CH 52

(Kurokiri POV for the whole chapter)

“There are way too many things to do…”

In front of me, along with the screens of ≪Dungeon Creation≫ and ≪Monster Creation≫, I have received a letter of demand from the country, or more accurately, a request letter.

The specific contents are as follows:

・Please improve the relationship with the Fox Princess in the west.

・Please do something about the Northern Snow King.

・Please do something for us as we are running out of food.

・Please lower the difficulty level of the labyrinth.

・Please do something about the demons arising from the ocean.

・Please transform me into a Kirijin.

Yeah. I would like to express my words out loud.

I don’t give a damn!

To begin with, my connection with the Fox Princess is optimal for a series of skirmishes like the one we’re experiencing right now. It’s either for leveling up or assessing our strength.

As for the Snow King, let’s disregard him because Ryo should be throwing forth her valiant efforts at this time. Even if she can’t vanquish the Snow King, she can at least weaken his forces. Besides, if something goes wrong, Aria will contact me.

As for food? You’ll have to come up with something on your own. Alternatively, you can consume whatever you find in the dungeon.

The difficulty level? Your concern is none of my issues. I am risking my life here. If I lower the difficulty level any further, the Fox Princess will end up killing me.

Demons from the ocean? They’re under the control of the “Crawling Octopus King of Chaos,” right? Why don’t you lure them to the land and then hunt them down? Therefore, it’s out of my control.

And you wish to become a kin? I don’t entertain that kind of request. Who I choose to become a Kirijin is entirely up to me.

Seriously, humans are all so self-centered that in the end, they will be annihilated. I’m not going to do it since problems will develop later on.

And Ichiko seems to have discovered the dungeon of the Spicy King. In that case, I’ll provide her with immediate instructions and… speaking of which, the Fox Princess told me not to lay a hand on the Sugar King. I’ll let her know about that too.

Now that I have issued instructions to Ichiko and the others, I have made some discoveries.

Apparently, there is a connection between HP, MP, SP and the three major human desires[i], each of which can be efficiently recovered by fulfilling their respective requirements. I dare not say which one is linked to which one though.

Ah, and let’s review my current strength briefly.

・150 Kirijin (including Ichiko, Ryo, Houki, Chirito, and Izumi)

・10 Mystics (one of them is accompanying Ryo)

・5 Cuélebre

・1 Disarray Devil’s Darning Needle (who had started to heed my commands before I knew it)

・A myriad of other various demons.

Yup. I suppose it’s quite a force to be reckoned with. If they are in my dungeon, there are also fog and swamp traps in addition to this. If it is an average opponent, my demons won’t be lagging behind.

So, who among these guys has the potential to take on X-J5?

“How fascinating.”

All of a sudden, something triggers a response in my body.

The sensation in me was that something ominous had swept past me momentarily and cast a glance in my direction as it left. Whatever the case may be, it feels that there is something nefarious at play.

“What is that?”

When I scan my surroundings, all I notice is the usual “White Fog and Black Swamp Forest”. However, this sensation is familiar to me from somewhere, something that I had experienced at some point in my life.

When was that…?

This is the first time I’ve felt like this since becoming the Demon King. Along with my intellectual power, my remembrance ability has enhanced since I metamorphosed into the Demon King. Therefore, if something occurred after joining the ranks of a Demon King, I should be able to recall it immediately.

However, I can barely remember my days as a human being, nor do I believe that I would have encountered such a sensation in my peaceful life as a normal university student in this country. In fact, my sensing ability as a human being must have been less than that of a typical human being.

If that were the case, the situation where I would be subjected to this kind of sensation would be right before becoming the Demon King is…

After musing about it, the existence of an entity struck my mind.

“That little girl’s voice…”

My thoughts are inundated with the presence of that enigmatic voice that had converted me into the Demon King that day. She is one of my ultimate goals, a being whose true identity I still have no clue about.

And, despite the fact that people are oblivious to it, she is the one who has brought the world to its existing crisis.

Hmm. Well, after all this time, calling her by the name of “little girl’s voice” is out of bounds under the prevailing circumstances. Then, I suppose I should refer to her in another way… let’s see. If she is the embodiment of the Demon King, then it would be more befitting to address her like this.

“God of Calamity.”[ii]

Now, if the presence of the God of Calamity was detected even for a moment, it would be prudent to respond accordingly, or at least to be on the alert via the eyes of my kin.

“But I doubt it would produce much of an effect against a God.”

Although I spread my vigilance net to the greatest extent possible, I ended up uttering such a thing.

T/N:

[i] It is generally, “appetite, sexual desire, and sleep desire” but could be other desires too

[ii] Can be read as demon gods or devil too. But I’ll be using God of Calamity