All Bark and No Bite
The reinforcements Iris had been worrying about finally appeared, along with a rear ambush from those very forces. It was a highly plausible scenario. They would definitely try it. After encountering the twin Demonic Humans and the Fragment of the Demon God in the previous city, both Iris and I—and even my master—had been concerned that those exact enemies might strike from behind.
Our thorough efforts to conceal our presence had paid off. Although we still couldn’t inflict any real “damage” on the Fragment of the Demon God, we could easily slice everything else in two. As long as it wasn’t a Fragment of the Demon God, my master and I could handle anything that came our way.
“…Why aren’t you increasing your speed?”
While we were in the middle of using our light footwork, my master, who had been leaping ahead, suddenly asked. She must have noticed that I was deliberately slowing down so I wouldn’t overtake her. I answered her question as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“I’m conserving my strength appropriately, just as you always taught me.”
“…Is that truly the only reason?”
“Do you need another one?”
“For someone who claims to be conserving strength, you’re moving far too slowly. Do you think I don’t know the level of your light footwork?”
She had probably already guessed the real reason. Her disciple was deliberately staying right behind her instead of overtaking her, out of fear that doing so might be disrespectful. And by staying close, he could immediately step forward to block any dangerous threat that appeared.
“This is exactly why I both like and dislike you.”
It was as if she were saying she had known exactly what I was thinking all along. With those words, my master turned her gaze forward again. Then she lightly kicked off the ground and landed firmly on the earth.
“…They’re coming from up ahead.”
Just as she said, a streak of pitch-black clouds was surging toward us from the front. At that speed, they would arrive right in the middle of the battle at the Royal Capital. And my disciples—the Heroes of this world—would suddenly find themselves attacked from behind.
My master, who had been quietly observing the black clouds, idly toyed with the hilt of her sword. It was a habit of hers that appeared whenever she encountered an interesting opponent. I had already sensed it, but hidden within those clouds was the very thing we had been so worried about.
No matter how strong, how fast, or how outstanding someone was, these beings had been designed so that only a “Hero” could ever reach them. They were bound by an absolute rule that no one could break. I had even swung my sword at one before, but it hadn’t even made contact, let alone cut it.
Unless it was one of my disciples, defeating that thing was impossible.
Rumble…
The sound echoing in my ears felt like it was coming from the belly of some pitch-black monster. All kinds of vile and hideous energies seeped directly into my skin. It was a nauseating sensation that made me want to vomit.
“…Hyeon-ah.”
“Yes, Master.”
“I told you back then. My sword cannot reach that thing.”
“You did say that.”
“You’re not the type to make meaningless jokes. In other words, no matter what we try here, there’s no way for us to deal with what’s coming, is there?”
“…To be honest, that’s correct.”
“This is the worst.”
I nodded lightly at my master’s words. The Fragment of the Demon God—an overwhelmingly powerful being that only Heroes could face. A predator of the world, a wildfire leading to destruction, a creature known by many names. It was the very reason the developers had gone out of their way to create characters with the title of “Hero.” That single word had been burned into every player’s mind as something critically important.
But what about us? My master was an NPC designed by the system, and I was someone who had never existed in this world to begin with. There were absolute laws in place, and neither of us could escape them. As proof, my sword—which could slice through Demonic Humans like they were nothing—hadn’t even been able to touch the Fragment of the Demon God.
I couldn’t cut it. I couldn’t even touch it. Therefore, I couldn’t fight it. Our attacks meant nothing, while theirs struck us fully. My master understood just how fatal that difference was. That was why, even though she spoke of being able to cut it and touch it, her face remained hard and rigid.
“However, Hyeon-ah.”
A faint smile bloomed on my master’s lips. Even in this desperate moment, it was a smile that looked both incredibly beautiful and incredibly strong.
“Despite such unfavorable conditions, you still came here. You even dragged me along. That must mean that even if you can’t cut it or fight it directly, you have some other method, don’t you?”
At her question, I smiled back at her and nodded. Against a Fragment of the Demon God, we couldn’t win. We couldn’t even repel it. But we could at least prevent it from approaching first.
The reason was simple. I was the only one who knew what the rules didn’t permit. The Fragment of the Demon God, which was protected by those very rules, had no idea. If it assumed we were far stronger enemies than it could imagine, then from its perspective, it would naturally choose to bypass us rather than engage in a head-on battle.
The Demon God Worshippers were insane fanatics willing to die. The demonic creatures were nothing more than monsters that harbored hostility toward all living things. But the Fragment of the Demon God was neither crazy nor a mere monster—it was an entity with a clear purpose: to completely destroy this world and return it to nothingness.
Would it really risk its own existence in an uncertain battle? While that possibility existed, the chance that it wouldn’t was far higher.
“I plan to make a show of force.”
“A show of force? You don’t mean what I’m thinking, do you?”
“Yes. It’s probably exactly what you’re thinking, Master.”
My answer made my master’s expression turn incredulous. Because in this situation, the phrase “show of force” could only mean one thing. It must have been quite shocking to imagine the Heavenly Demon—the former supreme ruler of the Demonic Cult—actually doing something like that.
“Like those low-ranking martial artists who make a big show just to inflate their own value?”
“Exactly. Like those who don’t even have the skill or intention to actually draw their swords.”
“But they look incredibly strong from the outside, so much so that an entire clan would tremble before them.”
“Precisely.”
“To think that in all my years, I would one day have to resort to empty bravado. I never imagined it.”
“That’s why I told you earlier that you didn’t need to step forward, Master.”
This wasn’t a fight where we had to slaughter the enemy or engage in a bloody battle. We just needed to threaten them appropriately, engage in a bit of combat, and buy time. We couldn’t keep doing this in every battle against a Fragment of the Demon God. Once they realized that a seemingly powerful enemy had no reason to stall for time or make such obvious delaying motions, they would figure it out.
But for this particular moment, we had to do it this way. My disciples’ growth wasn’t perfect yet. They had gotten close to their peak, but being close to the peak and actually reaching it were two different things. It was far more important to eliminate the Fragments rather than simply confront them. If my disciples had to face such beings from both front and back at the same time, it would be extremely dangerous. It was much safer to deal with them one by one.
Rumble…
As I watched the approaching black clouds, I released the internal energy I had been holding back. There was no longer any reason or need to hide it, so I unleashed it with everything I had.
Boom…!!
The twin Demonic Humans I had clashed with before, along with the Fragment of the Demon God that had taken them away, seemed to be coming to support this incident at the Royal Capital. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have reacted so immediately to my energy. I could feel them reacting with considerable shock and focusing their attention directly on me.
“…They’re coming.”
“What will you do, Master?”
“If we’re going to put on this show of force, two people are better than one. And rather than two who have both revealed themselves, one hidden and one revealed will be far more effective.”
She wouldn’t hide her appearance, but she would conceal her energy. It was a deliberate choice to make the enemy’s mind even more complicated and confused. I nodded in agreement with my master’s excellent suggestion.
There was also the option of ignoring us and heading straight for the Royal Capital. But no one could leave a powerful enemy at their back. That rule applied equally to both Heroes and the Enemy’s Will.
Grrrr—!
A sound like something scraping against the ground reached my ears. The black clouds suddenly thinned, and several figures appeared right in front of us.
“You son of a bitch!”
“…It’s that man who used the sword.”
The first to reveal themselves were the twin Demonic Humans whom I had cut in half last time. Behind them stood a few Demon God Worshippers who looked like nothing more than cannon fodder. And at the very back stood a man who easily exceeded two meters in height. He was undoubtedly the one I had been waiting for.
“Who… are you?”
The voice began as that of an old man, then shifted to a young man, followed by a woman’s voice, and finally ended with a child’s. The man stared at me and my master for a moment before stepping forward.
The moment I finally faced him properly, my face twisted into a grimace without me even realizing it. Just the aura he casually emitted was disgusting enough, but his appearance was so grotesque it could haunt someone’s nightmares.
His eyes, nose, and mouth were all in the wrong places. And it wasn’t just his face—there were additional faces stuck onto his shoulder, his stomach, his thigh, and other random spots. It looked like a sculptor with bizarre tastes had created some twisted artwork. Or like a child who had broken several toys and haphazardly glued the pieces together.
If you took a human shell and stitched several other people onto it, this was probably what it would look like. Even someone with a strong stomach would probably vomit at the sight.
“There’s no reason for me to answer that, is there?”
Srrrng—
The moment I drew my sword, the twin Demonic Humans reflexively stepped forward. That was when I noticed something strange.
“…You’re not a Hero.”
“Can I ask you one favor? Could you speak with only one voice? Whether it’s the old man, the man, the woman, or the child—I’m losing all desire to even respond.”
“Not… a Hero.”
The fact that this damn thing kept repeating “Hero, Hero” made my anxiety spike. Had it already figured out our weakness? The unwritten rule that non-Heroes could not inflict any damage. If it knew that the fundamental rules of this world could not be broken, then this was the worst possible situation.
—…No.
If it truly knew, there would be no reason for it to stay behind the twin Demonic Humans. It would have stepped forward immediately and attacked both me and my master. Realizing that, I instinctively understood one thing for certain.
It didn’t know. Not yet. It didn’t know that our swords could not reach it.
It might be a Fragment of the Demon God, a monster that would devour the world, but in the end, it was still a being created by the developers—with clear limitations. Moreover, judging from the twin Demonic Humans’ reactions, it seemed that this “weakness” wasn’t something only we possessed.
What remained now was a contest of who could put on the bigger show of empty bravado, and who would flinch and shrink back in fear first.