What Do You Mean, Deploying?
"…Uh?"
What did he say was deploying?
-Juddak: The Royal Guard is deploying?
-Trollugelt: Yes, that is correct. Of course, I understand your concerns, Juddak. The Lich Master on the list is one of the Eight Elders of the Demon Realm. He is a man of formidable skill.
-Trollugelt: Therefore, he is an entity too overwhelming to be suppressed by the Royal Guard alone.
-Trollugelt: Thus, for the first time in a while, I have decided to personally take the field. I will take responsibility and arrest every single one of them, so please do not worry.
"Wh-What?!"
The Demon King's Royal Guard was the elite force responsible for guarding the inner castle where the Demon King resided in Kronendike. I occasionally saw posts in the gallery, so I knew just how outstanding their capabilities were.
[Breaking News) Ma-Bungie witnessed a fascinating scene while taking a walk]
Author: Temp
(Photo of a completely wasted Ogre lying flat out on the main avenue leading to the Demon King's Castle)
(Photo of a person who looked like an ordinary demon picking up the Ogre effortlessly and carrying him to an empty lot next to the plaza)
I haven’t had a single drop of alcohol, but I seriously questioned if what I was seeing was real.
But it turns out the person who picked up and moved the Ogre was a Royal Guard member on his way to work.
He said a drunkard was blocking his path during his commute, so he got annoyed and cleared him away himself.
Royal Guard <<< Strong, honorable, and even has a damn good personality.
[Upvotes: 6091] [Downvotes: 54]
[Comments]
- I was in the middle of typing 'This is absolute bullshit...' but the moment I saw 'Royal Guard', I found myself nodding along without realizing it. - Fr fr lol. - If it's the Royal Guard, yeah, I guess that could happen. - Royal Guard member <<< Their very existence is just pure strength. - I saw this the other day, but an escaped Black Wyvern got put into a headlock and dragged out of the air after a casual jump. - If it was a flying Wyvern, isn't that crazy high up? - Yeah, but he just went "Hup!" and jumped and grabbed it. - Meanwhile, us old, sick, fat Ma-Bungies can't even get a cat down from a tree lmao. - Why the hell are you attacking me out of nowhere? - Triggered? - If Ma-Bungies go "Hup!" and put strength into it, they don't rocket into the sky, they have to rocket to the bathroom. - Ugh, you filthy bastard!
An Ogre is lying in the middle of the road? They let out a deep sigh, go "Sigh—", and casually push it aside.
An escaped Black Wyvern—the most ferocious of its kind and as massive as a typical dragon hatchling—is on the loose? They hop up right from where they are, give it a quick smack on the head, and drag it back down to earth.
The Royal Guard was a martial organization directly under the command of the Demon King that performed such absurd feats with effortless ease. It was a place where only those who ranked at the absolute apex among the high demons—who were born gifted with powerful physical strength and mana—could enter.
If I had to recall the memories of my past life to describe them...
'It feels like someone combined all of the world's strongest special forces into one?'
'Except their actual physical abilities are so superior that you can't even make a comparison.'
In the first place, humans and demons couldn't be compared on the same level. There was a reason why demons were called a completely different race like 'Demon Kind' despite looking similar to humans. Unlike humans, even without undergoing special training, they could reinforce their bodies and use magic based on their innate mana responsiveness.
Of course, there were low demons like me who possessed no talent whatsoever. But high demons—meaning their peak potential—had a ceiling high enough to effortlessly hoist and clear an Ogre, just like that Royal Guard member.
"Deploying a Royal Guard like that? And on top of that, the Regent himself is heading out, too?"
You couldn't see a rare spectacle like this even if you paid money for it.
"I can't miss this."
I immediately bought popcorn and a cola, handing them over to Reina.
"Hold on to this for a second."
"Pardon?"
I ordered one more bucket of the caramel flavor and sat down comfortably on the sofa.
"Now then."
Let's see how this plays out.
A simple yet brilliant purple embroidery stretched over a jet-black robe. A man dressed in the high-grade robe, which looked expensive at a single glance, slowly opened his eyes.
Once the mana surging around him completely settled, he spoke.
"This is the place."
"Excellent work. We will take it from here."
A mage belonging to the Royal Guard took two steps back, and the knights, also belonging to the Royal Guard, gripped their shortswords and round shields to take their stances.
After confirming his subordinates were ready, the leading knight kicked open the iron door with all his might.
—Thump!
"Fuck! What is it?!"
"Th-The Royal Guard?"
"Surrender. Those who do not know the full details will be forgiven."
The majority immediately raised their hands high, but a portion of them drew their weapons and huddled together.
"Should I take this as an intention to defy His Majesty the Demon King?"
"…E-Either way, we're dead even if we surrender! Keep your wits about you and hold out—"
The demon man who appeared to be the leader could not finish his sentence.
—Slash!
It was because his right wrist was cleanly severed by a Royal Guard member who had closed the distance in an instant. The words he was about to say vanished down his throat, replaced instead by a piercing scream.
Faced with an event that transpired in a flash, more people rushed to surrender. Only two individuals were killed while resisting.
"Take them away."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Regent Yugelt, who had consumed a shrinking potion, stepped inside the room.
"The passage?"
"We secured its location through the prisoners. It is this way."
Passing straight through the tunnel that stretched deep underground, the exact iron door from the video came into view.
Yugelt commanded in a low voice.
"Beyond that door are the rebels and the Finance Minister. Go in, rescue him, and arrest them."
"Understood, we will breach immediately."
But right then.
-Juddak: Regent, could you pause for a moment?
"Juddak?"
Juddak had sent a message.
"Wowww…"
The breach scene by the Royal Guard, which I watched while eating popcorn with Reina, easily rivaled any blockbuster movie. The movements of the Royal Guard members were so fast and precise that they were practically invisible to the naked eye, and the enemies were so terrified by their disciplined actions that they surrendered in droves.
It was brief but intense.
However.
"Isn't a Lich Master among the opposition?"
A Lich Master who had reached the pinnacle of necromancy and magic. His presence was undoubtedly threatening. On top of that, the big shots who wielded quite a bit of power in the Demon Realm wouldn't have come to this place alone. If their guards joined in and it devolved into a chaotic brawl inside a confined space, even the Royal Guard would suffer a non-negligible amount of damage.
'It'd be a bit frustrating if the Royal Guard gets hurt because of me.'
The Royal Guard symbolized the martial might of the Demon King itself. If the operation failed or the Royal Guard took heavy damage, the authority of the Demon King and the Regent could plummet significantly. I had set the stage just to smash a few internet disruptors, so if that happened, I'd owe far too large a debt to the Demon King and the Regent. I felt bad.
"I need to do something too."
So, I browsed through the Point Shop. As I was looking through the category, a thought struck me.
'Come to think of it, even if I give them guns or grenades, they wouldn't know how to use them, right?'
Handing them unfamiliar weapons right before a breach was also a bizarre move. Rather than doing that.
'Let's focus on securing the safety of the Finance Minister.'
If I timed it perfectly with the breach and caused massive chaos inside so they couldn't respond properly, what would happen? Fortunately, something fitting caught my eye.
"Yeah, this isn't a lethal weapon anyway."
- Earplugs: 1 pt - KE180 Flashbang: 134 pt
[Points Deducted: -2269 pt]
The items were ready. I slightly adjusted the transparency of the gallery window to draw the Finance Minister's attention.
-Juddak: Hey
"J-Juddak?"
-Juddak: Don't talk out loud, keep your hands down, and reply through the chat lol
-DemonRealmFinanceMinister: Yes, understood. What is the matter? Rumors are currently circulating that it is noisy outside...
-Juddak: I recorded the contents of the meeting and sent them to the Demon King, so they dispatched the Royal Guard
-DemonRealmFinanceMinister: …Excuse me???
-Juddak: First, take this
I sent the earplugs first.
-Juddak: Squeeze them tight and put them into your ear canals. They'll expand and fit snugly
-DemonRealmFinanceMinister: Yes, I have done so
-Juddak: And this
-DemonRealmFinanceMinister: What is this?
Gozbo fiddled with the two cylindrical objects that suddenly appeared on top of his hands.
-Juddak: Press the lever, pull the pin, and place them on the table
-DemonRealmFinanceMinister: I have done it
-Juddak: ?? Get under the table right now, close your eyes, and cover them with your hands! Hurry!
Gozbo instinctively tried to type a reply but moved his hands away instead. Having done a stint in the Demon King's Army back in the day, his reflexes were exceptional.
—Clack!
"Minister? What are you doing..."
Gozbo ducked under the table.
"Ah, right, I should turn it off too."
I also turned off the visual and audio functions of the 'Eye of the Gallery'. Then, after waiting for about ten seconds, I turned the functions back on.
"—Aaargh!"
"—My eyes! My eyeeees!!!"
"—What on earth is this!!!"
"It worked!"
I immediately fired off a message to Yugelt as well.
-Juddak: Breach right now!
-Trollugelt: Understood!
—Thump!
The iron door tore away like a piece of paper, and Yugelt along with the Royal Guard members stormed inside.
The suppression and rescue operation wrapped up in an instant. Finance Minister Gozbo was safe, the deployed Royal Guard members suffered zero casualties, and the vast majority of the 'Anti-Juddak Meeting' members were arrested.
Except.
-Trollugelt: A few individuals, including the Lich Master, have succeeded in escaping.
-Trollugelt: I have no excuses. Thanks to your assistance, Juddak, our forces sustained no damage whatsoever, yet it seems we failed to deliver a matching result.
"They did a great job, so why are they acting like that?"
Our Regent seems to be a massive perfectionist.
I sent a reply saying it was fine, and Yugelt responded multiple times, iterating that he would capture them no matter what.
"He really is an upright person."
"Of course. The former Demon King didn't appoint him as Regent for nothing."
Thanks to him, I was able to easily handle the disruptors, so I pondered if there was anything I could do to help.
Then.
"Maybe I can help with finding the ones who fled?"
"How?"
"There's nothing you can't do if you utilize collective intelligence."
The Ma-Gallery is a massive forum with a user count easily exceeding hundreds of thousands.
"Because gallery users are everywhere."
West, Central, East, South, North—they were evenly distributed across the entire Demon Realm. Since they could take photos or record short videos to upload them...
"Every single user is a CCTV of the Demon Realm."
Of course, checking every single photo uploaded to the gallery was close to impossible. It might be possible if I asked our capable manager RD1234, but leaving that up to gallery management felt like making them do too much work, so I dropped the idea.
Instead.
"What if we just release the information of the targets to be arrested directly to the users?"
Just like the sketches of wanted criminals that could occasionally be seen in front of police stations or terminals in my past life. We could post the personal information and portraits of the escaped Lich Master and the wanted fugitives in the gallery and receive tips from the users.
Just in case, I inquired with the Regent, and the response came back stating that they would actually be grateful for the help.
"I think that's a great idea."
"Right?"
Since Reina also showed a positive reaction, I immediately set out to prepare.
"Adding a newly established Report Contest tab."
Since the fugitives might spy on the gallery, I configured it so that only the Head Manager and Managers could view the posts uploaded here.
"We review them, and if they get apprehended based on the reported content, we give the users a reward."
Like the previous contest, we could offer food as prizes and run it in a contest format. If they get caught, it’s good for the users, good for me since I get to deal with future trouble for a pittance, and good for the Regent and Royal Guard since it saves them the effort.
"Alright then, let's roll out the new contest~"
Having decided that, I opened up the gallery to draft the notice...
- SausageBreadFaction <<< is a dumbass [71]
* Did you just dare to disrespect the Great Supreme Meat Burger? [56] - Burger faction bastards have no mothers fr fr fn [89] - Burger faction <<< Animalistic bastards who already forgot the starving days [98] - Fighting over the most useless shit fn [191]
The gallery was burning fiercely with a faction war of Sausage Bread vs. Bulgogi Burger.
"What's wrong with them?"
Of all things, they were burning the gallery down over a food faction war.
"What were the managers doing instead of stopping them?"
-AncientDemonGod: We tried to stop them and banned the severe ones, thou knowest.
-AncientDemonGod: However, the more we did, both sides pushed us, asking which side the managers were on, thou knowest...
"What."
-RD1234: This unit appealed extensively that it has zero connection to 'food' consumed by organic organisms.
-RD1234: But the gallery users did not listen at all.
-RD1234: However, since I heard from my senior that indiscriminate bans are not desired by the Head Manager, I kept bans to a minimum while awaiting the Head Manager's judgment.
-Juddak: Did you warn the people fighting over food to cut it out?
-RD1234: Correct. A total of 3421 warnings were issued
-Juddak: Then slam them with bans lol
-Juddak: If they keep doing it even after being given sufficient warnings, that's not an abuse of bans, that's a justified ban
-RD1234: The Head Manager's judgment has been confirmed. Immediate action will be taken.
Simultaneously, the number of banned users began to spike.
[It's me]
Author: Head Manager
(Meme of a furious frog demon against a blood-red background)
What kind of bullshit is going on right now?
I’ve been preparing to open a contest fn
Do you guys seriously want to die?
[Upvotes: 4691] [Downvotes: 52]
[Comments]
- Fr, what kind of absolute bullshit is this;; - They were acting like absolute clowns all day with Sausage Bread vs. Bulgogi Burger, please just ban them all!!! - Looks like he's wiping them out right now anyway? - Oh, true?
* Do you want to die? <<< He already killed them all so they can't answer - Posts and comments are vanishing into thin air, what kind of speed is this lmfao - Are you underestimating a machine race manager? lmfaooo - The managers' performance is solid - If anyone has a complaint, try leaving a comment here lmfao - Fr fr lol - Originally, the dead tell no tales - I,,, can,,, still,,, speak,,, even,,, if,,, I'm,,, dead,,,? - Get lost before I yank out your spine and toss it into the creek, Skeleton grandpa - What an impudent,,, fellow,,, - Looks like the guys starting the faction war are all dead, let's just proceed with the contest? - Fr, if you have a complaint, speak up, oh wait lmfao
Once the drama temporarily subsided.
"Aside from a few guys who went way too far with the bullshit, let's unban the rest."
Because having even one more CCTV would be effective. Then, before they could fight over another faction war, I quickly uploaded the notice.
[Notice: New Contest Commencing lol]
Author: Head Manager
I won't make this long lol
(Photos of wanted fugitives' faces and personal details)
This report contest is about reporting things you see in 'real life' lol
I got permission from the Regent, so don't spatter nonsense about privacy leaks or whatever.
You see the list of fugitives here?
If you spot them, create a post under the [Report Contest] tab with the photo and location filled out.
The [Report Contest] tab can only be viewed by me and the managers, so you don't need to worry about retaliation, it's fine.
If we verify it and the target you reported is an actual fugitive?
I'll immediately deliver 3 food items of your choice lol
There's no specific deadline.
It will run until every single fugitive is arrested.
Let's begin~
[Upvotes: 9735] [Downvotes: 872]
[Comments]
- Why is the Regent of the Demon Realm involved in a forum contest lmfao - Fr, just how far is the scale going to grow? lmfao - At this rate, the Demon King might host the next contest - If they're fugitives, isn't it dangerous? - It's dangerous, but if it's 3 chickens, isn't that a massive win? - That's true lmfaooo - Author) If you happen to spot them on the street, take a picture carefully and upload it. Don't put yourselves in danger while hunting for fugitives. - No way, what kind of idiot would...
* ? There are going to be a metric ton of guys who will do it
Come on, what kind of crazy bastard would rush out to hunt down vicious fugitives just to eat some chicken? You can just work, earn money, and buy food, but your life only has one coin. How many people wouldn't understand this?
The vast majority of the users will probably just scroll through the gallery in the corners of their rooms, going 'Hehe, fanservice pics~'. The intent behind hosting the contest was strictly for information on fugitives that happens to be caught 'by chance'. It absolutely didn't mean for the users to actively go out and bring back the fugitives.
However...
- HamburgerSquad <<< is insanely brave, sorting out to find the fugitives [141] - We can't lose, SausageBreadSquad is also deploying [81]
* If I just take a picture and share the location, I get chicken? [120]
* How can anyone resist this? [120] - Great Head Manager making room-dwelling Ma-Bungies exercise [90] - Absolutely do not leave the room [51] - Packing a week's worth of rations and heading out first~ [69]
"What."
Sure enough. The unpredictable, baffling Ma-Gallery users pulled off bizarre antics that drastically overshot my expectations yet again today.
And.
-[Report Contest] I think I already found one guy, check this out lol
How long had it even been since I posted the text? A report had already flown in.