Slipped My Mind
Forcing my wobbling, collapse-prone body upright, I staggered forward and cast my gaze out over the fortress ramparts.
A dry, hollow laugh slipped past my lips before I could stop it.
"Wait, isn't the entire duchy just completely ruined at this point?"
The wasteland outside, already bleak and barren to begin with, had been dyed pitch-black by the self-destruction of Annus, the Demon King of Death. It had turned into a literal Land of Death. The earth hadn't just changed color; a foul, sinister, suffocating miasma billowed off the soil so thickly that it wouldn't be surprising if hordes of undead started crawling out of the dirt this very second.
I honestly had no idea whether ground like that could ever be restored.
"...Maybe it really is doomed."
Even with all my knowledge, there was no telling what long-term fallout the self-destruction of a Demon King would bring to the mortal world. Whenever I killed Annus in the game, it had always been within the Demon Realm.
"......"
Then again, that was a headache to worry about only after picking up the pieces in Terabaon.
"What a complete disaster..."
No matter how desperately I had shielded everything with the Domain of the Beast, warding off every speck of harm had been impossible. The grand outer ramparts of Terabaon were shattered, pulverized, vaporized in places—reduced to utter shambles. The only consolation was that the inner city and its citizens appeared unharmed, but still...
"Whatever. It'll sort itself out somehow."
It wasn't my job to fix city infrastructure anyway. I promptly abandoned the thought and shifted my gaze downward.
"H-Heeek! Hiiieeeek!"
Down on the blighted battlefield, a single living creature wept and trembled in sheer terror.
She had luxuriant, raven hair that cascaded in a dark torrent all the way to her ankles. Despite possessing a needlessly towering frame, she stayed curled into the smallest ball possible, perpetually terrified of everything around her. The greatest shut-in and basement dweller of the Demon Realm; weaker and lazier than anyone, yet blessed with a vitality greater than all others—the sovereign of fiends herself.
None other than Otiliv, the Demon King of Life.
"Taking the full brunt of that detonation at point-blank range and walking away... Impressive. Truly."
She didn't even look visibly injured.
"Heeek?! S-S-Stay away! Stanasila Alzen! Don't come any closer!"
The moment I leaped from the battlements and strode toward her with long, unhurried steps, she began frantically scrabbling against the dirt to crawl away. Naturally, cursed with catastrophic motor coordination, her flailing limbs merely spun in place like wheels stuck in mud.
"Hmm..."
Through the dark curtain of her hair, a pale, bloodless face peeked out, wide eyes glistening with the frantic panic of a cornered rabbit. It was truly an art form how utterly mismatched her face was with her voluptuous, colossal figure. Not that she was unpleasant to look at, of course.
She was practically the archetypal gloom-ridden, massive-chested beauty plucked straight out of subculture tropes. Back on the Origin World forums, threads titled things like 'Day N of Praying for Otiliv to Become a Heroine' used to clog the front page daily. Some players had grown so bitter when she remained unromanceable right to the end that they turned into full-blown sadists dedicated to bullying her...
Well, that was then, and this was now.
"Ah, there it is."
Approaching the crater where Annus had blown himself apart, I picked up one of the two objects left in the ashes: a flawless black sphere of pure crystal.
The Demon King's Essence.
It had countless uses. You could forge ultimate, endgame equipment with it, or sacrifice it in esoteric rituals to permanently skyrocket your core attributes.
"Hmm..."
Now that this game had become reality, it might possess applications beyond anything written in the code.
"I'll stash this for now. And next..."
The second item reeked of concentrated necrotic rot, throbbing furiously as though it were still alive.
"......"
Annus's heart, was it? That was a drop item that had never existed in the game. In fact, nothing aside from the essence had ever dropped from a Demon King's remains.
"Another piece of uncharted territory. Can't even bring myself to be surprised anymore."
I reached out to grab it, then flinched and pulled my hand back. The lingering death energy pooling inside it was so volatile that a bare touch would probably corrode my flesh to ash.
"Let's see. Will this do the trick...?"
Focusing every shred of concentration, I sought to wrap my fingers in the Authority of the Beast God, but the divine power that answered was pathetically faint.
"Tsk..."
Instinct told me everything I needed to know. The shattered divinity and authority of Kubel would not regenerate. It would never return.
Containing that cataclysmic blast had burnt away far too much of its fundamental source—its core essence, or whatever you wanted to call it. Easy come, easy go, I suppose. Or should I look at it as a massive bargain, having traded temporary power that never existed in the game to permanently erase a Demon King?
Thump! Thump!
When I gingerly closed my fingers around the organ, its violent pulsation hammered against my palm. Fortunately, the necrotic aura couldn't pierce through my hand. Faint though it was, divinity was still divinity.
"Phew. Good. Now, all that's left is..."
"Heeek?!"
The second my eyes flicked toward Otiliv, she sucked in a sharp gasp and began vibrating like an eight-cylinder engine redlining at full throttle.
"D-D-Don't come near me!"
Flap! Fwump!
"......"
She unfurled a pair of massive, bat-like wings from her back to their widest span and thrust a thick, reptilian tail straight into the air. It was a threat display straight out of a terrified critter trying to look twice its size, so pathetic it bordered on absurd.
"Why are you so scared? Weren't you throwing a tantrum about kidnapping me when we met through your clone earlier?"
"Heeek! Hiiieek...!"
No matter what I said, she only hyperventilated in wheezing gasps. Dialogue was completely out of the question.
"......"
Slash!
"Kyaaaah?! It hurts, it huuuuurts!"
I flicked a testing claw strike toward her. Calling it a slash was honestly giving it too much credit—it was a weak scratch at best—yet it was still sharp enough to rend her skin and splatter a line of blood across the dust.
"Noooo! It hurts! It huuuuurts! I don't wanna dieee!!"
To a Demon King, that scratch was nothing more than a paper cut. Yet she flailed her arms, kicked up dirt with her legs, and thrashed about in blind hysteria without offering a shred of real resistance.
—What an utterly disgraceful display. A spectacle so wretched it shames the very title of Demon King. Can you truly not string two words together unless hiding behind a flesh puppet?
Evidently watching the show, the mouth of Rubias manifested upon my left arm, dripping with cold mockery.
"R-R-Rubias?! Y-You... did you really throw in your lot with a mortal?! Did you betray the Demon Realm—betray the Demon God?!"
The instant she heard that voice, Otiliv snapped out of her stupor just long enough to point an accusatory, trembling finger at my arm.
—Ha. You dare not utter a squeak before Kang Han-gil, yet you find your voice the moment you address me? Did I appear that gentle to you?
"S-Shut uuuup! You traitor! You traitorous b-bitch! H-He died! Annus is dead! A Demon King was slain! How on earth can you act so damn calm about it?!"
—That miserable, wretched creature merely reaped what he sowed. He underestimated Kang Han-gil, dropped his guard, and suffered the natural consequence. Did I not warn you all? Lay no hand upon what is mine.
"How was I supposed to know that's what you meant?!"
Piecing together their banter, it sounded like the Demon Kings had gossiped about me amongst themselves at some point.
"Hmm..."
Listening to their squabbling with half an ear, I examined Otiliv's physical state. The scratch I had inflicted was already gone, healed clean without a blemish. So she hadn't exhausted her regenerative vitality in the blast after all.
If it were up to me, I'd slaughter her right where she sat, but that was clearly impossible right now.
...Wait a second. If her power was intact, why was she acting like a cornered mouse?
Did she have mush for brains?
Even if I had somehow killed Annus, she couldn't possibly be stupid enough not to realize she held all the cards right now. If she lunged at me in earnest, I would be dead within minutes, and the Duke's Castle, depleted of its defenders, would be reduced to a graveyard.
"W-Why are you looking at me like that?! A-Are you going to kill me too?!"
"......"
"N-No... I don't want to dieee...! S-Spare me! If you spare me, I'll do anything...!"
"......"
Even in this position, she wept fat, blubbering tears and shivered, begging for her life. Could she really just be paralyzed by fear from watching Annus get wiped off the map? A literal Demon King?
...If that was true, she was so hopelessly cowardly and dense that it defied belief. Put her in a room with Pashtra and they'd probably become fast friends.
"Haah... You'll do anything? Then hand over your Demon King's Essence."
"T-That's...! You're just telling me to dieee...!"
"...Fine, how about this? Use your authority over life to cleanse the duchy's wasteland and reverse the death corrupting it. Do that, and I let you live."
"T-T-That's... impossible. I can command living flesh, but I can't resurrect what is already dead..."
"You really are entirely useless, aren't you?"
"Heeek...! H-Heeek...!"
I racked my brain trying to think of a cheat method to enslave or subjugate her, but a Demon King was still a Demon King. There was no cheap trick that could leash a transcendent entity like that on the spot.
As I stared down at her sobbing, snot-dribbling face with narrowed eyes, Rubias's voice whispered softly in the recesses of my mind.
—Kang Han-gil. Push her no further. If panic completely snaps her sanity, she may lash out blindly.
Heeding the warning only I could hear, I cast another glance at Otiliv. Her teeth were chattering like castanets, and her eyes rolled toward the back of her head, balancing on the knife-edge of pure, psychotic hysteria.
"...Tsk."
Letting a Demon King slip away left a bitter taste in my mouth, but right now, I had no choice. Bagging Annus would have to be enough.
"H-Huh...?"
The moment I turned my back and began walking away without another word, Otiliv let out a stupefied squeak.
"Huh...? Ah...?"
She gaped at my retreating figure as though completely unable to comprehend what was happening. Only after I had scaled the ramparts and vanished from sight did she slowly, hesitantly drag herself to her feet and sprint off toward the horizon in a frantic panic.
Her ample, moon-like rear swayed wildly as she ran, her absurdly massive bust sloshing with every desperate bound, visible even from behind. It was quite a spectacle. Who in their right mind could look at that blubbering mess and see a Demon King?
Clicking my tongue, I unfastened the Subspace Pouch from Muriel's hip, clipped it to my own belt, and deposited both the Demon King's Essence and Annus's heart inside.
Then, drawing in a long, deep breath, I allowed the prickling reality of the situation to wash over my skin.
"Haaaaah..."
He was dead.
I had slain a Demon King.
At long last, I had taken one massive, monumental leap toward my goal. Only two Demon Kings remained, and then the Demon God itself. A solid, unshakeable certainty began to settle in my chest—the conviction that one day, I could truly bring the Demon God down. If I could just raise the hero properly, then... I could finally go back to my original world...
"......"
A sudden, unexpected pang surged from deep within, catching in my throat. I tried to force it down. Or rather, I tried to pretend it wasn't there.
"...Denying it at this point would just be pathetic, wouldn't it?"
With a faint smirk, I produced a flask from my pocket and popped the cork. Tilting my head back, I took a heavy swig, letting the fiery liquor scorch down my throat before exhaling a breath of hot steam.
"Right. May as well face the truth."
If I walked away from the bonds I had forged here just to return to my old reality... that would be another farewell. Just like losing the family and friends I had left behind in my original world, I would be severing ties with everyone here forever. Honestly, the thought didn't sit well with me anymore. Back when I had first possessed this body, I would have leapt at the chance without a second thought. But things weren't that simple now.
"...Whew."
Then again, I had only just brought down my first Demon King. Counting my chickens before they hatched was getting ahead of myself.
"Whatever. Future me can deal with that headache."
Since it wasn't an answer I could find today, I shook my head to clear the fog, taking another pull from the flask as I lit a rolled cigarette and surveyed the surroundings. The ground was littered with unconscious bodies. Because everyone was still within the Domain of the Beast, I could gauge their vital signs without having to check them individually. Fortunately, no one seemed to be dying.
"...Lord Han-gil."
"Hm? Oh, Muriel. You're awake? That was faster than I expected."
"Did I lose consciousness? I have shown you an unsightly display."
"You can say that again. What kind of escort knight passes out before the master she's supposed to protect?"
"I am merely an attendant, my lord."
"Oh, listen to you. Shirking duty already... Quite a piece of work."
Chuckling, I passed the flask toward her. She eyed it for a brief second before tipping it back and taking a hearty, unhesitating gulp.
"Phew... It feels as though it has been quite some time since we shared a drink like this."
"Doesn't it? It'll take a while for the others to come around, so we might as well enjoy ourselves first."
"That sounds wonderful, my lord."
We sat together, passing the bottle back and forth as the minutes ticked by. It was quite some time later before the rest of the party finally began to stir.
They often say that cleaning up after a war is far more grueling than the fighting itself. Regrouping shattered units, assessing casualties, clearing rubble, rebuilding... None of it looked remotely simple.
Of course, none of that was my problem. The moment my party members recovered their senses, I left the cleanup to the city and marched straight back to the Duke's Castle.
"My, my deceptive little son has finally returned."
"...Duchess?"
And right there, waiting at the threshold, was a migraine-inducing catastrophe.
"Fufu, fufufu... 'Duchess,' is it...? Ah, truly... how utterly sickening..."
Stanasila Pitra greeted us.
Right. Up to this point, there was no problem.
Stanasila Pitra greeted us while thoroughly bound in heavy chains by the ducal knights.
Now the problem was starting to look somewhat concerning.
Stanasila Pitra greeted us while bound in heavy chains by the ducal knights, pouring out thick, suffocating plumes of pure demonic energy from every pore of her skin.
Now this was a catastrophic, code-red problem.
"...Hedos."
Right.
During the chaos of battle, one high demon had slipped past the lines and bolted straight for the Duke's Castle.
I had completely forgotten about him.