Something Has Gone Terribly Wrong

Something was wrong. Terribly, catastrophically wrong.

I couldn’t make sense of the situation. A sudden berserk state? Hadn’t I blocked that possibility? I had definitely severed both horns—cleanly, without a single scrap of leeway. I had seen the scene dozens of times in the game, so my judgment had been precise. Under normal circumstances, the berserk state should never have triggered.

But it had. And the party was thrown into chaos.

The voices of the party members demanding answers buzzed in my ears like static noise. In the strange sensation of being stranded alone on a distant island, one memory suddenly flashed through my mind.

Those were the last words I had heard right before I was possessed by this game. The moment I recalled them, a surge of pure rage flooded through me.

‘You son of a bitch…’

So that was what they meant by a variable. I could feel the malice behind it. A pure, unadulterated intent to screw me over no matter what. This wasn’t some simple variable. In a way, it was a problem that could profoundly affect every strategy going forward. It wasn’t something that could be dismissed with a word like “variable.”

“Hero, are you alright? Snap out of it!”

The situation was far from minor, but there was no time to dwell on it now. The Minotaur was on the verge of rampaging in its berserk state. I turned toward the hand that was roughly shaking me from behind. It was Ulyse.

I shook my head a couple of times and offered her a polite nod.

“I’m awake now. Thank you for helping me.”

There were many things that bothered me, but for the moment, the priority was dealing with the immediate headache in front of us.

“Ugh, I’m trying to assess the situation, so could you please be quiet for a second?”

I stood up and carefully observed the creature. I forced my mind to cool down and suppressed the chaos swirling in my head. I had no idea how the berserk state had activated, but I needed to examine it first.

[Demon King and the Hero’s Party] never presented an impossible problem. No matter how difficult or infuriating the challenge, there was always a way through. Even though things had reached this point, I wanted to believe that was still true.

-Guoooo…!

The creature’s two red eyes gleamed with madness, having lost all reason. It had always acted on instinct, but now there wasn’t even a trace of rationality left. And beside it, black mist was rising in real time…

…Black mist?

I tilted my head in confusion. ‘That wasn’t there originally.’

The normal visual effect when berserk activated was only the glowing red eyes. There had never been any black mist that covered the entire body. Not for the Minotaur, not for any other monster, and not even for the Four Heavenly Kings. There was only one being that possessed such an effect.

The Demon King.

The master of all demons. The embodiment of evil that gathered all the chaos of the world into one being.

‘Hah.’

The moment I reached that conclusion, a dry laugh escaped me. So that was who had been pulling the strings. The Demon King had lent his power to the creature. That damn bastard had messed with the fight. It was unexpected, but with the power he possessed, it was entirely possible.

Thanks to that, I was slowly starting to figure out what I needed to do. I recalled the game’s setting book and muttered quietly to myself.

‘…The horns.’

The creature’s horns weren’t simply a trigger for berserk. More precisely, they functioned as a kind of energy battery. They stored excess energy during normal times and released it in emergencies. That was the basic principle of the berserk state I had discovered after hundreds of attempts.

That was why the horns had to be dealt with first. But this time, the creature had activated berserk without using any spare battery. It was relying solely on the power the Demon King had given it. Power used without a battery couldn’t possibly last long. In simple terms, the creature was in a premature climax state right now. If we could just hold out, the turn would eventually come back to us.

“…We’re changing our strategy starting now.”

I spoke while making an effort to remain calm. Although it was an impromptu hypothesis based on partial clues, it was currently the most plausible one. If so, I had to trust my judgment and move forward.

“Saintess, please apply buffs to the maximum. We don’t need offensive power anymore, so focus on blessings that help with defense. Miss Kamilla, please draw its attention together with me. Miss Adel, continue with suppressing fire. Miss Lily, instead of attack magic, please use spells related to defense and control as much as possible.”

“······.”

“···.”

I gave each party member a quick and concise briefing. They all looked deeply displeased, but given the situation, they seemed to follow my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠orders for now. That was a relief. I had been worried they might rebel even here.

Kamilla, perhaps curious about the plan despite her prickly expression, asked,

“What are you thinking of doing?”

“It doesn’t look like it’s in a normal state. There’s no way a berserk state activated without its horns will last long.”

“So you’re saying we’ll hold out until that thing gets exhausted.”

As expected from someone who had participated in many operations as a knight. She understood immediately. I nodded lightly and readjusted my grip on my sword.

Alright. It was about time for it to charge.

Thump. Thump.

I could hear my heart pounding violently inside my chest. I had mentally prepared myself, but the tension was unavoidable. The first time the creature entered berserk and swung its axe, I hadn’t been able to see the attack at all. Even if it had been a surprise strike, the fact that it was fast enough to be invisible was terrifying. So how would it be now that I had received buffs and was fully prepared?

“It’s coming!”

Fortunately, I was able to react. The moment I heard Kamilla’s shout, the creature stomped the ground.

Boom!

With a single earth-shaking tremor, its massive body closed the distance in an instant. Its speed had increased due to the berserk state—it was truly insane. It felt like watching a runaway locomotive. But it was still within the range I could handle.

Soon, the creature reached striking distance of the two warriors and swung its axe.

Whiiiiiiiiiir!

The axe, carrying an absurd amount of mass, came crashing down from above. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠instinctively realized—‘If I block it, I die.’ Considering the creature’s monstrous strength, this was not an attack that could be blocked. The Saintess must have known that too, which was why she had focused the buffs on agility and reflexes.

I immediately twisted my body and rolled to the side.

Bang—!!

At the same time, the sound of the ground exploding reached my ears. The earth shattered by the double-bladed axe was clearly visible. It was fortunate that the creature had lost its reason. If an attack like that had come at me from an irregular trajectory, I wouldn’t even have bones left to collect.

That thought brought relief, but I didn’t have the luxury of sighing openly. Even if its attack patterns were predictable, its overwhelming physical ability remained unchanged.

That was when it happened.

Shwiiiick!

An arrow flew in from somewhere and pierced straight through the creature’s eyeball. Having lost its left eye in an instant, it let out a roar mixed with pain.

-Guoooooooo!!

It was obviously Adel’s doing. Good. Its field of vision should have narrowed a little now. If we kept holding out and chipping away at it like this, we would win.

······Fortunately, the battle after that became somewhat easier. Kamilla and I somehow managed to dodge the creature’s wild rampage and draw its aggro, while Adel continued to wear it down with suppressing fire.

“Bind it!!”

When Lily’s 3rd-circle magic, Mana Bind, joined in midway, dealing with the creature became considerably more manageable. After continuing the fight like that for about ten minutes, the creature’s berserk state inevitably began to fade.

-Guoooooo…

Its massive body, drained of strength, slowly collapsed downward. The sight of a muscular monster twice my size falling was quite a spectacle. Without even savoring the victory, I immediately severed its neck. We seemed to have won, but I needed to finish it off just in case any more variables appeared.

Slash!

Only after completely cutting through its tough neck could I finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Haa······.”

I had only fought once, yet it felt like I had aged ten years in that short time. Not only had I nearly lost my life, but an unseen variable had appeared as well. It was only natural that I felt drained.

Slump.

Perhaps because the tension had finally released, strength left my legs and my body slowly sank to the ground. The floor was soaked with the blood the Minotaur had spilled… but I didn’t care. Fuck it. After nearly crossing the river of death, something like that meant nothing to me.

The moment I sat down on the ground, a blue system window appeared before my eyes. A blue window announcing good news. Come to think of it, I had received a quest right before the battle. The continuous stream of shocks had made me forget until now.

If this had been the game, I would have checked the reward window with great anticipation. But right now, I had no desire to do so.

‘I’ll check it later.’

The reward wouldn’t disappear just because I checked it a little late. As I pushed the system window aside, a shadow fell over my head. When I looked up, I saw Kamilla and the other party members staring down at me with displeased expressions.

‘…Ah.’

That’s right. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The operation I had personally proposed and bragged about had gone to complete shit. I had cut off both horns under the assumption that berserk wouldn’t trigger, yet it had activated anyway. From their perspective, it was perfectly reasonable to blame me.

I gave a bitter smile. So I really wasn’t allowed even a moment of rest.

“Please wait a moment.”

It was right then. The Saintess suddenly stepped forward and stood between me and the party members. Her tired eyes scanned both sides in turn. Then she let out a long sigh and spoke to the party.

I was genuinely moved. For a brief moment, I almost burst into tears. Even though she was displeased, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really was the Saintess after all. She knew how to embrace the pitiful with compassionate eyes. I never expected her to step forward and mediate the situation.

“······I have a lot I want to say, but.”

In the end, Kamilla took a step back first.

“We’ll talk about it later.”

I was surprised by that as well. I had thought she would relentlessly criticize me for the failed plan, but she backed down surprisingly easily. It must mean that even they found this incident quite unusual. The black mist that had flowed from the Minotaur was definitely an alien power.

Only after watching them walk far away did I express my gratitude to Ulyse.

“Thank you, Saintess. You keep helping me, even earlier as well.”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing. We’re in the same party, so it’s only natural.”

When I bowed my head, she frantically waved her hands in denial. I mulled over the words she had said without thinking.

‘Same party member…’

Well, could that term really apply? I, who was openly treated as a traitor and the mastermind behind everything—did I even deserve to hear those words? Had she said it truly without thinking, or had it been carefully calculated?

Countless negative thoughts rose briefly to the surface before sinking back down. Even in this moment of receiving help, I could only guess at her true intentions. At least when it came to me, the word “pure goodwill” didn’t fit at all.

Thinking about my own situation like this made me feel utterly pathetic, but…

‘······.’

Gratitude was gratitude. This was something I had to think about separately.

“Then I’ll head in first. I’m quite tired, after all.”

“Ah, yes.”

Of course, I didn’t show any of that outwardly. I simply smiled and saw her off. Fortunately, I wasn’t so inexperienced that I would carelessly reveal my inner thoughts in front of others. So I kept wearing my smiling mask until the very end and waved goodbye to her.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘Ah, I didn’t ask about that.’

How exactly had she saved me earlier? The battle had ended somehow, but there were still a few unanswered questions. One of them was her action just now. I had definitely been unable to react to the creature’s axe. Not only me, but even Adel, who was sensitive to sound, and Kamilla, the knight who had been closest to it. It had been a perfect strike that slipped through a gap in everyone’s awareness.

So how had she noticed it? She didn’t have particularly sharp senses, nor outstanding physical abilities, and she hadn’t been closer to the Minotaur than we were. Did she possess incredible reflexes that even I didn’t know about? It was something my shallow mind simply couldn’t comprehend.

Thanks to that, my curiosity soared high…

‘Ah, whatever.’

In the end, I let it go. I was far too exhausted to think about such insignificant, secondary issues. I would think about the rewards, the problems—everything—later. Right now, I just… I just wanted to rest.

I was so tired.

And like that, I passed out on the blood-soaked ground as if I had fainted.

*

“…Huu.”

Meanwhile, deep inside a forest a little ways away from the hero party’s lodging.

There, standing alone, was a golden-haired, sapphire-eyed woman—the Saintess, Ulyse von Yugrasia. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Somehow… I managed to stop it.”

She had been worried about what to do if the operation followed the same flow as the past. Fortunately, she had been able to intervene in time. With this, she had prevented one of the tragedies from the past.

Or, to be more precise, from her past.

Ulyse was a regressor who had returned after experiencing defeat in the battle against the Demon King’s army.

For a very brief moment, the thought of the ‘past’ hero crossed her mind, and her expression crumpled.

‘…That poor man.’

It was by no means a pleasant memory. She recalled it for a moment—the blood, the insects, and the lifespan. The days of the past, soaked through with misunderstanding and despair…