I'm Actually Not Overpowered!

No one had heard or seen something so amazing before.

The most surprising part was that no one could sense the amount of Mana it contained.

In short, thanks to the Hero's Magic Item, they saw the confrontation between him and a portion of the demon army, and how he easily devastated all of them.

The enemies all froze in his presence, most likely in shock due to his extremely powerful appearance, and even the Demon General was unable to do a thing.

No one could explain why he had spared the Lion Headed demon, but they still knew the Hero was powerful enough to slay the demons--at least according to the words of Asa, who saw most of it.

This gave everyone total confidence. Since they were in a time of desperation, their human nature of desiring a savior further increased their faith..

Everyone looked in one direction--The Hero.

>CREAK<

The door finally opened, and the Hero walked in, Zabdel coming in directly behind him.

Hushed sounds of awe filled the room as the crowd tried to suppress their uproar.

They simply watched the black-haired being walk majestically to his seat.

Every step he took was purposeful and powerful. His cool demeanor made it completely clear that he was completely in control. And so, the moment he sat on his wooden chair, everyone followed suit.

"Without further ado, shall we begin?"

**********

'This chair is hard... damn.'

I maintained a calm front, but my buttocks were quite uncomfortable on the rigid structure I sat on.

Why was it constructed this way? Perhaps the wood's quality itself was sub-par? I understood wood was rare in this world, so I could understand.

'That said, look at these people...'

Their eager faces told me they were waiting to hear a completely brilliant strategy. I couldn't promise them that, though.

I truly wanted to help and offer hope, but lying would only put me in more trouble now.

'Let's get the bothersome part out of the way first...'

"You may come in." Raising my voice intentionally, I called for my subordinates.

Sarah, Byron, Lucy... and Lilith all came into the room.

It took a few seconds for everything to register, especially the one who would have the center of attraction among them. However, the moment they realized it--

"A-a Demon!!!"

"W-why is a Demon here?!"

"Eeeeeeekkkkk!!!"

--The Adventurers assumed an either frightened or violent stance.

'Oh, boy.' I almost screamed in frustration, but I couldn't.

I expected this much, after all. It was best to begin explanations.

*

*

*

Fortunately, I didn't need to say anything. I was surprised when Asa rose to her feet and addressed everyone on my behalf. I had almost forgotten she was in the room--along with Gu and Liebert.

She completely defended Lilith, calling her my property. It was amazing how she decided to tell everyone about how I had enslaved the demons and used them to secure my settlement.

I had initially thought Asa was disgusted my my 'enslaving demons' ideology, but how wrong had I been.

She was so happy about the whole thing that I thought it was too dangerous.

'To think this is her view of me... wow!'

By the time she was done, everyone was calm and ready to begin the meeting.

"Now that we have gotten those things out of the way..." I smiled, nodding gracefully.

'Let's see. How do I stall for time and get more information?'

"Why don't you tell me more details about the formation of the demon army. What have you been able to discover about them?"

In response to this, Zabdel rose and began his explanation. Of course, I listened carefully. It would be stupidity to ignore such useful information, particularly given the dicey situation we were in. Even if it could only help me just a little, I had to take it, regardless.

The demon camp was divided into ten parts, according to Dulum's survey. The purpose of this move was to cage the Adventurers within the City's walls.

Not only were the Adventurers weaker, they were also fewer. The Demons' strategy was terrifyingly effective.

"They also seem to have ten Demon Generals. You fought with one of them."

'E-eh...?!'

What was I hearing? The monster I fought was merely one out of ten? I was liking our odds less and less by the second.

'Oh, damn.'

As I listened to the story more and more, the more I realized how hopeless the situation was.

'It's annoying that none of these things were mentioned in the Light Novel. You would think a significant event like this would feature in the story, but it didn't!' The Hero simply mentioned him leaving the Adventurers City after he defeated the Earth Dragon, because the citizens kept praising him too much.

He went to to the Merchant City next, and got into some complicated mess there.

After spending a few years sorting out the mess, he finally decided to return to Dulum.

Unfortunately it was already destroyed. A demon factory had occupied the place, and the Adventurers were nowhere to be seen--most likely dead.

'That's about all the information I could get from the novel concerning this situation. Damn...'

I didn't know it would happen this soon, to be honest.

However, I was currently stuck in a mess I had to fix.

"The demons have the advantage both in numbers and power, but we still have the home territory."

A couple guerrilla warfare, with the aid of Magic, could help. Whether or not we could beat the odds, though, I couldn't say.

"Do you all have stocks of Mana Chalk and Mercury?"

I could use Runes to also assist. If we were to play our cards well, we could secure less casualties through the--

"S-sorry Hero... but we've run out."

"W-wha--?!"

"We spent a bulk of it making the weapons gotten from the Dragon's carcass.

Unfortunately, just as we were going to restock, the demons appeared."

'This is a big issue. Damn it!'

The one thing that could turn this mess of a battle around wasn't present, and the demons were already blocking the entrance to the Labyrinth.

There was only one word to describe our situation.

'Screwed'