After convincing Great Demon King Lan Xin to help me save his land, the two of us went to defeat the remaining two guardians of the ant nest labyrinth and collected all their magic crystals. My terror-bombing tactic was already quite effective on my own. Now, with the addition of a Great Demon King, everything should be a breeze, right? Well, that would have been the case if he hadn't suddenly stood in front of me and said:
"The monsters in this labyrinth are too weak for us to go all out. I forbid you from using magic to conquer the rest."
"You're joking, right?" My eyes twitched. "I need both magic and blood tribe battle aura just to be lucky enough to beat those god damn ants."
"So?"
"What do you mean 'so'!? My next opponent is a muscular mushroom monster standing right at the end of that room! It's nearly ten meters tall! One slap from it would probably shatter my bones and mash my flesh! It's fine if you don't help, but why are you telling me to discard my strongest assets myself!?"
"Fair point."
Surprisingly, Lan Xin agreed with me. This was the first time I'd seen him agree with me so easily. Suddenly, I felt a bit uneasy.
"However," ah shit, here we go again. "If you keep using only one trick, how can you ever become stronger, hmm?"
"Isn't it fine as long as it's effective? That's the North God Style philosophy."
"What is North God Style?"
"Ah, never mind."
I forgot, Lan Xin seemed to have shut himself in his castle since before the birth of both the North God Style and the Sword God Style. It seemed the Water God Style was the oldest sword school, so he recognized it immediately when he saw me practicing. However, the Great Demon King also called that sword style 'cowardly as hell' and forced me to use the Blood God Style instead.
Unlike the three great sword styles, the Blood God Style didn't seem to have a ranking system, so I didn't know what level I was at. But if I combined all the swordsmanship I currently possessed, combined with Blood tribe battle aura, I could confidently say I could defeat a Water Saint—specifically, the 10-year-old version of Isolde, ha ha ha. So I think I must be around Saint rank level or something by now.
But I was still not a Water Saint. Because I couldn't use Flow to counterattack yet. But oh well, I just don't have the time to train that aspect so I can't blame anyone for that. After all, why use Flow when I can just Perfect Reverse everything?
Anyway, back to the problem at hand, I understood what Lord Lan Xin meant. After all, while moving toward that 'pyramid-shaped triangular mushroom,' he had told me about the dangers outside this castle. Since I promised to contribute, I truly needed to become stronger so I wouldn't be a useless person who only knew how to use flowery words.
Besides, if I became stronger, I would have something to brag about to Eris when I returned. If I went back now and said 'I can use King-rank Fire magic,' she would look at me with half an eye. My fiancée no longer despised magic as before—she even liked it—but she still wanted her future husband to be a 'pure swordsman' rather than a magic swordsman (even though I am indeed a magic swordsman).
"Alright." After some deliberation, I sighed and agreed. "But if I get beaten half to death, remember to save me, okay?"
"Rest assured, baby dragon named Atur. You already have two drops of my blood; compared to before, you are very different now."
Oh wow, meaning I just got another 'dirty buff'. Nice! Now this is what it feels like to have the destiny of a reincarnated character!
"So what's different about me now?"
"You will recover faster than before."
"Great!"
"You probably didn't notice, but you have fangs now."
"Oh, they really did get longer!" Now I look more like a Vamp—ah, I mean, a blood tribe.
"Your senses are also enhanced. You can see in the dark."
"Awesome!"
"Especially your ability to feel physical pain."
"Huh?"
"The sun will burn your skin twice as hard."
"Wait a min—"
"And specifically, you will be stronger in bed. Your fiancée will definitely like that."
"Why!?"
"If there's a downside, it's that from now on, you will occasionally crave blood."
"You mean that list above included good things!? Why would I want the sun to burn me harder!?"
Lan Xin shrugged. "Doesn't that just mean more mana for you to absorb?"
That was true, but I still felt something was wrong about it.
"So what's the point of being stronger in bed?"
"Because we blood tribes have a very hard time reproducing, so we need something to compensate." Lan Xin put his hand on my shoulder. "Breed lots of Blood Dragon Hatchlings for me, ke ke ke!"
I think I'm in big trouble again.
But thinking about it, being 'stronger' in bed sounded… nice. I mean, I was quite impressed with those doujin scenarios in my previous life about a couple who could cuddle all night. Honestly, I wanted to try it too, heh heh heh.
Wait! No! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa stop this dirty thought now! And don't raise your head at a time like this, you stupid little brother! Puberty sure is a pain!
"Alright, I get it." I rubbed my head after banging it against the cave wall to reduce the earthly desire and replied. "But if I can recover faster, then I guess it'll be fine, right?"
"I guarantee you won't die, ke ke ke!"
Shouldn't he have said 'I guarantee you will win'? Well, I guess I have to accept it. I grabbed my two swords and prepared to fight an S-rank monster without using magic or blood battle aura. After all, I have regeneration abilities, right?
Here comes nothing.
…
And yeah… I got beaten to a pulp.
Honestly, it wasn't exactly a terrible fight. My speed and reflexes still worked well; throughout half the battle with the monster, even though I got hit a few times, I mostly managed to dodge the most critical strikes. The only problem was my lack of power strong enough to make a difference.
I tried using Perfect Reverse, which was the thing that helped me slice off half of that giant mushroom's body—pretty fierce. But after being sliced in two, it turned into two giant mushrooms and rushed in to punch me until I was as battered as I am now.
In the end, Lan Xin dragged me out to rest and recover. Once I was stable, he threw me back in to box with the monster using swords again.
This went on for ten straight days. And thanks to grasping all the skills and tempo of that monster, I continuously used Perfect Reverse and defeated it after a long streak of being beaten to a pulp.
"For the next match, you are only allowed to use Blood Tribe swordsmanship, understood!?"
Suddenly, I felt like I was on a training field trip rather than conquering an S-rank labyrinth.
The match against the Lich was indeed much tougher than the mushroom. The problem was that with this type of monster, I was forced to use Divine Strike or something extremely potent to purify it. Using only Blood God Style was truly quite useless in this battle; even beating small fry like zombies just resulted in them coming back to life over and over. After half a month of hopelessness, I had to beg Lord Lan Xin to let me use Divine Strike.
But since my Divine Strike proficiency was still too poor to destroy something like this, I used a Plasma Fireball to 'purify' it into charcoal instead.
And so, I completed the entire labyrinth. Yay!
After everything was done, the seal of Laplace would take a few days to consume all the mana it was absorbing.
During those days, I went around collecting loot and looking for lost items.
And after searching for who knows how long, I had to accept that I had lost the last thing I wanted to lose—the Lion's Tongue. Aside from the engagement gift signifying me as the son-in-law of the Boreas house, miscellaneous things like my adventurer card were also completely gone. Not only that, the equipment and bodies of Gangton and Jikiki were also missing; only the bodies of Ken and Nelu remained intact.
I told myself that some monsters must have dragged them away, so I went everywhere in the maze to search, even asking Lord Lan Xin for help, but it was useless. Finally, I had to accept the truth that some adventurer group must have come down here and conveniently taken my sword a few months ago.
So that's that.
I had to prepare myself mentally to be scolded by the entire Boreas family. Sigh…
…
Finally, we returned to the castle right at the moment the seal was dismantled. Welcoming me back were all the inhabitants of the Great Demon King's castle. Everyone was impressed with my achievements. Honestly, it felt pretty good.
However, the main business was starting now.
After full preparations, Lord Lan Xin and his royal guards stepped up to the highest tower of the castle. Everyone wore their extremely eye-catching red armor and moved in perfect synchronization, down to every footstep. When we reached the top of the tower, Lan Xin and I stood right in front of the door, while the Great Demon King's guards lined up from the top down several dozen steps.
Just like the first time I came here, Lan Xin reached a hand toward the door and spread it open. And so, the barrier separating us from the outside world was thrown open. The sunbeams that were hot enough to melt brick were now replaced by gentle, warm streams of light. I no longer saw just an endless expanse of white; now before my eyes were the earth, the sky, and the clouds.
It had been over a year since I saw the ground. I didn't expect to become nostalgic over things seemingly so simple.
"I yield the honor of going out first to you. Baby dragon."
I looked toward Lan Xin; he nodded and extended both hands toward the door.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped out to the other side.
Immediately, the heat of the sun slammed straight into my flesh, as if preparing to burn me alive down to every single atom. However, I ignored it; my whole body was burning, but I was too used to this pain to care much. I just tilted my face up, spread my arms, and embraced the natural light that people called sunlight.
Then I smiled, probably the most relaxed smile I'd had throughout this wretched period of time. Even though I was burning like a living torch.
Right after that, I lay down on the ground peacefully.
Because I could smell the earth—real earth, not rock. The smell of clay after rain slowly dries under the sunlight. The smell of the thing I had walked back and forth on every day for so many years, which had now become foreign. Oh, and the smell of the winds too.
So, I started waving my arms and legs, rubbing them against the ground. Instead of making a snow angel in the middle of winter, I became a burning angel, laughing heartily.
"Freedom! Mwahahaha!"
I wasn't sure how I was presenting myself, but everyone around immediately started whispering. Most noticeably, Malph, the halfling blood tribe captain, looked over at Lan Xin, who was also laughing heartily beside me.
"What is wrong with him? Should I bring him back inside again?"
"Ke ke ke! That is what people call youth, you idiot! Join in!"
So he also burst into flames like me and lay on the ground to make a fire angel.
"Ha ha ha!"
"Ke ke ke!"
However, aside from Lan Xin and me, no one else participated.
…
After I felt I had enough, I used blood tribe battle aura to wrap myself, shielding against that deadly laser from the sky. Now my whole body returned to a cool, moderate temperature, quite comfortable even though I was standing in the midday sun. My charred black skin also quickly regenerated as good as new.
At this moment, I seriously looked around to check the terrain.
Roughly speaking, this place was like a wasteland. There were no trees, except for a few low bushes scattered within sight. Perhaps it had just rained last night, so the humidity was still quite high, and the soil was soft, but for some reason, the vegetation was this terrible.
But that wasn't really the issue I needed to care about right now.
I looked over at Lan Xin, who had also stood up and dusted himself off. He nodded slightly and raised his hand to signal his royal guards to set off.
"Let's go clean up all those hyenas, ke ke ke."
Let me translate what he means.
If I were to compare, it seemed like another version of the Strife Zone in the Central Continent. Historically, that place was originally a single nation, but when the hero North God Kalman II appeared and destroyed the tyrant king there, it shattered into dozens of small states warring with each other constantly for hundreds of years.
Unlike the Strife Zone, this place was much more dangerous. Because besides the factions occasionally picking fights with each other (not due to territories but for some stupid reasons like 'let see who is stronger' or something), they also had to face a problem more dangerous than anything: monsters. The Demon Continent was originally an arid place with few resources but an overly abundant amount of mana, so monsters were also crowded and significantly more dangerous. From that, it could be said that this Vasile region was one of the most dangerous places on the Demon Continent. I knew these things thanks to Malph; he seemed to have the ability to pass through the barrier, so he occasionally went out to check the situation.
According to the halfling blood tribe captain's account, this land had a total of 5 individuals calling themselves Demon Kings. The cause was all due to Great Demon King Lan Xin having isolated himself from everything for nearly a thousand years, so Vasile had become an ownerless territory during that time. Therefore, it was quite logical that a land with an area as large as Honshu Island would be divided into pieces. Especially when this place also had a few quite important resources such as iron and green ore, two main components for minting the currency circulating in this continent.
With a reason like that, it was no wonder why this place was considered 'one of the worst places in the worst continent of this world' but still has people to live here.
But even so, to ensure that Vasile would become a peaceful and prosperous place, we needed to unify it. Or at least, manage a specific area to use as a springboard to pacify the whole region.
And the first target was the town of Gawl, located a few hours' travel from here.
…
Gawl Town was located at an intersection connecting the eastern and western parts of Vasile, making its strategic position quite important. It was originally a resting place for merchants traveling between towns and cities, or adventurers. But ever since people discovered that inside the hill it backed against was an iron mine, it became a prosperous mining town.
Gawl was built quite a long time ago, Lan Xin said so; he didn't remember exactly how long, perhaps somewhere around one or two thousand years after the second Human-Demon Great War. Although called a prosperous town, it wasn't exactly big. Comparing it, it was probably only a quarter the size of Roa. The population was somewhere around a thousand people, give or take. Outside this place was a wall of black bricks quite similar to the type at Lord Lan Xin's castle. As far as I knew, it was a type of brick that could resist both magic and withstand battle aura quite well. That was why most strongholds in the Demon Continent used it to build defensive structures against monsters.
At the town gate, two guards were dozing off. They usually ignored whoever went in or out, but seeing our group approaching, they were immediately startled. The two looked at each other, said something, and immediately ran into the town, closing the gate.
Honestly, I quite understood this action. Imagine being just a lowly security guard for a bank and seeing a bunch of people dressed in black carrying guns coming to check it out? With a meager salary not worth a damn, even if it were the bank chairman's people, you'd run away as fast as possible.
However, Lan Xin didn't seem to understand. Rather, he didn't want to understand.
The Great Demon King was an easy-going, sociable person, that was true. But in this world, there were still a few things that easily drove him mad, like calling him by that word starting with the letter 'V', or being looked down upon or disrespected like the action just now.
"Interesting way to welcome their Lord." Lan Xin commented. I could see he seemed annoyed. "Hmph. Let me burn this place to ash to teach them a lesson."
"Please don't do that, my Lord!" Malph and I immediately shouted in unison.
I looked at the captain; he also looked at me. Both were deciding who should speak next when Malph quickly stepped back as if to say 'it's your problem now'. Result: Lan Xin was looking down at me with eyes full of anger.
"Tell me, Baby Dragon named Atur. I went to the trouble of leaving my home, walking under the sun like this, and they dared to close the door right in my face like that! Why should I overlook this insult!? Ku ku ku!"
"I think…" I swallowed hard. "They probably thought we were invaders or something."
"THEY LOOKED AT MY MAJESTY AND THOUGHT I WAS SOME SMALL-FRY DEMON KING!? HUH!? KU KU KU!!!"
"Maybe because we were standing far away, they couldn't see clearly." Honestly, I was getting a bit scared too.
"Then they will receive the flames of my wrath from close range."
I immediately held onto the Great Demon King's burning right arm. "Whoa whoa, please calm down, my lord! They haven't seen your aura for a long time, so they just reacted like that. How about letting me talk to them for you! After I explain everything, I guarantee they will open the gates wide to welcome you like a savior immediately!"
Lan Xin looked down at me, his glowing red eyes looking like they wanted to devour someone alive. But after just a blink, he grinned broadly.
"Then do it quickly, baby dragon named Atur." Lan Xin patted my head roughly. "Let them know who the lord of this place really is! Ke ke ke!"
"Okay…"
I sighed and slowly walked toward the closed metal door while Lan Xin's group stayed 10 meters away.
Getting this close, I noticed a tiny hole next to the door with someone staring out intently. Clearly, they were watching my every move.
Although I had practiced the Demon God Tongue quite a bit recently, honestly, I didn't know how to start. Saying "you are now under new management" would be a bit weird. The last time someone said that is a villain, isn't he? Despite being trained in communication for over a dozen years of my life as a 'noble', I still didn't quite know the way of life of the Demon Races. If I said something wrong and they went crazy like Lan Xin just now, I'd be screwed. Perhaps the best way was to introduce myself.
I raised both hands, trying to appear as harmless as possible. "Hello, I am Atur, the representative of the Great Blood Demon King, Lan Xin. I come to negotiate."
"Who the hell is Lan Xin!? There's no Demon King with that name!?" Someone from inside shouted out.
"You lots are Fuzzies planning to come plunder us, aren't ya?"
"We are ready to fight to the death to protect this place!"
"That's right! That's right! We are not afraid!"
I trembled and looked back; Lan Xin was fuming because of those words. But he was still trying to suppress his anger. Good, that meant I still had a chance to defuse the situation.
"Not at all! We aren't Fuzzies or anything!" I declared firmly. "And we have plenty of what we need, so we have no intention of looting anything. In fact, we even have a token of sincerity, hoping you will accept it."
So, I placed my 'gift' down, kept my hands raised, and took three steps back.
About ten seconds later, the door opened, a hand reached out to grab the cloth bag, and then slammed the door shut.
"Holy crap!!! So many magic crystals!?"
"And they're the purple colored type too!!! Look at them glow!"
"So shiny!"
"That's a whole fortune!"
"Quickly go report to Lan Luciano!"
Actually, they were just a few leftover fragments of the crystal I scooped from the queen ant's nest, but I knew they had value and brought them along as a gift. And it seemed quite effective; after waiting for a while, the door opened again, and all of us were invited inside immediately after. This time with friendliness and hospitality.
"P-Pardon us for being rude… Please come in!"
"Our pleasure." I bow my head sincerely and give Lan Xin a nod.
And he immediately flew next to me. "Ke ke ke! You really are good at this, Baby Dragon! If it were me, I would have broken the door down and punched each of them once!"
The guards trembled in fear after hearing those words. Good job making them appalling at us again my lord.
"It is called a diplomatic method, sir." I let out a long sigh. "When visiting someone else's house, giving a gift is the fastest way to gain goodwill."
Yep, it's a Japanese culture when visiting someone's house, also known as Temiyage. Usually, people just give food or tea and cakes; giving a bag of magic crystals worth a few hundred Asura gold coins was indeed a bit overboard. But well, effectiveness is what matters.
"Is that so? Interesting! I learned something new today! Ke ke ke! Do you have anything else cool to teach me?"
While Lan Xin seemed to be in a good mood, perhaps I should take advantage of it.
"I don't think I'm wise enough to teach you anything. But by the way. It seems the people here have forgotten your existence, sir, so let me do the talking. You, as the Great Demon King, just need to look majestic."
"Ke ke ke! Agreed!"
With that confirmation, I felt reassured enough to walk into the town.
…
We were led along a rather long and winding street; it seemed to be the main artery of this place. The street surface wasn't paved with bricks like in Roa; instead, it seemed to be covered with a layer of crushed stone mixed with sand and dirt. The houses on both sides were built quite solidly and erected close to each other. Some shops, big and small, were open for business, and most seemed to be roadside food stalls.
What impressed me most was that the dust and smoke here were strangely abundant. Perhaps a consequence of having an iron mine? The noise of the smithies also made me quite curious, but since they didn't seem to be located on the street we were walking on, I only heard the sounds without seeing any furnaces in sight.
Coming into contact with a place like this, I finally saw how diverse the demon races could be. From people with manes like peacocks, people with faces like horses, or even the minotaur race, like Jikiki. Most of the citizens looked sickly. Although I wasn't familiar with whether the demon race's anatomy was different from humans, most were thin to the point of emaciation, and their clothes were old and tattered. In short, it was no different from people in the slums.
The people here seemed a bit apprehensive about our appearance. Wherever we went, they watched. Some even fearfully went into their houses, closed the doors, and bolted them. Occasionally, I heard children crying and screaming along with someone whispering that 'V' word.
So I was just afraid Lord Lan Xin would go mad again…
But it seemed the Great Demon King was too focused on looking majestic to pay much attention to what was happening. I let out a relieved sigh.
The distance we walked wasn't very far. Since Gawl was also a small town, walking for about five minutes led us to what seemed to be the 'town hall' of this place. It looked quite ordinary; if I had to say, it was probably smaller than a mid-range restaurant in Roa, but compared to the rest of this town, it did seem to be the only house with a second floor.
We were led inside. Unlike the dusty and somewhat hot outside, inside here was significantly cooler. Regarding the interior, this place looked more like a gang hangout than an administrative workplace. Because furniture lay in disarray, and someone was even sleeping on the floor snoring loudly. In a corner of the room, there was a group gambling on something; due to being too engrossed, they didn't even notice the existence of me, Lan Xin, and Malph entering.
"Please go this way…"
The guard who guided us seemed a bit embarrassed by the scene before him and immediately led us upstairs, quickly arriving at a stone door. After three knocks and receiving permission to enter, we were brought inside.
"Greetings, gentlemen! Welcome to Gawl Town!" Standing right in the middle of the room was a middle-aged man with hair that looked like feathers in black and white colors. He looks like a Demon Kind with a Parrot-Human hybrid, bowed extremely respectfully before us and especially Lord Lan Xin. His big, colorful crest on the head twitched intensely. "I am La… ah no, this humble servant is Luciano de' Gawlio! The temporary administrator of this town since the time of my ancestor Cosimo de' Gawlio, dedicated to serving the great Great Blood Demon King Lan Xin!"
Wow. This sincerity and reverence were exactly what Lord Lan Xin wanted to see. And look at the Great Demon King. Although trying to appear majestic, he couldn't control himself and bared his teeth in a delighted grin. However, looking at him right now appeared more terrifying than respectable. So creepy.
"Eek…" See, Luciano was already trembling even more.
"Greetings, Lord Luciano. Be not afraid, we mean no harm." I performed the Asura noble greeting etiquette perfectly. But somehow Luciano was quite confused with that. But oh well… "I am Atur, representative of the great Lord Lan Xin, here to discuss matters regarding the future together."
"Huh? You are…" Luciano looked at me in confusion, then immediately nodded furiously. His feather-covered arm, like a wing, gestured toward the two chairs prepared. "Yes, certainly! Please sit, my lords."
So Lan Xin and I sat down opposite Luciano, while Malph and the guards of this place stood around. Naturally, everyone looked at Lan Xin with more fear than awe.
At this moment, I took the opportunity to look around the room.
It was a fairly spacious place, about fourteen tatami mats, with two windows. Inside was a stone desk sitting with its back to the large window behind it. From where I sat, I could clearly see a part of the town, especially the mining area through that window. Miners kept going in and out of that place, occasionally pushing a cart full of ore toward the smelting area.
Besides that, there were many bookshelves but not too many things placed on them. Based on this emptiness, I could guess this place had seen much better days.
"So, I guess the Great Demon King has returned, it's excellent news." Luciano smiled forcedly. "Then may I ask what your purpose for coming here now is? If it is for tribute, then truthfully we don't have much to give you…"
"Ah, no need for tribute." I immediately raised my hand to cut off the bird-man mayor's complaining. "The benevolent Lord Lan Xin knows the Vasile region is facing many difficulties, so he has no intention of taking anything from everyone. On the contrary, he will use all his strength to help everyone have a better life. The bag of magic crystals earlier was also a part of the aid."
"Really?!" Luciano slammed the table and stood up. Then, with tears and snot running down his face, he bowed repeatedly before Lord Lan Xin. "Thank you, Great Demon King. I apologize for the incident earlier! We will be grateful to you for this life—no, for a hundred generations after!"
"Ke ke ke!" Lan Xin crossed his arms and laughed loudly. "That's right! Be grateful to me more, you non-blood tribe bunch, ke ke ke!"
"Yes! Not only grateful, but from now on we will swear loyalty to you!"
"Good! Ke ke ke!"
Look at his smug face… Clearly, those crystals were mine. But whatever, as long as things go well, I won't mind much. Besides, this is just the first step; using money just to get a foot in the door works, but this place still has a ton of problems to solve. Like the food situation, monsters, ect… Sigh…
Well, I'll just try to help Lord Lan Xin for a few months or so, then setting off back to Roa won't be a problem. As long as this place is under good management and becomes peaceful, my job will be done.
To be honest, I don't think I should let Lord Lan Xin handle this place alone. He's kinda irresponsible to anything that isn't blood tribe related and very easy to be offended. But oh well, maybe we will find someone good enough to do the job. Like Luciano here maybe? He seems to be a decent guy.
"But saying you swear loyalty to me is wrong!" Lan Xin suddenly stood up, placed his hand on my shoulder, and declared eloquently. "Swear loyalty to the Blood Dragon Lan Atur here! From now on, he will be the Lord this Vasile! A Dragon-Demon King! And I am just a supporting advisor! Ke ke ke!"
And that, kids, is how I became a fricking Dragon-Demon King. That title does sound cool doesn't it? Everyone would be in awe to hear a title like that, it's even cooler than Water King in my opinion.
WAIT NO! I DON'T WANT TO!!!
But before I could even object to the idea, everyone in this room already bowed their heads before me.
"Long live Dragon-Demon King Lan Atur!"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!"