Chapter 10: Chaos
AFTER he confirmed Isla was defeated, Takuto yielded himself to the onslaught of information pouring into his brain. The question of "Why" and "Where did I go wrong?" crossed his mind with every new bit of intel and disappeared just as fast without an answer.
Mynoghra's entire army was in disarray, and the Dark Elves and his direct subordinate units with the ability to contact him were incessantly asking what they should do next. Ignoring all that noise, Takuto blocked out the world and placed himself in a thought bubble that offered some sense of calm.
…A normal person might have shriveled up and withdrawn from the world in his position. They might've escaped reality by shutting everyone out and huddling in a corner, hugging their knees. Some might've hidden their blunder by throwing a fit and yelling at everyone around them. But the man known as Takuto Ira didn't fit those personality types.
Eternal Nations' best player had mental fortitude on an entirely different level from the average person.
Takuto quietly closed his eyes and took deep, measured breaths. It only took a couple of seconds to clear his mind. The act was as normal and deliberate as an athlete taking in the morning sun before a routine jog. The only difference was…when Takuto reopened his eyes, he was greeted by a light that disgusted him in a way it hadn't before.
"What happened, King Takuto?!"
A distraught telepathic message came from Atou as soon as he'd finished his little calming exercise, as if she'd timed it with that knowledge. Takuto had been so focused on Isla and the twins until now that he'd failed to answer her earlier queries, but he calmly switched over to their telepathic link and spoke with her.
"Isla has been defeated. It seems she was dragged into a forced death event."
"How can that happen?!" He heard her click her tongue, stifling a swear as she raised her voice in frustration. "It's like what happened to me, isn't it?!"
Atou's mind immediately went to the damage she'd suffered at General Ice Rock's hands. And then it dawned upon her that in the adrenaline rush and confusion she'd felt after that battle, she'd failed
to inform her king about the strange phenomenon she'd experienced.
Atou screamed at the top of her lungs, her beautiful face distorting with anger and outrage. But this was not the time for her to report her blunder and receive punishment. The most important thing for her to do right now was to ensure Takuto's safety.
"Isla's defeat is an emergency. I'll immediately change course back to the capital. Please surround yourself with a guard detail and evacuate your current location!"
Isla's destruction meant almost no military forces were left to protect Mynoghra's Imperial Capital. Of course, there were Dark Elf Warriors on guard duty, and some of Eternal Nations' units, such as the Brain Eaters, were around. While they should be enough to handle low-level monsters, they would be out of their league if another one of the Demon Lord's Four Generals showed up. The situation was a thousand times worse than she'd imagined.
Atou spun on her heel and changed directions to race back to the Accursed Lands, feeling a sense of impending doom and annoyance unlike anything she'd felt before.
"About that…I need you to stay the course."
It was none other than her king that caused Atou to stop dead in her tracks.
"Why would you ask that of me, my king?!"
A cloud of dust kicked up around her when she skidded to a halt and looked up at the sky while asking him about his intentions. Her expression had already surpassed a look of mere irritation and anger and was crumpling with her desire to cry. But it was the following words from her king that dried her tears and caused an even harsher look to cross her face.
"Isla is dead. That is the unfortunate truth. But the twins are still alive. They're currently heading south, trampling their enemies along the way. They're likely going to avenge Isla."
"Those girls are?! What in the world has gotten into them?! They can't do anything—"
"Isla used Demise of the Crown on them."
With that, Atou understood everything Takuto was trying to tell her.
Demise of the Crown, one of Isla's subskills, grants the Hero trait to a selected unit. Not only does it grant that Distinct Trait, but it also passes down a percentage of Isla's stats at the time of her demise. In other words, the twins now had abilities and strength on par with a Hero unit.
It was still unclear what had happened right before and after Isla was defeated. But at the very end of her life, she'd succeeded in passing her power on to her daughters, bringing about the birth of a new Hero. Takuto…was planning on obtaining that Hero.
In Eternal Nations, units with the Hero trait are too important and irreplaceable to lose. They can't be reproduced immediately after they get destroyed like regular units.
Now that it'd been revealed that there was a threat to Mynoghra in this world that they couldn't ignore, mitigating the loss of any additional forces was of the highest priority.
"We can't lose either of them now. The existence of Hero units will greatly affect the future of our empire… And most of all, those girls are our citizens."
Atou understood the logic and reasoning behind what he was saying. She could even…understand the sentiment. But only if it were applied during peaceful times. It was not the right decision to make when the state of things was still up in the air.
"Then please call them back at once!" Atou demanded, momentarily forgetting she wasn't just talking to a friend but also her king and Commander. "I propose we regroup at the capital and reorganize our forces before launching a counterattack!"
"We can't do that. I can see what the girls are doing, but they aren't taking orders."
"What nonsense is that?! We don't need units that can't take orders! I suggest their immediate disposal!"
"Request denied."
"KING TAKUTO!!!"
They were in a crisis. Their situation was the worst of the worst. Atou's impatience rapidly ballooned, and the worst-case scenarios kept flashing in her mind. She didn't know what had led to Takuto's decision. To her, it only looked like he was being reckless. At the same time, she was tormented by the thought that her own blunder made things so much worse. No matter how confused and deflated she felt after that battle, she still should've informed him of the dangers of attacks influenced by different game mechanics.
Information is the most valuable resource during war. Without information, it's the same as going into battle wearing a blindfold, and the damage caused by making a wrong decision based on a lack of intel is extraordinary.
Atou clenched her teeth so hard she could feel them cracking under the pressure…and then she shouted, "Great and mighty King Takuto! I have something I must report to you! The RPG's mechanics are a real threat! It even bested me, your Atou, and took Isla from us! This failure is a direct result of our incompetence as your Heroes! The responsibility falls on our shortcomings! So please—please— reconsider your decision!" she implored, her face twisting as it might if she'd been forced to swallow bitter, bitter medicine.
She was basically demeaning herself to get her point across. How much resolve did it take for this Hero, who had absolute confidence in her strength and always took pride in being Takuto Ira's sword and shield, to deny the very things she prided herself on? Blood dripped from where she bit her lip too hard, proving just how much determination it took for Atou to tell him these things.
But telling him was a double-edged sword.
It might only serve to confuse her king further. Atou might suffer the most unbearable misery yet if it caused him to be disappointed in her. However, that was a cheap price to pay if sacrificing her pride could alleviate his feelings of frustration and guilt and, in turn, help him make a more rational decision.
Everything was for her king, Takuto Ira.
She laid her heart bare for that reason, but…
"I see… Even so, please go to them. Isla left them in our care." Takuto's stance was unchanged.
"I can't expose Mynoghra—expose YOU—to danger over mere sentiment! Your Majesty—King Takuto, you are everything to me!" The plea wrenched from her very soul wasn't reaching him.
Atou expected the worst was yet to come, in the form of some unknown game mechanic leading to the twins' demise and then her own.
She didn't care if she died. It was no skin off her nose. But to Atou, Takuto's death was the most unbearable thing in the world. The fear of that potentially happening because of her tormented Atou more than anything else. That's why, when she received his next orders…Atou felt like she'd been struck by lightning.
"Atou, this is an order. You're the only one I can rely on." "…sst!!"
Atou felt the air suck through her teeth in a gasp as her impassioned heart was doused with ice-cold water. It wasn't disappointment or despair that cooled her down, but something akin to a fanatic experiencing an epiphany. She had been given an order; as such, there was only one thing for her to do.
At long last, the bitterness twisting her features gave way to understanding and resignation, and then…
"I will do as you command, my king." …she accepted her king's decision.
"Thanks, Atou. I believe in you."
Atou's change of heart came from her suddenly remembering some very important things, such as just what kind of Commander her king was, how she'd always believed and obeyed his orders to a T, how Takuto Ira was the greatest player in Eternal Nations' history, and how she was the only one…in a state of irrational disarray.
And more than anything else, she remembered the unique talent her master possessed and that she should always believe in…
Takuto Ira always pulls off the impossible in the eleventh hour.
That's how it always was.
Whenever things got dicey, he'd give commands as if he were possessed by the God of Strategy and turn the tables to such a degree that none of his mistakes mattered, making him come out on top. That's just the kind of man Eternal Nations' strongest player was. And that was the man Atou trusted and loved with all her heart.
Atou's feet finally moved to take her south. She'd already received all the information she needed to know. Apparently, he already had a firm grasp of the terrain through his shared connection with the twins, and Atou wasn't sure if it was because her connection with him had grown stronger or not, but she could vaguely see what he did.
From the looks of it, they were already fighting at an outpost set up in front of where the Demon Lord's Army had settled. They hadn't yet confirmed their enemy's strength or the twins' new strength. There was a good chance Atou wouldn't make it in time. But she was convinced she'd be able to rendezvous with the girls if she headed there at full speed.
Takuto Ira had given her the order to go, after all. There could be only one result then.
Atou charged through the wastelands. A crater formed each time her foot hit the ground, her inhuman legs propelling her forward faster than a horse.
The strategy was already decided, and she had accepted it. All that was left was for her to accomplish her mission, whatever it took.
Unshakeable determination gleamed in Atou's eyes, and her evil presence grew even stronger. Meanwhile, the enemy monsters that sporadically attacked were scattered like dust before her. She had her king's full support, which meant that there was no one in the world capable of stopping her forward march.
Except…
"Atou, there's something I have to tell you first."
"…What is it, my king?"
Takuto's quiet voice reached Atou as she bounded down her pathless path. With her mind already made up to follow through with his strategy, Atou concentrated on his telepathic message to ensure she didn't miss a single word.
"Be extremely careful…"
A dubious look crossed her face then transformed into something more sinister.
"They're in berserker mode."
The situation was far more chaotic than she'd expected.
.
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<-x-X-x->
Chapter 11: Witches of Regret
IN the wastelands to the far south of the Accursed Lands, a lone girl appeared before the main defense outpost controlled by Lady Wind of the Demon Lord's Four Generals.
Half of the girl's small body was covered in burn-like, puckered scars, and she wore an outfit that seemed purposely designed to show off those startling wounds. If that wasn't striking enough, a magic circle loomed in one of her eyes, visible even with her head turned down. More than anything else, the dense, unconcealed presence of darkness exuding from her screamed that she was no ordinary girl.
Although the area was illuminated by moonlight, the hour was already past midnight. General Lady Wind gawked for a moment when this girl, who clearly shouldn't be there, just seemed to appear in her territory like a ghost, but she immediately switched gears to defend her position.
Adorned in a light-green dancer's outfit, the pale-skinned
Tempest General Lady Wind was the only female general with the Demon Lord's Army. She naturally possessed a level of intelligence that set her apart from the rest of the demons, so she promptly gave orders to the more intelligent monsters under her command and had the girl surrounded in no time.
The girl's name was Caria Elfuur.
"My oh my, what a naughty little girl you are! Are you here knowing this is the Demon Lord's turf, protected by Tempest General
Lady Wind? Hmm?"
The girl didn't respond. She seemed to be muttering something under her breath, but Lady Wind was too far away to make it out.
Skeptical as she was, Lady Wind sauntered right over to Caria until she stood before her.
Lady Wind's monsters with excellent night vision were already in battle position, and not even the tiniest mouse could find an opening to escape from the circle they'd formed around the girl. They had only summoned the best of the best monsters to advance their goal of world conquest. Her superiority complex gave her such confidence that every organism outside her people was lesser than a gnat, it left no room for her to feel wary or alarmed by potential threats.
"Haahh," she sighed. "What woodwork did you come crawling out of, hmm? Are you from that village? My, my, what a courageous little mouse you are, coming here all on your lonesome."
"Why do Cary and Big Sista have to go through these things?
Why do bad things always happen? Why is the world so very painful?
Why?"
Instead of an answer, Caria merely muttered words filled with bitter regret and hatred.
Lady Wind didn't know what had transpired in the child's life, but she could easily guess that she was lamenting that their actions had made her into a victim of one sort or another.
"What are you mumbling about, hmm? Were you brought here against your will? My, my! You poor, poor thing! I feel so sorry for you, I'll put you through some extra special torture before I end your pitiful life!"
Did Lady Wind's words spark a reaction in her? Or was it just because her voice was too loud? Caria slowly raised her head and closely scrutinized Lady Wind's face as if she'd only just now noticed she was standing in the middle of the Demon Lord's Army. "You…have a very animated face," Caria finally said. "The face of somebody who's overly confident in themselves. The face of somebody who doesn't doubt themselves for one second. The face of somebody who prides themselves on being superior to everybody else."
Lady Wind finally realized a little too late that she couldn't hold a conversation with the girl…and that nothing but madness gleamed from the eye where the distorted letters of a magic circle glowed. In that moment, she also realized she was standing across from a foe who required the highest level of wariness.
"…Keep your guard up," Lady Wind ordered her troops. "There's something rabid about this little mouse."
Lady Wind snapped her whip and prepared for battle; her monsters roared around her.
She'd indeed underestimated her opponent, thinking she was just one little girl, but even if the girl was more than what she appeared, there was still only one of her. What could she possibly do, surrounded by an army of monsters?
Creeped out for inexplicable reasons, Lady Wind scowled.
"It throbs…" the girl kept talking to herself. "My scars…my past self who innocently believed everything would work out…are screaming."
The one thing that had changed was that now the girl was slowly moving toward Lady Wind.
"You're one noisy little mouse, aren't you?!" Lady Wind shouted despite herself, disturbed by the girl's utter lack of fear and apprehension. "How about I sew that trap of yours shut for good, hmm? Get her!"
The monsters charged Caria at Lady Wind's command. She didn't do the deed herself because the wariness she never knew she had was on high alert. Her opponent was too much of an enigma. This was also her survival technique as the physically weakest of the Four Generals.
As many monsters as the system allowed joined in the rush, burying that little body under them. The sound of dull strikes and chewing echoed from the fray…convincing Lady Wind she had won.
"Ahhh, Mama. I'm so sorry, Mommy. It's all because Cary was powerless…because Cary became hopeful again…"
But…Lady Wind could still hear the girl's crazed ramblings.
"Wh-What the demi-hell…?"
A shocked voice slipped from Lady Wind when she saw the girl.
The girl's body was undeniably…injured from the monsters' attacks. Bright red blood spilled from the injuries caused by the claws, fangs, spears, and clubs used to try and kill her. But it was the very monsters that had attacked her who started to rot away on the spot. Everything from Orcs to Goblins to Hill Giants and even the demons who stood at the top of the monster hierarchy suffered the same fate…
Black boils oozing blood and pus covered them from head to toe as if an indiscriminately contagious plague had infected them. By the time the putrid smell of their rotting bodies and their agonized screams reached Lady Wind, her pitiful subordinates had collapsed into a heap of gold coins.
"I knew… I knew that I'd only be met with hurt if I relied on the world…on others. I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up. The world hates Cary. The world absolutely despises Cary…"
The girl continued talking as if she were confessing her sins. Nothing reflected in her glassy eyes, and she seemed to be directing her conversation toward herself and someone who wasn't present.
Before she knew it…the girl's wounds had all sealed.
What's going on?! Lady Wind thought. All my monsters were killed?! Blast it all! How'd she do it? Poison magic? No…I've never heard of such powerful and effective magic before! And…how is she healing herself?!
Lady Wind instinctively put distance between them and tried to gather more information. She didn't understand what she was seeing, except for the fact that it was a fatal counterattack.
Less than a second… It took less than a second for Lady Wind's pride and joy—her army—to be felled like dust before the wind. The girl's strength was unfathomable.
"You… Why've you been staring at Cary?"
Lady Wind realized the girl's gaze had landed on her. Caria's blazing eye gave even the demon general the chills and made her feel eerily like she was looking at hell-incarnate wearing human skin.
Lady Wind didn't answer her and instead brandished her weapon. Just as she was about to whip the demented girl—
"Swell up like the rest of them…"
"Ah! Huh?"
Her vision warped.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! MY FAAAAAAAAAACE!!! MY
BEAUTIFUL FACE!!!" Lady Wind shrieked. She knew without looking. She knew her face was swelling up like a blighted balloon. Knew that the face she secretly took pride in was being defiled to look the same as the girl's did.
An invisible attack with no build-up or signs of being activated struck her out of the blue.
"You little shit! Blow her away: Cursed Black Winds!!"
Lady Wind wasn't so foolish as to let herself go down like this. With one hand covering her inflamed face, she unleashed her Ultimate Attack. This was the ace up her sleeve and the deadly skill only she could use.
Cursed Black Winds is a powerful and merciless Damage over Time spell that she'd created by weaving together dark magic and curses to half all her opponent's stats during battle. Since it affects all stats, it has the unfair propensity to reduce her opponent's strength exponentially, and because her game system programmed it to be so, it's an inimitable skill that can't be escaped or dodged once used.
But this Ultimate Attack comes with one downside. The existence of this downside was why she'd always accepted her position as the weakest of the Demon Lord's Four Generals.
That downside was none other than—
[〈!〉The Light of Divine Protection envelops the Hero.
Caria nullifies the curse!
]
"…Huh? Is this some kinda bad joke or what?"
—that it doesn't work on the awakened Hero.
The truth that became apparent at the same time as Lady Wind's hysteric shout was the greatest and only drawback to her spell.
Brave Questers' Hero receives a unique blessing after a certain event in the game. That divine blessing negates any curses cast upon him and nullifies all negative status effects that will prevent him from using his full strength. It's one thing for his party members to fall victim to such a spell, but the Hero should never have all his stats halved for the duration of a boss battle.
The Hero is an absolute being in their world, after all.
I'm screwed! I'm screwed! I'm so totally screwed!
When Lady Wind looked around them, she saw a healthy army of monsters fall to the plague. The higher level the monster, the slower the infection spread, but their fate was the same. And so was the inevitable fact that she would soon follow them if she couldn't come up with a solution. Fast.
It's at this late juncture that Lady Wind finally realized the eerie feeling she had was a warning bell sounded by her instincts. She didn't have any memories from multiple game playthroughs. Thus, this was her first time experiencing her Ultimate Attack getting nullified. Her only knowledge of the Hero was vague hearsay, but even then, there shouldn't have been anything linking him to the girl before her.
Besides, as someone who'd always reigned as an absolute force of nature, she'd never experienced being on the side of the hunted…until now.
What the gale is going on?! What hell did this abomination crawl out of?! No one told me anything! No one told me that such a MONSTER exists!
That's why the whole situation shook her to the core. By all rights, Lady Wind, a proud member of the Demon Lord's Four Generals, should have been a symbol of fear.
"AaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
[〈!〉Lady Wind has fled.
]
Together with a hysterical scream, she used wind magic and flew away like a mighty gale. The move she made was the most foolish and unsalvageable.
Did she not know the way it worked? Did she not know that all Boss Monsters, including the Demon Lord's Four Generals, were locked out of fleeing once they'd initiated battle? Perhaps she didn't know such a mechanic existed because she'd never fled before now. Or perhaps she was so scared she chose to flee despite knowing it was hopeless?
Either way, the game system is merciless. It runs the world according to prescripted rules.
[〈!〉Boss Monsters can't flee.
No one can flee from the Hero.
No one can flee from a Witch.
Lady Wind failed to escape!]
Lady Wind's body was fixed in place as if an invisible rope had wrapped around her and pulled her crashing back down to earth. Stunned by the impact of hitting the ground, she lifted her face with a moan, and her eyes met with the girl staring at her with one blazing eye.
Tempest General Lady Wind…saw memories of things she'd never experienced herself as she was filled with despair before this being that couldn't be categorized under Light or Dark.
"Agh! W-Wait… GAK! Koff, urk…"
Lady Wind's body was fixed in place as if an invisible rope had wrapped around her and pulled her crashing back down to earth. Stunned by the impact of hitting the ground, she lifted her face with a moan, and her eyes met with the girl staring at her with one blazing eye.
Tempest General Lady Wind…saw memories of things she'd never experienced herself as she was filled with despair before this being that couldn't be categorized under Light or Dark.
"Agh! W-Wait… GAK! Koff, urk…"
Her body oozed puss from its inflamed boils as she rotted away.
The girl quietly stared at Lady Wind—so quietly, with an eye that reminded her of the pits of hell.
"H-Help me…"
Before long, Lady Wind begged quietly for her life before being reduced to a gold coin.
──The moon illuminated the scene with its beautiful, silver light.
◇◇◇
NOT far from the hellish scene where the forces of darkness were reduced to nothingness by rot and festering boils, a different kind of hell was unfolding. An enormous magic circle was in the process of being set up at this other outpost belonging to the Demon Lord's Army. The circle pulsed with a reddish-black light and seemed to be powered by the huge crystal-shaped items arranged at set intervals around it.
The magic circle appeared to be the size of a city square. The equipment and spell-type were clearly not of this world, but it also didn't seem like it was meant to bring about the thick stench of death hovering in the air around it.
Only elite monsters were assigned to it. The area teemed with even more powerful demons and monsters than the last outpost, giving away at a glance that this was a critical facility to the Demon Lord's Army.
The scene there was even more bizarre than the outpost wiped out by the plague.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Silence reigned.
Every monster and demon stood in complete silence, staring into space with no life to be found in their glassy eyes.
"Ahahahahahaha! AHA! AHA! AaaHAHAHAHA!!"
A lone girl frolicked around between the monsters, spinning and twirling about like she was playing in the rain.
This Dark Elf girl with a mesmerizing magic circle brightly glowing in one eye was Maria Elfuur. Madness gleamed in her eyes as she cackled and danced away, making it hard to believe she was once a child known for her unreadable expression.
In this place where silence and stillness reigned, the girl stood out like a torch lit in the black of night, but the monsters made no move despite seeing her. She spun and twirled to the rhythm of her laughter, enjoying every moment of her little dance.
One person kept their sights set on her. Old Mechanic, the general who handled the construction of facilities for the Demon Lord's Army and fought with a variety of lethal mechanical weapons at his disposal, glared at the girl with hatred burning in his eyes.
[〈!〉Old Mechanic has forgotten how to attack!
]
He didn't even know what hit him.
Construction of the magic circle had been going well. The facility had reached 90 percent completion, and it was already at the point where it could be used once they started it up. Satisfied with their progress, Old Mechanic was about to give the order to activate it to his subordinate, Stone Knight, when…all the monsters who'd been diligently going about their work suddenly stopped moving and started staring off into space as if they'd forgotten what they were supposed to do.
"The world hates us! It hates us to death!" The girl appeared after that.
Old Mechanic could tell she wasn't an ally. He also comprehended that she was an enemy he needed to eliminate. No rules of war applied to the Demon Lord's Army—they could kill their enemies however they liked without reproach.
The problem was…they couldn't remember HOW to kill.
Probability of this being some kind of attack…high, he thought. Defense necessary. But the attack type is…unknown!
Naturally, as one of the Demon Lord's Four Generals, Old Mechanic had resistance to a variety of mental status effects. He had complete resistance against simple spells, such as Sleep and
Confusion, and even the more advanced spells like Dazzle and Enrage. However, whatever was inflicting him now didn't fall under any of those spells.
He didn't know what spell or attack his enemy was using, but he couldn't just keep standing around in a stupor. Because if he did… "The world hates us, so we need love!"
The girl opened her mouth wide, snapped it shut, and started chewing. A fraction of a second later, the top half of the monster nearest to her was bit off by the void. The monsters disappeared one by one into the girl's stomach as if they were food offered on a plate for her to eat.
"We're alive. Eat, eat, eat—we survive by eating our loved ones!"
The monsters rapidly disappeared into her belly.
Old Mechanic tried to think of a way to stop her, but he came up empty, as if the very knowledge he needed had been plucked from his mind. He couldn't flee. And there wasn't enough time for him to get…help. He couldn't rely on the monsters and demons serving him. He had to do something about this himself.
But…he'd already lost the ability to do so.
"Can you hear it?! Everybody's whispering to me. Every bite of meat! Every drop of blood! They're whispering to me to live! Everybody's inside me! Mama and Mommy are inside me! I'm not lonely anymore! I'm not scared anymore!"
CHOMP. With another big bite, yet another demon disappeared into the void.
"Thanks a bunch, guys! Thanks a bunch, Mama! I'm happy! I'm oh so very happy!"
CHOMP. Like a child who only bites off the gingerbread man's head, the monsters lost only their heads to the void.
"Everything's so shiny! Love exists because the world's so darn cruel!"
All emotions are born the moment a person acknowledges their existence. Emotions have no shape, they are merely a concept intelligent beings use to define their reaction to internal or external stimuli.
So, what was the meaning behind the contradiction that led to this girl casting Forgetfulness on everyone while she preached about the existence of love? Old Mechanic no longer had the ability to think about such things as his cognitive functions were in a state of rapid decline. All ability to think was escaping him like air let out of a balloon.
But what if he didn't have to think to eradicate his enemies?
What if he just so happened to possess the ability to do just that?
Emergency situation: confirmed. Engaging priority measures. Switching Mechanical Armor to Automatic Attack.
Change appeared in Old Mechanic with a small click.
Earth General Old Mechanic looked like someone had combined a tiny old man's body with steam-powered machine parts. The steel armor that served as his exoskeleton of sorts had a built-in component that used Magic Power and could be set to auto-attack enemies. Old Mechanic's Ultimate Attack consisted of him leaving the fighting to his Mechanical Armor while he buffed and healed himself.
Even if he was rendered incapable of moving, his Mechanical Armor should be capable of eradicating the girl with its overwhelming strength. Switching settings didn't count as an attack. Without knowing what would happen next, the Mechanical Armor's giant arm attacked the girl with a jarring motorized sound.
"That's a no-no."
[〈!〉Mechanical Armor has forgotten how to operate.
]
But Old Mechanic's expectations were shattered just like his armor, which fell apart and vanished as if it had forgotten how to exist. It's only now that Old Mechanic realized the child's invisible attacks worked against inorganic objects just as well as they did on the organic.
Threat level: Max. Life forfeiture allowed to stop threat here. Please forgive me, Demon Lord. EXPLODE: MAGIC CIRCLE!
"An even bigger no-no."
[〈!〉Magic Circle has forgotten how to operate.
]
The magic circle forgot how to operate while it was in the middle of letting its Magic Power run amok to cause a massive explosion. Its operation ended without explanation or any build-up.
Every single strategy Old Mechanic came up with using his limited thought process was nullified with a single word from the girl. It was such an utterly pathetic and quick end.
The magic circle's purpose was a mystery. The girl didn't know when she showed up, and Old Mechanic had already forgotten about it. But thinking about it wouldn't change anything. After all, the magic circle had already forgotten what it was meant to do and ceased functioning.
Old Mechanic made eye contact with the girl.
"Do you…believe in love?" she asked. "Love exists, y'know?"
[〈!〉Old Mechanic has forgotten Attack.
〈!〉Old Mechanic has forgotten Agility.
〈!〉Old Mechanic has forgotten Courage.
]
Out of nowhere, a tremendous sense of emptiness filled Old Mechanic. He was losing his mind in a way that felt like it was being slowly devoured. He'd long since forgotten how to fight and even how to flee. Now he could only display the emotions he was left with.
"E-Eeek…!"
Here was a man who was said to be as robotic and unfeeling as the many mechanical weapons he created…and the first emotion he ever showed was fear. A pathetic voice squeezed passed his lips. His knees clattered against each other as they shook. No one would look upon him now and think that he was once the sinister Earth General who'd terrified the world and brought an end to a great many people and their kingdoms.
The girl's eyes twinkled as she ate up his reaction.
"Is it scary? Are you scared? Hey, aren't you scared?! Ahaha!
See, you are scared! Soooooooooooooooo SCARED!!"
The girl frolicked up to him, grabbed his head in both hands, and stared into his eyes. It was as if she was drinking in every ounce of the fear he felt, making her scarier than anything else. Old Mechanic was finally reduced to abandoning all his pride to scream like a baby.
"U-UWAAAAAAAAAAAH!! Demon Lord! Please save me, Demon
Lord!"
Correction, he'd already lost his pride to the void.
"Don't worry. You can just forget if you're scared."
[〈!〉Old Mechanic has forgotten Fear.
〈!〉Old Mechanic has forgotten the Demon Lord.
〈!〉Old Mechanic has forgotten who he is.
]
Old Mechanic convulsed once before standing there in a stupor. His eyes had glassed over, mirroring what remained of his subordinates. He looked like a man who'd completely forgotten who and what he was.
The girl—Maria—stared at him with a deranged form of compassion.
"Forget. Forget everything. The good, the bad, the world, everything… I'll erase it all for you."
"Ah, um… What? Huh?"
"All that will be left is love."
Old Mechanic had already been stripped of everything. If the mind makes the man, then he'd even lost his mind. All that was left was an empty shell of a man. And yet, his heart was filled with a mysterious warmth. Perhaps that was the feeling given by this socalled love he was left with.
Unfortunately, without ever learning if that was true, Earth General Old Mechanic even forgot that he was alive.
──The moon illuminated the scene with its beautiful, silver light.
<-x-X-x->
Chapter 12: Curtainfall
A man wearing a worn-out black frock coat stood in the middle of the vast, empty land and assessed the two girls before him with a hawkish gaze. They were the poor souls who'd been at the mercy of this cruel world and their even crueler fate and found themselves possessed by the moon's magic.
The land where they stood was strange, to say the least. Something had clearly been under construction there at some point, given the various spots with scaffolding and the lumps of clay and lumber brought from elsewhere and placed in strategic locations around the area. The strangeness came from the lack of even a skeleton of a building, leaving only the eerie feeling of emptiness in its place, as if they had given up before they'd even started.
The scene graphically portrayed the fact the man was the last one standing.
"It's you, then?" he asked quietly. "You're the ones who defeated my army? Fate seems to get a kick out of messing with me to allow you to do so with such finesse."
The man sounded amused. Though his deep, baritone voice and word choice made him sound introspective, it was filled with a certain kind of mirth, like he was enjoying this conversation and didn't feel an ounce of wariness or alarm.
"However…that means I must end you here. That's the way this works, after all."
Brave Questers' last boss is…the Demon Lord.
This man was the final destination on the Elfuur Sisters' regret trip.
"I don't know how you felled my army. But insignificant small fry can't even land a scratch on my body."
The world warped with his words. The Magic Power in the air fluctuated rapidly and surrounded his body. It then became a jetblack garment, creating the ultimate defense.
[ 〈!〉The Demon Lord puts up a Dark Barrier!
]
The girls could no longer see the man's face, proving the existence of an inviolable force field that was strong enough to distort light and space.
However…
[〈!〉The Hero's power disperses the darkness!
The Dark Barrier has been dispelled!
]
A flash of light came from the Elfuur Sisters, followed by a highpitched cracking sound that resulted in the barrier surrounding the Demon Lord to shatter like glass. Surprise clouded the face that had been obscured by the darkness a moment before.
"That ability… Does this mean you have awakened the Hero's power? How is that possible? The Hero isn't supposed to exist in this world… That's the way this was supposed to work, so what in the accursed void is going on?"
The Demon Lord looked baffled for the first time. Only the Hero could use this ability—that was true in every single memory he possessed, and the same person always filled the Hero's shoes, no matter the playthrough.
The Dark Barrier was his Ultimate Defense skill that protected against every kind of attack. It was because of this very power of his that he was able to terrorize his last world and it became known throughout the land that only the Hero could defeat the Demon Lord. That premise…that absolutely immutable law crumbled before his eyes.
For the first time in his life, the Demon Lord experienced the emotion known as confusion.
"Who gave you that power? What granted you the Hero's power?"
The girls didn't answer. They merely walked closer in silence.
Did they not know the language? Or were they simply not interested in conversing with him?
The Demon Lord chuckled to himself as he remembered the true Hero was also a silent man.
"It's of little consequence either way. I must destroy everything and conquer the world. That's the way this works."
And so, the Demon Lord changed mindsets: from conversation mode to battle mode, from a scruffy-looking man to the Demon Lord.
…It's not just his mindset that changed either.
The Demon Lord's frock coat ripped as his body swelled and countless blades grew out of him like a coat of porcupine spines. He grew in size until he was bigger than a small manor.
"…You think it strange for me to transform from the outset?
Would you prefer this to go through boss battle stages like in the game? No one would ask for such constraints in this world that's been freed from so many of the restrictions we've come to know."
The man's same low, baritone voice boomed from the giant body with blazing, blood-red eyes.
The Demon Lord's body embodied every battle in this world, and that's not just a metaphor. His new form was comprised of innumerable moving corpses with swords, axes, spears, shields, chainmail, and numerous other battle equipment linked together to form its armor.
The Demon Lord's true form was a four-legged beast whose very existence symbolized discord and conflict.
A giant eyeball rolled in its socket to focus on the Elfuur Sisters. The coat of blades adorning the beast's back clanged together in a chorus that almost sounded alive.
As someone who'd finished verifying which restrictions had carried over to this world from Brave Questers, the Demon Lord decided to use his full strength to eliminate the two girls. His supernatural senses as the Demon Lord and the warning bells set off by his racing heart led him to that immediate decision.
In other words, every part of his being told him he mustn't underestimate these girls. That they were a terrifying anomaly in this strange new world…
"It's likely that…defeating you is a trial I have been tasked with completing."
There was no point in conversing with them. Conversations are established when more than one person participates, and that was nigh impossible with these girls who only answered him with bloodlust. Although he understood that, the Demon Lord still had something he HAD to ask them.
The lonely Demon Lord asked them one final question, as if that question were necessary to start the battle.
"There is something I wish to…confirm with you before we fight."
After the entire army of monsters had been slaughtered, forgotten they were even alive, or were devoured, their lord, the last one standing, asked his foes about the one thing that mattered most to him.
"Do you believe there is a god?"
"No such thing exists," both girls spat with the hatred that had driven them this far.
[〈!〉The Demon Lord appeared!
]
And so commenced a battle meant to pay tribute to all those who'd died, to all the memories that were long gone, and to the past they could never return to.
◇◇◇
BATTLE ignited between both sides. In a single moment, Maria and Caria doled out coordinated, invisible attacks unique to them, and the Demon Lord eclipsed all of these attacks with sheer strength.
"Blades! Offer up a life to me!"
Hundreds of the countless weapons that composed the Demon Lord's true form shot off his back into the sky, took a radial orbit, and rained down on the Elfuur Sisters. This attack that could be described as a rain of death looked like a death sentence from the target's
point of view. More than a hundred blades were raining down from the sky with perfect accuracy.
But the attack's target was no ordinary opponent either. Far from it. They might've only just come into this role, but they were still…Witches. Together the twins counted as one of Idoragya's Seven Apocalypse-Bringing Evil Witches. They weren't benevolent enough to be wiped out by such an attack.
"Ahahahaha! So perty!"
Maria lifted both hands toward the sky, her eyes sparkling with childish delight. The second the magic circle blazing in her eye flashed, the sharp weapons cascading toward the girls all forgot their objective.
"Caria!!"
"…I've got it, Big Sista."
Caria's magic circle flashed next, causing the ground under the Demon Lord's feet to give away and unbalance his large body.
"Impudent brats!" he cursed them.
They didn't directly attack the Demon Lord because of his level and high Defense. The twins' Addled and Plagued skills were powerful, but they could be resisted by opponents with much higher stats. They could instantly kill low-level mobs, but they needed time to take on more powerful enemies.
Attack range limitations and the Demon Lord's regeneration abilities made things even more difficult. The Demon Lord had been sticking to attacking them at a distance ever since he'd used Analyze to assess their abilities at the start of the battle. To make matters worse, his powerful regeneration abilities healed any damage he'd received and dispelled Forget whenever it did get applied.
On the other hand, all the Demon Lord's attacks kept forgetting their objective due to Maria's Addled, so the battle was essentially at a stalemate.
For that very reason, Maria chose now to unbalance the Demon Lord and momentarily distract him. They put this plan into action to make close-combat a possibility…by obtaining a physical weapon.
[〈!〉The Elfuur Sisters have obtained the Demon Lord's weapon.
]
…The Demon Lord's weapon is cursed!
The girls were quick to scoop up their pick of the countless weapons that'd been launched at them and now littered the battlefield. Maria went with dual blades and Caria chose the halberd.
Of course…
[〈!〉Maria uses Addled!
The Demon Lord's weapon has forgotten its curse!
]
…the curse wasn't even worth worrying about.
"You dare to wield a piece of my body?! What arrogance! What insolence! And that's what makes you perfect fodder for my trial!"
The ground exploded as the girls charged forward. The volley of weapons launched to intercept them instantly vanished, and boils erupted all over the Demon Lord's body to hinder his movement.
And still, the Demon Lord did not succumb.
Blade and claw that could easily tear through steel clashed at speeds beyond what the human eye could follow. The Demon Lord couldn't run away. Even if he weren't restricted by the system, he still wouldn't have that option. The battle was slowly but surely leaning in the Elfuur Sisters' favor.
The Demon Lord had entered his final boss form from the start. He no longer had any aces up his sleeve to bring the battle back in his favor. Not only were his debuffs being nullified, but he also couldn't even land one of his normal physical attacks on them. Meanwhile, the close-combat attacks his opponents doled out were definitely bringing him closer to his demise.
Game Over—those two painful words and the inevitable, eternal erasure from existence that they promised plagued his thoughts already.
"I can't lose! God is on my side! There's no way I'll lose in a place like this after God chose me!" the Demon Lord howled.
His cry was a plea to the "god" who'd given him knowledge and led him to this world. How ironic it is for a being who's supposed to bring darkness to the world to believe in God.
"Peace! The peace I desire more than anything is just within reach! I will overcome this trial given by my god!"
Is it not even more comedic for all these evil-doers to seek their own peace across the board?
This goes for Flame General Flamin, who'd gone out with a bang alongside Isla, and the Demon Lord as well. Why were they brought to this world? Why were they given sentience?
How much happier would they have been if they could have just continued to live on as game data without being given a soul?
The Demon Lord was reminded of what had transpired when he came to this world. He'd been greeted by an endless expanse of white nothingness and an overwhelming presence that told him just how tiny and worthless his existence was. Then came the truth of the world.
Yes, God exists.
It appeared before them and undeniably made a deal with them. It was because of that promise—that deal they made with God—that the Demon Lord didn't question this land or his quest to conquer the world. He only became all the more determined to do so after learning he was an existence that couldn't do anything else.
Everything he did was for the eternal peace and happiness brought about by God. All of it was so he could ascend from a game character to a being with an immutable soul.
"AaaaaHAHAHAHA!" Maria laughed. "C'mon! C'mon! C'mon! Are you silly? God doesn't exist. There isn't a god ANYWHERE! The world is cruel like that!"
"You keep blathering on and on about god-this and god-that. Shut your yapping trap before I make you," Caria said coldly.
Both girls were utterly uninterested in his unobtainable dream.
"God… God does exist! It's God who grants peace! Only God understands our suffering! That's the deal! That's how it's supposed to work! My existence here is proof of that!" the Demon Lord roared.
Everything that'd happened at that time, from God's compassion to the Demon Lord's confession, wish, and declaration before him, swirled through the Demon Lord's head.
He was but one scruffy man, and his ambitions were about to crumble away like sand spilling through his fingers. And at the hands of just two girls! His wish was going to be extinguished before two measly little girls!
"I will obtain freedom. I will obtain freedom and go to a world without conflict! I'll go outside these confines! Go outside the
game!" the Demon Lord thundered. "The great god will grant my wish if I just believe!"
The girls who'd clearly heard him merely looked at the Demon Lord like they were looking at the filth that had gotten on their clean, white shoes.
The twins knew better. They knew this world was devoid of hopes and dreams. Everything was deserving of hatred, and the more you believed, the greater the betrayal you'd taste.
The only thing worth believing in was the past. The only thing they could believe in was the kind souls who were lost to the world because of their kindness. Their minds, bodies, powers, wills, convictions, thoughts—everything that they were, was dedicated to the past.
Filled with regret for those who'd died, the girls who went mad with the power of the moon pushed on solely for the people they had lost.
"It's the world! God will grant any wish if you offer up the world! What's your god? What do you believe in?! Tell me the name of your god!"
"God doesn't exist," the girls repeated in unison.
God doesn't exist. Such a convenient being doesn't exist in any corner of this wicked world.
Their king's kind smile briefly came to mind, but they shook it off. They both felt their hearts squeeze.
──The moon illuminated the scene with its beautiful, silver light. ◇◇◇
THE battle came to a predictable end. The Demon Lord's abilities came up short against the Elfuur Sisters, who were strengthened by the maximum buffs granted to them by the full moon. The difference in strength was too great to be upended by a random miracle. Things might have gone differently if there wasn't such a huge power gap between them. But reality is cruel like that.
A video game can be considered like a world of its own. It entertains many people, tells a lengthy story, and puts people through emotional rollercoasters.
Considered a classic masterpiece in the role-playing game genre, Brave Questers has a deep-rooted fanbase and has spawned countless saves, fan theories, remakes, and every kind of spin-off into other media formats. As the last boss who faces off with the player at the end of every Brave Questers, the Demon Lord's end was too quick and lonely.
"Ahh, I'm going to die in obscurity. My dreams…my hopes…are going to fade away."
Even after losing all his weapons and being downed, the Demon Lord still held on to life. The twins seemed to have already lost all interest in him as they stared absently up at the moon.
The battle was over.
They didn't have any compassion for the loser.
But even if the battle was over for the Elfuur Sisters, the same couldn't be said of the Demon Lord.
"I mustn't… I can't die. As long as I still have the will to go on, I swear to God…I will not die!"
Sometimes a strong enough will can change fate. Sometimes it's even possible to forcefully overcome the impossible. Even more so when that impossible fate is defined as a game event. The game system doesn't care about the "characters" after all.
[〈!〉A strong will supports the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord's injuries rapidly recover!
]
Awakening to a new power in a moment of crisis—is perhaps one of the most cliched and conventional tropes built into so many games stories that many have grown irritated with it. But it's because it's so very cliched and common that it shows up so often.
The world is cruel and yet cruelly fair.
If two powerless, pitiful girls can obtain a new power amid their regret and hatred, then it should be equally possible for a powerful creature of darkness to obtain new power amid hope and longing.
"Oh! Ooooh! I knew it! I knew it! I'm not meant to be ended here! God loves me!"
A new magical power wrapped around the Demon Lord's body and emitted a bright light. It was a strong and refined light. Eyes blazing with an unshakeable will burrowed into the girls when they finally deigned to look his way.
"See! God has been watching over me! God will bring me victory!"
And then the Demon Lord raised his resonant voice to utter the name of the god he put all his hopes and dreams in…
"Hear me! My god's name is—"
[〈!〉God's name mustn't be uttered without permission. ]
"…Wha?"
Someone came flying down from the sky. It wasn't the Elfuur Sisters or the Demon Lord but a third party who wasn't welcome there. The click of metal like a sword being unsheathed could be heard in the distance.
Silver light ran in a straight line, followed by a thunderous roar. A vertical line formed in the Demon Lord's body quicker than the dirt kicked up into the air.
With the superior senses and abilities they'd inherited from Isla, the Elfuur Sisters jumped away just before the attack landed and turned their sharp gazes toward the Demon Lord as they regained their balance.
"..."
There they found their former enemy cut perfectly in two. The cut was a thing of wonder. He was beautifully sliced in half with such a perfect line, you'd think the attack was made with a ruler. The attacker seemed to have applied just the right amount of strength to rip through the Demon Lord's thicker than steel body without doing much damage to the area around him. This was only further proven by the fact the giant body formed from iron and corpses was still standing.
But the change became more apparent with the passage of time. Before long, the Demon Lord's halved body slowly fell to the ground and turned into an unbelievably large mountain of gold coins.
[〈!〉The Demon Lord has been defeated!
Brave Questers' Demon Lord's Army has been destroyed! ]
The girls exchanged brief looks before returning their gaze to the interloper.
Something had interfered and stolen their kill. That reprehensible interloper had swooped in with what seemed like very intentional timing to slay the Demon Lord.
Who did it? For what purpose? And how? Various questions flashed through their minds but vanished without an answer.
This was an unexpected turn of events, but it didn't distract the twins from what was important. Their instincts as the HERO, a Hero unit, and as Witches told them to be on high alert against the being that easily put down the Demon Lord before they could.
"…Who might you be?" Maria asked.
"…Why did you interfere with us?" Caria asked.
A man appeared once the dust settled. He didn't look that…old. He actually seemed way too young. Probably only four or five years older than the twins. He was a young man with a curved, singleedged weapon that glowed beautifully in the moonlit night, wearing an unfamiliar black outfit unlike anything the girls had ever seen before.
This frivolous-looking man shook the blood off his weapon with one swing and then returned it to its scabbard. The girls were watching him. Confusion and wariness flickered in their gaze, but it was outweighed by the hatred burning there.
The Demon Lord was…their enemy. They were planning on annihilating every last enemy—directly or indirectly—responsible for the death of their second mother. As civilians who were suddenly thrust into this nightmare, the girls didn't know much about the Demon Lord's Army or Brave Questers.
But the superior senses they'd inherited with Isla's Hero trait and the abilities of the HERO they had awoken to during Flamin's event accurately showed them the truth behind the tragedy. That was why they were convinced the Demon Lord was the cause of it all, and they'd wielded their strength to avenge Isla by winning the battle against him.
The girls were no longer helpless—they had power now. Their power had the potential to destroy the world without anyone being able to stop them. They were hoping that if they defeated their mother's enemy with that power, the deep sea of emptiness they felt inside might fade a little.
The cruel, cruel world wouldn't even give them that much? Their anger boiled over, and that emotion, coupled with a thick dark aura, distorted the space around them like a shimmer of hot air.
Who were they up against?
Their alarm seemed unnecessary when the man reacted to their death glare with a look of shock. Then he uncomfortably scratched his cheek, a reaction that felt a little too lighthearted for the moment…
"Huh… Did I do something wrong?" he asked innocently.
-x-X-x-
Chapter 13: The Setting of the Moon
If a critic had been present for this scene, they would've surely labeled it third-rate. That was just how abrupt, nonsensical, and bizarre the young man's forced entry upon the stage was.
"What are you?" Caria quietly asked, sounding like she was suppressing her anger.
One look at her was enough to see that she was dying to tear him to shreds. She didn't do that because he was more or less responsible for defeating the Demon Lord with one hit—though the girls did weaken him beforehand.
He'd split the Demon Lord in two with a single stroke, much the same as if he were crushing any small fry you might find along the wayside. His skill was impressive, to say the least, but not one that should've been used on the Demon Lord. As such, it was hard to get a feel for who—or what—they were dealing with. So the girls decided to ask for his identity to feel him out first.
"Uh…I'm just a guy who thought he'd rescue some girls from a big bad monster?" the man answered with zero wariness. It was as if he were just greeting a neighbor he'd bumped into in the park during the early afternoon.
They were currently standing in the wastelands to the far south of the last known civilization on the continent. There was no good reason for this man to be there or his carefree attitude.
The Elfuur Sisters shared a look. What remained of their rational sides within the madness was wise enough to question whether this newcomer was friend or foe. But even on the off chance that he was an ally, he'd just insulted them in the worst possible way by stealing their kill at the last second.
"Rescue us? Did we look like we needed rescuing to you? You oughta get your eyes checked," Caria said with venom.
"Ahahah," Maria laughed. "That's funny. We didn't ask for help.
What made you think we needed to be rescued?"
Their instincts as Witches told them to be wary of his actions. His behavior was strange enough to make them address it. "Maybe…"
They weren't going to leave it be.
"You interfered for a reason?"
The man fell silent at their accusation.
Maria's eyes opened as wide as possible to skewer him with a mad look designed to peel his hide. The man shrunk back, startled by the madness burning within the Elfuur Sisters that he hadn't noticed sooner. He was unquestionably hiding something from them, and the Witches weren't going to let his clumsy reaction slide.
"A-Ahaha! Don't be silly. You're putting me on the spot here! It was a coincidence! I swear! Believe me! C'mon, turn that pretty little frown upside down— B-Bad time for a joke?"
The girls silently brandished their weapons. These were the weapons they'd taken from the Demon Lord, that had forgotten they were supposed to disappear after their master died. The halberd and dual swords that embodied all the wars and evil deeds of another world dully reflected the moonlight as they eagerly waited to sink into their next prey.
"Wh-Whoa! W-Wait, wait! I wasn't trying to do anything funny! I really was trying to help you!"
The man thrust both hands in front of him as he frantically tried to persuade the twins to calm down. But there wasn't a soul alive in this world capable of stopping the girls in their berserker mode. The only people capable of such a feat…had passed on.
Did the man sense the strange aura they gave off, or did he act on instinct alone? Determining it was impossible to persuade them, he shrugged his shoulders, his carefree expression vanishing as he silently rested a hand on the sword at his waist.
"Don't try it. You can't beat me at your current level."
He was about to unsheathe his sword in response to their bloodlust, but there was something oddly theatrical about his comment. It was almost as if he were acting according to a script. He almost seemed like he was being forced to play a different role now. The sudden shift in his behavior gave that disturbing impression. …So what?
The girls felt like spitting on the warnings their instincts were giving them. They couldn't care less about any of that. They didn't give a damn about it. The only thing that mattered was that this man had defiled their past. He had ruined their atonement and offering to the past. They'd been rudely robbed of the ability to dedicate this battle to their mother because of this man's interference, leaving them eternally unable to avenge her with the Demon Lord's death.
How humiliating! How enraging!
Their hatred had grown so large that even the sisters couldn't keep up with it as it turned into dense darkness that poured out of them.
Stillness came to the world. It was the calm before the storm.
They were already standing close enough to hear each other. All they needed was one little thing to trigger the next battle.
The man bent his knees in preparation to intercept their attack.
The twins bent their knees to lunge at him.
And just like that, before either had the chance to learn about the other, they launched into an unproductive deathmatch—
"That's far enough."
"…?!"
Today seemed to be a day of interferences and strange events.
A quiet voice forced the battle that should've begun to stop and be rewound.
There was a moment of confusion over what had happened. It took only a second for the girls to realize their feet had been frozen by a block of ice.
"Amazing. It's even capable of forcibly inserting a stop to an already started action…? Did time just get warped too?"
It was no ordinary ice. There was no way ordinary ice could stop the girls who'd inherited Isla's Hero unit status and the Hero's powers. It didn't just stop them but reversed them out of an attack they were already in the process of unleashing. That could only be the work of some strange mechanic.
Quickly coming to that conclusion, the girls looked toward the speaker. There they found…the Hero called Sludge Atou.
The ability to completely undo an action that has already been taken…
The skill Atou had used was Glacial Decapitation—the Ultimate Attack she'd snatched from Frost General Ice Rock. At the time she'd confronted it herself, she'd thought it was a skill that landed a hit no matter what, but it appeared that it was actually a skill with the ability to put a halt to the target's turn and give the user that turn instead.
…It was a thousand times worse than an attack that always hits.
As she pondered just how unfair an RPG's forced attacks and events could be, Atou instantly linked with Takuto to send him a telepathic report about what she found as she wordlessly walked closer to the girls.
"Wow! Another pretty girl?!" the man cried with glee when he saw Atou.
"..."
Atou glanced at him. Shock flashed across her face, followed by a bitter look. Given how many times she nodded to herself, it appeared like she was receiving instructions from Takuto. Unlike the twins, she and Takuto seemed to know something about the interloper.
"So? Who are you? Why are you here?" she asked him.
"Uh, yeah…about that… It's, uh, classified? Oh, I guess you wouldn't know what classified secrets are, would you? Haha…"
I know what classified secrets are, at least, Atou thought, but ignored the man to telepathically consult with Takuto instead. She kept her gaze firmly on the man, never letting her guard down for a moment.
"Yes, I understand, Ta—my king."
It only took a few seconds for Atou to receive her instructions.
Then she gave the man one hard look before averting her gaze. While the man was still fussing over the situation, she addressed the sisters.
"I've already heard about everything from His Majesty. He has ordered you both back to base. You've…already accomplished your objective, no? Then it's time to go home."
An odd third party was hanging around, but Atou's orders were to retrieve the twins. Safely returning the sisters to Mynoghra's Imperial Capital was her duty. Fortunately, it looked like their objective—the Demon Lord—had been defeated, so she thought there shouldn't be any issues getting them home.
Except…
"That man got in our way."
"We can't let him get away."
The Elfuur Sisters still had unfinished business. They fervently sought an outlet to take out their regret and hatred.
"Huh? Our king ordered you home. Why aren't you obeying? Are you girls…misunderstanding something here?"
Atou let her annoyance show through her words. To her, Takuto came above all else. And she also believed that the Dark Elves should feel the same as his citizens. Mangy Dark Fae, who happened to be in the right place at the right time to receive the honor of becoming the king's citizens due to his boundless mercy, had no right to disobey his orders.
"Don't get in our way," Caria demanded.
"We won't forgive even you, Miss Atou, if you do," Maria threatened.
"Did you go mad with your first taste of power? You urchins need to be put in your place."
It sounded like something had snapped. A legion of tentacles burst from Atou's back. Each swaying tentacle had a clear objective and gave off a bloodthirsty aura that warned they were ready to strike anyone who dared disobey Takuto's orders, be they friend or foe.
Atou's current Strength was unclear. But Sludge Atou's true worth went beyond simple combat strength—it lay within the limitless number of abilities she could snatch from her enemies. And she had just succeeded in obtaining all the skills she could want from her battles with the Demon Lord's Army.
The twins' combined abilities were certainly one of the most annoying types to go up against, and their Strength was not to be underestimated either. But they posed little threat to Atou.
All she had to do was subject them to an inescapable preemptive strike by inhibiting their ability to act with Glacial Decapitation and then attack at a distance with her tentacles. She might be up against two little girls, but they had inherited the Hero trait—they shouldn't die from it.
It'll be excellent if they're immobilized by the damage. Even better if they faint. If they can't recover from this…then it's a necessary loss.
A natural-born Hero unit can calmly assess the situation and swiftly develop a plan of attack. Even with the twins' new powers, it was nigh impossible for them to win against the overwhelming battle senses honed by one of Mynoghra's most elite units.
Neither side could back down. The twins were fighting for their past and the Hero for her king. Explosive tension flowed between the three girls who completely ignored the man, who kept reaching out his hand and pulling it back as if he were debating if he should mediate for them.
And then it happened…
──The moon's beautiful, silver light…was obstructed.
It was nothing out of the ordinary—dawn had come.
Before they knew it, the moon had already begun to sink below the horizon, losing its luminance. At the same time, the sun poked its head out, outshining the moon from the opposite direction.
"…Caria, let's stop now."
"Big Sista…"
"…?"
It was the older sister, Maria, who'd muttered those words as she watched the setting of the moon. Apparently, the younger sister shared the older's opinion, as they both stared at the moon like the fight had gone out of them. Eventually, they sadly looked away from the moon and bowed deeply in Atou's direction.
"…I'm sorry, Miss Atou."
"I'm veryest sorry for being rude."
The two apologizing girls were acting just like their old selves. From that, Atou determined they could be persuaded to return home without incident. She glanced at the setting moon, nodded as if she understood what had happened, and let her expression soften ever so slightly now that the girls she'd once taken a liking to had returned to themselves.
"…I see. Well, the situation being what it was, I'm willing to overlook your rudeness as long as you obey orders. However, be sure to apologize to His Majesty."
"Mm-hm, I'll say sorry."
"Yessum."
The girls tottered over to Atou. Seeing as they were nodding a bunch of times to themselves, they must've immediately started telepathically apologizing to the king.
He seems awfully Japanese to me, Atou thought as she turned her attention to the most dangerous person there.
"…And? Do you plan on just standing around all day?" she asked him.
She assessed the frivolous-looking young man, who appeared to be around sixteen to eighteen years old. It was her first time seeing clothing and a weapon that looked like his, but she knew what they were. She had already confirmed her suspicions with Takuto through their shared vision, but they both hoped they were wrong, because if they were right…things would turn bad fast.
Atou quietly waited for the man's next move with more tension than she'd felt dealing with the twins.
"Nah. Not really, hahaha. It seemed like a pretty serious conversation, and I didn't want to come across as not being able to read the room by butting in."
The man didn't belong there from the beginning until the end. He didn't need to take their kill or butt in while Atou was trying to persuade the twins. Only he had this extremely out-of-place feel to him, as if he were a forced story element being crammed into an already written script.
How to handle him? Atou pondered. King Takuto strictly ordered me to avoid fighting him.
As it stood, they no longer had a reason to fight now that the twins were behaving. Atou had been given the gist of what had happened from the king, who'd been watching events unfold through his shared vision with the twins, and from that, it seemed like the man really was trying to help out the sisters in his own way by defeating the Demon Lord.
But Atou was against conversing any further with this man who was practically the poster child for all things shady.
Did her feelings show? Or did the man finally reach his limit for how much awkwardness he could handle in one sitting? Whatever it was, he lifted one hand in the air and rattled off his goodbyes.
"Okay, that's it for me today! I mean, uh…you all seem fine, so I'll take my leave before I get in the way!"
And then he turned on his heel to leave. He looked back once over his shoulder, to which Atou responded with a slight nod.
Carelessly interacting with him here would be like playing with fire. They had no idea what would happen if he turned out to be exactly the kind of person Atou and Takuto suspected he was.
"Sorry for sticking my nose in where it's not wanted! See ya girls later!"
Then the man dashed off like a rabbit and eventually disappeared beyond the horizon at a terrifying speed. Atou exhaled a small sigh after she saw him go.
This was for the best.
Takuto was ordering her to hurry home too. Any further trouble would be beyond Mynoghra's processing capacity, and they wanted some time to reorganize their forces before tackling yet another problem. That's why, while the man's motives piqued their curiosity…he was best left alone for now.
Why were Atou and Takuto so wary of him? The man they let leave had one very distinguishing feature. The clothing he wore looked just like the school uniforms from Takuto's old world, and the weapon he used was known as a katana. Both of those were items not from this world.
Something extremely troubling was happening.
Atou and Takuto had ranted about how difficult and terrible their starter location was when they first arrived in this world, but that seemed like it might only be the beginning of their woes. Atou's sigh grew heavier with that thought.
In any case, nothing can be settled until we get home.
Atou turned back to the behaving twins and addressed them like normal.
"All right…let's go home. Things are going to get busy for us. You will both have to start helping out too."
Atou realized the twins had moved away from her. They were standing in front of the mountain of gold coins formed from the Demon Lord's corpse.
"…Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Um, what is…this?" Caria asked with more reserve than usual, probably because she felt bad about inconveniencing Atou earlier.
"Gold coins from Brave Questers. The monsters from that land turn into gold coins equivalent to their value when they die," Atou explained as she looked up at the mountain of gold coins. "That amount skyrockets when it comes to the Demon Lord, I see."
The amount was exasperating. Not to mention there was gold strewn all over the path she'd taken from the monsters she'd slain along the way. By this point, the surrounding area probably had enough gold deposits to put the gold rush to shame. Of course, the economy would obviously collapse if they took it to market, so they couldn't use it will-nilly. Leaving it there would only create problems once someone else found it, too.
"Will Mama Isla…revive?"
That quiet question came as Atou was wondering what to do with the gold. She contemplated the question as she dug through her knowledge to see if there was a way to revive Isla.
"Unfortunately, Isla is dead," she softly replied.
"Hic…sniffle…aah…hiccup…!"
"Waaa…uwaaaaaa!"
Tears formed in the girls' eyes. Maria stifled her sobs as she stayed standing, while Caria collapsed to her knees. They didn't think they would be left with such emptiness at the end of their regret trip. They didn't think their wishes would be so disregarded.
They wept and wept for the past that could never be returned to. The beautifully glittering gold coins almost seemed like some kind of reward…and that only made it all the sadder.
"Uwaaaaaaaaa! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"
"Hic…augh! Aaaaaaaa!"
They simply cried their lungs out. That was all they could do. That was the only thing left that they could do.
Atou sent a telepathic message to her king, informing him they would be a little late as she watched them weep.
The moon's silver light had gone somewhere far away and no longer illuminated the scene.
<-x-X-x->