A Demon Lord’s Tale: Dungeons, Monster Girls, and Heartwarming Bliss
Chapter 20: The Demon Lord of Creativity

The Demon Lord of Creativity

Hunting with Rir had led me to a pretty significant realization. While I was a Demon Lord, and had all the strength to back my title, I didn’t have any sort of tool that let me demonstrate said strength to its fullest extent; I still lacked a weapon. I’ve been using a sword so far, mostly just ‘cause that’s what people who get taken to other worlds tend to do in novels and stuff, but they don’t actually work for me. Hmm… I guess I’ll just look through the catalogue and see if I can find anything decent.

I sat atop the throne with my legs crossed and my chin propped up by my left arm, as I usually did while racking my brain. Most of the items listed in it were swords. Probably because they’re so orthodox. I’d only ever bought cheap blades for myself thus far. It was possible that I wouldn’t have so much trouble with them if I bought something a bit more expensive, but there was no guarantee that even a higher quality product would suit my needs. Naturally, purchasing and trying each and every single one was out of the question. That would basically just be a huge waste of resources.

Spears, bows, katanas, and many other weapons were in the catalogue, but none quite seemed to fit my needs for the exact same reason I couldn’t use a sword. They didn’t appear durable enough to withstand the full brunt of my power. Traditional weapons aside, there were even full blown embodiments of badassery, like steel threads for example, but I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to use them either. I’ve got some pretty good dex, which implies I should be hella good with my hands, but apparently dex doesn’t actually apply to weapon usage…

My good friend the iron bar had actually worked out surprisingly well. It was easy to use. There wasn’t really any finesse or technique involved in handling the effective stick; all I had to do to hurt something with it was to give my target a good old smack. I guess I should probably get a blunt weapon then. Something that relies mostly on brute force. Oh, I guess I could do a club. That actually sounds pretty good.

…Wait a second. What kind of demon lord uses a club? That’s lame as hell. Let’s not. I shifted my posture a bit as I approached the problem from a different direction. I want to use something more… iconic. I need a weapon that makes me feel more like a final boss in a JRPG. Whatever I use needs to be badass as fuck. Wait. What do final bosses use anyways? Swords? Nah, not really. Hell, most of them aren’t even human shaped. Wait! That’s it! I could just find myself a skill that lets me transform into some giant ass monster! Yeah! That could be fun. I’ve always wanted to roar at people. Wait wait wait. God damn it, Yuki. Stop that. Get ahold of yourself. You need to take this more seriously.

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After a bit more brooding, I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to be able to use anything that relied heavily on technical skill. I needed a weapon that delivered fatal blows. Its strikes needed to be heavy enough to smash my targets to bits. In M*nster Hunter terms, I’d probably want something more like a greatsword or hammer than twinblades or anything one handed.

Wait. That’s an idea. I could just use a greatsword! I began browsing the catalogue with vigour immediately after coming to the conclusion. Greatswords were technically still swords, so my Sword Art skill wouldn’t go to waste. They were also heavier than iron bars and therefore could put out a larger amount of force.

Most important, however, was the fact that they were badass as fuck. Training is a huge pain. Cool weapons can really help me walk the extra mile since they make it easier for me to motivate myself to keep trying. Yup. Totally legit reason. I definitely don’t just want a cool weapon because I’m immature. Nope. Not at all.

There were several listed in the catalogue with some being much more expensive than the others. Unfortunately, I had just splurged on Flight. I didn’t have all that much DP on hand, so I picked the most expensive one I could afford.

I grabbed the weapon by the handle and started examining it in more detail the moment it materialized.

“So you finally discarded those toys of yours and sought a more potent weapon?” asked Lefi. Her tone was triumphant, but not because of anything I had done. The dragon had just beat our resident vampire at Othello, and was in high spirits as a result. She’s probably only that happy ‘cause she’s never managed to beat me. Heh.

“Don’t you worry. One day, my swordplay will be good enough to take a scale or two off of you, even in your dragon form.”

“A bold claim.” A fearless grin appeared on Lefi’s face. “I pride my scales in their durability, for they are harder than even divine steel. I do look forward to the day you become capable of damaging them.”

The fact that she seemed to think my claim a total bluff had me a bit miffed, but I shook it off and went back to looking at the two handed blade. This thing sure is light…

I didn’t need to swing the blade to know that it lacked the weight I desired. It was obviously significantly heavier than the literal iron bar I had resorted to using, but it still wasn’t enough. I need something that actually feels heavy in my hands. Something with so much weight that it can smash right through a boulder.

Despite never having been able to even so much as do a handstand in my past life, I was now able to swing my own body weight around with ease. How do I put this… the blade’s too thin. I was expecting something as fat as the stuff you find in Monster H*nter, something with a blade as thick and wide as my waist. This thing is more like a claymore or zweihander than a Monst*r Hunter style greatsword. It’d probably snap right in half if I smashed it against a boulder. Though, that’s kinda fair since it probably wasn’t made with smashing boulders in mind.

…

Wait! That’s it! I get it now. This thing wasn’t made with demon lords in mind. It was made for a human. Greatswords were large, heavy weapons. And as a result, they were hard, very hard to use. Hence, with human ingenuity being what it was, blacksmiths and other artisans had worked to develop them to be as light as possible such that they could be even the slightest bit less unwieldy.

In other words, the blade I was holding in my hand had been refined such that it was exactly the opposite of what I was looking for.

There were several higher quality weapons sitting around in the shop, but even the cheapest amongst them were two to three orders of magnitude more expensive than the blade I had in hand. I couldn’t afford them, and naturally, looking for something cheaper wasn’t going to help either. Actually, wait. I could’ve sworn that I saw just the right skill for this type of situation just the other day.

I scrolled through the catalogue and eventually found the skill I was looking for. Its name was Weapon Transmutation. And according to its description, it was capable of turning materials into weapons. All I needed to do was run my mana through the materials while envisioning the form I wanted the final product to have. The quality of weapon it created was based on the clarity of my mental image of it, the amount of mana I put into it, and the quality of the raw materials used.

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Apparently, leveling the skill allowed it to produce higher quality weapons without the need for as many materials or an excessive amount of magical energy. Heh. If there ain’t any weapons that fit me, then I’ll just make one myself. All I need to do is become the sole Demon Lord capable of anything and everything, The Demon Lord of Creativity.