“The powerful Undead King, said to be the strongest among us, reduced to this state…,” Gazoth Hell Beast said as he downed the cup of wine in his hand. “What happened to you, Leonis Death Magnus?”
“…A lot, to put it simply,” Leonis replied, his expression bitter.
They were in the Dark Lord’s Castle’s eighth underground level, in the Corpse Chamber, built to accommodate guests of Leonis’s. It was a circular room with a domed roof and a large, round table made of bones with space for eight guests in its center. The walls were adorned with the bones of ancient monsters and skulls that had a penchant of cackling every so often in an attempt to startle the guests.
Not that the guests being entertained in this room were ones to be startled by something like that.
“Hm, this is some fine wine. Not that it matches the divine wine served to me by the King of the Depths,” Rivaiz said.
“—Yes, I’d like to drink more of this. Keep it coming,” Veira said, putting down one empty bottle after another.
“Don’t be foolish,” Leonis said in complaint as he took out another bottle from the treasure vault in his Realm of Shadows. “This is exquisite wine I claimed after defeating the Ganzal Kingdom one thousand years ago. I’ll never get anything like it again, so be sure to relish it.”
“Oh, come on, what do you care? It’s not like you can drink it, what with your body being what it is.”
“Grr…”
Indeed, Leonis’s glass was full of grape juice made out of 100% freshly squeezed fruit sold in the Seventh Assault Garden’s local supermarket. This brand was his favorite, and Riselia bought it for him all the time.
“Leonis, I prefer meat to wine right now,” Gazoth said. “I’m getting a bit peckish after running wild.”
“Shary, serve him one of the rock boar steaks stored in the palace’s pantry,” Leonis instructed.
“Yes, right away!”
Shary, serving as their waitress, hurriedly sank into the Realm of Shadows.
“A rock boar, eh? Good stuff; only my fangs can bite through that thing’s skin.”
As the Lord of Beasts gave a hearty laugh, Leonis sipped on his juice, taken aback. Shary reported the details of Gazoth Hell Beast’s resurrection just earlier. Around the same time Riselia awakened him in the Necrozoa ruins, Gazoth was resurrected in the Blood Fang plains after his battle with the Swordmaster.
After awakening, he had been spending some time attacking nearby Void Hives to while away the time when he ran into a Holy Swordsmen unit exploring a hive. They took him in, thinking he was a beastman refugee, after which he took cover in an underground syndicate in the Capital.
Unlike Leonis, who kept his powers hidden and tried to rebuild the Dark Lords’ Armies, Gazoth took his time to experience and enjoy this world a thousand years removed from his own.
Until the Holy Sword Dance Festival brought Leonis to the Capital, and the Dark Lord Zol Vadis tried to recruit the capitals’ underground syndicates and organizations—Gazoth’s subordinates—to his army. And so an enraged Gazoth stormed the Seventh Assault Garden in search of retribution.
…Good grief. This is quite troublesome.
The beastman unit Leonis gained in the aftermath of the Hyperion incident made up the crux of his Dark Lords’ Armies at present. But Leonis did understand where Gazoth was coming from: A thousand years ago, the beastman tribes were under the command of Gazoth’s Grand Beast Army.
But that was a thing of the distant past now, and Leonis wasn’t going to give up the core of his new Dark Lords’ Armies to the Lord of Beasts.
Still, what to do…?
Making an enemy of another Dark Lord would be a pointless endeavor. Of course, he had no intention of losing to Gazoth, but if the two fought no holds barred, they would end up destroying the Seventh Assault Garden.
…Besides, Roselia always said we Dark Lords shouldn’t fight among ourselves.
Still, the Lord of Beasts was one to resolve all negotiations through combat. He was a difficult Dark Lord to handle, in a different sense from the arrogant, tyrannical Dragon Lord.
Well, I suppose I always was the only sensible Dark Lord to begin with… Leonis thought to himself, blind to his own failings.
“—I—I brought the rock boar steak!”
Shary returned, carrying a plate with a piece of rocklike meat on it and placing it on the table. Her voice was trembling—she was incredibly nervous having to be in the same room with so many Dark Lords. As she poured juice into Leonis’s goblet, she directed a telepathic message toward him.
“—Excuse me, my lord? Are you sure you should have exposed your identity to him?”
“Yes. It would have been impossible to hide it from him for long anyway.”
Veira And Rivaiz already knew about Leonis being in a child’s body, so it was only a matter of time until he discovered Zol Vadis’s identity.
“Then why did I work so hard to hide it while you were away…?” Shary dropped her shoulders, deflated.
“Incidentally, did you collect it, like I asked you?”
“Yes, it’s already in the Realm of Shadows’ treasure vault…”
“Good. Well done.”
Leonis referred to one of the Arc Seven, the dual swords Lesca Kishar, which was in the possession of Divine Dragon Gisark, who had become a Void Lord.
Veira would definitely claim it if she ended up finding it… Leonis smiled to himself, satisfied with this new item in his collection.
Leonis was extremely fond of curious weapons and enchanted tools.
“By the way, Leo. Isn’t it about time we got down to business?” Veira said quietly.
“…What is it?”
Leonis panicked for a moment. Surely she didn’t find out about the Arc Seven weapon?
“I mean the undead Divine Dragon. Just to confirm it one more time, can you think of anyone who can turn the Six Heroes into Undead and use them as minions?”
Silence settled over the banquet. Gazoth and Rivaiz put down their eating utensils and awaited Leonis’s answer.
“…”
After a moment’s silence, Leonis sighed.
“—No one. No one but me.” He shrugged.
“Leo, what does that mean…?”
“It means I’m the one who turned Gisark into a zombie dragon.”
“…Huh?” Veira looked at Leonis dangerously, taken aback by his absurd answer.
“That comment isn’t something we can ignore, even during a banquet of your hosting. What are you on about, Leonis?” Gazoth glared at him with his sole eye, his silver fur standing on end.
“No need to be so bloodthirsty. Let’s hear what the Undead King has to say.” Rivaiz urged Leonis to continue.
He nodded briefly and parted his lips.
“Another Undead King resurrected in the Void Lord.”
“…What?”
“What does that mean?”
“…Mm?”
The three Dark Lords exchanged incredulous expressions.