The interior of his familiar penthouse came into the Demon Lord’s view. Floor-to-ceiling windows lined the meeting room, giving him a view of villagers already out and about under the morning sky just beginning to redden. They were hard at work, even while the Demon Lord aimlessly wandered the land.
“For once, I’m beat,” the Demon Lord said to himself. “I could use a good night’s sleep.”
The divine beast on his shoulder fidgeted nervously at the change in scenery at first. Once it noticed the AC keeping the penthouse perfectly cool, however, it began happily wagging its tail.
“Right. You don’t like the heat. Just so you know, the climate here is scorching year-round.” The fennec squeaked in fierce protest.
In the master suite, a strange lump awaited the Demon Lord under the covers of his luscious, California king-size bed.
He lifted the blankets to find Aku fast asleep in a ball. “She’s been sleeping here instead of the Resort?” Every room and office in the casino was locked, of course, but the penthouse was equipped with fingerprint recognition that unlocked the door only for Aku and the Demon Lord himself.
Aku stirred. “Master Demon Lord...?”
“Good morning... I’m home.”
“Welcome home, Master De—” Aku snapped awake, finding the Demon Lord looking completely different than when she last saw him. “W-Wings?!”
“Ah, I forgot to turn back. Oh well.”
“Y-You really are the Fallen Angel, Master Demon Lord?!”
“This is only a disguise. Long story. Anyway, I found this white...squirrel, or whatever. Do you—”
“It’s so cute!” Aku squealed. “What is it?! It’s so small!”
“Well...”
“It’s too cute! How is this animal real?!”
“Calm down, Aku,” the Demon Lord said, slightly staggered by her reaction.
Aku eased her hand out to the divine beast, but it clambered away and up onto the Demon Lord’s head.
“Get down from there, squirrel... Ohhh, you feel nice and cool, though.” The Demon Lord closed his eyes, treating the divine beast like an ice pack.
“Not fair! Please let me touch it, Master Demon Lord!”
Sighing, he hoisted Aku in his arms, allowing her to reach the fennec. Its pure-white fur bristled as it moved its eyes to take in every part of Aku. Eventually, it must have decided that she meant it no harm, as it wooshed its long tail and grazed it against Aku’s fingers.
“Oh, its tail! It’s so soft and fluffy, Master Demon Lord! So fresh!”
“You sound like a fabric softener commercial!”
Aku seemed entranced by the fennec’s tail, gently petting and poking it. Then, she reached for the fallen angel wings, a dreamy look washing over her eyes. “And these feathers are such deep black... They feel so comfortable in my hand.”
“This isn’t an antique roadshow!” Growing tired, the Demon Lord set Aku down on the floor before yanking his wings off and tossing them aside. It seemed nothing was sacred to this man.
“What?! Th-They come off?!” Aku stammered in astonishment.
“It’s a costume piece. Costume. Fallen Angel...” the Demon Lord grumbled. “I’d rather have an angel food cake than angel wings. Something I could eat. Everyone in this world has lost their mind.” Uttering statements that would shatter everyone’s illusions of him, the Demon Lord simply plopped onto his bed and got under the covers. At least when he had no one but Aku for company, he could act completely like himself. “I’m going to rest for a short while. Go play with the white squirrel.”
“Does it have a name, Master Demon Lord?” Aku asked, lifting the covers and sliding in between his arms.
The divine beast seemed thoroughly impressed by the softness of his luxury bed, jumping excitedly on the mattress...which would make it very difficult for the Demon Lord to get any sleep.
“Name? Just call it Squirrel.”
“I don’t want to call it something stupid! Let’s think of a cute one.”
The Demon Lord contemplated this. He’d never named an animal before, so he had no clue as to what names were appropriate. “It’s white, so... How about White Macadamia or Walter White?”
“N-No! Neither of those seem like real names...”
“What do you mean by a cute name, anyway...? Let’s just go with Ice Pack.”
“This is serious, Master Demon Lord!”
“What about Astley? It’ll never give you up or let you down.”
“Nice try, but that’s no good either...”
Half asleep, the Demon Lord continued suggesting nonsensical names while Aku vetoed them, bouncing on the bed. They almost looked like a daughter excited about her new pet and a father too tired from work to keep his eyes open.
If anyone else had witnessed this exchange, they wouldn’t have believed their eyes, especially after he had caused such a spectacle in Dona’s former stronghold.
“Do you know what kind of animal it is?” Aku asked.
“Snow fennec, I think. Apparently it was blessed by the Wise Angel, or something...”
“I knew it was special!”
“Well, call it whatever you like,” the Demon Lord conceded. “An elephant should be joining us later.”
“Elephant? Is that another animal like this one?!”
“You’ve never seen an elephant... Well, it’s another souvenir of sorts.” The Demon Lord closed his eyes, offering his mind to blissful slumber. After the mess in the north, the Demon Lord had directly stormed Dona’s hold, then wreaked incredible havoc as Zero, before finally crashing into the postwar meeting. Physically, he was fine. Mentally, he was up against the ropes.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Aku said. “But, Master Demon Lord, you look...much younger...” she timidly added.
Now that she’d calmed down from her first encounter with the divine beast, she couldn’t help but notice that the Demon Lord looked like a teenager.
“Age is but a number to me...” he muttered. As characters created by Akira Ono, neither he nor his advisors ever aged; they were immortal. Not to mention that Yu’s Censorship skill could physically age or de-age him at the drop of a hat. With one command, the Demon Lord could change the age of anyone around him too.
“I think this look suits you well too,” Aku said.
“You think so? I guess I should count myself lucky that you didn’t laugh at it...”
“I like how you used to look and how you look now!”
The Demon Lord chuckled. “Not judging a guy by his appearance... You’ll be a catch, one day...” With that, he closed his eyes and fell fast asleep.
The divine beast curled up on top of the bedcovers before closing its eyes too. Her arms around the Demon Lord, Aku stayed awake for a while, thinking of and rethinking names for the fennec...until her mind drifted away as well.
Holylight was undergoing a grand metamorphosis, yet the penthouse seemed isolated from the rest of the world, like the eye of a hurricane that remained calm while violent winds brought devastation to its surroundings.
Tahara and Yu were spreading bombastic propaganda utilizing Censorship. White and Queen issued all sorts of decrees from the Holy Castle. And the man who’d triggered the momentous shifts in this country was asleep in an air-conditioned room without a care in the world. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the fallen central nobles rolling in their graves.
Dawn had finally broken on what history would remember as the Night of the Fated Return. However, what was everyone else up to?
——City of Rookie.
Yukikaze and Mikan had delved deep into the Bastille Dungeon, now entering its bottommost level. The Demon Lord had hired them—with a hefty bag of gold medallions—to keep an eye on the city and its dungeon while aiding in the restoration efforts.
Following the Invasion, the Bastille Dungeon had remained on lockdown. Now that Tahara had weaseled the city under his control, he wanted to reopen its most popular attraction. Yukikaze and Mikan were performing an inspection of the dungeon before its reopening.
Mikan took in the lowest level of the dungeon, twenty below the surface. “A job’s a job, but I’m really getting tired of this place...”
Each dungeon had its own quirks, and the Bastille was known for being dim and damp. The farther down one went, the more depressing the air seemed to become, as each level held more and more ruined cells.
“...It’s more than a job, it’s a critical mission from Mister Fox.” As cool as ever, Yukikaze kept walking.
The twentieth level was as barren as it always had been, except for when the Demon Lord had found his way down here. Back then, he had called it a “recycling factory” where various corpses and objects were carried on a conveyor belt into an enormous furnace, processing them into monsters to be sent back into the dungeon.
“...Don’t freak out, Mikan.”
“Don’t worry. I never expect you to say anything normal.”
“...I can still smell Mister Fox on this level.” Yukikaze sniffed the air.
“You perv! Shouldn’t you take your oh-so-important mission more seriously?”
“...Don’t freak out, Mikan.”
“Now what?! Don’t tell me you found a strand of his hair, or a footprint, or something.”
“...Look at those stairs.”
“What?”
The Bastille Dungeon served as the tutorial dungeon for most adventurers. It had been scoured and mapped down to the last rock in its walls, so it shouldn’t have been possible for a set of descending stairs to exist on what had always been known as its bottommost level.
“No way... This is a huge discovery! Holy crap!” Mikan jumped up and down in excitement.
Making a new discovery in a dungeon brought great honor and fame to an adventurer...along with the naming rights for the discovery. In this case, Yukikaze and Mikan would have the right to name the subsequent layers after themselves, or whatever else they chose. Even on Earth, many locations—like the Strait of Magellan—were named after their discoverers.
“Wh-What do we do?! We need to put both our names on it! Make it sound cool!”
“...You’re getting way too excited, Mikan. Talking about a threesome with this underground hole. That’s too kinky.”
“Too kinky for you?! Everyone names their discoveries!”
“...Don’t freak out, Mikan.”
“Are you trying to make that your catchphrase or something?!”
“...There’s a message.”
“What?”
Letters were carved into the wall above the descending stairwell. Apparently, it was addressed to someone.
Dear Akira,
Have you got everything?
The two adventurers shared a look. A few moments later, the letters faded like sand in the wind without so much as a trace left on the smooth, rock wall.
Mikan drew her greatsword as Yukikaze raised her staff. Ready for any unexpected battles, they started down the eerie stairs veiled in shadows.
This new discovery would later attract thousands to the City of Rookie, but that’s a story for another time.
——Capital of Euritheis.
Mitsuhide was holding down the fort in the capital, enjoying a peaceful time with Toshizo by baking rice cakes over the fire. Just then, Ajax Kong came bearing a message from Gorgon and ruined it all. Naturally, the message included many missions pertaining to the mining of blackstone and securing transport routes.