[Plints ♡ Sophia: -50%]
Thud My hands went to my face. No matter how much I blinked, nothing changed.
Why is it in the negatives? I’ve never seen a status window like this before.
Alongside Sophia the Grand Duchess’s Affection Level, what’s glaring in front of me is…
[Failure: Demon Transformation]
The penalty for failing the Grand Route. Unlike usual, the status window is bright red.
It feels ominous, like thick and sticky blood oozing out.
If I fail the Grand Route ending with Pina Grancia, this is what I have to face.
Is it the karma of trying to change fate?
As if to warn me, the status window reminded me of my miserable reality.
The dark future that threatens the pure-hearted her was right at my feet.
Bam! “Another mountain to climb.”
Why, of all times, does this happen right after Pina awakens as the Hero of Affection?
I swallowed hard while staring through the status window.
It’s probably saying that if I can’t protect the relationship between Sophia the Grand Duchess and that pillar man, things will go south.
With a happy ending, there are bound to be bad endings, right?
“Pina, hasn’t there been any contact from Sophia the Grand Duchess?”
The spirit shrank down like a wet puppy in response to my emotions.
Showing her bony form is the black one. Considering that Pomeranians are mostly fur, that fits.
Dizzying sound As I realized this world might be real, I began to feel dizzy.
The Pina Grancia I saw in my dream could also be real.
Bam! “Black-haired Pina Grancia… If she’s the Pina on the bad ending side…”
There’s a possibility.
The Nameless Saintess also appeared alive in the Pantos Shrine. It wouldn’t make sense to say she didn’t exist after giving me even a helmet.
How she inscribed words on something I’ve been using for five years is beyond me.
“…If it’s Sophia, I heard she’s been seeing a guy named Plints. Why the sudden change?”
And that pillar guy already showed up here too.
I couldn’t tell if he followed me or if he was selected as a beta tester after catching the Demon King.
“The status window doesn’t display his real name.”
Unlike the status window for me and Pina Grancia, his appears as Plints.
It’s quite possible that I’m possessed by a game character.
Now that I think about it, when I almost entered the Harem Route, my name showed up as ‘Licht’.
The moment I tried to raise my Affection Level with Blanc, I smashed it.
“Blanc is likely to be a Magic Hat, so…”
Maybe that means the Demon King prefers Licht, the game character, over me.
The Demon King, who was like a shadow from head to toe.
I couldn’t even see the face, just the smiling mouth and sharp hands.
“Licht, your face is turning blue…”
Even recalling it gave me goosebumps.
I keep seeing the scene of Pina, once the Nameless Saintess, dying in my mind.
I thought this time I could save her.
Why is the Grand Route’s target not the eradication of the Magic Hat but connecting the love lines of the main characters?
What happens if I can’t connect the couple?
“…”
Is it just that I die or can’t return home?
Looking at the status window that kept blocking me every time I tried to catch the Demon King of the Hero Church, something feels more significant.
“That means Pina could turn into a Demon, or rather a Demon God.”
The loss of a loved one.
That applies to Pina Grancia, the Hero of Prophecy too.
“Pina, my true mission isn’t to catch the Demon King.”
“…What?”
I quietly revealed the truth to Pina.
At this point, hiding it would do more harm than good. There’s no longer a lone wolf who thinks and decides alone.
“…Like Kainel and Ariel, it’s to protect the love surrounding you.”
The hero couple nodded at me silently.
They had already been on dates alone and I never directly interfered with their relationship.
I even received thanks from Kainel for letting him become lovers with Ariel, so they might have already sensed it.
“…So, something’s wrong now? You know the future, right?”
“Are you okay, Helmet?”
The Light Hero misunderstood that I knew the future, but technically, he wasn’t wrong.
If things keep going like this, we might end up getting annihilated by the Black Heart just like the Magic Hat.
“Pina, do you know anything about the Demon God?”
Her white-haired self might turn dark like someone shedding blood tears.
Black Rose.
It could well be said to be the complete opposite of the Nameless Saintess.
“She always looked sad when she looked at me…”
She might be the Pina Grancia from a route where I died or got hurt.
The blood-spattered notes I saw in the Library of Truth were probably written by Pina.
There’s a reason her handwriting looked just like the one inside the helmet.
“If it’s the Demon God… I thought the Ten Heroes dealt with that…? Is it related to Sophia?”
Her shaking shoulders and the droopy tail.
Pina might have sensed the gravity of the situation, displaying an anxious expression.
“The Coldheart family’s genetic disease. Perhaps the Magic Hat is trying to exploit it.”
The reason that pillar man is seeking the elixir.
As you’d know from the Coldheart family, she was originally supposed to die young due to heart issues.
Crap, I should have trusted Giseok less and not let my guard down.
Originally, I would have recognized him as a game veteran.
The Magic Hat might have hit first rather than targeting me and Pina.
[……]
If there’s something to gain, then there must be something to lose.
The status window remained silent as if waiting for my judgment.
I looked far away to return to the train.
With Dennis’s teleportation, I should arrive in time.
I didn’t care if I was being followed or not.
The Demon Kings of the Hero Church aren’t targeting to kill Pina.
“…It seems they’re scheming to turn you into a Demon God.”
If their goal was to kill, they wouldn’t go so far as to make her into a ‘Nameless Saintess’.
*
Now there are only two Demon Kings left from the Hero Church.
In an empty corridor, a man waits for someone.
“…Magic Hat, what’s with that appearance?”
He was a Demon King with long black hair and antlers like a white lily.
“It seems our lord likes Inrang Tribe women!”
The Omnipotent Demon King. Black Cloud sighed deeply as he watched the Magic Hat with her now pure white ponytail.
The magician now resembling a silver, imperial guard.
After all, this was a place only the Demon King wouldn’t know, and thanks to her characteristic smile and silly speech, he barely recognized her.
‘Something’s off with her. I thought she was strange from the first encounter.’
The Magic Hat transformed into an even more unpredictable figure since Licht, the Hero of Conviction, appeared.
In a situation where even joining forces wasn’t enough, the Demon Kings were falling one by one.
After speaking, excluding himself, it’s been ages since Pina disappeared with no trace.
Furthermore, if you sum up the points that she did not directly harm Emperor Rock…
“Hoho, this should please her since it’s just like that Saintess, right? I didn’t know wolf ears and a tail were so important!”
“…Why do you always speak in a way that makes no sense?”
Clearly, the prediction the Hero Church had was significantly different.
The plans left behind by the Demon King of All Knowledge weren’t supposed to turn out like this.
Stopping and killing those who died blocking the Hero of Prophecy.
“Well… I’m on a dimensionally different level from you, reincarnated Hero!”
“…..”
That is precisely what the Hero Church had originally aimed for.
The reincarnated Hero of Knowledge.
The possessed Hero of Might.
What the reincarnated Hero of Omnipotence wanted was the revival of a loved one.
After losing everything to the Demon God, it’s what they hoped for.
“How about it, Black Cloud? Doesn’t she look quite pretty, like some Inrang youth? I specially chose one with white hair.”
One of them seemed to be lost in thought. The Magic Hat, while fixing her silver hair in front of the mirror, was singing a tune with a blood-stained face.
It felt creepy.
Now it was unclear what her true appearance was, and Black Cloud placed his hand on the hilt of the Holy Sword at his waist.
“Oh? No response? How boring.”
Her voice turned cold. The laughter that accompanied her hee-hee carried a murderous intent.
It seemed she caught on to his intent to draw his sword.
“Where have you been until now? Answer me, Magic Hat.”
Reluctantly, he drew his Holy Sword and placed it against the magician’s neck, but.
“…I just came back from the north. Met someone interesting.”
“What?”
“Someone who’s friends with Licht. I’m a bit jealous. I hope you think of no one but me.”
Without changing her expression, the Magic Hat replied with a smile.
As if anticipating this, she raised both arms in a relaxed pose.
“Seasons! Long time no see, Holy Sword Master?”
Black Cloud’s ability was omnipotent. Thus he could handle any weapon deftly.
With a sly smile, the silver-haired girl watched as Black Cloud glanced at the sword he drew.
“What exactly do you want, Magic Hat? Isn’t your aim to fulfill the prophecy?”
As the sword touched his neck, droplets of blood fell. They were both on guard against each other.
It was clear to anyone that three Demon Kings from the Hero Church had already died, orchestrated by the Magic Hat.
“Oh, did you just realize that? Even if I’m a Celestial Demon from another world, you really have no sense, do you~!”
Screech! With a sound, she brushed his sword aside with a card and smiled devilishly,
and in Black Cloud’s sight, the Holy Swords of the other Demon Kings appeared.
Gah…!
Black Cloud suddenly found himself grabbed by the neck. Incredibly overwhelming strength lifted him off the ground.
Why? His expression showed disbelief as he flailed in thin air.
“I can have Knowledge, Omnipotence, and Might… Why should I go through that trouble?”
The Demon King of Truth smiled.
