五月丁香五月丁香激情

I told him to provide the best welcome possible—that would be appreciated even by a noble—regardless of the cost. Additionally, I had instructed him to put emphasis on Avalon’s greatest feature: the various wonderful goods from all over the world that had gathered here.

Conanna was a talented merchant. Even if the only thing given to him were the requirements, he would still deliver stellar results. With him, I was confident he would assemble the best chefs and the best cuisines possible. Even the shops probably would be great.

I was confident in my own cooking and initially thought of serving my own food but then decided to just leave it to professionals.

I had also asked Aura the Ancient Elf to prepare special wines and sherbets that were made using the golden apples, a first class delicacy that could only be obtained here in Avalon. The delivery of these additions had already been shared with Conanna.

I wanted to replenish our stock of golden apples—which were all used up in the previous war—as soon as possible but more than that, I wanted to properly host the people who had cooperated with me in that war.

Other than those, I also thought of making a few reservations on this city’s recreational facilities.

This was finally the chance for them to come to Avalon and it would be kind of a waste if their visit ended with just a meal.

Okay, let’s do this efficiently. The feast is only two days from now.

◇

The preparations were basically finished.

When I casually looked up at the sky, I saw the Darkness Dragons and the containers they carried getting closer.

"They’re here, huh."

I had previously made a group of Mythological Foxes and Darkness Dragons go to Marcho’s Dungeon to pick up the broken down bodies of the golems and it would seem they had finished doing so.

Good timing. I’ll go meet with them and tell them to deliver the package to Rorono’s workshop right away. I’m quite certain she’s eagerly waiting for them.

◇

A little while after I began waiting around the gates of Avalon, the Mythological Foxes arrived riding on golem carriages.

Although all of the golems for fighting perished in the previous war, the golems for transportation services in the city were left behind and thus were still functional.

When I saw the Mythological Foxes, there was sense of discomfort in them. They were strangely and considerably tense and the expression on their face tense.

"Good work, Mythological Foxes."

I greeted the two that were driving the coach like so and they bowed back.

After waiting for them to calm down, I then instructed them to deliver the package to Rorono’s workshop.

They nodded and then spoke.

"Certainly. We will deliver it right away. Also, there’s something we have to tell you."

It’s probably going to be the reason why they’re tense.

"Speak."

"A guest has come."

"A guest?"

I had a bad feeling on who that was. Or rather, there really was only one person to think of. Only one person who could make the Mythological Foxes so tense after going to Marcho’s dungeon.

When I looked at what’s behind the Mythological Foxes driving the coach, I unexpectedly saw the face of a beautiful woman.

She had: white hair; white wolf-ears; white wolf-tail; beautiful brown skin; a small crown on the top of her head; an elegant white dress; and the appearance of woman in her late teens.

It was the reborn [Beast] Demon Lord Marchosias.

Through [Rebirth], she became one of my monsters. As such, I was able to see her status regardless of level. And so, I confirmed her status again.

Race: Wise Wolf Monarch Managarm

Rank: S

Name: N/A

Level: 90

Physical Strength: S+

Endurance: S+

Agility: S+

Magic: S+

Luck: S+

Special: EX

Skills:

Demon Lord Powers

Goddess of the Moon

Beast-God Transformation

King of Beasts

Nullification of All Magic

Precognition

The Creator’s Mockery

The three medals used for her Rebirth were: [Beast God], the medal she transformed into; [Monarch], a powerful medal that could only be obtained from the Creator as a reward; and [Creation], which had the ability to conduct Synthesis with three medals instead of the usual two as well as ability to allow the user, in this case me, to choose the best possibility from an infinite number of possibilities.

A very powerful monster could be made just by using any three medals but she was reborn using three medals that each exceeded even normal A rank original medals.

And so, the result was that she was undoubtedly strong. All of her stats were at least S+. Her level was 90 which was the highest possible level even for an S rank monster that could level up.

Not to mention, each of her skills was strong too.

Demon Lord Powers: While the skill holder is a monster, they also have the qualities of a Demon Lord.

Goddess of the moon: the power of the goddess who presides over the moon. By receiving the light of the moon, the skill holder is able to receive a supply of magic from the temple of the moon as well as bonuses (maximum) to all their stats. Moreover, it allows the deployment of moonlight barriers as well as moon magic, a special type of magic.

Beast God Transformation: the ability to transform into a beast god. Physical Strength, Endurance, and Agility are increased by two ranks. Alongside that are various other bonuses.

King of Beasts: absolute dominance over beast-type monsters. This skill provides bonuses to all beast-type monsters on the same dungeon room as the skill holder.

Nullification of All Magic: magic of all types are rendered null.

Precognition: this skill makes it possible to see a few moments into the future. Utmost concentration is required while using this skill.

The Creator’s Mockery: the price for achieving power beyond the norm. Under certain conditions, this skill will cause ruin to befall both the skill holder and their master. Additionally, there is a small chance that the skill holder could break free from the rule of their master. The deeper the bond of the master and the monster, the harder it is for such things to happen.

The Wise Wolf Monarch who could use both the Goddess of the Moon and Beast God Transformation together with their abnormal base stats could exhibit a fighting prowess that nigh invincible.

In my opinion, it would take at least a perfectly armed group of Kuina, Rorono, Aura, and Wight to even have a chance of winning. It would only be until Fel and R’lyeh Diva—who could provide support from the other dimension—joins the fight that there could be a 50% chance of winning.

"Procell, don’t stare at me that much. It’s embarrassing, you know."

Marcho put her arms around her body and issued out such a complaint.

She’s teasing me again.

"Marcho, you’ve become so strong that it feels like it’s cheating. If you wanted to, you can storm a dungeon alone and break the crystal within."

She was that strong.

The ultimate one-man army.

"Yeah, I was surprised too. I’m stronger now than when I was a Demon Lord. But Procell, let’s not be overconfident, okay? For one thing, my greatest strength, the Goddess of the Moon, can’t be used inside dungeons."

The weak point of the skill Goddess of the Moon was that it could not be activated in places where there were no moonlight.

But then again, there was her moonlight barrier. This barrier made an area be connected to the moon regardless of time or distance, thus making it possible to forcibly acquire the power of the moon.

The magic power consumption was severe though so the Goddess of the Moon could probably be used like this for only about two minutes.

Not that there is any monster that can last for two minutes against Marcho right now.

"Yeah but still, you’re so strong, I can’t do anything but laugh. There should be a rank higher than S rank that’s all for you."

S rank was the highest rank.

If a monster’s power exceeded a certain amount, it was deemed an S rank. Considering this, there were definitely going to be disparities between the strength of S rank monsters. She, as a Wise Wolf Monarch Managarm, was certainly on the high end of S rank. So much so that I felt she exceeded it.

At any rate, there was something I couldn’t ignore.

"I don’t mean to nag but don’t rely on me too much, okay? After all, there’s also that obvious trap."

"...The Creator’s Mockery is quite worrying, isn’t it?"

The price for power outside the norm.

It was just a guess but that skill was most probably the unknown skill in Wight’s status when he was reborn into a Black Dragon of Death Siegwurm.

"Yeah. But you know what bothers me about it? It’s that this isn’t quite like the Creator."

"I think it’s an ability that’s quite like the Creator though."

The Creator was a rascal who enjoyed torturing us Demon Lords.

"Letting us know only half of the information, which is the harm that it will cause, truly is like the Creator but things can’t be this simple. This seems to me just a decoy to hide its true purpose."

Now that she mentions it, a trap that gets revealed by unlocking the skill through leveling up is too generous.

"I see what you mean. Another scary thing is that all that’s stated is under certain conditions. What if those conditions are something unavoidable like eating? If so, that person’s really got such an awful character, doesn’t he?"

The anxiety of needing to be cautious of whatever I do was immeasurable but if that was the price for saving Marcho, it was something I would gladly bear.

"I think you can rest easy on that. While I agree that that person’s horrible, the trigger shouldn’t be something mundane like thinking—and just thinking—of something horrible. I believe it will be something that you will truly and deeply regret doing despite avoiding the consequences. But, so long as you stay as you are, I think you’ll be just fine."

"As long as I stay as I am? Okay, I’ll take care to do that. And I guess I’ll hold off on relying on you until we have full information on this."

I vowed to myself to never lose sight of who I was.

"Yeah, that’s a good attitude to take. After all, if you rely on me, you and your monsters wouldn’t be able to grow. ......speaking of growth, let’s do some special training right now."

Marcho said so, grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, and then dragged me away from Avalon.

To the Mythological Foxes, she just waved her hand at them and told them to return to their duties.

"Wait, what do you mean special training???"

This is bad. She’s too strong; I can’t resist.

I could have issued out a command and, through my power as her Demon Lord, she would have been forced to obey but then, that would be in violation of my own set of principles.

"You’ve used [Awakening], right? That power is more frightening than you think so I was thinking that I, as your predecessor, should teach you how to use it."

"I’m very grateful but can’t we do it some other day? Like the day after the feast, for example."

Yeah, I do need to learn how to use it but it doesn’t have to be today.

"Nope. This is best done sooner rather than later. Do you know why I came here before my dungeon has been fully reorganized? Well, let me tell you. It’s because my eyes here in Avalon told me that they sensed your [Awakening] being used."

"It was on the request of a subordinate monster of mine so I had to use it."

Thanks to that, I was able to make Fel immensely pleased. And seeing the results, I didn’t think using [Awakening] again for Fel’s sake was such a bad thing.

"I was surprised, you know. I was like, does he want to die? I think this the first I’ve heard of Demon Lord who used [Awakening] for such nonsense. Or is your intention to make me a widow right after you’ve extended my life?"

Her tone was soft but it also had unyielding force.

Also, for some reason, she was puffing her cheeks in an intense manner.

"What are you getting so angry for?"

"I’ll say this just in case it pops into your head but this has nothing to do with jealousy; I am not worried at all about being upstaged by such a little girl. I am just genuinely worried about you."

"Then explain what you are worried about so that I can understand."

"Okay, simply put, as things are, you will cease to exist. I was convinced when I heard it from Kuina and the others but, Procell, it seems you’re fundamentally mistaken about [Awakening]: it doesn’t create another personality within you or anything like that."

"It doesn’t?"

When I used [Awakening], I felt a dark me raging within, swallowing my own consciousness.

I had thought that to be another personality.

"Nope, it doesn’t. [Awakening], you see, only brings out to the surface your base self which doesn’t listen to reason and which desires for things. Well, it’s also the part of you that wants to have fun but nonetheless, it is undeniably all been a part of you from the start."

"...you’ve got to be kidding"

That’s impossible. There’s no way that I’m like my dark self who lust for blood or Kuina and Fel.

"I’m not. Those are what you desire from the bottom of your heart. Well, everyone has a dark side and I can understand the feeling of not wanting to recognize that as a part of yourself."

"I don’t want to believe you."

I did not think of myself as a saint but I was certainly not that awful either.

"But please do. The problem, see, is in not recognizing that part of yourself. That’s not me, that’s different person, you might think. While one might argue that that is a good technique to return to your normal self, in truth, that’s nothing more than denying who you are. Because of that, you’ll end up denying that part of yourself over and over again, until eventually, you do have two distinct personalities within you. And when that happens, those two personalities will clash until only one is left to fully control the body, even when Awakening is not in effect."

I’m going to be erased by my dark self?? That’s my fate? I can’t deny that it feels likely though.

"The important thing here is that you recognize your dark side. Imagine it as a mask, if it helps. Upon recognizing that part of yourself, you will learn to control even those dark emotions. Anyone who can master this can be called a very capable Demon Lord. Well, at any rate, let’s try it out. You don’t have to worry; if you get out of hand, I can simply knock you out."

I didn’t want to believe it but to become strong, I had no choice but to accept my predecessor’s words.

"Alright, I’ll believe you. I’m going to confront my own emotions and master them."

Ok, I’ll do it, I thought to resolve myself.

For maximum safety, I had the option of simply not using [Awakening] ever again. However, that wasn’t a real solution; it was only running away from the problem. To be on the path of growing stronger, I had to face the risks. Otherwise, I could never become the strongest Demon Lord.

Now, to activate [Awakening]. Marcho said she’ll watch over me so there should be nothing to worry about.

My goal this time wasn’t only to master [Awakening], but also to test out [Necrosis], an ability that I recently obtained from killing the [Bow] Demon Lord Leraje.

This was an ability that the [Bow] Demon Lord used to make the wounds caused by each of his force’s arrows to rot and be harder to heal.

And now, I too could use such an ability. If I applied it to all the bullets that my monsters would fire and thus cause the wounds they would inflict to rot, their offensive capabilities they could cause would surely rise.

Each bullet would turn into an certain death bullet.

"[Awakening]"

I recited the words of power and made my dark self manifest before Marcho.

Now, come. I’ll conquer even my dark side to be a stronger Demon Lord.

TL: I changed [King] to [Monarch]. Aside from gender neutrality, it just sounds better to me.