NOVEL NEXT Volume 10 7
[Despair] Demon Lord Belial and I had formally formed an alliance.
It was supposed to be an event worthy of a grand celebration, but I just couldn’t bring myself to be completely happy about it.
I was still doubtful of Belial. And so, I decided to delay giving him a [Creation] medal. If I could ascertain during a war against the anti-Procell alliance that Belial was a true ally, perhaps then I wouldn’t mind giving him a medal.
For the meantime, my thoughts were occupied with what to do with the byproduct of my meeting with Belial.
"What should I do with this [Despair] medal though?"
Belial had given me his [Despair] medal as a token of our friendship.
If my read on things was right, he did so to make me feel obligated to give him my own medal.
His medal was powerful.
It had the effect of [Reversal]. That meant that the [Despair] medal was able to reverse whatever the attribute of the monster was supposed to be born with.
For example, if the monster was supposed to be an Angel, it would become a Fallen Angel; or if the monster was going to be an Elf, it would become a Dark Elf; or if it was supposed to be a holy knight, it would become a Dullahan.
Additionally, a "reversed" monster was more offense-oriented than its base monster.
"I guess using it really is the way to go. Fortunately, I still have my [Creation] medal."
Upon closer examination of the [Despair] medal, I discovered that the reversal phenomenon only occurred when synthesizing an original [Despair] medal. When synthesizing with an imitation [Despair] medal, the imitation only added a darkness attribute, just like [Darkness] and [Evil] would.
Since I could make a reversed monster just this once, I needed to think carefully what I wanted it to be. Or so I should have if I haven’t made up my mind about it already.
I figured that fallen-angel-type monsters, which had many usefull skills, were so rare that [Despair] medals might be the only way to get them.
My mind set on this decision, I went to pick up Kuina who should be in her room at the moment.
Even though monsters couldn’t harm their Demon Lords or disobey their Demon Lord’s commands, they were free to do everything else. It was even possible for them to find a crafty, indirect way to bring ruin to their Demon Lords. Until I could ascertain I could trust the newly born monster, it was best to have another monster to escort me. And given that fallen angels tended to be highly intelligent and also have distorted personalities, having a guard was truly advised.
Kuina was particularly suited to guard me in these situations. She had great deal of resistance against all kinds of magic to the point she was immune, and her use of illusions gave her the capability to see through other’s illusions.
"Oto-san! Kuina’s done packing! I can move anytime"
Kuina’s room was perfectly tidy, and her belongings were packed into boxes.
We were going to move to our new home in the [Recovery Room] tomorrow, so all of us have been quite busy with packing lately.
"Glad to know you’re ready. So, Kuina, I plan on making a new monster right now, and I was wondering if you could stand ready nearby?"
"’Kay! Understood! Kuina’s so excited to see the new little sister!"
"...there you go again, arbitrarily declaring right away it’s going to it’s going to be a girl."
I mean, the number of my male subordinates have been growing recently, you know. Duke’s a man; the Darkness Dragons are mostly males; and about half of the Abyss Howls are males too.
"But, Oto-san, whenever you synthesize with [Creation], it always turns out to be a girl like us. Oh, are you going to make a kid like Tiro this time as well?"
Appearance-wise, Tiro was a large dog. Kuina was most likely asking if the next monster I would make was also a beast-type one like Tiro.
"No. I plan to make a fallen angel this time, so it’ll be more like you than Tiro."
"Then, I’m sure it’ll be another cute little girl! Kuina should prepare a gift! Maybe dresses that I don’t wear anymore will look great on her."
The results thus far being what they were, I couldn’t say much back.
If being male would be best for the new monster, I had no qualms making it male. In order to pull the right kind of monster during synthesis using my [Creation] though, I couldn’t afford to have so many conditions set. That being the case, I always prioritized the monster’s ability over anything else. That unfortunately meant I wasn’t consciously choosing the monster’s sex.
...but wouldn’t that mean I subconsciously want them to be girls?
"Anyway, let’s go. I was thinking of making the monster in the dungeon proper."
"’Kay! Oh, I bet Tiro wants to be there too! Oto-san, you go on ahead; Tiro and I’ll meet you there!"
"Alright. I’ll wait for you two then"
Tiro had grown greatly attached to Kuina.
...the demon hound of hell that would chase its prey to the ends of space and time was now not unlike a house pet.
◇
After a while of waiting in the dungeon proper, Kuina arrived riding on top of Tiro.
Tiro was a large hound with blue fur and a long, slender, tongue. She must be excited for the about-to-be-born monster because her tongue was out and she was breathing quite roughly.
"Tiro-chan, you’re about to have a little sister! Let’s take good care of her, ok?"
"Gaugau!"
Tiro, the youngest so far, seemed quite excited to have a little sister.
Better get to it then. Time to make the newest S rank monster in Avalon: the ultimate fallen angel.
...to be honest, aside from the possibility that fallen angels might be exclusive to the [Despair] medal, I wanted to make one just in case I do get into a fight with Belial. If the other side was going to have a fallen angel as one of its trump cards, having one of my own but of a higher rank should help me to deal with it.
In my hand were three medals.
[Despair]: a powerful medal that has the ability to reverse a monster’s nature
[Creation]: in order to make a fallen angel, I was going to make it transform into a [Holy] medal
[Planet]: after I transformed my [Creation] into this and made Aura, I unlocked the ability to make imitation medals of it. It has the power to govern over nature, which should prove useful to an angel safeguarding the world.
"Alright, let’s begin."
I closed my hand and grasped tightly the three medals I held. Light, furious light, then seeped through my closed fist. And when I opened my hand, the light escaped.
Like that, I made [Creation] transform into [Holy]. It then interacted with [Planet], thus revealing to me myriad possible outcomes between the two. The compatibility between the two being so excellent, these possible monsters that flowed in and out of mind were for sure and certain powerful monsters.
I searched and searched, looking higher and higher through the hierarchy of angels. After all, the holier and the higher in hierarchy the angel was, the powerful it would become once it falls.
The combination of the two medals alone could already produce a powerful monster, but I wasn’t over yet. It was now time to add the last ingredient: [Despair].
This was now the tricky part. It was time to reverse the monster’s attribute. What once was supposed to be a being of compassion and love who nurtured each and every life in the world would now be a force of destruction and calamity.
If I make even one mistake during this step though, the power of [Despair] would annihilate the combined powers of [Holy] and [Planet], thus weakening the monster.
"There! You’re the one I’m looking for!"
The image in my mind became more detailed: an angel with black wings. A seraph who has fallen to darkness, lost its nobility, and became clad in dark light.
The stream of light flowing from my hand became particles and then formed a silhouette. Slowly, steadily, its true appearance was made clearer and clearer.
As part of the last steps, rather than choosing for it to have an already high but static level, I chose for it to have the ability to level up to a higher level at the cost of being born at level 1. I didn’t want it to be just strong, I wanted it to be the strongest. A static level just couldn’t provide that.
Just like that, the new monster was born.
I looked at the monster and examined it.
She was a breathtaking beauty. She was short, but her rather cold beauty prevented her from looking like a child.
Her skin was pale. So pale, in fact, that it was almost translucent.
She wore a provocative but still very much elegant black dress. It was a one-piece dress that covered her whole body except for a line in the middle, exposing the area below her neck, half of her ample breasts, and her navel.
Her most eye-catching feature, however, were her jet-black wings that were full of divinity.
I also used my Demon Lord powers to look at her Status. She had excellent stats and amazing skills. Without a doubt, she was at the summit of fallen angels.
In the next moment, she opened her eyes.
She was my monster, but it was still better to thread carefully here.
Fallen angels corrupted not only themselves, but also those around them. They could hold captive and manipulate members of the opposite sex with just their perfectly beautiful faces and some whispers. Even though a monster couldn’t harm or disobey their Demon Lord’s orders, so long as it wasn’t in violation of the above, making a puppet out of their Demon Lord was a real threat.
So, I took an additional precaution and took a step back.
And then, the fallen angel spoke.
"H-hello, your majesty! I, I’m Fallen Angel Raffaello. ...you know!"
All tension suddenly vanished.
The way she spoke gave me the impression that she was a cheerful kind of girl. Or maybe scatterbrained is more accurate?
Whichever it was, as soon as she spoke, the image I had of her before was shattered. Her beautiful and cold-looking face no longer distracted from her short stature. Thus, a phrase that have been on my mind ever since felt quite accurate to describe her now: a big-breasted loli.
Before all that, she has only said a few words, but I have so many questions already. Your majesty? Is that supposed to be me? Also, that "...you know!", it’s so out of place. But no, I should think on this later. For now, I should greet her.
The impression she gave might be a bit of a disappointment, but there was no doubt that her power was outstanding. The power that [Creation] and [Despair] granted was really something.
And so, a proper greeting was in order.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am [Creation] Demon Lord Procell. I am the Demon Lord that made you. Fallen Angel Raffaello, I expect great things from you. I hope you illuminate my path to domination with your dark light."
I said so with a smiling face and then extended my hand.
Since there was a bit of a distance between us, Raffaello hurriedly rushed over. Tried to, anyway.
When she was near enough, she suddenly fell. And she didn’t fall just anywhere; she buried her face right in my crotch.
Her face, up to her ears, turned bright red. She then hurriedly removed her head from my nether regions and tried to stand up. Again, tried to. Perhaps in her panic, she slipped and fell once more. This time though, the skirt of her dress was fully flipped inside out. Is it because she’s a fallen angel that her underwear is so... risqué.
"Waaa, so embarrassing. For that blunder, I’m sure of it, you’ll say something like ’what, are you braindead or something? It looks like you’ll be no use in battle. But perhaps you’ll do well in pleasuring me? Let me have a taste of you. You’re a bitch who likes suddenly burying her face in people’s crotches, so I bet you want this as well, don’t you?’. Oh, I can hear it already. ...you know"
"...are you an idiot?"
I unconsciously retorted so.
Where in the world would you find such an incompetent Demon Lord who will make use of an S rank monster as though it’s nothing more than a prostitute!? Also, was she just imitating my voice? That was supposed to be me?
After taking a breath, I extended my hand to her who was still on the ground.
"Listen, you’re strong. Like I said, I expect great things from you. Especially in battle. So, stop saying those weird things, alright?"
"Woah. I’m so glad to be born such a kind Demon Lord. I’ll do my best!"
Raffaello said so and then embraced me.
Of all my monsters, she was the first to be this ditzy, so I couldn’t help but worry that her excellent stats and skills might be like casting pearls before swine.
...But no. If she undergoes enough training, everything should be alright.
I convinced myself so.
"Oto-san, like I predicted, another adorable sister is born! Kuina will be sure to train you completely, Raffaello. Tiro will help too"
"Gaugau!"
Kuina and Tiro, who had been observing until now, seemed to be in high spirits.
Fortunately, I could leave Raffaello’s training to the very helpful Kuina. With Kuina’s tenacious, never-say-die style, Raffaello should be reformed. At least, enough to not worry me.
"Yes, I’ll do my best to be a reliable comrade!"
"Kuina’s training will be hard. Be sure to follow Kuina’s instructions!"
"Yes, teacher! ...you know"
A strange teacher-student relationship was thus formed.
"Kuina, take Raffaello to the [Crimson Cavern] and level her up. I want to see her abilities in action, so I’ll be coming along this time."
"’Kay! We’ll head there after doing some preparations. I’ll also ask Rorono-chan if she wants to come along. Determining what Raffe-chan’s weapon is going to be is important, after all."
Kuina have trained several of my monsters before. I dare say she had a talent in training others. Her being Avalon’s top monster really wasn’t just for show.
As for Raffaello, she nodded and sounded excited, but I noticed that her legs were shaking.
Can it be that an S rank monster is afraid of fighting an enemy?
It was certain that her stats and skills were magnificent, but my worry was whether she could make full use of it. Hopefully, in this trip to the [Crimson Cavern], that worry would be lessened, if not wiped out.