Round 377

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The time allowed to visit Chiyon, where the little humans live, was only 30 minutes.  

However, since it was an invasion, there didn’t seem to be any limit on how many people could be brought along.  

Thanks to that, it was an all-star gathering for the first time in a while!  

– Ready to go!  

Mammon, the stingy goblin.  

– I shall recite poetry of elegance.  

Ras, the enraged gnoll.  

– A place where Angel live!  

Fairy Queen Frey.  

– Ashu will go spread delicious cuisine.  

Ashu, of the lustful breeding tribe.  

– Uegh. I’m going too, nya~.  

Bell Faust, the slothful cat-smith.  

– Sssshh.  

Levi, the jealous sea dragon.  

Then there were GomGom, Soo, the thunder spirit Son Ogong, Woofy, Purr Headbutt, ClingCling, KkuMul………….  

Even among the goblins, gnolls, and breeding tribe children, we accepted volunteers to join the dimensional invasion.  

– ( ‘~’)/  

– \ (•w•)>  

Of course, we couldn’t forget the volunteers from the fairies.  

“We are ready!”  

“Dad, I’m ready too!”  

Even Ara and Cheong were all set.  

Just then, Choro stepped through the portal.  

“Waaah!!”  

Seeing all the gathered kids, Choro let out a surprised exclamation.  

“We just finished getting ready, Choro.”  

“W-We’re really bringing a lot of people. I’m worried the city might be too small…………….”  

This was already a heavily reduced number.  

I also shared Choro’s concerns and had to make the painful decision to leave out many volunteers.  

“Think it’ll be okay?”  

“Hmm, let’s head over first. If it’s really not possible, they can just stay outside the city.”  

“Right.”  

After all, the time we could spend there was only 30 minutes.  

Probably a blink-and-it’s-gone kind of time.  

“Let’s go!”  

“Ooooh!”  

Shouting together with everyone, we crossed through the portal.  

[Dimensional Invasion Begins.]  

[Time Limit: 30 minutes]  

The moment we passed through the portal, the scenery instantly changed and a new view spread out before us.  

“We made it!”  

“We have arrived!”  

The first to arrive were Ara and me.  

We looked around.  

Then the little humans welcomed us with fluttering petals.  

Even so, they barely reached up to our knees.  

“Waaaah!”  

“The Demon King has personally descended!”  

“Raise your glasses in celebration!”  

“Hail the Demon King! Hail!”  

Encouraged by their enthusiastic welcome, I slowly waved my hand.  

Then the residents who saw me for the first time erupted in another wave of cheers.  

“So many!”  

Just as Ara said, it felt like every little human had poured out, and the area was packed.  

Right then, Choro, who had followed behind us, held back the residents.  

“A large number of people are going to come through! Everyone, please step back!”  

Then Ppoko and Toto, who had been on standby, cleared the crowd and opened a path.  

And then came a flood of our children.  

Each time, loud cheers and applause echoed.  

“Daddy, Daddy! There’s clapping!”  

“Yeah. They’re all welcoming us.”  

“Yay! They’re welcoming us!”  

Cheong seemed to really like this place and fully enjoyed the mood.  

Seeing shy little Cheong like this made me proud for no reason.  

I guess because the little humans were so tiny, they didn’t feel overwhelming.  

– Ohh, so this is the place!  

– Are they welcoming me?  

– Hi! I’m Ashu!  

– So this is the home of the Angel! It’s as beautiful as expected!  

–……  

Like a parade, the children entered one by one, waving at the people.  

With every new child that appeared, the cheers grew louder.  

Once everyone had crossed over, the city felt full.  

‘But now that I see it, it’s way bigger in person.’  

I had worried there might not even be room to step, but it was still larger than a World Cup stadium.  

“Thank you all for the warm welcome. My name is Lee Kyu-seong.”  

“Demon King! Demon King! Demon King!”  

No, I’m not the Demon King……………  

I felt a bit wronged, but judging by the atmosphere, the title was already set in stone.  

And at that moment.  

Ding!  

[The Demon King has entered his own territory in another dimension for the first time.]  

[The residents of the territory warmly welcome the Demon King.]  

[You are now the true Demon King.]  

“Oh boy.”  

I really got branded as the Demon King now!  

And as if that wasn’t the end, I suddenly felt a strange power rise from my body.  

Ding!  

[Awakening complete!]  

What? Awakening complete?  

What’s going on?  

I was too dumbfounded to react properly.  

Somehow, I felt like I’d been through something like this twice already.  

“T-Third awakening?!”  

No way!!  

I hurriedly opened my status window.  

And there it was, listed proudly alongside Liquid Synthesis and Slime Overlord, a strangely named ability.  

[Lord of Salvation LV.1]  

“Oooooh!”  

Lord of Salvation!  

Huh? That name looks familiar………  

Somehow, it felt like it might exist in another world too.  

Looking at the odd name, I checked the description first.  

[Lord of Salvation]  

[All the abilities of minions and subordinates under your command rise by 1 level. ] 

[You gain the power to control monsters.]  

[Poor harvests are eradicated in your territory.]  

“Hmmm.”  

Being a Demon King, I expected some incredible power.  

But once I opened it, it was just a normal ability.  

Maybe not that normal, but still, not a combat power this time either.  

‘How can I awaken three abilities and still not get a single combat skill?’  

Other people fly around just from one awakening, yet I awakened three and they’re all vague.  

“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong!!”  

“Huh? Oh, Ara. Sorry, I was checking something.”  

“That’s not it! Look at this!”  

What is she trying to show me?  

Suddenly excited, Ara spoke to me while flexing her thin arms.  

Of course, her slim arms didn’t bulge into muscles or anything.  

Just soft and adorable little arms.  

“I’ve gotten stronger! How did this happen?”  

“You got stronger?”  

“Yes! Look at this! My mighty arm!”  

It seemed our Ara didn’t quite understand what “mighty” meant.  

As I stood there, a bit dumbfounded, the other kids also came up to me and chimed in.  

– Oooooh! My Lord! I feel an unknown power!!  

– I feel like I could ascend to immortality at any moment.  

– I think I can cook even faster! Ashu is brimming with strength!  

– Hohoho, now I can fly while lying down. Look at this trick!  

Apparently, the ability boost from the “Lord of Salvation” was having more impact than expected.  

To be honest, it didn’t seem like that great of an ability to me, but if the kids were happy, then it was a good thing.  

Not only that, even the little humans seemed affected and were chattering joyfully, saying they felt full of energy.  

Their pure reactions melted my heart.  

“This really is a nice place.”  

“It’s all thanks to you, Lord.”  

Suddenly bursting with strength, Choro swung his sword and hurriedly responded to my words.  

“No, it’s thanks to everyone’s hard work.”  

“Ah, by the way! Lord! We’ve harvested this season’s grain. So we prepared our traditional dish. Would you like to try it?”  

“Of course I have to try it!”  

Soon, the food was brought out.  

They had prepared enough so that all the kids who came through the portal could eat.  

“Wasn’t that too much?”  

“Thanks to the food you provided, there’s no problem at all!”  

I carefully accepted the bowl Choro handed me and inspected it.  

It looked like oatmeal.  

The texture was somewhat like porridge, but I took a spoonful anyway.  

Slurp.  

Hmm?  

Contrary to its appearance, it was surprisingly good.  

A nutty aroma and flavor, and a firmer texture than expected.  

The other kids also seemed to like it, munching cutely on their oatmeal.  

“U-Um, does it suit your taste?”  

“Oh! It’s good!”  

“Thank goodness! Honestly, I was really worried the ingredients you provided were too good, and this wouldn’t compare.”  

“No, no. This has a different kind of charm. Just because I find something else tasty doesn’t mean this isn’t.”  

When I smiled and said that, Choro relaxed.  

“Actually, the crops we harvested with the slimes this time taste much better than what we used to eat. Before, it wasn’t this delicious. It used to be a bit bland.”  

“Ah, I see.”  

As expected, slimes are the best.  

Since we were talking about it, I finished the oatmeal and went to see the fields.  

Since it was still dangerous to farm outside the city walls, they had set up farmland within the city.  

There, slime creatures the size of fists were busily wriggling around.  

“How cute!”  

They were about a quarter the size of the slimes I summoned, which made them extra adorable.  

Ara must’ve liked them too — she hugged one and rubbed her face against it.  

Pyoing?  

“Hehehe.”  

Just watching was healing.  

After a short walk around the fields, it was already time to return.  

“That really was too short.”  

Thirty minutes — a bit harsh, honestly.  

The little humans seemed able to stay in our dungeon for much longer, so why only us?  

Still, we had to go.  

Whining wouldn’t make time longer.  

“We’ll head back now.”  

At that moment, Cheong hesitantly led Ashu away from the group, who had still been passionately teaching recipes to the residents.  

We said our farewells.  

“I’ll come along too. There was something I wanted to tell you.”  

Choro spoke while subtly shifting his gaze.  

There stood Frey, deep in conversation with Verna.  

I wondered what they were discussing so seriously.  

– How can I make my wings shinier?  

– So Angel worry about that too. Actually, me too!  

…Yeah, let’s not look into that further.  

Anyway, whatever Choro wanted to talk about could be handled back home.  

Though brief, our 30-minute trip had been quite enjoyable.  

And there was even a big harvest.  

This humble being had become the Lord of Salvation, after all.  

Wow, even the name sounds amazing.  

It really made me feel like I’d become a legendary protagonist.  

When we returned to the dungeon, everyone scattered.  

They all seemed full of energy and eager to test their powers.  

Was the effect that noticeable?  

– As I tilted my head in thought, Choro spoke up.  

“Lord, the goddess has discovered something new.”  

“Something new?”  

“Yes. She has confirmed the existence of another city. And apparently, another race lives there.”  

“Oh! Another race?”  

Now what’s this? Another race?  

I asked Choro, surprised by the sudden revelation.  

“There were other races before?”  

“Yes. Before the monsters took over the continent, there were occasional interactions between other races and humans. Of course, the relationships weren’t always friendly, but if it was beneficial, they often interacted.”  

“Then, are relations bad even now?”  

“Hmm, I wouldn’t say they’re good. Honestly, I didn’t even know they were still alive.”  

“Hmmm.”  

Another race, huh…  

For the current little humans, they were like a double-edged sword.  

They could be a danger.  

But to treat them as enemies from the start would be difficult, especially with the common threat of monsters.  

The situation in Chiyon was complicated.  

With my help, they had opened a path to survival,  

but that was about it.  

Apparently, the monsters nearby were still on the weaker side.  

The deeper into the continent you went, the stronger the monsters became, and they were the ones who had swallowed up the lands — that was the current state of Chiyon.  

“Should we put it on hold for now? Just knowing they exist means we can start preparing, so it’s a relief.”  

“That seems like a good idea.”  

At that moment, we felt something approaching with intense energy from far away.  

Choro noticed too and immediately went on alert.  

But upon closer look, it was Kyler.  

“Kyler? What’s going on?”  

“Kyu-seooooooong!!”  

“What’s the matter?”  

Kyler shouted as he ran over in a hurry.  

He was usually so calm, but now he looked unusually excited.  

“What in the world is going on?!”  

“Eh?”  

“A notification just popped up saying my level increased because of the Demon King’s power!”  

“Ah, that must be from my sudden awakening—”  

…Wait, hold on a second?  

Did he say level increased?  

Just as I was realizing what that meant, Kyler’s eyes widened, and he shouted:  

“Level T-Ten!”  

“Uh……”  

“I’ve become a Level 10 Awakener!!”

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