A sage transformed into a monster with a single word.
I was horrified as I looked at the professor, whose human form was unrecognizable.
─Kiiiiiiiiiiick!!!
The black spider-like figure made of machine frames and human flesh.
It began to let out monstrous howls, unable to contain its inflated body.
“Ehehe, it worked! I’m glad it wasn’t the Grand Route!”
What the heck is this Grand Route?
Magic Hat burst into laughter at the sight of the sage, now resembling a demon god from the books.
20 years ago, the demon god.
The Ten Heroes’ Azmodius had turned into the very monster he had fought.
‘This makes no sense… This can’t be happening…’
Was this the reason the status window had been warning from the start?
If they mess with the demon lords of the Hero Church, it was impossible to stop Magic Hat from becoming a demon god?
“How about this? Pretty cool, right? This is my power. I can summon other world lines.”
While looking at me sprawled on the ground, bleeding, that guy was smiling.
Even though Emperor Rock was trying to stop him, he seemed utterly unfazed.
“I’m trying to gain the ability governed by the God of Light and the God of Darkness, so it’s a bit late, but….”
Even if Rock kept slamming his axe down, Magic Hat shimmered as if space itself was twisting and didn’t take any fatal damage.
“Thanks to that, I can manipulate time and space as I please!”
The concept governed by the God of Light Starter is time.
The space governed by the God of Darkness Lisette mocked us, the demon god.
“With a one in a million chance, I brought forth the world line where the sage becomes a demon god!”
He claimed he could mask something existing in a different time and space.
‘Omniscience.’
Just like that, Magic Hat seemed as if he really had become a god.
Ultimate moves and holy swords were useless, and even the attacks from Emperor Rock were being blocked.
All the prepared means were completely thwarted.
The demon god, transformed from Azmodius, charged at us with his mouth wide open.
Moreover, my vision was getting hazy, and my consciousness was fading away.
“Su-hyun… No… I have to heal…”
“Pina…”
Just moments ago, the dagger that Magic Hat pierced into me had caused severe bleeding.
Even if the one who turned into the Nameless Saintess tried to heal me, it didn’t work.
After all, Pina was a half-baked saintess who couldn’t even use divine power well.
Is this how it ends? So emptily…
“Pina, no matter how desperate the situation is, don’t give up.”
“Yeah, that’s right. You’ve brought down that guy once before, haven’t you?”
At that moment, I spotted two figures around me. Giseok and the Northern Grand Duchess were sharing divine power with Pina.
“…Thank you, everyone.”
A white light began to emanate from her hands, and the wounds on my body slowly started to heal.
“Thanks. Because of you, I’m alive.”
“Don’t mention it. So, do you have a way to take down that bastard?”
Seeing me rise from the ground, the black-haired man asked about how to defeat the demon god.
Well, how could I possibly beat a guy like that?
“To be honest, I have no clue at all. Distorting reality with just words…”
With sharp teeth bared, the sage rushed at us, and Sophia erected an ice wall to counter him.
It was hard to distinguish whether we were allies or enemies.
What should I do now?
“He definitely said Grand Route. Isn’t there a hidden answer in there, Su-hyun…?”
Pina clutched me as I stood, looking worriedly at my face.
She seemed incredibly anxious that I might die.
Grand Route.
In the game, you would load the save data from the previous title [Night Heart].
To see a happy ending once again in the sequel [Black Heart].
‘Routes are branches of possibilities that diverge based on choices.’
I had called forth the saintess route existing in this work to play the sequel and emailed the game company because the ending wasn’t implemented.
What if, just what if I was truly reincarnated in the past after defeating Magic Hat for some reason?
“… I need to summon a new Mind Sword. Pina.”
Seeing that she remembered the name Pina and Emperor Rock, it seemed Magic Hat’s powers weren’t complete.
If I could suppress only that Magic Hat’s abilities, an opportunity to turn the tables would surely arise.
“Okay, I’ll do my best to be by your side.”
Pina clenched her fists, eyes sparkling with determination.
If I could achieve another happy ending here, it could be considered the Grand Route.
There’s still hope.
*
Rock Grancia attempted to kill Magic Hat, but was interrupted by the ongoing attacks from the sage.
“The great wolf king kneels before me. How unfortunate.”
“I guess I’ve gotten old too.”
His forehead was split, bleeding, and he couldn’t even breathe properly as his bones were broken.
“I need to deal with the Nameless Saintess and meet my lord, so step aside.”
“…I refuse.”
The reason he was sacrificing his life was to protect his precious daughter from being taken by Blanc.
“Oh my, I just hate sticky men. Right? Deus Ex Machina?”
Gruuuuuuuuuh.
The sage had already fallen into his hands, transformed into a grotesque monster. He drooled at the sight of Emperor Rock.
Just as that spider-like monster was about to devour the exhausted Emperor Rock—
“Your Majesty!! Please leave Magic Hat to me and stop the sage!!”
A man sliced through the air toward Blanc.
With Kwaaaaaang─!! a tremendous roar, the battlefield began to shift dramatically.
“Indeed… You were wanting to see me. My lord!”
“…Absolutely not.”
Lee Soo-hyun had woven a new silver greatsword, standing as tall as a person. The name of the newly summoned Mind Sword was O-nyeom.
A sword that cleaves through wrong thoughts.
To defeat Blanc, who had grown stronger by copying divine powers, this sword was perfect.
“Then, I’ll leave Magic Hat to you. Lee Soo-hyun.”
“We’ll handle the sage somehow! So you fight the real demon god!”
While Lee Soo-hyun distracted Blanc, the rest of us struggled to revert the sage back from being a mechanical offering.
“That won’t work. That’s just foolish.”
Seeing Giseok, the Northern Grand Duchess, and the injured emperor face the sage, Blanc couldn’t hold back a laugh.
They couldn’t revert him as he had already become a machine god made of flesh and metal.
“What do you mean…?”
“I mean exactly that. My lord. The Grand Route is a flawlessly perfect path.”
Chaeng–! The demon god deflected the Black Knight’s sword and continued speaking.
The reason Blanc could turn the sage into a monster present was that the connection between Drake and the sage had been severed.
“All world lines are intertwined like threads, bound to a single possibility.”
This made it feasible since Lee Soo-hyun had failed the Grand Route.
“That is the Grand Route! My lord!”
With arms wide open, Blanc reveled in the success of her plan.
“Though it’s a bit disappointing. I wanted to kill White Lily and Nex too.”
“…What?”
Mentioning Lisette and Nex, who weren’t even present, she mocked the Black Knight.
Both were people with whom Lee Soo-hyun had achieved a 100% Affection Level as displayed by the status window.
“But I couldn’t bring them here. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter since it’s a half-baked Grand Route?”
“…….”
They couldn’t touch either White Lily or Nex, nor even Schartines, not even Blanc, who could overlay other world lines.
Due to Lee Soo-hyun’s failure in the Grand Route, only Dennis present remained unaffected by her abilities.
“You’re a fellow inheritor, yet you didn’t know this? I thought you would’ve!”
“Shut your filthy mouth.”
Hearing Blanc’s inner thoughts, the Black Knight swung his sword, glaring fiercely.
From the start, it was fate that could not be overcome.
“The name of this sword is O-nyeom. The holy sword newly summoned to stand against you…”
“……!!”
As the Black Knight swung the great sword in front of her, Blanc smirked.
She was starting to get used to the powers of a god.
“But, that is also a filthy thought. It’s O-nyeom as in ‘dirty thought’ too.”
As Blanc opened her mouth, the silver great sword morphed into a sticky slime, engulfing Lee Soo-hyun.
It felt like being soaked in a clump of tar.
Blocked completely, he collapsed to the ground, his mouth and nose suffocated.
“Just reflect for a moment while you can. After I kill the Nameless Saintess, I’ll let you go!”
“You crazy bird… ugh…”
Taking advantage of Lee Soo-hyun’s immobilized state, Blanc began to stride toward Pina Grancia.
*
The more I struggled to escape the clump of tar that covered my entire body, the more it clung to me.
‘…Is it all wrong?’
The strange slime continued to stick, solidifying my body.
How nice it would have been if I could summon the Mind Sword and slice that guy’s neck.
Because of the sticky goo, I could only barely move my arms to crawl on the ground.
‘Even the newly summoned Mind Sword was useless.’
In my narrowed vision, I could see Emperor Rock collapsing in front of Blanc.
After stopping the sage, seeing that I had failed, he was desperately trying to protect at least Pina.
“Just don’t touch my daughter…”
“A, father…”
Finally, as Emperor Rock’s head flew off, Giseok and Sophia rushed in to try to protect Pina.
“It’s all coming to this.”
“Stop it!! Please..!!”
Like dying candles in the wind, one by one, they fell to the demon god’s hand.
A quiet battlefield where not even screams could be heard.
“Finally, it’s calmed down a bit.”
Amidst it all, I spotted Magic Hat grinning wickedly toward Pina dressed in saintess robes.
“Now, Nameless Saintess. I’ll do this specially for you.”
The demon god placed a card on her forehead and began to recite a chilling phrase.
“After I kill you, I will steal your form… and be reborn as the appearance my lord desires!”
No, please don’t do that.
Even as dirt scraped against my nails while crawling on the ground, I couldn’t reach them.
[Among them, the Nameless Saintess could not even be entered on the list of fatalities.]
[Thus, they who once made a name for themselves by slaughtering countless demon lords.]
The status window reappeared.
[They vanished into the corridors of history.]
As I witnessed her last moments where she transformed into a pile of cards, I couldn’t do anything.
“Su-hyun….”
“Don’t cry…”
Her last words were a stark contrast to the agony.
Even as she cried, she tried hard to show a smile, not wanting to burden me.
As her life force faded, Blanc was transforming into a figure identical to Pina Grancia.
Tuk.
In that moment, a wind blew, and a card fell in front of me.
Diamond Queen.
Glass Knight.
A card depicting Pina’s lovely image, one I could never convey in words again.
“Hahaha!! Hahaha!! I did it..!”
As Magic Hat reveled in triumph, a distant thundering sound echoed.
Hoooom—!
With a dull booming sound that reverberated, there lay a great sword covered in black rose vines.
“……”
Magic Sword Horizon.
That creature was beckoning me.
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