“Me… the Demon Lord’s inferior version…”

[I have never stopped thinking on how I could defeat the Demon Lord.The decision I reached was that I had to produce a warrior with power equal to that of the Demon Lord.And after Aias, the only one with an ability able to counter that of the Demon Lord, creating that warrior was my only choice.]

“But didn’t you tell me I couldn’t win against the Demon Lord?Why are you so certain that I’ll lose?”

[The abilities that I gave to you are ones that I created by copying the abilities of Demons and Oracle Beasts.They are by no means as strong as the originals.For example God Speed doesn’t let you reach Chimera’s speed, and Armor of Sin doesn’t give you the full Magic Defense that Titan had.]

“Is it different for the Demon Lord then?”

The Demon Lord possesses almost all of the Demons’ abilities.And none of those skills are inferior to their original version.For starters it was impossible for you, a human, to be able to wield the full extent of the Oracle Beasts’ abilities.That is why I only gave you things that I had modified beforehand, so that a human could use them.]

‘So that’s how it was…Now I get why it felt like I wasn’t using the abilities to their fullest.So it’s all because of the human body’s limits…’

“Well then, doesn’t that mean that we’ll never be able to defeat the Demon Lord?”

[Not quite… There is a way to defeat him.That is precisely why I brought you here.] saying that Rhazes lifted his hand up. A magic circle was deployed on the ground, and from within it a transparent, flaming bird appeared.

“Phoenix!”

[Even though I’m currently having you tame himI was the one who tamed him first after all.]

Phoenix flew in the air and began circling around Rhazes’ head.

“Could it be that the one who sent him to me was…”

[It was me.I had to have you learn how to use him.After all this spirit here is going to become our only key in defeating the Demon Lord.]

After Rhazes said that a number of golems brought over something that resembled a big chalice. Following which the Phoenix flew on top of the shoulder of the tallest golem.

The golems left the chalice on the ground and quietly pulled back.

“And this is?”

[The . It’s one of the magic tools that I made.] saying that Rhazes got close to the chalice, raised his hands and began to pour magic power into it. Even though it wasn’t a real body he could still apparently control magic power.

‘Just now he also deployed a magic circle and even summoned Phoenix… To be honest I still can’t figure out how he was able to summon a monster that I had tamed, however, it seems like in this dungeon Rhazes can do whatever he pleases’

While I was thinking that a white flame began pouring out of the chalice.

Phoenix that had been waiting on the golem’s shoulder flew up, and dove straight into the flames sea, forming within the chalice.

“What in the!?”

Specks of white flame scattered in the air and the flames within the chalice began to rage.

From within the surging flames, covered in a white flame, that gave off a holy aura, Phoenix once again appeared. It seemed like he had even gotten bigger compared to before.

“This is…?”

[The way you are now you should be able to control this Oracle Beast.]

I immediately appraised the new Phoenix…

“He looks stronger!”

I immediately opened up my tamed monsters list on top of my hand.

Phoenix’s rank had gone up from A to S… And on top of that, under his Unique Skills, had also been added.

‘What does it do?’

[In order for you to defeat the Demon Lord, you will need a total of 12 summoned monsters.On top of that, each of those monsters must be A rank or higher.]

“12 summoned monsters…”

[You already have 11 of them.The last one… For the last one you’ll need the strongest monster there is.]

“Where will I be able to find that monster?It’s not like it will just conveniently appeare before me.”

[I think I already told you that I brought you here specifically for that.]

“Then…”

[That’s right, it’s here.The strongest monster, the one that will be necessary to defeat the Demon Lord is right here, in this Dimensional Maze… It’s located on the floor under this one.]

“What kind of monster is it?”

[Let’s talk about that while we walk. Phoenix come here!] said Rhazes, after which the Phoenix flew from the golem’s shoulder and began flying behind Rhazes. After walking for a bit we reached the stairs that would lead us to the next floor.

The road was covered in darkness, however, Phoenix’s flames illuminated our way.

After reaching the floor, I noticed that the surroundings were covered in a red mist and that our vision was limited. We continued walking, only to stumble upon an open area, similar to the one on the upper floors.

“Where is that monster?”

[Hmph… It looks like things just got tricky.]

“What do you mean?”

[Originally this dungeon is made into a maze that makes it so that once you enter you’re not able to leave. However, I have disabled that function because I knew you were coming today.]

‘He really does control this Dungeon freely…’

“So, what exactly is the problem?”

[Some uninvited guests have showed up.]

I suddenly felt something and immediately turned to look towards the other side of the fog. In the opposite direction from the stairs that we had used to go down, I could feel a presence.

‘It seems like this red fog is blocking my Detection ability…’

Due to the fog I couldn’t quite make who it was, however, upon getting closer, their figures slowly started taking shape.

It was a pair of people, wearing silver helmets. The color was definitely different, however the helmets they were wearing looked similar to the Black Knight’s helmet.

“They are…”

[Demons.On top of that they’re Divine Generals.]

As we were looking at them, both of them were also looking towards us. Their appearance didn’t look that different from that of humans. One of them was a man that looked similar to the Caucasians, while the other was a tall woman that looked similar to Hispanians.

[Aren’t they the ones?]

[The young one on the right is the man we’re looking for.And I think that the one on the left is that Alchemist then ran away, way back.]

[We’ll get handsomely rewarded if we bring in both of them.It’s been a while since I’ve let loose.] said the man while taking his posture, with flames beginning to burst forth from him.

[Don’t go too far and kill them now.We’re ordered to bring them back alive. And the only ones who know how to get out of here are probably them.]

[You don’t need to tell me!]

The man took out his sword, from the scabbard that was hanging on his waist, and swung it towards us.

Flames appeared on the tip of the sword, which flames then began unifying with the other flames that were around the man’s body, creating an enormous fireball that was headed straight towards us.

“Protection!”

I put my hands before me, creating a shield of light in an attempt to block the attack. However, the fire ball’s power was bigger than I had thought and so the shield of light was shattered.

I hurriedly deployed the Barrier Unique Skill which somehow allowed me to block the attack.

[Whoa!They blocked it… It looks like they’ve got some fight in them.]

[Stop playing around.Hurry up and capture them so that we can go back. We can’t let the other Divine Generals get the merits for invading this world.]

[Tsch. I know already, you don’t have to remind me… Hey!You two over there.Gojo and Rhazes was it? I’m the Demon General Hyperion.And this here is Themis.We don’t intend to kill you, so just surrender quietly!]

‘They aren’t here to kill us…’

“What should we do?”

[To be honest they’re kind of a bother so it would be great if they just left but…]

‘Rhazes does have a point…Still those two might have some useful information so it’s a waste to just kill them. I’d be great if we were able to capture them alive.’

“We don’t intend to kill you as well.Throw away your weapons and surrender.”

[Hahaha, he’s out of his mind!] said Hyperion.

[He must not know our power.] continued Themis.

[Don’t get cocky just because you managed to defeat the useless bastard Hubris, who couldn’t even transform into a Demon! 　It’s time I show you what a real Demon can do]

‘It seems like they’re saying bad things about Aias…’

Rhazes seemed to not care on the outside, however, I could feel that he was burning up with rage on the inside.

“I’ll make them shut up.”

[Please…]

I began walking towards the two Demons.