Utterly Screwed
According to the lore, the continent of Origin World was split cleanly in two.
On one side lay the Demon Realm—conquered by demons, ruled by Demon Kings, and tainted by the Evil God. On the other stood the Divine Realm, shielded by five sacred relics and blessed by various deities, spearheaded by the Goddess Tu-moa.
Frankly, it was a dime-a-dozen fantasy premise.
And trailing behind such a generic premise came an equally cliché rule: whenever a demon crossed into the Divine Realm, their raw might and authorities suffered a massive degradation. Conversely, any native of the Divine Realm venturing into the Demon Realm was slapped with crippling debuffs. That rule alone was the sole reason the Evil God’s overwhelmingly superior forces hadn't wiped humanity off the map yet.
Of course, that didn't mean high demons like Cambello or Deacon were fundamentally beyond such restrictions. There were naturally ways to bypass the debuffs in enemy territory—such as receiving the Evil God's blessing for demons, or obtaining the Goddess's blessing and wielding a sacred relic for denizens of the Divine Realm, among other methods.
"This... this feels way too ominous."
In any case, an incident suspected to be the handiwork of a Demon King had just broken out in the Divine Realm. Of all times, why right now?
Chronologically speaking, the incident flared up practically the moment I broke the curse on Perdio Hadim and extracted the Demon King's Fragment. But the real problem was the location—not the Papal Headquarters where the fragment was kept, but the wasteland of our very own duchy. I wanted to brush it off as a coincidence if I could, but that would be wishful thinking taken to delusional heights. What could anyone possibly gain from running amok and buffing a wasteland field boss right at this exact moment?
In other words, their goal wasn't to reclaim the Demon King's Fragment.
"Don't tell me..."
A creeping chill stroked the back of my neck. Despite having zero tangible evidence, a sinister suspicion—a raw gut instinct that the Demon King was aiming for me—kept rearing its ugly head. Logically speaking, it made no sense whatsoever. Where and how could a Demon King have gathered intel on someone like me to single me out as a target? And even if they did, to what end? There was nothing to gain from hunting me down.
"Hey, Alzen. Why'd you suddenly clam up? What are you doing?"
"Hold on, be quiet. I'm thinking. Muriel, Rebecca, give me some space so I can concentrate."
As I pushed away Weller, who was leaning in to inspect my face, the two women stepped in front of me without a word of protest.
"Hey! At least let me look at the documents!"
After shooting Weller an irritated glare for her pestering, I tossed her the report on the field boss. She wore a look of utter disbelief, but I didn't have the bandwidth to entertain her right now.
Phew...
Let's pick the thread of thought back up.
Wild rumors about me had been spreading like wildfire lately, sure, but there was no way a Demon King would grace me with a personal visit over petty gossip. At this point, the most plausible trigger was that I'd provided the cure for Perdio Hadim's curse... but even that felt a bit weak as a motive for a Demon King to come in person. For starters, only a tiny circle—including Saintess Cecilia—even knew about Perdio Hadim or the Demon King's Fragment. Yet that was precisely the problem: nothing else came to mind.
If anything, it was far more likely they were seeking contact out of sheer, unadulterated curiosity.
"..."
Could that really be it?
Did a Demon King catch wind of my existence through Perdio Hadim's curse and decide to drop by purely for amusement? Under ordinary logic, it was an absurd hypothesis, but having a decent grasp of the three Demon Kings, it struck me as entirely plausible. Because every single one of those Demon Kings was an unhinged psycho with a screw loose. Just how crazy were they? Crazy enough to disguise themselves as mortals and infiltrate the Divine Realm just to pursue cheap thrills because life felt too boring.
In the game, they were presented strictly as ultimate adversaries so that side never got highlighted on screen, but that was what the official setting lore books stated. Because they directly suffered the oppressive weight of the Goddess's protection and the sacred relics, their power tanked far more drastically and absurdly than a high demon's—yet they still pulled that crap regardless.
To put into perspective how catastrophic this was: most of the great wars, massacres, and plagues etched into world history were the direct fallout of a Demon King's boredom-fueled "entertainment." The mortal races of the Divine Realm had no clue it was the work of Demon Kings, but according to the lore compendium, those women were literal walking apocalypses. Frankly, it was a miracle humanity hadn't gone extinct already.
Tsk...
Fine, whatever. Let's say that was the Demon King's motive. They were entirely capable of pulling the most deranged stunts on a whim depending on their mood anyway. Though I'd really prefer if I wasn't the target of their little game.
Regardless, the remaining puzzle was the pathway through which they gathered intel about me. This was far more critical than it sounded. Depending on the method employed, I could narrow down which of the three Demon Kings was behind this. Now then, where the hell could they have gathered information on me?
"..."
Having no obvious lead, only absurd, supernatural possibilities crossed my mind. But when it came to the authorities of a Demon King, supernatural absurdities were child's play. They could listen to the whispers of death permeating the world, peek into the minds of every living being, or bypass complicated processes entirely to gaze directly into the past.
However, within the Divine Realm, those authorities were severely constrained. ...Though the lore stated they found their kicks precisely because of that limitation, but moving on.
If they learned of my existence through Perdio Hadim's curse, they likely used the Demon King's Fragment as a relay to channel their authority. But right now, that fragment was housed inside the Holy See. Which meant even if they utilized the fragment, the means available to bridge the gap and pinpoint the existence of "Stanashila Alzen" were strictly limited.
In that sacred sanctuary, there was no death to whisper secrets. Living souls were plentiful, but even a Demon King couldn't breach the minds of priests, clerics, and paladins sheltered under the Goddess’s direct influence. Which left only one medium: time and space.
"...Son of a bitch."
Rubias, the Demon King of Spacetime? If it was her, she could easily have peered into the past through the Demon King's Fragment locked deep inside the Papacy.
"Rubias, huh..."
Of all of them, she was the hardest Demon King to counter, the most insane, and undeniably the strongest. Even in the game, you could counter the other two Demon Kings by using relics to alter the terrain or ingesting specific materials to boost your resistances. But against Rubias, there were no gimmick strategies—you had to crush her with overwhelming raw firepower and god-tier micro-control.
If that was how brutal she was in a video game, how terrifying would she be now that it was reality?
Suddenly, memories of speaking with Deacon surfaced. Even with a castle wall separating us from a massive distance, blood had poured freely from my eyes, nose, and mouth just from hearing him speak.
Sigh...
My throat suddenly felt parched. I chugged down liquor in greedy gulps, then sparked a cigarette.
"I think I'm screwed."
When I muttered those words in utter exhaustion, Muriel and Rebecca glanced back at me.
"Master Alzen. Are you all right?"
"...No. Not even close."
"Has a problem arisen?"
"Most likely. And not just any problem—I think a full-blown catastrophe just detonated."
Weller’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as she tapped my shoulder.
"What's got you like this? Is it something fun?"
"Fun... Yeah, in a sense, it's a real blast. A total dopamine festival."
"Explain it to me. What's going on?"
"...I'd rather not. Words have power, and I don't want to jinx it."
Everything was still trapped in the realm of speculation. It wasn't confirmed whether the entity buffing the field boss was indeed a Demon King, nor was it certain that I was their target. Some inexplicable gut feeling was screaming that I was dead right, but speaking it aloud felt like inviting the doom to materialize, and I didn't want to grant fate even an inch of leeway.
...Well, that was that. Still, I needed to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
"..."
But how?
Was it even humanly possible to prepare against a Demon King at this stage? Especially against Rubias, who was not only an insane hedonist but a severe case of a mentally unhinged yandere?
"Screwed. Utterly screwed. I am so thoroughly, hopelessly screwed..."
Gulp!
I knocked back another swig of booze and slumped limply into my chair. Only then did my eyes meet Vanes Clock's, who had been watching me quietly the whole time.
"...Ah, my apologies, Vanes Clock. You went out of your way to treat us with such hospitality, and here I am, acting like a statue and ignoring you."
"No. It is fine."
"I appreciate you saying that. Hmm... Have you heard the rumors about me?"
"Yes. Quite a few reached my ears. A prophet, an incarnation... Are those rumors true?"
"Nope. Not at all. There isn't a single grain of truth in any of them."
"Is that so..."
"Why? Was there something you were curious about?"
"No, it was just... if the rumors held true, there was something I hoped to seek your counsel on."
"Counsel? Hmm... Did you receive an invitation from Elinger Academy? Seems about the time an offer for a professorship would come in..."
"!? ...How could you possibly know that, Lord Alzen?"
A ripple of astonishment broke through her rigid, icy demeanor.
"I just know. Anyway, asking me for advice... I see. You must feel burdened and scared on multiple fronts. For someone without teaching experience, it's definitely something to agonize over."
"...Can you read minds as well?"
"Haha. If only I could. Well, personally, I'd strongly recommend taking it. A professorship at the academy is a stellar post... and you'll learn a great deal yourself. Though I imagine it feels overwhelming and frightening for someone as soft-hearted as you..."
"I am not soft-hearted."
I let out a smirk as she cut me off with firm conviction. I'd felt it while playing the game, too, but her pitiful defense mechanism of desperately trying to look tough was genuinely endearing. It was precisely that gap which drove so many players to make her their main heroine. Leaving aside her beauty and cuteness, she was just immensely fun to tease.
"Ah, sure, of course. You're a woman who delivers when it counts. So you'll be fine. You'll cross paths with good people, too... Well, yeah. I suppose I can put it like this."
Taking a deep drag of cigarette smoke and exhaling it slowly, I continued.
"That place will become the turning point of your life. It will crystallize your hazy purpose and meaning, and grant you that flame-like conviction and resolve you never understood—the very thing you yearned to possess because of it."
"...You are..."
Her lips parted and closed several times as if trying to formulate words before she finally gave a small nod.
"You are a liar."
"Am I?"
"Yes. You are without a doubt exactly who the rumors make you out to be."
"I already told you that's bullshit."
"Is that so? Understood."
When I waved my hand with an exaggerated grimace, a faint smile graced her lips. It was a lovely smile.
Phew...
Shooting the breeze with her seemed to refresh my head a little. Now, back to the problem staring me in the face.
"..."
No, but seriously, what am I supposed to do?
If every one of my deductions was dead-on, there was no winning move here. A Demon King was a raid boss you could barely take down by dragging seven monsters on par with Urtega to gang up on them. Sure, unlike the Evil God, you didn't strictly need a Holy Sword to pierce them, but that didn't make them anything close to a pushover.