Survival: Impossible

Runist, the youngest son of Baron Crenon's house, stood with his mouth hanging open at the spectacle that had just erupted across the masquerade ball.

What the hell is this bullshit. There's a demon among us?

A servant stood on the terrace — not the host who was supposed to appear at the banquet's opening. The words that came out of that servant's mouth had every person in the hall holding their breath.

There's no way he doesn't know that playing games with demons gets you an inquisition and an execution. Has he lost his mind?

While everyone was still reeling from the servant's mad rambling, he opened his mouth again.

"Today, all of you will be born anew. In a world where power is authority, you will possess strength greater than anyone else's. Forget every misfortune you have endured until now. It was all the work of a demon."

Ah. So that's what this is...

Runist realized it had been showmanship. Absurd, yes — but it had seized every eye in the room. He felt a little more at ease because of it.

Do you have any idea what I went through to get here? I wiped noble asses just to scrape my way in.

Looking back on everything he'd done, all he could do was sigh.

Being born the youngest was my original sin. Goddammit.

Being the youngest meant he wielded no influence in the family whatsoever. He had no talent for the sword, and he couldn't use magic either.

But that ends today.

Runist looked at the servant standing on the terrace. At the end of tonight's banquet, a brilliant future would unfold.

The servant continued his speech.

"I am Berith, the youngest servant of this mansion, here to announce the start of the banquet."

The nobles applauded Berith's introduction. Runist clapped lightly as well, though inwardly he was impatient.

When are they bringing out the Mana Awakening Agent?

"'When are they bringing out the Mana Awakening Agent?' — that's what you're all thinking, isn't it?"

Runist flinched. Berith went on without missing a beat.

"Of course. It's ready."

At that moment the hall doors opened, and servants carried in trays laden with bottles. A hundred-odd potions, each radiating a luminous aura. A bizarre appearance the likes of which he'd never seen in his life — anyone could tell they were Mana Awakening Agents.

Here it is!

Runist was thrilled. This was it. This was exactly what he'd stained his hands with blood and the reek of poison for, all the scheming, all the dirty work.

The servants distributed the potions to the nobles one by one. A bottle was placed in Runist's hand as well. Just as he thought his long-cherished wish was finally about to come true, the servant's voice reached him again.

"This medicine was obtained through 'somewhat complicated procedures,' so you must all drink it here and now."

"We can't take it with us?"

"If you don't drink it here, we'll have no choice but to collect it. Please make sure to finish every last drop."

Not a single noble failed to understand that the "somewhat complicated procedures" meant an illegal route. The manufacturing method for Mana Awakening Agent, after all, involved grinding down large quantities of demons and humans — and that, through the secret arts of a cult. So they all accepted the restriction.

If not now, when else would I drink it?

Once the potions had been distributed to everyone, Berith spoke again.

"Please raise your glasses, everyone."

Berith lifted a wine glass high — when he'd even gotten it, no one knew. The nobles followed suit, raising their potion bottles.

"Then let us all wish for a better tomorrow — and for the greater power we shall seize."

Berith drank his wine, and the nobles followed, drinking their potions. Something queasy and unpleasant slid down Runist's throat, but he endured it.

Compared to everything I've done to get here, this is nothing.

Some of the nobles were tense. Others eyed the potion with suspicion. In the end, everyone drank. The psychology of it was simple: if everyone around you was drinking, what could go wrong?

The hall was quieter than expected in the meantime.

So what happens now?

Once everyone had drunk and the servants had collected the empty bottles, all eyes turned to Berith. Meeting those questioning gazes, he spoke.

"What's the matter? Were you expecting light to burst from your bodies as you awakened to mana?"

Some of the nobles frowned. They understood it was a joke, but that wasn't what they wanted to hear. As if he knew that, he continued.

"Don't worry. The change will come slowly — so gradually you won't even notice. Ah, and there's a small matter of caution I should mention. If I could have everyone's attention."

So saying, Berith raised the empty glass in his hand. The nobles, curious about what he intended, focused on it — and in that instant, he let go.

The glass, released into empty air, slowly accepted a new force. The nobles' eyes followed it as it descended, steadily, toward the floor. Slowly, then swiftly, it flew from the second-floor terrace toward the floor of the first-floor hall.

Was he trying to show them some kind of magic trick? What was he dropping a glass for? The nobles watched its fate together, all manner of thoughts running through their heads. Among them were those like Runist, who noticed a subtle change.

Huh. Has time always been this slow?

The moment that question formed, the glass struck the floor of the first-floor hall and shattered into pieces.

KAAAAANG—!!!

The nobles' eardrums screamed.

"Gyaaaaaah!!"

"Kyaaaaaaah!!!"

Without exception, everyone clapped their hands over their ears. The explosion of sound that suddenly rang through their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠skulls — as if their heads would burst — was enough to drive them mad.

"Ugh.... Wh-what the hell...!!"

Runist was no exception. The sound of the glass shattering had been unnaturally loud and sharp, a blast more intense than lightning striking right in front of their faces. Amid everyone's screaming, Berith's voice carried with unnatural clarity.

"There's nothing strange about it. You're simply undergoing a change. Your bodies are adapting. So please — focus now."

Tak—!

Having finished speaking, Berith snapped his fingers. That sound, too, was unnaturally loud, but compared to the shattering glass it was almost gentle. The nobles stopped screaming and looked at him. Some were furious, some bewildered, but all of them waited for him to speak. Soon, he did.

"I have no intention of harming you. I merely wish to help you adapt to the change. So there's no need to look at me as if you want me dead."

"Wh-what are you talking about! If you're going to pull this kind of stunt, I'm leaving this instant! I will file a formal complaint...!"

"Ah, anyone who wishes to leave is free to do so. There are plenty of doors, so feel free to choose whichever you like. Ah, but."

Berith looked around at the walls of the hall as he spoke.

At those words, several nobles looked around. A few of them, scanning their surroundings, felt something was wrong. Berith put that wrongness into words for them.

Runist immediately looked back at the door he'd come through. There was only a wall.

"The doors you entered through are gone. The windows, too. I don't know how you got in, but what matters is that right now, you can't see a single door or window."

Having finished speaking, Berith snapped his fingers.

"In other words — there is no way out."

Everyone held their breath. They clearly remembered coming in. They'd watched the doors open as the potions were brought in, and watched them close as the empty bottles were taken out. And now the doors were gone?

Berith continued.

"Do you remember what I said at the very beginning? That there is a demon among us. While we're on the subject, let me tell you a little about demons."

He cleared his throat and went on.

"Demons can do all sorts of things. Twisting your entrails, for instance, or squeezing the breath from your throat — those are easy enough."

At that moment, Runist felt a wrongness in his gut. Something was twisting inside his body, and he realized it was his own organs. The other nobles were the same.

"Urgh...!"

"Ghk...!"

As the nobles clutched their stomachs and throats, groaning in pain, Berith walked slowly to the side of the terrace. He descended the stairs toward the first floor, continuing as he went — in a completely different tone of voice.

Strangely, they heard something else overlapping his voice. It was unmistakably a demon's.

"A-a demon!"

Runist, seized by terror, cried out before he even realized it. Berith, who had just reached the first floor, heard the cry and started walking toward him.

"Oh, so there's a sharp one. I was worried there might still be some dumb fucks who hadn't figured it out."

As Berith approached the crowd, everyone shrank away from him in fear. Only Runist, his legs having given out, could do nothing but watch him come.

"So what if you know I'm a demon? What the hell can you do with that shitty body of yours? I'm asking you — besides shaking in your boots, what can you actually do?!"

Berith came right up to Runist's face. Sitting collapsed on the floor, Runist looked up at him and managed to whimper.

"Wh-what do you want...."

"What do I want?"

Berith seized Runist by the throat and hauled him up.

"You think I want something from the likes of you? You actually think a piece of trash like you can bargain with me?"

The tightening terror and the choking sensation set off every survival instinct he had, but for some reason his body wouldn't move as he wanted. Berith smiled a wicked smile.

"I don't need a damn thing from you except to become my prey! Right here — inside my stomach! You'll become a part of me and live forever screaming, and that's all you need to do!!"

"S-stop...."

Berith tensed his free hand and set his stance. Runist realized what he was about to do. That hand was going to punch through his stomach. He had to run. He tried to scream, but no scream would come.

"You scream when I tell you to scream!"

Berith drove his raised hand forward in a swift thrust.

and punched straight through Runist's abdomen.

The last thing he heard before his consciousness cut out was the sound of a wall somewhere shattering, but it didn't matter to him. The last thing he saw was Berith snapping his fingers — and with that, his consciousness went dark.

"Kyaaaaaah—!!"

"It's a demooon—!!!"

The nobles fled in a blind panic. Right on cue, a pair of hall doors exploded inward as if they'd been blown apart. The moment everyone registered the sudden existence of an exit, they poured through it.

"The door — the door's open!!"

Looks like Lola came through.

X had asked only one thing of her. When I give the signal, smash the banquet hall doors. The signal is three finger snaps. After that, she was to escape immediately with a spatial transfer artifact. This would be the most dangerous moment, after all.

"Berithhh—!!!"

Andras's rage erupted behind him. A natural reaction. X had just thoroughly sabotaged her plan.

The Mandrake Potion's effect is incredible.

A brew that induced powerful hallucinations and made the body hypersensitive to every external stimulus. Thanks to that potion, X had deceived every noble's senses in the room. The instant the glass shattered, their overwrought senses had plunged into chaos, rendering them incapable of judging the situation accurately. After that, all he'd had to do was lead the hallucinations. They had been eaten alive by their own imaginations.

He'd wondered if it would work. He'd had no other choice. And he never bet his life on an uncertainty.

I spent a lot of points...

His hundred thousand points had been cut in half in an instant. X looked down at the noble he was still holding. The man was out cold, foaming at the mouth in an unsightly heap. He'd hit him square in the gut, so the guy would be shitting blood tomorrow. Felt a bit wrong to just leave him there, so he slung him over his shoulder. Before that, though, X rummaged through the noble's pockets.

There's bound to be at least one of these.... Ah. This it?

He pulled something from the man's pocket. A mana stone inscribed with magic — and from the shape of the formula, it was a spatial transfer artifact similar to the one he'd given Lola.

Knew it. Escape route secured.

X slipped naturally into the stampede of panicking nobles. Those pouring out of the hall were each fleeing the mansion by their own means — some with spatial transfer artifacts, others through the gates stationed around the estate. X tossed the noble he'd been carrying to a man rushing past. The rest of them could figure it out themselves.

First, check on Lola.

The mansion was wrapped in a mana-blocking device. To reach anyone on a Mana Phone, he had to get outside. X hurried to find a door leading out.

"Berith—! I'll kill you—!!"

Behind him, Andras bellowed with rage, eyes blood-red, hurling attacks in every direction as she searched for him. Most of the nobles ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had already fled, so only a handful were caught in the blind fire.

Search all you want. It'll be too late by then anyway.

X had already changed his face with a disguise mask. He'd stolen the outer coat off the noble he'd been carrying and put it on, so he would be hard to recognize by appearance alone.

Hah. I might actually live through this.

X strolled out of the mansion at a leisurely pace. At the spot where he'd put the new servant to sleep, he changed clothes again and called Lola on the Mana Phone. The connection went through almost immediately.

With that, Lola hung up. X had no idea why a friend was suddenly entering the picture, but Lola's safety was confirmed. All that remained was to run.

Took long enough. This goddamn mansion scenario.

X pulled out the stolen spatial transfer artifact. No reason to linger. He activated it at once. Once the formula's light began to flicker, the spatial transfer magic would deposit him somewhere safe.

"Berithhhh—!!!"

In that instant, someone appeared, rage pouring off her in waves, and came straight at him. Andras. The sight of her face twisted with fury sent fear flooding through him unbidden.

How did she know I was here...!

Still, the distance was more than enough. Andras wasn't a combatant — she shouldn't have any way to close that gap and land an attack.

He was wrong.

"Flauros—! Kill him—!!"

From behind Andras, a line of vivid red light shot forth. It flew at him, fast and lethal.

Right. This bastard was here...!

That light would take his head off before the spatial transfer could fire. Acting on that instinct, X raised the sword he'd brought and settled into a guard.

But—

"You think that crude sword of yours!!"

A blade of wicked fire split X's sword in two,

"Can stop this—!!"

and carved brutally through X's torso.

"Until the very moment this world ends!"

From the roughly split wound, the Unextinguishable Punishment blazed to life.

"Writhe in agony for all eternity—!!"

The spatial transfer magic activated.

I'm dead.

X had been spatially transferred into the middle of some mountains. Lying on his back, staring at the sky, he took stock of himself. He didn't have the strength to move.

The wound's too deep.

Even an idiot would know that a body split halfway open meant you were about to die.

And it hurts like hell.

Fire burned in the split wound instead of blood. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The pain was enough to fry his brain. He didn't have the strength to scream, so he simply lay there.

I guess an extra like me rewriting the scenario really was impossible after all.

As a last resort, he checked the Setting Editor.

Ah.

Impossible. The omnipotent status window that rewrote this world had just declared to X: You're dead.

God. This status window is such a piece of shit...

X's consciousness faded. There was no life flashing before his eyes. His eyelids simply closed, and his breathing grew thin. His heart beat slowly, then slower ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— and then it stopped.

X was completely dead.

X opened his eyes.

"...Resurrection?"

The answer that appeared instead was a status window.

He'd thought he was dead, and he wasn't. He opened his eyes and found he'd become a demon. It didn't take long to understand what had happened.

"Don't tell me...."

X rummaged through his clothes and pulled out whatever his hand found. A bottle of Demonification Accelerator. The side of the bottle was shattered.

"When I got hit earlier..."

That didn't particularly matter. The problem was that the contents were completely empty.

"Ah."

A setting-breaking item that turned you into a demon with a single sip. He'd absorbed nearly a full liter of the stuff.

"I'm fucked."