I Was Nearly Killed by My Fellow A-Rank Party, but Now I Fed a Nine-Tailed Fox Deep in the Dungeon. ~ “My Master, I Shall Never Leave Your Side for All Eternity,” the Legendary Monsters Said While Doting on Me. Before I Knew It, I Had Become the World’s Strongest Lord of the Demon Realm~ - Chapter 1 & 2

Party Expulsion

A blizzard was raging through the Eternal Frost Labyrinth.

Right at the step before the deepest part, I—Kuon Hartia—got slammed face-first into the snowy ground from behind out of nowhere.

“…Gah! Wh-what the…?”

The freezing snow against my skin, plus the sharp pain from getting smashed in the back of the head.

When I looked up, standing over me were the members of the A-rank party 『Glory Warriors』—the same people I’d been trusting my back to just minutes ago—now staring down at me with pure contempt.

The leader, the holy knight Zex, spoke to me like he was issuing a verdict.

“Kuon, you’re out. We’re kicking you from this party.”

“Expulsion…? What are you even saying? We’re comrades, aren’t we…?”

My little familiar, the demon fox 『Fokko』, let out worried little “kyuun-kyuun” cries right beside me.

Behind Zex, the saintess Liliana and the sage Laon were both wearing cold smirks.

“Comrades? How the hell is a useless burden like you supposed to be our comrade?”

“Yeah man, you’re just a beast tamer… nah, more like our mascot, right?”

“M-mascot…?”

Fokko puffed up her tiny body and tried to growl and intimidate Zex and the others to keep them from hurting me any more.

“We only let you hang around ’cause you and that animal were kinda cute and got good reactions, that’s it.”

“I’ve always hated beasts, y’know. I put up with it, but honestly being near it made me feel so gross I could barely stand it.”

Right after she said that, Liliana swung her leg to kick Fokko away, so I rushed to shield her.

—THUD! THUMP THUMP!

“—Ow! Stop! Please stop!”

Instead my back took the kicks, and they kept stomping on me over and over while I curled around Fokko to protect her.

“Ahahaha! Look at him desperately shielding that filthy animal—how pathetic! In a real fight that fox is just a useless weakling anyway!”

While the three of them laughed at the sight, they kept throwing words at me.

“We’ve used you enough already. From here on out, dragging trash like you along is way more downside than upside. Once we get back we’re hiring someone way stronger and actually competent.”

“Man, you were really in a bind, huh? Even though you’re weak as hell, you were busting your ass to hide it—scouting in the dungeon, picking herbs in poison swamps, setting up camp, maintaining gear, all that crap, right?”

“Your constant scurrying around doing ‘adventure prep’ stuff got so famous among other parties that if we publicly kicked you out it’d trash our reputation.”

Then Zex slowly drew his golden sword from its sheath.

“So we decided you’re gonna have an ‘unfortunate death’ right here.”

“U-unfortunate death…? What are you talking about…?”

Still clutching Fokko, I backed away.

“No one’s watching here. Your body’ll get buried under the snow and never be found. There won’t be any evidence left.”

“We’ll just say you ‘got attacked by monsters in the depths of the dungeon and went missing’.”

“I’ll make sure to tell everyone exactly how you ended! That you ran off alone and vanished somewhere on your own!”

While Liliana and Laon snickered behind him, Zex raised his sword high.

“Yeah, you’re dying here, Kuon. You and that filthy little fox together.”

—

Meeting the Strongest Nine-Tailed Fox

“F-fox fire!”

“Kon!”

The second I gave the order, my demon fox Fokko shot flames out of her mouth.

“—Ugh!? Tch, this damn pest!”

“Now’s our chance—run, Fokko!”

While Zex flinched just for a second, I bolted with Fokko.

But right away, magic arrows pierced straight through both my legs.

“Gaaah!”

Saintess Liliana watched me crumple and burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing ever.

“Kyahaha! Did you really think you could get away～? No way I’m letting you off that easy, duh!”

Sage Laon just sighed.

“Quit messing around with that loser and let’s finish him off already so we can strip his gear. The dungeon boss is waiting up ahead, y’know.”

“Ehh, c’mon, it’s fine～. Look at his pathetic face—it’s hilarious!”

“What’s actually pissing me off is that damn pest. It dared to shoot fire at me… Die!”

With that, holy knight Zex swung his sword straight at Fokko.

I threw myself forward with my blood-soaked legs, taking the blade across my back instead.

“—Guh!”

“Kon! Kon!”

“Ahahaha! Look at him shielding it again! What’s he even doing for a filthy animal!”

“Even in the middle of fights he’d freeze up like that sometimes, right? Man, it’s gonna feel so good not having dead weight anymore.”

I collapsed right there on the spot. With my vision fading, I managed to whisper to Fokko.

“Fokko… leave me. Just run… At least you… survive…”

“Kon!”

But Fokko ignored my order completely. She clamped her little jaws on my clothes and started dragging me with everything she had.

My body scraped across the snow, leaving a long red trail from the blood pouring out of me.

“See? It’s just an animal after all—dumb as hell. No way it’s dragging that thing and escaping us.”

“Dragging him so desperately—how pathetic～! Okay, maybe for the first time he’s kinda cute!”

“Looks like even if we leave him he’s not gonna make it anyway. Well, we’re killing him though.”

The moment Laon raised his hand to cast an attack spell—

The ground right under Fokko’s paws, where she was tugging me, suddenly started glowing.

“—!? What the—!?”

“Isn’t that a 『teleport trap』!?”

“Shit, it was hidden under the snow! Dammit, quick—finish him—”

Before their words and the spell could finish, Fokko and I got yanked away together.

◇◇◇

(Where… is this…? Did Fokko manage to get us out…?)

The place we landed was a dimly lit room deep inside the dungeon.

Right beside me, Fokko kept making these tiny, worried whimpers.

And in the center of the room sat a small red torii gate and a little shrine giving off this really sacred vibe.

A paper tag was stuck on the shrine, and in faded letters it read:

『Great Youkai, Nine-Tailed Fox』