𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟖: 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

When I was enjoying my comfortable slumber, the alarm I had set went off.

In a wakeful reflex, I silenced it, restraining my urge to ask for five more minutes, and turned on the monitor.

ㅤ

It seems there was an anomaly in the dungeon.

An intruder had entered the first floor.

Ah, that’s right, as a measure against the survey team, I had changed the alarm condition to trigger for any intruder.

ㅤ

About this intruder.

They are one person.

She appears to be a little younger than me.

She feels older than Leif.

Probably around middle school age.

ㅤ

But, she’s not human.

From what I saw on the monitor, her skin is blue, she has horns, devil-like wings, red eyes, and black sclera.

But, the overall silhouette is human.

That’s the impression I got from her appearance.

By the way, despite her young appearance, she’s dressed rather provocatively.

ㅤ

The words “Succubus” or “Demon” crossed my mind.

Does that mean she’s associated with the Demon Lord’s army?

Well, the Demon Lord is said to be the king of monsters, so I’m not sure if she has anything to do with the Demon.

To begin with, I don’t even know if there’s a species called Demon in this world.

ㅤ

Well, for now, appraisal.

ㅤ

🔸🔸🔸

ㅤ

𝐃𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫　𝐋𝐯 𝟏𝟒𝟎

𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬

ㅤ

𝐇𝐏: 𝟏𝟑𝟓𝟔𝟎𝟎/𝟏𝟑𝟓𝟔𝟎𝟎

𝐌𝐏: 𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎/𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎

ㅤ

𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤: 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎

𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞: 𝟗𝟗𝟐𝟓𝟎

𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟒𝟓𝟓

𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: 𝟗𝟖𝟖𝟐𝟎

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝: 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎

ㅤ

𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥

ㅤ

[𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝][𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭]

ㅤ

𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬

ㅤ

[𝐇𝐏 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲: 𝐋𝐯 𝟗𝟎][𝐌𝐏 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲: 𝐋𝐯 𝟏𝟓𝟎][𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭: 𝐋𝐯 𝟏𝟏𝟎][𝐒𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: 𝐋𝐯 𝟏𝟐𝟎][𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜: 𝐋𝐯 𝟏𝟎𝟓][𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜: 𝐋𝐯 𝟗𝟎][𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜: 𝐋𝐯 𝟗𝟎][𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜: 𝐋𝐯 𝟖𝟓][𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝: 𝐋𝐯 𝟒𝟓][𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐋𝐯 𝟓𝟎][𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: 𝐋𝐯 𝟓𝟎][𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡: 𝐋𝐯 𝟑𝟎][𝐏𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐝𝐨 𝐃𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐋𝐯 𝟑𝟎]

ㅤ

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞

ㅤ

[𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝]

ㅤ

🔸🔸🔸

🔹𝘈w𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝘮 ― 𝘐𝘯d𝘶𝘭𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 “𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘷a𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴🔹

ㅤ

“. . .Whaaaat?”

ㅤ

This is strange.

The appraisal result looks glitched.

Did the appraisal function break?

Or am I still half-asleep?

It must be both.

It has to be both.

ㅤ

For now, I close the appraisal result and open it again.

The display doesn’t change.

I pull my cheek with all my might.

It’s super painful.

The display doesn’t change.

ㅤ

Ah, this is reality.

ㅤ

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”

ㅤ

I screamed.

What, what the heck is thiiiiiiiiiiis?!

Is it okay for such a creature, a super-creature so monstrous the word ‘monster’ feels too tame, to exist in this world?!

What’s with this average stat of 100,000?!

This is stronger than a gorilla, right?!

And on top of that, a dungeon master and a Demon Lord?!

I don’t understand anymore!

ㅤ

“Calm down. . .calm down, me. . .!”

ㅤ

If I panic and make a mistake, I’m dead!

With that single-mindedness, I repeatedly took deep breaths, using Parallel Thinking and Arithmetic Ability to seek a solution.

ㅤ

First of all, can I eliminate this threat, in other words, can I fight and win?

Impossible.

There isn’t a chance in a million.

Even if all the traps in the dungeon worked perfectly and I quickly learned magic, even if I were to fight wearing the Living Armor-senpai, I absolutely couldn’t win.

There’s no way I can win.

How can I beat such a super creature, stupid!

ㅤ

So, plan B.

Observation, that is, please just tour the cave and go home strategy.

There’s no doubt that the presence of a Demon Lord here has something to do with the Goblin Lord, who was a member of the Demon Lord’s army.

But, there’s no evidence that this cave was the scene of the Goblin Lord’s murder, it shouldn’t be!

Then, there’s not a zero chance that she might just leave!

ㅤ

[Hohou. A dungeon with no traps or monsters, quite innovative isn’t it!]

ㅤ

Such faint hope was shattered into tiny pieces by the voice of the Demon Lord, heard through the monitor.

So, the Demon Lord knows this is a dungeon.

The cause of being exposed must surely be due to the appraisal feature.

Since I possess a pseudo-dungeon creation ability, there’s no reason the Demon Lord can’t do the same thing as the Automata.

If the Demon Lord knows this is a dungeon, there’s a high chance she will come down to the lowest level!

Damn it!

So, it’s plan C!

In fact, I thought this was the only option from the beginning.

I recalled the Automata that was lying in a room of the inn.

ㅤ

The content of Plan C is simple.

If I can’t win by fighting, and I can’t escape, I have no choice but to negotiate and be let off the hook.

In other words, I’m going to negotiate with the Demon Lord using this Automata.

The moment this plan fails is when I will die.

Now is not the time to say, ‘All intruders must die, no exceptions.’

After all the effort to create the perfect sanctuary, I won’t let myself die!

I’ll do whatever it takes to survive and enjoy my peaceful hikikomori life!

ㅤ

As I fit a mask to the Automata, I simultaneously appraised the Demon Lord’s unique skill and title.

For the negotiation, I need as much information about the opponent as possible.

ㅤ

🔸🔸🔸

ㅤ

𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝

ㅤ

𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬.

𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 [𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭] 𝐚𝐧𝐝 [𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜].

ㅤ

🔸🔸🔸

ㅤ

First, let’s start with the unique skill, Demon Lord.

It’s a reinforcement skill, similar to my Grand Magic-senpai.

However, I think its rank as a skill is probably higher than Grand Magic-senpai’s.

After all, it not only boosts status, but also comes with two cheat skills.

ㅤ

🔸🔸🔸

ㅤ

𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭

ㅤ

𝐀 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.

𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

ㅤ

🔸🔸🔸

ㅤ

𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜

ㅤ

𝐀 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜.

ㅤ

🔸🔸🔸

ㅤ

Both are dangerous.

The effect of Dark Fighting Spirit is buff + attribute attack.

In terms of classification, it’s similar to the hot-blooded zombie’s [Fist of Passionate Youth].

In fact, just the thought of the already high stats of the Demon Lord getting even higher makes it all seem hopeless.

ㅤ

And there’s not much description about Dark Magic.

However, given that it’s a superior magic, it’s probably much stronger than ordinary magic.

Although it’s slightly different, I guess it’s like the grandpa zombie’s [Ice Prison Magic Staff].

In the sense that dangerous magic will come flying at me.

ㅤ

Then, the main issue.

The title of [Demon Lord].

ㅤ

🔸🔸🔸

ㅤ

𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝

ㅤ

𝐀 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝’𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 [𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝].

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

ㅤ

🔸🔸🔸

ㅤ

As a feature, it’s not much different from the title of Hero.

However, the appearance of the word [Demon God] makes Leif’s story seem more plausible.

ㅤ

And the Demon Lord’s castle.

Considering the Demon Lord’s race is the dungeon master, could that Demon Lord’s castle be the Demon Lord’s dungeon?

It’s quite likely.

ㅤ

In fact, the conditions to become a dungeon master are surprisingly complex, and the chances of a dungeon master being born incidentally are quite low.

This is definitely true because I learned it when I had time to organize the information given to me by the dungeon core.

ㅤ

But, looking at the description of the [Demon Lord] title, there’s a high possibility that the Demon Lord was chosen by the Demon God and became the master of the Demon Lord’s castle, in other words, a dungeon master.

I don’t know why being chosen by the Demon God makes one a dungeon master, but it’s much more persuasive than being told that such a super creature was born naturally.

For now, this is all the information I can gather.

Now, I just have to combine this information with the information I’ve learned so far and somehow get through the negotiation!

ㅤ

Having made up my mind to retrieve the Automata using the transfer function, I saw Leif sleeping in another bed in my field of vision.

Oh yeah, he’s here.

He knows more than me, so he might be helpful in negotiations.

Even a success rate of 0.1% is better, so I’d like to take him with me if possible.

Besides, it would be a hassle to collect him if I left him behind in the city.

I wonder if there is any way I can send him with the transfer function.

ㅤ

While I was thinking about it, it turned out to be something quite normal.

Slaves seem to be treated as underlings of the dungeon, or as items.

Probably, the cause was that I had poured the Automata’s magic into the slave mark when I made the slave contract.

So, I shake and wake up Leif’s shoulder.

And then one word.

ㅤ

“We’re leaving.”

ㅤ

Just saying that, I activated the transfer function without any argument.

Now, I have to get ready to welcome the demon lord before she enters the second level.

---