Chapter 13

Before the throne that Vermudol was sitting in, three Majin were lined up.

One was a female Majin with long blond hair. On top of her clothes that had white as the basic theme, she wore a pendant with a yellow Magic Stone fitted into it. Not carrying any weapon-like weapons, it could be inferred that mainly used either hand-to-hand combat or magic.

Another one of them was a Majin with short silver hair. He had light blue metal armor and a large sword that was around his height. Vermudol thought that this one was clearly a swordsman.

The last one was a muscular giant man. He had light brown disheveled hair and an ample grown beard. Suiting the durable looking clothes that he wore well, he had the appearance like that of a woodsman. As one would expect, he didn’t carry a weapon, but he was the most mysterious man.

Vermudol understood that the three of them were suitably powerful people just by looking at them.

However, at the same time, he could tell that they were quite the ruffians.

Excluding the female Majin, the threatening pressure from the other two that was pointed towards Vermudol wasn’t normal.

「Welcome. I am Vermudol.」

Without claiming to be the Demon King deliberately, Vermudol introduced himself.

Seeing that, the swordsman surreptitiously moved his eyebrows, and the female Majin took one step forward.

「I am Fainell. A Majin of the East. This is prompt but there is something I wish to ask of you, Vermudol-dono.」

「What might that be?」

「It is whether the rumors of this occasion are the truth or not.」

「If it is in regards to the establishment of the four cardinal direction generals, then it is the truth.」

Fainell made a short nod to Vermudol.

And then, as if being next in line after her, the muscular man took a step forward.

「I am Raktor. Was it alright for the selection criterion to be based on strength?」

「Swearing allegiance to the Demon King is also included I suppose.」

「I see. Incidentally, I am the south’s strongest.」

At those words, Vermudol raised a voice of admiration.

He had heard from Orel that the southern area had a huge decisive battle of kaijuu, but the man before him had an appearance that was no different from normal Majin. In other words, it seems that the man before him that introduced himself as Raktor had the possibility that he had an appearance that was different from what he appeared to be.

「So, how about you?」

Vermudol turned his eyes towards the last person──the swordsman.

That swordsman opened his mouth while fixing his eyes on Vermudol.

「……According to what I have heard, I have learned by hearsay that there are two marks on the person worthy of being the Demon King. I would like to ask you to demonstrate them.」

「Two marks?」

Vermudol went “I see” and understood.

Fainell and Raktor, although their appearances are completely different, they are the stereotypical muscle-brained Mazoku.

However, it would seem that this swordsman isn’t like that.

「Yes. One of them is that it is said that the Demon King and the Hero are able to confirm other people’s Status even without a 『Reveal Crystal』.」

Name: Altejio

Race: Majin

Rank: S

Occupation: Magic Swordsman

Equipment: Light Burying Sword Auraal

Armor of Frozen Soil

Technical Skill: Light Resistance (Counterattack A)

Void Freeze B

Heart of Absolute Zero G

「That’s right, Altejio. It would seem that you possess very incredible equipment.」

「……, so you have seen it.」

「Yeah. I don’t know if it was all of it, but I can see most of it. Or could it be that you are showing it to me.」

Without a doubt, the Light Resistance and the Void Freeze are effects of his armor.

He was able to understand that the technical skill called 【Heart of Absolute Zero】 was the source of Altejio’s composure.

「Well then, the other one.」

Having immediately regained his composure, Altejio took a crystal ball looking thing from a bag.

「A 『Reveal Crystal』 huh. I see.」

Seeing the thing that Altejio pulled out, Fainell nodded looking as if she understood what he was doing.

「If you are the Demon King, this thing will project a clear distinction from the swindling Majin.I would like to confirm whether or not you are the Demon King with this.」

The 『Reveal Crystal』.

That was the Magic Item that possessed the ability to project a person’s Status.

Because it possessed an effect similar to the Status Confirming Magic that the Hero and the Demon King use, it is also something widely used regardless of being used by either Humans or Majin.

「That’s fine. Hand that over here.」

「……So it is alright.」

Saying that, Altejio presented the 『Reveal Crystal』 out to Vermudol.

「It’s fine. If it will make you consent with that.」

Standing up from the throne, Vermudol took the 『Reveal Crystal』 from the hands of Altejio who remained still, and put his consciousness into it as if he were silently praying.

When he did that, his Status emerged inside of the crystal.

Name: Vermudol

Race: Demon King

Rank: SSS

Occupation: Magician

Equipment: Ring of Sorcery

The other Demon King’s Clothing

Details: Unknown

Race, Demon King.

The three Mazoku fixed their eyes on what was displayed.

The astonished faced Altejio.

The satisfied faced Fainell.

The greatly interested-looking faced Raktor.

The Demon King had his race itself listed as Demon King.

The reason why there it was pointless no matter how much one proclaimed themselves to be the Demon King was found in this area.

However, because this was a fact that is known only to a portion of Mazoku, it could be said that it couldn’t be helped that self-proclaimed Demon Kings like those of the western area would become a repeated occurrence.

「So, are you satisfied?」

When he returned the 『Reveal Crystal』 to Altejio, the three Mazoku lined up as if they repelled into it and took retainer bows.

There was no margin for doubt.

With more than 120 years having passed since Demon King Gramfia perished, the true Demon King has returned to this Dark Continent.

「I shall formally make my self-introduction. I am Fainel. I am a Majin of the East.」

「I am Raktor. The South’s strongest……No, excluding Demon King-sama, I might be the strongest in the continent.」

Next to Fainell who was glaring at Raktor, Altejio also started his self-introduction.

「I am Altejio. A Majin of the North. Demon King Vermudol-sama, I ask for your forgiveness……for my various rude actions.」

「Don’t worry about it, Altejio. I don’t hate guys with good heads on their shoulders.」

When he said that, Vermudol made a faint smile as he sat back down on the throne.

Finally, the beginning order was completed.

The Dark Continent is vast, and it would take too much time for Vermudol himself to subjugate it.

As long as there wasn’t a guarantee that the Hero or whatever wouldn’t appear during that time, he needed to advance things quickly.

It was for this reason that the four cardinal direction commanders were arranged.

By doing a culling, it was a selection of strong Mazoku that would obey him.

And then, it would also prepare the subordinates that would become pawns that were the four cardinal direction commanders.

In other words, plans for a new Demon King Army.

There was no need for the Mazoku that Gramfia, who had been defeated by the Hero in the past, had created.

As long as Mazoku could be created by Vermudol, a majority of them were meaningless.

What he wanted was only the handful that possessed extremely high ability.

「I would like to have you all work as commanders of the new Demon King Army.」

Dark emotions swirled within Vermudol.

……That’s right, this was a cleaning as well as a replacement.

The old things would be purged, and new things would be created.

He wasn’t of mankind but of the Mazoku.

It was because he was a Demon King and not just a king that this was a feasible reckless action.

Vermudol quietly took that one step forward.

Chapter 12

Chapter 14