Ability Test

“I’m counting on you, Regal.”

I gave a dignified nod to Regal as he pledged his loyalty.

“I’ve repaired all the holes in the barrier where the Heroes broke through. There shouldn’t be another invasion for a while, so I want you to work with Stella to reorganize the army.”

“As the King wills.”

Still kneeling, Regal bowed his head once more.

“Among the Heroes, there are those who kill demons as if they were toys. The previous battle resulted in many casualties. This time, I want to protect them.”

I recalled the group who enjoyed killing demons as if it were a game. I didn’t want to see a sight like that ever again.

“You are truly kind, my Demon Lord.”

“I simply want to prevent anyone from suffering or feeling sorrow.”

That was my wish when I was a Hero, and it remains unchanged now that I am the Demon Lord.

“If it is the King’s decree, I, Regal, shall protect them with my life.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“Then, I shall take my leave—though before I go, one more thing.”

Standing up, Regal looked me straight in the eye.

“What is it?”

“Regarding the Heroes who invaded the Demon Realm… some may still be in hiding. May I lead my subordinates to hunt them down?”

In the recent battle, I had defeated or driven back the Heroes I encountered to the human world. But it was true that they might not have been all of them.

“…Very well.”

“The one who slew the previous King Yurisha may be among them. I shall offer their head at Lady Yurisha’s grave as a tribute.”

The light in his skeletal eyes gave me the illusion that he was piercing right through my mask.

After Regal left, Stella took over the post-incident cleanup. I wanted to investigate their conspiracy further, but they had all been erased. Was Zegart the Beast Emperor truly plotting something? I would have to look into that from here on out. As for Regal, although he had pledged his loyalty, it was only provisional.

Thinking about it again, Stella is the only aide I can truly trust. The road of the Demon Lord is fraught with difficulty. Or rather—am I truly going to walk this path? Is it okay to keep going like this? It might take a little longer before I have a firm answer within myself.

The next morning, I was traveling through the wasteland. Walking beside me was a female warrior with her red hair in a ponytail. It was Rilim, the Castle Guard Captain. This was the outskirts of the Demon Realm’s royal capital, centered around the Demon Castle. Beyond this area lay forests, scorching deserts, and frozen lands. Nature outside the urban areas seemed quite harsh.

I wasn’t very familiar with the geography of the Demon Realm myself. I’ve been learning from Stella between shifts of work, but she’s busy too… I asked Rilim to come along today because I didn’t want to add to Stella’s heavy workload.

“It’s wider than I thought. This looks like a place where I can test my magic to my heart’s content.”

I surveyed the vast red wasteland and came to a stop.

“Are there no urban areas further ahead?” I asked Rilim.

“Beyond here, there’s only the Mountain Range of Despair and the Waterfall of the Abyss. It’s just nature,” Rilim replied.

The place names are all so ominous. Truly fitting for the Demon Realm.

“Alright, let’s begin. Rilim, stay close to me. Don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

“Yes, sir!”

“And… keep an eye out for any enemy attacks, just in case.”

“Roger that! I’ll show you the power of a Guard Captain!” Rilim shouted energetically, raising a fist.

Well, if an actual enemy showed up, I’d probably just instant-kill them anyway.

The purpose of coming here was to perform a general test of my powers as the Demon Lord. After all, ever since I was reborn, I’d been fighting Heroes, doing paperwork, exposing conspiracies, and dueling Regal—I hadn’t had a moment’s peace. Eventually, the barrier will be broken and the human invasion will resume. I wanted to know more about my own abilities before that happened.

I came to this deserted wasteland because doing this in the capital would cause too much damage. The Demon Lord’s destruction magic is simply too powerful.

“Magic Wall.”

First, I deployed a mana barrier across a several-kilometer radius. Even if the spells I tested were more powerful than expected, the impact wouldn’t leak outside the barrier.

“Now then, first… Fire.”

A basic spell to review. The fireball exploded against the wasteland, creating a massive crater with a thunderous roar.

“Amazing…” Rilim gasped. “As expected of the Demon Lord.”

Even a simple basic spell, when cast by the Demon Lord’s immense mana, becomes more powerful than even top-tier magic.

“Next, shall we try that top-tier magic?”

Exhaling slowly, I concentrated my mana. The top-tier flame spell I had fired into the sky during my fight with Regal. It would be dangerous to fire it at full power, so I decided to suppress it to about ten percent.

“Mega Fire!”

An explosion of flame and light on a scale incomparable to the previous one filled my vision. Clods of earth erupted and flew into the air with violent force. They slammed into my ‘Magic Wall’ and rained down as a shower of dirt.

And around Rilim and me—.

The ground across a several-kilometer radius had been deeply gouged and collapsed; the topography had been completely transformed. No, that wasn’t all—.

“What is this?”

It wasn’t just the terrain; the entire area was covered in something like a black haze. I couldn’t tell when I fired it into the sky before, but does ‘Mega Fire’ always cause this kind of phenomenon?

“Could it be… that space itself has been burned away…?”

I tried touching the black haze, but it showed no sign of vanishing.

“H-hiieee… My Lord, what happened? I’m sure it was ‘Sasu-Mao,’ but…”

“I probably incinerated it at a spatial level,” I replied to the trembling Rilim. “The power is incredible, but if I don’t use this in a place like this, I’ll end up hitting my own allies.”

I would have to be very careful about where I used wide-range, high-firepower magic. I made a firm mental note of that.

“For now, let’s look for attack magic I can use even inside the capital.”

Something with high power but a narrow area of effect. For a while, I stared at my learned spell list. Spells that met my criteria were highlighted, but they all had pros and cons.

Then,

“Oh, this one might be good,” I muttered, finding a certain spell.

“Gravity Knife… Creates intense gravity to crush the enemy, huh? The area of effect is exactly what the name suggests—only the part sliced by the knife.”

This shouldn’t catch my allies in the crossfire. Let’s try it out.

“Gravity Knife!”

Along with the incantation, a black knife appeared in my right hand. Apparently, slicing with this generates super-gravity at the point of contact. I tried a light experimental cut at my feet.

Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuum!

With a roar, the ground there was dyed pitch black.

“Hmm…?” I couldn’t really tell what was happening.

“Sasu-Mao…?” Rilim tilted her head.

Until I actually slice an enemy, I can’t really judge its effectiveness. I’ll put this one on hold.

I tested a few more spells after that. Generally, the high-power ones had a wide range, while those that acted on a limited space lacked sufficient destructive power (though they could probably still instant-kill an average enemy). I couldn’t quite find the “perfect” spell.

“I guess I’ll just have to keep looking steadily every day.”

Finishing today’s test, I returned to the Demon Castle.

“Welcome back, my Demon Lord.”

As I returned to the office, Stella greeted me.

“Has anything happened while I was out?”

“There is one thing I wish to bring to your attention.”

She leaned her face close to mine. A scent like sweet soap drifted toward me, making my heart skip a beat for a second.

“…What is it?” I asked, feigning composure.

“A suspicious individual has infiltrated the Demon Castle.”

And just like that, the gears of my fate began to turn—and accelerate.