This world was different from Cross Reverie. There was no login screen or menus to navigate, so he had no way of starting from his personal space.
“Such kindness! But it is fine, my Master!” Rose said, swaying and wiggling where she stood. “If it will quell your anger, Rose will gladly subject herself to any punishment! Tear off Rose’s arms, crush Rose’s head; whatever you see fit! No matter what my Master desires, Rose will, Rose will!”
Rose’s expression took on a more flushed, ecstatic expression than one would probably expect out of someone discussing their own punishment. Her breathing was erratic, too.
Diablo was a bit creeped out by her behavior, but a Demon Lord would never falter at the words of a maid. He shrugged with feigned composure.
“Didn’t I tell you not to pay it any mind?”
“Y-Yes! Of course. Pardon Rose for her behavior. Punish Rose however you see fit for this transgression! Preferably physically!”
—Why is she so fixated on getting punished!?
“Hmm, Diablo...” Rem asked, eyeing them suspiciously. “May I ask what type of relationship you have with her? Forgive me if this is, hm, a personal question...”
Her words seemed uncharacteristically cold. And just as he was trying to think of a good way to explain, Rose answered the question with her index finger held up.
“Hehehe... Why of course, Rose exists to service the Master. Every finger and digit, every nook and cranny of Rose’s body, each and every strand of hair—all of it exists to satisfy the Master.”
“...I’m sure we can all see how...earnest, your loyalty is. But I asked Diablo, not you.”
Even though she had seen how powerful Rose was just moments ago, Rem still faced off against her unflinchingly. Diablo was impressed with her courage and nerves. The two glared at each other.
“If she weren’t one of the Master’s guests, Rose would have carved her to bits with 《Asterismos》...” Rose whispered under her breath.
“...You are Diablo’s servant, while I am his companion. It goes without saying which one of us is higher, no?”
Rose clicked her tongue sullenly. The Asterismos she mentioned was the giant, dual-bladed sword she had wielded earlier. The sword had twelve unique techniques that traced the constellations... Or so the setting went, but it was unreleased in the game proper.
Diablo couldn’t believe it was capable of slaying a Large Black Dragon. If this was ever implemented in-game, it would have totally broken the balance of personal dungeon raids.
Diablo suddenly recalled how Rem and Shera would argue all the time when he had only just met them. They still quarreled, but by now it had become less “actual” arguments and more friendly little squabbles.
“Enough of this foolishness,” Diablo said, cutting between Rem and Rose. “We haven’t the time to discuss the past; we have more pressing issues to attend to. Rose, does my treasure vault still exist?”
Her explanation was convincing enough, so he decided to stick with that. Rem and the others looked like they still had plenty they didn’t understand and wanted to ask, but they didn’t cut into Diablo’s words, for they realized what Diablo was trying to prioritize at that moment.
They had to dispel the Death Knell disease from Lumachina’s body. If they didn’t get the item, there was no point to coming this far.
“Of course, the treasure vault is perfectly intact. Please follow Rose.” She motioned deeper into the chamber.
†
The door behind Diablo’s throne led to a vast, empty void that seemed to spread out endlessly. No one would believe something like this was buried beneath the desert. Maybe this place operated on the same logic as Diablo’s pouch, where It was magically connected to somewhere else, or maybe the void itself was created by magic.
Countless rows of stone pedestals were lined up in the void, spreading out as far as the eye could see. An item was placed over each pedestal.
Rem narrowed her eyes. “...This place looks like a graveyard. Did you make this, too, Diablo?”
He shook his head in response. “In the other world, all I had to do was specify what I wanted and it would be delivered to me immediately.”
“Wooow, that sounds like you were a king!” Shera exclaimed.
“Of course. I am a Demon Lord, after all.”
In other words, in the game, all he had to do was pick an item from his storage’s list, but he had no intention of going into the specifics of that.
Looking at the countless items, Diablo was overwhelmed by the sheer number. There should have been some feature to sort them by their type and their rarity...
“Hmm...”
“Are you looking for something in particular, Master?”
“I need the White Ox Statue.”
It was a prize from a limited-time event, and was categorized under “Important Items.”
“That should be over there, then.” Rose nodded. “Please follow Rose.”
—All right, she remembers where it is! Rose, you’re so useful! I’m sorry for calling you a Roomba when I only just got you!
“I permit it. Show us the way.” Dancing a little victory dance in his mind, Diablo nodded in a solemn, Demon Lord-esque fashion.
“As you wish, my Master.” Rose bowed respectfully and began leading them through the vault.
Soon enough, Diablo detected a familiar item resting on one of the pedestals. It was an ivory-colored statue of a calf, shining with a faint light. He wanted to rush forward and grab it, but...
—No, I can’t. A Demon Lord would never do that. Calm down.
Diablo was role playing as a Demon Lord. If he didn’t pretend to be someone else, he would be unable to talk to anyone. If he tried to talk with his own voice, he would only stutter and choke on his words. The memories of all his past failures would rear their ugly heads, taking away his ability to think properly.
—Right now, I’m the Demon Lord Diablo. Keeping up appearances like this is important.
Only a novice adventurer would be jumping for joy after finding the treasure vault. Diablo was above that. He put all his will into not hastening his gait as he approached the pedestal.
“Heh... All this trouble for this foolish item.” He snorted with the haughtiness one would expect from a Demon Lord.
“Is this it, Diablo?” Rem asked.
“Indeed.” Diablo nodded. “This is the White Ox Statue.”
Finally! Everyone raised their voice in a cheer. Shera and Horn’s eyes shone with excitement, while Lumachina got on her knees and brought her hands together in thanks.
“...How are we supposed to use it?” Rem asked.
“Hmph, you don’t know?”
—I’m actually just as clueless as you are.
In Cross Reverie’s story, all the White Ox Statue did was glow. As it often happened in games, the screen flashed white which served as substitute to the cutscene, and after that a dialogue with the NPCs that were healed of the plague popped up, where they thanked the players for their heroism.
“Hm... I think I know how to use it.” Lumachina stepped forward.
“I would expect no less of you. Go forth and use it. I allow it.”
Not letting the surprise show on his face, Diablo stepped aside, allowing Lumachina to approach the statue. Lumachina placed a hand on the White Ox Statue’s head.
“I can feel it... This warmness... It is of the Lord’s power.”
Lumachina closed her eyes. What went through the depths of her heart right now? Diablo had no way of knowing.
A white glow emanated from the statue.
“Wow...” Shera leaned forward, gazing at the spectacle before her with wide open eyes.
Rem, in contrast, took a step back and observed the ritual cautiously. Horn hid behind her, visibly frightened.
Diablo observed things unfold with an air of composure, trying to stifle his anxiety.
—I’m pretty sure it’ll go well, but I’m still nervous.
Would the st
atue have the same effect as in the game?
“Ngh...” A pant escaped Lumachina’s lips. Her cheeks gradually became more flushed, and beads of sweat appeared on her pale skin. “Ugh... Aaah... Aaah... Nnngh...”
A shiver ran through her body. Her free hand, that wasn’t touching the statue, cradled her abdomen.
“Nnngh... Aaah...”
“Are you all right?” Diablo asked.
Lumachina nodded. “Yes. I can...f-feel God’s presence... He is very close by...”
“I see.”
So she can feel His presence...
A black fog began seeping out of Lumachina’s body.
“Aaah... Hng!”
The fog seemed to be seeping quite thickly from the slit of Lumachina’s dress.
“Aaagh... I-It’s hot!” Her moans were mixed with anguish.
“Are you OK, Lumachina!?” Shera rushed to her side, lifting her skirt up.
Death Knell disease was a fatal condition. This was an emergency, and could be considered a sort of medical treatment, so it would be crazy to see this as indecent.
Calming himself at the sudden change in the situation, Diablo kept his gaze fixed on the two, swallowing his saliva in anxiety.
Shera flipped up Lumachina’s skirt, exposing her inner thighs, where the marks of the Death Knell disease had surfaced.
“Oh... I think they’re getting fainter!”
“Ngh... Aaah... Yes... This statue is...filled with God’s power... Nnngh!”
Lumachina’s body twitched and writhed. Shera supported her back, keeping her from collapsing.
“Keep going, Lumachina!”
“Y-Yes!”
“Look, you can hardly see the marks anymore! Just a little more and you’ll be cured, I’m sure!”
Shera stroked Lumachina’s thigh, near where the marks were fading away. Lumachina’s body reacted immediately, jolting as if it had been struck with electricity.
“Aaah! Th-That place... It’s sensitive...right now!”
“Oh, sorry!”
“B-But I think...it’s starting to feel...better...”
“Really? Th-then, how about this? Does this hurt?” Shera caressed Lumachina’s skin gently.
Lumachina inhaled sharply. As if concentrating on the touch of Shera’s fingers, she stabilized her breathing.
“Ngh... Mgh... Aaah... Aaah... Ngh!”
“How’s that, Lumachina?”
“When you touch me...it tingles...really hard...”
“That kinda sounds what it feels like when someone is sending magic into you.”
“I am... Aaah... Receiving God’s power...after all... Ngh...”
“Yeah! I can tell, the light is going inside you, and it’s flushing out all the icky dark stuff!”
Shera could see the flow of magic in things. While it was hard to tell from her usually slow-minded conduct, she was actually a genius when it came to these matters.
Her fingers combed Lumachina’s skin gently, and each time they did, the High Priest moaned coquettishly.
“I-I can’t stand...anymore...”
Unable to maintain her balance any longer, Lumachina’s knees looked like they were about to buckle, but Shera embraced her from behind, supporting her.
“Just a bit more, Lumachina! Just a little, teeny bit more and all the bad stuff will go away! It’ll all go far, far away!”
Shera’s slender white fingers gripped Lumachina’s inner thigh, where the marks of the disease were, squeezing on the skin forcefully.
Lumachina’s back bent like an arch, then—
“Aaah! Ngh! Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!” A high pitched scream escaped her lips.
Diablo could see it clearly: A lump of black magical energy escaped Lumachina’s body, as if driven out by the white light. The White Ox Statue absorbed the ominous lump of magical energy, then the statue’s glow gradually waned.
It was over.
Lumachina lay exhausted, her limbs outstretched. Even Shera, who had supported her, looked completely drained of strength.
†
Diablo caught the two, supporting them.
“Are you all right?”
“Lumachina fell asleep. I think she’s fine now.”
Lumachina’s breathing was calm and relaxed. Diablo couldn’t detect anything wrong with the flow of magic in her body.
“I see. So it is done.”
“Yep! The curse is all gone now,” Shera said happily, pulling up Lumachina’s skirt.
True enough, her inner thigh was white and unblemished. The dark purple marks were all gone, which meant the Death Knell disease had been completely dispelled.
—We can breathe easy...
It had taken a lot of hardship to achieve this, and Diablo perfectly understood how happy this must have made Shera, but...
With Lumachina’s skirt pulled up, he could see not just her inner thighs, but her panties, too. If she wasn’t asleep, she would probably be screaming in a panic right now.
Soon after she had moaned like she did, her panties were right in Diablo’s line of sight. Maintaining his calm was incredibly difficult. He’d been traveling with Rem and Shera ever since he arrived in this world, but he had no prior experience when it came to interacting with girls. Frankly speaking, this was far too stimulating for him. But blushing like an inexperienced boy was something no self-respecting Demon Lord would ever be caught doing.
Diablo turned to Rem, trying to hide his embarrassment.
“We’ve finally sorted this out.”
“Oh... Ah, yes. I knew you would come through for us, Diablo,” Rem replied.
Her face was red as a beet, and she was rubbing her thighs together. Maybe she was embarrassed from seeing Lumachina, too.
Horn, who was standing next to her, was in a similar predicament, with her eyes more moist than usual.
“U-Um... C-Can you tell me where the toilet is?”
—The toilet!?
Diablo never thought of adding one to the dungeon when he planned it in the game. He didn’t think a Demon Lord’s dungeon would require such a thing.
—A toilet over here, a bathroom over there...and a kitchen would be nice right around here... As if! That’d be a Barbie doll house, not a Demon Lord’s dungeon!
But he couldn’t say that after all this time, now could he? But he’d probably need to use a toilet himself at some point, too.
He turned to Rose; a Magimatic Maid would probably be the right person to ask about this.
“Heh... A foolish question, isn’t it, Master?” Rose smiled coldly, looking down on Horn. “Such a filthy facility has no place in a Demon Lord’s dark abode.”
“Whaaa!? Demon Lord lairs sound pretty scary to live in!”
Horn wasn’t the only one complaining; Shera and Rem looked horrified as well. Diablo was also perplexed.
—I can’t believe this! I should have set a toilet here back when I made it... Next time, I’ll include one on every floor.
Horn, her face pale as a sheet, looked around desperately...then grabbed a large silver goblet from one of the pedestals. In terms of size, it was more a vase than a cup.
“This! This! Can I borrow this!?” Horn begged with a severe, desperate expression.
“S-Sure.” Diablo had no choice but to oblige; he had a feeling something terrible would happen if he didn’t.
Horn ran off to a distant corner, out of earshot, and hid between the pedestals.
Rose frowned, knitting her brows. For a mechanical doll, her expressions were incredibly detailed.
“Are you certain that was acceptable, Master? Wasn’t that...?”
“I am well aware of what that was. But I have no need of it anymore.”
—That was an item I got from a collab. It had a pretty flashy name, too...
《The Holy Grail》.
If he recalled correctly, the item description went something like this:
“Those who answer the Holy Grail’s query correctly will receive the heavens’ divine bl
essing.”
Diablo tried his hardest not to think about how Horn would put it to use.
“Rose cannot fathom why you would lend your treasures to such a lout...” Rose said, still discontent with the situation.
“So be it. I’ve been meaning to lend my equipment to these people, anyway.”
“What!? You will let your precious collection fall to the hands of these miscreants!? Impossible! Your possessions belong to no one but you, Master, and Rose’s role is to manage—”
“Them having better gear to defend themselves would make matters easier for me. ‘These belong to no one but me,’ no? I am free to use them as I see fit.”
“Ngh... As you wish, Master...” Rose bowed, grinding her teeth all the while.
Diablo placed his hand on her head, and stroked her hair gently. It was silky, soft, and pleasant to the touch.
“I’m grateful for your help, Rose. If it weren’t for you, just finding what I came here for would be a challenge.”
Rose stiffened, her shoulders jolting as if in shock. Diablo then recalled something he read on the internet once, about how one mustn’t touch a girl’s hair without permission.
—Wait. Even if she’s a mecha-maid, Rose is still a girl... Would that make this sexual harassment? Then, does that make me a molesting Demon Lord...? Did I screw this up big time!?
That said, apologizing to a servant for sexual harassment didn’t feel very Demon Lord-like. He’d have to think of a way to talk his way out of this.
As Diablo was struggling to think of something, Rose raised her head to meet his gaze. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were virtually glittering with elation.
“Rose will do anything you wish, Master!” she said with a shrill, animated voice.
Diablo nodded in response. He didn’t really understand what just happened, but it looked like she was pleased, one way or another.
Having settled matters with Rose, Diablo turned to Rem and the others. “I’ve kept you lot waiting. Now come! I will grant you my treasures.”
Surprise filled the girls’ eyes.
†
“A pity I haven’t any Summons I can lend you.”
Diablo wasn’t a Summoner, so he didn’t have any Summon Crystals in his possession. While it didn’t quite constitute for a replacement to better Summons, Diablo was able to prepare some light armor that would fit Rem.
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 5 Page 13