Stop him!"
Flashy magical spells slammed down against the earth like hammers. The demons were at a loss for words.
A scene commonly read about only in myths was being reenacted. Rays of magic, no, cannons bombarded the battlefield time and time again. The ground shook. A commander shouted as he struck the backs of his men. Stop him, he ordered.
But how exactly were they supposed to do that?
"G-General. The enemy forces are too powerful."
"Our second line of defense has already been breached... Our minotaur unit has been completely wiped out!"
All of the demons that were present were elite soldiers. Even if the battle seemed hopeless, they would gladly march forward. However, even these elite demon soldiers were taken aback by the spectacle unraveling before them.
A single human was running through the center of all of the raining spells. It looked as if he were simply sprinting down a boulevard. The human swung his greatsword around, unconcerned about the shower of magical spells and arrows around him. Each time his greatsword flashed, dozens of demons collapsed as their guts spilled out.
If they were ordered to lay down their lives, then they would do so. If sacrificing themselves meant that their side would achieve victory, then they would readily give up their lives.
However⎯⎯⎯stopping that human was absolutely impossible.
"You cowards. And you call yourselves His Highness the Great King's army?!"
The commander slit the throat of his own soldier. He was a person who had killed more allies than enemies throughout his entire life.
"Fight! Even if you die, do so after piercing him with your spear at least once!"
He raised his halberd up and shouted loudly. Once he did so, malice soon began to fill the demon soldiers. They got into formation with their fellow soldiers around them and advanced one step at a time.
"Fuck it! It's not like we can die twice!"
"It'll all be over as soon as we take that monster's head! Let's show them the pride of demons!"
"Kurub! Kuhub! Kuhla, kuruhub!"
The demon soldiers ran forward while letting out a cry that was unique to them.
They also have families. They have their own beliefs as well. They may look different, but that didn't mean they were any different to humans. Even the courage in the steps they were taking, despite knowing they were going to die, was the same. Thus, it was futile.
The fact that they could only die by my hands.
Was it because I was overwhelmingly powerful? For starters, yes. I am powerful. I didn't want to hide that.
Nevertheless, there was a gap between us which they couldn't possibly bridge. Therefore, no matter how bravely they marched, no matter how deranged they became after witnessing the heads of their comrades be severed from their bodies like a bunch of straw, they all met a violent death at the end of my blade.
Eventually.
"Kuh! For I, Baal, to fall by the hands of a mere human...!"
The Great Demon Lord Baal's dungeon had been completely breached in a blink of an eye. This was the very same place that was causing the entire continent to tremble in fear.
My cold greatsword let out a 'shunk' as it plunged into the Demon Lord's heart.
"Be at ease, Demon Lord."
I looked down at Baal.
The demon who was once known as the nightmare of the world and referred to as an unparalleled Great Demon Lord was dying. The grand labyrinth, with no less than 120 floors, had now degraded to being a slightly large cemetery.
"You were surely my greatest enemy."
"...."
"As a warrior, I'd like to express my respect to you."
"Khh."
Baal smiled bitterly.
"I see. So there was someone among the humans who still knows how to bear pride, huh?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"You are the one who had imposed that ideology onto us humans. To have pride. You were strong enough to do so."
"Hah! So the 5,000 years of this Baal's life was not pointless. ...My beliefs crossed the boundaries between species and even reached the humans. As a person who is doomed to perish, what else could I possibly hope for? Is there any other demon who has achieved something as great as this? No. There most likely is not...."
Baal closed both of his eyes.
"It was not a bad life."
Despite having been born as a mere lower-class demon, he managed to conquer the demon world. The king who had extended his reach to even the human world had reached the end of his life.
I gave a courteous bow toward the king's dead body.
A group of unique individuals ran up to me as I paid my final respects. An archmage, a knight captain, a thief, and a saintess, they were my companions who had stuck with me through thick and thin for more than 20 years.
"You bastard!"
The knight ran up to me first and put me in a headlock. 'It hurts! I said it hurts!', despite my cries, my words fell on deaf ears. He had spent nearly 10 hours on the battlefield until now. How he still had this much strength left was a mystery to me.
"Congrats, Lolita."
As the two men squabbled, the remaining three female members of the group finally arrived as well.
"Heh. I didn't think you would actually conquer Baal's dungeon! You really are impressive."
"What are you talking about? I knew that Lolita could pull this off since the very beginning. The Blessings of the Twelve Gods are with him."
The knight started to sulk and complained.
"Sheesh. You make it sound like this guy conquered the Demon Lord's castle all by himself. How can this widower enjoy himself in a dungeon when it's like this? Tsk."
Everyone laughed excluding the knight. How could you not laugh when a man who looked as if he had lived in a remote mountain area for over ten years as the neighbor of a bunch of bears was mumbling like that? As I watched this scene from afar, the reality finally started to sink in.
Ah, it's finally over.
I actually conquered Baal's dungeon.
The news of the Great Demon Lord's death struck the continent. Humans, regardless of their nationality and status, all cheered in unison.
Up until this moment, everyone had simply been awaiting the day the human world would come to an end. Dozens of armies were sent out under the pretext of capturing the Great Demon Lord's castle, but they all got wiped out. Most people had lost hope. However, a brave warrior's party, while leading a bunch of adventurers and mercenaries, managed to subjugate the Great Demon Lord.
The birth of a hero!
Festivities continued throughout the whole continent for 10 straight days. Ever since the day demonkind spread an infectious disease on the surface 20 years ago, every area that was occupied by humans felt like a funeral home. Those were wearisome days. Now the nightmare was over. Humanity celebrated as if they were finally compensated for those past 20 years.
The sound of cheering and laughter flowed throughout the city. There was a somewhat depressing side to these festivities as well. It was only natural. There were people who couldn't be rewarded. Many people had crossed the river from whence no one could return. The people of humanity laughed, cried, and laughed once more....
"Adventurer Lolita."
The Empress graced the festival with her presence in order to give praise to the hero. It wasn't just the Empress. All 12 of the sovereigns that rule over the 12 nations of the human world were also present. They all went around and gave their respects to the great hero.
"In small, you have only subjugated a Demon Lord, but, in large, you have saved humanity. Are all of the great sovereigns of this continent not here showing you their gratitude? Lolita. You will be respected by many as you live and your name will remain in history forever even after you pass on."
The Empress knelt down. She held up a sword in both of her hands. The other sovereigns knelt down as well in unison.
The numerous crowds of people around the event hall went silent. To think that the individuals who were above all people would kneel! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that since the beginning of history, there has never been an existence whom all 12 sovereigns of the continent would kneel to all at once. The masses were currently witnessing the birth of history before them.
I received the Empress' sword.
"Much obliged, Your Highness."
A large cheer echoed throughout the night sky of the Imperial city. The mages promptly shot fireworks of various colors into the sky. Lolita! Lolita! Lolita! ...The voices chanting the hero's name continued.
With this, I had conquered every single dungeon.
I was an adventurer among adventurers and there is no dungeon that I cannot beat.
At that moment, a voice came out from my speakers.
『You have conquered the hidden dungeon, Baal's Great Demon Lord Castle.』
『An unprecedented achievement! Congratulations. You have conquered all 72 dungeons.』
...I was only the greatest adventurer inside the monitor of my computer.
'I' let out a sigh.
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Author's Afterword
Please treat me nicely.
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TL note: Welp, the start is a lot different compared to the LN. A heatwave is sweeping across Korea this week, so I've been getting stressed somewhat easily. I'm doing my best to cope with that as I translate and also grind on FFXIV. Oh god. MMOs are life-consuming. I CAN'T STOP NOW. I probably should have mentioned that the WN of DD has no illustrations, so yeah. That's probably a big issue for some people since those illustrations really put the LN apart from other series out there. Hope you guys don't mind too much. I'm translating this as a type of closure since there's no way to know when the next volume of the LN will come out. Or whether it will ever come out or not.
In any case, I'll see you guys in the next chapter.