#093. The Demon Lord Extermination Party is Too Kind (7)

#093. The Demon Lord Extermination Party is Too Kind (7)

Normal Ending – Time Suspended.

Behind this ending lurks the potential for an even greater catastrophe.

When the hero, sacrificed as a tribute, defeats the Demon Lord.

When a hero who has abandoned humanity defeats the Demon Lord, taking his blood, and this is what happens.

A Demon Lord hostile to mankind.

Neither the weakest, nor the most benevolent.

The ascension of Demon Lord Oppenheimer, leading to the ＜Bad Ending – The Oppenheimer Epoch＞, and the annihilation of humanity.

Normal Ending and Bad Ending.

The difference is singular.

Whether Oppenheimer’s heart has been broken, or not.

Whether the sacrifices of the companions the protagonist added to the final subjugation force were meaningful, or not.

Whether the lives of ordinary people, the words they left behind, the hero’s mindset as he witnesses and feels that sacrifice, can stir her heart enough, or not.

The choice of the hero Oppenheimer, a descendant of the heroic clan upon whom humanity forced the greatest sacrifices, determines the fate of the world.

She was a person worthy of making it.

‘If I hadn’t had the brainwashing ability, if the kingdom hadn’t intended to trample me, could I have survived in the hero’s position without being crushed?’

He could say with certainty.

No.

Oppenheimer wouldn’t have hesitated to use any means, but Ian was someone who still considered the means he was using.

That’s what made it even sadder.

Oppenheimer, who hurt his mother, and caused Ian himself and Anna to be born into an unhappy family.

The end of the fallen hero, who went so far as to destroy the Demon Lord and find meaning in the meaningless sacrifices of her ancestors.

That was why Ian could realize.

What the true ending of this game desired.

‘If Oppenheimer’s corruption means a Bad Ending, and Oppenheimer’s surrender means a Normal Ending, what if that Oppenheimer… repents?’

There are many gods in the world, but if there was something the god looking down on this world as a ‘game’ wanted, wouldn’t it be the salvation of a hero rushing headlong into the abyss of her own destruction?

That was what Ian thought.

The Grand Warrior, the Great Mage, the Great Sage, even the False Saintess.

For them, there exists an answer: victory given, and victory created.

But in the “walkthrough,” there was no salvation for the hero, no precedent for reaching the true ending.

-Is it right to let that b*tch live so well?

-Sucking up to her is fucking hard, that venomous wench

-I’d rather fight the Demon Lord, she’s so infuriating

The praise that the players pouring out towards the hero, having attempted the true ending walkthrough.

It wasn’t easy to move the hero.

When she was abandoned by the nation, when all the residents of other regions only defended the Empire’s subsidy and abandoned the North, the hero’s heart was already dead.

A person who has fought with only one resolution: to achieve her goals even if it means sacrificing everyone in this country, and to retire with the honor of her ancestors restored.

It wouldn’t be easy to sway a man with the caliber of adventurer that a mere brainwasher could attach to a region.

Reaching even the Normal Ending required a considerable effort, so how much more striving would be necessary to transcend that and reach the True Ending?

What adventurer, what combination of adventurers, could possibly pull the Hero toward it?

There had been many attempts.

Rare adventurers were sought out, every conceivable configuration of party members assembled.

There were even die-hards who mindlessly repeated the same long playthroughs, each attempt taking dozens of hours.

But in the end, all that remained was a single man alone in the world, in need of an escape, a haven.

“Hero. Or rather, Mr. Oppenheimer.”

“What nerve do you have to stand before me? What nerve, after you robbed me of everything, even as the kingdom did before? What nerve!”

“You have already lived a lifetime atoning. You abandoned your own life, even walked a path beyond humanity, to uphold the wishes of your trampled predecessors.”

“I know all of that. Reliving it now changes nothing!”

“It does. If someone were to offer you aid, you who so desperately sought it. If your existence were still needed by humanity, even so.”

Ian was prepared to throw away his everything.

For the sake of his family, Sodom, the Holy Alliance, the Northern Independent Kingdom, the future of the continent.

“The method is simple. Someone must take the Demon King’s place, and leave you to deal the final blow.”

Hesitation spread like ink in water.

For the first time, the Hero’s mad fury receded.

Before the profound kindness that even the most deranged heart yearned for, the Hero’s wounded soul stood stripped bare.

“Are you a fool? I am the enemy of your household! I conspired with Ronove to steal your mother’s talents and techniques, condemned you both to the back alleys of Sodom!”

“That you know all this means you haven’t avoided your sins, but sought to punish yourself for them.”

“Damn you, you sap! Shut your mouth and go back to your mother! Let me continue to hate and loathe you both!!”

Ian shook his head.

“A life with my mother. A peaceful clan. Sweet as honey, but a reality I can’t afford to become complacent in. I, too, as a scion of the noble house that drove the Hero to despair, bear responsibility for all of this tragedy.”

It was an original sin far greater and heavier than Oppenheimer, the Hero’s.

The brainwasher.

No, as a player, the responsibility for bringing this cruel game world into reality, as the very instigator.

“Demon King. Surely, your desire for peace is not a lie, is it?”

“It is not.”

“Then give me your blood, the Demon King’s mana core.”

The weight of reality sometimes crushes a person’s reason.

It suffocates and weakens the mind.

Ian’s words did just that.

“I will become the Demon King.”

Teresa screamed and lunged forward, but the weakest of Demon Kings, belying his pitiful reputation, deployed a barrier with a previously unseen, menacing aura, cutting off the space between Ian and Teresa.

“Human child. A Demon King lives for countless ages. The noble will you possess now may become an error you regret for the eons to come.”

“I am prepared.”

“Look back at those who love you. Can you not see the desperation with which they hammer at this barrier?”

“I can.”

“Then go back. This barrier can only be crossed freely by your own will.”

“If I don’t find courage now, that desperation will become despair in the future.”

“…!”

“Ten years. Twenty years. Even if you postpone it for that long, the cruel providence will not change.”

“Are you claiming you can be different? To overcome the impulse of the Demon Blood, which even Jim could not? The accursed fate of the Demon King? To transcend it with that small, insignificant body of yours?”

Ian offered a wry smile.

“I am a mind-manipulator. A deceiver who twists and controls the mind. If I use this wicked power, I… I can become the most exceptional Demon King with unparalleled control, without ever perpetrating fratricide.”

Yes.

This is clearly the answer.

A player, not the hero, becoming the sacrifice.

Not becoming the Demon King’s live offering to endure for ten years, but seizing the role of a grander offering, the Demon King itself.

To suppress the rampaging demons with the power of mind-manipulation and bring peace to the world.

“If you truly desired, you could have broken the Hero’s spirit, placed him under mind control, and passed on the mantle of the Demon King.”

“If I wanted to obtain a Demon King utterly hostile to humanity, I would have.”

“You could have selected new candidates to become Demon King, generation after generation, and implanted the Demon Blood into the most inept.”

“If my lifespan ends, the Demon King, now free, would annihilate the kingdom where my family and descendants live.”

The Hero, his face contorted with disbelief, slashed at the barrier.

As the fractured barrier rapidly regenerated, the Hero repeatedly shattered it, shouting.

“I have already resigned myself to death. Do not steal the place where I am to die!”

“I cannot allow it. You are the Hero, after all.”

Therefore, this is the reward and the punishment I give to the Hero.

[Mind Control Activated]

[Designated Target – Hero Oppenheimer]

[Command – The Hero shall kill the Demon King the moment the Demon King fails to control the demons.]

Humanity cannot abandon the Hero, who will be assisted by even stronger mind control as the next Demon King grows more powerful.

Oppenheimer can reclaim the tarnished honor of his predecessors, which he so desperately desires, and elevate the name of the Hero to the highest echelon of this nation.

That is why he will be unable to discard everything he sought to abandon.

“Cruel,” the Demon King muttered and shook his head.

“Still, it’s too much. I cannot possibly ruin the future of a young boy like you, a man called a noble saint. You are too righteous to be a Demon King.”

“I have no choice, then. I must act in a manner befitting the next Demon King.”

A sinister glint flickered in Ian’s eyes.

The Demon King understood what it meant.

Mind control.

The boy.

Ian.

He was resolved, if he could not take it with words, to steal the Demon Blood by force!

“It’s no use.”

[Barrier Activated]

[Designated Target – Demon King]

[Conditional Formula – Repels all wicked intentions that invade the mind.]

The power of the barrier possessed by the weakest Demon King.

He hadn’t succumbed to the cruel, bloodthirsty instinct despite carrying the blood of the Demon Lord for so long because a barrier fiercely guarded his mind.

No mere human could possibly overcome that unwavering will, which had endured for ages by relying on the barrier.

[Brainwash Initiated]

[Target – Demon Lord]

[Command – Demon Lord, relinquish the long suffering you’ve borne to me and do not miss this single chance for liberation.]

“!!”

But Ian’s brainwashing was insidious.

He wanted to resist.

He didn’t want to concede.

Even so, the Demon Lord understood.

A human possessing such exceptional mental fortitude.

Another Demon Lord, capable of preventing continental strife with extreme will and control, even if he trusted him and passed on the mantle, might never appear again.

This boy.

Regardless of that fateful decision.

Might live eternally as the *Last Demon Lord* who wouldn’t ignite the Human-Demon War.

A chance that would never come again.

It meant precisely what it said.

A chance for a human with a soul as noble as his to ascend to the Demon Lord’s throne, without relying on a barrier.

Unlike himself, preoccupied with self-preservation, the possibility of wielding the power of ‘Brainwash’ to command all demons.

A chance like this.

A possibility like this.

Would never, ever return.

The moment he realized it, the barrier crumbled.

The Demon Lord recognized that he was utterly exhausted.

“How infuriating. That power which even surpasses a Demon Lord. No, that application more wicked than any ability. Truly, you are the very essence of a Demon Lord.”

Before Ian’s shy, yet bitter smile, the Demon Lord conceded defeat.

He split open his palm and extracted demonic blood.

Without hesitation, Ian swallowed the blood.

And so, the Demon Lord was replaced.

The one robbed of his place to die.

The one whose child’s happiness was threatened.

The one who despaired at the sacrifice of a noble saint.

The one who felt awe at greed greater than any in the world.

The result of Ian’s resolve, which left so many humans dumbfounded, unfolded.

The war between demons and humans, eradicated from the battlefield itself.

Humanity welcomed the most benevolent Demon Lord in history.

However, that benevolence was about to be tested.

[You have reached the Demon Lord Class.]

[Your abilities are evolving.]

“Surmount it. If you cannot overcome this hurdle, you shall become the worst Demon King, not the best, to succeed me and lead humanity to its greatest potential.”

The Demon King perceived it.

The ‘System Window’ he once trusted and relied upon.

Activating ‘Ability Overload’ toward Ian the moment he ascended the throne.

Not a human governing their power.

But the power attempting to govern the human.