Demon King Rute’s Kainel has a technique name that is the complete opposite of the ones he originally used.
For example, Shine Strike gets transformed into this.
「Dusking Edge.」
A pitch-black sword light flew toward the Magic Hat and pierced it. Now that he’s using the Holy Sword, the opponent might be possible.
“Hehe… The wound given by my lord… Is it now layered with my lord’s essence? How interesting! More, more, please!”
The Magic Hat, bleeding from a wound on her upper body, kept her fanatical chatter directed at me. With that level of mental fortitude, it’s almost impressive, but could it be that she’s still in the first phase?
“..Shut up.”
My heart wasn’t calming down. The condition to become the Demon King must have begun due to some trouble with our Saintess. I rushed in with Wolf Fang, trying to find an opening.
“This seems a bit… dangerous, huh?”
“Just as I know. You.”
“I’ve always been the same… my lord!”
The pattern is identical. It seems targeting her flanks is the way to go. The stance for a direct upward slash was blocked. Should I follow up with a series of strikes?
“My lord, this kind of attack is meaningless. You can’t use your powers on me…”
“…”
“But you can on me? Making it false.”
Swish. With that sound, the magician’s wound began to heal. So this utilization is possible too? Then I can do it as well.
“Thanks for the tip.”
I unleashed Dusking Edge again to create an opening. I settled my stance. I combined the technique I used on Servi with Reverse Scale Stab.
I poured the essence of all the swordsmanship I learned, excluding the defensive techniques.
“In the end, is it the swordsmanship you showed earlier? It won’t work unless it’s Holy Sword techniques…?”
Not quite. This is my first time riding the Demon King Rute, after all. I clenched my jaw and stomped the ground hard. A gust of wind swirled with my right hand.
I endured with my whole body. Using three techniques at once was definitely pushing it. Thud thud thud, the ground rumbled.
I unleashed Void Slash, Reverse Scale Stab, and Shadow Slash simultaneously.
─Kaaang!
“My lord, you still have a rather cute side to you… this time, right beside me…!”
The Magic Hat effortlessly blocked the wind I created as if it were a trump card.
Even if the Holy Sword was corrupted, what kind of card is that solid? To induce a lapse in focus, I attacked head-on again.
“Useless. With that swordsmanship…”
─Ching clang!
But my aim wasn’t that. I closed in. Wolf Fang is a charge move; that’s the best part. I squeezed through a gap of not even a span.
I slashed, defended, deflected, stabbed, and swung.
In that fleeting moment,
I found a method. I wielded the power that cloaks the world in darkness.
“It’ll hurt a bit.”
─Tugugugugugu!!
“Uh… huh? Kyaaaah!!”
I slashed down harshly, targeting the flank. Blood splattered on the helmet. I aimed for the heart, but unfortunately, it missed. Either way, she wouldn’t die from this.
“How fascinating..! What principle is at play here?”
I can easily create shadows. In the game, it was set up so that Shadow Slash wouldn’t work against an opponent that was false.
“Well? Can’t you think that hard?”
I lightly tapped the temple of her helmet with my finger. Right now, I held Kainel’s Holy Sword. It’s an artifact made directly by the gods.
It resembles the weapon I originally used in the game.
“..My lord, that’s too much… You know I’m of the light attribute, right?”
Moreover, that brat is the Demon King with a light attribute. It’s no wonder the Hero Party found it troublesome to face her. The platinum-haired lady stepped back.
Now, she was glaring at me with her fists tightly clenched, stamping her feet.
‘If it’s not darkness attribute, I can’t stab…’
The reason I succeeded in the first kill on this brat in [Black Heart] might be because of that.
“Of course I know, so what will you do now?”
“Hehe, then… What if I change my attribute?”
That line meant she was entering the second phase. If party members weren’t composed with all attributes, a warning pops up in the game, and it’s not even recommended to try.
“Hehe… What should I give you? Fire? Water? Ah… Earth, like the Glass Knight would be nice, huh?”
“It’s annoying. Can’t you just die?”
“I’ll think about it if it’s the same time as you, my lord!”
And she’s a lunatic who also steals skills. I sighed deeply. Is she really going to use the Glass Knight’s magic?
「Mirror Mirage.」
Clap, clap, clap. The sound of applause echoed.
At that moment, figures wearing black magician hats began to multiply.
“..Are you using solid fakes now?”
I didn’t expect this. The Crown Prince really is a cheat. Things were starting to go awry. It might be hard to respond to patterns I didn’t know.
“Yes! It may look like I’m not a hero, but they’re quite interesting foes!”
Seeing the twisted smile of the magician, I gripped my sword tightly once more.
*
Inside the forest where Licht had been missing, there stood Kainel’s group.
“..Licht? Where did he go?!”
“Mr. Helmet… Is he seriously facing the Demon King alone? What should we do! Kai..!”
“Let’s trust and wait. I told him to run, but… I refuse.”
Pina tried to calm them as she spoke. The two nodded and agreed.
‘It was definitely the Demon King.’
Her keen vision recalled what had just transpired. Considering all the records, the Demon Kings varied greatly.
“..Black Knight. That was definitely it, right? Ariel.”
Among them, one thing stood out: Demon Kings take on the attire of their job. It was assumed that the Magic Hat wore the garb of a magician.
“Um, yeah! Mardol. Still, should I say it’s typical of Mr. Helmet? He looked somewhat sad.”
The Glass Helmet rattled. No matter how she thought, it was odd. If Licht had been a Demon King from the start, there were far too many inconsistencies.
“..For now, I called Professor Dennis. He should be here soon.”
She rested her chin on her hand and started unraveling the doubts. She had already used telepathy, just in case, she even called the Empire’s elite guards. Now that the powers have been released, that was the plan.
‘If he was truly from the Hero Church…’
There’s no way he would save her older brother and sister, Schartines and Nex. That incident was definitely tied up with the Demon King of All Knowledge.
“…”
Anyone living in this world would trust the head’s knowledge without a doubt. It could also be judged that it was better to stab Nex in the back or to stick to the Hero Church.
“What exactly did Licht’s junior do? It was amazing. He just solved what looked like a puzzle with a power!”
“Black Knight junior… What kind of person is he, Nex?”
“He might be a new hero summoned by the god of wisdom, Akasha! Schartines.”
For an ordinary person. There was a chance he might have been scared and fled the dungeon.
‘Not to mention he healed Kainel and Ariel…’
She felt constant unease watching the blond hero and the red-haired mage. If he turned out to be a Demon King, that wouldn’t make sense at all.
“Ariel, I’m also in favor of waiting. It’s time to repay Licht for disappearing last time.”
“..Since Mr. Helmet healed our Kai and Mardol, I’m in too…”
Emotions, which she couldn’t hide, revealed themselves on her face. What her golden wolf eyes captured was that her companions were just as worried about Licht as she was.
“..It’ll be okay. Licht, strong.”
In truth, one side of her heart was uneasy. She was full of worry wondering if that peculiar man could win.
‘I’ve never seen two Demon Kings oppose each other before.’
Her thoughts became tangled. Were all Demon Kings bad? That thought crossed her mind. Past memories were making her feel strange.
‘Even the spirits tried to protect me…’
The black Knight-suited Demon King.
‘Last time he even worried about me…’
Licht, who chided her for being obsessed with strength due to the trauma her mother faced from the Magic Hat.
‘He even healed my wounds. He didn’t have to do that. If he had figured it out that I was a princess from the start…’
Her power was quite strong. After all, she possessed the right of succession, surpassing her younger brother Rufus.
He could have easily taken her hostage or used that against her.
“…”
Does he like the Nameless Saintess?
Thinking of Licht, who disappeared to face the Magic Hat, she was left speechless.
How could he be so contradictory and clumsy? Even being strong, he didn’t flaunt it, instead keeping the pure feelings like the protagonists in the romance novels he read.
“Haa…”
She sighed inside her Glass Helmet. Purely coming from concern. To think a person like that is a Demon King, she truly no longer knew.
“..Licht, liar.”
She hoped the time would come when that man would reveal everything himself. Pina was anxiously drooping her ears and tail from inside her armor.
*
My blood flowed onto the ground. Half of my armor had already blown away. My ribs were broken. Breathing was difficult. Is it because I didn’t know the patterns that I’m in this state?
“Cough…”
I was catching my breath in a corner of this dark space. While sitting down, I activated the Holy Sword to suppress the approaching enemies.
“Oh my, my lord… You’ve endured quite a bit, huh? But I guess it’s still not enough?”
There were too many clones. I killed a few, but their numbers grew insatiably, making it impossible to reach the main body.
“Then… from now I’ll take you to my place! How about starting all over again? Us!”
Each individual had a physical existence, a glass magic. The shattered ones crawled toward me like zombies. Gross. Not fun at all.
“Absolutely… not.”
“Hey~ Men who act aloof are out of fashion lately, okay? My lord..!”
I squeezed my eyes shut. I wasn’t doing this to deny reality. Sure, it was also due to the pain, but there was another reason.
Actually, since earlier, the status window in my sight has been strange.
[[Black Heart] has encountered contradictions!!]
[[Black Heart] has encountered contradictions…]
[[Black Heart] has encountered contradictions..]
[[Black Heart]…]
[…]
A translucent window flashed red, indicating a warning. Ever since I separated from Kainel’s group, this message kept appearing.
As time passed, the overlapping messages increased.
What the hell is this? Didn’t I solve the contradictions already? Even amidst heavy bleeding, doubts arose.
‘Ah, could it be that Kainel and Ariel escaping from [Black Heart] is the reason?’
That’s pure malice incarnate. Without me, they would have been totally defeated by the Magic Hat just like before.
This is why I thought the status window was useless. Instead of helping in this grim situation, it’s just giving advice.
“…”
Originally, the Hero couple likely faced a dreadful fate after losing here, resulting in trauma.
Thus, it’d pose as a lack of love leading them to escape.
Though this is a game, it’s a matter of life and death here. If there’s a contradiction, it should be resolved. I placed my hand on the ground and gathered strength in my legs.
[[Black Heart] has encountered contradictions!! Lee Soo-hyun, please cease combat!]
The creator directly explaining through the status window was amusingly yet oddly comprehensible.
“..Screw off.”
I ignored the status window.
The characters were more precious than me; honestly, I didn’t like the idea of quantifying love from the start.
Affection level? Interest level? In reality, those were needless.
The emotion of love doesn’t involve games with numbers and can’t easily be defined.
I stood up, brushing aside the endless notifications that appeared before me.
