Dungeon Battle Royale ~ Since I became a Demon King, I will aim for World Domination-Novel

Chapter 30

This vibration isn’t that of an earthquake ― it’s a sign of a Domain undergoing major changes.

Once I pick up my smartphone and try to check my Domain’s state,

―The ground in front of me shone with a pentagram and a small figure appeared from within the spinning light.

A bug? No, a midget?

The materialized small figure is a bespectacled girl with butterfly-like, transparent wings growing on her back and long, soft, lime-green hair.

Extremely momentous-looking lines were written on my smartphone when I glanced at it just now. And then, a little girl with mysterious wings in front of my eyes.

Doh, what an overload of information. From where should I start to process reality?

The girl floating in front of my eyes gazes at her extended arms as if checking herself.

She means no harm, right?

Postponing the girl, who restlessly surveys her surroundings, I checked the smartphone’s screen.

――!?

This is…I guess I was right after verifying it with the information in the smartphone?

It’s fine if I call it something like shyness of strangers, isn’t it? … How troublesome. It’s not because I thought like that, but after checking with my smartphone, I praise my own judgment.

On the smartphone―

『

』

Important information was displayed in rapid succession.

The purge of alien elements. A 24-hours 【Pseudo-Peace】. The effects brought about by those two events are unfathomable.

Next, I tried to check the situation in my Domain, but,

“Umm~? Can you hear me? Can you see me?” (Kanon)

A frail voice interrupts my thoughts.

I raise my eyes and look at the voice’s owner, the girl.

“Ah!? You noticed me!? Umm, nice to meet you…I’m Kanon.”

The floating bespectacled girl ― Kanon, quickly bows her head.

“Uuumm…nice to meet you, I’m Shion.”

I also lightly bow my head towards Kanon.

“Pheeew… I was startled. Just when I was hurled to an unknown place all of a sudden, the person in front of me ignores me and plays around with his smartphone. I was almost certain that you couldn’t see me.” (Kanon)

Kanon patted her chest in relief.

“Umm, that is, somehow…I’m sorry.” (Shion)

How should I interact with her? For the time being I apologized.

“No, no, not at all! Shion-sama, you are my lifesaver. I have intruded upon you during a busy time, thus, it’s me who has to ask for forgiveness.” (Kanon)

Kanon waves her hands in panic and quickly bows her head at the end.

It’s the characteristic apology battle of Japanese people. I had lost all memories of other people, but I feel somewhat of a nostalgia towards this back and forth.

And then silence prevails for a short time.

There’s no way for me, with my loner attribute, to come up with a topic in order to break down this silence. From the information I was provided, I assemble what I should do from now on inside my head.

The pseudo-peace lasts for 24 hours. A former Demon King girl, who became my subordinate, and an extended Domain.

If I remember correctly, this girl ― Kanon reported it herself, but her Knowledge should be B. I guess I should gather some information to start with. But, even though I say it like that, what should I actually ask her? Free questions while not knowing the other side’s information depth is truly difficult.

Ah!?

I’ve come up with the most ideal method.

“Umm…” (Shion)

“Umm…” (Kanon)

We both speak up at the same time, breaking the odd silence. As a result of mutual compromising with “Please, you go ahead,” a basic trait of the Japanese, I obtained the right to speak.

“Umm…” (Shion)

“Yes?” (Kanon)

“Can I bite you?” (Shion)

“…Eh?” (Kanon)

The girl, who had just yielded the authority over her life to me, looked at me with fear in her eyes, drawing away slowly.

◆

After that I stacked up explanation after explanation within the awkward atmosphere that was close to absolute zero.

“In other words, since I need the information that can be obtained from your Knowledge B, I thought 《Absorb》 would be the best…” (Shion)

“U-Umm…Shion-sama, I understand what you want to say.” (Kanon)

“I see, then…” (Shion)

“Seeing as I understood, I shall inform you that you won’t be able to absorb my knowledge even if you use 《Absorb》 to extract my vitality.” (Kanon)

“Hee? Is that so?” (Shion)

A silly voice escaped my mouth.

“Yes, you can try it if you want, but the abilities you will be able to obtain from me through 《Absorb》 are only 《Instant Memory》, my characteristic ability, as well as 《Language (Fairy)》 and 《Nature Manipulation》 as my racial abilities. You can’t gain abilities that depend on stats through 《Absorb》.” (Kanon)

“Ha? Seriously?” (Shion)

“Yes. If you allow me to add, 《Instant Memory》 is an ability allowing you to recall anything you’ve seen once in an instant. 《Language (Fairy)》 is an ability allowing you to understand the words of fairies. Since you can also understand the goblin language with this ability, you can call it upward compatible with 《Language (Goblin)》. 《Nature Manipulation》 is an ability that allows you to interfere with natural phenomena, but…” (Kanon)

《Nature Manipulation》, going by its name, it seems to be an extremely powerful ability.

“It will be faster if I show you how it works.” (Kanon)

Kanon says, holds out both hands and chants,

―Hyu…

A gentle breeze tickles my cheek.

“Umm, dark elf-san. Can you use a simple fire spell?” (Kanon)

Kanon speaks to the dark elf, and in turn it looks in my direction to check back with me. I silently nod.

The dark elf holds out its right hand and casts the spell.

The created ball of fire makes impact with the empty ground. Embers that are about to vanish sway within the aftermath.

Kanon holds out both hands towards the embers and chants,

―Boh!

The embers grandly swayed around for a brief moment.

“Pheew… Something along this line.” (Kanon)

Kanon takes a breath and looks back at me.

“Meaning…?” (Shion)

“《Nature Manipulation》 can interfere with natural phenomena such as fire, wind, and water, but the level of interference is as I just showed you. Moreover, it can’t interfere with magic. For example, in the event a minute ago, it couldn’t have interfered with the 《Fire Ball》 released by dark elf-san, but it could interfere with the fire created by that 《Fire Ball》.” (Kanon)

“Creating fire or wind out of nothing is impossible…is what you want to say?” (Shion)

“That’s how it is.” (Kanon)

《Nature Manipulation》. Contrary to its name, it was a cute special ability that should be called Fairy’s Mischief or something along that line.

“Okay, I understand 《Nature Manipulation》now…though it was a disappointing result…It’s a change of topic, now, can I ask a question?” (Shion)

“Yes. What do you want to know?” (Kanon)

“Just now you talked to the dark elf, right?” (Shion)

“Yes. Since dark elf-san can use fire magic.” (Kanon)

“Do you understand the dark elf language? Or are dark elves fairies?” (Shion)

“I understand the dark elf language. On a side note, dark elves belong to the elf species.” (Kanon)

“The special ability you possess is 《Language (Fairy)》, didn’t you say that? Why do you understand their words then?” (Shion)

“Aaah! Shion-sama, the ability you can absorb from me is 《Language (Fairy)》. However, I have acquired 《Language (Subrace A)》, 《Language (Subrace B)》, 《Language (Demons)》, 《Language (Angels)》, 《Language (Humans)》, 《Telepathic Communication (Slimes)》, 《Telepathic Communication (Animals)》, and 《Telepathic Communication (Spirits)》.” (Kanon)

“Ha?” (Shion)

“Umm, I can understand dark elf-san’s words with 《Language (Subrace B)》. By the way, that’s an ability you acquire with Knowledge D.” (Kanon)

“He? In short, you were able to understand the language of other races once you raised your Knowledge?” (Shion)

My head is on the verge of bursting due to the enormous flood of information provided by Kanon.

“Yes. Once Knowledge rises to B, you also acquire 《Language (Humans)》, this is an ability that allows you to understand languages besides Japanese…such as English, German, Chinese and so on. Even though I had studied English so frantically in the past…it’s somehow heartrending, isn’t it?” (Kanon)

Kanon said jokingly and smiled wryly.

Chapter 31

The only stat I didn’t assign any BP to ― Knowledge.

The blessings given by Knowledge aren’t only limited to language either.

The benefits provided by Knowledge weren’t inferior compared to the other stats.

Information turns into a key that greatly influences any strategy.

During my time as a human, I was a very normal university student. I didn’t have any experience in wars or battles, except for the one obtained in virtual worlds.

For example, in a game, even the same game, the progression speed will be vastly different between playing it for the first time and playing it the second time. Information about player skills certainly plays a big role, but what’s more important is that it influences the mastery level of the system.

Kanon knew a method of this world, called 《Surrender》.

Kanon knew that dark elves can use fire magic.

Kanon understood the effect of 《Absorb》 better than me, who has acquired it.

―If you know yourself and your enemy, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

Words by Sun Tzu. It means, if you know the real state of your enemies and your allies, then you won’t lose even in a hundred battles. I remember that it was something along those lines.

So far I have overcome every situation by repeatedly piling up guesses on guesses and using every trick in the book, but ― someday I will make a huge mistake.

For example, if I had assigned 17 BP into Alchemy at the beginning as a result of tapping the entry like mad without knowing anything. Alchemy would have grown to B, but, it would have accomplished almost nothing because of my lacking CP back then.

If it’s now, I know that 50 BP is necessary to raise a stat from B to A after having heard the information from Kanon. If I didn’t know that, I might have succumbed to despair due to pointlessly spending my BP.

The stat I had disregarded ― Knowledge, was an important stat.

Having said that―

“What’s your level?” (Shion)

I threw a question at Kanon. It’s obvious that she’s level 3 or above since she can create bloodkin, but…

“…It’s 3.” (Kanon)

Kanon averts her eyes from me and replies with a murmur.

Hearing her reply, I could guess the reason why she offered a 《Surrender》.

Kanon’s Knowledge is B. 17 BP are necessary to raise Knowledge to B. If it’s a Demon King who hasn’t acquired 10 BP through a bonus – a Demon King that hasn’t been chosen like me – then the entire amount of BP obtainable until level 3 is 20 BP, the initial 10 BP + 10 BP from leveling up twice.

In short, at the moment when Knowledge hit B, 3 BP would be left, throwing her in a situation where she can only raise one stat from E to D with the remaining BP.

No matter how much knowledge she might have by then, it will be a checkmate for her in that situation.

Even if she raised Creation, for example, her strongest subordinates would be kobolds. Moreover, unlike me, she wouldn’t be able to give any decent equipment to those kobolds. If it was Alchemy instead, what useful equipment would she actually be able to alchemize at D? Let’s take the Iron Series as an example, that way her strongest subordinates would be goblins equipped with items from the Iron Series. If she had raised Body or Mana, it would have become even more disastrous.

No matter the choice, it would be the end.

She wouldn’t have any means allowing her to defend against the invading humans.

Rather, I admire her for having stayed alive until now.

“What stats have you raised other than Knowledge?” (Shion)

I asked her as a continuation of our light chat.

“Umm…I raised all stats besides Knowledge to D. I still haven’t assigned the BP I obtained when I rose to level 3. However…” (Kanon)

“He? …Ah, no, sorry. However? Go on?” (Shion)

Unintentionally I leaked a silly sound due to her reply that contradicted my conjectures, but Kanon was still in the middle of her sentence. I urged her to continue.

“Okay. However…seemingly as an effect of 《Surrender》, the entries 【Creation】 and 【Alchemy】…vanished…probably because I stopped being a Demon King.” (Kanon)

The flood of unknown information overwhelms me.

Just on this topic alone, there are 2 things that bother me.

The effective time of 【Pseudo-Peace】 is 24 hours, right? Will that be enough?

For the time being, I decided to go on with a light question.

“Umm, first off, your level is 3, right?” (Shion)

“Yes. Umm, you know~…” (Kanon)

“Mmh?” (Shion)

“I know that…I’m not in a position allowing me to request something like this, but…” (Kanon)

“What is it?” (Shion)

“If possible, I’d like you to stop calling me 『you ¹』…” (Kanon)

“Aah…” (Shion)

Kanon tells me her request, apparently having some difficulties trying to say it.

Certainly 『you』 is unduly distant, or rather, feels like there’s a cold wall of sorts between us. Having said that, how should I call her then? Kanon-san? Attaching -san to someone who offered their 《Surrender》 is weird, isn’t it? She looks like a cute fairy, but…Kanon-chan because of that? HAHAHA. If I could attach -chan to the names of people whom I had met for less than an hour or so, then I wouldn’t have been such a loner.

“Umm, if possible…if you could just call me Kanon…” (Kanon)

“Kanon…Kanon… Got it. I will simply call you Kanon from now on.” (Shion)

I repeat the name a few times and acknowledge her request.

“Thank you!” (Kanon)

“In exchange, how to say it…you, no Kanon, can’t you stop calling me Shion-sama?” (Shion)

Attaching -sama is somewhat embarrassing. Since it’s a good chance, I tell her my request as well.

“How should I call you then…?” (Kanon)

“Just Shion is fine.” (Shion)

Being told by a woman, who I met for the first time, that she wants me to call her by just her name, of course I’d respond with the same request. This situation; it’s that, isn’t it? I have advanced from the attribute loner to the attribute riajuu!?

I shyly hide my joy that I can finally bid farewell to an attribute that has been my partner for 18 long years.

“No, going by appearance, you are older, Shion-sama, so…Shion…-san? How about that?” (Kanon)

A bittersweet relationship didn’t come to be.

“…Very well. That’s fine.” (Shion)

I answered curtly.

“Come to think of it, you said going by appearance, what do I look like right now?” (Shion)

There are no mirrors in my Domain. If I wanted to create one, I could make an object with a similar feel. Also, if you look deeply into a Silver Shield, it reflects one’s figure, but after evolving to Demon King (Vampire), I had yet to check my own appearance.

One way or another I know that I have grown a little bit, gained a few muscles and that my hair has become silver, but…I was curious how my appearance looks in the eyes of another person.

“Umm, let’s see… You have beautiful silver hair and seem to be in the first half of your 20s at a glance. I think your looks are good.” (Kanon)

With my appearance being regarded as older than my actual age, I wonder, should I be happy to be seen as an adult, or should be sad over being seen as old? My looks seem to be good. This makes me quite happy.

“However…you look somewhat ill, or rather, your complexion is bad.” (Kanon)

“I see. Thanks.” (Shion)

I gave Kanon my thanks. If I tell her something like “In reality I’m 18 years old!”, I feel like it will derail our conversation again, thus, I decided to return the topic to the issues at hand.

“Let’s return to the main topic. Kanon, you are level 3, right? Why were you able to raise Knowledge to B and all other stats to D?” (Shion)

“Ah! That is….when I started the 『World Salvation Project』 app for the first time, I had an entry called 【Special】. You had it too, didn’t you Shion-san?” (Kanon)

“The one that said it would answer any kind of question, but only once?” (Shion)

“I see.” (Shion)

That wasn’t a special privilege only available to me? I was so happy thinking that I’m beyond a doubt a chosen Demon King.

“By the way, what kind of question was it?” (Shion)

“Umm, that is…you know…umm…” (Kanon)

First she hesitates to answer, but then resolves herself.

“I asked 『Is there any need to save this world?』” (Kanon)

Makes senses…

Kanon looks like a cute fairy. And, since a while ago she has been obediently answering my questions.

However, I must not forget.

Kanon is a former Demon King, someone classified as 【Chaos】 from the result of the aptitude test.

She talks and looks like this, but isn’t this girl actually quite dangerous?

I recognized anew the fairy floating around while smiling ― Kanon, as a former Demon King.