kscans

Chapter 512 - The Demon King's Skill

Necropolis, the City of the Dead. This was a dungeon with a tragic backstory: a nation that had made a pact with a demon to destroy its enemies was forced to offer the lives of all its citizens as payment. The entire country was swallowed into the earth, and its people, denied even the peace of death, were doomed to wander as restless undead.

About twenty years ago, it was famous for being one of the last unconquered dungeons. Now, however, players were strong enough to defeat the Duke-class demon on the lowest floor, and clans would periodically form alliances to take it down.

While the rewards were good, defeating the Duke-class demon was a hassle, so players were rarely seen here except on the days scheduled for subjugation. Furthermore, since you could resume your exploration from any previously cleared floor, all the levels above the deepest one were practically deserted.

Parfait nodded in understanding as Mikan explained the situation. It wouldn't be long before this place was recognized as a prime hunting ground for the event, but for now, it seemed no one had caught on yet, meaning they could hunt as much as they wanted.

However, demon-type monsters only appeared on the deeper floors. Since this was the first time for both Parfait and Ginny, they had to start from the very beginning.

"I can start from the lowest floor, but since this is your first time, Parfait-chan, let's work our way down from the top."

"Sounds good. That's part of the fun, after all. Let's clear it from the start."

If even one person in the party had been to Necropolis before, they could start from any cleared floor. But since Mikan was just a guest—and her main job was as an employee of the Summoner's Guild—they decided against using that method and began their crawl from the first underground level.

The initial floors only spawned major undead monsters like zombies and ghouls, which were useless for the "Lunatic Demons" event. Their first goal was to reach the fifteenth underground floor, where demon-type monsters started to appear.

Mikan had assured them that their current party was more than capable of reaching that point, so with her guidance, their assault on Necropolis began.

As expected, Parfait and her friends had no trouble with the early levels, defeating monsters with an ease that bordered on casual. They were so strong that they didn't even need a healer, a role typically essential for dungeon diving.

"Wow, Parfait-chan, you're really strong!"

"Well, I've been training under Master Benny and Teacher Simon."

"Benitsuru-chan and Simon-chan, huh? You know, not many people can actually keep up with their training."

It was a common complaint that Benitsuru and Simon moved too fast for anyone to learn from them. That was the main reason Benitsuru's sword dojo was completely empty—save for Parfait, of course.

Even that's actually pretty slow for them. Well, I guess she just does it as a hobby, so it probably doesn't matter if it's not popular or not.

Benitsuru also worked as a guard for Lunaria, and that's how she made her living. So the dojo was apparently just a hobby. Lately, though, she hadn't taught Parfait any actual sword techniques—it was all just running, stretching, and other general exercises. Apparently, she'd been told that people would get angry if Parfait got any stronger.

While Parfait was physically strong, Ginny possessed a more game-centric kind of power. She was currently focused on leveling up her skills, fighting by skillfully summoning demons and using their unique traits to gain an advantage over enemy monsters.

"Ginny-chan, you're really working on that summoning skill, huh?"

"If I'd known they were adding this system, I would have worked myself to death to get it to 100...!"

"Is 100 good enough for you?"

"I can summon human-shaped demons at 100, right?"

"You should complete the skill cap quest and aim for 200! If you pair that with a vampire build, you'll be even stronger, you know?"

The normal skill cap was 100, but completing a certain quest allowed a player to break that limit. While it could be raised to a maximum of 200, there were drawbacks, and the quest itself was so difficult that only members of major clans were said to have accomplished it.

Neither Parfait nor Ginny had completed that quest, so their current skill limit was 100.

"I'd like to aim for 200 someday. I've heard my father was a vampire summoner who carried a coffin on his back. That's one path to perfection that truly speaks to me. A vampire demon summoner carrying a coffin... A black-haired, fair-skinned, deadpan, side-eyeing, glasses-wearing maid is the answer to everything...!"

Her personal desires were leaking out by the end there, but setting that aside, Ginny's father, Adrian, had been the leader of the Demon Summoning Research Association clan and had even fought against Hayato in a Clan War. At the time, he had surprised every clan he faced with his tactic of summoning a then-unknown Duke-class demon.

Since the summoning required the player's life as a price, it was considered inefficient. Thus, the style evolved to incorporate the vampire class, which could be easily revived with tomato juice and a coffin. That style became so popular among summoners that it was now an unwritten rule that demon summoners should also be vampires.

"If you get your Summoning Skill and Demon Knowledge to 200, you can summon two human-shaped demons at once. I think a butler and maid duo would be a great combination."

At Mikan's words, Ginny's eyes widened. With a pained groan, she fell to her knees and clutched her chest.

"How... how unbelievably tempting...! A demon butler and a demon maid serving a vampire master... Oh man, I want to spend real money, top-tier platinum subscriber, no questions asked...! And since they're NPCs, it's totally legal...! Thank you!"

"They have AI minds, too, so you can change their personalities to your liking."

"...I'm getting my skills to 200. No more playing around. I don't even have time for school. In fact, school should come to AFO, don't you think...? How much to make that happen? I'm willing to break the law, even."

With that, Ginny began to repeatedly summon demons, her face a blank mask.

"Ginny-chan, calm down. Let's save that for when you get home, okay? And you still have to go to school."

Parfait had been relieved that Ginny had made a new, high-energy friend named Cynthia, but she was now reminded that Ginny was just as intense in her own way.

Mikan, the one who made the suggestion, was simply laughing while holding and petting Trachiyo, so Parfait decided to focus on calming Ginny down. The sight of a beautiful girl mechanically summoning demons was unnervingly creepy and felt like something that would haunt her dreams.

Trying to change the subject, Parfait placated Ginny while asking Mikan about the black, octopus-like creature she had summoned.

"Um, Mikan-san, what is that? Is it a demon?"

"Oh, this little one? This is an original demon I made, Kurotako-chan. Her official name is 'Something called God in another dimension.' Isn't she cute?"

As Mikan cheerfully introduced the creature, the black octopus raised a single tentacle and winked. It emitted a sound, but the voice was layered two or three times over, making it impossible to understand. It wasn't even clear if it had spoken a language at all.

"Basically, she's saying, 'Nice to meet you.'"

"...Nice to meet you too. But what does it say when you don't say it basically...? And Kurotako-chan..."

"She's usually a lot bigger, but I had her shrink down for Necropolis."

It was currently about the size of a person's head, floating gently in the air. Parfait decided she'd rather not see it get any bigger. But more importantly, there was something else she couldn't let slide.

"Um, a moment ago, did you say you made it?"

"Yep! As the Demon King, I have this skill called [Toy Maker] that lets me create original monsters. It's a pain to sort out their appearance and settings and all that, but I can make a monster that's one-of-a-kind in the whole world."

Parfait was stunned that such a skill even existed. And next to her, Ginny was staring at Mikan with a sharp glint in her eyes.

"Does that mean if I become the Demon King, I can create my own original monster...? Any kind of beautiful girl I want? For example, a black-haired, fair-skinned, deadpan, side-eyeing, glasses-wearing maid?"

"You should be able to, as long as you have the Demon King title. But you can't get the title unless you beat me."

"...Elder Sister Mikan, prepare yourself! For my sake, you must be defeated!"

"Oh? You wanna go?"

"Whoa, hold on! Don't fight now! Trachiyo, why are you getting fired up, too?!"

It looked like a Demon King subjugation quest was about to kick off right then and there, so Parfait quickly jumped in to stop them.