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

Chapter 23

My current status is―

Name: Shion

Aptitude: Chaos

Race: Demon King (Vampire)

Lv.: 3

CP: 260

Body: D (E)

Mana: D (E)

Knowledge: E

Creation: C

Alchemy: B

BP: 6

Special Abilities:

The BP necessary to advance a stat from E to D is 2. D -> C requires 5 BP, and C -> B requires 10 BP.

What bothers me is the value in brackets behind the values of Body and Mana.

The values of Body and Mana before evolving were E. But now they have gone up to D, and the value inside the brackets next to them is E, the original value before my evolution.

What I can think of is the vampire’s special trait ―『Body and Mana will be strengthened as long as the vampire stays in a space of darkness』.

Right now I’m inside a dungeon that blocks out sunlight. In other words, a space of darkness?

Currently, it’s just the right moment as there are no invaders in my Domain. It’s a good opportunity.

Since experiments without rehearsals are scary…if I remember correctly, within Domain Creation…I operate my smartphone and tap 『Domain Creation』.

Oh!? Found it!

I select 『Forest』 from 『Type Modification』.

『Will you modify the entire Domain (Cost: 300 CP)? Will you make a partial modification (Cost: 30 CP)?』

I choose partial modification and specify a small area close to my own room that’s about the same size as well.

The sound of the ground rumbling can be heard in the distance.

『Type Modification completed.』

Well then, guess it’s time to go there and check it out.

For the first time in 62 days, I took a step outside of my room.

It’s a 10 minutes walk from my room to the forest area. As I’m walking through the gloomy dungeon, I finally arrive at a strange place with sunlight pouring down from the sky and trees overgrowing thickly.

Whoa…how dazzling!?

Seemingly having completely turned into a vampire in both, mind and body, the sunlight stings my eyes excessively.

Pheeew…don’t get nervous, me.

I take a deep breath and slowly exhale. While trembling out of nervousness, I walked into forest space.

Wh-!?

The instant I’m basked in sunlight, I’m assailed by a heavy dizziness.

This is…quite severe. It’s a good thing I ran this experiment…

Even while being afflicted by dizziness, I somehow manage to take out my smartphone and check my status.

Name: Shion

Aptitude: Chaos

Race: Demon King (Vampire)

Lv.: 3

CP: 237

Body: F (E)

Mana: F (E)

Knowledge: E

Creation: C

Alchemy: B

BP: 6

Special Abilities:

I see. So it didn’t return to E but instead fell all the way to F? Moreover, Dark Arrow vanished. It seems Dark Arrow isn’t a special ability that I acquired through the evolution, but rather, it appears to be a special ability I acquired as a result of my Mana growing to D.

Having finished checking my status, I force my sluggish body to walk and escape the forest space.

Pheeew…

Confirming that my body has become light again, I breathe out heavily.

What I was able to confirm is that E is the basic value of my Body and Mana.

In other words, if I assign 2 BP to them, they should grow to D.

But, it won’t be amusing if there’s an invisible fluctuation of BP. For example, even the same rank D will have have a state where 2 BP had been allocated to a value and another state where 6 BP had been allocated.

It would be nice if it’s the former, but likewise it would be troublesome if it’s the latter.

In the first place, does the D rank with 6 BP allocated and the D rank with 2 BP allocated have the same performance? Is it simply not being made visible but is actually different somehow?

No good. If I start with such deliberations, I won’t get anywhere.

I block the questions that suddenly popped up in my head and shift my thinking towards what I should consider with maximum priority.

The way to assign my BP. I have two options.

1.) Assign 2 BP to Body and Mana each, making them grow from E to D.

2.) Save them so that I can grow Creation from C to B when I level up once more next time.

Let’s leave Knowledge as is. If I even allocated BP to Knowledge, I would end up becoming a Jack of all trades but master of none.

I shut my eyes and imagine situations that can happen from now on based on the information I have acquired.

Alright, I have made up my mind.

I will divide the BP from the 【Status】 entry.

I tap Body twice ― the value of Body grows to C (D). Next I tap Mana twice ― the value of Mana grows to C (D) as well.

The means of strengthening is the former ― ranking them up by 1 each.

Once I enter the space with the sunlight and overgrown trees to test once more, the values of Body and Mana fell to E (D)

There are two reasons why I assigned BP to Body and Mana.

First, the humans’ statuses were much lower than I had assumed. If the statement in “Yay lol”-kun’s SNS is no lie, his value of Body at level 8 is E. In other words, if a Demon King assigns BP, it’s easily possible to exceed his Body value.

Second, the experiments to be carried out from now on ― they will be affected by 『Absorb』. Depending on the effect of 『Absorb』, it will become necessary for me to join the front line as well. I want to have enough strength to at least be able to protect myself if the situation needs it.

Having finished assigning my BP, I check my new status.

Name: Shion

Aptitude: Chaos

Race: Demon King (Vampire)

Lv.: 3

CP: 252

Body: C (D)

Mana: C (D)

Knowledge: E

Creation: C

Alchemy: B

BP: 2

Special Abilities:

『Dark Induction: Induces thoughts with the power of darkness.』

Having raised my Mana, I acquired a new special ability. As far as I can see from the description, it’s a special ability of the mind attack category?

Wait, first thing I should do is finishing things according to priority.

What I have to do next after having allocated BP ― confirming what the Blood Chalice’s creation conditions are.

『Blood Chalice: Creation of a chalice filled with one’s everything. To create it, all CP will be consumed.』

All CP, what does that mean, exactly? Can I create it if I consume 252 CP ― all of the CP I’m currently possessing, or is it necessary to use 300 CP, the maximum value I can possess?

If it’s the former, the creation of the Blood Chalice becomes simple. It’s painful that my CP will become 0 each time I create it, but if I create it while calculating in advance, the problem will be resolved. However, if it’s the latter, it will be necessary to plan more carefully from now on.

I push out both hands in front of me with my palms turned upwards and chant,

― Blood Chalice

…

Nothing’s happened. Once I checked my status as test, not even 1 CP had been used up.

I guess the latter – consuming the maximum of 300 CP – is necessary.

That hurts. It takes 10 hours to recover 300 CP from 0. Going by calculation, I can’t create more than 2 bloodkin per day. Moreover, if I choose to do that, I can’t use CP for anything else at all during that time.

It’s indispensable to drastically change how my Domain works.

“Aaaaaah! What a major pain in the ass!”

I spontaneously shouted due to the many items that have to be examined.

Chapter 24

Creating bloodkin produces the necessity to wait for my CP to recover.

I move on to the next priority I need to handle. I switch over to the next experiment ― checking the abilities of the new subordinates.

The new subordinates I am able to create now due to having evolved to a Demon King (Vampire) are the three species:

Giant Bat – Rank E. Creation cost: 5 CP.

Ghoul – Rank D. Creation cost: 10 CP.

Lycanthrope – Rank D. Creation cost: 30 CP.

What makes me curious before checking their abilities aren’t the new subordinates, but how only the bat’s creation cost decreased.

At this point in time I can create a bat for 2 CP. Originally it had been 3 CP.

Was it decreased by 1 CP or did it become 2 CP as result of being rounded up after the value of 3 CP was reduced by half?

If it’s the latter, it means the original creation cost for a giant bat is 10 CP, resulting in the same CP (strength) as a kobold.

Thus, let’s begin experimenting.

“Fight. However, killing the opponent isn’t allowed.”

I ordered a giant bat and a kobold to fight each other.

“Kii kii kii.”

Making use of its big frame, the giant bat begins a dive attack against the kobold from the sky. In opposition to that, the kobold prepares to jump with a crouching stance in order to repel the giant bat that’s descending from above.

Fierce collisions keep repeating. At times, the bat bites the kobold with its huge fangs. Other times the kobold jumps atop the bat and thrusts its canines deeply into the bat’s wings.

In the end the giant bat managed to barely win.

The deciding move was the bat biting deeply into the kobold’s nape after inhibiting its movement through ultrasonic waves.

10 CP…takes 20 minutes to recover. I guess it’s within the range of measurement error. I create 2 giant bats and then order them to fight against 2 kobolds next. Given that the consumption of stamina by the giant bat and kobold, who fought before, was great, I have them rest.

The outcome was the 2 kobolds achieving a narrow victory. Their combined power through cooperation was one step higher than the bats.

What can be surmised from the battle results just now was that the subordinates with good compatibility to me had their creation cost reduced by half.

“Fight. However, killing the opponent isn’t allowed.”

Next I order a ghoul and an orc to fight each other.

“Voooeooo!”

“Buhiiii!”

The ghoul slowly approaches the orc and suddenly swings its arms downwards. In contrast, the orc thrusts its two big tusks growing out from its mouth towards the ghoul.

The sound of a violent clash reverberates in the area. The orc, who was hit by the ghoul, is sent flying backwards. The ghoul had also been wounded by the tusks at the base of its throat, but without minding it in the slightest, it starts chasing after the orc.

Uwah!? The ghoul is really amazing…

The blow of the ghoul that can’t equip any kind of weapon can be summed up with strong.

Judging that it won’t be much of a match at this rate, I toss a spear, it’s own specialized weapon, to the orc.

The orc, who obtained a spear, makes repeated thrusts, capitalizing on the distance and thus preventing the ghoul to draw close. However, without caring about being stabbed by the spear, the ghoul determinedly delivers blows against the orc over and over again.

Eventually the ghoul won.

Both of them were on the verge of death. The ghoul beat the orc, who slowed down his attacks in order to not kill the opponent, to death without care.

The winning ghoul raises a roar.

Eh? Is this guy an idiot? Did it forget my order?

Ghouls will absolutely be excluded from ever becoming bloodkin. That’s my decision after having observed the result of this time’s battle.

Next, at last the main event!

Checking the ability of the lycanthrope ― the being that caught my interest the most.

Lycanthrope. In spite of being rank D, it costs 30 CP. If I apply the rule from just now, it should have a strength equivalent to a creation cost of 60 CP. At the moment the C rank dark elf is the subordinate with the highest rank I can create. Its creation cost was 50 CP before the evolution.

Even though it should have a higher creation cost than a dark elf, its rank is lower.

What’s the answer to that?

“Fight. However, killing the opponent is definitely not allowed.”

I ordered a lycanthrope and a dark elf to battle each other.

Will the winner be the dark elf with the higher rank, or the lycanthrope with the higher creation cost?

Even if the lycanthrope managed to win for argument’s sake, I absolutely won’t tolerate any casualties. The dark elf’s creation cost is 100 CP. Currently I only have 10 dark elves in total. If possible I don’t want to lose a single one of them.

“※※※※！”

“＃＃＃＃！”

They clash with each other while shouting incomprehensible words.

The unpredictable battle between the lycanthrope and the dark elf began.

…Eh?

The lycanthrope is being completely trashed in front of my eyes.

The lycanthrope continues to receive the blows unleashed by the dark elf’s flexible body. The lycanthrope also unleashes attacks in desperation, but at times the dark elf easily blocks those with its fists and other times magnificently dodges the attacks.

“Wai-!? Time out!”

I clap my hands together in a hurry, suspending the battle.

Afterwards I lowered the difficulty and had the lycanthrope fight against an orc and then a kobold. Eventually the lycanthrope managed to win a narrow victory against a goblin.

How weak.

As a test I had it equip various weapons such as sword, spear, ax and bow, but its strength didn’t change dramatically.

Going by its strength, it’s on par with a level 1 human.

『Lycanthrope – Rank D. A species cursed to be possessed by beasts. It displays its true strength when basked in moonlight. Until that happens, its true identity will remain unknown. Creation Cost: 30 CP』

Umm, moonlight…in short, this guy’s limited to outdoors at night?

Ah!? Come to think of it…

I operate my smartphone and choose 【Domain Creation】 → 【Type Modification】.

『Moonlit night: Will transform the area into a dark space basked in moonlight.』

Oh!? Yes, this is it.

『Are you going to modify the entire Domain? (Cost: 1000 CP)』

…

What happened to a partial modification, ah?

I gave up on checking out the lycanthrope’s abilities.

◆

By the time I finished checking my subordinates’ abilities, my CP recovered to 282. 32 minutes until my CP will be fully recovered.

Making use of this time, I decided to check out the new special abilities I acquired.

My newly acquired special abilities are ― 『Dark Arrow』, 『Dark Induction』, 『Absorb』。『Blood Chalice』 and 『Contract』 will have to wait until my CP has recovered.

Special abilities ― unknown powers that could be called magic in a certain sense.

I was able to understand how to use them by instinct the moment I acquired them.

How are you moving your right hand? Did anyone teach you how to move your right hand? You can move it even without learning how to. It was the same when I acquired the special abilities; I simply knew by instinct.

I thrust out my right hand and chant,

―Dark Arrow!

Ten jet-black arrows, which materialized around my right hand, are released towards the target area ― a stone wall with no one nearby.

Once the jet-black arrows collided with the wall, they caused an intense crashing sound alongside a large cloud of dust.

Uoh…that startled me.

Even though I’m the one that fired them, I’m shocked by the destructive power within them that goes beyond what I had imagined before.

Just how much force will they have if they actually hit someone? I send a look towards the subordinates waiting in the vicinity.

Except for the ghoul, all other subordinates quickly avert their eyes, apparently having sensed something.

As expected, using my subordinates as dummy targets is…no good, I suppose?

Concluding that there’s no need to pointlessly decrease the number of subordinates, I stopped the test-firing.

I guess I will switch my thinking and check out the next special ability.

The target will be…a goblin, I guess? As expected, I won’t be able to test the next special ability without a cooperating target.

I concentrate my attention on the goblin and chant while snapping the fingers of my right hand.

―Dark Induction!

A black mist covers the head of the targeted goblin.

“Giigiigii!”

The targeted goblin starts attacking another goblin next to it with blank eyes that made it obvious that it had lost any and all reason, just like the ghoul before. Once the attacked goblin withdraws from the spot, the goblin under the effect of Dark Induction begins to dance unsteadily on the spot like a drunken middle-aged man.

Confusion? Or does it steal the reasoning of the target?

Afterwards I test it out several times by changing targets. I understood that the success rate isn’t 100%. From 10 times it only succeeded 2 times against a dark elf.

Next is finally the examination of 『Absorb』!

It has the potential to greatly strengthen me ― I feel excited about testing 『Absorb』.