"You're late!!!"
The Demon Lord's first words were exactly what I expected.
"Sorry, Eri." (Eugene)
I apologized for keeping her waiting.
"Sit down there!" (Eri)
"Yeah, yeah." (Eugene)
When I sat on the bed as instructed, I was immediately pushed down.
Her beautiful eyes, red like rubies, gleamed like those of a predator eyeing its prey.
"Hey, Eri. I wanted to ask about strategies for the Zenith Tower—" (Eugene)
"That can wait. First, you need to pay the 'price' for keeping me waiting this long." (Eri)
Saying that, she stole my lips.
I wrapped my arms around Eri's back and held her tightly.
The large black wings that were usually on her back were gone for now.
Convenient wings, really.
"Eugene…" (Eri)
Eri looked at me with inviting eyes.
When I slipped off the strap of her purple dress, her white skin was revealed.
"Eri…" (Eugene)
No matter how many times I see her, her beauty is dazzling.
"Fufu…" (Eri)
Eri smiled seductively, and I embraced her, drawn in, pressing her down.
◇A Few Hours Later◇
"About the 500th floor's Deus Discipline, huh~" (Eri)
After fully satisfying the Demon Lord, I asked her about strategies for the Zenith Tower.
"According to Anemoi, since the 500th floor is the halfway point of the 1000-floor Zenith Tower, the Dungeon Master often shows up as the floor boss to test the explorers' strength…" (Eugene)
"But if the Dungeon Master-chan herself is already acting as your training partner, then someone else will probably be chosen as the trial opponent this time." (Eri)
That was Eri's view.
Incidentally, Anemoi said the same thing.
"Can't the Dungeon Master freely choose who becomes the opponent for the Deus Discipline?" (Eugene)
I once asked Anemoi that.
"Of course not! The opponents of the Deus Disciplines are Divine Beasts from the age of myths…they're way above me! And the summoning of Divine Beasts is triggered by the Goddess's miracle magic, so it's outside the Dungeon Master's authority!" (Eri)
That was her answer.
"So then, there's no way to prepare for it…" (Eugene)
I muttered.
In the end, all we could do was raise everyone's individual combat strength and improve our teamwork.
"I think I heard before that in the 500th floor Deus Discipline of the Zenith Tower, opponents with some kind of past connection to the explorers appear." (Eri)
Eri spoke up as if she had recalled something after hearing what I muttered.
"Opponents with a connection?" (Eugene)
"Yeah. In other words, a Divine Beast you've fought before shows up again." (Eri)
"…"
I looked closely at the Fallen Angel in front of me at her words.
"What is it?" (Eri)
"In that case…wouldn't you be the one I'd face, Demon Lord?" (Eugene)
Eri had appeared as the opponent in the 100th floor's trial.
No need to mention the connection between us.
"There's no way it would be me. Because after you clear the 500th floor's Deus Discipline…you're planning to use that method to fight the Red Dragon again, right?" (Eri)
"…Yeah, that's right." (Eugene)
I already had the agreement of Sumire, Sara, Airi, and Claude on this.
The timing to return to the past would be the day the Red Dragon destroyed the Lykeion Magic Academy.
We'd go back to that day, save the academy from destruction, and rescue Principal Uther.
And hopefully prevent the Empire and Holy Union from starting a war.
"If you want to fight the Red Dragon-chan, then you don't have time to waste fighting me in a trial. That thing is a Divine Beast capable of destroying the world. Of the enemies you've fought, I guess only Cerberus-chan, the watchdog of Hades, would be in the same league." (Eri)
"Cerberus is really that strong!?" (Eugene)
"It is one of the oldest Divine Beasts, you know? I only heard about it, but in the Divine Realm War, it fought against the Old Gods on equal footing… If I remember right, the Tree Goddess once told me she had Cerberus help her when she fought against the Wisdom Goddess Loki and the Divine Wolf Fenrir." (Eri)
"..."
So even the watchdog of Hades fought against the Demon Gods, huh.
Why did I have to fight such a Divine Beast all the way down at the 20th floor?
"Well, in the end, the Zenith Tower will summon whatever it deems a suitable opponent for the 500th floor's Deus Discipline, so we won't know until then. But I do think it's good that the Dungeon Master is acting as your training partner. She knows the difficulty of each Deus Discipline. For now, aim for the strength needed to clear the 300th floor like you did." (Eri)
"That matches what I was thinking. Then, specifically, for Sumire and Sara's training…" (Eugene)
"Let's start by thinking about Sumire." (Eri)
I consulted with Eri about training methods for my companions.
Even if time flowed differently in the Zenith Tower, time was still precious.
I wanted to strengthen our forces as efficiently as possible.
Eri had apparently once been in charge of educating goddess candidates, so she had mountains of know-how in this field.
"Thanks for all the help, Eri." (Eugene)
I said while looking over the notes I'd taken.
"Well, most of it is just basic Destiny Magic. Up to the 300th floor, that'll be enough. After that, I'll prepare training to develop the recommended skills for the 400th and 500th floors." (Eri)
"…Sorry for relying on you this much." (Eugene)
The Demon Lord was still confined within the Seventh Sealed Prison.
I once asked, "Want to come out?" but she surprisingly refused.
Even though before she constantly complained about wanting to get out.
"I'm doing this because I want to. Just make sure to come visit me sometimes. Got it?" (Eri)
"…Yeah, I got it. See you, Eri." (Eugene)
I bid her farewell and left the sealed prison.
After that, I headed to the Zenith Tower and used the dungeon elevator to return to Sumire and the others.
"Ah! Finally, you're back, Eugy-kun." (Sumire)
They were in the middle of training with the Dungeon Master.
I only spent a few hours with Eri, but here more than ten days had passed.
I really kept them waiting.
"I learned a lot from Eri, so let's revise our training methods based on this." (Eugene)
I called out to my companions.
That's when Sumire quietly slid closer.
"You smell like Eri." (Sumire)
"…S-Sumire?" (Eugene)
Her eyes looked scary.
"Oh? What's the matter, Eug—hmm. Seems you had some fun." (Sara)
Sara quickly figured it out.
"Eugy! You're back already! Hm? Did you and Sumire and Sara have a fight or something?" (Airi)
Airi didn't notice a thing.
"A-Anyway, I came up with new training menus for everyone." (Eugene)
I forcibly changed the subject and shared what Eri had taught me.
…In the end, I couldn't completely change the subject, and that night I had to deal with all three of them.
But that's another story.