Chapter 22

The demons here are directing their hostility towards me because of my overly arrogant attitude. No, it's not just hostility; I can also sense their confusion.

It seems that challenging the Creator was quite unexpected.

In the previous world, such demons were few and far between.

But I am different.

I recognize this being, who plays with us like pawns, as my enemy.

"Then, let's begin. Demon of Creation and Demon of the Tree, show me your brilliance."

The Creator laughs, and we are transported.

To the battlefield of War.

"Shielle, you understand the plan, right?"

"Absolutely. But are you sure? If we fail, it will be a waste of the Perfect Mimicry."

"It's fine. If that happens, we'll use the second plan."

...Well, the second plan is more about forcing a draw or a thousand-day stalemate rather than winning.

The first plan is a gamble. From the start, in this situation, there's no way we can win with a cautious strategy.

My best option is to take a gamble from the start and aim for victory. If that fails, I'll use the defensive strategy of the second plan to force a draw.

The transfer is complete.

There, we find each other's dungeons.

The enemy is a humanoid demon with black hair, a handsome youth, known as the Demon of the Tree.

Judging from his name, he probably uses plant-type monsters. Plant-type monsters have a wide variety of abilities and are hard to predict.

Some excel in direct combat, while others are skilled in indirect tactics.

He has made a name for himself in a world on the brink of destruction, so he is undoubtedly a formidable opponent.

His dungeon is a massive tree.

It reminds me of the World Tree in the mental landscape shown to me by the Ancient Elf Aura.

The trunk of the life-filled tree has a hollow, and it seems we must enter through there.

On the other hand, my dungeon.

...It would be easier if Avalon's dungeon could be summoned here, but that's not possible.

This is a dungeon I created with minimal power after coming here, still incomplete. The surface is a town, and the entrance to the underground is hidden within it.

According to the rules of War, the people in the town are confined in a separate, time-stopped space and are not here.

Perhaps because of its small scale, the transfer was completed instantly. The monsters I left behind are also being transported here one by one.

On the other side, however, it seems far from over.

A large-scale dungeon takes considerable time.

There's no time to waste; we need to hurry.

There's something we need to do before the enemy's transfer is complete.

I store Shielle.

Then, I enter the dungeon and use my demon lord authority to instantly move to the crystal room and release Shielle.

"Shielle!"

"I understand. Perfect Mimicry!"

Shielle's appearance changes.

Shielle's trump card, Perfect Mimicry.

With this power, she can transform into an S-rank monster, not just in appearance but in all its abilities, including skill usage.

Shielle transforms into an S-rank monster, Tindalos.

A blue-furred hunting dog with a long tongue.

A monster in Avalon skilled in transfer.

She activates the crystal and links it to Avalon's crystal.

Deliver!

"Master, I can hear you. Tiro and I are ready. The sensitivity is several times better than usual."

It's Aura's voice.

I had asked her to wait by the crystal all day.

"We're ready too. Let's start."

"I'll handle it."

"3, 2, 1, 0!"

After the countdown, Tindalos in Avalon and Shielle, who has used Perfect Mimicry to become Tindalos, simultaneously use the special ritual we created to return.

Once, I needed this ritual to return.

...Originally, inter-world transfer was beyond Tindalos's capabilities.

Tindalos is an S-rank monster skilled in transfer and combat, but not one specialized solely in transfer.

Therefore, to cross worlds, either output or precision had to be sacrificed.

But here, in the center of countless worlds, things are different.

Moreover, the Creator is currently using the white room to transfer dungeons and monsters for the war.

Even for the Creator, inter-world transfer is difficult.

So, at this moment, the boundaries between worlds are relaxed.

This is just a hypothesis.

But when I tested the link between the crystals just now, I confirmed that the hypothesis was correct. The barriers between worlds are relaxed, and the physical distance is closer, making the difficulty of crossing worlds drastically lower.

In this situation, at this moment, Tindalos's power is enough to transfer!

That's my goal.

To bring my trusted companions from Avalon.

Come on.

Following the link between the crystals, Tindalos in Avalon sends, and Shielle receives, completing the two-way transfer.

Something is crossing the worlds.

It is...

"Pyui!"

A green slime.

A wobbly droplet.

It's making a cheerful sound, apparently a greeting.

"Pyui-pyui!"

Shielle, in Tiro's form, responds in Slime language.

They both get excited, making "pyui-pyui" sounds.

"You guys, speak in human language... I can't understand Slime language."

The green slime sticks out its tongue and taps me with a slime tentacle.

"Pyui-bero"

It's a bit annoying.

Slimes have a playful side for some reason.

If it were my own monster, I'd scold it.

But it's not mine.

"In response to my master's command and the covenant, I, Slime of Adhesion, Forbidden Slime, Slamar, have arrived."

When he speaks in human language, it feels electric. Slamar has this strange characteristic.

"Thank you. I need your help immediately."

"Pyui-ss!"

Slamar opens his mouth wide.

Then, three monsters appear from inside.

"Daddy, I missed you!"

"Yeah, I was lonely without you."

"It was tough calming Quina and Roronoa."

Three S-rank monsters with special bonds among my monsters.

Quina, the Celestial Fox. A cute girl with fox ears.

Roronoa, the Elder Dwarf. A cool silver-haired girl.

Aura, the Ancient Elf. A beautiful girl with golden hair, large breasts, and emerald eyes.

My pride and joy.

"Ah, I missed you too."

I catch the three as they jump into my arms.

Quina buries her face in my chest, Roronoa sticks to me, and Aura gently wraps her arm around me.

Just seeing my daughters makes me want to cry.

"Still, for all three to come. Is Avalon okay?"

Even just three, they are [Covenant Monsters].

Avalon's strongest fighting force.

Moreover, they won't be able to return after this battle, so they'll be staying here for a while.

"Well, Duke and Marco are there."

"Those two can handle it. Besides, we've completed the repairs on all the Avalon Litters destroyed in the last great war. Our fighting strength is sufficient."

"Roronoa worked her hardest to repair them. Duke said if we didn't repair all of them, he'd send other monsters to you."

"...That was the agreement."

I see.

If the Avalon Litters are repaired, Duke and Marco can handle any invaders.

"Thank you, Slamar. For bringing these kids."

"You have saved my master many times. I am glad to finally repay one of those debts."

When I return, I'll visit Rono.

To express my gratitude and bring him a gift.

"What, looking so smug. You're weak, you know. Only being able to carry three is a disgrace to the top-tier slimes. Shielle could have carried two more!"

"I'm ashamed. This is the best I can do."

Storing living beings, especially those with magical power, is incredibly draining. It's even more so for beings like the Celestial Foxes with extraordinary magical power. It's impossible for a B-rank slime, which is a lower version of Shielle.

The only monsters I know that can carry S-rank beings in their stomachs are Slamar and Shielle.

I borrowed Slamar for this reason.

Even if the barriers between worlds are relaxed, the transfer can only reliably send one being at a time. Without Slamar's help, we could only have sent one person.

If we didn't consider the consequences, we could have brought Marco, but bringing Marco here would compromise Avalon's defenses.

First of all...

"It's enough. With these kids, we won't lose."

Yes, my [Covenant Monsters] are strong.

With these three as reinforcements, there's no way we'll be lacking.

"Yay! I haven't evolved into a Sky Fox in a while. My tail is fully charged!"

Quina stretches her tail straight, showing her enthusiasm.

"...I brought the special Avalon Litters. The Rouns."

Roronoa snaps her fingers, summoning the specialized Avalon Litters from Slamar's stomach.

"Here, we can borrow the power of the World Tree."

Aura's emerald eyes shine.

They are reliable.

Truly.

I no longer feel like losing.

From the start, the outcome of this war hinged on one point: whether the initial gamble would succeed.

We won the gamble, and these kids are here.

So, the next move is clear.

We will win, naturally.

That's all there is to it.