There Are Demons Among You

"Tomorrow?"

X found ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠himself echoing the word before he could stop it.

Andras seemed delighted by the reaction, and launched into a proud recitation of the plan.

"That's right! Tomorrow is the Hero Memorial Ceremony. The Crown Prince will be performing the rites at the Imperial Palace, and everyone at the Academy will be gathered in the Grand Hall. Don't you think it would make for quite the spectacle if the 'demons' attacked then?"

X couldn't help but be thrown. The Hero Memorial Ceremony was a setting he had never even heard of.

They must have added this when they changed the plot...!

Andras didn't care whether X was rattled or not. He pressed on, savoring every word.

"The humans will flock to the Academy without the faintest idea that the nobles all turned into demons last night. And that's when the slaughter begins — demons inside the Academy, demons outside it, a massacre from every direction!"

Andras shivered with pleasure at the vision unfolding behind his eyes.

"Agony and screaming from every side, and the streets will rise into hills of blood and corpses! The Empire will plunge into chaos, everything will grind to a halt — and that's when the Hellgate ritual will be complete! The Empire won't be able to lift a finger. The demons will ravage it, tear it to shreds!"

Just imagining it seemed to thrill him; his breathing grew ragged and rough.

"Harvesting the million souls we're short on will be nothing! We'll reap far more than a million, and then His descent will no longer be a dream! And I'll be recognized! Not as ordinary Andras the demon — as Andras the Archdemon!"

He laughed with a child's innocent, unnerving glee and turned the question on X.

"Well? Doesn't that sound fun?"

X found himself remembering, all over again, exactly who Andras was.

Right. This is the final boss of the Empire-Fracture scenario. By my standards, the worst villain of the lot.

The original novel had been crawling with villains, but Andras was the one who had stuck in X's memory the longest. The way he had trapped Hero Leon at the most decisive possible moment. The terrifying tenacity he had displayed. Those scenes had left a mark that wouldn't fade.

Even after the Hellgate was destroyed, he immediately hatched a new scheme, assassinated the Crown Prince, and made himself Empress. A demon who actually pulled off a plan that absurd.

And in the end, he was the one who deceived Hero Leon and drove the man's life all the way down to the depths of hell. He had been involved in no fewer than three apocalypse episodes. Drive and ruthlessness like this were only to be expected.

I've got the information I needed.

The fact that they were attacking the Academy tomorrow was a shock. But thinking it through calmly, it was something he could prepare for.

The Academy has hidden powerhouses like Rung and Maria. If it's monster-type demons, we can keep the damage to a minimum.

The real catastrophe would be an attack from demons who had already infiltrated the Academy — but X had already taken care of those. There would be no assault from the inside.

That said...

Now that he was staring demonic madness in the face, he could barely keep his heart from hammering. This was nothing like the martial presence Roxwell had shown him. This was visceral revulsion. Primordial fear. Without the Reckless Duelist title, he would have been trembling in a thoroughly pathetic display.

Stay calm. Almost there.

He had gotten every piece of information he needed. Now he just had to get out of this room.

I'm worried about Lola, too. I need to make sure she's safe.

If Lola was ready, he could execute the final operation and run. That would be the end of it.

Once the banquet starts and the nobles drink the Mandrake Potion, Lola blows the banquet hall doors, we raise a ruckus about a fire, and that's it.

Andras's plan would shatter to pieces, and Hero Leon's awakening event would proceed without a hitch.

Running into the Princess at the Academy... I'll worry about that later. I'll dye my hair or something.

Having sorted his thoughts, X cleared his throat and spoke.

"Good. The plan looks thoroughly prepared. There are a few points that concern me, but I'm sure you can handle discrepancies of that magnitude on your own."

"I'm grateful you think so well of it."

"Then I'll be taking my leave. If I don't submit the inspection report by the end of today, things could get dangerous. Honestly — having to file a written report for this sort of thing. What a nuisance."

He stood — and in that instant.

What...?!

That should have been impossible. A Probability Penalty only triggered when X was caught doing something that broke the world's internal logic. Right now, X was standing here as Berith. And even setting that aside, Elysia would have had to personally witness him doing this.

Don't tell me the villains' viewpoints count too...!

Even granting that, this penalty still shouldn't have been valid. The demons in front of him were utterly convinced he was Berith. And yet it had happened, without ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a shadow of a doubt.

"One moment."

Andras caught X by the wrist. At that cold, slick touch, X felt his heart go ice-still in his chest. Andras smiled with perfect, easy innocence.

"Today is a historic day. For me, and for demonkind."

Andras's Frenzy? What the hell does that even—

His heart was slamming as if it meant to burst, but X stayed calm. Feigning composure as best he could, he answered.

"I'm aware. What does that have to do with holding me here? I am a busy man. If I don't leave today—"

"Lord Berith is the twenty-eighth-ranked demon. A being of a hierarchy far, far above my own. And right now, I need someone like that."

The words didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠follow. They only tangled X's thoughts further.

"Why? That is hardly a reason to detain me like this—!"

"I HAVE a reason!!"

A sudden, crushing pain exploded through the captured arm, and X nearly screamed. Andras poured more and more strength into the hand locked around X's wrist, his voice climbing into a raw shout.

"I have devoted my entire life to being recognized by Him!! My time, my feelings, my very soul!! So there cannot be even a single stain on this!!"

"L-Let go of my arm...!"

"If — if anything goes wrong!! It cannot be my fault!! I need someone who will take the blame for whatever happens to me!!"

This was madness. A selfish obsession with being recognized, paired with a frenzied determination to never bear any responsibility. This was why Andras was a demon. This was why Andras was the worst villain of them all.

So this is Frenzy. Of all the damned things to proc...!

Andras looked at X and howled with insane laughter.

"And wouldn't you know it — a demon of a higher rank than mine just happened to drop in. So if anything goes wrong, it isn't my fault. It isn't my fault!"

"Have you lost your mind? I am merely an overseer...! There is no world in which the responsibility for whatever happens would fall on me!"

"What are you talking about? We'll just stitch the story together when the time comes. All you have to do is bring me the good parts. You can swallow every last bit of the bad."

Reason was no longer going to work. X had no choice but to throw his last gamble on the table.

"So you truly mean to spill blood. You think a mere sixty-third can defeat me?"

As he stood now, he was the twenty-eighth-ranked demon. In terms of hierarchy alone, he ought to have overwhelmed Andras completely. Invoke the gap in power, and Andras would back down.

That, it turned out, was a fantasy.

Andras's mouth curled into a grin.

"Flauros. I suppose you've just been standing there like a piece of furniture. Your rank may be a joke, but you're fairly formidable when it comes to raw power and ability."

"I can't say I care for this sort of thing, but my direct superior is Lord Andras. Forgive the discourtesy... no. If I kill you here, my rank might even rise."

Flauros, who had been standing silently behind Andras, drew his sword. Vicious, wicked flame rolled along the blade as if it had always belonged there, as natural as breathing.

X registered his presence a beat too late.

Right — this one was a fire demon...!

Flauros was a demon obsessed with climbing the hierarchy. And of all directions for Frenzy to erupt, it had erupted as an obsession with rank. That changed the entire board. Even a twenty-eighth-ranked demon would have a hard time facing the sixty-third and the sixty-fourth at once. And Flauros's command of fire was elite even among demons.

Damn it, why this of all situations...!

There was no time to lament. Andras's grip was tightening by the second, and Flauros was closing in with that burning sword as if he meant to carve X apart on the spot.

In the end, X had no choice but to yield a step.

"What is it you want."

Above all else, they could not be allowed to discover he wasn't a demon. If a fight broke out, that was as good as death. He had to keep that from happening first.

"Good thinking."

The note of surrender in the question seemed to please Andras. He smiled as he spoke.

"You don't actually have to do anything, really. There's a perfectly good iron cage in the cellar for locking a demon in."

Then Andras laughed again, bright as a child.

"But you know what? I just had another fun idea."

He pointed toward the terrace overlooking the first floor — the place from which the banquet's host was meant to announce the evening's start.

"You're going to open tonight's banquet."

"That is absurd—!"

"Here's the scenario. 'Overseer Berith went mad with ambition and tried to steal my plan by pulling rank!' ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠You wouldn't even be able to talk your way out of that, would you? Because whatever happens, you're the one who carried it out. It's all your responsibility!"

"You're insane...! You think I won't report this?"

"Yep! I don't!"

Steel whispered from a scabbard — and a burning blade filled X's vision before the last word had even settled. A vile, wicked heat skimmed across his face. Andras smiled.

"Because if you try something like that, you'll burn forever."

"A cheap threat—"

"Flauros's fire is the Unextinguishable Punishment. It doesn't burn you away. It just keeps burning you. All it does is hurt."

Flauros's sword drifted closer still.

"Well? Want to keep burning until the moment the world ends?"

The two demons' mad threats closed around his heart like a fist. X's weapon was words, and words only worked where logic still applied. Talking to these two, who were already half off their rockers, was a waste of breath.

In the end, X let out a long breath and answered.

"...Fine."

"Hm? What was that?"

"I said I will announce the start of the banquet."

The surrender pleased Andras. He smiled.

"That's the answer I like to hear."

At the same time, Andras released X's arm and flicked his fingers through the empty air. X felt the magic that had been wrapping the space around them dissolve and fall away.

He even had a spell up to block sound and sight. If only the nobles had noticed the commotion and run...

Dong. Dong...

Every clock in the mansion began to chime eight o'clock. As if on cue, every noble invited to the estate gathered in the hall on the first floor.

Worst-case scenario.

X watched them assemble, taut with tension. In a situation this bad, the only thing left to do was stay calm.

I couldn't even confirm whether Lola is safe.

He swept his gaze through the crowd as fast as he could, but Lola was hard to pick out. She was short to begin with, which made it worse.

No matter how the speech ends, the ending is still a cage.

Behind him, Andras wore a strange little smile. Beside Andras stood Flauros, that wicked blade of fire in his hand. Abandoning everything and running might honestly have been the better chance at survival. Get out somehow, hide somewhere safe, and let the world end or not — he might still come out of it with something.

"Hah..."

"Go on. Start the speech."

X walked slowly forward. The laughing, chattering noise of the nobles on the first floor ebbed, bit by bit, beneath the measured click of his footsteps. When the last of the murmur had died, X stood upon the terrace.

At his appearance, the crowd understood that the banquet was beginning, and every eye turned to him.

There was no taking it back now.

But.

X had not forgotten the one thing that mattered. Under the weight of every gaze in the hall, he opened his mouth.

"Everyone. In this gathering right now—"

X steeled himself.

What matters is an unbreakable heart.