“With this much room, even a full-scale battle might hold up for a little while!”
“Ha — a little while, you say…”
I built a hall leading off from the throne room like a hidden passage.
The mana cost is still considerable for where I’m at, but Lady Fiona seems pleased, so I’ll take it.
Even so — this much space, this sturdy, and it’s still not quite enough for her to cut loose…
A dry laugh slipped out before I could stop it.
“But with this, we could genuinely expand the underground demon realm… even build a separate entrance with a small dungeon attached…”
“A small dungeon?”
“Yes — make a new entrance, build corridors and rooms past it, and block off the path before it reaches where we actually are. The deepest point is a dead end that never connects to us. That gives you a completely independent dungeon.”
“I see… a separate entrance, with its own boss and treasure chests — anyone who enters would think it has nothing to do with this place…”
That sounds excellent.
I’d been hesitant about adding more entrances because of the increased risk of being attacked — but Lady Fiona’s approach eliminates that concern entirely.
If we can safely build up the dungeon’s mana by drawing more intruders, without exposing ourselves, there’s no downside.
“Lady Fiona — that’s a really good idea.”
“I-is that so? Hmph, well, I am the Demon Lord. I do have prior experience running multiple dungeons. …All of which were destroyed.”
“Then I’ll build you even better ones than those.”
She’d started spiraling again on her own, so I had to redirect her somehow.
“By the way — you can carve through dungeon walls, right? So couldn’t you tunnel through to connect two dungeons?”
“That would be very difficult, I’m afraid. Even using my mana it’s draining work, and you have to create walls or rooms immediately after carving or the dungeon tries to repair itself.”
I see… that would require enormous amounts of mana and personnel to pull off.
Especially if it’s tiring even for Lady Fiona, there’s no easy way to arrange that kind of power.
Which makes the Dungeon Master skill — doing the same with negligible mana — genuinely impressive.
“That leaves the question of where to build the new entrance.”
“Yes — we’d have to survey the outside directly. It wouldn’t be safe to do otherwise.”
So we’d have to go outside…
Not exactly thrilling. Out there, the only people we’d encounter are the kind who want to kill anything that looks like a demon.
But if it has to be done, the only option is to move carefully and stay out of sight.
“That said — I do have one idea.”
Lady Fiona had something in mind, apparently, because she squared her shoulders and held out a small bottle with that all-too-familiar rainbow shimmer.
“A resurrection elixir. You made another one.”
After that first time, she’d kept asking me to open chests, and I’d eventually stopped paying attention to what came out and just opened them.
So one of them had been a resurrection elixir.
“Yes! Finally, a big one! I maintain this proves the throne room’s mana was worth spending!”
“My liege.”
“I — well. I won’t do that again. But this was from before Primila’s talk.”
Primila had said nothing but those two words in a flat tone — and Lady Fiona launched into an elaborate defense.
It had been less of a talk and more of a lecture, but pointing that out seemed unwise. Demon Lord’s dignity and all that.
“So we’re reviving another one of the Four Heavenly Kings?”
“Yes. Last time, for protection and for someone to advise on the Army’s direction, I revived the capable Primila.”
“I am honored.”
It’s true — without Primila, the emergency mana reserves would probably be completely drained by now.
Lady Fiona’s judgment there was sound.
“This time, I’ll revive Pilukaya — the eyes of the world.”
“Pilukaya-sama. An appropriate choice.”
Pilukaya. The name alone doesn’t tell me anything about the person.
If I’d actually played the game, just the name would’ve been enough — but I barely even knew what Lady Fiona looked like, so I’m starting from zero.
Watching with a mix of anticipation and unease, the resurrection elixir began forming a small humanoid shape.
…Like Primila, one of the Four Heavenly Kings is apparently on the small side.
“Huh… where am I…”
Humanoid, but clearly not human.
Human in shape, but the hair, the body — everything is on fire.
A living flame. The eyes are different from ours too — the whites are black, and where the irises should be, gold light glows.
“It’s been a while, Pilukaya. How does it feel to be back?”
“I see… so I died fighting the Heroes. And we’re in the underground demon realm, which means the Demon Lord took care of them?”
“Yes — I dealt with the human Hero and the beast-kin Hero both.”
“Wow, of course you did, my liege. You just took out those Heroes like that?”
Not quite a human face, but close enough that the expressiveness reads clearly.
Significantly more openly emotional than the near-expressionless Primila, at least.
“Something on your mind?”
“Nothing.”
Primila asked, so I cut that thought off immediately.
…How does she always know.
“By the way — I’ve been wondering since I woke up, but who’s that? I recognize Primila, but I don’t remember this demon.”
“He joined after everyone else was gone — the last member of the Demon Lord’s Army, Rei. The resurrection elixir that brought you back was made by him.”
“Oh! Is that right, is that right… so I owe you one.”
The flame boy stepped closer and studied my face with open curiosity.
Though calling it a debt feels strange — to me it was a significant mana cost, but to Lady Fiona, let alone Primila or Pilukaya, that amount of mana is pocket change.
Pilukaya — Mana: 120 / Strength: 99 / Technique: 80 / Fortitude: 99 / Agility: 85
His mana stat is remarkably high.
A standout number comparable to Primila’s Fortitude — a clear tier above.
“It wasn’t really me — it was Lady Fiona’s mana that made it possible.”
“…Mana drawn from the emergency reserves, to be precise.”
“…Pilukaya’s revival more than makes up for it.”
“…My liege?”
“I’m sorry.”
Lady Fiona is getting scolded again.
Pilukaya watched this exchange with evident interest, and then a somewhat suspicious smile spread across his face.
“Okay, okay, I get it. You’re pretty good at getting in with people, aren’t you. I should take notes.”
“N-no, it’s not like that…”
Maybe he thinks a newcomer is getting above himself.
“No, really, I mean it. It just means your ability is that valuable. I climbed the ranks too — made myself useful in all sorts of ways and eventually got picked for the Four Heavenly Kings.”
Being a Heavenly King means being second only to Lady Fiona — the absolute elite.
So if someone like me is acting on their level, of course it’d look presumptuous…
“But hey — the Heroes just went and killed me, didn’t they. Time to win back some honor.”
Right. Both Pilukaya and Primila were defeated by the Heroes once.
To beat demons with stats like these… actually — that beast-kin with the highest stats. Looking back at it now, wasn’t he actually stronger than the Four Heavenly Kings?
What terrible luck that was the first thing I ran into.
If Lady Fiona hadn’t been there, I’d have been dead in seconds. The thought sends a chill through me even now.
“Hmm? What’s wrong? Did I say something weird?”
“No — just remembered something unpleasant.”
“There you go.”
“Sorry, what?”
“That. I’m saying that. My liege aside, we’re down to just a handful of us, right? Drop the stiff language.”
I’d just been reminding myself not to get too casual with the Four Heavenly Kings…
“Oh — um, alright. Alright.”
“And first names are fine too. Nice to meet you, Rei.”
“N-nice to meet you. Pilukaya.”
Might as well think about this positively.
Like Lady Fiona and Primila, he’s probably just the kind of person who treats even a lower demon like a fellow member of the team.
“There — now we’re allies. So about that…”
Pilukaya leaned in close to my ear.
He apparently has something to say that he doesn’t want Primila — or even Lady Fiona — to overhear.
◆
“Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Lord’s Army. Soul Elemental — Pilukaya. So you’re the Hero party Primila mentioned~”
The boy who appeared in the burning city addressed the Heroes in a cheerful voice that had no business sounding that light.
“A Soul Elemental… I can’t believe she’s even recruited a spirit.”
“Yep, a spirit. And a high-tier one at that, if you don’t mind me saying. Easy gig, honestly. Minimum effort to show my liege what I’m worth.”
“Don’t get arrogant with us. A corrupted spirit — you end here.”
“Ahahahaha! Arrogant? Corrupted? And I end here? Who exactly is being arrogant about what, do you think?!”
The flame composing his body surged, as though his mood were feeding it directly.
The heat radiating from that flame alone was enough to push an ordinary person to their limits.
With that single display, the Heroes understood the spirit-like boy’s power — and braced for what was coming.
“Spirit of water, lend me your strength!”
Fire versus water — the natural counter, and not a wrong instinct.
But natural counters are textbook, and textbooks don’t account for exceptions.
“Impossible… the fire spirit is overpowering the water spirit completely—”
“Sorry~ Water isn’t my weakness, actually. It’s my favorite prey. Now then, let me burn everyone~!”
Flames descended on the spirit user.
But a wall of concentrated mana surged up to intercept them, holding the fire back entirely.
One moment later and she would have been ash.
“What?! That was going so well — stop interfering!”
“Too bad for you. That demon called Primila was a hundred times more of a threat than you!”
“Gah—! You can’t—”
The girl who raised the barrier had three roles.
Blocking enemy attacks with her barrier — as she had just done for the spirit user.
Healing her wounded allies.
And supporting her allies’ attacks by imbuing them with holy power.
Pilukaya, who had assumed a simple sword, found himself bisected in a single stroke by a blade carrying the saint’s blessing.
“Lucky the opponent was so careless. If he’d come at us with full force from the start, we might have been the ones who lost.”
“Yes — I’m not certain even my barrier could have held against that…”
“Fine then~ Next time I’ll do exactly what you said I should have done from the start!”
The voice of the boy they’d just defeated reached them, and the saint threw up a barrier on reflex.
But the entire area was encircled in an all-consuming wall of flame, and her barrier began to fail under the pressure.
“Why?! We definitely killed him!”
“Yep, you did. But the thing is, I’m fire. This whole city is burning. So every flame in this city is me. What you killed was just one part of it.”
“That’s insane—”
“Bye-bye~! Ahahahaha! Made it all the way to Four Heavenly Kings and I’m still this useful, wow.”
Every flame that poured from the city transformed into Pilukaya and fell upon the Heroes at once.
The saint’s barrier could not hold. The Heroes had no answer.
When it was over, all that remained where the battle had been were charred remains that no one could identify.
◆
“This game is garbage! What the hell!”
“I told you to grind levels. You’re definitely under the recommended level.”
“Isn’t it one of those gimmick bosses? Like you have to put out all the flames before you can kill him?”
Another game over — they’d lost count of how many.
Controllers down, a short break, discussion of what went wrong.
The stat gap from leveling is absolute, and just managing to defeat Pilukaya’s first form is already an achievement — but when that form multiplies, there’s no conventional answer.
The ones calling it garbage didn’t yet know that compared to the rest of the Four Heavenly Kings, Pilukaya was actually one of the more approachable fights, given that there were multiple ways to beat him.