Demon Lord Gallery

Conference hall and brawl.
These two truly incompatible words coexisting in this space left me unable to hide my bewilderment.
With sudden noise, fireballs flew, flashes occurred, lightning struck a corner of the conference hall, and something was thrown with a whooshing sound cutting through the air.
In such a situation, if one could maintain composure, wouldn’t that be Buddha or something?
Additionally, there were pieces of flesh and blood clots flying occasionally.
It was a space where the word ‘pandemonium’ was all too appropriate, but the problem was that I was in it.
In this brawl, I had to use my abilities and qi sense to their maximum, avoiding debris flying at supersonic speeds, staying away from Demon Lords chanting strange spells from time to time, and fleeing ungracefully.
How much time had passed?
Maybe because I had overexerted myself rushing to the Manmajeon conference hall earlier, I was already out of breath.
“…I should have trained my abilities more during normal times!”
No matter how much I regretted it now, it was too late.
Having been accustomed to peace by repeating a monotonous daily life for 20 years, I found it difficult to endure even for a long time in such a situation.
While I was gritting my teeth and repeatedly fleeing hard.
“Hey, aren’t you the gallery newbie? What are you doing here?”
Startled by someone approaching and speaking without any presence, I turned my head to find a face that was familiar if anything.
“Um….”
A man with bright blonde hair wearing fancy aristocratic clothes that seemed to have popped out from around the 19th century.
This man was the one I had encountered in the arena, the Demon Lord wielding holy and demonic swords, and outwardly closer to a hero than a Demon Lord.
“Fixed nickname ‘Equilibrium?'”
He was a gallery member commonly referred to as a hero spy.
“You recognize me well?”
“Um, when you fought with ‘Ten Commandments’ in the arena…”
“Ah, you were clinging to old man Odin’s side then.”
Equilibrium smiled, tapping his head as if he had forgotten about it.
“So why is our newbie here?”
“…I wonder about that myself.”
I don’t know why I’m here either.
I came to participate in the meeting to learn information about ‘Demon Lords’ and ‘Heroes’, not to watch this brawl, really…
“You clearly got caught up in it after entering the conference hall, right?”
“Yes….”
“Then don’t just stand here, follow me. You don’t like being in this kind of arena, right?”
“Pardon?”
“Let’s go to a comfortable place.”
When I turned my head towards where Equilibrium pointed with his chin, I saw a place that hadn’t caught my eye until now.
With full glass windows covering the front, protruding from one side of the circular arena, it looked like a VIP box in a stadium.
“That place..”
“It’s the resting place for neutral Demon Lords. Quickly, follow me.”
I started conversing while following Equilibrium walking towards the resting place.
Was my concern about the hero spy in the gallery unnecessary?
Unlike the gallery’s image of him as one of the top troublemakers, Equilibrium was an incredibly kind and generous young man.
“─So, old man Noah gave you a ride?”
“Yes.”
“Whew, you’ve got guts. How did you think to ride that sociopath old man’s ship?”
“…?”
“Haven’t you heard about that old man? He’s the type to completely eliminate everything that doesn’t meet his standards. You can tell just by how he wiped out everyone except himself because there were too many wicked people.”
“Is that how it is?”
Maybe because of Noah’s very friendly image.
I hadn’t felt any threat while riding his ship. Even after hearing his story, I just recognized it as something that had happened.
“Well, everyone interprets it differently.”
Equilibrium laughed heartily once again and hurried his steps.
“Oh right. It’s a bit awkward to keep calling you newbie. Can you tell me your name?”
“It’s Shin Su-hyeon.”
“Shin Su-hyeon? An East Asian name? Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m called Leon. As you well know, I’m called a hero spy.”
As he answered, Equilibrium, no, Leon’s appearance of drawing two swords from both his waists and swinging them, how should I put it?
Combined with his outward appearance, he looked too much like a dashing ‘Hero’.
To the point where it was irritating to look at as a man.
“Ah, and I’d like it if you didn’t use formal speech and such. It’s awkward. We look about the same age outwardly, so there’s no need to be awkwardly formal, right?”
“I understa… got it.”
“Good.”
Perhaps satisfied with my answer, Leon went ahead whistling.
After walking a bit more, the resting place we arrived at was incredibly luxurious.
In stark contrast to the blood-soaked conference hall visible through the glass windows, it had an incredibly peaceful atmosphere, and something like classical music was playing from one corner of the room.
Even the sofas and bookshelves placed in the room were of such high quality that even I, with no eye for goods, could assert they were luxurious items.
And most importantly, the Demon Lords.
There were 4 Demon Lords visible to me.
A Demon Lord with dark circles under his eyes, a female Demon Lord wearing an elegant coat, Moses whom I had seen in the arena, and a man wearing a military uniform that seemed to have popped out from the 20th century.
“Not many, right?”
Perhaps noticing my gaze sweeping around the room, Leon threw out words as if seeing through my inner thoughts.
“Yeah.”
To be honest, it couldn’t help but deviate greatly from expectations.
How many Demon Lords are visible in the gallery alone? It easily exceeds at least hundreds to thousands, and even the Demon Lords roughly visible in this conference hall easily exceed thousands.
Among so many Demon Lords that are overflowing to the point of tripping over, to think that there are only 5 neutral Demon Lords.
“I didn’t expect there to be only 5 including you.”
“It’s not 5? Look at that corner over there.”
Following Leon’s finger, I turned my gaze and saw something placed in the corner.
“…A blanket?”
There were thick blankets piled up in layers.
Surely that can’t be a living being, no, a Demon Lord?
“Hey, auntie. We have a guest, so come out.”
The moment Leon’s words, close to a shout, were uttered. The pile of blankets started to move, wriggling.
The blanket pile bulged up and what popped out was a girl.
A girl buried in the pile of layered blankets.
“….Bothersome….”
“Ah geez, you’re not even browsing the gallery now, what are you doing in there?”
“Sleepy…”
As if not listening to others’ words, the girl Demon Lord who arbitrarily said she was sleepy and crawled back into the blankets with a plop plop plop, I stared blankly for a moment.
Soon, I came to my senses and was able to ask a question.
“….Is that person also a Demon Lord?”
“Yeah. A room-bound gallery addict. Don’t be fooled by her appearance. What’s inside that is an auntie. No, is it a grandma?”
At the same time, a huge pillow flew from the blanket pile, but Leon avoided it lightly and continued speaking.
“Anyway, that’s all you need to know about her, and for the remaining four here… will you introduce yourselves? Or should I do it for you?”
“You do it.”
“”You do it for us.””
“I’ll do it myself~”
After three people, except for one, delegated the explanation, Leon cleared his throat as if he had expected this and began explaining.
“First, over there is the Demon Lord who uses the nickname ‘Retry’ in the gallery. He’s a bit of a punching bag in the gallery, but he’s actually strong, so be aware.”
“Who’s a punching bag?”
The Demon Lord who answered with a bit of irritation was the male Demon Lord with dark circles under his eyes.
“That uncle in the military uniform uses the nickname ‘Fallout’, and over there is… you know him too, right? Old man Moses.”
After briefly acknowledging the greetings of ‘Fallout’ who pulled out the cigar he was smoking to greet, and Moses who greeted with a faint smile.
I couldn’t help but be captivated by the Demon Lord who started the next introduction.
“I’m the Demon Lord using the fixed nickname ‘Goodnight’ in the gallery and the Succubus Queen, Anastasia. Just call me Asha~”
Although she covered her whole body with a coat, was the aura seeping out unavoidable?
As a man, I couldn’t help but naturally have my gaze drawn to her.
Moreover, I had clearly seen this Demon Lord, no, Succubus Queen once before.
“….Didn’t I see you once in the arena?”
Clearly, the female Demon Lord who briefly gave me an eye smile just before the arena projection magic was cut off.
It was definitely her.
“I’m honored that you remember me!”
She who spoke with a small laugh was beautiful.
To the point where I could be inadvertently drawn into her, no, Asha’s appearance.
I wanted to follow whatever Asha said.
Whatever Asha’s orders were─
“Ah auntie, having eaten that many years, you want to seduce a young man? Let’s act our age.”
“……Hey.”
Fortunately, my thoughts that were progressively going in a strange direction could be cut off thanks to Leon.
Is this the famous succubus?
This is dangerously powerful. It’s stronger than most mental abilities, isn’t it?
While planting the thought to be careful from now on in a corner of my mind, I cautiously spoke to Asha.
“…Nice to meet you. Asha.”
“Nice to meet you too~”
After the introduction of the Succubus Queen, Asha, ended and some simple introductions were exchanged, I was able to grasp the general background of these neutral Demon Lords.
The uncle in the military uniform was Joshua Edward, the fixed nickname ‘Retry’ was Ferma Bice, shortened to Ferma, and both had extremely quiet personalities.
Even when the quiet old man Moses said a few words, the two were so focused on smoking cigars/reading without saying a single word.
It was while I was mulling over the introductions that had passed and organizing them in my own way.
“Oh, the main manager came in. The meeting will resume. The timing matches perfectly with the end of introductions, you’re lucky, aren’t you?”
At Leon’s words, when I turned my gaze towards the glass window, I indeed saw a man walking towards the center of the conference hall where the brawl was taking place.
When I looked by enhancing my eyesight and qi sense, the first thing that caught my eye was his tired impression.
Should I say it was like the expression of a low-level company employee suffering from 3 days of all-nighters?
At first glance, I could say that this main manager, like some other Demon Lords, had a really harmless and utterly ordinary impression.
But it didn’t take long for this assessment of mine to change.
The moment the main manager ‘Half-skull’ crossed the conference hall and stepped onto the podium at its center, all the Demon Lords’ brawling stopped.
As if time had stopped, the sight of all the Demon Lords’ fighting stopping and quieting down was truly spectacular.
“Whew, he freezes everything with time freeze as soon as he arrives. As expected, the main manager’s experience doesn’t go away.”
“…..”
Did he really stop time?
I was staring blankly at the frozen scene for a moment.
“Shin Su-hyeon, watch that carefully. One of the main manager’s powers is about to unfold.”
“What?”
At that moment when I was questioning Leon’s words.
As if the time freeze had been lifted, the Demon Lords’ brawl resumed with noisy clamor, and almost simultaneously, the gavel – wooden hammer – that the main manager raised to the sky struck the wooden board.
The scene that unfolded next was… in a word, a replay.
The Demon Lords who were brawling step backwards, blood that had spurted from wounds returns to their bodies, and scorched floors become clean again.
Numerous Demon Lords return to sit in their seats, and the dust clouds that heavily obscured the main conference hall clear away.
After all the replays had finished playing, and a moment of silence circled the conference hall.
Bang─
Along with the clear hammer sound, the main manager’s words resonated through the conference hall.
“Meeting, resumed.”