The concept of the second level is - wear and tear of physical strength.

　Stepping into the second level, the intruder will see a huge 2km long x 2km wide space.

　In this huge space, a swarm of cosmic ghouls with overwhelming power and reckless endurance is placed under your command, sacrificing their intelligence for intelligence. A group of Wolves, led by a Black Wolf, who use their quick movements and unified coordination to toy with their enemies. The goblin archers with their bows and arrows at the ready stand behind them.

　Behind the subordinates, a huge torch object shining brilliantly illuminated the stairs leading to the three levels.

　This structure indicated a message from me to the intruders.

　-- "There's no need for mapping. Just come on.

　Humanity's standard method of releasing the dominant regions is to repeatedly invade the dominant regions while mapping them.

　In fact, the invading Brave Lord's party also used the same method to free four dominant regions.

　This method was indeed reasonable. From the Demon King's point of view, it could be called the worst move.

　By repeatedly breaking in, the intruders would defeat the demons and level up while maintaining a safety margin.

　Ensuring a safety margin = no experience from the demon king's point of view. The intruder defeats the demon = only CP is wasted. It's the very worst cycle.

　So I showed them the way. 'Just come on.'

　If the intruders this time - the heroes-sama's group didn't accept my invitation, in other words, if they turned back, the countermeasure would shift to Plan B.

　Plan B. To put it succinctly, it's a mud-slinging battle of mutual attrition.

　The enemy will waste CP by repeatedly breaking in and taking out my men. I aim to destroy each of them one by one, and I'm sure to chip away at their strength.

　The conflict is protracted, and the amount of experience I get for every CP I consume is drastically reduced. In order for us to grow in line with the enemy's growth rate, we'll also have to send our subordinates out of the second dominant region to earn a small amount of experience.

''Well, just like some [physical] specialized demon species, if I, as the Demon King, fight on the front lines, there is a possibility that I can defeat them at no cost, but.......it's a big risk.

　In front of the staircase leading to the second level, I sigh while looking at the heroic party taking a rest.

''But if you're Sion-san, if you swing your BP to 【Body】 or 【Magic Power】, wouldn't you be able to get the same level of strength as the specialized type?

　Kanon asks me as I sigh.

'Hmmm, I'd like to save my BP to get my creation to a B-grade if possible.

　I was saving the BP I got when I grew to level 4. The reason was to grow the creation from C to B.

Well, depending on the situation, it might be possible to grow the [physical] body...

　I stopped talking and turned my attention back to the live footage of the brave party on my smartphone.

　What is the path that the Kanazawa City-approved brave party has chosen?


　◇


　(Rina Sayama)

　We took a slight rest and then descended the stairs leading to the second level.

'--What?'

　A voice of dismay leaked out from Yuya, who was the first to walk to the second floor.

　I followed suit and stepped into the second level.

　--!

　I was overwhelmed by the scene that spread out in front of me.

　An overwhelming expanse of space. How wide is it?　If you look over to the left, you will see a wall that is slightly visible. It's probably more than a kilometer away. Looking over to the right, it's the same distance. The depth is even wider....2km? No, a little more distance?

　A myriad of demons wandered through the overwhelmingly wide space, with no obstacles or passages.

　On one level, there was a maze-like structure with frequent forks and dead ends, a large bat that could only be thought of to irritate us, and a swarm of rats. And a myriad of childish traps. It was a labyrinth-like structure that could only be thought of as having the purpose of making us lose our minds.

　The Demon King who destroyed it said, 'The dominant area is created by the Demon King. This is not an established theory, but a fact that we heard from the dying Demon King himself.

　If that's the case, then the maze-like one level that seems to make fun of us and the two levels of space that can only be thought of as wanting to break through through through the forcefulness that spreads out before us were both created by the same Demon King.

　It's as if the dominant realm is made up of opposite layers. What kind of existence was the Demon King that controlled this dominant realm?

'Eeeewww, what's this?　Monster House?

　Masakad, standing in line next to me, makes a fed up noise.

''So, Hideya. What do we do now?

　Yuya asks senior Ando.

　After conquering the hierarchy, you can briefly investigate the next level and turn back. It's common sense to capture the dominant area while mapping the composition of the monsters that appear, the characteristics of the hierarchy, and the mapping.

'Eeeewww, Glasses-kun?　You see that thing too, don't you?

　The Massacado pointed to a giant torch that blazed brilliantly, illuminating - the stairs leading to the third level.

　It was as if they were calling to us - the stairs made their presence felt.

'This doesn't require any mapping, does it? Is it really the same dominant area as before?　Common sense dictates that we should turn back and plan our strategy once we do...
Eeeewww, Glasses?　Are you kidding me?　I don't want to go through that one level more than once, okay?
'Eiya. I think we should move on now, too. Fortunately, I was pissed off at the first level, but no one was injured. Condition-wise, we should be in good shape.
''Ando-senpai........ I don't want to go through the first level too many times.

　Masakado, Yuuya, and Saori suggest that Masakado, Yuuya, and Saori continue the attack to Ando-senpai, who shrugs his shoulders in annoyance.

''Indeed........ Since it's already mapped when you come back out, the breakthrough of one level will be shortened and your fatigue might be better than now. However, we still have enough energy left to continue the attack in the current situation. Most importantly - let's keep attacking for the many people who expect us to do well and hope to be released as soon as possible!

Ewww!
Hey!
Yes!
I understand.
Yes, sir.

　Following Ando's words, the selected members of the team showed their support one by one. I, too, was going with the flow and agreed to continue the attack.


　◆


　It's been three hours since we started attacking the second level.
　His movements are monotonous, but he is a strong and reluctant ghoul. The Wolf is easy to take down if the attack hits, but he's good at quick movement and coordination. And countless bows and arrows shot from behind. We were steadily increasing our wounds and accumulating fatigue.

　The staircase leading to the third level was only about 1km away. We had a long way to go.


　It had been six hours since we began our attack on the second level.
　One of the back ups scattered its life in the middle of the road. Do the demons have a will?　He was moving around from side to side and backwards, as if he were aiming for a back-up or a companion that was waiting behind him.

　I wondered if we were now at the halfway point of the path leading to the stairs leading to the third level. The distance between the stairs leading to the second level we had come from and the torch-lit stairs leading to the third level felt about the same.

　It would be dangerous to continue on like this, but looking back at the path we took, the path leading to the second level was also filled with demons. It was hell to go forward and hell to go back. We may have misjudged our decision to retreat.

''Eiya!　What are we going to do, turn back?
'Well this situation is...'
Eeeewww, I'm not wasting my time coming here!　Let's go for the rest stop!

　Yuya asks for a decision. Ando-senpai struggling with the answer. As a result, we followed Masakad's words and headed for the stairs leading to the third level.


　Ten hours had passed since we started attacking the second level.

　Two more back ups scattered their lives.

''That's why I said we should turn back then!
What?　I didn't say a word about that!

　Yuya and Masakad cursing at each other while fighting the ghouls. The usual leeway was gone from Masakad.

'Cack!　Hey, Rina!　You're going to have to be a little more careful with that!

　Saori, bitten by the Wolf, lashes out at me.

'I said it!　I told you!
What?　You can't just turn around and leave in this situation!　Look at that!
Please calm down, both of you!
"'Huh?　Mostly because of Hideya's (Megane-kun) indecision, right?

　Yuya and Masakad are arguing, and they take their anger out on Ando-senpai, who tries to stop them.

　Fatigue has reached its peak, and there are more and more acrimonious scenes of abuse between the two friends.

　The worst......... The people around us may be proud of us as 'brave' and 'heroic', but inside of us we are just children in high spirits who have fallen in love with the dream of being heroes.

　The staircase leading to the third floor has only 500 meters to go, and what awaits us on the other side of the staircase is hope or not.