NOVEL NEXT Volume 9 13
~From the point of view of [Pig] Demon Lord Agares~
[Pig] Demon Lord Agares felt confident about his dungeon conquest of Avalon.
The first room was said to be the most dangerous room in Avalon. Up until now, almost all of the Demon Lords that had fought with Procell had lost a considerable portion of their war potential to the Mithril Golems and their enigmatic weapons in the very first room of Avalon.
However, Agares viewed himself different from those Demon Lords.
In his view, he had correctly appraised his enemy’s war potential and made the proper countermeasures.
He might lose a powerful war potential in the form of an A rank monster that could level up, but it shouldn’t be enough to hurt his overall war potential.
His [Pig] medal was an A rank medal. Considering he could produce up to 12 A rank medals in a year, he could then make, on average, four A rank monsters per year.
Actually, despite being in countless [Wars] in his 50 years of existence, Agares had accumulated and managed to keep alive over a hundred A rank monsters.
Obviously, it was difficult to level them all up, so only about 20% of his A rank monsters could level up.
Assigned to his attacking force were: 10 A rank fully leveled up A rank monsters, 50 A rank monsters with static levels, and several hundred B and C rank monsters.
This attacking force could be said to be overkill war potential against a Demon Lord that wasn’t even a year old.
Furthermore, Agares had also received Holy Cranes from the anti-Procell alliance of Demon Lords. These monsters were added so that they could deal with the Darkness Dragons that unleashes wide-area destruction magic from the sky.
There could have been some issues, but Procell foolishly decided to put all of his high-ranking elves that could attack from far away into his attacking force.
And now, those troublesome elves had entered the [Transfer Labyrinth] and had been isolated from the rest of Procell’s monsters.
The entrance to a [Transfer Labyrinth] would randomly send an individual to a random point, but getting in through the designated exit point would not trigger such an effect. As such, the large force sent to crush the elves simply had to travel the route that would lead to their targets.
"This war, I win."
Agares believed his victory was within arm’s reach.
He believed that the only way for Procell’s numerically inferior war potential to win would be through a swift offensive. If so, it made sense why Procell put all of his [Monsters of the Covenant] into his attacking force.
Unfortunately, Agares perceived that and made plans to take advantage of it.
He stalled Procell’s attacking force as much time as possible and then, upon reaching a certain point, separated them from one another.
In the meantime, his own attacking force was making great progress toward breaking Procell’s crystal.
Despite being pleased with his plan, Agares couldn’t help but feel a small measure of regret since this plan wouldn’t give him the chance to fuck Procell’s monsters, including the Elder Dwarf that used that cheap trap on him. Even so, increasing the certainty of breaking Procell’s crystal took priority over such wants, he thought.
And while thinking of such things, he used his crystal to watch the ensuing battles in his dungeon.
At the moment, the isolated elves and a large group of his orcs have encountered one another.
"Yes, as I thought"
The elves’ enigmatic weapons were one-sidedly downing one orc after another. However, in the end, it was but a simple attack. If the orcs rushed en masse, there was nothing to be worried about.
The elves were steadily retreating. However, given that they were in a [Transfer Labyrinth] where the only way to get out was through the designated exit point, it wouldn’t have been long before the elves were chased into a corner and then slaughtered.
After a while, the elves were driven to that corner.
The elves had stop firing. Because their weapons were projectile-shooting weapons, running out of ammunition was an inevitability.
And even though the elves could use their wind magic instead of their weapons, their wind magic didn’t have enough force, especially not against the orcs. It might be enough to cut through the orcs’ tough skin and flesh, but making it all the way through the bone would be quite difficult.
A high-ranking elves’ wind magic could deliver a killing blow, but compared to flame magic or some such, the elves’ wind magic would consume a lot more magic power. And when from a great distance away, perhaps even an S rank monster could only make 1 or 2 shots.
As such, the orcs became aroused even more from looking at the premium goods known as the high-ranking elves before them.
They roared and then approached their prey.
"Yes"
Agares exclaimed so after drinking his celebratory liquor.
He then focused his vision on the Ancient Elf who was currently clad in jade-green-colored wind.
In that form, the S rank monster was so beautiful, she managed to steal even the [Pig] Demon Lord’s heart.
In the following moment, however, the supposed to be powerless wind crushed most of Agares’s large army all at once.
In his shock, he dropped the glass that held his drink.
Impossible, Agares thought. His victory was supposed to be assured the moment he separated Procell’s monsters.
The few surviving orcs were overcome by fear and thus began to flee.
Just as they were doing so though, they encountered another group of Procell’s monsters and were eliminated.
"No. Such thing, unforgivable"
Agares shouted so while kicking a couch and sending it flying.
Having his certain-victory strategy be overturned like this wounded his pride deeply.
At that moment, a subordinate of his appeared before him.
Even though this subordinate’s fighting capabilities were relatively low, it was one of the goblins assigned to be Agares’s staff officers for its intelligence and excellent capabilities for information analysis.
"I have a report, sir. It’s about the force sent to Avalon."
Agares took a deep breath and began to listen.
It took him great effort to regain his composure, but he calmed down nonetheless.
Being bested by the elves was outside of his expectations, but overall, it didn’t matter much. Everything was fine so long as they broke Avalon’s crystal first. However...
"...almost all of them have been eliminated. At present, the few that have survived are desperately defending the [Transfer] array that have been set up in the second dungeon room. Please advise us on how to proceed: should we use the [Transfer] array and send reinforcements or should we evacuate from there, regroup, and attack again?"
The staff officer’s recommendations were sound.
Through the established Transfer array, they were able to send a large group of monsters to the second room. Once it was gone, they would have to start the conquest of Avalon right from the beginning. But then, the monster they used to break through the first room was now gone. That meant that even if they could make it to the second room again, their losses would be higher this time.
All that said, cutting their losses now might be for the best.
Whether to fight or fall back, a decision had to be made soon.
After hearing the staff officer’s report though, something inside Agares snapped.
"Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowww!? I planned it alllllll! So how!? How could my forces looooooooooooooseee!?"
"......sir, according to the report, a group of wind dragons appeared and defeated our Holy Cranes. With the Holy Cranes gone, the Darkness Dragons were then free to use their wide-range attack magic from the sky, despite our efforts to prevent it from happening. The report also states that from the survivors’ backs, huge dog-like monsters suddenly appeared and attacked them, whittling their numbers further. After that, those dog monsters roared and made all the B rank monsters and below that heard it paralyzed with dread. While our forces were like that, a powerful army that included artificial-heroes-turned-undead then surrounded and attacked them. The Goblin General and the Orc King were left alive until the last moment where they were killed, turned undead, and made to switch sides. Through them and their skills, the few surviving low-ranked goblins and orcs were being adversely influenced to the point they were being controlled."
After hearing his subordinate’s report, Agares became greatly perplexed.
"Wind dragons? Dog monsters appear from back? Artificial-heroes-turned-undead? I, I not know he had them! Unfair! Unfair! Unfair!"
Completely like a child, [Pig] Demon Lord Agares have begun throwing a tantrum.
"Agares-sama, a decision, please. If we’re going to send reinforcements, we have to act now or else it will be too late. But if we’re not going to, we should call them back now. They’re already at their limit."
"Noisy"
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
Suddenly, the goblin staff officer’s whole right arm was gone.
Agares has bitten it off.
"This your command. Dispatch my secret weapon. If Procell going to play dirty, I will too."
By secret weapon, Agares meant the female monsters he had stolen from other Demon Lords through his [Pig] ability. Some of these female monsters were even used as lure for their former comrades so that he could gain control over the former comrades as well.
Thanks to this devious method, Agares had obtained powerful monsters without the use of medals.
Among Agares’s war potential, which mainly consisted of orcs and goblins, these stolen monsters were not only unique, they were also especially powerful.
As such, he had decided long ago to keep them concealed, even from ally Demon Lords, as much as possible.
Since the reinforcements had to be sent via Transfer, sending a small but highly capable group such as these female monsters was absolutely crucial.
Furthermore, since the Goblin General and the Orc King were now on the enemy’s side, it was suddenly harder to deploy goblins and orcs.
If the monsters were low-ranked enough, the Goblin General and the Orc King were able to control them momentarily. In fact, even higher-ranking monsters were being affected by them.
Considering these, this decision of sending the stolen female monsters did seem to be a correct one.
"Understood. I will see to it at once."
The goblin staff officer exited the room while putting pressure on his right shoulder with his remaining hand.
His perseverance wasn’t out of loyalty to his Demon Lord. No, he was doing all this in the hopes he could save at least one of his comrades.
And while he had good intentions, what he and his Demon Lord failed to consider was that there were monsters in Avalon so way beyond the norm that no normal A rank monster could ever hope to kill them. The reinforcements wouldn’t be of much help.
...If anything, it would only serve to make their enemies stronger.
◇
~Several minutes later in Avalon~
A black dragon covered in miasma roared thunderously.
He was the strongest dragon of darkness that ruled even over death. And recently, he had become a true [Emperor Dragon]. He was a dragon that had transcended S rank in all but name.
Underneath his feet were the corpses of numerous female monsters.
Having achieved his goal of giving the Abyss Howls some combat experience, he had the urge of testing out his newfound strength.
But to achieve that, well, he would have had to actually use his newfound strength.
In all truth, he could destroy the enemy side’s Transfer array along with the pitiful goblins and orcs desperately defending it in mere seconds had he wanted to. However, he purposefully avoided that.
As for why, he was hoping for the enemy to send mighty reinforcements. And true to his wish, the [Pig] Demon Lord sent his trump cards: a group that consisted solely of female A rank monsters.
And yet, after all that, he only expended a miniscule amount of magic power and effort on the monsters that were supposed to be the enemy’s best.
After reviving the corpses and making them swear obedience, he proceeded to destroy the Transfer array since he had no more need for it.
"I might have become too strong. Even these monsters weren’t enough to measure my new strength. How frustrating. I might have to fight Kuina-sama or Marcho-sama for that. Ah, no, no, no. They’re allies. What am I thinking?"
He hasn’t realized it, but for the first time, something else other than his loyalty to his Demon Lord and his love for the monsters in Avalon, especially for his wife, had taken a place in his heart.
This was the poison mixed with [Rebirth].
The Creator liked mischief, loved it even. Anything amusing took priority over anything else.
Oftentimes, that meant tormenting and toying with the Demon Lords, much to their dismay. Even when the Creator gave prizes, it was almost never a purely good thing. There was always a catch to it. [Rebirth] was no exception.
All that being said, the Creator wouldn’t do something like subjecting the Demon Lords to nothing but agony. That just wasn’t much fun for the Creator.
So long as they did things right, Demon Lords should be able to overcome whatever trick or trap. This way, the Demon Lords that failed and got ruined regretted their blunder even more.
And seeing the Demon Lords’ faces while they despaired like that was the most enjoyable thing for the Creator.
As for the challenge to be overcome in [Rebirth], it was about the bond between the monster and their Demon Lord. If the bond between them was true, the Creator wouldn’t mind blessing them with even more power. But if that wasn’t the case, the monster would turn into a mindless beast and wreak havoc within his home dungeon.
The time to determine which it was going to be for the Black Dragon of Death and his Demon Lord was soon approaching.
◇
Several minutes later, it was reported to Agares that his group of stolen female monsters were annihilated.
It was at this time that he came to understand that destroying Avalon’s crystal was impossible. Having said that, defeating the monsters within his dungeon was no small feat either.
The only way to win at this point would be to kill Procell.
For that reason, he summoned all of his [Monsters of the Covenant], used [Awakening], and then began to eat all three of them. With the resolve to throw away everything, he activated a forbidden power.
If the enemy was a beast, he simply needed to be an even stronger beast.