CH 54

A Portrayal of The Average Hero

"One here, one there, oh, one off in that corner would be good too…"

I tapped at the menu over and over as I placed a series of traps throughout the castle. I was remodelling and transforming the it into an impregnable fortress that none would ever conquer. A good number of the traps I set were ones provided by the dungeon, but that wasn't all. I also made use of a few of tricks and devices I came up with on my own.

My focus, which had lasted quite a while, was suddenly interrupted by the map. It popped out of nowhere and shoved itself in my face. All my attention was immediately drawn the blinking red blip currently located at the very edge of my territory.

The dungeon had once again been subject to an invasion. I promptly tapped the blip in order to get the map to show a few more details, only to find that the humans had changed their approach.

***

General Information

Name: Nell

Race: Human

Class: Hero

Level: 42

HP: 2120/2120

MP: 6981/6981

Strength: 519

Stamina: 652

Agility: 817

Magic: 704

Dexterity: 987

Luck: 1245

Unique Skills

Barrier Magic

Fast Feet

Skills

Holy Magic V

Sword Arts IV

Enemy Search II

Crisis Detection IV

Titles

Master of the Holy Blade

She Who is Easily Swept Along By the Flow

***

They humans had acted again. But this time, they'd sent only a single individual: a hero.

"Huh… so heroes really do exist."

The heroes stats clearly deviated far from the norm. She was much more powerful than all the other humans that had ever entered the dungeon. Her skills looked fairly solid as well. Her holy magic was a cut above the rest; it was already level five. As a demon lord, and thereby some sort of unholy creation, I was almost certain that a textbox would appear below me and claim that the attack was "super effective" the moment I was struck by any sort of holy spell. [1]

Wait, does is that a whole thousand luck? Holy shit. God damn. That hero needs to go hit up a casino or something.

"Still though, a hero…? Talk about lame." I laughed dryly as I began to grumble and complain.

The hero was slowly but surely moving deeper into my territory, so I made use of the many evil eyes I had strewn throughout my territory and began to observe her. Her advance was cautious, and the girl herself almost seemed kind of timid. Her hair was cut short and styled like a bob, so at first glance, I'd almost thought that she was male, but her figure was clearly that of a girl's.

It was clear that the humans had sent her as an alternative to yet another army. They'd chosen to go with quality over quantity because the opposite approach had failed.

Holy shit, are the humans retarded? Did they really not think to send anyone else with her at all? What the hell are their higher ups thinking?

I almost wanted to sigh as I realized that the girl was truly all by her lonesome. She didn't have a party, nor any other sort of support.

Like seriously, what the hell? Is this supposed to be one of those historical dramas where a battle is decided by a duel between a pair of generals? Or maybe some sort of masochistic nuzlocke? Like, why? Just why? Whoever sent her here has to be short a few brain cells.

Though I was sure that there was some underlying reason that the hero was here all by herself, I still couldn't help but find it stupid, in part because I was never really one to like heroes to begin with. I'd always found the very concept of a hero to be ridiculous.

Heroes were, in essence, people out to save the world. They obey orders and fight on many a battlefield all under the guise of carrying out some sort of epic quest. They save all the people they come across almost as if it were a mechanical response hardcoded into their systems.

To be frank, I found heroism absolutely fucking ridiculous. I didn't see the point in spending my life serving the general populace.

I very much preferred being a demon lord. Because unlike heroes, demon lords were free. I didn't have to bend to the whims of another. I could openly detest those that I hated, seek revenge whenever I desired it, expand my territory as I wished, and effectively live however I pleased. I was the only thing holding myself back, and I was the only thing that could stop myself from living a life free of regrets. I knew that living however I pleased was sure to inconvenience other people, but that was fine. I would much rather cause trouble than lament my own decisions.

There was no denying that I was a self-centered prick, but it was also precisely because I was so selfish that I didn't mind casting my humanity aside. Though my race had changed, I was still me. I didn't particularly care how I looked so long as the essence that made up my being remained unchanged.

Actually… I take that back. I'd probably panic if I ended up becoming something that didn't even look remotely human. At the very least, I'd like to have a somewhat humanoid silhouette.

It was likely precisely that part of my mentality that led the dungeon to believe that I was suited to becoming a demon lord.

Anyway, if it's a fight the hero wants, then it'll be a fight she gets. The castle's a bit shy of complete, but it still does have a good number of traps, and nasty ones too. Might as well have her give them a bit of a test run. Anyway, I better go tell everyone to hide before she gets here.

I spread my wings, leapt out the castle, and began gliding towards the courtyard, where all the dungeon's other residents had gathered for some sort of tea party.

"Hey! Listen up!"

I yelled to grab their attention as I used my wings to slowly descend. The second pair I'd gotten had boosted my control. I was now much more stable and could both position myself in midair and land as softly as I wanted, wherever I wanted. I no longer had to freefall and plunge myself into the earth to come to a stop.

That said, I often did so regardless when I went hunting with Rir. My high altitude strikes were not only effective, but also thrilling and fun to use, to I decided to keep using them even though they'd become less of a necessity.

“What is it, Yuki?”

“How about not trying to touch my wings the moment you see them…”

I couldn't help but smile wryly as Lefi dashed up to me and began feeling me up. There wasn't really much of a point in stopping her, as she probably wouldn't listen to me, so I began to talk while letting her do as she pleased.

"A hero's entered the dungeon. You guys might want to head back over to the true throne room and hang around there for a bit while I handle things."

"Oh gawd! Didja just say a hero, Master!?" The first to react was Lyuu. Her face immediately contorted in displeasure.

"I'm guessing you know what heroes are then?"

"'Course I do!" said Lyuu. "They're cold blooded murderers, and strong as heck too! Most of 'em get trained when they're just kids, so they all kinda think it's right to kill us non-humans on sight."

"I see…" I said as I narrowed my gaze.

Lyuu's interpretation made plenty of sense. It was only natural for those that opposed humanity to think of their heroes as the stuff of nightmares.

I remember hearing something like that in my previous life too. A hero in one country could be classified a criminalized mass murderer in another, and for the exact same deeds at that.

"Yeah, so one of those uh 'cold blooded murderers' is headed right for us. I should be able to get rid of them without too much issue, but you still might want to get out of here just in case."

“Okay!” replied Illuna.

“A hero? How curious. I am feeling rather tempted to to ask for the permission to observe it," added Leila.

"T-That ain't much of a good idea, Leila. Y'know, curiosity killed the cat 'n stuff."

Illuna and the maids entered a hidden door located in one of the courtyard's corners and retreated to the true throne room. Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to place a door that would put the dungeon's residents, myself included, in danger. The door in the courtyard was one of the many anywh*re doors I'd set up around the castle's grounds.

I used to be the one that could select and modify the door's destination, but leveling the dungeon had caused that to change. Anyone could have the ability redirect the door so long as I permitted them to do so.

In other words, the doors served as portals that could take the dungeon's residents almost wherever they wanted. They were extremely convenient.

“And you are sure that you need not my aid?" said Lefi. Unlike the other three, she had stayed behind.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. This is pretty much the perfect chance for me to test the castle’s defenses. You might as well sit back, find yourself a snack, watch as I wrap everything up.”

“Very well… But do not forget that I am more than willing to offer you my assistance if need be.”

“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry, I’ll ask you for help if I really need it. I think I’ll be fine though, all I’m planning to do is activate a few traps while sitting around in the throne room. I doubt I’ll be in any real danger," I said with a smile.

And so, Lefi and I returned to the throne room as I prepared to engage the hero.

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