Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: 12-4. What Comes Out of the Magic Hat Is a White Rabbit.
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On the Demon King route, Kainel's skills have names that are the complete opposite of his original techniques.
For example, Shine Strike gets replaced with this.
Jet-black sword energy hurtled toward Magic Hat and sank into him. Now that I was wielding the holy sword, pulling this off against him was possible.
"Eek... The wound from my lord... Am I being covered by my lord's mark like this? How fun! More, give me more!"
Magic Hat's upper body was slashed open and bleeding, yet he didn't stop his manic ravings directed at me. His mental fortitude was astounding at this level, but was it because we were still in phase 1?
"...Shut up."
My mind refused to settle. The conditions for becoming the Demon King probably started with something happening to our Saintess. I charged in with Wolf Fang to exploit the opening.
"This is... a bit dangerous, isn't it?"
"Just as I thought. You're exactly who I know you are, huh?"
"I've always been the same... my lord!"
Same pattern. Aiming for the fatal line was the way to go, after all. My upward slash from the front was blocked. Time for a combo, then?
"My lord, attacks like that are meaningless. I can't use my authority on you, but..."
"..."
"I can use it on myself? To make it false."
With a slithering sound, the magician's wound began to heal. It could be used like this, huh? In that case, I could do it too.
"Thanks for the good tip."
I unleashed Dusk Edge once more to create an opening. I took my stance. Combining the technique I'd used against Serbi with Reverse Scale Thrust.
Pouring the essence of every sword art I'd learned here, excluding the three defensive forms.
"In the end, it's the same swordsmanship you showed me before? It'll take the holy sword's techniques to work..."
No, it wouldn't. This was my first time on the Demon King route too. I gritted my teeth. Stomped the ground hard. A whirlwind of pressure from my right hand.
My body endured the strain. Using three techniques at once was taking its toll. The ground rumbled with a droning groan.
I activated Void Slash, Reverse Scale Thrust, and Shadow Slash simultaneously.
─Clang!
"My lord, you still have that cute side to you... This time, stay by my side for sure...!"
Magic Hat leisurely blocked the wind I'd conjured with my trump cards.
No matter that it was a fallen holy sword, what kind of cards were that sturdy? To lure him into complacency, I went for the front again.
"It's no use. Swordsmanship like that..."
─Clang!
But that wasn't my aim. I closed the distance. Wolf Fang being a rush made it perfect for this. The gap between us was less than a handspan.
Slash, block, parry, thrust, swing.
In that fleeting instant,
I found my way. I used the authority that blanketed the world in darkness.
"This is gonna hurt."
─Thud thud thud thud!!
"Wha... Huh? Kyaaah!!"
I aimed for the fatal line and slashed down hard. Blood splattered on the helmet. I'd gone for the heart, but it glanced off. He wouldn't die from this anyway.
"Amazing...! What's the principle behind it?"
Shadows were easy enough for me to create. In the game, it was set up so even that was "false" against him, making Shadow Slash ineffective,
"Who knows? Can't your brain figure that much?"
I tapped the temple area of the helmet with my finger. In my hand now was Kainel's holy sword. A god-forged artifact-grade item, similar to the weapon I originally used in the game.
"...My lord, you're so mean... You know I'm light-aligned, don't you?!"
On top of being the Demon King, this guy was light-attributed. That must be why the hero's party struggled against him. The white-haired woman pulled back her distance.
Now she was clenching her fists and stomping her feet while glaring at me.
'Without darkness, there's nothing that can pierce him.'
That might be why I'd managed the first kill against him in [Black Heart] unlike others.
"Of course I know. So, what now?"
"Hehe, then... what if I just change my attribute?"
Phase 2 transition line. In the game, if your party wasn't all elements, it warned you and straight-up discouraged retries.
"Eek... So, what should I switch to? Fire? Water? Ah... Earth like that Glass Knight earlier would be good!"
"You're annoying. Can't you just die?"
"If it's the same day as my lord, I'll think about it!"
And this lunatic even copied skills. I let out a deep sigh. He was using the Glass Knight's magic too?
Clap, clap clap. The sound of applause echoed.
At the same time, the number of black-top-hatted figures multiplied.
"...Now you're using fakes with real bodies too?"
I hadn't seen this coming. The crown prince really was a cheat. My plan was starting to go off the rails. Unknown patterns would be tough to handle.
"Yes! You didn't look like a hero, but you're a pretty intriguing opponent!"
I gripped my sword tightly again as I watched the magician flash a twisted smile.
In the forest where Licht had vanished without a trace, the rest of Kainel's party was left standing alone.
"...Licht? Where'd he go?!"
"Helmet guy... Is he really facing the Demon King alone? What do we do! Kai...!"
"Let's trust him and wait. He told us to run, but... I hate that."
Pine calmed the others and spoke up. The two nodded in agreement.
'He was definitely the Demon King.'
Her keen eyes replayed the scene from moments ago. Demon Kings varied widely, based on all the records so far.
"...Black Knight. That's what it was, right? Ariel."
One key trait was that Demon Kings took on the garb of their original class. Magic Hat's magician outfit seemed to fit that theory.
"Yeah! Mardol. Still, it was kinda... like Helmet guy. He looked kinda sad."
The glass helmet clinked. No matter how she thought about it, something was off. If the man named Licht had been a Demon King from the start, too many pieces didn't fit.
"...I did call Professor Dennis. He's on his way."
She propped her chin on her hand like someone lost in thought, piecing together the puzzle. She'd used telepathy magic, and just in case, called the imperial guards too. The authority was lifted now anyway.
'If he was really with the Hero Cult...'
He wouldn't save her sister and brother figures, Sharutineth and Nex. That incident definitely involved the Omniscient Demon King.
"..."
Anyone living in this world would believe the legends of the Head without question. It could look better to backstab Nex or side with the Hero Cult.
"What exactly did Junior Licht do? He was amazing. Solved that puzzle that looked like an authority without breaking a sweat?"
"Black Knight junior... Who the heck is he, Nex?"
"Maybe a new hero chosen by the Goddess Akasha! Shar."
If he were ordinary, he'd have gotten scared and fled the dungeon.
'Plus, he healed Kainel and Ariel...'
Looking at the blond hero and red-haired mage, she kept feeling that nagging incongruity. It made no sense if his true nature was a Demon King.
"Ariel, I'm all for waiting too. Licht needs to pay us back for vanishing without a word last time."
"...Helmet fixed up Kai and Mardol, so yeah, me too..."
Emotions plain on their faces. Her golden wolf eyes caught that they were worrying about Licht just like her.
"...He'll be fine. Licht's strong."
Truth was, one corner of her heart ached. She was filled with worry over whether that peculiar man could really win.
'First time seeing Demon Kings at each other's throats.'
Her mind grew tangled. Were Demon Kings not all bad? Doubts bubbled up. Her mood soured from dredging up old memories.
'The spirit tried to protect me too...'
A Demon King in the form of a black knight.
'Last time, he even worried about me...'
Licht, who had scolded her childhood self obsessed with strength due to the trauma of losing her mother to Magic Hat.
'He even healed my wounds. He didn't have to. If he'd realized I was the princess sooner...'
Her position held great power. She had succession rights over her younger brother Lupus.
He could've taken her hostage or exploited it to do harm.
"..."
Did he like the Nameless Saintess?
It was absurd thinking of Licht, who asked her to keep taking care of herself right up to the end before vanishing to face Magic Hat.
How could someone be so contradictory and clumsy? Strong, yet he never flaunted his power, holding onto pure emotions like the protagonists in the romance novels she read.
"Haa..."
She sighed inside the glass helmet. Pure worry from the heart. A Demon King like that? Honestly, she wasn't sure anymore.
"...Licht, you liar."
She hoped the day would come when that man told her himself. Pine's ears and tail drooped limply inside her armor as she fretted inwardly.
Blood from me pooled on the ground. Half my armor was gone already. Ribs broken. Breathing labored. Was it because I didn't know the patterns that I got done like this?
"Urk..."
I was panting in the corner of the dark space. Propped on my butt, I activated the holy sword to check the approaching enemies.
"Oh my, my lord... You held out pretty well... but not quite yet, huh?"
Too many clones. I'd killed a few, but their numbers were swelling stupidly high without me touching the real body.
"Then... I'll take you to where I live from now on! How about it? Starting over from the beginning! Together!"
Glass magic, each one with real substance. The shattered ones crawled toward me like zombies. Gross. Not fun at all.
"Never... gonna happen..."
"Aww~ Bouncy guys aren't popular these days, you know? My lord...!"
I squeezed my eyes shut. This wasn't me denying reality. The pain was part of it, but there was another reason.
The truth was, the status window in my vision had been acting weird for a while now.
A translucent window blaring red warnings. It had been popping up like this nonstop ever since I separated from Kainel's party.
The messages piled up and overlapped more and more as time passed.
What the hell? Hadn't I already resolved the contradiction? Even amid the heavy bleeding, doubts flooded my mind.
'Ah, so Kainel and Ariel escaping [Black Heart] must've been...'
True evil bastards. Without me, they'd have all gotten wiped by Magic Hat like earlier.
This was why I thought status windows were useless. In this grim situation, no help—just backseat advice.
"..."
The hero couple probably lost here originally, suffered something horrific, and got trauma.
That's why it was described as a lack of love leading to their elopement.
Game or not, this was reality with lives on the line. Contradictions be damned—I had to protect them. I pressed my hand to the ground and forced strength into my legs.
The direct explanation from the creator via status window was hilariously clear.
"...Fuck off."
I'd ignore the status window.
The characters mattered more than me anyway,
and honestly, quantifying love with numbers never sat right from the start.
Love meter? Favorability? All that crap was unnecessary in reality.
Love wasn't some emotion for playing number games with your heart, nor something easily defined just because you tried.
I ignored the countless alerts floating before my eyes and barely managed to stand.