Dungeon Battle Royale ~ Since I became a Demon King, I will aim for World Domination-Novel

What would a Demon King, capable of becoming a formidable enemy, rank up if they accumulated 50 BP?

―Most would choose 【Creation】, I suspect. In the near future, it might become an era of many Demon Kings having 【Creation】 at rank A. Even nowadays, Demon Kings with 【Creation】 at rank B are everywhere I look. In that case, what will become the primary factors deciding between victory and defeat if Demon Kings with 【Creation】at rank A fight each other?

First, their aggregate amount of CP, or in short, the numbers of their sectors. The CP amount is directly connected to the strength of their army.

Second, the Demon King’s stats besides 【Creation】. The one with the biggest influence here would be 【Alchemy】, I suppose. If their 【Body】 or 【Mana】 have high ranks, it’s also possible for the Demon King himself to cause havoc at the front line.

Third, the quality of their subordinates. Not only the humans who became their kin or the former Demon Kings who surrendered, but also the created subordinates grow by gathering experience points in battle.

The one with the biggest impact among these three primary factors is the quality of the subordinates.

And at this point, I focused on a certain fact: Who’s the strongest subordinate among my own subordinates?

The answer is: Kotetsu. The runner-ups are Rina and Takaharu. Following them is Izayoi, albeit limited by some conditions. Then Sarah, Saburou, Hibiki, Setanta, and…I call the faces of humans and former Demon King to mind.

Veteran subordinates such as Chloe and Layla aren’t weak. They’ve evolved by meticulously gathering experience points, making them so strong that a newly created subordinate can’t even hold a candle to them.

But ― compared to humans that were called heroes or sword kings, and former Demon Kings, their strength falls short.

The strength of the subordinates I could create at 【Creation】 A is unknown. I’m sure they’ll be stronger than the subordinates possible to be created at 【Creation】 B. But ― if I’m asked whether they’re going to be stronger than a Demon King, who pursued their own strength, or humans like heroes…

The 【World Salvation Project】 isn’t an endeavor to rear Demon Kings. Its goal is to have humans and Demon Kings fight each other. The leading actors aren’t the Demon Kings, but Demon Kings AND humans. Considering this, will the subordinates which can be created with one tap on a smartphone, be capable of excelling humans, even if it’s at 【Creation】 A?

――The answer is no.

The 【World Salvation Project】 won’t work if the potential of humans isn’t higher than that of created subordinates. I’m not certain whether all humans will be able to reach such heights, but…some of them should definitely be capable of doing so.

Moreover, the anti-Demon King battles are basically invasions of Domains. Depending on the circumstances, it becomes necessary to split up one’s forces by invading several sectors simultaneously, and there’s also a messed-up system like 《Declaration of War》, but…the decisive factor is the individual power of the 24 subordinates capable of invading a sector.

In that case, wouldn’t it be smarter to reinforce the members of my current main force ― Rina’s team?

There are two ways to bolster the strength of Rina’s team.

First, have them level up by getting them to accumulate experience through battle. Second, upgrade their gear by providing them with powerful weapons.

That’s why I started to believe that a rank up of 【Alchemy】, and not 【Creation】, would be the correct choice. And once my preference tilted towards 【Alchemy】, other merits also began to reveal themselves.

For example, 『Loot』. If you put it in game terms, this world has a 100% drop rate. In short, you can plunder all the items of an enemy you killed. This brings up the question: what if you simply steal weapons from enemies with 【Alchemy】 at rank A after ranking up 【Creation】? …But, are Demon Kings with 【Alchemy】 at rank A really going to be around so conveniently? Going by my own predictions, it’s possible that many Demon Kings with 【Creation】 at rank A have started to crop up, but Demon Kings with 【Alchemy】at rank A aren’t around so far.

At this point I changed my way of thinking.

It’s very possible for a great number of Demon Kings with 【Creation】 at rank A to start appearing, and at the same time a very low number of Demon Kings with 【Alchemy】 at rank A…in other words, wouldn’t it be possible to 『Loot』 monsters from Demon Kings with 【Creation】 at rank A by making them surrender or killing them?

Furthermore ―― 『Diplomacy』.

It’s not said that this will actually happen, but if the famous Demon Kings turn their Domains into countries in the future…it’s possible for alternatives of coexistence other than fighting to appear. Alliances, cease-fire agreements…and dependencies. It’s unclear what kind of shape the diplomacy will take between Demon Kings, but…wouldn’t a rare existence like a Demon King with 【Alchemy】 at rank A be able to use his items created through 《Item Creation》 as cards in negotiations? There won’t be any need to use unique items for this either. If I raise【Alchemy】 to rank A, general purpose items like the Mithril Series, which can be created with 【Alchemy】 at rank B, might exist among the items that can be created with 【Alchemy】 at rank A.

Alright, it’s set in stone!

“――I’ll rank up 【Alchemy】.” I voice out the conclusion I’ve reached after delving into the sea of my thoughts.

◆

Now that I’m planning to spend my BP, my finger doesn’t really want to move. It’s been around one year since I last spent some BP, and the allotment of BP is a crucial decision, heavily influencing my future strategies. After returning to my Domain, I head back to my room, and call over Kanon and Yataro to have them give me a push.

“――For those reasons I’ve decided to rank up 【Alchemy】. What’s your take on this?” I explain my decision, which took a long time to reach, to the two.

“I see… Diplomacy, huh? You have come up with something interesting there, Shion.” Yataro smiles while placing a hand on his jaw.

“Indeed…! The strength of Rina, Kotetsu, and the former Demon Kings is on another level, yep.” Kanonon bustles around through the air in excitement.

“Ms. Strategist, hasn’t it been your recommendation for me to go with 【Creation】?”

Feeling unhappy with how easily they agree with my idea, I tease Kanon.

“T-That’s…I think I told you that I was advocating the standard approach as a strategist…I mean, there are reasons why a standard approach is seen as such… Didn’t everyone else also recommend 【Creation】!?”

In the end Kanon tries to ward off my teasing by getting angry despite having been in the wrong.

“Fu fu fu, Shion, don’t tease Kanon-jou so much.” Yataro extends a helping hand towards Kanon who’s at her wits’ end.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t ask you, did I Yataro? …If you were in my position, which would you rank up, 【Creation】 or 【Alchemy】?”

“That’s a silly question, isn’t it?” Yataro answers with an expression, brimming full of confidence.

“A silly question, huh…? So, what’s your answer?”

“――【Alchemy】.”

“Hooh… Why? You certainly won’t give me the same explanation I gave you a moment ago, right?”

I’m curious about Yataro’s reply that sounded like a confident declaration.

“Of course not. Shion, there are many advantages in ranking up 【Creation】. For example, if 《Domain Creation》 gets upgraded, it might become easier to defend thanks to new traps possibly becoming available. Also, it’s highly likely that you’ll be able to create new facilities to improve the residents’ living standards. But, what would be the biggest merit in your eyes, Shion?”

“An upgrade of 《Subordinate Creation》, I’d say.”

“Indeed. Considering your personality…you leave the planting of traps to me…and although you call it a country, you entrust all the smaller matters to your subordinates…well, that’s also fine in its own right. So the biggest benefit of ranking up 【Creation】 for you would be an upgrade of 《Subordinate Creation》, or in other words, the ability to create subordinates with higher ranks.”

“Yeah.”

“In that case, it’s 《Random Creation》! If Lady Luck smiles upon you…you’ll be able to create SSR subordinates, which will resolve that issue! Of course, Lady Luck is whimsical… It’s not easy to pull a SSR! But! Lady Luck always watches over us! She’s testing my…no, your belief in her! In short, by offering prayers to Lady Lucky…and repeatedly try――”

Afterwards Yataro kept rattling on and on about the benefits of 《Random Creation》.

Chapter 198 – Creation and Alchemy ⑤

“To sum it up, you two have no objections about me going with 【Alchemy】, right?”

“Correct. However, because of that, the number of 《Random Creation》runs, which has been limited to once a month so far, has to――”

“I’ll think about this matter at a later point in time.”

“Really!?” Support the translation of this by reading it at infinite translations

“Yeah, I’ll take it into consideration.”

The possibility that I’ll reject the idea as a result of those considerations is high, but…it’s unnecessary to mention this now. I wanted to reach the conclusion that 【Alchemy】 is the correct choice through a slightly more worthwhile debate, but…I can’t expect any more at this point. The one making the final decision is me, anyway.

I’ve decided to rank up 【Alchemy】.

“Once I rank up 【Alchemy】, we’ll become very busy, okay?”

A higher rank of 【Alchemy】 connects to a strengthening of a Demon King.

“That means we’re going to attack soon?” Kanon asks with a serious look, missing her usual silly tone.

Demon King Kaoru’s current level is 17. This is a piece of information passed on by a human of Kanezawa who has reached the deepest part of a sector. Kaoru, a Devil Demon King with an assumed stat configuration of 【Body】 C, 【Mana】 B, 【Knowledge】 ?, 【Creation】 B, and 【Alchemy】 B.

Granted that Kaoru’s Body and Knowledge are stuck at the initial value of E…he’s saved 32 BP. If Kaoru has obtained the 『Special Service☆』 bonus like Kanon and me, his BP is at 42, but I don’t know of any other Demon King than Kanon who has managed to get that bonus.

Going by the worst-case-scenario, Kaoru will be able to rank up 【Creation】, 【Mana】 or 【Alchemy】 if he levels up twice from now on. If possible, I’d like to defeat Kaoru before that.

“Indeed. If things go badly, Kaoru could rank up 【Creation】, 【Mana】 or 【Alchemy】 to rank A after two more levels.”

“So you’re saying we’ll attack the humans of Kanezawa from our side before Kaoru can?”

“That’s the plan. We’ll need to use a certain extent of scheming, though.” I nod at Yataro.

◆

Yataro leaves the room in order to adjust the defenses. As if chasing after him, Kanon also leaves for the sake of doing her best with the leveling. Being left behind all by myself, I take out my smartphone to rank up 【Alchemy】.

Haaah…don’t get all nervous, me. It’ll be okay. My decision isn’t wrong.

While wrapped up in a weird atmosphere of tension, I tap the 【Alchemy】 entry on my phone’s display. Now that I’ve tapped on it once, there’s no way back. I barrage the screen with taps while watching my BP steadily decrease. The BP I’ve saved up over the period of a year vanishes in no time like a fleeting summer dream.

Name: Shion

Aptitude: Chaos

Race: Demon King (Vampire Lord)

Lv: 19

CP: 4700

Body: B (B)

Mana: B (C)

Knowledge: E

Creation: B

Alchemy: A (NEW)

BP: 2

– Demon King

– Vampire Lord

– Spearmanship (B)

→ Flash Thrust

→ Early-Summer Rain Thrust

→ Crescent Moon Slash

– Swordsmanship (E)

– Shield Mastery (E)

– Domain Creation

– Separation

– Reign

– Transfer (B)

– Subordinate Creation

– Random Creation

– Item Creation

– Sacred Treasure Creation (NEW)

– Darkness Veil

– Mist Dispersion

– Absorb

– Coercion

– Darkness Magic Enhancement

– Drain (Sarah Shion)

→ Language (Humanoids)

→ Language (Elves)

→ Fire Magic (Intermediate)

→ Fireball

→ Fire Arrow

→ Fire Lance

→ Firestorm

→ Fire Blast

→ Water Magic (Intermediate)

→ Water Ball

→ Water Heal

→ Water Lance

→ Waterstorm

→ Water Blast

→ Wind Magic (Intermediate)

→ Wind Cutter

→ Wind Arrow

→ Wind Chase

→ Storm

→ High Pressure

→ Earth Magic (Intermediate)

→ Earth Ball

→ Earth Shield

→ Earth Javelin

→ Earth Secure

→ Earth Blast

→ Darkness Magic (Intermediate)

→ Dark Arrow

→ Dark Lance

→ Dark Induction

→ Dark Storm

→ Dark Night Tempest

– Blood Chalice

– Contract

――?

An unfamiliar special ability has been added. 《Sacred Treasure Creation》…? Just from looking at the words displayed on the screen…my heart begins to leap. Sacred treasure ― written as vessel of the gods!

It’s a new special ability that has been prepared as an extra addition to 《Item Creation》. A special ability only available to those who have reached rank A in 【Alchemy】!

Pheewww, my decision hasn’t been wrong after all… Oops, I should get started on checking things for now.

First I’ll confirm the new items that can be created. On top of grasping the CP costs for items of the highest rank, I’ll calculate the CP necessary to equip my leaders with the new stuff. In addition, it’s necessary for me to check the CP costs for general-purpose items, and then make calculations on how much CP I’ll need for full sets. I’m really curious about 《Sacred Treasure Creation》, but what I should check first is 《Item Creation》. If I were to check 《Sacred Treasure Creation》 first…it’d dampen the impact of the items that can now be created with 《Item Creation》.

I tap on my smartphone, selecting the 《Item Creation》 entry.

Okay, this is going to be slightly tough…

First I look at the highest-ranking items in the general-purpose category. The best general-purpose items for 【Alchemy】 B are items of the 『Mithril Series』. Each of the items requires 300 CP. Depending on the subordinate, you need weapons, shields, helmets, armor, gauntlets, leg protectors and so on. A full set usually costs a whopping 1800 CP.

The best general-purpose items for 【Alchemy】 A is the 『Orichalcum Series』. Each of the items requires 1500 CP. This is the same cost as my beloved spear Gáelbolg. So a full set requires…9000 CP!? The effect of gauntlets and leg protectors is low, so they’re not essential, but even without these two, it’s still 6000 CP. It’s way too much CP to give it away to some decoy living mail.

Now then, the question is whether the Orichalcum Series has the same performance as unique items, corresponding to its CP price. I think that’s vital to test.

Next I check the unique items. The unique items I can create at 【Alchemy】 A amount to 84 types.

The weapons: swords, two-handed swords, spears, katana, axes, two-handed axes, daggers, whips, blunt weapons, knuckles, wands, bows, throwing weapons, and a new category ― guns. 15 weapon types with three grades each, in total 45.

The protective gear: shields, armors, light armors, cloth armors, helmets, hats, gauntlets, leg protectors, and boots. Nine types with three grades, in total 27.

The accessories: rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Four types with three grades, in total 12.

The CP required to create them are the same per grade, with the first costing 5000, the second 7500, and the last 10,000. In other words, just the creation of the highest-graded unique items of all types requires 280,000 CP.

My current maximum CP is 23,500, so I recover 2350 CP per hour. The aggregate amount of CP I recover in one day amounts to 56,400 CP. However, I need around 5000 CP per day as running costs for the defense and the living expenses of my residents and subordinates. If I take a slight leeway into account…I’ll have 50,000 CP available per day that can be used for Alchemy.

I want to equip my leaders with the highest-graded protective gear items, and not just weapons. Launching the memo app on my smartphone, I list all the items for each of my leaders.

The highest-graded items, huh…? If it costs this much with 《Item Creation》, is 《Sacred Treasure Creation》 going to apply that infamous feature of using all CP at once? In such a case, just preparing my own equipment…spear, cloth armor, boots and accessories would take 40 hrs? Just when would I be finished with equipping my leaders…

Just this light calculation kills my festive mood. I guess I’ll check 《Sacred Treasure Creation》 for starters…

I tap on 《Sacred Treasure Creation》 .

“――Huh?”

What’s displayed on the screen makes yelp while gawking in disbelief.