Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 56: The Dungeon Dominators!
Up to 15 chapters ahead are available at P@treon.com/theogbasilisk
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- Felix -
I yawned as I got out of bed; I gave Saeko's ass a pat, causing her to moan out slightly. I chuckled before getting dressed for the day.
It had been a few weeks since I was last in Tempest, and I'm already going back today. Though I don't really mind that, hanging out in Tempest was fun. I could cause as many issues as I wanted and have Rimuru deal with the fallout!
Muhahaha!
Was it my fault for taking advantage of him? Or was it his fault for letting me? The world would never know.
Rimuru had said he figured out how exactly to get our idea from some time back working. Our idea to go into The Dungeon as Monsters and terrorize the Adventurers inside.
I imagine that it wasn't all that hard to figure out how to create an Avatar with the Emulated Souls, but I'm also sure that Rimuru has been busy. He's had to get everything from the attack on Tempest repaired, as well as soothe any of the nobles' and royals' bruised egos.
I am somewhat excited to be one of the Monsters in The Dungeon. It sounds fun!
Terrorizing innocent Adventurers looking to make a quick buck sounds like a good way to spend my day.
I snapped my fingers cleaning the room up as well as equipping some casual clothing.
I gave a fond smile to Saeko, who was still sleeping and left my room. No reason to wake her up.
The moment I stepped out, I found my Maid waiting for me. "Master."
"Good morning, Raiden."
"Good morning, Master. Did you wish to eat anything before you went to visit Lord Rimuru?"
I shook my head. "Nah, if I want anything I'll just get something from one of the food stands. It's not like I can feel hungry in the first place."
Raiden pouted hearing my words but nodded. "Very well. I will inform everyone who wishes to meet you that you will be unavailable today."
I nodded. "Thanks for that."
"It is my duty, Master."
"Haha, I know. Anyways, I'm off now, see ya."
With a wave, I vanished and appeared in the central plaza where I had my confrontation with Mariabell. Practically all the damage I caused from that fight has already been fixed, even the collapsed buildings.
"Lord Felix!" I wasn't surprised when I heard a voice come from behind me.
"Souka." I nodded.
"Lord Rimuru has sent me to inform you that he is in the control room of The Dungeon." Souka informed.
I nodded. "Alright, thanks, Souka."
Souka gave me a bow before sinking into the shadows below her, using her Shadow Motion skill to return to her post. Then, with a snap of my fingers, I teleported to the control room of The Dungeon.
I saw Rimuru was already waiting there with his legs kicked up on the table, eating some small cupcakes while appearing lost in thought. "I don't think Shuna would approve of that."
Rimuru jumped in surprise. "Gah! Felix!"
"That is my name, yes."
Rimuru coughed lightly. "Ah, I didn't think you would be here so soon. Communicating in and out of The Dungeon can be a bit tough, something I'll have to fix."
I shrugged my shoulders. "We are technically in another dimension, so it does make sense." My gaze then wandered to the control panel next to Rimuru, which seemed to be displaying one of the streets in Tempest. "I didn't know you recreated cameras."
Rimuru looked at where I was looking. "Ah, it's not exactly a camera but it does the same thing but better!"
I tilted my head. "Oh? What is it then?"
"I used some Spirit Magic to recreate large water lenses shaped by Water Elementals all the way in the stratosphere. Then I sent out tiny Slime Body Doubles that are connected to me through Spatial Domination and have them transmit everything to the control room. With those lenses, a magnified view can be displayed here in the control room, basically mimicking a camera."
"Huh, you can basically look all over the world then huh?"
Rimuru nodded. "Well, some Barriers can block it, but it's still great! I can even deploy a supercharged Megiddo through the lenses from the control room!"
"Heh, I imagine everyone would freak out if they knew you could send a death beam to their Kingdom whenever you want."
Rimuru looked to the side nervously. "Ah, yeah, they probably would. Keep it a secret, please."
"Keep what a secret? I don't know anything." I said with a smile, causing Rimuru to let out a sigh of relief. "Anyways, you said you got the whole Dungeon Avatar thing working?"
Rimuru nodded. "Yeah, but before I explain, let me call Veldora and Ramiris over. Could you grab Milim?"
"Yeah, sure." I snapped my fingers, creating a portal to the exact Spatial Coordinates I knew Milim was at. Thanks to the Soul Corridor we now had, I could basically always know where she was, as well as various other benefits.
Through the portal, I could see that Milim was sitting at her desk working on paperwork. It was quite weird to see Milim actually being productive. Really weird.
Milim's territory has slowly been growing. Frey's territory, by default, is now considered part of Milim's territory.
And thanks to Rimuru's help Milim is having a fairly large palace built while the Harpy Nation is being practically entirely rebuilt.
Milim's gaze snapped to the portal I had created. "Ah, Felix! I knew you'd come to save me!" Milim yelled as she skipped through the portal.
I closed the portal and sighed. "Frey is probably going to be upset with you."
Frey was practically Milim's minder at this point, but she signed up for it.
Milim pouted. "I can deal with that later! For now, let's have some fun!"
I nodded. "That's why I brought you here."
As Milim and I were talking, Veldora, Rimuru, and Ramiris all showed up.
"Sup Veldora." I greeted.
"My friend!" Veldora yelled as he approached me.
"Ghaha, I have heard from Rimuru that we will be exploring my domain today!"
"Your domain?!" Ramiris protested.
Veldora coughed lightly. "I mean our domain!"
Ramiris nodded with a satisfied smile. "That's right! You may be the King of The Dungeon, but I created The Dungeon!"
Rimuru sighed. "Yes, yes, we all know you are amazing Ramiris." He said in a monotone voice, but that was enough to earn a wide grin from the small Fairy Queen.
It seems Rimuru has mastered the art of dealing with Ramiris, impressive.
"Let me take you to the laboratory. I'll explain everything once we are there." Rimuru said as he stood up.
All four of us nodded as we followed along behind Rimuru.
It didn't take us long to arrive at the laboratory. I spotted Vesta working with some of his lab assistants, and it was the second person I spotted who caused me to pause for a moment.
"Dino?!"
Hearing me, Dino looked at me. For a moment, he pretended not to have heard me before sighing. He began to sluggishly approach us, scratching the back of his head.
He gave me a nod. "Felix." His gaze then wandered to Milim, I spotted a substantial amount of reverence and even hope in his eyes when he looked at Milim.
He dipped his head slightly. "Lady Milim."
Milim tilted her head. "Eh! I thought I told you to drop the Lady every single time we interact, Dino!"
Dino laughed nervously. "Aha… well, sorry about that."
I guess his reverence for Milim is not unfounded. She is the daughter of his deceased Lord, after all.
I could tell he had a Unique Skill as well as an Ultimate Skill, very impressive. As expected for one of the Angels of Origin, he's probably been around for billions of years at this point.
I'm sure he has a vast amount of knowledge, and unlike Ramiris, he hasn't forgotten any of it.
'Am I sensing things right, Odin?'
'Correct. The Fallen Dino has 400,000 EP.'
There is no way that can be true. He is one of the Primordial Angels. I refuse to believe his EP is below that of an Awakened being.
In that case Dino may have a way to hide his true EP somehow, interesting.
I gave Dino a once-over. The guy was practically dead on his feet. He doesn't seem to be the type to seal his power to just look cool.
"Why're you here, Dino?!" Milim asked in her usual bubbly tone.
"Ah… well, I was kicked out by Dagruel, so I went to Guy to see if I could stay with him." Dino sighed. "But like the evil Daemon he is, he rejected me and told me to come here…."
Dino continued. "And then even Rimuru is making me work now!"
"Well, if you want to stay here, you have to work! Everyone in Tempest contributes something!" Rimuru argued.
"Yeah! I'm even putting the work in Dino!" Ramiris boasted.
Dino's shoulders slumped. "Ugh, but I don't wanna! If you want to make me work, make me a bed tester or a food critic."
Milim patted Dino on the shoulder. "Don't worry! You can do it, Dino!"
Dino groaned. "Fine fine."
With that, Dino went to Vesta and began working.
"Phew, thanks for that, Milim! I was worried he wasn't going to get anything done."
Milim nodded with a smile. "Dino may seem unreliable, but he comes through when it counts!"
"Ahaha, is that so?" Said Rimuru. "Anyways, let me show you something."
We followed Rimuru to his private portion of the laboratory.
I noticed quite a few vessels made of Magisteel being kept in an isolation chamber.
"What are those for Rimuru?" I asked while pointing to the Magisteel skeletons.
Rimuru looked at where I was pointing. "Ah, Diablo said he wanted to recruit some Daemons, so I let him. Those are just the vessels I prepared to properly incarnate them."
I nodded. "Heh, he's copying me."
Rimuru shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what goes on in that guy's head half the time, so maybe?"
"Yeah, that guy can be pretty mysterious." I nod along.
Even with Diablo being the Primordial of my Lineage, he is quite the oddity. I don't think I'll ever understand that guy.
We made our way into Rimuru's lab, and he closed the door behind us, locking us in his lab.
Rimuru then took out the Emulated Souls from his Stomach.
"This is basically a soul container. It can act as a temporary vessel for us to mess around in The Dungeon." Said Rimuru.
"Eh? That doesn't sound fun. Everything in The Dungeon is weak except for Veldora." Milim whined.
Rimuru nodded. "I have a solution for that, too! This can act in a similar way to the Elven Homunculus. The Elves were able to transfer their consciousness to the Homunculus and still retain most of their power. Of course, I will do the reverse. I'll have it so our power is restricted when we possess these!"
Just when I was thinking about people sealing off their power to look cool, Rimuru does this?
Well, I guess this is different. I am quite curious how well I'd fare in The Dungeon, which has far less power available to me. I like to think I have a fair amount of technique in everything I utilize, swordsmanship, Magic, and hand-to-hand combat.
I primarily rely on hand-to-hand combat since it is what I enjoy the most. Why use a weapon when I can just use my hands? These hands are rated E for Everyone, and they haven't had their chance to shine in a long time.
Of course, that doesn't mean I am hesitant to use swordsmanship. I didn't train my ass off as well as copy other's techniques for nothing.
I'll just reserve swordsmanship for the truly powerful, like a true anime character.
Besides, most of my Sword Arts are incredibly powerful and not suitable for just messing around. The only person I regularly use my katana against is Milim, who herself is a very accomplished swordswoman and can handle it.
Rimuru then took out a black orb and handed it to each of us.
"Hmm, this feels familiar. Is this a piece of Charybdis' Core?"
I used something similar to reincarnate Gaia.
Rimuru nodded. "Yup! I isolated it in my Stomach and extracted the negative energy, turning it into basically a shell. Just imagine your favorite Monster while focusing your Aura onto the black orb."
"Ooh! Anything I want?" Asked Veldora.
Rimuru nodded. "Yeah, it should be able to turn into any kind of Monster. But don't go overboard."
Veldora smirked and then nodded.
Milim, Veldora, Ramiris, and I all focused on the orb.
What kind of Monster do I want my Avatar to be?
I should base that around what abilities I want to use when incarnating my Avatar. I think I'll go with Sukuna's abilities.
Dismantle, Cleave, Fire Manipulation and all of Sukuna's other abilities part of his Technique should be good enough. I'll leave out his World System Skill.
I haven't had the chance to mess around with Dismantle and Cleave, two abilities I think are really fun to use, so I'll base my Monster around those two abilities.
Something agile and flexible.
Perhaps I can create a brand new Monster? Something with the combined traits of multiple different races?
Well, it couldn't hurt to try.
I focused on the image of what I wanted, and before long, my Avatar was born.
"Huh? What's that, Felix?" Rimuru asked.
I noticed that he had created a Ghost.
"I tried to see if I could create something with the traits from multiple different races, and it looks like I was successful." I said as I stared down at my Avatar.
"You can do that?!" Rimuru yelled before coughing slightly and nodding. "Ah, of course, I knew you could do that."
I rolled my eyes. "Uh-huh."
I took a look at what everyone else made.
Veldora had created a skeleton of sorts, a skeleton warrior.
Ramiris made a Knight out of armor, basically a Golem Knight.
And then, finally, Milim had created an… Imp?
It's not just a normal Imp but a bright pink Imp, one with two wings, very subtle.
"Hehe, what do you think, Felix?! I thought of my favorite Monster race, a Daemon! But then I realized that this couldn't turn into a Daemon, so I turned it into a Daemon offshoot! An Imp!"
I clapped my hands. "Very impressive." I then tilted my head. "Though, since when has your favorite race been Daemon?"
"Ah, well, of course, it's because you're a Daemon Felix!"
Gah! Critical hit.
"Arc is one, too! Though what is yours? I don't think I have ever seen a Monster like that before." Milim asked.
"Ah, I think I'll call it a Shadow Dancer. A creature that lives in the Shadows itself, using them as cover to strike." I informed everyone while keeping a straight face.
"Pfft! You made such a chuuni Avatar?" Asked Rimuru, barely holding back his laughter.
"Hey! It's not chuuni! It's a very powerful and adaptable Monster!" I rebuked.
"Don't worry, Felix! I understand!" Veldora shot me a thumbs-up.
I sighed. "I don't know if that is good or bad, Veldora."
Veldora looked confused. "Good, of course!"
"I don't know about that." I whispered.
"Alright, enough of that, let's focus now!" Rimuru said. "These Avatars are what we are going to use to defeat challengers of The Dungeon!"
"Khaha, you are right, Rimuru. These Monsters are incredibly weak. They would be incapable of beating even the weak challengers of The Dungeon." Veldora said.
Ramiris nodded along. "Yeah! What's the meaning of this Rimuru?!"
"Yeah, they are pretty weak to start out, but they can grow by sucking up more Magicules from The Dungeon. But currently, they are pretty weak, so I got us some Unique Grade Equipment to choose from!"
They were right about one thing, these Avatars were weak, not even at the level of a Greater Majin.
We wouldn't be able to bring 1% of our power to bear with these as vessels.
How fun!
I already feel like I'm playing an MMORPG. Starting with a fresh character, I'll have to grind my way higher in strength and get better Equipment. I can enjoy the weak-to-strong experience without actually losing my true strength!
No matter what anyone tells you, being super overpowered can get boring. There is barely anyone to have a fun spar with. And I always have to hold back my true power. This way, I can technically go all out with my Avatar without accidentally destroying everything around me, though the going all-out thing is debatable since I would only be able to use whatever power the Avatar can handle.
Rimuru took out a bunch of armor and weapons from his Stomach and laid them all out on the table.
"Alright, grab what you want!" Rimuru said grandly.
I quickly grabbed a dagger with a piercing enchantment, giving it a lot more penetrating power than normal, and then a black coat that concealed my presence.
When using my Avatar, I plan to go for an Assassin build. All of these will help in that.
I saw that Rimuru had picked a staff and a robe, and Veldora had picked a bastard sword, some armor, and a shield. Ramiris picked a giant ax and some armor, while Milim picked some gauntlets and a cape.
"Now that we all have our weapons, grab an Emulated Soul and aim it at your Avatar." Rimuru explained. "Then just release your Magicules into the Emulated Soul to bind yourself to it, and then it will automatically merge with the Master Core." Finished Rimuru.
We all nodded and set our Equipment to the side.
I grabbed an Emulated Soul, and moments later, I felt my vision change completely.
"Wow, this is trippy." I voiced out.
I was shorter than I was previously, my vision was a bit different, and I could feel the difference in power in this Avatar.
It would take some getting used to.
I turned around to look at my original body, which was just standing in place. I could choose to abandon this Avatar and return to my main body at any point.
Looking at myself from an outside point of view, I could say one thing for certain. I was damn handsome.
"Hehe, this is so cool!" Milim shouted as she jumped around in her Avatar.
Veldora, in his skeleton form, nodded. "Indeed! I shall be the mightiest Skeleton to grace this Dungeon!"
"Ooh! That sounds cool! Then I'll be the strongest Golem!" Ramiris shouted.
"Eh? Doesn't Beretta count as a Golem?" I asked.
Ramiris stilled for a moment. "Muhahaha, well, as my minion, of course, I'll be stronger than her! Of course, I will…."
"Cope harder."
Ramiris' gaze snapped to me. "Eh? What does that mean?"
I shook my head. "Nothing, it's nothing."
"Ah, this is a bracelet in which you guys can seal your Avatars so you can deploy them whenever you want." Rimuru said as he handed each of us our respective bracelets. "You can also store your main body in them too."
He's right. I can sense the entrance to a miniature dimension located at the jewel of the bracelet.
I quickly stored my main body in the bracelet and began to jump and move around to get used to this body further.
While I couldn't make use of my Ultimate Skills or even the Unique Skills I had due to not having the power to use them, as well as the fact that those Skills would make this entire thing pretty boring.
That would be way too unfair, more unfair than it already is with the Adventurers up against four Demon Lords and a True Dragon.
"Anyways, now that we have our Avatars ready and we have our Equipment, let's go!" Rimuru announced.
" " " Yeah! " " "
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I laughed as I sent off another Dismantle towards the panicking Adventurer.
"Gah!" He screamed as his arm was cut off.
It was nice not to have to worry about injuring anybody too much since they would just be revived and fully healed.
I saw a pink blur run past me and into another Adventurer, killing the Adventurer. Milim was seriously focusing on a speed build. It was pretty difficult for most Adventurers to even see her coming.
I watched as Ramiris bulldozed her way through the group of Adventurers, knocking them on their backs, something I took advantage of as I sent 4 Dismantles, one aimed for each of their heads, quickly decapitating them.
I sighed. "Man, that took a lot out of me. Not having my former levels of energy available to me is such a pain." This vessel could only handle so much energy inside of it, so only a fraction of my Magicule Capacity was accessible to me in this Avatar.
As I am now, I couldn't fight for very long if I wanted to use the abilities I had available to me to the fullest. Dismantle and Cleave may be relatively simple, but they were powerful, and so the Magicule cost to use them was fairly intense.
Along with that, various other abilities from my main body were reflected in my Avatar, such as Thought Acceleration, Future Attack Prediction, Ultra Instinct, all of those were useful when I was in a far weaker body than before.
We had been messing around in The Dungeon for a couple of hours now, soaking up the Magicules and strengthening our Avatars while also being a nuisance to various Adventurer Groups.
So far, only the 30th Floor has been cleared. Various groups are still attempting to slay the Tempest Serpent, but I'm sure that will take some time.
I smirked as I healed up from the injuries I acquired during this battle. Rimuru was able to use various Elemental and Holy Magic as a Ghost, so he basically just stuck to the support role while occasionally terrorizing others with Elemental Magic.
It was pretty funny. He was using Holy Magic by praying to his original body. He was basically his own god. How egotistical.
"Good job guys!" Rimuru clapped.
Ramiris puffed up her armor plate. "Did you see what I did?! Hehe, those Adventurers didn't know what was coming!"
"Indeed, good job Ramiris!" Veldora said. "I wish I was able to finish one of them off, but I am glad that we were successful!"
I flexed my arm a bit. "I feel a good bit more powerful than when we started. It seems our Avatars have gained some strength."
I sensed Rimuru use Analyze and Assess on me and made no effort to block it.
He then nodded. "Yeah, all of us are at the A Rank range now!"
"Khahaha, as expected of us! We are already fearsome Monsters in The Dungeon!" Veldora boasted.
"Well, only on the lower level floors." I corrected. "Zegion would absolutely destroy us. No amount of teamwork can make up for such a large difference in raw power."
I didn't know exactly how strong Zegion was, but according to Sukuna, Zegion was almost able to go toe-to-toe with him. So he was at least on Sukuna's own level, someone far beyond our Avatars.
"Zegion is my student, so his strength is my strength!" Veldora agreed.
"Yeah? In that case I am already the strongest Golem since Beretta's strength also counts for me." Ramiris said with a smug tone.
I sighed. "I… I don't think that's how it works."
"Nonsense! Of course, that's how it works!" Veldora fought back.
"I'm not going to argue about this."
"Good! Because you would lose that argument!" Veldora said with a cocky smirk on his boney face.
"Is that so?"
Before I could continue, Rimuru interrupted. "Stop messing with him, Veldora. He will actually argue with you for hours."
"Khahaha, that was funny though!" Ramiris laughed.
I squinted my eyes at her. "You wanna go, Pixie?" Ramiris may be taller than me and more bulky in our current forms, but I could run circles around her before she could do anything.
Ramiris came up to me and began shadowboxing, which looked fairly odd, seeing as she was basically just sentient armor.
Though unlike when she was in her Pixie form, her current punches actually had some power behind them. The air in front of her fists was getting displaced, and with a bit more power, she may be able to cause a shockwave.
She was a powerful Metal Golem now, after all.
"Huh?! I'm not a Pixie right now! I'm the unbeatable Golem Knight!" She boasted.
"Heh, I bet your armor can't even withstand my Cleave." I taunted.
I was fairly certain I could cause Ramiris some damage with a well-placed Cleave or Dismantle, it would only just cost me almost all the Magicules I had available to me in this weak Avatar. Ramiris was basically made out of Unique Grade armor. After all, Unique Grade Equipment was considered an ancestral treasure for a reason. It was damn powerful.
"Fufu as if! Don't worry, I'll go easy on you because you're my friend!" Ramiris said.
Before we could continue, Rimuru got in between us. "If you guys want to fight, do it later!"
It was pretty funny seeing a Ghost get in between me and a massive Golem Knight.
Ramiris crossed her arms. "Hmph! Well, I don't wanna fight anymore!"
I rolled my eyes.
Rimuru paused for a moment before groaning. "Well, it seems I have something to handle, so I'm going to go. You guys can set your Avatars to free roam, basically making it so that they will follow a set series of actions, in this case being Monsters of The Dungeon."
Rimuru took out his Slime body from his bracelet.
I watched as his Spirit exited his Avatar and went back into his main body.
He hopped around for a few seconds. "That feels a lot better." He sighed. "Anyways, see ya." And with that, he teleported out.
Rimuru's Avatar looked at us for a moment before scuttling off.
I shook my head. "I'll be leaving too." I said as I swapped bodies.
"That feels a lot better." I said as I clenched my fists.
Going from my current level of power to the level of power my Avatar had available was definitely an experience.
"Wait for me, Felix!" Milim yelled as she stopped possessing her Avatar and returned to her main body.
"Did you want me to teleport you back?" Milim should be capable of teleportation, but for some reason, she disliked doing it.
"Yup! I don't want Frey to get more angry at me!" Milim said nervously.
It's kinda funny how well Frey has Milim tamed.
I snapped my fingers, creating a portal to Milim's office in front of her.
Looking through the portal, I could see Frey standing on the other side with her hands crossed.
"A-Ah! F-Frey!" Milim stuttered.
Frey sighed and gestured for Milim to come through the portal. Milim sighed and waved us goodbye as she walked to her execution platform.
"You won't be forgotten, Milim!"
Milim just slouched further, hearing me. Once she was through, I closed the portal behind her, dooming her eternally.
I saw Ramiris holding her hands together. "Oh, fallen lord Veldanava, please have mercy on her. Amen."
I looked at her weirdly. "Where did you learn that Ramiris?"
"Eh? From one of the manga I borrowed from Veldora." She responded.
"What?! Which manga did you borrow?! You never asked me?!" Veldora demanded.
"Oops!" And with a reaction time, I could only dream of Ramiris immediately abandoning her Avatar and returning to her main body. She quickly began to fly away.
"Get back here, Ramiris! Which one of the sacred texts did you take?!" Veldora yelled as he chased after her.
"Things never get old here, huh?" I shook my head and snapped my fingers, returning back to Azeroth.
- Granbell Rosso -
He clenched his fists under the table as he processed what the Homunculus had said.
"You said that Mariabell was killed by either the Slime or the Daemon?" He asked. His voice was calm, too calm.
He had long since known of Mariabell's death. She was the trump card of the Rosso, and his granddaughter, of course, knew. Anything she did, he knew, even the things she tried to keep hidden from him.
Granbell assumed that her death had something to do with her attack on Tempest. The timing was too coincidental to be otherwise.
From what his resources have said, the attack did minimal damage, and Tempest's rapid expansion has not been halted whatsoever, in fact, Mariabell had even had an invitation to the Western Council sent out, something he made no moves to block as he was not aware of her situation at that time.
Now it was too late, all of his plans he had carefully weaved. All of them were thrown out the window. Mariabell was dead, so he no longer cared about the Council.
All of his original plans were based on Mariabell. Without her and her Skill their plan would not work. Her death had put a massive dent in his plan, but even more painful was the dent it had left in his heart.
He had not thought he would get attached to someone after Maria, but Mariabell had proved him wrong.
Her death had woken him up from his power-hungry haze, from his controlling ways.
He knew he had betrayed his teacher originally. The plan was for him to gain control over the Western Nations and then hand the West over to his teacher, Emperor Rudra Nam Ul Nasca. But somewhere along the line, his plans changed.
Somewhere along the way, he began thinking he would be more suitable as the ruler of the world. Somewhere along the way, he was corrupted by all the power.
He looked around the room. Kagali had made quite a lot of effort to get into contact with him, he was quite suspicious, but he decided to hear her out, at least for Mariabell's sake.
His gaze wandered to Damrada, someone he had known from his time in the Eastern Empire.
His comradery with Damrada had long since faded. Now, they were just bitter rivals. He truly wondered where everything began to go wrong.
"Indeed, Princess Mariabell and Guildmaster Yuuki had come up with a plan to weaken the Jura Tempest Federation's rapid expansion." Kagali informed.
He nodded. "Yes, I am aware of this, continue."
Kagali nodded. "They had even planned to use the Chaos Dragon that we had located. Mariabell managed to control it somehow and used it to attack Tempest."
Granbell rolled his eyes. He was aware of the finer details of the plan, no matter how much Mariabell wished to keep it secret. One could not make use of the Shadow Force of the Rosso without his approval.
Mariabell had planned to use the Chaos Dragon as a distraction and take control of Demon Lord Felix. Of course, something clearly went wrong in this plan of hers, something drastic that had resulted in her very death.
Originally, he had assumed that Demon Lord Felix had not completed his Awakening, and so he was not much of a threat. Now, however, he was beginning to doubt that assumption.
In the past, before he had left his teacher's care, he would have been far more cautious when dealing with Demon Lord Felix, he likely would have assumed the Demon Lord had Awakened and had a vast amount of power available to him.
It was always best to assume the worst when making plans to counteract an enemy.
His teacher used to say something: plan for the worst so that should things go horribly wrong, you are still prepared.
He had grown arrogant with his domination of the Western Council. He had forgotten the reality of this world, the reality that when compared to his teacher, or his teacher's rival, Guy Crimson, he was nothing. His granddaughter paid the price. The Rosso paid the price.
He knew Mariabell's plan did not have a very high chance of success, and so he wished to teach Mariabell a lesson. That even with all their political influence, they can still fail, but it seems like he needed that lesson as well, only he was learning it far too late.
There is a reason he had been intricately navigating the Western Nations for centuries rather than just taking over with sheer power.
Lady Luminous would not allow such a thing. Their cooperation began due to their shared goals. Now, however, the Demon Lords have grown to be a threat.
Lady Luminous, no Luminous, had betrayed their goals when she decided to ally with Tempest, and that is when she became an enemy.
"It seems somewhere along the way, Princess Mariabell and Guildmaster Yuuki were caught. I am not sure how they killed both of them away from prying eyes, but they managed to do so and pin the blame on others." Kagali informed.
Granbell rolled his eyes. "Do not think you and Yuuki hid your activities from me. I know you have been using our resources through Mariabell to Summon and sell Otherworlder children. I am aware that the Clowns that have been accused of killing Mariabell and Yuuki are your underlings." He said as he eyed Kagali.
Kagali seemed to be looking at him in a renewed light. "I see, I apologize for underestimating you then. But in the end, that changes nothing. We had nothing to do with Yuuki's or Mariabell's death. It would be foolish to kill Mariabell as that would get your attention, something we are better off not having."
He had long since suspected that Yuuki had a way to get around Mariabell's control. While he was not certain he still believed that Yuuki was not completely under Mariabell's control, and yet he still seemingly died with her.
He did suspect Yuuki to be partially responsible for Mariabell's death, but there was nothing he could do to confirm that. His attention was better used focused on other things, like the fact that something was going on in the background, something he was not aware of.
If his plan is to be successful, then he needs as much information as possible.
His plan was a very risky one and one that would make Luminous an unapproachable enemy. She would want his head for it, completely ignoring their past relationship.
Luminous had a certain Hero hidden inside Night Garden, located deep within her palace, and no matter how much Luminous tried to hide her, he found out.
He still remembered witnessing that Hero in action for the first time during a Tenma War. She had saved his life.
She was like an unbeatable Valkyrie, easily cutting down hordes of Angels without much effort. To him, she seemed to be the peak of power.
And Luminous had her. He did not know the relationship the two possessed, but in the end, a Demon Lord had possession of a Hero.
That was a threat to all of Humanity, the Demon Lords were at a point where they were the most powerful they have ever been.
The general public only believed there to be two Awakened Demon Lords, The Lord of Darkness, Guy Crimson, and The Destroyer, Milim Nava; however, he knew that there were more.
There was The Queen of Nightmares, Luminous Valentine, The Sleeping Ruler, Dino, and now likely Rimuru Tempest after his massacre of the Falmuth army and possibly Felix White.
He knew he stood no chance against The Destroyer and The Lord of Darkness. His teacher had warned him enough about those two. They were clearly off-limits to him.
And for once, he would heed his teacher's advice. In ancient history, it was known that his teacher and Guy Crimson were rivals, and even now, as experienced as he is, his teacher still seemed to be an insurmountable mountain.
He could feel it in his bones. The gap between him and his teacher was as large as the gap between heaven and earth.
But he was done underestimating those two Demon Lords. Felix White and Rimuru Tempest had clearly proven themselves to be threats to Humanity, that's what his instincts as a Former Hero were telling him.
Mariabell's death had lit a fire under him; he knew he was not capable enough to lead Humanity to a new light, and so he would entrust that duty to one of Humanity's Heroes, the one who was strong enough to seal away the Storm Dragon.
The Hero Chronoa.
He would free her from Luminous's clutches. That was the first step in his plan.
He carefully eyed Damrada and Kagali. They could prove useful in his plan, if only as bait.
He knew it would be harder to manipulate Damrada, the man was incredibly old and no matter how much Granbell hated to admit it, his old rival was at the very least an equal of his.
The man was hailed as a Fist Saint and a bitter rival of an Arch Duke of Hell, he had skill, knowledge, and power to back up his status as a Fist Saint, Granbell would not underestimate him.
Granbell did not know why Damrada had left the service of his teacher, and their relationship was far too strained for him to inquire as to why.
He did not think Damrada betrayed his teacher, the man was incredibly loyal to Emperor Rudra and would gladly die for him.
Damrada had been navigating in the Western Nations for centuries, so he was likely ordered to do so by the Emperor himself for some reason.
Granbell had no idea why his teacher would let go of someone so powerful, and someone with so much wisdom, Damrada did not become the Prime Minister of the Nasca Kingdom through being an idiot, no he was incredibly intelligent and powerful, as befitting of the Leader of the Single Digits, number 01.
He had heard that Damrada was replaced as the leader of the Single Digits some time back, which only increased the threat of the Eastern Empire in Granbell's mind.
Kagali however was a different case entirely, no matter how much Kagali tried to hide it, she was angry, she was furious at Yuuki's death.
He could use that.
"Seeing as we have established that I already know of all your hidden activities, what is it you called this meeting for?" He asked.
Kagali looked at Damrada who nodded. "We are proposing an alliance, an alliance to take down Demon Lord Felix and Demon Lord Rimuru."
He raised his brow in curiosity. "And how do you propose we manage that?"
Kagali nodded as if she was expecting that question. "We have a significant force under us, and while it will take quite a lot of planning, not to mention the masked Majin that is protecting the West from the Daemons of Guy Crimson. With our combined forces as long as we play it smart we can take someone one of the two Demon Lords' values hostage, and from there make our demands."
Granbell nodded. It was simple yet efficient plan, all things considered.
However the plan was reliant on two things, finding someone one of those two Demon Lords care for, and learning if they would be willing to truly compromise should said person be taken hostage.
The Slime, Rimuru, was one thing. Mariabell had gathered enough information to know that he was emotionally weak, but he was often surrounded by the people he cared for. Taking them from under his nose would just be foolish.
But a Daemon like Felix would be too unpredictable and likely too heartless to care.
It would be cataclysmic if, rather than give in to their demands, the Demon Lord just rampaged across the Western Nations. And knowing their relationship, if one snapped, the other would probably follow.
Seeing as Hinata was for some reason disabled, he could not count on her to handle one of the Demon Lords, if she was even capable of such a thing.
Not to mention all the trust he had with Hinata had likely dried up long ago.
Razul was powerfully, extremely powerful, even he would be wary of Razul in his prime, he had full faith that his friend was capable of taking on an Awakened Demon Lord, however what he feared was the Daemons of Guy Crimson taking advantage of the situation to invade the Western Nations, so he was hesitant to have Razul deployed elsewhere.
He would only do that in a last ditch effort, an all or nothing plan, which is what the plan he had come up with was looking to be.
No, the more he thought about it, Kagali's plan was far too risky. He expected better from Yuuki's second in command. Yuuki from what he had noticed was an incredibly bright young man with a vast amount of potential.
He could see why a man like Damrada was backing him. It was quite unfortunate that he had met his demise along with Mariabell, perhaps in better circumstances they could have cooperated.
"I am not willing to take part in your plan, while my heart desires revenge for Mariabell's demise, I am not blinded enough to see the sheer amount of risks present in your plan, I expected better from you."
"Tch. Fine then. If you agree to cooperation in general, then do you have a plan that can work?" Kagali questioned.
Granbell tilted his head and then nodded. "I do in fact have the basics of a plan down. With Mariabell dead the Rosso have no hope. In that case I might as well use her treasure for vengeance."
"Her treasure?" Kagali asked.
"Indeed, the most precious treasure of the God Luminous, and the Demon Lord Valentine." He responded.
He noticed neither Kagali or Damrada seemed to be surprised by the revelation of who the true deity of Luminism is.
"Ah, so it seems you are already aware of that secret then." He concluded.
Kagali nodded. "Yes, Yuuki had hypothesized such a thing, and after being framed by the Western Holy Church that is the only answer, Demon Lord Valentine, Demon Lord Felix, and Demon Lord Rimuru have entered an alliance, and with all their combined resources they were able to easily frame us for the act of killing Yuuki and Mariabell."
Granbell nodded. "Indeed that is the likely scenario. I can think of various reasons as to why they would do such a thing." Granbell said, eyeing Kagali. "But such a thing has no point, what matters is that it happened, and now we must deal with the issue."
Kagali nodded. "Well said."
Granbell rolled his eyes at Kagali's flattery. She was likely trying to steer the conversation away from Yuuki's and her own involvement in Mariabell's death.
Kagali would not be getting away from her just punishment, he would simply make use of her and then discard her.
After the Hero is freed, he would entrust Humanity and the safety of the Western Nations to her. He did not know if or how Luminous had her under control, but he would free her, no matter what.
"Luminous's secret treasure is the ultimate weapon, a being that was used to seal the Storm Dragon Veldora."
Hearing him both Damrada and Kagali's eyes widened.
"Luminous had Chronoa?!" Damrada yelled. He sighed as he relaxed back in his seat. "I see, it seems I've become blind in my old age." Damrada laughed out.
Kagali nodded with a growing smile on her face. "How did she gain possession of the Hero?"
Granbell shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows, what I do know is that currently the Hero is sealed in the Holy Ark, located in the most secure place in Ruberious. Getting to the seal is nigh impossible, let alone unsealing the Hero."
What Granbell said was not a lie. He had no idea how he would go about unsealing the Hero. He simply wished to gain control of the seal itself first, he could then work on unsealing it over time.
The Hero was likely sealed for a reason, she was likely restricted by something, whether it was her natural life span or something else he did not know.
"I will lead an attack on the Grand Cathedral alongside some of your forces as well as my own. This should be a suitable enough distraction for you to sneak into Night Garden and steal the seal Chronoa has been left in."
Kagali nodded. "Very well. It will be done. Afterwards we shall use the Hero to get revenge on the two Demon Lords, if Demon Lord Valentine can control the Hero, then we can as well."
Granbell sighed inwardly at Kagali's foolishness. Even Damrada seemed to be disappointed, he likely had his own reasons for assisting her.
"It seems we have a deal then Grand Elder Rosso." Kagali smiled.
He nodded. "Indeed, to a fruitful cooperation." He said as he raised his glass.
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Author's Note:
Sup everyone, back with another chapter of Daemon. We finally get to see the Dungeon Dominators form, I know that this happened in canon as well so I don't plan to give too much attention to this going forward, perhaps I'll make a canon side story where we get to see Felix and co mess around in the dungeon as their avatars, but that's about it.
We get to see some people planning in the background, these schemers really don't know when to take an L and fuck off do they?
Anyways thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.
Also, you guys should check out @BonVoyage Tensura fic, it's pretty damn good.
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