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 5 & 6

Getting Sweet Revenge on the Party That Kicked Me Out

“Hey, Tamamo. Come on, let go of me already.”

“Just a little longer, okay～♡”

Tamamo said that and kept wrapping me up in her tails while she stroked my head nonstop.

“Listen, Kuon. I’m a nation-toppling beauty, y’know. Throughout all of history, you’re the only man who’s ever been allowed to touch my skin. Be grateful for that and let yourself enjoy my affection a bit longer.”

(This has gotta be Fokko’s influence too, right…? Did Fokko wanna pet me that bad…?)

I asked Tamamo while she looked all blissed out.

“Tamamo, why’d you end up sealed in a place like this?”

“It’s kinda fuzzy… I just woke up one day inside this shrine, and half my soul was already gone.”

“Did you piss someone off really bad… or something?”

“There’s way too many possibilities, so I dunno. I’ve had countless people betray everything and offer it all up to me. I’ve even wiped out a few countries along the way.”

Hearing Tamamo’s stories made me really feel how scary the phrase “nation-toppling beauty” actually was.

If Fokko wasn’t inside her, would I have gone crazy for this beauty too?

All of a sudden, I noticed something.

“…Huh? The dungeon’s cold air feels a little weaker than before.”

“Yeah… this chill’s being made by youki, but… wait, where even are we?”

“I think this is the deep layers of the Eternal Frost Labyrinth. Fokko stepped on a teleport trap and we got sent here.”

“No wonder monsters are crawling all over the place. They’re just keeping their distance ’cause they’re wary of my form… but let’s see.”

Tamamo twitched her animal ears.

“I can hear fighting sounds coming from a floor or two up. Probably three adventurer footsteps, and one youkai facing them.”

“A youkai!? There’s others besides you here!?”

“Yep. This youki… it’s a yuki-onna. Nostalgic—she’s one of the youkai who used to follow me around. The cold’s getting weaker ’cause she’s struggling.”

“The three adventurers… are probably Zex and them…”

“Zex… those guys. The little fox’s memories passed on to me too.”

“Yeah… the ones who kicked me out and tried to kill me. If Fokko hadn’t gotten me out, I’d be dead…”

“So they’re up there right now, huh…”

Even though Tamamo had refused to stop petting me no matter what, the second she heard that, she immediately pulled her hand back and gently helped me stand up.

Then her nine tails all stood straight up.

Flames shot up around us in pillars, instantly burning away the monsters that had been circling and waiting for a chance to attack us.

I could tell right away—Tamamo was seriously pissed.

“Tamamo…?”

“Those adventurers think they can hurt my precious Kuon and just walk away? Let them find out firsthand just how miserable the end is for anyone who earns the hatred of the nine-tailed fox…”

—

The Ones Who Kicked Me Out Start Regretting It

—After they kicked Kuon out.

Zex and the others almost instantly regretted not finishing him off right away.

“Dammit, I told ya we shoulda just killed him quick! Now he got away!”

“Eh, whatever. He was gonna die anyway if we just left him there.”

“No, the real problem is we didn’t get back the 『Infinite Storage Pouch』 we let that pack mule carry.”

“That thing’s a legendary-grade item we just happened to find on the way here. It’s worth like a billion times more than that trash.”

“Why’d you even let him carry something that good?”

“I keep telling ya—for the same reason he was the pack mule! He was useless in fights, so we just worked him like a dog for everything else!”

Laon yelled that in total frustration, and Liliana made a big show of clinging to Zex with fake tears.

“Eek, Laon’s scaring me, Zex!”

“Hey, Laon. Don’t freak Liliana out.”

“Thanks, Zex! I love you.”

“Love you too, Liliana.”

“Tch, go be gross somewhere else, you idiots… We’re still clearing this place, right?”

“Yeah. We’ve got all the combat-useful stuff on us anyway. Just a bit farther and we should hit the boss room.”

So Zex and the others pushed on, finally reaching the door to the last boss room.

“Probably right through here.”

“The door’s frozen solid. Step back—【Fire Blast】.”

Laon’s magic melted the ice off the door, and Zex kicked it open.

Standing there was a beautiful woman in a blue kimono.

“—Adventurers. Leave now. Otherwise you’ll end up as one more ice statue in this dungeon, forever on display.”

“Whoa, monsters talk now?”

“High-level ones, demons and stuff, yeah—they can speak and even shapeshift into humans sometimes. Stay sharp.”

“She’s a monster but cute as hell… pisses me off. I wanna kill her and smash that pretty face.”

As Zex and the others readied their weapons, the dungeon boss—the woman in the kimono, the yuki-onna—let out a sigh.

“Fine… guess we gotta fight. Nine-Tails-sama. I’ll protect your shrine with my life.”

She muttered that, and the battle started—

◇◇◇

“Haa… haa…”

—One hour after the fight began.

The yuki-onna was covered in wounds, barely standing.

“Finally gonna finish her off…”

“She’s rare, so her materials should sell for a ton.”

“If we kill her without messing up the body too much, we could strip her naked and turn her into a taxidermy piece. Nobles would probably pay big for that.”

Hearing their sleazy talk, the yuki-onna glared at the adventurers with pure rage twisting her face.

“You disgusting humans! I have a duty to protect this place! Even if only my head’s left, I’ll rip out your throats before I die!”

The second she shouted that, pillars of fire shot up all around them.

“—What the—!?”

“No way she’s still got that kinda power…!”

“Flames this big? That’s seriously bad news!”

And right between the yuki-onna and the adventurers rose the biggest fire pillar of all.

“—Looks like you’re struggling pretty hard, huh.”

From inside the flames came a voice they definitely recognized, and Zex and the others’ faces went pale as sheets.

“—Huh? What the hell…?”

“No… that’s impossible…”

“He took fatal wounds… no way he’s alive…”

The flames died down, and there stood Tamamo, shapeshifted into my (Kuon’s) appearance.

She smiled at the adventurers.

“Need a hand?”