They could see him, the person they had trusted the most.
Gripping a menacing war scythe, the man laughed arrogantly.
“Heh, you think yourself a God with a mere level of 140? Don’t make me laugh, you overgrown newt!”
Rem couldn’t hold back the tears in her eyes as she cried out:
“Diablooo!!!”
†
“Dram One!” A hoarse voice echoed in Diablo’s mind. “Howev’r proficient thou may be at manipulating magic, to dare Us is the height of folly! Be did prepare to did cast thy brief candle hence!”
The Large Black Dragon had communicated telepathically, and, though he didn’t let it show, Diablo was internally surprised.
—Whoa, awesome! So this is what telepathy is like! It’s like one of those hallucinations I get after marathoning an event for days.
Putting that enthusiasm aside, despite all the bravado behind his taunt, Diablo was in terrible condition at the moment. For starters, his equipment was gone; in terms of both his weapons and armor, he was effectively fighting naked. And to top it off, his HP and MP were both greatly diminished. The prospects of fighting a level 140 monster in this state were terribly slim.
Diablo glared up at the dragon.
—There’s no way I could say that, though...
The fact that Rem and the others were still alive was a miracle in and of itself. When he had heard the sounds of fighting coming from the twelfth level, he could feel despair threatening to overcome him. On top of being level 140, Diablo configured the Large Black Dragon’s behavior to “Super Active,” so whenever it would find an adventurer, the dragon would always go all out in trying to defeat them. There was no room for coincidences with this monster. It would never happen to be asleep or not be in the mood to fight. And with his party’s levels, the dragon’s first attack would be all it would take to wipe them out.
It sounded like the fighting was pretty fierce. Did someone other than the girls fight the dragon? Whoever it was, thanks to them, Diablo had made it in time.
From where he was standing, he couldn’t see who was lying next to Lumachina.
“W-Whoa, boss...” Horn chimed in, peeking in from the shadow of the doorway. “I-It’s a dragon! I’ve never seen a dragon before!”
“They’re not that uncommon if you go deeper into the Demon Lord’s Domain. Though they are a bit more crafty compared to the magical beasts.”
“Th-That sounds like trouble!”
“Stop panicking. If you’re that scared, close the door. I’ll call for you when I’ve taken care of it. Its Acid Breath can affect you even behind cover; just breathing the acid in the air will burn your lungs.”
“Yikes!?” As instructed, Horn closed the door.
—Well, it’s not like I’m any less susceptible to it than she is.
An Elemental Sorcerer who was specialized in firepower was weak to AOE attacks. The Demon Lord’s Ring would deflect any spells, but a breath attack was considered a special ability.
However, Diablo had a fighting style reserved for fighting these types of opponents.
“Hmph... I’m in something of a hurry here. I haven’t the leisure nor the desire to waste my time on the likes of you, inferior Dragonkin.”
“Oh, thou dare fig Us. In yond case, as per thy wish, We shalt give thee death!”
Diablo was surprised the Dragon fell for the taunt. The monsters he had set on the other floors all acted as he configured, with one exception: when the monsters were excited by Shera’s singing.
Maybe it was because Dragonkin could talk, but the dragon’s reactions were even further removed from what he would have expected of an AI.
Diablo pointed his war scythe at the dragon.
“Come light, gather forth. Creep out from within the darkness, and punish those that oppose Providence—”
“Kick the bucket under the weight of thy hubris, Dram One!”
Flapping its wings, the Dragon rose into the air and began charging at Diablo, brandishing its massive claws.
Since Diablo no longer had Tenma’s Staff’s incantation time-shortening effect, casting spells took longer than usual.
—Make it in time, make it in time, I should make it... All right!
“《Hercules Lance》!!!”
A lance of light, roughly five meters in length, appeared in Diablo’s hand and flew onward, clashing with the dragon’s charge. With its large body, the Dragon had no way of avoiding it.
The opponent’s magic resistance was high, but Diablo’s level was higher. The excess magical energy would offset it, and Diablo had already confirmed he could damage the Dragon.
The level 120 light element spell—Hercules Lance. The spear of light pierced the dragon’s torso.
A tremble ran through the air.
“Heh, so you actually use your voice when you scream,” Diablo said, smirking.
“Such power! To bethink thy couldst pierce through Our scales!”
“True, I am powerful. But aren’t you too weak? I’d have thought you’d be stronger than that.”
The monsters in this dungeon were all the same level Diablo had set them to. It wasn’t like in other places where “they’re weaker compared to the game since they’re not used to fighting.”
Yet still, the Large Black Dragon wasn’t as strong as it should be. He had planned to use the Hercules Lance to threaten it and create an opening for a real finishing move, but he didn’t plan to deal this much damage with the equipment he had on.
It didn’t make any kind of mathematical sense that Diablo would deal this much damage with his current equipment. Only one explanation came to mind.
—Is it possible my level is above 150 now?
Even as he considered that idea, he continued maneuvering about, his movements and the timing of his spells impeccable thanks to the habits that had been ingrained into him from countless hours of playing Cross Reverie.
Setting it in an angle where it wouldn’t hit Rem and the others, Diablo unleashed yet another light element spell at the dragon. The Large Black Dragon was of the darkness element, so light spells should have done 50% more damage to it.
“You’re amazing, Diablo...” Rem said, her voice shaking in awe and amazement.
“We’re saved! He came to save us!” Shera cheered, embracing Lumachina with excitement.
“My Lord...I knew you would protect us...” Lumachina’s tears welled up in her eyes.
The dragon’s scales shattered, and brown, earth-colored blood scattered across the cave.
“Impossible. It cannot be! A dragon...losing to a Dram One!? Did push back by one of the races!? It cannot be... Hadst it been a group it would has’t been conceivable, but...”
“Heheheh... Do you still not understand? You are not facing a mere child of the races!”
“What...!?”
“I am Diablo! A Demon Lord from another world!”
“Ah!? Th-That name... Diablo...? We know of it... In the past, We has’t certes...known one who is’t go by yond name...”
“Oh...?”
Diablo couldn’t hold back his surprise. Maybe the dragon remembered having been set here by Diablo. Could it possibly have memories from the game...?
“Tell me, fool... Do these words ring familiar to you? The MMORPG, Cross Reverie.”
“Augh. We doth not wish...to kick the bucket...”
“Hmph.” Just as Diablo asked that question, he had launched a 《Thunder Axe》 spell at the dragon, severing one of its wings.
“We doth not wish to...kick the bucket...” The dragon stepped back unsteadily. “We mustn’t kick the bucket yet!”
“Didn’t you say something earlier about it not mattering if they die now or later?”
“We has’t yet to produce offspring... Thither is nay one...to inherit Our memories...”
“You utter fool...” Diablo said, lowering his war scythe.
Turning his back to the dragon, he refused to continue his attack and instead heaved a
heavy, morose sigh.
—I get it now. You’re a virgin too, aren’t you?
Diablo figured that, since the Dragonkin were so few in number, finding a mate must have been difficult.
The dragon fled to the back of the cave, leaving spots of its dark brown blood across the floor.
—It can’t fly anymore, after all.
But in the direction it was headed, a single girl stood.
“What!? No!” Diablo exclaimed in shock.
He had no idea who the girl was, but he had noticed her far too late. The Large Black Dragon glared at the girl standing in its way with bloodshot eyes.
“Doth not stand...in our way! We mustn’t kick the bucket! We cannot kick the bucket yet!”
The girl brushed up her violet hair, the expression on her face not changing in the slightest.
“Who approved your retreat? You are the twelfth floor’s guardian... Disobeying the Master’s orders is punishable by death.”
Diablo’s eyes shot open with surprise. Those clothes, that appearance...
He remembered her.
—It can’t be, is she...?!
“Move! If it be true thee receive in Our way, coequal thee shall not escape Our wrath!” the dragon threatened.
Black smoke billowed from its punctured throat and body. While its power was somewhat diminished, the dragon unleashed its acid breath onto the girl.
The girl swung the tools in her hands: a sword with dual blades extending from each end of it and a chainsaw with a blade made of shining energy beams. Weapons as far-removed and foreign as could be to this world’s middle-ages setting.
“It is time to clean, then.”
The moment the acid breath was about to hit the girl, it gradually began to dissipate; the sulfuric fog did not reach her.
“How dare thee, thou mere cleaning tool...!?” the dragon howled.
“So you would call Rose a tool... Very well. Rose has all the more reason to dispose of you, then. Master is the only one who may treat Rose as a tool.”
The girl who called herself Rose thrust her weapons into the ground. Having his breath blocked, the dragon resorted to swinging his claws at her.
“Thou shalt regret standing ’gainst Us, doll!”
Rose, who hadn’t changed her expression until now, gritted her teeth and bellowed, “Do not...call Rose...a doll!!!”
A massive sword appeared out of thin air, very similar in appearance to the sci-fi like sword the girl previously wielded.
A steel hand gripped the sword’s handle. It appeared armored, but Diablo noticed the hinges at its joints. Pipes ran through it like arteries, and Diablo could see symbols and letters, like the ones seen on a magic circle, carved on them. The symbols shined all the way to its fingers, as if they were distributing energy.
The mechanical arm moved, deflecting the dragon’s claws with the dual-bladed sword and pushing the dragon back with each slash.
“Oh... Oh... Oh!?”
“Hehe...hehe...hahahaha! You’re trying to beat Rose in a contest of strength!? You dumb lizard!”
The mechanical arm that hovered behind Rose was a part of her. It shattered the dragon’s claws and severed its scaled front legs, spilling copious amounts of blood on the ground as the dragon’s cries of pain once again shook the air.
“Inconceivable... To has’t did injure us this much...”
“For all your boasting, Rose thought your scales would be a little tougher than this. Rose will have you know she is only getting warmed up.”
“Wh...at...!?”
“Now! It is time for you to atone for your crimes with death! 《Crius》!!!”
The hand that floated behind her slashed the sword horizontally with ease, which should have been impossible given its weight. The sword moved so rapidly, Diablo found it hard to follow the edge with his eyes.
The wind shrieked and whistled as it was cut. The sword danced, shattering the dragon’s scales, cleaving its flesh, shattering its bones, and painting the cave with its brown blood.
Eventually the Large Black Dragon’s torso was split in half.
“Gah!”
“Be silent.”
To finish it off, she thrust the sword into the beast’s drooping head. With this, the dragon’s telepathy disappeared from Diablo’s mind.
Rose turned her gaze to Rem and the others.
“There’s still someone left? Rose is not the twelfth floor’s guardian, but there is still need of cleaning u—”
The girl’s emerald eyes met with Diablo’s. There was no doubting it—
He remembered her.
When he made his dungeon in Cross Reverie, Diablo set a certain piece of furniture in his “Demon Lord’s Chamber.” It was a piece one could buy with in-game currency, called a 《Magimatic Maid》. While it looked human, it was actually an automata that operated on magic...or at least, so said the in-game description. According to that same description, its combat abilities were supposed to be very high and it should have had many handy features, but none of that was implemented in the game. It would only wander aimlessly around the room with a vacuum cleaner in hand, which earned it the moniker of “Roomba” on the message boards.
Reminiscing of that time, Diablo was overcome with emotion.
“Do you remember those times, Rose?”
“Mas...ter...?”
“I am Diablo... No. Perhaps you would know me better as @Diablo-13.”
Rose froze in shock, the dual-bladed sword dropping from her hand and slamming against the floor with a powerful, ringing clamor. The mechanical arm that had hovered behind her disappeared silently.
Maybe in this world it acted like a Summon? It only existed in the game’s setting but was never actually put into use in-game, so Diablo had no way of knowing, but Rose’s strength was without a doubt exceptional. It was safe to assume she no longer had any desire to fight.
Diablo stepped closer to her.
“I’ve finally returned, Rose.”
Her shoulders trembled and her eyes widened in shock as beautiful, transparent tears rolled down her handsome cheeks.
She whispered back with a tremble in her voice, “W... Welcome back...my Master...”
Chapter 5: Changing Equipment
The thirteenth level—
“The Demon Lord’s Chamber”
“Hm.” Diablo surveyed the room, nostalgia filling his heart.
“...Disgusting.” Rem grimaced. “The place feels like we’re inside some huge creature’s body...”
“It really does...” Shera looked frightened, too.
Horn refused to move from the girls’ sides. She had covered her torso with a large cloth that Rem had carried along to serve as a blanket. Diablo was naked above the waist while Horn was completely naked. Explaining the circumstances behind that was pretty hard. The fact that Horn was actually a girl was without a doubt the most surprising part of the story...If they hadn’t been in the middle of a dungeon, and in a hurry to cure Lumachina’s Death Knell disease, they would no doubt be subjected to some rather ruthless questioning.
For having brought upon such an impressive miracle, Lumachina was exhausted, and had to borrow their shoulders to walk. Her good nature was beyond belief.
She had healed Gewalt, who came for her life, from grievous wounds. That same Gewalt had disappeared at some point while Rose and the dragon were fighting.
—Will a villain like him really repent?
There was still a chance he would come to kill Lumachina again. Staying vigilant of him would be wise.
Rose had taken the lead, leading them further into the chamber.
“Rose believes she just heard you criticizing the Master’s aesthetic choices, but...” Rose smiled ominously at the girls. “No, surely Rose’s ears are playing tricks on Rose.”
“...When you say ‘Master,’ you’re talking about Diablo, correct?”
“Why, of course.”
“...So this place is...designed by your tastes, Diablo?”
Rem asked, visibly baffled.
Keeping it hidden any further would be difficult. But how was he supposed to explain this? If he could have come up with a convincing explanation, he’d have done so days ago.
“This dungeon was located elsewhere before,” Rose began explaining, “but it was transported here, by some inexplicable power.”
“...Is that even possible?”
“Given that it actually happened, Rose would surmise it is. And when this dungeon existed in its original place, it was my Master who created it.”
“What!?” Rem fixed her gaze on Diablo in surprise.
Diablo felt cold sweat wash over him. He also felt smiling smugly over the achievement of conquering his own dungeon would only make this awkward.
They’re probably disgusted with him now. They no doubt think he’s a complete idiot, a cringy idol otaku.
“I see...” Rem nodded with a pensive, serious expression. “So that’s how you knew about all the traps... Yes, it makes sense.”
“You made this dungeon, Diablo!? That’s amaaaaaazing!” Shera exclaimed enthusiastically, her eyes positively shining with excitement.
He never expected them to react like that.
“But weren’t you lost earlier...?” Horn asked with a curious expression.
—Awww crap, they’re poking holes in my story now!
Diablo was flustered on the inside, but kept a straight face.
“The Master specified the internal design and the placement of the traps for each floor,” Rose explained. “It stands to reason he would not know of every single little passageway. Rose should have welcomed him at the entrance and transported him to the lowest level, in the first place...” Rose hung her head and ground her teeth in frustration. “Rose cannot believe Rose has failed to notice the Master’s joyous return... Rose is a defective failure of a maid. Please, dispose of Rose in any way you see fit.”
“Pay it no mind, Rose,” Diablo replied with a calm, collected tone.
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 5 Page 12