Chapter 68
Chapter 68
Chapter 68 Evil Aura
In a world where a Demon King descends, a Hero must inevitably be born.
The reason is that the world's will rejects the existence of the Demon King and selects a Hero to protect itself.
The Hero receives the privilege of probability, where things that would normally be impossible become possible solely for the reason of being a 'Hero'.
Abnormal growth speed and luck, the favor and love of others that can be obtained far too easily.
Since the privilege of probability is an act of drawing upon the world's power, its extent also varies according to the level of the Demon King.
The more dangerous the Demon King, the greater the Hero's growth speed becomes.
And Chris, the Hero of this generation, is called a Hero with truly the strongest talent of all time.
If that's the case, just how dangerous must the Demon King he has to face be?
'These guys are stronger than I thought?'
The Hero in front, emitting a golden aura.
His movements are somewhat clumsy, but as if receiving some kind of correction, his posture is instantly corrected.
His understanding of martial arts is even worse than Eve's, but the power of that sword was at least at the level of a mature Harmony Stage or higher.
The Mage and Saint also appeared to be 7th Circle, and they were quite skilled in combat, providing excellent support for the Hero.
They cast the necessary buffs at the right timing for specific situations, working hard to restrain my movements or make the Hero's movements smoother.
The Elf, who was a Spirit Archer, played the role of providing checks in place of the Hero whenever his tempo was broken, adjusting things so the flow of attacks wouldn't be interrupted.
A combination of a Hero with brute strength and veteran party members supporting him.
It was a textbook standard combination, so it was inevitably strong.
There's a reason why standards are standard.
But from the perspective of the one facing them, it's boring.
It feels like solving tedious and pedantic problems?
So I wanted to break the game. To feel even a little dopamine.
"Isn't 1 versus 4 too cowardly?"
"...Huh? Is it?"
"What do you mean 'is it'! Don't be deceived by the Demon King's words!"
"Ah... I got it!"
Since he was inexperienced, the Hero seemed to waver momentarily at my words about being cowardly, but he came to his senses with a word from the slender Mage behind him.
The Mage must be the party's straight man.
But my verbal skills, honed through League of Legends, weren't the kind that a rookie Hero could easily ignore.
"Do you know that your party members like you?"
"...What?"
"Chris..!"
"Don't listen!"
No matter how I looked at it, everyone around him seemed to like him, but he appeared to be the only clueless one who didn't know, so I tried saying it just in case, and sure enough, he was flustered.
This time even the Saint joined in trying to stop the Hero, but it was already too late.
"Haven't you felt it? That your party members are closer than necessary just to be comrades, or that they overreact to your trivial actions?"
"Just... shut up!"
"Please be quiet!"
As the Hero fell into anguish, the Mage and Spirit Archer began attacking more aggressively.
As a result, the perfect coordination from before inevitably broke, and the harmonious joint attack began to turn into something of a discord.
"Aren't you curious too? Which of you the Hero loves most, whether he has someone he likes, and who he would choose if this is all over?"
"That... that's..."
"Louise, you can't waver too!"
The Mage showed signs of wavering, and the Saint beside her was trying to dissuade her, revealing that her name was Louise.
"Saint. What's with that outfit of yours? You've only covered the front with a robe, but the sides are all open - I can only think you dressed like that to seduce the Hero. Or are you the type who enjoys others' gazes?"
"No... no, this is the Church's basic attire..."
Even the Saint who was trying to stop Louise began covering the side slits with her hands, showing signs of wavering.
Seeing that she couldn't strongly deny it, it seems she didn't have absolutely no such intention.
"Everyone snap out of it! You can't be deceived by the Demon King!"
The only clear-headed Elf tried to take control of the atmosphere, but breaking her composure was easier than anyone else's.
"Can you see what this is?"
I concentrated mana on the back of my hand to activate the High Elf's mark... no, friend. Usually it's a bit faint, but when I imbue it with mana like this, the pattern becomes more vividly visible.
"A... benefactor of the Elves? A Demon King..?"
Finally, even the Spirit Archer's composure was broken.
From her perspective, something impossible had occurred.
[Everyone in the Pantheon and Pandemonium is shocked at you.]
[Some of the Demon Kings in Pandemonium say they learned something new today.]
'What are you learning? You folks.'
No matter how much I pretend to be evil, I'd still be lacking compared to active Demon Kings.
Dealing with the Hero party whose composure had been broken like that was easier than lying down and eating cold porridge.
Once the breathing of what had been like a single organism broke and each began acting separately, the advantage of being a party faded.
It would have been more promising for them to attack one by one.
"Kuk... kill me..!"
"Rather than suffer such disgrace, I'd rather die like this..."
I deliberately didn't kill them thinking they might be useful, but their reactions were unusual.
'Doesn't the Hero just come back again even if I kill him?'
Even if a new Hero appeared at this timing, it didn't seem like it would be particularly threatening, but I'm reluctant to do the same annoying task twice.
If it were something that helped with growth like facing Eve or creating the Demon Dragon, I would have actively pursued it, but fighting the Hero party wasn't helpful at all.
The training where I simultaneously faced multiple clones in the tutorial would be more helpful.
"Hero. If you say you'll serve under me, I'll spare your life."
"What..?"
"The times have already changed. Whether you resist more or don't resist, the Empire will soon fall anyway. Isn't it better to survive miserably than to die a dog's death here?"
A Demon King who made the Hero party submit.
It was a cliché that always appeared in the genres I usually enjoyed, so I wanted to try it once.
"If you promise to serve under me, I'll spare all the other party members too. But the moment you refuse, I'll kill them all. What will you do?"
I drew out mana long from my fingertip and brought it to the Mage's neck.
The Mage's body trembled madly with the fear of death, and blood slowly flowed from her neck where it touched the mana blade.
The moment I applied force like this, the Mage's neck would surely slice through the air.
"I... I'll become your subordinate. No... I will become one. So please spare my companions."
"Chris..!"
"Sniff... because of us..."
I was just playing a concept, but seeing those reactions made me feel like I really had become a Demon King.
'Now even saying we're the same humans wouldn't work at all, would it?'
Since it's come to this, I have no choice but to maintain the RP to the end.
"You made the right choice. You're no longer a Hero. You're a Legion Commander of the Demon King's army. Kneel before me and swear your loyalty."
Chris knelt on one knee and bowed his head to me.
"I... swear my loyalty."
At that moment, the Hero's holy sword turned black and changed its appearance.
Now it would be more fitting to call it a demon sword.
"I have no intention of touching your women, so take good care of them from now on. Now let's go."
Since NTR isn't my taste either, no matter how attractive those women might be, I had no intention of touching them.
At those words, the Hero... no, Legion Commander Chris seemed moved, and his loyalty appeared to grow stronger.
"Yes!"
With the former Hero party added to the Demon King's army's forces, pushing through the Empire really was instantaneous.
"Even the Hero has submitted to the Demon King..."
"Surrender... we surrender..!"
Perhaps confirming that those who surrendered wouldn't be killed, among those who confirmed Chris's existence, many began declaring surrender one after another.
And when we reached the front of the imperial palace, a black-haired female knight in splendid armor was guarding the front.
"Chris... have you sided with the Demon King?"
"...Master."
The atmosphere between the two was unusual.
An atmosphere that couldn't emerge from just a master-student relationship alone.
'Wait, there was one more in the harem?'
That Chris fellow was more of a legendary lady-killer than I thought.
To even seduce the master who taught him.
Truly, hadn't he committed the sin of deceiving his teacher and destroying his ancestors?
"Why would you, who were purer than anyone..."
The female knight seemed to be in tremendous shock.
"Purity alone couldn't protect my companions. Since the Demon King gave me an opportunity, now I'll just do my best to protect them. Demon King. Would you leave this place to me?"
"...Fine."
They were putting on quite a drama among themselves. Well, if he says he'll handle it, I have no intention of stopping him.
When I tried to go inside, the female knight tried to block me, but Chris intercepted her sword instead.
"Chris..!"
"I'm sorry, Master. This is all for your sake..! If the Demon King faces you directly, you will..!"
'Hey, was that the reason?'
It seems he stepped forward directly because he was worried I might render his master unable to recover.
He probably judged that facing her directly would be better than having her face the worst situation by being beaten to a pulp by me.
[Everyone in the Pantheon and Pandemonium acknowledges you.]
What are you folks acknowledging again?
There's no scheming like this scheming. Really.