Vol. 12 - Ch. 764 - Briefing

The night of the day of Demon King's army raid. 

Though the Demon King's army had been ultimately repealed, the work of dragonkin had yet to end as they continued to exhaust themselves in search of missing people, or preparing places of refugees to lay on. 

Shaupa, the neighborhood town of Royal Capital, had been turned into a ravaged land. And at present, Tam-Tam and other summoned beasts, one that were expert in scouting, were now searching around the place for any survivors. 

Fortunately, with the blessing of the Great Spirit God and other Spirits, as well as Keel's recovery magic acting on a wide scale, anyone trapped in rubble managed to stay alive. 

While the rescue operation underwent on one side, with some of their members participating in, the rest of the members including Allen responded to the summon of Heavenly King. 

The three great angels had already reported that Heavenly Kingdom was rescued from demon's rampage, thus the meeting place was decided to be in the banquet room located at one corner of Royal Castle's premise, unlike the audience room. Of course, they'd food prepared too.

Royalties, and their banquet for celebration. Something never changes between worlds, eh?

(Haa, I frankly feel not a shred of gratitude, but perhaps considering we would be having more conversation ahead, maybe I can be more softer in my report, eh?)

When they'd made their presence known, Allen and his team were led to a lavish room, where Heavenly King arranged a banquet. While somehow trying to cope through the sudden social event, Allen captured Heavenly King glancing at their direction while drinking fruit water from a golden cup. It took Allen 100% of his social skill to return the gesture with a wave of hand. 

The room was crowded with over 100 people, summoned for their distinguished service against demons. In the table placed at the centre, the Heavenly King was beside his Queen, and also First Angel Homaru. Across them were Allen, Sophie, and Merus. 

The other members like Dogora and Kurena had already jumped on the feast, chomping on lavish dishes to placate their hunger. After an intense battle, it was their way to recovery from exhaustion.

"Wow, this is delicious! No, every dish is delicious!!"

"Mhm, delicious, indeed!!"

The banquet room was vast enough to still have the capacity for tens of people. Among the participants, there were Allen's team, Hero, Zau, Admiral Garala's party, and General Zaurele plus his subordinate. They made it to at least fifty in number, but matching their enthusiasm, the dishes continued to be carried over, never once running out of them.

Outside of the room's window, one could capture the sight of Dragon King Matildora passing barrels of liquor to his kins, drinking alongside. Haku was nearby gleefully enjoying a huge slab of meat. 

As wide the room was, they still couldn't match the number of dragonkins, thus only Protector Abigail as well as remaining Chiefs were invited. The invitations also extended to the prominent people of beastkin villages, who had played their part in the war. It was no secret that citizens of Divine Realm loathed beastkin from the Forest of Primordial Forest, thus this scene was a testament to the gratitude they'd felt for their assistance.

"Geez, It never fails to amaze me how much they can stuff inside their stomachs. I, myself, am too tired to even think of eating. It's not like they'd do anything amazing. Right, Merle?"

"Rosetta. You seem drunk. But this stuff is delicious. It's a taste you will not find in Bawkis. Can I have another cup?"

Merle shook her head, trying to free herself from Rosetta's arm placed upon her. Due to the height difference, Rosetta had her elbows rested over Merle's head. Merle raised the gold cup filled with fruit wine, gulping it down in one breath, and requested for another refill from the servants.

"I see, they didn't make it out huh......"

"Yes. They gave their all till the last breath to protect their subordinates."

(They shouldn't be excited about the banquet, but a victory was a victory huh.)

Allen strained his ears to pick up the mournful words that filled the corners of the banquet room.

As the battle didn't give Abigail much room for breath, Abigail could barely keep up with his subordinates, so he tried to relay commands through the chain of command—but when he heard the response came from deputy chiefs, he probably had enough of the guess what happened to the Chief.

The battle against the demon force lasted barely an hour, but the death toll of dragonkin and people of Divine Realm had breached the count of tens of thousand. 'However, their soul would smile to see they’d managed to protect this place' Though unintended, Abigail's sentimental words echoed in the banquet room, prompting even Kurena to put down the gold fork in her hand. 

As the room was caught in a restless vibe, Heavenly King turned to Allen—the meritorious hero in today's war, acknowledged by Aula seated opposite—and pressed for an answer pertaining demon's objective.

"...So, I have it correct that the majority of demons were unaware of the Demon King's purpose, and initiated the war. Then, amidst the confusion, they abducted First Angel Lupto-sama?"

"This is indeed the gist of the situation."

"Would it be okay to have the Space-Time Administrative System being stolen?"

“It won’t cause immediate disruption, but without it, travel between the Divine Realm and the Human Realm will soon falter. The Space-Time God has already gone to report the matter to the Creator God, Elmea-sama.”

For the moment, Allen reassured him that his party was not bound to the same restriction.

(Still… that’s as far as this report goes. I appreciate their extended sympathy, but we should be already sketching our strategy to bring back Lupto. ...Hm? Oh, is it finally the moment to report to Demon King?)

Allen had already sorted the details that would be reported to Heavenly King on their way to the Rabul, and in parallel, he had been brainstorming for a strategy to reclaim Merus's twin sister. Though, his chain of thoughts were paused when he perceived movements within the Demon King's army.

«......Lupto.»

Merus's voice slipped out in a whisper, as he and Allen watched Ordo's movement. Merus certainly had followed Allen over the invitation of Heavenly King, but in his mind, his concern for Lupto never stopped. He had been constantly monitoring the demon's movement with a steep expression, occasionally taking notice of Lupto whenever she jumps in the vision. 

Unsconsciously, Merus's rage and bloodlust masked his expression, causing Heavenly King to swallow his breath in tension.

"W-well, Allen-sama?"

"Ah, Lupto-sama has recently been brought to the Demon King."

With Heavenly King's intense gaze sticking on him, Allen paraphrased the ongoing situation, while also adding honorifics in Lupto's name given the situation. 

«......Heh, now aren't you a cute, meek lamb?»

Aware of Lupto's expertise in teleportation, she had an amulet added to her neck to prevent her escape. Ordo. who was carrying her on shoulder,  grinned at Lupto's docile behaviour. 

In the far edge of the Pursuit Eye's scope, Allen glimpsed Ordo ascending the staircase at the end of the great hall, flanked by Kyubel, Bask, and Shinonom.

Beyond the staircase lay yet another vast chamber. At its far end rose a second flight of stairs. The demons halted before it and, as one, dropped to their knees.

“…You’re late. I thought you’d never return.”

A familiar voice drifted from beyond the Pursuit Eye’s reach, though their visage hidden from the scope. He had met the owner at the stage of Prostea Empire's capital Patalanta's songstress contest—Demon King Zerdias.

«Lupto-sama has been delivered to the Demon King of End, Zerdias.»

Tension ran amidst Allen as he felt the weight of Demon King's shadow. When his own title—«Summoner of the Beginning»—had a fateful connection with Demon King's «Demon King of the End» title, it was impossible for him to have no thought of his own.

The collateral damage in today's war was immense. It was true for themselves, but it was even truer for demons. They brought in thousands of demons, archdemons, and all of their Fiend Kings. However, at the sunset of their war, they lost three of their Fiend Kings, and escaped with whatever paltry number of evil incarnate demons remained. Though given their zombi-like action, it was a doubt if they would ever play a role.

Ordo's frustration against Kyubel's execution of the final act to capture Lupto was quite evident, though he stuck to his explanation and framed the report to the Demon King.

(So, it turned out they also had plans for two other First Angels as well, huh? This is why they lead the invasion against Divine Arena as well as Heavenly Kingdom. But what after that?)

From Ordo's report. it became apparent that while Lupto was their prime target, should they've leeway, they're to abduct Homaru and Kelvin too. 

At present, Creator God Elmea had three First Angels under command—Lupto, Kelvin, and Homaru. Typically, First Angel were assigned to Higher Gods, though more often just having that status wasn’t enough to receive First Angel under command.

This entire offensive had been built around abducting all three. But Mara was only informed to bring back Homaru. The ideal scenario for them was to abduct Kelvin from Divine Arena as earlier possible, then Homaru from Heavenly Sandal Kingdom, and in parallel, they're to target Lupto from her command line. 

But much to their expectation, the gods at Divine Arena acted unusually faster. Plus, with the support from Helmios, Zau and his party, and Kurena and Haku, it was made clear they'd to give up on Kelvin. 

(But they still had Homaru at arm's length. Why was it that they cast aside Homaru, and captured Lupto first. Is age the factor?)

As the report continued, it gradually revealed if they must choose, then Lupto had to be the one. This revived Kyubel and Ordo's conflicting conversation inside Allen's mind, as if they'd been acting on two different plans. But all these thoughts came to a halt at a sudden loud sound.

*THUUUD*

Allen saw Ordo lowering his head on the floor with enough force to turn up cracks on it. 

«I have no excuse for failure!! We had made sure to go through a briefing before we began, but.. we lost the three Fiend Kings along with 1000 demons...»

"You can cut the explanation. All that matters is the end result. Anyway, so you only managed to capture Lupto, huh. And the only survivors are you. It's another failure. Was it Allen again?"

(Ah, my name on roll call, eh?)

From the edge of «Pursuit Gaze», the Demon Lord's voice carried a hint of his rage and cruel coldness. 

«Indeed, it is so. Allen and his party have broken through the conventional growth rate, growing large enough to even go against us. I have been saying for nth time, the fault lies not in my plan. However, our current predicament can finally be resolved once you eat Lupto. Lupto has its worth in that.»

Unlike the reverent tone of Ordo, Kyubel's tone was quite carefree. 

«Eat you say?!»

"M-Merus-sama!!"

«O-Ogyaa!?»

The smouldering anger inside Merus erupted like a volcano when he heard Kyubel's remark. The brimming bloodlust stunned Heavenly King, reflexively causing him to fall behind from his seat. In sync, the nodding First Angel Homaru snapped out of his nap, and began crying.

"Hey, Allen. What's the matter?"

"I can't believe it. He's going to eat her......"

Dogora and Keel put down their cutlery and appeared beside Allen. 

The entire banquet room had descended into suffocating silence at the sight of Merus's rage. Allen's party members realised they must have watched the situation of demons via Allen's summoned beast skill.

(Hey, now. Did they really kidnap Lupto just as some snack to eat like he did with Evil God? Still, it doesn't explain. Why does an angel have values similar to Evil God..... Wait a minute. Value?)

The target is First Angel. 

It had to be Lupto. 

Lupto's value.

While there wasn't a concrete answer, Kyubel's report gave Allen a hint.

"Heh, all problems will be solved with this?"

«Absolutely.»

«H-Hey. What did I say about being polite to the Lord?"

Ordo’s panicked voice filled the place when he noticed the action of his fellow demons. Bask had sat down cross-legged, picking on his ear out of boredom, as if he couldn't wait for the briefing to end. Meanwhile, Shinonom began to tinker with the cube shaped Space-Time Administrative System, filling the air with metal clanking sound. The two clearly had no interest in the briefing, even if it was Demon King.

«Well then, since we have our audience at edge now, it's about time to break the suspense.»

«...Hey! How dare you raise your head against the Demon King!!»

All of a sudden, Kyubel rose up from kneeling stance, ignoring Ordo who tried to stop him.

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just we have a peeping tom looking from behind our Supreme Commander and Bask-kun. So I was thinking of revealing why it had to be Lupto. Err, there, right? Am I in your picture? Alright, voice testing~, can you hear me, Allen-kun?»

Allen and Merus felt a chill creeping up their spine at the same moment. 

Kyubel ignored Ordo as the latter tried to stop him, and manoeuvre behind him, peering straight into the «Pursuit Gaze». 

(He knew about it all along?)

It turned out, Kyubel had been aware of Allen's spying. And Kyubel, assured that he was being watched, twirls on his spot.

T/N - If your preferred genre is dungeon x light-hearted story, try out LET ME SPEND MONEY, DAMMIT!