Chapter 25 – Darkmtl

〈 Chapter 26 〉 71st Demon King (Complete)

Perhaps Finn was outside the barrier.

And that guess became reality the moment I exited the barrier.

‘The Chaos Beasts are moving!’

Even the usual fluffballs that stay still were slowly heading somewhere.

This meant only one thing.

‘It’s begun.’

But it wasn’t too late yet.

If I rushed, I could still stop it.

Moreover, I had a rough idea of where that guy was.

‘He must be at the center of where these guys are heading.’

With that thought, I started to follow the Chaos Beasts.

As I moved for a bit, I could feel the density of the Chaos Beasts increasing.

At the same time, I could narrow down their potential location.

‘Is that building that looks like a cathedral over there?’

Most of the Chaos Beasts seemed to be gathering outside that structure.

They didn’t seem to be entering the cathedral itself, though.

‘Then how do I get in…’

Even if I had become capable of dealing with the Chaos Beasts around here, it would be impossible to face so many of them alone.

‘I don’t want to create a commotion either.’

So there remained only one option.

I took a black orb from my inventory.

It was one of the orbs I had recovered after defeating the bandit group last time.

I threw it toward the Chaos Beasts.

As it was thrown, black particles began to spread among them.

Seeing that, I took out Night’s Shadow and swapped it with Relic Gravitas Replicant.

‘Night’s Shadow.’

In that moment, a strange sensation enveloped my body.

I had used Night’s Shadow a few times after acquiring it, but the sensation was still unfamiliar.

Still, thanks to that sensation, I could feel that the effects of Night’s Shadow were properly applied to me.

So I quietly slipped through the swarm of Chaos Beasts, melting into the darkness.

‘I should be able to enter over there.’

I spotted a ruined wall of the cathedral.

It was a bit high but passable without much effort.

After making that judgment, I carefully climbed over the wall and entered the cathedral.

As expected, the inside of the cathedral was dark without any light, and I could easily hide my body using Night’s Shadow.

‘Where is Finn?’

As I scanned the inside of the cathedral, I caught sight of a faint light.

A creepy, blood-red glow.

It was coming from the altar at the front of the cathedral.

And that glow was being obscured by a figure.

‘It’s Finn!’

Though I could only see his back, I could easily tell it was him.

I stealthily approached Finn, hiding in the darkness.

Since I planned to take him down with a sneak attack, I couldn’t afford to make any noise.

‘Just a little more…’

Just as I reached within striking distance of Relic Gravitas Replicant, Finn suddenly turned around.

“Hmm? Is that you…”

‘He noticed?!’

There was no time to hesitate.

I abandoned the idea of pulling out Relic Gravitas Replicant from my inventory.

Instead, I aimed to stab Night’s Shadow into his neck.

But Finn instinctively dodged it.

“Allen? Why are you doing this!”

“I’m sorry!”

Finn was not at fault.

He had just rescued Weiss and got caught by the Demon King inside her.

And…

‘His body has already been taken over by the Demon King.’

There’s no way an ordinary human without a Stigma could evade my attack so well.

“Allen! Stop!”

I wouldn’t be fooled.

Finn may appear to be panicking, but his movements showed confidence.

He was someone who later could even act as the king of a nation, so this level of acting was a piece of cake.

“So if you come at me like this…!”

And what will you do?

Are you finally revealing your true intentions?

I already know the identity of what’s controlling Finn right now.

So no matter how much he struggles…

Swish

My vision wavered.

I was clearly trying to dodge Finn’s punch when the next moment, a headbutt came flying at me.

In my shaking vision, I saw Finn pull a dagger from his backpack.

‘Damn it.’

I got careless.

Trusting my higher status compared to regular people was the problem.

Even if the host was an ordinary human, the opponent is a Demon King.

‘Back off!’

Still dizzy, my body moved on its own.

Thanks to that, I was able to dodge Finn’s attack.

I widened the distance between us.

But Finn didn’t bother to chase me and shouted from where he stood.

“Why are you attacking me, Allen?”

Why am I attacking you, you ask?

“Because you have the Demon King inside you.”

“The Demon King? What do you mean?”

“You’re being controlled right now. Didn’t you realize?”

I pointed to the complex magic circle drawn on the ground.

Candles were placed at the corners, and a pig’s heart lay in the center of the circle, giving off that creepy, blood-red glow.

“There’s no way you prepared that magic circle by yourself.”

“That’s…”

He couldn’t deny that.

There was no reason to convince him anyway.

I put away Night’s Shadow and took out Relic Gravitas Replicant from my inventory.

Finn’s eyes widened at the sight.

“What was that just now…?”

Instead of answering, I aimed my sword at him.

“I’m sorry. I have no choice but to kill the Demon King inside you.”

From here on, I would be utilizing [Swordsmanship (B+)] as well.

No matter how much of a Demon King it was, it wouldn’t be able to handle a human body like this.

I dashed towards him.

Clang!

The sword clashed against Finn’s dagger.

Finn’s arm shook as he blocked my sword.

“So what if it’s a Demon King… Weiss is still Weiss!”

The shaking only lasted for a moment as he gathered all his strength to push my sword away.

“I promised her I’d return her homeland.”

I shook my head.

“What kind of nonsense… There’s no way to bring back the Ice Valley that has already perished.”

“There is. Weiss told me if she completes that magic circle, it’s possible.”

Naïve to the extreme.

“Do you really think the Demon King wouldn’t have lied to you?”

“Lied to Weiss? No way. Weiss is always kind and gentle.”

Wrong. What he saw was just a part of Weiss.

The Demon King Weiss inside him was quite the opposite.

Sly, ruthless, and cruel.

The 71st Demon King was one of the most divisive in combat within the game due to those traits.

‘But it seems like I can’t reason with him.’

In that case, I had no choice but to overpower him.

Finn still had some consciousness left, but ultimately, the Demon King had control over his body.

“Allen… you?”

Finn seemed to read the look in my eyes.

He readied his dagger.

‘But a dagger is still just a dagger.’

It falls short against the longsword.

I began to deftly swing my longsword, overpowering him.

“Gah…”

Once Finn started to fall behind, he was defenseless.

Even with the assistance of the Demon King, he barely managed to fend off my attacks, but wounds were beginning to appear all over his body.

At that moment, when I was about to deal a decisive blow to Finn, his movements suddenly changed completely.

‘Is Weiss the Demon King?’

‘Is she deceiving me?’

That couldn’t be.

The image of Weiss smiling brightly flashed through his mind.

There was no way such a kind girl would do that.

(That’s right. The one lying is Allen.)

She affirmed.

But…

‘Why?’

Even though the Weiss inside him was helping, he was still losing.

Allen, who looked like an ordinary inn boy, had been pushing him back with skilled swordsmanship.

‘This can’t be.’

He didn’t want to die.

He had promised Weiss he would return her homeland.

If he returned her homeland, Weiss would surely understand his feelings.

(But at this rate, you’ll lose.)

It seemed undeniable.

He had been allowing the attacks from Allen here and there since a while ago.

And finally, Allen’s sword was thrust toward his neck.

(Do you need assistance?)

There was no reason to hesitate.

‘Help me, Weiss.’

(Then fully entrust your body to me.)

‘Finally, the Demon King has seized control.’

It seemed the Demon King hadn’t completely taken over Finn’s body yet.

But that had changed now.

The Demon King had completely succeeded in seizing Finn’s body.

‘What the heck?’

As proof, I could no longer predict his movements.

A series of irregular actions with no discernible pattern followed.

“Guh!”

In an instant, I allowed multiple attacks.

The combat, which had been pushing Allen back, turned upside down in a moment.

‘Why is he so strong…?’

Certainly, the description of the 71st Demon King’s combat ability in the game was not that high.

At most, it was on par with an ordinary Hero…

‘This is a bit tough for me.’

Currently, I typically possessed enough combat power to pass for a Hero Candidate.

Even so, I needed to think of some strategy.

‘What should I do…’

While I was preoccupied with defense, Finn opened his mouth.

“I’m disappointed.”

The tone was different from Finn’s.

It was the Demon King.

“What’s disappointing?”

“Given your pathetic presence, I thought you’d show me some entertaining swordsmanship, so I forced myself to take control of the body completely.”

At the same time, a fist dug into my chest.

A heavy impact. I felt my breath leave me as I staggered back.

“Cough, cough!”

As I fell to the floor, Finn—or rather, the Demon King—approached me and kicked me.

Since I couldn’t move from the attack to my solar plexus, I rolled on the floor.

Seeing me, the Demon King chuckled.

“Oh dear, you seemed quite cozy with Weiss. Is it a shame to die here? But don’t worry, I’ll send Weiss along shortly too.”

Having fully taken control of Finn, she no longer attempted to lie.

I asked her.

“Are you really okay with that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if you’d be fine killing Weiss. She’s your human counterpart, after all. You won’t feel any regret?”

At that, the corners of the Demon King’s mouth rose.

“You know quite a lot. That gives me even more reason to kill you. And to answer your question, I have no regrets. The Weiss you know is merely an empty shell.”

She pointed her thumb over her shoulder.

Toward the direction of the Ice Valley.

“True Weiss is me, who has experienced the destruction of the Ice Valley. I was reborn from that destruction. The innocent girl you speak of doesn’t even understand why this world needs to perish.”

There was something troubling in her words.

‘Why does this world need to perish?’

It was a fact I didn’t even know from playing the game.

But right now, I didn’t have the luxury to contemplate that.

I could see a brief opening.

‘She flinched.’

When the Demon King spoke the truth, Finn’s body shuddered.

His control wasn’t fully turned over yet.

So there was still a chance.

“Then what are your thoughts? Who do you think is the real Weiss?”

I called out his name.

“Finn?”

I stood up quickly.

Now’s my chance.

The moment the Demon King’s body momentarily froze.

Finn briefly regained control of his body.

I stabbed Relic Gravitas Replicant into Finn’s chest.

Blood sprayed out from the other side.

It was certainly a certain death.

In that moment.

Finn’s body began to envelop itself in a blood-red aura.

It grotesquely started to twist and change.

“Yes, you brat! How dare you…!”

Until now, the Demon King had merely fought using a human body for entertainment.

Though a parasitic type, the 71st Demon King still had a form of his own.

What was about to emerge was his true Demon King form.

‘If I hadn’t experienced this pattern before, I would have been done for…’

I already knew.

That was why I had saved this technique.

‘Relic Gravitas Replicant.’

I minimized the weight of the sword.

‘Wind’s Power.’

I could feel the sensation of wind wrapping around the sword.

I swung the sword as it was.

Having trained with Wind’s Power, I had made Relic Gravitas Replicant light enough to handle.

Thus, Relic Gravitas Replicant gained further acceleration from Wind’s Power.

To my knowledge, there weren’t many attacks faster than this even in the game.

The frightening aspect of this technique wasn’t just its speed.

‘Maximum weight release.’

Just before the sword reached the Demon King, Relic Gravitas became heavier than any sword, colliding faster than any attack.

The result was nothing but destruction.

The sound reverberated like dozens of dynamites exploding.

In an instant, the Demon King was obliterated.

Only fragments of his flesh scattered around.

“Thank you.”

I spoke to the now non-existent Finn.

“And I’m sorry.”