Demon Lord Gallery

“….Moses?”

No, why is Brother Moses appearing here?

If this were the Hero Gallery, it would have made some sense.

In the Bible I remember, Moses was also a savior who saved his people.

It’s not so strange for such a savior to be called a hero.

But for someone like Moses to be a Demon Lord?

Something must be seriously wrong.

“In your world, there might be such a savior myth, but the Moses before us has a slightly different background. It’s not strange that he became a Demon Lord.”

“What’s different?”

“The fact that he led his people to escape from an empire is common. But what happened after that is a bit different. First, in that dimension, what was it called… Ah, he split the ocean called the Blood Sea with his sword to help his people escape, and single-handedly faced and annihilated an army of 100,000. After that, he dragged his exhausted body to the people he had helped escape.”

“He split the sea with a sword?”

“Yeah. And those 100,000 soldiers were all fairly skilled practitioners of what I’d call energy-based martial arts. It was natural for him to be exhausted, even for a Sword Master.”

What’s this energy-based martial arts now?

“Haven’t you read wuxia novels in your world? Think of it as humans being able to withstand things like shells or missiles with their bare bodies and still be fine.”

“….Why is the power balance so messed up here?”

In this dimension, except for a few top-tier ability users, almost no one could withstand something like a missile with their bare body.
Among a population of 10 billion, I was the only ability user of my level.

“Stop nitpicking. Anyway, after that, he climbed some mountain and accidentally came into contact with an Outer God’s stone tablet, and his body, exhausted from fighting the army, couldn’t resist. Then he fell into madness and started dancing with his sword.”

“So this Moses killed 90% of his own people? In that time?”

“You must have seen the awakening condition summary post. That’s right. As far as I know, all of humanity on their planet was wiped out in a day.”

“Is that even possible?”

“It is. Especially for a dimension-level Sword Master. Uncontrolled powerful beings are always this dangerous.”

“……..”

Uncontrolled powerful beings.

The moment I heard these words, I felt a tightness in my chest for various reasons.

At least in my dimension, I was included among those uncontrolled powerful beings.

What if I, too, suddenly went mad one day and stopped managing the gates?

What if I tried to kill the humans who had escaped to space?

There was no one who could stop me.

And there was no one who could replace me.

“Hey.”

“….”

“Hey!”

“Ah, yes.”

Odin’s call snapped me back to my senses.

“Don’t even think about that kind of stuff, it makes me feel uncomfortable as hell. Anyway, you’ll have a hero popping up soon and you’ll be fighting to the death, so you won’t need to worry about such things. Why are you even worrying when you’ve ascended to the seat of a Demon Lord?”

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah. So newbie, just enjoy the match now and think about how to prevent the hero from appearing. If you underestimate the hero, you might really lose everything, you know? Heroes are inherently corrected by causality and the scales?”

“What are causality and the scales….”

“I’ll tell you when the time comes, so for now, shut up and watch the match. Got it?”

Seeing Odin looking at me as if he was really annoyed, I could tell it was time to focus on the match.

As I turned my attention and topic back to the center of the arena, I saw the countdown just starting.

[5,4]

Unlike the previous matches, Equilibrium was taking a clear stance.

He held the holy sword in the form of a longsword in his right hand, and the demon sword in the form of a dagger in a reverse grip in his left hand.

On the other hand, ‘Ten Commandments’, or Moses, was just leaning on a wooden staff with both hands.

The wooden staff that matched the old man’s appearance so well gave nothing but an impression of harmlessness.

“Don’t be fooled by appearances. All those with old man appearances are crazy.”

[3,2]

You can feel the strength gathering in Equilibrium’s feet. His body, seen through the zoomed-in screen, was like a shell just before firing.

His body was in perfect condition, to the point where it seemed like fighting spirit was materializing visibly.

Meanwhile, Moses was still standing with his eyes closed, holding his staff.

[1]

With just 1 second left until the match started, Moses finally opened his eyes and mumbled softly.

“One strike. Receive it well.”

[Match start]

Along with the announcement signaling the start, one person’s figure disappeared from the arena.

A speed that even the additional spectator screen set to the slowest possible playback couldn’t keep up with.

After 10 hours of watching, I thought I could follow and observe the movements with the help of the gallery system, but this speed seemed to mock such thoughts as mere arrogance.

With one of the two duelists lost from my sight, all I could see was the other one.
Just an old man standing still in his place, leaning on his staff.

At the moment I turned my gaze to Moses.

The world split.

No, reality split.

The Colosseum implemented by magic was split in half, losing its form and fading away, and the unknown sky hidden behind a pitch-black curtain was cleanly cut, revealing the original sky.

What was visible between the split sky was the night sky of Earth, the world I originally lived in.

“What……”

What pulled me out of this surreal scene was Odin’s exclamation.

“Whew, now he’s even cutting through dimensional projection magic? At this level, it’s beyond will and reaching the level of concepts? Even I might get cut if I’m not careful.”

Thanks to Odin who kept exclaiming in admiration while chewing on his food and drink, I was able to regain my senses, and barely holding onto my mind, I spoke in fragments.

“What… is that?”

“What else could it be? It’s Ten Commandments’ specialty technique combining iai and slashing. He extended the path of the sword infinitely to the dimensional level by slashing while drawing his sword.”

“Was the magic of this arena just cut too?”

“Yeah. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised by this too. At this level, not only the dimensional projection magic but even the concealment distortion field must have been cut through?”

“Are the Demon Lords who were watching okay? Didn’t they get a body part or two cut off?”

Just until a moment ago, I could see at least dozens of Demon Lords faintly hidden in the Colosseum, so surely one or two must have been in the path of the slash.

If it could cut through dimensional magic, wouldn’t there be a problem for the spectators too?

“Nonsense. If it was possible to slash across dimensions, would we be playing Demon Lords? We’d be playing gods. It’s just that the magic that crosses dimensions was cut in the middle, interrupting the transmission, and it was projected as if it was cut.”
“I see….”

In any case, it didn’t matter as long as it was safe.

Talk of cutting through dimensions or cutting through magic was a topic far removed from me.

“Who won?”

“Look and see for yourself.”

As I immediately turned my gaze to the center of the arena and received assistance from the system, the dust and debris cleared, revealing the figures of two people.

The first to come into view was Equilibrium. His clothes were in tatters, and he had blocked the slash by crossing his holy sword and demon sword.

And shockingly, both swords were covered in countless cracks, on the verge of destruction.

On the other hand, Moses, positioned on the opposite side, looked exactly the same as when he entered, not even a single piece of his clothing cut.

“Did Moses, I mean ‘Ten Commandments’ win?”

That’s how the situation looked to anyone.

Is this finally the moment when the 24-hour undefeated duel streak would be broken? I thought so, but.

“No way. The hero spy must have trained quite a bit too. He blocked it, so it’s a draw for now.”

No sooner had Odin finished speaking than Equilibrium’s holy sword and demon sword shattered into pieces, and Moses’ staff suddenly split in half, scattering fragments.
I thought it was a staff, but it was a sword stick?

“Neither of them can use formless swords now, so all that’s left is hand-to-hand combat, but that Ten Commandments hates close-quarter combat to death, so he’s bound to forfeit. Unfortunately, the hero spy bastard won.”

And Odin’s words proved exactly right.

“I’ll forfeit. You’ve grown quite a bit, young man.”

“You’re quite spry for an old man…..ugh.”

[Final match ended. Winner, Equilibrium]
[This concludes the arena punishment for fixed nickname ‘Equilibrium’]

“….Is this the end?”

Without any cheers, congratulatory messages, or anything, I could only stare blankly at the arena that ended just like that.

The process was great, but why is the ending like this?

“Quiet my ass, it’s so noisy right now… Ah, you can’t perceive the other Demon Lords.”

“What?”

“I’ll lend you my unique magic temporarily, so take a look. Don’t be surprised.”

[You have received additional gallery authority <&$^&**> from ‘One-eyed Grandpa’]

With a flash of light, a strange message window appeared briefly. Soon after, I couldn’t help but be startled by the sudden noise.

“Hey, shit, how is this possible!”
“What the hell, old man Zhuge!”
“It’s a clear victory, what nonsense are you talking about, idiots~”
“Was I the only one who got scared seeing that slash at the end?”

The noise and shouting coming from all directions was enough to make my ears ring.

Wondering what on earth was going on, I covered my ears with both hands and looked up, and a strange sight unfolded.

The Colosseum, which had been filled with only faint forms, was now packed with numerous Demon Lords.

Half-human, half-beast Demon Lords grabbing each other’s collars, Demon Lords waving strange tentacles, giant Demon Lords seething with anger, and…. Demon Lords in the form of succubi with outfits too indecent to look at.

It was a deformed being so obscene that it made common fantasy succubi look tame in comparison.

“Ugh….”

……It should be fine if I look away, right?

Making eye contact must have been my imagination, probably.

As I lowered my blushing face and crumpled into my seat, Odin burst into laughter and spoke to me.

“Why are you acting like that over such things? Is it right for a Demon Lord to be embarrassed by such sights?”

“…..”

“Well, if it’s too stimulating, it can’t be helped. I’ll take back the authority, so don’t worry.”

No sooner had he finished saying he would retrieve the authority than the surrounding noise began to die down, and then the Colosseum also started to disappear gradually.

“What’s this?”

“The match is over, so the dimensional projection magic is being released, what else? Let’s meet in the gallery. I have a lot to do this time, including the arena betting, so I need to go first.”

“Goodbye”

-Alright.

It was the moment when Odin disappeared and the Colosseum was about to completely vanish.
Surely, when the authority created by Odin’s magic earlier was retrieved, other Demon Lords should have become invisible.

Despite that, there was still one Demon Lord visible to my eyes.

The succubus.

Flaunting her obscene and seductive appearance, what she threw at me in the gradually dissolving dimensional projection magic was.

“….What”

A small eye smile.

‘……Nothing will happen, right?’