A crowd of monsters stood in front of me.
　There are about thirty of them in total.

Here we go again.
It appears to be another magical weapon, Mr. Freed.

　Stella tells me, scanning me with her third eye.

'Stand back, Stella. I'll shoot them all out.

　I thrust my right hand straight out.

"'Homing Ray,'

　The tracking-type light bullets pierced all thirty monsters.

　Oooh........hmm.

　With a cry of agony, all the monsters fell down.
　They were annihilated in a single blow.



　They must have killed about five hundred monsters on the way here.

''Freed-sama, is your magic power okay?''
No problem. There's still room for more.

　I nod to a worried Stella.

Let's move on.

　We start walking again.

　A steep canyon filled with fog.
　The demon tribe we're looking for must be deep in there.

"The new master of polar magic...

　Well, there's a candidate.



　This was half a day ago.



Thank you for coming. My lieutenants, the demon chiefs.

　At the round table with eight seats, I told the three demons - Stella, Regal and Feria.

　I wore a robe and staff and a crown.
　It was the formal wear of a demon king.

　By the way, the staff was rarely used in actual battle and was just a decoration.
　It seems that it was originally an auxiliary tool for using magic power, but I can shoot magic normally without it.

　The only time I used this staff was when I fought the brave men for the first time.
　It had almost become a prop to create an atmosphere.

''Hang it up.''

　I sat down first and urged the three of them to sit down.

　Stella and the others bowed and sat down in their chairs.

　I look over at the three girls.

　A beautiful girl with long silver hair hangs on the seat next to me on my right.
　She is wearing a black military-style outfit.
　She's the chief of the Demon Army with the title of Vision, and she's also my aide, Stella, who can be considered my one arm.

　A skull knight wearing an old-fashioned metal armor sits in front of me.
　He holds the title of the Immortal King (Lord Undead) and is the Demon Army Chief Regal, who leads the undead army.

　And next to him on his left sits a dainty maiden with pale pink hair that extends to her feet.
　Her sensational outfit that could be mistaken for her underwear and her bat-like wings.
　The title of the Dream Demon Princess (Dead Charm) was Demon Army Chief Feria, who excelled at mental interference type magic.

''So now there are three Demon Warlords.

　There are a total of eight seats at the round table.
　One is for me and the remaining seven are for the Demon Commander.

　Today, me and the demon chiefs had a meeting to discuss the defense of the demon world.

We have about two and a half months until the brave men invade the demon world. We have to be ready to intercept them.

　I told the three men.

'If I were as powerful as you, O king, wouldn't I be able to eradicate the humans?

　Regal asked.
　A golden glint in the skull's eye socket shoots straight through me.

''Don't underestimate the humans, Regal. The power of the brave men, especially those at the top, is quite impressive.''

　I shake my head quietly.

　However, he does have a point.
　It's true that if I went to the human world and launched a series of top-tier wide-area destruction spells like Mega Fire and Mega Thunder, I could cause devastating damage to an entire country.

　But──that would be a mere slaughter.

　This is too far beyond the category of fighting for self-defense.
　The slaughter would create a cycle of hatred.

　And there is another reason for that.

　My fight with Lyle left me vulnerable for a time.
　If the same thing happens again I may be caught unawares.

"Our national strength in the demon world was also eroded in the last battle. We need to prepare ourselves first.
So it's all about war prevention? Then, when they attack, my undead army will kick their asses.
You have a lot of confidence.

　Feria looked at Regal with a smirk on her face.

'You're going to get a payback, aren't you?　Are you okay?
What?

　Regal stared at her mischievous tone of voice.
　The same is true for Stella and Regal, but it seems that the demon army chiefs do not get along with each other very well.

The first thing that comes to mind is the use of 'Nightmare World' to intercept the heroes or something like that the other day, Feria?

　I'm the one who asks, partly as an intervention.

''Oh, it's impossible~. The last time my power was out of control, I was able to expand my mental field to such an extent, but I can't last long like that.

　Feria shook her head.

'It's very tiring and-'
We don't need the power of dreams and tricks.

　Regal said arrogantly.

''Those irreverent humans will be kicked to the curb by my sword here.
"Brains.

　Feria blurted out.

'Oh, but he's undead, so he doesn't have a brain.
Are you still taunting me?

　There is something disturbing mixed in with Regal's tone of voice.
　Or rather, it's been a much more disturbing tone towards Feria since a while ago.

　I hope that the executives will get along with each other if possible........

''Both of you are in the presence of the Demon King. Refrain.

　Stella interrupted.

'Yes, yes,'
Hmm.
'Yes, Regal was searching for any remnants of the brave men.

　I broached another subject.

"What have you got to show for it?
''Ha. We searched the remaining areas as we did the other day, but we couldn't find any remnants of the brave men. I thought they had all been eradicated or expelled in the last battle.
Yeah. Thank you.

　And I'll be sure to nurse Regal.

As long as the wards of the demon world are not broken, we can assume that the threat of the heroes has passed for the time being.

　I looked around again at the three of them.

"Then let's arrange the division of labour next...



　There are seven demon armies in the demon world, headed by seven demon army chiefs.
　After consulting with the three demon army chiefs, I have reassigned these demon armies to new roles.

　The undead and beastmen are to be guarded in and around the demon world.
　The demons who control magic are responsible for monitoring and inspecting the wards.
　The demons who have excellent sensory organs, such as eye and hearing demons, are to be searched for enemies and to collect information.
　The dream demons are prepared to defend themselves in case of mental attacks.

　However, most demon clans are not that strong in battle.
　A more robust defensive posture is needed.

''As I thought, I'd like to have a single-armed strongman.

　Me muttering.
　''I don't know how far I can cover the entire vast demon world by myself.

''At the very least, we'll need to decide on the replacements for the three Demon Army Chiefs who were killed in the last battle.

　Stella said.

"As soon as possible, as soon as possible...

　Regal looks at me.

We also need to find out where the Beast Emperor (Gigantroa) Zeggert, whose whereabouts are unknown after his invasion of the human world. That person is truly a fierce competitor. It would be difficult for me to win in a one-on-one match.

　...You're really that powerful, aren't you, Zeggert?
　I'd love to see him join the defense of the demon world.

Can you manage to find Zeggert?
I'll send a demon who's good at exploration.

　It was Stella who answered.

'How about I go out in person and find you?

　That's just the way it was last time, he's going to return to the Demon World as soon as he meets up with Zegert.

''No, the place he was attacking has a large number of brave souls, and even the Demon King is in danger of being attacked.

　Stella shook her head.

''Also──I would like the Demon King-sama to focus on selecting a new Demon Army Chief. We should have as much of a defensive system in place as possible before the warding is broken.
Well that's true, but...

　Then I'd like to find Zegert even more.

Let me go to Zegart.

　Regal came forward.

'Oh, will you go?'
I'm probably the most familiar with the geography of the human world out of all of them. And as for my abilities as a fighter, I'm probably more qualified.
Regal, you just do things the right way.

　And then Feriah makes a tea party.

'My king, may I?'
Oh, don't ignore me!

　Feria's lips twitched in a sultry way.