Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

Chapter 252 – Lottery for the Monsters 2

252 – Lottery for the Monsters 2

『The Furcus Party is…number 92!』

Pacel’s voice sounded energetic.
Dressed as a black knight, Furcus nodded and went down.

『Fu-chan is cool and cute today as well. Ah,「92」is part of the red group.』

Each of the four tournament tables was designated as red, blue, black, and white.
The assigned numbers are also random, so『1』to『25』will not directly become part of the red group.

Now, the red group is enlarged on the screen and the number『92』is changed to『Furcus Party』.

The numbers for more than a dozen Parties have already been drawn.
Viewers are particularly curious about what will happen to the high-ranking Adventurers and famous Monsters.

5 Demon King Castles and 5 Demon Kings. No matter how they are divided, at least 2 of them will end up getting assigned to the same group.

The Parties led by the 12 Commanders of the Knights Order that have passed the first phase may also have the opportunity to fight against each other.

The 3 Contractors of the Four Great Spirits who are gathered in the present generation will also be the focus of attention.

『The Astrea Party is umm ―「19」.』

The Scales of Justice Astrea Party that showed their strength in the qualifying round was part of the white group.
Besides, their opponent was already assigned.

『Wow, for the first time, the match for the first round has been decided! The marvelous Commander of the Knights Order who continued to fight until they reached the time limit while being sandwiched between the Water Hero Wraith Party and the Flame Hero Fenix Party in the qualifying round! A Party led by Contestant Astrea! Who is their opponent in the first match～? Their opponent is actually the author of the「Snow Boy」series that everyone loves! The Party that is led by the Snow-White Hero Snow who is ranked 6th in the world!』

Pacel approached Astrea and pointed the microphone at her.

『Do you have anything you’d like to say? I think we would be very happy to hear it.』

Astrea has a crisp look today as well. Her monotonous voice spread throughout the hall.

『The Knights Order cannot be defeated. Because if the sword of justice breaks, we cannot protect the people.』

『I see! That means that you will not lose against anyone right!』

『Your golden hair is so beautiful.』

『Sitri-chan! I’ve been thinking about it too! But I’ve been holding back since it has nothing to do with what we’re doing now!』

『…I don’t really understand, but thank you. Can I be excused now?』

Astrea left the stage.

One after another, the numbers of the strong contestants are drawn and their group is confirmed.
Among them, if I had to mention some of the matches that shook the hall―.

◇

『Now then, Ellie-chan has touched her registration card! The number that makes us curious about it is ~ whoo! It’s「38」. They are part of the red group. Hmm? Wait a minute, this is ― 』

The opponent for the Ellie Party had already been filled.

The hall became noisy.
The Undefeated Hero Ellie Party that is ranked 95th in the world and also went on an adventure with us in the raid. Their opponent for the first round is.

Led by the Flame Hero that is ranked 4th in the world ― .

『…The Fenix Party.』

I did not miss the fact that when Sitri’s voice announced her opponent, Ellie laughed ferociously.
Pacel pointed her microphone to Ellie and she brushed her silver hair behind and said this.

『I’ll win.』

Short and powerful words.
There are other administrators in this space and they immediately pointed their microphones and cameras at Fenix.

『As I’ve declared previously ― 』

Fenix also stared back at Ellie with his fired up eyes.

『We will not be defeated again in our battles.』

The two Heroes who fought together in the raid as Lemegeton’s comrades.
The opportunity for them to clash in public has been confirmed here.

◇

Speaking of the shock that society received, there was a match that is even better than that.

『Now then everyone! The strongest Adventurer will now draw the lottery! Will you be so unlucky as to be in the same group as the 1st ranked Hero in the world? Or will you be lucky? Who will be in the same group as him?』

Ranked 1st in the world, the Storm Hero Aerial touched the device with his registration card.

The Hero who searched for me after I left the Fenix Party and then invited me to join his Party.
At the Tag Tournament, he knew how society regarded me, so he spoke highly of me in his commentary.
In the raid, he invaded the depths of the Demon King Castle as a powerful enemy and gave me a battle experience that improved both of our limits.

When people are asked to name the strongest human being, most of them would give his name.

『Their number is～ … how odd is this! He actually got number「1」! So that means he is part of the white group. ―Ah.』

I could see that Pacel froze in the middle of her sentence.

『…I see. So it became like this, I’m really looking forward to this.』

The microphone faintly picked up Aerial’s voice.

『Our opponent is the Jet-Black Hero Ex Party that is ranked 2nd in the world, right?』

I fought alongside Ex in the Original Dungeon.
He is a very strong and compassionate person, but it’s exactly because of those traits of his that he had some concerns.
Because he felt strongly that he was blessed to have his comrades, he was distressed by the fact that he could not reach the 1st rank for so long.
Dark’s trial poked at his troubled heart and at one point he was almost trapped in his ideal world.

But not anymore.
Now that person is―

『It seems like I’m pretty lucky today.』

There was no longer any confusion on his face.

『I feel the same, Ex.』

The eyes of the first and second place intersect and smile at each other.
The 1st and 2nd rank looked at each other and smiled.

『We are stronger than you. We’ll prove that.』

The current Ex has recovered his strong heart and conviction that he will definitely reach 1st rank.

『I accept your challenge.』

As expected of the 1st rank, he never stops improving and continues to aim for higher heights.
In as early as the first match, the battle that decides the strongest Adventurer Party has been established.

◇

It’s not only the Adventurers who are attracting attention.

『Although from the beginning this is a gathering of strong people, but I still feel it’s the work of fate when this kind of development happens.』

The Six-Horned Demon King Asmodeus said with a dubious tone.
That was what she said on stage when she found out who her opponent for the first round was.

『Don’t you think so? ―Paimon.』

The one standing on the end of her gaze is ― a tall and beautiful beauty that is dressed as a man.
That sharp eyes and seamless appearance made it feel difficult to approach that person.

After thinking like that, I shook my head.

What am I thinking? That person is not a woman. I should have known that already. But the moment I saw him, I couldn’t help but think like that.
Him. Yes, that person is a man.

The ruler of『Southern Demon King Castle』, also known as『Ultra-High Level・Unique Dungeon』.
The All-Seeing Demon King Paimon.

It was his Party that defeated the Ash Hero Garo Party that is ranked 11th in the world during the first phase.

『Don’t say something so disgusting. There’s no end to it if you keep on thinking that every single coincidence is fate.』

『As long as my heart starts to throb, it’s still fate no matter how many times it has happened.』

『Really. If there is such a thing, then you’re fated to disappear in the first round.』

『Oh, it seems that you and I have different feelings.』

『So it seems.』

The Demon King Castle of the north, south, east, and west, and the Parties led by the Demon Kings will also clash in the first match.

◇

「I’ll go up now then.」

It was finally the Wraith Party’s turn.
After his name was called, Wraith went to the stage looking as unfazed as ever.

The tournament divided 100 Parties into 4 groups.
Since there are 25 Parties per group, there were some slots that received the so-called seed treatment.

The number that Wraith drew was one of those slots.
We will be fighting against either one of the Party that wins in the first round.

Wraith smiled at Asmodeus.

『Is this also fate?』

Asmodeus looked at me for a moment, then smiled as she met Wraith’s gaze.

『Ahh, I’m so excited for this, boy.』

The Demon King of the South or the Demon King of the North?
Either one of their Party will become the opponent for our first match.

◇

Then, all the tournament tables were settled.

Starting with the Six-Horned Demon King Asmodeus Party and the All-Seeing Demon King Paimon Party, there are a lot of Parties gathered in our group.
All of the groups were inevitably going to have fierce battles.

「Hey, Lem. Are you disappointed that you can’t fight against Fenix?」

Wraith said something like that.

The Fenix Party is in the red group and we are in the black group.
We won’t be competing against each other in the tournament, and even if we come out on top together, we’ll be fighting together as comrades in the final phase.

In other words, we won’t be fighting against him as opponents in this All-Heaven Festival Contest.

「I do feel a little bit disappointed.」

「Just a little bit?」

「Yeah, I’m not that concerned about it.」

「Ohh?」

Wraith sounded as if he was surprised for a moment, but immediately he had a pondering expression and eventually nodded.

「I see. You’re right, not being able to fight against them this time is only a trivial concern when I think about it.」

He seemed to have realized it as well.

This tournament is very special for me and Wraith.
Because for Wraith, this could be an opportunity to fight against his father, and for me this could be an opportunity to fight against my master.

But this is not the last time that Fenix and I will be together.
As long as we aim to become the best Heroes, we will have many more opportunities to trade blows in the future.

Even if it’s not today, our paths will cross again someday.
Then there is no need to be hasty and no reason to be disappointed.

When I suddenly looked at him, he was also looking at me.
For some reason I started to smile, so I frowned
When I did that, Fenix held his mouth and smiled as if trying to hold back his laughter.

I looked away from him.

「Let’s go back. If possible, I’d like to come up with a plan to deal with the Parties that are in the same group with us…」

「I’m fine with that, Brain. Doesn’t it look fun?」

「Eh?」

「Your lips are slackening, you know.」

「…No, it’s not.」

「Ohh?」

We started walking as I received a doubtful look from the leader.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a Demon King, a Commander of the Knights Order, a Hero, or any other powerful people.
We will win against them all.

I think of my one-horned master. The strongest Demon King who gave me his horn.

―I have something I’d like to tell him.

And it was only possible on the battlefield.
Then, I just have to get there.