Chapter 23 – First target
I visited a shop selling unusual objects after getting some lemons from the fruit shop.
Shortly after coming to Erstania, I walked around to memorize the geography of the city. I found this shop at that time.
"Excuse me!" (Ash)
The moment I entered the shop, I saw grotesque things such as dried arms, bottled eyeballs, and some larvae lined up on the shelf.
I'm sure I can get the necessary ingredients to make Power Drink from this shop.
When I was looking at the merchandise that caught my attention, an uncle came out from the back of store, puzzled.
"Yes. What is this, little bo.... girl? No, little boy...?"
"I'm a boy." (Ash)
"I guess these clothes have become popular these days. So, what do you need, little boy? It's not a place to play."
"I came to shopping." (Ash)
"Shopping? This might be strange coming from the owner of the shop, but I'm not selling decent things here."
"I didn't come here to shop for dinner. I came here to buy the ingredients to make medicine." (Ash)
"Oh, this is the right place. Okay, wait a second."
"Yes." (Ash)
I found the materials I was looking for right away, so I made a guts pose in my heart. The uncle who retreated into the back of the shop, returned with two bottles.
"This one is Cordo Frog's liver and this one is Luchi Lizard's egg. There's not much left, is this enough?"
"That's enough. I will buy them all." (Ash)
I paid and left the shop with the two bottles.
The rest is to compound the Power Drink in the third laboratory with Nina-san….
I was convinced of the success of the practical test, and headed back to the academy while skipping.
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[To humans! My name is Water Emperor --- the demon lord!!] (Water Emperor)
I was already in front of the school gate when a hoarse voice suddenly echoed inside my head.
"This timing...." (Ash)
I sighed at the advent of demon lord.
Fighting against strong enemies is a valuable event to make me grow mentally. The time limit is today, and I'm grateful to be able to fight against strong enemies. However, the perception of "demon lord is a strong enemy" has already crumbled inside my head.
Furthermore, I'm in the middle of practical test right now. I have time to spare, but I want to avoid unnecessary events if possible.
I looked around while thinking about such things, but I could not find the demon lord.
"What is this voice!?"
"You can hear it, too!?"
"Is this really the demon lord's voice!?"
"But the demon lord should have died!?"
The people in the city began to make a fuss.
When he said "to humans", I guess he said it in a literal meaning.
[Similarly, I'm Demon Lord Fire Emperor.] (Fire Emperor)
A new voice echoed inside my head.
Is it the advent of two demon lords this time? If the theory of Principal Phillip is right, there should be two other demon lords --- Wind Emperor and Ice Emperor.
I personally prefer they appear together at the same time to save me the trouble. However, the people around are panicking because the successive appearance of the demon lords.
[We can exterminate every single of you at this very moment. However, doing that would be too boring. Merciful we are, we decided to give you humans a chance!] (Water Emperor)
[I will send the images to you head! No, close your eyes and watch it!] (Fire Emperor)
Perhaps Fire Emperor used a magic for sharing sight, when I closed my eyes, I can see a scene of some kind playing inside my head. There was a skeleton in blue cloak --- Water Emperor, standing in an open area surrounded by trees, and the wreckage of a house.
This looks familiar....
This is definitely the Demon Forest!
Did they destroy the house filled with memories of me and Grandpa Maurice!?
[We are looking for the strong ones who defeated them!] (Fire Emperor)
The field of view moved, and a pile of white powder was projected.
[There are the corpses of Demon Lord Dark Emperor and Demon Lord Light Emperor! That is not all....] (Fire Emperor)
The field of view moved again, and a skull-less skeleton was projected.
[This is the corpse of Demon Lord Earth Emperor! While he was not as strong as us, he still had enough power to exterminate you humans in an instant! There's still more....] (Fire Emperor)
The field of view moved once more, showing a skull with limbs.
Huh? Those are what left from the skeleton I accidentally destroyed in the haunted house. I asked Effa to glue them together using magic afterwards.
That was a demon lord? They sure popped out everywhere like cockroaches....
[This is the corpse of Demon Lord Wind Emperor! We are looking for the ones who defeated them!] (Water Emperor)
[Oh, don't misunderstand just because you've seen the corpse of demon lords continuously! We have enough power to destroy this world in an instant! Behold...!] (Fire Emperor)
The trees turned into ashes in an instant as far as the eye could see. Fire Emperor burned them down using fire magic.
[I've reduced my power to the very limit right now. But if I want, I can easily burn down this continent.] (Fire Emperor)
The city turned into a chaos after Fire Emperor showed a glimpse of his power. Everywhere in the city, people were running around without clear destination.
"We must escape quickly!"
"Where should we escape?"
[Be at ease, because we won't kill you all at once. You're going to participate in the battle for the world's survival --- the Demon Lord Game!] (Fire Emperor)
[From now on, we will randomly visit all cities around the world to fight your strongest warrior! If we win, we will erase that place from the map!] (Water Emperor)
This means each city has one chance. In any case, it doesn't sound good. Even if the location of demon lords can be specified, there's still chance they had moved to the next city using teleportation when I get there.
[We are by no means free. It's a hassle to kill the weak one by one, so those who provide the information about the strong warriors can live a little longer. We will prioritize going to their place instead.] (Fire Emperor)
[However, if it turns out that person is weak, we will judge that they provide us with false information, and we will show them something worse than death.] (Water Emperor)
[Either way, you all will die in our hands! Tremble in fear, humans!] (Fire Emperor)
The image was interrupted at the part where Water Emperor laughing happily.
"Now then, what should we do?" (Sharm)
I suddenly heard Sharm-san's voice nearby.
"Sharm-san!? Where are you...?" (Ash)
"Over here!" (Sharm)
Sharm-san's voice was heard from the magic eyeball that has been following me around.
Is my supervisor Sharm-san all along?
"Hello there, Ash-kun! Things seem to take turn for worse!" (Keul)
Suddenly, Keul-san appeared in front of me, probably using teleportation.
The hero disciples have gathered now. Sharm-san is not really here though.
"Keul-san, do you bring the magic map?" (Ash)
"Of course!" (Keul)
Keul-san took out the magic map from her bosom.
Just as I though, those demon lords have descended into the Demon Forest. Both dots are red, which means they're stronger than Keul-san.
"So, what should we do?" (Sharm)
"Since Ash-kun is the leader, we will follow your decisions." (Keul)
"Let's see.... I know that the people of this city are panicking, but I think we should lure the demon lords to Erstania." (Ash)
The demon lords are seeking information about the strong people, and there are the three of us --- the hero disciples, here in this city. This will put everyone in danger, but we just need to defeat the demon lords before something happens.
"I was thinking about the same thing. Can I leave the battle to you?" (Sharm)
"Yes. The problem is where in the city we should fight...." (Ash)
[To humans! The first city has just been decided!] (Water Emperor)
The voice of Water Emperor interrupted my train of thought.
No way! Did someone provide them with information already? This is bad....
"If needed, I will go there first using teleportation and stop them." (Keul)
Keul-san said with a determined face.
"Can I leave them to you...?" (Ash)
The demon lords are definitely stronger than Keul-san. There's no guarantee she is still alive when I arrived to that place.
"No worries. I'm still a disciple of the hero. I'm not as strong as you, but I still can put a decent fight at least." (Keul)
"Wh-Whatever the injuries, I can cure them! So don't die before I get there, okay?" (Sharm)
"Fufufu. To think that you can put pressure on me.... To tell the truth, I can't promise anything." (Keul)
"Th-This idiot! You should make a promise even if it's a lie!" (Sharm)
Hearing that, Keul-san loosened her mouth into smile.
[Following the information we currently had, we have chosen Phillip Vermillion --- one of the hero who defeated Dark Emperor more than fifty years ago, as our first target!] (Water Emperor)
[People of Erstania, look forward to our arrival!] (Fire Emperor)
Shortly after that....
[ [This is the beginning of Demon Lord Game!] ] (Water Emperor & Fire Emperor)
Two skeletons in blue cloak and red cloak appeared in front of the school gate.
They popped out right in front of us!?