How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 6 Read online

  The story so far—

  In the MMORPG Cross Reverie, Takuma Sakamoto was overwhelmingly powerful, and was able to role play so well that his performances were more boss-like than the actual bosses of the game. For this reason, he came to be known as the “Demon Lord.”

  By defeating the 《Demon Lord of the Mind, Enkvaros》 faster than anyone else, he obtained the super rare item, the 《Demon Lord’s Ring》. It was one of the ultimate pieces of equipment in the game, able to reflect all types of magic.

  Then, one day, Takuma found himself summoned to a world that looked exactly like Cross Reverie! Having performed the ritual magic at the same time, the Pantherian, Rem, and the Elf, Shera, fought over which one of them was his Summoner:

  “...I am the one who summoned him. Your magic was a failure.”

  “You’re wrong! He’s mine!”

  But thanks to the Demon Lord’s Ring he wore, the magic was reflected, so the 《Enslavement Collar》 meant for him had clamped onto the two girls instead!

  Faced with Rem and Shera arguing, Takuma was at a loss at what to do. While he may have been a superior player back in the game, he couldn’t talk with other people if his life depended on it. After struggling over what to say, the words that came out of his mouth were from the Demon Lord role play he had used in the game:

  “Cease your pointless squabbling. You are in the presence of Diablo.”

  The three of them have since made the town of Faltra their home base. As it turned out, Rem held a great secret: Within her body was sealed the soul of the 《Demon Lord Krebskulm》. Trembling with fear deep down, Diablo’s Demon Lord role playing drove him to promise he would find a solution to her plight.

  Diablo soon after found himself foiling an invasion of one hundred Fallen, lead by a Fallen named Edelgard. Diablo then later found himself the recipient of a quest from the governor of Faltra, Galford. Prince Keera of the Elven Kingdom of Greenwood had demanded Shera be returned to him, threatening open war with Faltra against the country of Elves should compliance fail. The details of Galford’s quest were simply to find a way to avoid the war. The bespectacled, straight-and-narrow Imperial Knight Alicia was assigned to the group as an observer to watch over their actions.

  Yet Shera still ended up being taken away from Diablo. Despite the numerous obstacles in his way, however, Diablo was successful in rescuing Shera.

  After her rescue, the group set off to resurrect the Demon Lord Krebskulm trapped inside Rem. But in the process, Krebskulm had lost a portion of her memories as a Demon Lord, being reduced to a biscuit-loving young girl, who was then nicknamed “Klem.”

  Peaceful days passed by...

  Suddenly, Alicia betrayed the group! Now awakened as a true Demon Lord, Klem went into a destructive frenzy. But thanks to one of Diablo’s ultimate spells and the sound of Rem and Shera’s voices, Klem was subdued and reverted to her biscuit-loving form. To ensure Klem would never go berserk again, Diablo bound her with the same enslavement magic afflicted upon Shera and Rem.

  Through a string of coincidences, or perhaps God’s own guidance, Diablo found himself rescuing Lumachina, a holy woman, from the Paladin Gewalt. Being a 《High Priest》, Lumachina was the highest ranking member of the Church. However, due to her attempts at ridding the Church of corruption and avarice, she was nearly assassinated. Still seeking to reform the corrupt Church, Lumachina sought the help of the Paladin Captain Batutta, setting out to meet him in Zircon Tower.

  Located in the perilous expanse of the former Demon Lord’s Domain, Diablo’s group of Adventurers accompanied her as bodyguards. After a long journey, they arrived at their destination, and were greeted by Batutta.

  However—

  Batutta had been culminating the spread of a cursed illness known as Death Knell disease, and extorted donations in exchange for treatment.

  Diablo fought hard, defeating Batutta and toppling his underground altar. But all of a sudden, Lumachina collapsed, the mark of the Death Knell disease having appeared on her body.

  Avoiding pursuit from Laminitus, Zircon Tower’s governor, Diablo’s group made their way to a dungeon Diablo made in Cross Reverie to get an item that could cure the Death Knell disease. Eluding many traps, they finally reached the dungeon’s lowest level, where they also met the 《Magimatic Maid》, Rose. Diablo then obtained the item he sought, along with many pieces of new equipment for himself and his team.

  The Fallen Varakness marched the Demon Lord’s Army against Zircon Tower, crushing the races’ army under their superior strength. Diablo quickly rushed on the scene and, exhibiting 《The Demon Lord’s True Power》 for some reason, saved Zircon Tower from the invasion.

  Prologue

  Calamities, wars, crimes... People live their lives, thinking these dangers will never disturb them, however often they’re warned of them. Believing that irrational, unfair crises will never befall them...

  And yet, disaster does come upon man at times. However virtuous and hard working, selfless and modest you may be... No matter how strong, cautious, and wise you are... People can find themselves driven against the most unforgiving of odds for no discernible reason.

  Misfortune—

  People easily lose their lives for no reason other than the absurdity known as misfortune. The town of Zircon Tower, in the former Demon Lord’s Domain, found itself driven to the brink of destruction in such a merciless fashion.

  The Demon Lord had apparently awakened, and the reorganized Demon Lord’s army had attacked the races’ town. The races’ army fell, failing to evacuate the citizens in time. Their slaughter seemed imminent.

  All seemed to be lost...

  But the town was saved.

  Defeating the Demon Lord’s army’s commander-in-chief, Diablo had routed the invaders and turned the tide of battle.

  The races were saved!

  The town celebrated until sunrise to commemorate this great miracle. Even though they had just fought a war that very same day, and the people were likely exhausted, as soon as the date changed they switched gears to a passionate celebration.

  —Can they pipe down? People are trying to sleep here... But I guess they’re just that happy...

  It felt pretty nice realizing their joy was the result of his own actions.

  “It’s a good thing I protected them...” Diablo dove into his bed.

  In light of their achievements, the governor had prepared lodging for them in one of Zircon Tower’s highest class inns. Diablo found, to his surprise, that his bed had springs. The bed creaked and squeaked as he entrusted his weight to it.

  “So soft...” Diablo spoke in his natural voice, as he had the room all to himself.

  The Pantherian girl, Rem, the runaway Elf princess, Shera, the 《High Priest》, Lumachina and the (twelve-year-old) Grasswalker, Horn, all had rooms to themselves. Rose, the 《Magimatic Maid》, couldn’t stay at the inn since her weight would likely make the floor cave in under her feet. Having her sleep outside simply wouldn’t do, so Rose alone returned to Diablo’s base, 《The Demon Lord’s Underground Labyrinth》. Since Diablo destroyed most of the traps, she needed to have those fixed, as well as appoint new guardians to the treasure vault.

  So now, here he was, all by himself—for the first time in a long while.

  He could hear the sound of his voice rebounding against the wall.

  Before being summoned into this world, Diablo was always alone. Freely spreading his hands out on a large bed like this gave him a liberated...and lonely, sort of feeling.

  Diablo yawned loudly. The people outside began singing in chorus for what felt like the thousandth time. He didn’t know if it was a national anthem or som
e kind of army cadence, but he was just about to have the melody memorized.

  But even with things being as noisy as they were, sleep began overtaking him. His HP and MP had recovered thanks to the potions, but several days worth of exhaustion weighed down on him.

  Diablo closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking softly into the quagmire of sleep...

  Knock knock!

  A sound different from the hustle and bustle going on outside jolted Diablo up from his sleep.

  Someone had knocked on the door.

  Taking a deep breath, Diablo focused on taking on his Demon Lord persona, to hide his true self away...

  “Heheheh... Who dares disturb a Demon Lord’s slumber?” he asked in the deepest voice he could muster.

  Diablo was inept when it came to speaking to other people, and extra-inept when it came to talking to girls. If he were to reveal his true self, the words would probably never come out, so he chose to hide behind the mask of the Demon Lord he acted out in the game, Cross Reverie. Thanks to that, he could just barely talk to the people around him.

  Though, his Demon Lord role playing had landed him in a fair load of trouble, too...

  Trying to talk with his real voice would only result in stuttered “uhh”s and diffident “errr”s.

  “It is Us,” a voice replied from the other side of the door. “If you’re awake, We would wish to speak with you.”

  —Us!?

  He expected Rem or Shera, but it wasn’t either of their voices, or any of his other companions, for that matter. It was the voice of a more mature woman, and there was only one person in this town who would refer to themselves in the royal “we.”

  But she had her position to consider. With that in mind, would she really come to his room this late at night?

  Still half in doubt, Diablo rose from his bed and unlocked the door to his room, opening it to be greeted by a figure in a black robe. A graceful face looked back at him from within the hood, her eyes, crimson like a scarlet flame, locking with his.

  It was the person Diablo had guessed after all.

  †

  The mystery guest was the ruler of Zircon Tower—the governor, Fanis Laminitus. Her lips, adorned with rouge, curled up into a smile.

  “Are you not going to invite Us in, Diablo?”

  —The governor came to visit me on her own!?

  He was taken aback, surely, but a Demon Lord would never show respect to a mere governor.

  “What are you here for, Laminitus?” he asked, feigning coolness.

  “Did you not hear Us? We wish to speak with you.”

  She was a regional governor, but was bold enough to fashion herself as “The King of the Desert Lands.” Her spirit was valiant and unrelenting.

  She entered the room, not bothering to wait for his approval.

  “Hmph, so be it...” Diablo scoffed. “But be prepared for the consequences. Should I find your words tiresome, you will pay the price.”

  “We won’t bore you.” Laminitus took off her robe and sat down on a chair.

  She wasn’t in her usual armored appearance. Instead, she wore a lavish, low back evening dress. Its cleavage was so deep Diablo could swear her breasts were about to burst out.

  He tried and failed to tear his gaze away from her chest in a flustered panic.

  Laminitus folded her arms, pushing her voluminous chest up in the process, accentuating her bosom further.

  “We understand you weren’t in the festivities?”

  “I dislike noisy places.”

  —Because being in such a conspicuous place is so nerve-wracking. I’d go nuts if I stayed there.

  “Heheh... We figured as much. Have you eaten?”

  “I’ve no need of your concern.”

  Rem and the others brought back Horn’s and his share of the food, so they did indeed have dinner, albeit a late one.

  “Then, how about this?” Laminitus popped off the cork of a wine bottle she had been carrying.

  “I’m sure you don’t need my company if you want to drink booze.”

  “Don’t be so cold. This is some of the best wine in the region.”

  The inn being as luxurious as it was, there was glassware they could use in the room. Laminitus took two wine glasses from a shelf and poured the thick, maroon liquid into them.

  The drink’s aroma permeated across the room, and the scent alone proved that, true to Laminitus’s words, this wasn’t just any normal wine. The fragrance was so entrancing that even Diablo, who was usually uninterested in alcohol, became curious as to its flavor.

  “The least you can do is join Us for a toast.” Laminitus offered him one of the wine glasses.

  “Hmph... Troublesome woman.” Diablo took the wine glass by the bowl.

  The woman motioned her own glass to his. Wine glasses are fragile, so you don’t click them together when making a toast. It appeared these manners held just as true in this world.

  Diablo continued holding his wine glass by its bowl. From what he knew, one only held the wine glass by its stem during tasting.

  “To today’s victory.”

  “Hmm.”

  —It’s yesterday’s victory by now, though.

  Each of them held the wine glass up softly before carrying them to their lips.

  Diablo drank the liquid as its rich, fragrant aroma filled his nostrils. Sweetness and sourness blended together seamlessly, but there was very little bitterness to speak of. The liquid passed through his throat softly. Truly, this wine was pleasant and easy to drink. He had expected a thicker, more dense flavor, but he could get used to drinking this.

  After a pause, the aroma left his nostrils, leaving only a pleasant feeling behind.

  “Ah...”

  He involuntarily let out a small sigh of satisfaction, like a character in a manga might. He could feel heat emanating from the core of his body. It was easy to drink, but its alcohol concentration was probably strong.

  “We see you like it,” Laminitus said, after having heaved her own sigh of contentment.

  “It’s quite the drink.”

  “Let’s have a seat and talk, shall we?”

  The room had both normal chairs and a bed, but Laminitus elected to sit on the bed, urging Diablo with her eyes to take a seat next to her.

  The governor came to him late at night, gift in hand. Surely she had something important to discuss. She treated him to excellent wine, too, so it seemed wrong to refuse.

  Diablo took a seat next to her, but made sure to leave a gap wide enough for someone else to sit between them. He’d gotten used to Rem and Shera, but he had to keep this much distance from a relatively unfamiliar adult woman. Having her any closer would stress him out and render him unable to talk properly.

  “What are your plans after this, Diablo?” Laminitus asked after giving a small giggle.

  “A snack to have with the alcohol sounds nice right about now.”

  “We can have something prepared for you. But, that’s not what We meant...”

  “Hmm...”

  Diablo realized what she was after, and knew what she expected out of him.

  The governor of Zircon Tower wanted Diablo and his group to stay by her side. He had defeated the Demon Lord’s army’s commander-in-chief, Varakness, but the Demon Lord was still at large. While they still didn’t have all the details, the Fallen’s words and their strength stood as incontestable proof of the Demon Lord’s awakening. So long as the Demon Lord remains, his army will attack again, and Laminitus would need forces to defend this town.

  “Retreat as soon as possible, Laminitus.”

  Having lost such a significant chunk of their forces, the Demon Lord’s army wouldn’t be able to stage another invasion for the time being. In that case, they should take this chance to retreat to a town like Faltra, which has a barrier.

  The Demon Lord’s revival...

  Events like that happened before in Cross Reverie, with decisive battles that were held every so often. They were usually
during the winter holidays or during Golden Week. The players would fight waves of mooks to gather items and gain the right to face the boss, join up with their companions, and fight the Demon Lord.

  —I went solo, though...

  Either way, those events were frequented by other level 150 adventurers equipped with legendary-class weapons. They would trade information online, with millions of active players putting their minds together to figure out the boss’s stats and think of the best way to beat it.

  This world, sadly, had no such adventurers; at the very least, Diablo never met anyone like that here. There was also nothing along the lines of, “Beat the boss within the event’s one week run,” either. Diablo had no idea where the Demon Lord even was.

  Of course, there was always the possibility the Demon Lord was weaker compared to the game, but...

  In the past, Diablo had fought a partially-awakened Demon Lord Krebskulm. Judging by his assessment at that time, Diablo had surmised that if it was weaker than the game, it wasn’t by much—in other words, this town’s army wouldn’t stand a chance.

  They must retreat.

  “But wouldn’t a certain absurdly powerful Sorcerer, hypothetically speaking of course, defeat the Demon Lord?” Laminitus asked, frowning.

  Would Diablo be able to beat the Demon Lord...?

  “Perhaps I would win.”

  “Oh...”

  “But that’s assuming it’s a one-on-one situation. The Fallen wouldn’t simply stay put while I fight the Demon Lord, now would they?”

  “Of course not. They would certainly interfere.”

  In the game, mooks would never show up in the middle of a last boss battle. That one-on-one scenario was part of the battle’s production and aesthetic.

  But reality was different. In all likelihood, he would have to fight through countless Fallen to even reach the Demon Lord. Diablo wasn’t conceited or reckless enough to claim he could beat both the Demon Lord and his army at the same time.