After my meeting with the [Black] Demon Lord, I returned to Avalon. Since it ended simply as a meeting, Kuina was a little dissatisfied.
That being said, the meeting pretty much went according to my expectations. Though I couldn't back out now of this conflict between the [Black] Demon Lord and myself which would probably continue and escalate until either of us falls, I wasn't really inclined to do so.
I had no intention of losing either. I fully intended to protect both Avalon and my monsters.
Together with Kuina, I headed toward the carriage that was near the First Tree.
I headed there to begin preparing for the visit of the royal family of Axera, while Kuina headed there for a change of clothes.
When she was about to open the door, her fox ears suddenly pointed straight up.
"Oto-san, there's somebody inside."
Kuina's senses were sharp. Even without opening the door, she could sense whether there were people within. She could also tell if the people within were Rorono or Aura.
Wary of this intruder, Kuina readied her shotgun and forcefully opened the door.
"I was getting bored of waiting, master. I've missed you!"
While wagging her white wolf tail back and forth, a young girl that greatly resembled Kuina jumped toward me. It was Fel.
Much like Kuina, she was a special S rank monster that was made using only A rank medals. To be specific, the [Time] Demon Lord had used a combination of [Creation], [Time], and [Beast] medals to make her.
"It's been a while, Fel. I know today was the day for you to pick up the wine, but I had a task I just had to do. I had properly asked the Mythological Foxes to help with the wine though. You didn't have to wait."
It was agreed upon that I was to send some wine to the [Time] Demon Lord weekly. Today was the start of that.
Perched on Fel's shoulder was a crow monster that could use Transfer. In all likelihood, it was the one tasked to transport the wine.
"Uuuuh, you're so mean, master. I can't come all this way to Avalon and not meet you. So, you see, I did have to wait here."
Behind Fel were the Mythological Foxes. They were lowering their heads repeatedly.
I see.
It seemed that although they tried to keep it as simple as a delivery could be, they were overcome and were coerced into guiding Fel here.
Can't be helped.
It was only for a short time, but Fel did fight for me as my subordinate.
A little service like this was most likely fine.
"At any rate, welcome, I'm glad to see you again."
When I brushed her head, the swinging of her tail grew more intense. It was charming.
"It feels great when you brush my head like that, master."
"I'm not your master anymore, so you don't have to call me that."
"Even so, master will always be my master."
I didn't particularly mind having her so attached to me.
As such, I decided to brush her head some more. While we were like that, Kuina approached.
"It's been a while, Fel-chan!"
"I missed you too, Kuina!"
Fel's eyes sparkled in delight when she looked toward Kuina.
The two of them then high fived. As usual, the two were as close as sisters.
Looking at the two, an idea struck me.
"Oh. Kuina, if Fel was to join your special training, it would greatly help, wouldn't it? There aren't many monsters that can fight on equal footing as you. I think it would be a great experience for you both."
Duke was pretty much the only one in Avalon that could match Kuina in a head-on battle. However, because there were downsides and risks when Duke fought at full power, letting them fight each other wasn't something I could do thoughtlessly.
With Fel as the opponent though, Kuina could probably fight as much as she wanted.
"That's a great idea! Fel-chan, if you want to, we can train together! I've made a new technique recently!"
"That seems interesting. It's been so long since I last played with you. Master, is it alright if I take Kuina with me to father's dungeon? If we use the [Time] arena, we can go all out. We can even fight to the death. I don't think my body can endure this new technique of hers without any aid."
I thought about it for a while.
The arena made by the [Time] Demon Lord was installed with a mechanism that would rewind time back and make everything within revert to their initial state, regardless of the injuries the fighters might have sustained.
Basically, the fighters could earn valuable fighting experience for no risk at all. For Kuina, who had fought mostly inferior enemies, being able to fight a formidable enemy like Fel to the death would surely be helpful.
It was an extremely enviable facility.
"Your proposal's great, but wouldn't we be imposing too much?"
"Of course, we have to ask father for permission first. But once I tell him I brought home a friend, I'm sure he'll say yes. Besides, if I were to fight Kuina, I too would get stronger! This wouldn't be just for her."
It was certainly as she said. Being able to fight with Kuina would be just as useful for Fel.
I'll take her on her offer then.
"Alright, but how about you, Kuina? Would you like that?"
"Yeah ♪! Kuina always wanted to fight Fel-chan to the death to know once and for all who's the strongest. I'll show her the awesomeness of a big sister!"
As to be expected of Avalon's strongest monster, she said such frightening things with a pure smile.
I couldn't help but smile bitterly at that.
"Mythological Foxes, please package the Avalon wine. Kuina and Fel, I have a favor to ask. Since Kuina will be imposing, bringing a gift for the [Time] Demon Lord is the least we could do. So, with this money, find something he might like."
I said so and then handed money to each.
"Woaaahhhh! If we have this much, we can buy gifts for the entire Chronos Knights! Thanks!"
"We'll select the best gifts!"
"If there are any left, keep it."
"Understood!"
"Yeah ♪"
In high spirits, the two dashed out. Meanwhile, the Mythological Foxes hurriedly carried the Avalon wine and followed the two.
It's great to be energetic. Now then, I should do some work.
As I thought of that, an almost panting Fel came back.
"Master, I almost forgot! I have a message from father. Don't take the [Black] Demon Lord lightly. Worst comes to worst, use the silver watch… that's it. Ah! Kuina, wait!"
Right after delivering the message, Fel left.
I then reached for the watch chained around my neck and took it out. It was a beautiful watch ornamented with beautiful craftsmanship.
It wasn't any ordinary silver watch though.
This watch held within it the powers of the [Time] Demon Lord.
I had received it as a reward from him after Aura had volunteered and successfully overcome his challenge.
It was one of the trump cards I have been holding back. For the [Time] Demon Lord to tell me to use it, something must be going on. Perhaps it had something to do with the [Black] Demon Lord's powers.
"The high variance of the [Black] Demon Lord's ability is troublesome though."
Generally, a Demon Lord's power and monsters could be guessed from their name.
On the [Black] Demon Lord's case, however, his powers seemed too general, too obscure. And that made his actions hard to predict.
It was inefficient, but if his actions were hard to predict, we just had to be prepared for everything.
My [Creation], which would not fall behind in terms of versatility, allowed us to do so.
And so, while readying all sorts of countermeasures, we were solving immediate problems. For example, having to deal with the royal family coming to Avalon.
After that, Kuina has been frequently coming over to Fel's to train.
According to Kuina herself, she had completely mastered her new special move and was winning more than Fel.
I was a little curious how she was overcoming Fel's [Time] ability.
Also, a few days after Fel's visit, we welcomed an advance delegation for the royal family.
After we gave them world-class delicacies, entertained them with Ruru's songs, provided them with evening entertainment, and showered them with gifts, the delegation left with smiles on their faces.
Thanks to the public knowledge that we unilaterally crushed a city of theirs in a war, this delegation was considerably well-behaved unlike last time. It was a sign that they were at least putting an effort to build a good relationship with us.
Also, according to them, the royal family should arrive in a week's time.
I wasn't entirely sure and would need Ruru's intelligence corps to gather evidence to confirm, but the head of the delegation seemed to be aware of the true identity of their god. He also seemed to feel dissatisfied about being used.
Even if the royal family was like him and was unsympathetic to the [Black] Demon Lord's religion, the religion's influence was just too strong for them. If ever they were to be excommunicated by that religion, they would lose the support of their people and their kingdom would truly be under the complete control of the church.
If that's the way things are, I can take advantage of it. I can give them a way out.
There was also another development in Avalon recently.
Perhaps it was due to that guy's instructions, but his believers in Avalon were active now more than ever.
Each day and night, they had been doing their smear campaign against me.
I should do something about them soon.
Establishing my new religion as soon as possible was one solution. By having a group of people that would worship me and defend my name, it would lessen the chances of the [Black] Demon Lord's religion of turning people against me.
Even though it wasn't on purpose back then, thankfully, we had already planted many seeds that would suggest that Avalon was a city loved by a god.
And now, all that I needed to do were pretty much to just proclaim that I was a god and that Avalon would be the holy capital of the nation I would be founding.
…that and think of a name for my religion. I should consult everyone so that we can come up with a good one.
Another note: The pocket watch is from the bonus chapter in the 2nd volume of the LN.