Second Weekly Boss - Barren Fields
Volcanic ejecta bursting from underground completely blotted out the sky, not even a single ray of light reaching the ground.
The perpetrators could barely see an inch ahead in the impenetrable darkness, while half the continent lay submerged in scorching lava.
Leading the flowing lava front was a demon with glowing red eyes.
The Slayer Perlerina advanced.
Thud.
At that moment, a black-haired girl blocked her path.
“……Huphnis.”
Perlerina gazed at her with mournful eyes.
“Lina. Please stop now….”
The girl cried out, her voice choked with sobs.
“Is this… is this the way to survive that you told me about? This is too much!”
The continent was engulfed in lava.
Countless lives were swallowed whole.
Not even superhumans could withstand the power of the Nether King lineage.
“This isn't a way for us to survive—it's a way to kill everyone else!”
The demon king who had once been so kind and gentle had chosen this path. The girl couldn't believe it.
“Step aside, Huphnis.”
The demon king's voice was no longer warm.
A cold, hardened tone echoed lowly.
“I don't want to kill you. So step aside.”
“Lina!”
The girl shouted, hoping the old her would return.
“……Are you truly going to defy me?”
Whoosh.
Six lava whirlpools surged up, forming the shape of serpents.
“If you're going to block the demons' salvation, I'll have to deal with you too. Finding a new suitable demon king in your place wouldn't be easy, so I don't want to kill you.”
“Lina…….”
There was no warmth left in the demon king's eyes as she looked at the girl.
Only hostility toward an obstacle.
That was all she could see.
“Even so……I'll stop you.”
Hummm.
Demonic energy cloaked the girl.
Black armor and wings enveloped her.
Gripping a sword forged from condensed demonic power, the girl took to the air.
“What a pity. Now I'll have to find a new candidate.”
The demon king extended her hand.
“For old times' sake, I'll make it quick and painless.”
Kieeeek!
Dozens of lava serpents lunged toward the girl.
Drip…
Drip…
“Cough!”
The demon king coughed, spewing a mouthful of blood.
A black demon sword was embedded in the center of her chest.
“Wha… why… why didn't you block it…?”
Even after plunging her sword into the demon king's chest, the girl wore a confused expression.
“I didn't… think you'd be… short on mana……. I have no choice but to call this my defeat…”
The demon king's eyes slowly closed.
As her power faded, the lava covering the land began to cool.
“No! That can't be! You're the one who taught me swordsmanship! You're the one who taught me magic! You wouldn't miscalculate your mana!”
“……Heh.”
The demon king smiled faintly.
“Then I suppose… I've just become obsolete…”
The demon king reached out and stroked the girl's cheek.
“……Hu…ph…nis…….”
“What… do you have to say…?”
“…Die…….”
With those final words, the light faded from the demon king's eyes.
Her head lolled limply.
“Waaaaah! The demon king has fallen!” “The continent's savior! It's Lady Huphnis!”
The cheers proclaiming the war's end marked the end of the memory playback.
“What do you think.”
The Demon God asked me.
“This was an incident from when I was still mortal, where the previous Demon King—the one who raised me—tried to kill me.”
……Tried to kill you?
That's not it, is it?
I could tell exactly how the previous Demon King felt about you from that past footage.
“The Demon King inherits power from the previous one, possessing all the abilities of ancestral Demon Kings. The accumulated might from countless generations is enough to blanket the entire continent in lava. She was the strongest foe I've ever faced.”
In the memory footage, the horizon behind the Demon King roiled with lava as far as the eye could see.
The ability to control that much lava.
More than enough power to destroy the world.
“But the Demon King didn't fight me at full strength.”
The Demon God scowled.
“To think she dared fight me but held back.”
She seemed genuinely pissed.
“And her dying words were 'die.'”
Reading her thoughts flowing into me, I understood why she wanted to manifest the previous Demon King in reality.
“You want to fight the previous Demon King again.”
“Indeed.”
This arrogant Demon God sought to properly crush the one blemish on her record.
She couldn't accept that she'd won only because her opponent went easy on her.
“Revive the previous Demon King, Perlerina. I'll crush her head-on and prove the perfection of my victory.”
……Why are all these so-called gods such petty bastards.
Is that the only kind that can become gods?
“Well, it's possible.”
But thanks to that, I knew exactly what story to craft.
“However, there are conditions required.”
“What are they.”
“Reviving the Ten Heroes and Saintess Kate in reality also required several conditions.”
Overhearing the conversation between Ren and the magitech engineer through my terminal, I'd grasped the situation.
Kate's revival was something the magitech engineer had been working on, so it wasn't too surprising, but reviving all ten heroes was a shock.
Still, thanks to the magitech engineer's explanations, I finally understood how the revival worked.
Overcoming and claiming as one's own the aspects that form a constellation's identity when its name changes.
That process must have been necessary for a loved one's revival.
For the Demon God, this would be difficult.
Probably a fool's errand.
But that didn't matter.
My goal wasn't to fulfill the Demon God's dream.
Having heard my conditions, the Demon God pondered.
“I don't mind other players seeing stories about me and the Demon King… but do I have to play the game too?”
“Yes. Both the Magitech Engineer and Sacrifice played the game themselves, which enabled the revival of the deceased.”
“Urgh……”
The Demon God clearly didn't like having to play the game personally.
“Are you, the King of Ten Thousand Demons, afraid you can't handle a game?”
Bang!
“As if! I just… I just wondered if I really needed to bother with something so trivial myself! I don't feel fear!”
“Then it's fortunate.”
I smirked.
Reading her thoughts, I could see how to handle her.
Her mindset was ruled by excessive arrogance.
“First, I'll take a look at your memories, Lady Demon God. Then I'll need time to craft them into an episode.”
“How many days.”
“Three days should suffice.”
It was the day for the new version release anyway.
Releasing Act 2 as a new episode alongside new content would be perfect.
“Fine. I'll be watching.”
Humm.
The Demon God tore out of the illusory world her dream had created.
“……”
Left alone, I could still feel her gaze upon me.
Was she keeping an eye out in case I broke my promise?
Pretty cowardly for someone so arrogant.
Whatever.
I'd keep my promise.
At first, I planned to twist the original history a bit to trap her in the story.
But after seeing her memories, that didn't seem necessary.
‘Just revealing the truth she doesn't know should be enough.’
I wondered how she'd react once she experienced the finished episode.
One thing was certain: knowing the truth would shatter her mind, leaving her unable to escape this world on her own.
I was so excited I could hardly wait. How would I kill three days?
The bottommost depths of the dimensional rift.
Seven silhouettes rose in the pitch-black darkness where nothing was visible.
Six of the seven shadows vanished, leaving one behind.
The remaining small silhouette soared upward.
She was confident that any interloper would be eliminated now that she was stepping in,
but she didn't know.
That she herself would come to be called the weekly boss.