered the terms themselves. In any case though, I'm glad fighting's over. I have no doubt I'll win even if it continued, but Avalon and my monsters might suffer some damage in the process.”

In all honesty, that was number one reason I accepted the settlement.

My monsters and my city of Avalon were extremely important to me. I couldn't imagine myself wanting something so much that I would happily put the things and people I love in harm's way.

”Ahh, such confidence. And the might to back it up. You're so magnificent, Procell-sama. Who wouldn't want to be like you? To be strong; to be able to act freely and proudly; to be able to live without compromises… Sadly, that's a life exclusive only to strong Demon Lords. For most Demon Lords, especially those that were born with only B rank medals, the only way they know how to live from the moment they're born is to play along with the whims of those stronger than them.”

”That may be true, but if they plan for it enough, they could take down at least one Demon Lord with an A rank medal. My point is, the balance of power can change in an instant. It's not easy, but it's possible.”

In fights, the strong doesn't always win. Plans, schemes, tricks, and whatnot could be employed by the weaker side to overcome the might of the other.

It was risky, but the reward of being able to create the other Demon Lord's medal and use their unique skill could be considered worth it.

”Ahahaha. I suppose that's true.”

”In the first place, you also have an A rank medal. Why are you talking like you only had a B rank medal??”

To that, Belial did not utter a word back. He only smiled.

However, that smile was completely devoid of emotion. It was as though he was only doing it to mask something.

”Well then, Procell-sama, what is the matter you wished to discuss?”

”Let's not ruin the mood by getting down to business right away. Why don't we update each other while chatting idly like this for the moment?”

”Understood. Everything you say really is a morsel of wisdom. And while we're chatting, let's also enjoy some tea and snacks, shall we? I've been a bit obsessed with black tea recently. Oh, do you know what that is? Fantastic. Well, I guess I shouldn't even have asked since there probably are so many blends coming to Avalon from all over the world. Speaking of those blends, I try a different one each day, yet I don't think I'm close to having tried all of them.”

I didn't dislike this ”humanness” of his. In fact, I would say I liked it.

”That's a nice hobby you have there. I'd very much like to try out the blend you liked the most.”

”Of course. I'll prepare it at once.”

While we were chatting like that, I was busy with something else.

The listening device I had planted in this room was intact, but being seen retrieving it would be inconvenient, to say the least.

For that reason, I opted to recover just the recording it held via its data link feature.

In order to listen to the recording without raising any suspicion from Belial, I made use of a bone-conduction-type earphone and a playback device developed by Rorono. And to save time, the playback device had features such as automatic and high-speed data sifting, plus a playback speed of 16 times faster than normal which was still intelligible to me thanks to some training.

…this further proves that even though Demon Lords were capable of guarding themselves against normal and even magical espionage, they couldn't protect themselves from a technological one. After all, one couldn't prepare for something that they didn't even know existed.

At the current technological level of the world, listening devices, video and audio recordings, and data links were several times more mysterious than magic.

”This tea is delicious.”

”Glad you liked my favorite.”

And so, while drinking tea with Belial, I was analyzing the audio recording of his crystal room. It was several days' worth of data, but thanks to the 16 times playback speed and AI that cut out silent periods, I finished the analysis in less than 30 minutes.

This endeavor revealed some truths to me.

The good news was that Belial was not a traitor.

The bad news was that the one before me was a traitor. This is almost as bad as the worst-case scenario I imagined.

”I think it's time we move on to the main subject. I have something I've been meaning to give you.”

”I-is that?”

”Yes, it's my [Creation] medal. I've wanted to give this to you as thanks for giving me your [Desperation] medal, but my doubt of you won over. Now that the members of the anti-Procell alliance have been identified, I see that my suspicions were for nothing.”

I smiled and then handed him my [Creation] medal.

It was one of the medals I had reserved for my allies.

”Thank you, thank you very much. With this, I could make a ridiculously powerful monster and be of more use to you.”

”Well, you don't have to make it for me, but do please make the monster as soon as you can so that you can make a [Maelstrom] for its corresponding B rank monster. Can you imagine the improvement of even a single [Maelstrom] can do for your war potential? In some sense, that'll be the proof we've become true allies.”

Belial nodded.

The strength of an S rank monster made with his [Despair] medal has already been verified through Fallen Angel Raphael. If he, someone who had superior knowledge on the properties of the [Despair] medal, used a third A rank medal for the Synthesis, the monster he would create could be stronger than Raph.

”So, this is the reason you came here?”

”…yes, and to apologize for having doubted you all this time. And now that I've accomplished both, I best take my leave.”

I proceeded to stand and turn my back to him.

As though he wanted to stop me through an embrace, Belial also stood up and approached me.

And then…

I felt a cold, solid object pierce through me, followed by searing hot pain and the gushing of my blood.

In other words, Belial stabbed me from the back.

Even if he were to kill me, a new Demon Lord, he wouldn't incur any penalties. This was because when I attacked the [Insect] Demon Lord's dungeon, some of the monsters we attacked were actually under Belial's control. These monsters were originally made by the [Insect] Demon Lord and were only given to Belial, so no matter how much we review our footage, we wouldn't have been able to realize this. We only got this information thanks to our aggressive interrogation of the [Insect] Demon Lord.