Two months fly by in the blink of an eye when you are busy. During this time, I managed to slip some information and manipulate some things about the Demon Lord Ashborn and a demonic-looking castle that appeared on the continent.
A few rumors here and there, and it spread like wildfire. Humans took stuff like Demon Lords very seriously and made it a top priority to defeat me before I grew too strong. If I didn't have my shadows spy on them and their decision, I wouldn't believe how they could actually believe I was that weak.
My shadows also found out that the smaller kingdoms had joined forces to try and bring me down and should expect them in a few days. This is a good thing, as it would be enough for me to start the evolution.
But before that, I wanted to name two of my shadows that will act as generals during the battle and guards during my evolution.
Bringing forth my status, I looked at my magicules.
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Names: Cale Valentine / Ashborn
Titles: Adopted Prince, Troll of The Dungeon, Demon Lord
Level: 16 (1,406,650/1,638,400 EXP)
Magicules: 2,187,700
[Stats]
Strength: 1,391
Vitality: 1,191
Agility: 1,391
Intelligence: 1,091
Perception: 1,091
Remaining Points: 541
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Since I got accepted as a Demon Lord, the Ashborn name appeared on my status together with the title. It's pretty interesting and got me wondering if I ever abandoned the name and if it would stay or disappear from the status screen.
But that's not what I was looking at. The thing I looked at was my magicules. That amount should be enough to name multiple shadows, but I will only name two for now.
But before that, 'Put 132 points in Intelligence and Perception, then put the rest of my points in Strength.'
[Intelligence: 1,091 -> 1,223]
[Perception: 1,091 -> 1,223]
[Strength: 1,391 -> 1,658]
[Remaining Points: 541 -> 0]
I brought forth two of my strongest shadows, a black serpent, and a black spider.
Now then, what should I name them? I am horrible with names, and the first thing I thought of was to name them one and two...
Eh, why not, "From today, you will be Mio," I then turned to the serpent, "And you will be Seris."
Instantly I felt magicules leave my body and enter theirs, wrapping them in a cacoon of magicules, starting their evolution.
The process took a few minutes, and when the cacoon disappeared, it left two beautiful women kneeling in front of me, "We thank you, our liege, for giving us names. We won't disappoint you." They said in unison in a tone full of admiration.
Mio, who was the spider before, was a black-haired woman with black eyes and what looked like a kimono made out of shadows. Seris, on the other hand, had blue snake-like eyes and two obsidian horns with black and blue hair, and her clothes were also made out of shadows.
I was stunned momentarily, having not expected this outcome. I expected them to become stronger and maybe change their appearance but not to this extent.
And when something you didn't expect happens, ignore it and act like you knew it would happen, "Can you still hide in my shadow?" I asked.
"Of course, my liege, after evolving, we still kept our previous abilities," Mio said while kneeling.
"You both can stand up," I said, waiting until they did, "You will have two thousand shadows each and will prepare for the battle in a few days." I then sent the soldiers into their shadows, "You can leave now,"
They left with a bow, and I sighed. Will all my shadows gain a human form when named? If I didn't feel that they were still my shadows, I would believe they were normal humans or demi-humans.
But on the bright side, I will have someone other than El to talk to while I'm in the castle.
Good thing there were extra guest rooms made here, "El, prepare two rooms for them," I said to the maid who was standing close to me.
"It will be done," She said and, with a bow, went to prepare the rooms.
Well, she at least didn't see anything weird with them gaining human form, or if she does, then she doesn't show it.
It was unexpected, but it wasn't weird, having happened many times in this world.
---
Four days passed, and it was time for the massacre.
Mio and Seris have been observing and collecting information about the incoming army, "My liege, the human army is about five hours away from the castle," Mio reported, "According to Seris, the army is composed of 15,000 soldiers from various kingdoms, 10,000 templars, and 5,000 mages."
So 30,000 in total is not bad. I quickly ensured the templars had no one I knew and sighed in relief that there weren't.
While my Mom is technically the leader of the empire, she doesn't make all the decisions about where to send templars and holy knights. Many of them were sent to other nations affiliated with the church as manpower to back up the church's immense influence, and these became the unlucky ones.
While many would see my actions as immoral or cruel, I simply don't see a problem in using people I don't even know for my own benefit. Plus, I only gave them the information that there was a Demon Lord here, and they chose to act on it.
If they didn't, then I would wait until someone else was stupid enough to do it.
"Let's go," I said, standing up from my throne and putting on the helmet. The helmet had two curved black horns, and everyone could see my glowing blue eyes through it. In addition, I wore jet-black armor that glowed the same blue as my eyes.
"Are all preparations ready?" I asked Mio, my voice altered by the helmet to sound darker.
"Yes, everything is ready, my liege." She replied, following behind me.
Good, I want to make this memorable so that after I awaken as a True Demon Lord, they won't have to deal with people trying to attack me again. That would be annoying and interrupt my reading time.
I sighed. I really wanted Rimuru to reincarnate faster so he could give me mangas and novels to read.
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Author's Note:
Thank you for reading this chapter.
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