Keyhole
I slurped up the gushing blood like pulling noodles from a bowl and parried even Chairman Kal's sword beams. His face twisted in clear panic.
"H-how the hell did a bastard like you handle the darkness…?"
"Enough. I've played around long enough—now get lost."
I poured a massive amount of divine power into my holy sword, turning it into a blade overflowing with light, and brought it down on him as a final strike.
Boom!
The grand conference hall shuddered violently from the massive explosion of holy power.
"This place is about to collapse! We have to get out!"
"B-but the Hero is still…"
"I'll stay by the Hero's side. Knight Commander, take the branch leaders and evacuate!"
"Understood!"
With the conference hall cracking from the explosion's aftermath and groaning with ominous rumbles, the holy knights evacuated the branch leaders first.
Fortunately, I'd already taken out the Hunter soldiers, so nothing stood in their way.
"Urk! *Cough cough*… Hero! Are you alright?!"
As the thick dust settled, the Iron-Blood Pope could finally see the situation on stage.
"Step aside, Lea Shed."
"……"
It wasn't the fake Demon King who'd blocked my sword—it was the future-sight ability user, Lea Shed.
Her vacant, unfocused eyes staring blankly at me suggested she was under a vicious mental compulsion.
Even my sword, brimming with divine power, hadn't fazed her—her own holy power rivaled that of a saintess.
"H-ha! Yes! Well done! Lea! Kuhahaha!"
Chairman Kal, who'd been cowering in fear of my strike, spotted Lea shielding him and straightened up, bursting into manic laughter.
"How's that, Hero scum?! Lea has already joined my side!"
"……"
In the old days, even under compulsion, no one who'd dared block my sword would have lived—but this was Lea Shed.
The girl who'd awakened future sight at a young age, prophesied the Sword Cult's downfall, endured endless torment in the fortress prison Killopoti, and whom I'd rescued not long ago.
Her battered form, streaked with wounds and blood, had shone only in her unbroken eyes—a possessor of unyielding conviction.
That's why mindlessly slashing her down felt off somehow.
Irritation boiled up at the sword beam blocking my path to victory, but hadn't I sworn in this regression not to kill the innocent?
And come to think of it, I still need to ask about that 'keyhole' thing…
Right. Killing her now would mean losing the chance to uncover the meaning behind her cryptic words forever.
I convinced myself with that excuse for sparing her.
"So, step aside. Lea Shed."
"……"
She wasn't going to budge under compulsion.
It was baffling how someone with such immense divine power could fall to suggestion, but perhaps her long ordeals had weakened her mental fortitude.
Or maybe, seeing a future different from past loops—Chairman Kal turning into a fake Demon King unchecked—had left her defenseless.
…Is it my fault?
In previous loops, I'd awakened late, and with Black Sheep emerging, I'd eliminated Choi Joo-bong. But without that, Chairman Kal—suddenly cut loose—had masqueraded as the Demon King.
If Lea, who sees the future, hadn't predicted this change and fallen victim…
I couldn't deny I was the root cause.
"Kuhaha! As if Lea would listen to trash like you! Keep it up, Lea! Just like that…"
"Gah!"
If I couldn't kill her, putting her to sleep would do.
I struck Lea's neck, dropping her, and moved toward Chairman Kal again—
But suddenly, black mist boiled up from her body like molten lava.
"What the…?"
Rumble rumble rumble.
The surging dark waves formed a massive circle, erupting plasma in all directions.
Crackle! Zap zap!
It resembled the demon world passages I'd used to travel between realms.
"Kuhahahaha! See that, Hero?! The greatest proof I'm the Demon King—the Demon World Gate! I prepared for this day by implanting it in Lea!"
"This is the Demon World Gate…?"
Chairman Kal retreated step by step behind Lea as the black hole expanded, his mouth splitting into a grin before he bellowed.
Another peaceful day in the demon world.
Baldr, ever waiting for his Demon King's return, reminisced about his lord's hasty departure while watering the lush bloodsucking pitcher plants in the garden.
Sluuurp, guzzle guzzle…
In the demon world's eternal night, these grotesque yet exquisite plants had been the previous Demon King's cherished favorites.
During the castle's reconstruction, he'd flown to the demon world's polar regions himself, hauling back seedlings drenched in excess blood.
"The Demon King will be thrilled."
The mere thought sent shivers of joy through him—he trembled in ecstasy.
Then.
A war horn blared from the castle outskirts.
Toot toot toot—
Toot toot toot—
Baldr's brow furrowed as he watered.
"Those guys again. Persistent bastards."
Rumble rumble.
Dust clouds rose over the barren demon ridges.
Ten thousand demon soldiers marched on the Demon King Castle.
At the rear strutted the 1st Legion Commander—no, now self-proclaimed Demon World King—Balpador.
"That guy's a fake! A phony Demon King!"
"Wooooh!"
"Only I, Balpador, am the true king of the demon world!"
"Waaaaah!"
Balpador spurred his legions with booming declarations of grandeur, glaring daggers at the towering black walls drawing near.
"The nerve! Handing the Demon King's throne to some Hero?! You're utterly mad, Baldr!"
He gnashed his teeth in fury.
Recently, intel reported a Hero falling from the sky, Baldr calling him Demon King and bringing him into the castle. Balpador had visited to verify, but Baldr's ironclad defenses always repelled him before he could enter.
The puzzle pieces didn't fit his beliefs—everything had to align perfectly, no deviations.
The dead Demon King's corpse suddenly revived.
Vanished into an aghulma's maw, only for a Hero to emerge.
Baldr calls the Hero Demon King and shelters him?
For Balpador, it was like a messy room needing tidying—urgent.
What happened? Demon King's fate? Could he ascend properly?
Not one piece fit.
Oddly, Baldr had sent a bizarre letter.
Do whatever you want as Demon King.
— Baldr
No context—just that. Thinking it acknowledged him as king, he'd gone to the castle, only to be humiliated and chased off.
"Arrrgh! How dare they toy with me?!"
In rage, he'd led his army straight to the castle, but Baldr's barriers foiled him every time.
"This time, I'll unleash my true power and claim the Demon King Castle at last!"
"Waaaaah!"
"Demon King! Demon King! Lord Balpador!"
Buoyed by his followers' cheers, Balpador charged.
Boom!
The shockwave rocked the demon world.
But.
The castle's barrier held firm.
"Hmph! In your dreams! As long as I, Baldr, guard it, you won't set foot inside—not even a single hair! Kuhahaha!"
Baldr laughed wildly from atop the barrier, looking down.
"Agh, why?! Why tell me to be Demon King if you're gonna do this?! Baldr you bastaaard!"
Balpador's tantrum echoed across the black skies.
Roooar!
Grrr rumble…
Caw! Caw!
Hordes of filthy, grotesque monsters poured from the massive black hole Lea had created.
"Hero! Monsters are emerging! At this rate, Seoul will be overrun!"
"Hm. Can't have that."
The Iron-Blood Pope erected a massive barrier around the hall to contain them, but the endless swarm overwhelmed it—he couldn't hold much longer.
I swung my holy sword inside the barrier to thin their numbers, but protecting the unconscious Lea and the straining Pope limited my skills.
Worse, they surged continuously, like pushed from behind—impossible to clear without full skills.
"Kuhahaha! How's the Demon King's power?! Tremble in awe, you filthy humans!"
Oddly, no monsters lunged at Chairman Kal—they swarmed everywhere else.
Trained monsters, huh.
Monsters were the demon world's bottom feeders—mindless husks of former humans, beasts, or whatever, driven only by gluttony and violence.
Yet they could be controlled by magic and rules.
Still, their unpredictability often turned them on masters.
Here, they shuddered and veered away from him like crowds avoiding plague.
"We'll help!"
"Hero! Pope!"
Jeong Hyun-seop and the knights returned, having evacuated the branch leaders.
"Why come back?! It's dangerous!"
"But if we don't protect you two, Seoul—the world—is done for!"
"We'll handle the monsters and thin them out, so Hero, deal with Lea…"
The holy knight trailed off.
Anyone could see Lea was the gate. Killing her might close it.
But who was Lea Shed?
A near-saintess who'd fought the Sword Cult hardest via future sight, enduring torments.
Yet if sacrificing her saved the world… they had to say it.
The Pope, Jeong Hyun-seop, the knights—all knew it logically, but couldn't voice it.
"Kuhaha! You lot! Gonna kill Lea to shut the gate?! Even divine power's no different! Sacrificing an innocent girl—what makes you better than me?!"
Chairman Kal's mocking roar—his head flushed red—made the upright holy folk hesitate.
Seizing the opening.
I calculated a path past Lea, the black hole, and monsters to Chairman Kal.
No gaps in the dense swarm.
Still, to slash him without hitting Lea, I had to close in.
Squish!
"?!"
Whoosh boom boom!
I leaped onto monster heads, rocketing toward Chairman Kal.
Countless claws reached out.
I dove through fleeting gaps, slashing without pause.
Slice!
My holy sword cleaved him in two; he crumpled.
Whoooosh—
The black hole vanished. Lea, floating above, fell.
I caught her just before impact.
Semi-conscious, she mumbled into my arms.
"You… figured it out… huh."
"Yeah. Someone called you the fake keyhole."
Lea smiled faintly in my embrace and closed her eyes again.