Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 146: A New Ally
As always, up to 18 chaps ahead at [email protected]/theogbasilisk
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- Milim Nava -
Milim grinned as she looked down at her fallen foe. She had been fighting Sirka for around a day now, mostly because she wanted to see if Sirka had any special techniques. Her Milim Eye said Sirka was decently strong, so she expected at least something from the girl.
She had more energy than Middray, and Middray was sorta her way to measure someone's power, since he was the bare minimum she required for a half-way decent fight when holding back.
Felix did say the Monarchs were as old as their universe and universes tended to be old, so honestly, Milim expected more.
She was able to toy with Sirka even while holding back an incredible amount.
Her Milim Eye gave her a pretty accurate reading of Sirka's level of strength, but it seemed as if Sirka wasn't capable of making full use of her power, as if she was still sorta adapting to it.
The energy within her was chaotic and untamed, which was unusual. The closest she could relate it to was how the energy within Felix and Rimuru was after their Harvest Festivals.
When she saw the energy in them back then, their energy seemed to be passively growing as a result from the Harvest Festivals, overflowing within their vessels and strengthening them as well, so they didn't have any of the control they now had, and something similar seemed to be occurring in Sirka.
Sirka had no Demon Lord Seed so it wasn't a Harvest Festival, but it was something similar.
She crossed her arms as she looked down at Sirka. Milim knew she was way stronger than most would ever get, but she was still disappointed with how this turned out.
She had to abandon a food stand because of this!
But Sirka did have potential, she was adapting to her own fighting techniques mid fight, slowly improving her way of fighting and overall just growing stronger as the fight went on.
She was sorta like how Middray was when he was young, back when she decided to take him under her wing.
Sirka lay sprawled across the snow, her frost-cloak torn and her blade of nightmares shattered. The weapon was neat at least; she'd have to tell Luminous about it!
"See?" Milim said cheerfully, placing her hands on her hips. "I told you I wasn't a kid!" She said as the gauntlets vanished off of her arms and were sent back to her Spatial Storage.
Sirka seemed to have given up going against her. She did kind of bully the girl, but Sirka deserved it!
Sirka coughed softly, struggling to sit up. Her silver braid was loose as well. "You were… holding back?"
She gave Sirka a thumbs up. "Yup! Felix said this world was weak so I was using like, maybe, 0.25%?" She wasn't good with math, that was why she couldn't freely teleport wherever like Felix and Rimuru, so that was a vague estimate.
That didn't matter though, what mattered was that she was holding back a bunch! Felix better praise her for not destroying this dimension!
Though thinking about the dimension they were in, it did feel pretty weird. It felt as if the Space within it was a bit more loose for lack of a better word.
It was as if this area had been shifted around to different locations spatially speaking.
She wasn't a master of Time either, but she could also tell that the Time in here was a bit wonky when compared to how Time flowed on the Earth of this universe.
She'd have to ask Felix about it.
Sirka just stared at her stunned.
Milim pouted, crossing her arms. "I was hoping that you'd be stronger! Your total energy was low, but I thought you'd have some super special techniques or something! Felix said you all were born at the dawn of this universe."
The girl had Divinity too, so she was expecting something like Felix's Primordial Daemons.
Sirka, still stunned, replied. "I only recently became a Monarch."
"Ah, that explains it. Felix did say he killed some of you." She wasn't sure how one exactly "became" one of those Monarchs, but she didn't care enough to learn either.
At least that explained why her energy seemed so unstable. Felix and Rimuru's were like that after their Harvest Festivals, and that was because they basically ascended to a new level of existence and became superior versions of themselves. Not to mention the growth of their energy reserves, and it seems this universe had a similar process as well, even if Sirka didn't become a True Demon Lord, she still clearly held a certain place in this universe's cosmology.
She wondered if that would cause any problems with what she was about to do.
Sirka blinked. "Felix? Is this the name of the man who killed my grandfather?" Sirka said with no particular venom or hatred.
Milim grinned. "Umu! He's my bestie so don't go picking on him or I'll beat you up again!" Milim said just so that Sirka knew where she stood.
Sirka shivered at her words.
Milim looked down at Sirka thoughtfully for a moment. "Hmm, what should I do with you?" She said that, but she already knew what she wanted. She just wanted to mess with Sirka a bit.
Sirka's eyes narrowed before she sighed. "I have lost, do what you will with me."
That made things easy.
"Ooh, I know! Felix has super strong minions, so you can become one of my minions to make it more equal!" Milim said with a nod.
It was not fair that both Felix and Rimuru were getting such powerful minions! Sure, she had Middray, but Felix had three Primordial Daemons like Guy! Those very same Primordial Daemons even had Ultimate Skills now, according to her Milim Eye, and had grown far stronger than before.
Even a single one of them would likely be capable of at the very least pushing Middray to the brink, and Felix had three!
So not fair!
Then there were his other minions too that were growing strong. Rimuru's forces were slightly weaker even if he had a greater quantity, but he was also quickly catching up. Sure, she had Frey who had potential, but as of now Frey had not fulfilled that potential.
"One of your… minions?" Sirka's brow furrowed, still clearly dazed by the turn of events. "You… want me to become your subordinate?"
"Yup!" Milim chirped, beaming. "You're strong, kinda. Well at least the potential is there!" She eventually ended up saying. "Plus you have a cool title, cool hair, and a cool sword that I smashed which is enough for me!" She said with a self-satisfied nod.
"I am a Monarch." Sirka replied in almost disbelief. "I do not take orders very well."
Milim just tilted her head, then leaned forward until she was uncomfortably close. "You do now~! Hehe!"
Sirka's eyes twitched.
"I mean," Milim added quickly, waving her hands. "It's not like you have to be all 'my Lady' this and 'my Lady' that. You don't need to bow every five seconds or whatever either since that's boring. I just think that we should be friends!" Milim said with a nod. "We can be strong friends who fight together, with one friend being way stronger than the other! Plus you get cool benefits too!"
"Benefits?" Sirka echoed.
Milim nodded. "Umu, benefits!" She held up a finger. "Number one, infinite snacks provided by Felix and Rimuru! The snacks are really good by the way!" Milim eyed Sirka who seemed to be slightly more interested now.
Good, she knew the appeal of good snacks!
"Number two, uhh, training… I guess?" She said with a shrug. If Sirka wanted training she'd just throw her at Middray.
"You are offering to personally train me?" Sirka asked with some excitement.
Sirka seemed to value combat power above most other things from what Milim could see.
"Nah, I'll tell Middray to train you, but even he's stronger than you!"
Sirka lowered her head slightly. "Very well. I… will acknowledge you."
Milim's eyes sparkled. "Yay, a new friend! Come on, I gotta introduce you to Felix!" She said as she grabbed Sirka's hand and dashed back towards the portal that led her to this dimension. "Oh, and make sure to control your power or Felix will be upset!"
Just before they went through the Gate Milim paused. "Wait, do you know the language?"
Sirka tilted her head. "I know the language which is used throughout the Chaos World as well as various other tribal languages. I do not know the language the earthlings speak."
"Hmm, I'll have to teach you then! I'll just blast your thoughts with all the major languages of Earth, get ready!"
She had been able to quickly understand all the languages on Earth by reading the Information Particles. It was a bit hard to do when in a not-time stopped world, since the Information Particles were way more complex when reality was flowing, they were always shifting about, but she was able to barely manage it.
As she flooded Sirka's thoughts with the new languages she wondered what everyone else was doing.
"Oh! You'll need a body too! I'll have Felix make you one, umu."
- Felix -
We waited outside the red Gate for around an hour. Jinchul told me a bit about the red Gate while we waited.
A team of Hunters had already shown up by now, Jin-Woo being one of them. The other Hunters that showed up were immediately spooked at my presence, so they stayed as far away as they possibly could. I think I heard one of them talking about 'aura'.
Gunhee would also be giving his conference soon, so they'd understand a bit more soon.
I soon found out why one of the strongest S Rank Hunters was called for this Gate.
Apparently, they had already sent a scouting party into the Gate earlier. Once the scouting party returned, it was discovered that this Gate actually led to a similar dimension to one Jin-Woo already ventured into early on in his rise to power.
Beyond the Gate was apparently the same dimension, or at least a very similar dimension, to the ice Gate Jin-Woo went into; the one with the Ice Elves in which pretty much the entire team of Hunters was slaughtered.
He was called because he had experience with this Gate, and the beings within the Gate were deemed extremely dangerous. The scouting party had a sensor among them, and said that he was able to sense a massive Aura deep in the dungeon.
He couldn't read exactly how powerful the being inside was as his sensing had a limit, but he said that the being inside was at minimum an S Rank threat, and so Jin-Woo was called due to his familiarity with the situation, and the fact that he was available.
Now we were just waiting for Milim to finish. Jinchul had said that time passes differently for people in a red Gate, but I still wasn't worried.
Milim was Milim; she'd be fine.
I briefly chatted with Jinchul who was trying to ask a bit about Milim, though he was being subtle about it, or at least his level of subtlety. There wasn't much he could do to hide his intentions from me.
I looked to the side and saw Jin-Woo sitting alone to the side. He was a natural introvert. After speaking with Jinchul about what happened, he had gone off to the side. He couldn't enter the Gate to help since, once a Gate went red, it was impossible for a Hunter to enter.
I could change that, of course, and I imagine the Ruler vessels and Monarchs could as well, but Milim had it handled.
I shrugged and decided to approach him. I had time to kill, and while we weren't close, it didn't cost me anything to see what was up with him. A part of me was still curious if there was some special aspect to 'protagonists', and this was my chance to analyze him at a deeper level.
Fate was a very real thing in the Cardinal World, and likely throughout the multiverse as well. I couldn't read it particularly well, but hopefully one day I'd be able to. This was just a step to reach that future I envisioned.
From what I know, Jin-Woo likely felt like he had the entire world on his shoulders with everything he learned, and if it weren't for my appearance here, that would be true.
Pressure like that does things to people, no question about that. And while I may be a Daemon who is also a Demon Lord, I didn't lack empathy, at least when it came to those who hadn't crossed me such as Jin-Woo.
Jin-Woo noticed my approach but didn't say anything. I took the seat next to him. "A penny for your thoughts?"
He raised his head and looked at me oddly, as if he couldn't comprehend why I went out of my way to speak with him.
Which was… fair. It's not like the image I gave off made me seem approachable. It was the opposite, in fact.
Eventually he voiced this thought. "Why are you here?" He asked.
I shrugged. "You seemed deep in your head and I was bored. I might as well speak to you. Feel free to vent. It'll be more interesting than Jinchul's questioning." I laced my voice with Alluring Whisper, though instead of inciting pleasure, I made it incite a sense of trust for me.
Jin-Woo didn't respond, but after a few minutes he sighed. "…Do you ever feel like no matter how much you do, it's never enough?" Jin-Woo asked. "Like the more you fight for your own reasons, the more the world asks of you, and the moment you hesitate between these priorities, it'll all be over?"
Oh, is he actually sharing his feelings with me? It seems Alluring Whisper was more effective than I thought it would be. I barely even used it.
I didn't answer right away. He wasn't really looking for advice. He just needed someone to hear it. So I gave him the silence that he wanted.
I was an easy person to vent to. Someone completely uninvolved with his issues, or at least someone that had no reason to be involved. What did he have to fear from someone that could swat him like a fly? Judgment? Nah.
He continued, his eyes fixed on the ground. "It used to be about surviving. Then protecting my family. Now? It's like I'm being forced to protect everyone. Every Gate, every monster, every time something goes wrong, they all come looking for me. This Gate is another example of that."
"Hmm, I know you just wanted to vent, but I do have some advice I can give."
Jin-Woo threw me a look. "You're strong, stronger than even the Monarchs that we've come across. You wouldn't understand."
I stifled a laugh. "You'd be surprised at just how weak I once was."
From a powerless Human to what I am now, I've made quite a lot of progress.
I did know a bit of where he was coming from. With power comes responsibility, whether they were asked for or not. It was up to the individual whether they'd shun those responsibilities, but those responsibilities did exist.
Freedom without responsibility was just self-indulgence, and in any world, only self-indulgence is a poison that weakens you.
Jin-Woo didn't respond, so I took that as a sign to say my piece. "It's understandable that you're feeling the pressure, it's human."
Jin-Woo's eyes flicked toward me for a moment, then back to the ground.
"The thing is," I continued, "you could walk away. Let the humans solve their own problems. Let someone else die trying. No one would be able to stop you."
It was a simple fact.
"But I wouldn't." He muttered.
"Exactly." I said, nodding. "I don't think you're doing everything you are out of obligation, you're choosing to keep moving forward because you're choosing to, and that's where the strength of being Human really is. As long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other, you can know that you're doing your part, it really is one of the miracles of the human race."
He was quiet for a moment, jaw tight.
"Let me ask you something," I said, leaning forward slightly. "When's the last time you relied on someone else?"
He blinked in confusion before pausing. "Only once, but that didn't work out. If I misjudge someone, then things could get bad, so I don't. Plus, everyone else is so much... weaker. Look at what happened on Jeju Island with Beru."
I nodded. "That's about what I expected from you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
I ignored him and continued. "But you know, even I have friends, people I can rely on if I need to. Some are weak, others are strong. One of them is in that Gate right now."
At my words Jin-Woo looked towards the Gate with a thoughtful look. Hinata would be better at this than me.
He didn't answer immediately, but I could feel the tension in him shift. He was truly listening.
"And you know what keeps me going the most?" I said as I began to grin.
He looked at me in curiosity.
"Ego." Perhaps it was an odd answer, but it was the simple one.
He blinked in confusion. "Ego?"
"Yup, ego." I repeated, letting my grin stretch wider. "Not arrogance, not pride, but my ego. The unshakable, absolute belief that I am that guy. That no matter what shows up, True Dragon, True Hero, Demon Lord, Angel, it'll be them who should have thought twice, not me. I'm cautious by nature, but that doesn't mean my ego isn't sky high. Despite everything, I am the strongest, and so I'll win. And if the time comes where this isn't the case, then I have confidence in my friends. My ego doesn't apply only to me after all, but to my friends as well."
Jin-Woo blinked, visibly caught between amusement and disbelief.
I was cautious by nature as I told Jin-Woo, but even should the worst happen and the Eastern Empire attacked right at this moment, then I wouldn't flinch. It would be annoying, sure, since I liked to tilt the odds completely in my favor, but I am who I am. I had a soul deep certainty that I would win.
There may be difficulties along the way, but that was my arrogance in myself and in my friends.
I spread my arms wide as I stood, the movement casual, relaxed, like I didn't have a care in the world, and I really didn't. "Have you ever walked into a room filled with Kings and Demon Lords, people all centuries old, with the certainty that you were the best there? Not because you might be, but because you already decided that you are? It's not just confidence, it's just how it is. That's ego, and only those with the same mindset are ones that I have to truly prepare for. After all, if you can't believe in yourself, then why should anyone else believe in you?"
Rudra was one of those people from what I understood, as was Guy. Both knew that they were the best, not because they wanted to be, but because they said they were, and that was that.
There were many others in my circle like that as well, in their own way at least.
He raised a brow. "And that works for you?"
"Oh it absolutely works. The world isn't going to give you a break, or pity you, or anything. You are the strong one here, and at a certain point that gives you privileges, privileges you've ignored. It's okay to be selfish, Veldanava knows that I'm one of the most selfish people around, and look where I am now."
Jin-Woo let out a quiet scoff of a laugh, shaking his head. "You're insane."
"Eh, probably." I admitted. This Jin-Woo had far more personality than the one I'd read about, but I preferred it that way.
I tilted my head at him. "And you are almost there. You're strong enough for this world, you've got the will, now all you need to do is start owning it. The world keeps asking you for more? Fine. Make the world answer to you."
Jin-Woo didn't answer, but I could tell he was taking my words into consideration.
"Well, I've said my piece. Feel free to do what you want." I said as I walked away.
"Thank you." I heard him say from behind me.
I just waved.
Before long, the red Gate's color began to change again, going back to a shade of blue.
"Looks like she managed then."
Jin-Woo, seeing that the Gate was handled, turned to Jinchul. "It's been handled, so I will take my leave."
Jinchul nodded. "Thank you for coming, Hunter Sung."
Jin-Woo gave Jinchul a final nod before looking at me and giving me a grateful nod. Then he vanished into his shadows.
Even now he was trying to aura farm, though he seemed a bit bummed out that he couldn't enter the Gate. He probably wanted more Shadows, but he wasn't that upset.
He'd already gotten a lot the past few days, especially with Megumin giving him a small lesson. She's been fighting around for eons; simple stuff for her could be monumental for others.
Not to mention my sagely advice, which actually seemed to help him since he seemed to be in a better head space.
Really, the hero types thought too much about things.
"Felix!" I felt Milim say through our soul corridor.
"Did you have fun, Milim?"
"Umu! I did! I even got a new friend!"
"A new friend?"
"I'll explain later, could you make a body compatible with someone who uses Ice and is an Elf?"
"I feel like I need more information, but fine."
With Milim's descriptions, making a vessel for a specific person would be impossible. Her description was so damn vague that barely any modifications to the vessel could be made.
But I was not the average individual. I could easily create a vessel that was compatible with essentially everyone if I wanted to.
I closed my eyes, and pictured what I wanted. A moment later I began creating the vessel in my Infinity Space so I didn't cause a scene here.
Energy gathered, forming the outline of a body, slender, balanced, and adaptable. I shaped it to suit an Elf who wielded ice, but kept it flexible enough for anyone to inhabit if needed. Within moments, the vessel stabilized.
"Done. I'll deposit it in your Spatial Storage through our soul corridor."
"Thanks Felix!"
"No problem."
Now I just needed to wait.
Before long, Milim jumped through the portal, though she was dragging another girl through by the arm. A quick use of Milim Eye told me that the girl was likely a Monarch going by her energy reserves alone, but not one I'd heard of before.
Sillad was talking about successors. Were they already able to acquire successors for the Monarchs I killed? If so, that pretty much got rid of any advantage I gave the Rulers.
In that case, it was probably best to just seal a Monarch instead of killing them. I see why they kept Legia, the Monarch of the Beginning in chains.
The girl was either a Monarch or a very powerful being from the Chaos World, and I was under the impression that only the Monarchs were at this level of power in this universe, but I could be wrong.
Going by her clear Snow Folk heritage as they were called in this world, though she was basically just an Ice Elf, she was likely the new Monarch of Frost, but just how did Milim end up befriending her, and why was she even in the Gate?
I didn't think the Monarchs would be making any moves so soon after a setback. Though it was important to consider the temporal difference between this world and the Chaos World.
Milim landed in front of me. "Felix! I made a new friend!" Milim said as she waved the hand of the Ice Elf around. The Ice Elf's face snapped in my direction after Milim called me out.
"So he is the one?" She murmured to herself. I raised a brow but didn't ask her what she was talking about.
The temperature was beginning to drop from the mere presence of the Ice Elf, and she seemed to be trying her best to control her Aura too.
She was pretty strong.
I gave Milim a half-lidded stare. "How was your… walk?"
"It was great!" She said with a grin.
Gaia flew out of my arms and around Milim. "Kyuu?" Gaia almost seemed to ask as he raised a paw in the Ice Elf's direction. I dispelled the illusion I had cast over Gaia as well.
Milim nodded. "Yup!" Milim responded to Gaia's unspoken question.
"Kyuu!" Gaia yipped in excitement as he began to fly around the Ice Elf who seemed to be uncomfortable with Gaia's attention, but didn't dare to do anything.
Milim tamed her real good.
Jinchul had frozen the moment Milim came through, but he quickly recovered. "Is that… a monster?"
Milim finally looked at him, something that almost made him wilt back but he stood his ground. "Eh? Are you a monster?" Milim asked.
The Ice Elf's eyes narrowed. "As if one of such distinguished heritage such as I could be referred to as a mere monster. I am the Monarch of Nightmares, Sirka, and you will know your place, Human." Sirka said as her eyes narrowed.
Before things could escalate I stepped between them. "Sirka hmm? Is she your new friend, Milim?"
Milim nodded. "Yup! I beat her up and recruited her since I wanted more powerful minions!" Milim said self assuredly.
"Sounds reasonable enough."
Beating up your enemies and converting them to your side was a classic.
"I knew you would get it!" She said as she crossed her arms.
Jinchul seemed frozen upon hearing Sirka's introduction, but he only took a few moments to regain his composure. "I apologize for interrupting, but can one of you explain what is happening. For my report, of course." Jinchul added.
By now, the various staff that was here managing the Gate had begun to clear out on Jinchul's orders.
Milim finally looked at Jinchul. "Eh? Are you another friend of Felix?" She asked.
"He's my baby sitter." I added helpfully.
Jinchul, on a rare occasion, lost his composure. "B-baby sitter!?" He sputtered out. "I-I could nev–"
Before he could finish Milim nodded. "Ah, I have one of those too." Milim said sympathetically with a sigh, likely referring to Frey.
"Since you seem nice I'll explain everything to you then!" Milim said.
Jinchul bowed gratefully. I'm sure he was a bit confused at why I was treating someone who looked like a child as an equal, but he could read between the lines.
I said Milim would clear the Gate, and lo and behold, the Gate was cleared. It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand that Milim did it all alone, and without a scratch on her.
Then she comes back, pulling the arms of someone releasing S Rank amounts of mana, and even then Sirka was holding back, though Jinchul didn't know that.
Milim went on to explain what happened since she entered the Gate. Sirka had remained silent the entire time, just observing me, which was a bit weird but I didn't care enough to point it out.
I trusted Milim enough to deal with Sirka if she tried anything. She was a good judge of character, too. She wouldn't let someone into her circle who she didn't think she'd be able to trust.
Milim said that once she entered the Gate, she felt someone strong deeper within. She was curious about the level of fighters in this universe so she wanted to meet the person she sensed. That person being Sirka.
Some scouts interrupted her however, and after some conversation a fight began, in which Milim obviously won.
Then Sirka showed up, seemingly wanting to avenge her subordinates and get rid of Milim for invading her territory. Another fight began in which Milim also won. Sirka was dead to rights, and so she told Milim to do what she wanted as Sirka had lost, so her fate was in the hands of the winner.
A very medieval mindset, but one that was often prevalent in societies in which strength mattered the most, societies like the one in the Chaos World. This Earth was different as mana was only a recent addition to Humanity, but given time I'm certain that power will become more and more important.
Milim after talking with Sirka a bit decided to recruit Sirka.
Jinchul seemed to be mostly in shock at this point, as it seems the Chairman told him a bit about what's going on in the background, like the Monarchs, the Rulers, the whole war going on.
Now he had one of the so-called unbeatable Monarchs in front of him, and she looked like a child to boot.
What was it with overpowered lolis?
"So that's what happened." Milim explained. "So I'm going to be keeping her! Is that fine with you, Felix?"
I shrugged. "Do what you want, but you'll have to manage her while we're here." I told her.
Milim gave me a determined nod. "Umu! You can trust me with her! She wasn't lying according to my Milim Ear."
I nodded. "I didn't doubt you. I know you have a good judge of character."
Milim grinned proudly. "Umu!"
"I hope you do not mind, but I will need to report this to the Chairman." Jinchul said with a straight face.
I could respect the balls he had to say that to our group with a straight face.
"Eh, do what you gotta do. The Chairman knows where I stand, so long as he doesn't cause any trouble with Milim, we won't have any issues."
Jinchul nodded. "Did you require an escort back to your residence?"
I waved him off. "That's not needed."
Only an hour or so had passed since Milim went into the Gate, so it was still the afternoon, but I'm sure Milim wanted to get Sirka settled in rather than continue our day out.
"Yeah, we need to show Sirka around, Felix!" Milim said.
"You still want to stay out?"
Milim looked at me as if I were an idiot. "Of course! Today is my day out with my bestie, why would I cut it short just because I picked up a new minion?" She said, puffing her chest out proudly.
I couldn't help but feel a smile on my face. Milim was a good friend to have.
"What is this bestie you speak of?" Sirka asked in the tone of a curious child. Her soul was old, but she still had this kind of personality, huh? I can see why Milim took a liking to her.
Jinchul ignored Milim and Sirka's shenanigans as he gave me a final nod before leaving to attend to his subordinates who were still clearing out all their equipment.
"A bestie is a bestie!" Milim responded simply. "Felix is my bestie, we go around, eat snacks, and have fun together, that's what besties do! Oh they also help each other out!" Milim said with a nod.
Sirka nodded seriously. "A bestie, what an intriguing concept."
"You guys can talk about this later. For now, you three ready to go?"
Milim nodded, as did Sirka. Gaia just flew around us excitedly.
"Hmm, let's go then."
______________________________________________________________________
"Woo! That was a fun day!" Milim said as she jumped around energetically.
"Human culture is rather intriguing. The food is quite delicious." Sirka said from beside Milim as she ate her cone of vanilla ice cream.
She seemed to like the cold treats in particular.
Her looks were getting people a bit scared, so I ended up placing an illusion over her to change her skin tone and pointed ears.
Now we were walking back to the penthouse we were staying at. There was plenty of room, so Sirka's addition didn't change much.
Though I'd likely need to pull some spatial shenanigans to be able to fit Veldora, Ramiris, Rimuru, Hinata, and Luminous if they all came at the same time. Though from what I know, Hinata and Luminous would likely leave before Rimuru was free, so there should be enough space.
As we went around the city, I was able to learn more about Sirka, as well as how she met Milim.
Milim was inside the Gate for a day in her perception, yet it was an hour in ours, which matched up with what Jinchul told me about the time dilation of red Gates.
Milim said that the Gate took her to another dimension, something that Sirka expanded a bit upon.
The reason red Gates had a time dilation was because they were dimensionally deeper into the Chaos World, so time got all wonky when it came to those kinds of things.
The Chaos World wasn't a single world like the Cardinal World or Earth. It was actually a collection of dimensions that all linked together to create the Chaos World.
Each Monarch tended to rule over a dimension of the Chaos World in its entirety, with the other dimensions being more chaotic with no set rulers. Though strong figures did rise up and take control before they would be dethroned and the cycle would continue.
Sirka also explained a bit about the Gate her kingdom was in specifically. Apparently, in the past the Rulers pretty much yoinked it from under Sillad's nose when he and his strongest fighters weren't present.
They basically "stole" the dimension for lack of a better word and connected it to Earth via a Gate, separating it from the rest of the Chaos World. All for Humans to test themselves against and grow. That's how Jin-Woo ended up fighting the stragglers of the Kingdom of Snow Folk as she called it, and that too was only a fraction of them.
Once Jin-Woo completed the Gate, however, the dimension was returned.
Sirka said that Sillad's rage could be felt throughout the dimension for the insult, and I couldn't lie, that was pretty funny. Getting your entire dimension stolen was a whole new level of insult.
Sillad just could not win it seems.
Apparently, Sirka was also Sillad's granddaughter, and was being pretty much raised to be his successor should something happen to him due to her high affinity with the essence of a Monarch.
The Priests of each Monarch were the ones who chose the successor and guided them on how to become a Monarch, but their power was mostly political.
Sirka became the new Monarch due to me killing Sillad. Apparently, much more time had passed for her than us, confirming my suspicions.
She had enough time to become a Monarch when I just killed her grandfather a few days ago. In her perception, it's been much longer. So once again, time-bullshit, my favorite.
As for her kingdom, Sirka said that they would be fine. She was still alive, so Antares wouldn't do anything with her people. Milim gave me puppy dog eyes when she asked me to help transport her kingdom into Milim's territory, so I ended up agreeing to do it before we left.
Sirka seemed to care deeply about her people, and became far more compliant once she learned that Milim would be taking her people in, and that the environment would be far better.
Though I did tell Milim that she was responsible for making sure they settled in properly. Their environment would change greatly, so Milim had some work cut out for her to make sure they all adapted.
Milim would also likely end up naming all the Snow Folk that would come back to the Cardinal World, greatly expanding Milim's forces, which was a plus.
Interestingly enough, Sirka was already named. What a name was was essentially something inscribed onto your soul using energy. It could theoretically be replicated in any world. The Cardinal World sort of optimized it, but it was easy to do it yourself manually.
In fact, Rimuru had shown me a new method he learned to use the energy in the air for a name instead of your own reserves. He even found a way to change who the "master" of the relationship between the name giver and name receiver was.
So he could give some Majin a name, but have someone else be the "master" of the relationship if it was a master-subordinate naming.
When I asked Sirka about why she called herself the Monarch of Nightmares instead of the Monarch of Frost she just shrugged, saying it was the title that came to mind instinctively.
It seems the nature of a Monarch could shift slightly if a successor had another affinity. Sirka said she was still a master of manipulating ice and frost, but she was also rather good at manipulating dreams and nightmares, and so she took that title.
Once she got the essence of a Monarch from Nidhogg, she said she could sort of shape the essence before it bonded to her, altering it to fit her better, which is what she did.
It sounded rather interesting.
Still, she had only recently become a Monarch. Her control over her power had suffered, so she had her kingdom connected to Earth through a Gate so she could fight some Hunters and get more experience.
Her hope was that once the proper threat level of her Gate was analyzed, they'd send a Ruler vessel into the Gate so she could take one of them out as well.
Antares approved of this plan apparently, despite the low chances of success, as if it worked they could take out a Ruler vessel. The way they were able to connect the ice kingdom to Earth through a Gate was due to a new ally of Antares.
Apparently some beings from out of this universe had entered and become allies with Antares as well. Sirka didn't know all the details, but that was what she did know.
I don't remember anything like this happening in canon, so I was rather curious about this new variable.
In fact, I was getting a bit excited at the new unpredictable variable. Though despite my excitement, I wasn't going to be foolish. I knew full well what a lack of information could result in. Granbell, Yuuki, Kagali; all of their deaths were the result of incomplete information.
The important thing now was to figure out what and who this new variable was so I could plan for them if I needed to.
That pushed my plan to visit the Chaos World up a bit then.
Maybe I'd ask Megumin if she wanted to come? We could add it into the fun stuff to do for our date. I'm sure she'd enjoy that.
I had asked Sirka about everything she knew about the invaders. She told me all she could on Milim's orders.
They were likely Spiritual Lifeforms of some kind as they needed bodies to possess. They also couldn't freely travel to this universe. Antares had told her a bit about their circumstances.
Since he had lost three Monarchs all of a sudden, Sirka said that he was looking to expand his side of the war by any means necessary. There wasn't enough time to find any proper successors for all the Monarchs I killed.
Sirka was already being prepared as a successor long ago, but the others did not have any successors for the most part, meaning they were still right back where they started now that Milim recruited Sirka.
Apparently a crack in Space-Time formed in their home universe, and they managed to stabilize it and come through, but they could not come through this portal freely.
Sirka didn't know exactly why, but she suspected that the portal needed some sort of sacrifice as the invaders had been killing many stragglers within the Chaos World and then taking them to the portal.
Antares told her not to interfere with this, and so she hadn't.
This also told me a bit more about the hierarchy between Monarchs. They may have all been "equals", but it was undoubtable that Antares was the one who really called the shots.
I was rather curious about what Antares would do now. Just as he got some of the power he lost back, he lost it again, and it wasn't even intentional on my end this time. It was just Milim being Milim.
As we continued to walk back to the penthouse Milim dragged Sirka towards a claw machine filled with stuffed animals.
"Come on, Sirka! You gotta try this! It's basically a rite of passage!" She grinned, pressing her face up against the glass. "They make these way too hard to win at!"
I sighed. Milim and I spent an hour at a single claw machine earlier, before the Gate appeared, all trying to win some stuffed animal. Milim didn't want to cheat, and so it took a long time, but she did win a stuffed elephant in the end.
Sirka tilted her head. "A... test of dexterity and probability?" She asked, staring at the machine like it was some sort of advanced magical construct.
I held back a smile. Sirka was rather amusing with how clueless she was about anything not fighting related. It seems she was raised with the sole purpose of becoming a Monarch if it was necessary.
"I mean, I guess?" Milim shrugged. "Mostly it's just luck and rage." The amount of times I had to stop Milim from going into Stampede could be counted on one hand, but the fact that a claw machine almost caused her to go into Stampede was insane. Though that was because she didn't care to analyze each detail of the machine, as in her own words, that would make it boring.
Before I could warn Sirka that the machines were basically scams, Sirka casually waved her hand. I felt a tiny pulse of mana, barely detectable, and the claw moved with suspicious precision, snatching the largest plushie in the corner like it owed her money.
Well that was one way to do it.
She handed it to Milim, who squealed with joy and hugged it. "Yay! A gift from my new friend!"
Sirka seemed to be looking at Milim oddly. Through Lover I could feel a burst of confusing emotions. She was happy that Milim liked it, but she was weirded out that she was happy about the fact.
She really had been isolated. To be confused at why she was happy at making a friend happy was a whole new level of sad, but she now had Milim as a friend. Sirka would be fine with some time.
I sighed and kept walking as Milim talked with Sirka a bit about the Cardinal World.
By now Sirka had learned about our otherworldly origin and was a bit curious about everything. She was old, but mentally she was rather stunted due to her isolation, so her curiosity was rather child-like.
It seemed like Milim already trusted Sirka a fair bit to be telling Sirka all about herself. But she was far wiser than she looked, I'm sure she had a reason to believe in Sirka so much. It was likely a combination of her Milim Eye, Milim Ear, and her own intuition.
As we entered the elevator to get to the top floor of the high rise, Sirka looked out the glass elevator.
"Hmm. This world is far more peaceful than what I am used to." She said quietly. "In the Chaos World, there is no such calm. Even in the quiet, there is always something occurring."
Milim nodded as she hugged the plushie. "Umu! That's why I like it here! Ice cream, video games, cool people! This world is great! Still, the Cardinal World is home."
"Well since it seems like Milim likes you, you'll have to get used to quite a bit, including her antics. Good luck." I said as I walked through the open elevator door.
"Hey!" I heard Milim yell from behind me, causing me to grin.
Today was a rather enjoyable day, even with the new company.
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Author's Note:
Sup everyone, back with another chapter of Daemon. In this one we see the results of Milim's "walk". She gets a new powerful minion, who would have thought it would be a Monarch?
Then Felix gives Jin-Woo some of his wisdom. Jin-Woo seemed like a pretty one dimensional character in the manhwa, he was an aura farmer and that was it. But this is a real world so I tried to make him more human, with insecurities, worries, and all.
The next chapter will be a Cardinal World interlude.
Anyways, thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.
Last bit of editing -Omnax
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