(408) And to become a Demon Lord
Chapter (408) And to become a Demon Lord
With Hag’s defeat, we could now use magic so we returned to My World along with the Dark-Elves.
I believed that I had enough resolve but it seemed that I didn’t.
Or at least, my resolve was nowhere near what Hag had shown.
Was our path we believe in, truly right?
At the very least, Metias and Minerva were working to save the souls of everyone living in this world.
To protect this world from calamities that will someday cover it.
Was it right to ruin that goal and work only for those who are currently alive?
What if I was ruining the first and last opportunity to protect the world from calamity?
“Onii, it is wrong to kill everyone alive now for the sake of the souls that will be born in the future. That is a dangerous thought process.”
“I know.”
I could rationalize it but it couldn’t convince my heart.
“ … Miri, why did the current Demon Lord join hands with the Demon God?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to know either and I don’t even know who the current Demon Lord is. But I can imagine.”
“Eh?”
“Onii don’t have to think about anything extra. Just quickly become a Demon Lord.”
Even if you tell me with a tone like ‘Don’t play with your food and quickly eat.’.
“So what should I do with this jewel to become a Demon Lord? Should I just eat it?”
It would be a little hard to eat it as it is so I would like to stew it in a pressure cooker for about 3 hours.
I was having such pointless thoughts.
I cracked jokes to dispel my uneasiness.
“If you want to swallow it, do you want to first practice swallowing the Lemonade bottle bead? Centaur seems like it will be able to do that much.”
Centaur, who has been left unattended by the Heroes, was still in My world consuming tomatoes at such a high rate that he might actually be swallowing them whole.
“But you can just absorb the power.”
“I can!?”
“Yeah. It is not normally done but it should be possible in theory.”
“Then let’s please do it the normal way.”
I refuse to die and leave things behind, like how I was kicked to death by a horse on the way to my interview, by suffocating to death while trying to absorb the Demon Lord power.
“Follow me then.”
Miri replied and led the way.
We were headed to the first build we built in My World. The observatory-like building built by Libra-sama.
“Can I help you?”
Libra-sama appeared inside the building.
Eh? Does becoming a Demon Lord involve borrowing the power of a Goddess?
“I have some matters here. Move aside, Libra.”
“Use honorifics when speaking to Goddess-sama.”
“ … Libra-sama. I have something to do here. This place is just nice the centre of this world. Here is the perfect place for the coronation of the Demon Lord.”
“Demon Lord coronation? But Miryu, you’re already a Demon Lord.”
“The one becoming a Demon Lord is Onii - Kusunoki Ichinosuke.”
Libra looked at me and pondered after hearing about it.
I wonder if she wouldn’t allow it since Demon Lords are antagonistic toward the Goddesses.
My heart was pounding and I was sweating nervously.
We already had the Hero, current Demon Lord, and Demon Gods as our enemies but now if these superior Goddesses turned into our enemies as well, we would truly be surrounded.
Libra-sama closed her eyes for a second and,
“I can somewhat understand what you are planning. He should be fine.”
She said and nodded.
I sighed in relief and suddenly wondered.
“By the way, why is Libra-sama here?”
I heard that the Goddesses were taking action to form countermeasures against the Demon Gods.
“This location is the centre of this world and also the first place you arrived when you first visited this world. As such, it receives strong influence from Otherworld and the rip in space is strong. Using that, it is a great way to explore this world and the spaces of the other Goddesses at the same time. I am investigating Tet and Minerva’s spaces from here.”
I see. I intuitively thought it was an observatory but it was actually a heaven observatory - - a building capable of investigating the world of Gods.
“So did you find anything?”
“No. I wondered if either of them would be there but Minerva’s space is a hollow shell. Tet’s space is filled with miasma and, strangely, it can still somehow maintain the space. At the moment, Koshmar-senpai and Torerul are performing purification works and investigating at the same time but Metias and others are probably not there.”
“Does that mean the three gods are working in another dimension?”
“Is it that simple to create another dimension?”
“It can’t be created. It is the same for my Space-Time Magic and item bag. It would be difficult if your way of thinking is limited to three-dimensional, but the Goddesses can move in four-dimensional space and even if the superstring theory is an exaggeration, if you can prove that Space-Time Magic is the space-time described in the Kaluza-Klein theory of five or more dimensions, there would be endless hiding places.”
She completely lost me.
I would prefer if she explained it in a way that a junior high school physics level student could understand.
“Unfortunately, there is a possibility that all the Demon Gods have escaped to another dimension. I have observed that currently, monsters are surging out of the 12 dungeons around the world. For the Demon Gods to exert their powers, they either have to be in a space that has a strong connection with the dungeons, like our Goddess Space, or - -”
“On the surface. Okay, understood. Furthermore, the only Goddess Space that Metias can enter is here.”
I couldn’t really catch up to the conversation but Miri was convinced so I guess that was true.
The Demon Gods were somewhere on the surface.
And the most promising candidate would be the Arundel Kingdom where the Hero is waiting.
If that was the case, there was an even stronger need for me to become a Demon Lord.
“Miri-sama, thank you for waiting. I asked the Dark-Elves to prepare it.”
“I think it suits Ichino-sama very well.”
Haru and Carol brought the items Miri requested them to bring.
I looked at them and doubted my eyes.
That was because they brought a red cloak, a sceptre and a crown.
Were those necessary because this was a coronation?
“Onii, a king can’t be alone. There is no king if there are no citizens in the country. Just like how you can’t play a game of shogi with just a king piece. The king only becomes a king after somebody acknowledges them. The first Demon Lord appeared after there was support from thousands and tens of thousands of people.”
Thousands and tens of thousands was impossible!
Only about 50 people were living in My World?
“This time, we’ll use somewhat of a secret trick? I invoke the divine right of kings.”
“Divine right of kings? Oh that? The word of the king is the word of God because the king receives the right from God. Isn’t it reversed?”
“It does sound like that when taken as it is but it is originally a word for a special ritual in this world. In other words, by receiving God’s permission, a person can become king with just only a few witnesses. And when demon power is gifted, that person becomes a Demon Lord.”
Now that I think about it, the royal family in this world are born with the royalty job.
It is a job that receives recognition from the Goddess-samas, was it that great?
“Naturally, the form of the ritual is important. Because the witnesses have to firmly recognize the person as their king. For that aspect, I believe Haurva and Carol are the right people?”
Haru and Carol would certainly recognize me as a king.
“It’s perfect timing. Libra-sama, lend us your power too, okay?”
“Yes, no problem.”
We obtained Libra-sama’s aid too.
All right, in that case, we should quickly - -
“Please wait. Please let us witness that coronation as well.”
Rarael and the other Dark-Elves ran to the location just as we were about to start.
“We heard of the condition for Ichinojo-sama to become a Demon Lord. All of us wish to be witnesses too.”
How did they know?
Oh, Haru and Carol did mention that they had the Dark-Elves make the crown and sceptre.
In that case, they would naturally inform them of this coronation.
All the Dark-Elves knelt on one knee.
With these many witnesses, my prestige will rise as a Demon Lord.
I was about to gladly accept when Miri chided them.
“Are you all truly aware? To witness the Demon Lord coronation directly means becoming the kin of the Demon Lord. Haurva and Carol are already Onii’s kin so there are no problems but if this goes ahead, all of you will become kin too. Furthermore, since your entire race is here and would become the Demon Lord’s kin, any individual born from your race in the future will also be the Demon Lord’s kin. When everyone in Otherworld forgets the sins of the Dark-Elves after hundreds or thousands of years later, the reality that you will be the Demon Lord kin will be engraved in your status even after returning to the surface. Won’t it be difficult for you to live a normal life once that happens? It was the Church that denounced the Demon Lord as evil but it has permeated as common sense in society.”
I was shocked after hearing that.
I planned to be responsible for the Dark-Elves here but it was a different matter if every future member of the race was affected.
“That can’t happen, Rarael. The ones here are sufficient - -”
“We are here because we have that resolve. To be Ichinojo-sama’s kin engraved in our status will be the pride of our race. We will never be ashamed of it.”
“ … That’s their reply, Onii.”
I looked at the Dark-Elves.
So all of them are placing their trust in me.
Resolve - - that word weighed heavily on me.
The resolve that Hag displayed and the resolve that the Dark-Elves are showing.
My tiny resolution was incomparable to either one.
To be honest, it was dazzling.
“All right. Everyone, please witness my coronation to become a Demon Lord.”
I held my tiny resolve in my chest and wore the red cloak that Carol extended toward me.
Kneeling in front of Miri, the former Demon Lord, and listening to her words, I received the sceptre and put on the crown.
The light gradually disappeared from the jewel that sealed the power of Famiris that Goddess Libra-sama was holding and I felt it enter me.
Haru and the other witnesses watched over that scene as they held their breaths.
“Ah, I forgot to mention, once the coronation is over, your first job will automatically be replaced by Demon Lord, so you can’t return to being unemployed anymore. Congratulations on your employment, Onii.”
In that heavy atmosphere, Miri suddenly chimed in and,
【Job: Demon Lord is now available】
【1st Job has been set as Demon Lord】
And I was probably the first person in the world to change jobs from Jobless to Demon Lord.