Chapter 298 – State of Affairs
Looking at the day I was kidnapped by Mastermind from the perspective of the humans, they imposed a strict information blockade, fearing leaks to the Demon Kings ever since the new revelation was announced. As soon as a tiny fragment of information about the revelation’s details was revealed in individual SNS messages or anonymous forums, the ones managing the sites were arrested. In reality, the government arrested all management executives of a major forum hosting company to set a warning example.
Even those working for TV stations were ordered to only rebroadcast anime or dramas… A part of the population was very delighted about this, but it led to tough days for those desiring firsthand information.
Many Demon Kings such as me sent out kin in order to obtain information directly, but…the humans’ wariness and defenses were high. Just walking through towns resulted in storms of questioning, and if it was exposed that they were Chaos, they were immediately flagged as subjugation targets, making it impossible to obtain any useful information.
And then, one week after I was kidnapped by Mastermind, the new rule of the world was applied.
Having been unable to procure any information about the humans’ movements, I decided to watch the situation together with my leaders from within my Domain.
“You think they’ll make a move?” Kanon asked.
“Which side?”
“Both.”
“Hmm, I wonder. Won’t many Demon Kings sit tight and watch how things are going to play out?”
“Then you’re saying the humans are going to move?”
“Who knows… This time I can’t make any feasible predictions at all.”
The aim of everyone is to profit from their enemies fighting each other, and because of that, anyone should be interested in avoiding making the first move.
“Hmm, looking at the web, the information is still being shut out as before,” commented Kanon.
“Haven’t there been any complaints about the recent, harsh web regulations?”
“I’m sure some people complained about it, but this time the government seems to be quite insistent.”
“The government, huh…? So it still functions as such, eh?”
That puts me in a bind… Without the Internet, it becomes impossible to gather information about distant places. Doesn’t it make things inconvenient for the humans to regulate the web?
“How about 『Laplace』? If I remember correctly, it was still working even after the information lockdown, wasn’t it?”
“Yep. I guess I’ll take a peek.”
I used an exclusive smartphone to access 『Laplace』. I suppose I’ll take a look at what the other Demon Kings are talking about for starters.
I try to access the Middle Class Demon King Lounge, the one frequented the most, but…
――!
Among the countless threads, I single out a certain one that’s very lively.
『【Game Over】 Goodbye, folks – Part 5 （587） 【＼(^o^)／】』
Part 5 means more than 4,000 posts in this short time? Even as I’m watching it right now, one message after the other keeps popping in.
For the time being I decided to look up Part 1.
1 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0219
Game over ＼(^o^)／
Masses of humans have come invading
Geeze, attack the HeaThroChaDe☆ next to me and leave me alone. Bullying the weak is a big no-no
2 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0493
>>1
Thx for your hard work thus far
Are you in a pinch?
3 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0219
The invasion alert doesn’t stop ringing. Roflmao
4 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0798
If you got the spare time to laugh your ass off, you gotta be fine lol
5 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0106
>>1
How many humans exactly?
6 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0219
I stopped counting after it went beyond 100 rofl
By now it’s gone beyond 1000 ＼(^o^)／
7 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0357
Ain’t ya celebratin’ it for the experience points of more than a 1000 humans?
Gratz rofl
8 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0219
Looks like I will become experience points for them ＼(^o^)／
It’s no laughing matter how all my subordinates are being butchered
Even afterwards, the comments worrying about post 1, or rather, trying to agitate continued,
218 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0578
Hah? A huge amount of humans has come to me as well
219 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0178
You’re someone else than >>1, right?
220 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0219
Aye, they’re different from me rofl
Rather, the ID is permanent, so what you asking for anyway
221 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0449
Huge invasions of humans incoming!
222 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0139
Eh? Just a sec. Even when looking at the web, you can’t really tell, but did the humans go on the offensive?
223 Nameless Demon King ＩＤ：0219
Violence of numbers is way too terrible ＼(^o^)／
Seriously, I’m about to hit my limit here soon lmao
I’m gonna discard one domain lol
Afterwards messages about invasions of large human armies besides post 1 kept flooding the thread.
Has the human invasion begun…? But, there’s not a single invasion to be seen in any of my sectors. Is it a question of the location…?
Laplace has forbidden you to provide any specific information about yourself. Therefore, I can’t tell where the Demon King of post 1 is located.
It’d be fine if it’s just a local occurrence, but…if not――I’m going to assume the worst possibility.
First off, I have to check. All will be okay as long as my worst assumption proves to be wrong, but…
Just as I try to access the Upper Class Demon King Lounge in order to check the situation over there…
――Beeeeep!
A loud alert triggers on my smartphone accompanied by the 『Invasion Alert』 warning on the display.
