"I cant believe you let them get away, Karzel. And it was the hero too" one of the Demon Lords muttered, a woman who seemed to enjoy teasing Karzel. She was Demon Lord Esri, who was a succubus that possessed incredible magic power and psychic abilities.
"Now now" Demon Lord Getri said. She appeared to be a young girl, but she had wolf ears and a tail, a Demonic Werewolf. "It wasn't expected an ally would appear with a magic tool capable of absorbing and re-casting attack magic. He went all out, and that simply hurt him. This is why you test heroes first, learn what they can do, and then crush them. By making Otherworlders reveal their secrets, you can learn from them and counter them".
A boy suddenly put his feet up, his black boots resting upon the table. He was Demon Lord Aruu, Demonic Slime. "You are all being boring. Wake me up when something interesting happens".
"You should behave yourself. Even if you are our elder" Demon Lord Tetri told him, as he, who appeared to be a muscular man in his mid thirties, folded his arms and scolded Aruu who was next to him. Although he was normal size right now, he was a Titan.
"Hey hey, Aruu, lets go play" another boy said, smiling cheerfully and energeticly. He was Demon Lord Luci, and he was an Artificial Lifeform, a Homunculus with crazy high specs created from the corpse of an angel.
"You should all learn how to be patient, more like it. And if Karzel had been too, I could have enjoyed torturing my pets a bit more then sitting here" a young girl of about seventeen said, at least in appearance. She was actually a vampire, and was Demon Lord Erika.
At those words, an old man tapped his sword on the table. He was Demon Lord Urten, and he was a Demonized Half-Elf Half-Dwarf. "If you all keep complaining, perhaps I will slice you to ribbons".
"Can we just get this meeting started? Where is that Rassle anyways?" Demon Lord Karzel muttered, a pure Demon of the Demon Lords.
"Yeah, I agree. Unless one of you will let me abuse and use you for my own desires, cant we start this so I can get back to my pets?" Demon Lord Sachi asked, as the female Demon got impatient.
Another woman looked annoyed at them all. Demon Lord Biaca, a Demonic Great Spirit. "Sachi, I can never tell if you are serious or not. You always have weird definitions for things...I still dont understand that petting zoo thing, or your standards".
"She says abuse and use, but I feel like she just is weird" a younger man mentioned, shrugging his shoulders. That was Demon Lord Regio, Zombie Lich and Demon Lord, despite his warrior like appearance.
"I think you all should shut up" a man said. He was Demon Lord Darius, an Otherworlder Human who had achieved the rank of Demon Lord after butchering one of them in an experiment.
And as that was said, Rassle, the very one they were waiting on, had already appeared in his chair as if he was there all along. Demon Lord Rassle, Race Unknown, Details Unknown. "So, since we are all here, lets start the meeting".
They sat around a round table now. Clockwise, it was Demon Lord Rassle, Demon Lord Biaca, Demon Lord Tetri, Demon Lord Aruu, Demon Lord Luci, Demon Lord Esri, Demon Lord Getri, Demon Lord Karzel, Demon Lord Sachi, Demon Lord Reigo, Demon Lord Darius, Demon Lord Urten, and Demon Lord Erika, who sat to the right of Rassle.
They were a collection of villains, selfish people, power hungry people, and the like. They wielded great fear and power across the world of Shara, and in a rare moment, they had all gathered here to discuss matters with each other. In terms of age, Darius was the newcomer, while Rassle was the oldest member. The second oldest was actually the Demon Slime, Aruu. Rassle never tired of that boy, cause he always did things he least expected ot anticipated, and made a ton of fun faces in his human form and his slime form.
"There are three major matters to discuss right now. First off all, it appears that somehow, a group of over twenty Reincarnators has somehow managed to slip by us. Karzel went to fight the one we detected immediately, and found the Hero. But, upon analysis, it seems that over twenty otherworlders got snuck in. Somehow, they have not been making a big fuss till recently".
As Rassle said that, the other Demon Lords started to stir. Even Aruu, who had appeared annoyed before, came down, his silver grey messy hair coming down as his grey-steel eyes shined with joy.
"Are they strong?"
"Some are, some will become strong. But even more then strong, a few of them are quite fun to mess with and watch from afar".
"Wait, so you spotted them already as well Rassle?! Why didn't you say anything?!" Karzel complained. "You know Otherworlders are pretty much always summoned to kill us! Or do you intend to have some of us cut down!?"
"Hey now, I am not aware of every single one of them. But I saw one of them, a boy, with my own eyes. I saw the desire in his heart, and what it would grow into. After seeing that, I couldn't kill someone so amusing and interesting, so I decided to monitor him for now".
"But, didn't they come here to exterminate us?"
"No, these reincarnators have something else in mind I think, though some of us might come into conflict with them under certain conditions...but I think some of you were going to do that anyways. Besides Karzel, the one who first learned of their existence was not me, but Darius".
Mentioning the name of their newest member, everyone turned to look at him.
"Hmmf. I had no way of knowing there would be more then that brat...if I remember correctly, I think I turned him into something".
"You turned him into a spear that used to be trapped by that one village you fought Ciro at".
"Ah, well I can...wait. The prison I sensed recently broke?"
"Yes. Another Otherworlder, from the same group it seemed, rescued him. It seems like they outdid your own magic".
Hearing that, Darius had a scowl on his face. As Rassle thought, hearing he got bested by some newcomer Otherworlder had irritated Darius immensely. He was making a face Rassle barely got to see from him, and he enjoyed it thoroughly.
"So, there wont be a unified response against the Otherworlders?" Erika asked.
"Well, that is hard to say for certain. Depending on what the others decide, we amy still need to...and there is one issue we do need to handle. The second point of discussion for the meeting, the fact that several kingdoms are summoning Otherworlder Heroes here to kill us, and other enemies".
Hearing that, the tension suddenly rose among them.
"Seriously?"
"No wonder you dismissed them. If the humans are summoning even more heroes, it doesn't make sense since too many could ruin their own plans for World Order".
"Indeed" Rassle replied.
"Sounds like fun people to play with though!" Luci announced.
"Just stay calm and let Rassle finish, Luci" Getri mentioned.
"So, we will need to attack these summoned heroes, and deal with them quickly then. I am sure there will be lots of security around their training grounds, but we have to take them out anyways".
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
However, there was one person who was focused on something else.
"So, what is the third issue?" Darius asked.
Rassle smiled a bit, seeing his interest.
"The Demon King, the Otherworlder who continues to ressurect and bring terror to this world, is reviving once more. They will command the armies of Demons and monsters, waging war with all the others".
"Geh. I hate that guy, I cant deal with him at all".
"Such a pain".
"Should we kill him ourselves?"
"Now now...why not waiting, and see what Reincarnators and Summons that are still alive deal with him? I think the conflict between the two sides could be interesting, after all...of course, should they fail, we will need to eliminate them ourselves so he does not steal our own power away from us".
"Indeed. That one is a greater theat to us then the summoned heroes".
"We should eliminate them at the right time".
"I still think we should fight the Otherworlders instantly".
The opinions were diverse, but it seemed for now, no one planned to take immediate action, at least until the heroes were summoned.
Rassle still had to be wary of Darius, and the others, but it seemed to be going according to his predictions.
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Once the discussions died down, and people started to leave, was when Rassle made his first move.
"Aruu, are you planning on doing something?" Rassle asked in the middle of the rundown hallway. Even though this was a place for Demon Lords to gather, it was a bit wrecked. Or perhaps, it was because Demon Lords were bad at holding back.
"I was thinking of doing some work for a change" the human form slime mentioned, looking back at him. He was still wearing a black vest, a grey shortsleeve shirt, black shorts, and black sneakers with white socks. It was weirdly modern.
"To compel Aruu to do work, it seems these Otherworlders interest you greatly. Do you plan on using your Gate to do some investigations?"
"Just a little bit. Just so you know, if someone messes with my people or territory..."
"Yes yes, I know, you will consume me and this entire castle. Really now though, to think that you would go this far..."
"Well so long as its just me, using Gate is easy. And...I need to see how its changed".
"Such a shy and dishonest boy...but, he is making the moves I had hoped for, so its fine" Rassle said, as he watched Aruu open a gate in front of him. Although all of them, like all living creatures, had the power of Status as well, Gate would never appear on any of them, as it was a skill that exceeded the system. Of course, as it was impossible to take physical objects normally between worlds, the moment Aruu stepped through the gate, his clothes fell to the ground.
Which is something to expect of Aruu, the Demon Slime...and the first Otherworlder Reincarnator to Rassle's knowledge.
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Meanwhile, once Aruu was through the gate, he found himself in an isolated alley. He used magic to quickly get the lay of the land, and then he quickly robbed a clothing store secretly and acquired new clothes for his human form. He eventually settled on a purple T shirt, green hooded vest, grey shorts, white socks, and black boot like shoes. Once that was done, he looked around and saw a new sight before him. It was not a world anyone could have expected. For where he was, it was not Shara.
He was standing on Earth, the Modern Earth that Rikuo and the others had originally come from.
And almost immediately, a lolipop got shoved in his mouth. He just sucked on it if it was naturally, and glared at the culprit.
"Aren't you being too obvious and active, Ciel?"
Ciel, who was now wearing a white T shirt, blue vest, orange shorts, and blue sneakers with white socks, just smiled. Leaving aside the Divine Charm he radiated from his beauty as a god, he looked just like a normal boy of this world.
"Awww, but we got to meet after so long!"
"I can sense it...you have used a serious amount of your divine energy. What are you, a moron? Dont you have something you should be saving for?" Aruu mentioned, going over and leaning against a pillar nearby.
Hearing that, Ciel sighed, and went and leaned against the same pillar with him.
"Its fine. I have ways to restore myself. I am more shocked at how hands free and non-actiony the gods are in this latest manga. Like, really? Not even going to remotely make any effort to help, are you?"
Aruu twitched a little.
The God and the Demon Lord. From everyone passing by, they looked like two young boys, friends, hanging out together. If the people of this world knew the truth, they would be running away in terror, or bowing in awe. It was a ridiculous setup like that.
"You are really planning to accelerate things huh? After all these centuries, you plan to do a rush job?"
"Provided certain events happen in certain ways, I might finally be able to achieve my dream Aruu. I am so close now. I am sorry, that I had to drive you into hiding all that time ago".
"This world is peaceful...eventually, that shitty supreme god will use this world...the fact he made you reincarnate so many, when there is a Hero Summoning planned...I see, given that situation of escalation, you have no choice but to escalate your own plans".
Ciel frowned.
"You should pick up some items and food while you are here. Manga maybe. And...you plan to meet them, dont you?"
"Of course I do....after all, I cant trust you. And we both cant trust the Supreme God. Also, you know I cant bring physical objects through, only my physical body since that is fused to the soul, its DNA imprinted upon it with all of my abilities and knowledge".
"If you really wanted to, I am sure you could".
Ciel just chuckled.
"Well, thanks for spending time with me. I suppose I should get back to my duties and errands".
"Yeah, stop slacking off and wasting your divine power" Aruu told him. "I have my own errands to run anways, so dont cause me issues".
"Yes yes, I understand. Hey hey, before I go, wanna ride a rollercoaster tog..."
At this point, Aruu pinched the nose of the god.
"Alright, alright! I give I give! Sorry!"
Aruu sighed, and let him go, giving him a displeased look as if the energy and life was already drained from Aruu's eyes.
"Please go do your job properly and stop washing energy, and then maybe, in the future, we can".
"Eh? Really! Alright, I will go do it diligently then!"
Saying that Ciel disappeared right in front of his eyes. No flashy lights or such, just gone.
"I cant tell if he is actually an idiot or a genius sometimes".
Aruu was left wondering that.
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"Well now, things are getting interesting" Demon Lord Urten mentioned, as he had already returned to his own castle.
"Is that so?" someone said. They were tall and mighty, and had some muscles on them..
"It seems you have evolved once again, Harzen".
"I hated having a pipsqueak body...I much prefer to dominate them".
"Haha, such a foul mouth...in any case, it looks like some of your other classmates have been found" Urten mentioned, as he sat down in a chair. At that moment, two women, in slave collars and chains and wearing rags, came and served him food immediately, before hurrying away out of sight. They looked tattered and bruised, but also as if all the hope had been drained from their faces and minds. Like their spirits had been permenantly broken.
However, Harzen looked intrigued. "Classmates huh? A few of them were quite annoying, but there were also a few that were wonderful toys for me to play with...any of note?"
"Apparently, from what Rassle told us, there was one that was a short vampire boy, another that was a sneaky thief, there was also a Hero, one got turned into a spear by Darius and is now with the vampire boy along with the thief, a few turned into nobles. He has not tracked down the rest though. Although, I cant say for certain if he knows about you or not".
"Such a troublesome opponent. Why not just kill him, kill them all and be done with it?"
"The other Demon Lords are strong in their own right. Especially the oldest five. Rassle, Aruu, Esri, Getri, and Reigo. Those five are all older then myself, and possess incredible power. But, sooner or later, my tactics will make me the superior killer. Remember that, Harzen. Strength alone does not mean everything. Intellect and cunning are just as important".
"Of coruse. Still...I would love to get one of my old classmates or two as a pet".
"Well of course, that is a good attitude to have. Everything shall be under our dominion one day...or, they will be slaughtered".
Harzen just smiled as he heard that.
You too old man, will one day serve me as well.
"Now then...it seems that Rassle has taken fancy to these new Otherworlders...I would love to see the look on his face, if we corrupted them so completely".
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Darius stared at the papers in his own castle's workshop, looking through them all.
"There is no way that he should have been able to claim my spear..." Darius realized. "Between the curse, the crafting method, the registration method...there were no flaws. So how?"
"Master Darius" a maid, Inara, spoke. "Perhaps they utilized some Otherworlder power to do so?"
"I cant discount that...but even then, there should have been a bigger reaction. I should not have been caught by surprise like that. Especially by that damn fool".
Darius had no intention of being ordered around or being at the whims of another. He became a Demon Lord after killing one in order to ascend and reach a higher level of existence, and he figured it wouldn't take him too long to deal with the others using his power.
However, so far it had only been weak reactions or no reactions at all. And against Rassle and Aruu, he actually recieved soul damage the moment he attempted it, while against Reigo it was as if he was not actually there, and it registered an invalid target.
This is entirely different from other existences. Just like how becoming a Demon Lord changed my body, it appears their bodies are different too. At least Aruu keeps to himself and doesn't bother me, but Rassle...he is constantly harassing me. And then of course, there is the enemy of all Demon Lords...the Supreme God. One day, I will need to deal with him as well.
After all, the Demon Lords knew the "Truth of the World". Darius had already suspected it himself when he became a Demon Lord, but confirming it was important. After all, that "Truth of the World" was a threat to the Supreme God and his goals, so it was only natural he would oppose those who knew it, like the Demon Lords.
Still though, nothing would stop him from doing as he pleased, even the gods themselves.