Surviving the Demon King's Army (5)

I headed straight back into the dungeon with Lily, now my temporary party member.

Then I set the difficulty to Torment once more and told the system I wanted to enter.

This time the conditions were properly met, so the system finally seemed satisfied.

Entry was granted, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the Torment-difficulty dungeon began to take shape.

Hmm… so this is what Hell Dungeon looks like?

Out on the empty plain the ground suddenly split open and lava began to surge upward. At the same time the sky darkened with unnatural speed.

So this is the kind of place it is.

The dungeon transformed into something that looked exactly like hell itself. This had to be Hell Dungeon on Torment difficulty.

Once the dungeon had fully changed and the system finished speaking, it was time to actually explore.

"Wow…! This is so amazing. I never knew a place like this existed. I’ve lived in the demon realm for nearly two hundred years and this is the first I’ve seen anything like it!"

While I stood silently taking in the scenery, Lily suddenly latched onto my arm, her expression bright with excitement.

"We’re not here on a field trip. Quit yapping and follow me."

"Yes…♡"

I peeled her off and warned her not to get too carried away, then started walking ahead. Lily still trailed after me with that same giddy smile, completely unbothered by the scolding.

It really is pretty incredible, though.

I’d spoken roughly to her, but honestly I was just as fascinated. A space like this had never appeared in the game I knew, so of course it was surprising. This was completely new even to me.

I don’t think this was ever in the original game.

I had done everything there was to do in that game—no exaggeration. I’d dug through every last scrap of content trying to give Ronan even a shred of happiness. And yet even I had never found this dungeon. A place that someone who’d scoured the entire game still didn’t know about could only mean one thing: it had never been implemented.

So why did an unimplemented area exist here?

Something they started and never finished?

I wasn’t the developer, so I couldn’t say for certain, but my best guess was that this was leftover map data that never made it into the final build. Files that exist in the data but never get implemented aren’t exactly rare. Maybe production issues kept it out. Or maybe it was meant for a future DLC. Plenty of possibilities.

Whatever the reason, getting to see a side of the game I’d never known was genuinely fun.

Maybe even the unresolved plot threads will get answered here?

I found myself hoping I might learn things I’d never known before. I claimed to know every story in this game, but that was only half true. I knew Ronan’s countless bad endings inside and out, yet there were still plenty of mysteries the game itself never explained.

The Emperor’s true identity… the Holy Sword that never once appeared…

Threads left dangling with no resolution. The Empire had an emperor, yet he never showed his face even once. No one knew where he was or what he was doing. And in a hero story the Holy Sword should have been mandatory—yet I had never seen it, never even heard where it was kept. I was certain it existed somewhere, but certainty was all I ever got.

And what about the childhood friend after Ronan dies…

I was especially curious about Amy’s actions after Ronan’s death in the final boss route. What exactly had she planned to do once he was gone? Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been anything good—but the game never let me find out.

Because Ronan always dies right there.

In the final battle Ronan sacrifices himself to protect his party members, whether the childhood friend who left him for another hero or the one who betrayed him outright. He can’t stand to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠watch her die, so he takes the final boss’s attack himself. The story ends there—on the image of the childhood friend who doesn’t even spare a single glance for the man who just died for her.

Did the remaining party members actually beat the final boss after that? And if they did, what happened next?

I was certain the continuation wouldn’t be a happy one, but I still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wanted to know.

Maybe this time the secrets will come out.

That was why the hidden story excited me so much. Amy made my blood boil, sure, but I’d poured so much of myself into this game that I still cared about it. Leaving those mysteries unsolved had always felt like a waste. Getting a chance to unravel them now felt like pure luck. This might actually be fun.

I’ll gather information piece by piece whenever I can.

Not just for curiosity’s sake—those answers would be vital if I wanted to survive in this world. I forced myself into a more serious frame of mind.

"Master, help me!"

Unfortunately the situation around me refused to match my seriousness. A high-pitched scream cut through the air.

About time for monsters to show up, I guess.

Up ahead a tentacle creature blocked our path—a massive, writhing mass of slimy appendages that looked thoroughly disgusting.

"Hiiing! Save me! At this rate I’m going to… get violated!"

Lily shrieked and begged for rescue. Tentacles already had her arms and legs pinned; she looked one second away from being thoroughly defiled.

"…Ugh."

Obviously it was pure acting. No need to play along. Lily was a Four Heavenly Kings-class demon. There was no way someone of her caliber couldn’t handle a single tentacle monster.

"Hiiing. You’re so mean."

I simply walked past her. Sure enough, the sound of magic activating came from behind me. Even without looking I could picture the tentacle creature’s gruesome end.

"Master really is a bully. Well… that’s exactly what I like about you. Hehehe♡"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Why did it feel like her affection was only climbing higher? I couldn’t understand it and didn’t particularly want to. I kept walking, ignoring her completely.

"Torment difficulty, and it’s still nothing special."

More tentacle monsters and other creatures straight out of an erotic game kept blocking our path, but none of them posed any real threat. Lily and I cut them down with almost casual ease and pushed forward.

I expected it to be easy, but this is even easier than I thought.

Even Hell Dungeon on its highest difficulty couldn’t put up a real fight—not when the party consisted of a hero and a Four Heavenly Kings-level demon. No monster that could overwhelm a duo like that would ever appear here.

We kept advancing until, before long, the end of the dungeon came into view.

"That cave up ahead?"

"Looks like it."

At the far end of Hell Dungeon stood a pitch-black cave whose interior was completely invisible. The dungeon master was almost certainly waiting inside.

"Mm… monsters are swarming."

Just as we started toward the cave, a rumbling sound approached. Lily pointed; more than a hundred monsters were charging straight at us.

"You handle them."

Reaching the end of the dungeon must have triggered an all-out assault. Better to kill the dungeon master quickly than waste time here.

"I’ll finish things inside while you take care of this."

"Yeees… I’ll wipe them out perfectly and wait for Master’s reward…♡"

I left the horde to Lily and entered the cave alone.

Step by step I walked through the darkness and silence until, at last, I found the magic sword.

"So that’s the magic sword… Sacrifa?"

At the far end of the cave stood a massive altar. In its center a faintly glowing magic sword stood alone, thrust into the stone.

"And that’s the dungeon boss, I take it."

I wanted to pull the sword free immediately, but everything has its order. Something else had to be dealt with first.

From a corner of the altar a black shape stepped out and blocked my path.

"Hmm… so it finally showed up."

The shadow barred my way and gradually took on human skin. At first I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, but I quickly realized the boss was a doppelganger.

"Wonder what it’ll turn into."

A creature that could become anyone it had ever memorized—that was the Torment-difficulty boss of Hell Dungeon. I drew my own sword and prepared to fight. I wasn’t particularly worried. No matter what form it took, nothing here could scare me.

"Okay, that one’s a surprise."

Even so, the form it chose left me momentarily stunned. The doppelganger had become someone completely unexpected.

"Why the hell would it turn into her?"

It had become a human—someone I knew all too well. Pink hair, a smile that radiated nothing but innocence. Yet beneath that exterior was a completely different woman: the cruel one who had driven a single man to ruin.

"And it’s even holding the Holy Sword?"

The dungeon boss, the doppelganger, had taken the form of Amy—Ronan’s childhood friend Amy. In its hand it gripped the Holy Sword, the weapon that had existed only as data in the game, the one I had never once seen.

"What the hell…"

Facing an opponent I had never anticipated, freezing for a second was only natural. What did this situation even mean?

"…"

"Ugh—!!!"

CRASH!!!!

Unfortunately there was no time to think about it. The doppelganger wearing Amy’s face had no intention of waiting. It charged.

Sword met sword.

The battle began.