Chapter 0:

Episode 0.0 - The 30th Vacation (part 1)

Demon Lord's Isekai Vacation


I sat on the hot spring pool naked with a wine glass in my hand.
The hot water in the pool provided a gentle warmth while getting rid of all the exhaustion and worries from my life. The temperature was just perfect although I used some of my powers to intensify heat a bit.

Right now I was resting my back on one of the stones as I viewed the setting sun in the distance.

In my hand, there was half glass filled with wine that I shook gently,
“This is bliss,” I muttered to myself.

Sipping from the wine, my throat was filled with a warm sensation and the spring pool water warmed me from the outside. The hot steam water and wine got rid of all the impurities from my sweat glands. I was in a state of ecstasy.

After soaking in the pool for half an hour, I reached out to my bag at the edge of the pool.
From that bag, I took out my notepad along with a pen.

“Alright, now where is it?”

I read through the contents of the notepad.
In my notepad, there were orderly written tasks in orderly rows and columns.
They were 'to-do tasks' by myself.

After rummaging through the pages for a few more seconds, I finally found it.
“Drink wine while having a hot spring bath. Done.”

I scribbled out the ‘drink wine while having a hot spring bath’ with my pen. This was one of my tasks noted down in my notepad. Finally some progress on my ‘to-do tasks’.

In this large hot spring pool, I was the only one utilizing it while enjoying quality wine. If this was an ordinary spring pool, people would have already occupied this land and now it already is crowded with people. Thankfully we are the only tourist here.

Never thought that this would be an ideal spot for a vacation.
Everything has gone perfectly so far.

Just when I was enjoying the bath a sound transmission interrupted me,
“Master, the preparations are almost done. We can start the ritual anytime now.” a sound of a female voice echoed in my mind.

I was expecting this message anyway, so I instantly knew who was talking on the other end.

A joyous smile appeared on my face,
“Nice job, as always Machidna. I am on my way. Also, that thing is not called a ritual… Did you hear me? ~ Ah never mind.”

I finally stepped out of the pool and dried my body with a towel before wearing the bathrobe. 

As soon as I stepped out, I was greeted by a cool breeze carrying a dense wild smell of the forest. I closed my eyes to just take in the beautiful scent and just be mesmerized by the beautiful smell of this forest region.

But when I opened my eyes, hundreds of tall burly ape monsters standing in a distance glaring at me. The apes were tall as a hill, their body covered in black thick fur and their hideous fang-filled jaws wide open. They had bloodshot red eyes as they glared at me.

They were all about half a mile away from me and didn't come any closer.
These were the Berserker Black Apes, which are the predominant species in this mountain ranges of Jera.

They were just half a mile away from our campsite, beating their chest and howling like mad beasts. Those who tried to come closer were stopped by an invisible wall. They even attacked this wall but to no avail.

That's because Machidna, the girl who just messaged me before had put up a barrier to keep those burly apes at a distance. Despite the strength and number of these wild Berserk apes, they couldn't even put a dent in her barrier.

The Berserker Apes was quite furious and want just to tear us apart. After all, this spring pool site was actually was the home of those very Apes, now standing outside the barrier.

Although, it would be a lot better if she had cloaked the barrier with mist or something, just so that we can't see these hideous monsters glaring at us and just block their vision. 

I glanced at the big army of Berserk Black apes and felt a bit annoyed. Their bloodthirsty glares were ruining my mood. I could ask Machidna to do something about it.

Just when I was busy glaring at those Apes,
“Greetings master,” another familiar feminine voice interrupted me.

When I glanced forward, I saw a beautiful woman kneeling before me elegantly.
She had beautiful smooth long white hair that reached her back. From her head, big white curved horns were poking out of her hair which gave her a feminine appearance, a tinge of ferociousness to her. She had lovely bloodshot red eyes that looked like red jewels. On top of that, she had one giant rack and curvy figure that every female dreams of and every male craves.

And right now such a beautiful woman was bowing before me.

I was distracted by her cleavage for a second before coming back to my senses,
“Oh Leireath, I see that you are here already. And you are again wearing your battle armor while carrying around Gruhendal with you.”

Glancing at her skimpy battle armor on top of that voluptuous body of hers would awaken any man’s wild dreams. But once any man glances at the bloody big sword, Gurehendal, the giant cleaver on her back, almost all men stop having such thoughts.

“Master, I tried what relaxing as you said but... Without my sword and armor, I feel naked. So I had no other choice but to wear this to feel comfortable. Master, even if it’s your vacation, it's better to be on guard all the time. Our enemies can attack us at any time and I as your bodyguard should be well prepared for such events.” she said with concern.

To hear such a thoughtful response and the glimmering determination in her red ruby eyes, I couldn't say no, "Fine. Suit yourself."

This woman showing so much concern to me is Leireath, the war maiden of Hella. She’s a half-ghoul and half-succubus and was abandoned by her mother just after her birth in a forest. Thankfully a passing Asura giant spotted her and brought her to their village. The Asura giants are been perceived as violent and ruthless beings by others but that's not true. The asura giants were kind enough to adopt her and make her a part of their family. She was also trained by them to fight like the proud Asura giants.

The big sword that she carries on her back is Gruehendal, the giant cleaver. That sword was a gift to her from the Asura giant clan. The Gruehendal weighs about 10 000 tons but Leireath can carry it around like it weighs absolute nothing.

She’s one of the strongest and most feared warriors in the entirety of the three realms.
Her physical prowess is almost god-like that even I, the demon lord, had a hard time fending off her attacks. But thanks to my treacherous nature and cunning trickery, I used a little one of my tricks to defeat her. From then on, she's been following me around ever since.

"Thank you, master," she replied.
“Anyway, Ah, I see. Where’s Machidna?” I asked.

Suddenly the look on Leireath’s face twisted,
“That little witch~ hmph, she’s down that trail doing her little witchcraft as usual. I can’t stand that little twerp, so I came here to pick you up instead. I hope you don’t mind.”

These two were still not on good terms as usual. Sigh.
“It’s alright, it’s alright. Thankfully you two didn’t stir a fight like the last time. You did a better job, holding your temper Leireath.” saying so I patted Leireath’s head.

As soon as I did Leireath had a red embarrassed face,
“Master, I am not a kid. You don’t have to treat me like a kid.”

She says that she doesn't want head pats but the way she's wagging her tail, which tells us that she enjoys it.

“Alright let’s head to where Machidna is, she must be done with the preparations.”

Leireath let out a sigh,
“If you insist on going to where that witch is, I’ll lead the way.”

Saying so she led the way through the trail going deeper inside the forest where our main camp was.

The forest where we are currently camping is situated at the mountain ranges of Jera. This forest is riddled with many monster beasts of different kinds, that even the bravest adventurers fear to tread here. Many of the regions in these mountains are still unexplored.

The mountainous terrain and the thick blanket of the forest were very difficult for adventures to walk through. It was a perfect haven for monster beasts to live. The Berserker apes are the most ferocious and use their climbing skills to their advantage to attack any intruder in their region.

They even dared to attack us when we came here looking for a vacation spot. But thankfully we easily managed to defeat those beasts. There was a big population of those beasts so I made Machidna set a strong barrier that kept most of the bigger monsters outside.

It’s not that we can't get rid of these monsters. I can blow this forest and its monsters with one single attack but that means ruining my vacation spot. Also, it's best not to kill all the monsters, otherwise, the adventurers can easily get past the forest and reach my spot. Those adventurers are like pests so having monster beasts around was kinda useful to keep them busy.

Machida's barrier was powerful and not a single one of the monster beasts was able to get past it.

We walked through the trail heading to where our camp was. But while walking through the trail I can still feel the gaze of those Berserk apes glaring at us from a distance. They were beating their chest and howling as well. But thankfully Machidna added a noise cancellation spell to her barrier which thankfully saved us from the loud noises.

Before I knew it, I had already reached the campfire.

There were two big tents built at the side, Leireath built herself. It was our shelter for the night.
In front of our tent, there was a big tree, underneath it was a big cauldron placed over a bonfire. Beside the cauldron was a young girl stirring the pot with a big ladle in her hand.

This young girl looked about 13-14 years old. She had long silky black hair and beautiful grey eyes. She was wearing a big witch's hat followed by a black dress and black tights. She noticed my presence.

"You are here right on time, my lord." she greeted me cheerfully when she saw me.

I peeked a glance over the cauldron just to see, she was stirring something in the pot whose content looked a bit questionable. She's always been a bit on the weird side so I ignored it.

“Nice work as always Machidna. Although, do you mind doing something about those apes outside the barrier? They have been glaring at us this whole time and I can't help but feel a little weird. Could you just add a smokescreen to block their vision or something among the lines?” I asked while timidly laughing.

“Huh? Lord, you are the demon lord, deal with a couple of stares. Also don’t you enjoy how those helpless stupid apes can only glare from the outside as us demons take hold of their territory. I actually enjoy seeing those stupid helpless primates just stand outside while we make ourselves at home on their turf. You should enjoy this moment and have a hearty laugh like me.” replied Machidna with a cute chuckle.

Ah, this girl, she is still quite the sadist and hard to deal with as ever.

Machidna looks like a young innocent girl who is just in her teens, at first glance but she's actually quite older.

As you can see Machidna has long ears which she hides behind her hair and the hat. She's actually a half-elf and half-demon. Hence why the elf loathed her existence because of her mixed bloodline. But the elves didn't straight away kill her but instead made her their pawn. 

Machidna had a huge amount of mana reserve, unlike ordinary magicians since her birth. They placed a slave brand on her and then placed her on the frontlines of the military. Making her do the all dirty work for the elven kingdom.

That's exactly how I first met her on the battlefield when I was doing a campaign against the elven kingdom back when I was still the demon lord. She alone was sent to deal with my army while the elves hide cowardly behind their forest while snipping at us from safety.

I had to personally take steps to put her down. After long exchanges of powerful mana attacks and nearly obliterating almost half of the forest. I had finally figured that something was wrong. That's when I noticed the slave brand on her and that's when I decided instead of killing her, just to erase that brand.

It wasn't hard to erase the brand and free her from the clutches of those elven kingdoms. After that Machidna herself brought the demise of the elven kingdom. I just had to sit back and watch the show.

She has been enslaved as the elven kingdom's pawn for more than 150 years since her birth. So of course she had to blow off a lot of pent-up steam and vengeance and elven kingdom took her blow. After almost obliterating the kingdom that she was enslaved to guard she reached out to me and swore her allegiance to me.

Henceforth she's been following me around ever since.

Machidna took out a spoon of the cauldron’s content and tasted it,
“Hmm, alright that should taste about just fine." she then took the content and poured it in a bowl, "One piping hot Machida’s special Berserk ape stew with laprenzer livers and tarantula silk thread is ready. Here eat it before it gets cold,” 

I took the bowl hesitantly and peeked a glance inside it.

There was mucky brown thick syrup and various other small organs that were floating there. There was even a giant eyeball that looked as if it was glaring at me.

Machidna handed one bowl to Leireath as well and quickly turned her attention to me,
“So how’s it? Did you taste it? Is it to your liking?” Machidna hovered over me like a bee.

“I have yet to taste it,” I replied wryly.

“Huh! Eat it already! It’s no fun if it goes cold.” Machina said angrily as she pouted.

Just when,
“Despite its horrible appearance which looks like a horse’s vomit. It tastes kind of nice for once. It's safe to eat master.” just when Leireath praised Machidna's dish with her own little unpleasant method as always.

Machidna suddenly became upset,
“Hey you, big titty fatso. Who told you to taste it before the master. And if you have something to say about the appearance why did you bother eating it anyway. Go cook your meal yourself.”

“What’s that, you little twerp! I had to taste it before the master so that I could see if you would not by mistakingly kill our master with your horrible cooking. You should be quite thrilled that I gave you a passing grade.” replied Leireath furiously.

“Keep your grade to yourself. Why don’t you give me and master some alone time, and you can go play with those berserk ape family of yours.”

“Huh! Those berserk apes are nothing like my Asura giants. How dare you compare those vile primates with proud Asura giants.” Leireath reached out to her back and equipped her sword, “Apologize now and I might let that slide.”

Machidna had a mocking smile and suddenly there was a powerful change in the air around her, “Oh, show me what you can do if I don’t apologize.”

Suddenly Machidna started floating in the air, her hair was also flying while giving her a terrifying appearance. She waved her hand and her infamous staff, Nerfslay appeared in her hand.

Neither of them was ready to back down.
One of them was the strongest warrior with godly physical prowess.
While the other was the strongest mage who was versed in powerful ancient spells.

If these two continued to fight like this, I am pretty sure my vacation spot will turn into a wartorn barren land.

“Now, now girls. Calm down. I had said before that there would be no infighting during my vacation. You two had agreed to that before following me, remember.” I interrupted by reminding them of their promise.

Leireath and Machidna both remembered their promise and gritted their teeth and their pride. Leireath put back her sword and Machidna came down to the ground and put away her staff.

“Just because master insists on, I will ignore your misdemeanor this once,” said Leireath.
She picked her bowl of stew and again started eating like nothing ever happened.

“As I care," Machidna stuck her tongue out teasingly and then turned her attention to me "Anyway master, you still haven’t given your feedback,” she asked curiously with bright eyes.

I had already don’t when but I had already finished half the bowl when these two were bickering, “Well, it certainly does look a bit odd but it tastes pretty good,” I replied.

Hearing my flattery, Machidna had a big smile,
“Of course it’s tasty, after all, I, the great witch of Doom, made it herself.”

Finally, we three all sat together and had a pleasant dinner.
For dessert Leireath had forged some sweet fruits.

After we were done all eating it was finally time for the main event.

I got up and stood in front of the two girls,
“Alright girls time for the main event. Today we will be having a karaoke night. This is one of the most popular things done by the youths in the tradition of the mortals.” I announced excitedly.

Meanwhile, the two girls gave me a dumb look.
“Kara-okay? Sounds like a brother of the evil Kraken? Do we have to fight a monster?” asked Leireath.

“Karaoke? Hmm. Even though I am the great witch who knows everything. I don’t think I’ve heard such a thing. Is this where we need to sacrifice a blood virgin to the great demon god?” guessed Machidna.

Are fighting and bloodshed the only thing these two girls know?
Can they never think of something fun that NOT involves violence for once?

“No, no Karaoke is…” before I could answer.

Machidna waved her hand and in an instant 5-6 young berserk apes were summoned from the exterior of the barrier. The apes were tied up with magic threads weaved by Machidna’s magic. They couldn’t free themselves from Machidna’s grip and only just mumble a bit.

The apes were shocked and screamed helplessly. The other adult ape was already glaring at us from the beginning. Seeing their young children summoned right beside us, made them go into a frenzy. They were jumping and attacking the barrier like a mad man.

“These young berserk apes are still young and have their virginity intact. The rest of the young apes were turned into stew sadly, so I hope these young sacrifices will be to your suiting for the Kara-Oke ritual.”

I must clear this misunderstanding,
“Machidna, you don’t need any sacrifice…”

“Master!” suddenly Leireath shouted and jumped in, “I will go and drag some fresh ape from the outside for your sacrifice as well. I won’t let her beat me.”

Leireath pulled her sword ready to march to where the apes were.

I quickly grabbed her wrist and stopped her,
“Stop Leireath, you don’t need to hunt apes.”

“Yeah Leireath, the master doesn’t need your help. I already summoned all the young virgin apes. He does not need your barbaric strength. Hehe!” snickered Machidna teasingly.

Leireath was furious and she suddenly turned her glance at me,
“Master! I will go deep inside the forest and grab some other virgin Berserker apes as well. Please let me go.”

“Stop both of you! At least let me explain what ‘Karaoke’ is first.” I exclaimed on the top of my lungs loudly.

The two of the girls finally stopped to listen for once.

I let out a sigh,
“Listen up girls, Karaoke night is when a group of friends sing a song and have fun. People take turns singing their favorite songs, while the others cheer them on. That’s exactly what Karaoke night is. There is no need for sacrificing or anything for this. Do you get it?”

Both Leireath and Machidna were shocked and trying to process what I just said. It took them some time but finally, they started understanding.

Before I could say anything Leireath stood up and bumped her fist on her palm,
“Oh, so that’s what it is. I know a few songs taught by Papa and the rest of the villagers. Back in Asura village, we used to sing in groups after we had bountiful harvest raiding other villages. The song is still freshly imprinted in the back of my mind, so I hope you don't mind my singing.”

Wow, Leireath knows how to sing.
That’s the first time I ever heard of this,
“Please go ahead. I am really glad to hear you sing.”

Leireath then turned and looked at Machidna giving her a smug smile as if she just triumph in an unknown battle. Machidna just glared back at her angrily without saying anything.

I quickly backed down and took a seat on the ground.

Machidna sat beside me,
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to let the gorilla woman sing. Do you want me to use a protective noise-canceling spell just in case?”

“Now, Machidna. Stop being rude and cheer her for once. She is even brave enough to go first. If you want, you can sing first instead. How about that?”

“Huh? I will let gorilla woman embarrass herself first. Alright, I will cheer her on this one time so please don't pick me to sing first.” replied Machidna with an embarrassed face.

"That's better."

Leireath stood in front of the bonfire meanwhile, the two of us sat opposite her.

Leireath looked quite excited and confident in herself. There was a log lying on the side which she used as a stage.

The sun had already set and it was already dark. It felt like there were only the three of us in the entirety of the Jera forest. There were also a couple of restrained young virgin apes summoned by Machidna. Not to mention those angry apes attacking the barrier on the outside.

Other than that, this was like a normal youth outing, probably.

Leireath coughed first and cleared her throat.
“You can do it, Leireath. Sing us a song.” I cheered her and waved a couple of leaves in my hands like a typical fan.

“Leireath, you don’t have to force yourself. I am just scared that my ears might bleed out from your screaming.” butted in Machidna.

I glared at Machidna and she finally fell silent.

Suddenly Leireath took an awkward pose as she squatted on her legs,
“Murder those pesky ants, raid their petty lands. Gobble them, squash them, show them what it means to oppose the Asura giants…”

Leireath started flailing her arm in her squatting position and her face was kinda dead serious. She continued her horrible song and dance without any shame. She was doing this weird song and embarrassing dance without even a shred of shame.

Leireath squatting and dancing while showing her curvaceous booty and jiggling boobs on display. Apart from the threatening song, the dance was quite scandalous. Even I was a bit embarrassed and had to look away.

Machidna lost interest in mere seconds,
“Master, I think Leireath has finally lost the little sanity she had. It would be merciful to just kill her off,” whispered Machidna.

Leireath was so into her singing and dancing, she didn’t notice even bothered to check our reaction. She was so into her dancing and singing as if we were not even there.

To be honest her dance looked like those beasts who usually dance to attract the opposite sex during the mating season.

But I didn’t even dare to say it out loud and end up hurting her feelings,
“Let’s bear this for a few more minutes. Leireath is really giving her all to show us the Asura giants' culture. We rarely get to experience such a thing.” I replied to Machidna.

Machidna let out a sigh and agreed to it.

“Those who oppose the Asura, will be eaten and dumped out like crap. Never ever oppose the…” Leireath continued her weird song and dance like she was in another world.

Even the apes in Machidna’s spell were giving her a weird look.

It's kinda nice to watch Leireath not on guard for once. She has been quite the serious type most of the time. Seeing her enjoying herself for once in a while is a good change of scene.

I could say this Karaoke night is going great as I expected.

Just when we were waiting for Leireath to be done with her song and dance.
I suddenly heard a loud blast in the sky.

Before I could even turn around, a flying light came from above and crashed right on our bonfire. There was a big blast followed by a loud explosion.

Machidna was quick to put a barrier around me.
Although Leireath was blasted away by the sneak attack. I couldn't even know who or what exactly happened. But I was not worried about Leireath as she was one of the toughest women who even survived even my strongest attack spells.

“What the hell! Someone attacked our barrier. Who has the audacity to attack our Demon Lord on his vacation!” screamed Machidna as she glanced at the barrier.

The barrier she put up around us, now had a big hole and cracks forming all over. The attack was quick and powerful enough that even she didn't seem to notice.

We stood our ground while inspecting our surroundings. As time goes I can feel the presence of numerous people invading the barrier and surrounding us.

"About more than 50 people have invaded the barrier and surrounding us. Also, I can sense a powerful presence waiting just outside the barrier. That person was the one who targeted my barrier" Machidna quickly reported to me while feeling frustrated.

Soon the dust settled near our camp and there was a massive crater where once our bonfire existed. Between the middle of the crater, I noticed a long golden spear shining brightly. The only ground that was intact was where Machidna had put up a barrier.

“I recognized that spear.” I said as I glared at the spear, “It belongs to Galand Avarelia, the guy who calls himself the bastion of justice. That shithead hero is here to ruin my vacation, for the 30th time now!”

The heroes have managed to track me down once again.
I swear if they ruin my vacation one more time, then I might just go back purging this world of their filth. I will once again become the Demon Lord if I have to.

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