That Time I Got Reincarnated as an Underground Labyrinth Manager

In the room, Shuna poured Chishiya a cup of tea.

The girl whispered, "Chishiya-sama, I heard about the Orc Tribe from my brother."

"Thank you for giving everyone this opportunity."

"And thank you for everything you've done for us."

Finished speaking, Shuna pulled out a food box from behind her.

"This is a snack I made myself, Chishiya-sama. Please try it."

A dessert?

Shuna can do this kind of thing too?

Chishiya opened the food box—inside were rose-shaped pastries, pink and delicate, made entirely from hand-crafted dough!

This girl's too skilled.

Way better than Shion's stuff.

Chishiya picked one up and took a bite.

Delicious.

Very sweet, with a hint of honey.

Chishiya smiled. "Thanks, Shuna. It's really good."

"I'm glad you like it!"

Shuna beamed with a sweet smile.

"Then I'll get going. Chishiya-sama, please get some rest."

With that, Shuna picked up the food box and left, still smiling.

Once she was gone,

Chishiya opened his panel.

Clearly in high spirits.

[Recruitment Rewards have been issued. Please check.]

Chishiya tapped the panel.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations. You have acquired the unique skill: Great Sage!]

[Unique Skills: Predator, Degenerate!]

[Demon Lord Evolution Route successfully unlocked!]

"…Demon Lord Evolution Route? What's that supposed to mean?"

[Notice:]

[Individual: Chishiya Shuntaro has obtained the Demon Lord Seed.]

[Those who possess the Demon Lord Seed and meet the conditions are eligible to awaken and become a True Demon Lord.]

A calm, feminine voice echoed inside his mind.

That's... Great Sage?!

Chishiya froze.

Brainy came online that fast?

Wait…

So this "Evolution Route" thing means he now has the qualifications to become a Demon Lord?

Is that... even allowed for a human?

"What are the conditions for awakening the Demon Lord Evolution?"

[Notice:]

[Awakening requires a nutrient catalyst.]

[The sacrifice must be human souls, with a minimum of 10,000.]

Ten thousand souls—the same as he remembered.

Chishiya narrowed his eyes.

But where the hell is he supposed to get that many human souls? He couldn't just use Meggido like Rimuru.

He's just a businessman.

Forget it. Deal with it later if the opportunity shows up.

He pulled up his panel again to check his current skills.

[Chishiya Shuntaro]

[Core Employees: Megumin, Yunyun, Darkness, Vanir, Wiz, Kazuma, Aqua, Rimuru]

[Special Abilities: Explosion Magic Lover, Leadership, Ice Witch's Blessing, Demon Lord's Blessing, Goddess of Water's Blessing, Goddess of Luck's Blessing, Knight's Body, Lone Wolf, Great Sage, Predator, Degenerate]

Predator…

That was the skill that absorbed materials into the stomach, right?

Chishiya raised his hand and stared at the pastries on the table.

Might as well give it a try.

As he willed it, a small black hole appeared in his palm.

A powerful suction force erupted.

The pastries, along with the table, were sucked into the black hole.

[Notice:]

[Analyzing Recipe… Completed.]

[Honey Rose Cake.]

[Recipe acquired. Can now be reproduced.]

Now this is a true Great Sage.

With functions like analysis, copying, and purification,

This might be the most practical ability he's ever gotten.

As for the Degenerate.

Its function was to fuse and reorganize other skills.

In the anime, this was the ability Rimuru inherited from Shizu-san.

Chishiya looked at his skill panel.

"Great Sage, activate Degenerate. Fuse all my Blessing-type skills."

[Notice:]

[Fusing: Ice Witch's Blessing, Demon Lord's Blessing, Goddess of Water's Blessing, Goddess of Luck's Blessing.]

[Processing Fusion…]

Thanks to Great Sage's accelerated thought-processing,

What should've taken several hours was done in half a minute.

[Notice:]

[Fusion complete.]

[The aforementioned skills have been sacrificed.]

[New Skill Acquired: World's Shelter.]

[Inherits all prior effects. Magic capacity increased by 100%.]

Success.

Chishiya lowered his head and focused on the surge of mana within him.

Disassemble and fuse skills…

Definitely a very useful feature.

He was just about to try using Predator on something else when—

A massive wave of magic power suddenly surged in from afar.

The Great Sage immediately triggered a warning.

[Notice:]

[A large mass of magic is rapidly approaching.]

Chishiya narrowed his eyes.

He bolted out of the building.

High in the sky,

A pink meteor-like object was hurtling toward the town.

That is…

A certain figure flashed through Chishiya's mind.

His feet moved on their own, rushing toward the hillside just outside the town.

It can't be her…

BOOM—!!!

The pink "shooting star" slammed into the hillside,

Leaving a massive crater in its wake.

As the smoke cleared,

A girl slowly emerged.

She had twin pigtails, colored sakura pink.

Wearing a white tube top, short briefs, and thigh-high pink socks.

"Hey there, human. Nice to meet you."

"I'm the [Destroyer], Demon Lord Milim Nava."

"That Gelmud you took down—he was one of ours, right?"

Chishiya pressed a hand to his forehead, staring at the absurdly dressed little girl in front of him.

Yup. It's Milim…

Don't let the height fool you. She barely reaches his chest, but—

She's basically the battle ceiling of the [Rimuruverse].

With his current strength, there's zero chance he could take her.

[Notice:]

[Within the observable range, the opponent's exposed magic power is conservatively 5 times yours.]

Five times?!

And that's just what she's showing without going full power…

How strong is this girl?

[Notice:]

[The opponent is a natural disaster-class Demon Lord. She can easily defeat you.]

"…Yeah, no need to rub it in."

Chishiya sighed inwardly.

The Great Sage just confirmed what he already knew: he stood no chance.

Only one option left—play it cool and charm her.

He took a deep breath.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Chishiya Shuntaro, the owner of this town."

Milim stepped closer,

Sniffed at him.

"Ahaha! It's true!"

"You really are as strong as a Demon Lord now!"

Chishiya looked down at her.

"So, what brings you here?"

"You're not here to avenge Gelmud, are you?"

Milim stood up straight.

"Huh? No, I just came to say hi."

This time, she wasn't here to recruit anyone.

That was boring.

She wanted to play. To stir up trouble.

Clayman and Carrion wanted more combat power, so she figured she'd hand some over once she got tired of messing with them.

That was the plan—until now.

This town… was way more interesting than she expected.

The human in front of her was piquing her curiosity more and more.

"Chishiya-sama!!!"

Just then.

Benimaru and the others appeared on the hillside.

The demon guards showed up at the same time, surrounding Milim.

Every one of them tense, faces grim, ready to fight.

Shion raised her massive sword, shielding Chishiya.

"Chishiya-sama! Please retreat! We'll hold her off!"

"Oh?"

Milim looked around at the demons encircling her.

She raised an eyebrow, then the corner of her mouth curled up.

"Wahahahaha!"

"What, you guys wanna play with me?"

As she spoke.

Her pupils gleamed red, and a terrifying pressure radiated from her tiny frame.

"Sure~"

Milim grinned with childlike excitement.

"I was just getting bored anyway."

Shion clenched her teeth.

With a roar, she charged in and swung her sword at Milim.

"Hah?"

But before she could land a blow,

Chishiya grabbed her by the collar and yanked her back.

"Everyone, chill. She's not an enemy."

If she was an enemy…

Then even all of them attacking at once wouldn't make a difference.

Chishiya stepped forward, standing face-to-face with the pint-sized destroyer.

"Demon Lord Milim, let's talk."

(To be continued.)

***

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