Chapter 109 – Laplace ⑥

200　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0536

Nice to meet all of you senpai-sama.

201　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0013

Oh?

202　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0115

Oh?

203　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0077

Oh?

204　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0027

I was gonna call out Sati and Iiko for being twins, but now Nana is turning it into triplets!? lol

205　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0007

>>200 Excuse me, but have you read >>1?

206　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0536

I’m participating based on what I’ve read, but what about it?

Are you going to test me in some way as well?

207　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0007

Looks like this newcomer is quite confident in himself.

Let’s see…if you’re an upper class demon, your reign must be going well?

208　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0027

Ah! There it is! Seven’s newbie teasing! rofl

【Reign】…You’re talking about 【Reign】 ― the special ability acquired when growing to level 10, right? It’s kind of hard to say that level = number of sectors, but it might be unlikely for there to be any upper class Demon Kings below level 10.

209　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0536

Unfortunately, I have no experience with reign.

Right now I’m focused on competing with the Demon Kings around me.

210　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0007

Okay. >>Post 209 seems to have the qualifications to be called an upper class Demon King.

211　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0013

That means, a newcomer for the first time in a good while.

212　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0056

I guess it’s time for the customary naming then.

213　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0027

If it’s naming time, it’s my turn, right? lol

Umm…let’s go with Gosam or Saburo. rofl

214　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0027

Well, that doesn’t leave much of a choice, does it? lol

>>209 is Saburo. It’s settled. lmao

215　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0056

Nina, don’t spam.

Saburo? Has my username been exposed?

216　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0007

Saburo-san, were you surprised by the sudden development?

As a matter of fact, there are only a few Demon Kings that qualify to be categorized as upper class Demon Kings. Those posting here are limited.

That’s why we have been using temporary names, based on the suggestion of Nina…ID0027.

217　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0056

After all we can’t reveal our actual names.

By the way, I’m Goro.

218　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0013

I am Sati.

219　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0115

Iiko here… Fuck! I got stuck with such a weird name.

220　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0159

I’m Ikoku. It’s something like a screen name

221　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0031

Sai. Best regards, Saburo-san.

222　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0077

Nana here, nice to meet ya.

223　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0007

I’m Seven. Should we meet in the real world, we will kill each other, but inside 『Laplace』, please do as you see fit.

224　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0027

I’m Nina rofl. It’s the coolest name of the whole bunch, right? lol

The eight Demon Kings, that spend all their time in the Upper Class Demon King Lounge, introduce themselves with their temporary nicks one after the other.

Going this far, even I would notice. It’s a naming system that uses simple parodies of their ID numbers.

Rather, these guys have ignored my will on this…and simply stuck the name Saburo¹ to me. Even though Gosam² would have been better…

Well, whatever. It’s just a temporary, insignificant name.

225　Anonymous Senior Demon King　ＩＤ：0536

I’m Saburo. I’m a newcomer, but I hope you’ll all look out for me.

In the end I accepted that disgraceful handle.

226　Anonymous Upper Class Demon King　ＩＤ：0007

Even though you asked them to look out for you, seeing how this forum works, anyone can browse this thread.

It’s not the secretive discussion that everyone seems to expect it to be.

227　Anonymous Upper Class Demon King　ＩＤ：0055

They could implement a locked forum, no?

228　Anonymous Upper Class Demon King　ＩＤ：0031

Since administrator-san doesn’t wish for the Demon Kings to conspire with one another, that’s kind of impossible, don’t you think?

229　Anonymous Upper Class Demon King　ＩＤ：0077

At most, the posts are idle chats lacking any real substance.

230　Anonymous Upper Class Demon King　ＩＤ：0027

All you gotta do is provide some special information then. rofl

231　Anonymous Upper Class Demon King　ＩＤ：0159

Such a careless Demon King won’t be able to participate in this place. lol

This is the Upper Class Demon King Lounge that I joined after resolving myself, but it doesn’t look like I can gain anything in particular from it. If anything, I only learned that there are more than 536 Demon Kings participating in 『Laplace』.

Afterwards, I skimmed through all kinds of threads, but I didn’t see any information more valuable than the knowledge I can obtain from Kanon. Most of them consisted of idle chatting, but I managed to grasp several trends among Demon Kings and the humans that come attacking.

Since there are many participating Demon Kings…I suppose I will check it regularly from now on.

There was little to gain, but I ended up wasting a lot of time without noticing.

◆

Three hours remain of the 《Pseudo-Peace》.

“Shion-saaan! I discovered a Demon King fitting your specifications.” (Kanon)

Kanon comes flying over with a smile plastered all over her face.

“A Demon King fitting my specifications…? Ah, an Alchemy-specialized Dwarf, huh? You were looking for one of those?” (Shion)

“Yes! Wait, it was you who told me to look for one.” (Kanon)

Kanon protests while sulking.

“So, where’s this Demon King? What’s their level? How many sectors do they rule?” (Shion)

“The Dwarf Demon King is in Hakui. There was another one in Nomi, but…Hakui would be better, right?” (Kanon)

“Indeed.”

Hakui is a city located north of my Domain. It agrees with our expansion direction. In contrast, Nomi is a city located south of my Domain. Right now I don’t want to expand my Domain towards the south.

“Their level is unknown, guessing from the information about the target, weapons that seem to be Dáinsleif and Volcano have been confirmed.” (Kanon)

Dáinsleif is the unique sword I gave Rina. Volcano is a unique hammer that burns brightly like a torch. Both are items that can be created starting with Alchemy B.

“What is the number of sectors in their Domain?” (Shion)

“Three. Their scale is small, but it seems to be a Domain with a Hazard rank A, famous for being impregnable in Hakui.” (Kanon)

“Come to think of it, dwarves aren’t only good at Alchemy, they’re sturdy too, aren’t they?” (Shion)

“Oh? You are quite well-informed.” (Kanon)

I recall the content of 『【In One Stroke】 Comprehensive Dwarf Thread part3 【Put Your Soul Into It!】』 that I browsed on 『Laplace』 earlier.

Dwarves are relatively superior in terms of sturdiness and physical strength, but I think they are bad at ranged attacks ― and especially magic attacks. Their subordinates excel in defense, but there were a few users lamenting that they had been beaten black and blue by ranged attacks once they set out on invasions.

――Kaede, come to me.

I summon Kaede through telepathy.

“Nn. What?” (Kaede)

In response, Kaede shows up in less than ten seconds.

I spread out the map and point at the location of the Domain ruled by the Dwarf Demon King Kanon told me about.

“Investigate the Domains in this area.” (Shion)

“Nn, got it.” (Kaede)

The distance from my Domain to the Dwarf Demon King’s amounts to roughly 30 km. Even if we move towards it in a beeline, there are 11 Domains in the way before we get there. If we were to invade all the Domains around it in a circle, we would need to invade more than 30.

The investigation of the Domains in my direct vicinity has already finished, but the information about the Domains in the vicinity of Hakui is still incomplete. I boast the strongest force within the prefecture, but I have to be wary of having the rug pulled out from under me. That’s why I have decided to order Kaede to investigate in advance.

“Ah, impossible.” (Kaede)

Kaede, who had vanished as quickly as she arrived, shows up once more.

“Impossible?” (Shion)

“After becoming your subordinate, Shion-sama, I can’t leave the Domain.” (Kaede)

Which reminds me, I still haven’t turned Kaede into my bloodkin.

I kill some time while chatting with Kanon until my CP fully recovers.

Chapter 110 – Rush for the North! …just when I started thinking that way…

Two weeks have passed since I added Yataro as subordinate.

Today I have joined Rina’s party. I’m excited to go on a raid and gain some experience points.

“Did you get used to sunlight?” (Rina)

“If you’re asking if I’m accustomed to it, I am. But I feel as sluggish as ever.” (Shion)

Rina, who’s walking next to me under the hateful sun, as it scatters ultraviolet rays, calls out to me.

At first I had planned to only join invasions of indoor-type sectors ― the so-called dungeon fields, but to my regret, there are only a few dungeon-type Domains. Even beneath the sunlight, my Body is still C rank. Having determined that it was more than sufficient as long as the battles were limited to lower ranks, I decided to participate in outdoor invasions, limited to Domains that had been thoroughly investigated in advance.

It was just a mental issue, but I came to feel that nighttime is normal and daytime is agony. However, nowadays I have reached the point where I can say that I am at my peak at night and slumping during the day.

The Domain we’re currently invading is ruled by a Beast Demon King. It’s a Domain that used a ruined, urban area as a motif for all of its sectors.

“Are you going to urge the Demon King here to surrender?”

“I’m planning to give it one try, at the very beginning.”

As opposed to the subordinates I can create, Demon Kings have high levels of personal ability and adaptability, but…it’s extremely difficult to recruit them as subordinates. If they don’t know about 《Surrender》, most Demon Kings will shake their heads when you tell them to present their 【True Core】. Even if they know about 《Surrender》, most of them will still refuse, as it requires them to give up authority over their very life, and accept a position of absolute obedience, essentially becoming my slave.

“Come to think of it, is it true that we will be able to improve our weapons if a Dwarf Demon King becomes our comrade?” (Rina)

“According to the information I gathered on a certain site, it seems possible to modify them to some extent.” (Shion)

“Fufu. I’m looking forward to the day when Hakui’s Demon King joins our group.” (Rina)

“Rina, you want to modify your weapon?” (Shion)

“The hilt’s length and thickness…moreover, it would be awesome if it’s possible to make it a bit lighter without sacrificing its cutting ability.” (Rina)

“I don’t know whether it’s possible to request such detailed alterations, but I sure want to add them as subordinate as soon as possible.” (Shion)

“Shion, you might also want to experiment with different types of spears in order to find the style that suits you best.” (Rina)

“I’ll give that a try next time.”

As we’re talking about weapons, excitement tinges Rina’s voice, and she’s unusually eloquent.

“Let’s clear the path towards Hakui for the sake of the Domain, and improving our weapons!” (Rina)

“Yeah, let’s.” (Shion)

As I’m giving a suitable reply to the passionate Rina…

――～♪

A rhythmic melody starts to play from my pants’ pocket.

A phone call? The only people who could call me are, Rina who’s next to me, Blue who’s with Chloe’s party, Kaede who’s scouting out our destination, or Kanon and Yataro, who are currently in my Domain. Only those five.

Saburou just knows my SNS account which originally allowed him to contact me through message-only, but since the messages he sent me were too childish, I blocked him.

Who could it be? I should have told them not to call me unless it’s an emergency…

I take the smartphone out of my pocket and check the name displayed on the screen.

Yataro…?

Yataro and I scheduled 《Random Creation》 day to be the seventh of every month. Today’s the 24th. If he has any business besides 《Random Creation》…

I answer the call in a hurry.

“Shion here. Is this an emergency!?”

『I’m sorry to contact you during the invasion. Yataro here. I suppose you could call it an emergency.』

“What happened?” (Shion)

『A powerful enemy ― a Demon King is invading us from the direction of Oyabe.』

――!?

A Demon King attacked? A Demon King being able to attack a domain basically means they can leave their Domain. Only a level 10 Demon King can do that.

“What’s the situation?” (Shion)

『Currently they are in the middle of clearing the second floor. I think it’s possible to defend if we deploy Izayoi, Saburou…and me together with all our forces, but…I thought that I’d like to hear your opinion first, Shion-sama.』

It was the correct choice to have entrusted the defense to Yataro. What Yataro wants my opinion on is…whether I want to add the Demon King as subordinate.

Yataro not only takes care of the defense, but also pays attention to the enlargement of our combat forces.

“How long are you going to last if you don’t use the bloodkin and Saburou?” (Shion)

『Under those conditions, ten days, I think. However, it might result in us losing many subordinates.』

“What if you defended using only the subordinates I can create?” (Shion)

『Even if I deploy the living mails, dhampirs, and a large number of ghouls, giant bats, and goblins, it will be eight days at most.』

“Do you have enough reserves?” (Shion)

『For several days, on the condition that we’re going to defend the other sectors as well.』

“Okay, as expected.” (Shion)

I sort the information from Yataro in my head.

Currently I’m on the third floor of a seven floor sector. Assuming we advance with a forced march, it should be possible to usurp the sector in around four days. If we were to pull back here, it would be possible to leave the Domain in two days.

I won’t be in time if I leave after finishing the invasion.

No, wait… Even if we were to succeed in the invasion, the Demon King of the Domain we’re currently invading is ruling over one more sector. In other words, 《Pseudo-Peace》 won’t come into effect. That part is no problem, but…I can guess that the Demon King attacking from Oyabe is above level 10 ― a formidable enemy.

Should I prepare perfectly for them?

Especially when urging them to become my bloodkin, it’s necessary to display an overwhelming superiority. In that case…

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