Demon Lord, Retry! Volume 2 Read online

  “...It’s a pleasure to meet you, De... How might I address you?”

  “Demon Lord is fine. By now, it seems like a nickname or moniker to me.”

  Calmly, the Demon Lord sipped on the coffee-like beverage offered to him and lit a cigarette he produced from his pocket. White couldn’t help but flash a frown at his attitude.

  Enjoying a smoke so brazenly in the Holy Castle, and in the presence of the leading Holy Maiden nonetheless, was unheard of. For as long as this world would exist, it was doubtful that anyone else would ever do such a thing. Even Dona Dona would not have displayed such an attitude in front of a Holy Maiden. As if to point out a shortcoming on her part, the Demon Lord produced an ashtray from his coat pocket, and ceremoniously placed it on the table in full view of White. If this was a diplomatic meeting in the real world, it would have been a shortcoming. White was the one who arranged for the meeting, after all. She should have prepared for everything to make her guest comfortable.

  “Are you... truly the Demon Lord, as told in legends?”

  “However you want to think of me is not my concern... If that’s what you’d like to believe, then I must be.”

  White clenched her fists under the table. An unbelievable lack of manners. What White took away from his declaration of indifference to anyone’s opinion... was overpowering confidence. As if he was implying that he could destroy the entire nation whenever he wanted.

  “What do you want with Luna...?”

  White asked with some force. She had planned to ask this later in the meeting, but she couldn’t contain it any longer. She was the one Holy Maiden who lived up to her title, and she cared about her sisters a lot.

  “Our meeting had been an unfortunate one. She must have seen me as something evil. Now, however, we have a very wonderful relationship.”

  White ground her teeth upon hearing this evil statement. What magic did he use...? Luna, the embodiment of self-centeredness, was strangely fond of this Demon Lord, and refused to leave his side. It didn’t seem possible by any rational means.

  “Will you bring harm to this country...?”

  White said, taking a leap of faith. Ordinarily, she would have never said anything so direct in a situation like this. In addition to various events in the nation, she was the one who solely dealt with representatives from neighboring countries. Her gentle but firm sense of diplomacy was respected by the other nations, too. Such a blunt and direct question was an undeniable exception to her style.

  “That’s what I wanted to talk about.”

  The Demon Lord turned his cutting gaze towards White as he continued to indulge in his cigarette. That was all it took for White to shiver under the table. The look he gave and his intimidating aura... Every single thing about him seemed to exist only to instill terror in people.

  “There is a saying in my country, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ It means that it’s much quicker to understand something you see with your own eyes than something you only hear in rumors.”

  The Demon Lord said this brimming with confidence and with somewhat of a smile. He appeared friendly on the surface, but White was far from trusting him. As far as she was concerned, one of her precious sisters had already been taken hostage. If she were to force Luna to stay in the Holy Castle, she thought, the Demon Lord could use that as an excuse for initiating an attack. In fact, she figured that the Demon Lord was waiting for that very situation. Moreover, keeping Luna confined was physically impossible. No construction in this world could withstand her Golden magic.

  “I only ask you to watch what I’m about to do and judge me for yourself. I have always shown who I am better than I explain it.”

  The Demon Lord’s burst of confidence only made White more nervous. She had no idea what he was about to do, except that it was going to be some sort of invasion against this country. While wearing a smile, he was surely working on something sinister in the shadows, she thought. White did see him as an actual Demon Lord.

  “And there is one favor I would like to ask of you...”

  He said, and White braced for impact. The Demon Lord had aided Holylight in quelling the terror attack the other day. She had expected him to request some form of compensation.

  “I want to know more about the Ember Angel... If there are any libraries here, I would like to request full access to them.”

  At this, White could feel her vision fading out. She was getting dizzy. Was he trying to kill the Ember Angel? Find a weakness? The fact that he so brazenly shared his intentions with her terrified White worse than she had ever been in her life.

  “Help yourself... to the library. However, I will not tell you anything about the Ember Angel myself.”

  “I see. That’s all right. I would be hesitant to use my words to describe someone so venerated, too.”

  The Demon Lord nodded in a display of sympathy. For White, this only came across as blatant sarcasm. He must have been mocking her desperate attempt to sabotage his scheme.

  “Then, if you’ll excuse me... This was a very productive meeting.”

  “Yes, same for me... Very productive.”

  White answered as she accepted the Demon Lord’s handshake. Letting his pitch-black coat flutter, the Demon Lord went to leave the room. Staring at his back, White asked her final question.

  “You... defeated the King of Devils, didn’t you?”

  The Demon Lord was silent for a moment. His answer was something White found terrifying.

  “I wouldn’t call that a King. Just a poorly made fake...”

  To him, even the King of Devils was a failure, something without any right to the title of King. Speaking volumes with his back, the Demon Lord left the room.

  Angel White

  Race: Human — Age: 18

  * * *

  Weapon The Holy Staff of Omega

  One of the legendary weapons. On top of its powerful stats, this holy staff can store up magic and perform a particular miracle.

  Armor Congregational Robe of Omega

  A venerated garment blessed by the Ember Angel. Boasts extremely powerful Defense and Magic Defense.

  * * *

  Level: ? — HP: ? — Stamina: ? — Attack: ? — Defense: ? (+25) — Dexterity: ? — Magic: 20 (+20) — Magic Defense: 20 (+25)

  The oldest and most prominent Holy Maiden. A kind woman who puts the needs of her people above all else. The only level-headed Holy Maiden, and the last hope for serving as the conscience of Holylight. She can perform some miracles, passed down to her by the Ember Angel.

  Under the Table

  (She was gorgeous...)

  Walking down a hallway in the Holy Castle, the Demon Lord recalled the meeting that just took place. In facing such an unbelievably beautiful woman, he had to drag on some cigarettes to calm his nerves. Considering that smoking was becoming less socially acceptable nowadays, he was glad he had brought an ashtray. Considering he made such a touching effort on his part, he didn’t think she could have been too angry about it. All in all, he was worried about such trivial matters at the moment.

  (In any case, she seemed like a pretty sane Holy Maiden...)

  After their track record, the Demon Lord even felt some faint admiration for Angel White, the Holy Maiden. He had always considered names in this country to be atrocious, but he seemed to have finally found someone with a fitting name. However, the best thing to come from the meeting was that he was able to tell her to watch his actions, rather than believe the rumors. He had stopped a Satanist terror attack, and was now going to build a hospital and a hot spring resort in Luna’s village. Surely, White would realize that he was as far from a Demon Lord as could be. He had explained that he had a good relationship with Luna, and she even gave him permission to browse the library. All things considered, this was a pretty good first meeting.

  A few important factors were against him, though. First, his appearance was undeniably that of the dark side, and nowhere near that of a model citizen. On top of that, his overw
helming powers far surpassed that of any human. Trusting this man and turning a blind eye to him would have been a feat too difficult even for a literal angel.

  “Did you see the Dragonborn yesterday!?”

  “I did! He was the coolest!”

  “Lady Queen was head over heels for him, too!”

  The Demon Lord nearly tripped himself when he heard this conversation coming from the hallway. After the incident, people had started worshipping that Bosozoku punk as something called a Dragonborn. Still, the Demon Lord felt like he had gained more than expected when it came to Zero.

  As long as there was a man with immense powers who called himself the Demon Lord, he could expect the opposition in the country to move to get rid of him, someday. When that day comes, they would try to recruit Zero for the job... Which was, of course, impossible. He also figured that the people would be less on edge if they thought that Zero would be there in a pinch to take care of the situation. In the meantime, the Demon Lord would steadily set up his business.

  (Yesterday... It didn’t feel weird.)

  The previous day, he recalled that he was pretty much completely in sync with Zero. When he used Do or Die, he even felt the sensation of throwing the punch himself.

  He reminisced about the characters he had created.

  (Early on, I was Hakuto Kunai himself.)

  In fact, there was no character called Hakuto Kunai. He had simply used his real name, Akira Ono. As time passed, however, he felt that it was unsafe to use his real name online, and changed the character name about midway through the game’s history. That’s how Hakuto Kunai was created.

  (In the later half of the game’s lifespan, I was always Zero.)

  He had fought as Zero for more than a year or two. They were constantly together for nearly a decade. He had created Zero as a joke at first, but the fact that he never grew tired of controlling the Bosozoku must have meant that he liked Zero more than he realized.

  (It’s much more than that, though...)

  A character he had played for almost a decade? He could call that another form of himself. Of course, it was hard to admit that the raging Bosozoku was a form of him. A Demon Lord and a Bosozoku... Sure, both of them were far from righteous heroes...

  (But I’m not the kind of person to calmly carry out genocides like Hakuto Kunai. I’m not a hardcore, show-boaty Bosozoku, either, though.)

  Playing these characters in the game was one thing... But he had a sense of embarrassment playing Zero in real life, which led to the Demon Lord rejecting him. He need only accept Zero, and everything — including Zero — could become Akira Ono. In a sense, that was terrifying, but somehow comical. The Demon Lord felt the strange urge to burst out laughing.

  (...Ah, drop it already! I have to think of what to do for the future.)

  He had been granted access to the library. First thing he wanted to do was research to his heart’s content. In addition, he had accumulated more than enough SP for himself. Now, after earning some more in the battle, he had 1249 SP in his pocket.

  (Heh heh heh... Hah ha ha ha!)

  Anyone would have wanted to laugh out loud. At this rate, he would have some SP leftover after summoning another advisor and building the Hospital and Hot Springs Resort. He was beginning to feel a sense of excitement, thinking of who to summon next.

  “Speaking of, something else was unlocked...” he couldn’t help but mumble aloud.

  Congratulations!

  You’ve unlocked the command Quick Travel.

  Defeated the Duke of Darkness — Achievement Earned

  Dragon’s Authority — Drastically Increased (20/100)

  The newly unlocked command was called Quick Travel. In the game, it was important to move back and forth through various areas in the arena. This command could transport him to an area he had been to before in an instant. It did come with the downside of spending 30 Stamina, though.

  (Defeated the Duke of Darkness, huh...?)

  Technically, Zero had defeated it, not the Demon Lord. He didn’t grasp how special this Duke of Darkness was supposed to be, or what the deal was here... As far as he was concerned, this had come out of left field.

  (And what’s Dragon’s Authority...?)

  He had never seen that command in the game. However, from the word ‘Dragon’, he assumed it had something to do with Zero.

  (Are there things I can only unlock by fighting as Zero...?)

  If there were, that could become troublesome. He was unable to control Zero, after all.

  (The word Achievement is interesting, though...)

  There were various Achievements in the game, too. Some were easy and some were nearly impossible. A portion of the players really got into earning them all. Some were very ubiquitous, like ‘killed X enemies in under an hour’ and others were extremely complicated like ‘filled entire inventory with Blazers.’ Earning difficult achievements rewarded the player with various avatars, customizable parts like eyes and hair, or even special abilities.

  (Screw this...)

  He was on the side of preparing all of these Easter eggs, not discovering them. On the other hand, when it was presented like this to his face, he felt the urge of a gamer to earn them all, just to show whoever prepared them who’s boss. That being said, it was more important for him to recover his admin features.

  (It would be cool to unlock Shop and Token Exchange...)

  Shop was, as its name might indicate, a system where items can be purchased with money. The Demon Lord thought the amount of money in his possession might have to do with unlocking something like this. Once he could gather funds like he planned, he imagined that the Shop would appear as it did in the Game, where he could then purchase items. Once that happened, he wouldn’t have to use his SP just to craft an item.

  The Token Exchange was something similar. Players could collect the tokens strewn about in the arena and exchange them for high-power items. It was a collectible feature, implemented so players who didn’t enjoy combat as much could still have fun. It was more than just plain fun, though, as players could have obtained powerful items and skills with enough tokens.

  “Master Demon Lord! How did the meeting go with Miss Holy Maiden?”

  Once he exited the hallway, Aku came running to him with a smile. She was so adorable that he couldn’t help but smile, too. Out of habit, he scooped her up with one arm. Aku cheerfully wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “We’re getting more and more like father and daughter every day...” The Demon Lord mentally noted this as he gazed up at the glaring sun.

  —Queen’s private room, in the Holy Castle

  Having survived the battle, Queen was resting in her room. After lavishly using expensive potions as well as healing spells, her condition was getting close to how she was before the ordeal. Still, she was forced to take things easy for a while to make sure she suffered no long-term injuries.

  “Ahh... Sir Zero...!”

  While she was breathing heavy and blushing, she didn’t have a fever. In fact, she evidently had enough strength to roll around in her bed while hugging her pillow. Physically, she was all healed up, but she was ailed by something else. Anyone could see that she was lovesick. If those who knew her were to see her like this, their hearts would freeze from the shock... If Queen didn’t kill them first, of course.

  “He was sooo rad...! Stupidly cool...”

  Recalling Zero’s heroic display, Queen almost felt intoxicated. The majestic, raging dragon. The flash of silver that cut through the darkness. His pointed, but extremely attractive face. His body, with every muscle built to fight. Every single aspect of Zero was exactly in her ideal form.

  —Heavens, watch me roar!

  “Oooooh...! I can’t take it...!”

  The dragon’s roar played again in her ears, leaving Queen to squirm around on her bed.

  Rolling around while clutching her pillow, Queen finally fell off of her bed, and kept rolling into the corner of her room, slamming into the wa
ll with force before finally stopping. Before leaving her, Zero had said that he had a task to accomplish. Queen couldn’t help but wonder what that might be. Surely, it was an important matter if a dragon like him was pursuing it.

  (Tartarus, maybe...?)

  That was Queen’s first thought. Come to think of it, Zero had always appeared right after Tartarus. In both occasions, Tartarus had disappeared before she knew it, as if it had fled in fear of the dragon...

  (Apparently, those craters were empty, too.)

  The three craters that were created in the Holy City were, of course, immediately investigated by a team mostly comprised of knights from the Order. If those tunnels were dug by hand, the Satanists’ determination (or, rather, obsession) was formidable. However, upon investigation, they discovered nothing left in or on the other side of the tunnels. Of course, no sign of Tartarus, either. Now, they hurried to fill up the craters. Every mage who could wield Earth magic had been summoned to the task. With care, they layered the craters with hard soil and rock.

  (That fucking Tartarus... But...)

  While annoyed by the thought of Tartarus, she remembered that she would not have met Zero without it. She hated Tartarus. She wanted to tear it apart, stomp it to pieces, and trample it if she could. But if Tartarus were to appear again, she had another chance of meeting the majestic silver Dragon.

  “Ahhhhh...! What the hell am I supposed to do...!?”

  Afflicted by these thoughts, Queen started rolling around the room again. Just like White, she seemed to be in for a long haul of anguish.

  Laugh While You Can

  In the secluded Hellion territory... there was an area that was especially peculiar. The forest where Allit, a high-rank devil with the fearsome moniker of the Duke of Darkness, held his abode. The spectral forest robbed anyone of their sense of direction, and was well-known as an eerie forest where piercing screams could be heard in the dead of night.