The third volume The Devil’s Spice light novel series is titled Kaibutsu no Su or Monster’s Den. It is written and illustrated by Kanda Hikaru and edited by Kyle Tolray.
Genre:
Action, Comedy, Tragedy, Romance, Psychological, Cyberpunk, Quasi-Harem
Story Synopsis:
After finding a new mistress, the lost killer is thrust into a den of monsters.
The devil tames a storm and ventures forth to fulfill her ambition and regain what she has lost.
Two women learn the meaning of sacrifice.
Foes, old and new, sharpen their fangs and join the battle royal.
Chapters (PDF):
Chapter Two: Desperate Measures
Chapter Seven: His and Her Circumstances
Chapter Ten: A Bridge of Graves
Chapter Eleven: Caught with Pants Down
The Devil's Spice 
I was waiting for this!!
I love this novel. Hope you keep a bit longer than 5, but i will see it to the end anyway. I’m a big fan,bro.
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Thanks for the support! I am aiming for 5 because I have read way too many light novels that drag on because they got popular. The story becomes dull and repetitive, and I want to avoid that for TDS.
I actually don’t have anything set for volumes 4 and 5 yet, aside from recurring characters. It may very well extend, but 5 volumes is the minimum.
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I definitely agree. It’s really hard to keep the quality of the story. In my opinion shorter is the best, but it will kill your reader literally.
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I undestand what you mean. But at the same time, i think it would be hard to finish such a great story with only 5 volumes. The same way too big can get dull, too short can be bad. Oh, and lemme tell you something, when i started reading, i really though it was a pro-novel. Just found the art a bit weird.
xD
So, hoping to read volume 3 soon.
o/
Keep the hard work, and thanks for the treat.
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Thanks for the support!
I will take your advice about story length and think about it some more when making the outlines for the coming volumes. The draft for Volume 3 is almost done, so that is pretty much set in stone apart from minor changes.
The sad thing about my illustrations is I simply have no talent for it. I enjoy making them, but they take more time and effort than writing.
Funny enough, I’ve only started writing as a hobby when I started this story but have been drawing since I was a kid. I don’t draw regularly, though. I think one drawing every few months was the most I ever did until I started illustrating this series.
I would love to have an (much better) illustrator do the art, but I would still like to have the final say in the character designs. I am not sure how artists would react to such a demand, so I have not really seriously searched for one. Illustrating also serves as practice for me, so I guess it works out.
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I will say, the illustration is not great, but the rough design, and the style of the characters,well, they are pretty good. I really love Saya.
Oh, and there is one illustration that is really one notch above all the others, really great. The last one from volume 1, from Kai.
*SPOILER*
I hope you don’t be mad, but i almost dropped when i saw that saionji died(i thought, at least). Really. Had i not read till the end i would have regretted.
T-T
*END SPOILER*
Now i’m wondering, if you receive an offer to publish it, would you ?
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An offer to publish? I am not even dreaming of something like that, but if somehow that happened, then yes, I would.
It’s not even about the money. A published work will get that much more publicity, and my main goal in writing this aside from my personal enjoyment is for it to reach as many people as possible.
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I have just read the first two volumes and it was AMAZING!! It is definitely among my favorites. Unlike some of the LNs where the characters are stupidly white, the characters here have a few shades of grey. The story line too is quite realistic within the limits of the background scenario. The way the story was written is awesome and i could feel emotions as i was reading the book. I loved it !!. I am definitely looking forward to the next volume and I really hope you continue the story to the end.
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Thanks for the compliments!
The characters can get dark at times. I did that intentionally to add a unique twist to the usual LN character archetypes. Other than that, I’m just a pretty dark person lol.
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Loving the story so far, and I’m particularly fond of your characters, so it’s great to see a third volume. Regarding the topic of your illustrations, they’re well done and are certainly improving (this one’s cover looks great, for instance). I love what you’ve written and illustrated, so thank you for feeding my reading and have a nice day 😀
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Thank you for the words of appreciation. Positive comments go a long way in keeping my energy up. I’m glad someone noticed the improvement in the illustration. I’ve been spending more time on each piece in order to up the quality. That is one of the reasons for the slow releases for volume 3.
I actually like to write characters over plot or setting. Most of the time, the conversations take a turn I never expected because the characters simply want to say or do something I did not account for during plotting. It makes me happy that other people like Kai and the others. It’s like someone praising my children (which I have none and likely never will), and it’s a great feeling.
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Haha, well I love your children and when conversations in a novel take a random turn it’s always an interesting sight to behold. And your time has certainly payed off on the quality of each chapter and illustration. My undisputed favorite is still Kaika though XD
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you have gotten nearly all the feedback you want.dont wanna repeat it. story is unpredictable yet natural and seamless. The OLN approaches pro level.btw when are you uploading vol 4? thanks for your work .
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I never tire of hearing good feedback, so I say keep ’em coming!
Thanks for reading. I’m glad you’re looking forward to volume 4. You can check my progress here: https://thedevilsspice.wordpress.com/volume-04/
I just passed the halfway mark in writing volume 4. I have no exact date yet, but it will probably be around 2-3 months from now, depending on my editor’s pace. The illustrations take up a lot of time.
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