kscans

Chapter 103 - Demon Lord Countermeasures

At eight in the evening, Hayato finished his work at the cafe and logged back in.

Esha was already logged in, waiting with everyone else in the dining hall. They were about to hold a strategy meeting for the Underworld Dragon.

Regarding the simultaneous Stampedes in three locations, although the treasure fragments were not stolen, a significant number of facilities had been destroyed. Other players were assisting with the recovery, but the situation was dire enough that if Hayato didn't provide serious support, there would be problems during the next Stampede.

Then there was the betrayal of the moderate faction. The Fire Dragon had been defeated once, so he wouldn't be able to return for a while, but the Thunder Dragon was now on the enemy's side. It was possible the other two moderates had also switched sides, so he wanted to defeat as many of them as possible.

If another five-dragon Stampede occurred, the treasure fragments would surely be stolen.

Thus, the next target became the Underworld Dragon Onyx Rod. In the current situation, he was arguably the easiest opponent to win against. However, there was a condition.

To win, the participation of the Demon Lord Lunaria was essential. If Lunaria joined the battle, they were almost certain to win.

However, Lunaria had a problem. She was afraid of ghosts, that is, Ghost-type monsters, and was holed up in the Demon Lord's Castle.

Diite had known that Lunaria was "afraid of ghosts," but she had assumed it was a minor dislike, never imagining that it would render her unable to fight. It wasn't that Diite failed to realize this because she was an AI. Hayato had thought the same thing.

Because of that, the top priority was to drag Lunaria out for the next Stampede. The strategy meeting for that was about to begin.

Participating members were Hayato, Esha, Ash, Ren, Lunaria, and her retainer, Rosalie. Diite was busy with other research, and Ney's group and Relic's group were out gathering materials to restore the facilities in the Demon Country and the Spirit Country, so they were absent.

When Hayato went to the dining hall, the members were already assembled. Everyone was seated at the dining table with drinks and desserts placed before them.

For some reason, Lunaria was tied to the back of her chair with a rope and had no dessert.

"Looks like everyone's here. Let's get started then."

"Hayato-san, I believe you have something to say about my current situation first."

"A Demon Lord who won't participate in a Stampede because she's scared of ghosts has no human rights. And no dessert either."

Lunaria slumped at those words. Her retainer, Rosalie, also seemed to have her own thoughts on the matter and wasn't on Lunaria's side this time.

In fact, the retainers hadn't known the reason for Lunaria's absence from the Stampede until they were informed by Hayato. When he proposed a meeting to discuss getting the Demon Lord to participate, Rosalie had replied in an emotionless voice, "We will tie her with a rope and bring her."

"Alright, I want to think of a plan. How can we get Lunaria-san to join the Stampede?"

Ash answered Hayato's question.

"Why don't we just get her used to ghosts? If we throw her into a dungeon with a lot of Ghost-type monsters, I think she'll be fine after a couple of days."

A surprisingly spartan solution was proposed. Everyone looked at Lunaria, but she just scoffed at the idea.

"I'm confident I'd just faint, so I won't get used to them. Besides, I'd just resurrect in the Demon Lord's Castle after being defeated, so I think it's pointless."

"Why are you saying that with such a smug face? And speaking of which, Lunaria-san, haven't you changed a lot in the last six months? I thought you were much quieter, or rather, less confident before?"

During the six months he couldn't log in, Hayato had exchanged emails with Diite, and she had told him the members were the same as always. But seeing her in person, Lunaria seemed to have changed considerably since then.

It felt like she had some kind of warped image of a Demon Lord and was role-playing it. Moreover, she had a pointless amount of confidence. It was to the point where he wondered what had happened to her social anxiety.

"It means I've leveled up as a Demon Lord. From now on, you may revere me as the Great Demon Lord Lunaria. However, I will not fight if there are ghosts. Even a Great Demon Lord cannot do that."

As Lunaria declared this with brimming confidence, Rosalie, who was sitting next to her, let out a small sigh.

"Lunaria-sama has gained confidence ever since she defeated the Hero. That in itself is a good thing, but, well, she has developed confidence in a terribly wrong direction... I have admonished her many times, but she does not seem to listen..."

This was unexpected for Hayato. He had thought that a retainer like Rosalie would affirm all of Lunaria's actions. He was surprised to hear the word "admonish" at all.

Still, it seemed it would be difficult to make Lunaria do something she didn't want to do. It wasn't quite selfishness, but he could somehow sense her belief that since she was the Demon Lord, she could behave however she pleased.

As he wondered what to do, Ren shot her hand up energetically.

"Then how about we annihilate all the ghosts during the Stampede? If there are no ghosts, I think Lunaria-san can participate."

"That is an excellent idea. I will give Ren-chan a Demon Lord's Cookie. Present it to her."

At Lunaria's command, Rosalie took a bag from her item bag and handed it to Ren. Ren immediately took a cookie from the bag and began to eat it.

"I have a question. Is it possible to wipe out all the monsters in a Stampede?"

Esha, who had been eating dessert nonstop, suddenly spoke up.

Unfortunately, Hayato didn't know the answer. He glanced at Ash, who shook his head.

"Stampede monsters will keep spawning even after you defeat them. Wiping out all the ghosts is probably impossible."

"Um, do they still spawn even after the Underworld Dragon appears?"

He wasn't sure if it made a difference, but Hayato remembered that there were no ordinary dragons in the plaza during the battle with the Fire Dragon.

"They do. During the battle with the Fire Dragon, my mercenary group was also hunting the other dragons to keep them from interfering with Cecil."

"I see, so that plan is out. What should we do then..."

As Hayato muttered this, Esha stopped eating her dessert.

"Shall we contact Ivan then?"

"Huh? Ivan, the Hero?"

"Yes. Ivan should be able to fight in the Demon Country, and Excalibur should be able to deal Light attribute attacks. He ought to have a significant advantage against the Underworld Dragon."

Hayato thought, I see.

He didn't know that Ivan could fight in the Demon Country, but the Hero was a well-known figure like Ash, so he was probably set up to be able to fight anywhere. In that case, they could just send Ivan against the Underworld Dragon instead of Lunaria.

Fortunately, Hayato had an item called the "Hero's Pledge." It stipulated that Ivan would not rampage at the base and would help Hayato for free when he was in trouble. Since it was set as a magical pledge, if Hayato called for aid, Ivan the Hero would have to answer.

Lunaria was also bound by the "Demon Lord's Pledge," so she should have to listen to what Hayato said, but since Hayato hadn't made a strong request, the pledge's effect was inactive.

"What. Come to think of it, that solves the whole problem. Alright, let's go with that. Lunaria-san, you can just wait at the Demon Lord's Castle."

"Wait a moment. You're going to borrow the Hero's power instead of mine?"

"Well, yeah."

Lunaria's brow furrowed slightly.

"That is an insult to the Demon Lord. I am stronger than the Hero. Therefore, it should be me, the Demon Lord, whom you rely on."

"I'd like to rely on you, but you're afraid of ghosts, aren't you?"

"I, I think I can fight for about five minutes. And if you could gather the ghosts somewhere else, I could manage."

"No, Ivan can fight normally without us going to all that trouble."

"I, I understand. I'll do my best to fight for ten minutes then. Please, I'm begging you, give me a chance."

For some reason, she was now sounding unconfident, reminiscent of the old Lunaria. And desperate, at that. As Hayato tilted his head, Rosalie sighed again.

"Lunaria-sama dislikes being thought of as unneeded."

"Is she a child? Well, I guess I understand the feeling. We'll need to analyze the Underworld Dragon at least one more time anyway, so I'll leave the next subjugation to you, Lunaria-san. If it doesn't work out, I'll call the Hero."

"O, okay. I'll start training today."

He didn't know what she would be training, but if she was motivated, that was a welcome development.

With a direction decided, the meeting on Underworld Dragon countermeasures, which was really a meeting on Demon Lord countermeasures, was adjourned.

Lunaria and Rosalie left since it was getting late, but Ash and Ren stayed behind. They said they had something to talk about, and Hayato had a few things he wanted to discuss as well.

Things like the moderates who had switched sides, Veru, and Ash's group, but there were things he could and could not say.

First, Hayato thought about what he should talk about and then opened his mouth.