The Strongest Class - Black Mage

The roguelike game I used to play, The Demon King and the Hero's Party, offered an astonishing degree of freedom. Hundreds of weapons, thousands of skills, and a protagonist who could pick and use any of them at will. The sheer number of possible combinations was staggering.

From a gamer’s perspective, discovering the most optimized class felt like fate itself. With so many paths laid out before me, how could I not try every single one? Over nearly a thousand playthroughs, I had raised characters across a vast array of classes. A handful of truly efficient ones I refined to perfection, defeating the Demon King dozens of times with each. Some I even distilled into my go-to mains.

If absolute stability was what you wanted, the Paladin was unmatched. Constant healing, self-buffs, and bonus damage against demons turned the class into an absolute monster. It even automatically raised favorability with humans, letting the game flow smoothly from start to finish.

For the strongest one-on-one duelist, the Magic Spearman took the crown. Its ability to generate endless variables through magic, combined with flashy spear techniques and massive damage, made it a class I returned to often. It only grew stronger in the late game.

When it came to raw firepower, the Mage was king. Wide-ranging adaptability built around the four major elements, devastating one-shot spells created through fusion and elemental amplification—skills so powerful even the Demon King would flinch in pain.

Every one of those classes had carried me to the Demon King multiple times and delivered victory. Their potential was proven.

But if I had to name the single strongest class, the one with the highest ceiling once a character was developed to its absolute limit, I wouldn’t hesitate.

Black Mage.

Specifically, the regeneration self-harm variant. This bizarre hybrid class hadn’t actually faced the Demon King all that often. The reason was simple: its difficulty was insane.

Learning black magic automatically tanked every companion’s favorability. The high-risk nature of the spells destroyed stability. Most of the skills were grotesque and incredibly difficult to use, forcing you to walk a razor’s edge at every moment.

Still, I refused to give up. While buried in daily research, an idea suddenly struck me like lightning.

Wait. If stability is the problem, can’t I just patch it with healing skills?

I put the idea into practice immediately. I restarted a new character, rebuilt the entire skill set from scratch, and gathered the perfect items. After forcing the build through sheer stubbornness, all I could do was stare in awe.

Holy shit. What kind of broken monster is this?

To be honest, that particular run had been a disaster. The plummeting favorability meant I couldn’t acquire most of the useful items, and skill synergy was a mess. To make things worse, the order of the Four Heavenly Kings had gotten completely scrambled, forcing me to lose my entire party. Two dead. One retired with permanent injuries. One left the party for good.

I had started the game to save four heroines. Somehow, I ended up completely alone.

Ha… maybe I should just delete the save.

The reality check hit hard. I was ready to scrap the run and start over. If that moment of clarity had come after defeating the last Heavenly King, I definitely would have deleted the character.

No. I’ve already put in so much work. It’d be a waste.

I decided to at least reach the Demon King before erasing the file. There was no Saintess left to bless me. The knight who had covered my flanks had retired with critical wounds. The thief who disarmed traps was dead. Soon after, the mage followed the same path.

Completely alone. A solitary figure marching toward the final boss with nothing left.

The sight of that lonely back heading silently toward the Demon King’s Castle was heartbreakingly desolate.

I naturally assumed defeat was certain. I expected a quick, brutal death—not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even worthy of being called a one-hit opponent.

No fucking way.

But the result…

This actually ended in a draw…?

I killed the Demon King. Without proper skills, items, or companions, I had traded lives with the final boss in a mutual kill.

Black magic powered by risk, the risk compensated by regeneration, and several high-damage skills that stacked pain into massive bursts. The three elements created perfect, insane synergy.

Once I confirmed the potential, I began focusing exclusively on the black mage.

But I had never managed to develop one properly.

As I mentioned, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠operational difficulty was simply too high. Black magic was a rejected discipline to begin with, making it hard to even learn. Healing skills were extremely rare. Acquiring both was difficult enough, but doing so while suffering a massive favorability penalty… it truly felt impossible.

Yet that was exactly why the current moment was perfect.

Favorability?

That had already been completely destroyed by sacrificing my connections, hadn’t it? It was already deep in the negatives. Further drops wouldn’t make any difference.

Healing skills?

I possessed Regeneration, a top-tier skill even if it was only a replica. And the supposedly difficult black magic? That problem had already been solved.

Blood Magic.

Pain Magic.

They were right in front of me—the very foundation of the regeneration self-harm black mage.

Of course, it was still a gamble. It was completely insane. I might get eliminated at the Heavenly Kings due to operational issues long before reaching the Demon King.

But if these were the girls I could never obtain through other classes, then investing in the path with the highest potential was the only logical choice.

This was it. This was the only class capable of clearing the final, thousandth playthrough.

Having made my decision with absolute certainty, I immediately picked up the book.

It was time to learn.

“...Hoo.”

About ten hours later, after devouring the books in one sitting, I let out a light sigh.

Thanks to the Heavenly Martial Body, I absorbed the contents with surprising ease. Of course, the books themselves were rather shallow, which helped.

As expected, most of the black magic tomes here covered only the fundamentals. There was no deep enlightenment to be gained from them.

“Still, I managed to learn most of the core skills.”

The silver lining was that I had acquired the foundational techniques of the regeneration self-harm black mage. From here, I could slowly develop the skills and focus on the late game.

The principles behind Blood Magic and Pain Magic were distinct from each other… but that was a conversation for later.

Anyway, perhaps because I had learned several skills at once after such a long time, a powerful sense of accomplishment filled my chest. It finally felt like I had stepped onto a proper growth path.

That pleasant feeling lasted only a moment.

When I looked around at my surroundings, I couldn’t help but frown.

“...Hmm.”

I could see the faint currents of magical power flowing from my body. The blue mana that had once been as clear and refreshing as a summer sky now carried a strange turbidity.

It was a side effect of learning black magic. Spells with a black hue gradually tainted the user’s mana, turning it darker the more you studied them.

In this state, I would definitely get caught…

Still, it was fine. Deep within black magic’s long history existed techniques specifically designed to hide oneself from others.

“Inhale… exhale…”

Each breath caused the vast reservoir of mana inside me to surge. I could feel my power awkwardly mixed with black magic. Observing it from a step removed, it looked exactly like paint that refused to blend properly with water.

I planned to separate the black pigment now spread throughout my body and precipitate it downward for a while. I would suppress the dark, turbid mana deep inside, as if pressing it into the innermost core, then stack my original mana on top like building a tower.

It was difficult work. Sorting two colors of mana that had become thoroughly entangled was like trying to unravel a hopelessly knotted ball of thread.

Difficult, but not impossible. Perhaps thanks to my existing Magic Power Control, the process went more smoothly than I had anticipated.

“Hoo…”

After some time had passed, I stopped once the mana appeared clean—at least on the surface. A quiet smile formed in my mind.

As expected, I’m a genius.

At this level, there was absolutely no chance of being discovered.

I stood up and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠began preparing to leave. Before that, I made sure to gather the other books, including those on Blood Magic and Pain Magic. Since I had come to this repository of growth after so long, I intended to take everything useful.

Valcan had been a mage, so his collection covered a wide spectrum of magical knowledge—mana flow and spell manifestation, enhancement incantations, efficient magic usage, and more. I took every single volume without exception.

Knowledge was always valuable.

With my black mana carefully concealed, I returned to the others.

I was certain I wouldn’t be caught…

*

“Kyaaaaaaaah! It’s black magic!!”

“You absolute fool! Have you finally crossed the line?!”

“...As expected.”

I was discovered immediately.

Haha, fuck.

It looked like today was going to be another exhausting day.