A Demon Lord’s Tale: Dungeons, Monster Girls, and Heartwarming Bliss

p>Lyuu approached from behind and curiously peered at the many dirt castles sitting at my feet.
She was holding a large basket filled with wet clothes.
It seemed that she was getting ready to hang the laundry out to dry.

“Oh, hey Lyuu.”
“Wait, woah! Did you make all those, Master?”

“Yeah,” I replied despondent as I slowly raised the upper half of my body off the patch of grass I'd been lying down on.
“Wow! Y'sure are good at crafts ‘n stuff! They look real good!”
“Thanks… Hearing that makes me feel a lot better.”
“I-Is somethin' wrong? You're soundin' kinda down.”
“Eh, you know…” I frowned.

I had all the research and skills I needed in order to create a magnificent castle.
In fact, I'd even taken quite a liking to some of the miniatures I'd created.
But by no means was I truly satisfied.
None of the castles I'd created were up to par; I wanted to at least make something on the tier of An*r L*ndo.
[2] But I couldn't.
No matter what I did, I found myself unable to create anything that solemn and majestic.
Fr*m Software's designers were simply out of my league.
[3]

Wait, why the hell have I already given up? I've only been at this for two goddamn hours!

The wizards at F*om Software were sure to scoff at me if they heard me complain.
They'd probably continued slaving away in front of their monitors, building and modeling until they started shedding tears of blood.
My inability to emulate their work was a given.
I'd only invested two hours to their thousands.

Expecting to achieve their standard had been nothing short of stupid on my part.

That said, I knew it wasn't going to take me much longer.
Unlike them, I didn't have to use a game engine or 3D modeling tool.
All I had to do was forge myself a mental image of the castle.

And, as the Demon Lord of Creativity [4], I was sure to succeed so long as I continued to push myself forward.

“Alright! One more time!”

Again, I hyped myself up before closing my eyes and focusing on the castle I wished to construct.

Imagine it.
Come on Yuki, you can do this.
All you have to do is imagine it.

The citadel that manifested within my mind was dyed in black.
It was covered from head to toe in the very same shade of black that filled the night around it.
It was impenetrable.
Its pitch black ramparts loomed over all that dared to challenge it, overpowering them with its imposing presence.
Strong and sturdy was its gate.
It was so thick that it could tank a dragon's assault without budging the slightest bit.
And so tall it stood that it could fit a giant with room to spare.
Its walls were lined with towers adorned with sharp, pointed tips, and its residential area was made entirely out of jet-black mansions that extended as far as the eye could see.

The sheer size of the property was abnormal.
And at its center lay the palace, solemn as a chapel and large enough to dwarf its surroundings.
Dull lights shined out from within the structure's windows, illuminating it just enough for its outline to be seen in the darkness of the night.
It was so stunning to see that it could only be described as phantasmagorical.
And though it was ominous, it still tugged at the hearts of all that looked upon it.

That was what I wanted to create: an intimidating fortress that inspired fear, dread, and passion in those that saw it.
I wanted it to make its beholders feel not only tiny and insignificant, but also stupefied by its majesty.

An ideal that no true man could deny.

Once I solidified the image, I activated my primordial magic and forced the earth itself to move.
The soil around me warped, obeying my commands.

Creating a miniaturized model of something was normally quite difficult.
There was a complicated and detailed manufacturing process, involving many steps that I failed to understand.
Primordial magic, however, allowed me to circumvent the more complicated steps and skip to materializing the result exactly as I wished for it, so long as I could picture it clearly in my head.

It didn't take long for the fortress to finish coming together.

“Oh, this one's actually not too bad.”

Though tiny, the castle I created held a majestic sense of presence.
It was beautiful; I could feel it drawing me in already.
Unfortunately, it was only made of dirt, so it was brown as opposed to the deep black I'd had in mind, but still, it looked quite impressive.
I almost couldn't bring myself to tear my eyes off it.

“Wow Master! The one you just made is lookin' super awesome!”
“Yeah.
It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.”

Finally satisfied, I nodded.
It wasn't exactly what I wanted.
A few of the finer details were still off, but it was good enough for me to work off of.
I no longer needed to draft another concept from scratch.

A sense of motivation assailed me; I felt the urge to continue practicing so I could use Creative Construction to complete the real deal on my first attempt.

“Alright Lyuu, watch this! I'm going to make it even better!”
“E-Even better!? It ain't good 'nuff already!?” Her eyes sparkled.
“Wow! I can't wait!”
“Heh.
They don't call me the Demon Lord of Creation for nothing.
Just watch! I'll open your eyes to my glory!”

And so, Lyuu ended up getting so caught up in watching me practice that she forgot to do the laundry.

[1] Should be obvious, but this is “minecrafter.” Apparently some of the people that play the game actually call themselves this.
`-`
[2] Anor Londo, beautiful large castle in Dark Souls.
[3] From Software.
The people that made Dark Souls, Armored Core, and some other famous stuff.
In the raw, they were called by a nickname, but apparently the English speaking fanbase doesn't have anything similar.
Oh well.
[4] He dubs himself this in chapter 20 or 21.

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