Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: 25-2. Everyone Needs a Headache Remedy.
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A corridor illuminated by a chandelier. Several distinctive individuals were seated within that space.
"So, Aike. Why'd you gather us here...?"
"Head, if you called us for something trivial, I'll kill you."
A blue-haired girl and a red-haired man spoke toward the monocle-wearing gentleman.
"Hah, that's why you outsiders are all the same. So, Omniscient Demon King. What's your point?"
"I called you because a new hero has appeared."
"That's our dear husband you're talking about! Right, Head!"
A woman wearing a magician's hat and a figure in a long black robe joined the conversation.
"Yes, his name is Licht. No matter how deeply I search with omniscience, there's no past on him."
"So he's definitely a summoned hero? How long has it been since the last one? This calls for a good stretch..."
"No, Finn. You mustn't step in."
The demon king called Finn cracked his knuckles, showing his fighting spirit toward Licht, but Head shook his head and restrained him.
"We don't know how far our authorities extend. If our abilities become known to others, it'll be dangerous."
"He's the one who saw through my lies too!"
Magic Hat blushed, twirling her hair with one hand, her face lighting up as if speaking of her lover.
"The way to maintain superiority in an information war is to keep your cards hidden."
With a slight sigh, he explained why he'd stopped the demon king named Finn.
"...The holy sword. Does he have the holy sword?"
A man who felt a sense of dissonance from the scene—a figure with deer antlers shrouded in black mist—asked. The monocle-wearing gentleman smirked faintly and continued.
"I doubt it. If he had the holy sword, Tardun would have given it to him, but the prophecy showed no such signs."
"...So he's like Dennis. He blocked the authority with magic."
In response to Head's statement, the blue-haired woman with a ponytail replied in a quieter voice.
"Intinium. Well said for once. That blue-haired kid who looks like you?"
"Hehe... Yeah. Thanks for the praise, Finn oppa."
The pair who looked like siblings pieced together what they knew and agreed that Licht resembled Dennis, one of the Ten Heroes.
"Without a holy sword, he'll inevitably lose to a demon king. He lacks the qualities required of a hero."
"...Do you really think so? Head?"
"What is it, Magic Hat? Something to add?"
"No, no! This side will be way more fun!"
Unbeknownst to Licht, it wasn't four but five demon kings discussing countermeasures against him here.
"I'll gather the 'Apostle of Gluttony' and a minimal number of Hero Cult followers to infiltrate Grand Hearts Academy."
"That place'll be tough to breach because of Laplace, though? Want me to lend you my mask again?"
"No, according to omniscience, entering openly has the higher probability."
Head pulled a book from his pocket and checked—it stated this method had the highest odds. 99%.
"No hitches in fate. First, after blocking Drake and Dennis."
"...Kidnapping Licht and the princess is the best option, right, Head."
The magician drew a card from her pocket. It was the Fool tarot card—an obvious insult aimed at Head.
"Yes. Magic Hat, your grinning's been bothering me. Got something to say?"
"Nope~! As the Omniscient Demon King, nothing escapes you, right?"
The Truth Demon King had been beaming at him the whole time, which grated on his nerves, but Head drew a red revolver from his coat and loaded it anyway.
"Drake's ultimate is a nuisance, but at this point, Dennis hasn't mastered the 3D Magic Circle yet. We've got a shot."
He wrapped up his brief address to the demon kings. Any more talk, and they might get seen through instead.
"...This makes the seventh."
He glanced at the gun, its eight-round magazine missing just one bullet—like a game of Russian roulette.
"If it fails, there's still one last chance."
A sinister smile crossed his face as he stared at it.
"Fate won't miss. Hero of Will."
His footsteps echoed through the corridor as he left the demon king's castle, his expression saying even this was getting old.
The afternoon at Grand Hearts Academy was peaceful. Too quiet, to the point of unease.
"Swordsmanship is the art of will. If you have the will to 'cut it,' there's nothing you can't slice!"
A man with short yellow hair scarred across his face from sword wounds—Grand Swordmaster, much like me with my burns.
"Human will is unbreakable! Uhahaha!"
It was Drake, my first swordsmanship teacher. A hidden advanced class that even data mining couldn't uncover.
"Even armor made of orichalcum or adamantite!"
He stood before a wooden dummy clad in armor and drew his sword. The silver steel reflected the light.
"You can cut it!"
He slashed straight down—shwick. Like chopping vegetables, Drake cleaved it apart.
"...You too, huh, Licht."
"Pardon...? What are you talking about, Mardol?"
Mardol whispered right in my ear as I watched. Was he talking about when he stripped off his own glass armor?
"You wanted to see my body that badly, didn't you, Licht."
"Please stop saying things that could be misunderstood if overheard..."
"...Total pervert."
"..."
I'd used a workaround since I couldn't destroy the masterpiece.
Did resentment still linger? The golden eyes inside the glass helmet narrowed into thin crescents. Guess I had to accept it as karma.
"Like this, among the sword techniques I wield, there's even one that can sever the very 'concept' of a dragon!"
Drake mentioned his ultimate, Dragon Slayer, pounding his chest boastfully with full confidence.
Demon king counters tie into concepts by default.
Dennis's 3D Magic Circle was the same—transcending the 'planar' concept to manifest in 'three dimensions,' effective even against demon kings.
"So don't rely solely on mana—find your way. Discover your strengths and cleave the world with them!"
He slammed the podium and continued.
"A healthy body harbors healthy mana. You lot!!"
Shouting his usual line,
"Among the graduates of this academy, a hero capable of defeating a demon king—that's this Drake's dream!"
With guilt over the demon kings they couldn't finish, he recited his modest wish to the future hopes before him.
"Must be that strong will that let you beat Magic Hat too, Licht."
"...Probably. I got lucky."
That was when she spoke to me again, having listened intently to Drake. Honestly, half right—I'd gone in prepared to die.
Demon King Slayer fundamentally required resolve to die. Disadvantageous outside one-on-one duels.
Take down one, and if more enemies piled on for prolonged combat...
Time-out death.
Recalling the past made my head throb.
Something felt off. What was this incongruity? Memories from stepping out for air during the festival were hazy.
Definitely ran into someone at the cocktail bar...
Who? The face slipped away like sand through fingers. Someone I'd seen a lot.
"Mardol. Do you know what I did last night by any chance?"
"...When you went out for air?"
"Yes, then. My memory's fuzzy."
"...You were staggering."
Staggering. No such memory for me. Think. Who did I meet?
Who would leave this lingering unease, this contradiction in info...
Ah, no way.
...Omniscient Demon King?
The moment my thought ended, a single gunshot rang out from outside the academy.
Laplace's voice broadcast the emergency across the school immediately after, but as if no one heard, the students didn't stir.
"...Mardol. Did you hear that?"
"I did. Licht."
The glass knight seemed fine, perhaps due to the masterpiece's effect. I bolted from my seat to check on Ariel and Kainel.
"Helmet guy! What's going on? That announcement just now...!"
"...Licht, you don't mean what I think, right?"
Kainel activated Light Holy Sword, erecting a barrier around the mage. Fortunately, neither fell to the authority.
Think, Lee Soo-hyun. Like the final battle in [Knight Heart].
He only unleashed ignorance across the board when executing his plans.
"Drake!! This sounds insane, but listen!! Hero Cult is coming! The Omniscient Demon King..."
I yelled at Drake, who gripped his sword warily, sensing something off. No telling who might die here.
Not like with Magic Hat...!
Crash. Glass shattered as white-robed figures concealing their faces and bodies stormed the auditorium.
An emblem of four swords crossed in a #. The cult following the corrupted Four Heroes. Hero Cult.
"Death to the false heroes!!"
"Glory to the Hero Cult!! Seize Drake!!"
"We'll burn as one!!"
A man lit himself aflame and charged him. Drake clicked his tongue and cleaved the cultist with his sword.
"These guys haven't changed a bit in ten years..."
He wiped blood from his face and eyed the other foes. He glanced at enemies infiltrating the students.
"Drake Style First Form, Shadow Slash... No."
He closed his eyes briefly and unleashed a horizontal sweep. Precisely the white-robed Hero Cultists were bisected.
The entire auditorium was slashed in one stroke, yet not a single academy student was harmed. Lightning judgment, executed with perfect restraint—swordsmanship incarnate.
Drake's immune to ignorance.
As expected of one of the Ten Heroes. No tragedy of students dying unfolded. He blocked most of the incoming waves,
"Something's off, Licht. Why are only us and the professor okay...?"
"Yeah, Licht. Ariel's trying to dispel the magic, but it won't budge!"
Mardol and I deflected weapons hurled at students by cultists who couldn't enter. She even used Mirror Shield to repair the broken windows.
"...It's not magic."
Even in this emergency, everyone except Drake and our group of four stood oblivious, as if unaware of the chaos.
"It's the authority of ignorance."
Calmly, perceiving nothing. Just sitting, gazing at distant mountains. An authority nullifying human intellect entirely. What for?
Only one mad enough for this assault.
Head Aike.
I must've met him at the festival cocktail bar. Sparing Drake instead, forcing him to protect lives.
You're coming out too, huh.
His life-clinging nature shone through. Using corrupted route glitches now would disadvantage us. Unknown what the Omniscient Demon King prepared.
To win, strike his blind spots with cards he doesn't know. Even in the original game, referencing save files,
He tailored player counters accordingly.
Advanced algorithm—or leveling system? The weirder demon king, adapting strategies as the player grew stronger.
"Disciple. Run. I'll handle Hero Cult."
"I can't do that, Drake."
A headache surged. Gazing at fallen cultists, I thought: this whole situation's in his palm.
"If Head Aike came, he's after me."
The death god summoned from another world. The Omniscient Demon King's footsteps headed for the academy.