Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Demon Sword Forte (16) - Puppet Show
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"D-Demon Sword, sir! A weird quest just popped up!"
In a voice laced with anxiety and nervousness, Pina hurriedly explained the contents of the quest she'd received.
Hero's Path. Temporary Storage. Subjugation. This time for sure.
After hearing the blatantly ominous and sinister details, Forte fell silent for a moment.
The quest itself was problematic in many ways, but no less shocking was the situation unfolding alongside it.
...The connection with the main body has been severed.
Crown Prince Alondre.
The other self that had always existed in connection with Forte was no longer detectable.
It was like a TRPG character separating from its player, or an actor detaching from their role in a movie.
Forte felt a brief confusion from this state that disrupted his very sense of identity, but he quickly regained his composure.
The Crown Prince, having learned from the role destruction during his time as Adventurer Bern, had partially restricted the clone's memories and somewhat separated the egos of the main body and the clone, making this possible.
Having solidified his identity as Demon Sword Forte, he quietly assessed the current situation.
The laws of Skyreach Academy have strengthened. What was once an open domain has now become closed.
Open elevator versus closed elevator. Online versus offline. The metaphor didn't matter.
What was important was that, in this situation, reconnecting with the Crown Prince was impossible.
So, what were the penalties for that?
The longer time passes, the more I'll crumble here.
He wasn't receiving magical power or anything like that separately, but the connection with the main body alone had stabilized the clone that was Forte.
Without it, the longer time went on, the weaker Forte would become, eventually leading to dissipation.
《First, we should rendezvous with Kailun below. No matter the situation, there's always a way through. Stay calm.》
Without revealing this fact to Pina, Forte calmly issued instructions.
He judged that informing Pina of his crisis in this state would only cause unnecessary panic.
"Yes!"
Perhaps reassured by Forte's firm voice.
Calmness returned to Pina's anxious face, and she dashed down the stairs with quick footsteps.
Fortunately, Kailun was more or less unharmed.
"P-Pina! What happened? What about that demon?"
"I took her down! By the way, did you get any weird quests?"
"If you're talking about quests, do you mean this 'Servant's Path' one?"
Clear Condition: Hero completes their quest
⏰ Time Limit: Unlimited
🎁 Reward: Survival
📍 Special Note 1: As the Hero's servant, you are exempt from the 'Temporary Storage' role.
📍 Special Note 2: Serve the Hero diligently and assist in quest completion.
📍 Special Note 3: Refusing the Hero's orders will revoke your servant status.
If Forte were human, he would have furrowed his brow.
According to the quest Kailun described, the situation had become even more blatantly explicit.
Exempt from the Temporary Storage role as the Hero's servant.
In other words, if not a servant, one would have taken on the Temporary Storage role.
Pina seemed to realize this too, her pupils trembling faintly.
"Demon Sword, sir. Does this 'Temporary Storage' mean...?"
《It refers to the other students. Possibly even the graduates.》
"No way!"
Pina's scream was justified.
Subjugate the Temporary Storage and recover resources?
Considering that 'subjugation' in normal quests was another word for killing, it essentially meant killing more than half the students and recovering their resources.
Forte pondered for a moment before speaking in a voice everyone could hear.
《Divana. Come out. The system already knows about you anyway.》
"...Tch."
With a click of her tongue, the female demon emerged from Kailun's accessory.
She wore a displeased expression, clearly unhappy with the situation, but perhaps still vividly remembering the beating from Forte, she spoke in an oddly deferential tone.
"Do you have any orders for me?"
《Check the status outside the tower. Going down to the first floor ourselves would be a huge waste of time.》
"Understood."
Without question or complaint, Divana melted into the shadows and vanished.
And soon after.
"Total wipeout."
With that single phrase, Divana summarized the external situation.
"Whether on the streets or inside buildings, everyone in the academy has collapsed unconscious. Even the professors."
"How...? There are several 6th Circle powerhouses among the professors, right? And plenty of incredibly strong seniors too."
Kailun muttered in disbelief.
As he said, Skyreach Academy's faculty were abnormally high-level.
They possessed multiple 6th Circle experts that even mid-sized nations might not have one of, and among the students, those deliberately delaying graduation to focus on growth were individuals who could lead factions outside.
That's why Skyreach Academy, despite being just an educational institution, could negotiate on equal footing with central nations, and without such force, the demons wouldn't have schemed in secret like this.
Yet all those powerhouses had been subdued in an instant—impossible to believe.
However, to Forte, it was entirely expected.
《If they had purely earned that strength on their own, they wouldn't have been neutralized so easily. But the power everyone here possesses was granted by the system from the start. Even the professors are no exception. Only graduates of this place can become professors. Fundamentally, they're all students.》
In other words, Skyreach Academy's students had received massive growth assistance, but in exchange, they were leashed to the academy itself.
Normally, no one would pull that leash, so it was all profit, but now the system was rampaging wildly for some reason.
"Wait. What about the people in the dungeon? What if they lost consciousness mid-battle?!"
Divana shook her head at Pina's words.
"That's fine. The monsters have stopped too."
《From the quest details, the academy wants you to kill the other students and recover their resources. It won't waste them on monsters.》
Pina's face grew complicated.
It was good that people weren't dying to monsters right away, but the intent behind it was far from benevolent.
《Contractor. Let me ask: do you intend to carry out the quest?》
"Absolutely not!"
Pina denied it with uncharacteristic firmness, far from her usual hesitant speech.
As if it wasn't even worth considering.
《Then we'll have to negotiate with the academy.》
"Negotiate? With who? Everyone's asleep."
《There's an opponent. Issuing quests like this means the system itself has agency. Contractor, you're probably what it values most, so make a demand.》
Pina looked a bit flustered but soon nodded and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"System! I can't do this quest! Cancel it, please!"
"I don't need that!"
"No!"
"I said no!?"
Even the generally timid Pina's blood pressure rose at this wall-like response, her voice growing louder and louder.
She questioned it demandingly.
"What even is this linked quest? Why do I have to kill people? What kind of hero does that?"
Perhaps that question hit the core.
—The world flipped upside down.
Once upon a time, long long ago.
Two countries were locked in a fierce war.
The cause of the war was trivial.
If the instigators had been neighborhood uncles, it would've ended with some shouting and a few punches.
But they were high-ranking rulers of nations, so that scuffle escalated into a war tormenting countless subjects.
It was a deeply regrettable tragedy, yet still somehow manageable.
That is, until the losing side sacrificed their own citizens to summon a 'Demon King' in a foolish act.
The Demon King's power was truly immense.
Like flipping a tilted scale with a flick of a finger, he effortlessly overturned the war's tide.
The nation that thought victory was at hand crumbled before the Demon King's overwhelming might and cruelty, while the summoners claimed triumph.
But they had no time to bask in victory's honey.
For the Demon King who led the win turned his blade on his summoners.
The two warring nations fell side by side, and in the continent's center, the now-free Demon King was unleashed.
Blood formed rivers.
Tears created lakes.
Corpses piled into mountains.
Wails filled the skies.
Many suffered, raged, despaired, and feared.
And then, a hero raised his sword.
From the first nation destroyed by the Demon King, he threw himself into battle without hesitation.
The hero's valor shone brightly, but his foes were overwhelmingly powerful.
Feeling the limits of fighting alone, the hero decided to seek the sage hidden in the forest.
Before the sage's house, the hero called out.
"Hey! Is anyone hom—Huh?"
Pina blinked.
She was trying to understand the scene before her and the words that had just slipped unbidden from her mouth.
But before she could grasp the situation, someone burst from the cabin ahead.
Bang!
"What? Who goes making all this racket at someone else's house?!"
He was a man with an extremely irritable demeanor.
His appearance and attire perfectly embodied the 'grouchy lone forest wizard' archetype.
Faced with his piercing glare, Pina froze, unable to speak.
The man scowled even more and snapped.
"No business? Then scram!!"
Slam!!
The door slammed with a resounding boom that echoed everywhere.
That staging stabbed at human timidity like a knife; Pina instinctively trembled in fear.
And moments later, the scenery warped.
Feeling the limits of fighting alone, the hero decided to seek the sage hidden in the forest.
Before the sage's house, the hero called out.
"Hey! Is anyone hom—No, wait!"
In the repeating situation, Pina quickly clamped her mouth shut.
But as if it didn't matter, the door flew open again, and the grouchy man burst out, snapping.
"What? Who goes making all this racket at someone else's house?!"
"N-No, um."
"Speak if you have business! Don't dawdle!!"
"W-Well, you see..."
Tears began welling in Pina's eyes, but Forte was already piecing together what this was.
There was much to say about it, but first.
《Contractor. That's a puppet in front of you. The real one's elsewhere.》