Dungeon Defense (WN)

It was now the evening on the day after our boutique visit.

We boarded a carriage. I quietly looked out the window. The carriage kept shaking because of the stone pavement, so I couldn’t calmly enjoy the passing scenery. I decided to just close my eyes. Lapis was also similarly quiet. Like this, we quietly arrived at Niflheim Palace.

Once we stepped down from our carriage at the front gate of the palace, an old woman welcomed us. She was a witch and she bowed so low that her face nearly touched her knees. The witch hat on her head was so large, that if it weren’t for her hooked nose, it would have engulfed her entire head.

She spoke in a mouse-like, squeaky voice.

“Your Highness Rank 71st Dantalian?”

“You are correct.”

“Mm, Dantalian……Dantalian……Oh, here you are.”

The witch wrote something on the scroll with her finger.

“Your name is at the very end, so it was easy to find. Your Highness’ position is much better than those who are at some vague number like 32 or 46. Referentially, people must be in places that can be found easily. Hihi. Now then, Your Highness. You just have to follow this child now.”

The witch then pointed at a black cat. The cat promptly stretched its hind legs and saluted us the moment we turned to look at it. The cat was wearing a splendid red soldier uniform like a dress-up doll. This was my first time seeing such an adorable creature.

I felt strangely enthralled, so I saluted back to the cat. Lapis nudged my side with her elbow once I did so. She was most likely telling me to maintain my dignity as a Demon Lord.

“Child, listen carefully. Hihi.”

The witch playfully stroked the cat’s chin.

“Go into that alley over there, down the uphill road, up the downhill road, turn and turn, right three times, left three times, and after turning and turning a total of 9 times, walk a narrow path as if it were wide and a wide path as if it were narrow, accelerate, forget to accelerate, and eventually, once you accelerate to the point of dancing to my acceleration and you forget that you’re walking, you will then arrive at the end of the alley. Guide him to that very end.”

The cat saluted again to show that he understood.

“……What was that magnificent nonsense?”

“An elaborate spell.”

Lapis whispered back.

“It is a spell that allows the recipient to traverse the labyrinth without getting lost. The people who do not hear those words and enter the maze will most likely become lost and trapped.”

“Hm, it didn’t particularly sound like she cast a spell.”

“That means she is an impressive mage that is able to use spells without using any magic.”

That old lady is?

I became curious. To be honest, I have never met anyone that was actually strong before. If Lapis is right and this old lady is a great witch, then she’ll show me stats that far surpasses anyone else.

‘Status.’

A familiar sound effect rang and a screen appeared at the same time.

“…….”

I’m sorry. I failed to notice an overpowered character.

No, if this one person invaded my dungeon, then it would get annihilated in an instant. She could probably wipe out my golem, no, my entire golem unit with a single spell.

A character like this was acting as a simple attendant at a gathering of Demon Lords. I understood once more how low I was, an F rank Demon Lord in the possession of an F rank dungeon.

“Hihi. Please make sure to only follow behind this child. If you break away from the path, then something very interesting will happen.”

“I am asking out of pure curiosity, but what is something very interesting supposed to be?”

“It’s so interesting that an arm will spew out of your mouth, hihihi.”

I’m confident that there’s nothing interesting about that.

The black cat took the lead and walked at a steady pace like a nutcracker. I nervously followed behind the cat, making sure to step exactly where the cat had stepped. I could tell Lapis was giving me a pitying look next to me, but it can’t be helped. Not only do I not want to have three arms, but I wanted the avoid the very idea of having an arm shoot out of my mouth. Like this, we went through the palace’s extravagant entrance, dark garden, and some hallways before eventually arriving at the ballroom.

Tap!

The cat gave us a salute next to the stairs that led to the ballroom, informing us that we had arrived. I couldn’t endure the cuteness any longer as I stroked his chin abundantly. The cat let out a pleasant purr.

My God. What is this being? Isn’t a cat monster way too cute? It’s so cute that I wouldn’t be surprised if it were illegal. It must receive legal punishment, so, for starters, I’ll lock it up in my Demon Lord room. I’m not going to do this because of some trivial desire of mine, it’s because I must protect the laws of this world.

“Sir Danatlian.”

“Ugh, I get it.”

I whined to Lapis and ascended the stairs to the ballroom. There were no guards or attendants. Once we passed through the already opened, massive, and magnificent marble doors, a voice resounded from somewhere.

— Rank 71st, His Highness Dantalian has arrived!

Should I call this a ballroom? Contrary to the ones I saw a bunch of in the movies and books of my original world, this ballroom was incredibly dark. The only light sources were the candles that were as tall as people placed here and there throughout the ballroom. People’s faces were illuminated in the amber candlelight.

They were all looking at me as I had just entered. This bizarre scene, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by this sight that could almost be called a gathering of phantoms.

‘But I can’t show my weak side.’

I immediately activated my Acting skill.

「Acting has been activated.」

「A bonus effect will be applied to the skill according to your intelligence and charm stats.」

A bolt from the blue happened at that moment. An unpleasant metallic sound filled my ears.

「Multiple skills have blocked the activation of your skill!」

「You have toss your die, but a crow that was flying by had snagged it away. You have failed to activate your skill!」

W-What?

Words I had never seen before continued to come out along with the metallic sound effect.

「You have failed to activate your skill due to the ‘overwhelming’ difference in stats. You will be given a penalty. You will no longer be able to use any skills for the next 3 hours.」

「Due to the penalty, your intelligence stat has been reduced by 5.」

「Due to the penalty, your charm stat has been reduced by 5.」

My mouth fell open. What kind of out of the blue bullshit is this?

I managed to regain my composure thanks to Lapis stepping on my foot without anyone noticing. I cleared my throat as I woke up from my daze and continued forward. I then took my place near a pillar.

I could hear people talking in the distance.

“He’s the one who killed Andromalius, right? He looks pretty dense.”

“I was wondering what sort of insane Demon Lord would murder another Demon Lord, but he’s surprisingly plain-looking.”

“I knew that guy was going to die someday. Hmph, that homeless idiot.”

“It feels like something was attempted just now…….”

Slanderous words against me kept being exchanged; however, I didn’t have the leisure to worry about them. My Acting skill may not be all that dependable, but it’s the one thing I could actually fall back to.

A severe wave of unease washed over me once that was taken away from me. If Lapis wasn’t firm and cool-headed like usual next to me, then I would have probably made a fool of myself in this ball. The only thing that was preventing my knees from buckling was my desire to not disappoint her. Fortunately, people’s interest in me soon disappeared and the Demon Lords went back to their respective cliques. None of them approached me.

* * *

A few Demon Lords arrived after me. They were people whose names I had become moderately familiar with through <Dungeon Attack>. After the last Demon Lord arrived, the large doors closed.

A single person walked out to the center of the ballroom. It was an old gentleman wearing a clean white tuxedo.

The old gentleman gave a courteous bow to each side of the room before speaking in a slow tone.

“I give my warmest welcome to all of Your Excellencies that have come here today for this honorable Walpurgis Night. My name is Ivar Lodbrok, one of the seven executives of the Keuncuska Firm, and I have been put in charge of tonight’s proceedings which is more than I deserve.”

Short applause followed. I feel like only 6 people had clapped. The applause was way too small to be considered a warm welcome to the host, but Ivar bowed once more as if he felt greatly honored.

I narrowed my brows. Ivar Lodbrok is also a character that appears in the late-mid portion of <Dungeon Attack>; however, this person looks completely different from the Ivar I know from the game.

‘Ivar shouldn’t be an old man.’

I wanted to ask Lapis about it since she works in the Keuncuska Firm as well, but I couldn’t muster the strength to open my mouth. I was definitely nervous right now. It probably wouldn’t be too late to ask her about it later.

“I will first cover today’s agenda. First, about the heir battle that has occurred in the Inferno Hell…….”

“Wait.”

A sharp female voice intervened.

“I don’t want to debate the pros and cons of the things that happen in the demon continent after coming all the way here. Those things will naturally be resolved throughout the next 4 days of this rotten gathering. I want to just eat and drink today.”

Ivar’s expression contorted in worry. It was a face that wanted to say something, but couldn’t.

A man standing across from the woman spoke.

“As expected of an uneducated lass. Such vulgarity. There is a thing called procedures.”

“Quit with the taunts, chap. People might start to think that you’re actually passionate about these meetings. Kekeke. I saw you doze off in the middle of the last meeting.

“What absurd slander.”

Due to the bad lighting, I could barely see the faces of the people who were talking. It looked like only their lips were sticking out and moving in the darkness. Another person spoke up across from me.

“The two of you are fighting again, huh? This lady wonders when we will finally be able to have a civilized meeting, a meeting that befits Demon Lords. For what purpose did we go out of our way to hire the True Blood of the Keuncuska Firm to host our meeting?”

“Uugh, stop with that vomit-inducing way of speech.”

The woman’s tone sounded like they were sick of the woman who had spoken for the first time.

“If a civilized gathering is something where you have to say ‘oh dear, oh dear’ in a hypocritical and lying voice, then I’d rather become a savage in a goblin village. Do you think I don’t know that you play wildly with minotaurs at night, you bitch? Miss Whore, you should either change your top lips as much as you did your bottom lips or make your bottom lips as ladylike as your top lips.”

“What can I possibly say to a woman who blabbers like a rutting water buffalo? My dear Demon Lords.”

The woman speaking in a proper tone stepped out into the center of the ballroom. I was then finally able to see her face properly. I immediately recognized her. It was Paimon from <Dungeon Attack> who was Rank 9 among Demon Lords.

The individual who destroyed numerous players as the beautiful succubus queen with fluttering, red hair. Even I had faced a Game Over after being caught by this Demon Lord. It felt weird seeing someone in real life like this after only seeing them through their illustrations.

“I also believe that discussing a boring topic during the ball on the first night of the meeting is not very appropriate. Would it not be best to share a communion first? Time and space for people to either build more grudges against one another or come to an agreement, would this not be necessary?”

She looked around her. At that moment, a foreboding sensation came over me. It felt like she looked directly at me.

“Nevertheless, there is something we must handle beforehand. There is a murderer who had killed our fellow man that’s present, after all. There is no possibility we could have a cordial relationship with that individual.”

My foreboding feeling was right. She was definitely glaring at me.

“Although he was lacking and embarrassing, Andromalius was our kin. One of the only seventy-two Demon Lords that exist. I believe that you all know fully well how much weight the act of murdering a Demon Lord possesses.”

Numerous other gazes followed her line of sight to me.

I gulped involuntarily.

“I believe that we must call Rank 71 Demon Lord Dantalian to account before we begin the meeting and the ball. Thus, for this sake, I, Rank 9 Demon Lord Paimon, formally request a hearing here and now.”

***

TL note: Thanks for reading the chapter! Some big names were introduced in this chapter. I personally hope this isn’t Humbaba’s real appearance. My dreams will be crushed if it is.

Well, nothing much else to say, so I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.