A large man, with a body far too muscular for a Human, greeted Diablo’s group with his fist held against his chest in a salute. His face didn’t fit his body, though. He had black-rimmed glasses, and his black hair was combed to one side.
“I’m sure you already know of me, but I am Maximum Abrams, captain of the Palace Knights. Ask me anything you’d like about the Order.”
“Wait, are you saying I’m part of the Palace Knights now?” Diablo asked in a voice that sounded so fed-up he himself was a bit surprised by it.
Maximum didn’t seem to take offense to it, though.
“That’s what it means, yes. Same as the Demon Lord Krebskulm.”
“Ugh...” Diablo grumbled.
“Wonderful!” Klem was overjoyed, though.
Apparently the fact Diablo was cooperating with them made her happy. But that’s when the true hell began. The single most dreaded time was still ahead of him.
Self-introductions.
“I’m Alan! Pleased to meetcha, Diablo!” Alan said cheerily. “After we beat the Emperor’s face in, let’s have a go at it, you and me! Whaddya say?!”
“You can ignore everything this bonehead says,” the Demon girl said, rolling her eyes. “Name’s Daisy. A magi gunner.”
Standing next to her was a tall Pantherian woman.
“I’m Chobi, a Lancer. We’ll be counting on you, Diablo!”
“We definitely will!” A Grasswalker barged in, clapping her hands together in delight. “I saw you use that Lightning Storm spell without a magic circle or even any chanting. That was awesome!”
Judging by their appearance, they were a sorcerer. And also a girl.
“I’m called Utata,” the Grasswalker introduced herself. “I’m no good with summoning or offensive magic, so don’t expect any help from me when it comes to those kinds of spells, got it?”
She must use support magic... Is she the one who can get through Viovix’s barrier?
As that thought crossed Diablo’s mind, a male Elf stepped forward.
“Tch... I do not acknowledge this cretin as a comrade.” Thanatos the Undying glared at Diablo.
Diablo glared back at him. “Hmph... So you’re part of this Order. Surely you lower this party’s average level a great deal.”
“What was that, Diablo?!”
“Thanatos!”
But their feud was broken up by the presence of another man gazing at them, gasping heavily. The former Paladin summoner, Gewalt.
“Lo-ve-ly! ♥ Why, this is simply beautiful! Two handsome men, glaring passionately at one another... I’m shaking in my unmentionables~ ♪ And while you quarrel, your hatred gradually turns to love~”
““No, it doesn’t!”” The two of them found themselves barking at him in unison.
The atmosphere turned awkward, and Diablo and Thanatos both stepped aside. Diablo already knew about half of them, but he still couldn’t remember any of their names.
I’m bad at names.
Still, this time even Klem was involved, and Diablo thought she wouldn’t bother remembering the names of people from the races. But to his surprise...
“Hmhm,” Klem pointed at Noah and started moving her finger. “Noah, Maximum, Alan, Daisy, Chobi, Utata, Thanatos, Gewalt.”
“That’s a surprise!” Utata exclaimed, her eyes wide. “A Demon Lord remembering the names of people from the races!”
“A Demon Lord is one who leads armies,” Klem said confidently. “Remembering the names of my subordinates is obvious.”
Her words cut into Diablo’s heart like blades. Klem had potential as a leader, and remembered everyone individually. The realization that he was the only who was bad at this was a bitter one.
“Krebskulm, you work under me, remember?” Noah shook her head. “The members of the Order aren’t your subordinates. They’re your comrades. Equal to you in rank.”
“Mm! At least until we defeat the Emperor!” Klem said cheerfully.
Compared to the painstaking effort it took Diablo to steel his resolve, her answer was much more flippant. But either way, she seemed to be blending in with the group already. She was more outgoing than he thought. Diablo, however, could only glare coldly at Thanatos.
I knew joining a party was a bad idea...
He was regretting this already.
“All right, that’s everyone, Noah!” Alan said vigorously. “Let’s charge ‘em!”
Diablo agreed with him, but Noah shook her head in denial.
“No. None of us got any sleep last night. And that might not bother you, Alan, but it does bother us. Sorcerers in particular struggle to concentrate when they’re fatigued. We can’t fight if we can’t exhibit our full power.”
“Maaan, Sorcerers are wimps,” Alan sighed.
“For now, we can sleep until noon, then launch our attack during the afternoon.”
“Why not do it at night, then?”
“We’re not familiar with their castle’s layout, and some of us don’t have good night vision. If we have to attack, we should do it during the day.”
“Ya sure?”
“Most importantly, I don’t want to wait until sunset,” Noah said gravely.
“Oh, yeah, he said he’d shoot another big one at sundown, right?” Alan said, scratching his head.
“I’ll give the order to charge when we’re ready. If you don’t feel like sleeping, use the time to meditate.”
“Tch... Fine, fine.”
“Please prepare rooms for the Palace Knights,” Lumachina instructed the priests.
“Understood, Your Eminence!”
“Count Noah Gibun... Please come with me.”
“Yes, of course.”
As Noah followed the priests, Rem and the others gathered around Diablo.
“...Good luck,” she told him.
“Be careful, Diablo!” Shera exclaimed.
Rem and the others weren’t going to escort him to battle. That made sense. Even Diablo, who was level 150, was seen as an unreliable pawn by Noah, who was level 300. The rest of his comrades probably weren’t seen as potentially useful.
“If only I were thirty years younger, huh?” Sylvie scratched her head with a skewed smile.
“Hm? I thought Grasswalkers were always youthful and didn’t grow feeble with age,” Diablo remarked, cocking his head.
Sylvie simply laughed and said, “Naaah, it’s not like that.” Noah saw the ones who weren’t called to this room — Horn, Angeline and Riltiana — as non-combatants. Rose was still recovering from the damage she took. Rem and Shera looked at Diablo with tears in their eyes.
What does a... husband do in this situation?
Diablo stood frozen for a moment when he felt a tug on his sleeve. It was Klem.
“We have to get ready to attack later today! We need to sleep!”
“R-Right.”
“Demon Lord, guard? Guard!” Edelgard followed close after Klem, as if it was her natural lot in life to do so.
Noah seemingly allowed it, which implied that as a Fallen, Edelgard’s level was sufficient to be of use in this battle. Apparently, being around a Demon Lord for as long as she did also powered her up considerably. By that logic, Rem had grown much stronger, too... But in her case, the problem wasn’t her level. Bringing the Girl of the Vessel right into the Emperor’s lair was too dangerous.
And so, with Klem tugging at his arm, Diablo was torn away from Rem and the rest.
†
Diablo lay down on the bed in his room. Finally, he’d joined a party. Once before, he’d tried joining a party, only to quickly realize it was simply too much for him. Without even knowing what he did wrong, he’d angered people, was mocked by them, and then was kicked out. It was like he’d wandered into a minefield.
It was more impossible than any difficult game he’d ever played.
Compared to the monster that is interpersonal relations, facing the scariest final boss solo was much easier. And he thought he’d never join a party again after that.
But since he’d promised to help now, he would have to do everything he could. And Noah would be the leader. There was no doubting she was more suited for that role than he was.
“...Or maybe... I just don’t have what it takes to be a member of a party...”
“What’s wrong, Diablo?” Klem climbed onto his bed for some reason.
“Mm? Didn’t they prepare a room for you two?”
At the order of the High Priest Lumachina, Klem and Edelgard were given a room. There shouldn’t have been a reason for the three of them to sleep in one cramped bed.
“I thought I should give you some magical energy, Diablo,” Klem said.
“M-Magical energy?!”
“If you go to fight the way you are now, you might die.”
“You think my power is insufficient?”
“Your endurance is lacking! You were hurt when I threw a casket at you, after all!”
“Mm... That’s a thing of the past.”
When Klem awakened to the Demon Lord’s destructive impulses in Faltra, Diablo was forced to fight her. At the time, she threw a casket at him in her rage, which dealt a great deal of damage. Of course, he was also wearing different equipment compared to last time, and he’d since raised his level as a Warrior.
Still, Demons were a race with bad HP growths, and despite his high level, Diablo was indeed lacking when it came to endurance. His style was always to attack first and win quickly. By eliminating his opponents before he took damage, Diablo dealt with this weakness.
Was it possible to rectify it altogether, though?
“Do you intend to use some magic to strengthen me? It won’t work,” he told her.
The Demon Lord’s Ring would reflect it.
“I know that. But this should work.”
Really...?
Klem once reinforced Shera’s equipment, gave Rem a unique item, and healed and strengthened Edelgard multiple times. He wasn’t sure if those were things all Demon Lords were capable of, or if this was somehow unique to Klem, but...
Even a temporary buff would be welcome.
“Hmph... Very well. Do as you will.”
“Then I’ll do it!”
“Demon Lord... going to sleep? Not sleep? Not sleep... I think!” Edelgard whispered with her back to the wall.
“Edelgard, come help me!” Klem called for her.
“Y-Yes...” Edelgard replied, her voice slightly high-pitched.
Was it from excitement? Delight? Fear? Diablo couldn’t tell. But Edelgard got on the bed too, and placed her hands on Diablo. They felt nice and cold, without a trace of Human warmth. It reminded Diablo of when a Lamia girl touched him. Lamias had scales over their skin, and so did Edelgard, though hers were smaller. They were rough, but not unpleasant or painful.