Demon Subjugation (1)
In the original game, the scenario never began with the Cumul family. The player would suffer a mysterious accident, cross over into another world, become a hero, and be tasked with defeating the demons and the Four Perils that had given birth to them.
Among those demons, some took the monstrous shapes we usually imagine when we hear the word. But others wore bodies identical to humans, living among them while waiting for any chance to stain the Empire with evil.
"Thankfully, Asmodeus wasn't one of those cases, or I'd have had to quit the game on the spot."
If he had been, the difficulty would have spiked to the point where I'd have slammed the uninstall button and walked away.
Ranked 32nd in the demonic hierarchy, Asmodeus was, as I remembered it, a demon who despised human form — one who kept his true shape and spun his wicked schemes from deep within the forest.
In the setting where The Four Pillars began, the Cumul family was introduced as a fallen house, walking an ever-steeper road of decline.
The reason? The 13th family head, Alice Cumul, had been seized by madness and defeated by Asmodeus.
In the game, she appeared only in flashbacks.
Asmodeus's string of continuous battles and his pre-laid traps had, one by one, driven talented, skilled knights into corners — and it was more than enough to slowly tighten the noose around Alice's neck.
"And Alice never... never manages to turn the tide."
Ambushes, hidden snares, traps that used female demons to seduce and subdue his soldiers — with each one, her hands and feet were bound a little more tightly.
As defeat followed defeat and the soldiers and knights wore down, Alice finally chose her last resort.
Judging that her remaining forces could never bring down Asmodeus, she reached for the Sword of the Azure Sky — one of the legacies left behind by the Azure Dragon, one of the Four Divine Beasts, slumbering in a deep cavern.
But the sword rejected even Alice Cumul, daughter of the very family sworn to the Azure Dragon. Devoured by the blade instead, she succumbed to madness, cutting down friend and foe alike until nothing remained of her.
The whole scheme had been Asmodeus's design from the start, and Alice, walking straight into it, was no match for him at all.
Consumed by the madness, her sword strokes were nothing like the sharp, savage strikes I remembered watching. They were just wild swings powered by brute strength.
Defeated, Alice — chosen simply because she pleased his eye — became Asmodeus's sex slave. And the player, traveling from Cumul Territory to Elion Forest, could discover the boss 'Asmodeus' waiting there.
After accepting the quest 'The Mystery of Cumul Territory,' Asmodeus — the demon who had single-handedly crushed the territory — would block the player's path at every turn with his overwhelming power.
Ignore all of it, fight through, and bring him down, and the reward was the Sword of the Azure Sky, the divine weapon of the Azure Dragon.
Only after claiming the weapon as a prize could the player finally learn what had become of Alice.
And by the time the player killed Asmodeus and found her, she had already been violated beyond recognition. She stood before the player naked.
Her belly was slowly swelling, seeded with Asmodeus's spawn, while a sickly yellow fluid of unmistakable origin kept trickling from between her legs.
Her golden hair had gone brittle and dull, drained of its light, and her arms and legs had been locked in chains, frozen so she could never move again.
Which told you one thing above all: she must never, under any circumstances, be allowed to take up the Sword of the Azure Sky.
'And then the game gives you a choice... free her, or leave her where she lies...'
That ending was hardcoded into the game before you ever pressed start.
I knew because I had tried everything — and failed to save her every single time.
I memorized every one of Asmodeus's attack patterns and rushed him in the opening moments of the game.
I tried infiltration runs, sneaking into Cumul Territory behind the boss's back to rescue Alice first.
I even tried the brute-force route — sparking a rebellion in the territory and dragging the family head down from her seat. All of it failed.
Which left me with exactly one conclusion.
'There is no way to stop the expedition from heading into Elion Forest.'
On their own, the knights had no means of defeating Asmodeus. But if you asked whether there existed a variable that could win them the battle — I could answer that with my head held high.
"I am the variable. I've arrived in a situation where Alice can actually be saved."
And I was at an age where I carried that absurdly broken skill, Azure Dragon Ascension. With Alice's help, the subjugation might actually be possible.
Once the war council ended, Alice declared she would run the subjugation from the estate itself and hurried the preparations along.
Just in case, there was one more option on the table: asking her directly, face to face, to let me join the campaign. So I knocked on her office door.
"Hyun-ah? What is it?"
Seated in the lord's chair with the subjugation looming, Alice set down her stack of documents and turned her gaze to me.
"I have a request to make."
"A request?"
"Yes."
"What kind?"
"I'd like you to place me in the subjugation force as well."
At those words, Alice rested her chin on both hands and spoke.
"No."
The answer that came back was a flat refusal. She looked at me with a cold face.
"Why not?"
At my question, Alice let out a long sigh.
"Haah... I heard from Edgar. That you mastered the Formless Slash without breaking a sweat?"
"Yes. I'm confident it would be of use in the subjugation."
Then Alice shut my mouth with a single frost-cold sentence.
"Of use? What use, exactly? As a meat shield? Or perhaps as a doll who takes the enemy's curses in your place?"
Every word she said was technically true. But I heard them differently.
'I know what you mean, but you're still young. Build your future some other way.' That was how it landed.
"....."
"It's true our territory is in crisis. But we are not so fragile that we need to lean on a young guest like you."
"....."
"Listen carefully. The Formless Slash is a technique even regular knights need real training to wield. You have talent."
"Then all the more reason you should take me with you!"
"Why are you so obsessed with joining a demon subjugation? Is it because I spared your life? Or gratitude because I taught you the sword and fed and clothed you?"
'Because if this keeps going, you'll be ruined so badly you'll be begging me to kill you! You!' — not that I could say that out loud.
Seeing that I couldn't answer, Alice rose slowly from her chair and gently ruffled my hair.
"Wait here in the territory and await the news of our victory. And if you truly wish to repay your debts — when I return from the subjugation victorious, join our knight order. Do you understand?"
With those words, Alice walked out of the office and threw herself into the preparations.
There was exactly one reason she was rushing like this: the attacks on the villages had been multiplying lately.
Three villages had already suffered mass casualties, so of course Alice's heart would be burning with anxiety. She could never stand by and watch demons sink their claws into the territory her father had left her.
I understood her heart. But right now, what I wanted was for her to secure the situation a little more certainly — and with Alice as she was, no voice would reach her.
Even if I ran to her this instant and invoked something like the Proof...
I could already see it: she'd decide that a boy my age, whose traits had only just manifested, couldn't land a meaningful blow on demons — and she'd leave me behind at the estate to keep me safe from their claws, then ride out to war.
Either way, the outcome was the same. I could not follow her expedition as things stood.
So... I would have to use another method.
Another path was the only option left.
Because the root of Alice's defeat was, in a word, haste. What I needed was someone with far more combat experience than her — someone calm enough to assess this situation coolly and send me to the battlefield.
Exactly one person came to mind.
Timing and opportunity would come around only once.
I could not afford a single mistake.
As I built my plan and made my preparations, the day of the subjugation drew steadily closer. And at last, on the appointed day, an enormous army filled the grounds before the Cumul estate.
"Look at those numbers... If even that isn't enough, then what in the hell has this bastard Asmodeus been doing to butcher an army that size...?"
The commanders of the subjugation force were as follows.
Supreme Commander: Alice Cumul.
1st Vice Commander: Cloud Deus.
2nd Vice Commander: Rosie Benedit.
Auxiliary Command Officer: Blooming Crow.
The vassals of House Cumul each took up their commands, and with two thousand knights and soldiers under them, the army marched on Elion Forest to bring down Asmodeus.
Before departure, Alice climbed onto the platform to rouse the fighting spirit of the common soldiers, and her voice rang out across the field.
"Hear me! Through the demons' savagery, people have suffered — violated at will, and three hundred women, gripped by Asmodeus's corruption, have been found as horrifying corpses! Is the Azure Scale Knights Order to do nothing but watch and report?!"
The soldiers answered with a roar.
"NEVER!!!"
"Will you stand by and watch as they scorn us, trample us, and defile everything we hold?! Knights of the Azure Scale! In the name of the Azure Dragon, we will be victorious and put an end to their atrocities! Awaken the vengeance and hatred for the family we have lost to the demons! This time, we are the ones who will trample them! The Azure Dragon protects us!"
"WAAAAAH!!!!!"
A thunderous roar filled the estate from wall to wall.
And so, bellowing that cry, Alice and her vassals set out for Elion Forest.
Now it was time to put my own plan into motion.
I would depart far later than she did. If she spotted me, she'd turn me around on the spot — that much was certain.
So I would make my preparations and slip away without her ever noticing.
On reflection, rather than trying to sabotage her preparations, it made far more sense to simply insert myself into the subjugation separately.
The first thing I prepared was horseback riding.
Except there was a problem: this young body was smaller even than the fifteen-year-old one I'd had back on Earth.
I could grip the reins just fine, but my feet couldn't reach the stirrups.
No foothold meant I couldn't anchor myself to the saddle.
I could probably ride, technically — but if I fell off, I'd be too injured to fight at all. That much was guaranteed.
And most importantly of all, I had never once ridden a horse in my life. The odds of me staying on were vanishingly small.
Which meant I needed someone who could actually ride. And I already knew exactly who to ask.
As soon as Alice vanished from sight, I went looking for the butler.
Round and round the estate I searched, until I finally found him — Edgar, head butler of Cumul House.
He was the only person who could help me. My last resort.
"Found you... *hah*... *hah*... Butler!"
I called out his title and turned his eyes toward me.
"Hm? Ah. Young Master Hyun. What brings you to seek out this old servant?"
"The Lady of the House is in danger."
"What nonsense is this? How could the Lady be in danger? If you've come to beg me to let you join the subjugation, it's a waste of breath. I've already received the Lady's own instructions. Please return to your quarters."
And with that, Edgar turned to leave — but the single sentence I spat out as his back turned was more than enough to spin him around again.
"I am the one who has received the Azure Dragon's call."
The gentle expression Edgar always wore was gone. In its place was something grim and dangerous.
"Are you, at this very moment, attempting to defile the Azure Dragon's name for your own ends?"
"I am not."
"Anyone could say as much. To dare sully the name of the Azure Dragon before the very family that serves it — how bold of you."
Even as he spoke, his expression showed he hadn't the slightest intention of letting this go.
"Then I will offer the Proof."
"The Proof, is it... You do understand what fate awaits you if you fail it?"
"I do."
The Proof.
The Successors of the Four Divine Beasts were chosen by them, and wielded their authorities and power on behalf of the Empire's citizens. Out of consideration for that burden, the Empire granted Successors noble rank and promised them due honors.
It was one of the treaties struck between the first Emperor and the Four Divine Beasts when the Holy Empire was founded: Successors would receive generous treatment, and in exchange, they were bound to take the field without exception whenever demonic peril struck the Empire.
But over the long centuries, liars multiplied — people who claimed the mantle of Successor purely to claim its privileges. Eventually, the Divine Beasts took extraordinary measures. That measure was the Proof.
Before witnesses, the claimant needed only to speak the name of the trait the Divine Beasts had granted them, and the verification was complete.
Because each Divine Beast governed a domain, its name was woven into every trait it bestowed — and that was how the claim was judged.
Suppose someone declared themselves the Azure Dragon's Successor.
The claimant had to speak their initial trait aloud.
It was simple enough — just a trait whose name contained the word 'Sky.'
The White Tiger's Successor bore a trait containing 'Snowfield.' The Vermilion Bird's Successor, one containing 'Flame.' And so on.
But the risk was every bit as great as the simplicity.
Of course, in the game there had been absolute idiots who lied about their traits.
People who fabricated a trait's name on the spot — driven by malice, by nothing more than naked personal greed — daring to speak the Divine Beasts' authorities with profane lips.
Divine punishment struck them down where they stood. Death, instant and absolute.
What I was about to do was exactly that.
For the Proof, the butler alone was witness enough.
"Then speak. What is your trait?"
Signaling that he would hear me out, the butler drew himself up ramrod-straight and fixed his full attention on me.
With my hands clasped behind my back, meeting that level gaze, I began slowly to speak my first trait.
"My first trait is—"
"....."
"—The One Watched by the Heavens."
No bolt of heaven fell. Nothing changed at all. And the moment the words left my mouth, the butler dropped to one knee and bowed his head.
"I greet the new Successor of the Azure Dragon."
Raising him back to his feet, I spoke.
"The Lady of the House is in danger. Ride with me — to the subjugation grounds. Now."
My heart was pounding.
If even a trace of refusal showed in his answer, the bad ending was locked in.
But a man with far more experience than Alice — a man with the calm to look at a battlefield from angles she couldn't see — would not overlook the 'haste' with which she had ridden out.
And true to my hopes, the butler answered.
"Understood, Lord Successor."
It was his way of telling me he stood with my plan.
I had already burned time hunting him down, and more time still on the Proof. By now, Alice would be deep in the thick of battle.
A full hour had passed and then some.
Elion Forest wasn't far from the estate at all.
I led the butler to the stables, took the fastest horse, picked up the short sword Alice had given me to spur my training, and climbed into the saddle behind him.
"Let's go!"
At my word, the butler dug his heels in, and the distance began collapsing beneath us.
Please... let me not be too late..!
That was the only prayer I had. Please let her hold on until I arrived.
The moment Alice arrived at Elion Forest, she readied her forces for battle and advanced toward the heart of the woods.
And just as her scouts had reported, ambush demons began to emerge from among the trees.
"Southeast! Lower demons! A swarm of imps!"
"Northwest! Mid-tier demons! Dark Templars!"
"Shift to defensive formation! Brace for the ambush!"
As the demons poured out, Alice issued her defensive orders, and the knights began cutting them down.
"Slowly transition to offensive formation! Move with speed and break them apart in sequence!"
Before long, the knight order and the demon horde collided, steel ringing against claw and blade.
CLANG!
CLANG!
The song of iron against iron thundered through the forest.
= KIEEEK! =
The Azure Scale Knights were one of the finest orders in the entire Empire. Mid-tier and lower demons simply could not stand against them.
= GRAAAAHH..! =
One after another, the demons crumpled before their blades, unable to overcome sheer force of arms.
And yet the horde kept coming, an endless tide surrounding them on every side.
They had brought two thousand soldiers as a precaution — but the enemy looked to outnumber them four to one.
No matter how skilled and seasoned the soldiers and knights, the limits of stamina are written in flesh.
As the knights grew wearier by the minute, the tide of battle began to turn — slowly, inexorably, against them.
And no one understood that better than Alice herself.
Just how many troops had they hidden in this forest? No matter how many they killed and cleared away, there was no end in sight.
Whichever side seized the momentum here would be the victor of this battle.
And the reports from the knights were more than enough to shatter that momentum.
In the worst possible direction.
"North! High-tier demon! Creta's Nightmares!"
"West! Supreme demon! Black Serpents!"
Under the pincer assault of high-tier and supreme demons, gaps began tearing open in their lines.
"West again! High-tier demon! Succubi have appeared!"
Crushed under the overwhelming numbers and relentless ambushes, Alice made her first decision — to fall back and save the common soldiers.
Fight on blindly now, and it would be total annihilation.
True, the knights, her vassals, and she herself had all faced supreme demons before.
But that was possible only in a proper battle. With the tide flipped in a heartbeat, and with demons assaulting them in crushing numbers from every angle, she judged they simply lacked the strength to hold.
And so, lips pressed thin, she gave the bitter order to retreat.
Cloud Deus, the 1st Vice Commander, carried her will through the ranks and covered the withdrawal.
"Fall back! Everyone, fall back!"
The demons, sensing the advantage had swung their way, wore wicked grins as they tore into the knights and soldiers.
"The retreat route is blocked! Fifty or so high-tier demons have sealed our escape!"
On the soldiers' current strength, breaking through was impossible.
Worse, nearly half their number had already been lost.
If they could not destroy the demons here and now, that monstrous horde would surely swallow Cumul Territory whole.
At least this much was certain: every last demon had to fall here. And within that certainty, Alice made her final decision.
In the game, she should have turned straight back toward the territory. Instead, Alice chose to go to the valley.
"All of you — we march for the Valley of the Sky."
It was her vassal, Rosie Benedit, who stepped in to stop her.
"My Lady, you mustn't! The Valley of the Sky is where the sword sleeps! If you lure the demons there, their overwhelming numbers will trap us in that canyon instead!"
As the words left her own mouth, Benedit's eyes went wide with sudden understanding.
"Don't tell me... You mean to take up that sword!"
Alice only turned her horse's head in silence. Benedit shouted after her.
"You mustn't! That weapon can be wielded only by the Successors! For you to grasp it, my Lady — it will destroy you!"
Meeting her vassal's desperate plea, Alice answered with a steady gaze.
"There's no other way. Look at their numbers — and the way they use the forest and the terrain against us. They know how to exploit a battlefield as well as we do. And if we retreat like this, the devastation won't fall on Elion Forest. It will fall on Cumul Territory. Our peaceful land will become a warzone."
Alice pressed on.
"And a single mistake is all it takes to lose everything. In this situation, there is exactly one way to turn the tide. Whatever it costs, I must draw their entire force after us — and then destroy them."
"...Understood. I will follow your orders, my Lady."
"Thank you."
And so, to keep the demons from ever laying so much as a claw on Cumul Territory, Alice used her own forces as bait, luring the horde behind her as she led them toward the Valley of the Sky.
= Hahaha... at long last, the moment approaches when a delicious morsel... reaches me at last... kheheheh... =
Whether even this, too, was part of his design — she had no way of knowing.