Chapter 443: The Predecessors

The crystal reflected the figures of the monsters sitting around a triangular table on the other side of the wall.

「What the hell was wrong with the meeting the other day!? It was more lenient than usual and they kept messing around! I have always thought the atmosphere at the meeting was very poor, but it has become even worse since that youngster Agalia was appointed to the first rank! I don’t understand why Vakala-dono gave up the first seat to that stranger!」

A large man wearing many layers of jet-black heavy armor shouted while slamming his fist on the table in front of him. Not only the armor, but his exposed skin, head, horns, and tail were pitch black, making it seem as if the armor and body were one.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

「Who is he?」

「He’s the eighth rank Seto, the king of the demon race. It seems that he’s armed all the time so that he can fight at any time. Just like how he looks, it seems that he’s a warrior type with a good defense.」

「That armor is a pretty rare thing, right…? *Drools*」

「Oi, Alezel, don’t try to wipe your drool with my robe! Alezel, as planned, I’ll leave Seto to you, who’s a good match for him, so you can strip him clean as much as possible. You weren’t eager to fight, but I hope you’re motivated now.」

「That’s perfect!」

She’s calculating as always.

「『Black Thread Armor』, please calm down. Elder Vakala probably has his own reason. Still, I agree with the opinion that he has mellowed than he was a generation ago. I could not see even a glimpse of his once overflowing spirits at this meeting. It is extremely regrettable.」

The one who lamented so was a spider, which was smaller than Seto but still big enough that we had to look up. About half of his eight limbs were holding staves with an ominous design, clearly showing his greediness. On the other hand, the place where the head of the spider was supposed to be was equipped with an iron mask. The fact that only the head was protected so tightly was as if to say that it was the weak point, but I also couldn’t help but felt that it was a trap.

「Deris, what about that spider?」

「He’s the seventh rank Darka Krusei, the owner of this castle. As you can see, he’s the pinnacle of spider-type monsters, and the black threads that were getting in the way seem to have been made by this guy. His tone is polite, but he’s brutal just like his nickname, the 『Lord Parricide』. Rumor has it that he has killed and eaten all hindrances, whether his parents or subordinates.」

「He’s a good match for the sneaky Deris, isn’t he? Ah, is that the reason why you chose Darka as your opponent?」

「That’s not it. Darka’s staves aren’t just for decoration. He can use magic repeatedly. He’s someone who uses magic and abilities cunningly, so I’m suitable as his opponent since I could read his thought the best, right?」

「It’s true that when it comes to trickery and deception, there’s no one better than Deris. I’m fine with it. Thanks to it, I can fight with the highest ranked one!」

Nell was being Nell as always.

「Kukakaka, well said, 『Lord Parricide』. As for me, I’m more dissatisfied with the 『Vampire Princess』 than the 『Old Skull』. Talking about the dresses and fashion, she’s completely used to human civilization. Above all, I don’t like her job. What the hell is an 『Idol』? Does she think she’s a god? She’s being too carefree that I’m worried about her head.」

The last one of the three Great Eight Demons was a slime-like creature―― well, I guess I don’t need to explain about this one. Yeah, she’s the main body of Aralkar, the exclusive training monster in the basement of Nell’s mansion. But at this time, she properly had an ego and she transformed a part of her body into the shape of a woman. The female-form part is the size of a normal human being, but the rest of her slime body is too much, so she looks like a giant slime attached below the knees of the human form.

「So, that last one is the sixth rank, huh.」

「Yeah. She’s the sixth rank Aralkar, the leader of slimes. She has immortality that even if the slime-like body is destroyed, if the cores that exist in the body are safe, she can revive many times. Furthermore, she can freely expand and harden her body. …… Also, slime isn’t supposed to have a gender, but for some reason, she’s forming a female body.」

「Does that mean she’s a shemale?」

「No, she doesn’t have a gender in the first place, so that categorization feels a little strange―― wait, now is not the time for that. As I said before, her main body is the cores inside the slime body. No matter how much you attack that female body, it will be meaningless. I want you to keep that in mind since you will fight her directly.」

「I can just burn down everything, right?」

「That’s, well, yeah…」

I know the end of Aralkar, so there’s no need to worry about Nell. Rather, I pity Aralkar’s clone since she would be trained to be Nell’s sparring partner after this.

「Anyway, there may be a difference in ability, but all of them are level 8 Great Demon Kings. You guys, don’t let your guard down, okay?」

「Who are you talking to? Deris, don’t sprain your leg in an important situation, okay~?」

「Ah, there was a time like that! When he was about to slam his staff, he hurt his leg in front of the enemy!」

「Sorry, please don’t shave my fighting spirit just before we go in….」

Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their lives. So I don’t think it’s good to keep blaming people for their mistakes. But well, if it’s your enemy, you can do it as much as you want.

「Well, now that we’ve done the final check, let’s get going!」

「Kay!」

「……? Alezel, what’s with that dialect?」

「What, you ask? It’s the Damaya dialect! I’m practicing now for the future, y’know!」

「I-I see…. By the way, it’s there a meaning in learning it? You sound suspicious when you use it, you know?」

「C-Calling me suspicious is terrible! The Damaya dialect was brought to us by the God Damaya, the god of business, to make negotiations smooth and peaceful! The unique language is easy to leave an impression on the business partner, and it has the effect of making it easy to get close to them――」

「――Okay, okay. I understand enough, so just show that fierceness in the battle. I was wondering why you were taking a dubious training course in Damaya, so it was for this, huh….」

As a side note, Alezel’s language became very unbalanced around this point, half standard and half Damaya. To be honest, I am still skeptical about the effectiveness of the Damaya dialect. However, it is also true that Alezel has actually become one of the world’s greatest merchants. Maybe it’s not just a superstition.

「Now, charge!」