Chapter 9 : Was he that good?

The ground is scattered with animal bones, and mist spreads ominously.

The silent forest sways in darkness, and the river glistens like pitch as it flows slowly.

The desolate landscape feels like a land that rejects life.

This is the so-called Raven Gorge.

In this deep chasm, where even highly intelligent crows lose their way and fall, the mansion of the Reaper clan pierces the still darkness and emits a faint light.

The third floor of the mansion belonged entirely to Lauro.

In the center of the room stood an old workbench, surrounded by magical circles and wax drips, with magic books and potion bottles scattered in disarray.

The bookshelves along the walls were filled with magic books, but half of them were piled on the floor in a chaotic mess.

Even in this chaos, the life and traces of the dark sorcerer were stained like a blot, scattered throughout.

“Ugh.”

As Lauro stretched, the sleeves and hood of the robe, which were somewhat loose for her frame, slipped off.

At the same time, her corpse-like pale skin and silver-glowing hair were revealed.

During experiments, the robe was stifling, but it could not be removed.

Just like the vampire clan always wore white shirts and black trousers year-round, the robe adorned with a skull pattern was a symbol of the Reaper clan.

“Things aren’t going well today,” Lauro muttered, almost as a sigh, as she looked down at the black slime summoned within the magical circle she had drawn, its mass resembling tar.

Kkyu-ing?

The slime had no eyes or mouth, but it wiggled toward Lauro, seemingly babbling.

A monster so weak it was classified as F-rank, or not even ranked at all—just a mass of liquid.

However, the creature Lauro summoned, if given enough stimulation, could easily annihilate an entire village.

Although it was a one-time use, with dark magic, she had created an A-rank monster.

Despite that, Lauro’s expression remained utterly bored.

“Boring.”

Lauro casually picked up the slime and, without any interest, tossed it into a beaker.

Unless it was S-rank, it had no meaning to her.

At that moment, a knock came from the door.

“Miss! I’ve brought your meal!”

“Come in.”

An incubus with handsome features entered, carrying a sandwich and a newspaper.

“Miss! Did you see this issue of Hell Journal? It says that the Monster Brokerage in Underis made a deal with the Iron Lion, Rodon, and that Death Knight… what was their name again… Ah, here it is! It says they fought with Kan!”

Rodon was famous enough that she knew him, but the name of the Death Knight…

More than that, the fuss was irritating.
Lauro pulled her robe’s hood back on and coldly replied, “I’m in the middle of an experiment. Just leave the sandwich and get out, Rox.”

“Hey, don’t be like that. You should listen a bit more,” said the incubus, named Rox, as he spread the article so Lauro could see, her eyes gleaming.

“The reason these two fought is—”

“—Because of you, Miss Lauro!” He continued excitedly. “While the two demon lords were negotiating to recruit you, their followers got into a quarrel!”

“Pfft.”

Lauro scoffed.

It was a common occurrence. After all, she was the ultimate monster that any demon lord would covet.

But there was one thing they had overlooked. From the start, she had no intention of joining any demon lord’s army.

Though classified as a monster, she already believed herself to be a being beyond even the demon lords.

“Dragons don’t live in dungeons.” This is a well-known and widely spread saying in the demon realm.

It means that the lair where dragons live is stronger than any demon lord’s dungeon, so there’s no need to join a demon lord’s forces.

Lauro’s thoughts were similar.

The only reason she registered her name with the Monster Brokerage was a mere ploy to raise her own value.

But now, seeing them fighting over something they could never possess—it was just so laughable.

“You’re living just because you can’t die.”

“Huh?”

“I’m talking about that Death Knight.”

The Iron Lion, Rodon, was already a well-known warrior in Underis.

No matter how powerful a top-tier monster like the Death Knight was, if it had fought Rodon, it would have been reduced to dust.

But then, to Lauro’s surprise, Rox said something completely unexpected.

“Huh, well… it seems like the Death Knight officially won by decision?”

“What?”

“According to the article, that guy named Kan cut off Rodon’s front paw.”

For just a brief moment, a flicker of surprise crossed Lauro’s eyes as she stared into the air.
Rox, not missing the slightest change, excitedly continued,

“The severed paw was apparently reattached by His Majesty Damon, but even so, that Iron Lion—”

“Rox.”

“…Yes?”

“Leave the newspaper and get out. That’s an order.”

Rox, looking slightly disgruntled, clicked his tongue and, with the newspaper left beside him, quietly exited.

Lauro picked up the newspaper, and sure enough, the exact details from earlier were written in it. A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“How amusing.”

Two top-tier monsters fought because of me.
More than that, I’ve developed a slight interest in the Death Knight who cut off Rodon’s front paw.

“Kan, huh. A name I’ve never heard before.”

Even though Rodon might be a fool, I’ve never heard of anyone overpowering him in a direct confrontation.

To think there was a warrior among unknown monsters this strong…

“Well, even so, they won’t stand a chance against me.”

Lauro put the newspaper aside and turned her attention back to the magical circle she had used to summon the slime earlier.

This was what she called an “Overlord Experiment.” She was conducting research on magic that could raise the rank of monsters.
B-rank to A-rank. A-rank to S-rank.

But what awaits after the highest existing rank, S-rank?

Could it be possible to officially become a being greater than even a demon lord—something she had always desired?

The demon lords, born as S-rank.

The Demon God Lauro, an abnormal rank (EX) surpassing even the demon lord.

It wasn’t entirely impossible.

“If only I had found the ‘Providence Ring,’ I wouldn’t have to spend all night on these experiments.”

The Providence Ring. A legendary artifact said to raise the wearer’s rank.

Despite the countless dungeons that had been unearthed so far, there had been no reports of this ring being found.

If a demon lord were to bring the Providence Ring to the negotiation table, Lauro would seriously consider joining their ranks.

Of course, no demon lord would be foolish enough to give such a game-breaking artifact to one of their subordinates.

“…Relying on others is the most foolish thing there is. I’ll do it myself.”

Lauro cleared her mind and placed the slime back into the magical circle for her “Overlord Experiment.”

It had been a week since he returned to the dungeon after visiting Underis.

He had lost more than he had gained. The most significant failure was not being able to recruit combatants.

As the dungeon expanded, rumors spread among adventurers and other monsters about the dungeon being a hotspot, but it felt like there was no chef to handle the influx.

“Ugh, this is a headache.”

If only that lion cub hadn’t cut off Rodon’s paw, or better yet, if that idiot hadn’t touched his master’s head in the first place—none of this would have happened.

What he urgently needed were combatants, but there were other roles to fill as well: an accountant to handle the dungeon’s profits and expenditures, and a scholar skilled in magic.

It was all because of that damned lion and that busty demon lord that everything had gone off track.

For the time being, he was banned from entering the Monster Brokerage, so there was no way to obtain more monsters.

“Dammit, where the hell am I supposed to vent this frustration?”

Whoosh, thwack.

Swinging his sword through the air, Kan glanced at the goblins lazily messing around in the distance.

Startled, they quickly grabbed their tools and began hammering at the dungeon walls, pretending to be working.

Thud. Thud.

It was then that the dungeon alarm rang for the first time in a while.

As soon as the alarm sounded, a golem, armed with a mace, came clanking towards him.

“Clang!”

It seemed to have practiced a lot with the mace, looking quite confident.

Kan raised his sword and shook his head.
“Not today. I’ll do the slicing. Save your debut for later.”

“Clang…”

The golem, sulking, dropped its mace and led the goblins it had been working with back inside.

“Just when I’m in a bad mood, I get lucky. If they’re intruders, I’ll slice them down to the molecular level.”

Cracking his bones, Kan headed towards the entrance.

What he found was a group of over a hundred orcs. They were a higher-tier barbarian race compared to the goblins.

‘I heard there’s an orc village nearby. I guess they came from there.’

Although there were quite a few of them, it didn’t matter this time. This wasn’t a guard mission, and they were already in combat formation.

However, their reactions upon seeing him were strange.

“Ch-chiik! Is it really true, the Death Knight is here!?”

“It looks like the rumors were true. Kkiik…!”

It felt as though they knew exactly who he was.

Among the group, the leader, a massive orc with huge tusks, cautiously asked,

“Ch-chiik! A-are you, the Death Knight, Kan?”

It had been a long time since anyone addressed him by name.

He didn’t know how these orcs knew it, but he nodded anyway.

“Do you know me?”

“Ch-chiik! It really is you…!”

In an instant, all the orcs threw down their weapons and bowed their heads to the ground in surrender. Only the orc leader, breathing heavily, spoke toward him.

“Ch-chiik! We heard the rumors that you cut off Rodon’s front paw! Please, accept us as your subordinates…!”