The Strongest Reincarnation
Satou here. Long ago, when I read some classic children’s literature, I remember being surprised to read depictions of goblins not as monsters but as mischievous fairies. I wonder if the current image of goblins comes from home video games?
“Stay awaaaaaay!”
As Yuika spotted me and screamed, purple lights started flickering around her.
That’s not good.
My “Sense Danger” skill was reacting more strongly than I’d ever experienced before.
“Y-Yuika?”
Semery sounded nervous.
“Calm down! I’m not going to—”
As I tried to call out to her, I noticed the appearance of small black dots.
Oh, crap.
Instinctively, I used “Warp” to get away from her.
The multiplying black orbs shrank, turning into black bullets the size of beads and zooming after me all at once.
Crap, crap, crap.
I used multiple rounds of “Warp” to flee from the speeding black bullets.
“GAAAAA—”
Semery was cut off mid-scream.
As soon as one of the tiny bullets touched her, she disappeared as if she’d been sucked into it.
“You’re kidding me…”
Just as I suspected from the way Semery disappeared, my AR display revealed the small black beads to be artificial micro black holes.
If I had activated “Warp” a second later, I would’ve gotten sucked in along with her.
I definitely didn’t want to experience getting pulled into a black hole.
These bullets must be what Semery was referring to when she’d mentioned getting “squashed flat into the depths of hell.”
If she was able to get back safely before, it was probably all right to forget about Semery until I resolved this current predicament. She might get mad later, but I had a feeling she’d forgive me if I bribed her with some tasty food or a Magic Sword.
“WAAAAAH!”
Yuika started shooting black hole bullets even more frantically.
I kept dodging them with “Warp” and tried producing a Flexible Shield in front of one, but it got riddled with holes and sucked into the bullet within a matter of seconds.
No amount of Flexible Shields would be able to block a black hole, then.
I tried to stop her from moving by using my new Binding Grass spell, but she shook that off with a single flick of her arm.
“GET HIIIIIM!”
I don’t know why, but she seemed to be flying into a total panic.
As a result, her aim wasn’t very good; she was just shooting black hole bullets after me, so as long as I kept moving with “Warp,” I could dodge them easily.
The bullets that missed me hit the ground and created huge craters, sucking in pieces of the field and house.
I don’t know much about black holes, but watching them suck up huge chunks of matter and destroy them definitely made my stomach churn. Weren’t they known for sucking things up and endlessly expanding?
“Yuika!”
I was hoping I could talk her down, but my voice wouldn’t even reach her amid the sounds of the black bullets exploding forth.
I tried using the Space Magic spell Telephone to call out to her, too, but like a real phone, it wouldn’t work if the recipient rejected it.
If only I had an advanced Space Magic spell like Force Telephone.
Crack!
Fissures began to form in Yuika’s artificial world.
“This could be bad.”
As I continued to dodge the black hole bullets, I tried using the Practical Magic spell Break Magic to get rid of them.
“Looks like that works, but…”
There was a limit to how many my Break Magic could destroy at once.
Unfortunately, she could produce them faster than I could get rid of them.
If this was a demon lord fight, I would just use Laser or Implosion, but I’d never do such a thing to an unhappy girl.
“Isn’t she going to run out of bullets…?”
Any normal person would be running out of magic power by now, but her MP gauge in my AR display kept going back up when it reached a certain point.
Her Unique Skills Mana Loop and Mana Spring probably optimized and restored her magic, and another Unique Skill, Infinite Chain, must be helping her rapid-fire the black hole bullets.
“AAAAAH!”
Yuika’s body flashed purple again.
I guess she still had another trick up her sleeve.
You overpowered cheater.
Just how many Unique Skills was she planning to use in a row?
No, more importantly—could her soul vessel really handle being pushed so far?
Now I was getting worried that she might turn into a demon lord.
I had to put a stop to her panic, and fast.
“You should probably run away at this point.”
As my anxiety built up, I heard Semery’s voice near my ear.
I turned to look for a second and found a tiny pea-size bat stuck to my shoulder.
For some reason, its otherwise normal body had Semery’s face.
I guess vampiresses were even tougher than I’d thought.
“Kuro.”
The mini Semery repeated my name, then pointed at something with her tiny bat wing.
“Yuika’s world…”
Looking in that direction, I saw that the cracks were spreading, threatening to break the miniature world in two.
“…is gonna break.”
Just as she said this, the miniature world shattered like glass, and we were tossed into the middle of a storm of flower petals.
“Isn’t this…?”
It looked considerably different, but it seemed to be the field of flowers where we had first entered Yuika’s space.
Yuika herself was standing in the middle of the flying petals, the wind whipping her long hair around and hiding her face.
That’s it!
I selected Cherry Blossom Shower from my magic menu.
“…Sakura?”
The resulting burst of cherry blossom petals filled her vision and distracted her.
Now’s my chance!
Hidden by the flower petals, I used “Warp” to jump in close to Yuika.
I tried to knock her out with a punch, but my fist hit a hard wall of magic.
This must be another one of her Unique Skills, Guardian.
Something about it felt familiar—it was similar to the Fortress function I’d made for Nana’s armor.
Then it should have the same weak points, too.
With my hand still pressed against the magic wall, I twisted myself around and pushed even harder, trying to drill through.
Then, in the brief opening this created, I used a pure ball of magic power to attack.
> Skill Acquired: “Armor Pierce”
> Skill Acquired: “Magic Power Attack”
“Ah!”
With one final gasp, Yuika collapsed.
It was a last-ditch attempt, but I guess my idea had worked. Somehow, I had managed to knock Yuika unconscious.
Snap.
I caught the dainty Yuika by the hand as she fell.
What was that sound?
Pulling her up as she crumpled like a rag doll, I reached out with my other hand to support her.
Swish.
There was another small sound as it happened.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her obi come undone.
And then the kimono it was holding in place fell loose, flapping open in the breeze.
As the swirling sakura petals danced over her delicate skin, I couldn’t help being entranced by the beautiful sight.
But it would be impolite to stare, so I looked away from the lines of her body like a gentleman.
The rustling of her obi hitting the ground seemed to reactivate the world around us.
Though she’d fainted just moments ago, Yuika’s eyes flashed open.
“You damn perveerrrrrrrt!!”
As she screamed, she swung a fist at me that I avoided by a hairbreadth.
She seemed a lot more ferocious than before, like a different person entirely.
Come to think of it, Semery had mentioned that her “old personalities” came out when she was unconscious…
Where was Semery anyway?
The tiny bat had disappeared from my shoulder.
We must’ve gotten separated when the world we were in broke apart.
“Don’t mooooove!”
A wave of purple flooded around Yuika’s body, and a far more powerful punch came toward me.
This was probably one of her other Unique Skills, Berserk Grappler. I wished she would stop using so many in a row.
What was she planning to do if she went overboard and turned into a demon lord?
I dodged the literal rain of powerful punches with my “Foresight: One-on-One Battle” skill.
Huh?
Yuika’s level had gone from 50 to 55, and her primarily household-specific skill set had turned battle-oriented.
I’d figured her personality would change, but I didn’t expect it to change her level and skills, too.
On closer inspection, even her title had changed from Hermit to Punch Lord .
I wish she would notice already, though.
Putting a little bit of distance between us, I gestured from my chest to my waist.
Confused, Yuika looked down at her own chest.
Immediately, her pale face turned bright red. If this were a manga, steam would probably be coming out of her ears.
Yuika scrambled to cover up her still-exposed chest and underwear.
“Grrrr…”
Her face screwed up with embarrassment and frustration as she held the cloth to her chest.
Well, she finally stopped moving, so maybe we can talk this out now.
“Here.”
I produced a long cloak from my Item Box and tossed it to her.
It spread out in the air and landed on Yuika, covering her.
“Heh-heh-heh.”
I heard her chuckling from underneath.
The cloak was tossed to the ground, revealing a completely different outfit from before.
She was now wearing a jet-black, gothic Lolita–style dress.
It definitely brought out her pale skin and lilac hair.
Her red eyes were now mismatched, one maroon and one azure.
On top of that, Yuika’s stats had changed again. This time her level was down to 52, and her battle skill set was now more like that of a magic soldier, specializing in Dark Magic.
“Ha-ha-ha…”
Yuika covered her face with one hand, continuing to cackle ominously.
She’s not turning into a demon lord, is she?
Her eyes glinting between her splayed fingers, Yuika slowly raised her head and fixed a piercing gaze on me.
“Bwaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
Finally, she tilted her head back and laughed loudly.
A three-stage laugh?!
What are you, a visual-kei villain from some famous fighting game?!
As if she could sense my consternation, Yuika flung her hand aside and started introducing herself with a speech.
“It is I, the despised descendant of darkness, the shrine maiden of Tenma, and the last surviving royal of the goblins…”
She struck a different pose and took a quick breath.
“For I am none other than Foilunis la Bellefille! The masses fear and worship me and call me thus: the Beauty in Black, Dark La Princess!”
…Oh, so she’s just an edgelord.
Still, I wish she wouldn’t mix French and English for her made-up name. There might even be a hint of German in there, too.
But since it’d probably only make things worse if I commented, I decided to go along with it.
“It’s a privilege to meet you, Dark Lady Foilunis la Bellefille. I am called Kuro, a friend of Ban and Mukuro and the others.”
Yuika scoffed at me.
“A friend of Ban and Mukuro, you say? As if a holder of the foul Hero title could ever mingle with the denizens of darkness!”
Flames seemed to burn in her eyes as she responded.
“…Hero?”
“You cannot fool me, foolish fool!” she exclaimed triumphantly. “With the Divine Right granted me by the gods, I can see through any disguise! Concealment is useless before me!”
I couldn’t tell which of her Unique Skills might have that effect. Maybe it was Divine Sight? I assumed that was more of an evil-eye-attack type of thing…
“Hmph, what a litany of false names. Trismegistus, Michelangelo, Echigoya, Ichirou, Hephaistos—just how many famous names do you dare to lay claim to?”
Wait, one of those was my real name. Sure, there are famous people with the same name, but still.
Besides, this chuunibyou girl was going by a false name, too.
“You’re one to talk yourself… Yuika.”
“Th-that is my secret name that I have concealed from the world! Never again speak of it, for it is a curse from the gods that means one true god! You must only call me Foilunis la Bellefille!”
Whoops. I was trying to hold back, but I couldn’t resist calling her out.
Still, I didn’t see anything in her status about a “curse from the gods,” like a title or status condition, so maybe this was self-proclaimed, too?
Then again, maybe it was true, since there were some curses that didn’t show up as status conditions.
“I alone am the strongest of all magic knights, who has consigned countless demon lords and Heroes alike to oblivion! As generations go by, my level is only half of what it used to be, but I shall teach you once and for all that a difference in level is not all that defines a fight!”
No, if I’m six times your level, I’m pretty sure that defines it, all right.
As far as I had seen from training my kids, an opponent about ten levels higher than yourself was usually the upper limit.
Once you got into a twenty-level difference, most people wouldn’t stand a chance unless they had a huge advantage in equipment or skill makeup.
Hmm?
As Yuika stretched out her arms at her sides, a wave of light rippled behind her.
Was she using some Unique Skill or other…?
“Geh!”
Something longer and thicker than a telephone pole emerged from the light and flew toward me at alarming speed, so I quickly used “Warp” to dodge it.
It was ivy.
Flying past me, the ivy vines sank deep into the labyrinth floor without slowing down.
“Wait, that’s…”
An AR display popped up near the ivy, revealing that it was the level-99 elder root that lived in the lowest depths of the labyrinth.
Everywhere it touched, solid rocks crumbled, and flowers turned brown and wilted on the spot.
That must be the work of the elder root’s inherent skills like “Super Oscillation” and “Life Drain.” It also had skills like “Regeneration,” “Feign Death,” and “Spawn Creation.”
I remembered the sight of Prince Sharorik when he was “Life Drained” in the giant monster fish incident, which had rapidly aged him and drained his level.
“If I let it touch me, ‘Life Drain’ might lower my level.”
As I murmured to myself, I saw the tip of the vine burst through the ground right before my eyes and start closing in on me.
It looked like it would really hurt if it hit.
I chose the Light Magic spell Laser from my magic menu and fired it at the approaching vine.
Sparks flew from the surface of the vine at the point of impact. It looked like its magic barrier had blocked the blow.
I used “Warp” to dodge as the ivy came closer, examining it as it passed.
The surface had carbonized, so it looked like the Laser itself still hit.
Turning around in midair, the vine zoomed down toward me from above.
As I dodged with “Warp” again, I saw something truly unfortunate: more ripples of light, like a puddle on a rainy day.
And then a rain of ivy vines practically filled my vision.
…My “Sense Danger” activated.
It wasn’t from the wall of ivy in front of me, though.
As I jumped back with “Warp,” a jet-black sphere flew past my nose. It was one of Yuika’s black hole bullets.
I whirled around to look and saw her fleeing from the vines.
Her shoulders were heaving as she produced a purple light blade and cut down a piece of ivy that was closing in on her.
“Didn’t you summon this thing?”
I found that strange, so I called out to her as we both dodged the ivy rain.
“I would never summon such a vile thing!” she shouted indignantly.
I guess the light ripples that had summoned the elder root weren’t actually her doing, then.
The vines she cut off took the form of a beast and attacked her.
“Then who did?” I asked.
At the same time, I produced “Spellblade” on all five fingertips of one hand and fired Spellblade Shots to dispose of the ivy beast.
“…a, the dungeonmaster!”
Yuika followed the falling beast with her eyes as she shouted back.
As I was dodging the ivy rain all the while, I couldn’t quite make out the dungeonmaster’s name when she said it.
“That careless idiot probably summoned this thing, thinking it would help me fight.”
“But it’s attacking you, too.”
“That’s why I said ‘careless idiot,’ idiot!”
Ah. No wonder some of the ivy was chasing her instead.
“Damn you!”
Yuika countered the ivy with black hole bullets and cut down any vines that dodged them with her purple light sword, carbonizing them.
She seemed to be blocking any attacks she couldn’t quite dodge with the Unique Skill Invincible Strength. Or maybe she was just punching and kicking them away?
Regardless, even if she was depending on Unique Skills, I was impressed that she could fight off an enemy almost fifty levels higher than her so well.
“You’re quite a skilled fighter.”
As I complimented her, I used spells like Explosion and Implosion to blow up the ivy, then destroyed the resulting ivy beasts with Fire Storm and Ice Storm.
“Hmph, I take no pleasure in hearing that from the likes of you!”
Despite her claim, she was smirking as she continued to fight the ivy.
Almost like she was trying to compete with me.
“We’re not getting anywhere…”
Although we were destroying vines one after the other, new ripples kept producing more, and the carbonized pieces kept regenerating, so it didn’t seem like there were any less than before. The elder root was pretty annoying for a level-99 enemy.
Looking closer at the ripples that the ivy was coming out of, I noticed that there were several magic circle–like patterns inside. I realized that they weren’t glowing exactly—rather, the light was coming through from whatever space was on the other side of the spell.
It seemed like I could destroy them with Break Magic, but I gave up on that approach because several new ripples were created in the process.
“This is just the tip of it, too.”
The real elder root was several miles away, so it would be difficult to attack from here.
“Should we go after it, then?”
“Looks like that won’t be necessary.”
Yuika caught her breath, and we stood back-to-back as we exchanged words.
Behind me, I followed her gaze to see one enormous ripple appear, and a giant tangle of ivy emerged from it—the main body.
“Looks like it was nice enough to come to us to be defeated.”
As I spoke, I used the combination of Laser and Condense that had defeated the giant monster fish.
The intensified Laser let off the scent of ozone as it sliced right through the giant ivy creature.
In my AR display, the elder root’s HP gauge went down to zero.
“Did we do it?”
“Mukuro and Ban said it could regenerate infinitely, but surely that extreme level of firepower must have beaten it…”
As we watched, the burning remains of the main body gave rise to a fresh new wave of vines.
“…or not.”
Somehow, its empty health bar had recovered by half and was continuing to heal at a disturbing rate.
I guess that must be its “Regeneration” skill at work.
“It’s strong…”
“But of course. Long ago, Mukuro and Ban worked with the dungeonmaster and Yellow Robes to try to create a monster that could kill a god, and this was the result of their magic modifications.”
Yuika grimaced as she spoke.
“And was it able to kill a god?”
“Certainly not. Even after three hundred years of trial and error, I’m told it could just barely defeat a God’s Servant. There’s no way it could stand a chance against a god who casts only a mere shadow from the divine realm on this world.”
I guess gods must be pretty strong.
Since I had been able to defeat one with Meteor Shower, I assumed they were just a little stronger than demon lords, but it sounded like they were on a different level entirely.
“Shall we move to round two, Kuro?”
“As you wish, Foilunis.”
She hadn’t seemed to like it when I called her Yuika before, so I used her made-up edgelord name instead.
Deciding it would be no fun to reuse the same technique as before, I shifted to backing up Yuika as she jumped in to lead the charge, then went on the offensive as she finished her attack.
Magic didn’t seem to have much effect, so I used a combination of Shooter and Acceleration Gate to fire a Holy Bullet that had been supercharged with magic power.
With a loud boom, a huge hole opened up in the elder root’s re-formed body.
The shock waves even made a hole in the wall on the far side of the cavern.
I hadn’t been too worried about that against Doghead, since we were in the desert, but it certainly caused a lot more damage this time.
“Wh-what in blazes?! What was that attack?!”
“My ace in the hole.”
I winked in response to Yuika’s surprise.
But that casual expression faded when I saw fresh green ivy budding from the wreckage to attack us all over again.
“It didn’t work?”
One of those supercharged Holy Bullets was enough to defeat a demon lord, so I was pretty taken aback.
I guess I underestimated the sheer difference in mass.
“This creature is a colony of sorts. One must destroy it all at once or it will regenerate.”
“I guess I’ll try doing that, then.”
I had about three hundred bullets left. First, I tried firing ten or so at once.
When the rain of blue light cleared, the giant cavern was full of dangerous gas created by the cloud of charred elder root remains and rock dust.
“You foolish fool! Why would you do such a thing in a confined space!” Yuika came over to me, bellowing. “What if the labyrinth collapsed?!”
I wanted to respond that she was overreacting, but the terrain on my map actually looked fairly messed up. At this rate, her prediction could actually come true.
“Did that finish it?” Yuika asked.
I couldn’t see much through the fog, but my map information showed that the elder root’s HP was at zero.
“I think so—”
Before I could finish, my heart sank. Its health was recovering just like before.
Using the Gust spell, I blew the floating cloud away to clear my vision.
Sure enough, fresh ivy was sprouting sharp points from amid the ashes.
I produced more Holy Bullets from Storage into my palm. “Looks like it’s time for round three.”
“Wait.” Yuika stopped me. “Are you truly trying to destroy the labyrinth?!”
Remembering the state of the map, I lowered my hand. I had to consider my firepower carefully.
If this thing was a little smaller, I could probably teleport it along with me to the desert, but that was likely impossible with a creature this large.
Even if it did work, I suspected it might just regrow from the roots that were left underground.
“Kuro!” Yuika shouted. “If I could get the beast out of here, would you be able to defeat it with certainty?”
“Yeah, for sure.”
I nodded firmly.
“Then buy me some time! I’ll create the perfect stage for our show.”
Yuika grinned wickedly, so I smiled back and turned to fight the elder root.
Explosion, Implosion, Fire Storm, Ice Storm, Thunder Storm…
I used a successive barrage of intermediate attack spells to whittle away at the elder root.
Partway through, I got sick of using regular magic and started trying out more recently acquired spells like Binding Grass, Mowing, and Grass Spin.
“Ooh, that works pretty well.”
The Practical Magic spell Mowing wasn’t much more effective than a single Laser, but the Earth Magic spell Binding Grass allowed me to tangle up the vines, while I could use Grass Spin to shred the ivy beasts’ limbs and render them immobile.
This made it much easier to buy time and protect Yuika.
Eventually, I saw purple lines of light running along the cavern walls.
“Ready, Kuro!” Yuika’s voice rang out. “Let’s go! Behold the awesome power of the Beauty in Black, Foilunis la Bellefille! Create My Garden!”
The world was dyed in white and purple.
In the next instant, the space in front of me was transformed into a seemingly endless grassy plain.
“Wh-where are we?”
This was on a far bigger scale than Yuika’s hidden Japanese house or the white area that contained Mukuro’s museum.
My map only said No map available for this area , so I couldn’t tell how large the place was.
“A world I created that is all my own. Yes, this is a miniature world more independent than even the Otherworld incantation!”
“Wow…”
Now there was a power that seemed right out of a fairy tale.
In fact…
“Are you…a god of creation?”
“Not at all. I am but a maiden who has received the gift of God Fragments.” Yuika shook her head. “Verily, this world lacks the size of a full planet. At best, perhaps the size of a country…but that ought to be enough?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
I grinned back at her.
Before our eyes, the elder root that had been transported here along with us was burrowing into the plain, attempting to hide itself in the ground.
“Shall I dig it out?”
“Can you?”
“But of course!”
With a wave of Yuika’s arm, the dirt around the elder root began to fall upward.
She was probably using Gravity Magic.
The elder root tried to cling to the ground with its vines, but it got pulled into the air along with the earth itself.
“This won’t last long. Finish it in thirty seconds.”
“That’s more than enough.”
I used Magic Hand to float the magic-charged Holy Bullets into the air, then lined up several Acceleration Gates to create a virtual gun barrel and fire them through.
A rain of blue light crashed into the elder root, blowing it to pieces.
There was a loud boom and a flash as Yuika’s miniature world shook; then the noise faded from existence along with the elder root itself.
“Such power…”
Releasing her Gravity Magic, Yuika murmured in a shaking voice.
Like the world that contained her Japanese-style home, this one began to crack from the damage my Holy Bullets caused.
“Before we go back, I’ll disinfect the place just in case.”
Yuika produced a purple mist from her fingertip.
It turned into a cloud of butterflies, which cleared away the powdered remains of the elder root in the air.
“Now, let me ask you this, Hero of many names and yet none!”
Once we returned to the labyrinth, Yuika went back to posturing.
For some reason, she was glowing purple and posing like she was ready for battle.
“What is the purpose of your quest here?!”
My “quest”?
I guess she was asking why I’d come to her place.
“I was just accompanying Semery to greet someone who once came from the same country as I do, that’s all.”
“What? You are a Hero, and yet you have not come to vanquish me?”
Her shoulders sagged in relief.
Apparently, even though we had just been fighting side by side, she’d expected to have to fight me next.
“As long as they don’t pose a threat to my kids, I wouldn’t try to kill anyone without talking it out first, not even a demon lord.”
Even in Doghead’s case, I probably wouldn’t have seen him as an enemy if he hadn’t meant harm to Sara and the other priestesses.
“…Impossible. My skill informs me that you are telling the truth…”
Staring at me in disbelief, Yuika relaxed out of her battle posture, and the purple light around her dispersed.
Phew. I guess that clears things up for now?
…Wait, there’s one more thing.
“Foilunis, you mentioned someone called Yellow Robes among the people who created the elder root. Is that a friend of yours?”
“Why do you wish to know?”
Yuika narrowed her eyes.
“It’s just a name I’ve heard a lot lately…” I hesitated, then added, “Does it refer to the greater demon with yellow skin?”
“What, so you do know him?”
Yuika nodded confirmation.
“So do you associate with him?”
If so, I might have to reconsider my relationship with the reincarnations of the Lower Stratum.
“Don’t be absurd. He joined in on creating the elder root uninvited, but that’s the last time we’ll ever tolerate him.”
A vein twitched in Yuika’s temple.
“Kuro, let me give you a friendly word of warning—never entrust your heart to demons. They see reincarnations as nothing more than demon lord eggs. It’s no different than the devil whispering promises in your ear.”
Yuika’s distaste was obvious.
“I’m surprised you worked with him to create a monster, then…”
“He just took advantage of Mukuro’s frustration with the development process. Never show weakness to a demon,” she added.
“Thank you. I’ll remember that.”
I thanked Yuika earnestly for the warning.
I’d be the first to admit that I could still be plenty naive, so as far as demons went, I should probably continue my search-and-destroy policy.
“Good to see you again, Yuika—No, judging by those eyes, you must be Foilunis.”
“Indeed. I am pleased to see you well, my brethren of the darkness, progenitor Ban.”
Once I’d made peace with Yuika, we met back up with Yoroi and Semery and went to Yuika’s guardian Mukuro’s castle, but since we started talking about a certain food there, we ended up all going to the progenitor’s castle.
Semery, unfortunately, declared that she couldn’t let Ban see her in a “disgraceful state” and left.
“It’s rare to have a visit from Mukuro and Yoroi, though not as much as the shut-in Foilunis.”
Ban looked around at the group, then turned to me questioningly.
“How in the world did this come to—?”
“Hark! My brethren of the darkness, progenitor Ban!”
Yuika interrupted Ban with a shout.
Of course, as was her nature, she accompanied this gesture with a dramatic wave of her cloak.
“You dare to interrupt me? Even if you are the last princess of the goblins—”
The vampire lord matched her tone, protesting her rudeness in an unnecessarily bombastic way.
But Yuika interrupted him yet again, waving around a short wand.
“Heh-heh. Would you still protest so if I told you that I had found one of the Three Lost Treasures?”
The progenitor froze, looking shocked.
Yuika smirked at his reaction. I had to admit, she did look kind of cool.
However, the effect was ruined by the fact that what she was holding wasn’t actually a wand but the stick from a lollipop.
I guess it’s my fault for giving her candy when she’d said she wanted something sweet, though.
“Surely you jest!”
“Not in the slightest! And do not call me Shirley.”
Yuika opened her Item Box dramatically.
“Behold! The greatest miracle of all!”
What emerged, cut into a perfect triangle, was…
“I-it’s real pizza…”
“N-not for you! Kuro gave this to me.”
The vampire reached out in a daze, but Yuika nimbly jumped away.
She put it back in her Item Box carefully so that her precious treasure wouldn’t be stolen from her.
It was a slice of the single pizza I had made for dinner tonight, which I was keeping hot in Storage. It wouldn’t be nearly as tasty cold, so I wished she would just eat it already.
“Kuro, what is the meaning of this?” Ban turned to me, wild-eyed. “D-does this mean that you found tomatoes?!”
I politely pushed his pointlessly handsome face away from mine.
“Yeah, they were growing deep in the countryside to the east of the Shiga Kingdom.”
He was ridiculously strong. Is it really necessary to use your vampire powers over something like this? If I was lower level, you could seriously hurt me.
“What! But I could swear I had scoured the land there over many years…”
It seemed like there were a lot of immigrants from the east in that area; maybe they weren’t growing tomatoes yet when the progenitor vampire had looked there.
“I have actual tomatoes, too. Would you like some?”
“Truly?!”
The vampire tried to offer valuable bloodpearls as payment, but I declined and gave him a basket of tomatoes and a jar of my homemade ketchup.
There was no need to be stingy, since I could go back to the town of Puta to get more tomatoes anytime with the Return spell and the “Flashrunning” skill.
I also gave him some tomato seeds as a bonus.
“Are these seeds?”
“I wish I could give you seedlings, but I’m afraid I don’t have any on hand.”
I couldn’t store plants in my Storage if they still had roots.
“It matters not. I shall simply raise them from seeds.”
The vampire responded confidently and called over a middle-aged handmaiden who was standing by the wall. She was the oldest-looking person in the Eternal Night Castle.
“Please grow these tomato seeds with the utmost care and highest priority.”
“Understood, my lord.”
Oh. So you’re going to have someone else do it for you.
“We can help you with Earth Magic, too, then.”
The vampiresses immediately bustled forward to offer their assistance to the handmaidens.
“It would be best to prepare multiple kinds of dirt… Kuro, what sort of soil is best for raising tomatoes?”
It’d probably be difficult to grow an unfamiliar crop, so I gave Ban a paper with instructions on growing tomatoes. This was knowledge that I’d gotten from the village of Puta when I created a tomato field on Paradise Island in the southern seas.
While I was at it, I gave him a simple map to Puta as well.
“We will go make preparations, then.”
“Very good. I shall await your report.”
The handmaidens and vampiresses took their leave with the seeds and instructions.
Because I was growing tomatoes in our field outside Labyrinth City, too, I told them that starting next year, we should be able to harvest fresh tomatoes on a regular basis.
“Then please, allow me to assist you in protecting your field from pests. I shall dispatch my rouge bats and blaze wolves as guardians…”
“Don’t go too overboard, please.”
He was going awfully far just for the sake of tomatoes.
I hadn’t expected the progenitor vampire lord to be such a gluttonous character.
“Kuro! Let us hasten to the most important point!” Yuika exclaimed impatiently.
“All right, all right.”
“And what might that be?”
“Well, I heard that you have a brick oven in your castle. Is there any chance I could borrow it to make pizza?”
“Why, you would be more than welcome. If I may, it would be splendid if you could relay the recipe to my head chef, as well.”
“Yes, of course.”
I could probably improvise an oven with Earth Magic, but pizza made in a well-used brick oven would come out much tastier.
I spent the next two hours making pizza with the chef of the Eternal Night Castle.
The reason it took so long was that I had to make the dough and tomato sauce from scratch to demonstrate for the head chef. Besides, brick ovens took a long time to heat up.
“Mamma miaaaaa!”
“I keep telling you to use your own words for once, dammit.”
As soon as he took a bite of the pizza, Mukuro bellowed in a passable imitation of a certain gaming plumber, and Yoroi smacked him while working on a slice of his own.
I could sort of understand how a mummy like Mukuro would eat, but it was especially weird to watch an empty suit of armor somehow consume pizza while stretching out the cheese gleefully. Still, I was glad they didn’t experience the tragedy of acquiring eternal life only to lose their sense of taste.
“What troubles you, my brother in darkness, progenitor Ban?! Does the taste of pizza not please your darkly discerning tongue?”
“Do not bother me. I wish to savor the emotion of being reunited with pizza at long last.”
“Ohhh, sorry.”
The vampire didn’t open his eyes.
Since he stopped moving after just one bite, I was afraid I’d messed up somehow.
“Pizza really does taste better when it’s made in a brick oven.”
Chewing on a slice of pizza with a carbonated beverage in her other hand, Yuika grinned at me.
“Kuro! I never once imagined I would be able to eat pizza in this world. Can you make cola, too, next time?”
“I don’t even know the ingredients that go into cola, never mind the recipe.”
“Ingredients? Wouldn’t it just be cola fruit?”
Cola fruit? I’ve never heard of such a thing.
“I’ll look into it,” I responded vaguely.
“More carbonated water. And make the next pizza chicken teriyaki flavor. Make no mistake—the dough must be supple and thick. I like the kind with cheese in the crust!”
As she finished off a slice, Yuika made demands to the handmaidens of the castle.
I preferred the crunchiness of thin-crust pizza, as did most of the other men present, but Yuika seemed to like the soft and chewy kind best.
Maybe it was because the thin kind went better with booze.
Mukuro and I were drinking fairy wine, Yoroi was drinking Shiga sake, and Ban had a glass of Lessau’s Lifeblood wine with a single drop of maiden’s blood.
Incidentally, the carbonated water Yuika was drinking was sweetened and flavored with fruit juice and sugar. So far, the flavors I’d made included melon, peach, orange, and veria.
“Kuro.” Yuika addressed me again. “I’m sorry about what the newest Yuika did earlier.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. You already apologized.”
She brought this up while we were waiting for the next pizza, possibly out of boredom.
Presumably, she was referring to the first Yuika I met, who immediately started attacking me with black hole bullets.
It was all a bit confusing, so I thought I’d refer to the first Yuika as Yuika Number 1, the berserk fighter Yuika as Yuika Number 2, and this edgelord Yuika as Yuika Number 3.
“What happened? Did my comrade Foilunis try to jump your bones, as they say?”
“As if a denizen of darkness like myself would ever do such a perverse thing!”
I thought Ban was trying to tease me, but for some reason, Yuika Number 3 turned bright red and flailed indignantly.
“See, this is why we call you the Iron Maiden, because you’ll always be a virgin, girlie.”
“D-do not say such filthy things! A Japanese maiden such as myself must always be chaste!”
Wait, I thought iron maiden was the name of a torture device.
“Ban, Yoroi, don’t tease the child.”
Mukuro scolded the pair of them.
Based on my impression so far, I was surprised he wasn’t joining in to tease her, too—oh, right, he was supposed to be Yuika’s guardian.
Since Yuika Number 1 had destroyed her garden home, Mukuro’s mummy subordinates were currently rebuilding it in her freshly remade world.
“I am no child! And you’re the ones who stupidly drilled it into the new Yuika’s head that Heroes are dangerous, which is why she panicked when she saw Kuro’s title in the first place!”
“‘Stupidly,’ my ass. The Heroes who’ve found us before were all—Wait. Did you say she panicked when she saw Kuro’s title?”
“That’s what I heard.”
Mukuro and Yoroi slowly stood up.
The air around us seemed to chill.
I guess they had pretty negative associations with the Hero title.
“Wait, I say. Kuro is my friend and a guest of the Eternal Night Castle. Know that if you intend him harm, you make an enemy of my entire clan.”
I was expecting the progenitor vampire to join Mukuro and Yoroi in turning hostile toward me, but he actually stood between us to defend me instead.
Maybe it was just his sense of dignity as a noble, but I was a little flattered anyway.
“Oh-ho-ho, you’ve gone batty at last, Ban.”
“If you’re going to side with the puppets of that stupid goddess Parion, you’re going down, too.”
From the sound of things, the pair specifically hated Heroes who had been summoned with Parion’s magic. In that case…
“Stop!”
I stepped in front of Ban to dispel the misunderstanding.
“Stay back, Kuro,” the vampire warned me. “Yoroi is one story, but Mukuro is far beyond what anyone could handle at level fifty.”
He must’ve seen Kuro’s official level with the “Analyze” skill.
“‘Yoroi is one story’? Thanks a lot.”
Yoroi didn’t seem too happy about that.
“Oh, please. Forget Mukuro—this guy could even crush me at the height of my power without breaking a sweat.”
“““What?!”””
At Yuika Number 3’s statement, the others stared at me in shock.
I guess she was able to see that I was actually level 311.
“You’re telling me he could crush you even when you reached the limits of individual strength?”
“Don’t tell me—are you a god?!”
Yoroi didn’t seem entirely convinced, but Mukuro grew even more furious.
“No, no. Foilunis?”
“Kuro is a human, all right. His name and skills are falsified, but his race is not.”
Yuika Number 3 backed me up.
“And while we’re at it, I’m not a Hero who was summoned by Parion, either.”
I still didn’t know how I’d actually come to this world, but that was one thing I could say for sure.
After all, I hadn’t gotten the Hero title until after I defeated a greater demon in the labyrinth that formed under Seiryuu City.
“Then who the hell summoned this Hero?”
“I didn’t get the Hero title until after I arrived in this world. I still have my memories from Japan, but I don’t know if I’m a transference or a transmigration. All I know is that I suddenly woke up in a wasteland with some kind of Unique Skills.”
The whole god-killing and Meteor Shower situations weren’t relevant right now, so I left them out.
Fortunately, once they understood that I wasn’t a summoned Hero, Mukuro’s and Yoroi’s rage subsided.
“So you’re a self-made Hero, eh? Sorry, Kuro.”
“Our bad, bro.”
Mukuro and Yoroi apologized.
It looked like the worst of the danger had passed.
“Every damn Hero of Parion who’s come down to the Lower Stratum has always tried to wipe out both of us,” Yoroi explained.
I remembered that at the west guild before the floormaster battle, I’d heard Sebelkeya mention demon lords called the Bone Lord, the Abyss Blood Lord, and the Steel Lord, which Secretary Ushana objected were fictional.
There must have been some Heroes who took those stories seriously and came to defeat them.
“Not that I blame ’em when we look like this, I guess.”
“Speak for yourself! Why, in spite of these adorable looks of mine, those blasted Heroes all scream ‘Goblin Demon Lord!’ and attack me with Unique Skills blazing as soon as they see my horns.”
“Well, that seems inevitable, since Parion’s Heroes can see your title, Comrade Foilunis,” Ban gently reminded Yuika.
When Yuika’s personality changed, all her skills except for her Unique Skills changed, too, along with her level and even titles. In this form, her titles were particularly sinister.
With my “Analyze” skill, all I could see was the Hermit title that Yuika Number 1 also had, but my AR display revealed a much longer list.
Just to name a few of the major ones, there was the True Hero title I’d gotten when I defeated a demon lord and the Goblin Demon Lord title Yuika herself mentioned, as well as titles like Little Ogre Princess , Conqueror of Individual Limits , and The Last Goblin Child.
That final one seemed pretty heavy, but it wasn’t the sort of thing I should ask about out of curiosity, so I pretended I hadn’t seen it.
“Are you a demon lord, Foilunis?”
“Pardon? Oh, you mean the Goblin Demon Lord thing? Well, I didn’t overuse my Unique Skills, break my soul vessel, and turn into a demon lord, if that’s what you mean. I simply defeated some foolish Heroes, knights, and noble armies who came to attack me to make themselves famous. Then certain folks began referring to me as such, and somehow I ended up acquiring it as a title.”
She’d gained other titles like Little Ogre Princess in the same way.
Incidentally, she said she wasn’t the same Goblin Demon Lord that Aaze had mentioned. Her expression was a little sad when it came up, so maybe that person was once a friend or relative of hers.
“This crazy chick even beat down a demon lord.”
Yoroi patted Yuika Number 3 on the head.
“Cut it out! Thanks to that stupid demon lord, I got stuck with the True Hero title for a while.”
“That’s pretty amazing, though, isn’t it?”
Thinking back on our fight against the elder root, I could definitely believe that she’d bested a demon lord.
“I used to be level ninety-nine, so a level-eighty demon lord was no threat.”
Despite her claim, Yuika Number 3 looked pleased with herself.
“Yoroi said you ‘reached the limits of individual strength’—does that have anything to do with being level ninety-nine?”
I’d been curious about this for a while.
“Indeed, I acquired the Conqueror of Individual Limits title when I reached level ninety-nine.”
According to Yuika Number 3 herself, her level didn’t go up again after that, even when she earned several times the amount of experience points it took to get from level 98 to 99, so it was safe to assume that level 99 was the limit, at least for races like goblins.
“Huh? But you’re only level fifty-two now. Do you have some skill or equipment to disguise it?”
“No, I really am level fifty-two at this point in time.”
“Levels can go down?”
I was curious if it was like an old PC game sequel I once saw, where your level could go down if you slacked off too much.
“Don’t be absurd! When a new version of myself is born, my level goes down by about a third.”
This was apparently thanks to a Unique Skill called Soul Refresh.
When a new personality took over, she lost her skills and titles and such, but the new personality could reacquire old skills at a cost of less skill points than before. Of course, the new personality could set this up herself.
When one of the old personalities acquired control from the main one, her skills and titles would revert, but the older the personality, the harder it was to regain the original level.
“Speaking of levels, you said something very interesting earlier…eh, Yuika?”
Mukuro stared at Yuika Number 3 piercingly. He was probably referring to her statement that I could’ve defeated her in her prime.
“Erm…”
“What level is this guy exactly?”
Yuika hesitated, but Mukuro kept pressing the question.
“Kuro’s level is…”
Yuika glanced at me questioningly, and I shook my head.
“…a secret.”
It looked like she was willing to keep my level to herself.
“Well, that’s an answer in itself… Wait a minute. When you came to our place before, you said Doghead had already been defeated. So the Hero you were referring to was you…?”
I nodded when Mukuro turned toward me.
“I didn’t know that fanatic had been revived, but if he’s already been vanquished, there’s no issue.”
“Crow had a proper appreciation of the aesthetic of darkness, but his obsessive abhorrence of the gods was his weakness. When he and Mukuro got to talking about them, the complaints would never end, as I recall.”
The progenitor vampire and Yuika Number 3 didn’t seem too bothered that I’d beaten Doghead.
Well, I got the impression that he had been defeated and revived plenty of times before, so maybe it wasn’t that rare of a situation.
“Oh-ho-ho-ho, never thought I’d see the day that a Hero’d beat old Doghead.”
“No kidding. He must be at least level one hundred and twenty, maybe even something as crazy as level one hundred and fifty.”
Sorry, it’s more than double that.
“I don’t see a problem. Kuro doesn’t seem like he’d turn against us. Besides, we are quite stubborn ourselves. If we were to flee, not even the gods could catch up with us.”
Ban the progenitor vampire gave me his seal of approval.
We hadn’t even known each other for a full day yet. How could he already trust me so fully?
“When one lives as long as I have, one learns how to judge a person’s character.”
Noticing my gaze, the vampire lord flipped his hair and winked at me.
I wished he wouldn’t, since the vampiresses all shot me jealous gazes.
At any rate…
“I’m Satou.”
I removed my disguise and turned back into Satou.
Since they were trusting me, I thought I should trust them in return.
“Damn, you’re young…”
“Is that your real name? From Japan?”
“My real name is Suzuki. But Satou was my name when I arrived here, so at this point, it might be more like my real name, I guess.”
“Pah, Kuro is just fine as Kuro.”
“Yeah, names don’t mean nothin’ anyway.”
Oh, right, I guess Mukuro and Yoroi aren’t their real names, either.
“That is not what I meant,” said Ban. “Kuro, my handmaidens return to the surface at the end of their employment. I do not believe they would willfully say anything to harm my friends, but the fewer who know your name, the better. When you come to my castle, please do so in the name and form of Kuro.”
But the senior handmaiden has already seen me?
“If you are thinking of Frederica, fear not. She has expressed the wish to be buried at the Eternal Night Castle, and even if she was to leave my service, I can guarantee she would not speak of you.”
Noticing my glance at her, the vampire lord reassured me.
“All right. Then I guess I’ll keep going as Kuro in the labyrinth’s Lower Stratum.”
I bowed my head to the others.
Once we ran out of pizza, there was talk of a sushi party or a shogi tournament, but it was just about dawn by then, so I took my leave of the castle for the time being.
“Just a moment. My newer self wishes to take over.”
With that, Yuika Number 3 closed her eyes. When she opened them, her face had changed again.
“Erm, I’m terribly sorry for losing my cool earlier.”
Yuika Number 1 kneeled on the ground and apologized.
The effect of a pretty girl putting herself in such a position was overwhelming. Even though she was apologizing to me, I felt like the bad guy in this situation.
“No, it’s all right; Number 3 already apologized.”
I patted her shoulder gently and helped her to her feet.
“…Number 3?”
Oops, I guess she wouldn’t know what I mean.
“The one who calls herself Foilunis la Bellefille, the Dark La Princess.”
“Aah! The original generation!”
I guess Yuika Number 3 called Yuika Number 1 “the first generation.”
“She’s the one who stopped me, then, isn’t she? I realized that you weren’t attacking me, and yet, I was so frightened that I couldn’t stop myself.”
The various Yuikas were able to communicate in dreams, so they could share information to a certain degree.
“Oh, hey, Kuro…”
As Yuika Number 1 and I wrapped up our conversation, I started to say my good-byes, but this time Mukuro wanted to talk to me.
“If the gods ever start chasing you aboveground, we’ll help ya out. But otherwise, don’t come down here too often.”
“C’mon, really? You rotten jerk.”
As Yoroi grumbled, Mukuro smacked his helmet.
“I’m not trying to be mean. But miasma collects underground. It’s not good for folks with living flesh.”
Oh, right. When the miasma had been really thick in Labyrinth City, a lot of people got miasma poisoning.
Using my “Miasma Vision” to check, I saw that it was even thicker down here.
“There’s a lot of it in my territory. Unless you got a Unique Skill like Yuika’s that can change miasma into magic power, it’s just too dangerous.”
“Good point. New handmaidens at our castle are evacuated to a purified room until they develop skills to resist miasma.”
That must be the room where Zena and the slave girls were being kept.
“Oh-ho-ho, we need miasma to live, so we can’t just go purifying it.”
So I couldn’t simply amplify my spirit light or purify it with Holy Stones.
“Kuro, despite what Mukuro says, the Eternal Night Castle shall never turn away a friend. You are welcome to visit at any time.”
He just wants me to come play shogi with him, doesn’t he?
“The miasma’s thick at my place, too. But if you’re gonna have some tasty food, call me anytime. Semery and I will come on over.”
“I guess I might show up, too, if there’s sushi. Wouldn’t mind playing shogi with someone besides these morons, either.”
“Oh-ho-ho-ho, nobody likes a tsundere old geezer, pal.”
“Shaddup!”
Mukuro and Yoroi started bickering, but I ignored them and turned back to Yuika Number 1 and Ban.
“Ah, I’ll put the first generation back in charge…”
Yuika’s expression changed back to Yuika Number 3.
“Why, how kind of thee,” Number 3 said, affecting an old-timey tone for some reason. “At present, I shall be imposing on my brethren Ban’s castle for a while. When next we meet, you shall likely see my quieter self, but please be friendly to her.”
“Sure. I’ll bring some presents and stuff.”
As they’d mentioned at the pizza party, Yuika was going to be living in the progenitor’s castle until her house was rebuilt. She didn’t want to stay with Mukuro or Yoroi out of fear of ghosts, apparently.
I would think vampires would be equally spooky, but there were plenty of normal people here, so it probably felt more comfortable.
So as to avoid being a freeloader, she was going to use her Unique Skills to create the perfect space for growing tomatoes.
I wouldn’t mind having a space like that myself. I was sure she would make me one if I asked, but since I didn’t want to be a pest, I figured I could bring it up to her in the future when we became better friends.
“Please do not forget my wine, too, Kuro.”
“Lessau’s Lifeblood, right? If I can’t find any, I’ll go straight to the source.”
I smiled at the vampire and left the friendly reincarnations of the labyrinth’s Lower Stratum behind.
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