Chapter 2: SPEED-RUN IS THE ONLY ANSWER
I telepathically dialed the 24/7 Emergency Hotline of the Companion of Justice for hours and still, nobody picked up. Tears welled at the corners of my eyes and started dripping down in two silver stream.
I looked around the predominantly white hall that I was summoned to as my vision blurred. That priestess who introduced herself as Teressa still had that confused look on her face, doe eyes as if she was in a dream.
The current situation is especially bad for many reasons.
At this point, I could care less about my job perfect completion rate of 100%. I need to return to my wife quickly before she goes banana and destroys a universe or two. Once that happened, even with the entire squad of No.001, No.002 and I combined, it would take us weeks before we could calm her down.
Of course, this moronic priestess Teressa had no idea what kind of catastrophic incident she has just caused. She and the rest of her world did not take the flyers of our company seriously. They did not take the words of our company flyers at the face value.
After failing at dialing the emergency hotline for the zenith time of the day, I was frustrated and looked at the roster of Heroes of our company, dialing telepathically for a friend who is on duty and not summoned for a job.
"What's up Naf? How is the honeymoon going on for you?"
The cheerful voice of Zegray, a close friend and colleague of mine, echoed within my ear canals.
"Yo, Z, I need you to help me right now. Some idiot on Terran 1051 just used the Emergency Summon function to summon me." I told Zegray while staring at the perpetrator with my most intimidating look.
"Shieeet," Zegray cursed, "That's fuckup, dude. Did you call your wife and talk to her about it?" Z's voice was especially high pitched, ringing within my ears. He's obviously freaking out. He is one of a few who truly knows how terrifying my wife is the last time she's on a rampage. That stuff was like a millennium ago.
"I tried. However, the Galaxyfarfaraway universe, where we are having our honeymoon, is out of the service area. I could not connect to her."
"Fuucck, you are so screwed. Why would you even holding your honeymoon in that backwater region?" Z cursed again and asked, "What do you need Naf?"
"I cannot connect to the 24/7 Emergency Hotline. I need to get rid of the <24-hour no return> status on my head right now. I can't teleport back to my world." I told Z.
As long as the <24-hour no return> status is still sticking on the area above my head, I have to stay in the world which I was summoned to until that status expires. That status is branded on every Hero who is summoned via the Emergency Summon to ensure the Heroes would not abandon the people who are in extreme need before a substitution or reinforcement could arrive. The Emergency Summon function is only available to old customers who the company trusted.
Therefore, I am required to get rid of that status to return to my wife.
"Dude, you did not know?" Z made a strange question.
"What?" I scowled at the strange question that Z pose.
"Ty and Leshrac were summoned a week ago. Lian took a few days off, family business as usual. DD is on sick leave. Kylo was re-summoned two days ago. They said that the Demon Lord that she supposedly killed has recently re-spawned again."
"That's the entire Department!" I screamed internally and externally. I clutched my head and could not believe in what I have just listened. "Shouldn't our company have a clause to prevent this kind of case from happening?" I started to bang my head against the wall again.
"What else can I do for you Naf?" Z asked.
"Come here Z. I need your help to clear this case." I told Z.
"Of course, I'm glad to help you brother. However, you know that I'm no good at dealing with Demon God and things like that. They are your specialty."
"No, it's a Demon Lord."
"Maaaaan, this is definitely not your day, isn't it? You are like royally screwed big time." Z's voice cracked up inside my head. It was like he was laughing at the other side of the line.
"I know. Come here quickly Z. I have to clear this case before my wife notices me missing."
"What's the level of the Demon Lord?"
"I have not asked them yet. Wait a second," I told Z and turned at Teressa the priestess who summoned me for the case, "You," I called her and the moronic priestess turned to look around as if there were other people in the hall. "You, yes you. Do you see another person in this hall? There is just me and you. Of course, I'm talking to you. What's the level of the Demon Lord?"
"It's over 9,000, O Hero," she replied.
"What?" I screamed, freaking out. I sorted of leaking that scream into the telepathic call by accident.
"What?" Z's anxious voice echoed within my head.
"It's over 9,000," The priestess confirmed.
"Yo, Z, they said it's over 9,000," I screamed into the line.
"What? What the heck? How come that bastard has not evolved already at that level? Are you sure it's not level 900 instead?" Z freaked out as well.
"Hang on," I told Z, "Is that number a mistake?
"No, Hero. It's over 9,000," Teressa confirmed the information once again in her monotonous voice.
"Lady, has anyone ever told you that the way you talk is like an auto-reply machine?" I shot the priestess a daggered glare and started talking to Z again. "Z. It's not a mistake. This Demon Lord is one of those insufferable fools who keeps holding an Ever-rock as he levels up."
"I can't deal with that. He's like 3,000 levels ahead of me. I don't usually deal with anything above level 5,000." Z shouted.
No wonder he got stuck at level 6,000-ish for decades. He only took the job when he has confirmed that the Demon Lord he is tasked with is 1,000 levels below him or more.
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"I know. I don't usually deal with this shit either. Who else is currently on duty and not summoned? Rope in as many as you could. Tell them that I will pay them extra credit. Tell them that it is an emergency."
"I don't think anyone would be thrilled to deal with this case. Usually, those that are above level 9,000 are one of yours and the Twenty's. We don't deal with something like that."
"I know Z. But, every single one of them is currently summoned. I can't ask them for help. Do something about it Z, please. Just don't bring trainees into this case. I will call you again later. I have to work out all the information related to this Demon Lord."
"I will do what I can," said Z and hung up.
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
The numbers of people who came and responded to my Emergency summon hit 25. Adding Z and myself to the roster, it's 27.
The last time I have seen this many Heroes answered to a single summon was around the era when my beloved wife was still on active duty as a Demon Goddess of War. She has retired for centuries and at the moment looks like the most harmless woman in the world. However, the fact that she was once the Ace and the leader of Ally of Villain, a company founded by Demon Lords, still holds true.
Though, other than I and Z, the rest of the squad is junior Heroes. Only three of them have experienced their first Ascension. The highest level Hero after Z is Desgia Dai Nichi, topping the level at 4,500. The rest averages around 3,300.
Our team is seriously under-leveled. I complained internally.
This is going to be a difficult speed run, I thought and began to clear my throat to get everyone's attention.
"The target is a level 9,000 Demon Lord type Dragon. Other than the ability to breathe fire, he has an incredible amount of life force and defense. His dragon scales are supposedly harder than diamond. So, make sure you remember that.
He can neutralize all type of magic spells that are below level 9,000 with his draconic anti-magic barrier. So don't waste your mana on those. However, Light and Dark magic attributes are the two exceptions to this case.
Therefore, team A, I need you guys to keep spamming your
Team B, you guys have to maintain
Team C, you are with me; we will tank all of his attacks and protect the rest of the squad.
Team D, you will be put under Z's command as a quick reaction unit. You will deal with any mobs that might show up and react to the situation accordingly. Any question?"
I completed my debriefing on the Demon Lord and looked around the room, waiting for anyone to raise the question.
"Yes, Mr. Summer. Do you think that it is even possible for us to clear this case within two hours?"
A girl with bob cut stood up, separated herself from the rank and inquired. I glanced through her brief resume that Z has sent me through a telepathic message. Even though she looks like a girl in her teen, she has ascended once, so she could be over a hundred years old.
"Chrys, right?" I confirmed her name and she nodded her head, "Call me Naf. No, my answer is no. It's not realistically possible for us to defeat such a powerful target within two hours. However, we will do it. Why? I will tell you the answer because we are Heroes. If we don't do it, nobody will and this world will be destroyed. If we don't do it, many innocent lives in this beautiful world will be lost to the Demon Lord." I told Chrys, spilling nothing but bullshit while employing a low, deep and suave tone to conduct the most heartfelt speech I had in a while.
"But why setting the deadline within two hours? I don't understand. If the target is so strong, we can take some time to weaken him and his force slowly," Chrys raised her brows, embarrassedly scratching her cheeks as she continued to ask.
"That's right. That's an excellent question. That's a question that I want to hear. Why two hours? The answer is: we cannot afford to waste more time dealing with this one demon lord. There is a universe, maybe two or three, currently facing the risked of being wiped out of the existence of a certain Demon Goddess. As a Hero, I need to be there and prevent such tragedy from happening." I solemnly declared, making a fist and thumping my chest with my clenched fist.
"Nice bullshit Naf," Z opened a secret telepathy channel to me and communicated, adding a thumb up emoji at the end of the message.
I internally replied to him with an expressionless emoji and dropped our telepathic conversation. I did all of that while maintaining my serious business face.
Of course, I was spouting bullshit left and right and Z knew it. However, it was a fact that if I could not return to my special duty honeymoon on time, there would be a very angry Demon Goddess on a rampage.
"You are just like everything I have thought, Mr. Summer." I could see Chrys struggled to try calling me Naf for a moment, then she resumed to call me Mr. Summer again. "You are such a shining and exemplary example for us junior Heroes to follow. Even though you are currently on holiday leave, you are still taking priority in saving people and upholding justice."
The bob cut hair girl clutched her two hands together and commented, making dreamy eyes.
I zipped my mouth shut and let her believed in whatever she believed.
"Can I also ask a question?" This time, it was Desgia's turn to inquire.
"Yes, please," I nodded my head.
"Ummm, I have wanted to ask for a while now. Who is that man you are using as a chair?" Desgia pointed his finger at the human chair that I have been sitting on.
"Oh, this?" I pointed a finger at my human chair and quickly slapped its greasy and sweaty head in a spur of anger, "Don't mind him. He's just a fool who self-proclaimed himself as the Holy Emperor and rightful ruler of this world."
Desgia gulped loudly, rolling his widened eyes at my human chair.
"Am I correct?" I angrily slapped my human chair in its head again.
"Yes, master, you are absolutely correct. I'm a fool, a massive fool. Please spare me," my human chair cried, banging his head against the carpeted floor of his throne room. The indulgent red of the carpet turned dark as his tears wetted the fabric.
Most people in the room are looking at the fool with concerned eyes, laced with pity. I felt my anger flared up and unconsciously slapped my human chair again.
"Do not empathize with this fool. He's the only reason that we are having such an Emergency Summon. He monopolized the Heroic Summon leaflets. He could have made the usual Heroic Summon years ago, yet he didn't. He blackmailed the entire world to submit to him. Otherwise, he would not make the attempt to summon a Hero. After that, he allied himself with the Demon Lord and allowed the Demon Lord to devour one-third of this world's population. That bloody Demon Lord was first discovered when it was around level 4,000. Now, it's over 9,000 thanks to this fool. It's only now that he realized that there is nobody can stand up against him and challenges his rule that he made the attempt to summon us Heroes." I seethed, slapping his head again and again.
As soon as I ended my call with Z and worked on the information regarding the Demon Lord, the detailed data that Teressa and the army provided me struck me in a weird way. The data and documents are extremely detailed, vivid and clear that it is very unusual.
Normally, the information regarding a Demon Lord is very obscure until Hero like us appears and shed light on it. People don't usually confront a Demon Lord and live to tell the story. Furthermore, when people discover a Demon Lord, they would call our Company immediately before they even created anything resembled an educated document about a Demon Lord. Thus, Heroes like us more than often had to plunge our head straight into the fight while trying to get as much as data and information related to our case.
As the result, when the information and data are too detailed, vivid and well-documented, I instantly realized that the case that I'm on is bizarre. I probed Teressa and got an answer from her. After that, I took my anger on this megalomaniac fool who self-proclaimed himself as a Holy Emperor.
I might not be able to deal with a Demon Lord. However, I am still a man who saw through five Ascensions. I'm more than enough to take on a tyrant overlord or two at the same time.
My anger could not subside, no matter how many time I slapped on the fool's head. I knobbed my bony knuckles against his forehead instead.
He cried and burrowed his head on the carpeted floor. It was because a giant fool like him that I had to come up with a ridiculous plan to speed-run a level 9,000 Demon Lord within two hours.
As soon as I finished, the rest of my Demon Lord subjugating task force showered him with disdain.
The human chair cried, but no longer has he received any more compassion from my companions.
Really, this is such a shittiest whack-job that I have ever had in a while. First, I have to speed-run and dethroned a tyrant. Now, I have to deal with a level 9,000 Demon Lord. What worse? If I failed this speed-run, I have to face the wrath of a level 15,000 Demon Goddess.
Just to be safe, I sent Z a secret telepathic message, "Just in case I don't make it back before my wife starts to go on a rampage. Do you think this team could stop her?"
Z sent me a sweating face emoji and "Count me out."