A Demon Lord’s Tale: Dungeons, Monster Girls, and Heartwarming Bliss

d.
That said, I was still well aware of the fact that my strength stat was a whole order of magnitude higher than the norm.
Being matched in a contest of raw power was the last thing I had expected—especially since even the sword saint had done his best to avoid a head-on clash.

I knew that, like me, he had a weapon that boosted his stats, but even so, I immediately came to understand that Carrot Top himself was a genuine, undeniable powerhouse.
And apparently, the understanding was mutual.

“You can deflect my blows? Consider me impressed!” The ginger swiveled around and delivered a diagonal slash as he shouted.
It was a downwards smash, one that made full use of centrifugal force to bolster its weight.
Under normal circumstances, I would have dodged it.
But I couldn’t.
Not because I was trapped.
But because I felt obligated not to back down in the face of his violence.
Relenting was no different from admitting that he was better than me, the thought of which irked me to no end.

That was why I lowered my stance, dug my feet into the ground, and used Enne to deliver a powerful, rising slash.

Again, we clashed.
And again, raw strength was pit against brute force.

We continued to be repelled in tandem.
Both of us kept getting blown away by the force of the impact at the exact same time.
Still, we continued.
We both refused to back down and continued to engage in a series of clashes honest and telegraphed to the point of stupidity.

Though we were doing nothing but smashing our weapons against each other, the crowd had gone wild.
They cheered and jeered at the top of their lungs.
But neither of us thought anything of it.
We were too focused on crushing each other, on defeating the foe whose power we had recognized.

While I had claimed that the battle was straight forward, I was obviously far too underhanded to leave it that way by choice.
The only reason I wasn’t using my spells to cheat was because I couldn’t.
I had tried casting several, but every single one had failed to activate.
Magic just refused to work.
I could channel my mana the same way I normally could, but my spells would peter out the moment I tried to construct them. Is one of his skills messing with my ability to cast? Seems like it.
Hell, that’s probably the same thing that stopped me from analyzing him.
It’s probably also why the mine he stepped on didn’t do jack shit.
Wait.
Why is it that I can analyze his weapon, then? Is that ‘cause some sort of loophole…? Ehhhh, whatever, fuck it.
I’ll think about it later.
Brooding isn’t going to do me any good in the middle of a fight.
Especially since I can’t see myself figuring it out.

“It is quite unfortunate that you can’t cast any of your spells, isn’t it?” He flashed the cockiest of grins as he spoke.
“The fuck are you talking about?” I played him off by staying cool.
“I don’t even need magic to crush a shithead like you.”

It wasn’t as if his skill made him untouchable.
The fact that he hadn’t used any sort of magic despite having plenty of opportunities to cast proved that his defenses came with some sort of limitation or drawback.
But again, I wasn’t all that keen on figuring it out.
I had already decided that I was going to crush him with nothing but physical force alone.

That was why I emulated the old butler.
When our next clash happened, I ever so slightly shifted the point of impact.
The change caused his blade to slide along Enne as opposed to meeting her head-on, and thereby threw him off balance.

“Take this, numbnuts!” I took his lack of steadiness as an opportunity to step forward, take a hand off Enne, and slug him in the jaw.
He tanked it well.
He managed to plant his feet and stop himself from falling over, but the blow was far too heavy for him to simply endure.
The momentum caused him to kick up a cloud of dust as he slid back several meters.

“You okay, Enne?” I raised a voice in concern.
I’d smashed her against his blade on more than just a few occasions.
“…Mhm.
I won’t lose.” The reaction I got out of her was one I could only think of as unusual.
She was giving off an aura of competitiveness.
She seemed like she was raring to go for a second round.

Seeing me speak to my weapon caused Carrot Top to laugh.
“I see I’m not the only one with a cursed weapon.”

“Cursed? Cursed? Bitch please, what do you mean, ‘cursed?’ Enne’s the sweetest thing that this world has to offer.
You can take your stupid assumptions and shove ‘em ten feet up your ass.”
“Well, whatever the case, I say we should have ourselves a bit of a contest.
Let’s see which of our weapons reigns superior.” He rubbed his jaw with one of his hands as he spoke and took up another stance with his blade before suddenly lowering his stance and clicking his tongue.
All the fight had drained from him in an instant.

“Now!”

Dozens upon dozens of guards charged onto the stage, led by none other than Carrot Top’s bitch boy, the man that had been standing behind him when he was up in the box reserved only for the most important of VIPs.

They stood between us to break up the fight.
But that said, their treatment of us was clearly unequal.
Every single guard was facing me. They were holding large riot shields and attempting to surround me in order to prevent me from launching any more attacks.

“God damn it! Get out of my way!”

Naturally, I fought them off.
I relied on punches and kicks in order to brute force my way through, but it didn’t work.
They kept getting back on the stage and rejoining the encirclement every single time I sent them flying through the air.
Under normal circumstances, making use of the third dimension would have been my solution of choice.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.
Some of the guards were airborne and working to stop me from doing exactly that. Ughhhhh.
I’m not going to be able to get through unless I kill them.
Hmmm… Should I? I mean, I could… Hell, it’d be pretty easy, but… I probably shouldn’t.

If I was alone, I probably would have followed through on that exact thought.
I would have brutally murdered every single member of the security force in cold blood.
It wasn’t my moral compass that was stopping me from following through, but rather, Enne.
I didn’t want to expose her to excessive violence or carnage.
I didn’t want her to think murder was normal. Okay, and I know what you’re saying.
Blah blah blah, weapon, used to kill people, blah blah.
You kill monsters and shit all the time, blah.
Yeah, I know.
But you see, it’s just not the same.
The guards aren’t trying to kill me.
They’re not enemies I’ve sworn to kill, and they’re not mindless monsters out to get me either.
They’re just average people stuck in an unfortunate line of work.
I don’t want to stain her with their blood, nor expose her to senseless, unjustified violence. She’s my daughter.
I’m not about to put her through that.
No good father would.
I guess that means it’s time for magic.
Ooooorrr, at least it would be if I could actually fucking using it!

“What the fuck! Get over here, you pussy!”
“We will not be able to freely swing our swords with this many guards around,” said Carrot Top.
“Don’t worry.
I am sure we will have another chance to finish this battle some other time.”

He grinned wide enough to put his fangs on display as he put his sword back into wherever he had taken it from, turned around, and walked away.

“Chief! How are your wounds!?”
“I am fine.
I wasn’t wounded,” said the redhead.
“What have I told you about getting in the way of my battles? You better be prepared for the consequences.”
“I am willing to accept whatever punishment you wish, chief, but please do bear in mind that I acted out of concern for your safety.”
“…I cannot deny that,” grumbled Carrot Top.
“Fine.
You’re right.
You’ve done well.
While I would have liked for our duel to last much longer, I suppose I’ve fought him for long enough to appease the crowd.”
“Shit! What the hell! Get the fuck back here! You won’t! Fucking limpdick!” I practically screamed at him, but Carrot Top ignored me.
He didn’t bother so much as even acknowledging my words.
He simply continued to leave with his aide in tow. Fuck! This motherfucker’s getting away! If only I could use the dungeon’s powers! Arghhh!

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