Chapter 32 : Chapter 32
Chapter 32. You Are Not a Useless Demon King!
“What outside?”
Faced with the Beastfolk’s question, Lilith instinctively snapped back:
“We did not come in from outside at all. We came up from below! So you idiot, you do not even recognize your own Demon Ki—mmph?!”
Before she could finish, a large hand suddenly shot over and covered her chattering little mouth in one sweep.
Immediately afterward, Lilith felt her body grow light.
With one arm around her waist, Asmodeus lifted her effortlessly into the air as though he were carrying a humanoid body pillow or a large doll.
Her feet left the ground, and with her mouth still sealed shut, all she could do was kick uselessly at empty air.
“My apologies.”
Asmodeus’s expression did not change in the slightest. Holding Lilith in one arm, he explained to the suspicious-looking Beastfolk in an extremely calm voice, one that even carried a trace of sincerity:
“My servant is young and ignorant. She speaks nonsense.”
“The truth is that we made some mistakes up above and offended certain nobles. We were knocked unconscious and thrown down here. When we woke up just now, we found ourselves in this place and knew nothing about it. If possible... could you explain it to us?”
Clearly, while Asmodeus lacked certain kinds of common sense, he was not stupid.
Since this was a sealed region, loudly proclaiming himself to be the “former Demon King” would bring him no benefit whatsoever beyond endless trouble.
“Mmph mmph mmph!!”
「Let go! Keep your hands off me!」
Dangling there like an accessory, Lilith struggled in midair, but that iron arm did not budge in the slightest.
The Beastfolk eyed Asmodeus suspiciously for a few moments, then glanced at the seductive Lilith and the adorable Shier. After a bit of thought, he seemed to accept this story about having “made mistakes and been exiled.”
“Tch. Another bunch of unlucky nobles from somewhere, huh...”
The Beastfolk curled his lip and slammed his cleaver into the chopping block in irritation.
“You want to know? Fine. Pay up, and I will tell you.”
“Very well.”
Asmodeus gave a slight nod and signaled to Shier with his eyes.
Shier immediately understood and hurriedly felt around in his pocket. Thankfully, after fumbling for a moment, he found two gold coins.
And during the brief interval while Shier was looking for the money, Lilith—held in midair with her mouth covered—fell into a rather strange train of thought...
Because the hand was pressed so tightly over her mouth, the tip of her nose was almost touching Asmodeus’s fingers.
Sniff, sniff—
「Hm?」
「Asmodeus’s hand actually smells rather nice?」
「It is not like vulgar perfume. It is more like a deep fruity wood scent, mixed with just a hint of gunpowder...」
「And it is so warm... Why is his body temperature so much higher than mine? Is that just my imagination?」
Lilith’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
And because the 【Sage Potion】 was still in effect, not a single romantic thought arose in her heart.
「Still... hehe, useless.」
「Right now I am in Sage Mode! Being held in his arms, a bit of pleasant scent—none of that can shake me in the slightest.」
「Foolish Demon King, you will never affect my mind again! Hmph hmph~」
With that thought, Lilith cast a sidelong glance and deliberately put on an aloof, disdainful expression.
However—
She herself probably had not noticed it at all...
The moment Asmodeus’s fingers accidentally brushed the soft flesh of her cheek, her right leg—hanging in midair—twitched in reflex, and her toes unconsciously curled tight.
“Here. Take it.”
At that moment, Shier handed the gold coins over.
The Beastfolk took them, bit one between his teeth, and only after confirming that it was real gold did that vicious-looking face of his soften slightly.
“All right, listen carefully. I am only saying this once.”
As he pocketed the coins, the Beastfolk explained in an offhand tone:
“This is the seventh layer, and also the largest ‘holding pen’ in the entire Abyssal Labyrinth.”
“Three hundred years ago, Demon King Asmodeus was sealed away after his defeat, but there were simply too many of his remaining followers. In order to preserve his rule and maintain his image as a benevolent monarch, the current Demon King locked all the hardliners most loyal to Asmodeus—as well as their families—inside this Abyssal Labyrinth. Officially, it was so these sinners could ‘reflect on their crimes.’”
“Most of the people here are descendants of those so-called sinners from back then. We have been shut in here like this, left to fend for ourselves, never to see daylight.”
“Hm?”
Hearing that, Shier opened his mouth in shock.
“Then... then you are one of His Majesty’s most loyal believers?!”
So this was not an ordinary prison at all—it was a place of exile for loyal retainers!
But in response to Shier’s emotional question, the Beastfolk rolled his enormous eyes as though he had just heard the greatest joke in the world.
“Believers? Hahahahaha!”
The Beastfolk snorted in contempt.
“As if! The truly loyal believers were ancient fossils from my great-grandfather’s generation!”
“I was born in this pitch-black dungeon. Every day of my life, all I have done is mine ore and sell lizard meat. As for that Demon King Asmodeus, I have never even seen him! Who would be loyal to someone like that?”
At that point, the Beastfolk even spat viciously on the ground, his tone filled with resentment.
“When all is said and done, that Demon King was useless! If he had not lost, if he had not insisted on carrying out all those reforms, would we be trapped in this birdcage generation after generation? He is the one who ruined us!”
“You—!!”
The moment those words left his mouth, Shier flared up once more and was just about to raise a hand to gather magic.
But Asmodeus stopped him again.
The Demon King’s expression remained calm as ever. Neither anger nor sorrow showed on his face. He merely asked in a quiet voice:
“With so many years having passed, and with so many humanoid races on this layer, has no one tried to break the seal and escape?”
“Break the seal? Hahahahaha!”
The Beastfolk laughed so hard it was as if he had just heard the funniest joke imaginable.
“So you still want to get out? Stop dreaming!”
“Setting aside the fact that there are still six more sealed layers above this one, even just the guardian of the seventh layer alone—【Grand Duke of Greed, Mammon】—is more than anyone can handle!”
“He controls all the resources and exits on this level, and he has also set up three trials. If you cannot pass those trials, then you cannot obtain the key to leave. No one escapes from the palm of his hand!”
After laughing, perhaps out of respect for the gold coin, the Beastfolk added one more sentence:
“Still... if you are truly interested in studying how to get yourselves killed, then it is not impossible.”
“Go straight down this street and pass five intersections. You will see a shop called 【Dawn Curio Shop】.”
“A bunch of weirdos gather there all day long, researching how to pass the trials and defeat the Grand Duke of Greed. They even want to defeat the Pure White Collector, the guardian of the next layer, and awaken that Asmodeus. They should have the information you want.”
After saying that, the Beastfolk waved a hand dismissively, as though shooing away flies.
“All right, I have said what I needed to say. Now get lost already and stop holding up my business.”
...
And so, the three of them left the butcher’s stall.
Only after they had walked some distance away did Lilith finally poke the large hand that was still covering her mouth with one finger in displeasure.
“Oh, sorry.”
Only then did Asmodeus realize it, and he hurriedly set Lilith back down.
“It was too convenient to carry you like that, so I forgot.”
“...”
「Convenient? Does that mean comfortable?」
Hearing that, the aloof Lilith lifted the corner of her eyes slightly, and a strange glimmer flashed through them.
「Why do I suddenly feel a little happy?」
「Something is wrong! Could the potion have already worn off? It has not been that long! What a shoddy product!」
Lilith hurriedly shook her head and forcibly suppressed that cursed little surge of delight.
To cover up her own unusual reaction, she looked at Asmodeus’s somewhat quiet profile. Thinking that he might be saddened by the Beastfolk’s words, she unexpectedly took the initiative to comfort him.
“Um... Demon King... please do not take that Beastfolk’s words to heart.”
“He did not know any better, so he cannot be blamed. And besides, you are not a useless Demon King. Have you not already led Shier and me through two layers of the labyrinth? You are the strongest!”
“Hm?”
Hearing Lilith’s attempt at comfort, Asmodeus came back to himself and smiled faintly.
“Yes, of course I know that. I was merely thinking...”
He cast a deep gaze toward the center of the city.
“Grand Duke of Greed, Mammon... I have never heard that name before. In the war back then, there was no such person. And yet an unknown insect has managed to seize my territory and imprison my people... truly, the world has gone downhill.”
“Who cares who he is?”
Lilith shrugged and spread her hands with a look of disdain.
“In any case, he will not be able to defeat us. For now, let us go take a look at that 【Dawn Curio Shop】 first.”
“Yes. Let us go.”
With that, the three of them turned and slowly walked in the direction the Beastfolk had indicated.
What the three of them did not notice, however, was that not long after they left, several furtive figures slipped soundlessly out from the shadows of the noisy crowd and began tailing them, whispering among themselves in low voices:
“Are you sure... they came up from the lower layers?”
“Absolutely sure! That man must be him, it must be him!”
“If we kill him, we will be able to get out of this dungeon!”