Prologue

His feet touched down on the ground with a wobble. As the light of the teleportation spell dispersed, he felt like he was about to topple over, but he braced all his strength into his abdomen and kept his feet firmly on the ground.

Diablo was a Demon Lord...or at least, that was the role he was acting out. No matter the situation, he couldn’t be seen crawling on the ground pathetically.

“Hmph...”

Scoffing with feigned confidence, Diablo looked around. The place was surrounded by walls that looked like eerie animal entrails, with a magnificent throne reigning over the room.

“Ugh!” The black-haired pantherian girl that clung to his right arm, Rem Galleu, covered her mouth with her hands. “I... I really do...hate teleportation.”

She was bad when it came to traveling by methods that didn’t involve walking on her own legs and was incredibly susceptible to motion sickness. Though, she seemed to be fine with large ships that hardly shook or carriages that moved slowly.

“Whoa, this place is kinda nostalgic,” said the elven girl, Shera L. Greenwood, hugging Diablo’s left arm snugly.

The Demon Lord’s Labyrinth... This was a place Diablo had designed in the MMORPG Cross Reverie, and where he’d faced off against many challengers.

That was all in the game, but, by some odd consequences, the dungeon was pulled into this other world just as Diablo was. Would he ever learn the reason as to why he was sent here?

The last time Shera and Rem had visited Diablo’s self-made dungeon was nearly six months ago, around the middle of the seventh month. Of course, there was no guarantee this world’s calendar operated on twelve months, but whenever anyone discussed the date, it was translated into numbers and terms Diablo could understand. The same held true for units of distance and weight; the people of Lyferia most likely used whatever units of measurement this world employed, but in Diablo’s mind the numbers were converted to meters and grams. The logic behind it all wasn’t entirely clear to him.

I can understand what they’re saying, but can’t read their language. This half-assed translation mechanic just makes it feel all the more unnatural...

Whatever the case, this self-made dungeon felt like home to Diablo. It felt like he’d finally come back to his humble abode.

“Whoaaa... This place is very...unique...” The third girl with them, Swordmaster Sasara Graham, looked around nervously. She had a tufty tail and triangular dog ears. She was a dwarf, and as such was granted short height and a plentiful bosom. She had a longsword sheathed at her waist, as well as another sword and a spear strapped to her back.

“Amazing, ain’t it?” Shera boasted proudly, puffing up her chest. “Diablo made this place!”

“Huuuh?!”

While hiding the embarrassment he felt at Sasara’s shocked gaze, Diablo spoke confidently. “Something this simple is child’s play for a Demon Lord such as myself...”

In reality, he’d just fiddled with the game’s map editor to make this place. Not to mention that, in this world, he was hardly capable of digging a hole in the ground, much less making a massive dungeon.

“Um, this place seems rather dangerous... What did you make it for?” Sasara asked.

“This is my base of operations.”

“Your base of... You mean, this is your house?”

“Aye.”

“But it’s so creepy...?”

Agh?! I think it looks cool...

Shera laughed. “It is creepy, huh. But I got used to it.”

“...It’s disgusting.” Rem nodded, still holding her mouth.

Argh?! Diablo flinched internally.

If he’d have been talking as his true self, the shock of their words would’ve surely caused him to shut himself out even further. That said, this dungeon was made based on his Demon Lord role play, so it was supposed to look scary and ominous. It was perfectly acceptable as it was.

They can say whatever they want because this isn’t actually me! This is fine!

“Heh...” Diablo’s lips curled upward. “I am a Demon Lord, after all! A symbol of death, destruction incarnate, annihilation made flesh... ’Tis only natural for all that lives to feel awe and terror at the sight of me!”

“Aah?!” Sasara made a terrified expression.

It was a cute reaction. Rem and Shera, on the other hand, seemed perfectly used to him by now, and were walking to the other side of the room on their own.

“Let’s go! Everyone’s waiting for us.”

“...We should hurry, Diablo.”

“Y-Yes.”

He was feeling rather mixed about this, but...

I suppose it’s better than them still acting frightened of me after all this time...

And they really were in a hurry. They’d been informed the Demon Overlord Modinaram was on his way to Faltra. Every second counted. But Modinaram wasn’t an opponent Diablo could rush at without ample preparation; if he lost, all would be for naught.

The Demon Lord’s Labyrinth contained the many items and pieces of equipment Diablo had gathered in the game. But he had another important objective in coming here...

Shera opened the inner door leading to the treasure vault, only to be met with a blade an inch away from her nose.

“Bah?!” Her easygoing smile froze over with shock.

A girl in a maid uniform appeared on the other side of the door, a double-edged sword in her hands.

“All those who dare rob Master’s vault will be met with the most gruesome of deaths imaginable.”

With her emerald eyes shining ominously, the girl swung the blade toward Shera.

“Aaaaaah, w-wait, wait, Rose, it’s me, it’s Shera!”

“What of it?”

“Aren’t we friends?!”

“Rose has no friends,” Rose asserted.

Rem shrugged her shoulders. “Not even Diablo?”

“A shameless implication. Master is a subject of worship for Rose. Master is a precious presence to be guarded and protected.”

“There you have it. Say something to pacify this troublesome maid of yours, won’t you?”

With the situation now in his hands, Diablo nodded gravely. “I’ve kept you waiting, Rose. Now, put your sword away.”

“Ah!” The murderous intent directed at Shera dissipated with the blink of an eye, along with Rose’s double-edged sword.

“Welcome home, Master.” Rose gave a perfect bow. “There were zero intruders until today. However, three have been detected just now.”

Rem and Shera grimaced at Rose’s words, and Sasara pointed at herself quizzically, wondering if she was counted among them.

“I’m not an intruder though...?”

“...At times... No, more often than not, Rose can be rather unreasonable,” Rem explained. “She obeys Diablo’s orders without question, though, so she’s harmless so long as you’re careful.”

“Huh? So she might not be harmless if I’m not careful...? How scary...”

Rose glared at Sasara as the dwarf girl cowered. Diablo suddenly realized that this was these two’s first meeting. Diablo gave Rose a slight push on the back to make her step forward.

“She’s the swordmaster. Her name is Sasara, a level 200 warrior.”

“Level 200?! I-Is that right...”

Perhaps owing to her nature as a magimatic, or maybe it was the influence of her role as a maid, Rose’s feelings rarely came across from her expression. Right now, however, she was visibly depressed by Diablo’s words.

“What’s the matter, Rose?”

“Rose has... Last time Rose fought, Rose was shamed in her failure to beat a Fallen.”

“Yes, that was a tough one for sure.”

Diablo thought the Fallen to be a small-fry at first, but they were given magical energy by the Demon Overlord and were surprisingly hard to beat. This Fallen was actually the reason Diablo decided to level up as a warrior. If he couldn’t even see his enemy’s attacks coming, it didn’t matter what powerful magic he cast—he’d still lose. During that same battle, Rose had damaged her right arm, and came to the Labyrinth for repairs.

“Is your arm better now?”

“Thanks to Master’s magical energy, it has been completely restored.”

“Hm.”

“However...Rose is now unnecessary, no?”

“What?”

“If there is a level 200 warrior present...then Rose is outdated hardware. Dismissed. Out with the oversized garbage on the third Friday of the month.”

“No, no, no... Ahem! What are you saying? I am a Demon Lord. Having a large host of servants is only natural for me!”

“I-In that case...R-Rose still has a place at Master’s side...?”

“Of course you do! Would I have come all the way here to call for you if you didn’t?”

“Rose thought Master came to inform Rose of Rose’s disposal...”

I wouldn’t do something that awful!

But saying it kindly wasn’t very Demon Lord-ly.

“Whatever happens, you are forever my belonging!” Diablo declared haughtily. “I will not allow you to speak of disposal or worthlessness any longer!”

Rose returned to her usual, expressionless face, characteristic of magimatic maids.

“Rose’s apologies, Master. Rose will etch Master’s venerated words into Rose’s non-volatile memory and replay them every morning for the rest of Rose’s continued existence.”

Talk about heavy...

But, if nothing else, Rose seemed to be over her bad mood.

“Rose, it is true my objective in coming here was to regroup with you. Though, I did have something else in mind as well...”

“Speak and it will be done, Master.”

“I plan to face the Demon Overlord Modinaram in battle, and intend to use my anti-Demon Lord equipment.”

“By Master’s will.”

Guided by the magimatic maid, they made their way into the treasure vault. This space contained all the items and equipment Diablo had gathered and upgraded in Cross Reverie. Despite being underground, the Labyrinth extended like a void with no end in sight. Countless pedestals filled the place, holding every item Diablo ever stored there, down to the most mundane and useless ones. If he were to look through all this on his own, it would take him days to find what he needed.

Thankfully, Rose was here to handle this for him and showed him the right way to what he needed. These were the pieces of equipment and items Diablo had used in Cross Reverie when facing raid bosses. Incidentally, raid bosses, as the name implied, were powerful enemies that required the cooperation of groups of players to beat. In other words, they were extra powerful boss monsters built around the premise of fighting a larger than usual group of players.

I faced them all on my own though.

Joining a single party was too much for Diablo, so fighting alongside several was an impossibility stacked on top of a paradox...

“...Diablo, is this all rare equipment?” Rem asked curiously.

“Half of them are. The other half are the sort of things people in the city probably have.”

There were some low rarity items that could be found quite handily in this other world as well.

“Huh?” Rem seemed surprised. “But...isn’t this equipment for fighting Demon Lords?”

“When it comes to fighting Demon Lords, compatibility is more important than a subtle difference in stats.”

“Compatibility... You mean elements like earth, water, fire, wind, light, and darkness?”

“Not just those.”

Explaining strategy and tactics like this was something Diablo had never experienced, even in the game, and he hadn’t had any chances to do so since coming to this world. It was the first time he had to change his gear to accommodate for a powerful enemy.

Explaining his plans felt more nerve-wracking than facing the Demon Overlord. He wanted to find a good way to cut the conversation before he ran his mouth and let slip something dumb.

Right, come to think of it, there’s one more item I needed to take...

He figured he may as well take it and knew exactly where it was without needing Rose to lead him there...

Having changed his equipment, Diablo used Teleportation again and hurried to Faltra with an extra fighter in tow.