"Laios… this guy seriously only thinks about food," Doma muttered after reading the latest message.
[Laios: Sorry, but my sister got swallowed by a dragon, and this hunt has dragged on way too long… *sigh* I even started thinking about eating Marcille.]
[Kenta: Marcille? Isn't that the elf from your last livestream…?]
(Image)
[Balalaika: Good grief, I'm surrounded by cannibalistic idiots.]
[Kirei Kotomine (Narrator): Wasn't she an elf? Does that really count as cannibalism? Rejoice, my dear friend: the heavens have shown you an alternative to starving to death.]
Kirei's words almost shocked Doma, but he recalled the grim fates of Kariya Matou and Rin Tohsaka's father.
'Yeah… that sadist has done far worse than encouraging someone to eat a humanoid creature resembling a human,' he thought to himself.
[I Have a Good Dog at Home: Can an elf be considered human? This brings up the question: does a chimera count as human? Laios, go ahead and eat.]
[Ryomen Sukuna: Aren't you the only human around right now? So why hesitate to survive on someone else's flesh? Tsk, you're such an idiot.]
[Ryomen Sukuna: I'm really wasting my time in this group chat… but there's also nothing to do in this mental space.]
[Ryomen Sukuna has left the chat.]
[Kuvira: Have you all forgotten that Doma literally devoured and assimilated a fragment of a primordial god's will?]
[The Void: You think they forgot? Heh… you're naïve, despite your ambitious deeds with the Metal Clan. Let me enlighten you, since I'm bored in my current cell. Know this: everyone in this group chat is cunning in their own way. Most are just pretending to forget the new Doma because they want to avoid awkward topics. I'd bet even Sukuna is pleased with the info about the Valkirya world.]
[Doma: Ho ho~, shinobi-san is quite observant.]
Doma frowned after reading the words from the man behind the pseudonym The Void and the remark from his alternate version.
Neither man had metaphysical knowledge, but they had perfectly read between the lines of most people in the group chat.
Sukuna's feigned disinterest didn't escape the man dubbed a shinobi, and Kirei's subtle attempt to steer the conversation toward food was also noticed.
The man's identity was starting to intrigue Doma, but he decided to address it later.
For now, he needed to investigate two interesting things: Laios's era and the System.
'Like Balalaika, I need to observe quests and gather info on other characters in the group chat,' the ice demon analyzed.
He already knew the backstories of characters without pseudonyms, but Doma needed to know where they stood in their timelines.
To that end, he decided to focus on an intriguing world and a unique character: Laios.
[The Defiant Demon: Just to clarify an important detail of your story, dear Laios. Your sister… how long has it been since she was swallowed by the dragon? Because if you've been tracking it to the point of exhausting all your supplies, then…]
Doma didn't finish his sentence, as anyone smart enough would catch his hint.
As if echoing his words, the other group chat members fell silent.
They had all missed this clue in the story of the adventurer's sister's kidnapping.
'I haven't read all of Dungeon Meshi, but I vaguely remember Laios's character,' the demon recalled in the gray world.
Laios Touden.
(Image)
He's the protagonist, or one of the protagonists, of the manga Dungeon Meshi.
Though he seems a bit simple-minded based on his behavior, Doma remembered his surprising leadership.
'This guy faced a dragon with an exhausted team and a half-baked plan based on speculation,' the ice demon judged, recalling his fight against the murderer of the veteran adventurer's sister.
Despite the high-ranked monster's strength, Laios had won!
Beyond his leadership, he's an expert in monsters and their legends.
He could recognize dangers his companions didn't even suspect and showed great ingenuity multiple times in the story.
It's this very trait that gave him wild ideas, like eating a living dungeon armor.
[Laios: Meh… it's the same thing, right? My sister ends up in the dragon's mouth, then its stomach, but it doesn't change my plan. I just need to find that lizard, cut its belly open, and get my sister back.]
[Kirei Kotomine (Narrator): …]
[Balalaika: …]
[Kenta: …]
[Doma: …]
[The Void: …]
[Kuvira: Cunning people, you said? Hah, The Void? Ridiculous.]
[Kuvira has left the chat.]
As everyone silently judged Laios and his recklessness, Doma pounced on this lost sheep of the flock.
[The Defiant Demon: You know what? Your idea is doable.]
[Kenta: Nani?!]
[Laios: If someone as smart as you confirms it, then I was right, haha. To think the others are considering giving up… *sigh*]
[The Defiant Demon: If they want to give up, let them. You've got the group chat, right? You can just do a quest, earn points, and trade stuff with me.]
A fake friendly smile spread across Doma's face as he looked into the group chat's livestream camera.
Unfortunately, the reaction was negative.
[Kenta: Uh… Laios-san, I've got a bad feeling about this.]
[The Void: You don't need to be a genius to smell a scam from miles away.]
[Kirei Kotomine (Narrator): Come now, I'm sure Doma has good intentions.]
[Balalaika: Good intentions? You're talking about a guy who's unfazed by the embodiment of evil in a world, and you think he has good intentions? Haha.]
[I Have a Good Dog at Home: Honestly, this deal reminds me of my youth with my country's army… *sigh* a mistake, but a beggar can't be choosy.]
Despite all the negative reactions around him, Laios gave an interesting and satisfying response.
[Laios: I'll accept anything for Falin, but guarantee my friends' safety and the success of your idea.]
Laios's response confirmed that his interlocutor was indeed the bold and courageous adventurer leader from Jay's memories.
He flashed a smile before controlling his body in the real world and severing his forearm.
Blood was sent to Laios.
[The Defiant Demon has sent an item to Laios.]
[Would you like to use the group chat to preserve this item's properties?]
[If you accept, you will pay 10,000 System points, but refusing won't prevent the package from arriving.]
[Unfortunately, the group chat does not guarantee the item's effects under the new world's laws if payment is refused.]
[The Defiant Demon: Do you have enough points? If not, I've got an interesting quest with an approachable theme.]
[Quest: Save an Adventure from "Ishuzoku Reviewers"]
(Image)
[Difficulty Level: C+ to ~B- (normal)]
[Description: Stank (human) and Zel (elf) are adventurers with a noble goal in their world. Unfortunately, Zel is sick today, and MEDIA clients are disappointed to miss out on interesting content.]
[Quest Objective: Visit a brothel rumored to have Lamias as courtesans.]
[Failure: Die from lack of stamina or be crushed by the lower body of a lustful snake-woman.]
[Reward: The number of System points depends on your achievements with the snake-women, but the presence of R-18 theme clients is guaranteed.]
"Is that easy enough, Laios? You can even eat at the adventurers' guild in that world before… *cough* completing the quest," he said in a suggestive tone.
[Laios: … Going to a brothel to save my sister? Why does that feel weird?]
[Kenta: Don't think about it, just let me join your party! I really want to save your poor sister!]
Even as he said this, Kenta cursed himself, too ashamed to dive into the R-18 theme.
'Damn, there was such an easy quest?' he thought, forgetting the quest's failure clause.
A mistake the high schooler would come to regret.
[Balalaika: … I'm also interested in this quest.]
[Kirei Kotomine (Narrator): Unfortunately, I'm a man of God, so I'll have to pass.]
[I Have a Good Dog at Home: Don't leave without me! Just let me put my daughter to bed.]
[The Void: … Aren't you married, like me?]
[I Have a Good Dog at Home: Me and her… things haven't been going well lately.]
It didn't take long before Laios and all the other members left the group chat, except two.
The livestream option went empty in the group chat section, save for The Void and Kirei.
"… Was my plan "too" effective?" Doma muttered, watching everyone leave except The Void.
He wasn't surprised that Balalaika could follow Laios, given her bold behavior in the Black Lagoon manga.
That mobster had literally watched adult content next to Revy and the protagonist without batting an eye.
But the others?
'Well… Kenta is at that age and needed points,' Doma thought with a shrug, then returned to reality.
If all went well, the Eternal Paradise Faith sect would soon have a branch in another world.
…
"S-Stop… I don't want this!"
After Doma regained consciousness, he witnessed an unpleasant scene.
A middle-aged man was strangling a loli, while the young girl tried to break free from his grip around her neck.
"Sorry, lady, but—" Jack's polite voice rang out amid the girl's sobs and screams, but the man didn't have time to finish his sentence.
A hand grabbed his forearm.
"I don't like meddling in things that don't concern me, but…" A cold, unsettling aura emanated from Doma as his multicolored eyes locked onto Jack's heterochromatic ones.
(Image)
The ice demon didn't notice that the aura around him was far more terrifying than Jack's, nor that his upper body was bare and more muscular.
Like Heracles before him, Doma had taken on traits from the divine blood donor.
He was no longer just a demon from the KNY universe but also a demigod like Heracles.
He now possessed a divine physiology alongside his demonic one.
"Gentleman, this is an urgent private matter… wait a second, no way, but how *grr*—" Jack was calm as he faced Doma.
But his apathetic, relaxed gaze slowly gave way to confusion after he truly looked at Doma.
The creature before him couldn't match the criteria for intelligent life forms by Jack's understanding.
He saw an abomination.
Yet Doma spoke and stood before him like any human being.
Unfortunately, Jack didn't have time to finish his sentence before a sound of shattering glass echoed in the room.
The London Ripper's arm turned to ice at an unreal speed and shattered under the force of the vector power.
***
Author's Note:Jack isn't the real Ripper and isn't a bad guy deep down, but honestly… he was a real jerk at the start.
Bonus Info:He's much weaker than he was against Heracles since his Valkyrie didn't pass on her power.
Extra Bonus Info:Valkirya Apocalypse ends tomorrow, as I plan to release two chapters, wrap up this arc, and return to KNY