First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 19
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
(Kurokiri POV)
“You did it, Kurokiri-chan! It’s your cue!”
[You idiot, stop it!] [That’s not acceptable!] [Gah!]
After a skit that even I myself couldn’t understand, the operation had been initiated.
The first step was to let Ryo and Ichiko out. At that point, I made it look as if Ryo had escaped from the front door, thus I smeared her body with mud and gave her the tools Ichiko used as a memento of her escape. Ichiko then slipped away at night because she was assumed to be dead.
The distribution of Ichiko’s experience was reset at this time.
Me: Ichiko = 1:1 ? Me: Ichiko: Ryo = 2:1:1, but since this was a convenient opportunity, I changed it to the following,
Me: Ichiko = 1:1 ? Me: Ichiko: Ryo: Disarray Dragonfly = 5:2:2:1.
Hmm? You are wondering about our promise? Let me ask you in reverse. Since when did you guys erroneously assume that I would honor my word? I am a Demon King, you know. Breaking a promise is something I am perfectly willing to violate. Furthermore, they will be utterly unaware of it at this degree.
The next step was to connect Ryo’s basement to his labyrinth, which Ryo had requested me to do shortly before departing. After expanding the area that can be deemed a dungeon by expending DP, I created a link from the duct that I set up above the labyrinth, which was the center of the second level. The reason for connecting through the duct instead of the labyrinth was to avoid being discovered by those who enter the labyrinth since the relationship between Ryo and me was basically a confidential subject.
However, I have left a small room in the part that connected to Ryo’s house with a set of Iron Shackles of the Sealing Art ?. For what reason? Hahaha. Even without me stating it, you get it, right? Hahaha.
Buuuuuuuuuuuu!
Apparently, intruders had shown up. Up to this stage, it had been about five hours since Ryo went outside, and their conduct of entering my labyrinth was attributed to Ryo’s successful return from my dungeon as she managed to acquire some information about it. Although it was also conceivable that they were anticipating someone else that have been abducted, or that it was a mixture of arrogance and vanity that they had grown proficient in their skills and dared to venture into my labyrinth.
At any rate, I had instructed all the demons in the dungeon not to show up for an hour after their entry and to exert pressure on them by patrolling the perimeter if they came close. I would then order them to be ruthless after an hour had passed. With this, if they were proceeding in the swamp, they will be on a guaranteed death path. And if they were moving through the trees… I would simply let my demons do their thing in the usual way. As an additional precaution, some Mist Mosquitoes from the second level will be relocated to the first level.
?Mist Mosquito
This insect-like mosquito demon is about 50 cm long.
Its wings emit a shrill buzzing sound as it flies around its surroundings. When its prey leaves an opening, it will approach and jab them with its needle-like mouth while passing by, causing the mosquito to absorb their blood (HP). Following the absorption of blood, it separates only the water from the blood and sprays it around the prey, deterring it from counterattacking.
Summoning cost: 100 HP and 100 SP each per unit.
However, the noise of their wings is so irritating… those guys.
————–
Yeah, I figured it was a no-go. Those guys went through the swamp.
Did they obtain the proper information from Ryo? If they had intelligence, they would at least know that advancing through the swamp was definitely out of the question, and in the end, they lost another 3 groups of 18 people. Well, it was a scrumptious meal for my side, though.
Anyway, it was the usual cleanup.
————–
It had been five days since Ichiko had left the labyrinth, and I had finally contacted her. During this period, no new invaders had emerged, so I was continuing abducting people to gain experience.
Are the military units up to something?
“Hmm. Is that the situation on your side? I mean, the Demon King of ‘Ogre’s Fortress’ is even worse than I expected.”
That was the first thought that sprang to my mind after hearing the report.
Yeah. Whatever the circumstances may be, that Demon King is too much of a hot-blooded idiot.
[I have no doubt that a Demon King should possess minimum stats of over 30, so that’s a vivid reminder that intellect does not equal wisdom.]
“Well, intellect is a measure of how efficiently you can put your magic skills to use, and it doesn’t play that much of a role in decision-making and strategy planning, so I suppose you could say it’s not so strange. After all, 30 stats for a Demon King originally corresponds to 6.”
Ichiko’s words involuntarily drew a peal of faint laughter from me. To be honest, I would like to see for myself what this Ogre King of Dominating Herculean Strength was like after being told to this extent.
[I know such things. That’s how much of a hot-blooded idiot he turned out to be.]
“Oh well. I’m working on a series of things over here. You’ll have to stick to your part for a while longer. Oh, and don’t forget the promise we made at the beginning, okay? It would be a folly for the Kirijin to be exposed now,” he replied, pondering the growth of the Dragonfly and the current situation of Ryo.
[(Tch) I understand.]
Hey, I can hear your tongue clicking.
“Well, Ichiko. In two or three weeks, if they don’t take the Demon King’s last breath, you can expect nothing will matter regardless of what you do.”
[?]
“By that time, both the Demon King and the dungeon there will be of no use to us. Since we don’t have a clue what will become of the dungeon after the Demon King loses his life, I intend to confirm that. Oh, and once the dungeon has been destroyed, come back. We’ll have a briefing session with Ryo. So, don’t do anything rash.”
And with that conclusion in mind, I disconnected the communication after making an estimate in my brain of the increase in force and experience garnered.
Even so, communication with my kin in this way sure is a breeze.
————–
Two more days had passed afterwards. To be frank, I had a lot of spare time on my hands. By the way, it appeared that a curfew had been imposed on the residents in the neighborhood. I supposed there was no need for me to break it to you why. It was my fault.
It was at this moment that I realized that I haven’t communicated with Ryo yet, so I made an effort to do so now.
[Huh? Why is there no Demon King who would consider joining hands with humans…?]
So that’s your opening statement? Oh, I suppose you haven’t noticed that the communication is on. Then, let’s address it immediately.
“That’s because the Demon King’s compensation ensures that they cannot beg for their lives. If they thoughtlessly show up at the negotiating table, they’ll end up in a full-fledged mess.’”
[!?]
Ah, you were astounded. Speaking of which, the story about the Demon King’s correction was true.
“I’m free, so I’ve been running some tests on the communication. The signal sensitivity seems to be fine. I’m hanging up now.”
Thus, I cut off the communication as I could tell that she was startled.
Tattara? Tattara? Tattara?
“Hmm? It’s like the evolutionary BGM of a Pokemon… could this be!”
After disconnecting the communication, the background music suddenly began to play, and I hastily opened the screen of ?Monster Create?. There I found…
?
Check out other Outer World Story series in order: Outer World Story: The Black Mist that Devours (First series), Outer World Story: Pumpkin Sorcerer (Third series), Outer World Story: Basilisk of Ice Sculpture (Fourth series)