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

nly evade all of the leviathan’s attacks, but even the others that I’d thrown into the mix while it was busy.
Not even the spells that’d come from out of sight were able to escape its perception.
And in the end, it had even noticed the killing blow.
In spite of the fact that I had popped both Stealth and Attention Redirection to deliver it.

I’d used the latter of the two skills to force it to focus entirely on the leviathan for the briefest of moments before popping the other and sneaking behind him.
It was a near perfect combination.
The leviathan’s status as an overwhelming threat made it easy for me to trick the bear into thinking that it was what it needed to focus on, even in spite of the fact that the skill was only at its first level. Heh.
It won’t be long before I start introducing this world to the concept of ninjas.
Soon, even the mention of the word will be enough to instill fear and panic into the hearts of the people.

“Not that it’s always going to go this well, but whatever,” I said, as I dismissed the wayward fantasy.

The biggest problem was the cost.
My leviathan had already begun dispersing.
Despite having cost me a whole third of my pool, it was already dry on mana.
The summon was on an incredibly short timer.
Simply existing was enough to slowly drain its bar, and attacking only made the efficiency problem worse.
I liked calling for it given how flashy and powerful it was, but I didn’t feel like there were really many situations in which I could use it outside of a one off duel.
I would have to carefully pick and choose when to put the newfound technique into practice. Maybe I can try scaling it down a bit to get more bang for my buck.
Hmmm…

Whatever the case, I was still glad that the experiment had more or less proven successful, as it meant I now had another solid trump card up my sleeve.

“Alrighty, let’s find ourselves some more prey,” I looked around as I spoke to my pets.
“Wait a second… is it just me, or do you look kinda different?”

Orochi replied to the question with the snake equivalent of a wry smile, as if to say “Oh, hey, you finally noticed.”

Not that snakes can actually smile.
Or make different expressions at all, but whatever.
You know what I mean. After a bit of musing, I popped open the giant blood serpent’s character sheet, only to discover that he wasn’t a giant blood serpent at all.

“Wait, you evolved!? When the hell did that happen…?”

He was apparently now a member of the “Wicked Crimson Serpent King” species.
And while this change didn’t come with any new skills, it had resulted in a rather significant stat hike.
All of its existing skills were also a much higher level than they had been since I last checked.
Appearance wise, he was a bit different, but more or less the same overall.
The most notable changes were that he’d grown a series of spines somewhat resembling a rooster’s wattle, and that he was now a deeper, bloodier shade of red.

I tried looking into the past and asking myself exactly when the evolution had occurred, but I genuinely had no idea.
I’d basically left everything concerning his training and growth in Rir’s court.
As if on cue, Rir barked the moment I began thinking about him.
While I couldn’t speak wolf, I was at least able to make out that he was asking me how I’d managed not to notice, given the obvious changes in the snake’s appearance.

“I mean, I realized that he grew spines and stuff a while ago, but I thought that was just him trying to be stylish and shit.
You know, like how some people gel their hair?”

Rir replied with an exasperated whine, as if to say, “Of course not… Why would he ever do that?”

O-okay, I know how dumb this sounds, now that I’ve actually thought about it, but hear me out.
Some of the Wicked Forest’s monsters can do all sorts of crazy shit with their bodies for camouflage and stuff, right? So I always kinda thought that, you know, Orochi could grow himself a few spines if he tried hard enough.

“Right…” I faked a cough.
“Anyway, you’re looking pretty badass, dude.
Good on you.” I gave him a few pats on the back to distract him, myself, and everyone else from my momentary lapse in judgement as I quickly analyzed all my other non-fenrir pets, just in case.
“Looks like you’re the only one that’s evolved so far, huh?”

The three others had also grown quite a bit, but Orochi was the only one to have evolved so far. Yeah, I can kinda see why.
He’s both the front line and the main attacker, so it’s pretty much a given that he’d be getting the most XP.

According to Rir, all of the others were already skirting the line of evolution, and it’d only be a matter of time before they followed suit. Sweet.
I should probably get them a commemorative gift or something when they all manage it.

“Good job, guys.
Keep it up,” I said.
“All you gotta do is keep evolving until you’re every bit as powerful and intimidating as a demon lord’s mid bosses should be.”

And so, with that said and everything checked, we continued to hunt until the sun began to set.

***

“Are you not an adult, Yuki?” asked Lefi, immediately upon my return.
Her face was decorated with a bit of a bitter smile.
“Why is it that you are so covered in filth?”
“Sorry ma’am.”

If the dragon had still been as lazy and unproductive as she was when I first met her, I would have called her out in favour of allowing myself to be lectured.
But as she had actually started helping out with the chores, and therefore functioning as an adult, there wasn’t much I could really say in return.
Still, that didn’t stop me from trying to justify myself.

“In all fairness, it’s not totally my fault.
Getting covered in blood and dirt and stuff is pretty normal when you’re out fighting things that want to kill you.”
“I am well aware of that,” she said.
“Yet, I find it difficult not to comment after seeing my husband return as unclean as a child following a session of play.”

Yeaaaahhh… fair enough.
There ain’t no arguing that.

“You would do well to bathe yourself at once.”
“Aye aye.”

Enne personified herself and began following me as I walked over to the closet, as if to silently indicate that she wanted to join me.
There was no reason for me to refuse, so I made sure to grab a change of clothes for the both of us.

“I will be joining you tonight.
I shall even ensure that you are well washed,” said the dragon.
“Uh… That’s sudden.
Where’d this come from?” I asked, a bit flustered.

It wasn’t unusual for us to bathe together, but this was pretty much the first time she offered to wash me.
Normally, she would’ve more or less ordered me to wash her hair instead.

“There is still time to be had before our evening meal.
Consider it a reward for your efforts, as I know full well the extent of your exhaustion.”
“Uh huh… So what’re you really after?”
“I desire sweets of a variety you rarely serve.”

Yup.
Figured that was it.
Glad to see she never changes. I smiled to myself. Well, there’s no reason for me to say no, so I might as well treat her to something once we get outta the bath, I guess.

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